Newspaper Page Text
[From the Chronicle &. Sentinel.]
Female Education in Geonria•
Mk. Editok :— I The recent Convention of
Teachers and the prospect of another in Novem
ber, have made the public interested in the sub
ject of schools: and 1 have made some memo
randa of subjects on which to make some re
marks. lam not a teacher, but circumstances
have turned my attention to the subject, and a
prolonged stay in various parts of Georgia have
given me opportunities for observing the results
of our present system for femalo education,
which very few persons have had. The first
item is text books. The constant changes of
books which so drain the purses of parents,
really make one fancy that Yankee teachers
must be in league with Yankee publishers. The
elementary books now used are especially un
fitted for use. A really good compend of his
tory is a thing yet to bo seen. If uniformity
could be secured, so large editions would be
required that the books could be furnished very
cheaply ; but even were a good edition prepared
by competent authority it might be impracti
cable to bring it into general use, except in few
schools under State control. The Legislature
might possibly pass a law prohibiting the col
lecting of school bills in such schools, unless
these books were used, lu saying a set ot text
books ought to be prepared by Southerners, l
would not be supposed to sanction the notion
of those, wiio are so intensely and ridiculously
Southern as some were, who prepared a South
ern speaker which did not even admit speeches
by any but Southern men, and a very poor at
fair it was t*o.
The second item is female colleges. There
has, probably, been no subject on which more
humbug has been uttered for the last 20 years
than female education. In Georgia it has, in an
especial manner, been our pet humbug; one
which but to name was to open the purse strings
of all liberal people. Now, when a people
have a pet humbug, woe he to that luckless in
dividual who attempts to open their eyes. In
Georgia we often heai the boast that this is the
first State in which colleges for women were
ever established. Vain glory, even where the ,
boast is true, is rather ridiculous, and leads to a
habit of meditating on one’s own merits, which
is certainly not favorable to seeing or correcting
faults. The first objection to them is to Board
ing Schools altogether. If education only re
ferred to what one learned of books, it might
be admitted that it could be obtained at a large
boarding school, perhaps, as well as elsewhere.
But it refers to character, manners, tastes, Ac.,
and for all these the gregarious system of large
boarding schools is exceedingly had training.—
I can speak with experience on this subject, for
I was partly educated at one myself, and a very
excellent one, the Barhamviile (S. C.,) School,
kept by Dr. Marks- The training of character
can be very little influenced by teachers in these
schools; but is almost entirely influenced by
the association of other girls, and this association
is, in such schools, the result of accident. As
for manners, no boarding school, either North
or South, can train them properly; for good
manners are the result of a fine character as a
foundation, educated into a proper expression
of itself in manner, by association with well
breu people. The self-possession, which is the
chief characteristic of fine manners, is based
upon a proper appreciation of one’s self and
others. A proper appreciation of one’s self de
pends on having a character which entitles us
to respect, and a proper appreciation of others,
on good feeling, improved by that deference
well bred society compels us to pay each other, j
Girls educated at home in a family which has 1
well bred visitors are improved by that associa- [
tion, but in a hoarding school, of course, for j
girls to go into society would evidently lead to ;
so many evils that it could not he desirable. A ;
good many of those who go North, come home
with a sort of confidence, the result of the con- ;
ciousness they- have been to Mrs. so and so's j
fashionable school, and so are supposed to be I
accomplished; but this, though it certainly is!
better than the muuvais honk, with which they !
would otherwise be afflicted, only produces a
sort of pert forwardness, rather than lady like
ease and self-possession. Where girls do come
home with really fine manners, they would
have had them had they remained at home, for
some people are constitutionally well bred.—
The only thing which can bo said in favor of
the gregarious system, is that it is a substitute
for something better, when, as in many cases,
that something better can not be obtained The
daughters of planters living in the country,
sometimes, cannot have the benefit of a good
day school, and all mothers are not calculated
to be an advantage to their daughters in train
ing character and manners. Most of our wo
men are so devoted lo “stitch, stitch, stitch,
seam and gusset and gusset and hand,’’ like .
Hood’s Shirt woman, that they have no time
for anything else. Not that I would be sup
posed to slight stitchery, for to he a fine needle
woman is certainly a feminine and graceful
accomplishment, (I do not refer to the working
of worsted enormities, or the making of purses
and slippers too fine to he used, or any other
such time, eyes and health-wasting abomina
tions; hut life has other duties not inconsistent
with needles and house-keeping. The truth is,
the state of things which make these huge
boarding schools desirable, is by no means lo
be gloried in- Since, however, wc must have
them, they should have as little of the grega
rious element as possible, and in no caso should
the number be greater than should be sufficient
to sustain teachers of English, Music and
French; and a large number of girls never
ought to board together. There is more specu
lation in these things than people imagine.—
Men who own property in stagnating little vil
lages are very willing to have female colleges,
and while contributing to the wants of us be
nighted females, improve the value of their pro
perty.
As for the name College we Georgians take
such exuberant pride in applying to female
schools, unless the things which we call colle
ges are something better than the things which
are called by the good old fashioned name of
boarding schools, I must tliink the magnificence
of the term only a little ludicrous. I have known
many of the pupils, and 1 think the standard of
scholarship about on an average with that of
Barhamviile and other schools. Few of the “col
lege” girls, however, seem imbued with those
literary tastes, which Dr. Marks excited in his
pti; i!s. The only difference that i can see is.
that the colleges are called so, are chartered,
and I believe, to some extent, endowed; the
classes into which the girls are divided, are call
ed Senior, Junior, Ac., the teachers are called
the “Faculty,” and the examinations are called
Commencements, and they give Diplomas. A
testimonial of having gone through with the
prescribed course of studies is, doubtless, a very
good thing, especially in the case of a young la
dy who expects to teach ; and, perhaps 1 might
be inclined to attach more importance to them
had 1 found the ownership of one, always indi
cative of scholarship. My chief objection to
the college system, however, lies in the Com
mencements. Can you, Mr. Editor, give me one
single reason, good or bad, which shall justify
the public reading of compositions by young
girls. To write a good English style should be
part of the education of every lady, because all
may be called upon to write tetters, but this can
be attained without this public reading, and if it
could not, every well wisher to the young ladies
of Georgia would say, in the name of common
sense, give it up. I don’t know whether it is in
tended to train our young ladies into the ora
tors of Women’s Rights Conventions, but the
plan seems admirably designed to effect that ob
ject. If anything cruel be needed to convince
parents that such exhibitions are utterly incon
sistent with all our ideas of female delicacy and
retirement, surely the epithet “female brass I
foundries,’’ applied to them by some wit or oth
er, should settle the matter. The true state- j
ment of the case is, that they are designed as 1
an annual way of bringing the school before j
the public, getting into the papers and adverti
sing it. Surely parents can see that. This !
evil, however, will soon work its own cure, for
1 see the editors who have been remarkably long
suffering, are getting tired of such advertise
ments, which pay nothing and bore their read
ers. W ere you, Mr. Editor, ever so unfortunate j
as to attend one of these Commencements?—
Were you ever so unmercifully bored ! If so, |
you will excuse me for getting a little excited !
upon the subject. Os course, it is not to be ex- j
pected every young lady could write an article ■
in which people generally could be interested,
and therefore the more shame to those who com
pel the poor things to “embody and unbosom,
that which is not within them, and wreak u-ant
of thought upon expression,’’ if I may be per
mitted to make a parody. These productions
remind me of what 1 once heard said of some
similar effusions, “that they had a!! the merrit
which proceeds from want of fault, and all the
bruit that proceeds from want of merit.” To
put a total end to them, it would only be neces
sary to apply the first part of Dr. Witherspoon's
advice to young theological students, “never be
gin until yon have something to sav, and be sure i
to stop when you have got through;” and I don’t j
know but the same rule would put an end to the j
annual addresses made at'Commeneements, and
I dare say the respectable gentlemen, whose
time and talents are called into requisition,
would be glad to be freed in future from such
demands. Not that I would accuse them of
having nothing to say, for I dare say they have
many valuable ideas to offer upon many sub
jects, and that is the very reason they shotdd not
be expected to wrote time and talents on a sub- j
ject which has been so wofully used up, that he
who could find anything new to say on it would
be a genius indeed. The truth is, we Americans
have such a singular idea of enjoyment that we
seem to imagine if we have somebody to make
a speech for us, vve have provided the most de- j
lightful entertainment ofvvhich mortal man could j
conceive. Query, if female education is an ex
hausted subject now, what will it be a hundred
years hence, if this speechifying continues ? In
some newspaper this summer, I saw a list of the
proposed commencement addresses, with a note
from some editorial pen characterising the
whole as a rich literary treat. If that editor
was not talking lor the gullible constituency of
Buncombe, which 1 suppose he was, Ihe worst
i wish him is to be confined to such literary
treats for the rest of his life. I have been quite
amused with the reports given by the selected
official character, of the exercises and state of
the schools; each one wishes to give the idea that
the school he writesfor is the best of all, and as
hyperbole and inflammatory language have al
ready been exhausted, the contest for suprema
cy gets more ludicrous every year. 1 expect
they will have to resort to the devices of the pa
tent medicine venders before long, in order to
be read, and I suggest for the benefit of all those
I have heard, complain of the tiling, that they
be put in the same column with the patent me
dicines, for the convenience of skipping.
1 have been quite amused with the distress
of poor Bishop Andrew, as to where the sixteen
hundred young ladies, now educating in female
colleges, (1 am not sure of the number, but only
fear understating it,) were to find husbands,
since there were only three hundred young men
educating in the various male colleges. Dear
compassionate old gentleman ? I am happy in
being able to relieve bis mind, and at the same
time pour balm into the hearts of the unhappy
young men who must lie distressed at the idea ‘
of being overwhelmed with the company of six- j
teen hundred blue stockings; but the truth is, j
I doubt if a hundred of them ever read a book ]
j through after leaving school, unless it be a no
vel. This bringing them before the public and
talking about (lie children of Georgia will, 1 am j
afraid, only tend to make them alarmingly pre- j
coeious. If the editor of Harper’s Magazine j
were to send some comic lintner here, 1 am cor- j
tain he would find good food for the comic pages j
of that Magazine. He would be certain to j
have some of the brass-buttoned likenesses of
| young Shanghais at Marietta talking to their
| ma’s about the way “we military men” do. One
| more remark, and 1 will leave the subject. If
! public delivery of their sentiments Vie concluded
j advisable in the education of young ladies, I
j propose we send North and get Miss Lucy Stone
to be professor of oratory, as she is more used
to that, sort of tiling, than any other lady I have
heard of.
I have a plan to offer, to which 1 wish all
those who have money to spare for the endow
ment of literary institutions, would devote their
] spare dollars. We often hear complaints that
Northern teachers are so constantly employed
in Southern schools ; but the reason there is no
supply to meet the demand for Southern teach
ers, is, that facilities for education at the South
not being as good as at tile North, only those i
who were too rich to resort to teaching could
become sufficiently prepared. What 1 would
suggest (with beaming diffidence, for perhaps
someone may be able to give a better plan)
is, that people contribute money for the endow
ment of a Normal school (not a “college” 1
hope,) for the education of Female teachers.—
(n every community there may he found some
indigent girls, “ ho, if they had the opportunities
would make most excellent teachers. Let every
one who contributes a certain stun iiave the
right of presentation to a situation in this school,
the presentee however, before accepted, subject
to a rigorous examination as to capacity; for
not every woman, Mr. Editor, has the raw ma
terial out of which to make a teacher and such
an institution being designed mainly for public
benefit and only incidentally as a charity, I
should exclude all who do not present a pros
pect by capacity and diligence, of being useful
to the public. The intellectual training in such
an institution could be as thorough as that at
West Point is well known to be, and for a sim
ilar reason it would be independent of public
patronage for support. Testimonials should be
granted to those who qualify themselves for
teachers. After leaving school, unless they
taught a certain number of years, they should
Vie considered indebted to the institution for the
expenses of education. (For some of the three j
hundred educated young men might take a I
fancy to marry some of these teachers—certain- \
ly none but educated men would, for they
would verify Bishop Andrew’s fear of knowing
too much for any others.) In all (heir schools
they should be bound to receive a number of
poor children gratis. Such teachers as such an
institution would produce, would be in demand
not only in Georgia, but all over the South ; and
if got up without any pretentious nonsense to
make it ridiculous, the school would he a legiti
mate boast of our people. The imitation of our
plan, by people in other States, would prove the
usefulness of it, far better than vain glorious
laudations by every speech-maker, who wishes
to gain popularity by talking for Buncombe.—
[ did wish to say something as to what women
should be taught, but I have already been more
lengthy than I wished,
Betsy Trotwood.
Influence of Health upon Opinions.—Very
mortifying is the reluctant experience that some
unfriendly excess or imbecility neutralizes the
promise ofgenius. We see young who owe us a
new world, so readily and lavishly they promise,
but they never acquit the debt; they die young
and dodge the account; or if they live, they lose
themselves in the crowd.— ll. IV. Emerson.
qiXy* A weekly paper in tile Magyar language i- to be
started in New York. It will be called Merekultek L-jf a,
which means the Hungarian Exile’s Journal.
Himes avfo Brntind.
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA
TUESDAY MORNING, NOV. 8, 1853.
Superior Court of Muscogee Count*.—We are
authorised, and requested by Judge Iverson, to sav,
that the Superior Court of this county will bo adjourned
over Jlo the 4th Monday in this month. Jurors and
other parties interested will act accordingly. November
4 th, 1853.
! (£7"Attention is called to the several advertisements
! in todays paper, of Mtssrs. Wvnee & Edwards.—
! Their lot of Boots and Shoes is large and gotten up in
elegant style; and they can not fail to suit any person
who may favor them with a call.
O’ The advertisement of Mere & Gallagher, of
Philadelphia, in to-days paper, will attract atten
tion for the ready facilities offered towards securing the
best designs, as well as finished workmanship in all
that partaius to ornamental and architectual iron work.
Strawberries in spite of Frost.
On entering our sanctum this morning, we were very
agreeably surprised to fi id a most elegant and luscious
collection of strawberries. The fruit so ripe and deli*
i cious—the leaves so green. and blossoms peeping out
! here and there, made us forget for a time that it was
j November. They came of course, from the gardens of
! Charles A. Peabody, who has now had for ten months
such specimens of his skill and success in this cul
ture. The varieties sent us, were the “Hovey Seed
ling’’ and “Early Scarlet. ,? To the skeptical, we will i
state, that they were taken from their beds and sent :
in with roots and vines while the dew was yet upon
them.
66 Female Education in Georgia. 9 ’
We like to see a free, candid and reasonable expres
sion of opinion upon every subject worthy an opinion ;
it does one good in this age of “humbug” and finical
sensitiveness about “public Lvor” or disfavor. The
article we give from the Chronicle if Sentinel speaks
just to our liking.
We all know that there is a perfect mania in our
State on the subject of Female Education. It is one of
our ‘* weak nesses.” Let us not be understood as wish
ing to detract from the very commendable desire now I
so common, to improve the Female mind—we but re- ■
fer to the manner in which this is so popularly sought j
to be attained. The whole system, with some very |
rare exceptions, at present goes upon stilts. A teaelu r I
is no longer to be called such, but. a Professor. We
have no mere schools and seminaries now-a-days, they
have all become Colleges, or at the very least. Colic gi
ate Institutes. No longer does a neat unpretending
“circular,” announce that Mr. and .Mrs, or Madame so
and-so, would be pleased to take a few scholars, offer
ing the associations of the family and the care of the
same with other unobtrusive and delicate expositions of
minutiae, foi the purpose of convincing parents of the
fitness and propriety of placing daughters under
their charge—when in order to afford them an educa
tion, eircumatances compell them to be sent from home.
But uow flaming, pretentious—green, yellow and pink
“catalogues’’ are distributed through every public
place, announcing a “Collegiate course,” expatiating
largely upon the “extensive accommodations’’—thereby
meaning in most instances narrow, ill-ventilated dor
mitories, each for half a dozen occupants, more or less.
An annual “commencement,” of course , when modest
mien and gentlo worth, with scenic accompaniaments
not so modest nor so gentle, are wrought into a display j
“To stretch the gaping eyes of idiot wonder, j
And make men stare —”
More we might truthfully add, but have already written !
at greater length probably, than we ought in the presence
of one so accomplished as Aunt (?) Betsy Trotwood.
Whether she bo such a strict, plain,eccentric,noble hearted
! personage as David Copperfield’s “Aunt Betsy,” or
i some thoughtful, yet cheerful, candid spirit, who loves
| lo tell the truth for truth’s sake, the interest she mani-
I fests for the improvement of her sex will commend her
1 views to tho kind and grateful consideration of all,
i particularly, as we are informed she is a native Geor
j gian, and tells so pleasantly and readily what she thinks.
i The Wliis? Press vs Second Congressional Dis
trict—W big estimates of the results of the j
lute election— charges of bribery Arc.
j “Contrary to our expectations H.V. Johnson is Cover- j
; nor eh-ct ol the State of Georrgia, by two or three hun- i
j Jred votes. We did onr utmost to prevent it, but the
i people have decided, and wc must submit. At all events
the reunited have not much of which to boast, and the
raje was a noble one, and will not he forgotten soon. Wo
look upon the late election as an utter rebuke to the ad
ministration of Franklin Pierce. Going into power as
he did, with twenty thousand majority, the Union party
have reduced it to two hundred , and that majority they
gained by bribery in the second Congressional District
one hundred thousand dollars, having been spent in that
district to secure the election of Colquitt. These are facts
that have not yet been denied.”
We clip the above choice specimen of Whig fab
rication from the Washington Gazette , an insignificant
Whig Conservative sheet, the rural organ of Mr. Bob
Toombs. We should not notice the bare faced falsity
of the article, were it not that it but re-echoes the
senseless mid malignant assertions that have been made by
other sheets of the same ilk, but claiming a more respec
table position.
The assertions that Pierce’s Administration has not
been sustained and strengthened by the late election,
and that bribery and fraud had been the means of se
curing Democratic ascendency in the Second District,
have been proved untrue in the one, and denied in the
other so conclusively, that none but those who in the
late contest waged the most ungenerous, dishonorable
warfare, would fail to acknowledge.
There are those whose associations have been so vile;
whose habits have been so demoralizing, and whose
character has been so corrupt, that neither truth, nor a
sense of duty can have any effect upon a stolidity which
lias become ingrained, and which gives a coloring to their
every thought and act. Incapable of a noble impulse them
selves, they deny its existence in others. Accustomed
to resort to fraud and deception, they become enraged
when an honorable antagonism defeats their diabolical
designs. Trained to demagoguism, and schooled in
slander, they dare to strike their envenomed fangs 1
when imbecility has overtak n them, and made them
but things of scorn. Never in the history of political
warfare in this State has th* re been a contest, char
acterized by a more malignant, demon like, onslaught
than the recent one on the part of the Whig press
and Whig orators. Judge Johnson has been a very
Catalino. and the Democratic party eonspii ators all. With
the cries of disunion, jillibuslcring, public robbery, red
republicanism , treason, affiliation tcith freesoilers they
have made the State to ring from mountain to sea-board.
With senseless and despicable combination of odds
j and ends from all shades and shadows of every politi
j cal stripe, they hatched up a pie-bold, ring streaked
! striped and speckled advertising hand bill,of a “platform’
such as was never before concocted to gull an intelligen
and patriotic people. Defeated in a warfare thus waged
on their part, well may they writhe, and
With livid rage, their shameless laces blacken.
As soon as the result was ascertained, the Second Dis
trict became the mark for their poisoned shafts. At
I first the “inactivity” of the Whigs of the South-western
counties was bewalcd in lugubrious accents—but the
tone soon changed to barges of corrupt on and foul play
against the Democrats. Bribery and fraud have become
words as common in the Whig vocabulary as treason
and disunion had been during the canvass. Whig
reek tiers estimated at first twenty five thousand dollars
as the bribe fund : a little later and it reaches fifty
thousand, an! now it is set down at a cool hundred
thousand. Continue your investigations gentlemen, and
perhaps you may eventually discover a secret mine
where biennially the “mint drops” are shoveled forth
without stint.
We think a more plausible reason can be assigned
however, f< r their vindictive imputations. Having by
an act of the last legislative session carved out the Sec
ond District to secure their own ends, they have been
thwarted and defeated in one of their intended strong
holds, and u*der the lead of their chosen Chief. To
militate as much as possible against the victory
achieved in this district, which gave the State to the
Democrats, scriblers have been busy at work with
their cock and bull stories, and a system of detrac
tion indulged in which will eventually recoil upon
the authors with more than seven fold power.
And the result has been an “utter rebuke to the ad
ministration of Franks p ierce.” Figures and facts .t *
said, never lie, but they can be made to lie—we will lei
them speak for themselves. In 1851, Pierce received
34,792 votes ; in ’53, Johnson received 44,343. With
such a gain so palpably set fi.nh, that any one “though a
fool could not err,” Whig editors have the hardihood
to controvert.
We will now let siu-h knights *4 the quill as the editor
of the Washington Gazette, sink to theii iiflliiral level.
It is seldom we reach down so far to drag up such fish,
from their filthy beds, but having held them up to the
sunlight a sufficient time to display their putresceni
qualities, we shall now let them drop, to flounder with
their kind in congenial mud.
A Subject, not the leastjmportaut of many, for
consideration during the next Legislative session, j
It is to be hoped that the briefest period possible will j
be consumed in the organization of the Legislature, and j
that the elections of Judges and U. S. Senator will j
take place with the least expenditure of time, in order
to give ample opportunity for the consideration of mea
sures affecting vitaly the internal and local interests ci
the State. One of the most important of there, is a
judicious and liberal system of common sthools.
The right or expediency of providing education at j
government expense, is no longer a matter of contro
versy. The only question now is, “how shall this be
best effected ?” The subject only requires attention to
be satisfactorily disposed of.
Common school education baa been so perfected in
Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, besides in
several other States, that a plan is no longer a deside
ratum. If our Legislators will but take up the subject
with a determination to establish a system commensu
rate with the wants of the State, and the ability of the
State, wo need no longer labor under such a partial
crippled system as at present disgraces our statutes and
the n<ze in which we live.
It is a remarkable fact, that Georgia has expended
as much, if not more money, in proportion to her
population and age than, any State in the Union, and
has reaped the least benefit. Wc have in the first con
stitution adopted by the State in 1777, the declaration
that “schools shall be erected in each county, and sup
ported at the general expense of the State.” To carry
out this intention, the Legislature in V. 83 appropriated
1000 acres of land to each County for the support of
these schools. In 1792, an act was passed appropri
ating one thousand pounds for tho endowment of an
academy in each county. In 1817 there was an ap
propriation of $250,000 to the support of her schools.
The year following, every 10th and 100th lot of land
in seven new counties were appropriated to educational
purposes. In 1821, there was another appropriation of
$250,000 to the support of county academies.. The
State also established a University, so called, with an
endowment of 40,000 acres of land. Through the
negligence of tho Trustees, as alleged, 5000 of the
most valuable of these acres were lost by tho Beaufort
treaty, and became a part of South Carolina. Os all
these appropriations, $30,000 are only available for
school purposes, and but about S7OOO for maintaining
tho “University.” 1 here arc about 40,000 poor
children who depend upon these $30,000 for education.
70 cents each, for a years tuition ! and of this pittance
they arc often swindled. Indeed, the Slate but “offers
it,” says tio Rev. Dr. Scott, in an address delivered be
fore r the Central Agricultural Association in ’sl, “for
such is the public apathy on the subject that the coun- j
ty authorities in many instance neglect to call for and
appropriate even this pittance for the benefit of tho poor
forty thousand.” And we may add from facts withinour
own knowledge, that when applied for, by the districts,
after distribution to counties, some of those to whom it I
haebeen entrusted, have had the criminal effrontery to j
withhold, or wish to withhold a part of it. Such is the j
shameful truth, and this in tho face of nearly eight thou
sand poor children unable to read and write!
The people demand a more efficient system in every j
particular. Wo may boast of our hundreds of miles of;
Railroads, of our scores of cotton mills and other manu- j
factores, but woe 1 bo to Georgia, it her people arc left
to slumber in ignorace, and the mind bo sacrificed to the j
body. The more wealthy classes may bo educated, J
but what are to become of the poor ? A heavy rospon- i
nubility rests upon our legislators in this matter, and if J
they possess the souls of men and the integrity of good i
oilizens, they will no longer remain listless to the de- j
mands of duty aud public right.
This is a theme upon which we could never tire— •
but so much has been said and written, and to
so littls purpose that \v# would despair of readers .
were it not that the subject is pressing itself up
on tho attention of every thinking citizen ; and the j
time has arrived when decisive and efficient ac
tion can,and must betaken. The people will hold
legislators responsible* for this trust, and if no other |
means to bring their attention to the subject in a direct :
and practical way can d< .b-v Ltd, it wili be made a
matter of issue in election “Are ywti in favor of a
liberal and efficient system of common schools ?” will ef
fect more towards the attainment ot moral excellence
among the people than all the liquor tests that can be
applied from Maine to California. Nor will we stop as
to common schools, the higher institution of learn
ing require public attention. The people of Georgia do
not realize their delinquency in these publio wants. Had
the system as designed by the legislative session of i
1781 been carried out, Georgia would now have an •
educational system equal to any the world, and instead
of sending her young men at a distance to bo educated, ;
other sections would have been sending to our Stats
University and a degree signed by her President would j
have given a greater prestige, than is now afforded by i
any instituiion on the American continent. How the |
matter stands, the people are begining to be acquainted, j
Says Dr. Church, than whom on this subject no one
is better qualified to give an opinion, “the plan of the
University was conceived in wisdom and most admira
bly adapted to the nature of our institutions, and the
conditions of the people. Had the requirements of its
charter been fully carried out, we should now have a
system of education more perfect than that of any state
in the Union, and as perfect and efficient as any king
dom in Europe. According to this charter, the educa
tion of the State was one connected system—every j
school and academy, suppoi ted by public funds, was a j
branch of the University, and over each the head of tho j
University, had a special supervision. It was his du
ty to visit the several institutions connected with the J
University, to correspond with the trustees and instruc- ;
tors, and endeavor to secure for them competent teach- j
ers, and to insure from them an ample number of well
prepared students for the higher departments of
learning.*
It is not too late now to adopt such a plan. At any
rate let us have some efficient system that may afford
at least, a good rudimental education. Tho present
system is but an imposition and a mockery.
•Discourse delivered before the Georgia Ilistorial Society.
O* Wc have been shown some sterescopir pictures
from Wood bridges Daguerrean Gallery—a new feature
in the art and which for finish and effect surpasses any
thing we have ever seen. Mr. Woodbridge, as will be
seen by reference to his advertisement, has recently re- j
turned with all the latest improvements in his elegant j
art to which he lends a master hand
(LT The Democrats of Stewart county have nomina
ted the following ticket for county officers:
For Sheriff—D. C. Thornton.
“ Clerk Sup. Court—E F. Kirkeey.
“ “ Inferior Court—D.W. Surles.
“ Tax Receiver—James Armstrong.
O” The Whigs have made themselves so ridiculous
about the Democratic vote in this County and District,
that while we feel a contempt for their charges, we are
disposed to touch them now and then for their reck
less presumption. The Federal Union thn9 applies its
causiic stick.
A poor compliment for the Whigs. —A correspon
dent of the Republican who subscribes himself Observer
insinuates that the Democrats of Muscogee county bought
many Whig votes with the money of broken banks. —
Whig principles must hang very loose upon nun, when
they can be bought so dog cheap as Observer insinuates
He says some of the Conservatives proposed to make
up a purse to buy votes, but the plan was abandoned. We
suppose they found out that Democrats were not in the
market.
Ex-Colltctor Bronson has been nominated for the
United States Senate, to suoceed Mr. Seward, whose
term expires in 1855, by the Democratic Convention of
Orange county, New York.
Stop the Clamor !
We daily hear complaints about the obstruction of
streets and side walks with carriages, wagons, refuse of
shops, foundariet, &a., &e. until the matter ought no j
longer to be overlooked. For the benefit of all concern- j
ed, vve respectfully tali the City Father’s attention
to the following sections the city ordinances:
Beet. 13—No shall place in any street or upon i
Any side walk casks, boxes, iron or oth* r obstructions j
No person shall, without permission from the Couu- !
oil, deposit city building material or earth in any of the
ktrccts or on any of the side walks of thia city.
No person shall keep in the street or on auy side
walk in said city any firewood or any species of wheel
carriage for a longer time than twelve hours.
Query—A friend at our elbow wishes to know what
rent the City Treasurer receives from Livery Stahl*s*
Carriage Warehouses, &c. } for street room?
No person shall deposit in any street or on any side
walk any shavings or brick bats, or other refuse of
building material, or permit those there to remain for
a longer period than twelve hours.
The following paragraph supplies tin desideratum in
theory —
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
Motion shall be cited by the Marshal to appear before
the Mayor or Mayor and Council, to answer such
charge or charges ; and upon conviction thereof shall
be fined not exceeding twenty dollars for each vio
lation and for each day such violation may continue to
exist. [What a hill some would have to foot if the ac
counts were balanced !J
For tear lest the ordnances may have become rusty
in the memory of some, we call attention of those whose
duty it is to enforce them to the Forty-Ninth Section
which points out the manner in which the fines shall
be collected.
We have done our duty, Messrs. Mayor, Council
men, Marshal, Deputy Marshal, and hope you will
look to the ordinances. Remember “he that is faithful
over a few things shall be made ruler over many’*—the
converse need not be expressed. Some of you under
stand us. A word to the wise, &c.
Startling Intelligence—The Union in Danger, j
We find the following dispatch in the New York \
Herald of Thursday. We should add that no other
paper has the news :
HIGHLY IMPORTANT FROM WASHINGTON.
National Democratic Convention to be called to take into
consideration the policy of the Cabinet
[Special Correspondence of the New York Herald.*
Washington, Oct. 26,1853. j
Th*> National Dei n oca tic Committee are i u call a j
National Convention of the Democratic party at Baltimore |
about the time of the meeting of Congress. The object is j
to take into eonsiderrtion “the State of the Union,” as il
lustrated in the conduc t of the present administration
They will determine the question whether the Baltimore
platform has been properly undeisro-'d by the Cabinet, and
whether their policy meets the approbation of the peop’e.
The Southern States will be fully represented, as will the
anti-free soil party of the North and West. It.
It would he curious to see a Notional Convention held
to settle the disputes of the New York democracy.
The democratic party of the South have managed to
settle their own disagreements, and will no doubt ex
pect the New York “shells” to do the same. W hat
ever are the merits of the cast), it is a New York af
fair, and New York is not quite the whole Union. —
The city of New York is not the political Paris of the
United States, that its party emules should be permit
ted to disturb the whole confederacy — Sav. News.
Targett shooting by the Columbus Guards.—Last
Saturday, this elegant corps turned out in bright array
with well filled ranks to compete for a full uniform,
which was won by private C. S. Pryor—tviih an ave
rage of three shots, 4 9-1 C inches.
2d Best shot, fi 2-16 “
‘N,. * 3d “ “ G 2-16 “
The Performance of the Camdell Minstrels
to-night.—The Campbells have come and will per- j
form at Temperance Hall to-night. This vve are re
quested to say is positively the only concert they can !
give in our city. Os course every body will go. See j
advertisement in another column.
Accommodations at Milledgeville. —Th** Federal j
Union says:
l:i respect to accommodations, Milledgeville, we un> 1
hesitatingly say. is better prepared than ever to aecom* j
inodate visitors and the members of the Legislature.—
Besides our spacious Motels, which are seldom crowded, [
except during the first few days of the session, there !
will he open, eight or ten private boarding houses, j
which, alone, could accommodate two hundred persons.
Vistitors need not be deterred from coming to this city,
from a fear of bad accommodation. Our crowd vv-il he
large, but our Hotel proprietors have a way of putttinu
away large numbers, conveniently, which is not the
case in other cities, as wc have frequently noticed.
The late lire has not in the least affected the arrange
ments for accommodating the visitors to the city. On
the contrary, it has extended the facilities for entertain
ment, by the opening of larger houses for reception.
California Congressmen.- —The Hon. M. S. Latham !
inemßer elect from California, arrived in the Not thorn !
L : ght, from California. Senator Gvvin, lady and fami- I
ly. Senator Weller, and lion. J. A. McDougal, were ;
t<* leave California on the steamer leaving on the sth j
instant
The Superior Court for Fairfield county, Connecticut,
lart week granted a divorce to a Mrs. Baldwin, now
seventeen years of age—only fifteen when she married !
The ground of her petition was intolerable cruelty.
05” The New Haven Register thinks the reason
why the thanksgiving proclamation of the Governor of
Massachusetts was so short, is to be found in the fact
that there are so many and various religious creeds in
Massachusetts, that it is difficult to write a Proclama
tion that would be satisfactory to all 1
lion. John A. Dix and the Administration —This
gentleman in a reply dated the* 24th uit., to a request
to ad.ii *> . meeting at Rochester, X. Y., urges that
Gen. Pei • - .‘.•{ministration t<> be generously sustained
approves i * poll.*;, .s far as developed, particularly in
th’ Iv>* nd highly commends, from personal
know!- andg i', lu* Treaury Department as worthy of
p raiße *
(IT Commodore Perry’s squadron arrived at Japan j
on the the Bth -July, and left again on the 17tlt.
The were well and kindly received by the inhab
itants, but the opening of official negotiations had
been postponed until spring when the matter will
be duly entered upon between the two author
ities,
fiortrnur of Vermont,. —Hobiaon, the Democrat
ic candidate, has been elected Governor of Ver
mont.
United State* Senator. —The Hon. Mr. Bell has j
bu< ii re-elected to the United Stales Senate from Ten- j
neesee.
ET The Hon. Henry K. Jackson, our Charge to j
Austria, aoeordiug to late accounts made his official j
visits to the Court on the Sth October.
Death of the Sleeping wan.--Cornelius Vroo !
man died at his brother's residence in Clarkson, *
on Monday, the 17th instant, While on exhibi- \
tion in New York he was taken sick, which j
seemed to induce a wakeful state for a short !
period, and them a stupid condition, with inter- j
vals of wakefulness, until he was brought home I
on the 14th. He talked very little, inquiring
after his mother, who had been dead two years
his father and brothers, whom he seemed par
tially to recognise, lie complained of groat
internal heat and soreness of his throat and
stomach. On the morning of the day of his
death he called for food, and ate a hearty
meal, and from that time seemed to be in pain
until about 2 o’clock p. in., when he died with
out a struggle. His age was some thirty.four
years. —Rochester Democrat.
Cgr Tile Hon. Robert M. MoLnne. U. S. Commissions
er to China, is in Washington, attending nt the State De
partment, where he is receiving his instructions eonneo
ted with the duties of bis mission.
t FOR TK£ HUES ACID SEXTIXT.L.]
Greenville, Ain., t
October 38th, 1853. )
In company with the President and several of tile ;
Directors of the Girard Railroad, I have attended meet- |
ings on tho line of the road in Pike, Lowndes and But
ler counties. These meetings have been generally well
attended and characterized by the must gratifying evi
dences of zeal and interest in the success of this great en
tei prize. At Farriorsville, Pike co., the friends of the
Road gave a fine barbecue, at which several hundred per
sons were present, including a fair proportion of the ladies
of the surrounding country. This was the first of tl:#.se
ries of appointments, the President and Directors are
now filling, and wr-san earnest of the deep interest felt
in the completion of the Girard Road along the entire
line. Many of the most prominent citizens of the coun
ty were present and participated in tho proceedings,
and not only by their presence encouraged the work,
hut gave the most substantia] proof of their confidence
in it as a profitable investment by subscribing liberally
for the stock. At a meeting held in Lowndes every
man present who was not already a stock holder, except
two subscribed for stock—one of these will subscribe
and that liberally ; the other is only prevented bv ha!
luck, as he termed it. The meeting at this place to-day
as small in consequence of the inclemency of the
weather, but what was lacking in numbers was made up
in zeal on the part of those who were present. Several
of these appointments were upon the line of Montgome
ry county, and were attended by citizens of that c-ounty
who manifested equal interest with the rest in the early
completion of the road.
In fret, Messrs. Editors, the people are fully alive to
the importance of this great work, and see clearly its
bearing upon the interests and prosperity of their res
pective counties. They manifest the most perfect read
iness to aid, as far as they are able, its completion, and
are fully sensible of the many advantages they will en
joy when the waters of the Gulf aud Atlantic shall be
united by means of the Girard Railroad. To an out
sider the prospect seems good lor the entire Road to.be
put under contract in a short time—“a consummation
most devoutly wished for.”
CmiNNENtfiGEE.
iFrom the Charleston Mercury.]
Mr. Gnthrie and his Enemies.
Those unacquainted with the past history of
the Hon, James Guthrie, Secretary of the Trea
sury, as most of our readers are ; seeing the low
and vulgar abuse of him, in the New York Her
ald, and other kindred papers; must necessarily
i feel some curiosity to know something of his
antecedents, and Ihe cause of this onslaught up
j on him.
Mr. Guthrie, is a stalwart Kentuckian, with
a remarkable striking appearance. His man
ners are plain and unostentations. The expres
sion of his countenance, at first sight, is rather
forbidding, which soon disappears, upon ac
quaintance, however, and gives place to confi
dence.
His high qualities of head and heart, placed
hitn in the lead of his profession, in his native
State, and his probity of character, secured the
confidence of his people to such a degree, that
he was always elected to the political positions
lie sought, although a firm and unflinching
States Rights Democrat, and living in a Whig
district.
His whole history, his pure morals, and his
strict integrity, indicated him as a proper man
to administer the Treasury Department; and so
far as he lias gone, he has fully come up to the
highest expectations of the public.
It was not to be expected, that the man who
undertook to correct the misrule of the Trea
sury Department, under the Into Whig Admin
istration, and bring it back to its legitima-e ac
tion; enforcing strictly the accountability of
those connected with it ; and driving oft’ those
who like vampyros, were sucking from it; would
escape without denunciation.
Mr. Guthrie’s first act of reform was to turn
tho forfoilures of twenty pt*r cent upon under ,
valued goods from the purses of the Collectors, i
into the vaults at the Treasury, where it pro
perly belonged, thus correcting an abuse which j
had grown into practice, and saving hundreds
of thousands of dollars to the Treasury.
The practice of giving the forfeitures to the i
Collectors, which was clearly not contemplated
by the law, gave the Collectors of New York
and San Francisco, and other ports where the ;
importations were large, better salaries than the
President of the United States receives.
In this connection, the manner in which the !
Collectors all over the country discharge their .
duties, came under his scrutinizing eye, and
iooso screws were tightened, and many abuses
wore corrected.
The contracts for public buildings pertaining
to the Treasury Department, were looked into,
remodeled, and put in proper trim, and the re
sponsibility of the contractors most carefully
examined.
In order to systematise this branch of public
business, be made a requisition upon the Secre
tary of War lor a Civil Engineer, whose actual
supervision will prevent any misapplication of
funds, or improper discharge of duty on the part
ot contractors. .Many sinecures were abolish
ed, and this branch of business put upon a safe ;
and economical footing.
Mr. Guthrie’s next measure was the with- i
drawa) ot the lands of tho Government front
the possession ot Bankers and Brokers where
they had been lying as a standing deposit, re
sulting in vast pecuniary profits to the holders, j
lhe agency ot Bankers and Brokers had been j
used to redeem the stocks of Govermeut, which !
had fallen due, and also for the purpose of buy- j
ing up those not due, which the condition of the i
Treasury justified.
Mr. Simeon Draper was one of these agents, I
and by the timely settlement, and the withdraw
al of the deposits from him, much lias been sav- ;
ed for the country.
Under Mr. Guthrie’s administration, the per
nicious practice of allowing salareid officers of
the Government to draw their salaries, and ex
tra compensation for duty performed by them,
lias been discontinued.
By this practice, which had grown to be a 1
universal one, large sums of public money wore
paid to officers of the army, acting in a civil
capacity in California, and much more was j
paid to civil officers engaged in running over the I
country upon errands altogether unnecessary to ;
the public- business,
l have grouped together a few of the reforms j
introduced into the administration of the Trea- •
snry Department by the Secretary of the Trea- I
surv, for the information of your readers, and
tor the purpose ot pointing public attention to
the latent cases which have given rise to the j
furious assaults that have been hurled upon the ;
Secretary by the disappointed plunderers of the i
public treasury.
It was not to be expected that the thwart- j
cd would leave the rescued game, without :
making a desperate attempt to regain it.— |
finding this impossible, they, like a drove of J
hungry wolves, when the wounded deer is
almost within their clutches, is snatched from
them by some skillful hunter, set up a howl
of disappointment, and sullenly leave the
ground.
This course of policy is the head and front of j
the Secretary’s offending, and is tho real cause
of lhe denunciations which have been heaped i
upon him, and for which his letter to Bronson •
has been made tho pretext. It appears to be
conceded, or rather taken tor granted, that the
Administration lias interfered in the Now York
quarrels, and Mr. Guthrie’s letter to Bronson is j
seized upon as a proof of the fact.T his is in no j
respect true, lhe Administration seeing the j
difficulty between the two wings of the parly I
in New \ork—was inevitable, determinod that j
the policy ot the President in regard to appoint
ments to office, should not be affected by it, j
and hence the letter of the Secretary was writ-- !
ten to Mr. Bronson. Any one who will take j
the trouble to read carefully Mr. Guthrie’s lotter !
to the Collector of New York will see that, so
far from it being proscriptive, it actually pro.
scribed proscription, it simply admonished the
Collector that he was riot to appoint men from
liis own wing of the party exclusively. but from
the other also; in other words, the Secretary
informed Mr. Bronson that the division was not
regarded by the Administration at all acdisquali
fving either wing, and that it must be so con
sidered by him.
But Mr. Bronson had his own ends in view,
anti to carry them through he misconceived and
misrepresented the Secretary’s letter, and made
it the pretext of doing directly what he had been
doing indirectly-that is,'opposing the Admin
; istration.
It is well known that Mr. Bronson, and thus
who were acting with him, were openly suport
iug Brady and Cooley, who had declared wai
i upon the President and the policy of his admin
iatration, long before the letter o! the Secretary
j was written In the vain hope of extricating
themselves, from their inconsistencies, they tried
to separate the President from his Cabinet, ami
1 put all kinds of reports before the country,
through their mouth piece, the New York /hr.
aid, of dissensions in the Cabinet, and the m-.
i eessitv of its dissolution. It evidently was their
intention to come to an open rapture with tin-
Administration, and every subterfuge was i,
sorted to to lead off public attention from their
inconsistencies, and from the true cause of their
discontent, and hence the hue and cry they rais-
I ed against the Secretary of tho Treasury, whose
j mortal offence was the reforms he had brought
about in his Department, and not liis letter to
Bronson.
I have often heard our own Great Statesman
say that the man who undertook to refomi tlie
abuses of this Government, would have the cm
I tire pack of disappointed place-seekers and
plunderers of the Treasury at his heels, and that
he was afraid that there was not virtue enough
|in the country to save him from destruction. It
i remains to be seen whether this Administration,
which I believe has honestly sot out with this in
tention, will he sustained by the people.
In my last communication I classed the See
: retarv of State, Mr. Marcy, with other Northern
1 politicians, as having been opposed to the ex
tension of slavery in the territories; this, 1 learn
from a friend, is not the case, and that his record
is clean from this blot, and I therefore note the
fact and make the correction.
PALMETTO.
Lu.)tirious Kissing Described. —Almost any
writer, says the Yankee Blade, can describe
j emotions of joy, anger, fear, doubt or hope; but
there are very few who can give anything iik
an adequate description of the exquisite, heaven
ly and thrillmg joy of warm, affectionate kissing.
We copy below three of the best attempts that
jwe have ever seen. The first is by a young
j lady during her first year of courtship;
“Let thy ami twine
Around me like a zone of love,
And thy lond lip, so soli,
To mine lie passionately pressed.
As it has been so soft.”
The next is by a lady after her engagement.
! It will readily be seen that her powers of des
; cription are far in advance of tiie one’s quoted
iabove:
“Sweetest love.
I’lace thy dear arm beneath my drooping head,
And let me lowly nestle on thy hear!;
Then turn those soul-lit orbs on me and pro—
My parting lips to tast the ecstaey
Imparted by each long and tingening kiss.”
But the best thing we have seen is the follow
ing, by Alexander Smith. We think, however,
than when a man so freely indulges in oscilla
tory nectar as to imagine he is “walking on
thrones,” he should be choked off Hear him:
“My soul leaped up beneath ‘thy timid ki-n,
What then to me were groans,
Or pain or death 1 Earth was a round of bliss,
I seemed to walk on thrones.”
Street Meet ini’s Stopped in Washington. —
On Sunday, Capt. Birch, of the Auxiliary-
Guard, attended at the points at which temper
mice meetings were proposed to be held, and
notified those about to make addresses, that the
law made it his duty to arrest them if they at
tempted to address crowds in public thorough
fares of the city. Thus he prevented Mr. Geo
Savage and his friends Irom haranguing a crowd
in the square between 7th and Bth streets, on
Pennsylvania avenue; and also prevented tho
intended proceedings of the meeting advertised
to be held in front of the Patent Office building.
The parties proposing to hold these meetings,
at once acquiesced in this action of the officer
of the law, by dispersing. — Star.
Omar Dasha. — The Comhind Fleets. —Tbt
London Times of the 14th nit., intimates that
notwithstanding the threats of the Turkish com
mander-in-chief, against the Russian army In the
Dumibian Principalities, amounting to a condi
tion al declaration of war, so far as that warrior
is concerned, liis instructions forbid him from
crossing the Danube. The Times adds;
Those of our cotemporaries who exultingiy
announced more than a fortnight ago that the
combined fleets bad entered the Dardanelles,
and that war had positively commenced, must
ot course be distressed at asceitabling tiiat
hostilities even now are likely to be avoided,
and that the‘combined fleets,’ which the excep
tion of the steamers detached at the Divan’s
request, were still, on the 7th of this month at
anchor in Besika Bay.
A Valuable, Inrention. —Tho most valuable
invention which we have seen for a long time,
is one lately patented by Mr. Thomas Stubble
field, of Columbus, Georgia, and the manufac
ture of which is now extensively carried on bv
our esteemed fellow townsman, Mr A, Fulton.
It is an alarm water guage, for the. prevention
of the explosion ot steam boilers. Whenever
the water passes below a certain point, the
whistle blows, reminding the engineer of his
neglect of duty, and at the same time inform
ing all on board ot it. Wo have one on the
boiler of our steam press, with which we have
experimented, and find it to answer our highest
expectations. With it, it appears to us impos
sible that an explosion can ever take place, un
less an engineer chooses to commit wilful mur
der.
Mr Fulton is at present unable to supply the
demand for them, but will place all applications
on his registry, and fill orders as soon as possi
i We. We commend it to the attention of our
j steamboat friends, many of whom have alreadv
availed themselves of its advantages. /it
change.
Senator Douglass among the ('ulmucl. Tar-
I b/rx—The Paris correspondent of the Cincin
-1 nati fla'.ette, says:
Mr. Douglass has just returned from an exten
j stvo tour, which emh.aced Italy, Greece, Svria,
I nrkey, Russia, Prussia, Belgium and France.
He leaves here Thursday, and after travelling’
i through Scotland and Ireland, wili take steamer
at i.ivt i pool, on the Ifttli of this month, for the
I nited States. He looks well, has enjoyed his
trip and is “chock full,’’ of good stories, start
ling adventures, and intervention arguments,
with which to astonish the natives in the next
; sitting of Congress. He has had a long eon
! ference with Reschild Pasha at Constantinople,
with Count Nesselrode, at St. Petersburg, and
! with many other great men ; and he has come lo
tho conclusion that Louis Napoleon is the great
est in Europe, that France is tiie best gorverned.
country, and her people the most enlightened*
Mr. Dounglass travelled over the principal parr
ot Russia in a long carriage, which travelled,
night and day at the rate of eight ami ten miles
mi hour. It eontained a sleeping room and
kitchen, so that he seldom left it. He penetra
ted to the confines of Tartary, where a grand
annual fair was going on, at which there were
.400,000 persons, Siberians, Russians, Aus
trians, Calmuck Tartars, Circassians, Georgians,
Turks and, Persians. ’’