THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION 



AS CONNECTED WITH AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTH. 



LKTTER FROM THOMAS AFFLECK, ESQ. CORKESPONDING SECRET ART OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE, 

 TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMERS' LIBRARY. 



* * * * "I am desirous of having- all the 

 infonnation possible, on the subject of the estab- 

 lishment, prog^-ess and present working of the 

 Free School system of New-York and Massa- 

 chusetts. We do indeed need something of the 

 kind here ; and I am in hopes that something 

 can be done now. The first important step has 

 been taken. A liberal and public-spirited gen- 

 tleman of Natchez, Alvarez Fisk, has brought 

 the subject directly home to the people of that 

 city, by giving to the city a valuable property, 

 ■with good and sufficient buildings upon it for 

 extensive Free Schools, on condition that the 

 citizens should immediately con.scnt to the levy 

 of a direct tax upon them.selves for that purpose. 

 At a public meeting immediately called, this 

 was voted for almost unanimously, and a tax 

 levied sufficient to establish and support an ex- 

 tensive Free School of the very higt^st charac- 

 ter, which it is expected will be evened in a 

 few^ days. 



Those of us in favor of a general and extend- 

 ed sj'stem of Education, within the reach of and 

 free to all, are now greatly encouraged to hope 

 that the examples set by the cities of New-Or- 

 leans and Natchez, will be followed by the 

 Stoics of Louisiana and Mississippi. 



The subject of Home Education is attracting 

 much more attention within the last year than 

 it has done for many years past. Parents begin 

 to see the bad effects of sending their children 

 so entirely beyond their reach, as they are when 

 sent to Schools and Colleges in the North and 

 West ; and particularly lads of an age to receive 

 readily impressions of idleness, and iniquity of 

 every kind. They begin to find, too, that those 

 young men who have received an education at 

 Schools and Colleges near home, get a much 

 better education than those sent abroad ; and 

 fi'om the check kept upon them by parents and 

 friends, almost invariably turn out better than 

 when left to themselves. The additional sup- 

 port no\v given to our in.stitutions of learning, en- 

 ables those in charge of them to extend and im- 

 prove their means of usefulnes.s — and I venture 

 to say, that the young of both sexes of this State 

 can now receive a better education at home 

 than they can by being sent a distance. Our 

 o\vn little town here, of Wa.shington, has a most 

 excellent High School, conducted by Messrs. 

 Ammeu & Rowland, (the former well known as 

 an excellent instructor and disciplinarian, and 

 whilom Profe.s.'5or of different Colleges) — and an 

 equally excellent School for young ladies, the 

 old, ^vell-known Elizabeth Female Academy, 

 now under the i onduct of Mr. and Mrs. Ford 

 and their daughters, formerly of GermantOM'n, 

 Pa. Both these Institutions, as also Oakland 

 College, are in a very flourishing condition. 



I am glad to see that you ence more ascend 

 the Chair Editorial, and are about to give us a 

 new Agricultural Journal. Success attend you !' 

 (201) 



We should hail this letter from Mr. Affleck 

 with more plea.sure, and with greater confi- 

 dence in the prospects it bespeaks for the South, 

 if we could be satisfied that he does not mistake 

 his own enlightened enthusiasm for a well- 

 rooted public sentiment, and a firm determina- 

 tion to act — for every one knows the wide dif- 

 ference between doing, and — haviiig a great 

 mind to do ! How often have we heard the 

 notes of preparation for reform, in the systems 

 of education, and in the agricultural practices of 

 the States South of the Delaware, yet how little 

 has been achieved in either since the Revolution 

 of 1776 ! As far back as 1692. more than one 

 hundred and fifty years past, at a session of the 

 Legislature of Maryland, held at tlie Cit'i/ of St. 

 Mary's, an act was passed for the encourage- 

 ment of education. Four years afterwards the 

 Free School of " King William" was estab- 

 lished at the venerable City of Annapolis, and 

 in 1723, more than one hundred and twenty 

 years ago, a school was erected in each of the 

 twelve counties, into which the State was then 

 divided, and the funds provided by previous 

 acts, for the supf-ort of County Schools, was 

 equally divided among them. By various acta 

 of Assembly, schools have since been establislied 

 in all the counties subsequently formed ; but 

 what have any of these schools done for impart- 

 ing a knowledge of ihe pri7iciples of Agriculture, 

 or any of the sciences, the knowledge of which is 

 necessary to ensure to practical agriculture 

 greater success and higher intellectual embel- 

 lishment ? In these schools have been taught, 

 time out of mind, reading, writing, common 

 arithmetic, and sometimes the Latin and Greek 

 languages ; but, what particular light have these 

 shed on the business which was to be pursued, 

 as a profession and for a livelihood, by four-fifths 

 of the scholars ? The mistake has been, not in 

 any want of sensibility to tlie importance of 

 common schools, so that education may be 

 brought to every man's door, (though that has 

 been but partially effected.) but it has consisted 

 in not providing for the right .tort of edvcation 



On this subject, it would be difficult to say 

 any thing that ve have not urged again and 

 again, years ago. More than twenty-four years 

 pa-st, it was said in the American Farmer — on 

 the Profession of a Planter or Farmer, that "a 



