University of South Carolina Libraries
VOL.2. A lilJMV I U.K. S. ( ? "IT 1 is I) A Y. \I(iI St NO. 51, | The WiUington School. Editor Press and Banner I find in the columns of your paper of July 7th, an article, written it would seem from its tone and temper, for the purpose of disparaging Dr. Waddell and his celebrated school At Wiliington, one _ of the most famous and successful teachers eVer known in this country, if we ore to judge by tho number of distinguished men, who received thjir Academic training under him, as well as by the number of less extensively known * more humble, but nevertheless useful citizens, wfio were once nis pupilsMany of the latter, although "unknown to fame," exerted a powerful influence in moulding the character of a large and intelligent portion of the District. To the former was South Carolina greatly indebted for. the high position which she once occupied among tho State of the Union. It is far from my intention to utter a word In detraction of the teachers mentioned in your article. Some have done and are still doing useful work and many of their pupils have been an honor to the State, but when you make unf air and unjusc comparisons between any of these teachers, and their pupils, and Dr. Waddell and his pupils, I must enter a protest, particularly when such comparisons are made to the disadvaniage of the latter. To what legend is it that you refer as ^ having been "so. often repeated by Judges, literary speakers and orators that tho people know in by heart notwifhutunrlinrr iho flint that nil Riirh statements or inferences, are subject to a thousand disprovals by tangible facts and by volumes of indisputable evidence yet strange as it inny appear 110 man has evDr corrected these statements." Strange indeed passing strange, that it was reserved for the editor of the Press ami Manner to correct the "error of these statements*' which have been repeated for nearly three-fourths of a century "by Judges, literary speakers and orators," during the liCetime of those most deeply interested in their correction' and at a time, -when *tho "tangible facts "by which to disprove them were more accessible than they are to the j editor of the Press and Banner. Yen \ charge Col. Harry Hammond with a | "lack of correctness in historical facts,'' which, yon say, "it is presumed he intended id perpetuate in his excellent history of South Carolina in mentioning the Willington Academy as conducted by Dr. Wuddell, without naming any other, "and refers to Col. Hammond's Htoteinent that "the wild woods of the Savannah resounded with the echoes of Homer and Virgil, and Cicero' irnd Horace as the winged words issued from the lips of this venerable preceptor or his aruent discpies," Wherein has Col, Hammond been guilty of "incorrectness in historical facts" lot me ask ? Has he / misstated tbem ? Or does hiz great sin consist in his eulogizing the renowned teacher and his "ardent disciples"? Has Buch praise repeated as it has been for more than half a century by "Judges, literary speakers, and orators" because unpleasant ? Dues it suggest silent AAntnarSoAna V v-""1 H"' There were those in A thens who became tired of hearing Aristides called u The Just" and he was banished. You say that uthe story of Dr. Waddell's school, is always incomplete without leference to Geo. lie Duffle whose name is mentioned in .religious respect, not only for his greatness but for tho honor of his teacher, and after his nnme a half dozen other lesser lights arc usuallv tacked on as a tail to the kite,'' and you assert that you "'can name as many and as groat men who were tnught by James I,. I.eslfy as were over taught by Dr. Waddell. You charge Col. Hammond with, "perverting historical facts" because he omits to mention any other school excepting Dr. Waddells, but have you not been guilty of a greater perverison of historical facts, not only in mnking tho charge against Col. Hammond which is not true as he does mention several other schools in the county besides Dr. Waddell's but in trvinir to make it appear that Dr.- Waddell's fame an a tcacher risis alone upon his . v having taught Mc?>nffiie. Dr. Waddell's fame as a, theacher does not rest uj>ou the reputation of any one pupil., so other namcB as distinguished as '"McDuftio or even more ho could be mentioned. You have chorii^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ .. _ \ ^ | cledtho pupils taught by Mr. Lesley whom' it? claimed by yvou was "a greater teacher than Dr. V&ddell ever was," and you assert that you "can name as many and as great men who were taught by the former as were taught by the latter." Now for the proof vYou have published your roll, and although comparipans are odious. ^ - will-accept your challenge and leave it to an unprejudiced public decide. From among the names of l)r. Waddell's pupils I'll mention Win. H. Crawford of Gonrmn. Klrlroil Sirnk-iiis nrnl John C. Calhoun, then a few years after these cotne W. D. Martin Judge and M. C.; James L. Pottigru, the eminent lawyer ; Adrew Covan, M. C.: Hugh S. Legare, M. C., Attorne}1- General, Foreign and Cabinet Minister: George McDutfiie, M. C., Governor, United States Senator ; George R. Tillman, M. C. and Governor Georgia ; George Carey, M. C., Georgia > John "Walker, M. C., Alabama; Henry W. Collier, M. C. and Chancellor, Ala; bania ; George \V. Crawford, M. C. and Governor, Georgia; Pafh'ck Noble, Governor ; D. L." Ward law, Judge; F. H. Wardlaw, Chancellor ; A. B. Longstreot Judge, President of Oxford College and also of South Carolina College ; and lastly the inimitable Ned Brace of the "Georgia Scenes.'"* Do you call all of these small lights ? even lesser than? McDuftie ? Are there not many even in the above list before whose brilliancy your list dwindles and pales ? How matiy colleges are there that can boast such .in array of great names upon the roll of tUeir.Alumni ? Some of them have made reputations not confined to the American Continent, and will you ^compare any pupil ever taught by any of the teachers named by you to sojne of these ? In a tribute to l)r. Waddell one of his distinguished pupils said: 'From under the teachings of this man have gone forth ono Vice President, and ninny Foreign and Cabinet ministers, and Senators, Congressmen, Governors, Judges, Presidents and Professors of colleges, eminent divines, barristers, jurists, legislators, physicians, military and naval officers." Are all these statements and infer-, enctfs subject to a thousand disprovals by tangible facts and volumes of indisputable evidence ? If so, I call upon you to disprove them. Y ju have undertaken to do s<?. nnd after voluntarily assuming the responsibility y?u will be expected to *do it. Although, as you have said, these statements have been ''repeated by J-udges, literary speakers nn<) /\rnti\r?3 nr\f ?1 * U? 1 ui>u v#;. nwjra, u I I* 1 W1U pilUliC ft. 11 U W II1CU1 by heart,'' still uo one in all thnt time has ventured to deny them. You have given the names of K^vcuti \?;:u wore not taught by Mr. Lesly. Eldred Simpkins was a pupil of Dr. Waddoll in 1800 at the same time with \V. H. Crawford and John C. Calhoun, long before Mr. Lcsly was born. Whitlield Brooks, father of Hon. Preston 3., was a student in the South Carolina College in 1812, also before or near about the time Mr. Lealy was* born. T* C. Perrin was in college in 182G, six years in advance of Mr. Lesly who was in the class of 1832. W. C. Moiagne went to college from the Wellington school with P. S. Brooks and n. u. mmaieion with whom lie roomed so the Inttor informed me. Mr. Editor, when your list is reduced to its proper" er length, some of the most important and prominent names are lost to the tail of your elaborate kite. So, Mr. Editor, you must reconstruct it. Another error into which you have fallen is the statement made by yoij that Uab:>ut the same time that l)r. Waddell tiught his famous school at Willington there was an institu uen 01 learning at uue West presided over by such as the Prosslys and Youngs." "From the year 180G to 1810," says the author to whom I ntn indebted for much valuable information about the Willington school taught by Dr. Waddoll, "was the most fruitful of great, men of any period of the same length, during the whole time of l)r. Waddell's instructorahip, and it was during the periods includings these dates diat he sen forth the McDufHes, Legaros, &c." Tho academy at Duo West was I not in existence at that lime! i I will make no issue with you, Mr. Editor, as to the comparative greatbess of McDufflo and any one whom you may consider greater, netther your, opiniou nor mine is of any Consequence, and can noither add to nor detract from their fame, but I can at leant give the opinions ui invito euiiiiuiiuy capaoie 01 judging. Dr. ThornweH at an Alumni dinner At Yale Cull ego in responding to a senti' ' ' ; . i ''' '' ^ V mcnt proposed in honor of the South Carolina College, said 4,rts T boasted in no vain spirit however at Cambridge, so I boast here that we have produced at least one scholar, of which any College and any country might well be proud. i Vn namn ofnn /It? 5 * ? Uio nAim try than Hugh S. Legare. In the works of public life though we are not yet fifty years old we have sent men to the councils of the nation with whom it was perilous for the boldest and best from other quarters to enter the lists in intellectual strife. Need I toll you of McDuffie ? llo was one of the few men that could sti.ll to silence and chain in pro'foundest attention that most tumultuous, most disorderly, most ungovernable of all public bodies, the House of Representatives of the United Stales. It hung with breathless interest on his lips. Like Pericles, for it was of Pericles anil not Demosthenes, that Aristophanes wrote the sentence he wielded at will that fierce democratic." In concluding Dr. Thornwell proposed as a toast "A name which is found on the list of your alumni, and may I not say it, it is rather a glory to you than ,to him that his name is found on vonr cat aloguc. Xow, Mr. Editor, upon such sin occasion, in the presence of statesmen, literary men and orators, Dr. Thornwell, a college president, and a man known throughout the Union, in presenting to the assembly two names from the list of graduates of the South Carolina College "of whom any college and any country might well be proud," he said, named two who had been taught by Dr. Waddell at his "littlo Willington school,*' and the one whose name Dr. Thornwell gave as toast was also a pupil under the saino teacher, all three Dr. Waddell's pupils. v., In Gov. Perry's ''Ueminiscenses of Public Men,'' lie savs : *'I once .Jjonrd Gov. Orr t'.-ll Mrs. Wade Hampton, the daughter of Qpn. MeDuftie, that Colonel Benton said to him n^any years ago that McDuftie was the equal of Demosthenes ? n Kic nrt in o 1 I n nnulil es#??? ? % #1*-% 1?.? Ill itiu IUIW. 1J.V. VUUIU Olll up k IIU Iiuman heart as few public speakers have been able to do in ancient or modern times." Gov. Perry ip speaking of McDuflie says : "He had no rival at the bar and stood alone. Indeed he was a great man and a grerft orator. Ilis style of speaking was Demosihenian. and for invection and denunciation he wus the equal of the great Athenian His replies in dobate were terriffie." I once hoard Col. Wm. Preston, who was a college-niate of McDuffie, say that he fully sustained in collego the brilliant reputation wiucn i?e imit gained at Dr. Waddt ll's school, and stood at the head of his class from the first without any contestant. He also said that he considered McDuffie one of the greatest orators of his age. Will such men as Dr. Thornwcll, Col. Benton, Cel. Preston and Gov. Perry,not be considered good autharity ? I am thus pellicular, as comparison is madp between McDuffie and othersj an.1 I wish to prove that ho tfas regarded as a truly great man by those who were highly competent of forming a correct estimate of him. I give the recorded opinion of others. There is no "legend'' about this, Mr. Editor. Such a man with such a .record would bo a considerable "tail to aifv kite"?a meteoric one. ! But McDuffio was only one of ihe many of Dr. Waddcll's pupils who became famous. Are there not some whose name are not even more extensively known than McDuffio ? Then how can you say that you "can- name as nicny and as great uien who were taught by James L. Lesly as w;ere ever taught by I>r. Waddell ?" v Id your notice of Pror. B. Means DavI is' address in Due (Vest, at the Normal I Institute in which he took issue with I you in your depreciation of Dr. Waddell and McDuflie, at which he was loudly applauded, you fy*y that you had been doing a little "imnge breaking." If you had in fact destroyed the images, you a _ J __ t i.l ? it - _x 1 erecicu nouung lienor in ineir Hienu, but you are innocent of the act, however criminal may have been''your intention. The images are still standing intact, they have only been a little bedaubed. In the same paper yotf admit that Dr. Waddell was a good teacher, but deny that he was a good scholar. I will not undertake to pass judgment on his scholarship,, but let his work speak for itself. You/aay that James. L. Lesley had a better school and was a "greater" teacher than Dr. Waddell e*er wur From what do you judge ? By results ? Look af the list of great men taught by Dr. Waddell, and if you judge by the thorough preparation of his pupils for college which is after nil, perhaps, about as sure a test as any we can produce. I'll direct your attention to the fnct that he prepared John C. Calhoun for the Junior class in Yale College in two years after he commenced the study of Latin and Greek, and I have in. 111V nnSSMKMinn ? lollor wiMMnrw Kif ? J I ? - > ?? vw. It a ivvvii uy VHU of the former Governors of South Carolina, up ?varils of three quarters of a century ago, from Princeton College, in which he says : "I was examined by the faculty of the college to-day, and was admitted into the Junior class." No "legend" or tradition about this. The "tangible facts" are in my possession by which to prove what I say. McDuffie also entered the Junior class in the South Carolina College. Now let the public judge w hether or not any country school teacher could have established such a reputation as he did, could have achieved such wonderful results, and could htive prepared pupils so well for the Junior class in such colleges as Princeton, Vale*and the South Carolina Colllege where they at once took the lirst rank without being a good scholar ? Dr. Wuddell's admirers do not claim for him that he was a profound scholar, nor do they claim as you Say they do, that ho was '\tl.e only groat teacher we ever had," but they do claim that he was one of the most, if not the most successful limnlinr nv/n1 bnnwn in tliio n?n n and they moreover challenge a comparison between the pupils taught by him and those taught by any other one Readier in the Union. The list is one to which his countrymen can point with pride? But let me here say that jUI the credit of producing such grand results must not be given to Dr. Waddell, although it is largely due to him. There is no doubt but that he had better material to work upon than was furnished other teachers, some of his pupils would have been great if Dr. Waddell had never lived. You say that it "was not possible for Dr. Waddell to have taught as ccessfully with' his old books and methods as the teachsrs of the present day with the new books and new methods now in use." So much the more credit is due Dr. Waddell judging by what he accomplished in the absence of such advantages as tho teachers have in the present day. But would not his method be new to-day ? And inay not his success be largely due to it, which is now^perhaps one of the "lost arts"? One of his pupils of the year 1S08, who in after life became widely known thus graphically describes it: "His government was one of touching moral suasion, but he administered it in a hew way. Instead of infusing it gently into the hbad and -heart, and letting it percolate through the system and slowly neutralize the ill humors with which it came in contact he applied it to tho extremities, and drove "it right up to the head and heart by percussion, lie seemed to regard vices as consuthing fires and adapted the engine process of extinguishing them. x. y. z. A Mysterious Tragedy. [Greenville News, August 15th] Thomas J. Cureton is a respectable and Ww'll known farmer who lives in Grove township, nine miles from the city, on what is known as tho "old Adams' mill" place. His house is about 280 j'nrds.from the Reedy. River where it is yet dammed for a mill which has J 1 . /I A uecn aoanuoneu. Mrs. uuruxon is a daughter of John Adams, of this city, and liko her husband has a number of relatives living heVe, all peoplo of the highest- respectubiltty. On Fricfoy Mr. and SMrs, Qureton came to the city, leaving the house and Jtheir younger children in charge of their daughter Mary A. Cureton, known as ^Mamie,^ahands6me girl of eighteen A il x ?! ... _ e yut&iB* nwuruiu^ w uiu vusuiuouy ui or.e of the children, ft girl of ten years, a young white mfth drove to the Cureton's gate in a buggy about 10 o'clock in the moring and handed Mamie, who went to him, a note. The olrild overheard him say something about meeting somebody ; "at tdjs rivkr at ohe o'clock/' Tho man, who had come from the direction of the city then drove'away. Misa Cureton returned to the house, DBKHBKO HEQ8KLK JN HER BEST Cl.OTHKF and distributed her other clothes and trinkets among the children, leaving with them a handsome gold ring that her father had given her and putting on her finger a plain black gutta pcrcha ring. She then kissed them good bye, saying she was going off to be married and lul't. They made some attempt to follow or detain her but were repulsed. When Mr. and Mrs. (Jureton returned ot night they were astonished and distressed by finding their daughter gone, and bv lho nrcnnnt ?lw>v m.v.ifml rf -J IIVIII the children of her departure. She hud no love aflair that they knew of, but they Nvere forced to balieve that she had run ofl* to be married, although they were at u loss to imagine who sha had gone with. A messenger was sent to the nearest preacher, but no information was received and nothing more could be done until yesterday morning. Then the direction in which the missing girl was going when last Keen was obtained from the children and search was begun. In a path leading through a cotton field to the river Miss (Jureton's tracks were found. They were followed easily in the soft ground to THK 111(1 NIC OF THE HIVEll where a high and steep bank leads down to the deepest part of the mill pond, il... 1-- I-- : - * ? " iiic niiu'i uuin^ auoui ten leet ueep there. Down this bank there were dis % tinet marks of the heels of her shoes where she ha?l slid from the top to the water, apparently standing straight with her feet close together. The neighbois were called, and with poles and hooks made for_ihir" occasion tho pond was carefully drugged. After a long and trying search,, impeded much by logs and bushes which have accumulated in tho pond, THE HODY WAS FOUND about 100 feet down the river from the place on the bank described above. It was brought to the surface by a pole which had caught in tho dross. Tho The young lady had apparently died peacefully and without pain. There was no distoretion of the face and the arms were crossed on the breast as if arranged for the burial. Everthing about the body was just as Miss Cur^ton bad lott ber homo for the last time. THE CORONER'S INQUEST. Coroner McBee was notified by W. uenaerman, wno lound tne body, and immediately went to tho scene of the tragedy. A jury of intelligent citizens was summoned and the inquest was begun. Dr. G. Tupper Swandale, of this city, made a careful examination of tho body. He found that death had been caused by drowning and that there had been no other injury, and his autopsy and evidence based on it failed to give the least cine to the mj'stery. The facts already given were brought out by the testimony. The closest examination of the place where Miss Curcton evidently went into the water failed to discover any track but her's or the least evidence of a struggle. Her father and mother testified that she had at times during her life been in a condition of mind in which she did not have the full use of her faculties, although she had never been violent or really insane. It would havo been easy enough to conclude from this that the unfortunate girl had gone to the rivjjr while suffering from a slight (ittack of insanity and fallen in accidently or purposely drowned herself. But the case was made nysteiious and the jui'y was perplexed by tne story of - THE BTIIANOB MAV KltOM THE CITY, the noto and the Conversation about the meeting at the livef, told by the childi. Close and sharp examination failed to shake fcer evidence. The statement she had livst made was stuck to every detail so faithfully as to carry conviction of its truth. The grief stricken parents could give no idea of who the man was or what was in the note, which could not bo found anywhere. No man had been particularly attentive to Miss Cureton and it would have been almost impossible for her, living at home and as quietly as she did, to have had friends who were unknown to the children or could not be recognizeu from their description. Her jrood character was beyond a whis per of question, And all the evidence went to prove thai, she was without doabt as pure agfa-fra* ever breathed. The jury could onlj^ifcnd AN qPRH-VWlDICT > and rondered one to the effect that the deceased came to hee death from causes i unknown. The |oneral belief is that I the appearance of the man with the note wan merely a concidonce, that it was somebody on business with Mr. Cureton, and that the child got the fragment of conversation she overheard confused ^9 with something her sister said, or with her subsequent departure for the river atone o'clock. If this be true, publics^ tion ot the .tacts ought to bring an explanation, and it will bo evident that the tragedy was tho result of accident o? design in the time of mental distraction. Hj Otherwise the mystery will remain, for' it cannot be imagined what person would have a motive for luring Miss Cureton , to the river bank to murdor her or how a murder could havo been committed nuuuuv a uttue oi muruer or struggle; H| being loft. Another theory that Cureton may have really gone to meet some friend and fallen into the river while waiting is met by the fact thatnobody was seen in the neighborhood and H that no affair of the kind could have t flj been carried to that length without the knowledge of the family. Smypathy for |j the relatives of the dead girl is general and deep, and as deep, as is the hoperv^fl^ that the uncertainty surrounding her death may yet be cleared up. ' Signs of Rain. H Dr. Edward Jenner, the famous Enjg^ ; fl lish physician, was once asked by a H friend to take a long walk next day. Dr. Jenner declined on the plea that it was N H going to rain. He made a rhyming list of the signs whereby he looked for rain TT - t J iu tuuiB. ne oasea 11 on tne actions ot animals. Afterwards Charles Darwin^ H the great naturalist, watched the animals named and found that before a ruin they acted in everj case in the manner told H by the verses. It will interest all boy&H'H and girls who like to study nature on J their own account, to watch for the sign & themselves : - The hollow winds begin to blow, . The clouds aro black, the glass is The soot falls down, the spaniels sleefll Anil spiders from their cobwebs peoA-fjPM Last night the sun went pale to'bea, The moon in halos hid her head ; .vfsB Tho boding shepherd heaves a 8ight ;|jS For, sec ! a rainbow spans the sky. oM The walls are damp, the ditches smell ; '< Closed is the pink-eyed pimerne!.. .-?* Hark, how tho chairs and tables craok H Old Betty's nerves are on the rack.. Loud quacks the duck, tho peacocks cry, : Tho distant hills arc seeming nigh. How rpstlnss nrn frhn snnrtinnr nwino I Tho busy Hies disturb the kinc. Low o'er the grass the swallow wings ? 'I The cricket, too, how sharp he sings Puss on the hearth, with velvet pnwsy. Sits wiping o'er her whiskered Throughjthe clear streams the fishes rise, And nimbly cntch the incautious The glowworms numerous and light, Illumed the deWv dell last nisht. At dusk tho squalid toad was Boon ' ':VfW Hopping and crawling o'er the greenjjp^H The whirling dust the wind obeys, . And in the rapid eddy plays. The frog has changed his yellow voat? And in a russet coat is dressed. ' Though June, the air is cold and The mellow blackbird's voice is shrni^lj^B My dog so altered in his taste, I Quits mutton bones on - grass to feast.ffiB And see yon rooks, how odd thoir flight They imitate the gliding kilo, And seem precipitate to fall, B As if th$y felt the piercing ball. jfl 'Twill surely rain. I see with sojtow : Our jaunt must be put off lo-moiroifhJ^D When you aroconstipated, with los* of apt V>|S Eitite, headache, t?k?$ one of Dy. J- ?JT?,V^fl oLean's Little Liver and Kidney They arc pleasant to take and mil ciue > 5 ccntb a vial. 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