A large array of literary problems and accounts of their solutions would do no more than emphasize the fact which, I trust, this example of critical scholarship has made clear: that the science of deduction, made popular by the detective story, is also intensely interesting when applied to the study of literature. Scientific investigation in literature brings into play nimbleness of wit and fertility in hypothesis. It is anything but deadening to the imaginative powers.

The critical scholar does not demand that the solution of the problem be the final word in the study of literature. The work of the detective must be completed by the trial of the accused before a court of law. The labor of the literary investigator is merely supplementary to that of the literary critic. And there is necessarily nothing in the nature of literature, or in the nature of man, that prevents the same person from being both detective and judge.

The Southern Educational Convention of 1863

BY JOHN D. WOLCOTT

Acting Librarian of the U. S. Bureau of Education

The first half of the year 1863, from the Union defeat at Fredericksburg up to the "high-water mark" of Confederate success at Gettysburg, is a period during which Southern independence seemed almost assured. With the expectation of an early peace, the time was deemed propitious for laying the foundations of a distinctive educational system for the new republic, and accordingly, under the leadership of their energetic State superintendent, Calvin Henderson Wiley, the North Carolina State Educational Association issued a call dated January 12, 1863, for a General Convention of Teachers of the Confederate States, to be held at Columbia, S. C., on the 28th of the following April. The objects of the meeting were to promote the general cause of education, to encourage the production of elementary text-books by Southern authors and publishers, who alone could rightly understand the wants of their people, and to form a permanent national association of teachers throughout the Confederacy.

Amid the distractions and disorganization caused by the war, it was difficult to assemble a general gathering of male educators, notwithstanding the legal exemption of teachers from compulsory military service. Under circumstances so unfavorable, the successful holding of the convention is a remarkable and interesting fact, and a striking proof of the strength of Southern interest in education even during so grievous a political and social crisis. Nevertheless, the movement seems to have aroused little interest among teachers in the Confederate capital, although special railroad rates* were secured for the encouragement of attendance.

*Richmond Enquirer, April 24:

NOTICE TO DELEGATES TO THE EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION AT COLUMBIA, S. C., APRIL 28, 1863.

The presidents of the following railroads have kindly consented to give the delegates attending the convention free tickets both ways, viz.: The Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, and the South-side Railroad. The following, by paying one fare, will grant return tickets to delegates, viz.: The Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, the Wilmington and Weldon

In the list of delegates no Richmond name appears, but Revs. W. T. Davis and Thomas Hume, Jr., of Petersburg, and Rev. George B. Taylor, of Staunton, were the Virginia representatives. The Richmond Whig of April 18, made the following editorial comment, which seems, however, to have been ineffectual:

"A convention of teachers is to be held in Columbia, S. C., next week, to consider and discuss a variety of matters pertaining to the profession. In Petersburg, steps have already been taken to send delegates to this convention. The teachers of Richmond appear to take very little interest in the matter, for as yet they have made no movement. If Richmond is to be represented at Columbia, no time is to be lost in appointing delegates."

Indications of the feeling in Savannah regarding the convention are an editorial notice in the Republican of April 22, earnestly requesting a full attendance, as the discussions are expected to be of vital interest to the Confederacy, and the following published in the same paper in its next day's issue, April 23:

EDUCATIONAL CONVENTION, COLUMBIA, S. C.

Not having become acquainted with any other movement in this city, as regards the Educational Convention, Columbia, S. C., I now invite the teachers, trustees, and friends of education to meet in my school rooms, Concordia Hall (block between the market and Jefferson street entrance Bryan street, at White's store), on Saturday next, the 25th April, at 9 o'clock a. m., for the purpose of discussing the expediency of sending delegates to said convention, or to take any other measures in this direction. THEODORE NIEMANN, Rector G. L. Congr.

On the appointed day, April 28, the convention assembled with 42 delegates in attendance, representing five States-Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. A temporary organization was effected by making Dr. R. W. Gibbes, of Columbia, chairman, and Lieut. John B. Patrick, of the South Carolina Military Academy, secretary. A fine spirit prevailed at this opening meeting, and more delegates were expected.

Railroad, and the North Carolina Railroad. It is presumed that the same privileges will be given to delegates by the presidents of the railroads in the other States from whom the committee have received no response.

C. H. WILEY,
J. D. CAMPBELL,
W. J. PALMER,

Executive Committee of the State Educational Association of North Carolina.

By the second day's session, one more State, Louisiana, was represented, making six in all, and the total number of delegates had risen to about 70. A permanent body was then organized, to be known as "The Educational Association of the Confederate States of North America," with a constitution which provided for annual meetings at such times and places as the association should determine, also that any male citizen engaged as a teacher, or who had "in any way identified himself with the educational interests of the country," should be eligible to membership by ballot. The permanent officers were: President, J. L. Reynolds, Professor of Roman Literature in the South Carolina College; Vice-Presidents, W. T. Davis, of Virginia, C. H. Wiley, of North Carolina, R. W. Gibbes, of South Carolina, J. Stoddard, of Georgia, S. T. Pearce, of Alabama, and W. H. Stratton, of Louisiana; Recording Secretary, T. S. Stevens; Corresponding Secretary, Willie J. Palmer; Treasurer, J. B. Patrick.

President Jefferson Davis had been invited to attend the convention, and his reply* was read as follows:

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, RICHMOND, VA., April 22, 1863. Messrs. C. H. Wiley, J. D. Campbell, and W. J. Palmer, Raleigh, N. C.: GENTLEMEN:-I have the honor to acknowledge your invitation to attend a meeting to be held in Columbia, S. C., to deliberate upon the best method of supplying text-books for schools and colleges, and promoting education in the Confederate States. The object commands my fullest sympathy, and has for many years attracted my earnest consideration.

It would be difficult to overestimate the influence of primary books in the promotion of character and the development of mind. Our form of government is only adapted to a virtuous and intelligent people, and there can be no more imperative duty of the generation which is passing away than that of providing for the moral, intellectual, and religious culture of those who are to succeed them. As a general proposition, it may, I think, be safely asserted that all true greatness rests upon virtue and that religion is in a people the source and support of virtue. The first impressions on the youthful mind are to its subsequent current of thought what the springs are to the river they form, and I rejoice to know that the task of preserving these educational springs in purity has been devolved upon men so qualified to secure the desired results. I have

*Charleston Courier, May 1, 1863; Richmond Enquirer, May 6, 1863. Proceedings of the Convention of Teachers of the Confederate States, p. 18.

only to regret my inability to meet you because it deprives me of the pleasure your association would give.

With my best wishes, I am, very respectfully, your fellow citizen,

Jefferson Davis.

Letters were also read from Governor Vance, of North Carolina, and various professors and teachers in the South, some merely expressing regret at inability to attend, others telling of books in course of preparation and making suggestions on the general subjects to engage the convention. The most elaborate and important of the last named class was addressed to Willie J. Palmer, of Raleigh, as a member of the committee of arrangements for the convention, by Professor Edward S. Joynes, then of William and Mary College, and now of the University of South Carolina, who has had a prominent and honored career as an educator up to the present day. This letter, entitled "Education After the War," was published in the Southern Literary Messenger for August, 1863, and also as a pamphlet* for the use of the convention.

Professor Joynes's letter presented with considerable fulness a forecast of the probable result of the war upon the character of the Southern people. These effects he expected to be in the main good, but the demoralization and materialism engendered by the conflict would require correction by wise educational measures, for which plans should at once be initiated. He laid down as his fundamental principle that "the nature and end of all education, apart from the acquisition of the simple and necessary elements of knowledge, is discipline-that is, the training and culture, not only of the mind, by the right development of its faculties, but also of the will, and of all the intellectual and moral powers of manhood." The best method of imparting this discipline should then be the subject of deliberation for the convention, which Professor Joynes urged, agreeing upon the principle already stated, to attend at once to the practical wants of the existing crisis. Teachers should resolve as a patriotic duty, to keep up their schools, with whatever reduced numbers, as a nucleus for the

"Education After the War." A letter addressed to a member of the Southern Educational Convention, Columbia, S. C., 28th April, 1863. By Edward S. Joynes, A. M., Professor of Greek Literature in William and Mary College, Va. Richmond, Macfarlane and Fergusson, 1863. 16 p. 12°. Reprinted from the Southern Literary Messenger, 37: 485-492, August, 1863.