Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 21.djvu/86



76 READ BAIN

Of course, there were many term-fee academies of this period, most of them organized by the Methodists and other religious denominations, but many of them were private ven- tures. Nine such institutions were advertised in the Oregon Statesman in 1852, if we include the "Dancing Academy of Prof. Alexander Coggshall, late of Boston/' who "bearded the lions of the Methodist faith in their own den" and advertised that "he was prepared to teach the fashionable art of dancing to those in Salem who may desire, for a very nominable sum," the amount of which he did not state.

Perhaps the most pretentious of these advertisements is worthy of quotation. 15 It is a good example of the "papal darkness" which Rev. Ezra Fisher so much feared. He finally succeeded in establishing a school at Oregon City, to combat the menace of the "Catholics and Methodists who were placing schools at every vantage point," and also to "vindicate the peculiarities of the Baptist faith." This Catholic institution was the "Young Ladies' Boarding and Day School of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Oregon City." It announced its particular brand of "papal darkness" and method of "uniting the influence of Romanism with heathenism to bring into disrespect the simplicity of the gospel," as Ezra Fisher wrote, 16 in the following terms:

"The heart must be formed as well as the mind and adorned with all those qualities which beautify the manners and render virtue attractive and amiable. The moral advancement of the pupil shall be the object of the most assiduous care.

"The academy is built on the banks of the Willamette river remote from the business part of the city. The buildings are spacious and airy ; the pleasure grounds dry and extensive.

"In case of sickness, they shall experience the most con- stant and affectionate attention, and every incentive proper to inspire a laudable emulation will be employed. At the end of the term a solemn distribution of premiums will take place, followed by specimens of drawing, sewing, etc."

15 Oregon Statesman, Sept. 1851.

16 This quotation is from a letter Jan. 4, 1847. He was referring not to this particular school but to the general activities of the Catholics. Ezra Fisher Correspondence has a great deal of valuable information in it, particularly, refer- ence to economic conditions at that time, as well as a lot of amusing material.