The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-03-23 00:00:00, page 1

Nassau Hall, Princeton, New-Jersey, Feb. 24, 1780.
AS the coUegeand grammar-school in this place are
now beginning to recover from the defolat'on they
have (offered in consequence of the war ; as the scholars
are collected from the most distant parts of the continent,
and even the Weft-India islands; and as the Trustees and
Faculty are now exerting themselves with great diligence
for the improvement of the seminary; there are force
things which I think it of much importance on my part to
communicate to schoolmasters and parents. This would
not have be'en done in a news- paper if it had been possible
to findany other way as easy, speedy and effectual.
School,mafters are entreated to be as careful as possible
to make the boys intended for college, accurate in their
, preparatory fludies. If they come here ill founded in
classic learning, and obtain admission, it will be impossi
ble for us fully to remedy that defeat by going back to the'
firft principles'; and there are many cases in which to re
jell them for the fault of their teachers, and not their own,
would seem veryTard, besides other circumstances that
often plead strongly in their behalf. There is the greater
necessity of attending to this, that the Tru flees of the col
lege nave seen it proper to allow of admission into the ju
nior ciafs when they enter on the fludy of the sciences ;
and though they are kept reading a part of their time in
. the higher classics. it is plainly impracticable to enter so
minutely into the principles of grammar and syntax as
would be necessary for those who have these matters yet to
learn. I will therefore take the liberty of recommending
a few particulars.
I Let ffeftual pains be taken, and early,to teach them
readily to apply te rules of syntax; for which purpose
there are many excellent books published. Rudiman's
Gr mmatical Exercises for beginners, and Mair's Intro
dufbon for those farther advanced, are among the best ;
^i^^
but any o£them will do well enough in the handsofa fkil
fol mafler It ought to be remembered that it i&pf much
more consequence to make them underhand thegrammar
and ftudure of the lan, uage well, than to make them by
force of memory or application, translate paflages of the
classics either in poetry or prose. Experience tells us,
that if they intermit their studies but a month or two they
will soon forget what they have learned, unless the foun
dation is welllaid, as above.
2. In proftcution of the fame plan, it were to be wished
that masters, inhead of pulhing boys forward to the high
er classics, or making them change their books often,
wouldmot only make them perfea in the cunftruaion,
but give them a very extensive vocabulary of the langu ige
by the use of easy book< and such as they have ideas fuffi
ciently comprehensive to understand By th«fe I mean
Corderius, Erasmus, TEfo 'sF bles,Selefte e Veteri Tef
tamento Hiftoriae, >ll of which were written or coHeßed
by great men, in order to facilitate tie infirdaion of
youtl. To this fn>ulJ be added translating always back
from Enghfh to Latin as well as rmi Latin to English,
and writing versions of both kinds For want of this, no
thing is more common than to meet with boys who fay
they have read V rgil or Horace who yet cannot (peak
three sentences in Latin upon the most common fubjeas,
and cannot explain two pages of Corderius or Erasmus un
less they have read them lately ; nay, will very simply
answer, if they be desired to do it, that they I ave not
read them of a long time. This is just as absurd asif m
arithmetic they should fay they conld do the rule of T ree,
but had forgot numeration and addition, not having ap
plied to them for some time past. I am perfuadea that
were boys taught the whole codflruction of the Latin lan
guage from such books as Corderius or Erasmus's Collo
quies, and could they express every thing readily in classic
Latin that might be expressed by the words to be found
in these books, they would be better Latin scholars than
many who have finished their college coure. Let a scho
lar so qualified open any b ok whatever, he would under
stand almost every thing he saw, and of the little he did
not understand he would k^ow very well in what man
ner by a dictionary he might be speedily informed.
3. It is earneflly recommended to masters to teach the
boys to read and pronounce properly, paying attention
to the quantity of the fyflables. They should from the be
ginning be made to lose their place in the class as cer
tainly for a falfe quality as for a wrong word. T this is
neglected at firft, and they are fuffered to contrast a vici
ous habit of pronouncing, it will be in vain to tnink of
correcting it afterwards by teaching them the rules of pro
sody.
4. Masters of grammar schools are requested by fre
quent occasional or rather periodical exercises in reading,
spelling, (peaking and writing, to make the fc olars ac
curate in their knowledge of their mother tongue. Cer
tainly this is of the firft importance, and will be,t ought
so by all parents whole approbation is worth seeking for.
You will fay this ought to be done in En li(h schools ;
undoubtedly it ought : But what knowledge they acquire
there ought to be preserved and increased in every stage
of their ptogrefs. There is an advantage in a gramm r
fchool and college for this purpose, for when they are learn-
TO THE PUBLIC.
G ENERAL
T H URSDAY,
O R
[ Published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. ]
2. It is of much consequence that children be regular
and conftknt in attendance. If they are called home on
trifling occasions, or fuffered to go home on frivolous pre
tences, the hurt that it does them is much greater than is
commonly apprehended. It gives them an idle turn,
and takes their heads off from their books ; It breaks tie
thread of their inftrulton, and throws them behind their
class, which extinguishes their emulation, and often pro
duces a despondent indifference and doth. They general
ly tell you when requeuing this licence, that they will stu
dy herd to make up the timeof their absence; but expe
rience tellsme that t e very reverie is commonly the case.
Nay, though thy were in force degree to perform their
promise it would be of little avail ; for if parents expel?
that masters will take the trouble of extra attendance in
fucn cases, and add to the fatigue perhaps already too
great, I believe they will be generally mistaken.
In the l ft place, parents are r-qefted to support, coun
tenance, and co-operate with the moral government of the
seminary. It will be wholly in vain to expel? boys to pro
fit in their Audies if they are allowed to be loose in their
morals. I look upon it as certain that the past prosperity
and success o' the Co lege of New-Jersey has been capital
ly owingto the Arid attention paid to this circumflance
by the Trustees from its firft founda ion. Now it is easy
to feehow injurious it mus f be to boys, if the fyflem of
government and example at home is different from, per
hapsdirfaly opposed to, that of the seminary where they
receive their inftrullion We fay they shall not be fuffer
ed to play at cards or dice, to (wear and speak pro <fely,
or take their diversion abroad on the Lord's day, and with
al endeavour to persuade them that these courses are the
road to perdition. But when they return home to their
parents, all these things aredone frequently, openly, aad
without reserve. Perhaps I shall hereby expose myfelf to
the reproaches of that honorable class of men the Free
thinkers of the age. This gives me very little concern,
and does not (hike my opinion in the least degree. There
are, however, some even of them who readily admit that
children and youth should be kept from such practices in
a feat of learning, though they make no scruple of de
fending tne fame indulgences in persons of riper years.
The consistency of this I leave them to make out at
ing the principles of grammar in general in order to obtain
a knowledge of the dead languages, it will not hinder but
promote and facilitate their improvement to point out to
them the idioms of different languages, and particularly
wherein their own agrees with, or differs from that which
they are endeavouring to acquire.
I conclude with taking notice that the art of teaching
any science whatever to advantage, is built upon two great
principles. 1. That the learner should be made perfect as
possible in one thing before he be carried forward to ano
ther. 2. That the steps of tranntjon should be as incon
siderable, or in other words,,as easy and gentle as possi
ble. The firft of these I suppose will not be deputed by
any body, and is as easy in its application as it is just in its
nature. There are masters, however, who carry boys
through the grammar with any thing less than half learn
ed, so that in their lefforts they are (hammering and gues
sing, laying one word right and two wrong, by which
the master's time is wafted, and yet the profit of tae fcho-
Far very (mall. The second principle is as vifioly just as
the other, but of much greater compass, variety and diffi
culty in the application. It may be illustrated by the way
now frequently taken in teaching the art of writing. Some
masters have analysed the whole into a certain number of
simple firokes, each of them easily observed and imitated
by it(elf; and after they have learned these perfe&|y one
by one, they join the whole together with the utmost fa
cility as well as accuracy. Something of this kind should be
constantly in the view of the matter of a grammar-school;
and he ^ the most accomphflied teacher who can make the
steps by which the pupil proceeds the most easy, natural
and obvious.
I shall now offer a few advices to parents who fend their
children to a grammar school or college.
I. That they would not attempt to force their children
on fafter than is for their real advantage It seems to be
a very general object of delire or ambition wit parents to
have their children taught in as Jittfe time as possible in
the grammar school, and entered as high as possible in the
clafles in college. Nothing can be more prepofteroui
than this; for certainly it is more honorable as well as
pleasant for a boy to be at the head of one class, than at
the bottom of the on# immediately (uperior tp it. Besides
it makes their work difficult, and their improvement or
fuGcefs uncertain. If parents are d.firous that their chil
dren's education should be Icon finilhed, that they may not
arrive at the fixture of men before they have compleated
the work of boys, it is a most laudable purpose. But the
Q;ue way to obtain it is to begin early, that they may
have time to be taught in a proper and effectual manner.
If this opportunity is already unhappily loft I would re
commended altering the object of the inftruftion, and in
flead of giving them a regular course, making them per
fect in some of the most eilential branches and omitting
others.
fr^tro^^
I 18.
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&M^ \&CQJ&^S Q£^L>&q
ADVERTISER
their lerffure, and shall only fay, that at any rate those
parents who approve of the fyflem of education praaif
ed here, should, for their own fakes, be very cautious of
c®unteraaing or defeating it either by difeourfe or ex;m-
P^.
J. WITHERSPOON.
^^M^^XXXX^M
To be SO LD at Public Vendue,
On Saturday the 25th instant, at the Conti
nental Magazine of Provisions, on Bick
ley's Wharf, in this city,
SOME Beef, Fork, dryed Herrings The
Sale to begin sit len o'clock, and the
money to be paid on the Ipot.
New Cattle, February 24, 1780.
To be SOLD by Public Vendue,
On Thuj^av, the 30th d^y of M^rco, it three o'clo< k,
A CERTAIN Lot of GROUND with the
WHARF ^nd STORES thereon, situate at
the village of CnriiHana-Eudge, in the county of New-
Castle, bounded to the eastward with Chnftiana. Creek,
to the fuwh^atd with the Bridge and road leading over
the fame, and to the northward with the lot of Themas
dead; being a part of the real estate of Catharine
M ntgmiy, dereafed. Attendance will be given on
the pitmifes by Thomas Montgomery, Administra
tor of the f-id deceased, or hir Attorney.
By Order of the Orphan's Court,
JAMES BOOTH, Clerk.
To bt SOLD at Private Sale,
Or exchanged for mik Cows and Calves, in the town
of Northumberland,
A LOT and TENEMENT. The Lot contains
' sixty feet in front and *wo hundred ami forty feet in
depth. A good deed will be given. Enquire of the
Printer.
PhiladUpbia, March 13, 1780.
AL L persons who have any demands against
me as Deputy Quarter-M fter General, and have
n®t brought in their accounts, a>e carneft;, requested to
do it immediately, that they may have ctertifica er given
arid their accounts fettled : Those dho negl<& this no
tice, and do nor bring in their accounts before the fill
of April n<x, will be excluded from the firft payment:
I am enabled to make.
IJOHN MITCHELL, D.QM.G.
For SAL E, (Wholesale and Retail) by
JOSEPH PALME R,
At tie lore lately occupied by Mrs. Thomas Clifford
and Sons, in Water street, between Market and Arch
ftreets, Philadelphia,
OLD Madeira Wine,
Old Spirit,
Weft-India Rum,
Loaf, Clayed and Mufeovado Sugars,
Coffee,
Tea,
Chrcolate,
Indigo,
Spices, &c. &c. &c.
'wTs tak Tn TIT
Tn the River Delaware,
Two RAFTS of PINE BOARDS. The
1 owner proving property and paying charges may
have them again,, by applying to THOMAS YOUNG,
in Chrrtti or-hreet, Southwark.
N B. If the owner does not apply by the firft of April
they will be fo'd for the charges.
§ —
A FEW BARRELSof BEST
LIVER O I L,
TO BE SOLD BY
J O HN TAY L O R,
in Froat-ftreet, between Walnut and Chefaut-ftreets,
Philadelphia.
TO BE LE T,
ACON VENIENT good HOUSE, with alarge
garden, coach-house and liable, very pleafarrJy
situated in a healthy par. <f the county, about four
miles from the city. Enquire of the Printer.
MARCH 23, 1780.
THE