Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1822-03-26


nai.c. The gloomy association of knot-
ledge and vice, transformed into devils
I the sons of the morning. Itis the inte-
rest of every parent to remember, that
religion is the bond of society, the source
of ainiable affections, and the cheering
assistant of intellectual pursuits. Bacon
and Boyle, Locke and Newton, had, in
| all probability, shone with less resplen-
dence in. the armament of science, had
their attachment been inferior to the
oracies of heaven, and to the devotional
exercises of the closet and the sanctuary.
81 was ny fathers SON." said prince Of
Israel, "tender and only beloved in the
sight ofmy mother. He taught me also,
and said, Wisdom is the principal thing;
exalt her and she shall promote thee;
she shall give to thine head an ornament
OF grace: crown Of glory shall she de-
liver to thee"
! AT no point will a contemplative pa
/ rent, in general, find himself more Inc
subject of perplexltY, than while en-
deavoring to determine the future pro-
fession in life that his son shall pursue.
/ Ambition, and affection itself, are here
uncertain advisers. Its happy for man,
| that benign Providence often inter-
enes and disclosss track which saga
city, tboushtlulness, and anxiety wonld
have never discovered The disposition
of child requires to be carefully
studied; the examinations Of his genius
must be solicitousiy inspected, and the
tenor oil his propensi,es, rs far as prac-
ticable, betines ascertained. AS great
e variety is found in minds, as III soils.
He scgetes, illir yciiiani felicius iva"
1t would be obviously absurd TO pur-
sue the same course with youth whose
inclination is directed to AGRICULTURAL
commercial, or mechanioa employment
as which one who aspires atthe cbarac-
| ter OF a physician, statesman, or an adj
yocate at the bar.
In the prosecution OF what is called a
| liberal education, two languages, in adj
dillon to our maternal ono. require to be
known--the Latin and the Greek This
is sometimes regarded. bur improperly,
IS 2 serious impeachment in ihe progress
OF useful knowledge lis admitted that
the Romans, besides their own language,
were DESTROYS Of ha'ing their youth in
structed only IN the Creek while ME
Greeks, regarding all the hations of the
world as barbarians but themselves, were
abnn1antIy satisfied with tie cultivation
of their rative tcnvne. Ia the ac9uixi-
zion Of "a foreign language, the rational
object is to obtain useful Information, or
| TO inpart it. The FIRST Of these, for ex-
ample, in reference 10 Brahminical phi-
losophy, was the obicct Of Sir William
Jones; the latter has been the principal
aim Of Or. Carey and his associates.--
Here and there language may be found,
| that will amply remunerate The labor Of.
acquiring il, and The Greek and Latin
arc Of this description. Ii ali that were
contemplated were merely an ability to
convey ideas in isrper variety OF
words--slnce, whatever advantages the
memory might ohtaih, the understand
ing would remain destitute of cultiva-
,tion--iae service ought never TO be re-
CURED. Equally useless would the toll
be found. were nothing more attempted,
to use the expression of the first L4iinlsi
OF his age, than ga prcposierous eSac-
ton, forcing the empty wits cichlldren
10 compose themes, verses, and CREATIONS,
which are the acts OF ripest Judgment,
and the final work of a head, filed, by
long reading and observation, with ele-
CANT maxims and copious invention. -
The pupil who is perusing the ancient
classics, is improving his taste, charging
the circle OF his inform alien, attaining ihc
habit of thinking with order and bold
ness, and of expressing his ideas with.
precision and elegance, with majesty and
fire. 1t is objected, that we may become
familiar with the monuments of genius.
and learning, which the Grecians and
Romans have left, through the nledium
of TRANSACTIONS. answer, and hazard the
assertion, the spirit of their writings has
never been translated. Neitberthc Iliad
of Pope, with all its attractive melody.
nor the Had of Cowper, with all its la
bored exactness, is Honsr's Had
These illustrious men, with their pencil
and chisel, copied from the life, and have
given US an exquisite pictdre. a we'll
| finished statue; but the mere En.Hsh
reader will discover little, in the transa-
tons referred to, of the animation, the
simplicity, the beauty, and the prcfusion
| of the Grecian bard.
That parent employs language entire
lily too frigid, who states that bis son is
learning Latin and Greek. lie is learn
ing more. He is gaining a knowledge
of general grammar, of the formation Of