Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-09-18
BY sANIUE Ell sN w z NJ
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER is, 1899.

- H+<IE0
terly Review, which VIC marked for re-pu5hca>
ton so4sVesks ago. To ,he sentiments expires
seA inlhe extrac, we heartily respond, aud hope
,hexJpii be at,entively read * considered Eve
yr rptis interested. nearly and deeply. in the
nroae Cultivation Of the minds Of his %children;
nexalSwhich tends to increase their useful
- happiness, ough, never 10 be over
f36ked. We have often presented the suoJec;
handled below, TO The consideration 'i ouriead.
ers, No man who has the means, no matter
wha, NAV be his situation in life, ought TO ne
elect to give his children a classical educa'ion:
and by this we do nor mean, a classical educa>
lion in its extended sense; but as good a know
ledge of the Latin and Greek writers as they
can acquire at our schools.
From he American Quarterly Repiec. No. al
EDUCATION
It i, mortiGying TO ne obliged TO confess, tina.
the nubllc education of Gus own country, at
70 DIS a complete contrast in many respects 10
that II France. The means Of elementary in
struciion are, TO be sure, lar more extensive,
and more widely diffused, than in that, or per-
ha,s any othrr country: but here our boosted
aUNl0tlSGa Cc1SSs w VI '"''
mi nary schools are, as a general rule, selected
rather Tor the low price al which they will
serve than for their qualifications either literary
or moral They therefore are drawn from
those who ar- too feeble for the labors OF the
field aud unfis for aucoess il professional Fife
Neither in them, nor in the next order oil
schools, is there any general system OF instruc-
ton or beneficial superintendent, even within
the limits Of a single state. The elementary
education Of the middling ard higher classes,
is left almos, wholly 10 private competition Tor
is regulation, without any supetinltndence -
IL is therefore often undertaken rs a business
by persons wholly unqualified, who make up
far their Deficiencies in learning, by chGrld'dne-
RE Of all possible descriptions. Thus the splen-
did success Of the national acade my al West
Poini, has led TO 4 dcluge of military schools,
which resemble that excellent institution in
no olhcp points But that the pupils wear uni
firm and learn the manual exercise. The rep
uiation of The Edinburgh grammar school, I'M
der a teacher WHO was brought from England
10 restore the standard OF classical learning, has
led TO he institution Of high schools, where
The ancient languages ale either net taught al
ali, or form o secondary object. Our higher
Institutions lauguish, and maintain an inrHrc-
tual struggle against The declining spirit oil The
times, or abandoning themselves to It, grant
their honoIs 10 those entirely dehcieu' in What
universal and wei, grounded custom considers
as scholarship. They vie with each other not
in the quality Of the education they furnish,
bu, in is chespness, both estimated by time
asl bv money II is in the Eastern S'a'es
thu, his decline in The quality OF education
i, mes, Obvious. One of tie colleges of .Iha'
section Of the country, scIualy gives its de-
prTss TO those who pass what they style our
Eag'ish education, and anothet, and that OF
the highcs, reputation, has just been saved
frnra a similar course. by great resolution on
the pat' oI its government. On he other hand
The South and Western States seem ~ b. pur-
SURG a directly contrary system, and are enga-
ped in endawiug universities, aad furnishing
them with the MOST ample means ct g liberal
education, Should these two divisions of our
coun'ry each pursue their present career, and
should he fashion OF clustering young men
in places FAR removed from those where they
are 10 act The businrs SIS Of liir, continue 4 few
wears viii zee the intellectual portion of our
Eastern brs ,hrcn compelled TO seek th-ir rdu
~ucation in the South or West, thus reversing
the present order of things.
The uutCry for an ErgisA education, 10 The
exclusion &c the ancient languages, popular
though il be, is one Of The most reposie, Gus,
when he state Of our education is fairly con-
side, ed, that can be- imagined. Well mean
ing anu in'tiisch' WtH nave Jplhtu III Inc CRY,
Influenced by argument grounded upon a far
different State OF things. SerIain articles in
the Edinbure and more recently IN tie West
minister Review, levsi!rd against tbe system
of education that preyaiis in England, are con-
sIan,fy quoted as if the cases were PARALLEL
Now be il known that in no part of our coun-
try has CLASSIC literature been SO cultivated as To
do an injury ty its excess. The course prepar-
ato-y TO admission into that of our colleges,
which demands most of the ancient languages,
can be and is often accomplished by boys OF
Twelve years Of age; aud if they ever exceed
f~ourteen, il is 10 be attributed To a want Of pro.
per advantages, or q neglect on the part OF their
friends aud instructors; and in The course or
instructions OF all our colleges without excep-
ton, The sciences have at least an EQUAL share
of consoles alton with pure literature. The
error If i: be one is Of policy, nos Of principle,
In making the same course imperative upon !