Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1833-10-16
From the Cincinnati Journal,
TEACHERS CONVENTION

IL1AOtlCIGO' OCLS Elm HUN,
We give below abstracts from several O
The addresses delivered at the late conven
ton. They appeared first in the Gazette
These addresses embody the mature thoughts
OF men, whose talents, education and expe
rlence, entltle their opinions to much respect
Mdch was said in favor of improvement il
teaching, but the means by which the i'm
provement can be effected, had not Gu fl eio n
regard. If we mistake not. there was de
feet in this. We mention it, not by way OF
feproot to any, but as hint that may be i'm
proved on future occasions.
An abstract Of an address dclipered by TIM
oTlIY WALKER, ESQ. on the objects of ed.
ucation tn the United States, before the
college Of professional teachers in this
City.
Mr.. Walker opened his address by allu-
ding to the character of School teachers,
and to the degradation, to which those, who
follow this business, are reduced in society.
Every employment is considered above that
OF training the minds of the youths of our
csuntry. This is left generally to the very
lowest class in society, and your prisons too
lamentably tell the truth of this remark
Why are parents so unconcerned on this sub
ject? Why do they suffer their children to
be trained up for time and eternity, by men,
whom they despise, and whom they are viii
ling to sec represented on all occasions as
Pcdogogucs. The time is fast approaching,
when parents will see the injustice they are
doing their children, and the profession of
school teachers will be raised in public es-
timation. The profession of teaching will
be considered higher than any of the learned
prolessions,-event the expounder of the saS
cred oracles of God, will stand below him
Alter few other just remarks, he began ell
his subject. The education suitable for a
monarchy, is not suitable for republic. In
the fist, passive obedience to the laws is all
the political knowledge that is necessary tol
the people 10 know; but in the second, the
people are their own masters, they must I'M
derstand the rights of men and the way those
rights can be best protected. The question
then is, rs the present system of education
calculated to give this knowledge?' Let US
examine the books which are generally stu
died, and see.
LIST. Our Arithmetics tell more about
pounds, shillings and pence, than they dc
about dollars and cents, our own coin.-
This should not be. Children should be
first made acquainted with our own mon
ey, then give them knowledge of that
of other countries.
Cd. Geography. 1t is fact, that chill
drcn when they have gone through the
Geography, know more about that Of Eu,
rope, than that Of the United States.-
This is the fault of the books not being
particular enough, when speaking of our
country. Instead of descending to de-
tails, there is only general view taken Of
the United States. In a word, they are
not national enough. The same may be
ssaid Of the histories that are studied. -
We now come to more important studies,
wiz. the Greek and Latin languages,
Mathematics, Rhetoric, Metaphysics, Lo-
'gic, Political Economy, &c. which are
generally studied in our higher schools
land colleges. ..-.
On an average, no individual can spend
more than eighteen years in getting an
education. One third of this time, it will
take him TO study the Latin and Greek.
Cannot six years be better spent on some
tother studies? 1t was laid down as an
axiom, shat no studies should be intro.
duced into our Schools or Academies, be.
cause they serve to enlarge the mind, when
others can be found, which do that and
something more Can we not find sub
'stitutes for these, then? Will not the stu
dy of the modern Languages enlarge the
mind as much as the Greek and Latin.
land at the same time, be of more use to
.oar children than those that have been
dead centuries. If we would spend these
six years in the study of our own Ian
.guage, would we not understand it better
than by studying the Latin and Creek
Have we not as great men and as great
writers now, as they had then? We boast
of our advancement in knowledge, and il
would be contradictory to say, we are
more ignorant than men were centuries
ago. As Poet, Milton is superior to Ho.
mer; as an orator, Pitt is superior to De.
mosthenes; and as an historian, our own
Marshall is superior TO Xenophon. Be
sides, we have hunsiations of these great
works, which will give us all the know.
ledge contained in them. A man can be
come good Lawyer or Doctor withou,
these languages. There are words il
our own language by which we can ex
press all the terms in every science, which
are now written in Latin. The apothe
cary now has to learn hundreds of words
Of which he does not know the meaning
and for what? To tell one kind of pill
from another.
Mathematics. There is no place il
our country, except West Point, where