Louisville messenger. (Louisville, Miss.) 1842-1843, 1843-01-07

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passions which II seems 10 indulge,
i only feeds with imperfect gfalI6eA-
tons, and thereby strengthens them
for pfeylng, In the end, on their un'
happy victim"
| Now when a child has read this he
knows no more Of the "MortIRcntlonl
of Vice greater than those Of Virtue, v
than he did before he began TO read
Then where IL the advantage' In such
looks they contract the worst Of hab
Is. They will improve much fas,
or In reading, to use such books q,
they can understand, because they
afford them pleasure, and they learn
,oords tOhils they learn ideas. Inter.
esting narrative, in which are some
moral principles, History of mankind
and Of countries; History of Com.
mercc; Biography, &C., afford SUBJ
jects from which every fact is impor-
tant and interesting to children. A
child should never read single les.
son that he is not able, with the help
Of his teacher, to comprehend. 1t will
not be remembered unless it conveys
ideas. Natural History is delightful
to young persons, and would afford a
better "reading book" than many now
used. This subject is not a matter of
small importance to parents, children,
and teachers. The money of the first
is hard-earned and scarce, and the
time of the two last is very precious.
Let all then endeavor to throw those
useless books out of school, and let
children be taught to read such books
and piecesas they can understand.
Is it possible for children to study
all the time they are confined in the
school-house9 Then why think of ma
king young children study or 7hours
in the day? Some parents say whip
them, but is it not wicked to whip
themfor desiring that recreation which
their habits and nature require? Let
us be convinced ofthis fact by calling
to mind our own feelings when we
were students. Since we have grown
up we have forgotten that we were
once children. and the desire for i'm.
provement was not so deeply implan-
ted then as now. Where children are
confined longer than they ought to be
they become restless and mischievous
and nothing will please them so we'll
as to tell them togo get water or wood.
knowledge ought to be made as inter-
esting as amusement, and would be to
children if the dictates of their nature
were strictly obeyed, with the aid Of
the right kind Of bonks and teachers.
Getting"Dictionary lesson and mean
ings" is another useless mode in which
much time is wasted, and should be a.
polished from every school. There is
not one time in ten that q school-boy
will make use OF words learnedin this
way with any kind of decency. They
are perfect slug upon the memory.
Children learn the meaning Of words
by hearing others talk, and by read
ing good books.
will now name another useless &
abominable practice followed in our
common schools, and no sooner than
name it will your readers boot at it.
Ii is the study of English Grammar by
children oflO and IL years of age.
Let US now appeal to facts and see if
it be groundless assertion. Is there
one out of SO made grammarians at
this age, even in the best Of our schools
When they can repeat the grammar
"by heart" and parse every sentence
in it, are they grammarians then? To
these questions we answer, no. Then
why have them hammering fcrmonths
over a subject that they are not able
to comprehend Is tito improve their
mindsl Is il to commit to memory g.
lay it up until they are old enough to
think? or is it 10 keep up with the ia
shion? may be answered here that
English Grammer has been made so |
simple that 10 year-old boy can un-
derstand it. That noun means name,
and therefore, all names are nouns. |
That adjective describe nouns, and
therefore whenever we see word |
describing a noun we call tan adjec-
tive, &C., &c, etc. Now this is all |
very well. 1t is useful information g. |
children can understand il. But are |
there not hundreds ofdifiiculties about
grammar which are impossible for
themto comprehend? Then why have |
them neglect important studies to
commence one which they must soon