New-York daily tribune., 1843-03-10
THE TRIBUNE.
1iterdrp Il Offices

Az AppREs, DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE GENE
SEE WESLEYAN SEMINARY. January Is, la4s By Rev.
DR.. OLIN President OF the Wesleyan University. To-
| chester. David Hoyt.
| We have read this very able and excellent Ad-
dress with no little interest The author attempts
20 point out the leading features of the most prom
! ;nent methods Of Public instruction which have
appealed to popular favor within few years past,
and to indicate as nearly as possible the chief caus
es Of their failure. To the Manual Labor System,
! which at one time attracted such general notice
/ 10 Military Schools, which were received with
nearly equal enthusiasm; to the High Schools,
! yhich at one time, with their machinery Of gym
,astcs, &c, threw all the other academic insttu-
ions OF The country into the shade, and to the Ly
Gums and Popular Lectures of the present day, Dr.
[ Oils gives some very .judcious and consd.rate
| remarks. He regards each as the temporary
twssion OF the tendency to novelty and change
which prevailed at that particular time; against
EACH he states strong and weighty objections, in
| spirit of candor and courtesy which must win FOR
si. Address the respect of all who read it-no
| matter now strongly preposscssed they they may
have been in favor of the schemes hs calmly yet
s5ly assails. All these novelties he thinks may
have contributed their fair proportion to the
Of learning still he says they have been useful
about in proportion to their degrees of conformity
| .othe old system. He thus proceeds to point oct
the mischief which he thinks has resulted from
| them
THE mischief which they have done has not
been directly or chiefly inflicted upon their own
puplls-t is more widely difused and more gener-
/ 81 in its character and influence. The principal
evil has been felt by institutions conducted the
ordinary and better system, partly in the diversion
Of patronage, but much more in the general dis
rus, Frodnced in the public mind. The exclusive
:sms and mpudent promises of the new dispens-
Gs of light and knowledge, are usually accompan-
lied by the disparagemen. of old establishments,
and so widely and successfully have such falacies
been inculcated to produce general suspicion
mat the colleges and academies upon which the
IOOh of our entire country are dependent for lib
sral education, no longer competent to the task
Of imparting it-that they lag behind the times
are radically defective as well in the lessons which
|hey teach as in their modes and maxims of teach
Ing-,hat in fact they are fairly superannuatcd and
are become chief obstacles to the dissemination OF
knowledge and the progress of learning. Whatis is
yet more deplorable these really sound and valua-
lie institutions have been induced-perhaps they
ave been compelled, by the urgency Of competi-
ion and the earnest demands of what called
Practical mes, to shape their the perverse
ashons of the times, and admit Innovations and |
haRges seldom favorable to the interests of educa-
1on 1t is chiefly owing to the evil influences TO
!shch have referred that our higher seminaries
lave made so little real progress within tha last
lye and twenty years. The means and energies
which ought to have been devoted to the prcduc-
ion OF more thorough and exact scholarship, have
zen expended in the attainment OF lower, though |
It may be under the circumstances OF the times, IN
ispensible objects: Studies and proiessorships
md snowy accomplishments have been accumula-
ed without corresponding progress in sound learn
Ing. We have multiplication and expansion with
hut little increase--I would fain hope, without Sc
nous loss, in depth and sodity.
tlt is in view of results such as these that|wc
Idaim the right of asking these innovasors and
Shemers in education, what benefits they have
conferred upon the public in compensation Tor evils
so observable and grave? The absurd studies and
aborve experiments of the achymists accidental
! y evolved The germ of science. The most
anescent and ex,ravagant of the sects and schools
Of philosophy have usually wrought out at least one
iea have left one truth visible for the lean
Iuupon the waste field of their speculatlons. Not
so with the persons in question. know not II
hey have discovered one maxim or given val |
sbIe illustration to an old one. ! doubt 1t they
lave added an original idea or appliance to the
Common stock, or contributed ray OF light tor
e guidance of their cotemporarics and successors,
acept liz the warning afforded by the gnal failure
ID their plans. Of this advantage we may avail
|arseves We can fall back upon first principles
nth increasing confidence in their soundness and
7lity We may follow the beaten track with
timer step.
Il enireat NV audience to observe that these re-
riks are not directed against any class or KIND OF
eaools, but against arrogant and misleading pre-
sn,ions Systems and means arc not indifferent
ltconsderable variety is admissible and may often
recommended or even rendered necessary oy
Eying circumstances. Nothing however either IN
plan or management! OF u literary lnsutuuon Is
Iany real value as an instrument OF education,
further than it contributes to one OF the two
Eat ends of MENTAL DISCIPLINE, AND THE FOR
s1loS OF RIGHT Moral SENTIMENTS AND hA-
Ss.n
Mr. Ot1s proceeds 10 state the grounds which
aucc him to believe that for the attainment otthese
E.,:.he usual and established course OF academic
Edy'is by far the best. The Address cehtalns
Mnyobserva,ions Of the hi chest value to the student
& will be read, we are confident, with prott ana
MEASURE, by those who discardas we'll as those VINO
@bracc its positions. 1t is written in very rieh
ssdg,aceful style, and is in every way worthy the
Ngh fame of its distinguished author
S1E INDICATOR MISCELLANY OF SELE.IMPRoyEMENT.-
tsEe5ruary lS43. Vol. l. Nc.4 J. D. Lockwood.
his number of the Indicator contains many well
ca extracts from various books, reviews, peri
.-als &C., intended to point cut the path of self
nproyement to the Young. Though j, seems to