Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1845-06-21
EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY.

EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY"
A paper on this subject, signeds." Jefferson, will
be found in our columns Of to-day. II seems aim
ed at some antagonist, who is evidently not worth
confung, if he has made the lliterate mistake attri
buted to him Of prescribing all the Classics, as
tanning little but anti-republican lessons-essons in
favor Of monarchy and aristocracy. He who could
make such an assertion must pass as an Indifferent
Judge in such matter because, if he has read the
Classics, and takes their spirit to be ant-republican
he does not know what republicanism is or, on
the other hand if he has not read them the case is
little better. AT any event, we should take this
Latin-hater for very unproyoked enemy Of the
Romans and Creeks for we warrant that, be they
ever so bad, he never read enough of them to do
him the slightest hurt Amongst the whole body
of those who thus rail against the ancients, we
doubt if there ever, collectively, of this classic
learning which they think SO perncious, enough to
make very serious innovation in any one single
brain, or furnish forth one pedagogue moderately
skilful.
Why, then, this dreadful Democratic denuncia-
ton of poor Hellas and Latum! If the wits of
the Young Democratic have been hurt, why should
Hellas and Latum pay the damage, -used as they
are by the aforesaid Democratic on SO many other
occasions' Who mains them with such horrid
rage of misquotaton Who mouths them in so
dire dction Who so maltreats them in verse,
mangles them in prose, and murders them in an
eloquence that is neither the one nor the other
Who loves so much to spout of Rome and Greece,
in style and with taste that the Vandals and
Scythians would have disowned
II is remarkable how, even in this matter, we
have landmark of the advances which " Progress
siye Democracy has made. In Jack Cades day
man was hung with his Accidence about his
neck, if detected in speaking Latin or Greek. At
present with still more vindictive hate, the De-
mocracy know how to be still more cruel they
speak the dead languages themselves thing sup
posed in their mouths to affect the poor ancients
with horror far beyond hanging. Nor is that all /:
not content with making their language ludicrous,
they libel their liberty, turn their renowned deeds
of valor into base parodies and invoke every eternal
of the virtue and patriotism of old to sanctify
their own trumpery and paltriness and selishness.
They have crew Of banded runagates in New
York, whom they wish to spirit up to the invasion
and plumber Of poor little Rhode Island and forth
with they baptize that cowardly rabblement "Spar-
tansr y If man, with much ado, by the popular
wish to be rid of him, is got out of office, and
goes, in his own despite, home to making sour-crout,
upon the single resemblance Of the cabbage, he is at
once constituted Cincinnatus II distractions are
to be preached, 10 Decius and Cato, Camillus and
Gracious come forth in the Richmond Enquirer,
and expound TO us the Resolutions Of 90 General
jackson becomes t" the old Roman - but which Of
them-there having been several old Romans--the
erudite Democracy has never yet degned to inform
u.s. But the most feIcitous OF all these classic fan
cies Of those who detest the dictionary is f nd in
the name applied to region in Virginia. distinguish
ed by nothing SO much as by its steady devotion to
whatever takes the name Of Democracy, and by the
prodigous proportion of its people who cannot road
or write. OF such politics and such learn;nc
which is Cause and which effect, il is hard to saw
II seems, however, that our Democratic friends
in that ancient Commonwealth had--either in The
original with the aid of a transation--read On
sar's Commentaries. There, the valor of favorite
old legion, the Tenth, which always withstood any
odds, and, perfectly Indifferent to right or wrong,
freedom or slavery, fought till brave country was
Icuucco pcHcdtn TIE noihan yoke, anu tnen lent
their swords to establish their leader as usurper at
home, is often celebrated. One would think that,
TO body Of freemen, name borrowed from the
!, satellite band Of conquering traitor and tyrant
would not be very grateful: but the title was given;
they who received il understood just as much of
Roman history as Of Democracy; and the Tenth
Legion has passed into'a regular geographical de-
signation for large Virginia region, whose popua-
lion are for the most part stepped in ignorance.
But Of all this matter Of classic learning, it may
be WELL old as is the dispute, to say few words Of
q more serious sort; and the more especially tba,
our correspondent, after all, seems to us no very
friendly vindkator Of Latin and Greek; since he
admits that the time spent at colleges in their
study s"most unPro6ably wasted;" for that all