Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1854-12-28

The Association is composed Of teachers ant
friends of education from all parts Of Che country
and was formed in Philadelphia in ls49, under tn,
direction of the most distinguished educators, in
Guiding the State Superintendent of Public
Schools Its objects are to increase, form sys
tenn for, and unite the efforts of all friends Of Edu
cation by consultation, to develop plans for in
creasing the efficiency Of the present system o
conducting schools, improve the school afchitec
ture, attendance, courses Of study, and various
other matters connected with the welfare Of oul
common schools. s.fst n
On Tuesday, the session opened by Prof Joseph
Henry presenting the president elect, Professor A.
d. Bache, who took the chair, after appropriate
remarks when the Association went into consider
alton Of business Invitations were received by the
Association from w. w. Corcoran, to visit him
at some time during its session; also from Prof
Bache, to visit the Bureau Of the Coast Survey
which was accepted, and the visit was made in the
course Of the day.
In the evening, Professor LOOMS, Of the New
York University, opened the series Of lectures on
THE ZONE BETWEEN MARS AND JuPIrER.
Professor LOOMS commenced by abiding to the
recent date ut which such large accessions had
been made TO our knowledge Of the planets be-
longing TO the solar system. Until within the last
two centuries no planets were known to exist ex.
ccpting the seven known to the aneients and II
had been argued that as there were but seven open
ngs in the hchd, two eyes, two cars, two nostrils,
and one mouth as there were but seven metals,
and but seven days IN the week, there could be
but seven planets. He then proceeded to speak
Of c law Of the relative distances of the planets
by which it would appear that there should be a
planet between Mars and Jupiter, and the success
sive and rapid discovery, not Of one, but Of no less
than thirty-three within that space. He here took
occasion to remark upon the part which American
astronomers had taken in astronomical discoveries
The theory had been advanced by Professor Oh
bus, that the Asteroids were the fragments Of q
primary planet which had, from some cause, been
broken to pieces. Professor LOOMS proceeded to
examine this theory, giving reasons why it was i'm
probable that it could be correct and the mpossi-
bility that such an explosion could have taken
place, excepting at period myriads of years since.
The principal reasons assigned were that, at the
present time, the Asteroids have no common line
Of nodes, no point Of common distance from the
sun, and that some Of the larger orbits completely
enclose some of the smaller; while the changes Of
thclorbts in these respects are and must be slow
that myriads of years would be required to produce
such diversity as now exists.
He then proceeded to give reasons for supposing
the Asteroids to have had common origin, one Of
which is that the orbits so interlock, that IL sup
posed to be material rings, any one would Shs-
pend all the rest The nebular theory Of La Place
was next considered and Professor Loomis ex-
planned that theory, and assigned reasons for sup
posing it to be more probable solution Of the
system Of Asteroids than any previously advanced
The lecture was received with great attention
and though the weather was very incement quite
an audience was in attendance
THE RELATIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
Professor Hart, of the Philadelphia High School,
delivered very interesting lecture upon the above
subject at the "Wednesday session of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of Educa.
tionn at the Smithsonian Institution, to large and
attentive audience, composed of some of the most
distinguished friends of education from all parts Of
the country.
He first showed what the Indo-Enropcan Ian
guage consists Of 1t Is found that all the leading
tongues, from the Himmalaya mountains in Asia,
on the east to the Atlantic shore Of Europe, on the
west, certain affnties and points of resemblance,
too strong to be accounted for by any other way
than supposng an historical or ethcnical relation
Then he proceeds to show the ethnogrsphical rela-
ton these languages bear to each other, explaining
the theory that there must, at some time have
been great nation from whence flowed tides of
emigration west to the Atlantic, and eastward to
the Himmaaya mountains, and from which the
nations now occupying this space we're formed.
Taking this theory, we find the following languages
well defined the Sanscrit the Zend or old Persian
the Celtic the Teutonic, the Classic the Scavonic
and these six languages have been called the Indo
European. He then showed the relation of these
languages by very lucid illustration.
The lecturer then proceeded to describe the for
nation of the Anglo-Saxon language. The origi-
nal inhabitants of Great Britain belonged 70 the
Celtic race. They were conquered by the Romans,
and while held by them many Roman words be-
came ingrafted upon the Celtic stock as, for in
stance, the many times Chester Is compounded,
as Westchester, Winchester, &c. Chester" being
the corruption of the Latin, for Camp" Castro
426, A. D., the Roman Legions were Withdrawn. In
asa, A. D., Great Britain was invaded by the pi-
ratical tribes of the Balic--among which were the
Angles and the Saxons. Thus the derivation Of
the word England-the Angles locating in one
part of the country, IL styled Anglc-land, then
Engle-land, then England; and 1.-The name afterwards
was applied to the whole country. While the policy
Of the Romans was TO subject the Brtains, Il was
that of the Saxons TO exterminatc them the diff.
ference was that the Romans wanted subjects, and
the Saxons soil and, consequently, while the Ro-
man and Briton traded peacefully together, the
Saxon butchercd the Briton wherever he found
him. SO the feebler race was expelled, some tax
ing refuge in Brittany, others in the mountains Of
Wales, where they remain separate people, with
a separate language. The Britons were SO com
plctely externnsted that but thirty words Of their
ancient language are merged into the AngloSaxon.
The old language Of Britain, spoken by the savsges
Caesar saw Is stil spoken, but is not our language
We, English and Americans, arc descendants of
the Saxons, and our language is Saxon, and as a
Teutonic language is closely related to the German
and still more TO the Dutch.
During the ninth and tenth centuries, the Sax
pns, in their turn, were invaded by the Danes. As
they were finally expelled, the invasion docs not
affect the Language much but the Danes left a
number Of words which were incorporated in the
English language. And this Is the history Of the
English languages up TO the time when II was spo-
ken in its purity.
Now follows the history Of its corruption. The
first event leading to that end was the invasion Of
Briton by William, Duke Of Normandy, In 1865.
The Normans occupied the soil, and made the Sax
ons their slaves, and the Nomans and Saxons we're
soon aide by, over all the land, and as they min
gled, the Saxon language predominated; so the
language became mixture Of Saxon and Norman.
The Norman French was, in the main, Latin. The
cect of the Copoueet ia not anparent In the u,,t,