The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1856-02-27
For the Register.

Vi lut
Mn. EDiroR
/ notice in the columns of the last
"Re9ister," an article by an "Observer"
sorely bcwailing the sad condition of tho
common schools of Vermont. He men
tons several causes for this,-a serious,
and by no means uncommon cause, be-
ing the want of qualification ou the part
of teachers and points 10 the Lcgsa-
ture as the only sure means Of remedy
ing this and other concurrent evils,
which together make our schools what
they are. lie also furnishes us with
one prolific example of an ignorant
teacher, and concludes with many sage
remarks upon this deplorable state Of
things
No one, who has given any attention
to the condition Of our schools, can be
ignorant of many things which this ar
ticle contains and every one, who has
any regard for the general welfare and
prosperity Of the nation, ought certainly
to exert himself in the effort to improve
our educational system But whether
the comparatively low standard Of Yer
mont schools is referablo directly to the.
neglect Of duty on the part Of our Leg
islature may be doubted forwe already
have School Laws. which, if executed to
the very letter, would elevate our schools
far above their present standard and
if the people will not carry into effect
those laws already existing, why should
others be manufactured merely to stand
as dead letter upon the statutes
The fact is, the people of Vermont
are not prepared for such an entire
reformation as would be necessary TO
place our school system on level with
that of some other States, and until they
are prepared it is folly to attempt it
We would like to see the Prussian sys-
TEN Of obliging every child of suitable
nge to attend school; though it might
be somewhat antagonistic to Republican
principles.
But though we so admired the opin-
ions expressed by observer" upon his
pTorosed subject, wo were sorry to see
him make SO worthy theme the cloak
under which he might conceal himself
while he bombarded an institution in
rauk far superior to any other in the
State and entirely without the scope of
his article,-aud cndeavor to 11r0re some
of his assertions by incorrect statements,
though we give him the credit Of ac-
knowledging that he did not make such
statements from personal kH0Wiedge. I
refer, Of course. to his unprovoked at.
tack upon the L. V. NJ and its students.
A controversy in regard to tho relative
merits Of these institutions (U. V. NJ.
and Middlobury College, can be produc
tive of no possible good to the interests
Of either The subject is one which has
hccn already canyassed sufficiently by
all having an interest in the matter and
it is presumed that every intelligent
young man, designing to enter Yer
mont College, will first consult his own
interests and wants aud decide accord.
ingy; and it is hoped he would be
whcliy uniulnenccd by the log rolling
system, which las been SO extensively
resorted to by "Observer" would say)
Vermont College, aud NOT the U.V.M.
But when so many "sly hints ard
"kuowing things are thrown into an ar.
ticle and published in n paper so extern
sively read as the "Reciter." in the
immediate viciuitysof the College, whose
cause he so strenuously advocates, it be-
comes us to give to the people a short
statement Of some of the factS which,
under the pen Of this skillful writer,
have been exaggerated into such bug
bear stories.
lie saws several students of a Yer
mont College. (uot Middlebury) have
been refused situations as teachers in
Cauada East, on account Of bad spelling
in their letters Of application, sc. Let US
sift this to the battom and See what will
be left. A certain student of the U. V.
NJ 9iI write letter TO G. T., relative
t. school-hy some mi,hap tho word
which should have been "Prihcpal' was
written "Principle" Here we see that
"Obscrvcr's' Scrcrql has diminished iu-
10 one-and his baa spelling into an
Interchange of one word for another
but we would say in addition we have
no doubt but that same student, that
made this mistake, would willingly be
placed in comparison with any graduate
from Middlebury for the last ten years,
either as a Linguist--a Mathematician
IA Metaphysiciau, or an English
Scholay. We do not say this to 6oast.
bat merely to show that the mistake wac
nat mate from ignorance.
And, in conclusion, have only to add,
that did l deem it expedient or neces.
sary, could mention almost NUN berless
instances of far greater mistakes than
that, being made byMiddlebury students.
But my object is not to berate others
but merely to correct erroneous i'm
pressions which might formed from the
communication Of ,ast week so l cou-
ceive my task to be done.
Truly Yours, KEsro.