The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-04-24

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board of Education, and open to the public
, But a very small portion Of that pubi
seemed to be aware Of that fact, however
: until the second days exercises were wei
advanced, when the citizens began to com,
III in considerable numbers, and finally lllrt
the hall. When we say that everybody
seemed, not only satisfied. but highly graft.
fled at what they saw and heard, come
short OF expressing oar own feelings, and
we think those of other people. too.
1t has been our fortune to he present at
great many school examinations. Many
OF them were brilliant, ard even successful,
in certain sense; they accomplished that
which the teachers had striycn fnr--u fine
exhibitions. But somehow, in our opinion,
they had all strivcn for that hicil was com
paratiyely worthless. We have heard
young ladies prate learnedly about the
'ologies and the 'onomies, who were deficient
in the simplest English elements; we have
seen young gentlemen paraded with orig
inal Latin orations, who were unable TO
write correct mother tongue; and we have
seen teachers, pupils and friends go away
from such exhibitions equally delighted and
dcluded. We had seen such scenes so often
I that we had come TO the deliberate concu-
sion that, as we are never TO have any more
DpNS anu SliiS, Dul UHIv men ana women,
SO were we to have no more MOrvughhess in
the study Of the elements. But the expert
mcnt proved a sad failure. and nearly every
body but "doaiinP manas' has come to the
conclusion that wisdom and whskcrs must
bide the time.
We shall not attempt to give a detailed
. account of the Examination, for that
extended through several days. English
language, Geography and Arilhmctic com
prise the branches upon whirh the pupils
were examined; but they have also been
taught Vocal Music and Physiology, as "A
basis Of Physical education. Language.
geography and arithmetic, however, are
pretty extensive subjects, and if any oi yOu
elderly gentlemen VINO learned these things
in other days, and according to the books,
feel like showing your parts in the way of
scholarship, he good enough to take your
places IN the class, and let ira Moore dril
YOU half an hour, or, let Miss Cole, or Miss
Brooks demand the ShiJboieth which tests
yOur accurate pronunciation OF the presi-
dents English, and if You should acquit
your,elve, well in all that relates to U>,r.
let Mr.. Iovcy extract the WY ont Of you,
The examinations under the head Of
Language, related to the Elcmsnfary s9uHds
OF The English; their cnunciatiOn, a.finiiics
and classification, syilabIcaton and pronun-
citation Of words; speech and the construc-
lion Of sentences: ;ettd-s and written
language; and the principles and art Of
correct and elegant reading. The classes
bore the most ri-id eros S-qucstionIn- from
members of the Board. and always with
increased evilenceS of their thoreughaess.
For the sake OF such "a have not Witnessed
the improved modes ct teaching language
by analysis we should Ike to 20 iato detail
on This point, but cannot DO 20 now
Ia Arithmetic, the success of the pupils
has been such that mere puWhcrs aud their
relations appear 20 be jnst rs familiar as
words are to rapid speakers. II j. wei!
known mat numbers are merely the instru-
uer = with which most problems are solved
by the higher powers of the Intellect; I
hence the greater the facility in n>ing these /
uur. bcrs, the more will the mind be left +
rec to spend its strength on the problems +
themselves. Ia the many different demon /
stra,ionS on the Black board made hv these /.
pupils, the mastery of mere numbers :
appeared to he 50 complete that they
scarcely required thoueht, and the pupils !
whole m'ri was given to the problems b
which the figures were the means Of solving I
one leading principle appears to be kept /.
in view in the study OF numbers, which is /
become part Of any process. For example !
The common way OF adding is to say, Il /
and 10 are III. and ! are 30, and = are 25.'
&c; but Mr. Moore's pupil, say "6, Is, -. ,
-, thus saving nine words in the process. /
We Wt0E IN words, and if the processes Of
addition and satisfaction can be carried on
by only speaking the numbers which ind- ,
cate rt,Yiis, more than half the time is saved |
The questions in Arithmetic were written |
on slips of paper and distributed to the |.
classes a: random, at the moment of begin !
ming the examination. We did not witness !
a single failure. The most difficult prob |!
lens were solved with ease, and each pupil
explained his process, and the rationale Of
II, with such ciearness as can only come
from a clear unders: anding OF the principles
involved.
Geography is made to include the latitude
and longitude Of phases, as foundation for
all the rest; and from a knowledge Of these
elements, map ng on the black board
is executed with great accuracy, ritheut
any maps TO drag from. 1t also includes,
besides descriptive and political geography,
the mines, soils, capacities, and products OF
various countries their arts, commerce, !
manufactures, statistics. and local peculiar- !
ties and the distinctive features Of the people !
themselves. Physical Geography, as related
to the causes which act TO modify the eartb'S
surface, has not yet been studied.
We close our notice with this remark
that there was no attempt at " Exhibition"
no vanity of display, no SNOWY rectations-
nothing but an honest and earnest deter
mnation to teach the pupils the "what,
how, and WHY of all that relates to useful
and everyday knowledge, and the best
. modes Of communicating this 10 others.
PRoCREss IN L,BERIA-The recent intclii-
sence from Liberia is rich in the evidences
of an advancing, if not perfect civilization.
The er-stoue of "Iibe,ia College was
laid January 25th, with appropriate cere-
monies. The Conference of the Methodist
Church have elected the Rev. Francis
, Burns, colored, as their Bishop. This is
c.nsidercd an excellent selection. Mr. Burns
being man of good education and fair abil
! ty, and thoroughly conversant, by reason
! of over twenty years residence IN the rcpub-
lie, with the condition of the people. The
! legislature had adjourned after a session oi
six weeks, during which several important
acts were considered and approved. henson
entered on bis second term on the 4th OF
! Deceuber His career has been uSclul and
| ,cc.n,,ble fo his frilow-citilens. y national
ovb bition was held NJ Monrovia in Dcccm-
her which gave great satisfaction. The
agricultural department was especially LARGE
and interesting. Several farms of sugar
cane are cultivated on the St Paul's river:
! opc-haif the cane cut upon one had yielded
two thousand pounds of sugar and the same
! number Of gallons Of syrup. Three tons of
superior coffee were exported within few
months from Bassa county. Some success
ful experiments had been made in the cult
vation of cotton, and the agricultural interest
was everywhere advancing. a merchant of
| Monrova had arrived in his own ship from