The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-02-17

tell whose sphere is the largest. A mother
tending her child in the quiet seclusiop of a
Virginian home, sees no foreshadowine of
mighty destiny, yet there comes a day when an
empires fate trembles in the tiny hand now
ciasping hers. 1t is therefore impertinent 10
assume that the responsibility of teachers. OF
OF any one class of people, is greater than that
OF any other. The only difference is, that one
influences at first hand, another at second OF
third At every football, we set in motion chord
whose trembling thrills ten thousand more. and
will culver on eternally. Every thought, and
word and deed, Of every human being. is fol
lowed by its inevitable consequence; for the
one we are responsible with the other We
have nothing to do.
! lou will also probably encounter a great
many deprecatory remarks, concerning super.
hclal knowledge, smattering of the sciences,
&c. Fond mammas will think thew are ma
king display of great and judicious wisdom.
In exhorting you to render their infants thorough
masters of whatever study they pursue. Now.
| think superficial knowledge is very good
thing; and, for my own part, should be only too
glad to be well shattered In the first place.
complete mastery, by schoolchidren, of any one
study, Is moral impossibility- only from
the organization of our school system, but from
the very structure of the human mind. Take
geography, one of the earliest and perhaps the
simplest studies attempted. Childish CAPACITY
cannot seize 1t in all its bearings, nor is the at
tempt to present them wise MANY thipps ora
taught to children, which they would be far
better left TO find out for themselves. Let tbero
grow up to their difficulties naturally. instead
OF having difficulties thrust upcn .Gem from
without. II you lead sheni tenderly up to a
fact, they viii quite probably be Indifferent. or
but partially interested but if they run against
IT. as the boys say plenum Sed they will not leave
1t till they have found whence it came. and WHY
it is there. School life should be considered
only preparatory course. 1t e a means. not
an end. 1t is what yoT YORK out oftheir minds.
and not whet you put in, that is of Importance,
II q boy at the end of his school-daya mas learn.
ed how to study, if he has acquired mental.
moral, and physical seifcontrol, his career is a
SUCCESS, no matter how many or how few tAiaos
pc Knows: vi all the knowledge learned he
may nave forgotten the greater part but the
wisdom which that learning brought him is his
lnalienahle estate. You must be content IN
lodge the Seed for April rain, and Nav sun.
SHINE, and June warmth, are necessary TO bring
1t to perfect fruitage. You may drive the .aI
but time alone can clinch it
lhls charge O. 2Hpersclai knowledge is so
often ersoNga. up against women, that may
le pardoned for pursuing it a little further. and
asking how many SHen there are in America
whose knowledge of things generally, axtends
lar beyond smatteWng 2 / have something
more thGN 4 auaplcion that if the principle
sLoqid obtain, that we are TO know nothing
OF SCIENCE unlesa nc know that science thor
oughly, the sphere of our knowledge would suffer
sudden collapse. Is il indeed desirable that
we should be entirely ignorant of the history
OF Greece, unless we can become imbuad with
the spirit OF her golden age--ea,.Yeiy CONVEX.
saht WIN her literature, Aef antiquities, her to-
PogranlsS, hS} ellniate, her Faana and Flora
hhnW precisely what tide of religious emotion
of sun, and shade, and ispw, ana rain. centre.
on the ger;;,i ,sa. gpgupg up into that HaoniI,
gems outgrowth Of national aloaNvnce, whose
iruit was DemostheA2r AID his immortal com
peers Sna.i VT not trace the long wanderings
81 the heroic Ten Thousand and share their
madness OF delight, when, from the heights of
the Sacred Mountain their eyes leAeld Che
sparkle and glow Of the Eux;A4 Sea-or watch
" italian Aphrodite beautiful flush from the
ocean fqam, 70 live n marble forever-or
dieAl4 ~ the shadow of Olympus TO the music
81 taat harp whose strings have not yet ceased
10 quiver-because, forsooth, we do not know
in what city Homer was born or eypa whether
mere was any Homer ST IA wat force Of ma
ture the poetic p,p,t # eagly Greece symbolized
II ne tftneraap nyth--what wire-pullers. lob
by laembers, CT Hellenic Maintenon, moved
the lever that thrust the Persians and the
Greeks in each Others faces =? Nav, ver;lv.
The world grew nearly six thousand yeags be-
fore 1t Powered in llnngpas. ye, every child in
our VILLAGE svnoof houses will listen with appre-
l,stiye eagerness while you polNt sui 10 them
the different parts Of q c9,nluon pea-blossom-
stamen, plstii keel, wings, and banner; every
aya viii sparkle, and every little listener be-
come practical botanist, and bring YOU speci-
mems from every kitchen garden in the Dligh-
borhood. The Old World of hil blrth and the
New World of hie adoption alike contend for
Agass:-, Dur on shady SATURDAYS in Nav, every
| brock in New England is fringed with ichthy-
ologists in jackets, who will tell YOU the hab-
tat, the breatalng apparatus, the locomotive
power. u .goNt, and reach, and sinner, and
Sucker, for miles around. A lifetime is not
too much to spend in the investigation of the
structure of the earth but in three m9aths an
intelligent boy can learn eEoVeh Of crock, and
tree, and flowing water" 70 give a new inte,es,
and .eauty to every landscape on Which his
manhood's eye may rest, May men have a
speciality something towards which they are
drawn by all irresistible impulse, and TO which
they devote themselves with eager and do
lighted zest. Shall they therefore be ignorant
of everything else? Many p.ore Aave no spe-
ciality. They have "a aecumulative, analytic,
and critical power, and roam az large through
Inspy nelds. They make No new discoveries,
and establish no new congratulations, but they
are delightful companions, the appreciative
welcomers and true Interpreters of the Master
Spirit when he comes. None so far as snow,
are thoroughly versed in all branches OF knowl-
edge; few, in any one pus many, very many,
are sniff cia,,tiI con versant with n large variety
20 realize the words Of the poet.
| "My mind 10 ma kingdom is
have by 10 means, exhausted the possible
exasperations which society in general will
| give you if Won decide to teach. The man who
makes your shoes, thinks it incumbep, apon
him to learn the trade-the w0Aaa who trims
your bonnets, finds il .,.S~sssry 10 serve an ap-
| premiership aas the world at large, collective
il ana individually, considers itself abundantly
| qualified TO make suggestions, offer opinions,
and pass Judgment on so simple and easy q
matter as teaching nor will any motive of del
icacy prevent its doing SO, You will also have
the satisfaction Of knowing that YOU, devoting
lhe prime Of your life, are receiving from one to
three fourths as much money as boy prepar-
ing for his iunior examination would receive, in
| the salme situation or graduate laying NJ
/ money for his medical or theological lec;ares,
The subject grows too rapidly under my
hand, and believe ] SHAH Aaye 70 devote .
separate treatise Il. n q2ascq&slon sui / mast
show Foe Z few gleams from the Sammy Side,
| tsiore'1 pass on.
i In the fist place. il you wish to love and to be
loved, it offers you delightful opportunity. 70,
will bind fresh, young hearts TO your own, will
a tie that time only strengthens and hallows
They are too far removed from you to see you
faults, and they will Leave you before they hay'
acquired discerpraent enough to do so. Con
sequently, you win be enshrined IN their mem