Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1862-09-19

cal busiusss OF life, which have since sadly
Qrudsed them. / do not say that these arts
were not worth having; | only iusist that
there were Others that needed more and
which would have served me better. How
little, eomparatively, has it availed me to
iournev across two continents, and note the
rivers. lakes, mountains, cities, towers, for
tresses. cathedrals and battle-felds, which
illustrate 50 much of their recent human his
tory. while that far older and gfander histo-
ry-yhich treats of profounder and more
stupendous changes-the history imbetded
in their soils and craven on. their rocks-was
almost a sealed book to me? The stones,
slowly, painfully upraised into sky-piercing
spire, a time detying pyramid. are objects OF
legitimate interest but the vein OF quartz
projected from earth's central fires by some
primeval convulsion through milea Of stub
born granite, of toughest basalt-the boulder
of thousand tons, dropped casually by some
vast iceberg, in the gray dawn OF pre-Adam-
ite antiquity, on some sunny plain of the
Temperate Zone, ami lying there strange and
solitary to this hour-l mourn that all this
through the misdir7ctiOn of my seho0l-bcy
opportunities, though fountain Of profitable
meditation, OF rational interest, 10 50 many,
is to me only a subject of vain repining, OF
vague wonder, Of ignorant and perhaps
blundering allusiOn.
of course, if you haYs wisely changed all
this since ny school days. my criticism vii
be locally inapplca5le. But my most recent
glances at schools, from Montreal to San
Francisco, showed me improvement, indeed,
in details, but no radical. comprehensive r.
noyation Of system-here a twig pruned suI
there new shoot started, but no healthy
and vigorous g-el. inserted. 10 the new
emporium Of the farthest West as wsll
as in the venerable city by the s., Law
renee. | found girls OF thirteen tying
their brains into hard knots over AlSe-
braic puzzles which. even when duly solved ,
added nothing to their stock Of useful know
ledge, while Of srst truths respecting the
elements and constitution Of the Garth under
our feet, the air we breathe, The food w3
eat, the fluids we imbibe or employ, they
were still left IN contented aud almost total
ignorance.
| would change this by choosing for the
principal reading book in every common
school A condensed statement of primary
truths bearing on Agriculture, like that re-
Gently compiled for the State Of Massichu-
sets by Messrs. Flint and Emerson, or a
more comprehensive exposition Of Rural
Economy irradiated by the science Of chem
istry, like that of Prof. Youmans. would
hare these not merely read by the higher
grades Of pupils Of both sexes, but | would
have questions on tbs Lesson Of the day pro-
pounded to every pupil a. its close, un.il
each should be rendered master of ell that
the book aims to impart. Then | wo1lt
confne the mathematical studies OF every
girl to the four simple rules Of arithmetic,
and incite no boy to 60 beyond the rule Of
three, until after mastering .he fundamental
laws and truths Of Natural Science, thus
lsying the foundations Of s true knowledge
Of Nature calculated % render every subse-
ouent DAYS labor on the farm a source Of
additional knowledge and every walk OF Ido
at once lssson and joy.
With such an outset. | should hope O"
educate a generation of farmers sons oi
whom all the brighter and more aspiring
would not desert the paternal hearth, the
paternal calling, with the celebrity of ben :
ducklings troopIDg from the nest to the
brook, and | should further hope to FIX the
attention Of such sons on problems concern
ing Agriculture OF which their fathers will
hardly listen with patience to the discussion.