Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-11-13

were private rabnef tnan public. IL Is new
ertheless true that in compliance with hi
urgent recommendation, and in opposition
to the expressed wishes of part of tn
Board. it voted Z" that in the examination
OF textbooks the sessions of the Board will
be conducted i'll private" This vote wa
passed on Monday, as appears of record II
the handwriting Of the late Secretary, ant
when he. at noon of Thursday. informed tn
teachers that the Board would conduct thei
deliberations in private. he informed then
not of a new decision dscourteous T. them
and against which his soul revolted, but O
an old decision made at his special instance
and request. If single teacher who re
manned after all the rest had returned hom,
was finally permitted to be present. il is diff
cult To sec how courtesy to him could be dis
courtesy To anv one else.
I Ihe Board torbear to pursue this line o
comment. They would not have pursued il
thus far, but for the possibility that THEN
silence might he construed admission
OF the truth Of the various statements upon
which they have commented. If they arrest
the discussion ut this point. their silence does
not give assent To any Of the allegations
which remain unanswered.
The late Secretary has recommended that
the Legislature revise the decision of the
Board by substituting some books for those
vi stb ItuSL DN duuiiiE tuciu 10
the list. But it is difficult to see how body
SO large as the Legislature and pressed with
the consideration of 50 many and SO weighty
subjects, give the books in question that
careful examination which is desirable. In
the language OF the late Secretary as applied
to the Board :. To suppose MANY men, b,
upon so difficult subject and one proverb-
ally SO prolific of differences of opinion,
could in so short time reconcile all divcrsi-
ties of judgment. clear away all misunder-
standings and differences of views. and all
with that freedom of discussion. comparison
of convictions. and that calm and unpreiu-
diced consideration eminently due TO the
occasion, is simply preposterous. If. how
ever, the Legislature should decide to con-
slider the subject, the Board submit few
remarks for their consideration.
1t is recommended by the late Secretary
that Cornell's Biographies be substituted for
Mltchell's. Whether this can be done and
yet preserve the good faith of the State. is
question worthy of grave consideration. The
law of last session, under which the selection
of books has been made. declares that the
books so selected, = shall he and remain au-
thoritative and binding" for the term of five
wears. Since the selection of Mitchell :
Biographies, the publishers, relving upon
that law and upon the contract implied in
1t. have brought cut new edition Of their
intermediate Geography especially ada pied
to the schools of Vermont, with new and
carefully corrected map of the State. and
several pages of letter-press and questions
relating to the geography of the State. This
edition Is now ready for use. Having in
CURED this large expense. in reliance upon
a law OF Vermont. would it be lust To them
and creditable to Vermont to exclude those
books from our schools. and leave them. al
most entirely unstable as they would need
he IN any other state. upon the hands Of the
publishers?
But not 10 insist upon that point Ad-
mittlng II 10 he true as affirmed by the late
Secretary, that Cornell's Geogra phies were
regarded by the Board ten wears ago as the
best then extant, ii does not follow of neces-
sity that they are the best now extant On
the contrary. it does follow Il at unless they
have been subjected TO continual revision,
correction ana Improvement. thev are not
the best extant. In fact, the general dissat-
isfaction with these books was one of the
reasons which induced the Board la~t wear
to recommend a new selection of textbooks
Many OF the most experienced teachers in
the State were emphatic in condemning them.
Neither of the two eminent teachers whose
opinions on Geogra phical books were sought
by the Board, had "a word 70 say in favor of
them. The publishers did not ask that they
should hc continued IN use. hut presented
specimen maps and proOt-shccts off few pa
yes Of new edition - completely recon
structed that To introduce it would he moth
ing less than 10 introduce an entirely new
work. II did not seem iudicious to adopt
without examination. hook the intrdAuc
ton of which will occasion every whit as
much ineonyenience and expense as the in
PRODUCTION of that which has been thorough
ly examined and found 20 possess peculiar
merits
The late Secretary especially complains Of
the action Of the Board in the selection of
reading book This was the only selection
made on which the Board were not finally
unanimous, and here there was but one dis
senting vote. The late Secretary admits
that hc was committed TO- and had for some
time, advocated Wilson's Readers The
Board were committed to no series and ON
the recommendation Of the late Secretary
adopted resolution 10 examine and adopt
each book upon its merits Were they not
in condition ~ Judge of the merits as Impair
italy as the Secretary? In what particulars
were the Board To examine these books to de-
termIne their merits ? The elementary
sounds with their combinations Exercises
in articulation excmplifying philosophically
and practically these combinations rules
and principles for elocution. systematically
arranged for class drill. practical application
OF these principles adapted to the appropri-
ate reading of different STYLES of prose and
poetry,-the structure and forms of senten-
ces in prose and verse: and the figures Of
speech all these were to be carefully con-
sidered. Simplicity and style, especially in
the primary books, combined with nteres-
ting and instructive matter were to be re-
garded. Especial attention was to be paid
TO the grading of the books as series. that
the pulpils might pass by easy and regular
steps to the higher literature. Care was to
be taken that the punctuation was systemat-
ic, and that the sentences were free from OBJ
jectional and inelegant expressions, and that
the series furnished suitable class Of pieces
for practical school purposes that the books
contained sentiments and instruction worthy
to be treasured in the memory. and calculated
to inspire a love for whatever is excellent
and praiseworthy. These and ether excel
lencies were all to he sought for in each Sc
rleS. Each series was then examined in all
particulars. The result was that the Board
selected the Progressive Series as the most
meritorious and that, too, after having fully
heard and carefully considered all the rea-
sons urged by the late Secretary as repeated
in his report. in favor Of Wilson's Series
and against the Progressive. 1t was then
urged, as now, that some teachers were tired
of the old books, and for that reason desired
new ones Can this be Il sufficient reason
for discarding a series of books, which. as
the late Secretary says in his report, was Sc
lected by that very able first Board of Educa-
ton upon their merits Will excellence
tarnish by use, or the old masterpieces in lit
erature ever die of age?
The scientific matter contained in Will
sons Series is the only excellence claimed