Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-11-13


Is the State List Of Textbooks in ACCORDANCE
with the law under which the selection was
made Is the List itself legal We think not
What savs the law 1.-The Board are author
;,o1 to elect 9, LIST Of such gramniers, seogra-
pbies readers, &C., not ereeeding one book Of
a lind Il, ,,c6 branch, as they shall deem best
sri,,.I for instruction and use, &c" This is ex-
,li..;t e,oogb rather more restrictive perhaps
,,,o, mas designed by the framer of the bill.
SOM, hook Of a kind in good English speech,
certainly means one grammar, one geography,
and SO on. But granting that kind means
ara for it seems to have some such sense in
hi. .tatute-and that the Legislature intend
el 10 have series Of books selected in each
branch we still ask, Has the law been kept
Let Us see. Here is one Speller. Right
Here Is one whole series of Readers and the
highest Of another series,-fye numbers Of the
Progressive and the sixth Of Hillard's. But
Hillard's Sixth may be called higher than Town
and Holbrook's Fifth. Not 50. Better, we adj
nit but not higher. The two come in direct
competition. If one Of them is legally recon-
mendei, the other can not be. And since there
Is doubt as 10 which book is authoritative,
we DO not wonder at all that Hilard should
be So much in favor with the best Of our State
Teachers.
We look farther, and find two Grammars, but
If different grades. This;is all well, if only the
rlammar- are good.
Next come I'VE textbooks in Geography. Do
they form a connected course We cannot see
that they DO. The first three succeed each other
in very regular graiation. Montieth's book
however, in it, second part--thirty-six quarto-
nsres. dealing with Local and Civil Geography
seems TO conflict with Mtchell's intermediate
book while the f5rty-two pages given to Physi-
cal Geography covers ground better cultivated,
as we think, by Guyot Plainly then, Non
tieth should be removed from the list, unless the
Astronomical Geography be Of sufficient value
to warrant its introduction. This part Of the
work occupies Just tao pages, and We have rea-
son to believe it was not in existence when the
book was adopted.
There is some question still whether Guyot's
book and the intermediate Of Mitchell do not
conflict. The Board have evidently determined
they shall not in fact, if they can help it wit
ue,s the remarkable circular signed by them,
| which thepu5lishers Of Mitchells series distrib-
uteI some weeks since, and Of which We spoke
last Saturday. But Guyot finds place for politi-
cal geography though making physical geogra-
rl.y prominent. and Mitchell outlines the ''Nat-
ural Features" Of each country before giving
the products, population, &c. ltwas, or rather
is. evidently the design of the Board that Guyot,
ar p,ei at al, should follow Mitchell But
there seems to be difference Of opinion as to
the relative difficulty Of the two books. Here is
the opinion Of one of the most experienced teach
err in Vermont, Voluntarily communicated in a
private letter "In my opinion Guyot's Common
school Geography Is more elementary, and with
| any descent instruction is more easy to be mas
tered than is the book Of corresponding grade in
any other series, Mtcheu's not excepted; and
this opinion is fortified by the use Of Guyot's
bod. in my school cor nearly two years" But
| - IT,.
WE
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Now rs 10 the Statute ITSELF under which these
rec nmcula'ions are made us II ''constl'u-
tiuual:' And hy this big and high sounding
word, We mean only to ask Whether the pro-
visions q this law accord with the rest OF our
State legislation On the subject whether the law
j. So framed as to he in harmony with our spe-
cill System Of Public instruction. Tothis ques-
ton also W. are constrained TO give negative
answer
The School Law section l') prescubes very
definitely the branches in which instruction shall
De gwen IN the District Schools. Among these
are not found the subjects Of Philosophy
lUy which We presume the Statute intends
what people who say what they mean, cal
physics or natural phiios phy.l and Algebra
Ne'crthe'e'7 IL was in''' '1' '1,y u inc n.''i
to select mot exceeding one DOCK o. j ''"- j.
each Of these branches. Inc Board mas ooeyel
the S'a'u'e' aui hefein are 10 % piAiS''' pu
The statute We 40 no. p',-lSe Il We Al, % nav
an authoritative ana oindlng List let II De co