The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1871-09-06
EDU CTION AL INSTITUTE
South Caroline
FIRST DAY-AUGUsT 90, 1871.

The Educational Institute Of South
Carolina met in Greenvillc, in pursu
ance of notice, in the Court House, at
eight O'Clock p. NJ. The President
Hugh s. Thomson, Esq, being neoes.
sarily absent, the Vice President, j.
B. Patrick, Esq took the chair, aud
announced that the annual orator,
General Easley, had been unexpected
ly called sway by sickness in his
family, on the day before, and that
the Institute would, therefore, pro-
oeed to its regular business. Some
twenty or thirty gentlemen were
then admitted, by a unanimous vote,
to membership, and the following off
GERS were nominated and unanimous.
1y elected President, Prof. j. Fl.
Carlisle; Vice Presidents, Messrs.
Judson, Patrick, Bonner and Pifer ;
Corresponding Secretary, Rev. b. f.
Miller Reco' ding Secretary and
Treasurer, NJ. NJ. Farrow. The Insti-
&ute then adjourned, to meet at 9
o'cleck A. VI, at the Baptist Lecture
Room.
SECOND Dxv, AUGUST 24TH.
Vice President Bonner took the
chair, and for two hours Professor G.
II. Judson kept the attention of his
audience by brilliant criticism upon
"Geometrical Text Books and Meth
ods," illustrating many of his strict.
ures upon the black board. The
more glar;ug defects of most of our
text books were pointed out in so CON-
plete way, that when the learned
Professor closed, DR.. Broadus rose
aud humorously stated his delight.
He thought more of himself, more Of
school-boys, and more of mathemat-
les, after hearing it, said DR.. B.
More of himself, that he had under
stood Professor Judson more of
school-boys, because their non com =
prehension had been proven to be
due at times to their textbooks and
their teachers, and moro of mathc
matics, that, with hooks SO full of
faults, it had done so much for stu.
dents and for the world.
Professor Babbit was reminded by
that part of the essay that treated of
definitions, of the school.boy's Difficult
ty in finding the meaning Of the word
oyster. He looked into his dictiona-
ry and found it to mean a moluscous
bi-valve. Looking out for bi, he
found it to mean two, and for valve, a
part of steam engine, and conclud.
el at last, that an oyster was dread
full animal armed with two parts of a
steam engine.
Mr.. B. R. Stuart said, by way of
caution, that science or study was
capable of conveying much instruc-
tion and much truth to the mind, no
matter how defective its definitions
might be, when critically analyzed.
lst. Because the mind caught at the
fact intended, and especially in
mathematics, though the definition or
symbol did not exactly convey it, and
secondly, because much Of our knowl.
edge consisted in tho perception of
the relations Of things in themselves
inoomprebensible. In moral science
for example, in which the distin
guished gentleman, DR.. Broadus, il
versed, it is we'll known how difficult
it is to define God or man, but the
duties springing from the relations Of
man to God, were much palmer, il
not, indeed, perfectly clear. And 80
if the definitions in common use in &c
ometry were as defective as Professo,
Judson held them to be, still the stu
dent would see the thing intended
through the cloud Of words, and req
son accurately upon the relations o.
one mathematical quantity to another
MIR. Benet expressed his satisfac
tion at the criticism of Professor Jud
son on Davios' Geometry, and sale
that one of his pupils, Of but sixteer
years of age, had pointed cut the a D
surdity Of tho idea of circle bciug
regular polygon with an inGnitcl.
great number of sides. 1t was tim,
to look for text. books that should b,
at least above the criticism Of school
boys. AS to what Mr.. Stuart hae
said about loose definitions serving
the purpose, he could not consent t,
it. A mathematical text book shoult
be accurate. If there was any exao
branch of study at all, it was Mathe
matics.
Mr.. Stuart stated that the law O
thought he had, by way of caution
callod attention to, was both true an,
of great value, but he did not csr
any further to illustrate it. lie pre-
ferred, on this occasion, to be learn
CIR, ind would ask Professor Judson'
opinion upon President Hill's "a
Harvard University views rs t
teaching the clomonts Of Geometry t