Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-12-15
Edncation In NaMsnaners.

w CLIP UQo IOllOWl0S ITOLn Gue LcWStCT
(Ireland) Independent: The majority of
persons who subscribe to a newspaper re-
gard it in too narrow point of view.
They regard it as a gossiping visitor who
affords amusement and instruction to
themselves. This it is, of course. But it
may fulfill more important office in q
household. It may become a powerful
auxiliary in the intellectual improvement
of the young. The boy who reads aloud a
good newspaper for the elder members of
the family can not fail to be advanced and
elevated by his occupation. Such an ex-
ercise will gradually wean him from the
puerilities, fo1lies and toys of childhood.
It will fill his mind with varied, curious,
useful and solid knowledge. It will edu-
cate him unconsciously. Ii will, to use a
vulgar phrase, make man of him. This
might be demonstrated by the example of
America. One of the reasons why young
Americans are so intelligent, so enterpris-
ing, so "wide awake" is, that in their
boyhood their mental ailment consisted
in great degree of newspapers. School
boys in America not only read, they some
times write newspapers In consequence
Of this, the young, keen-eyed American is
not only abreast of contemporary events,
but he projects his mind into the future.
He makes the time to come his. Own.n
All that wonderful variety of curious in
vention which characteriZes America may
be attributed in some degree to the pre-
cocity produced by newspaper reading. 1t
has often been remarked that if England
rule the sea, if France or Prussia rule the
land, the future Is the dominion of Amer
lea. The newspaper leads their young, as
it were, to the bright horizon of human
knowledge, where, like the Arcadians
t1lrrcrrino hn fhary cton6 oiOft nd
contemplate the golden effulgence, when,
lost to other eyes, it illuminates the eni
chauted regions of the untrodden future.
They do not think of what their country
has been, but what it will be. They an
ticipate the time when America will be
as populous as China, as military as Prus-
sia, as maritime as England, as powerful
as pagan Rome in the plenitude of its i'm
perial domination. They not only do
this; they endeavor to make their own
country what they imagine. .t
The youth of America are, generally
speaking, able to discuss the important
questions which agitate the minds of the
greatest statesmen. In reading the eulo-
gies of eminent men, which so often occur
in the newspapers, a spark is sometimes
struck, flame kindled, love of fame
engendered, which animates them through
life to struggle for a prominent position in
society. There is no description of litera-
ture which excites so much attention in
the old land consequently makes so great
an impression on the young) as good
newspaper. The pinions of the intellect
wax strong in the perusal, and become
capable of wide range of profitable
excursion in the world of inquiry. To
read a modern newspaper requires great
amount of information. Without knowl
edge of geography, for instance, news
paper is untelligible. No boy who under
stands newspaper can grow up a dolt, a
NOPE, child-man. He must be capable
of conversation on the greatest subjects of
popular discussion. In short, the father
who refuses or fails for the sake of a paltry
expenditure, to introduce newspaper into
his household, deprives his children of a
great intellectual inheritance. He inf1icts
an irreparable injury on his offspring.