Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-08-15
A TRAVELLING TENxEssEEAN.
CaudIe Letters and lecturer.


Candle Letters aud Lectures.
From Lynchburg, I wend my railroad
Rome is to Catholics, Canterbury to High
Churchmen, or Mecca to Mahommedan,
all this nearly is this little county to East
Virginia True Blues. Here is glorious old
Hampden Sidney College, redolent with the
memories of the Hoge's and Laey's, and
presided over by one as noble as any Of
them, the widely-known DR.. Atkinson.
The building is plain brick one, about
three hundred feet in front and four stories
high. A quarter of mile distant can be
seen through the trees, another just like it,
the Union Theological Seminary. The four
Professors Of the latter differ less in learn
ing and greatness than in fame. Smith, an
author; Peck, one of the ablest critics to be
found anywhere; Dabney, of Stonewall
Jackson fame, besides having much of his
own; Alexander, of the historic Alexander
and Waddel families, also an author, make
perhaps as able q theological faculty as
America can show.
The college commencement drags its
linked sweetness out for three days. How
old it makes me feel to ask about mem
Der of the graduating class, and find he is
son Of one Of my fellow graduates. And
to see some weary looking old men and
women who l am told, would hardly
otherwise have found 1t out, were the young
folks of my time. ask after the 'girls" Of
one family and am greeted with q laugh
and the information that "girls" as kne W
them are well up in the dfties. The des-
eendants of the old country families are
out at commencement as of yore. But l
see less display On this the great day Of the
year than l used to notice ON ordinary
Sabbath.
A chief object in writing these letters
being to convey information about the Vir-
GINA Colleges, Ireturn to Alma Mater.
These two Yords-in the PIckwickian
sense-meaning wife neither and applied
to colleges because they did not receive
black students. 1t is proposed for the
North to change it to "Nigra Mater"
The curse Of American society is
the tendency of every stratum Of i'm
itate the strata above regardless of fit
ness. Colleges ape universities, academies
ape colleges, and in some years we may see
old field schools granting diplomas on Web
ster's spelling book and pOt-hooks and hang
ers and school marms comforting degrees.
Universities are for men, not for boys, who
wish to develop specialities. Colleges like
Hampden Sidney and William and Mary are
for youths for whom symmetrical develop
ment Is desired, and who are to be famili-
arized with all of tha nsrIai b-anehas Thus
!. y.ourlI under twenty, who wishes to spend
two years in studying and sget an educa-
ton" as the phrase is, without especial re-
ference to the use to which he viii apply it,
win find his gain at Hampden Sidney, espec-
ally if be can join the Sophomore or Junior
classes. Perhaps of all places in Vir-
ginia, it exercises the happiest moral
influence, besides turning out fine scholars.
Being professional scold-what is preach
ing often but scolding?-I cannot but growl
and grumble at the Odious style Of pronoun-
cling Latin, l find here and elsewhere.
When l express my adherence, l am
greeted with the suggestion from a pert
Young student that it is hard to teach an
old dog new tricks. l do not know IL the
subject is Of importance sufficiently general
TO Justify it, but 1 will give you brief
statement of the reyolu ion that has been
effected in this matter.
You are aware my unhappy fellow crea-
tute and fellow teacher, that for the bliss Of
the boys of the past who studied Latin, 1t
was believed that the true pronunciation OF
that tongue was lost. Whether the old Ro-
mans talked through their noses like Yam
KEGS, or grunted in their stomachs after the
style of German GU tIrsls, was unknown
Accordingly each nation pronounced Latin
words as they did their own. The word amicl
friends, for instance, a-mici with us in
French was ah-me- ce, in Spanish anne he,
in Italian ameche, in Polish two grunts and
a cough. The English Parliament with
that delight in making laws It shares with
the Tennessee Legislature, decreed as long
400 "a the DAYS of her whom Mr.. Froude
has proved to be bad Queen Bess, that long
a In Latin should be pronounced like in
potato. :,
But the Roman languages as we cal
them-French, Spanish, Italian, all derived
| from the Latin-pronounced long like an
like a, like e, and u somewhat like that
same letter in the unseemly monosyll liable
which in dissyllabic form is voInit. Or tc
be more accurate, like that cultural sound
| which generally precedes the act the vert
| indicates. This and the affection both o
these people had for the French, in early
| times, made the Scotch and Irish diffel
| from the English and initiate the Roman
tongues in the vowel sounds. This intro
| duced a so-called 'fcontinentap pronuncia
| tion-a ridiculous misnomer, as no nation
| of tie continent could understand WORD
they thus pronounced.
But more profound study of the greai
pyramid of Egypt, together with BETTE
| acquaintance W .th Cherokee roots, and the
habits of the laughing hyena, and the uni
versity series of school Books used by tn
| old Aryans, above all the information tele
graphed to Mr.. Darwin by DR.. Livingstone
| from Central Africa, that the monkeys o
Soudan being majority, are intending u
have the negroes taxed for the purpose
| supporting a system of free schools for thi
| Young monkeys, which schools, the negroes
| with a proper dread of monkey equality ar
refusing to patronize, although whole car
90 of she Zankas have been imported an'
| forwarded by Donkey express. All thes
"facts" and others additional, have enabled
the German scholars to announce dogmati
cally that the loHg-lost pronunciation Q
Latin has been partially recovered, so tina
henceforth scholars will reverse the actiol
of Babel and be of one speech. II
Latin is sounded like y, like K
the vowel sounds as above
with more of horrible and awful,
| Which cen to name would be unlawful"
We old folks will have to go back to CO.
leae when the boys come back and tell
about Kikero Orahtor and Kasar, slain b
the descendant of Lukioos Yunioos Bru
toos; or will tell us about the poahta Gun
known to us) Queentoos Flahccoos Horah
teoos. This all sounds absurd; but 1t
certain we must come to it. This wider
ing the difference between the tongues WI
diminish the value of Latin to an Engiis
scholar. 1t is not unlikely that the learne
| who are not satisfied to let well alone, hav'
by insisting on this change and destroyln
the audible correspondence between th
languages, done much to loosen the hold
| the study on the popular mind. In
| tongue, hundred years ago the vehicle
law, medicine and theology to degree t
| greater than it now. is, may an age later
as thoroughly divorced from schools as
has already been from the professions,
contingency which every teacher must n
gard as probable calamity, VS.
Mrs. Greeley, 1t is said, is hopelessly
and of a disease that forbids all freedo
u of locomotion. The daughter Ida, WI
takes the deepest interest in her father
: success, aud who is very educated in book
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