St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-10-03
ST. 5ohnsburp Caledunian.
st. bloomsbury. Vt, Friday. Oct. 5. 1873.
What School ?
BY EDWARD EGGLEaTON.

lIl u H. ~ Nv '-i''''i W
send our children to school? Your
summer vacation has been spoiled by
that question, and You are further from
a solution now than ever.
| have Il friend who has no children,
and who is ii patriot. "Send your
children to the public school" he says
sternly. "You owe it to the country to
educate them democratically. 1t tends
to preserve the homogeneity of our
people" And when my friend draws
himself up into his most dignilied and
oracular attitude and says all this, and
adds that common schools are the
palladium of American liberty" it
and | fancy hear the accompaniment
of patriotic pop-crackerS-l want to
begin "Star-spanglcd Banner or Iahk
&c Doodle" with variations. at once
1t always makes my soul swell with
joy to see Il man patriotic at other
people, expense. | never hear Il child
less man express his readiness to sacri-
tice other folks children to the good
of the country without thinking of that
glorious and never-to- be forgotten mo-
ment when the late lamcnted \. Ward
boldly proposed to sacrifice all his
wife's able bodied relations on the al
tar of his country. Whenever my
friend talks after this fashion about
common schools | know that the great
moral showman's soul is marching on
Glory, Halleloo.
Now far he it from me to say IL word
against public schools. They are the
'palladium." DO You think | don't
know that have heard it often en-
ough to know it. | would just as lief,
land Il little lever" run my hand into
the nest of the infatuated American
palladium. If lived in country vii
lage | should esteem the common
school an questionable boom" and
send my children to it. But | don't
live in an American village: have the
good fortune To live in Ireland. That
is to say, living in New York and
Brooklyn is living i'll Ireland just Il lit
tie more than living in Dublin or Tip
pcrary would he. You send your boy
to the public" for the sake of civiliz-
ing the little ''haythen." and You find
bright and early in the evening that
one of the little "haythcn," the son of
Il prize-tightcr, lad with very re-
treating nose, has thrashcd your hope
tul son. You are doubtful about civil
izing the heather in that fashion.
Your daughter is not specially emlight-
ened by some of her associations. aud
while You are perfectly aware that the
free school is the palladium You are Il
little disposed to he generous with the
palladium and give your share to some
body else
There is one point i'll which all our
schools are alike. They are all partial
to geography. In public schools they
teach it always. and private schools
try to equal them. 1t is such Il nice
thing to stuff the memory with mmec-
essary facts. 1t is absolutely essential
that every child shall know how high
are the Andes and what are the primci-
pal agricultural productions of Patago-
MIA. That is why we keep children
studying geography forever. We new
cr let child off short of five Years.
For if Il child should fail of learning
the height of the Andes and the agri-
cultural products of Patagonia and the
annual consumption of missionaries i'll
Fiji, how i'll the world will he ever full
fill the purposes of his being? | should
like to know. Talk about Captain
Hall being Il martyr to geographical
science. The little white headStones
i'll all our cemeteries mark the resting
places of martyrs to geographical sci
ence. 1t must lie Il comfort to their
through weary ALIASES escaped three or
four more years of geography, have
lying before me now the catalogue of a
Brooklyn academy. | find geography
set down i'll every term for five years
In all these years no botany. no chem
istry, no astronomy, no other physical
science. All those sciences that nat
urally belong to childhood. that appeal
to the sense, and that should be begun
when sense is kecnest. are carried over
to maturcr Years. But geography and
grammar, least tit of all for little ones,
Is crammed down them for five wears
The fifth year in this catalogue does
not define the amount of geography,
but says geography as may be neceSs-
airy "
Necessary to what ? | find that the
sessions of this academy begin fifteen
minutes before nine and close at fifteen
minutes after two. Five hours and IA
half of school confinement for children
sIust two hours and half more than
they can stand without injury to phys
zeal health and development. But in
the first year that geography is taught
| find that one hour of study out of
school is required. In the second year
one hour and a half is demanded by
the Blimhers who bring on" the Paul
Dombeys of this academy. In the
third year two hours out of school.
Those who neither die nor become idi-
otto under this are subjected to two
hours and a half of extra study in the