Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-09-24

enough 70 impress Tue Siuuene Win e"o
idea that the earth is planet, and has
certain motions as such, aud certain rela-
tions to other planets and to the central
sun. But for the grammar school, ge-
ography means practically political ge-
ography ,and that limited to the capacity OF
youth.
70 the student who goes from the gram
mar-school to the academy the limit OF
the former is not important. for the acade-
my, in preparing him for the college or
the university, supplies in some degree
the intermediate knowledge of physcs
necessary to 60 on with the college
curriculum of natural sciences. But to
the student whose institutional education
clio ,es, as it does in majority OF instan-
ces with the gram har-schoel, or. at farth-
est, with the academy, it is very important
that studies should embrace course
Of physical geography. La the case Of the
former it is desirable; in that OF the lat
ter it is vitality important.
| 1t is one of the evils of our American
system of education-if system We may
call that which system has none-that Its
goal cannot be known at the outset. A
student enters a class, and the teacher
does not know--even the pupil often cam
not know-whether he is to finish his ed
ucation in one year, or give five or SIX
years to that school and then graduate to
a higher. A knowledge of this fact is Vi
tally important in the conduct of his edu.
cation aui in E Iropean countries--nota
bly, in Great Britain an France, but be-
yond all in Germany-ooth parent aud
teacher have, at his entrance into school,
some idea of the course before the pupil ;
but in America every boy sets out to be
President of the United States. and this,
while it may promote emulation in general
tends to embarrass the teacher especially
since scholarship has not been insisted up
on as requisite for polit ical distinction.
In the department of physical geosra-
ply, whether as a common school or an
academicai course, we have here an excel
lent textbook in Prof. Arnold Guyot's
physical Geography recently issued
In preparing this manual Prof. Guyot has
labored under the diff ;ulty growing out OF
two fac,s-6rst, boys studying this at the
grammar school are generally completing
their text book knowled &c of the subject
aud, second, much Of the matter necessa-
rlly entering into the work depends upor
, natural SCIENCES, which belong properly te
/ the college course, and are in their nature
beyond the grasp of boys in grammar
, school. For the grammar school graduate
, he is anxious to give as much as possible
, even if he must sometimes 90 beyoa 1
| the boys comprehension and for th'
prospective CO legian he may be urging
matter upon his attention in way tha
must afterwards be unearned or modified
: Between these two rather troublesome
facts the author ha< steered his way with
what success he could, and it gives u
pleasure to say that the result is high.
satisfactory. In reaching this result Prot
Guyct has left in the background as muct
, as possible the tributary sciences o
geology, natural philosophy, meteorology
and chemistry, as sciences, and ha:
borrowed from them only SUCH sign6can
/ facts as are best illus rative of the geog
raphy. B)tanical, ethnological, auC
> geological class fcations have not beer
5 touched save so far as these divisions form
r or furnish geographical associations o
S groups.
TINS volume closes the series of thre,
text books in geo .raphy-the elementary
the intermediate and this. the physical
| Toe two others have now been severa
years before the pubic and have received
much favor at the hands of teachers an,
that expression of favor is far better thar
: critical estimates, however learned and ap
proving they may be when based upo
3 theoretical knowledge merely.-Neic Yorl
: Erenin0 Post.