, 1874-11-08
:orpid through the development Of the receptive
capacity at tho expense Of the reasoning facul-

| ahould be the most sacred trust in their Gift
should proceed to undo, "a far as possible. thi
wrong. They arc AZ fault in esteeming thee
men practical educators. How can man be ,
practical educator when most Of his time is give,
to everything besides actuN teachiDg7 Mos
educational Boards are, like our own, composed
OF busness-man, who can ul-afford tue tim,
to devote themselves to the work they hay,
undertaken and so investigation goes by de
fault. Besides, they we're educated at 4 da,
| when the demands upon children at echoo
were less severe than they are now, and. in view
OF the perfected appliances to assist the pupil
they forget that bis capacity is not correspond
ingly enlarged, and so demand Of him what they
themselves never did perform, and
,NESER COULD HAVE PERFORMED
without having paid = terrible price for it.
| ia no royal road to learning" In that respect
times have not altered. We do not charge upon
our Board willful commission OF wrong; but we
should fail in our duty to tho children in on,
schools If we did not say that in their omission tc
toeR ciose1y into this matter they are guilty
from too long confinement 10 the school-roon,
the Board of this city reduced the sohool-day to
| five hours. They did not, ut tho same time, re-
duce the labor. The omission needs no COM
now, not Satisfied with the wrongs and abuses
that. from time to time, have crept into the
system. the present school-year has witnessed an
MoRB pARDARous STILL.
| and more productive OF evil consequences, in
that while 1t combines the faults Of Ill the rest,
Increased BY greater wrong than any proyious
method, 1t has no redeeming features. Princi-
| pals condemn it; teachers condemn it ; children
| condemn it and parents condemn it, We do not
| know with whom it orielnated, but ne cannot
| help thinking that the man men who favor the
entiro rejection Of textbooks are sowing the
wind preparatory to reaping the nhirlwind
| Let ns aualyze it briefly: Our schools have
a.. ~ ~ ~ l-s.> ks.. -
lowest seven no Textbook in foun9 save Readar
Speller. and Arithmetic. The frst. second and
thi1d. retain textbooks with nmendatorv aup-
gestlons relative TO manner OF using the nsme :.
but in the Others the teacher il to talk and the
child to listen. Listening for Ave hourg t1av
or. 1T the least three aud 3 half. gots to fe
somouhat tireaono If constantly followed How
m.uy grown people could Listen contentc.llv
through that same length OF time. day sfter
day. eyen to the most entertMnlnc lecturer
/. It mt asking too much Of arr c1ifiran that
they elall norforn, rhis imnoas;hilitv Tat tha
teachers BE- mover 80 strong. their lunce nnst
piya wav nnder this strain and il ia sim:,1v sri.
cidal in them to nttrmnt K ria
NOTHING LEsFs THAN munnrr
on the part Of those who demand It. An nsn.1
tI,e ntronrest eiTort muet be made hv t},e n,oet
poorly paid. It becomes a simple question Il,
nronortion IF minister weara mt his thro,t in
one vaar bv nrcachinr twice A veek one honr a,
a time. how long viii it take = school-teacher tn
acheye the sane feat by constautly taking
tventv honrs Der week for for.v cnnaacntiye
xeeks in every year?
Then the injury Inflicted upon the child. Take
from MN LIS DOCKS: ana you Jake from HIN the
sla h ~ ra.sn1sc,a @ ~. rou
m.1 chooaa r. tei him You tbro1 h;1n ;;,to IL
bad habit Of taking everything on trust. and
n-ver irving to provo for himself that certain
1aets are goselneo oy certain fulea. Under tins
1s.ad nsn ~ hnt ~ con navaE Eu" bs asd ~ w ~
educated.
Tho teachers labor il more than double; for,
besides making laboflous preparation for work
tnat cootu pe ~ "s!l uouo suIu e41oofa;e
from som. II. tcxt.book what the child cnn1d rc.9
for himself; for it ~ not, OF course. presumable
that the teacher will give the child the benefit Of
original research only. II tho merits anu de-
h.1.ns ol 'p'S ee''n' "e1e ~ ~ "'s'o III 1ne
THE .Eu,1s WOULD SWING HIGH.
It is all very wei. T.. talk about systoms being de-
vissd for the oeucht OF pupil rather than teacher
b9t It does no: taka solomon to see that what
n,n;i M tssc,cr nerfomiug tsn tHei~o H1 '1p n,
pMp ~ banr, i,t,or d.;Ix 1..td +I,;s ~
aYargar.t;on thn,.,S, +ho honrs NJ snch ,.h,r .ra