The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-11-27
GE0GR Apply.

Read before the Maury Teachers AS
sOciatiou, in Columbia, Saturday, No
vember 9TH, 1874, by Prot. A. D. Nc
Clure.
Man is the climax of creation-the
centre of thought. Whatever pertains
to him is interesting. Physical exist
ence, physical occurrences and physical
truths, however, are like the best paint
ings: only seen clearly and appreciated
Dry as geography, is in its details,
seems, il is a gran and impressive pic
ture. This is true; because mans ex-
istence is its starting point. -
lion its life, and man mans ac-
its soul. ;In~ - attachments are
has r Jgraphy is interesting, as it
. do with this earth as the abode OF
man. "In earth there's nothing great
but man."
In Jeachlug geography we must aim
to impress it; we must make it pleasant
You have noticed that child can tell
better than man when piece of mus
ic is beautiful. Hence the remark, 81
discard any Sabbath-schOol music which
the children do not like" The same
truth is true in teaching. Children
hate day study. We must know hoG
to make grammar alive or we cannot
teach the child 10 use, though we may
drill it into its memory by continual
examining. Such are my views. But
to my subject. My analysis will, hope,
appear i'll the sequence of thought.
T0ere must be profit in the teaching
and learning of geography, else man
would have ere this abandoned it for
others of the subjects now to be studied.
Our highest aim in ali education
should he to train the mind. This and
not the mere acquisition OF knowledge,
has produced our modern inventions,
Engine and battery, and test-tuhe and
wire, and this playing with things
mysterious as air-this talking by light
ming and moving by the thrObbings of
latent 1ife," are but expressions of
thought from trained minds. For these
the trained and cultivated minds must
be praised. In our estimation we rank
geography high, because it helps to
train the faculties of the mind. II
ought also to enliven the feelings. Dead
geography is no geography; something
IN 1t must make the student feel. 1t, like
other things, will be remembered as we
attach it to feeling. How, we shall see.
Dead matter decays and becomes OBJ
noXIous in its putrefaction. So of eve
rything dead in the schoOl-roOm. Dead
teachers and dead geography as well. A
sharpened steel will prick the physical
surface and awaken physical feeling;
but III teaching we must have the tric
ton of mind on mind and feeling with
feeling, to produce that lively action of
the mental feeling to which we allude
But 1t must not stop here. Teaching
must reach tarthest. A pupil must see
more and more that he is all the time
only beginner. His contentment with
present attachments, and longing for
something higher and better,
ought to be the result to the pupil of all
learning. But we must not overlook
present learning. Geography must be
studied and learned. We must teach
what is Immediately before US. Neg
lecting present realities and basking in
dreams OF futu1ity, is not the students
normal condition. BY leaving what is
nearest We see what is farthesC on; just
as we see more landscape by climbing
farther up the bill. What then is neces-
sary to this? We must know much of
our own country, and its pro lucts and
peculiarities. We must know incidents
connected with different places. We
must know that oyster packing houses
are in Baltimore; that car works are in
Wilmington, Del; that the Z. S. mint
is in Phila0el mia. that Central PARK is