Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1875-11-19

Independ 49,. 1o5 % 129
l43 % l72
| Anti-Rad. major. on joint ballot, ia.
A Model letter Sd "a School
| Girl.
| The following letter is published by the
Galveston (Texas) News. 1t was written
| by distinguished citizen of that State,
Col ~. w. Spaight at the request of a lady
of that city for the use of her daughter
who is about finishing her scholastic course
at Staunton Va:
/ GALVESTON, February %, 1875.
| My Dear .......: At your good mothers
request [ have consented to make some
suggestio lis as to a course of readin for
| you.
| Before doing so let me teach you few
simple truths which observation and expe
RE nee have taught me.
| It is quite as important, in every aspect,
| to cultivate your body as to cult vate your
| mind. No amount of mental acquisitions
will compensate for the lack of a strong,
| elastic, healthfui physical system. L Shall
| have accomplished my purpose, II you Will
| take my word for il, that you have II III
| your power in "a great measure to make
| and keep your body strong. elastic, aud
( healthy, II, this end, plenty Of sleep. open
air and exercise, are the only physicians
| YOU need to consult. Most human ills
| flow directly from the stomach. 1t must
| have rest like any other organ. Make it d
| part of YOUR reiig iCn never to taste any ar
| ticle of food which YOU have found to be
l.n
| Judge of this. What you ought to eat re-
| uuires AS much careful consideration as
! what YOU ought to read. You must de-
pend on habit acquired little by little, To
/! make any course Of life you may choose
| to adopt agreeable to you Should you ev-
er give way to dependency. us to ;Nquir-
ing any desirable habit, remember that
men by dint of perseverance, learn to use
| tobacco and strong drink, and to be I'M
| happy without them. No task you are
| likely to set for yourself can be equal to
this
How you read is quite as important as
what you read Most people waste all the
| time they spend in reading. Mental dys-
pepSia is almost as common disease as
| physical dyspepsia and is brought Oh by
the same means, viz: by devcuring more
food and m re rapidly than it can be di-
gested. There is no greater error than to
f6au many DOukS, except III NC " dt iSul-
| riedly and without pause. What is not re-
tanned in the memory is lost, and II emory
depends on the amount of attention be-
slowed, and the time a thought is kept be-
fore the mind. The power to fix the at
ter. ton and to keep a thought before the
mind grows imperceptibly, but surely, by
use. Consider. then, no book properly
read, Unless you hay made the tone, the
spirit. the thought of the author your own.
Read no longer at one time than you fee.
vivid interest in your book. And let me
insist that you keep sfebster's or Worces-
ter's unabridged dictionary always at hand,
and let no strange word pass without criti-
cal inspection.
We think in words, and therefore to
think clearly. and to speak accurately, you
must know the exact meaning of words.
| They are, in fact, the key to all knowledge.
| By nc means neglect to read aloud a
short time every day, with careful atten-
| ton to the one golden rule of elocutl0n.
viz: Read in the tone and manner in which
you would utter the same sentiments in
| conversation. This practice will educate
your ear as we'll as your tongue. The Gull
tivation of your voice in ordinary speech is
| altogether more important to you than all
the vocal gymnastics OF the opera house.
"Don Cupid hath not in all his quivers choice
! An arrow for the heart like sweet voice..
|
prose OF verse almost daily, not by any
means for quotation, but to give you faci-
| | ty and power of expression. on will
| have reaped only part Of the benefits of
mental culture if you fail to acquire the
power Of expressing your thoughts in just
and appropriate language, and with dis
| tinct, clear, we'll mOdulated voice. In the
selection of words avoid the temptation to
be fine, howery and high-hown. Good taste
| In CT, Tod hun Of 10 in,
speech and writing, as it does in dress and
| manners.
| | set out to write you mere song, and
| have written almost a sermon. Let me
conclude by giving you few brief hints
about books
| You can not go amiss if you will read
only the works Of the best authors. Learn
to love Shakespeare, Addison, Swift, Gold
smith, johnson, Sheridan, Burns, Words
worth. Moore, Walter Scott, Bulwer, Dick
ems. Macauley, Thackeray, Tennyson,
| Washington living, and you may then
well lay claim to having IL finished educa-
| ton, | have mentioned only d few of the
great names of literature, and have pur-
posely omitted one of the greatest of them
| all, Byron. because his 'Don JUAN" the
! highest effort Of his genius, should not be
read by you at all. ESPECIALLY recommend
Byron's letters as the best model | know
for your epstolary style Study these let
| ters until YOU have learned the secret Of
| their indescrioable charm, and strive to
make it your own. Next to a graceful,
| fluent, simple conversational dictlon, es-
pistolary excellence is the most useful and
| desirable acquisition for lady.
| Never permit yourself to read a novel,
, unless it is from the hand of one of the
great Masters, and then read it as you
would read textbook. Before entering
upon course of history, 1t would be but
proper fo you to read the lives Of the most
noted historical characters.
have barely touched the subject, but
at some future time | will give you a list
of my fayorite books and in the order in
which they should be taken up. [ am
afraid have already given You. too much
reading for this time,
The KANAwHA RIVER IMPROVEMENT.
The Charleston West Virginia) ''Cour-
ier'' states, upon the authority OF Senator
Davis. of that State, that a report recon-
mendine the appropriation OF one million
dollars FOR the further improvement of the
Kanawha has been made by Gen. Humph-
reys, chief of engineers, and approved by |
the Secretary of War, in whose forthcom-
ing report to Congress it has been en-
bodied.
--ss = 49, = -
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