Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-06-22
EDUCATIONAL COLUMN.
CONDUCTED Ky ). r. LANGENBAUGH
DESULToRY READING.


less capable of reading, it is melan
choly To see that the effect is in one
respect the very reverse of what
might have been hoped. The great
est writers, though they may have
positively a larger audience, have
relatively Il smaller audience, than
ever. Their works are pushed aside
by masses of ephemeral literature.
and even when read they are read
with little attention The mind be-
comes demOralized by the habit Of
desultory and superficial study; and
a man or woman who reads 1T "a gal
lop, expects that Shakespeare will
/ yield up his secret as easily as the
last new novelist. The greatest men
are distinguished from the little men
/ in nothing more than this, that the
tenth or twentieth reading of their
/ books is more fruitful than the first;
/ whereas modern reader is far too
/ dience TO the most venerable of
/ teachers. Nothing. therefore, is more
natural than to denounce as d debili-
| tating practice all study of inferior
authors. Life is shorter than ever i'm
proportion TO what has to be crowded
\ into ii, and our minds are not larger.
We should therefore, lay down inn
movable regulations against the in
vasion of distracting influences. The
time which we dawdle away over the
valueless parts OF newspapers would
enable us TO become familiar with
the thoughts OF the wisest and best
of men. Ii man had to choose
whether a few months hence he would
be familiar with the ms and outs of
the Tichborne case, or have made a
careful study of all the Greek dram
artists, no reasonable being could hes
/ itate. In one case be would simply
have enjoyed "a questionable amuse-
ment which leaves no traces behind
/ it, in the other his imagination would
have been stored with a perpetual
source OF delight.
Everybody should have an inner
circle of friends amongst books, to
which none but the really great wri-
tiers should be admitted. SO far as
I the reading is not mere pastime,
but part Of the systematic cultiva-
ton Of the faculties, it is only valua-
bic in proportion as it implies close
and intimate knowledge. 4 man
may say that he has read Shakes
pcare's sonnets, if he has glanced
through them as he glances through
leading article; but he has not read
them in any profitable sense, until
they have fascinated his Imagination
and sunk into his memory. Really
great books, in short, must be assim-
Hated, and they scarcely begin to
produce their true Influence, until we
know so well that actual reference
becomes almost supelfluous.
The Indian lang uage is noted for
its melody, and no one who has ever
conversed with the noble savage in
his native wilds, can ever forget the
eloquent harmony of its gutturals.
The word love in the Indian language
is spelt thus: "Sehemmendameart
wager" What girl could resist the
opportunities Of "a young man who
informed her that he had "a good deal
OF that for her?
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
The great shower of meteors took
place on the night of the 18th of Nov.
1888. They continued falling for
about nine hours. and it is estimated
that about two hundred and forty
thousand fell during that time, all
coming from one point in tie heav-
ems, viz: the constellation Leo. In
regard TO the origin % meteors there
are four theories, each OF which has
had its advocates. The first is, that
matter exists in the atmosphere in an
intensely rarified state, and from
some cause is suddenly aggregated
and precipitated to the earth. The
second theory is, that the meteoric
stones are thrown to great hight from
volcanoes upon the earth, and, after
revolving in. the atmosphere with |
that planet finally return to it, The |
third theory is that they are thrown !
from volcanoes in the moon, and be- |
ing projected beyond the sphere of |
the moons attraction, are attracted |
to the earth. There is, however, no
proof OF the existence OF any active |
volcanoes on the moon; but on the
contrary each improvement of the
telescope affords evidence that they
do not exist upon that planet. The
theory which is considered to be the
most plausible is, that matter exists
in the interplanetary spaces in high
ly attenuated state, forming immense
zones or circles around the sun, and
among and intersecting
the orbits OF the planets. The planets
in their revolutions encounter these
zones, disturb their equilibrium, and
occasion the meteoric showers. On
this hypothesis whenever the planet
reached that portion of its orbit
which is intersected by one of these
zones, the showers would take place,
and their occurrence would be peri
odical. This is apparently the fact
as appears from obsers alton.
The Gulf of Mexico was first enter
ed and landing made on the coast of
Mexico, by a Spanish cavalier, Juan
dc Grijalva, the nephew of the COVER
nor of Cuba, in 1918. He did not give
it its present Name. That was de-
rived from the natives, who We're
called Mexicans, from the war god
Mexith.
Five III the American Presidents
were military men. These comprised
Georoe WashinUton Audrew JuclxSOn |