Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-09-08

of all to read it. So far as our OBJ
servation extends this is an object
almost entirely lost sight of in the
present day. We mean the reading
aloud of plain prose, not of declama-
tory balderdash, but plain clear mar
rative or argumentative English.
Such as may befound in Paley's Nat
ural Theology, Hume's History, or
some of the philosophical por-
tions of BlackstOne's commentaries.
A scholar who can read paragraph
from one of these authors clearly
and with just emphasis and appro-
pirate infections of the voice so as
to give the writer's meaning clearly
and distinctly is, we believe, a prod
ICY in the present day scarcely to
be found in our common schools, al
most never in our colleges and uni
versities, and if found at all he will
be found to have been educated at
home and to have learned of his
mother how to speak his mother
tongue. He should also be able to
write English. We are not much
in favor of original composition,
which is certain in juvenile hands
to assume the spread-eagle charac-
ter, vice to be inexorably stamped
out. Writing from good models is
we believe the best exercise, pas
sage being read aloud one day, and
written down in substance from
memory the next. Commencement
declamations and school debating
societies being fixtures in our edu-
catiOnal system, we have nothing
to say against them, but they foster
the worst vices of reading, speaking
and composition. English Gram
mar, we have not much to say about,
every English Grammar we have
seen aims at conforming the English
language to Latin forms with
which it has nothing in common
we never studied an English gram
mar at all and we can write English
when it is necessary.
The history and geography of his
own country should be indispensa-
| BILE as an acquisition and as much
as can be added of the history anci-
ent and modern of other nations.
We are tempted to depression on
the shameful neglect of history and
political philosophy in our higher
schools and colleges, but fOrbear ;
on some future occasion we may pos
sibIy break loose on the subject. But
while under this head we have one
point to urge, on which we cannot
speak too strongly. Whatever may
be the future destination of our
scholar whether in common schools,
grammar schools, colleges or uniVer-
stiles, whether he is country boy OF
city boy, whether heis to be farmer
or mechanic or day labOrer, lawyer
or doctor, merchant or parsOn, his
education should never be consider
ed complete until he knOws by heart
| the Constitution of the United States,
clause by clause without missing a
word or letter. This, you will say,
is impossible; if it is SO, then you
have neglected what indeed is al
most universally neglected in the
present day-the culture of the
memory. But it is not impossible
the catechisms learned by young
boys and girls in our Sunday-schOOls
are both more difficult of cOmpre
hension and longer than the COnsti
tuition of the United States, and il
must never be forgotten that what
ever else the boys land for all we
know the girls) of this country are
trained for, they all have to act as
voters. 1t is essential, therefore
that they know all that can be com
municated to them of the history
origin and principles of the govern
ment, in the working of which they
take so essential a part. The chosen
field in which the demagOgue plays
his Internal game is a population
ignorant of the principles upon
which his country is or should be
governed.
1t yet remains to be considered
how far and in what manner arith'
metic, geometry and algebra, me-
chanical philosophy and chemistry
should be treated in common schools
These are all intimately associated
one with another, and must be the
subject of another paper, as we are
| transcending our limits; we will
only, for the present, call attention
to the general principle running
through our ideas on all these sub
jects that the concrete should pre-
cede the abstract, and that the men
tai faculties should be cultivated in
the order in which they are devel-
/ Oped in nature; first the perceptive,
then the conceptive, lastly the re-
Elective; unfortunately in most of our
school books the order is inverted.
| THE HON. JOHN r. HOUSE AND
THE SPEAKERSHIP
We copy the following from the
Nashville American. The intelli-