Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-08-25
state Teachers Institute.

The very heavy rains we had on
Wednesday prevented the attend
ance on the openingmeetings, morn
ing and afternoon, from being as
numerous as might have been
wished, but those who did attend
declared themselves highly inter-
ested. At the night meeting we
were present and were much in
structed by the address of Prof.
Brown, of Vanderbilt University.
His subject was Industrial Educa-
ton, and the main points he made
was the evil which results from the
separation of brain work and hand
work. His subject was illustrated
with a description entirely new to
us and highly interesting of the
schools in Boston where mechanical
instruction was combined with the
ordinary school course.
We hardly think that the import
ance of this subject can be overrated,
and urge our readers to turn it over
in their minds in connection with
our leading editorial of this week,
the necessity of systematic educa-
ton for the boy population of our
large cities.
After Prof. Brown took his seat
discussion was in order and the at
mosphere became rather controver-
sial. Prof. Dinwiddie, excited to a
high pitch of enthusiasm by the
merits of technical education, took
occasion to say that the Greek and
Latin teaching had had its day and
must now be superseded by some
thing more practical. This aroused
President Shearer, who took up the
cudgels eagerly for classical educa-
ton, and replies and rejOinders fol-
lowed in quick succession. The re-
tort courteous had been passed and
the gui1 modest arrived at, and we
don't know but what the reply ciiltI'-
lish and TeprO0f UdIia1at might have
followed, but Prof. JOynes threw
oil on the troubled waters, pointing
out that classics and anti-classics
were both dLit0aIe, the question of
technical education being specially
for those boys who did not expect
to go to college or to extend their
education beyond the age of sixteen
years.
On Thursday morning the stastly
Of language was specially in order.
The discussion was very ably open
ed by Prof Redman, whose vindi-
cation of the claims of classical
learning tOa place in our educational
system though occasionally inaUdi-
bic was listened to with marked at
tentiOn. Prof. Joynes, who followed
him, took issue with him on one
point. Prof. r. had contended for
the CLASSICAL languages in the COM
mon schools, claiming that it was
inconsistent with republican princi-
plies to have one system for the rich
and another for the poor; but Prof.
j., fully endorsing the opinion that
to the utmost limits of possibility
equal justice should be done to all,
pointed out the impossibility of
teaching the same things to a boy
whose education ends at fifteen and
to man whose period of instruction
extends to twenty-one or even
twenty-five; and cOntended that as
the classical languages could not
be taught Thoroughly in that time it
was better to teach something that
could. The best part of his address
was occupied with urging the inn
portance of teaching English as a
language. Prof. Brown took issue
with Prof. Redman, having under
stood him to say that the study
of science had a sceptical tendency.
We are of the opinion that he mis-
took the purpOrt of the address on
| that head, but almost rejOiced in
the mistake, if it was one, as it fur
nished the occasion to Prof. B. of
vindicating with earnestness and
elOquence the religious tendency of
scientific studies when sOundly pur-
sued. Prof. Lavalette spoke next
at great length, exhibiting consider
able linguistic attainments he
seemed, however, to mistake the
scope Of the subject intended for dis
cussiOn, and, instead of speaking of
the proper relation of the study of
language to other studies, he wan
dered off into an elaborate EXPOSE
ton of his own method of teaching
the languages for this he was called
to order by the chairman.
Thursday afternoon was devoted
to the method of communicating
arithmetical ideas to young child
rem, Prof. Dinwiddie opening the
discussion, describing his method
with much clearness. Its distingu-
ishing characteristic was the plan of
imparting ideas of number by actu-
al counting, without symbols to re-
present the numbers; the symbols,
viz, the Arabic numerals, being the
subject of a subsequent lesson. This
simple and very practical essay ex-
cited an amount of metaphysics and
mental philosophy which was to this
editor quite surprising. Number,
quantity, space, magnitude, intu-
itions,. perception, refexiOn, furn-
ished themes to Messrs. Joynes,
Brown and kirkpatrick in which
they were waited as on carrying
clouds to empyrean heights far be