Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-06-26

test against frequent and confusing
changes. A proposition is pending
before the school board of the city
schools to supplant theFirst, Second,
, Third and Fourth Readers OF
the Holmes series with cor
responding numbers Of the
I Independent Readers, and in
stead of Holmes Fifth and Sixth
Readers to adopt Cathcart's Liter
airy Reader. Holmes Sixth Reader,
however, is SO little used in our
schools as to be scarcely taken into
consideration. This question comes
up before the board on the I'd Of
July for fual action, and We hope
that the member have given the
subject the careful and critical at
tention it deserves, and doubt not
that they will act both conscien-
tiously and intelligently in a matter
of such Importance. We have been
at the pains to give Holmes Readers
some examination and really find
nothing in number and style Of
authors, printing or binding, seri-
ously Objectionable. These books
have been on trial some time, and
while possibly not the highest
standard of literary excellence in
every respect have generally given
satisfaction, and we feel sure are
superior to the Independent series
if not to Cathcart's Literary Reader.
These we have looked over also.
Passing over the Primary Reader,
which is less Objectionable than the
rest, we find in the Second Reader
such expressions as this: $50 the
dog ceased; "the pleasante't"-
p. lac; " the candle shone right AT
her" p. 156; ETC., etc. These are
minor errors, Of course, but they
increase as they advance. In the
Third Reader occurs the paradox
"bend me straight" p. 70, and
the provincialism picked himself
up" p. 116, as though ~"himself"
were a fourth person or some
other fellow lifting himself up
by the straps of his boots.
Then in a piece of rhyme occurs
the New England slang, "doin'
peaches" page 1871, whatever that
means; the ~inelegant expression
"but | go in for the candy" page
1859, makes "go in" do duty for
choose or prefer. As an illogical
argument in favor of temperance
it is sapiently stated, page 1873, that
God could have made springs that
would yield different kinds of Ii
quors just as easily as he made the
trees to bear different kinds of fruit
To carry out the idea we
should not drink coffee or tea
because they do not run out
Of the ground. The Fourth
Independent Reader contains
many articles adapted only to child
ISL minds. On page 65 we find the
coarse expression, "phuh, bothera-
ton" and on the same page the
-ungrammatical slang, ait tickles
right into me" On page S9a porch
is Improperly defined; "a kind OF
hall at the entrance Of churches or
other buildings" and then again,
on page 98, it is described wrong.
On page 12l the present partici-
pie rising is improperly used
in place Ct the word raising; on
page 133 cit made them saUqgsr y"
on page 215 the bird safe still and
sang on, and it must have been an
obsolete, old-fashioned bird, of lin
tied education ; and on page 22G
the Indian looks SO "skeerful;'
the article on Apples, pages 1861,
is miserable trash for a Fourth or
any other Reader; on page 239,
"gfapes shrivel into raisins, which
may be packed in boxes ike slaves
in a slaye-ship." This beautiful
comparison contains no hidden al
fusion but this is enough of the
Independent Readers to show that
they are not standards of pure En-
glish composition, or fit to be read
by the young who are forming their
modes Of thought and expression.
Cathcart contains selections from
Bret Harte, who writes in a dia-
lectic style, aud is not a scholar or a
/ standard author Resides This tbere