The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-07-16
IFor the Dispatch.J

.Tbe Droppins or silent Letters"
The suggestion OF the Virginia Educa-
tionaI Association strikes our antique ears
unpleasantly. The representatives OF tue
land OF old ideas for the timebeing seem 10
have forgotten the rock from Which tney
were bewn and the pit from which they
There ARE some things in the growth and
develonr1ent OF men and nations that must
he shed and abandoned like the wrapplngs
of the germ or baby-clothes. !" Wnen ;!
became man I.put away childish Things"
enuuciates a law OF nature.
But in growth, shedding Is not ampu-
tating. What is shed gives way 10 some
thing that has grown up ana no Ionsel
needs it office, or yields TO higher ana Dec-
ter condition Of being.
That letter should be barely dscerniDle
in pronunciation proves nothing. a periect
prom annexation would perhaps bespeah lts
presence, or attest its silent lnnuence. bus
when the word comes to- be written, ana
stands to express itself, all that IS 10 IL SHOWS
itself OF consequence; all Hs history uhu
character stands disclosed!' !t IS couiuion-
nIare to,com1r oupIace men; it is grand, re-
vered, full, and suggestive to the nllnu anu ~
heart that can appreciate and understand 1t.
"
from the plain workman that uses the COM
monest tools and coarsest material up to MN
Tho aims to express the highest reach and
most delicate product OF human Gnougnt.
Tac English language is wonderful n us
makeup, wonderful in its capabilities, won
derful in its resources. English mlnd-worK
is marvellous in its achievements and start
ling in its daring. All the finest 1nstru-
ments and coioring Of rhetorical art are
called into requisitIon, and the language OF
all who have gone before US lend their afo
to English thinkers.
Nor is this all. intellectual vigor is be:
coming the mark of the common people OF
our day. Science popnlarized has MADE q
demand for larger and more complete Vo-
cabulary for the general world.
Accurate expressions help accurate ideas,
and crippIed and meagre words heWllder
and confound, peeessitate confusion, foliy,
and vice. -
We claim that our people demand and
are entitled to the best and most complete
vehicles for their ideas, the best-htting
clothing for their thoughts.
But it is the insidious yice-the reailsM
| and materiaIism and radicalism IN worst
| form-that to our sense makes the suSSes-
ton of the Educational Association most
ranky offensive. W naC StFiheS Tue eye VI
ear, the superficial. the commonplace, IS 10
he taken as the standard. Nothing is to be
valued or regarded or believed in that Is
| not seen and obvious. And here is where
poison most permeating and fatal lies.
The graces and virtues and divine mo-
tives of character are those that live con-
ccaled in the Utmost man. All these, under
the working Of the. new suggestion, are to
| be counted out. The hidden, imbedded
nebleness OF words is to be disregarded
things are to be taken for what they seem
the value OF thing is to be what il vii
bring; and words and sentences are to be
built and manufactured, like everything else
in our day, for quick sales and small profits
'Posterty is to take care OF itself.
- Mos MLJORUM.