The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1880-03-25

stead of trying to secure q certain re-
suit The unhappy child. who is almost
always, we admit necessarily, taught
too early, is instructed to hold himself
or herself in q particular attitude, which
is sure to be the wrong one for five
sights in ten, the, proper attitude de-
pending on the length of the child's
vision; to hold the pen at particular
angle, which is also wrong, the fitting
angle depending on the character of
the pen, and holder, and to grasp the
pen at q certain distance from the nib,
which is arbitrarily fixed, whereas the
distance must be governed by the for
nation and strength OF the child's fin
gers, andwould be infinitely better left
to his or her own instinct. Above all,
there is q perpetual worry about the
Sc resting" Of the hand, though the
easiest position varies with every child,
and though no two men with much
writing to do rest the fingers quite
alike. The pupil is then taught to
make lines in certain direction, and
to copy characters SO large that they
have no resemblance to; writing at all,
and to care particularly about up
strokes and down strokes, and all man
ner of minutie, which, if they are of
any value at all, will soon come of
themselves. So strong, in spite of CEN
turtles of experience, is the belief in this
method, that machines for controlling
the fingers while writing have repeat
edly been invented; and the author of
q book before us. professional, is in
clined to tie them up in some fashion
with ribbon. rykfsg S5foss
: We believe that the whole of this
method is q mistake, that there is no
single system of nsecGnsque for writing,
and that q child belonging to the edu-
Gated classes would be taught much
better and more easily if, after being
once able to make and recognize writ
ten letters, it were let alone, and
praised or chidden, not for its method,
but for the result. = Let the boy hold
his pen as he likes and make his
strokes as he likes, and write at the
pace he ikes-hurry, of course,
being discouraged-but insist strenu-
ously and persistently that his copy
shall be legible, shall be clean, and
shall approach the. good copy set be-
fore him-namely, well-written let
ter, not q rubbishy text on q single line,
written as nobody but q writing-mas-
ter ever did or will write till the worlds
end. He will make q muddle at first,
but he will soon make passable imi-
tation of his copy, and ultimately de-
velope q characteristic and strong hand,
which may be good or bad, but will not
be either meaningless, undecided or IL
legible. This hand will alter, of course,
very greatly as he grows elder. 1t may
alter ut eleven, because it is at that age
that the range of the eyes is fixed, and
the short-sight betrays itself; and it will
alter at seventeen, because then the
system of taking notes at lecture,
which ruins most hands. will have
cramped and temporarily spoiled the
writing; but the character will form it
self again, and will be never be deficient
in clearness or decision. The idea that
it is to be clear will have stamped it
self. and confidence will not have been
destroyed by worrying little rules about
attitude, angle and slope, which the
very irritation, of the pupils ought to
convince the teachers are, from some
personal peculiarities, inapplicable.
The lad viii write, as he does anything
else that he cares to do, as we'll as he
can and with certain efficiency and
speed. Almost every letter. he gets
will give him some assistance, and
the masters remonstrance on his il
legibiiity will be attended to, like any
other caution given in the curriculum
As it is, he simply, thinks that he does
not write well, instead of thinking that
not to write well is to fall short in q
very useful accomplishment and to be
pro tasto, q failure. s,o.s,ie5sF ase,
: We are. not quite sure that another
process ought not to be gone through
before writing is taught at all. Sup
pose our boys and girls were taught to
read manuscript q, ittlef They are
taught to read print, but manuscript is
not print, or very like it, and they are
left to pick up the power of reading
that the best way they can; they never
devote half an hour q day for six
months to manuscript reading. IL they
did, it would be easier to them all their
lives, and they wonld learn to believe
IN legibIlity as the greatest, or, at any
rate, the most useful, quality that writ
ing can display-an immense improve
ment, If our experience can be trusted
in the usual youthful ideal on the sub
ject. The business of life, no doubt,
soon teaches children to read manu-
script; but many of them never read it
easily, and retain through life an un-
conquerable aversion to the work, from
the fatigue and vexation which it
causes them. We have known men so
conscious of this defect that they al-
ways have important letters read aloud
to them, and others who would refuse
any work, however anxious on other
grounds to accept it, if it involved the
frequent perusal of long manuscripts in
vsried handwritings. No doubt. the
tendency to q broad and coarse but beau
tifully legible handwriting, which has
conquered the upper class and is slowly
filtering downwards. is diminishing this
but it would be more rapid
" removed If little trouble were taken
to teach children to read handwriting.
They hardly see any till they begin to
receive correspondence, and are never
to read any, and consequent
ly learn to write what they cannot read,
without intelligence and without pleas
ure.-London 1pectGtor. ENGa
Diseases Among English Sheep.
The ravages of what is commonly
known as "rot" or "bane" are as
sumirg most appalling proportions in
the midland and western counties of
England, in consequence, it is general
ly supposed, of the excessive and long
continued wet weather last year. Tens
of thousands Of sheep, principally ewes,
are dead and dying. In some parishes,
in Gloucester, Oxon and Warwick there
are. comparatively, speaking, very few
sheen left. and in Somerset there are