The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1880-09-15
Defective Education.
BY HENRY LEUBA.

There are men OfgOOd sense who con-
tend that our country, while affording
the benefits Of a common school educa-
ton to children, is yet greatly deficient
in the means and appliances of a high
or cultivation. They insist that the in
stitutions which profess to impart this
better training, pursue defective theo-
ry, and that their practice is even worse.
The complaint il not limited To our
own country, for il comes to US from
England, in the form Of protests against
the topics of instruction and the meth
ods of their academies and universities.
What Is generally received as cole
giate education i'm both nations is al
most exclusively classical and mathe-
NAUTICAL. Many students leave their
alma Ihater unable to read the plainest
description To Xenophan, the simplest
ode of Horace, with ease and enjoyment;
AMI, in IL short time, the abstruse math-
ematics are forgotten, ii they We're ever
understood. In short, most graduates
find their previous education, after the
waste Of time and great expense, To be
utterly useless in the pursuit of active
duties at life.
Then, what is the true aim of educa-
ton? Ii is To teach students everything
important To know, and at the same
time, To discipline their mind.
In answer to the question, "What is
it most important to know" a cele-
brated educator gives four rules. LIST.
The knowledge of things is more I'M
portant than the knowledge of words.
As AN example, ii is more important to
know where the liver Is situated, and
what are the principles which affect its
healthy action, than To know that il is
called jecur in Latin, or hepar in Greek
ID. 1t is more important to know
what is true than false. An acquaint-
ance with the history of ones country
is certainly more important than the
mythologies of Greece and Rome.
3d. As life is too short to teach stu
dents everything, it is more important
to teach practical things than those
merely speculative.
18th. The present is vastly more inn
pOrtant to Us than the past. Institu-
tions, communities, Kingdoms, and
countries with which we are daily
brought in contact are more important
than institutions and kingdoms that
have ceased to exist upwards of two
thousand years.
The writer concludes with the re-
mark, that "some persons believe, or
pretend to believe, that in order to dis
cipline the mind, it requires the study
of something which will prove utterly
useless in future life"
Let us now entertain your readers,
Mr.. Editor. by giving them catalogue
of things of which collegiate graduate
may he in total ignorance. He may
know nothing of the anatomy of his
own body-whether the spleen is ON
the right or left side of the spine-have
not the slightest idea of the difference
between the arteries and the veins.
We do not allude to medical students; ;
but no well educated person ought to
he ignorant of human physiology and
of hygiene. Graduates may be famil-
lar with the laws, antiquities, de-, Of
Greece and Rome, but utterly ignorant
of the Constitution, geography, and
history of their own country. They
study infinitely the ancient authors of
Greece and Rome, and ignore our great
English classical literature literature
unparalleled i'm the world. They may
have no knowledge of the laws of phys
les, nor of the laws of animal or vegeta-
bic life. They may not write clear,
legible hand-perhaps the most impor-
tant qualification for man of business;
and be even deficient in grammar and
arithmetic; So that the graduate of coll
leges and universities, after a four years
course i'm the dead languages and math-
ematics, comes forth unqualified for
any practical business. And, rs has
been remarked by distinguished wri-
ter, ''if not wrecked i'm morals, the pa
rents have. callssa for rpioi,inOu