The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-10-30


has sci In ana u nrl stage is about to he "n,ercd
upon. The school house is all right; the organ
cation is all right; but the straight jacket cnrri
culum and drill-scrgeant system must give way
to what Spencer calls the evolution ana al
Quincy, Mass, they call the scientific" system
the cardinal principle Of which is that there Is
/ lust as mech science in developing the more
Ordinary faculties Of the human mind as there Is
! in raising crops extracting minerals from the
earth" "The operation Of the child's MIND th'
natural process OF growth and assimilation
which go on In IL, its inherent methods Of deve!
opment and acquisition, must be long anc
patiently studied" How this is to be done sys
te,natically aud scientifically, Mr.. Spencer at
tempts TO outline III the little book before us
Though the work is still at its beginning, he APP
proves the PestaioEEian system as striking out
in the right direction, though still far from what
is wanted or attainable Tho book Is character
lied by all Herbert Spcncers acuteness and
depth Of thought and is well worthy OF careful
perusal by all in any way concerned In the greA'
work Of popular education.
HALF CENTURY. BY Jane Grey Swisholm.
Chicago: Jansen, McClurg ~ Co. ottawa;
OsInaIl ~ ITICt, glow
The book was first issued year ago and 80
rapid was its sale that soon second edition was
called for. We have certainly never read an
autobiography more thoroughly entertaining
Jane was born at Pittsburg Pa, and she cour-
ageously gives the date when-Decembcr oth'
1915; but appears to have had her CHIEF
'broughten up" at Williamsburg, "A suburb OF the
Getty OF Smoke" some seven miles out.
That she was an extraordinary child is evil
denced by the startln. fact which she announces
that, her parents being rigid Scotch Prcsbyte.
rians, she could repeat the minor catechism nj
two and half years, and at three was awakened
to a sense of sin aud converted.' She not only
grew up with all the proverbal vcrtebral rightly
Of that Fifth but in addition with pugnacity
which even at G5 years has not deserted her.
Though enjoy ling but limited means OF education
in her youth, she was full of grit and activity,
kecnly obseryant Of what was going on in the
world around her, and as chock full of fight as a
reveler at a Tipperary fair. So she naturally
drfted into temperance, aOOitionism, womans
rights, or whatever seemed to come in the way
of her pugnaceus nature. She wrote for papers,
talked in social circles and on the rostrum,
and for ten years successfully conducted the
PHtSbury Pisitcr, little six column weekly that
~ times had circulation of eight or ten thou
sand and made more stir in the world than
many big dailles. Jane was also married, and
Of course her pugnacious nature naturally led
to matrimonial differences, and though through
it all she was sure she WAS In the right, the
reader finds 1t difficult, from the facts which she
frankly details, not to sympathzc with her hus-
band However the yoke was 40 CALLING that
she fled from it and turned up in the wilds Of
Minnesota, leaving her husband to sever the
bond by getting divorce on the ground OF de.
sertion. She was in Minnesota during the Sioux
massacre OF 1862, and we must give her credit
for couple Of very sensible chapters in that
connection on the Indian question. She scouts
the idea Of the original ownership Of the soil by
the Indians recognizes no such ownership save
that of occupation and cultivation, and would
deal with the aborignes who dare to NEEDLE
with the frontier settlers as pirates and murder
ers. There is no part Of Mrs. Swissheln's nara
tive however, in which she appears to as good
advantage as that in which she details her con-
nection with and work in the hospitals around
washington ana fTeuerlckbDuTR. III b true, III
awarding the need of praise for womanly hero.
ism, she don't forget Mrs. swisshelm, but what
ever little vanity may crop out in that way is not
enough to obscure the patent fact that here was
an earnest, honest, stout hearted, true woman.
Ny COLLEGE DAYS BY Robert Tones. New
York: Harper Il Bros Chicago Jansen, Nc
Clurg a. Co. Ottawa: Osman II Hapeman.
Price, $l.0O.
Given man Of Intelligence, with FREQ ontree
into the society of eminent men and women, and
enjoying It, II is hardly possible for him to write
a book in true, cosby style that is not pleas
ant reading. DR.. Tones is such a man, and
though his prattlc about his earlier high school
and college days has about 1t An Obtrusive air of
sophomorcan gusl, his subsequent residence ~
a student OF medicine and surgery in Edinburgh,
during which he had the good fortune to make
the acquaintance and to be brought into intimate
relations with many men who afterwards bee anne
famous, furnished him with material for many
very readable chapters, and he had the skill and
good taste TO use il to advantage. He brings US
face to face with men like Brougham, Professor
Wilson, Sir Robert Christlson, Sir William
Charles Dickens, &c, &c, and ena.
hles us to see and know them AS they were,
dlvestcd Of the glamour In which fame subsc-
quently cnveoped them from common sight.
AInNG THE FOX