The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-06-21

/ he then introduced the eloquent and dis-
tinguishcd orator q the evening, Rev. >.
/ &. Hiden, y. D., OF Virginia.
Addrsss of RSv. j. 4. Hidsu. ID. ID.
Or. Hiden begun by speaking OF the fact
+ that everybody praises education. and Wv
+ idlv illustrated this point. lie did not pro
pose 70 indulge in generaliiies about edu-
cation. but 10 discuss as his theme
- sYNxETMCAL CULTURE ASD TIE OBSTACLES
TO IT."
/ The first obstacle which he noted is
+ Prejudice. This point he ably and apily
illustrated from both sacred and proiane
history, and then gave the following:
AbOu. the year l7gS William Murdoch
invented gas-light. During that year II
wac used 10 light some Of the Offices 81 the
soho foundry. which had been completed
/ hy Messrs. Boulton, Watt Sons, in 1926,
and chrisiened "in the name oi Vulcan
and all the gods oi fire and water. In
1902. Al the Peace Of Amiens the front was
Illuminated with Gas. Il 1893 M. Mur-
dock was examined by Z parliamentary
committee, when a member asked, DO
you mean 10 tel u mat il viii be possible
90 have a liSb. rl.J,d q lciccf' Yes,
! do, indeed said Mr.. Murdock. .' Aa,
NV friend" sad the legislator. YOU are
TRYING 70 prove 200 MITCH
/ This il about iaIr specimen Of Che isse
81 the men who have introduced netr light
into TINS preiudiccd world. After several
other illustrations he said We msy get
some ides Of the power Of prejudice by
noticing the opinions OF some ancient sages
concerning the sun. Anaximander. born
go B. C., thought the sun was q chariot
flled with fire. which escaped through q
circular aperture. AnaxRgoras. the ip-
structor Of Pericles. born 800 B. C., IT,
gsrded Il. according 70 Piutarch. rs ian
ipfiRmed stone" or. according 10 Diogenes
Lavrtines. as "a hot IRON IL is pretty
clear that he did not exactly know trhGt il
was. Teno. the founder Of the Stoics. be-
lieved il 10 be fire larger than the earth.
Lucrelius. the brilliant poet Of the Epicu-
reans, thought the sun was about ~ Zig a.
q pewter plate, aud that the moon was
about TIE same size.
such were The ideas which prejudice
lad formed in the minds oi some OF the
wisest q the ancienis concerning lumi-
nary seventy million times as large - the
moon. one million four hundred thousand
times rs large a. the earth. and which in
one year draws up from the earth water
enough 10 make q sea tweutv-iour thousand
mile, long. three thousand miles wide. and
sixteen feet deep. II we would not be
slaves OF prejudice we must seek symmet-
rical culture II was the ono-sidedness Of
the development Of these ancient phil0so-
pliers which made such views possible.
The next obstacle noticed was an crrC-
1.eOuS U.cir Of tie nature of education.
MANY students think they should study
only those subjects for which they have u
special taste. But most boys have little
taste FOR anything above 4 top or q marble
q kite or gun. That UQrTrHl ct mutQb4l>
SemDer which we call taste i commonly an
acquisition-nOt a natural gift. Few arti-
cles Of food are more relished than are oys-
ters and tomatoes; vet how MANY oi H.
could swallow Rn oyster on Our first nj
Tempt and who ever wanted 10 eat q Sc
cond tomato Immediately after biz first
+ The taste for these edibles l. commonly nc
quired. and so l. 4 taste for Shakespeare.
He gave several illustrations of this and
said:
As an instance of the damage which re-
suits from the error under consideration.
would invite special attention TO the fact
that few students seem 20 have any taste
FOR the scientific study Of the English IAN
guage. The result l. that our noble mo-
ther tongue il too often shamefully ne
elected. ] can testify that Il man NAY be
graduate $50 called in Latin, French,
mathematics, and a variety Of other studies
taught AZ the Virginia Military Institute
and al the [ University OF Virginia, and vet
may never have had one weeks tolerable
instruction in the English language. So
far a. ! nm advised there was. during my
/ school days. no institution in the state in
which such instruction could be had. Even
now. in many OF our colleges, the students
recite their Latin in bad English, and the
Professors OF Greek lecture in English
none toe good.
Even the universities do not teach Eng
I lish. All honor TO the trustees OF this col
lege, who have had the boldne.s 10 ques-
tion the popular view that
That can scarce be called tongue
Which SHAKESPEARE wrote and Milton sung,
and who have put into the chair OF Eng
lish q scholar and a thinker
lie gave some very amusing illustrations
Of the natural results Of failure 70 study
English and the ludicrous mistakes made
by men in high position, and said
our past history has shown that II is pos
sible 10 have In the presidential chair Il
graduate Of great . National " school. at
which he learned 10 marshal soldiers in an
army, but did not learn 10 marshal words
in a sentence.
! The third obstacle he mentioned was An
erroneous idea OF The end Of education.
I Many people seem TO think that the OBJ
I jeci of education is 10 enable one 10 create
sensation-to get up stir. According
! TO this view, the negro waiter in Martin
/ Chuzzletoit, when he heat his gong for din
ner af the New York clearinghouse. was
fine specimen Of the highly educated
man; for he certainly did gei up stir.
/ The late DR.. McGudey used 10 illustrnte the
matter thus II you put baby on a bed.
and give him a stick, he will beat the head
board, and be delighted with the noise.
Presently he will try his stick on the pil-
low; bui finding that it makes no noise he
becomes Disguised and returns TO the head
board Now. this is what We do after
we are grown up. We spend our lives
whacking away on whatever will make the
| most noise.
The ordinary idea Of the great man Il
that he Is the man that gets "plfiedv In
the papers, and fills large space In the eye
! az the DilfIic