New-York tribune., 1882-03-12

given number of questions on certain text
books The student is aDxiously examining.
If behindhand he has his private tutor or
"coach" or "quiz (for there has sprung up
for the last generation whole army OF these
puryeyors of undigested knowledge), who will
prepare his brain for the trial as the legs and
bodies of burdle-racers are rubbed and stimuli
lated Presently he comes to the barrier.
Hup over he goes, and trots along WIN no
idea or ambition in his mind except to make
ready for the next. There are usually Tour OF
| these scholastic hurdles in the course OF
year.
Now, parents see the i'll effects OF the
nervous strain upon their children OF tins
modern system of goading, examining and
dragging, but they quietly receive it without
examination or protest The strain, they Think
is injurious, but the system is good. 1t was
not the way they were taught, but they as
sumo without question it must be better
way. Is itl There are among the elder gen
Grafton, who absorbed knowledge slowly and
TRANQUILITY, profound historians, masters in the
use of language, and men whose characters
owe as much to the noble influences OF the
| classic literature as do their bodies to their
mothers milk. viii the proportion OF such
| men be larger in the generation trained by
| the new methodist Let us look into the facts
of the case. In the last fifty years the amount
| of knowledge requisite for liberal education
| has been almost trebled. The classics, the
lower mathematics, history, a moderate COM
prehensiOn of geography, logic and English
| literature constituted the basis which most
| colleges furnished to our fathers, and on which
! they built such superstructure as they could.
| Now, the modern languages, the higher mathe-
| matics science with all its new vast aggrega-
ton of facts and surmses, the daily dOngs OF the
whole world brought close by press and tele-
graph, are fields which the lad must conquer.
| No more time is allowed out of young mans
| life for the modern course than was given to
| the Old.
| The problem for teachers to solve, there
| fore. Is. how to bring him over the enOr-
mously augmented range of subjects in that
| time The problem is solved in this way
| he studies the textbook, not the subject. For
| instance, in preparatory school he studies
English history in a small octave, where eight
or ten reigns are condensed into one page; it
| is a summary of dates, births, deaths and wars,
| to be committed by sheer effort of memory,
and held-untl after the next examination.
| English literature is studied ont of cOmpendi-
ums of half-page extracts from Pope, Scott
and Shakespeare. One days ordinary lesson
for q young girl of sixteen lately was found to
consist of ffty-six rules in grammar, algebra,
rhetoric and science, exercises in three Ian
guages. music, thirteen important events in his
tOry-the significance or connection of not one
of which was explained. This was the usual
"stcntr of work demanded from an immature
brain of small natural power, and that not in
public school, but in a private one which
ranks high for its thOroughness and the ability
of its teachers. If the statement seem exagger-
ated let our readers who are parents look into
the amount of work demanded each day OF their
own children and judge for themselves.
Who is to blame? The masters of pre-
paratory schools declare that they are power
less. They have a certain time given them to
! make a student ready to pass an examination
to enter college. The college faculties, fired
with ambition, vie with each other to "raise
their standard -; that is, to try which shall
get the most work out of their pupils i'll the
four years allotted to study As to whether
this system imbues the pupil with the love or
dislike of learning, or fits or units his brain
for future work, that is a view of the case
which they have not considered, it appears to
us, with sufficient care.