Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-07-07
IGNORANT PEOPLE.
And the Varying Degrees OF Ignorance.


And the Varying Degrees OF Ignorance.
Public ignorance is not confined to the
present and the notorieties of the present
alone. The public is peculiarly ignorant
of Bible history We doubt if fair per-
centage of the people you meet in the
course of an hours walk could get as
near the order of the names of the books
in the Old Testament as the little school
girl in Somerset. This West-country
blossom of the School Board system was
requested to name the earlier writings of
the sacred text, which she did thus, and
very iluently "Dsvonshirc, Exeter,
Liticus, Numbers, Astronomy, Jupiter,
Jumbo, Ruth" Here the higher criti-
cism dimly detects vague local render
ing of "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges,
Ruth" Talking of Ruth reminds us Of
the ignorant lady at the picture gallery.
"Ruth and Boaz," she read in the cata-
logue. "Who was RUTH" Whereupon
her companion favored her with sketch
of the plot of Mrs Gaskells "Ruth, p"
ending with the confession, "but l don't
remember who Boaz was" An American
lady was heard to ask in the Pitt Caller
les, "Who is that by?' The answer was
"Rayphael" " SIS he the same as Ray
phael Sanzio? ?" "No don't you know
there are three of them-Rayphael, San
zio, and Urbino?' With equal artless-
ness the writer who does the pictures for
the Times this year informed the public
that the story oil how Phryne was tried on
capital charge at Eleusis was too well
known to bear repetition. OF course
there is no such story Mt all.
1t is difficult question with writers
whether they should make allowance for
the unfathomed ignorance of the public
or not. In the preface to n new edition of
the translated fragments of Sanchonia-
tnon and Berosus, the author apologies
for being too explanatory and taking
nothing for granted. He tells how he was
once i'll the study of country clergyman
who was about to lecture to his parish
toner's on Brittany "Don't you think, y"
said the visitor, "that you had better tell
them where Brittany is?' ooh they
would feel insulted,' replied the lectur-
er. But the visitor suggested that an ex-
pertinent should be made on the daugh-
ter of the house 1t proved that this
young lady was wholly ignorant of the
geograp) ical position of Brittany, and
the necessary information was added to
the lecture. As rule lecturers yget over
their difficulty ~ sayirS "As you all
know, Europe is q continent" or some
thing of that sort. This is really new to
the audience, as new as the discovery that
Cape Breton is an island" was to the
Duke OF Newcastle. But they feel flatter-
ed at being assured that they know some
thing, The people Of Boston Omitted
StatesJ are SO proud that they refuse to
attend lectures in which their instructor
tells them things that they knew already.
But the people of Boston are a peculiar
people, and. as n rule, it is scarcely pos
sible to make too large allowances for the
ignorance of ar audience. Newspaper
writer's usually dash through thick and
/ tim, as if their readers were like the man
who took i'll the Daily Telegraph be-
cause, said he, what l admire is its
scholarly tone" While students of the
papers are 80 ill read that they are COM
monty unfamiliar even with the works of
Dickens, they do not seem to protest
against the introduction of classical and
historical illusions which must to them
be Hittite. We believe that leading ar
ticle writer might allule airily to "the
Scholiast on Montezuma," or to 'the au-
thority of the Acroccraunian palimpsest, y
without exciting in his readers the sus-