The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-05-13

SU lOIU ulul ouC 10y ehA' ~ AA'6Ns o.
on by himself as fast as he was able.
Nor was his ability due to any special
talent for grammar alone, for he was
equally apt in every one of his other
studies. I naturally became very much
interested in this youth and began to
make inquiries as to his previous educa-
tioual advantages. was told that he
was the oldest son of a widow in very
limited circumstances, that he had been
to school but little and very irregularly,
and that he paid for his schooling him
self by working in brickyard. This
indicated a pluck. a determination to
succeed, as rare in one of his chances as
fountains in a desert, still, it did not
account for his singular ability. One
day, however, I learned that he was a
great reader; that he had been taking
the Youths Companion for a number of
years and that he literally devoured,
digested and assimilated every line of its
contents. Ah here lay the whole secret.
The mystery was solved. Here beheld
his school, his teacher, his text books,
and the source of all his inspiration.
The paper was about all that he had to
read, yet he read and remembered. |
spent the night with him once and with
in his mothers little log cabin, before the
blazing hearth. On that January evening,
we talked of Calhoun, Webster, Burr,
Preston, Stevens, Toombs, Gladstone and
others, and found him as conyersant as
an average college graduate on the lead
ing topics aud distinguished men OF the
day. As the conversation turned upon
the classics in liberal education, he
said: swat, will show you an article
on that subject" and taking little blank
book from his coat pocket, he began run
ming over long index, turning leaf after
leaf, until he came to what he was look.
ing for. Then. going to one corner of
the room where there was box full of
his papers carefully preserved, he drew
out copy from near the bottom and
showed me the article to which reference
was made. Boys, girls, teachers, profess
ors, how often do you find such spirit,
such energy, such germs of inevitable
greatness in your experience? have
read of such, but I never had the privi-
legs of coming in contact with such be-
fore. Let the world wag as it may, pluck
like this will clear its own path to the
front.
Fellow. teachers, endeayor to make
your pupils interested in good reading,
so that they will read at home. This
will stir up their dormant energies, and
make them anxious to excel. 1t is true,
as have said before, that there are a
great many drawbacks in the country to
the accomplishment of this end, yet
much good can be done with persever.
ance. In my "visiting round," as we
pedagogues call it, I find that the average
library of my rural friends consists of
about half dozen books, and as / glonce
at the title, I can read between the lines
of most of them, "Book Agent, Book
Agent, Book Agent" and in these titles
I beheld more substance than upon the
leaves of the volumes to which they be-
long.
Then, one thing for teacher to do is
to try to interest his or her patrons upon
the subject of reading and prevail upon
them to subscribe to some suitable paper
for their children, or purchase for them
suitable books. Then We should talk to
the children upon the subject in school,
read to them the most interesting selec-
tions that can be found, and draw liber-
ally upon ones own stock of common
sense and judgment for other available
means. The first, second, third and
fourth readers are generally very inter-
esting to scholars, but after they have
been through the fourth reader twice,
they want to take up some other book,
and, must confess, can find no fifth
reader that is worth the paper it is writ
ten upon. When I took charge of my
school, the text book used by the highest
reading class was shepherds Historical
Reader" and after had taken my class
half through it, honestly, I do not believe
q single individual could have shut the
book and given me the name of any
subject read about, unless, perhaps, it
was that of George Washington" This
work is made up of admirable selections
from the best writers, but interesting
only to those who have very fair knowl-
edge of the worlds history. [ have
about thrown aside the work now, and
require the members of this class to
select every night some suitable piece,
whether from q book, newspaper, or even
from an almanac, to read at their recita-
ton next day. I find they like this
method Of reading very much, and l am
convinced that it is far better than me-
chanically stumbling through unintelli,
gible matter. Well do I recollect the
utter disgust 1 entertained toward my
fifth reader "stering's" 1 believe it was
and to this day can recall the blank
verse of Shakespeare and Milton I foun-
dered through, and how I gazed in un-
feigued astonishment at my honored
instructress, when she spoke OF the
beauty and sublimity of these produc'
tions. l would go home and pore over
my "Arabian Nights" and wish we could
read stories like those at school.
believe nothing will interest boys