The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-07-26

and they we're betting on US. There has
been no improvement on that sweetheart
business that I know of. We had no
steel pensj and had to. depend upon the
cd gray goose for duills. In memory ]
| Bee the good old teacher standing by the
window half his time; making or mend.
Ing pens with his little pearl.handled
knife that they said came a1l the way
{ from London. He kept one eye upon
t6e.little blade and the other upon the
boys. A flock of geese was a treasure
then, and when the good woman had
plucked their breasts to fill her bedticks,
and the boys had pulled their quills for
pens, the poor geese we're pitiful sight
to behold. "Wbere is your pen, my
son ~ said the teacher. ri havn't got
any. r couldn't catch the old gander
this morning" We had no desks nor
globes nor charts nor blackboards; but
the hickory was there to tingle knowl.
edge and good behavior into US through
the cuticle Of the back and the legs.
But, after all, we had the same founda
tion to build upon that the boys have
now, and ne kept apace with the wants
and necessities of>the age. Three times
three made nine, just as they do now.
Language was the same, and history, and
philosophy, and astronomy, and trigono-
:metty, and geometry. Our boys could
speak Hohenlinden and Bosaries and
Patrick Henry and Cassabianita about
as well as they DO now. The modern
appliances for education are much i'm.
proved, but, great scholarship is not con-
fined to any age or institution. 1t comes,
if comes at all, in spite of all embar-
rassments. Where there is a will there
is a way, and education is now within
the easy reach; of all.
But he who with patient and inquiring mind
Would seek the stream Of science to ascend,
Must count tho cost, and never hope to find
Best to his labors or to his wanderinga end.
The foundation can be laid, but wheth.
crit will be built upon or not depends
upon the boy or the girl. Scholarship
acquired from books is but a small part
of education. As a man can master the
art Of music aud be no musician, just go
can be understand fragonometry and be
no surveyor. Practice, experience and
observation must all come in to the edu.
cation of a successful man. A long time
ago I knew an old farmer who could
hardly write his name, but he was self.
reliant, and his habit of observation had
stored his mind with useful knowledge.
He knew the peculiar qualities and uses
ofthe trees Of the forest and would tell
you which were tough or strong or elastic
which were good for the axle.tree of
the wagon and which for the hubs of the
spokes or the felloes, which would last
longest in the ground or out of it. What
vines wound the pole With the course of
;ths sun and what the reverse, and what
wound both ways and crossed each other.
He knew that the lateral limbs of tree
never grew any higher from the ground
and the surveyors marks were just. where
they were chopped half a century ago.
He knew that cane got Its full growth
in year and the number Of rows of corn
onsthe ear was always even. He knew
that the bat built a nest, but laid no eggs,
and the raincrow laid eggs, but built
no nest, and a whippoorwill never set
across limb, but lined it. If he found
where serpent had crossed the road he
could tell
.rWhetheI the snake that made the track
aWas going north or coming back"
He had experimental with the sup
posed influence of the worm on vegetation
aud found it had none. Illiterate as that
man was I always felt that he was fit to
be a teacher.
What q comfortit is 10 have knowledge,
to be full of knowledge. A great poet,
said, aWhere ignorance is bliss, tis folly
to be wise.n' sBut ignorance; is never
bliss. Tt cannot be-, for bliss is the.
highest grade ofhappiness. Its heaven.
;ly joy and utterly Incompatible with ig.
norance.
Shakespeare says: Ignorance is the
curse of God and knowledge is the wing
with which we fly to heaven"
Bulwer says: 'The pen is mightier
than the sword" --o
And Lord Brougbam says: '"fhe
schoolmaster is abroad in the land and l
will trust him against the soldier in full
military array"
Lord Bacon says: knowledge is pow
er," and the Scriptures abound in ipjunc.
tions "to increase our knowledge" even
though much study is weariness to the
flesh.
BILL ARP.
Set Fire to Her Own Hair.
Miss Mary Elmore met with serious
mishap in Fort Worth, Texas the result