Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-04-10
rHEMIs IN THRoEs.
The Goddess Intrusts Her Scales to ar
Unskillful Modern Phaethon.

OF Inc RECORD UNION, since II manifested
disposition at the outset to deal fairly, keep
its columns clean, and to lend its aid 10 the
cultivation of literary tastes and the eEcour-
agement of thoughtful reading. But Themis
in its latest issue has given evidence of a
sudden fall into slovenness, in its original
columns, that it is charity to its amiable
writers to ascribe to the admission to its
editorial privileges of some element foreign
to its Office The schoolmaster was GER
tainlv abroad from the Themis sanctum last
Sunday, and just as surely literary bull
pranced among its china. How else shall
we account for the clyconic results manifest
in its review of alleged literary irregu-
larities in the State series of textbooks?
The goddess who is supposed to preside
over the suggestive head line of ThemiS,
would be justified in visiting severe con-
domination upon US should We be so unfair
as to attribute to the regular staff" of that
paper such jagged sentence as this, for in
stance:
We have only been able to generalize, as
space nor time has not allowed special crit
cism.
1t pales, however, before the next that
treads upon its heels:
But it is no unkinoness, no cynical fault-fnd-
ing with the compilers, that can be attributed
to just and disinterested examination OF those
textbooks that are placed before the pupils of
the State for their tuition
Themis owes it to its readers to take the
kinks out of this rhetorical tangle. The
limit of life is too short to Justify any other
intelligence in essaying the task; we can
wish the writers upon our juvenile con-
temporary nothing better that mortal
lease of sufficient length to enable them to
ccomplish it. We trust that the inquiry
may not be deemed impairment as to the
coercive measures employed by the prem
tice hand that compelled a pause 7" to the
performance described in this sentence:
And just here pause may be made to pay a
just tribute to the mechanical work of all The
series.
But if we plead guilty to hypercriticism
of error that may be chargeabie in Justice
to the proof-reader, the scapegoat of many
literary sinner, it cannot be charged that
it is captious to suggest, in response to the
editorial inquiry in the next sentence,
What will we say ?'' that no one could
have answered the conundrum, except the
literary Cheap-John who propounded it,
since he possibly knew. Had the CUES.
ton been What shall we say" the
world with propriety might have replied
that silence is golden" 1t is not proposed
to cite attention" to all the china-smash-
ing by our contemporaries apprentice, but
1t is pardonable to call attention to the
grammatical fact that queries do not,
except perhaps in the Themis Office, % fol-
lows"
We might pass over the rough hewing of
the following sentence "Then four lines
of verse are quoted, and the pupil asked
who wrote those lines about Mr.. Smith,"
since it is clear that the pupil asked moth
ing of the kind, but is asked by the au-
thor of the book Thenlis carves so merci-
lessly, concerning the identity Of one of the
tribe of Smith. Likewise charity may be
invoked to spread its mantle over the
gaps" and 3" fills" in the remaining lines
of the parsgraph-but not even the anna
expression in Themis to literary black
smith would excuse omission of reference
to this remarkable sentence But the
compiler Gin brackets) invites the pupil to
see Cyclopedia." Who put the compiler
into brackets? Why not take him out
What was the poor fellows offense? What
was the matter with the common jail
Was the city prison full? Or, is the refer
ence to some sort of literary stocks where
compilers are exposed to view?
This rapid review of the wreck under in
spection would be too extended to enumer-
ate the " nows" that crowd and iostle one
another in the remaining lines of the para.
graph-one sentence only we quote, as an
example of conciseness at the expense of
completeness:
Now here is question in geography and is
entirely irrelevant aud immaterial, and has
g nothing to do with the case
We next come-and we hasten as rapidly
| as possible through the debris-to an in
volved statement, which, if true, opens up
to students of natural history, or some
oil q oct. ,,4o IL
| search:
| But suppose the pupil is asked to find an
swers to those questions, or any of them and
| report next day, what is the result? Some of
| them, who have parents or relatives who possess
the requi lite knowledge or know how to direct
| them 10 obtain the information, may be able 10
make slight show in the class, etc.
Since pupil" is used in the singular
ard questions and answers y" are
plural, the conclusion is inevitable that the
| personal pronoun refers to the latter. and
we are thus enlightened by the information
| that questions T" and answers have pa
rents and relatives for which valuable con-
tribution to the sum of human knowledge
the world has our weekly contemporary TO
| thank. To be entirely fair however, it
should be added that later in The remark
able criticism under notice there is some
hazy reference to the parents of pupils !"
who are able" if not competent, to rem
der the assistance referred to.
Throughout the article pupil" and
scholar alternate without any regard to
the distinctive meaning of the words. Such
sentences as this, s. In almost each reading
lesson where questions" etc., and this,
Does it not look ike catch question to
stupefy the pupil?' and this, dThen the
the compiler goes entirely out of the text
to get clincber," are altogether too nu-
merous to be catalogued here. When our
| literary contemporary farms out its COL
umns 70 would-be reviewers, let it exercise
such care that the public cannot discover
with ease that there are pedagogues assum-
ing ability 20 teach, who have not the ca
pacity 10 write with perspicuity. They
should not. at least, be liable to exposure
similar to that which threw Peter into
| paroxysm of rage when his speech so far
betrayed him that those standing about were
warranted in declaring Thou art a Cali
lean" Nor should those who undertake
such labors as engaged the "critic of the
| Thea'is be so impractical as 10 invoke by
their temerity the fate of Ph@;hon, who
drove the chariot of the sun so unskillfully
as TO almost " set the world on fire But
the critic OF the fhemis is unlikely to bring