New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-24
or 70 per cent through conventional arrange
ments.
CHANCES OF SELEEDUCATloN;


Here is a query from New ork TO-" ."no.t
THE TRIBUNE that opens the way W '"''
ing speculation hoe. oor,v educational
ecan woman OF fifty years, whose eary |','"o
N"' -. .ocra INIT now has some leisure
90 80 hours dav do anything TO improve her
Wo sbould saw emphatically that sne call.
rrho mara nreseuce in middle age OF an earnest
dos;ro for culture is usually proof OF capacity
~ attoin II The loss of the facility and eager,
',oss Of voutb NAV be more than compensated
- -, ircroasod steadfastness and power OF con-
centration. If our correspondents anioi'io"
NOT merely the development OF her p,e'on,
knowledge, but the general enlargement ""N
elevation of her intellectual horizon every on
coura cement may still be promised her' O"o
,ras an old man when he began to learn 0reeA
Co WAC Socrates when he took up the STUDY oi
music Kossuth at forty-nine knew ntte eng
Gsh vot his success few years later IN auureS'-
ing English meetings was remarkable hiS'ol!
- s,,u of cuch instances, which all convey the
same lesson. :, ... .. .olf-
The chief drawback to all attempts at SELF
education is the lack of proper plan OF sSs-
tenn. One of the highest advantages OF coiese
training is its immense service in economizlhs
the Students energy by preventing his helpless
oroping among the great mass OF accumulated
books and by wisely adjusting the different
stages of his progress. In mastering the de-
tails of a new science, art or language soou
method is half the battle. Self-taught men are
often ill-taught. DR.. Schliemann, the diSco'-
erer of Troy, is set down in the books aS
wonderful example of unaided effort. lie spohe
dozen or two of languages with 'nuency' 1et
his grammar is known to have been execraDle'
Every self-taught man who has struggled with
rudimentary knowledge by himself must oiteh
have reflected with pain on enormous sacri-
fees of patience and attention that carelW
tutor would have obviated. We should there
fore hesitate 70 recommend any reader OF IHE
TR1D11NE, of fifty or under, to embark sys-
dramatically on the requirement Of an education
sinple-handed where help can possibly be OBJ
tanned
Thanks to the judcious philanthropy OF dis
interested educators, this help is now to be had
for next to nothing. In England there uSed 10
he published work in which the rudlments OF
MANY branches of knowledge were accompanied
with a copious running explanation. we are
NOT aware that it has ever been initiated on this
side. But in the Chautauqua reading circles, 10
be entered by renting nominal lee 10 Uhe
Buffalo office our correspondent will find the
stimulus and counsel she requires. Her reading
of THE TRIBUNE may properly be supplement-
ed by the good magazines to which she says
she has access, and the University Extension
lectures occasionally advertised may rescue
many an evening from tedium. If she would
FIJI I'D SPARE moments with the study OF a IAN
guage. there are Chautauqua schools OF CORE
spcndence in which all tongues, from German
to Hebrew and Assyriac are successfully taught
through the mails.
In fact, facilities for self-education through
these admirable institutions are now so album
dant that ignorance is positively inexcusabe.
The whole of the Chautauqua readings, which
are distinct from the correspondence schools
would alone occupy student of fifty until her
ninety-seventh birthday, and that, we suppose,
would more than satisfy her demand.