Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1893-08-03

that exuberance which is necessary for the
| duties of coming lifep
No one can feel more thankful than do
| for the advancement of common school adj
ucation. The printing of books appropri-
ate for schools, the multiplication of philo-
sophical apparatus, the establishment of
normal schools, which provide for our chill
dren teachers of largest caliber, are themes
On which every philanthropist ought TO be
| congratulated But this herdng of great
| multitudes of children in i'll ventilated
schoorooms and poorly equipped halls of
| instruction is making many of the places
| of knowledge in this country huge holo-
| causts
Politics in many of the cities gets into
educational affairs, and while the two DO
| litical parties are scrabbling for the honors
Jephthah's daughter perishes 1t is so
much so that there are many schools in the
country today which are preparing tens of
| thousands of invalid men and women for
the future, so that in many places by the
| time the child's education is finished the
child Is finishedl In many places in many
cities of the country there are large appro-
! pratons for everything else, and cheerful
appropriations but as soon as the appro-
| pration is to be made for the educational
Or the moral interest of the city we are
struck through with an economy that is
well nigh the death of us.
In connection with this mention what
might call the examining system of the
common schools and many of the acadc-
mics. Children of delicate brain compelled
to tasks that might appall n mature intel
lect; children going down to school with
strap OF books half as high rs themselves
Inc 1act IS IN some of the cities parents do
not allow their children to graduate, for
the simple reason, they say, 1--WE cannot
hiIOfd TO allow our chlldren's health to he
destroyed in order that they may gather
tht hohors OF an institution.
lens OF thousands ot children educated
INTO I'm becllity. 80 connected with many
such literary embellishments there ought
10 be aSylums Tor the wrecked 1t is push,
and crowd and cram and stuff and jam
until the chlld'S intellect Is bewildered,
ana the msnory ls wrecked, and the health
IL gone. There are children turned out
from the schools who once were full Of
romping and laughter and haG cheeks
crimson with health who are now turned
out IN the afternoon pale faced, irrtated,
aSthmatlc, old before their time. 1t is one
OF the saddest sights on earth-an old man
hish BOY or an old womanish girl.
LITTLE BRAINS OVERCOME.
Urls ~ years or age studying algebra!
boys ~ years OF age racking their brain
over tllgonometryl Children unacquainted
win thelr mother tongue crying over their
l.dtin' rehch ana German lessons. All
the NlVacity OF their nature beaten out of
them by the heavy beetle of Greek lex
icon! Ana you doctor them for this, and
you give them "A little medicine for that,
ana you wonder what Is the matter with
them. viii tell you what is the matter
with them. They are finishing their edu-
cation.
In my parish in Philadelphia a little
enid was SO pushed at school that she was
thrown INTO lever and i'll her dying de
llrluin All night long she was trying to re-
cite the multiplication table. In my boy
hoou Der that III our class at school
thero was one LAD VINO Knew more than all
the rest OF us put together. If we We're
IaSI i'll our arithmetic, he extrlcated us.
When we stood up for the spelling class he
was almost always the head OF the class.
Nisl'ors came TO MS 1athers house, and he
was almost always brought in rs n prodigy.
Al l9 years OF age he was an idiot. He
llVeu ~ years an idiot and died an idiot,
not knowing has right hand from his left
or day from night. The parents and the
you may Halter your pride by forcing
your children to know more than any other
chlIuren, but you are making Il sacrifice Of
That chlld II by the additions to its intell-
Sehce you are making subtraction from
us future. The child will go away from
such lnaltreatment with no eXuberance to
hSht the battle OF llfe such children may
Seu uong very well while Yon take care of
them, but when YOU are old or dead alas
Tor them II through the wrong system of
education which you adopted they have no
sWarthlness or force OF character To take
care OF themselves. BE careful how you
make the child's head ache or its heart
Hutter' hear great deal about black
mems rights and Chinamen's rights and
INDIANS rights ana Women's rights. Would
GOD mat somebody would rise to plead for
chlldren's rights!
me Carthaginlans used 10 sacrifice their
children by putting them into the arms of
an IDOL which thrust forth its hand. The
chlid was put INTO the arms of the idol, and
no sooner touched the arms than it dropped