The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-14
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

The poet has told us that the proper
study OF mankind Is man. That charac-
teristic which is among the purely hui
man faculties distinguishes man from
tho brute animal In language. 1.-THE
study OF language Is the study Of
thought, and the study of thought is the
study Of man." To say that language Is
the instrument Of thought is neither
complete nor exact; 1t Is rather Its en-
bodiment, in which and through which
alone thought attains its own life. Get
but the truth once uttered and 1t Is like
q star, newborn, trembling in its
depths" Language is the wide open
portal to that beautiful domain in which
are reserved and crystalliZed in the en-
during forms Of poetry and prose. what
ever the authentic soul Of man has
touched with her immortalizing finger.
To receive, to enjoy and in turn trans
sphere Of Literature, the exceeding
great reward Of its study
Grammar and Literature hold PROM
inent place in the curriculum Of our
schools, yet our children are not perfect
in their mother-tongue and the novel
Of the day holds undisputed sway over
the young minds Of the rising genera
tion. Grammar has Of necessity Its
place In our schools, but as the whole
means employed in teaching the Eng
lish language correctly, 1t Is valueless.
The study Of English Literature Is for
the most part confined to q cram on the
personal biography Of the author. or
at the best 1t Is a reading about litera-
ture. not a reading in literature. Drop
by drop the precious life blood Of mas
ters spirit Is coined out in endless dia-
grams and searching analysis. A kind
Of intellectual gymnastics, excellent In
its way, but for O training in real
thought 1t Is rather a hindrance and
creates a distaste for higher Literature
that will be difficult to eradicate.
A child Is but the complete, undevel-
oped human being, and the aim Of all
education should be. not simply to de-
velop this or the other faculty how
ever Indispensable, but to bring about
participation in the life of the race so
that 1t shall he quickened and made re-
sponsive to the touch of things seen
and unseen" The intellect must not be
cultivated at the expense Of the heart
The exclusive exercise of the reason
has a tendency to dry up all taste for
arts and letters and to starve out the
spirit Of piety and devotion. On the
contrary one may refine the organs
sensibility, but If it Is done to the
exclusion Of right reason and the SUPER
ior emotions Of the soul, 1t degenerates
into sentimentalism and corruption Of
heart. Human life Is faith, knowledge,
beauty conduct, manner. Religion and
poetry, hope, love and imagination are
as essential to our well being as science.
There is one great society alone ON
earth, 1.-THE noble Living and the noble
| Dead" Our children must know what
Saints. Sages and Heroes have loved.
| Tn, fhio cnpiafv ~ 10
the glorious privilege Of instructors to
lead the children under their care. Not
only Is 1t our duty to lead them to ap-
propriate and assimilate the thoughts
Of others. but the highest aim of all
work should be to lead them to think for
themselves, by inducing thought, evok-
ing thought, Strengthening thought, and
awakening self dependent thought. If
this be accomplished the lives of our
pupils shall be elevated in their free
dom from the woes and worries that be-
fore the strong powers Of a nobly active
mind
"Shall fold their tent like the Arabs
And silently steal away"
Where shall the study Of Literature
begin? With the advent Of the child
in the school, we answer. Literature
and Language should go hand in hand
throughout the whole Of a child's course
in school. In the lower grades the kind of
readers in use have much to do in fos-
| tering q love for good literature, but
unfortunately the only excuse that can
be made for the most Of those now IN
use is on the score of economy. The
copyrights of our classical works have
long since elapsed, and the price of
world-renowned authors has been re-
duced to minimum, SO that excuse can
no longer hold good. With the readers
banished and the complete works of the
best authors substituted. a. course Of
reading could be established which
would gradually develop the children's
minds and imperceptibly instll into
them, taste for the best literature.
The parallels Of our Lord in simple Ian
guage, Aesop's Fables and Canon
Schmid's Short Tales and Parallels, we
would deem suitable reading for the
lower grades. The other grades could
be supplied with Robinson Crusoe, Lit
tie Lord Fauntleroy, the Vicar of
Wakefield, Fabiola, Rasselas, CAL
lista, Life Of Ozanam, Dion and the
Sybils in prose; Pope's Essay on Man,
Bryant's, Scott's and Wordsworth's s
Poems according as the children ad-
vanced In school. Succursal reading
could be supplied from the works of
Irving. Goldsmith, Scott, Dickens,
Thackeray. Longfellow, Tennyson and
Adelaide Proctor.
Read for the children and have them
reproduce either orally or In writing the
substance of what you have read.
Children have retentive memories and