Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-09-15

other factor which ought not 70 he
overlooked, and this is home training
Children who come from families
where literature in the best sense ie
practically unknown, present 10 the
best teacher problem of well-niph
hopeless incapacity. This point is
brought out very strongly by Mr.. Hen
ry S. Pancoast in an article in Lin
pincott's. What is the reason he
asks, that young people who come
from the sO-called upper classes''-a
phrase not necessarily offensiye-are 60
often devoid of literary taste? Is if he
cause the literary atmosphere is want
ing at home? Il once gave" he saws
"a series of talks on English literature
TO some seVenty-five or one hundred
boys / think that no one in the class
was younger than twelve. and MANY
were fourteen. fifteen or sixteen wears
years old; their parents were almost
uniformly persons of wealth and of ex
cenent social position. Yet I could not
find one boy among them who seemed
To have more than fair colIouuial
knowledge Of his mother tongue
These boys We're asked to read The
l4dI
care for it because they did not under
stand it. Among them were students
of Greek, Latin, German, and French;
Yet they could not read simple Eng
lsh poem without recourse to the die
tionary. What kind of books must
they have had at home? What kind
Of vocabulary was that to which they
We're used? Let them turn to the die
tiOnaTy. then some one might say.
But. as Mr.. Pancoast points out, there
can be no real enjoyment of literature
under such conditions. The charm Of
language. and especially of poetry lies
in the appreciation Of what it c1nnotes
as well as what il denotes. And the
habit Of such appreciation is chiefly
gained, not by formal study. but by
that acquaintance with the work of the
great masters which comes to the child
who is early made familiar with good
library and who hears from the lips
of his elders the natural language Of
educated persons. The sunday news
paper and the popular magazine viii
not supply this need: ana Yet In how
many houses where wealth and luxury
abound is there a perfect famine IF
books, unfortunate indeed" SAYS MI
Pancoast, is the child who by wi,ful
Indifference OF ignorant neglect il plac-
ed in the position Of a foreigner toward
thousands Of the most expressive
words of his mother tongue: even if
he should learn their meaning later. in
All likelihood they viii ~ no more to
him than the yellow primrose to the
unCOmprphpudiug glance. Of Peter
Bell"
There are those, Of course who min
imize the Importance Of literature and
place the utmost stress upon a "prac-
teal education. But Nj Pancoast is
right In saying that Il gross material
ism is the greatest danger that Amer
ica has to face There are several
things quite as important as getting
on in business; and to neglect them
while cuItivating that IL to develop a
type of manhood that is not we'll bal
anCed. The practical must be mixed
with the ideal. Religion and litera-
ture are the forces We must rely upon
to keep the national life pure ana true.
Thus the study Of the latter is some
thing more than the mere acquisition
Nc knowledge. 1t il not the bulk Of
our reading that makes us worthier.
hut the quality VT it ana The influence
it has upon our minds and hearts
The education " the young in Iitcra-
tura is therefore subject not tO b.
lightly dismissed Mr.. Pancuast has
called attention IN one phase Of it that
Well deserves consil"ration.-The PROV
idcncc Journal