Year: 1859

To read well, write legibly, spell correctly
j and be able to compute by the aid of arithn1at
' ical numbers, is not, in the eyes of those VIII,
) theorize upon the subject, quite enough of ed
ucation to enable a gentleman to pass curren
IN society; and yet it is probable that the mum


Der OF these claiming to be gentlemen who


have not those accomplishments, is greater thar


of those who have 1t is not, by any means


every man who is so well skilled in the art oi


reading as to be able to catch the full force Of
whatever he reads, much less to convey it to
! Others. A majority even of those who have


no excuse for it, write badly and illegibly; and


speiler critically good is quite an uncommon


character.


1t may be set down as a general rule, that a


man who can read well, write legibly, and spell


correctly, instead of going forward in his edu-


cation, in pursuit of other and more recondite


branches, had better, as the surest means
OF Improvement, turn back, and make him
self master of the rudiments. So far as


the learning taught in the schools and colleges


OF our country is concerned, this is undoubte(i-
| ly true. The elements are not only the more


usefui, but, If they are not the more ornamen-


tai, the want of them is more disgraceful than


the want of the other. The absence of Latin


and Greek, philosophy and the higher mathe-


matics, may not be detected; but the man who
reads vulgarly, writes slovenly and spells clown
ishly, is in constant danger of exposure.


As man is a creature whose voluntary pur-
suits are, in great measure directed by his Ca
pacity for enjoying them, his disposition to ac-
quire knowledge by reading WILL in some de-
gree, be determined by the ease with which it
may be done. Reading is mechanical. It is
an art, and may, therefore, be taught by prac-
tice, as other arts-are communicated. But it
is the avenue to science; and through it comes
not merely the education of the schools, but
the information Of after life. Now, he who
can not read well for others, can not read well |
for himself; and, therefore, the greater or less
degree Of mere mechanical facility In this branch
may, and to some extent will, determine, for /
life, the intellectual character of the man, and |
the esteem in which he is holden by his fellow |
citizens.


Good reading is the direct avenue to good |
writing-the highest possible test of coed ed
ucation. To say that man is educated who
can not produce-whose head is merely stuffed
with dry erudition-is to overlook the differ
ence between the living and the dead, between
the barren rock and the fruitful plantation
1t may be going too far to say that it is i'm
possible for a bad reader to be good writer;
but it is probable that such conjunction of
qualities is not often to be found He who
can not see and deliver orally the logic of a
well compacted argument, Or the graces of an
elegant apostrophe, in something like the spirit
in which it was written, will not be likely to
disturb the ripple of events alarmingly by the
force of his reason, or take captive the popular
intellect by the beauty of his creations.


IF publicschool education should be strong
anywhere, it should be in the elements-if gov
schools are justifabe upon any ground,
it is that they furnish the most thorough posi-
BILE training in the elementary branches. Yet
in our system of schooling these are treated as
minor affairs There is constant reaching
forward-a longing after the snowy and the
ahseahd---a preference of the forcing to the
natural processes-a tendency to mistake high
schools for high standard of requirement,
which to those whose minds are not overawed
oy the dignity and power Of the establishment,
is vast expense, and its palatial ed6ces, is any
hing but encouraging. They learn to doubt
whether there is any educating done after all ;
oy these instrumentaities; whether there is in
act, any thing accomplished, but to create in
he minds Of the young false conceptions of
hat in which learning consists, and to put them
n the wrong path, there to continue for the
of their liYes.--Cincinnati Press.