Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Desportes & Williams, Proprietors.] A Family Paper, .Devoted to Science, Art, Inquiry, Industry and Literature. [Terms--$3.00 per Annum, In Advance. VOL. VII.] WINNSBORO, S. C., WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 6,1871. [NO.12 .w . .. ....... ...... ..... ....-... .. . .. a--~a.... .. THE FAIRFIELD HERALD 18 FUIHld1liSD WEIKLY BY DESPORTES & WILLIAMS, Terms.-Tns IRALn is published Weeks in the Town of Winnsboro, at 03.00 in vareably in advance. 44W, All transient advertisements to'be id in advance. Obituary Notiees and Tributes $1.00 per square. EDUCTION AL INSTITUTE OF MSo~t~ka. C am.*ol~1.2.. FIRST DAY-AUGUST 23, 1871. The Educational Institute of South Carolina met in Greenville, in pursu ance of notice, In the Court House, at eight o'clock P. M.. The President Hugh S. Thomson, Esq., being neces sarily absent, the Vice President, J. B. Patrick, Esq , took the chair, and announced that the annual orator, General Eauley, had been unexpected ly called away by sickness in his family, on the day before, and that the Institute would, therefore, pro ceed to its regular business. Some twenty or thirty gentlemen were then admitted, by a unanimous vote, to membership, and the following offi - vers were nominated and unanimous ly elected : President, Prof. J. H1. Carlisle ; Vice Presidents, M essrs. Judson, Patrick, Bonner and Pifer; Corresponding Secretary, Rev. B. F. Miller ; Recoiding Secretary and Treasurer, Ml. Ml. Farrow. The Insti tute thou adjourned, to meet at 9 e'clock A. .., at the Baptist Lecture Room. SECOND DIV, AUGUST 2d'T1. Vice President Bonner took the chair, and for two hours Professor C. H. Judson kept the attention of his audience by a bruliant criticism upon "Geometrical Text Books and Meth ads," illustrating iany of his strict ures upon the black board. The more glariug defects of most of our text books were pointed out in so com plete a way, that when the learned Professor closed, Dr. Broadus rose and humorously stated his delight. He thought more of himself, more of sohool-boys, and more of mathemat ices, after hearing it, seid Dr. B. More of himself, that he had under stood Professor Judson ; more of school-boys, because their non com prehension had been proven to be duo at times to their text-books and their teachers, and more of matbe matics, that, with books so full of faults, it had done so much for stu. dents and for the world. Professor Babbit was reminded by that part of the essay that trented of de6nitions, of the school-boy's diffioul ty in finding the meaning of the word oyster. He looked into his dictiona ry and found it to mean a ruoluscous bi-valve. Looking out for bi, he found it to mean two, and for valve, a part of a steam engine, and conelud 0 I at last, that an oyster was a dread ful animal armed with two parts of a steam engine. Mr. B. R. Stuart said, by way of caution, that a science or study wIas capable of conveying much instruc tion and much truth to the mind, no matter how defeosive its definitions might be, when oritically analyrzed. 1st. Because the miud caught at the .fact intended, and especially in mathematics, though the definition or symbol did not exactly convey it, and secondly, because much of our knowl cage consisted in the perception of the relations of things in themselves incomprehensible. In moralI science, for example, in which thme distin guished gentleman, Dr. Broadusi, is versed, it is well known how difficult it is to define God or man, bumt the duties springing from the relations of man to God, were much plainer, if not, indeed, perfectly clear. And so, if the definitions in common use in Ge. ometry were as defective as Professor Judson held them to ho, still the stu dent would see the thing intended through theocloud of words, and rea son accurately upon the relations of one mathematical quantity to another. Mr. Benet expressed his satisrac tion at the criticism of Professor Jud son on Davies' Geometry, amnd said that one of his pupils, of but sixteen years of age, had pointed cut the ao surdity of the idea of a circle being a regular polygon with an infinitely great number of sides. It was time to look for textbooks that should be at least above the criticism of school boys. As to what Mr. Stuart had Isaid about loose definitions serving the purpose, be could not consent to it. A mathematical text-book should be accurate. If there was any exact branch of study at all, it was Matho bates. d ywy fcuin Mr. Stuart stated that the law of called attention to, was both true and any further to illustrate it. lie pre ferred, on this occasion, to be a learn er, tLnd would ask Professor Judson's opiniorn upon Presidlent Hill's (of Harvard University) views as to teaching the elements of- Geometry to ohildren of senn years of agn ? Prof. Judson replied that sinceeven students of an advanced age some times found it difficult to conceive the relations of space, he thought tl.at President Hill's recommendation that children of even a very few years of age be familiarized by means of blocks and otherwise with mathemiat ical forms and the relations of space, a very good suggestion. But it mustn't be all blocks, for then the pupil would never be able to leave them. In that case the Professor im plied, though he doesn't indulge in that sort of way of expressing him. self, that blocks might make block. beads, and not Geometricians. QMr. Stuart, then offered a resolu tion to print the essay, to which Pro forsor Judson objected, and suggested that the resolution be simply referred I to the standing Executive Commitee on publication, or to a Committee ap pointed to report what matter had better be published. The Rev. Dr. Furman said, that for many years he a had regarded Professor Judson as I eminently filled to supply the want of a text-book in Geometry which he bad to-day so clearly pointed out., and suggested that he be requested to prepare one. After further debate Mr. Stuart rose and said that he had tested the sense of the house and begged leave to offer the following resolution : Resolved unanimously, that the assay of Professor Judson on Geomot rical Text Books and Methods is emi. aently worthy of dissemination and perusal,and that the Sccretary be in Atroted to request him to furnish it in a proper shape for publication. The resolution was passed without a rlis enting voice, and the Professor blushing down to his cravat, promised to comply with the flattering wish of Lhe Institute. Mr. M. V. Calvin of Augusta, Ga., having been invited to be present and iddress the Institute, now took the Olor, and in a well written speech ad vanced the thought that science is the rnotive-power of modern progress. Air. 0. concluded by giving all present & oordial invitation to attend the meeting of the Georgia Educational [Istitute, on the first Tuesday in Way next, in Augusta. EVFNING SESSION. The Institute having adjourned at Z o'clock, met again at 4, and Mr. B. c R. Stuart, appointed to introduce the 4 muIject of SCHOoL ORGANIZATION, addressed the institute, speaking to and elaborating the seven following r suggestions : 6 1st. That good Primary Schools 1 are of the fitst importance, but that f P'rimary Sbools should be kept sev- I arully diztinct from Secondary or i High Schio.d, and that Teachers of C Primary Schoihshould con'rfinke them se:lves exciusively to grsunding their pupils tho.rughly in reading, writing, and the clements of Arithmetic, Ge ography ian1d History. 2nd. That the course of High School or Secondary education should cover a period of six years, and the school should be divided into six I classes taught "y three teachers (a I Principal and two assistants) and that 4 each class should have five daily reci tations of thirty minutes duration.< This will require a daily session of five hours, exclusive of recess, and gives time for study (the teachers as< sistant) in school hours. 3d. That in schools taught by two] teachers (a Principal and one assist. ant) the same six classes and the same daily recitations of thirty nin-1 utes each are desirable, but that each class should thea recite but four reci tations a 'lay. This will require a1 session of six hours, excluisive of re cess, and gives more time for studyi (the teacher assisting) in sohool hours. Exceptionable pupils can be fitted to both of these schiemes, by re citing with different einsues, but this should very seidom be allowed. Th'lat the favorable attention of teachers is earnestly called to the schedule of studies printed up on page 367 of the. September number (1870) of the' Educational Journal of Virginia, the merits of which sohedule are there vindioated in one of the ablest papers ever preparop in our country. The following is the scheds'e referred to: SCHICEDUL1.. Suly'ects of Study. Les'ns per week for eOa class. VI. V. iv. 1i1. 1i. 1. English, 5 5 6 3 2 2 [,aiin, 6 6 5 6 6 6, GIreek, 6 5 6 5 Moedern Languages, 4 4 Geography, 5 5 IHistory, 5 6 8 8 Mathemaities, 6 6 6 6 6 6 Natuiral Science, 8 8 8 Perna anship, 6 6 80 80 28 24 24 24 5th. That the too frequent prac tice of some of onr teachers under. taking to teach studies properly be longing to the Freshman and Sopho more Clauses of a College or Univer sity, takes up much valuable time that had much better be exclusively devoted to a judiciously selected course of High School instrnction, Iand is therefore to be emphatically Icondemned and earnestly depreca ted. Qth. That it it'highly dosirable that the Legislature should establish i1 suitable buildigs to be erected by the State at each county s'at, a well graded Public High 8hool, under three competent teachers, whose sal' rios should be paid, in part, out of the State Treasury. in part by a special loan levied upon the town cor. poration, and in part, if necessary, by a moderate tuition fee of ten or twen ty dollars charged, as in Prussia, upon the pupils of the school. 7th That it would add greatly to the 3ffioienoy of the above recommende4 3tate Public High Schools for the University-of South Carolina to offer ror competition to the first pupil in 3aoh of them every year a scholarship in the University and that by this lourse, in a few years, the University tself will soon be restored to its for. ner prosperit7 and influenee. Mr. Stuart, in explaining anO Il ustrating the above seven points, aid, that he wasnot discoura ged by thoro not being a great many present or he would rather talk to one earnest nan than to five hundred into whote iar his words might sink as a pleas. !nt song, and then die, like an elo, tway. Whether his plan was a good me or not, it was high time to reflect upon the matter and make an effort 6t something like systetm and order n our schools, for he was persuaded hat any plan, even the worst possi. >le, was far better than the no plan rhatever which now too often pro ailed in the schools of the State. hat it was impossible for a teacher o do equal justice to primary and ecindary classes in the same school hat he had tried it faithfully and ound that th3 one class of pupils in 'ariably usurped the time of the ther class. hlow was it possible to each from A, B, C, up to the Ju ior course of a college, as is often ttempted to be done in some of our chools. That primary, secondary Ind collegiate instruction were in heir natire distinct, and ought to te kept reverally apart, if the highest xcellence in each was aired at. lut now -the entrance of a pupil who Fihod to study some special College tudy, and this often happens during he year, caused a squeezing up to ,ether of the whole programme of the chool, so 'as to got fifteen or twenty ninutesroum for the special benefit If the new comer's hobby or his par. ints desire. The organization or lie school was thus capriciously hanged from term to term, and even, n some cases from month to month. Pbe teacher was ever pressed or .ather -tortured to do what he never hiould have undertaken at the start, and is sadly discouraged at the little iuit of all his toil. After further emarks illustrated by ;specific ex. maples of the evil lie was striking t, drawn from his own memory nrid experionoe, Mr. Stuart then call d atreution to Hi4 6th point recom uending graded public high schools Lt the county seats, atid said, that the state wis the, only power that could iot with efficiency in bringing about lirectly, or by reason of competition >etwecu private and public schoofs, he much desired retorm that ie advocatod, the only authority that ,ould impose method and system, ry them fairly and let them vindi antc themselves by results. He urg. d the importance of High Schools as link in system of State education so tarnestly, that when he sat down, Mr. Arcbar forgetting the very first point MIr. Stuart had made, felt called Ipon to reply. M r. A rcher said, that lie had beent de. 'ight ed in listening to the speech jnst nade arnd especially with all that had teen urged ins favor of claseificaton. lie represented the public rehools of JDharleston on this floor, and the lead. ring feature of those schools was cia. tifloation. But his friend, Mr. Stuart ltad built a house commencing at te top and conie downwards. High Schools and the higher instruction and the classics senmed to be his rriends hob~by. lie was persuaded that a proper system of State educa tion must begin at the bottom with the primary school. This too was the opinion of Mr. Memminger. If the tenchers or the State would come down to Charleston next spring, he was certain that he could show them somethtin g in the way of organization that would both please and instruct them. While Mr. Archer had been speak. iug Mr. Bennett then said that his friend Mr. Stuart, had come ever and whispered in his ear, "let us hear from Scotland." He rose to comply. The system of instruction there wat based upon the thorough teaching oi Latin, and that every thing was see ondlary to it. The teacher was assist ed by what were called pnpil.teach ers. These were pupils who upon standing an examination were giver to theproper authorities certificates to eac te primary pupils of the school, at the same time that they re ceived higher instruotion themselve from the Principal. A pupil-teache was .paid not a great deal, and ye enough to encourage hint for his sorvi cos. After five years he went to th, High School, an d thehee to the Univer sity. Mr. B. then said that he believe< that the cause of the confusion in on school shore wea i. nat that teakin was not pursudi as Q6 profoesion, but . was an asylum for the hilt, the maima ed, thp blind.4nd the AQ'af, or a wore stepping stone to some other buoineso. He gave a humorous piettarc of a young man who aspired . sueceed im in the Cokepbury School :gvhich he had just resigned, and oonoluded by saying, that education must coat inue in an unsatisfactory condtion, as long as our sChools were at the tuoroy of such applicantis. THIRD DAY AUG. 25T11. The subject of school organization was resumed, and Prof. B bbit of the South Carolina University occupied the attention of the audience for over an hour, descrihing the working of the public schools in Massachusetts. He said they were graded in five grades the infant, the primary, the intermediatj, th grammar, and the high schools. Asa general thing, the teacher had forty pupils, twenty in each .4t two 6laesse, so that when a dull boy "smarted up," he jimpe'd inetothe upper division, and whe a smart boy "dulled down," Ie fell into the second class. The Buard of su pervisors served without pay, and em ployed a paid superintendent to exe cute their plans. This was an adni rable system, economical and effi. cient. MIr. B. said very few pupils ever entered the high schools. In our town of 5,000 inhabitants, but thirty pupils were in the high sohool, and very few went to college. If called on to state the worst fault of the system, he would say it was (he tremendou< pressure brought to hear upon the pupils. No excuse for tar diness or absence ever preveate d loss of marks. He had known childrin to get out of bed to attend school, and to go back to bed, as soon as they got back home. T' hb strain upon a doli cate child wals s'trying, that parents were obflged (0 send their feeble children to .pi teachers. He considered the puplis as prepared by the system for teaching, but asnot fitted for house-keeping, or for the chari ties of life. The joint education of the sexes, too, he thought hatched out quite a numerous brood of crowing hens. The Professor was listened to with unflagging interest to the close. The Rev. Dr. Furman then, took the floor, and said, lie feared he was too old to change, and might be de nominated an old fogy. He feared to trutt the State with the business of education, which lie regarded as the heaven-givon prerogative of parents to attend t9. He did not believe in separating religious iustruction from education, and would be obliged to vote against Mr. Stuart's suggestions, if it oeme to a vote. That he feared to trust the present legislative au thoritie: % ith such a power as the control of educiatiun. He preferred to let the matter be left to present agen. .as. We were apt to forget that the war had interrupted our plans and prevented the full benefiial efforts of the excellent systemi we had previ. ou to 1860. Edu-3ation was not even now in as bad a atate as Mr. Stuart seemed to believe. Let us trust a little to time. As to the South Care. lina U iversity it had once fallen under a malignant influence, and might do so again. Let us be cautious, lie thought that the Institute had better con~ne itself to the improvemient of 'its own members, and believed it was already doing a g reat deal of good. The entire speech of the venerable speaker was exceedingly pleasing, be. oause so sincere. Mr. B3. R. Stuart said that he per ceived that Mr. Archer had just come in and that he would reply to him, and then to Dr. Furman. There was no difference of opinion between Mr. A. and himself, as he might see by reading his first suggestion. Hlow to make the rotten things throughout the State called primary schools effi cient, and how to stop the present plain wastefulness and robbery existing under the garb of education, was the question, and he knew of no better way than to have a high school near at hand, to reject and send back all applIcants from primary schools that had been imperfectly taught. The poelle wouldl then Boon discover hwieoient those so called pri mary schools really are. As to the remarks of Dr. Furman, the question of education by the State Ihad now got beyond debate. It was set tied in all civilized countries that the IState should educate, the State con,. stitution settled it in South Corolina. IMoney was being spent for the put. pose, but spent in5 aiie a w*af that it was down-right robbery. It becamo the education of the State to suggest a reform. Hie was persuaded their opinions would cary weight. Almost amtost any plan proposed by the educated whites would be better than the present waoteful inefficient sys. tern. Mr. Stuart himself believed In State education as an unmixed goodl. - ut he would call the attention of Pr. Furman and' others like .him to the r ftact that they could not debate this t matter ab, initio, and that the oplb practical question was shall we have a a rotten ag~4 wasteful expeniditure of - the public money (now amount'og 4 I Over 43001000 in all) or shall we gei r as much benefit ont of the expendi g ture a~ posnible I Tn cncluaion, b did not deSlre a vote upou his sug. geations, but had made them d :licot. debate and -refletion upon the. sub. jeot. - ,-;Dr IVurman said that he must be pardoned for 'his doubts. Suppose, saId W, thi authorities should 're soribo a mixture of the races in the sohiols. .1t. Would be &'very serious thing to cot"mit.lomrselves to anything involving that., Mr. Bunner said that tho debate. was takinig that eiaet prictikal direc. don which hb desired. Of" odtrve the claims of the blacks should be equitably met., and he - would -move that a ?oieto of five be appointed to attend the next Legislature, aid suggest imprbvoene to, in the present syotem of public education. Messrs. Benet and 1ifer spoke in oppostep, . Nr.. IHe4nr'4 .motion, and Mr, P. expressed the opinion that the high schools 5ugested by Mr. Stuart would not mWeet the favor of the presebt party in r'owe,, for 'there was co political espital in them. ' . Mr. Aroher desired to no In reply to the reuarks of Dr. F'armnan, tbt he agreed with all'he said abunt re. ligious instruction going along with education, and he believed that to educate the people was one of the Brst duties of the church. But the Church had failed to do its duty, and the State was the only organiza tion left capable of performing the work. That Mr. Stuart had stated the actual fact very clearly op that point. As to the races, that they had given the largest school. building in Charleston to the blacks, and a fne corps of ladies for teachers, and that the blacks were sati-fied. Mr. Stuart deprecated the intro. duction of the question of polities and the races into the discussion. It was altogether untecessary, and feither politics nor the existence of tyro races presented any insuperable dif- I Bcuity to the early reform of the I whole system of public education. I Persuaded, howev6r, from tIe direc- I tion the debate was taking,7that the I discussion would be interiniiiable, he I would move to lay the resolution of I Mr. Bonner and the -entire subject 1 upon the table, and proceed to other I business. Mr. Benet said that. the gentleman had anticipated him for he had just written out, and begged to offer the folluwing resolution : Resolved, that the suggestions. on : School organisation offered by Mr. Stuart be published with the minutes I of the Institute ; and that the discus sion thereon be resumed at the next f wmIting of the Institute. The resolution passed unanimously. I bMr. Stuart moved to take up the i subject of the "The Proper position i of the modern Languages in our Sehools," and hoped Dr. Broadus I would open the discussion. The mo tion was carried, and at the request 4 of the chair, Dr. Broadus said, that of course the effort to teach pupils in our schools to speak German and I French was a futile one. Of all the humbugs in this ago- of shams he 1 regarded Boarding school French convorsation as the greatest hum- I bug of all. But that the diffihulty one well versed in the French and German Literature experience in understanding those languages when he heard them spoken in France or Germany was so great, that the first suggestion he would make was wheth er the car might not be trainedi as well as the eye, so that the student would understand the language when he heard it spoken, as well as when he read it ini print. To lea to speak it at school he thought next to jun. possible, but to understand it when spoken, would be a valuable acquire. ment. in this cannetion therefore, he would, ini the sec ,nd place, sug gest that native foreigners ahould be emiployed if at all, in the begin ning of the course of study, but lie preferred our own *'oshers, whopi really good scholars, to tarry on the study to its higher departments. Because the foreigners who come here to teh are many of them iflit erate adventurers, and have picked up their English by waiting around hotel tables In Etrepe. They could not introduce their pupils to the gran der French or German Literature, be. eause they knew nothing about it themselves. That even eminent scholars in both English and French. could not enter into the difficulties of the English studient, for when he was at the Virginia University, he re members that Professor Schele De Vero often elaborated a point that was clear, and passed over as if pee seating no dificulty a point that was really very obscure w~ an English student. In the third place Dr. Broadus said that'the impression which pre vaIled that Gorman in itsj more narra rativo style, and as far a c. boy usually pursues it in school, was more diglioult than~ French. be regarded a. an erroneous one. It was not a bit nioro digioult. And be tehought it would always be better, when both languages were to be studied, to study German first. It would throw much light upon the English language, to do so, becauce it was of the same stock as the English, whersas F'renct isimply further ilnntrued the Lat work, or is at least to be regarded as - a secondary nod subordinate school aim. If this be concealed, the only i position left us is to admit, them to - a share of the regular sohool business i as literature and as opening fresh I roads to knowledge. Now, while it I would be essential to begin the study a of these languages at the earliest prac ticable moment, where they taught with a View to being spoken, under this other aspect of the question, with the circumstances so entirely changed necessity does not exist for their in troduotion at so early a stage. Ac cordingly, in justice to the urgent claims of subjects which cannot be postponed, this study has been defer red, in the schedule about to be pro sented, until the last two years of the school course, with four lessons a week assigned to it. At this stage of his progress, with his previous linguis tio training in Latin and Greek the im mense auxiliary to acquiring the vo onbulary afforded in his knowoledgo of Euglish and Latin, with the light of their experi6nee as teachers, your Committee feel authorized to express the belief, that in the time allotted to its study, the pupil will be able to make such progrees, in French at least, as to be able to read with easy fluency the usual standard authors in the language, and be amply prepared to receive the higher instruction by which his krowlod go is to be broad ened and deepened in the college or university." The discussion continued till half past one o'clock, when the following resolutions were offered and passed. Resolved, That Messrs. Archer and Judson be appointed a committee of two to draft a set of by-laws to be presented at the next meeting of the Instituto for the guidance of its pro. ceedings. Resolved, That three delegates be appointed to meet the Teachers' Asso. ciation of Georgia, at their next meet ing in Augusta on the 1st Tuesday of May next. The Chair appointed Mossrs. Bon ner, Stuart and Farrow. Mr. Stuart ir-ved, That the com mittee of three required by article VIII. of the Constitution be now ap pointed. The chair appointed Messrs. Bab. bit, Patrick and J. H. Carlisle. Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretary be requested to continue his efforts to gather statistics for the coming year, and report at the next meeting. Rose ved, That the thanks of the INstitute be returned to Mr. M. M. Farrow for the signal efficiency with which he has discharged the duties of Secretary and Treasurer. Resolved, That the thanks of the Institute be returned to the Corres ponding Secretary for his valuable report. Resolved, That the thanks of the Institute be returned to the citizens of Greenville for their hospitable entertainment of the members of the Institute. Resolved, That the thanks of the Institute be returned to the several Rail Road Compaqies for passing members over their road for one are. Resolved, That the next meeting of the Institute be held in Charleston on the third Tuesday of next May, at 10 o'clock A. Md. The Institute moot again at 8 o'clock in the Court House, to listen to an address by Dr. Manly upon "Southern Colleges an theird claims upon the liberality of the people." Dr. M. showed, by an elaborate com p arisen of statistics, that the South had always contributed as much to. wards the support of education, man to man, in proportion to population, as any other section of the country. This address was very eloquent, in some of its passages, and at its con clusion Mr. Bienot moved that the Secretary request it for publication. The motion was unanimously carried, and the Institute adjourned sine die. liens as Corcullo Catchers. Recently we saw at a farm house near this city a thus far successful trial of preserving plums from the at tacks of the ourcullo by keeping hens under the trees. Under each of half a dozen, trees loaded with an unusual ly large number of pluns, a hen was tied ; several of them having broods of young ohiokens, the others having been selected from shewing a desire to set, which it was wished to check. Each morning the trees were jarredi and the hens and chickens were ex pected to do the rest. Examination failed to show a single plum stung by a the curculio. Such a plan involves 1 seome trouble and would not be prac. a tical in large orchards, but by those f having but few trees it is worthy- of t trial.- Western Farmer. Happy Bridogroom-'Mnre money I4 meduem I more money I Have you o forgotten that my money has boubht 0 everything you posess-the very r dress you stand in I' Fair Bide 'No, air I Nor have I forgotten that 0 your money has bought iibas atanda 'C in it l' al A general uprising- of Indians is il ernpsted'in Sonthern (kl'ifornia. element in our language, which th, study of Latin had already made fa Mr..Benet wa delighted with th, remarks of the distinguished gentle man. That he found it necessary t< train the eat In teaching Latin, an< did so-by reading a paragraph ani making the elass take it down frou his lips upon their slates, and then ex change slates for correction. Mr. B, also related from personal knowledge several aniusing anecdotes upon pre tentloss fdreigners undertaking t< teauh other languages. M1r. Stuart begged. permission t< read from the same remarkably able essay he had previously quoted (at page 862 of the Sept.'number 1870 of the Ed. Jour. Va.,) the following in. structive extract: "The question as to the place, which one-or more of the .inodern European languages should occupy in our school ourrioulurq,has not boen se definitively petlod as the fact that they must be admitted.' No educatlon without them, is at present deemed worthy to be called complete or liberal-no one ean be eskeemed a well instructed person who is not familiar with at least one of these languages, so as to have ready . and profitable access to its literature. This settled, the next question that meetsue is, how many of theso languages can consistently with the claims of other subjects be admitted into our scheme of general ,tudy. The deliberate conclusion of your committee upon this point is, that there is room for but one. Whether that shall be Fruech or Ger man, for theae are the claimants that 3ommended themselves most highly to our favor, we hardly feel prepared ,o pronounce upon. .The prestige of ,he French in our schools, its a most ibsolute necessity for highersoientifio itudy, and its having become the >ommon speech of polite society on ;he continent, would incline us In its fator--while the-growingirppreoia ion of German among all cultivated )eople, its being actually the only lan. ,uagd spken by many citizens of this 5ute and country, and its consequent iratical utility in various professions, t4.. kinship to our own tongue, and be consequent light and interest it hrows upon the btudy of English, its unore philosophic structure, its litera ure, unsurpassed in modirn times, and now the exponent of the most ad. ranced thought of the present century, ill seen to demand that its claims be )ost poned to no other. Your committee iave up to this time uttered no un. :ertain sound, and, coTn'inetd tlnt ,be Reports presented Il C.i., b AVl ire useful in propuitiun ., Lusey UrdO >ointed and definite, they beg leave with due diffidence and becoming nodesty, holding their judgment ornewbat in abeyance for a more au *horitative announcement, to give heir voice in favor of the tongue of leothe and Schiller. "At the last meeting of this associa ion, one of its members, whoadorns by uis learning and scholarship the chair )f Modern lianguages in one of our nostinfluential colleges, read a paper ,rhich ended by propounding the bree following questions: '-. The place which the modern languages should hold in our schools md colleges. "2. The object with which they should be taugh t and studied there. '3. The method of instruction, and :haracter of text books to the preferr id. '-Theso question., which your Corn mittec could have wished that instead nf simply proposing, the same gentle man migh have answercd by the light of his superior wisdom and ex perience, are so intiinately connected that one involves the others. It would seem that the second in order logically the firsb; for if the object for which they arc taught and studied be clearly ascertained, the answers to the others follow, as a natural se quence. Accordingly, to this ques tion as far as it concerns secondary instruction, we now address our selves. "The usual notion seems to be that they are to be taught for speaking purposes-a notion which is evident ly the fruit of what may be called the eommeroial theory of education, as opposed to the liberal. If this be the proper view, then its attainment, ae cording to any possible school sys tern which we may devise, is utterlj hoapeless-the cad is simoply unattain able, except for those parents wh< have means sufficient and deem i twortl the sacrifiee- to send their chil'dre, abroad to reside at the schools or Ii the soqiety of those countries, of which they desire themn to acquire the Ian guage. And therefore, we find thi practice not an unusual one in E~nglan4 anid on thie continent, where it doe not involve the same expenditure o timo or of money. There are no wanting authorities Indeed of no lit tie weight, who declare that this at complishment, showy as it always I and useful as it sometimes is, tends I strain the mind and make it avers to going deeper in anything. You Committee are not prepared to al oept, this proposition, either in who or in part, but they do urge that i pwer ot speaking fluently a forei4 anusge cannot be acquired a6.soho and eitle, form no part af the -ach