On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
acquirement ; there is scarcely any pursuit in life in which it may not be useful as well as ornamental . But the majority of youth are not permitted to remain at school sufficiently long to make the acquirement ; and even though this were the case , their time , we submit , might be employed to
greater advantage . The day is gone by in which it could be imagined that these languages contained the wnole cyclopaedia of knowledge- Valuable as are the compositions which they offer , considered as models of style , there are good writers in the modern languages who may serve both to form the
taste and increase the judgment , perhaps as well as the classical authors ; while they present information on almost all the topics which have a bearing on real life , immeasurably superior to any thing that can be found even in Aristotle or Cicero . If , indeed , a youth has time sufficient to become so familiar with the Latin and Greek languages as to find pleasure in reading works composed in them , and also to cultivate an acquaintance with one or more modern tongues , as well as with the elements of the sciences , the
principles of moral , mental , and political philosophy , nor , least of all , with general history , and more particularly still , with that of his own country , then , by all means , let him study Greek and Latin ; otherwise he will be infinitely more benefited by learning the French or German , and , together with these languages , those invaluable branches of knowledge to which we have just alluded . That is a good education which , while it disciplines the mind , fills it also with information immediately applicable in each case to the pursuits
of life ; and how can these two important objects be so effectually secured , in the case of a youth , the period of whose education is necessarily limited , as by introducing him to a knowledge of those subjects which have changed the whole face of society , which still exert a most material influence on all the relations of civil and domestic life , and which , while their practical importance is so great , are of a nature to give vigorous exercise and a wholesome stimulus to the moral and intellectual faculties . Teach , therefore , a
youth , whose time is , as we have supposed , limited , who is led by no professional aim to the study of the languages , teach him not Greek and Latin , but mathematics , chemistry , mechanics , and history ; the philosophy of mind , the evidences of religion , the princi p les of the British constitution , and the objects , the nature , and the duties of civil government . But the extension which we recommend cannot take place except at the instance of parents . Let them resign the visionary idea of a classical for the
invaluable attainment of a general education ; let them seek masters , not skilled in analyzing a Greek chorus , or in constructing nonsense hexameters , but competent to teach their children the art of English composition , the elements of the sciences , the principles of mental , moral , and political p hilosophy , and competent instructors will not be long wanting ; nor will they fail to reap in the love which their offspring will evince for their studies—in the progress which they will make , and in their consequent elevation , of character , a reward of the most ample and satisfactory nature .
But that these things may be effectually taught , the number of boys committed to the care of one master must be materially diminished . He must be an active and skilful man who can thoroughly instruct twenty pupils in these departments of knowledge ; how incompetent then would be his best efforts to teach one or two hundred , a number by no means uncommon in the schools of large towns ? If , however , the number be diminished , the emolument for the instruction of each pupil must be increased . But even ia a pecuniary point of view , parents would be no great losers , for in one year , under the system we recommend , their children would learn more than they
Untitled Article
Thoughts on Education . 45
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1829, page 45, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2568/page/45/
-