Oration on American Education: Delivered Before the Western Literary Institute and College of Professional Teachers at Their Fourth Annual Meeting, October 1834 |
Common terms and phrases
abroad Æneid age and country Anacreon Ancient History attaind character christian and American Cicero classics and mathematics colleges composition cultivate declamation Demosthenes Dido disciplin of mind dutys and business educa efect eloquence England and America English and American English language entertaining knowlege equaly especialy evry hundred existing schemes extempore speaking extensiv course facts forms of government French Revolution furnish Georgics Greek and Latin Homer and Virgil Iliad ilustrate indispensable instruction instructiv intelectual interesting knowlege Ivanhoe Juvenal language literature Livy lov of study majority master mode nations natural philosophy ninety-nine object objectionable feature opinion orators Paradise Lost Persius philosophy of history plain Plutarch poetry poets political pore speaking public and private pupils reformation regard religion Roman satisfy'd schemes of education schoolmaster sentiment spirit studyd system of education Tacitus taste for reading teach teacher thinking and reasoning thro tion writers youth
Popular passages
Page 21 - That not to know at large of things remote From use, obscure and subtle, but to know That which before us lies in daily life, Is the prime wisdom...
Page 4 - I retain the y, and add s, or d: as in burys, buryd, varys, varyd, hurrys, hurryd. (5.) In similar verbs, where the y is long, I retain the y, omit the e, and substitute an apostrophe, as in multiply's, multiply'd, satisfy's, satisfy'd.
Page 5 - THAT NEITHER THE CLASSICS NOR THE MATHEMATICS SHOULD FORM A PART OF A SCHEME OF GENERAL EDUCATION IN OUR COUNTRY,
Page 43 - Ours is emphaticaly a thinking, reasoning country. The spirit of our institutions is full of the freedom and power of thought. It pervades evry department of duty and business, whether public or private. To cultivate this spirit in himself, to promote it in others, is an obligation laid upon every citizen. He must expatriate himself to be absolvd from it. Whilst he inhabits the home of independence in tho't and reasoning, he cannot shun the responsibility that is cast upon him. This is the universal...
Page 8 - ... constitution in education, it is because they are not yet aware of the deficiencys in their old articles of confederacy, in the educational department. This is an age, and ours is a country in which educated men are not at liberty to sit down contented with things as they are. Their plain duty is, to enquire and examin, constantly, are things as they should be ? Their dutys are activ not passiv. They are responsible for the progress of society in their time : just as the mail-carrier of to-day,...
Page 4 - ... worshipers. (8) In such words as honor, favor, savior, neighbor, savor, the u is omitted. (9) In adjectivs ending in y, instead of forming the comparativ and superlativ by changing y into ie and adding er, and...
Page 4 - The silent e is omitted in such classes of words as disciplin, respit, believ, crealiv, publishd, remaind, evry, sevral, volly. (2) The e is suppressd and an apostrophe substituted, after the manner of the poets, where the simple omission of the e might change the sound of the preceding vowel from long to short: as in requir'd, rejln'd, deriv'il.
Page 12 - That is a different question. As to the mathematics. What knowlege does a man deriv from them, which he can make use of, or to which he refers as valuable and entertaining information, in after life? As to valuable knowlege, except the first and most simple parts of arithmetic, I feel little hesitation in saying, as the result of my experience and observation, that the whole body of the pure mathematics is ABSOLUTELY USELESS to ninety-nine out of evry hundred, who study them.
Page 23 - A theme, or essay, or call it what you will, ought to be requird once a week from. the age of ten, till education is finishd. If composition is neglected, how much more is extempore speaking. I do not mean of course speaking without preparation, but the revers, speaking after preparation. As the matter now stands, this most important branch of education is lejft in the hands of the students in their debating societys.