Things to be Remembered in Daily Life: With Personal Experiences and RecollectionsTimbs, John
Philosophy
Things to be Remembered in Daily Life: With Personal Experiences and Recollections
Timbs, John
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
_Quarterly Review_, No. 204. In the latter sentence is conveyed the
advantage which education in a large school has over education at
home.
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SCHOOL INDULGENCE.
Nothing is more prejudicial to after-success in life than indulgence to
youth when at school. Sir James Mackintosh felt and acknowledged this
error. He tells us that when he left school he could only imperfectly
construe a small part of Virgil, Horace, and Sallust: he adds, “Whatever
I have done beyond, has been since added by my own irregular reading.
But no subsequent circumstance could make up for that invaluable habit
of vigorous and methodical industry which the indulgence and
irregularity of my school-life prevented me from acquiring, and of which
I have painfully felt the want in every part of my life.”
Another mistake is a profuse allowance of Pocket-money at School: we
once heard an old Westminster declare that to his unlimited supply of
money when at the college he attributed over-indulgence in luxuries
which had injured his health, and often rendered him the dupe of mean
and designing persons—full-grown parasites—mischievous as the plants of
that name, which bear down the trees they attack, and rob them of the
food intended for their own leaves and fruit.
UNSOUND TEACHING.
The general unsoundness of what is termed an English education is, to a
great extent, accounted for by the little attention paid in the
Universities, Colleges, and Schools to teaching our native language, and
especially to the proper teaching of English in schools for the people.
The results of this neglect of the mother-tongue are multitudinous. “The
mass of our population, in spite of all that has been done, must be
considered densely ignorant. Millions never open a book. Nearly fifteen
millions never enter church or chapel. Other causes may operate, but the
want of a knowledge of language is a potent one. People whose vocabulary
is limited to about three hundred words cannot follow a sermon, and
clergymen who have never been taught the value of plain Saxon English
cannot preach one. Then, amongst the middle and upper classes, how
superficial is the knowledge of English. How few can write a common
letter without faults in grammar, choice of words, or spelling.
Punctuation is absolutely ignored by many. What are the speeches at
public meetings, or rather, how would they appear in print but for the
talent of the reporters, who bring order out of chaos? The results of
the Civil-Service Examinations abundantly prove the justice of these
strictures; and the fruits of University training, or rather
non-training, are too patent to require illustration. Our clergy often
carry into the prayer-desk and pulpit all the defects of early life,—the
provincial accent, the sing-song tone, the nasal twang, the lisp, or
burr, or stammer; indistinct utterance, inaudible reading and
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