It is naturally impossible to give even an outline of all the many and varied applications to which photography can be and has been applied. In this article it is proposed to give a few of them, more for the sake of informing the student what has been done, than for teaching him the practical method of working them. The method of securing the automatic registration of barometers, thermometers, and magnetometers should command our attention first. It will be necessary to divide these into two classes which require different treatment. A mercurial thermometer may be taken as the representative of the first class.
Supposing we have a darkened chamber, in the side of which is a slit of just sufficient dimensions to allow the bore of the capillary tube to fill it, and that light can only have access to that chamber after passing through that slit when so closed, it is manifest that if a strip of sensitive paper be caused to pass gradually behind such a thermometer tube the different height of the mercury will be registered, owing to the opacity of that fluid to light. If the supply of paper be properly regulated it is also manifest that the height of the mercury at any particular instant will be known. Since daylight is not always available, resort must be had to artificial light to impress the sensitive paper, and a suitable process of development employed.
Such a method exists for registering the movements of this class of instruments, the details of apparatus and manipulation being altered to suit each individual case. There are, however, other instruments to which such would be totally inapplicable. As an example, we may take the magnetometer. The oscillations of the suspended magnet as used for measuring the horizontal or vertical components of the earth’s magnetism are very minute, so minute indeed that they can scarcely be perceived by the eye. If to one of these magnetometers, however, we attach a very small and light mirror, the plane of which is at right angles to the axis of the magnet, and cause a beam, proceeding from a source of light, to pass through a small aperture, thence to a fixed lens on to the mirror, which reflects the beam of light on to a screen so placed that the image of the aperture is in the focus of the lens, any small deviation of the magnetometer will cause the beam of light to deflect on the screen. The amount of the deflection will be dependent on the focal length of the lens, and the distance of the aperture and screen from the mirror. Suppose the screen to be opaque, and that a slit is cut in it in the direction that the deviation of the beam would take, and lying in the same plane as the deviation, and that a strip of sensitive paper moves behind that slit in a direction at right angles to its length, then at each instant the position of the beam of light will be registered on the paper. On developing the image we shall have a sinuous line corresponding to the deflections of the magnetometer at every time of day and night, the reading of the time being dependent on the rate at which the paper travels.
For meteorological purposes we may also hope that photography will be more utilized than it has hitherto been. Mr. A. Mallock, at the meeting of the British Association at Plymouth, has shown a way in which it may be made subservient to ascertaining the heights of clouds.
In military science it is only necessary to call to mind the service that the pigeon post performed during the siege of Paris. A large series of letters were printed on one sheet, and then photographed to a very small scale on collodion pellicle. Such pellicles, measuring about 6×2 centimeters, were tied to pigeons, which when liberated carried the dispatch to Paris, where they had been trained. On arrival the collodion pellicle was detached from the pigeon, placed in a lantern, and the letters transcribed and sent to the various addresses. Of so much use was this pigeon post that the German military authorities have established a regular service of pigeons in the chief fortresses of the empire, which would be used in case of investment or siege by a hostile army.
During the investigation of the action of torpedoes the use of photography was also largely brought into requisition by the writer in order to ascertain the work that was expended by different charges of gun cotton. The method adopted was roughly this: A mine having been laid down at a known depth and position in water, a scale was placed over it, and photographed from the position the camera was to occupy. On the explosion of the gun-cotton or powder an instantaneous exposure was given to a specially sensitive plate, and the height, breadth, and general form of the resulting column of water was obtained from the photograph after comparing it with the photographic scale.
At Shoeburyness, again, a regular staff of photographers is kept in order to photograph all the experimental work carried on by the artillery against iron shields, &c., and the series of such pictures has been able to convey more to the minds of committees than elaborate drawings could do.
We can not conclude these applications of photography without recalling the fact that it has proved exceedingly useful in the repression of crime. The portrait of every convict is taken by an authorized photographer in each convict establishment, and when necessity arises prints from such negatives are produced by the hundred and distributed, in order that the various police authorities may be enabled to identify a criminal who may have happened previously to be placed under their surveillance.
The true relation of Christianity to education has seldom, if ever but once, been before the Supreme Court of the United States for adjustment. That time was when Daniel Webster made his great argument to break the will by which Mr. Girard founded his college in Philadelphia. Mr. Webster rose to the demands of his opportunity, and made what was at once a masterly argument for his cause, and a splendid defense of Christian charity, Christianity, and the Christian ministry. In the following article we have abridged his speech, but we have tried to preserve the chain of his argument. It is wholesome reading from the mind of America’s greatest constitutional lawyer, in the times when rhetoricians hurl flippant statements against the bulwarks of divine truth, as though with these they would batter them down.
Two millions of dollars were bequeathed by Mr. Girard for the erection of a college; detailed plans were drawn specifying where, how, and for whom it was to be built. The validity of this will was contested by the heirs-at-law in 1836. In 1841 the case was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States. In course of the argument, Daniel Webster made the speech of which we give a synopsis. We follow the argument, giving only brief quotations. Mr. Webster passes over the details of the will, taking up the following clause, or restriction, which Mr. Girard prescribed as among the conditions on which his bequest for the college was to be enjoyed.
These are the words: “I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or any minister of any sect whatever, shall ever hold or exercise any station whatever in the said college; or shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said college. In making these restrictions I do not mean to cast any reflections upon any sect or person whatsoever; but, as there is such a diversity of opinion among them, I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans who are to derive advantage from this bequest free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce.” Upon these statements Mr. Webster argues: “The first question is whether this bequest can be sustained otherwise than as a charity. The bequest is void according to the general rules of the law, on account of the uncertainty in the description of those who are intended to receive its benefits, and must therefore stand, if it stand at all, on the peculiar rules which equitable jurisprudence applies to charities. This is clear. The question is whether in the eye of equitable jurisprudence the bequest be a charity at all. I deny that it is so. It is no charity; because the plan of education proposed by Mr. Girard is derogatory to the Christian religion, tends to weaken men’s reverence for that religion, and their conviction of its authority and importance; and, therefore, in its general character, tends to mischievous and not useful ends. This scheme begins by attempting to attach reproach and odium upon the whole body of the clergy of the country. It places a brand, a stigma upon every individual member of the profession. No minister of the gospel of any denomination is allowed to come within the grounds of this college on any occasion, or for any purpose whatever. They are excluded as if their presence might cause a pestilence. When have they deserved it? Where have they deserved it? How have they deserved it?
“I hope that our learned men have done something for our literature abroad. I hope that our courts of justice have done something to elevate the profession of law. I hope that the discussions of Congress have done something to ameliorate the condition of the human race. But I contend that no literary efforts, no constitutional discussions, nothing that has been done or said in favor of the great interests of universal man has done this country more credit, at home and abroad, than the establishment of our body of clergymen—their support by voluntary contributions, and the general excellence of their character for piety and learning; and yet every one of these, the Christian ministers of the United States, is denied the privileges which are opened to the vilest of our race. Did a man ever live that had respect for Christian religion and yet had no regard for any one of its ministers? Did that system of instruction ever exist which denied the whole body of Christian teachers, and yet called itself a system of Christianity?
“I maintain that, in any institution for the instruction of youth, where the authority of God is disowned, the duties of Christianity derided, and its ministers shut out from its proceedings, there can be no more charity found to exist than evil can spring out of the Bible, error out of truth, or hatred from love. If charity denies its birth and parentage, turns infidel to the great doctrines of the Christian religion, it is no longer charity. It is no longer charity either in a Christian sense nor in the sense of jurisprudence, for it separates itself from its own creation.
“Now let us look at the conditions and prospects of these tender children who are to be submitted to the experiment of instruction without Christianity. They are taken before they know the alphabet, they are kept until the period of early manhood, and then sent into the world. By this time their characters will be stamped. If there is any truth in the Bible, if there is anything established by the experience of mankind, in this first third of life the character is stamped. What sort of a character is likely to be made by this experimental system of instruction? What will be the effect on the minds of children left solely to its pernicious influences? Morality without sentiment; benevolence toward man without a sense of responsibility toward God; the duties of this life performed with no reference to the life to come,—this is Mr. Girard’s theory of useful education. I do not intend to leave this part of the cause without a still more distinct statement of the objections to this scheme of instruction. I deem it due to Christianity to take up this scheme of Mr. Girard, and show how mistaken is the idea of calling it a charity. In the first place, this scheme is derogatory to Christianity, because it rejects Christianity from the education of youth by rejecting its teachers, by rejecting the ordinary methods of instilling religion into the minds of youth. He who rejects the ordinary means of attaining an end, means to defeat the end itself, or else he has no meaning. And this is true, although the means originally be means of human appointment, and resting on no higher authority.
“This scheme is derogatory to Christianity because it rejects the ministry. Where was Christianity ever received, where were its waters ever poured into the human heart, except in the track of a Christian ministry? It is all idle and a mockery to pretend that any man has respect for the Christian religion who yet derides and stigmatizes all its ministers and teachers. It is all idle, it is a mockery and an insult to common sense to maintain that a school for the instruction of youth from which Christian teachers and the ministry is sedulously shut out, is not deistical and infidel, both in its purpose and tendency.
“In the next place, this plan is derogatory to Christianity because it proceeds upon the presumption that the Christian religion is not the only true foundation, or any necessary foundation of morals.
“In what age, by what sect, where, when, by whom has religious truth been excluded from the education of youth? Nowhere, never. Everywhere and at all times it has beenand is regarded as essential. It is the essence, the vitality of useful instruction. From all this Mr. Girard dissents. He dissents not only from all sentiments of Christian mankind, from common conviction and the experience of all, but from still higher authority, the Word of God itself. When little children were brought into the presence of the Son of God, he said, ‘Suffer little children to come unto me.’ Untome. He did not send them first for lessons in morals to the schools of the Pharisees or Sadducees, or to the lessons and precepts phylactered on the garments of the Jewish priesthood, but opened at once the everlasting fountain of living waters. That injunction is of perpetual obligation. It is of force everywhere and at all times. Not only my heart, my judgment, my belief, and my conscience instruct me that this great precept should be obeyed, but the idea is so sacred,—the solemn thoughts connected with it so crowd upon me, it is so utterly at variance with the system of philosophical morality advocated here, that I stand and speak in fear of being influenced by my feelings to exceed the proper line of my professional duties.
“Another important point involved in this question is, what becomes of the Christian Sabbath in a school thus established? I say that in this institution, under Mr. Girard’s scheme, the ordinary observance of the Sabbath could not take place, because the means of observing it are excluded. There can be no Sabbath in this college. It would be just as much opposed to Mr. Girard’s whole scheme to allow these children to go out and attend public places of worship as it would be to have ministers of religion preach to them within the walls; because, if they go out to hear preaching, they will hear just as much about clashing doctrines, and more, than if appointed teachers officiated in the college.
“I come now to the consideration of the second part of this clause in the will; that is to say, the reasons assigned by Mr. Girard for making these restrictions with regard to the ministers of religion, and I say that these are much more derogatory to Christianity than the main provision itself, excluding them. He says that there are such a multitude of sects and such diversity of opinion that he will exclude all religion, and all its ministers, in order to keep the minds of the children free from clashing controversy. Now, does not this subvert all belief in the utility of teaching the Christian religion to youth at all? Certainly it is a broad and bold denial of such utility. To say that the evil resulting from the differences of sects and creeds overbalances all the benefits which the best education can give them, that is but to say that the branches of the tree of religion are so twisted and twined, and run so much over and into each other that, therefore, there is no remedy but to lay the ax at the root of the tree itself. It means that and nothing less. But this objection to the multitude and differences of religious sects is but the old story, the old infidel argument. It is notorious that there are certain religious truths which are admitted and believed by all Christians. All believe in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the responsibility in another world for our conduct in this, in the divine authority of the New Testament; and can not all these truths be taught to children without their minds being perplexed by the clashing doctrines of controversy? Most certainly they can. Apply the reasoning advanced by Mr. Girard to human institutions and you will tear them all up by the root, as you would inevitably tear all divine institutions up by the root if such reasoning is to prevail. At the opening of the first Congress there was a doubt as to the propriety of opening with prayer, and the reason assigned was, as here, the great diversity of opinions. At length Mr. Samuel Adams, with an air of impressive venerableness, rose in that assembly and, with the air of a perfect puritan, said that it did not become men, professing to be Christians, who had come together for solemn deliberation in an hour of extremity to say that there was so wide a difference in their religious beliefs that they could not bow the knee in prayer to the Almighty, whose advice and assistance they hoped to attain. Opposed to all prelacy as he was, Mr. Adams moved that the Episcopalian clergyman should address the throne of Grace in prayer. The minister read the service and then, as if moved by the occasion, broke out into extemporaneous prayer. Those men who were about to resort to force to obtain their rights, were moved to tears. Depend upon it, where there is a spirit of Christianity there is a spirit which rises above forms, above ceremonies, independent of sect or creed, and the controversies of clashing doctrine.
“It has been said by the other side that there was no teaching against religion or Christianity in this system. I deny it. The whole testament is one bold proclamation against Christianity and religion of every creed. The children are to be brought up in the principles declared in that testament. They are to learn to be suspicious of Christianity and religion; to keep clear of it, that their breasts may not become susceptible of the influences of Christianity in the slightest degree. They are to be taught that religion is not a matter for the heart or conscience, but for the decision of the cool judgment of mature years; that at the period when the whole Christian world deems it most desirable to instil the chastening influences of Christianity into the tender and comparatively pure mind and heart of the child, ere the cares and corruptions of the world have reached and seared it: at that period the child, in this college, is to be carefully excluded therefrom, and to be told that its influence is pernicious and dangerous in the extreme. Why, the whole system is a constant preaching against Christianity and against religion, and I insist that there is no charity and can be no charity in that system of instruction from which Christianity is excluded. Before closing the argument I repeat again the proposition that the proposed school in its true character, objects and tendencies is derogatory to Christianity and religion. If it be so, then I maintain that it can not be considered a charity, and as such entitled to the just protection and support of a court of equity. I consider this the great question for the consideration of this court. I may be excused for pressing it on the attention of your honors. It is one which, in its decision, is to influence the happiness, the temporal and spiritual welfare of one hundred millions of human beings alive and to be born in this land. Its decision will give a hue to the apparent character of our institutions. It will be a comment on their spirit to the whole Christian world. I again press the question to your honors: Is a clear, plain, positive system for the instruction of children, founded on clear and plain objects of infidelity,—a charity in the eyes of the law and as such entitled to the privileges awarded to charities in a court of equity?”
By LUELLA CLARK.
O the apple blossoms!O the roses sweet!O the songs of gladnessWhere the thrushes meet.O the swaying grasses,Where the bobolinks swing;O the yellow twilightsWhen the robins sing.O the light and laughterOf the woods and ways;All things glad and gracious,Crown the long May days.
O the apple blossoms!O the roses sweet!O the songs of gladnessWhere the thrushes meet.O the swaying grasses,Where the bobolinks swing;O the yellow twilightsWhen the robins sing.O the light and laughterOf the woods and ways;All things glad and gracious,Crown the long May days.
O the apple blossoms!O the roses sweet!O the songs of gladnessWhere the thrushes meet.
O the apple blossoms!
O the roses sweet!
O the songs of gladness
Where the thrushes meet.
O the swaying grasses,Where the bobolinks swing;O the yellow twilightsWhen the robins sing.
O the swaying grasses,
Where the bobolinks swing;
O the yellow twilights
When the robins sing.
O the light and laughterOf the woods and ways;All things glad and gracious,Crown the long May days.
O the light and laughter
Of the woods and ways;
All things glad and gracious,
Crown the long May days.
President Fairbairn, of England, has requested the postponement of his lectures on English Philosophy until the season of 1884.
The new building for the “School of Languages” and the “Teachers’ Retreat,” will not be erected this spring.
The C. T. R. and the C. S. L. will open July 14, Saturday, with one of the most brilliant popular programs ever given at Chautauqua.
The “Ideal Summer Trip to Europe,” by the “Chautauqua Foreign Tourists,” packing a three mouths’ journey “abroad” into fifteen days at home, will begin on Monday, July 16.
Dr. Chas. J. Little, of Dickinson College, will give ten “Thirty Minute Talks” before the “Retreat,” on “A Teacher’s Look at the Soul, or the Relations of Psychology to the Art of Teaching.” He will also lecture on “Literature of the Nineteenth Century.”
Profs. Sherwin and Case have control of the musical department this year. There are rumors concerning a “Chautauqua quartette,” a band, rare choruses, a class in “Music Teaching in the Public Schools,” grand concerts, classic music, etc.
Edward L. Wilson, Esq., of Philadelphia, with the new “Chautauqua stereopticon,” and over one thousand views in Europe, Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, will, it is hoped, be present at the “Retreat.”
Melvil Dui, of Boston, will open at Chautauqua, July 14 a “Museum of Useful Things for Students and Teachers.” He will lecture on “The Metric System.”
Wallace Bruce, Esq., at the C. T. R., on “Walter Scott,” “Men of the People,” “Shakespere’s Heroines,” “Legends of the Hudson,” “Growth and Influence of Poetry,” “Bacon and Shakspere.”
“The Day Fireworks,” in all probability this year—July 14. “Not a menagerie in the air?” Why not?
A “Pestalozzi Day” and a “Rugby Day” this year at the C. T. R.
Dr. J. T. Edwards’s course of illustrated lectures on “Physical Science;” Prof. W. D. MacClintock on “Anglo-Saxon, Chaucer, and Shakspere;” Mrs. Kraus-Boelte on “Kindergarten;” Prof. Frank Beard on “Art;” E. A. Spring, sculptor, on “Clay-Modeling;” Prof. R. L. Cummock on “Elocution;” with sermons by Drs. Sims, Payne, etc., help to make a rich program for the C. T. R. of ’83.
It is just like Lewis Miller, Esq., of Akron, O., to present that magnificent stereopticon to the C. T. R. He dreams—and lo, his dreams are deeds!
Picnics, excursions on the lake, spelling school (prizes), public debate, parlor receptions, museum, concerts, etc., at the C. T. R.
A course of lessons in “Cookery,” by Mrs. Emma P. Ewing, of Chicago.
Prof. W. D. Bridge, V.D.M., will continue his instructions in “Stenography.”
The excursion rate from New York City to Chautauqua and back, last year, was eighteen dollars.
In the “Chautauqua School of Languages,” instruction will be given by
Prof. J. H. Worman, Ph.D., inGerman.
Prof. A. Lalande, inFrench.
Prof. H. Lummis, inGreekandLatin.
Prof. W. R. Harper, Ph.D., inHebrew.
Prof. W. D. MacClintock, inAnglo-Saxon.
The Rev. J. A. Worden, D.D., will attend the Chautauqua Assembly this season.
The “Chautauqua School of Theology,” under the direction of Rev. A. A. Wright, will hold several “Jerusalem Chamber Conferences.”
The following are a few of the lecturers and workers for ’83 already pledged:
Joseph Cook.
Dr. J. B. Thomas, of Brooklyn.
Dr. A. G. Haygood, of Georgia.
Bishop H. W. Warren, who will preach, and will also lecture on “Will Man Outgrow the Bible?”
Judge A. W. Tourgee, of Philadelphia, will lecture on “Give Us a Rest.”
Prof. W. C. Richards, a course of nine lectures in science.
Dr. J. B. Angell, president of Michigan University.
Frank Beard, on “Ten Years at Chautauqua.”
Dr. Joseph Cummings, president of the Northwestern University.
Dr. D. A. Goodsell, of New Haven, Conn.
Dr. P. S. Henson, of Chicago, on “The Plagiarism of Modern Science.”
Dr. J. S. Jewell, of Chicago, four lectures on “Brain and Nerve Health, and How to Preserve it.”
Dr. H. H. Moore, of Erie Conference.
Dr. W. F. Mallalieu, of Boston.
Rev. Frank Russell, of Mansfield, O., on “The Man Invisible.”
Rev. Dr. Julius Seelye, president Amherst College.
Students of the “Chautauqua Teachers’ Retreat,” and of the “School of Languages,” are requested to be careful not to engage rooms and board for the season without consulting the authorities at Chautauqua. Some cottages make insufficient provisions of furniture, bedding, etc., and the management is determined to protect all students against imposition.
The Xth year of the Chautauqua Assembly will open in a storm of enthusiasm on Tuesday evening, August 7, 1883.
The courses of lectures—literary and scientific—during the “Teachers’ Retreat,” July 14 to August 2, and especially the “Ideal Summer Trip Beyond the Sea,” will attract the people from all parts of the lake and vicinity. Tickets admitting to the “C. T. R.,” $4. This will include the “Foreign Tourists’ Conference,” as well as the stereopticon exhibitions.
The following letter, addressed to Dr. Vincent, explains why Dr. Fairbairn, of England, will not be at Chautauqua the coming season:
Airedale College, Bradford, Eng.,}26 February, 1883.}My Dear Sir—Your letter just received. I deeply regret that the postponement of my lectures should so distress and inconvenience you, but am pleased to find that you are so kind as to be willing to comply with my request. It will be in every respect better and more suitable for me to come in the summer of 1884, and this I at once and frankly undertake to do. Please then to arrange according to letter of the 13th ult., the postponement, and believe me,Yours, very sincerely,A. M. Fairbairn.
Airedale College, Bradford, Eng.,}26 February, 1883.}
My Dear Sir—Your letter just received. I deeply regret that the postponement of my lectures should so distress and inconvenience you, but am pleased to find that you are so kind as to be willing to comply with my request. It will be in every respect better and more suitable for me to come in the summer of 1884, and this I at once and frankly undertake to do. Please then to arrange according to letter of the 13th ult., the postponement, and believe me,
Yours, very sincerely,A. M. Fairbairn.
The following excellent plan for the study of French at home has been proposed by Prof. Lalande. It meets with the hearty approval of Dr. Vincent, and will, we trust, find favor with many. The prospectus speaks for itself.
President:J. H. Vincent, Superintendent of Instruction C. L. S. C.Director:A. Lalande, Professor of French at the Chautauqua School of Languages.
President:J. H. Vincent, Superintendent of Instruction C. L. S. C.
Director:A. Lalande, Professor of French at the Chautauqua School of Languages.
This new organization aims to assist students of the French language to overcome the idiomatic and other difficulties of interpretation, as well as to acquire general facility in reading and writing French.
To this end it is intended to organize a French circle for regular and systematic home study, to be directed through the mail by Prof. A. Lalande.
Every member of the French circle will receive certain exercises, comprising a definite amount of reading, translating, and idiomatic and grammatic expounding, to be performed by the members and mailed to the Professor.
These exercises will be corrected by Prof. Lalande and returned to the student with notes and suggestions adapted to his individual needs. This series of graduated exercises will carry the student over all important difficulties in the language, and the required readings, etc., will insure to the faithful student such attainments in the French language as will fit him to profit fully thereafter by the most advanced instruction in class, or under a living teacher.
The course of study prescribed by the French circle will be divided into the following arrangement of classes:
First—Primary.
Second—Intermediate.
Third—Advanced.
(1)Primary.—In this department the students will have to translate into French the exercises contained in Fasquelle’s French course, and will also answer in French the easy questions sent to them by the Professor.
(2)Intermediate.—Pupils will be required to translate into French exercises prepared by the Professor, and study under his direction “Causeries avec mes élèves,” by L. Sauveur, and Noël & Chapsal’s French grammar.
(3)Advanced.—This class will study the French grammar and literature, and translate into French, under the direction of the Professor, some selections from Irving’s “Sketch Book.”
Each pupil will receive twenty-five letters during the term, which will begin the 1st of September and end the 1st of the following July.
Persons may enter at any time and back numbers will be sent to them.
Persons desiring to enter the French circle should write to Prof. Lalande, answering the following questions:
1. Give your name in full.
2. Your postoffice address, with county and State.
3. The proficiency of French already attained.
To defray the expenses of correspondence, etc., an annual fee of seven dollars ($7.00) will be required. This amount should be forwarded to Prof. A. Lalande, one-half at the beginning of the term, and the balance after the twelfth exercise.
Note.—At the expiration of one term all students who understand the course which they have been studying, will be advanced into the one above it; and after having completedthe entire courseand passed a satisfactory examination, they will receive a diploma signed by the president and the professor.
Ever since Carlyle began to study and translate the German literature, the German language has been growing in favor with English speaking people. For years past in the United States, it has held a large place in the curricula of colleges, academies, and even the public schools. Extremists, in some cases, have gone so far as to propose the exclusion of one or both of the old tongues and the substitution of German. Whilst such practice would be extreme, it is but just to say that all attention and study thus far have been worthily bestowed. The following are a few of the many valid reasons for the study of German:
1. This language possesses, in an unusual degree, those qualities which give discipline to the mind. One of the greatest linguists and comparative philologists of the age, has ranked it not inferior, but superior to the Greek in this regard. The German is an inflected language like the Latin. This gives exercise to memory, and demands the utmost exactitude in construction. At the same time it has synthetic power, a capacity of word-building unsurpassed by any other language; so that the nicest shades of meaning can be expressed, thus giving the mind an exercise of the highest disciplinary character.
2. German ought to be studied, if for no other reason, for its wealth of literature. The student can not come into full sympathy and appreciation with these mines of literary riches except by the avenue of the language in which they are found. Much and the best is lost in translations. It ought to be borne in mind that as students for centuries past have toiled over Greek and Latin for the sake of the old masters in literature, that the same reason should incite to the study of German. For one of the four Titans of literature was a German, and besides Goethe, there is Schiller, Lessing, Klopstock, Wieland, Herder, Richter, and others, making a literary bloom comparable to that of the English age of Elizabeth. It belongs in its fullness and beauty only to the German scholar.
3. To the student of theology or science the German language is of very great value and importance, especially to the former. A scholar in divinity recently said, “Hebrew, Greek, and German are indispensable to the theological student.” Joseph Cook discredits Mr. Herbert Spencer in many things, because, as he says, he “doesn’t know German.” Certain it is that whilst happily we are not obliged to accept all the views and notions of German theologians, yet not to be abreast with the results of German investigations and discoveries in the various departments of theology is to lag behind the advanced knowledge and thought of the times. And here in many instances it is impossible to rely on translations, for many of the best works are not translated. Owing to the cost and difficulty of translation they are not likely to be, and when they are the process is slow, and the result often unsatisfactory.
4. The American student should study German with a view to converse easily with his neighbor of that tongue and nationality. Living, as we do, neighbor to two Germanies, it is of no little commercial and social advantage to speak their language. One of these Germanies is established on our own soil, and we meet and mingle with it every day; the other, with the facilities for travel and communication, is as near to us as the remote parts of our own nation are to each other. Not to be able to speak their tongue, but alwaysto compel them to speak ours, is to meet them on unequal ground.
5. The large and growing demand for teachers of German is a practical inducement to those who contemplate the teaching profession. Not only in the college and university, where broad courses of study in German, including the history and literature, are provided, but in the graded schools of the smaller towns, school boards are including German, and are seeking teachers competent to give such instruction.
6. Last, though not the least of the reasons here given for the study of German, is that which arises from its relationship to our own English tongue. Both the German and the Saxon are the descendants of the old Gothic, the language of Ulfilas, in which he wrote the famous “Codex Argentens.” It is estimated that thirty per cent. of our English is of Saxon origin, enough to establish a strong connection, making cousins, at least, between English and German. Thus we observe that many of the commonest household words are often the same in sound, and many times in orthography. To the philologist such relations and correspondences are of great interest and importance. They furnish some explanation of the resemblances to be observed between the race, types, usages, and domestic institutions.
ByRev.ALFRED A. WRIGHT, A.M.[J]
3.Moments Undervalued.—A young collegiate of our acquaintance during his four years’ course read every word in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, correcting his spelling and his pronunciation thereby, and acquired an almost inexhaustible fund of information as to the derivation of words. It was all done in odd moments; scraps of time useless for regular work; time thatsomepeople spend in gossip, yawns, plannings to vault to the moon, or in misanthropy.
A German critic memorized every line of Homer’s Iliad while going from one medical patient to another.
Bishop Gilbert Haven dropped quills from a flying wing as he flew across continents and seas, and the snowy feathers fell in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York.
Moments are gold dust. Sweep every one up. The assayer washes his hands in water that is carefully saved. His men at the benches save every filing of the precious ore. His shop boy sweeps the very dirt into a safe. His workmen clean their feet upon a mat as theygo homefrom work. All this to save alittlegold. And yet that gold is worth, in large establishments, more than one thousand dollars annually.
You can learn Greek by savingminutes. And the mental discipline gained in the endeavor will in itself be worth a fortune to you. You will learn to save moments on other accounts.
Henry Clay, speaking about courtesies of a trivial character as affording gratification to others, says, “It is the picayune compliments which are most appreciated.” He does not give us the philosophy of the fact. Possibly it is to be found in this, that we all have an abundance of this small change, and fling it forth as being valueless. But “picayune”momentsmust be better treated.
Dr. Johnson is credited with the saying, “The habit of looking on the bright side of things is worth a thousand pounds a year to any man.”
The habit of saving moments is worth more than thousands of gold and silver.
[To be continued.]
The following is a report of C. L. S. C. work on the Pacific coast, sent us by Miss Norton, the Secretary of the Pacific Branch. It contains so much information and inspiration that we publish it as an editorial. The growth of which it tells is marvelous; the enthusiasm it breathes is as sunny, vigorous, and fruitful as the fair land from which it comes. It is such broad views and high endeavor that are accomplishing the great results in our work. To know that far away ranches and lonely camps are finding growth, life, happiness in this work, ought to inspire every earnest heart to work, as our friends of the Pacific coast are doing, that “its influence may go out to needy sections where even school and church have failed.”
At the reunion held recently at the University of the Pacific, the following report was read by Miss Norton:
As San Jose contains the largest local circle on this coast, with a membership of about seventy-five, it seems fitting that our members should be made acquainted with a few facts respecting the general work of the society.The Pacific Branch of the C. L. S. C. was organized under the name of the California Branch, four years ago, while Dr. Vincent was on this coast, and during these years about 1,500 members have been enrolled. We have representatives of this branch in Oregon, Washington Territory, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Mexico and the Island of Jamaica, and hope soon for a local circle on the Hawaiian Islands. During the present year 290 new members have been received thus far, and it is hoped that the number will exceed 300 before the close of the year. This is an excess of 100 over those received last year. The active local circles have also increased, and now number twenty-six, with two or three more to be heard from. Of these circles fifteen have been formed the present year. The progress of the work in the southern part of the State has been unusual, the largest circle of the State except that of San Jose, being at Riverside, with an enrollment of sixty members. The president of this circle, Dr. Whittier, is a graduate of the C. L. S. C., and a nephew of John G. Whittier, the poet. The secretary, Miss Alfaretta Wood, is an enthusiastic worker, and Riverside proposes to have the “largest circle in the United States,” so that San Jose will have to look well to her laurels.Oakland sustains three active local circles with an aggregate membership of about sixty, and under the leadership of Dr. J. H. Wythe is doing excellent work.Sacramento stands next in numbers, and has a most energetic and enthusiastic circle; Rev. I. H. Dwinell, D. D., Mrs. L. J. Nusbaum and Mrs. Brewer being the officers.The largest of three circles in San Francisco is the “More Circle,” numbering twenty members and composed of young people.In its beautiful work as well as its name it does honor to its first leader, Mrs Prof. More.Ukiah has two local circles doing enthusiastic work.In our smaller towns the C. L. S. C. often becomes the center of literary interest, representing a large proportion of the population, taking deeper root, and bearing better fruits than in our cities. But the richest rewards of the Secretary and other officers for much unrecognized toil, come from mining camps and lonely ranches, from mountain tops and deserts, and sick-rooms, where solitary students are cheered and uplifted by our C. L. S. C. To such it goes with benedictions, inspiring new hopes and noble aspirations. If, amid our crowding duties and interests, we of the San Jose Circle find but little room for individual work, or for the rich, intellectual feasts which are often spread for us at our monthly meetings, may we not gather courage to persevere, from the thought that this influence has gone forth to needy sections of our coast, where, in some instances, even the church and the school have not been organized. During the first year of its existence, the parent society received 8,000 members, and of this number 1,700 graduated last summer. During the first year of the Pacific Branch, under the wise and efficient leadership of its secretary, Miss L. M. Washburn, ably seconded by President Stratton and the executive committee, the first class numbered 700. Of this number about 100 are active members, or have paid their annual fees and ought to graduate the coming summer, if they have not fallen behind in their studies. All who hope to graduate should promptly report to Miss L. M. Washburn, Chairman of the Committee on Graduation. In closing, I would earnestly invite the ex-members to once more join hands with us, and help forward the work of the Pacific Branch, as it reaches out its helping hand to so many earnest students. Especially let us urge upon the citizens of San Jose, the duty of sustaining the work of this local circle, a work which we believe would be an honor to the literary centers of our Eastern States, or even to the “Hub of the Universe.” We hope that the coming assembly at Monterey will be the most interesting and largely attended of any yet held upon this coast, and that San Jose will be worthily represented on the occasion of the graduation of our first C. L. S. C. Class of 1883.
As San Jose contains the largest local circle on this coast, with a membership of about seventy-five, it seems fitting that our members should be made acquainted with a few facts respecting the general work of the society.
The Pacific Branch of the C. L. S. C. was organized under the name of the California Branch, four years ago, while Dr. Vincent was on this coast, and during these years about 1,500 members have been enrolled. We have representatives of this branch in Oregon, Washington Territory, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Mexico and the Island of Jamaica, and hope soon for a local circle on the Hawaiian Islands. During the present year 290 new members have been received thus far, and it is hoped that the number will exceed 300 before the close of the year. This is an excess of 100 over those received last year. The active local circles have also increased, and now number twenty-six, with two or three more to be heard from. Of these circles fifteen have been formed the present year. The progress of the work in the southern part of the State has been unusual, the largest circle of the State except that of San Jose, being at Riverside, with an enrollment of sixty members. The president of this circle, Dr. Whittier, is a graduate of the C. L. S. C., and a nephew of John G. Whittier, the poet. The secretary, Miss Alfaretta Wood, is an enthusiastic worker, and Riverside proposes to have the “largest circle in the United States,” so that San Jose will have to look well to her laurels.
Oakland sustains three active local circles with an aggregate membership of about sixty, and under the leadership of Dr. J. H. Wythe is doing excellent work.
Sacramento stands next in numbers, and has a most energetic and enthusiastic circle; Rev. I. H. Dwinell, D. D., Mrs. L. J. Nusbaum and Mrs. Brewer being the officers.
The largest of three circles in San Francisco is the “More Circle,” numbering twenty members and composed of young people.
In its beautiful work as well as its name it does honor to its first leader, Mrs Prof. More.
Ukiah has two local circles doing enthusiastic work.
In our smaller towns the C. L. S. C. often becomes the center of literary interest, representing a large proportion of the population, taking deeper root, and bearing better fruits than in our cities. But the richest rewards of the Secretary and other officers for much unrecognized toil, come from mining camps and lonely ranches, from mountain tops and deserts, and sick-rooms, where solitary students are cheered and uplifted by our C. L. S. C. To such it goes with benedictions, inspiring new hopes and noble aspirations. If, amid our crowding duties and interests, we of the San Jose Circle find but little room for individual work, or for the rich, intellectual feasts which are often spread for us at our monthly meetings, may we not gather courage to persevere, from the thought that this influence has gone forth to needy sections of our coast, where, in some instances, even the church and the school have not been organized. During the first year of its existence, the parent society received 8,000 members, and of this number 1,700 graduated last summer. During the first year of the Pacific Branch, under the wise and efficient leadership of its secretary, Miss L. M. Washburn, ably seconded by President Stratton and the executive committee, the first class numbered 700. Of this number about 100 are active members, or have paid their annual fees and ought to graduate the coming summer, if they have not fallen behind in their studies. All who hope to graduate should promptly report to Miss L. M. Washburn, Chairman of the Committee on Graduation. In closing, I would earnestly invite the ex-members to once more join hands with us, and help forward the work of the Pacific Branch, as it reaches out its helping hand to so many earnest students. Especially let us urge upon the citizens of San Jose, the duty of sustaining the work of this local circle, a work which we believe would be an honor to the literary centers of our Eastern States, or even to the “Hub of the Universe.” We hope that the coming assembly at Monterey will be the most interesting and largely attended of any yet held upon this coast, and that San Jose will be worthily represented on the occasion of the graduation of our first C. L. S. C. Class of 1883.