Show SELF TAUGHT NEN MEN some of their defects and disadvantages though the excellencies of self taught men are many kanj and vari yet they the frequently frequent i p pos 0 S ileks thorde fiehn pledged ae birddie den leg of tiani acter thoyd thee lite eo bobb of an intellectual and kind bifid hi bhare re almost inse inseparable parable ir troma a almost alin 0 ot sell self 6 aid aad hid are of distinct consideration one de of alib most premin prominent erit del detects abt SIB is A 1 want of ot oi mind the especial advant advantage ake ol of a teather is to point out the connections among the different arts and sciences their relative importance the natural natural order of studying atud them and the evils of a disproportionate disproportion ati e attention to any one of them the general directions of a judicious teacher are invaluable they are like a drawing of the heavens to direct the observations of the youth f fal ua astronomer among the millions of stars but a student without the instructions of an experienced guide will be liable to seize upon some particular part of a subject or upon the middle of a treatise without having surveyed his ground or marked his general bearings in is he will be likely to expend his labor lagor at unimportant or waste his time and strength in the pursuit it of studies of litt little levalue value his I 1 labors may often resemble those of a mechanic who should place a well finished door or window in the side of a rude and poorly constructed dwelling he may have ave a clear conception of one part of a science while the subject as a whole may be but poorly comprehended A self taught man is frequently attached with a kind of favoritism to a particular study it absorbs his bis whole attention and all other arts and sciences are proportionately undervalued ands and slighted lightel many a self taught man neglects or despises some of the most important sciences dr john hunter the self taught anatomist it is said knew very little of et either grammar or geography benjamin vest the great american painter though he attained to the position of president of the royal koyal academy which position he held tor for nearly thirty years yet he never reached a style of ordinary correctness in his bis orthography the disadvantages of the want of an early education can never indeed be entirely overcome there will always be lingering traces of the deficiency at it is like the aqui acquisition of the pronunciation of a foreign tongue at a late period of life the nice peculiarities and shades of sound cannot by any effort be acquired yell self taught men are liable to an exclusive attachment to pursuits that are immediately practical there seems to be a general impression that poetry and the kindred branches of literature furnish little else than amus amusement emerit the tendency to judge in this manner ceba be easily accounted tor for from the circumstances in which self educated men are placed but the effects are very pernicious idus poetry in ih its best sense is alto altogether ether practical study As history is said to be philosophy teaching by example so poetry is philosophy teaching by music it is good sense pouring itself out in sweet sounds it is powerful thought uttering itself in the voices of angels A true poet to is a philom philosopher opher milton and shakespeare burns and tennyson whittier and carleton understand under sUnd the phenomena of the human mind as well as malebranche aa and id abercrombie to read such works is as directly conducive to usef usefulness alness as to read the ablest philosophical treatise we cannot avoid regretting that a me manlike n like dr franklin was not conversant with the best beat poets it would have been no injury to his usefulness as a profound observer of human manners it if benjamin west had read chaucer and spencer and milton it would not have subtracted in the least from his enthusiasm for his favorite art while in a thousand ways tt it would have aided his bis power of conceiving and delineating on the canvas the varieties of human character another evil to which self taught men are liable is what may be termed of character they sometimes acquire a fierceness of independence an extreme hardihood of spirit which nearl nearly y destroys the exhibition hibi tion of their social sympathies pa thies they were themselves nursed in winds and storms they trampled the most formidable difficulties under their feet and smote into the dust every enemy which rose up against them hence they later infer that this same fortitude and fearlessness belongs or should belong to every human an being they do not have compassion passion on withe the erring and the ignorant they do not make sufficient allowance for human infirmity they do not recollect perhaps those favorable conjunctions in the providence of god of which they took advantage and ana which m may not fall to the lot of others uch such men are apt to over ever estimate their abilities and attainments sometimes they scorn to learn from books eleven inform themselves of the of other men yet original conception and inventive genius are in perfect harmony with the most extensive acquisitions he who would advance in any deput department ment of knowledge must know what others have done before him instead of decrying the models of taste mate and genius of other ages and countries it is the wisdom wis 11 om I 1 of every mom man to study them patiently ly and thoroughly it ever there was an original author it etwas was john milton he h e who chose early arct began late but who does lot know that paradise lost is the spoils of all times and all 1 if ever there was a universal plunderer it if ever there was a boundless plagiarist it was this same john milton he searched the je jewish wish records and the christian econom economy ji he opened the talmud and bernaed perused the koran he reveled in the fields elds of achate and on the hill sides he listened to the sweet music wider under italian skies and to the aw awful dl p prophecies ot of the drugda druids he f gathered geins of philosophy and poetry and legends Wh wherever eteVer the they could be found and fused them fato to the gr grandest adest iliad of modern tho deria times ane one of the especial betie benefits lits of so society lie and ede education cation at a d public institution is to wear away this roughness of character those who have stood on en the margin of a mountain lake will remember thattie that the little bit of rocks which have rolled down from the mountain side are angular and uneven rat but it we go down to the shore of the ocean or one of our great lakes where the winds blow and the waves toss in their wild unrest we shall find that the pebbles grinding one upon another have become smooth and polished so 86 too it is with human character it is exceedingly difficult for an individual to retain in a quiet possession within the wells walls of college or amid the jost lings of society a great seat amount of self conceit or vanity he e comes in contact with rough corners he is speedily in collision with flint powerful minds will meet in fierce competition and sad is his lot who carries an unusual shareef share of self importance but in the case of an individual who has educated himself there Is no class of men in his immediate dicinit vicinity with which he can I 1 compare himself self he grows up I 1 comparatively alone an innate vigor is the sap which nourishes him all the individuals of hib bis acquaintance may be clearly his bis inferiors feri ors hence he be is liable to become exceedingly wise in his bis own eyes and deem himself the wonder of the age which has produced him the young man who is mainly dependent p eident on his bis own efforts for knowledge should carefully bare fully study hi hir own character and prospects then form a calm calili and deliberate determination that he will take that path and that alone which will secure his bis highest and noblest sphere of usefulness and nourish that inflexible that iron de termination without which nothing of 3 will be achieved every educated person is under great I responsibilities to bring into the light anti and to cherish all the ane talent which may come under his influence vast treasures of thought of pure pare and gen generous le ous aspirations and of mork moral and religious worth exist unknown all around us but are never called forth to adorn human nature mature and bless mankind to provide I 1 intellectual n tel and moral sustenance ance for our young and increasing population requires an enlargement of thought and an expansiveness of philanthropy abis people need ased what was conferred on solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much J H W |