fiditoi's Chair.
19
h
;;
m
r
How often wo mul u whole book lor n
single thought that might liavo been c.v
pros-ed in a single sentence upon tin title
page. Thought ami golil arc the groat
elements thai move llio world. Wo seek
for them in much the same manner
ami with much the sam6 success. The
miner often sinks a shaft twenty feet deep
nntl cleans up an ounce of gold which
might lnvc lain, just as well as not within
a f ot of the surface. More often still, ax
1-oaiiU of much labor, does he clean ep no
gold til all. So with the reader. May it
he olhTWio wilh tho-o who read the con
triiiutlous to tno Stitjjkst.
SCIENCE IN EDUCATING
IgnoMineeis a state of psychical slum,
her. To he educated implies that exact I j
the opp.isitu has been cxpuriunced. By a
man's education, we can tell how well
and how long he ha heen awake. But
w lien we -ay education, we do not mean
mere hook learning, hlit eery kind of
mental development. A man may he an
educated tluif 01 gambler as well as a
lawyer or preacher. An educated man
doe not nee ssarlly know hov to read or
write. E liu-ation i. the drawing out. or
ratlier leading out, of tho.se powers within
u-. This i only accomplished during a
btile of psychical energy. The coiw
qionco is that many men are uneducated
bocausj they are in a stale of selumber all
their days. Communities, also, and even
nations, continue in the Mime hcalen
track, and consequently never awake Irom
that dreamy condition which they have
ii.hciitcd from their ancestors. The
world a u whole ha never heen aroused;
and it is thus wo account for the snort
sighted, selfish and prejudiced sentiments
that prvail among the musses.
We should then inquire, What are the
the conditions of slumber? What are the
conditions of wakt-fiilnens? If our first
statement Is true, our last question uiut
be the lirat to be asked by those who pro-
pose to educate. Shall science come and
he the handmaid of the Teacher? Then
she must take upon herself the burden of
these questions. She must ascertain
when and how the soul is first aroused.
If its tendency is to temiiin in a state of
comparative inactivity, then she must take
the incentive into her own hands. She
must give a correct answer to these ques
tions before Education can have a footing.
The term "to educate," then, becomes a
very broad one, .a very deep one, and one
that is all important. For upon its com.
prehension and application depends the
whole outcome of the race. To educate,
(rducero), to lead f.u'th But still the term
i3 unqualified. The question still arises,
when, how, where do we lead. This qua!
ideation must he-supplied by science, and
upon the conditions, us- we have said, will
depend our future advancement or retro
gression. Science, as yet, lue placed no
limit to the act. Wc lead out the minds of
the 3 onng, lint we do not all lead in the
same manner, or at the same time. Each
one applies his own spur to arouse the
soul to action, and each one blindly ap
plies his .wn remedy to it when it is dis
rased. We aie a race wandering in dark
lies, where only the "blind lead the
blind.' Keligion cannot guide us; for
eveiy creed leads us in a different direc
thin, and if we follow the resultant of all
their forces we will do uoihing at all.
Not even will we look upward, for as many
will advise us perhaps to look in the other
direction. Perhaps wc magnify the di
lemma. But notice the workings of our
educational inllueiices, then draw conclusion.-.
And when we suj educational in
tluemvs. we iisi- the term in its broadest
wuse Wc mean all those inlluuices that
aroused for the training of the youth from
the cradle up to manhood.
The home is, or should be, the moral
nursery. There is at present no other
For morality is something that must be
breathed, to to speak. Hence, in order
for a pewon to be moral, he must be in a
moral atmosphere long enough for his
IrTTptP'B 1
