Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1855-07-11
From the New York Teacher.
THE OFFICE OF THE SCHOOL.
BY PROF. A. VI. KELLOGG,

That instition which proposes to max,
excellent the coming generation, to Civ,
it the experience OF the past, to enable i
to use, in ready aud appropriate man
Der, the accumulation of knowledge mus
have an important office 1t is this en-
CINE which the civilization of the present
age uses to extend and perpetuate its con
quests 1t is the em bodlment OF the uui
versal idea possessing mankind, that
means. specific in its purp aud most
general IN Its results, is needed To sim
pilfy an otherwise complex and Il fficuit
life The office of the school is to sImpi
fy an otherwise complex ana difficult life
The office of the school is to teach the art
of life, to bend the twig of youth so il
shall lean towards the right, and grow
The business of living so that man $ mind
shall be able to direct his course steadily y
aud with certainty among the natural phe
nomena surrounding him, is learned by
dlllgent and long continued study
Schools are Indispensable to civilized
nation, for they prepare the mind with
such discipline and knowledge as fits it
for place in society which civilization
has built up No such positions exist
among bar barous or savage nations, aud
hence schools do not them as to US sup
ply want OR schools are, indeed our
highest testimony for civilization for
they are all acknowledg dgement of the con
viction that man should be better they
confess the demands of the spiritual life,
a fact denied in the creed of the savage.
To avail himself of the ample means
given to employ life well, man needs much
aud varied knowledge and above all he
needs the effect which tie contemplation
and the elucdation of this knowledge
will leave upon his mind The school is
the means to produce this effect by bring
lug knowledge, if need be. TO the very
doors of every mem ber of the state We
rightly name it ducatiou-the man s
powers led~out; we justly com ect with it
the notion of freedom and competency to
choose ones own path.
With the present constitution of s0cie-
ty, educltion is necessary our commerce,
our law. our medicine, agriculture and
arts. are the products, and need men who
have beer well taught to use them -
There will, we may safely affirm, be no
occupation a hundred years hence for the
uneducated, if civilization shall continue
to make more understood and scientific
the common means by which the multi
tude gain their living Once knowledge
was sought for its own sake. or for fame ;
now it seeks men by the highway, or Wis
its them in the weekly newspaper Once
all knowledge made the man no better
oft Of vi r,I,t hi -
of health, nor enlarged his power of in
fiuence, nor inspired desire for improve
meDt; now it is the handmaid of enter
prise, and servant of the rich ard poor
it concerns all things, and is especially
complete in those departments that make
life more worthy and easy to be believed
The possession of knowledge once gave
a man a name; the ability to use 1t now
gives BIN an influence The me who
construct steamships and telegra phs,
sound the depth of our coast waters. de
tcct the laws of winds and storms. the
men who build steam engines, printing
presses. planning and reapiug machines,
the men who discover simple means of
making cloth or paper, are the influential
men of the present time. This general
ula Of machines but transports the ac.
tiyity Of man from muscle to mind and
constitutes the progress of the civilized
state Hereafter there is more real, use
ful knowledge necessary to be known, and
this our schools are ready to supply to
all applicants And our education pro-
poses to reach, as final end the spiritu-
al in man
The educated recognize the universe as
a means by which the Divine discloscs
himself. and that by knowing it they shall
know Him All science they find to be
fragmentary parts of the great truth to
know this is the possible which they seek
to achieve; to do this the best method of
living Education is addressed not to fac
ulties which are to exhibit themselves out
wardly like astrology or the trades even;
it fashions the sonl-its product is a
man; it enlightens him when he hears the
voice and sees the prospect of this mani
fold nature around him.