New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-04-27


who are more honest than bigots every
=" one of us is bound not merely to do the
thing which seems to him right, but 10 no
also what lies in his power, that the thing
(which seems to him right may be that when
really is right" We may do it In one way
or another, by one method or another. IL
." man wishes to train himself to be a good
walker, it matters very little what road he
chooses to walk upon" The passages that
speak of education as corrective of the dis
astrous habit of faulty thinking, as
rescue from the pit of ignorance and
prejudice, as resource against idleness
and languor, q refuge from annoyance
q defense against temptation, soace
in trouble, an ally of fidelity, fountain OIL
JOY, reach deep places in thoughtful minds
1t would do us no harm to hear such words
oftener, for they recall the fact that the mind
is not tool to be caught up in an idle mo-
ment, sharpened by few turns of grind
stone, and then set to whiting pegs to hang
greasy caps on Our demand for education Is
beginning to be incOnsiderate. we want IL Oh
too easy terms; we want it for illegltlmate
purposes; we clamor for it indiscriminatelyj we
are satisfied with too little; we think more Oh
the quantity we get than the quality, more Oh
diffusing what We have than of sitting 1t.
Readiness, swiftness, fuency of tongue, anu
and pen-aglity-many-s idedness are the quail
ties coveted. Excellent qualities for young
people in young country; but prejudicial
TO nobleness and truth. Not to do many things,
but to do one or two things well to do artist
work, not job work; to put q sense OF outy
into work; to make work pleasure ana q
contribution by honest work to pay honest
debts; to shape thoughts nicely, to weigh words
delicately. to frame knowledge fifty Tor ser
vice, is the grand matter; and Tor TINS eutica-
| ton must be made acknowledgements nothing
else can be made answerabe for 1t. 10 per
ceive clearly, to reason fairly, TO cohciuuo
Justly is the result of mental training begun
in childhood, continued in youth, perfected by
all the devices of practced and experienced
discipline. 4
Cumming is our bane. 1T a notion among
| our people that culture is unfavoraDle 10
| earnestness. To much that passes for earnest
ness it is unfavorable. To the hearty enthusl-
| asm that rushes on without knowing whittier
| il is going, which takes up causes unintelll-
gently, pursues methods recklessly, theories,
declaims, dogmatizes, culture is unfayoraDle'
Ii takes down the conceit Of half knowledge,
it pricks the bladder of presumption, and pours
plentiful cold water on the blazing piles of
cracking emotion. knowledge is sometimes
check on action. Great questions are most earn
nestly taken up by those who can see but one
side of them Culture is often apathetic, not
seldom cold, now and then sneering. But as
! yet it has done no mischief at all comparable
to that which blind, ignorant, opinionated, in
tense passion has achieved.
These are very general considerations. They
touch none of the problems that are debated
In our communities. They do not assist us In
fixing the relative value of the classical and
the mathematical studies, in adjusting the
claims Of science, in deciding whether the Uni
versty or the College system is the best; but
they do serve to impress on our minds the fact
that mere smattering of learning is not educa-
ton; that technical familiarity with some special
department of knowledge is not education
that light accomplishments are not education;
that a head full of available facts, or of I'M
available speculations, is not education that
education is neither fertility nor glibness, but
is intellectual cleaness steadiness, and force.
Few men have a better right to say that than
Lord Stanley. The students of the University
in Glasgow are not the only people who may
| be benefited by listening TO him.
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