The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-04-12
CHI ES TON.
MONDAY MORNING, APRIL IL, 1869.
MIR. Troude on Education.

The address delivered by Mr.. J. A
Froude, the historian, on the occasion o.
his installation as Rector of the University
of St. Andrews, Scotland, has attracted al
much attention by the boldness and straight
forwardness Of its language as has com
manded respect by its close reasoning ant
deep and earnest thought.
Beginning with the broad declaration tha
"to make us know our duty and do it, tt
"make us upright in act and true in thought
ssand word, is the aim of all instruction
(Which deserves the name-the epitome o1
call purposes for which education exists, y
Mr.. Froude passes to the question which
is on everybody's lips: Whether the sub.
jects to which the best years of youth and
boyhood continue to be given are the best
in themselves, whether they should be al.
tered or added to, or if so in what drec.
tions The great schools and colleges OF
Great Britain are in the middle of revo-
luton, which, like most revolutions, means
"discontent with what we have and no clear
s'idea of what we would have" And the
causes are not far to seek. On the one
hand, there is the immense multiplication
of the subjects Of knowledge; on the other,
the increased range of occupations among
which the working part of mankind are
distributed. We cannot confne ourselves
to the languages, to the grammar, the logic
and the philosophy which satisfied the sew
enteenth century. Yet if we pile. on the
top of these the histories and the literature
of our and other nations, with modern Ian.
guages and sciences, we accumulate load
which the most ardent and Industrious stu
dent cannot cope 18th. What, then, is the
secret of success Itis-says Mr.. Froude-
'that we understand clearly the result
(Which we desire to produce.
To educate successfully, you should first
ascertain what you mean by an educated
man. Our ancestors, said Mr.. Froude, un-
derstood what they meant perfectly we'll.
They set out with the principle that every
child born into the world should be taught
his duty to God and man. The msjority of
people must live by bodily labor; therefore,
every boy was IS early as was convenient
set to labor. There was no thought of what
we call enlarging the mind. A boy was
taught reading that he might read the Bible,
and learn to fear God, and be ashamed and
afraid to do wrong. In both England and
Scotland, by the parish school system, the
children were put in the way of leading
useful lives if they would be honest. The
essential thing was that every one who was
willing to work should be able to maintain
himself and his family in honor and inde-
psndence. In the education Of scholar
the same principle was applied.
There were two ways Of being indepen-
dent. If you require much you must pro-
duce much. you produce little you must
require little. Those who added nothing
to the material wealth of the world must be
content to be poor. II rich in mind, the
scholar was expected to be poor In body;
and so deeply was this theory grated into
English feeling, that when Earls and Dukes
began to frequent the Universities they
shared the common simplicity. The scholar
was held in high honor; but his contribu-
tions to the commonwealth were not appli-
cable in money and were not rewarded with
money. Neither scholarship nor science
starved under this treatment; more noble
souls have been smothered in luxury than
were ever killed by hunger. But this old
idea Of education was dying away at both
extremities; the apprenticeship, as sys-
tenn of instruction, was gone, and the dis
cipline of poverty was gone also; and we
have instead what is called enlarged minds.
An enormous accumulation of propositions
of all roots and kinds is thrust down stu
dents throsts, to be poured into exami-
ners' laps, and this too "when it is notori.
"ous that the sole condition Of making
"progress in any branch Of art or knowi.
"edge is to leave on one side everything
ssirreleyant to it, and to throw their uudi-
"vided energy on the special thing they had
Gin hand"
The old Universities, Mr.. Froudc pro-
ceeded to say, are struggling against these
absurdities, and yet their work is scarcely
more satisfactory. A young man who goes
to Oxford now learns the same things
which were taught two centuries ago; but
he learns no lesson of poverty along with
it. In his course, he contracts habits of
self-indulgence and luxury which make
subsequent hardships unendurable. He is
called educated, yet if thrown on his own
resources he cannot earn sixpence for
himself. can Oxford education" Mr..
Froude said, 'fits man extremely we'll fcr
"the trade of gentleman. 1 do not know
"for what other trade it does fit him as at
"present constituted" More than one
Oxford graduate has been seen in these late
years breaking stones upon road in Aus
tralia. That was all that he was found to
be fit for when brought into contact with
the primary realities of things.