The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1869-07-16
THE EDUCATIONAL HOROSCOPE.
By MISS MATILDA UPTON.

B1 MISS
But little more than two hundred
years ago great astronomer was I'M
prisoiied for simply saying of the earth,
1T moves" This statement is true not
only of the earth but of the human race
also. Each generation ascends to high
er plane of existence. The persecution
of GaIileo is one of the great mile-posts
by which our forward march Is estlmat-
ed. AS we look back upon our Journey
it may be Interesting TO note the grad
Ial change i'll the character of the many
Inilc-stones we have past. The first
were huge structures of barbaritics and
brute force, showing the moral and
mental darkness through which We
CROPPED. These were afterwards by a
degree of intellectual culture; then
came Christianity with its benign intlu-
enccs, but such was our depravity, that
we laid hold of bigotry and mOnasti-
cism and thought we were embracing
the pure doctrine of the Savior. Scat
tered all along, at first at very distant
intervals, were bright and beautiful
Eosts, whose light remained with
us long after they themselves were
out OF sight. AS these bright posts in
creased in number, the dark ones dimin-
ished, 50 that now the former are almost
our only guide. They are all about us
numerous us the stars, and
s.Stars they are, wherein we read our history,
As astrologcrs and sccrS Of old;
But not Wrapt about with awful mystery,
Like the burnin" stars which they bchcld."
No. the signs of the times are so plain
and significant that attention to the mat
ter is all that is necessary to understand
it. 1t matters little to us what the eN-
act dimensions of the human intellect
l.. IL
for us to know that the world, as Il
whole, stands upon Il much higher level,
intellectually, than ever before; aud
that the race will continue developing
until nj last we reach the pinnacle where
on stands Plato's educated man.
To bring about these grand results Is
the work of popular education ;. there
fore. i'll order TO ascertain our present
standing in our progress toward our
ideal. it is necessary only to define our
position in educational matters. Look
ing back some distance we see the tall,
iank Ichabod Crane. of Sleepy Hollow,
and just behind him stands the villain
Gus Squires of Do-the-boy's Hall. So
scattered is our educational force that
some OF our rear ranks have scarcely
got past these characters. We still see
them occasionally i'll our rural districts !;
persons who teach, indirectly at least,
That teachers and pupils are natural en-
emics. the duty of each being to harass
| the other as much as possible; that
school government is purely despotic,
the pupil having no rights which the
teacher is bound to respect; teachers
who are satisfied with their results If
the district board is, who are never
known to subscribe for any educational
periodical, who spend six hours per day
i'll the schoolroom doing purely mechan-
| zeal work, and then consider that they
! have perfect right to spend their re-
manning time and best mental powers
| in the study of law, medicine, &c, who
| know and care nothing about the great
educational questions at issue. And
just here L want to say that teachers, as
class, were not as much to blame for
the weak, blind manner in which they
did their work as is generally supposed.
| Their remuneration was so meagre that
talent was actually driven from the
arena, their vocation was considered an
| inferior one; those who hadn't wit
enough to gain a livelihood i'm any 9th
er employment were considered compe-
tent to keep school
The teacher is. TO a great extent, a
creature of the people, and now that
the people have fully walked TO the fact
that I'VE must educate" we see teach
|
in the fullest sense of the word, teachers
who have spent years i'll special train
| ing for their work, who are willing, if
need be, to sacrifice great personal i'll.
| terests to the cause Unpopular education.
| We have now i'll the field talent of the
| highest order: men and women who
| appreciate the importance of SYMMETRY
| cal development, who understand how
dangerous it is TO educate the Intellect
1 hot
life OF pain, suffering and limited use
fulness is the result of training the in-
tellect and heart at the expense of the
physical system. we have m6n and
women who have conSccTatcd their liYes
to our noble profession. Men and wo-
men who are patiently laboring day af-
ter day, and year after year, to devise
methods of instruction which shall
prove attractive TO the people, and rouse
them up 10 Il knowledge of their duty.
Men and women who follow not i'll the
deep ruts of their predecessors, but who,
| knowing the needs of our great couH-
try. are careful TO mold the coming gem
| Grafton in such way that the rich leg
acy of liberty, and all those institutions
which are dear TO every American heart
shall be safe in their keeping. Men and
women who search out the breakers
which have wrecked their co-IabsPerS,
who search ont, not only breakers, but
! the secrets OF the success of ouT Ar
nolds, our Mauus, our Pagc2-
Passing out from every one, and act
ing upon whoqIsoeFer he associates
with, is Il subtle, n4ystcrious Influence,
which bias never yet been analysed, and
| for which we have 10 Hagc. The
stronger tic ltIcBlaI faculties arc, the
stronger is this influence. We are un-
lconscious OF its extent and power ut ting
time, and can only regulate it Ivy regu-
lating our whole lives. If our lives are
pure, our ideals high, our aspirations
noble, this magnetism will be of like
lcllaractcr. and thus virtue will pass cut
from us to our fcllDw-bcin@s. The PEG.
pie of To-day understand this, and there
fore our educators are selected not only
hfrom those who have made the kHowi.
edge Of ages their own, but from those
who liavc also put away from them ev-
ierythiug ola vicious character,
Such is tie character of the teachers OF
to-day. Even our own young State
boasts not fey. The number is stead
lily increasing.
Not only have we such a noble army
of laborerS, but these laborers all work
in unison. Teachers Associations &gx
of comparatively recent date, but SO in
cstimable ara the benefits derived from
L5betll, LIlaL orr a1Se efitIP&llOh9J lezklSIas
tors have established them in such a
way that every teacher may be a mem
her of one or more of them. by means
of them every teacher is made ilIs rici
recipieni:or the experience of every 9th
er teacher, and errors arc corrected. by
sncaBs OF LiIem many teacher has been
thrown from his pet hobby, which hs
was fast getting ini0 the habit of riding
every here.
Teachers arc human, social beings
having all the frailties commou to thu
race. Alone with his school, the teach
or l. nftnI isinnted Il, ..ixfa nm In de.