Litchfield enquirer., 1869-03-04
MH2-T TIT I'll - Y EDUCATION AS IT SHOULD BE.
BY HORACE GREELEY.

BY HORACE GREELEY.
 nlsgR i ybsasd -----o4 .gn hst1i pisa
 Ihave all my later life been trying to ex- press my views on Education; yet up tol this hour, I apprehend that the attempt has not been crowned with entire success Certainly. still find at least one half of the:few who ndescendgto remember that hdve expressed opinions on the subject combating and condemning as mine, no- tions that E never countenanced, and sen- timents I utterly disclaim. .'isosa .{, 4
 Let me make. then, one more effort, not by any means toGexhaust the theme, nor yet to say all Ilwould gladly say upon it, much less all that should be said, but to place what think and feel so clearly be- fore the public that may die undisturbed by the painful consciousness that what have most tried to utter is still practically unsaid. sxyras esetrg
 My ideas maybe .of. little worth to oth- CTS; but, if Lam to be remembered at all in this matter, I wish not to be remember ed as the advocate of theories detest, and practices would gladly annihilate.
 That Education is our highest human interest, and even more than this-that life which finds it culmination in a thor ough and complete mental culture has been a successful one, though passed mainly in prison, or the alms-house-that we'll dis ciplined mind with poverty is preferable to riches with intellectual sterility and weediness-that the true end of our ter restrial life is wealth, not of body, but of soul, are general propositions which no one disputes. Such, however, is the pov- erty and uncertainty of language, that two widely diverse conceptions are indifferent ly characterized by the term Education, so that, for want of proper definitions, he who premises certain axioms with regard to one of these conceptions, is answered by one who has in view the other; thus distinc- .tions are proclaimed and aggravated, when there is, perhaps, no real difference, and abundance of heat generated without edu- cing any light whatever. 45 5Il oA
 In its narrower, technical sense, Educa- ton means simply instruction; or the inn buing of the mind with certain facts, or rules, or terms. by pedagoguic effort. In this sense, Education begins with the al- phabet and ends with attendance at school In this sense. Education merely provides the mind with certain implements of cul- tpre, leaving the culture itself to be other wise acquired-in part, by the help of these instruments, but in good part, also, with out them. In this sense, Education does not make the man, but only provides cer- tain tools to be used in the process, wheth- CT by himself or others. In this sense, Education is but the latch-key or pick lock to the treasury of knowledge
 Hence, when we hear men of sense ob- jecting that Education is relatively worth less, or too expensive, we must understand them as declaring, not that true Education is this or that, but that what they dispar- age is not true Education.
 True Education begins not with the primer, but with our entrance on this ssvis- ible diurnal sphere"-if, indeed, many of the influences which powerfully affect it, do not take rise even antecedent to this. And, as it begins with our mortal life, so does it co-exist and end with it; though, for certain purposes, it may be said to be concluded when the subject is fitted for useful. honorable, manly for womanly) ca. reer.
 By keeping these two ideas distinct, it will be easy to solve some of the most diff fcult and stoutly contested problems-as, for instance, whether Religion should or should not be taught in schools, and wheth- CT the State should or should not provide for.mofal as well as mental training; thus placing itself in most important parental relation to every child.
 Viewing Education, then, in its broader and, truer sense--as the forming, training and arming the man for life and for 'eter. nifty, beginning with the mothers cradle. songs and ending with the final prayer by the bedside of approaching death, let me inquire, For how much are parents re- sponsible? m How far are their best efforts liable to be thwarted by the malign influ- ences of want and misfortunes How much of 1t should the State undertake? How far may We trust to what is vaguely termed Human Nature? How far may we trust to overbear malign circumstances by the force of g happy constitution physical and mor- al? What light is shed upon this vast theme by the observations of sages and the lessons of History?
 It cannot be denied that many children inherit vicious constitutions from their pa- rents-not merely defective or deficient senses and physical frames, tainted and corrzpted through parental error or vice, N moral natures also inclined to chicane- ", theft, debauchery and crime, from the same source. Let those who would under stand and respect the fearful truth on this subject consult the, standard writers on human physiology, especially those of the great phrenoiogists, and the less timid writers on Marriage. Whether Phrenolo- gy IS a science or not, its apostles have un- doubtediy contributed immensely to mans knowledge of himself, and the infiexible laws which govern his complex being. If it be. indeed, a delusion, then may we say at least, that, as Alchemy was the pioneer of Chemistry. and Astrology of Astrono- my, So has Phrenology in our own day contributed to the perception and appre- ciation of 9 new continent of true and vii tai knowledge. a
 I think parental responsibility for the moral infrmities of children is not yet sui hciently realized and considered. We need to feel its full force, in order to imbue us with adequate charity for the faults which strike us so unpleasantiy. Here is one-bad- tempered, or gluttonons, or envious, even at the mothers breast; do we readily and uniformly remember that some parental vice or error was the cause of that misfor. tune? Do the parents themselves always realize that they owe more to this unfortu- nate, and should treat it with greater ten. derhess and forbearance, than the morally healthy and sane brother or sister whose life IS q perpetual joy to itself and all s1VuAo Ns3i iaiHaq qru8a9a aisaas9 ss5f |
 Whether. to the fair blossom of immor. taiity just alighted on the shore of Time, the dangers of Wealth or Poverty are the