The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1871-04-13
OILnQI TRAINING.

CoNBQR TRAINING.
The modern system of college training |
is, in the main, very defective. Boys
arc sent of, ere they have hardly reached
heir teens, to enter the college curricu- |
|um, With little, if any, appreciation Of
The advantages thus offered for intellect
.al improvemsnt. They often commence !
the college course without any parhcu-
lar desire for adding store Of useful
knowledge, but rather to crafty their
vanity Of being a college student. They
tread the paths of learning with listless-
ness, caring little whether the days les
son is retained in the memory beyond
night-fall. They lookwith anxious hope
for the termination Of their schoOEdsys,
rather than with regret that the time
is too short, in which to acquire the ne
cessary discipline for life's voyage. An
incubation Of greatness Ms an attribute
Of the college student is about their first
lesson, and they pass awsy the precious
hours in comparing their puerils powers
Of mind with the great characters Of his.
tory, extolled in their textbooks and H.
braries. They seem to think that o
graduation from college will bring sue
cess in any of the professions Of life, and
that all that 10 then to be done is " sit
down, while the admiring populace BE-
stow the laurel leaves upon them. They
forget, the while, that most Of the mighty
characters that have become historic,
had not the pleasure of college learning,
but laid the foundation of their successes
BY toiling in their pursuit acknowledge
while others slept, by the forge, in the
shop and in the field. Their smsttering
Of Latin and Greek, Of mathematics, and
Of bellse-lettres, weigh little in this bust
ling, practical world Of ours, unaccompa-
MED by sufficient knowledge Of men
and things. College life is but n way-sta-
ton on the great thoroughfaro to great
ness.
Educatorsin this country fail to edu-
cate the youthful studentin the proper
MANNER, by reason Of their fosteing a
love of pedantry aud classical display,
that is SO prominent and popular through
out the land. \ knowledge Of ancient
history, that could be acquired in two
days time from the English translation,
little more knowledge Of our own Ian.
guage and a certain amount Of " learned
style," are about all the benefits derived
from classical course Of four years du-
ration. Fathers have in view, to edu-
cate their SONS for the learned profess
ions, whether congcnial or not, and the
young man has learned to look upon the
tralesman and artisan rs far below him
in the intellectual and social scale hence
in his college course he avoids those
studies that bear upon his relations to
his fellow, in practical life, and trys to
cope with abstruse subjects that bring
idiocy, rather than intelligence. lie be-
gins to hate the word "practical," and
dreams only Of Demosthenes and Cicero,
and his debut in the world Of 0ratory, let
tors, or science.
Colleges should make an effort to edu-
cate their pupils for practical pursuits, 50
that when they begin life they will know
what is before them. Let parents send
their boys to college only when they are
old enough to appreciate their advanta-
ges. Let them be taught thst every hon
est vocation of life is honorable. Let
the boys have little worldly expert
ence, and be taught the ways Of business
before they commence collie &c; then will
they understand why tn ey are sent to
school, and not before.