Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1871-01-12
EDUCATIONLITs WORK.

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1t is not merely assumed that education
is a mighty working force-a searcher sf.
ter trne nobleness, and a revelator of in
born powers. The experience of all the
ages past confirms the truth of the propo-
sition. History swells the volume of tes-
timony by pointing to the many philoso-
pliers, heroes and statesmen who were
found in the p,ebian ranks, and raised to
such eminence by the careful cautious
hands of this working force. It's chief
work is to wake up the latent powers /;
and its most delightful task that of lifting
some earnest soul high on some vantage
tground, where it may see something ofthe
fearful responsibility which makes it dam
gerous to live. 1t makes this danger APP
parent by its first work-thdt Of learning
one to think Pointing to the manytthings
ell around, which demand care and atten-
ton, and enforcing the conviction that
there isa capacity Cor doing them, it
wakes up the individual to a sense of his
responsibilities.
Just here it differs from the sculptor.
He forms and fashions the marble after
some ideal purely of his own creation. 1t
being entirely passive. hardly suggests
even a new idea, and when he has once put
upon 1.-THE proper shape it wears that shape
gracefully, until that beautiful exterior is
stained and defaced by the ravages of time.
Not 20 with man, the material upon which
education works. So susceptible of i'm
preston is he, that he has been appropri-
ately called ga waxen figure" There is an
ideal always, but as the work approximates
towards that ideal, it advances, it is high
er. nobler. This force taught him prima-.
rily to think, to concentrate the intel
~lectual rays upon a single point, which
though dark at first wonld. under the in
fuence of these rays, fash and blaze un-
til the darkness would be driven away,
and thought still scattering the light, sit
regent upon the very strong hold OF that
darkness. 1t ensures the habit of thought
f%ulness. This habit once formed so
strengthens the intellect that the individ-
ual becomes a working, progressive being.
finally outgrowing his former self, reach
ing ont after the unknown, disdainfully
plucking asunder the imprisoning gar
ments, which old systems would weave
around him. He rises above every petty
tyranny, for thought has made him feel.
This is not the only work of education.
If the intellect be cultivated exclusively.
dangers are likely to result. 1t sympa-
thizes most intimately with the body. is
dwarfed when it ceases to grow, Is dull
aud languid when it is over worked. How
could it be otherwise when the mind is
the very seat of s~ufiering--the battery
from which the currents go out and bring
the news of suffering. of joy, and OF
every other feeling or excitement? Ed
~ucation, when free and natural. must de-
mand a full harmonious man. The body
must be Il constant supporter of the mind.
The mind must be consecrated by the at
fcctions. The moral nature must lend a
sweetness, an earnestness. an honesty OF
purpose to every thought. To do this
demands u careful consideration. Neg
lect here is a failure. for no matter how
finely the intellect and the body are de-
developed, if there is 40 soul accompa-
panying, the man like a fast steamer
turned loose upon the rapid current with
out engineer or pilot, runs certainly to
destruction. Education must not only
teach a II an to think and act, but to feel:
so that he cab understand the relative posi-
ton ofothers and grasp that influence which
will make his words a talisman of power.
No man can be truly an educated man, while
either the mental or the physical powers are
neglected. Neither can he be such while
that power is u~ndervalued which freights
his whole life with meaning, and weaves
around his actions an influence more po-
tent than the behests of crowned mon
archs. These three departments, under a
high state of cultured lead out the finer,
more subtle forces, until the question,
',uhat is tie acork Of EducationF' is an
swcred by these words:-To make q
sChOie man..