Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-03-14
Education is Money.


closed his interesting and instructive adj
dress before the Board of Trade on Tues
day night last with a happy allusion to
the pleasures of knowledge, both in its
acquisition and in its possession, and with
a passing remark upon the practical value
of science in the industries of life. Let
me show more fully that there is money
in education, in mental training, above
and beyond the knowledge acquired, and
how and why there is money in it.
"1Ou," says the ignorantman, "say that
an educated man will do more, and do it
better, and will make more money than
an uneducated man would in the same cir
cumstances and in proportion to his edu
cation. / don't see how. / grant that
scientific knowledge of the structure of
animal bodies, and of the laws of their
health and growth knowledge of the
conditions and laws of plant-grOwth, and
of agricultural chemistry, is of some value
to farmer and [ am in favor of agricul-
tural schools and Colleges, to give our
young men such knowledge; but /
don't see what a knowledge of algebra
and geometry and them ar larned things,
that nobody ever uses, has to do with my
boys success as a farmer or mechanic"
This question | will briefly answer. it's
right that you should demand of me, a
professional, practical educator, what edu
cation is, and in what its financial value
chiefly lies.
What, then, is the primary object of ed
ucatiOn? Is it to accumulate facts and
store the mind with the treasures of
knowledge? Is it to imbibe knowledge as
a sponge imbibes moisture, ready to
lose it again upon the least pres
sure, without any enlargement ca
pacity? Is it to drink in men
tai food, as a child drinks in its nour-
ishment from its mothers breast? [ re-
ply, most emphatically, no! What, then,
is the true idea of education? The word,
in the original, (cducO) signifies to lead
forth, to draw ont, 1t is development and
discipline 1t is growth and expansion Of
the powers and faculties Of the mind.
Discipline is the primary acquisition is
only a secondary consideration. Devel-
opment is the end; knowledge is only an
incident. Let me illustrate: drop grain
of corn in the soil, where are moisture
and warmth, and i'll answer to the
inner power of its life germ, it
will swell, burst, send down a rOotlet
for the meat and drink God has placed
there for it, and shoot up leaf1et for air
and light. Stir the earth about it, and it
will throw out root after root for firmer
hold, and month after month to gather to
itself the richer stores. Let the wind
shake it and it will add fibre after fibre to
resist them Let the sun dart his beams,
and the evening drop her dews upon it,
and it will unfold blade after blade to
gather them to its bosom and thus build
Up and enrich its own life and finally put
out it's nodding ensign, bidding man to joy
in it's beauty and come and take its plenty.
Now, what soil and moisture, warmth and
cultivation are to the seed corn i'll devel-
Oping the sturdy stalk, bending under its
heavy, gOlden.ears, good schools and good
teaching are to the development of the
mental powers of activity and strength. 1t
is the putting forth of mental effort that
disciplines the mind, and not the knowl-
edge obtained. If this mental discipline
is acquired, it matters but little whether a
great number of facts have been accumu-
lated or not. So, too, it matters little
whether that mental discipline was ac-
quired in the study of algebra or
chemistry. l, for one, would care but
little if every fact acquired by my
children or my pupils, during their
entire school days, were utterly blotted
were satisfied they had the mental dis
cipline and capacity that was aimed at by
their scholastic training. The primary
business, then, of the educator, and of the
school, is to train the pupils to compare, to
reason, to think-tO think for themselves
to originate sterling Independent thought
then will they become perfect batteries of
intellectual power wherever they are, and
at whatever they may work, constantly
inspiring and stimulating others around
them by their thoughts, true and fresh,
evolved from the facts, business and cir
cumstances Immediately around them.
And thought begets thought. 1t is like
grain or seed, capable of reproducing its
kind a hundredfold.
A community of such persons any
where in this broad land, teeming with
resources of wealth and greatness, will be
powerful; and the mightiest and cheap
est, and had almost said, the only agency
of securing this condition of the popular
mind, is the common school, the academy,
and the college. Let it be the foremost in
terest then, of the good people Of Knox
vile and Knox county to see that their
common schools are second to those of no
other city or county in the State.
BUTLER.