The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-04-03
EDUCATIONAL.

What grand things education is accom-
plishlng for American youth of both sexes
and how proud 1t makes us of Jul common
school system. How clear it is that t,
make a nation v%irtuous, happy, %prosperou
and permanent the people must be edu
Gated. Popular enlightenment is the guar
antee of order, security and national great
ness. Where there is no education, Of
little, there is crime, lust, superstition an(
slavery, the world over; all the difference
between the scholar and the boor; all the
difference between the wise and refined
Brahmin and the debased and e~nslaveG
Pariah; all the difference between the besi
educated American minds and the minds o.
New Zealand ; all the difference between
the cultivated dweller in the metropolis anG
the savage iphabitant of the West, comes Of
this educati6ns One has had a better edu'
cation than the other ;. at birth they came
from the same kingdom the SANE humanity
burns in all hearts; the same blood ebbs
and flows in all that are born of woman.
Education levels, but not as q tornado or q
thunder-blast.
1t levels by building up; by bringing in
refinement. culture and grace by broaden.
ing the vision and charging the mind.
Education, culture, is the watchword OF
the ages. and it was because our fathers
heard and needed that voice stirring them
to mental diligence. that they were able to
snatch this fair land from the savag grasp
OF its Indian possessors. Mind triumphed
over the wild wealth of primeval wildness,
and overcame the ferocity of wild animals
and wilder men; set the spade and the
pillow and the barrow at work; felled tim
Der and built school.houses and churches
and dwellings changed the face of nature
substituted for the tangled w%ild-woods pro-
ductive farms for the Indians encamp-
ments of bark and prairie grass, cities, with
spacious and costly edifices, with hospitals
and asylums, and institutions of every kind
for making people happier and better.
These came in the train of education and
celebrate her triumph.
IMPORTANCE OF READING. No matter
how obscure the position in life of an indi-
vidual, If lie can read, he may at will put
himself in the best society the world has
ever seen, He may sit down with the good
and great men of antiquity. He may con-
verse with Franklin and Washington; with
all the writers in prose and poetry. He may
learn how to live, how to avoid the errors
OF his predecessors, and TO secure blessings
present and future TO himself. He may re-
side in a desert far away from the habita-
lions OF man; in solitude, where no human
eye looks upon him with affection or inter
est; where no human voice cheers him with
the animating tones, if he has books to
read, he can never be alone. He may choose
his company and the subject of converse
ton, and thus become conUented and hap
Ply, intelligent. wise and good. He thus ell
eyates his rank in the world, and becomes
Independent in the best sense of the first ia
importance of the department: of schoal ed
ucation.
more general knowledge and culture? The
UhOip Nyprk nf nlr Cphnnls /, 10 do This
Every new fact that the pupil acquires from
his geography opens his thought to new
fields of interest and unfolds new relations.
Every lesson in grammar, il brightly conduc-
ted, tends to make him appreciate the force
of words, and the lesson in history may
lead him TO place an entirely different en-
phasis on the words Of speech Of Patrick
Henry which he has TO read. Moreover, one
will always fad that he who succeeds in
teaching reading, makes all the studies OF
his pupils play into each other. he is not
content TO teach any one branch without
binding it continually to every other in ev-
cry possible way. 10 his school. moth
ing Is isolated, and most of all in the reci-
tation in reading, does he lay every other
lesson under contribution. He talks much,
not at, bus with, his pupils, and encourage
es them 10 talk with him. He reads much
himself. and is continually on the lookout
for children's books which bear on the SUBJ
jects which he teaches, and which give in
teresting facts, not found in the text books.
A teacher whose requirements are limi-
ted to the textbook he uses, can never
achieve real success in conducting his re-
citations. "a good school-master," saws
Guizot, mus know much more than he is
called upon to teach, in order that h. may
teach with intelligence and taste" 1t is a
question worthy of consideration whether
the ambition and love of study inspired in
a class by a scholarly, skilful and enthus-
iastic teacher arc not worth more to the
pupils than al the studying they are able
to do. What is more contagious than ex-
ample? What is more glorious than a nc
bic example as an inspiration 10 worthy
deeds? The teacher who does not show
that he can go beyond the textbooks in his
search after truth, and enrich the knowl-
edge which his pupils have acquired. by CO.
pious additions to it from his own well-fur
nished store-housc, is lacking in the first
element of poweri in his great work. This is
in fact, n of the great secrets of power in
teaching. 1t secures the confidence, it ar
ouses the interest, it commands the re-
spect and admiration of the classes, and
supplies the most needfnl conditions to its
progress. Hence, let the teacher ever 90
before his pupils in the classroom full OF
his subject, all aglow with its spirit, ready
to meet every difficulty, to answer every
objection and supply every omission that
may arise in the sharp drill that is to fol-
low.