Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-11-21
Vol. XVIII. Whole No. $50 No. 47.
True Education.

cerned, could not, perhaps, be much
improved. We hold, however, that
any system of instruction that looks
alone to the cultivation of the intel
lectual faculties. is defective. Educa-
ton, to be effective and salutary, must
comprehend the mental, moral and
spiritual attributes of being, for these
are Indispensable to a perfect whole.
No matter what may be the literary
and scholastic attainments of man
may have been schooled in science and
art-unless the moral nature has re-
ceived q corresponding development
and culture, the student cannot be said
to be truly benefited. To make edu-
cation lasting blessing, all the facul-
ties of the mind, heart and soul must
be disciplined and instructed, because
man is not simply an intellectual crea-
ton. Indeed. his present and future
well-being depends much more largely
on his moral than mental nature, and
any system of education that neglects
the former in order to exalt the latter,
is radically wrong. Every student, on
leaving school or college, should have
his mind solemnly impressed with this
great truth, and be taught to consider
the extent to which his influence and
example may operate, for veal or woe,
upon the best interests Of society, and
especially upon the great cause Of
trrAh and virtue. To this end, it is all
important that he should be prepared
To enter upon life, not only with cor
rect conceptions of the theatre Of hu-
man action. but with all those prlnci-
pies engraved upon his heart, which,.
as they lie at the foundation of indi-
vidual excellence and social order, will
be found indispensable to the enjoy
raent of happiness and acquisition of
fame. His mind may be adorned and
embell shed with the trophies of science
and learning he may have been taught
to turn his eyes inward upon himself
to explore the arcana of the human un-
dcrstanGing ; to ascertain the origin Of
IDEAS to develop the operations of the
mental equities, and to comprehend
the principles, and practice the art of
io.io tut unless, side bv side with all
these, he has been taught his duty t.
himself and his obligations TO his fcl-
low-men and TO society unless he has
been SO morally ins .ructed rs to com
prehend the grounds upon which Chris
tIanlty rests its claims to divine
original, and have satisfied himself of
its ultimate connection with civil lib
erty, and Of its indispensable impor-
tancc to his own present and future
welfare, his education will be o: little
avail IN the building up of a pure and
enduring character He NAV be skill
, cd in all the learning and philosophy
that the best schools Of earth can af-
ford, aud yet be a novice in the scenes
Of life and destiny. He may be pro-
found scholar, and yet a drunkard a
T poet, holding converse with the dlitlca
ol thought and song, and yet profane
sN carer, using the dialect of devils in
ms social intercourse with men; Il
/ philosopher, drinking deep at the fount
OF knowledge, and yet a grCveling
scnsualist, kneeling at the muddy pud-
dies Of vice. and slipping Of its filthy
waters. What is true of individuals
is true Of nations. What was Egypt.
with her counselors, her libraries, her
pyramids, but a vast chamber OF image
ry. where the denominations of iniqui-
ty stalked amid the blaze Of literature
And Greece Greece, the mother of
art, and science, and elocution-
Greece, where philosophy trlumphcd
and reasoning hourished - fiction.
treaehery and superstition reigned pre-
dominant within her learned halls.
And Rome, the mistress of the uni
verse and the nurse Of genius, with
all tha treasures of science with which
she was enriched and adorne6-vol-
uptuousness, intidelity and crime min
gled with the triumphs OF her fame.
Let skepticism, with its boasted in
genulty, ascribe the fate of these fallen
empires to the capricious whms of for
tune, but truth, like messenger from
the high courts Of heaven, proclaims
that they fell because virtue, truth and
morality had no place within their
learned seminaries, nor in the hearts
4 Of their learned sons.
The fate of these nations is sutfi-
N'S'' W SoetsoiiSu tuC tuCoiy
consideration, and to convince the in
structor of youth of the necessity of
moral and religious culture. This Is
the more essential, because the symp-
toms of decline in a State are first
manifested in the young. Plutarch
tells us that Lycurgus wound up the
strings of Sparta, which he found re-
7 laxed with luxury, to stronger tone
but no one was found able to wind up
those of Athens when vice and cor
ruption struck at the foundation of her
: youth. 1t is impol tant, then, that the
morals Of the young should be pre-
served /; and he is to be honored who
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