Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1872-12-18
True Education.


Almost every school and college has
its peculiar mode of instruction. =
Many are excellent in their way, and
SO far as intellectual culture is con-
cerned, could not, perhaps, be much
improved. We hold, however, that
any system of instruction that looks
alone to tho cultivation of the intel.
lectual faculties, is defective. Educa-
tion, TO be effective anG salutary, must
comprehend the Ei.n;ui, moral and
spiritual attributes Of being, for these
are indispensable to perfect whole.
No matter what may be The tho liter
ary and scholastic attainmcnts of q
man--no matter TO what extent the
mind may have been schooled in
science and art-unlcss the moral ma
ture has received corresponding de-
velopmcnt and culture, tho students
cannot be said to be truly benefited.
To make education lasting blessing,
all the faculties Of the mind, heart
and soul must be disciplined and in
structed, because man is not simply
an intellectual creation. Indeed, his
present and future well being depends
much more largely on his moral than
mental nature, and any system of cd
uation that neglects the former in
order to cxalt the latter, is radically
wrong. Every student, on leaving
school or college, should have his
mind solemnly impressed with this
great truth, and DO tau ght to consider
tho extent to which his influence and
example may operate, for veal or
WOO, upon the best interests of society,
and especially upon the great cause Of
truth and virtue. To this end, it is
all important that he should be pre-
pared to enter upon life, not only with
correct conceptions of the theatre OF
human action, but with all those prin-
ciples engraved upon his heart, Of
which, as they lie at the foundation
of individual excellence and social
order, will be found indispensable to
the enjoyment of happiness and nc.
QUESTION of fame. His mind may
be adorned and embellished with the
trophies of science and learning; he
may have been taught to turn bis
eyes inward upon himself; 10 explore
the arcana of The human understand.
ing to ascertain the origin of ideas
10 develop the operations Of the men.
tai faculties, and TO comprehend the
principles, and practice the art ol
logic; but unless, side by side with ali
these, he has been taught bis duty To
himself and his obligations to his fell.
low-men and to society; unless he
has been so morally instructed as to
comprehend the grounds upon which
Christianity rests its claims to d.
vine original, and have satisfied him.
self of its ultimate connection with
civil liberty, and cf its indispensable
importance TO his own present and
future welfare, his education will. be
Of little avail in tho building up of q
pure and enduring character. lie
may be skilled in all the learning and
philosophy that the best schools OF
earth can afford, and yet be n novice
in the scenes of life and destiny. He
may be profound scholar, and yet u
drunkard ; a poet, holding converse
with the deitics of thought and song,
and yet profane swearer, using the
dialect of de, ills in his social inter
course with men; philosopher, drink
ing doep at the fount Of knowledge,
and yet a grovclling sensualist, knecl-
ing at the muddy puddes of vice, and
slipping of it's filthy waters. What is
true Of individuals is true of nations.
What was Egypt, with her counselors,
her libraries, her pyramids, but vast
chamber of imagery, where the abom-
nations of iniquity stalked amid the
blaze Of literature And Greece
Greece, the mother Of art, and science,
and elocution--Greccc, where philoso-
ply triumphcd and reasoning flourish
ed--fiction, trcachery and superstition
rcigncd predominant within hOr learn
cd balls. And Rome, the mistress OF
wv uuiNtfsc huu tuO nuibc VI kSuiuH,
with oil the treasures Of science with
which she was enriched and adorned
-voluptuousness, infdelity and crime
mingled with the triumphs Of her fame.
Let skepticism, with its boosted in
genuity, nscribe the fate Of these fall
len empires 10 the caprioious whims
OF fortune, but truth, like messenger
from the high courts Of heaven, pro
claims that they fell because virtuc,
truth and morality had no place with
ip their learned seminaries, nor in the
hearts Of their learned sons.
The fate of those nations is suill-
cient to establish tho theory under
consideration, and to convince the in
structor Of youth Of tho necessity Of
moral and religious culture. This Il
the moro essential, because the symp
toms Of decline in n State arc first
manifested in the young. Plutarch
tells us that Lycurgus wound mp the
strings Of Sparta, which he found re-
lsxed with luxury, TO stranger tone
but no one was found able 10 wind uI
those of Athens whom vice and corrup
ton struck ut the foundations Of hel
youth. u IL important, then, that
the morals of the young should bt
preserved and he is 10 be honored
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