St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-11-07

sand. every one O1 WHOM Hldh HIVE
equally erred in choosing his profession.
while you alone have by your broad
general education secured Il power
which You can now turn into any chan
mel YOU may elect. But many of our
D. wise men want to have education prac-
teal not in the sense of securing this
mental power which can he made avail
able both in the one chosen profession
and in the many side channels of power
and influence. but equally effective i'll
the groove in which power runs to-day
and in the different groove i'll which 1t
Is sure to run twenty-five years from
now, but practical in the lower sense
of turning ont Il particular product
which is i'll demand now, but may soon
lie as obsolete as Il Spinning-wheel.
There will he bridges to he built Ill the
twentieth century: they will be i'm
proved bridges. greater marvclS of en-
ginecrimg ability than even the Menai
and Victoria Bridges: who of the boys
now living will build them ! Certainly
not the boy who says for himself OF
whose father SAYS for him: Il want Il
/ practical education in rules and tools
and nothing more" but he who is ac
uuiring the enlargement and grasp of
mind competent to great undertakings
and that better understanding of math-
ematical laws ont of which all improve
ments must come. And SO in all de-
partmentS of thought and effort. Only
he who is SOidll based on what is per
mlncnt is qualified To meet changes in
that which is contingent. y wise edu-
cation is i'll Il SENSE prophetic: it will
nt,. Il he. in ,r
generation. And one part OF it, pro-
phctic office i easy and safe: that
which is essentially good will he good
next wear or i'll the next century. The
education which educcs the kind of
power which Is potent always and cV-
crywhcrc. which fits one tn grapple
with hard problems old or new, the
education which secures versatility
thoroughneSS. accuracy, >oliditN of con-
Viction. confidence in truth and law
though all the winds of earth blow lie
iiamcc 1T them thiS kind of education
will cHIly the master key to power and
success in the twentieth century or the
iumdrcdtl!- Just as it does in the nine
tccnth Just ~ it did III the first.
But the education of the youth Who
is to hc an actor and Il leader IN the
twentieth century must not stop here.
We have given him Il firm grasp of the
great Interchangeable laws i'll accordance
with which all Improvements must he
made: we have Injured him 10 close
consecutive thinkin" on the old qurS-
lions which the race has always been
discussing: but in that coming age he
will Ice largely occupied with what is
new and untlicd he will have to de
eide among novelties What i true and
what false, what cNpcdicnt and what
imrNpcdicut: he will hc placed amid
splendid opportunities. and he should
know how to discern and appropriate
the good hich will he offered Ia him.
" hat new inventions will aStnni>h our
pu>IcIity. what changes will arise in
social and political life. what new prob
lens science will attempt. and h"N re
hgiou> thought will he occupied. it is
not given lis to know. But we know
in general that the spirit of invention
will still hc at work. that science and
philosophy will push farther ont into
the regions of the unknown, that the
human n!imd and human lite will hc cII-
Iar%rd on all sides. The education
which iit~ the youth of to-day for the
opportunities "f the next generation i
one which cultiVAtr> III him the love
and Ihr habit OF acquisition. the >plIit
which di>ccru> and welcomes all new
truth. There are some men. there are
some systems of training which pro-
ducc i style of men. of whom We may
SaN'With perfect contid, nee. they will ap-
propriatc none of the new truth which
the next age will offer them. just H.
We can SAY of Il manufacturing firm.
they are sure to go down hrrdli>c they
adopt none of the improVcm, It> III mI-
chincrl. and of another firm they are
sure t. keep to the front because they
keep sharp and hopeful lookout f"r
Improvements. 81 we can say OF one man
he i Il iurcordaimcd failure. and of am"th-
cr he viii he Il brilliant success. hcclII>c
the education of thc one trains him
against and that of the other for new
truth. There il something radically
WIuIg with the training of Il man who
looks aSkancc ut every innovation, and
ASSUME that every novelty l. error. He
l. totally unfit to meet the coming age.
He will he always trying To force nine
tccnth century ideas and practices upom
twentieth century life. We can realize
partially the case ot such men. 10y re-
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