The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-09-05
Hurrying Through.

AA11AAI 10 AoN1llIlf3 lAO1C NlSll
of the American than the rapidity with
others are planning he is~cxecuting, and
before they have finished their designs he
has already completed his structure.
There was II time in our history when
men suddenly cast adrift in Il wilderness
were forced to resort to the first expedients
which presented themselves for the salts
faction Of their urgent wants. They had
need to be hasty in providing for a life
the dcstitution of which was not only
very great, but it's requirements excess
lively cxacting. They had less and wanted
more of the prime necessities of existence
than others. They were forced to do not
only what most me n in civilized countries
have to do for themselves, but also what
the community ordinarily does for them.
They had so much to accomplish, and its
urgency was SO great, that there was no
time to spare in giving perfection to plans
or finish to work Every structure they
raised, whether material or intellectual,
was thus more or less rude and incom-
pletc, though it may have tolerably
served it's temporary purpose. Every
thing being wanted for immediate use,
everything was supplied in the shortest
possible time. Houses were built in a
hurry of the rude material at hand, and
the green tree of today became the pro-
tccting roof of the morrow It was the
same with the human being, whose
services were so Immediately required
that no time could be spared for his
thorough development, and he was called
to do full duty rs member Of the COM
munity before he had reached maturity.
Boys were thus cxtemporizcd into men,
and assumed all the responsibilities of
manhood while they were still children.
| Scholastic education, of course, under
| such circumstances, amounted to little
or nothing. Strong arms, bold hearts and
readiness of cxpcdicnt were most wanted,
| and these were to be acquired in the
practical discipline of a settlers life, and
not learned from the set lessons of the
| academy.
The carly practice, cngcndercd by nc
| ccssity, of Fastening Immature youth
into the full activity Of life seems to have
become so far national habit as to sur
| vive the occasion which led to and may
have justified it. Children claim, in this
country, to be emancipated from school,
college and home control and proclaim
themselves to be men at period Of life
| when in other lands they are contentedly
eating the parental bread and butter, or
submissivcly bending to the magisterial
birch Parents in the United States
moreover, encourage this precocious
eagerncss for freedom from discipline of
the home and academy. Many of them
are ignorant of the requirements of cdu.
cation, and arc apt to suppose that 1t is a
wcll-defined process which can he gone
through with the certainty as to time and
result as, say, shoemaking, or any othe,
mechanical operation. The common
eagcrncss of people in this country fol
the practical, as represented by tangible
value, impels them to hasten their chill
drcn into active life, that they may be
eager pursuit of the dollar. The richest
man would begrudge to his son, if he had
to provide for his material necessities out
of his own pocket, life devoted to some
abstract study, the results of which
though of .undoubted service to the whole
world, might not be Computable in dollars
and cents
The practice which so generally pre-
walls of limiting the education, as it is
called, to a certain fixed, and in this
country a very early, period of life is alb
surd. Michael Angelo, when met in hi:
Ola age ny an acquaintance, anu ashe.
where he was going, replied, ITO school,
Education can never be completed, anc
those who speak of having that OF theil
children finished at sixteen, eighteen, OF
twenty one years ofage as it may be, e,shoult
be reminded that, although they are able tt
compute their familiar mOlasses and tapt
by the gallon and yard, the intellectual
capacity of man is not to lie graduated
according to anv standard of dry o.
other measure.
Parents should learn to take a mor'
liberal view of education, and those VIII