The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-03-14
ExERorsE.

useu among US, denotes the voluntary
motions Of the body which are conducive
to physical health and development The
advice 80 frequently enforced upon US to
take exercise simply means to walk or
ride, to work in the glrden or farm, to
swim or row, or hunt or engage in active
sports; to chop wood and run our own
errands Yet this Is rather an illustration
Of exercise than its definition il Is but
single branch of a subject which in reality
embraces the whole Of human life, with
its powers and possibilities.
An article in a recent number Of the
"Old and New" in discussing this matter
of exercise, shows very clearly that it
belongs not merely to muscle and nerve,
but to memory, reason aud Imagination to
thought and feeling; to the moral and
spiritual faculties, in short to the steady
unfolding of all that is manly in man and
womanly in woman. Without exercise not
one Of our powers can be developed, no
real success attained, and nothing worthy
in life be accomplished. This Is a fact
too much overlooked in all our systems Of
education, and in all our efforts at self
improvement. We are too apt to think
that knowledge is the one thing indispen-
sable, and to overlook the necessity, at
least equally great, Of putting that knowl-
edge into steady and habitual exercise
In manual occupations this truth is fully
recognized. Every overseer in factory
knows that to teach the operative how to
do his special work is far less than half
the business. 1t is daily practice and
steady exercise that can alone render the
work satisfactory. Every mechanic can
look back upon the time he toiled painful
ly, and yet only bungled the work that
now slips so easily from his fingers, made
skillful and dexterous by exercise alone.
How slowly and awkwardly did We once
trace the letters that now flow from our
pens, almost involuntarily, in obedience to
our thoughts. To be trained to habitual
exercise in anything we do, is the only
sure way of doing it well and expeditiously.
The same law prevails in intellectual
labor. The accountant who so rapidly
casts up column after column of figures
without mistake, has gained that power
only by constant epetition--habitual cxer-
else. The orator who holds his audience
in breathless attention by his eloquenoe,
and eyokes their tears and smiles at his
pleasure, has obtained this asccndancy by
continual exercise. Another man may
have as deep an insight into the subject,
as extensive an acquaintance with it, as
warm an interest in it, and as earnest a
desire to enlist the sympathies Of others,
and, from lack of experience in public
speaking, may utterly fail to convince or
to move a single individual. It is perhaps
just here that may be found the secret Of
so much Of what we call education being
wasted. We cram our children's minds
with facts that they do not appreciate, and
information that they do not crave, and
which seem to have no bearing upon their
lives, and then wonder that it is distasteful
and soon forgotten. The difference is
marked when, few years later perhaps,
the student is inspired with thirst for
truth, which he gladly receives and quick
ly infuses into his life, or when he his
studying for some special end he hopes to
achieve. The work Of years is then often
condensed into months, aud what was
mere drudgery becomes delight. The
prevalent idea of spending from six to
sixteen years of life in acquiring an educa-
tion, and then suddenly breaking of, and
entering entirely new fields of thought and
labor, involves waste Of mind, of powers
and of results almost incalculable. The
knowledge put into the mind by teachers
will soon ooze out again, If it is not brought
into some habitual exercise by which it
may become assimilated with our lives
Knowledge and practice must go hand in
hand teaching and experience must
supplement- each other If either are to be
effectual 1t would be far better, there
fore, if possible, to extend the period Of
receptive education over much larger
proportion Of life, and to unite with il the
practice that will establish il on sure foun-
dations. All life, indeed, should be
continued education, every day of which
should bring US new knowledge and fresh
good, while the habit Of constantly infus-
ing it into our lives aud practice will
enable us to keep intact all that We gain.
If no manual skill or mental superiority
can be acquired without exercise, neither
can any moral excellence be attained or
any noble character be formed excepting
by its constant influence. Habit, in this
realm, as in the others, is All-powerful.
Many persons who highly value its efficacy
in other matters, ignore it in this. They
imagine that at some time character may
suddenly change from bad to good, from
impure to pure, from selfish to loving, from
mean to generous. SO they view with
untrOubled eyes the moral delinquencies of
youth, calling them "wild oats, and sup
posing that time will overcome and subdue
them. Never was there more fatal error.
The daily habits Of every boy and girl are
the materials with which they are building
up their characters, and every repetition
strengthens them for good or for evil,
justice, benevolence, honor, integrity and
self@control are no eDhemeral hlossofna