Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-10-15
Whole Number 1345

minds are widened. so that they
can take broad views. How grandly
comprehensive are often the views
of a great planter, merchant, man.
facturer or railroad man Also,
that they can keep thinking of
subject till they see into it that
they can judge soundly, and reason
and argue, reaching Just conclusions
themselves, and convincing others
that they are right and that they
have command of clear and foreible
expression. These, then, are really
educated men
But notice. They gain this educa-
ton, in the school of life, very slow
ly in most cases, and usually cannot
be called educated in this sense, until
thev have reached or passed middle
age. Now is it possible to select
certain branches of knowledge, and
combine them into such an apparatus
of mental training, that by putting
our young men through this We can,
to q great extent, anticipate the dis
cipline which would be slowly gained
In the school of life, can give to the
young man of twenty-one or twenty
ave much of that accuracy of thought,
soundness of judgment, and com
mand of expression, which otherwise
he would not have till he reaches
ffty or more Of course this can
not be aohoUy done, for some kinds
of mental training can be gained
only by experience and by slow de-
orees but can it be done to con-
siderable extent ? Wide and varied
experiment has shown that it can be.
And precisely this is the main object
of all wise educational processes,
The kaOUledge gained may or may
not be directly useful in subsequent
life the main thing to educate is to
give the young man, in few years,
much of that development snd
strengthening and discipline of bis
principal faculties, that use of HIM
self which, otherwise, he would have
| only when almost an old man. And
remember that if, in certain respects,
we cannot anticipate the lessons Of
| the school of life, in other respects we
can prepare the young man to learn
those lessons to better purpose than
would otherwise, for him, have been
possible.
See, then, how unwise people are
when, they keep asking, "What
good will Latin and Astronomy and
Metaphysics do a business man ? and
keep saying that our youth must
study only those branches of knowl-
edge that will be "useful." What
can be so useful to a young man as
to improve his sense, to give him
greater power of thinking closely
and soundly, and of making other
| people think as he thinks, and do
what he wants them to do +? You
wish your son to be @ practical man,
but you do not want him to spend
his life as simply day-laboneF,
| Well, if he is to rise above this, is to
acquire property, and control the
labor of others for his advantage,
it must be done by sense. Not even
industry and saving ways will suffice,
unlesS he can see into things, and
1 indge wisely about complicated
| questions, and talk sensibly to those
with whom he deals. No doubt these
powers depend partly on natural en-
dowment but then, they can be
greatly improved by education, and l
repeat that to improve them is the
main object of all wise educational pro
cesses. In fact, the method of ed
ucation is even more important than
the material. A superior teacher
could, to a great extent, educate a
superior pupil with almost any branch
of knowledge. But certain subjects,
suitably combined, are found to have
much greater educating power than
others, and on this principle we
select and recommend. If some of
them are also of practial utility, that
is of course very desirable But in
very important respects the mind
may be better enlarged, invigorsted
disciplined by subjects of study
which have little to do with practicl
life and l repeat that the effect on
the mind itself is the principal mat
ter.