Smyrna times., 1878-11-20
For the Smyrna Times.
Continued
Education.
MAN. ASSUME TO BE THE srBJEcTOT MORAL EDUcATIoN


lie is possessed of moral faculties He is free he
acts from his choice, he eXerts his own powers,
and is responsible for the he makes of them. He
alone can distinguish between right and wrong;
truth and falsehOOd; virtue and vice In his breast
alone is established the holy tribunal OF conscience.
He alone possesses the faculties of perception reason
judgment and voluntary determination He alone has
Mans moral nature is decidedly the most exalted
portion of his being. 1t is distinct and peculiar,
setting him apart from the rest of creation, and mark
ing him the subject of higher design. and lottier
destiny. This is seen in the acknowledged facts that
the good man ranks higher than the man OF genius or
talent that honest man is the noblest work Of God
Without moral goodness, knowledge lOoseS half It's
power; refinement is without its mora! quallty ana
however valuable and desirable knowledge and re-
the heart Nothing then can be substitute Tor moral
goodness in it alone gives character and tone
to every thing else and stamps on him the deyinc
likeness, and secures title to eternal life.
The truth and force of the foregoing observations,
will readily appear, if we compare man and animals
with respect to their moral perceptions Let us select
for this purpose the great rule of right laid down by
Lord, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do yc even them for
presented to the human mind than Its force IS seen
and obligation felt as being Just and right. Even
children under the first dawnng of reason at once
perceive and acknowledge the equity of this golden
rule but it is otherwise with animals lhGy neither
perceive its force feel the weight of its obligation.
With them might physical force is the only rule OF
right The dog snatcheS the bone from the cat on the
ground Ofmasery. The hungry jackall surTenders
his prey to the wolf and the wolf to the hyena. In
the brute creation then the principle of juctice is
| never rcCOgnlZeC nOJnUg DuI DTuIc lOTCc ne Ntdh
must in every instance yield to the strong Man then
| only has moral faculties And this is the great mark
of distinction between man and the animal creations
Man i'll his moral nature is also the subject of cdu-
cation. The heart the seat of the affections may be
moulded to virtue and goodness the soul may be i'm
bued with the love of truth justice and charity lhlS
great truth is supported by every days observation
and experience. The old familiar saying, Just as
the wig is bent the tree is Inclined is applicable to
| the soul well as the body The heart of man has
fifty been compared to rich fertile garden. which
NAV be cultivated and dressed and thereby made
II
| itself without cultivation, and become the seat OF
every evil passion, infected by the scorpion and adder
This is the law of the moral universal law ordalneC
| and administered by the authority and talthtulnes
of God, and must continue as long as his monarch!
endures. Every man then IS the subject OF mora
education.
Again, it is plainly the design Of the Creator, il
making man the subject of education, that his mora
training is to commence in the dawn Of childhood
This design is seen in the susceptibility of its nature
during this period of its existence. In childhood tn
soil of the soul is fitted by the author Of our being 70
the best cultivation. They then, like liquid meta
are prepared to assume any shape that may be givel
thcm-like standing water, ready to course their wa
in the channel prepared for them. Whatever is
in the mind during early childhood springs up readil!
grows with peculiar vigOr and yields an abundall
God has placed the child for its earliest lessons
training in its mothers keeping. she is indeed
while it is unoccuped. No root Of error no thorn
prejudice have yet entered it. With the first pra
iinSS of her little son, her paternal lessons fall wit
sweet and melting pathOs upon his already tcndo
heart or as he leans his weary head upon her bosom
, |
She may secure the residence for Christ the saviour
sinners Every family by its very organization.
designed by the great Creator to be natural Senar
and the father and mother of the family the divncl
authorized principals and teachers This religion
= training when enforced by efficient family govern
mcnt, consistent christian examples, and fervent b,
2 ieving prayer for Gods blessing. must secure III
child for salvation. Says the piOus Flavel, i ble
God for religious tender father. who often pOure
ont his soul God for me- and his stock of prayers.
esteem above the areSt inheritance earth Nal
then is the subject of physical intellectual and NOR
education. Education being the law of his being, /
| which the great Creator designs To untOuld and d
g vclop him. 1t is the great lever which is To lift hi
up from the ruins of the fall and raise him to h
highest state of perfection and excellence When Pet
o the Great of Russia. desired to introduce Engiis
| manners into his kingdom and sent number
young men to England to acquire them, his Jest
: called him n fool. Peter threatened to have hi
y tossed in blanket fhe did not make good his
Un. The Jester called for sheet of paper, and fol
ing it and rubbing it hard, desired Peter to reno
the impression there made. His majesty could not
it. Why then, said the Jester. do you send youl
men already impressed with Russian manners al
IS habits to England to learn English manners? ? sci
r children. Education then is the great law design
- by the Creator to develop and perfect physic
~ intellectual and moral nature, and he who eXpet
lr man to be any thing else except what he is made
n education; like Peter the Great, is Il fool.
WILLIAM CRIE
Ie SMYRNA, DEL. Nov. 18th, 1873.
TO be COntinuCQ.l