Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-03-13
Serious and Comic Aspects Of Education.
LECTURE BY J. v. BOGERT.

LECTURE BY J. v. BOGERT.
Delivered Before the tiaIla1in Conn,
Teachers Institute, Friday Even
ing. February 2S, 1879.
When urged by Superintendent MOnr'
). to contribute toward the demands of til
Institute aud to select an educational Sit
jcct ilesitated. First: because | am I
teacher; second: because have no CHI
dren to educate. and. third: because tea
. ed could have nothing new to offer upC
such subject. However. though no lie
f. t,lrer and though intending to atterh,
nothing more than a few what. | trus
r may prove practical remarks, hastil
thrown together without revision. | as
your attention TO what my seem to yo
dry bones after the interesting and instru,
; , tive lectures which have preceded m,
Nevertheless. in this country and this ae
no citizen, be he bachelor or parent, NAL
or female, native or foreign. educated O
ignorant. can, with clear conscience. ignor
his duty in the premises, for tie fact th;i
intelligence based upon education mus
of necessity prove the bulwark of free in
st!tutionS. should force itself upon ever,
mind. Yet. it is Il lalnentable fact, tlla
notwithstanding the general recognition o
the truth of this assertion; potwithstantl
Ing the general recognition of the beneiicia
tremendous advances of science, art an,
literature: Notwithstanding the genera
recognition of the fact that these advance.
have tended to the general advance of com
fort. liberty, intelligence. the more cqt;,
distribution OF wealth and the equalization
| OF men before the law-I say. notn it'll
standing all this. Il sneaking idea that he
higher education is not necessary struggles
for disgracetul existence in the mind of
many men. The argument is: the self
made men OF the land had no education
and just look at their money. Their
money! That is it. The greed of gain is
the curse of the age-for it all else must
hold secondary place in the general mind
not that money is not good thing to
ctimulation is Of the nature OF things; bu,
the inordinate. the unholy desire TO secure
it ut the expense OF better things is a
fostering sore upon the body polite o.
America.
And the stil-'na,'c men. Can their ban, nc.
counts wholly compensate the want of the
refinement, of the culture. Of the educated
I .fItryfy rfIt
All parents TO provide TO their children:
And tie parent who VIII point lis son
10 tie solfmade man rs Lis example. not
the i9noraacc ana cons..
ih"nt preiii'liccs and h0or!Shncss which
iccompany his money. is a Horst enemy +
hat son can have! Yet. when speak of /
he selt-nlat!c man [ have no intention of
"norln- tie praiseworthy efforts of him.
Who. starting upon the race of life depend
mt upon his own unli'ied efforts. realizes
competency and a position for himself
md his. 1t is the danger that the glamour
II the mans money will conceal from
atler and son the damaging. Tie danger
MS fact that no money can recompense its
wner, or society at large. for the absence
4 education and the intelligence education
1ust produce. J
Strange as it may seem, another class of
zen are opposed TO the general higher e.u
ition OF the masses-and an educated and
rosperons class at that. Even under this
iiightened form OF government men can
found who. purse-prud and puff;dl-up $
Y their own position and accomplish {
ents, would deny educational and society
!vantages to the majority This class is Il
of two elements-the one we'd =
ii to the desire tor an American aristoc- II
cy-the other bent upon maintenance of o
ignorant element in the community u
hich shall supply it Il constituency too e
III and besotted to know when it is i'm IL
sed upon. or TO what extent it is render IL
useless to itself or curse to the world IA
large. 1t would be difficult to over-esti-
tie the danger to American institutions III
eiened by the existence of this class of 81
and as that danger ar
only be avoided through the education if
the people, as such, it is the self-evident tn
y OF the people as good citizens. anxi- in
for private and public good. to see to nj
hat the children now rising to man and by
be educated as fully as cir to
distances will possibly admit. co
IS an example OF the truth of these ST,
enents. refer you to the history of th'
communities where wealth has ever ac- mt
lulated in the hands OF few-the read the
of history will show you what TYRANNY ing
Onied. or even an educated. aristocracy be;
lpable OF imposing upon what it terms stu
common people" In proof of the wo
ement. that another element than that hao
posed OF the monied power is ahti-edu- !
'nal. refer you to the fact. that il is tea,
so long since an educated ministry was der
ned as unnecessary by one of the titi,
est religious denominations in the san
II; and that not many years since the and
i-Bishop of another sect made publicly sho
astounding assertion that 1.-THE people for
le middle ages. without ability to read II
Il.c. We're better-of than the educate not
e.; Of the present day. pro,
mir, it cannot he too strongly i'm ~
ed upon the public mind that the ty t;on
OF the past nave been the compara- s in
7 intelligent, and that the educated man
igence OF the people alone can protect ceel
from tyranny in the future. The f,cn
lis just emerging from an age Of dark cati,
-an age of ecclesiastical and aristo- men
tyranny to which it can never return helm
4 through the Ignorance Of the peo- pron
Increased intelligence has already ac- wene
lished great work, but much vet hoa,
ms to do.
] the complaint Of late writer. that serv.
,uth of the land are not as advanced neve,
cir opportunities would lead one to hear,
t; and the blame is laid upon the ankle
r. Admitting the evident truth of remi,
st part of the statement, we must who.
tiie jiSuce OF the latter. The par fury
the main cnlprit. In the spirit of life O.
&c, dem inding what is called the ciseJ.
of his money. the parent snrreniers side q
'sonai responsibility to the teacher. unreu
noring his own, takes less actual, his fit