The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-11-26
Practical Education.

practical Education, by George Woods,
LII. D.. Chancellor Of the Western UniTer-
sjtv of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pa" is an
address delivered before the teachers of
Western Pennsylvania, last August, and
vublished at the request Of large number
of the leading citizens of Pittsburgh, and
prominent educators of Pennsylvania. The
writer. DIR. Woods, will be remembered as
for several years an eminently successful
atecher IN Yarmouth and Lewiston in this
State In this paper he has embodied the
results of his experience i'll the several de-
partments Of education, and as the express
sion of the views Of one SO widely informed,
they are worthy Of special attention. Ihe
practical questions touched upon in the dis
cussion are so numerous that we are EN-
barrassed in making selection for special
notice. As regards the course Of study best
to be pursued, particularly in the higher
departments, DR.. Woods holds that in gem
eral the pupil should not be forced into a
study distasteful to him, and that his dis
like for it should not be interpreted as evil
dence of his need for that study,-a vener-
able, and by no means extinct opinion.
Such practice, he contends, has the effect
to produce a hatred of all study, and failure
throughout Upon this subject he says;
Every graduate, and almost every student
in our public schools, has seen others daily put
TO the rack by being forced to attempt what
they could not, with the powers their Maker
had given them, do. They were conscientious
and faithful, but could not do what was de-
manded. This is what is called discipline
better, torture, Wickedness. Of the great val
ue of the study of the classics in carly disci-
plining the judgments of the young in culti-
waiting the perceptive powers, in giving copi-
ousness of language, beauty OF style eXactness
of statement and a knowledge OF the histories
and mythologies of the Greek and Roman ma
tions, we have no doubt. we Wonia nave tlG 1
best advantage to acquire them afforded to al
whose proposed professions or employment5
will demand them, or who have the time,
taste and means to acquire high culture. what
we do object to is, forcing all who are deslrouS
of obtaining a degree in the arts, whatever
their intentions as to the future, and whatever
their capacity for acquiring knowledge OF
them, to study them to the same extent, to the
exclusion OF other to them, lar more lmpor-
tant branches of study,-the waste OF time on
proftless su bjects, to the neglect OF the useful
The warmest advocate Of the classics, Prof.
Rlackie, has so far advanced as to give up
their study in the case of all who cannot proht
by them; Gladstone's proposed Irish University
Bill omitted both Latin and Greek IN favor OF
French and German. Mill advocated embrac-
ing the circle of the sciences. But II was
found impossible to do this without curtailing
the classics. To omit Greek in favor OF a mod
ern language is the alternative which will be
carried out in Great Britain. In the unlversl-
ties of Sweden, for more than decade, many
thoughtful men have regarded the study OF the
in, INN rt.1tlR IN
that of the classics and they contend that a
large amount of physical science shall be in
troduced into the curriculum OF liberal cui-
ture The courses III the universities are now
changing in some important respects to meet
these demands of the ''Dew education" In
some of the preparatory schools for the uuiver-
sites Greek is entirely omitted What is
true of Sweden is true OF the mos
Of Europe In our own country. Dartmouth,
Cornell Columbia and Michigan University
are taking common sense view OF this mat
ter. Dartmouth and Marietta have recently
done what we have long advocated, adopted
a course in the arts without Greek. with
a corresponding degree. ''No doubt" said
Montague "Greek and Latin are very great
ornaments, but we may buy them too dear.
There are many to whom they never can be-
come even ornaments, never practical or use
full and time devoted to them is wasted
Similar views are advanced in regard to
the study OIL tne hlShef mathematics, With
out discrimination as to taste or natural
ability, particularly their study by women.
More fully, upon the matter of female cdu-
cation, DR.. Woods says:
"The French commission criticized severely
our course of education of women with, al
least, some degree of justice. Admit, as /
freely will, that they are rs competent to mas
ter the mathematics and classics as young men,
will these be as useful to them as q more thor
ough knowledge Of natural history, natural
science, history and literature? Will an edu
cation i'll the higher mathematics and classics
fit the mother to answer the numerous daily
questions of the child, and SO TO inform and
educate it, better than the knowledge of the
plants, insects and animals every day seen,
aud of the events of tie past and OF the ds-
tinguished men and women whose names are
constantly read in our journals and books? l
once knew two young ladies in the same class
who took full courses in Latin, Greek and mu-