The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1879-02-06
FRouDEoN AMERICAN SCHOOLS.

-
81 go to school in New England"
says the historian, Froude, in a re-
Gently published article, "where the
modern system of education is de-
veloped in its highest completeness.
l see the most admirable mechanical
arrangements. Ancient languages
and modern, science and art, history
and philosophy, poetry and mathe-
mates, music and drawing-nothing
is omitted, nothing is uninterrupted,
and progress is made in all. Yet
the experiment has now continued
for a generation or two, and the
fruits are less apparent than they
ought to be. A better education
should have produced more vigorous,
original thinkers, a more elevated
standard of taste, information more
exact as well as more difused, and
nobler principles of actions. We
may look down as much as we please
on our grandfathers' ideas; but their
notions on this subject were more
rational than ours. We ought not to
set before a boy the chance of be-
coming President of the Republic, or
president of anything; we should
teach him first to be a good man.
and next to his work, whatever it be,
as we'll as it can be DONE. 1t is bet
ter that a boy should learn to make
a shoe excellently than to write
bad exercises in halfa dozen langu-
ages"
However unwelcome the criticisms
o fthe distinguished E~Gglishman may
be, however harsh they may sound
in the ears Of us who are forever
Boosting amongst ourselves of oul
great palladium of liberty, it is moi
to be denied that they contain mani
fest truth and sound sense. 1t i;
certainly a fact that, upon the aver
age, the American school boy or stu
dent does not in the end prove to bt
that superior, elevated man and cit
izen which it would he supposed HI
should become after the exhaustive
book training Of his earlier days
| By this we do not mean that h
} amounts to nothing or that hi
!, schooling is utterly %valueless.. Fla,
, otherwise. But The actual value o
his education, its profit and advan
tage to himself, do not appear com
mensurate with the time and none,
and energy expended in acquiring
it.
This is the substance of MI
Froude's observation, and We ar
not prepared to contradict him. Eve
nv one must admit that his sugges
tion as to introducing a more practi
= cal system of training in ourschools
is worth thinking about. One grea
defect in our educational methods
e from top to bottom, is the absence Q
: suggestive teaching, if it mag be S
called. We fail to show our scholar
the relation of their education to tn
: duties and needs of after life. The,
are made to delve deep and gather
. great store from the mines of learn
ing, without being enlightened as t
n the way of reducing it to use. The.
4 come to look upon school life ant
. school duties as beginning and end
8 ing in themselves, as involving thei
4 own means and ends solely. Score
of young men and women gradual
t from our high schools and semina
. ries every year, who regard their di
. ploma, not merely as the mark o
scholarly merit, but as the last mile
stone in a journey which every wei
raised youth is expected to take
: There is no sensible cord woven int
!. the wool of their training which con
meets school room attainments witt
:, practical duties. The justice of al
D we have said on this subject is wei
|, attested by the following remark
taken from a speech delivered b,
e Superintendent Wickersham, at Lou
). isville:
81 have seen large classes COM
out of our high schools and go bacl
home without a qualification for any
thing. Our people are partly RICH
! in saying that the common school.
s arc doing what they should for thu
r .