Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-02-12
cHILDnooD AND NATURE.
A a Address delivered at fiae Teach
ers' Institute. held in CIarks-
VILE, Tenn, Dec. 1850,
by Prof. j. w. Caldwell,


A a Address delivered at iiae Teach
ers' Institute. held in CIarks-
willie, Tenn, Dec. 1850,
by Prof. j. w. CALDWELL,
=. p. University.
tPubIished at the request of the Institute.
Education is a word of far more
extensive import than is generally
attributed to it. Whatever may b,
the opinion entertained as to the de
velopment of species, there are none
who question the development o
the indj1iduot. This latter form is
education and the magnitude oil
the process in the human subject, a.
also its delicacy; are to be measured
by the intricacy of his complex ma
ture aud the grandeur of his pos
sible attainments. Let not the
teacher, important though his mis-
sion may be, arrogate to himself the
entire task of manipulating and
moulding human life; nor yet the
parent, marvellous as a parents in.
fiuence is, beginning perhaps, be.
fore the first breath of independent
existence-certainiy accompanying
the first glance into a mothers low
ing countenan'e of the eyes just
opened upon strange and constant
Iy widening scenes. There are in
Vulnerable instructors under whose
tutorship the human individual is
from time to time brought. Every
character with which we come in
contact in the great thronging thor
Oughfare of life, affects us more OF
less, just as every ray of light that
falls upon our eye makes its physi-
cal impress. We are creatures too, SO
largely of circumstances, that the
fact is signalized in proverb. The
incidents that constitute the life
and history of companions, neigh
bOrs, community, country, are by
no means Insignificant factors in
the determination of the exact sta
ture and conformation of the future
man. But besides these living
agents, there are others, VOiceless
but potent, whose presence is apt to
leave indellible outlines, imprint
ing their signature upon mind and
heart, and may-hap also upon the
bodily frame. / refer to Nature as
the UHicersaI Teacher. Its infiu-
ence has not been uuappreciated-it
has been truthfully recognized as
an important element in the con-
stitution Of national character !;
and what is national character but
the summation of individual char
acters formed under like circum-
stances. The mOuntaineer and the
inhabitant of the plain-the dweller
in the midst Of lowing herds and of
waving grain, and he whose life is
passed in view of grand palaces and
works of art in the metropolis of
the country, largely differ in .conse-
quence of the very diverse scenes
with which they have been sur
rounded.
l imagine that a careful and syste-
matte examination into the meth
ods used in the training, the amuse-
ments and the education of children,
would we'll repay the time and la
Dor expended, by revealing much
that is interesting in regard to the
normal condition and wants of the
human being. There are several
causes that might be named, to ac-
count for the greater or less obscu-
ration of these wants-as, for in
stance: some of them may have
been almost Immediately met and
satisfied either by the subject or by
others, and thus have escaped no.
tice; or, on the other hand, not inn
mediately and completely supplied,
they may have been removed only
gradually by infinitismal approach
es as it were; and these experiment
tai and tentative movements may
have failed to point out their special
direction and end or the need be-
ing only recognizable by the young
subject or capable of being met only
by himself, the knowledge of it
may have failed to be appreciated
by the intellect of the race. Many
data may thus have been lost, which
might have been serviceable in the
phiIosophic explanation of many
obscure points.
Thus, ii may be found impossible
to gain a clear insight into these
subjects of interest, either from con-
sciousness or the observation of our
own children around us; an appeal
to some other and more satisfactory
source is greatly to be desired. AS
closely related to the above point,
as illustrative of it, and perhaps as
giving a hint in regard to the possi-
BILE attainment of such knowledge,
some thoughts and data may here
be presented by way of parenthesis,
which are drawn from Mr.. Tylers'
very suggestive work on "The early
history of Mankind" Consider for
a moment the subject of Language,
a possession or power, not only in
dicative of the grand superiority OF
the human species, but also un.
donbtedly one of the causes Of that