The Portland daily press., 1883-02-02


and after all our efforts we find them ratbe
Indifferent about securing their salvation. w
not even succeed In securing their tempora
prosperity; for we have neglected to lay tn
very foundation stone. They have not eve
learned how to learn. They are not educated
In the true meaning Of the word We hav
only taught them what a pleasant manner Q
idling away ones time reading Is. We hav
inspired q literary taste that leads one half @
them to the circulating library and periodical
stand, and the other half to lounging sbou
newspaper offices beseeching opportunities :
describe police court trials or gossip about mat
ters that were better unwritten-and wen tina
they can't do well. They want to be authors
They cherish an am bition that can never be
come an accomplishment
And journalsm-pardon me for saying this
which affects to be literature, which assume
to rival Bacon and take all knowledge to b
its province, and wide-encroaching as Milton
Eve peaches upon all preserves, gives then
space to rawly discourse Of science, and theol
ogy, and art, and politics, and all the othe
things OF which they know nothing; and event
ually takes the brightest or most industrious o
them into its service;-for 1t needs drudges.
This is what our worship of Literary Taste
OF Book-Learning, leads us to-a most lame ant
impotent conclusion. We divert boys from oc
equations in which they might be useful, t.
occupations in which they are neither usefu
nor ornamental.
Our system OF education is system of mis-
placement. Its effect though not its avowe(
object, per APPS, is to set all scholars going, NJ
matter how untitled for the journey, one way
All their associations, surroundings, teachings
examples, encourage them to pursue scribblinS
as the finest OF all things, and the reading o
scribbling as the next finest. Original research
is not encouraged. They have but to reac
what others have done, and then write book
on those books as long as they can get publish
ers to print them. Having no particular cal
to letters they are led to take bar
rem and proftless path instead of trudg
ing along the well-trod ways that lead &
The enrichment of the world and to the in
crease of its comfort and happiness and materi
al prosperity.
AS result we have an Injurious discomfort
not that laudable discomfort which is the mo
tive OF honorable ambition and leads to a bet
terment of ones condition, bat that sad and
bitter dissatisfaction with ones natural anG
unacceptable environment which breeds unhap
plnesS and llstlessnesS and a carping incidence
that complains of evils which it has neither in.
telllgence nor energy TO do away with.
The fault with the system that works these
uncomfortable and sometimes baneful results,
IS radical. The system assumes that book-edu-
cation is the only permissible kind, and that by
addiction to it all men may become not only
equally learned but equally gifted The as
sumption is scarcely worth disputiDg Educa-
ton ny books IS but one Of many methods of
and certainly not always the best.
The hardest work in the world, and frequently
the most useful and sometimes the most admir-
able, has been done by men who had no or
scanty knowledge OF books. We need man Of
letters, it is true; but We don't need to estab
lish nurseries for them. The laws of natural
and the survival of the fittest may be
trusted to take care or that. There Is no need
10 coddle the weakiiDgs. The man who can
not make his own way in literature should not
a Va haA 4 h hah auu Il
real TO say The world will give him hearing fast
enough. Ii he has strength TO preach he will
make his audience. The strong god Circum-
81 ance, like the heather deities may be over.
come by the strength and wit of man. The
man must De mighty, of the race of the heroes,
IL IS true; and for That .son he stands in no
need of fostering. / do not believe that any
man worth the saving,-in literature especial
ly,--ever persisted by the worlds neglect. L
question II any mute, inglorious Millions sleep
III English churchy rds. 1t is not in their ma
ture TO be mute. Were song non-existeht they
would invent it. We need not fear we shall
lose by nealecting heroes. They are bound to
make themselves felt. No system of educa-
ton, no wealth OF training, no amount of care
ful nursing will turn us out heroes. The at
tempt must necessarily be failure. And so I
should quarrel with 1t as quarrel with the
attempt to make all men, men of letters, with
the system of schooling which turns boys from
ways in which they Can be useful to ways in
which they are worse than useless, which
strives TO put round pegs in square holes. Ev-
en II 1t could succeed would its success be de-
slrabe? The best it could hope for would be q
race of Edward Everet,s. Is that worth strug-
Cling for? Why, the rudest pioneer who makes
q hole in the forest and builds hut there and
opens land and liberty aud comfort to the pau
per of the Old World, who knows no book but
the Bible or the primer and has to spell his
way through them, is worth a score of Eyeretts
His death IL a loss to the world. L doubt if Eg-
erett's was,
Any boy who turns to literature or to the lit
eral professions, unless he has marked talent
at least for them is wasting himself and harm
Ing his fellows; and the system of schooling that
encourages him is at fault. l believe the atten-
tion of our boys should be turned away from
books and to the great need of this country,
skilled labor. We cannot afford to spoil good
and doctors. / do not hold with the Mr.. Phu-
bus of DisraelPs 'Lothair," that reading and
writing are prejudlcial to education, but do
believe that too much are injurious and leave
the boy In the fix OF Yankee Doodle, who could
not see the town there were SO many hous 9.
We waste much time and money and get small
desirable result from our school system. We
only succeed in educating those who would ed.
ucate themselr es under any conditions OF the
most we do not even make intelligent
dilettanti. / do not believe the State should
iurbiSu al ,lnuustrlai any more than IL
should professional training 1 do not
think it ought to be called upon to teach its
children the humanities or to learn them a
trade. am inclined to think it has done its
whole duty when IL has taught them s'the
three Rs of the old curriculum, when il has,
TO use Carlyla's paraphase of Napoleon's BOAST,
IA career open to talents) furnished the tools to
the hands that can use them. do not think
the community should be taxed to provide an
academic education for bright boys-those are
the only ones to whom it really extends bene-
fit-for those boys are amply able TO take care
of themselves. Let it give all fair start. That
is enough No poor boy who is worth sending
to college will suffer. If books are his prop
or tools he will fnd them. The history OF our
scholars teaches us that. But if the plane or
the sledge be the tool for his hand let us not
crowd a book into it and divert him from an
occupation which will prove useful and honor
able. The boy who is persevering, industrious,
frugal, will get an education If he feels the
need of it, either from books or from contact
with the word, as his tastes lead him. That
kind of boy always does get what it wants. The
other kind will not be benefited-on the con-
trary will be harmed-by our vain endeavor to
educate it by making it read many books
Wnen we have taught the child how to learn
for itself we have discharged our duty.
Feb. LIST. Y.