Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-23
TEE NEW EDUCATION.

ILL ulW uUUUAllUNs
Lecture by Rov. DR.. S. G, Smith at the
First Baptist Church Last Evening-An
Excellent Review of the Advancement of
the Past and a Forecast of the Future.
The Rev. s. G.. Smith, D. D., lectured
before large audience at the First Bap-
fist church last night, for the benefit of
the Woman's Christian Home, his sub
ject being, 1.-THE NewlEducation."
The theme was treated in an able and
interesting manner, and in commencing,
the speaker said that as solitary being
man was a savage; he became strong and
useful in society only as he studied
and adapted himself to the multiform du-
ties and conditions Of life; only when he
learned that nothing was exclusively for
himself did he become anything. To be-
come great he must study
the wants of men and women
around him. The product of the complex
and multiform workings of life was called
civilization. Man had come up from the
cells of life, and even in the twilight of
civilization he had travelled long distance
from the ooze and shells of the ocean
which had rolled over him.
Man, though he has come long way,
has yet long way to travel to reach the
outskirts of the ideal which existed in the
bosom of the rudest son of earth. It has
been found that one idea could strike down
the world; the progress of humanity could
be learned by the length of one days work;
only few years ago and
man toiled sixteen hours q day; now we
were on the popular idea of eight hours
for days work. Tt was the dominance
of the head over the hand; the mind over
the brute; there would come time when
four hours would suffice for
his uttermost toll in his avocat1on
The machinery of our days did the work
of forty and 100 men of a half century
ago. In the time to come art, music
would have free scope and life would be-
come more cheerful and elsvating.
The domination of ideas over physical
force was characterized by the speaker as
the criterion of any measure of civiliza-
| ton. The progress of an idea was then
| traced from its nude conception to per-
feet strength and beauty. The world was
divided into three classes, those who
earned more than they wanted,
| those who earned about what they could
| exist on, and those who earned next to
nothing. The problem OF the world was
| to reduce the latter class to minimum.
The whole theory of the education of the
day, the speaker said, was rank heresy; it
| made man believe his individuality was
| the main problem OF life.
The real mission of education was to fit
man for life, and the true business of edu-
cation was to make man acquainted with
his conditions and how to cope with them.
Existence was the first duty of man; his
next to exist properly and well; these were
the formulas of civilization. Religion
| used 10 direct man to seek
cave and cruelty himself by means of
| Negotiations; this was the hermit IDEA; the
/ religion of to-day taught a man to go ont
into the dusty highways of the world; TO
go there with cheerful face, pure heart
and clean hands, and DO his duty. Culture
was a secondary consideration; it
should not be taught in schools;
it came with the dong of ones DUTY clear
ly and we'll; the business of education was
to reach such knowledge as to qualify a
man for his conditions.
The speaker outlined the studies which
he thought should be taught as primary
conditions. Among other things he
said that man should
understand hygiene and physiology; it
would not do wear thin shoes and then
expect to ward off consumption by prayer.
Statistics were then produced from an ar
ticle by Richard Grant White, which
showed that vice was more ram
pant where the system of the
public schools was at its highest,
in other words, it showed that where the
public schools were at their highest we
had more educated rascals.
The public school system was then re-
viewed at length, and some attention was
paid to the relations of capital VS.. labor.
A very sensible compliment was paid to
the stupidity that stuffed ordinary pupils
with Greek and Latin.
The folly of compelling young girls who
expect to become wives aud mothers, to
study algebra and trigonomery and other
abstru5e studies was alluded to, and the
speaker was in favor of throwing the Ian
guages out of the public schools. We had
the Germans with US now, but we
were not to keep them, soon they
would all become Americans
Allusion was then made to the public
school system OF st. Paul which he said
compared fayorably with any in the coUn-
try and in some instances the results were
better.
The speaker then gave soma kindly
criticisms upon tbs methods pursued in
the High school; one Greek class lest
year, he said numbered five; another 4;
| the Latin class numbered six; in German
the fourth year, there were only five or six;
the class in trigonometry numbered SIX
if man had five OF six thousand years
20 live it would be we'll enough to waste q
| boy or girls time in this manner. Last
year the high school had 2O4 pupils; the
sum OF $500 was paid out in salaries;
the building cost $4,000, and it cost just
S47 to have boy or girl taught, and 5000
to put roof over their head.
Comparisons were then made with the
| franklin school, WHARF LOO pupils attend
ed last year and 81, $50 were paid out in
salaries.
TIE speaker then said that the system
of the city should be turned up side down,
with the big classes in the primary
departments, where the teachers
were overWorked and underpaid.
policy that neglected nineteen boys for
the sake of the twenty, was criminal
blunder and should not be allowed to
stand.
a high compliment was paid to the indus