Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-02-19
THE DEVELOPMENT OF hind.
PAPER READ BEFoRE TIE BELMONT
COUNTY TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, AT
ST. CLAIRsvILLF, FEB. Z. 1885. BY
SrPT. l.. Fl. WATERS. OF THE ST.
CLAIRsvILLE SCHOOLS.

l.
ITO know. We must understand Ou
instrument of knowing"
Yen may think; you may even tbini
hat YOU think; but there is IA deepe
depth of thought. when YOU think tha
you think ysu think"
| l presume that no Intelligent teachel
or parent doubts the truth of the state
ment that, in the cultivation of the mind
there ID natural order of development
In ali the works Of Nature. wherever
development is possible, the various steps
leading to the perfection OF that devsl'
fopment are marked by a natural order ol
sequence and dependence. No less is
this true of the mind than of the phys
ical world around us. There is in al
progressive Development necessary
first step that must pave the way for the
second step; seeoRd step that must
pave the way for the third.
1t behooves the conscientious teacher
therefore, to examine into the natural
order in which the mental powers are
developed, and the best means of secur-
ing the cultivation of those powers.
What, then. is the order in which the
child acquires the use of the various
mental faculties? and what branches of
knowledge are best suited to the cultiva-
tion of each?
In order TO give these questions the
consideration that they merit at the
hands of the teacher, it will be necessary
first to inquire into the nature of the
mind, its powers and susceptibilities. 1t
is the mind that makes man man. The
mind is the lever that has raised him
above the level of the brute creation, and
by which he lifts himself above his fel
lows.
need not, and could not, if 1 would,
enter into any learned or scientific dis
cussion of the subject of mental philos.
ophy; and yet, as have already init
mated, it will be necessary to consider
in brief the modes of mental action and
the order in which the powers of the
mind come into use 1t is conceded by
all students of mental phenomena that
the various mental states may be classed
under at least three distinct beads
namely. the Intellect, the Seusibilitiss,
and the Will.
Under the head of the Intellect, may
he named those mental states known as
sensation, perception, conception, atten
ton, COMPARISON. abstraction, judgment,
association. memory, reasoning. andiirn
aginatlon.
This will be found to be at least yer,
near approximation to the order in which
these states IF mlnd are developed. OF
these, the first six may be clasSed as lt>
jaciive, and the last live subj c!ivt IL
Is the observation of every on " las has
made this matter subject OF study tpai
;ae lirs impressions u,a.ie upon tn, ,uiih.
are oil external origin; that ls, hdt Ne
receive our first Impressions from extsr
nal objects by means of the senses; Wrile
the higher forms of thought ara evolved
from the mind by its action upon itself.
1t will be granted that there can be no
act Of perception without the antecedent
sensation produced by the presence of an
object and communicated TO the mind
by enc of the five senses. Nor can there
be a conception. or mental picture, Of
that object Witout its first having been
presented to the mindthrough the senses
The act Of forming this concept ia
wolves, in slight degree, the power of
attention-the power of directing the
mental faculties toward particular OBJ
ject, and, in a manner, determining the
train of thought. Before comparisons
can be made, this directive power must
compel the mind to take cognizance of
certain conditions of agreement or con-
trast And again, if the attention be
directed to some particular feature or
property of an object, and In such man
ner as to divert the mind from the asso-
citation of that property with the object
under consideration, we shall have
reached that mental state known as alb
straction. Thus it will be seen that, in
the process of development, the mind
naturally proceeds from the concrete to
tho ahatraof-nna of % rfon ont
Of the principles that underlie the sci
ence of teaching.
Closely allied to the process of abstrac-
tion, and directly dependent upon it. is
one of the most important. and to the
student, perhaps the most necessary and
useful, of all mental processes, that OF
generalization. The student who is un-
able to generalize will not have firm
hold upon knowledge, and will gradually
lose his mental grasp Upon the facts that
he has accumulated. Without generali-
zation his mind is, at best, but stores
house for the reception of such scraps of
knowledge as may come into his possess
sion. and from whose confusion and dis
order he will not be able to recover them
as occasion demands theIr, use. With it
his mind is we'll ordered and we'll kept
laboratory where each group of COZ re-
lated facts is properly labeled and slowed
away upon its Appropriate shelf in its
own department. where, when OCCASION
requires, he can put his hand upon II,
and by the mysterious alchemy ii the
Train transmute its heavy lead aud teu.,-
cious iron into golden nuggets, sut It's
sombre carbon iutu sparkling diamonds
Of thought.
In the process OF abstraction We pro-
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