Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-02-27

the result of superior education
Intellectual cultivation-it was the resu
Of the superiority II mind over ignorance
and superstition. The united Efforts of
our teachers will carry intelligence and
virtue 10 millions.
Active education is ever on the in
Crease, is ever progres siye aud is destined
ere long to become d vast and imCompre-
heDsible national treasury. Give your
children fortunes without education and
vast msjority of shem will go down into
the tomb IN oblivion, perchance IN shame,
ruin, misery, depreciation and disgrace.
Give them education and they will accu
mulste fortunes, do good fin the word
and die lsmented.
Education is an Inheritance worth
more than gold. Your children can
neither waste nor lose it. Through lie
1t will be friend and in death deligaEs
full consolation.
Educate your children and no tYrBnt
will triumph over your liberties or tram
pie upon the ruins of your freedom Ed
ucation ls companion which no misfor
tune can deprs IS, no crime Can destroy,
no enemy ALLEVIATE, no despotism enslAve
at home 5 friend, abroad an introduce
ton, in solitude q solsce and in society
al ornament.
Our business as teachers Is with the
young, the children, the hope. Of the
church and state; to educate them pbysi-
colly, mentally and morally; to train
them to acquire knowledge, to retain the
knowledge acquired, to reproduce It
when needed, 70 compare, to weigh and
classify.
The learned professions do not only
demand an education, but special edu
cation. The same is true of the profess
sion of teaching. The teacher must
not only be familiar with the
subject taught, but with the
mind which is to be instructed. Reading
may make q full man, conversation
fluent man and writing correct man, but
thinking alone can make strong man.
And strength Of manhood and womAnhood
is what we want. Neither breadth nor
polish can compensate for the want of
strength OF mind. Teachers, your work
is to make strong thinkers-accurate,
systematic thinkers. The people are
looking to Us for forward movement ell
along the line, and Is it ours to dlssppoint
them? We cannot afford to stand. We
must move on, else we deserve to be
overwhelmed by the waves Of progress.
The people are beginning to demand
US better wore, more thorough, more
practical work, suited TO the logical, the
nsturAl development of the child mind
The cry Is, "Te8ch the children to think
and to do" The era of g new education
has daWned. Right teaching, correct
teaching, is science at present in its
infancy.
Our purpose in these meetings Is to dis
cuss subjects bearing upon our work; to
use our influence in shaping legislation
on school matters; 10 deal with the
what, the how and the why of
the profession; to aid each
other by az expression of our
opinions and experiences; to arouse an
enthusiasm in our ranks that We may
strive to lift the schools upon a higher
plane by earnest, faithful work, and TO
| awaken q more active interest in the
hearts of the people In favor of better
teachers and better schools,
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to
ssy in conclusion that each and every
teacher who snall do his or her duty
| faithfully shall have higher re-
| ward. When & tescher can look back
over life devoted to the cultiVA-
upbuildipg Of 8 nation: then IL is that 8
life becomes truly illustrious and the
grave really glorious. When the waves
Of time shall whiten your heads and the
last trump echo to your ears, then will
the recollections OF your past labors light
up the grave, and soothe and soften the
paDgs of dissolution. Ard when you
have long slumoered in the grave; when
every trsce of the present shall have been
buried in oblivion; when other cities shall
sriss and shall rival the ancient
glories of Greece spd Rome, then
snail the memory OF your lsbors still live,
then shall your names be written high
upon the tablet of fame there to stand
firm while gies of bronze snd marble
shall sink into undistiBgushable decay.
Tue clouds of the past are rapidly sink
/ ing behind the horizon,
The fabric resret by the wisdom Of out
fathers stands firm in undiminished
glory. The past has taught It's lesson,
the present has its duty, the future its
hope.
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