The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1889-11-12
THE VALUE OF EDUCATION.

| good education. Money given may
be lost; and character may be lost
with it. Such double wreck is not
uncommon. Money given to an un-
educated or ill-educated child is al
most sure to be lost; for the fool and
his money are soon parted. But a
good education is inalienable. No
one can rob the possessor of his in
heritance, and he cannot give it
away. There are holes in the pocket,
and wealth slips out; but wealth of
brain is safely invested. Moreover,
it brings, if not the other wealth,
What is better-a competence, and a
capacity to enjoy it. Ignorance may
buy books, but cannot read them;
music, but cannot enjoy it; pictures,
but cannot appreciate them. The
wise poor man gets more out of life
than the rich fool. Finally, on the
lowest g.ound good education is a
noble bequest. For there is always
an opportunity for brains in Amer
lea, and America always pays fair
price for brains Competence in
brain is sure of competence in pocket.
Wise men are rarely rich, but they
are rarely poor, and never paupers.
The we'll educated do not gravitate
to the almshouse or the penitentiary.
The best provision a father can
make for himself or his wife in old
age is a good education given to his
children. He who has three or four
children we'll equipped in mind,
strong in will, rich in love, has the
best annuity and the best life insur-
ance. The father who has sown
bountifully will reap bountifully.
Give, and it shall be given unto you;
good measure, pressed down and
shaken together and running over
shall your children give into your
bosom. The father in his maturity
is the natural support of the child in
his youth; the child in his maturity
is the natural support of the father
in his old age. The man whose saw
ings bank is in his own children is
tire thriftiest of men. Tuition bills
pay better interest on the capital
invested than any other investment.
The parent is not his child's best
teacher. Few parents have the
time, the knowledge, the skill. Di-
vision of labor is the law of the cen
fury; it is the condition of progress.
Tolstoi writes novels well, but he
cobbles shoes badly. We employ
gardener for our flowers, a groom
for our horses; why not a teacl or
Lor our children? He who is Jack
at all trades is master of none; and
the well-educated child is educated
by a master, not by a Jack. Even
the professional teacher does we'll to
1ntrust his children to some other
teacher, as professional physician
his children, when sick, to another
physician. The father and mother
ought to know what their children
are studying; ought to share their
intellectual life with them; but
ought not to attempt to furnish it.
Your children will get education
from you unconsciously; send them
to some one else for their purpose1ul
studies. John Stuart Mills would
have been broader man if he had
been educated away from home.
Home is not a good place for study; |
Interruptions come too easily. It is
too much to expect systematic |
study of a child at home. All |
homes are not ideal homes; ar
even from very good homes it
may be we'll for a boy to he separat-
ed for awhile. Many child first
learns to love his home when he is
away from home. The mother misses
her child, but that is not to weigh
in the balance. The mothers en-
joyment counts for nothing against
the child's welfare. Speaking gen
orally, it is wise for every boy to
spend at least two or three years
away from home IN a boarding
school before he enters on life,
in college or in business.
Are there not dangers in boarding
schools? There are. That is one
of the advantages. For our boys and
girls must learn to meet dangers,
and it is better to meet them at
first, under guidance and supervis-
ion, than to be kept from them in
youth and to be surprised by them
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