Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-19

The conditions are not fre<yseven were W.
resolved what the ideal edysation is. we couid5
not apply our knowledge, because we are ham
pered by tradition, by thedrift aHd aims OF CIV
ilization and by our indiv sdualz nfrmitles W.
cannot begin at the foundatIep and construct.
ON virgin designs a new tepapIe of training for
the Young. And If q perfect educetlon "eis
sporadically realized, the subjects OF 1t woui&
appear as STRANGERS in our modern world
natural selection would reject them, oecaS 70
tn y would have been taught to think ighiiXss
thin gs II 81 are now regarded as OF eminent "a
port and to attach weight to matters that sFefn
10 US chimerical and impractical. The cHenge
must be gradual; 1t must be guided by ths*5flas =
aud failure of many experiments ana l4fnust
be inspired by a spiritual faith that is vls43-rs
mote from forms, shibboleths. and Idols. -
A child wonders, believes. and hopes; Mt -
have found the world to be composed Of 6Srd
facts, and we accordingly take pains to exgain
the wonders, to undermine the beheis, anu 20
deprecste the hopes. With hand that means
to be kind in its cruelty, we destroy nluSlnns
and throw the frigid shadow of re tity across
the light that never was on sea or lanu. we
say 1t is better to undeceive the chlId now 'hah
suffer him to deceive himself later. FactS are
what he must deal with in life; therefore we
labor to furnish his mind with our accumulated
and class fled store thereof. He must learn to
read write and cipher; to become familiar with
the rules of trade; to understand that the sun
does not rise and set, and that the seasons come
not by the grace OF God, hut by the eccentflclty
of the terrestrial orbit. His dream of INFINITE
human possibilities must be corrected by pc
rusal of the tragedy und futility Of human his
tory: his bou dless delight in nature must De
strais ened and stitened by systems and nomen-
cIatures He iancied the rose was beauty; we
hasten to explain to him its scientific deslGna-
ton properties and botanical order He re-
ioicsd 10 see the blue ocean rhyming with the
azure sky: we acquaint him with the lore OF at
mospheres vibrations and refracticns. He
thought his mother was something sacrei; we
diligently discussed to him OF the hairy quad
rumanous ancestor arboreal habits, and or
| the evolution of sex. He marveled at the love
and wisdom of creation; but we feed him with
protoplasms aud iuterlinc the sublime symbols
- na,, vriArt 10
The chiId's mind is plastic, and therefore we
| invade the nursery and almost arrest the rock
! ing of the cradle in order to impress upon TINS
soft intelligence the aggressive stamp ~ oSs
| text books. He overfows with vital spsHs.eSs.
| which we train to be patient on wooSappefches'
| and to blossom in recitations. s{ls ears are
! open to the notes of Pan and thsEKentie voices
| of the fairies and we jingle thSschoof bell at
| him and daze him with the nnnoogue OF the
lecture room. He is sure of ttl6s immortality of
life and we hurry him throusg Terms ana nd
harrow him with COURSES. t{iis instinct Is TO
| wait and digest, and we cram hsp incontinently
| like Strasburg goose, and cas- E5D2aea gasping
dyspeptic into the roaring MISREPRESENTATION.
| Fain would he comprehend tle reason ossfE144 ~
| we force him to memorize names, dates aifz
! recipes lie had at times q wholesome Impulse
| to be foolish naughty, aud we were ready
| for hlm with our max ms and moralltles, not TO
| mention birch rods and bread and water. We
| lament the dearth of civic and social virtue IN
| the state and grumbe for the millennium; ana
| this is the way we go to work TO make our future
| Yet ali is done with the best intentions. Civ
| ilizatiou is organized selfshness; society IS
| yelled hostility; men are rivals, and must hght
| one another for their bread and butter Tne
father of the family does well il he gets his chill
| dren through school and college; ne cannot 9e
| expected TO support them indefinitely afterward
| The best boy is he who soonest learns to main
| tain himself. Education, in short, aims only
| incidentally at most, to broaden and illuminate
| the understanding; its real mission is to enable
the student to buy in the cheapest market and
sell the dearest; not TO solve the riddle OF the
| sphinx but to forecast the fluctuations OF the
| stock exchange; not to walk with God, but to
| dance attendance upon capitalists Ihese are
| the ideas we inculcate in our offspring at the
| time when they are most APP to receive and re-
| tain Impressions and it is surprising how much
| native virtue nevertheless survives.
| But is the end worth the effort? The child
| becomes little unripe man ,fippant, sagacious,
| confident that he knows it all, decorated from
| head to foot, like an Indian, with beads and
| feathers of information, stuck into him or hung
| upon him, but having no root or growth IN him.
! He has an answer for every question, and every
! answer is a name or q formula, quotea from
| school book But he understands bookkeeping
| by double entry, and the use OF the yardstlck;
he is familiar with the current topics of CONVEX
| sation and gets in his word edgewise. He IS In
receipt of salary, and wears the air OF a man OF
| the world; vi hal the poor, defraudeo, out
ragged little creature is the emptest, shallowest,
| most self sstisfed of living things.
| Such rs he is onward needs must he go; but
| one day his time comes his hour OF trIbulation.
doubt, remore. terror, OF what no:; and then ne
! discovers Tor dimly suspects, for he is by TINS
time too stupid TO discover anythlng) that OF the
| primary essentials of proper education he has
| been left utterly QeStltuCe- he KNOWS UOtHlHSt
| believes nothing, stands upon nothing. Moth
| ing has been cultivated in him to give MIN
strength and address to grsppie with the real
| prob!ems and enemies Of life. The approaches
| Of his soul have been sedulously stopped up;
| every faculty of heart and mind that might have
done HIM infinite service has been blighted. rid
! ;suiea destroyed, il possible, and only the
| baser time serving money-getting capacities
have been encouraged, and have, indeed,
given 5ass sra and be Sein
does tho best he can for hi nsef. The
higher pleasures. being inaccessible to him
he robs his fellow tire der in the market, NEEDLES
with his neighbours wife, buys or sells votes at
| the hus.ings, eats and drinks, lies, cringes and
success from the worldly point OF view. The
best good fortune that can be hoped for him Is
that he may realize his own abysmal nal, failure: H.
coming persuaded that he has made a very
creditabe exhibition of himself, and will extol
Is this an exaggeration? II SO. it is not
through want of any effort on our part, but by
power OF the innate goodness in human nature.
Yes, the world is full Of people who are much
purer and higher minded than. from the treat
ment tt.s- have had. they have any right to be.
| Our system is not SO destructive as we try tc
| make it. But why not relax our efforts little,
even if we cannot bring ourselves to turn then
in another direction? Suppose. for one thing,
| we permit some freedom TO the range OF oul
chiidren's Imagination Let them believe II
|
| thou gh the mature mind knows them by othei
| names. Nourish them with poetry and romance
| how are their lives to become beautiful anc
lofty, unless they have had opportunity to con
| ceiye that beauty and magnanimity are possible
| Avoid stirling their immature brains with cut
| aud-dried seissorings of knowledge, to be mem
| orized by rote and rot understood. Post
| none as long as may be the contagiol
| OF facts and aim to develop the faculties. II
| ordes to perform an athletic feat, the muse es
| the heart, and the lungs must undergo careful
| preparatory training; and SO the mind, TO
| il for tie arena of existence, must learn
not the names OF the various contests in which
| il is to participate, but-how to give good &C
count of itself in whatever contest may occur
Our present scheme OF O liberal education is u
, Law before the pupil a synopsis or summary o
. the several leading branches OF knowledge; an
| having done this, we hurry him. not into tn
, Independent life OF the scholar, but into one o
, other snecial trade or calling, in the pursui
whereof only fraction of his synoptical acqui
sit:ons avail him. Meanwhile he mistakes hi
| index ct knowledge for knowledge itself, an
, because he can describe his emptiness imagine
that ne is full. Popular or practical education
on the other hand, instead of attempting TO Civ
q rounded and symmetrical development, sharp
| ems a man into a profile, an edge, o point
fitted to do mechanically and monotonously on
single thing, and to do or understand nothln
e Sc in the world. These two schemes OF educa
| tfor are forever in dispute as to which OF theT
is the more expedient. So the physicians OF tn
old and new dispensation quarrel as to The treat
uent of their patient, who shows his apprecla
ton of their solicitude By dying on their hands