Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-19
IN ERIEE.

IN BRIEF.
The contest now gong on through THE
GAzBTTr columns with the aim to secure
scholarship for some deserving young
woman, who otherwise might not be able
10 gain higher opportunities, shows that the
masses feel that there Is need for broader
development. More than this, the number
OF contestants and the number of votes
east evidences a growing desire for such
benefits as can be derived only
from tTLe education. Once it was
deemed sufficient that a woman be
abs to read her Bible and cookbook, and
10 cast up her monthly accounts. Time and
the more general diffusion of knowledge
have changed all this. Now an illiterate
woman is IA object of pity, and it is ex-
pected Of women that they be not only edu
Gated in limited sense, but that they also
be cultivated and accomplished. The world
has at Isrgth come to realize the truth that
was hid in Napoleon's remark that the
mothers of people mould the nation, or
10 believe possible that which another said:
1.-TWO generations of educated mothers will
result in a generation of gods.''
This manifestation OF earnest desire for
the cultivation Of the intellectual nature
gives occasion for sober thought. After all,
what IS education2 Do teachers in any in
stitution work out the problem satisfacto-
riiy? 1t as certainly not the mere acquisi-
ton 0: facts, nor is it the ability to repeat
with parrot-like accuracy. A girl may be
able ts follow La Place in his astronomic
calculations, she may with Linenus dissect
ihe rarcst flower aud give correctly its
genus ard species, and thus through all the
sciences successfully follow the great lead
ers in their particular studies; she may be
able to read the plaSs of Sophocles, in their
original beauty, she may linger over the
o6os of Horace and the grand utterances of
Cicero and even reader into good English
the literature of the moderns; she may talk
of painters and learncdly with force of
the chiaro oscuro, rightly judging
wherein the moderns excel or fail in the art,
aud yet with AL this come short of posses
sing what is truly an education.
No diploma, however high the grade of
the institution issuing it, is testimonial of
true education. INTO This there enters
sUbtilty which eludes description and is
felt rather than seen. II is the possessor's
personality so inter'aced with scholastic
requirements that 10 attempt to discover
Them would be futile.
That girl whose mind fails to read in stars
snd flowers other lessons than the merely
physical, who does not learn from Greek
plays, from Latin odes and orations, more
fhan is set down in the lines, may have the
substance in her grasp, but tho spirit, that
divine flavor Which is the soul of the writer
seeking fellowship with the students soul,
has eluded so gross nature.
The requirement of knowledge, like TAX
ing food, is only preparatory process. In
each case it is the assimilation that
profits. In this way only strength is
gained and personality developed. Great
writers in every age are great thinkers.
Take whoever one will and careful analysis
Of the work will show that the author has
laid under contribution all learning, and TO
follow prof ably the reader must remember
Incidents. understand illusions and possess
large stock Of asSimilated knowledge
facts, bet pierces to the heart of them; it
romprehends the principle that lies back
81 them, and thus makes the fact part of
ones self; TO recall it is not a matter of
memory, IL comes in somewhat the same
fashion as that which has been deemed for
gotten, until brought 10 mind by some strain
OF music or some subtle fragrance.
Tho 1a.f l.i1ra.b l,,,t ba
lifo is true, whateTer the study to which
the application CT the saying is ra2de-a.iss-
ing the spirit, which is the lie, no matter
what the opportunities or the requirements,
the discipline or the information, the truest
education has not been attained
Much that IS faulty in the schools is due
10 systems and TO educators, but it is the
student al last who must discern the spirit,
and through differing mediums obtain clear
perception of times, of nations, Of the real
bases OF all the sciences, and of the founda-
tion upon which are builded the laws that
govern art. Into the successful absorption
and assimilation Of knowledge there must |
enter ones whole activities; the mental, |
the moral sad the intellectual each plays its |
part, and when these are SO trained by
teachers in the schools and out of them, |
when the lessons in books, stones, flowers |
Ind running brooks are thoroughly learned, |
and if TO these requirements is added q |
hiligent study of mankind, then, ana then |
only, will the ambitious student have
gained that fresh and true perception of |
life, which is education proper, and which |
is indeed the best thing attainable.
In recent number Of the. Christian |
Union is an interesting paper by Austin |
Dobson ON Gray IS Library. The poetieft be-
hind books that are much increased in vaina l