The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-01-22
TIE MODERN SYSTEM OF EDUCA-
TON.
An Examination Of its Theory and Practice.
Written for the Herald and News. |

armed with real DOW ana arrow. ne
is now admitted to the ranks Of fight
ing men. Nor is this picture of the
earliest education an entirely imagina-
tive one, for it IS almost exactly the
training Of Mosaic youth of the
day according to the narrative of the
distinguished young explorer of Central
Africa, Mr.. Joseph Thompson of the
Royal Geolographical Society Of Great
Britain.
The first truths learned by the indi-
vidual and the race being physical
truths, it would scarcely be unreason-
able to expect to find in every good
cause of instruction due appreciation
of the value of the natural sciences.
Professor Huxley has indeed said that
the first experiment man makes Is a
physical experiment, explaining his
remark by comparing the principles Of
the suction pump to the first act OF the
new born babe. And throughout his
entire life, man spends by far the great
est portion of his time, either conscious
ly or unconsciously, in contemplating
and dealing with physical laws. AS
has already been seen, savage tribes
meet this fact squarely and this train
lng-sueh as it isis confined to such
knowledge as will be Immediately re-
quired by the young. The education
Of the infant, in every stage of human
progress, for time at least, proceeds IN
a somewhat similar manner. For rea-
sons at first glance inexplicable, how
ever, as soon as the child really begins
to think, to observe, to experiment, 10
inouire-in word, to have his curl
osity aroused and his interests excited
both in regard TO himself and the world
about him, his education undergoes a
complete transformation. The off
spring of civilized parents scarcely
learns the lessons taught young saw
ages before in many cases-physical
laws are almost entirely ignored.
Truths, for example, which, if taught
during infancy would be Of vital i'm
portance to the health, happiness and
usefulness Of the child, are too often
lost sight of; and the education of the
pupil in lifes school frequently pro-
ceeds in a manner both unnatural and
irrational. Passing over the very earli-
est period of childhood, the most i'm
pressive time of life, when the babe is
often entrusted to those wholly unfit
for their charge, we see the boy or the
girl sstarting to school' and not infre-
Quently introduced to a systed of train
ing which, if wilfully contrived to ex'
tinguish every latent spark of genius,
could not succeed better. Almost every.
body has experienced this wonderful
difference between the knowledge
gained before and after entering 8
school and that he is often unwillingly
set to learn after crossing the threshold
of a school-house. Right here, then
we stumble upon one of the great
problems of modern education. Why
this difference between the knowledge
taught by the world and that taught
by the school? To this question there
are, of course, many answers. One
answer may possibly be found in the
lack of interest in the subject by those
most directly affected by it. Another
answer may be found in the Ignorant
hostility sometimes encountered by all
systems OF education. The answer
more nearlylapproaching etruth may
however, be found in the fact thai
we are still pursuing plans of instruc'
ton adopted centuries ago by people
radically differently situated from oul
own. Assuming, however, that in oul
notion, at least, there is no occasion fol
discussing the first two answers, let u:
briefly examine the third.
Anything like the history Of educa
ton would, of course, be the history O.
the human race. It would be neces
sary, for example, to trace the slow
| steps by which man emerged out o
barbarism. We should be obliged tx
know how the race acquired its knowl
edge of language, written and spoken
of law, of government, of science, o
art, of everything that embellishes life
and makes it possible. But we may
to some extent, catch CLEANS Of tht
dawn of our civilization in "the cradle
of human culture"-the Nile-land-
Egypt.
While it is interesting to know tina
the home of the Pharaoh's was early
the home Of civilization, a knowledgt
of Egyptian education would be of i'm
portance to US mainly for the reason
that Greece borrowed so much of tht
culture from the Nile. But although
historians agree that Egypt was eve
renowned as the school of wisdom; thai
the gigantic statues and columns of the
land have long been the monuments O.
her inventive and artistic genius; thai
her colossal sphinxes and mysteriou:
pyramids have for centuries been s
riddle to the world; that her people
were the first to establish libraries
calling them "the remedy for the dis.
eases of the SOUP; that "the kingdom
bestowed its noblest labors and finest
arts on the improvement of mankind
and that her wonderful inventors "were
scarcely ignorant Of anything which
could contribute to accomplish the
mind, or procure ease and happiness, ,
yet we are in a great measure ignoran,
of what was taught in her schools anc
the methods of that institution. The
arts, the sciences, the civil profession:
must have fourished there. Tradition
has it, moreover, that eminent Greeks
like Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, Scion
and -Lycurgus journeyed thither ir
search of truth; and Moses himself il
said to have been Learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians"
It seems, however, that knowledge
among the Egyptians was monopolizeo
by the priests and rulers. Writing, fol
expmple, was mysterious secret
known only perhaps to the hierarchy
it's very name signifying sacred mys,
terry. Weber moreover is the authority
for the statement that "the curse o.
the caste-system lay upon every exter'
nal manifestation of life, whilst super
stition and religious oppression gave g
gloomy coloring to existence, and dis
turbed every cheerful and pleasurable
feeling. The statue of Harpocrates
with his finger upon his lips, stood al
the entrance to the temples and put the
seal of silence upon the masses. With
= despotic government, there was nc
such thing as personal freedom. Lack
ing free development and creative in
dustry, Egyptian genius is said to have
been directed only towards useful pro-
jects. Egypt did this much for US,
however-and that is very great deal
she handed the torch of learning tc
Greece.
Pupil,