The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-06-23
Baccalaureate Address.


Superintendent j. w. Simmins to the grad
uating class of 90. Excellent music was
furnished by the Methodist church choir
and ladies chorus, which had been drilled
by A. Z. Ferry. Rev. K. l.. Little read the
seventy-second Psalm, and Rev. Z. ID.
Bancroft lead in prayer. Superintendent
Simmons address was listened to attentively.
We give it below in full.
THE OBJECTIVE POINT IN EDUDATIoN.
In asking your attention for thirty minutes
it will not be expected that l treat my sub
ject exhaustiyely, only suggestively. My
hope is to provoke thought, not to supplant
it.
1t is fitting that at the close of a year of
intellectual labor, we give this evening to
consider the question, "What is the OBJ
jective point or ultimate aim of all this
mental drill?"
In treating this subject, preferred a
consensus of opinion rather than individual
judgment; consequently have not scrupled
to make use of the opinions of others, when
they would make tie fabric woven from my
own experiences the stronger.
AS rule, man does not work aimlessly.
He has purpose to gain, an object to ac-
complish, Through nearly every enter
prise, If not all enterprises, there runs a
double thread of purpose. One is finan-
cial. tending toward material gain, toward
the qualification of the worldly in man; the
other looks beyond self and includes our
neighbor or humanity at large.
Limiting our subject to education, we in
vestigate its purpose. Thackery says,
"The end of man Is an action, not
thought" The engineer places his hand
upon the throttle, he feels the responsive
throb of his engines mighty pulse as the
life current of steam courses the proper
channels. So the true teacher touches the
soul of the child, and as he feels the an
swering thrill that shows that the mind is
responding to high ideals of character that
will be of lasting value, he points to the
result as an objective in his work. Who Is
wise enough to enumerate the possibilities
wrapped up within the individualties of
those little men and women-we call them
children-who are just entering upon their,
work of education?
l often think that those who enter the
work as an instructor of youth little realize
the magnitude and Importance of 1.-The task.
1t is the few not the many who realize that
they haye an immortal soul within their
keeping. and that the character of their
work is not fully known until the great
ledgers of eternity are balanced. The little
learner is timid and amidst the unusual sur
roundings, he retires within himself. The
work of the true instructor at this period is
to secure this little individuals confidence,
to induce him to reveal his inner self, his
thought, and to delight in this revelation.
AS the pupil grows older in years, the main
purpose of his study is to acquire not only
power but confidence in his powers, that he
may mine from literature and science the
treasures embedded there.
Education is not an accretion but an evo-
luton. 1t is not an external growth like
an increasing SNOWFALL; but the develop
ment is from within like the growth of an
oak or the material man. While the lingu-
ist revels in his pages and volumes Of Latin,
Greek or Hebrew, yet it Is meaningless to
the child, While Herschel may find the
most intense interest in computing the dis
tances, weights, revolutions and attractions
of celestial spheres, yet such things are
void of meaning to the child who looks
upon the stars as finger holes in the sky,
where glory shines through. Consequently
Language cannot express to anyone very
much beyond that which he has lived and
experienced. In order to find a response in
the mind, the language must appeal to
something already in the mind" Science
must be interpreted by former experiences
in scientific thought. In all of these things
there is a beginning. Education is the de-
velopment. Added power is the vital and
all important principle.
The readers of the December Forum will
remember vigorous article from the pen
of the able president of Harvard, entitled,
"Wherein Popular Education Has Failed"
While in all things we can not agree with
him, yet he unquestionably states some
things well. He writes that there are four
elements that make up proper education,
namely, observation, power of recording
accurately. ability to draw correct differences
from recorded observations, and such in
herent qualities as will permit one to ex-
press himself clearly, concisey and cogent-
ly." Whoever would ascertain present
fact, first-handed, must exercise the power
of observation. Facts are the foundations
of reasoning.
The introduction this year of elementary
science in our grades, in which we send the
child to nature for data, has done much,
will do more, toward the exclusion of hasty
inference, and putting in its place unques-
toned facts. As the individual when
rightly living, does not live for himself