The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-11-02

was a disgrace to the state" hence he
did not believe it. Education was the
science of human development, and
teaching was the art. What was the
ideal in the mind of the teachers before
him of good character The ideal of
school life of every child should result
in refined, pure and chaste life, and
theparamount question was how should
they reach it.
What Constitutes Manhood.
To be man was not to grow six feet
high, neither to be woman was to
wear bonnet and ribbons, although,
this was the ideal of many silly minds.
While in Altoona he saw a human
being walking the street dressed to
perfection, and exciting the intense
admiration of the girls who seemed to
say How lovely" yet, from curiosity,
he followed him three blocks and saw
enough to convince him that under
that broadcloth and fine garments
there throbbed the most rotten of
hearts. But when girls often saw a
poorly clad man, they pointed with
laughter while, probably, under the
well-worn coat beat one of the noblest
hearts of the land. There was a differ
ence in manhood, and 1t should be
judged, not by appearance, but the deeds
which fill the life, and that was why he
should like to see, that day, portrait
of the ideal in the heart of each girl
before him.
The same argument applied to the de-
velopment Of children, but education
must have for its first attainment
condition Of growth and not of growing
simply. Just as tree was planted we
expect 1t to bear its proper fruit accord
ing to the care we bestow upon 1t; SO it
was with children, everything they
come in contact with educates them,
therefore how important 1t was that
-'--"vthinr rhould he rsed to cultivate
them. A child born of illiterate parents
Iiius. be taAen out OF that environment
to be morally clean and mentally
strong.
Education was also maturing rather
than accommodating. If education was
simply accumulative they could leave
the instruction Of arithmetic, ETC., for
six months and pour In whole supply
in few days, or leave the individual
until he was 81 years Of age and give
him the sum total of education. But
education means to mature, education
was not training. Horses and dogs are
sometimes advertised as educated
dogs" or educated horses" but they
were not educated in any sense of the
word, they were simply trained, and
were taught certain tricks, and this
was proved by the fact that they never
heard Of any dog devising a new trick.
Appeals to the Spiritual Life.
Education as an unfolding appeals to
the purely rational side of the spirit
ual life. Train dog and he is a dog
still; he has no spirit, no soul. But
with q child education makes him grow
day by day to comprehend what 1t Is to
live If they saw any of their boy
scholars smoking, chewing or cursing,
that boy wos aping manhood, 1t was
the ideal of man to him, he had the
mistaken ideal, but 1t was the duty Of
the teachers to show him that he was
aping the wrong manhood, and by
education they should impart the
proper ideals of the true manhood Let
them create a desire in their pupils to
be better men and better women in
their ideals and they would accomplish
great work.
Miss Gertrude M. Edmunds delivered
a telling address on STUDY in Reading
and Literature" and prefaced her re-
marks by a thrilling recitation of the
story Of Texas cowboy and his sweet
heart. The elements of reading, she
said, were mental, intelligent and emo
tional, oral and physical. "A great fault
committed by some teachers was that
they neglected to build up the scenes
incorporated in the reading; 1t was an
important feature to get the thought;
the best drill for training the vocal
powers was when using the abdominal
muscles, which should be done once a
day. If they put good literature into
the hands of the children they could
cultivate taste In their minds for the
best class Of literature.
Miss Edmunds ridiculed the use of
| BooSey Bdnuey UT the pig went 10
market" rhymes when beautiful selec-
tions could be obtained instructive also
in history, geography, etc. Speaking
1 from experience, she claimed that child
could appreciate good literature, and
concluded by making strong appeal
to the teachers to make use of standard
works.