The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-30
SNYDER ON FROEBEL.
First of the Lectures of the Teach-
ers' Association.

The first of Denton J. Snider's lect-
ures under the auspices of the st. Paul
Teachers association was delivered
yesterday afternoon at the assembly
hall Of the Central High school in the
presence of a large audience, largely
composed of teachers in the city
schools. While Mr.. Snider denominated
his topic, .Froebel as a Symbolist," it
dealt mostly with symbolism and the
imagination which made it a factor in
education.
Imagination, he said, was nothing but the
symbol making activity of the human mind.
1t formed an essential part of all human life.
Yet psychologists as well as Psychologists
paid little or no attention to it, Letters.
figures, pictures, human speech as whole.
were all nothing but symbols. These two
factors are essential to and inseparable from
all symbols; external form and internal mean
ing. All language is nothing but symbol
ical process. The process Is everywhere the
same, but the signs, /. e., the words, are
chosen arbitrarily and differ In various Ian
guages. In order to be understood they must
be learned. Symbols were divided into three
classes; first, nature symbols, which also may
be designated as natural implicit symbols;
second, art symbols, or explicit symbols;
third, thought symbols, to which also may
be given the names Of sign symbols, or COM
pleted symbols or pure symbols.
The nature symbol was then taken up and
explained. 1t was the special realm Of Froe-
bel, who made 1t great instrument of ed
ucation. Every gesture is such a symbol and
so is every movement Of the human body.
Iher exists something which may be termed
the symbolism of the body, which has been
elaborated into signs by the actor, the orator
the Delsartean. By seeing pictures the child
learns to make distinction between the ma
terial objects and their pictures having at
hrst identified them and mistaken them for
each other. That is the first step of the child
toward discrimination between form and
meaning. From seeing others draw pictures
the child gets the desire of making such for
itself The tendency of drawing pictures Is
Unborn in every child. The old education tried
to exterminate 1t as being nothing but child
ish reStyeness or naughtIness, but the mod
ern education takes hold Of that tendency and
uses 1t as one Of the most potent foctors fro
the development of the childish mind
In the art symbol form and meaning are
separated Prof. Snyder used illustrations
from the Odyssey and Shakespeare's king
Lear" He pointed out that the separation
OF meaning and form must not be carried so
far that they fall asunder. 1t was, however
possible to make the form ambiguous thus
obtaining the riddle and the parable. This
kind of symbol was especially characteristic
TO the Oriental art The Egyptian sphinx
might be set down as its most representative
expression. The sphinx was meant to symbol
and his animal side. The Greek Chimera
was another form Of the same idea Both had
to be slain by Greek heroes, which simply
monstrosity had to give place for the civil
lied human being, that reason had to con-
quer the material. The next step forwards
expressed In the Greek sculpture. The Orien-
tai art was a vain attempt of man to utter
himself through himself. That attempt was
successfully completed by the classic art. in
which meaning and form were In perfect con-
cert, thus creating the beautiful. The prev
ious as well subsequent development or
art was faithful picture Of the history OF
the human race.
In the art symbol the natural sign liz al
ways kept up, but the thought produces signs
which have no connection with outward form
In other words, there are no natural coun-
terparts to the meaning. The signs Of these
symbols are entirely conventional and arbi-
trary.