The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-12

The Monday Art and History class,
whose work, owing to the absence OF
the leader, was suspended last winter,
will begin it's eleventh year of study
Monday, Nov. 1, in the assembly hall
of the high school Mrs. Metcaf, who
has recently returned from her Euro
pean tour and art study, has again
been invited to take charge of the class.
She has chosen as subject tor the
winter, Florence and Adjacent Cltles'
including Sienna, Orvieto, Assist, Peru
gia. Milan and Padua. These Italian
art centers were visited with special
reference to the development and
prowth of Tuscan art and the study of
the class will be along these lines. The
association has always been large, nav
inc a membership Of several hundred,
and is open to- all those interested IN
the subject 1t is an honor to the city
that there are so many who will de-
vote one day in each week from No
yenber to April to the critical and
historical study of art. The stereopti-
con views and other arta illustrations
are secured by the money received
from the membership fees. The class
is fortunate in again having Mrs. Met
calf as leader for her study and ex-
tensive travel eminently fit her for
the position
'.Saw wood, hoe corn, scrub floors,
weave ropes and hang yourself at the
end of one of them. but don't pc a
teacher" comes with crushing force
from an author who, even to the day of
Il Cd literary
and educational interests. In a few
hours the school bells will begin to ring
and most folks are not inclined to adj
wise the teachers to hoe corn or scrub
floors, or, least of all, to hang them
selves at the end of a rope OF their
own weaving, rather than to walk into
the school room tomorrow morning. In
his essay on education, Emerson says:
"The man may teach by doing, not
otherwise If he can communicate
himself he can teach but not by words
Put this terse statement with another
in the essay, just as true, ana the
overwhelming difficulty becomes appaf-
ent even to one who has never taught
ga sure proportion of Ounce and rogue
finds it's way into schools and requires
a. cruel share of time and the gentle
teacher. who wished to be a Providence
to youth is grown a martinez, sore
with suspicious" and Emerson might
have added that at this point the
teacher becomes sore with the world
Each day of the school week to have
to Communicate yourself to all Sorts
and conditions of pupils is not an easy
task and has a tendency to make the
hest of natures "sore" To teach sat
isfactorily now is not to "hear" a les
son, but to draw from that lesson It's
concealed thought, to develop it in the
minds of the pupils so fully that When
the words of the book have faded from
their memories, when even the name
of the book has been forgotten, the
idea will remain "a part OF their mental
structure. When a teacher mas cone
this four or five times a day more nef-
yous and mental force have been eX-
hausted than in doing ten hours of
ordinary work. For example, the
teacher of history knows what it means
to drill into the dull and bright minds
alike that the Dark Ages is not an
isolated, uninteresting PERIOD Tune
when the causes which make the ms ms
tory Of nations, were at StandStll;
but that the darkness and apparent
barrenness was due to the temporary
burial Of the ancient and decaylng
civilizations under the avalanche Oh
Teutonic invasion; that in this new
soil the old forms and husks fell away
and the living seeds sprouted ana grew
into the VigOr of our modern clVlllza-
tion. 1t is an easy matter to tell it
to developed minds, but it is another
thing to give it to young minds and
means wealth of illustration from
nature and literature, until they have
even grasped the larger idea that ma
lions do not rise and fall as if by some
force exterior to themselves, but that
they grow bear their fruit and SEED,
and then decay while from their seed
spring other nations and civilizations