The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-08-21

accomplished in the history of man has
been accomplished by an aristocracy. 1t
may have called itself a sacedotal aris-
tocracy, or a military aristocracy, or an
aristocracy based on birth and blood. yet
these distinctions were but superficial;
for in reality it always meant one thing
alone-the community Of interest and
effort in those whose intellectual force
and innate gift of government enabled
them to dominate and control the des-
TIMES of states. driving in harness the
hewers of wood and drawers of water,
who constitute the vast majority of the
human race"
The panacea of education for all
our ills, material and moral, has be-
gun to be questioned in many quar-
ters, and even such un- American doc
trines as these of Prof. Peck, while
not common, are not unknown. Di-
vine discomfort as it has been called,
has been encouraged, and the man
who was satisfied with his lot has
been viewed somewhat contemptu-
ously in these later years. No doubt
thata certain kind of education brings
discomfort, but discomfort is an ele-
ment of progress, and when not ex-
treme is not to be deplored. And if
we cannot base our hopes for the race
on education, of the true kind, to
what shall we turn? Will Prof. Peck
offer us substitute? 1t is far too
late in the history OF the world to go
back to the idea of driving in har-
ness the hewers of wood and the
drawers of water who constitute the
vast majority of the human race"
Carlyle shrieked in vain throughout
a long and miserable life, for the
strong man, who should shackle, and
then lead, the millions of his coun-
trymen mostly FOOLS" In vain he
lauded Frederick, and canonized
Cromwell; an unappreciative world
went on it's way with contemptu
GUS smile for his outlived doctrines,
while it acknowledged the supremacy
of his genius.
And if with all his magnificent
powers, Carlyle was so powerless to
stay for an instant the onward march
of the masses of men, how shall small
professors, and little men of various
callings, to whom we are occasionally
called to listen, hope to change the
current of modern life? Education,
of one kind or another, the world is
bound to have, and no little clan or
clique of scholars can make even a
momentary stand against it; but they
can, if they will, guide it, and make
it a blessing rather than curse.
No doubt there is great question
in the minds of the thoug htful, as to
our present methods in education.
The protest which the great men of
science made in regard to the purely
classical education of the English
scholar, a generation or two ago,
finds many an echo this side of the
water. And the idea of an educa-
ton suited to the different needs
and capabilities of men and women,
flexible, practical, and with founda-
tions laid in the nature of man, has
already taken root in the world, and
will grow apace. The question of
how to give children more that will
be of real use to them, in the few
years we have them in the schools, is
one which is agitating the educa-
tional world to day, and which de-
serves far more attention than it has
yet received. And the idea of
mingling moral education, with in
tellectual, has become a loud de-
mand, so apparent is it that utter
wreck and decentralization await us as
a nation if the rising tide of immor-
ality is not in some way stayed.
The subject of industrial and tech
nical education, is becoming one of
the social problems of the times,
and its solution is being sought for
by thoughtful, far-seeing men who
recognize the need of founding some
system of trade education which
shall tend to increase the standard
value of the national productions by
the higher technical training of the
average workman, and the more
widespread diffusion of a general
knowledge of the elementary princi-
pies of manual and tool-labor among
the youth of the working classes,-if
not among all classes of students.
OF course it is understood that
this manual training goes hand in
hand with education in books, and
in no way interferes with it; rather
aids it, in most cases. France, Bel
gium, Austria and Germany, take
the lead in industrial and higher
technical instruction, and we have
much tn learn of them. Interest in