The Hawaiian gazette., 1898-07-26
Climate, SOIL Country Determine
Character Of People.
BOOK LEARNING NOT The END
Development OF the Soul Should
Be Teachers Aim Mrs. Parker
Talks Of Delsarte.
(From Saturdays Daily.)


more an eloquent sermon on the de-
velopment of the human soul than
dissertation on pedagogics, sermon
applicable to the home, to every par
ent as well as to every teacher. The
whole theme of the work of these emf
nent Chicago educators now at the
Summer School has been Nor soul
helps body more, nor body soul" Their
plea has been TO study the child and
lead him through nature to a higher
development of the soul. This is the
end of education.
Yesterday the subject was contln-
uation of the study of geography. En-
vironment, Col. Parker said, is the de-
termnng cause in the development
of civilization. The geographical pc
cuiarities of country are responsible
for the condition of its inhabitants
The climate, the soil, the country de-
termine the character of the people.
All mankind has been and is closely
bound by environment.
The primitive man was more in
touch with nature than the modern.
The more man grows, the more de-
pendent he Is upon nature, but people
generally do not recognize this fact.
man should become better for living
so close to nature. Heretofore men
have been taking only a small portion
of nature. Botany, geography, geol-
Ogy, mineralogy, zoology, anthropol-
ogy. all these subjects have men stud
led under their specific titles and have
made them distinct branches of knowl-
edge. But through them and in them
Is the Creator, Is nature, and the man
who sees them Is developing his soul.
which is the end OF getting knowledge.
which is education.
When the teacher speaks OF these
subjects to the child he speaks of
something OF which the child is full.
But the different methods OF teaching
have separated these subjects. have
kept them apart from nature. They
have been methods to cut OFF the nat
uralness OF the child. to hedge him
about with n nomenclature OF sciences.
These subjects are rooted in divine in
stincts. they manifest themselves spon-
taneously. The teacher who separates
them from nature has not the knOwl-
edge that the regeneration OF the world
and spiritual growth come from the
everlasting Sunday School.
Col. Parker said he could not en-
press the infinite pleasure he took in
seeing the children of his schools
growing in grace and the desire to do.
TO he useful, in having the parents OF
these children tell him that their
homes were brighter. better, sweeter,
because of the development of the child
In school. He looks upon these child
rem as young citizens who some day
are to assume the responsibilities of
business men, of politicians. men who
some day are to control the affairs
of the country.
Mrs. Parker talked OF Delsarte and
and this much misunderstood and bad
ly taught art. The higher the art. she
said, the better training is required to
teach it. Delsarte's method has been
badly taught in the United States and
for this reason many people have failed
to realize what value II is. Mrs. Park
er then gave brief biographical sketch
OF the life of Delsarte.
Mrs. Parker said that there are three
features OF Delsartes system. They
are preparation OF the body to take
out Old habits; movements that will
bring in new habits and coordinate
muscular action; the study OF gesture.
She spoke of the difficulty of walking
easily and gracefully, because of the
absence OF coordination of the muscles
of the whole body. She told of the
evils Of stays and high heeled boots
and asked how it is possible to expect
woman to walk gracefully and with
perfect freedom, to have control OF her
body when the side and hip muscles are
bound down and made useless.
Mrs Parker said that the exercise
known as deComposing is to break the
old habits of action. People are full
of these habits. DecompOs ltion cXer-
cises teach economy of energy. Awk-
wardn@ss means waste Of energy. The
great plea for grace of body is for the
sake of economy. Absurd dressing
ana an ignoring Of natural laws OF the
body are responsible for much lack OF
grace and equipoise. She illustrated
with many gestures showing the move
ments which run through the whole
body. She said that most people lose
sight OF the significant use OF the body.
Deaf mutes have many mechanical
signs. So have primitive people and
all people who have limited vocabu-
laries. The gesture which says some
thlng more than words is more valu-
able than mere descriptive gesture. The
language Of gesture is common to all
countries.
Gesture Is not confined TO the head
ana hands. Every part of the body
plays It's part We study peoples feat
ures closely. We study everything else
bat the human soul. A close study of
the soul will make one more lust, more
charitable.