The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-11-20

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must enter and mix and change and adapt"
Let us be more explicit. The first and OBJ
Vi0us duty of the teacher is to bring the
child into acquaintance with certain facts: He
must recognize symbols that stand for ideas.
He must learn to read intelligently, pleas
antly, carefully and in such a way that he
will seek for what is best and strongest in
print. for the remainder of his life. He must
not only acquire and recognize new ideas.
but he must express them in exact English,
clearly, forcibly, if possible, beautifully. He
must know how to calculate. or in other
words, must understand something of math
ematics. Geography and history deserve
careful attention. and the school work in
these must be logically arranged and most
thoroughly accomplished. Let us carefully
repeat that child should be so taught, that
he knows how to carry on his work in read
ing to best advantage; that he orally and
in writing express himself with accuracy and
that he knows enough of the science OF num-
berS 10 conduct business affairs. Boys and
girls gcjng from schools prepared
could enter into the business of life without
men, such as. What is being taught in our
public schools!' or Why is it that pupils
coming from them arc so poorly prepared to
take care Of themSeives?'
So much for information work, which every
parent has a right to insist uEon, and with
which we cannot dispense And now in re-
sDect 70 that W ich cGnLot be too highly mag
nifed. the moral nature, the fore Of which
character is formed, the influences that de-
in life, his ambitions, his aspirations, his
cGrtrivings. what does the teacher under
take? Here
THERE ARE DANGERS
that must give us some concern. | referred
so fully to some of them in my last tax
that l shall not repeat them now. Another
danger lies in vague shadowy ideals that are
wavering and poorly defined or that reach
out beyond the fixed stars, so impossible of
realization are they. In this, as in the other
phase of work, we should be practical What
have we? boy, already defined accepted
y rc+ n he cFy1;fi hal
by the great teachers of the wcrld 1t is a
plattuGe to say that we must bring him into
right relations with his surroundings, but it
IS true nevertheless. And we must not oay
bring him into those relations, cur he must
be so instructed that he will fully recog-
nize ana understand his position, and so dis
cIphned that he will accomplish his mission
in lie
In this connection. let me say that the
teacher must regard the child, not mankind
as the unit; must lock primarily 20 the wei
fare of the inGiy idUal rather than to the
welfare of the race, and must hold that oaea
Individual is entitled to, and may attain to
the highest good that the most optimistic
beaeFer IN NOn.sm predicts for the race.
win what Qualities then of mind and heart
does the child come 10 the school? Is he
cruel? Nc: Al my experience has shown
me that the child responds readily 10 all
CLAIMS Of kindly treatment and cOnsicera-
ton. sand so Susceptible is his nature that in
a man whose childhood has known tender ca
resses there is chord Of memory that can
be touched to gentle Issues. Ii is not well
TENDENCIES
mistakes that iniilet lain upon animal life
The force OF the example of the elders might
easily be the. cause Of the evil.
Arc they fond Of IaTades and Of fire ard
ct drum-heating and of shouting and of noise
generally? Perhaps so. but any ordinary 20
Ltcal campaign will
FURNISH AN EXPLANATION
that should save US long ard wearisome
journey into barbaric life. Have they isno-
bic fear? No. They viii go straight forward
ny Wit rIc
to be trusted. They shrink from the distort,
ed. the unnatural the unusual, but this is
not fear the adult understands It. VIII
they steal? They have no idea Of the rights
of property any more than they have of the
food value Of what they sat, until they
properly taught, but it may be safely said
that the instirc. of theft or the intent IS
not there You may feel that / sim
ply asserting. making empty statements with
out proof. the critics say. bu- the PROOF
is abundant and | commend the study OF 1t
TO those who doubt these statements.
cannot do more than suggest today; | VII
not abuse your patience beyond reasonable
limits. But lastly, en- this point, do children
naturally lie? Some OF our eminent scientists
say that they do. l have known children
who told lies. l believe that teachers, pa
rents and friends make them lie, ara
sometimes do so, but so far as my experiences
goes the amount OF falseh0od as between
the adults the hand and the chi
dren On the other, is largely against the
adults.
Speaking from an experience running
through grea- many years and from an
acquaintance more or less intimate with
many thousands Of children; an experience
drawn from an association with childrel.
for whom I worked. ard whom ] loved with
/ all my heart. | declare most ii5sra.ely that
of those brought before me charged with
offenses more CT less grave, 50 per cen OF
them have told me the truth. The child
nature is truthful and the child heart is
true. l have but TO appeal to you TO look
over in your mind the children whose CON-
ing you daily expect, whose cheerful happy
presence you enjoy, whose coed morning you
daily hear, whose little attentions 50 please
and rest you, are they given 10 tGlsehOod, TO
petty lying? ] know your answer. Why this
doctrine repel,ant as II is has, In the minds
of some theorists, gone so far that following
the homeopathic motto sinilia similibus
curantur they would correct the lying tend
ency by giving the children
DIET OF -FALSEH0OD.
Let us hope that ike the physician, they
will administer the diet in quantities IN
fnitely small We do not call the iIl-assort-
ed medley that the child gathers from the
poorly understood speech OF his elders, the
Aforementioned dreams that come TO him
in sleep the fragmentary shadows of a fan
tasdc imagination. lies, because they arr
uttered with no knowledge intent that
makes them so.
/ therefore insist that the child should be
taken lust as he is, and that his instruction
and discipline should conform to his actual
! experience. That by lessons properly pre-
scented he should receve from his schooling
into his character nature. life, whatever you
may call It., true principleS-prinoiples that
ennoble and that draw from the individual
all that Is best. most useful in his being.
You cannot teach the child principles as
such, but the Imagination leading him to
see and 10 study the duties and relations