The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1899-01-28
Ewes Own Corner.


can fail to be astonished at the
conquests which are being made
over the powers, or rather the
forces of Nature. Looking back
through history and comparing the
past with the present the specta-
Gle of advancement which con-
fronts us Is bewildering.
Education in one form or an
other has done it all. Nations re-
cognize it. individuals recognize it
and the cry in every land is edu-
cate! educate!
Education is theoff spring of
democracy. 1t may have led men
into the gravest bondage, but it
has exalted him, by making him
free. Education which denies
freedom of will should not be tol-
Grated. Our country has become
great, because it has made way for
individual liberty. individuality
must not be smothered. We have
struggled for and gained liberty
and we want to preserve it.
Education emancipates man
from man. 1t teaches him to
think for himself. 1t nutures in
dependence and increases the pro-
ductive power of the individual.
The illiterate must move forward
or starve.
Good schools are the best sym
boIs of high civilization. They
foster progress, that is not des-
truction; they give liberty under
the law; they help the pupil to
understand the doings of a nation,
getting him ready to fall in with
the great national and internatlon-
al opinions of those he call broth
er. Education, through the school,
will aid in eradicatin z selfishness
and prejudice and leads the min d
to something more refining, grand
er and nobler.
Of course many fortified, ad-
verse opinions will have to be
pierced through and broken down,
but the school can do it.
Suppress education and COM
plete stagnation IN every depart
ment of civilization would ensue.
As the mind has expanded, civil
ization has progressed, and today
our country stands witness of
this fact. We are powerful be-
cause we are putting knowledge to
use. People are wiser today than
they were centuries ago, because
schools are more plentiful. We
have higher conception of life
and so raised the standard of citi-
zenship. The politician will rare
| ly try to control the vote or opin-
ion of educated, intelligent man ;
his scheming and intrigue is all
done with the illiterate.
We want our boys and girls to
have opinions of their own; un-
prejudice opinions, formed from
clear, intelligent, unbiased minds.
Perhaps no vocation is so much
lauded yet so little appreciated as
teaching. The teacher needs so
much sympathy and cooperation
but gets so little. Everybody has
his firmly-rooted opinion of the
teacher; they stand open-mouth-
ed ready to dictate to him, yet In
no wise would interfere with the
doings in any other profession
Some parents think that the school
should be the controlling power
instead of the teacher, and are
very happy when the teacher i:
unhappy, Their children's dis
obedience, mischief and natura
dullness may try the teachers pa
tience beyond endurance, but
they still must be nothing short OF
an angel or a prodigy; foryou ma.
set somebody's tongue t. wagglnt
and then woe to the poor teach
er's reputation. 1t is so mucf
easier to point out a teacher
weakness than it is to encourage
him or supply his place.
! But we are not discouraged, fol
| in our moral lessons to these cbll
dren we impress ourselves. If W
would teach the world we must b
versed in humanity, broad-mind
led and not confne ourselves tt
books. We must study nature.
The progress that education /
making, the interest that Is bein'
manifested in its behalf canno
fail to encourage the aspiring
teacher and force the spiritles
out of our ranks. The wide awak
teacher prefers change of pro
fession in preference to stagna
tion.
We want longer terms in orde
Ito prove what we can do, and ade