The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-09-21
MAKE EDUCATION
PRACTICAL
Bacon as a schoolma.ter.

Editor Representative: Lord Ba-
con. in portraying the artful deception
OF the demagogue, makes Mark Antony
say: "The evil that, men do lives after
them, the good is oft inferred with their
bones" That false sentiment might at
feet an excited mob of Romans, but the
manner in which the world is coming
to acknowledge it's debt to the philos-
opher of Vernulam proves that "the
good that some men do lives long
enough to give the lie to the evil that
"envy's snakes hiss out upon them.
find very earnest and lofty tribute
to Bacon in Philosophy of Education"
written in 1857 by DR.. Tate, a cele-
brated English educator, who devoted
his life to the cause of scientific educa-
tional reform. DR.. Tate says:
Bacon was one of the most enlight-
ened educators that ever appeared on
the earth-for his philosophy was as
fully applicable to the advancement of
education as to the development of the
experimental sciences. The spirit of
Baconian philosophy may be character
lied by two words, utility and progress.
THE ancient philosophy was station
airy, because it disdained to be useful. It
proposed imposing abstract theories,
which had little or no bearing upon the
actual condition of man in society. It
took it's aims at the stars and therefore
hit nothing. 1t speculated about virtue
and happiness, but added nothing to the
comfort or enjoyment of human exist
ence. 1t protested to reform and enlight-
en- the world, but left it as degraded and
dark as 1t ever had been. 1t was a sort
OF intellectual gymnasium, in which the
mental faculties were exercised; but this
intellectual action yielded no work-no
fruit-as regards the progress of soci-
ETY.; the mind revolved in a circle of
speculative theories; the starting point
OF today became the goal Of tomorrow:
there was motion, but no progress. The
command given by the old philosophy
was mark time" and thus for 1000
years the human intellect continued to
mark time The father of the inductive
philosophy (Bacon) gave the command
advance" and society, obedient to this
command, has multiplied thousand
fold its resources of enjoyment and
happiness. This philosophy was prac-
teal. 1t took the common sense method
of induction, which had from time i'm
memorial been followed successfully by
the artisan, as the great instrument for
advancing philosophy. It's object was
utility, and its end progress Bacon saw
that under this inductive principle the
arts had advanced while the sciences. so
called, had remained stationary. And
his own strong common sense showed
him that the principle which had adj
vanced the arts, might also advance uni
versal science
Let us see how the Baconian philos-
ophy applies to modern education. Ac-
cordlng to this philosophy, utility and
progress should characterize, all our
methods of education. To secure prog
ress we should aim at what is practicable
and useful. Until within the last 20
years the platonic philosophy infested
all our systems of education. The in
ductive philosophy which created new
sciences and infused fresh vitality into |
the old ones, left our educational sys-
TENS as it found them-all but worth I
less as regards the education of the peo-
pie OF great commercial, scientific.
manufacturing and engineering state
In our own middle and higher class
schools the language of the ancients. the
logic of the ancients. and the geometry
of the ancients, formed the great SUBJ
jects OF school instruction; whilst prac-
tical science, general knowledge, and
nearly all those subjects which bear d.
rectly upon the interests of man as an
active and thinking agent were virtu-
ally ignored. This system even failed to
accomplish the, contracted. end, which it
had in view. 1t protested to exercise and
strengthen the intellectual faculties; but
the only faculty which it could
strengthen, admitting that to be posi-
BILE, was memory. To remember. recite
and admire what the ancients had done.
was the highest end which it proposed.
1t therefore produced race of slavish
and not a race of vigorous.
practical and original thinkers,
But Bacon taught in his nhilosonhv
that the power of memory can do little
toward the advancement of science. He
ranks the achievements of memory with
the exhibition of the mountebank. He
says: ''The two performances are of
much the same sort. The one is an
abuse of the powers Of the Dody. the
other an abuse of the powers of the
mind. Both may excite our wonder, but
neither is entitled to our respect
by some educators generosity was
considered to suffer a degradation
whenever its abstract demonstrations
were combined with the more simple
modes of exposition, or whenever It was
applied to the business Of life. They
said, Take care, do not simplify your
geometry; do not attempt to give your
children any common sense definitions +
p geometrical truths. You must begin
III 1850