The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-03-10
TEACHING.

MEN:-The topic You have assigned to- day
is one worthy the best thought of the world;
upon it depends the future veal or woe of
the same. How little we know Of it.
systems of philosophy, physical and meta
| physical, have engaged the potential brain
power of man since the dawn of his think
ing power
| In the whole realm of material progress,
reading and thinking men and women
| know where to turn for principles sys-
| tematizcd, facts scentitied, which bear
upon their special work. They have well
established definitions; universally ac-
| copied aNioms; accredited hypothesis as
scented by their associates: problem after
problem solved, theorem after thcorem in
contestably demonstrated. and corollaries
| innumerablc, about which no disputation
| is necessary-for no dissent is evident in
the whole field of their busy votaries.
| How different With us in our work. What
can we accept as settled. What criteria
of truths have we, which we can point to
as the certain guide for our professional
| training? What Gamaliel, either in the
past or present, can we refer our earnest
brothers and sisters, pcrpleXcd by the in
Vulnerable doubts as to the proper pro-
ceedure in dealing with that complex Or
| gansm known as the child. There are
many poorly paid, yet honest, conscien-
tious, earnest leaders of children this is
the true teachers yocation) who realize
| fully the sacredncss of the obligation when
they accept the responsibility of training
the faculties of child to the point of their
| fullest capacity-who realize in the out
start that here is a being bearing an i'm
mortal soul, which is to feel temporarily
and eternally, the result of the develop
ment of each of its latent capabilities.
! Did it ever occur to you that the great
est sorrow Of soul, in the eternity to-
wards which it is moving, may be the full
realization of what it might have done
while in its earthly tabernacle? This is
not the fancy of dreamer. 1t has its
| analogue in natural life. See the mature
man of opportunities neglected, Can you
| trace no line of regret in his furrowed
face. for the neglect of duty in the past:
| The personal experience of each of US
gives satisfactory answer to this query;
then how natural for the uncaged soul,
with every sensbility unveiled, to keenly
| feel all "the mi ght -have-bt ems" Some
idea of our responsibility can be gained
| from such line of meditation. With this
realization on our part with a like feeling
in the heart Of each parent of every child,
we will soon have basis for the erection
of system of general laws for our pro-
fession. The special laws must be worked
| out in the school room-the laboratory of
the peda gogical science There are GER
tain general truths equally applicable to
| all. By far the greater number, however,
are the special truths which bear upon the
individual; he is the result of all that has
| been. How complex he is, can be appre-
ciated from the numerous ties which bind
him to the past. He must then be dealt
with specifically, and not generally. His
mother should hand him to US with good
beginning in this line of development
How few do this. Our experience teaches
each Of us that the average child has been
| guided for the most part, by the unbridled
impulse of emotion. Now, emotions were
never given us to be lost by atrophy; they
are worthy of our consideration; should
be exercised, but under the control of an
| n l-on II riy roll in hap n
what should be the motor power of every
human act-the human will. Failure on
the part of others, to whom we should
look to be our coadjutors, brings many
which we should not have to deal. Wemust
seek to eliminate these adverse factors.
Our attention then, to day. will be
directed principally to the consideration
lcomes to US with such reference to its
past as may be of use to US in its future
development.
In studying the past of the child, wher
it reaches US in its sixth year, we find that
it has acquired an immense amount of in
formation, when compared with its first
state of absolute helplessness. For the
most part, this information has been &C
quired as a pleasure-not rs IA task The
use o. its organs; its graceful posture as
compared with its first tottering efforts to
walk its recognition of things, and the
ongruities and incOn gruites attached tC
them; It's idea of color, distance, and in
many instances, of sequence following
causes. If our next six years can only be
so fruitful, we will have no cause to com
plain of our work. The child comes tc
you, then, under any circumstances, with
an immense amount of information, not
of an uncertain kind Ask it hundreds o1
questions bearing upon its environments
How readily and certainly it answers Nc
doubt, no wayering.
And, just here let it be said that this is
the only information or thought actor
that is worth anything. Now, can we con
tinue the process? Can we cultivate the
same spirit: Can we save the child that
most lamentablc of all condtions-"a
WEAKNESS in the process of acquiring
Can we make their course one of pleasant
exercise and Of conscious growth: Thi:
is our task. The necessity of it, we al
know. How many examples can | point
to to-day, during my twenty years labor
in our profession, of children of II or |:
years: one set tired and disguised will
books; another set filled with consciou:
| strength and reserve power, moving from
mastery to mastery Of principles with ap
parently as little effort as the earth move.
on its axis In making up the life history
of these children, their present status i:
simply the moulding hand from the cradle
to this state of their lives: the Mother
first, the Father tas he should be, bu
rarely l. second, and the Teacher third
Hcrcdity is factor no doubt, but mnol
one. This force can be controlled assam
ing Of course that the child has the aver
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