New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1900-11-17

| o. y. STAPLES, PRINCIPAL OF TOWNSVILLE Hlil
| SCHOOL, IN LA. SCHOOL REVIEW.
The first time any one visits I
great museum he is forcibly strucl
with the many nude statues which
represent the Greek and Roman
ideals of physical strength ant
beauty. Again any one who studies
at all carefully the history of th'
Greeks and Romans must be struck
with the fact that their poets anG
historians almost invariably por
trayed their heroes as physica
giants. Said Plato, one of Greece'<
greatest Philosophers, "To train
the mind and neglect the body is
to produce cripple. But some.
where near the beginning Of the
Christian Era, an idea that the SOU
and body are antagonistic to each
other insidiously crept into the
world; and as a result, the civiliza.
ton of the period known as the
Dark Ages sank to a degree of il
literacy and Generalization un-
paralleled in the worlds history.
But about the time Columbus dis
covered America, there was going
on in all the nations of Europe
a great intellectual awakening.
Among the many providential
forces which generated this move
ment were a few humble school
teachers, the most noteworthy of
whom were VittorinO da Feltre of
Florence, Italy; John Sturm of
Strasburg, Germany; and John
Mulcaster of England. In their
schools they taught that the body
is not to be despised and tortured.
Instead of shutting their pupils in
sidedungeon like monasteries as had
the priests who taught the Roman
Catholic Schools, these teachers
turned their students out into the
open air and encouraged them in
taking their fill Of outdoor sports
and exercise. Such was the begin
ming of physical freedom and this
beginning do we of modern times
in large measure owe our partial
release from the bodily tortures of
the Darks Ages.
To-day the great majority of civil
lized mankind accept the theory
that man is a threefold being, and
that by education is meant the
symmetrical and harmonious devel-
opment of the physical, the intel
lectual, aud the moral natures.
And yet while this is the generally
accepted theory, how many schools
carry it QUIT The average public
school makes almost no attempt
whatever to develop any part
of the child's nature except the
intellectual. For this reason
UNCONVENTIONAL chools exist
whose distinctive aim is to
develop the moral nature. But
where are the schools that have
espoused the cause of the physical
beingi In only a few of the col
leges, city high schools, and univer-
sites does one find an apology for
gymnasia. And most Of these are
poorly equipped and unscienti6cally
directed. In our own state only
two or three schools give any de-
finite attention to the subject Of
physical training.
Very few teachers, parents, or
pupils seem to think that q sound
body is a condition necessary for a
sound mind. They seem to forget
that much of the so-called mental
and spiritual ailment is nothing
but stomach ailment. Said Henry
Ward Beecher, perhaps the greatest
preacher America has ever pro-
daced, "There is scarcely one man
in a hundred who supposes that he
must ask leave Of his stomach to
be happy man"-but it is never
theless true.
It is a we'll known fact that as the
upward-thrown stone is by gravity
soon pulled back to the earth SO are
our bodies being constantly drawn
by this invisible force towards the
center Of the earth. II we OBJ
serve carefully the various ami
mails comprising the animal king
dom, we ind that in proper
ton Is they have lifted themselves
of the earth to an erect position,
| in like ratio have they risen in the
scale Of intelligence and signif-
canoe. The vilest Of earthly crea-
lures in which satan was himself
embodied has turnout the ages re-
mained dat upon the earth; while
man the noblest animal Of them all
has by . process of evolution sue
ceeded in lifting the greater part Of
himself OF the earth to an approx.
imately erect position. And YET
mankind differs more in this re.
spect amongst its own members
than one on hrst thought might ex.