El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-28

counts for the Superficial knowledge
and culture of the teacher. It Is not
his fault, but it is the fallacy of q sys-
tenn which is going too far into the
technique of instruction. Would it
not be y wiser expenditure of mental
energy, If the teacher were to spend
half of the time given to originating
devices for presenting the subject
matter, upon fresheninR his own
knowledge. upon the road to self-reali-
cation which shall breathe into the
hearts and souls of his pupils an in.
fiuence and moral stimulus that is
keenly appreciated by all child natures
and which bears the richest fruits of
la bor?'
So, everything you can do to make
yourselves broader, and sweeter and
wiser, will help to make you better
teachers. And one of the first and
simplest ways of doing this, is to read
good books. Although you may not be
reading pedagogy for the moment, you
are the teacher In every fibre of your
being. By every thing the woman
gains, the teacher Ia the richer. 1t Is
. good outlay, you all concede. And
claim that reading alone will make all
teachers excellent ones, for of some it
NAV be sald: "She has read, but not
thought; heard, but not felt; observed,
but al ways through spectaclee;" yet l
am sure you are free to admit that no
teacher can afford to forego all touch
with general literature; that those who
are teachers can afford least of all to
dispense with this kind OF intellectual
food.
It fs not Q matter of carrying the
message of your author-your Lowell,
or your Ruskin, or your Emerson
direct to the school room. When you
lay down your book thrilling with
what it has said to you and are longing
to live out the new thoughts 1t has
breathed into you, it has done its
work. You may not be able to quote
q line of IT, but you have its vital part
in your heart and brain. You would
not dream of trying to trsnslate it to
again the ssd-sweet fact that success
is made up largely of what the world
calls failure, and that there is nothing
in life SO really beautiful as right eff
fort you cannot help teaching little
of it.
]. M. Barril in speaking of Margaret
Ogilvy said: ''FOr when you looked
into my mothers eyes you knew, as If
He had told you, why God sent her
minds of all who looked, to beau
tiful thoughts" And that is the be-
ginning and end of literature.
There is another breeze from Scot
land lifting the curtain to disclose the
spirit of the new time. The grand de-
votion of the doctor of the old school
Is one of the richest passages in mod
ern literature; indeed, the whole book
with its Domsie and Drumsheugh and
finest spirit, and it's wonderful success,
its unparalleled popularity, means
much, for where our ideals are, we
striveto climb. Mankind will some day
find the highest happiness in the serv-
ice of each other. And if we learn from
this little book the best lesson OF life, un-
we cannot help teaching it
a little. And who should teach it SO
gladly, so sweetly, as she who giveth
all she hath, or the best that she has,
to others-the true teacher?
OPPORTUNITY TO READ
AS to your opportunity to read, that
Is something you alone can decide. If
your lives seem too busy for some lit
lie of.this kind of improvement, there
10 something wrong and you should
'call q halt" But do not. on the other
band, contract the vicious habit of
every odd minute. Give
'ome time to what, to you, is recrea-
ion and rest.
WHAT TO READ.
AS to what books should constitute
'our general reading, this, too, you
lone can decide. 1 would not presume
o decide for you. Religion, ethics, |
morality, philosophy, history, litera-
ure. music. sculpture, painting and
are we'll springs at which |
! teachers knowledge may be refresh
ID. Above all,
BE INDEPENDENT
In your selection, don't read a book |
because somebody recon mends it, but |
Ion't be prejudiced against it for the
anne eason. And do not read book |
imply for the sake of saying you have
lone 50, and don't be ashamed to drop
t in the middle If it bores you, even |
hough it be one of the everlasting
! "ten best" OF your own, those that |
lelp you, that mean something to you,
hat inspire to nobler thinking and
md living. When you read over the |
ists of books that have helped me-"
,e not dishearteped if not one ever
lelped you. Preserve the integrity of |
our own mind and be at rest.
Think for yourself, clearly, force
ully. Read what softens the heart |
nd keeps it young, warm and beauti- |
ii; makes it a place where song birds |
make their home, though it be vagrant
oems or fairly tales-not what are
allied the classics. You are richer |
han you know:
'tYou are owner of the sphere,
OF the seven stars and the
( solar year,
OF Caesars hand and Plato's
brain,
OF Lord Christ's heart and
Shakspeare's strainv
THOROUGHNESS.
Concentration is the first essential of |
Let your mind GO
traight to the heart of the thought |