The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-11
A SERMON ON EDUCATION.
The Rev. Edward Everett Hale
Prenches mt All souls Church.

| of Boston, Mass. who - occupying the
| pulpit at ALI souls Church. Fourteenth
and L Streets. until the arrival of the
newly appointed pastor Of that church,
which will be two weeks hence, took for
! the text of his sermon at yesterday morn
| ing's sermon. John X: 10; Il am come that
| they might have life-and that they
| might have it more abundantly.'
The Rev DR.. Hale said in the course
of his sermon:
1t will help us in our affairs this morn
ing if we compare one line of education
against another Compare two children
As modern life goes l might place boy
or girl of eight years old in a needle fac
tory. Here is a statement of what he
would have TO do. The lattened heads of
the needle have been annealed. and then
they are handed to the picrcer. child
lays it upon a block and applying
the point of a small punch, pierces the
eye with a small tap of the hammer An
other child trims the eyes. The operation
of piercing ana trimming the eyes is per-
formed by clever children with astonish-
ing rapidity. They become 50 deXterous
as to pierce with their punch one human
hair, and thread it with another, for the
amusement of Visitors. one child can
trim the eyes of 1000 needles per hour
The writer from whom | take these facts
says blandly that thus to attach one
operative exclusively to one process in
tn render him much more economical and
productive.
''On the other hand. | may place this
child at eight years of age, for three or
four hours per day, under the care of an
Intelligent teacher. The school may be
so managed that when the days are fine
. ,fcs t,l-. h. .l,i 70
walk, shall show them the buds. or the
flowers. or the fruit in the public gar
dens. Or she shall teach them to know
the blue birds or the cedar birds, or the
other flying fowls. When they are shut
up in their school rooms, the lessons may
be so arranged that they shall look out
side of Washington to Maryland, outside
of Maryland to America. outside of Amer
lea, to the world: outside of the world
to Orion and Acturious. And they may
be so trained that they shall ask that
question of questions; What is there be-
yond the farthest stars? They may be
so trained that they may ask the other
question, what was there before the be-
ginning of things, and what will there be
when things are no more? They may be
trained that they may converse with
john Milton, with Francis the saint: with
Paul. the civilizer; with Isaiah. the
prophet; with David, the singer They
may be at home with Agamemnon and
Andromache. They may ascend into
heaven; they may descend into the
depths At fourteen years of age, 1 shall
have these two children whom i have
subjected to these two lines of training.
one of them can pierce !, 0e0 needle eyes
in an hour, and the other can walk with
angels and archangels
rs it not worth our while with the
q al fn rafr oh nri.sg
as to the chances of a higher life, or for
more abundant life of the pale, sallow,
eager-loolfng boy, who sells me my news
paper Sunday morning? l ought o go
so far atield as to enquire who made
the match with which | lighted my gas
last night, and how many years she
could live in that business. in that at
mosphere. Not leaving home we cannot
help asking how far the week day stud
les, which occupy thirty hours in every
week in our children's lives give them
the life, more abundantiy, which we pre-
tend We are seeking. l must not go into
detail but | will repeat what you have
heard me say before, that in the annual
report of our school board few years
ago. in $50 pages, book big as the
New Testament, there were not more
than thirty lines which had any refer
ence to the chiIdrens moral character
All the rest was smoke and dust and
ashes and things-or looked that way
Now, Life more abundantly means
something better than that. 1t is
Jacob seized that stalwart giant in the
desert and held him in his iron gyip,
squeezed him and crushed him and pin
ned him to the ground, where he had
thrown him, and said to him; 1 will not
let thee go, except thou bless me. Les
sons in arithmetic. in algebra, in art
in history. in physics, and metaphysics
must be made to inspire cur children with
more abundant life, or books and black
boards, and schedules, and pens, and
paper, shall go out of the window to-
gether, and be burned In one great hol-
ocaust before the door. Do not abuse
the day schools. they are badly handicap
ped. There are jealous critics watching
the public school all the time. lest by any
accident any teacher say God, or Jesus.
or heaven: almost if they say right or
wrong. The whole drift of the public
school is thus toward things and the
physical relations. Now. We ask you to
let us inspire this body with the weeks
work, with a living soul. We want to give
life more abundantly to symbols and
methods. We want to turn on the heav-
emily dynamo and send an electric fash
through all this tangle of wires. And all
this is true of the larger education of
life 1t is trye Of the forge, the loom,
the trolley. the Pullman, of the court
room, Of the custom house. of the fac
tory. You must not say any longer that
the routine of daily duty letters you or
imprisons you. You and | know that
laws and processes and methods may all
be named by one name; the name of God
We know that it was little better than
idolatry when this man selected one law
and that man selected another. as the
ruler of daily life Better than this. you
a nd | know that we are not the slaves
of this method or of that but that we are
partners of the God. who is. who sends
the meteor on its flight, who gives per-
f1me to the rose This reality of my life
hidden in his life; his life hidden in ours.
this is the abundant life. which the Saw
Jour promises. 1t is not that he teaches
me fact that ! am TO live through
more years; il is that he lifts me To com
partnership with the Being of Beings. In
such partnership with the Lord of Lords
and King of Kings. / am no longer hamp-
cred by this. or that, earthly condition.
When he opened my eyes to see. and my
ears to hear: and my heart to compre-
bend; the Saviour of Men gave me this
infinite life. He gave me life more abund- |
antly.