The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-04-11

their young in the branches, will Carol
praises to you in common with the
Author and giver of every good and
perfect gift" and your children and
grandchildren will rise up and call you
blessed.
The way to build up strong Grange
is to have membership made up of
those who read Grange literature, The
TIMES, The Michigan Farmer, The
American Grange Bulletin and Scientific
Farmer are among the best. If you
want to know what the order is doing
in New England Our Grange Homes
fills the bill
SUCCESSFUL LECTURER.
From the American Grange Bulletin.
For the second quarter of the year
April, May, and June-the National
Lecturer has given you the broad topic
Education. Lecturers ought to be
pleased with it; for it gives them an
opportunity to answer questions that
have puzzled wise men of all ages.
What constitutes a good education?"
is the specific question for April OF
course no wideawake lecturer wants to
be given a final answer; that is to be
left for him to discover He does not
want a definition; for definitions are of
little use till you know enough not to
! need them. The wise and useful
lecturer is always to accept hints and
helps but gets little profit from being
told exactly what to do and how to do it.
He needs opportunity to exercise his
ingenuity and to develop his own plans.
Most of us who are members of the
Grange are very likely to feel that we
have small chance of ever possessing q
good education If we can read with
sufficient intelligence to keep informed
concerning what the big world is doing
and to understand the papers, bulletins,
and books which are published to add to
our knowledge of our own business, we
have reason to think there is some hope
that we shall not be classed with the
ignorant. OF course it is assumed that,
with this ability to read intelligently,
there is also the ability to write in
telligibly and to solve ordinary problems
in arithmetic. But beyond fair
knowledge of reading, writing and
arithmetic, is it reasonable to suppose
that the majority of country people or
city people either can have what may
properly be called good education?
The question is not to be answered here
and now; that were to rob you of your
! problem.
| Nor is good education to be defined
at this time After you have had your
guess there will be time, as well as
something new to say The subject
| will not be exhausted in an evening
But let us suppose that a good education
results in such additions to our knowl-
edge and such development of our higher
| faculties that we shall be able to live as
reasonable, thinking beings. Then let
us accept, at least for the moment, the
maxim Of Hamerton that the essense of
intellectual living resides in "a constant
preference for higher thoughts over
lower thoughts and let us agree with
him that this preference may be the
habit of mind which has not any very
considerable amount of information.
Let us make sure of the idea; intellectual
living consists in prefeITing the higher
to the lower thought-a choice that can
be exercised without the possession of
great knowledge There are college
graduates. who are inferior to school
boys when tested by this rule
If worthy living be the result Of a
good education, there are men and
women who can not read who are to be
ranked above others who have had years
of schooling. 1T is constantly as
sumed," Isays Hamilton w. Mabie,
that education is formal process,
following well defined lines and carried
on by academic methods; while, as
matter of fact, education is as individual
as temperament and gift, and may take
many forms. A sound education is not
specific kind of training; it is the
training which qualities eminently
for specific kind of work. Now this
comes pretty near being definition of
good education, and we meant to save
definitions till next week or some other
time!
Now,.that we have quoted Mr.. Mabie,
let ,Is 11rpe the imnorfance of his dacIar
alton, it is worth studying 1t furnishes
the basis for a most helpful debate in
every Grange where the subject of
education is at all interesting. Does it
not answer the question whether an
agricultural training is education? And
Mr.. Mabie is no advocate of scientific
education. Books and culture is h