The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-10-18
A PRACTICAL EDUCATION.

We hear so much talk about "Prac-
tical Education" these days that I
am inclined to inquire what a b,acti-
cal education really is.
As generally considered, it is an
education that gives a sufficient
knowledge of reading, arithmetic,
penmanship, history, geography, ETC.,
to enable a youth to start, at once,
upon leaving a public school, into
work that will bring him an imme-
diate financial return.
But there is a great variety of en-
plovments for young people and it is
surprising to hear the definitions Of
practical education as voiced by men
of different avocations. The book
keeper and accountant say penman-
ship and rapid addition are the essen
tials. The architect says drawing.
The mechanic says manual training.
The department store says gentle
manly conduct, tact and a1ertness.
The physician says physiology. The
druggist says chemistry and botany.
The artist says sketching and color
work. And the literary man says
composition.
But the teacher who would devote
large proportion of his time to any
one of these ideas would bring upon
his head the swift ceusure of the
others, and justly SO. 1t is not the
schools business to prepare for any
one line of work, but to so train the
mental powers-the memory, the
judgment, the reason, the will, that
the youth can turn to any one of the
many lines of work and, in short
time. dove-tsil himself into the posi-
tion he has chosen.
With this last idea the practical
agitator usually brings his argument
to close,-but is this all? Some
one has said that Mary, Martha and
Lazarus of Bethany must have been
pleasant people to live with. That
is what practical education should
be also. 1t ought to teach how to
make the most of life and how to en-
joy life.
I want to know not only the regu-
lar round of daily toll, but also to
know about birds, about flowers,
about trees, about bugs, about butter
fies-so that wherever I am, I am
never alone. I want to look up and
see the stars and planets, know some
of their names and recognize them as
friends of the night. I want to see
the crystals IN the snowhakes, the
diamonds in the morning dew, the
radiant glory in the rising sun and
the gorgeous array of co1oring upon
the walls of the western sky at even
tide. 1 want to love books, good
books, and feel a sweet companion
ship whenever I am in their presence.
hear you say: II have no money,
no time, no opportunity for all these
things" Can you read? Then all
is open to you. No money? Books
are cheap and it will surprise you
what few dimes will buy in a sec
ond-hand book store. No time? You
waste enough time in idle gossip to
get college education. No oppor-
tunity? The birds, flowers, sunrises,
sunsets, stars, dews, crystals are
yours. Who owns the landscape?
You. Why do people plant beautiful
roses in their front yards? For you
to enjoy as you go by. Teach your
soul to love good, true, beautiful
things and you will be happy.
Elihu Burritt learned eighteen Ian
guages while earning his living as a
blacksmith. Hugh Miller became
writer ofremarkable fuency and vigor
while pursuing his trade as a stone
mason. Chancellor d'Aguasseau
translated the Greek Testament in
the quarter hours he was waiting for
his wife to dress for dinner.
If these have done much can you
not do, at least, little and a few
things in your wasted moments that
will relieve the strain of daily toll and
brighten and cheer not only your own
life but the lives of all with whom
you come in contact.
Is life worth living? Yes, if you
have turned your soul to respond to
the harmonies Of earth and sea and
sky,-to the minors of sorrow, to the
majors of joy and triumph, and, best
of all, to accord with the will of the
Divine Power that giveth wisdom,
whose "ways are ways of pleasant
ness and all her paths are peace. p