The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-08-14

can have no proper standard land no
ideals for the community in which he
/ lives, and he readily reaches anarchy,
the attempt at living without law. 1t
is from the husks of education, the
character1ess education, that a large
class comes from Europe to the United
States, and we have to guard ourselves
we'll lest we, too, fall into characterieSS
education, giving the means of mental
power, without the guiding principle
which will make that power work for
good and not for evil. An educated
rascal is a greater and more inSidious
rascal than an ignorant rascal.
The fact that we are ofttimes unsuc-
ceSsful in impreSSing character upon
our pupils need not deter us. There is
nothing harder in the world than the
making of good Impressions, 1t is not
spasmodic work it is the steady, un-
swerving work that tells. 1t is Line
upon line, precept upon precept. exam
pie upon example, that tells. Charac-
ter building begins in the receiving
ROOM and continues throughout the
school life. When the school life is
concluded the character building con-
tinues, and it depends very much upon
the work in the school room as to what
bent the character may have when it
leaves the school room.
When one works for a definite object
one must never become deferred, one
must never grow weary. Failure in our
work should arouse and not abash us.
We know where our duty lies, we know
that nothing can be really lost in the
incubation of character. Matter can
be changed, but it cannot be destroyed.
The stamp of character may be partly
obliterated, but it will never be really
destroyed. Though we see apparently
no result from our efforts we need not
necessarily despair. We may have
made q mark which will show up later,
11,e
pected. The seed buried with mum
my three or four thousand years ago
when put into proper soil now will
sprout and bring forth forgotten plant
that will bear fruit and freely multiply.
Among the mutineers of the Bounty,
founders of Pitcairn Islanders, character
seemed lost, yet it returned, and the
precepts of youth fouriShed eventually
in the regeneration of Alexander Smith,
better known as John Adams, who
taught the children of the mutineers
and led them to an upward course. He
left an indelible stamp of character
upon those committed to his charge, !
and stands an excellent example of
what character will do, even under the
most adverse circumstances.
But there are also other things to |
think of in education. L have dwelt
upon character building and character
stamping at such length because 1 con-
slider it one of the most essential por-
lions of an education. In our efforts to
improve the mind, the purely mental
faculties, there might be danger of let |
ting this essential slip out of sight. OF
the others / will now speak.
If we have regard to character we
must also give it fitting companions. /
We must cultivate the mental and the |
physical sides of the human being who
is entrusted to our hands. To do this
we should have special aptitude COM
hined with special training. The pos 1
session of special aptitude is akin to |
what we call genius and cannot be de-
fined 1t is one of the NOSE priceless !
of attributes, but as few of us have !
special aptitude our training must take |
its place, and therefore the greater care !
must be taken with our training. Ii
is to prepare ourselves for our life !
work that such schools as the normal
school are established. 1t is to help |
in that life work that the summer |
school is conducted.
We have certain definite studies
which must be thoroughly acquired by |
ourselves before we can impart them. |
Chief among them is the power of ex-
pressing thought, and the power of ac-
quiring the thoughts of others. The
power Of expressing thought is contain |
ed in the ability to speak and to write. |
To this, as you all know. the greatest
attention is given by those who are our
here present, give the right significance |
to this branch Of education is doubtful.
The idea still holds good among many
that reading and not speaking is the
foundation OF education. How utterly
fallacious this is has been constantly
shown, but it is hard to break down
preconceived ideals.
You are by no means alone III your
fault. 1t has been and is the fault of |
the method of language teaching both
on the mainland and in Great Britain. |
Instead OF teaching colloquial English
we used to begin at the wrong end, and
taught reading instead OF speaking. We
have, after years of work, begun at
the right end here, but there are some
OF US who cannot throw the old away,
and take up the sensible and the new.
We can say for ourselves, however.
that in the majority Of cases we are
succeeding and that our children leave
our schools with colIoquiaI knowledge
of English. Their command and knowI-
edge of the language is very much SUI
perior to that OF the average Greek and
Latin student at both American and
English universities. An inquiry has
recently been made into this subject
and it has been found that very few. |
an infinitesimal few, when they leave
the universities. know enough of the
classics to read for themselves with
profit or pleasure, while very few of