The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-10-12

from slavery, through serfdom to the
wage-earning system, and at least to in
dicate that the last mentioned system is
not to be a hnality, but stepping stone
to something higher. In political history
not so much the casual as the theological
| view is presented; that is to say, the con-
! tributions which historic nations Of the
| earth have made towards the solution of
! the problem of the true political organize
| ton are set forth-the contributions of
| the ancient monarchies, of Greece and
| Rome, of feudalism, of the absolutist
state and OF democracy. And here, again.
stress is laid upon the fact that democra-
| cy, as at present existing. is not the ulti-
mate goal, but step in the development
of mankind towards a sun higher and
| juster incarnation Of the idea Of the state
The third factor of moral training is
moral instruction proper An account of
| the system used in the Ethical Culture
| School has been published. and only an
outline OF it can be reproduced here The
I teaching is based upon the idea that there
are successive, well marked stages Of the
child 5 life. differing from each other in
regard 10 the central interest which Occu-
pies the attention. AS these stages are
passed new periods are reached, new re-
lations open, new interests are supreme.
At each stage of development some one
set OF duties proper to that period ought
! to be paramount and TO this set OF duties
the teacher directs special attention.
In the elementary school the aim. on
the whole, is TO enlarge the pupils grasp
on some Of the essential moral fscts-just
to put him in possession Of the facts.
without offering explanations. This is
done by enabling him to enter vicariously
into the experience Of others. be these
others ideal types or historical person
ages. With the help of the Bible stories,
the chil0 range of moral experience is
wonderfully widened; especially the Tela-
lions that arise in the family are reveal
ed TO him in some OF their complexities.
The workings of jealousy, as between
brothers, its inner causes, and its ruinous
consequences are made clear in the sto-
ries of Cain and Abel, of Jacob and Esau,
of Joseph and his brethren. These and
other valuable experiences are vicari-
ously made the property of the pupil with
the Bible stories They are experiences
which no incidental teaching could touch
unon. because there would probably be no
occasion in the life of the pupil to refer
to them. His moral horizon is enlarged,
and his moral feelings are deepened and
refined.
In the Hebrew legislation many minor
points of morals are cleared up-minor,
as not relating to the chief command
ments, but capital in producing the right
set Of the will. the right attitude on NOR
al questions. the right spirit Such, for
instance, as the duty of diligence in
searching out the owner of lost property,
of efforts to save the imperilled property
of enemies and of careful abstentiOn
from acts which in their remote conse-
euences may cause damage to others.
Society as organized in the state is the
bounding circle where the instruction is
carried into the seventh and eighth
grades. and here we take as our texts Sc
lected portions from the history of Greece
and the history Of Rome. The pupil IS
helped to realize how Greece was well
nigh suffocated by overwhelming num-
hers during the struggle with Persia
why it was that a handful prevailed
against myriads. what great. inspiring
issues were at stake-democracy against
Imperialism. the liberty of the individual
against centralized control, the free de-
velopment of science and art in a free
state as against system which brushes
individuality and prevents the highest
readings toward truth and beauty.
Here also there is a chance to show
how the personal virtues are connected
with the interests Of the state. The viz
tue Of temperance is dwelt upon in con-
nection with the fight at Thermopylae;
the intellectual virtues in connection with
the story of the age of Pericles and its
achievements in science and art, and ODE
dience to the laws of the state as found
ed on the acceptance Of law in the per-
sonal life. as Illustrated in the life of
Socrates.
The story of Rome brings out chiefly /
two ideas not. as in Greece, the inspiring
ends of the state, which should appeal TO /
the citizen and lead him of his own ac-
cord to put life and property at jeopardy
for its sake, but these two ideas: First +
the supereminent claims of the state
above the claims of any of the lesser
groups included within It, the right of the /
state 20 crush out family affection and
individual warfare, in order TO secure its I
own perpetuation. as in the case of Brutus
sentencing his own son. of Coriolanus I
the Horatio. etc: and second. the right
of all who are willing to conform to the I
requirements of the state to be included 1
within the domain of citizenship.
When we come 10 the high school pc (
Rod a great change in the method of +
teaching takes place The object is no
longer merely to widen the moral expert /
ence Of the pupil to extend his moral .
horizon. to refine his moral feelings. but (
to supply him with a working hypothesis f
in ethics, with a principle-not meta
physical one. but still a unifying one
from which all the separate duties can be +
derived AS in the age Of adolescence the f
inner personal life of the student acquires .
a prominence which il had not before, the
aim is 70 exhibit the general principle Of
ethics primarily and fundamentally as ii .
applies in the inner life Of the individual,
to show how the strictly personal duties f
may be derived from IT, and then, on the .
sure foundation Of the personal duties, TO
erect the whole superstructure Of the So
cial duties
The unifying principle which we adopt
is the principle Of perfection or of pro-
gress. The attempt is made in this
course. after the enthusiasm for progress .
has been tncuIcated and the knowledge Of +.
the facts Of human progress has been ac- +
ouired. 10 formulate definitely the ideal
Of progress and 70 mark out the direction f
in which II should be achieved. An at
tenpt is made 70 show that progress does 4.
NOT consist in the increase Of material (
sooes or material we'll being. in mere +