The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-06-10

One. and that the human mind is one
with him apd with His universe. and
;hat ii you once give youth his Wis
ION OF the unity OF things You have
liked him forever in place in Gods
great plan from which he shall surely
never fall And when you have done
that. YOU have attained your end.
But let us come back to earth again.
The object OF Christian collegiate
education. | have tried TO show. is
a "nis"n OF personal character. and
he method OF achieving this harmon
i"Iis unity is the proper pursuit OF
surh 4 course OF studies as will both
each 4 man the most useful knowl-
.;ig" and also manifest the unity OF
III things. and thus set the man in
:unc with the Infinite. Everything
depends. however. on ;hc way in
which this course OF studies is pre-
Scntcd. That is TO say. a sound cur
riculum is OF great Importance. but
sound methods OF teaching are OF
greater Importance still These meth
ndS are OF course to be determined
by the object OF education. namely.
the harmonious development OF char
acter.
Socrates was the greatest teacher
OF the Greeks. His method OF teach
ing is wei, known. He is the founder
OF that method which mas gained uni
versal acceptance. whereby the pupil
is led to discern the truth through
being questioned. Step by step,
eacl, step marked by an interrogation
point. this great teacher would lead his
disciples to the perception OF a
truth in such way as that when they
had reached it they also knew t.
connected process by which it had
had been reached. and SO their own
minds had received an invaluable
drill That is to say, Socrates rightly
perceived that the main object OF in
tellectual education should not be just
to fill so many cells with so many
scraps of knowledge as though the
mind were a set of wooden pigeon
holes: but he treated the mind as a
living. growing organism, and acted
with the main intent OF embalming
this marvellous spiritual instrument to
work for ITSELF. and thereby to be-
come creative. This Socrtic theory
OF teaching is undoubtly correct; no
other is worth consideration But the
actual Socratic method may be i1nprov-
ed upon. A greater than Socrates came
to show us how. The method OF the
very greatest teacher the world has
ever seen was not to question his dis
ciples so much as to entice his disci-
Piles on TO question him. Any one
OF his recorded conversations may
be studied to prove this point. while
the parable. which he invented, has
been aptly described as veil thrown
over the face of the truth. that the
learner might be tempted to lift it
and discover for himself the beauty
which it half concealed and half re-
vcaled. The method was amazingly
successful. His disciples showed a
rapidity OF development from Grass
peasantry to finished and
eloquent scholarship. after only tnree
years OF personal training. that bears
testimony to the superbly
effective character OF his methods.
I'roebel has translated these methods
;nto modern educational parlance.
The intellect must be lured to do
original work, to the end that it may
attain to original power.
But if the key-word OF intellectual
development is to be individualism.
then there is the greatest need OF
balancing the result by 4 gracious
cultivation OF the Sensiblities in the
direction OF brotherhood. The ten
dency OF the purely intellectual life
is towards Self-indulgent hermitage.
Only last month the thoughtful press
was discussing the undoubted fact that