Rock Island Argus., 1905-01-21

1 lies dormant; beneath apparent order
are hidden dumb revolt, flaws made by
an abnormal existence, apathy, death.
The system is evil which produces
such fruit, and, however simple il may
appear, in reality it brings forth all
possible complications.
The other system is the extreme op-
! posite, that of bringing up children for
| themselves. The roles are reversed; the
parents are there for the child No
sooner Is he born than he becomes the
center. White headed grandfather and
| stalwart father bow before these curls.
| His lisping is their law. \ sign from
| him suffices. II he cries in the night
no fatigue is of account: the whole
household must be reused. The new
| conner is not long in discovering his
| omnipotence, and before he can walk
he is drunken with IL. As he grows
older all this deepens and brOadens.
Parents. grandparents. servants, teach
ers. everybody is at his command. He
accepts the homage and even tie i'm
notation OF his neighbor; lie treats like
Il rebellious subject any one who does
not step out of his path. There is only
the infallibie. Too late il is perceived
that all this has been evolving Il mas
ter, and what Il master. Forgetful of
sacrifices. without respect. even pity.
He no longer has any regard for those
TO whom he owes everything, and he
goes through life without law or check.
This education, too. has its social
counterpart. Ii flourishes wherever the
past does not count, where history be
gins with the living. where there is no
tradition, no discipline, no reverence;
where those who know tie least make
the most noise; where those who stand
for public order are alarmed By every
chance conner whose power lies in his
making a great outcry and respecting
nothing. 1t insures the reign of tranSi-
tory passion, the triumph of the infe
rior will. I compare these two educa-
tions-one the eXaltation of the envi-
ronment. the other the tyranny of the
new-and / find them equally baneful.
But the most disastrous of all is the
combination of the two, which pro-
duces human beings half automatons,
half despots, forever vacillating be-
tween the spirit of a sheep and the
spirit OF revolt or domination.
Children should be educated neither
for themselves nor for their parents.
for man is no more designed TO be n
parsonage than a specimen. They
should be educated for life. The aim
OF their education is to aid them TO be-
com, active members of humanity.
brotherly forces. free servants of the
civil organization. To follow method
Of education inspired by any other
principle is To complicate life. deform
IL. SOW the seeds of all disorders.
When we would sum up in phrase |
the destiny of the child the word ''fu- |
ture' springs to our lips. The child is |
the future. This word says all-the |
sufferings OF the past. the stress of to- |
day. hope. But when the education of |
the child begins he is incapable Of es- |
the reach Of this word. for |
lie Is held by Impressions of the pres |
ent. Who. then. shall give him the |
first enlightenment and put him in the |
way he should go? The parents. the |
teachers. And with very little reflec-
ton they perceive that their work does |
not interest simply themselves and the |
child. but that they represent and ad
minister impersonal powers and inter
ests. The child should continually APP
pear to them as future citizen. With
this ruling idea they will take thought
for two things that complement each
other - for the initial and personal |
force which Is terminating in the child
and for the social destination of this
force. At no moment OF their direction
over him can they forget that this lit
tie being confidcd To their care must
become himself and brother. These
two conditions. far from excluding
each other, never exist apart. 1t Is i'm
possible 10 be brotherly. To love, to give
oneself. unless one is master of him
self: and. reciprocally, none can possess
himself. comprehend his own indiyid-
lal being. until he has first made his
way through the outward accidents of
his existence down TO the profound
springs Of life where man feels himself
,ne with other men in all that is most
his own.
To aid a child to become himself
ind brother il is necessary to protect
lin against the violent and destructive
Iction OF the forces of disorder These
orces are exterior and interior. Every
hid Is menaced from without not
My by material dangers. but by the
OF alien wills. and
rom within by an exaggerated idea
4 his own personality and all the fan
les IL breeds. There is a great out
vard danger which may come from the !
buse OF power I'm educators. The
light OF might finds itself a place I'm ed
cation with extreme facility. To ed
cate another one must have renounced
his right-that is to say, made abne-
alton of the inferior sentiment OF per !
onal importance, which transforms US
lto the enemies of others. even OF cur !
wn children. Our authority is benefi- s
ent only when II is inspired by one !
igher than our own. In this case II !
not only salutary, but also indis- 8
ensable. and becomes in its turn the
est guarantee against tue greater per =