Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-02-09
CHAPTER XIII.

of mind, it is natural that edu-
cation should have much to do
with it. In general. but two methods
Of rearing children are practiced The
first IS to bring them up for ourselves,
the second to bring them up for them
selves.
In the first case the child is looked
upon as a complement of the parents:
he is part of their property, occupies a
place among their possessions. Some
times this place is the highest. espe-
cially when the parents value the life
of the affections. Again. where ma
terial interests rule, the child holds
second. third or even the last place
In any case he is a nobody While he
is young he gravitates round his par
ents, not only by obedience, which is
right, but by the subordination of all
his originality, all his being AS he
grows older this subordination be-
comes a veritable confiscation, extend
ing to his ideas, his feelings, every
thing. His minority becomes perpet-
ual. Instead of slowly evolving into
independence the man advances into
slavery. He is what he is permitted
to be. what his fathers business, re-
ligious beliefs, political opinions or
aesthetic tastes require him to be- He
will think, speak. act and marry ac-
cording to the understanding and linn
its of the paternal absolutism. This
family tyranny may be exercised by
people with no strength of character
1t is only necessary for them to be
convinced that good order requires the
child to be the property Of the parents
In default of mental force. they pos
sess themselves of him by other means
by signs, supplications or base Sc
auctions. If they cannot fetter him
they snare his feet in traps But that
he should live in them, through them,
for them. is the only thing admissible
Education of this sort is not the
practice of families only. but also of
great social organizations whose chief
educational function consists in putting
a strong hand on every newcomer. i'll
order to fit him, in the most iron
bound fashion. into existing forms 1t
is the attenuation pulverization and
assimilation of the individual in n So
cial body be it theoeratic. communis-
tic or simply bureaucratic and routi-
nary. Looked at from without. like
system seems the ideal of simplicity
in education. Its processes. in fact,
are absolutely siinplistic. and if
man were not somebody. If he were
only a sample of the race. this would
be the perfect education. AS all wild
beasts. all fish and insects of the same
genus and species have the same mark
ings. so we should all be identical.
having the same tastes. the same Ian
guage. the same beliefs. the same tend
encies But man is not simply
specimen of the race. and for that rea
son this sort of education is far from
being simple in its results. Men so
vary from one another that number
less methods have to be invented to
suppress. stupefy and eXtinguish in
dividual thought And one never ar
rives at it then but in part, a fact which
is continually deranging everything
M tNti 4lOnlNIb. ny SOtitS- Ii toulE
some interior force of initiative is
making a violent way to the light, pro-
ducing explosions, upheavals, all sorts
of grave disorders And where there
are no outward manifestations the evil
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 it may
appear in reality it brings forth all
possible complications.
The other system is the extreme OPP
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 A sign from
him sutiices. If he cries III 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 it. 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 the inn
notation of his neighbor; he treats like
a rebellious subject any one who does
not step out of his path. There IS only
himself He is the unique, the perfect,
the infallible. Too late it is perceived
that all this has been evolving a mas
ter, and what a 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. 1t fiourishes 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 the least make