The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1907-03-21

IhS INDIVIDUAL III IllC ana decides
his fate for eternity. The several |
vocations in life are supposed to be
occupied by persons of general fit
ness, and TIE destinies in the great |
beyond shall be inhabited by |
characters which have been devel-
oped and adopted on this side of
the grave.
There is a vast difference be-
tween reputation and character"
Reputation is what people think
of lis, and character is what God
knows of u.s." The good name
that is rather TO be chosen than
great riches" means self-respect
and "a conscience void of offense
toward God and man." If these
are in proper relation, this good
name means more than reputation:
it is character in the fullness of
purity, and lifts the soul of the
possessor into the realm of genuine
existence. Herein is the.feld of
the true educator, whether in the
home or in the school or in the
common walks of life.
We as teachers must awake.to
the awful responsibility of exam
pie! For as we hold before the
children our ideas and ideals, they
drink in, though unconsciously,
our methods, our spirits, and our
characters, reveal us in their own
lives to their veal or woe. We
should so impress the opening bud
that in its development it will un-
fold the traits of gentleness, indus
try, truthfulness, the spirit of self
denial, and dutiful obedience to
authority. And these will be
worth far more to the child than
to know how to add fractions, "
name the parts of speech, " find
the value of X" ect. Yet the
latter are showered upon us as
mighty flood from every quarter,
while the former is sadly neglect
ed in our pedagogical instructions
from Alpha to Omega. Not that
we should eliminated the branches
to be studied, but that we should
value principal and character
more.
l would rather that a child of
mine should have deeply fixed in
his mind the principles of right
and righteousness and know but
little in books, than for him to
know the entire school curriculum
and along with it have his moral
character so dwarfed as to make
him untruthtul, dishonest, and
profane.
There is such a thing as teach
ing children to be truthful, upright
and respectful to authority Then
should we not learn the art? We
believe if these fundamentals of
child's education were first we'll
grounded, all things else would
be easily added. " A proper degree
of self.respect will always keep
ones tongue from evil and his
lips from speaking guile" and in
no case would there be so many
ugly, foul symbols of immortality
which are today on exhibition
about so many school premises.
We should teach the pupils to
stand well with their fellows, and
not to sacrifice principle and thus
offend the Divine mind to crafty
the changing whims of compan-
ion.
We cannot always please man,
but no character so complete which
does not have genuine self-respect
and Gods approval upon the pos
SCISSORS life. True, pure character
is the diamond that cuts every
other stone, and marks the way of
success to the boy and the girl in
this life and a hundred fold more
in the life to come. Let us there
fore so teach and impress the
child that it will build temple of
character whose summit shall
pierce the bright, blue sky of liber-
ty, justice and piety, while its base
rests upon the solid granite of
PRINCIPLES which we have TAUGHT