The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-01-30
AN IDEAL EDUCATION.
What the "AbbotshoIme" Stands for IN
the Mind of Its Head.

The Abbotsholme is a protest
against the luxuriousness of British
education, against the abandonment
OF the country for the artificial life
of the city, against the kld-gioVeh
| aristocracy which fails to recognize
the nobility of labor All rural Eng
| land is deserted Sweet Auburn. NO
The great estates are not the homes
of the past, and ARE virtually tenant
less. We need another crusade, but
crusade which will turn back the peo'
pie to the soil, from which men are
grown.
Our present system of education
is medieval. and effete. There is moth
ing in it which will awaken the ma
ton to its peril and need of strenuous
action. The English boy is intellectual
ly asleep. He has no great objective.
no ideal. His highest thought is to
succeed to his fathers estate; to be
a landlord, and not producer. but
to do little until his father is dead.
With this abandonment Of purpose.
the best part of his life is unproduc-
tive; he has little to stimulate him
to action.
CAS- l have said, the English boy Is
Intellectually asleep, and is so because
of his environment. He lacks in mag
ination. He cannot correlate discon-
nected facts. Given isolated data. he
cannot associate and generalize.
Things do not suggest themselves to
him in new relations, and he does not
readily reason from cause to erect.
He is not easily disturbed in his COM
placent conclusions. His mind does
not act quickly, as does that OF his
American or French brother, and even
the German surpasses him in sclenti'
fic reasoning. Being comparatively de-
void of imagination, he is not an In
ventor; his secure present prompts to
no strenuous enterprise, and he mas
no great ideals. This is the reason
why the inventions of the day and
the progress in mechanics are coming
from outside the British empire. 1t Is
the explanation of the deterioration of
England"
But what hope is there in single
schools reconstructing the policy OF
an entire nation?"
1.-The hope is 10 do only one schools
part. The Abbotsholme is a school for
the boys of the ruling classes. for
those who are to be the landlords OF
the future. This may not be 80 demo |
cratic as in your America, but in it
lies the most speedy reconstruction OF
England. These boys come here at the
age of 10 and remain until they are IL. |
They leave their luxurious homes. !
where everything is done for them. |
and are here organized into an ideal
republic, where they are taught the
dignity of toll. They till the soil and
raise the vegetables they need. |
Taught the use of tools. they build
houses and bridges; and, in the build
ing, shape their creative selves. Just |
as much as other English lads. they
have their schooling, but it is hoped,
of a better kind. Their education en-
braces not only books and other In
door work, but gardening. field work
on the farm, forestry, dairy and bee
culture; practical carpentry expressed
in larger execution; wholesome physi.
cal life, with abundant outdoor sports
and the responsibilities of citizenship.
Coming from homes where there is lit.
tie personal need of work, these boys
are trained from The start to- be pro-
ducers, and even to take care of their
own rooms. They are taught the. fol-
bles of national life, and grow up with
a more democratic conception OF
things. One Abbotsholme can send out
it's quota of future rulers, who. taught
to labor and to love the soil, will make
a regenerative class Of landlords. Ono
with its representative
in every community, can be the pro
totype for many others. and in time
thus reconstruct the educational sys
tenn of England. This is my hope
through education to turn back the
people to the neglected soil-in fact
to recolonize England through the
medium of a class of landlords edu
Gated to totally different deals
From Preston w. Search's The Alb
in the Century.