The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-12-16
PROF. MONAGHAN'S LECTURE.

Last Thursday evening at the opera
house Prof. James Monaghan deliver
a lecture on Ideals in Education un-
der the auspices of the local council OF
the knights of Columbus. Attorney
Harry f. Kelley presided and in the
following well chosen words introduced
the speaker:
1.-Two essentials of talk that is worth
while are something to say and facility
in saying it: ideas and ability to express
them. When these ideas are the prod
uct of Il thinking machine that works
with the ineXorable regularity of a
CorlisS engine and are nourished by a
lifetime packed with unusual eNper-
fence. worldwide travel and deep study
are projected into the hearers con-
SciousneSs with unerring accuracy and
startling rapidity. without the tricks
of elocution. but by words which bear
the logic of the mathematician clothed
in the beautiful robes Of the rhetoric
ian's art. then there is talk grandIy
worth while.
This audience now has the privilege
of hearing just such a talk from the
lips of scholar, publicist, citizen of
the world, James Monaghan
Mr.. Monaghan has national reputa-
tion as "A scholar and speaker. Twelve
years spent in Germany in the United
States consular service has imbued
him with an admiration for German
character and methods which occasion
ally crops out in his lectures.
The central theme of the talk was a
plea for the education of the will as
we'll as the understanding and the men,
DRY.
In opening he took issue with Presi-
dent Buffers definition of education
asserting that one might have his crani-
um bulging with all the results of all
the worlds work and research in sci
ence and the arts and that it should
be termed mere accumulation of know
ledge. not education. He defined ed
ucation as "preparatiOn for life or
training enabling one to adapt him
self to the environment into which he
may be placed 50 as to make best use
of his faculties.
As an illustration he held up the
contrasting opportunities Of W. f..
Gladstone and Abraham Lincoln con-
tending that the latter's apparently
meager early training was real cduca-
tion: that Lincoln's addresses and let
ters have created new possibilities of
the English tongue and will live while
speech endures. He quoted with APP
proval President Elliot's assertion that
"American education resembles a pyr-
amid resting on its apex and in elab-
Grating this thought earnestly advoca-
ted the German system of industrial
education. The lives of John Mitch
.11 An, Saint 4 lta,,,la,,.s anI IlnAL--
er r. Washington were reviewed in il
lustration of the grand results that
might be produced from the right kind
of education, the speaker saying, zone
John Mitchell is worth more than all
the Rockefellers and Carnegies that
tie country has produced.
Although favOring high wage, ana
short hours of toll he said, "Hhe labor
leader who teaches the limiting of the
amount of work produced Is advocating
a villainous doctrine The workers
soul must go into his work: while
working he must do his best.
The lecture was replete with magni-
ficent periods striking epigrams, hist
orical authority and illustrative narra-
tive. 1t was. in the words of the in
PRODUCTION of the speaker 'grandly
worth while"
That Mr.. Monaghan is a Chautau-
qua favorite is easier to believe than
to say why he is. His charm is undc-
niable: he holds his audience in the
palm of his hand and plays with it.
but an effort to define the charm seems
futile. His presence when in repoSc
is ordinary and he uses no artificial de
vices to attract. He is encyclopedia in
information, mesmeric in attraction
and telepathic in his idea-conveying.
He rolls out sentences beautiful in
thought and sublime in diction without
apparent effort: his hearers sit spell
bound forbearing to applaud for fear
of missing a word.
A reception was held after the lee
ture at the X. c. hall and Friday morn
ing Prof. Monaghan spoke to the Train
ing school students. His next visit will
be eagerly awaited by those who have
been fortunate enough to hear him.