The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-16
A N ED j C ALTON
MEANS HARD WORK
There Is Not, and Never Can
Be, Royal Road to
Learning.
TOO MUCH SPECIALIZING
The Money School Offers to
Boys a Model, Well-Rounded
Course.
TOO MUCH SPECIALIZING
BY w. f. MONEY,
HentimRstcr.

There Is a belief abroad that tha
methods of education need cons,,,t
revision and remodel:ng; that the
educator OF to-day is far ahead of him
OF Yesterday. and that IL sufficient
talk and discussion and experimenti
are INDUCED in. the goal will at last
be reached: the toll and drudgery OF
the boy will be reduced to the mini
mum and the rapidity OF his advance.,i
ment will be palpable
Need 1T be said that these ideaa ~
visionary? There is no royal road to
learning there never will be- To
look for II seems like seeking after
the philosophers stone, perpetual mo.
ton or the transmutation of the met-
ais. All knowledge that is of value
is gained only by drudgery and toll,
No learning can he acquired excent
oy hard mental labor. There Is a dam
serous tendency. especially dangerous
IN the preparatory school. to make
the course of study easier by special
izins. to discard as useless and nm
necessary studies which the expert.
ence of many generations has show,
TO be best adapted to strengthen the
growHs intellect py a process OF
mental gymnastics" thus fitting a.
al maturity to think comprehensivsI1,
and to grapple successfully with ths
practical problems that NAV coma IN
the way. This Is a unitarian are
wHere the end must be reached by the
shortest cuts in the quickest wav
what used to be considered neoes.
sary for the mental training OF the
boy is now regarded as jetsam. 70 ~
thrown overheard. The vessel must he
made as light as possible that the
speed may be the greatest But with
all this increased speed the stability
OF the craft is jeopardized Ballast is
| wanting-ballast. that which gives
equiiorium. 1t is beyond dispute thar
boy of ordinary Intelligence who haa
oeen given liberal education. and
| who has been thoroughly grounded In
the fundamentals. will. with suitable
training. arrive in a short time at as
great a degree of proficiency in any
given profession as the hoy of equal
ability who has heen educated alb
| initio, solely for that particular call
ing Not only this: but the former
VIII nave the enormous advantage OF
being prepared as we'll to grasp any
external subject. and will also pos
sess the superior address and poise
which liberal educati alone can
| bestow
There Is too much specializing amons
| the youth OF the day. A boy came to
the Money School last year from a.
large preparatory school in New Yoryc
state. His mathematical studies for
the entire previous session had been
| the solving OF questions in discount
percentage and time payments He
could do nothing else; he knew moth
| Ing else; he had been taught nothing
else. with figures. He could solve no
| question that was not concerned with
the borrowing, lending or paying OF
| money. He could grasp no problem
| That was not written in terms of dol
| lars and cents
| Is this the teaching that q prepar-
atory school should give a hoy of
twelve? Is II not mistake for the
preparatory school to encourage the
| idea, which some boys are only too in
| cl'ned to hold. that the purpose OF
schooling is to give certain final
| and definite stock of knowledge. sufti-
| Client TO enable a boy to achieve some
| specific Interior ambition? Should not
| the object of the preparatory school
| be rather so to At the boy that he
may. after his school days are over,
| go on Increasing in knowledge, finding
constantly new uses for that store OF
elementary fundamental ideas which,
broad based progressive school
| course has given him? What is the
end and aim. the purpose and goal. OF!
all education? take 1t to be happt-l
ness. The happiness the individuaN
may be to himself: the happiness hel
| may be to others We toll up the
ladder of knowledge for this reason
only, and the broader our base the
steadier is our progression the more
| sure are we of our reward The boy
| whose education has been conducted
altogether along oblique lines-utili-
tarian-wll. when he grows up. seldom
| prove as great Joy to himself or to
! others as the one whose education
has been full, rounded and compre-
hensive. BY all means. let the adult
i man specialize. IL he wishes to do so.
/ In this intensive age IL Is almost a.
J necessity. But the hoy? No. With
| him 1t is short-sig hted. The advant-
| ages are not commensurate with the
| drawbacks.
! The boy should take a course that
will lay the foundation for self-educa-
/ ton later. For. after all. every man
! must educate himself His books. his
teachers, are helps, very great helps:
| but the real work must be his own.
| All that is best worthy of acquire
| ment man must work out and con-
! quer for himself II. in the boy. the
/ early springs of independent thought
are restricted. the broad dow of the
| adult intellect will he narrowed and
| the man will not possess those quail
| ties which are at once an introduce
! ton abroad. an ornament In society
| and grace and government TO genius.
! The omnipotence OF the early cui-
ture and training OF the preparatory
| school hetrays itself long years after
| the boy has gone out into she world
| to fight the battles OF life
| "A