The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-27
HOW, WHERE AND WHY
OF GIRLS EDUCATION
Three Questions Which Careful Parents Must Con
slider Deeply for Their Daughters Sake
Are Answered Here


Where sh.ll we educI.n them2 Why
shnil we tducnto thoin7
These thee questions should recei 70
the careful attention {: all parents
many of whom do not realize the great
charges that have taken place along
educational lines sine: ;hcir school
"ihrs. or who take It for granted that
great proStess has been made sinc'
they were young.
Parents do not ask =. what direo-
ton modern progress leads their
daughters or what goal 1; Will enable
them to attain. All their efforts are
put forth t. supply their bodily needs
perhaps dc: Tres Id be filter
world, and their mental and spiritual
wants are at the mercy OF men who
experiment as boldly and unscrupu-
lousy with immortal souls as they
would with dogs or rabbits.
We may regard true education either
as an ideal realized or the act Of striv-
ing after and attaining an ideal.
Education is thus both q process and
product; as a process. it is the de-
vcloping of body and soul In the fullest
and most perfect manner; as a product,
1t Is physician. mental, moral beauty.
We should no more separate this
threcfcli dement, in education than
we would tear asuhder the root, stem
and blossom of plant
Example of Greeks.
The Greeks have left us an example
of the attention and thought which
may be bestowed on physician perfec-
ton; nowhere was the beauty of the
human form more carefully developed
nowhere was more energy devoted to
the pcrfecting CT every organ than in
ancient Greece. Tho monuments Of
art with which they have enriched the
world are but embodimcnts of their
ideal--thc perfecting OF physical beau.
ty. Among the Greeks, too, though
not with them alone of the ancient
world. we find tho highest mental de-
velopment, and when captive Greece
took captive her proud conqucror" she
gave birth to a new offspring whose
mental cndowments were surpassed
only by those of the Greeks.
Neither physical nor mental perfec-
ton Is new Idea Modern progress
has not yet begotten either, and We
venture to state our opinion-with due
Difference to the arguments OF those
who hold the opposite view-that mod
crn progress has not caused the pro-
duction Of single work which. from
4 merely mental standpoint. can rival
the classics. BY modern progress we
here understand that OF the last half
century
We have been examining but the
root and stem. Where is the opening
bud or fun bloom flower? Where Is
the moral beauty which completes
both physical and mental growth, and
without which life is meaningless or
dangerous. and man either an automa-
ton or an engine OF destruction? Our
quest In the pagan world is n vain one.
The chaste brilliancy OF the sculptured
marble is here to reflex OF a chaste
and beautiful soul. but rather OF q
ell-devcloped artistic mind which
Its cravings has unconsciously reached
out beyond it's ideal and sought to
grasp something Of which II knew not.
Perhaps II was an inspiration caught
from such an effort that led to the In
scripton OF which Paul speaks before
the Areopagitica ito the unknown
God" Yes. the God unknown to the
Greeks and Romans had 10 become
known ere the foul corruption tina:
blighted all moral loveliness could be
cleared away and the souls wounds
cauterized. We turn from the pagan
tc the Christian world. and find the
ideal, blindly sroped after. but never
reached in pagan times, shedding It's
clear and full effulgence over a new
world and as we tread down the ages
we and that wherever tho idcal-the
Christian ideal--shlnes most brightly,
there human nature rises up to meet
1t, and attains that moral beauty
which should be the goal OF all educa-
tional effort.
HIVE Seen the Ideal.
In Tcnnyson and Browning we have
cducationalists. though not profess
sional ones. who have seen tho ideal
with q special insight, and have point
cd 1t out to others Does not Tenny-
son partially indicate it when he says
HE had the strength OF ten because
his heart was pure?
How, then. shall We educate our
girls? We shall educate them SO that
they shall reach the highest physical.
mental and moral development that is
possible in each individual case. In
the Christian ideal. we ind the pagan
ideal mems sanus In corpore sano"
completed ana perfected.
Physical life needs its due amount OF
care or the mental and moral life may
be warped. That wonderful work Of
the Creator--the human body--should
be brought to the utmost perfection
possible that il may be 4 fitting tenn
pie for Gods more wonderful creation
the human soul. But the care Of the
soul is per SCI OF as much more i'm
portance than that OF the body, as
| thought surpasses matter. or spirit,
| flesh.
Mental life, by which is understood
the exercise OF Tile UllIcTcnt IacultlcS
| OF the soul. must be carefully studied
and judiciously treated. Each faculty
must receive It's special development,
IL the mental training is TO be sound
| and thorough.
Most Important Factor.
But the cultivation OF the soul on
| its moral side, the training OF the will
and Judgment. Is the most importan
| factor In education. If this is neglect
| cd, the whole aim of education is lost
| 1t Is "ur tut manque." and must en-
evitably result in a catastrophe We
cannot separate the mental and moral
| life of the soul so as to care for the
ono and ignore the other AS intel
lectual habits must be cultivated, SO
must moral habits. Modern progress
viewed In at least one aspect, has tried
! to make n divorce between mental and
moral life Instead of progression. it's
| leaders advocate retrogrcssion. They
would lead the world back to Pagan
| Greece and Rome, and take up again
| the blurred half complete ideal. they
would shut out the Great Teacher.
ha ch n nrI1