The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-06-05

We are too apt to measure our
progress by the pages Of a book.
In we read many books We think
We are well-read, II We study
many subjects, we think we are
welleducated. But II Is far better
that we learn few things well than
many things indlfferently. Think
you that Lincoln was not an educat-
cd man. He was. not a man OF
many school days or OF many books.
But he learned his lessons well,
and say to you that he derived
more real education from the books
that he, had than many a boy mas
derived from a whole college
course. ... NY
Education must be practical. I
do not mean that our high schools
should teach boys mechanical trades
or that they should teach girls 10
knit and spin. Perhaps they should
do these things, but Il is not OF
these that 4 now speak. I mean
that they must keep forever In view,
the principle that school education
is but n preparation of the mind
for the larger work Of life and that
II should develop the qualities OF
mind and heart that are essential
to success In any calling
Two Purposes Of Education.
ssrrhArn sx.rxx .xf
education, One Is to cultivate and
develop, the mind, the other Is to
store the mind with facts. or the
two, the former Is the more impor-
.tant. The most practical results are
not always the most direct. We
,fatten a sheep with grass, not In
order TO obtain a crop OF hay from
his back, but In the hope that he
win feed US, with mutton and clothe
us with wool We teach dead
and mathematics to boys
and girls, not that they may bring
their latin poetry and their equa.
tons TO the work of tho counting
house, the workshop, the pulpit,
the bar or the household, but that
they may bring TO any calling. .
mind well fitted to meet its duties
and responsibilities. A girl may
be taught 10 patch and darn and
bake, and still be an Indifferent
servant or an uncomfortable house
wife, but without formal instruction
in any OF these things she may.
by the help of the spirit that Is
put into her, do well and advance
towards perfection In !. whatever
may be demanded OF her. Nor is
1t from books alone that school
education Is acquired The boy or
girl might learn his books at home.
1t Is from the contact with those
about them that they learn knowl-
edge OF the world. + The public
school is a lust picture of the world,
and all the ways of men are practice
ed there In miniature.
Value OF Spiritual Developments.
I'VE must teach the value Of
moral and spiritual development.
It has taken something mors. than
intellectual culture to make the
world what II is. The .aneients
were educated. The Egyptians
delyed into the secrets OF the earth
and they unrayeied the mysteries
|of the stars Greece iR her splendid
days boasted OF her literary culture,
her philosophy, and her science and
art Italy was the intellectual treas
urei house of the middle ages. But
these civilizations lacked moral
fibre and so they crumbled.. The
truths OF history admonishes us
that the real civilizer OF mankind.
the cohesive force in all civil
Eaiion, is the spiritual and moral
Development.
I'VE must teach. civic. duty. We
may teacff the singing OF ,patrfctie
songs and we should do 80, but We
should a1sp teach that this Is but
The inspiration 10 duty. not the
duty itself. For these are as the
/ fife and drum that precede the
battle. The real work OF patriotism
Is, as the drudgery Of camp life, the
toilsome march. and the bayopet
charge. i
your teachers have tremendous
responsibility. You have. befora you
the boys and girls who win soon be
the men and women who are shap.
ing the destiny OF the world. You have
them. at q time when their motives
are pure, their aspirations high, and
their patriotic impulses strong. The
box n his teens. who writes eco