The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-05-21

God.' said NacoAsmnA Mnd In his In :
PRODUCTION TO the eswmon on tho Mount
tho founda tfon stone Of Chrtstfan
civiiisa tion--st Matthew tells US that
He opened His mouth and taught
them
CAS- students in this school you are
hitting yourselves for this high calling.
To you will be committed the teaching
of the youth OF this stats---the mould
Ing Of the virsiniAns OF tomorrow---the
men and women who are to be en-
trusted with the ideals. the work and
the government of the State and who
are to contribute to shaping the ideals
and carrying on the work and govern
ment Of the nation. Your privilege
Ia great and your responsibilities are
corresponding great. for upon you 1t
will depend In no small measure
whether our ideals shall be maintained
and advanced, our work we'll done and
our policies OF government wisely
shaped and efficiently administered.
ITO the teacher who may lack a full
appreciation of his responsibilities, I
commend profound meditation on an
expression by DR.. Ladd that the Gull
mination of the function of the pro-
fessiona1 teacher IL the making of a
person
This, then, Is your task in life
the making OF persons-and the prob
lem In that Of so doing your work that
the product Of our schools will be the
best possible under the conditions and
Limitations within which you must
work.
shou1d Lay broad Foundation.
Believing, as ] do. that the best
hitting that . man or woman oan have
for any profession. business or occu-
patton is a broad culture. recognize
that such an education 10 not within
the reach Of all and that the great ma
jority of your students must leave
school early in life. most of them be-
fore entering the high school grades
This suggests that we should endenvor.
In the primary and secondary grades,
to lay the foundation a. broad A. we
can and to Develop in each one a de-
sire for knowledge that win carry him
forward In self-education after leav-
ing school. All men, said Aristotle.
have by nature desire for know1-
edge but the intellectual appetites OF
individuals differ, and the best work
that a teacher can do may be the slim
, ulation Of the desire for broader knowi-
edga The really successful teacher is
one who tnstills In the pupils the de-
sire foe An ever broadening knowledge,
who awnksns his curiosity and who
trains him In the best methods of
study.
TT may he objected that the records
OF achievement by self-made men m
the United States do not bear out the
high estimate that / have put upon
broad education az a preparation for
industry. But, admitting the excep-
lions. Ia 10 = fact that the so-called
self-made men who have been conspic-
nous IN American Industrial life have
been men of narrow training? Have
not the really successful men. with
few exceptions, given great diligence
and attention 10 the self-training of
their minds within the limitations i'm
posed by their environments. and have
they not often made up. in come meas
ure, for lack OF school education by
a self acquired training OF the powers
OF observation and gensraIization7 A
review OF the men who have been
leaders In Industrial achievement in
the United States will. ] believe, dis
close two facts First, that among the
so-caIled self-made men a large pro-
portion have been country hoys-hoys
bred on the farm or in the country
village as distinguished from those
bred in the city. and. second. that pro-