Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-12
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the BookLorer.

1.-THE evidence is unmista kable that
there is an important change in the
attitude of the public toward educa-
ton. Perhaps at no time since
the thirteenth century has the desire
for knowledge SO nearly approached
mass movement" says Everett Dean
Martin. director Of the Peoples In
stitute of New York in his new book.
THE Meaning of Liberal Educa-
ton" American schools and univer-
sites are overcrowded and many stu.
dents are each year turned away.
Vast and increasing numbers register
annually for correspondence and UNI
tersity extension courses. The de-
mand for eduCa ton is also shown by
the increasing number OF lecture
courses, forums, labor colleges. and
ny the movement for adult education
which has just taken organized form
in the American Association for Adult
Education, of which DR.. Martin is
chairman OF the executive committee.
That the present wave of interest may
not be a genuine movement the au-
thor warns us If people are led to
believe that they are educated when
they are not: X short cuts are sought
by people seeking information for the
same reason that they buy an auto
mobile on the installment plan--living
intellectually beyond their means IN
the effort to keep up appearances.
Dr.. Martin has written this book from
the standpoint Of one who Is concerned
that his own education shall not stop
when he leaves school. He asks and
attempts to answer the questions:
What is an educated person like?
How does he differ from the uneducat-
ed?" The theme of his book is that
education is more than information.
or skill or propaganda: that education
is, in fact. emancipation from herd
, opinion self-mastery, capacity for self.
criticism, suspended judgment and
urbaD;ty.'
The quality of this book can best
be given by culling few from the
hundreds of quotable passages. Until
recently" he says. people have
thought Of education as something
which a man either got or missed In
his early years-something which he
generally forgot in mature years.
Now higher branches of
learning are being pursued by mum.
oers Of people outside regular educa-
tional institutions. While
much Of the demand for education Is
.enuine and spontaneous, much OF 1t
& spurious, irrelevant, inconsequen-
tial The average mature
individual must earn his liv-
ing and seek education during his
leisure time modern men insist
that the spiritual values of life be
realized not in contemplative aloof-
ness, but in the life Of actually. They
also demand a satisfactory existence
for as many people as possible. hence
all are to have the opportunity to
share the cultural goods of civiliza-
ton. Education Is made universal
and. below a certain age, compulsory.
But 1t is obvious that unless educa-
ton is to remain the privilege of pro-
fessionally trained scholars large
numbers Of people must be given the
facilities for continued study after
school and college days are passed.
The aim of adult education is the cul.
.ivated amateur. Learning which
Is discontinued when one leaves school
has been, for the most part, wasted
effort. - Nearly three million persons
are said to be annually enrolled for
various courses of study outside the
resident classes of established insti-
buttons of learning. s* Widespread
as this interest is. populariZation of
knowledge is not the same as human
ization of knowledge. The surest
way to defeat learning Is to place 1t
in charge of those whose own educa-
ton has stopped. =" Adult education
is not something to be given to the
masses. while college education may
be kept for the sons of privilege.
There is no such thing as mass edu-
cation -" With all the aid possible
from others education Is necessarily
an individual achievement. We
need adult education for the same
reason that we need any education at
ALL" DR.. Martin is very critical of the
achievements Of public education. He
says: THE habits of reading good
hooks, ability to know the good ones
from the inferior. capacity to enjoy
books for the beauty and wisdom that
may be found in them are essential
PARTS of a liberal education. A school
which implants good habits Of dis
eliminating reading is good school.
One that fails to do this is a bad
school,"
What. then, il education? The au.
thor answers: Education Is a. spirit.
ual revaiuation of human life. It's
task is to reorient the Individual. to
enable, him to take a richer and more
significant view of his experiences, to
place him above and not within the
system OF his beliefs and ideals. If
education. I use the term
liberal in it's original sense,
meaning the kind Of education
which sets the mind free from the
servitude Of the crowd and from vul-
gar self interests It Is the
search for the good life Education
Is itself a way Of living
X X -
Famous women Of beauty and wit
and slight virtue lin the restricted
sense) have always been found inter.
esting subjects for memoirs. Ninon
de Lenclos has had more than her
share Of biographers. but another has
recently been translated from the
French -" Ninon de Lenclos." by
Emile Magne. translated and edited by
Gertrude Scott Stevenson. Ninon ex.
erted' almost as great an influence
among her contemporaries as Louis
XIV himself. She was admittedly the
most brilliant and charming woman
of her time. One of her maxims was,
1T is not enough to be wise: one
must be charming as WE'LL NJ.
Magne shows Ninon as inheriting her
qualities from her father. who was a
witty, irresponsible sensualist, and
not from her mother, who was sober.
minded and religious. Ninon estab-
lished her salon when she was only
young girl and soon drew to il men
Of reputation like La Fontaine, Boz
leau, Moliere. La Rochefoucauld and
Saint -Evremond. The other reigning
courtesan of the age. Marion de
Lorme. was her friend, as was also
Mime. Scarron. later Nine. de Mainte.
non. Ninon live to be IS and retained
her beauty until very late in her life.
y ~ y