T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV ER TO N , OREGON , T H U R SD A Y , MAY 19, 1898.
2
dents become proficient enough in
To the ag ricu ltu rist, horticuli ui-
Greek and Latin to m ake any prac- ist and other scientists, we likewise
An address delivered by W. J. Gilstrap t jc a j uge
knowledge thus owe a debt of gratitude. N o am o u n t
in an oratorical con tv, t at Albany, Ore.
ed? w |
then> ehou)d mogt of clllBRjcal education can cause
Education is the driving wheel ot
° ur ¡ngtjtutions of learning re- “ two blades o f grass to grow where
civilization. It has for its object quire, for g raduation, from four to one grew before”. It requires an
the fullest developm ent of m ankind six years of Greek and Latin? Why application of thought.
— th at developm ent which enables not devote this time to the study of
We have been ta u g h t to re g rrd
an individual to attain the highest more practical subjects’? Sjiencer him who is fam iliar with classical)
degree of perfection. 1 his is accom- angwere(j t pege questions some for- lore as the only tru ly educated m an.
plished by the accum ulation of
rg ag() wfien he said:
Should we thus ignore the raechan-'
knowledge, and th e acquirem ent o
“ Am ong m ental as am ong bodily ic, the physicist, the chem ist, th e '
d is c ip lin e -th e power to think and acquighiong, the ornam ental COmes biologist or any other scientist
the power to do.
before the useful, so a hoy’s drill- whose profession requites years of
Today m any of our leading edu ing in Greek and Latin is insisted p rep aratio n ?
Are we to elim inate
cators ask if our present system of on, not because of their intrinsic from our list of educated men the
education fulfills these require value, hut th a t he may not be dis- scientists—the men who are leading
ments.
Does it tru ly educate? graced by being found ign o ran t of the world onw ard and upw ard in
Does it p re p a ie o n e to put the most tl,ern ”
the great m arch of civilization?
into life and to get the most out
of
. ,
Is this the best system of educa- Most assuredly not; for we m ust
life? Does it prepare one to do the
b
h h) the rising ' acknowledge th a t a thorough u n
best for himself and for the world generations of the tw entieth cen- , derstanding of these sciences is
- of -
in which be lives?
tu r y ? It is a p re v a le n t b e lie f th a t vital im portance to every one who
Our educational system is a relic
,
.
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i
any study which is excellent as a today m ust play his p art; and they
of the d ark ages. I t has been de- (
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m ental discipline m ust he useless are the subjects best calculated to
veloped by a process of evolution
1
’
-
r
a
. for the general purpose of life. 1 hi» enlarge, cultivate and strengthen
from a system th a t was adequate
,
f
.
is a m istake. A proper study of the intellect.
to a time in which all scholarly at-
.
G erm any today is crow ding Eng
a
the n atu ra l sciences and modern
tain m en ts were confined to trie
.
,
, «
languages affords as good a mental land, th at hitherto invincible corn-
m onasteries—a tim e when to be ed-
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' drill as do the classics.
W by not, uiercial country, out of foreign
ucated was m erely to be able to
.
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then, leave the window of an tiq u ity m arkets sim ply because she can
read the recorded thoughts of oth-
’
,
,
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,
a.
.
,, ,
• „ ,„i,i and turn to the modern window of produce a better m anufactured a r
ers—a time when all learning co u ld
technical education, through which ticle at less cost. This she is able
have been expressed by the two
we m ay study the “ n atu ral phe- to do because her people have a
words, classics and m athem atics.
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.
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notnena and the laws »hat co n tro l more liberal education—an educa-
educa
As civilization advanced and the
. , , .
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the world and its in h ab itan ts’ . Is tion which not only develops the
rapidly-increasing population de-
,
, . , ,
,
m antled changes, the sciences, one it not a greater m istake to be found power to th in k , but the power to
after another, have been added to ; ignorant of social, political, phys- think along practical lines, and the
i
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i
ieal, chemical and biological sci- power to put th a t th o u g h t into
our educational courses.
1 fie sys-
, ,
ences, of history anti ot modern practical use. It is not the thought
tem has been broadened, hut it is
the su p erstru ctu re alone th a t has languages, than to he found ignor alone, hut its practical application,
Are we to ig- th at makes it valuable. So the re-
been modified.
It still rests on a a n t of the classics?
nore th a t science which, more than ally successful man is the one who
fifteenth-century foundation.
In the study of the ancient class- a l> o th ers- has been the foundation thinks and then makes a practical
ice, we look through the window of of our Preeent civilization; which application of his thoughts.
an tiq u ity and view m an in his has alleviated the suffering of man-
In some professions a classical
prim itive condition. We behold k in d . lengthened life, purified and
education may be preferred, as in
him as he gazes upon the world and advanced the world ? Are we to medicine, the law, and the m inis
interprets the howling of the wind, ignore the sc.enceot biology, which try;
eucli an education does not
the lightning's flash, or even the l,as furnished the great, underlying nieet the g,.n e ra l w ants of the peo-
direction in which a Hock of birds principle of m odern education— p |e. The cultivation of our powers
chance to fly, as a good or evil the laboratory m ethod — the m eth- of observation and the practical
omen. We see him regarding these , oti which so happily brings into application of thought is as much a
and other phenom ena of nature as Pla-V a11 tl,e d o rm an t faculties of part of true education as is the cul-
tlie outw ard m anifestation of the perception and teaches us to draw t iv a tjon of the memory.
We too
pleasure or w rath of some god or proper conclusions from observed often m ake th e m istake of cultivat-
demon, whom he ignorantly wor- faclP> thuH enabling the hand and ing t fie m em ory alone a t the ex-
sbips. I t is also true th a t we he- the brain to co-operate? No! We penge of a n the o th er faculties,
come acquainted with the Greek Hre beginning to realize the fact w h en we consider th a t more than
and L atin code of m orals; but this th at the education which cu ltisates pine-tenths of the people m ust use
is not our object in the study of ’be mepiory alone is fit only for tHeir hands as well as their brains,
these languages.
Our sole aim is gentlemen of leisure, the men refer- we can pee jbe need of a liberal ed-
to acquire knowledge and disci- red to by Horace Greeley when he ucatjo n — th at education
which
pline.
said: “ ()1 all horned cattle, deliv- teaches a m an to think and to do.
C annot these attain m en ts be as er me from the college g rad u ate.” Its foundation should be laid early
readily secured by the study of
1 he chem ist has determ ined the ¡n life. T hroughout his education-
more practical subjects? Is it nec- constituents of the soil, the air and a j life the child should be brought
essary for us to spend the best years the water.
He has dem onstrated co n stan tly in contact with n atu re
of our liven in th e study of the th a t the com plex organic co.n- and n a tu re ’s laws, and be tau g h t
Greek and L atin code of m orals, pounds are built up from simple, to observe and in terp re t them . His
an d th eir false conceptions of these inorganic substances. He has re first school experience should be
n a tu ra l phenom ena? M any of the du<* d the cost every “ rticle w,lich with things , in the kindergarten,
and this should be supplem ented by
most learned men of today are be- ,nan uses.
ginning to answer these questions
The m echanic, also, has brought nature-studies in the public schools,
em phatically in the negative.
forth wonderful results.
He has m anual train in g in the graded and
I t is also argued th a t the study produced m achines which, under high schools, and technical courses
of those languages enables one bet- bis guidance, are alm ost superhu- in the colleges and universities,
ter to understand and use bis mo- man in their power and rapidity to From the tim e the child enters the
ther tongue. This m ay be true in perform the most delicate as well kindergarten until he graduates
rare instances, but how m any stu- as the heaviest work.
from college, be should be tau g h t
B ra in a n d B r a w n .
more and more to observe and to
th in k , and less and less sim ply to
m em orize and im itate.
How long shall our educational
system be based upon the false be
lief th a t the faculties of the brain
are all th a t should he educated?
IIow long shall our chief institu
tion« of learning continue to send
forth men whose intellects alone
have been trained and disciplined,
men who think they are prepared
to do an y th in g , and yet have no
trade, no profession, and in reality
can d o n o t h i n g ?
’Today the de
m and is not for men who have
trained intellects alone, but for men
who have strong m inds, men who
apply their thoughts for the better
m ent and advancem ent of the
world.
S w a m p e d in a B a p tis m .
“ You rem em ber ole Jo h n Collins
th a t used to run a cigar store on
the east side?” inquired an old East
P ortlander of a group of listeners in
an u n d erta k er’s shop yesterday.
Everybody
old Jo h n , and
ued:
“ Well ole
went down to
present remembered
the speaker contin
Jo h n left here and
the sea coast, down
to Long Beach, and blessed if he
a in ’t got religion.
Nobody that
knowed ole Jo h n would have expect
ed him of nothing like th a t, hut it’s
a fact, f o r i was just down th a t way
and he told me about it.
The
D unkards is the name of the crowd
he jined, and the first thing they
did was to baptize him.
None o'
this laying of dam pened hands,
neither; they ju st takes him to a
pond and dips him in.
He told
me all about it when I was down
there.
“ You remember ole John a in ’ got
but one leg; t ’other one’s wood, and
he used to have a spike in the end
of it to keep him from slippin'
when he was goin’ home on frosty
nights, and at other tim es when he
was in danger o’ slip p in ’. Well
when the m inister got out up to his
m iddle in th ed u ck pond where John
was to be dipped, and motioned to
John to follow in, Jo h n , he started
out as bold as life, and the first
thing th a t he did was to sink that
peg leg of his into the m ud like a
pile driver. He floundered and
splashed around try in ’ to git out,
the m inister all the while shiverin’
out there in the m iddle of the pond
a w aitin’ for him , but he couldn’t do
no good, aud finally some o’ them
on shore whipped off th eir shoes
and socks and waded in after
him.
“ Once his peg leg was clear John
went along pretty careful, and be
fore very long was out in th e m id
dle, along side the m inister.
It
bein’ a p retty cold day the m inister
he was gittin anxious to get honm
and dry out, and he hustled through
till he cam e to the ducking part,