THE ESSAYIST.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2973, 15 May 1893, Page 2

THE ESSAYIST.

[by j. h. k ] •' I, lictor, deliga ad paleni." Public '• Go, lictor, bind him to a Instruction, stake." These are the words of a great Roman, uttered more than three hundred years before the birth of Christ. In the moral and Intellectual world they are as applicable to-day as they were in Gaul, when Manliu * uttered his inhuman words more than two thousand years ago. Each has some old btako or custom to which he is fastened, and from whith it seems difficult to get free. A properly educated mind possesses the ability, and will use that power to judge aright on any <|ue»tfou, and it will he ?ui<Ted by that judgment irrespective of any extra* nt-.t us consideration. The fur constituting such a mind comes into the world with every one— idiots except cd— but for the want of a proper education we cannot or do not so judge, but are fast bound each to his particular stake. Some of these stakes are labelled freetradr>, some protection, some secular instruction, and some religious instruction in public schools, «"me prohibition of intoxicating liquers some fortune hunting, some inordinate pleasure, and many others with varying names. Nature has provided for each one a mind capable of being trained to perceive, to reflect, and to judge. But, in the same organism, animal instincts exist airte by side with these and with other faculties. A skilful system of practical traiuing, commenced 1n early ' youth, can alenfl enable anyone to overcome these instincts when they come into i conflict with the higher faculties. Practical training or instruction has not yet effected this, nor anything approaching it. Everyone who comes into close contact with boys knows that they are kindhearted, open, just and true. Will they remain so when they ar« men ? A few may, but the vast majority will most most likely come to do as many ace now. They will become avaricious, crafty, deceptive, -Mid callous. The animal instincts will be ministerei to, but the [ higher faculties wofuUy neglected. ! Man possesses instincts which are common to the lower orders of created beings. Among these sre the iastinots of love of life, of food, of sex, of offspring, of society, and of courage in»real man, together with such impulses as the desire to conceal, to possess, and to construct. Each of these among other instincts will very probably lead to undesirable, and It may be to disastrous consequences, if, in man, they are not kept under proper control by the moral instincts and by the faculties of the intellect, which the mind of man alone possesses. Gu'ded properly by these sentiments and faculties, each instinct will conduce to the happiness ani wellbeing of its owner in particular, and of the community in general. Few who reflect on the present condition of society can fail to perceive that these instinots are not so guided now; and that the sentiments and faculties are, with some worthy exceptions, prostrated from their legitimate and humane uses, into such channels and to such purposes as avarice, crafr, and deceit. This baseness is resorted to by two classes—by the lazy who prefer criminal courses to honest, and invigorating labor, and by the unfortuoate who prefer baseness to penury. Every skilfully trained artisan, farmer, ana workman, ought not only to readily secure a competence, but to earn enough for some luxuries, and under proper government no one ought to .exist in penury, while millions of acres of good land are still unworked and unoccupied by man. If he have received a proper education and training he will be not only very skilful in his special wcrk or trade* but in his leisure he will be.able to keep well, abreast of the discoveries of recent days. His mind will readily comprehend the structure of the universe, and he will be able to account for the common operations of nature. How very few of the olawes which are now dubbed educated, or of the wealthy who possesses the means of securing education could explain why the grass is green the distant mountains blue/; why one rose is red and another whiter - why the sounds emitted by a piano aa music differ from those of an organ* why black boots are worn in winter and white in summer, the cause of a distant echo; why a tree appears inverted as an image in water 1 and how many of the so-called educated young ladies who admire their costly draped figures could explain why the image or reflection is seen in the mirror 1 Yet these, and hundreds oL additional natural phenomena; ought to be familiar to every boy and to every girl. Were this so, what immense pleasures would result in the contemplating and under* standing of the commonest wayside objects, even without ascendingin thought to the living and most beautiful objects in Nature. The commonest piece of road metal; an old gatepost; a pair of discarded boots, and countless thousands of similar objects, would revetl histories and processes more entertaining and more instructive than the productions of a thousand orators. In the plaoe of such a condition of the human mind, the actual results produced so far, even under the beet systems, are something like this: most boys on leaving school cannot write a sensible letter in moderately good writing ; they could not tell why Uaoklead produces one oolour on the grate, and another substance a different oolour qn the doorstep, and while they probably h«ve learned and could give many dates, just as a parrot would, they would be astQunded were they asked to explain the deficiencies of the mind that broughtabout the condition of things that existed in England when King John signed Magna Charta. As the strength of a rope depends on the strength of each strand which forms it, *o the strength of a nation depends on the strength of character and on the skill of each unit of its population. The character of each unit is first moulded in the home under the mother's care, and afterwards largely ia the public school. Such moral sentiments as justice, benevolence, and hope ought to be cultivated in the home long before the time arrivea for attending school; and if the borne - twining in this respect be defective, the necassity for rigid training in school becomes proportionately greater. It is here that the best opportunity occurs for teaching the pupil to speak the truth, and to detest falsehood; to cultivate nobleness . in all acts, and to shun meanness in all its loathsome bearings. This, indeed, formed the chief education of the ancients. In Sparta especially, each pupil waa taught to be a patriotic - citizen; who woul'l sacrifice everything to 'the wellbejng'of the State. And a result of such education, is familiar to every student of b^tory,' who will recollect how his heart warmed as. he read the account of the battle of Marathon, and of I<eonidas and his three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae. Beyond the moral sentiments the intellect, including the reflective faculties, citnes into view. When training these faculties, the pupil ought to be constantly taught to observe and to reflect, to express himself without reserve, and to understand that freedom of expression only can prevent the intellect from freezing, or its opposite, revolution ; the individual from servile mediocrity, and that this freedom of speech will avail nothing if it do not proceed from educated minds wh'ch cau grasp the general principles of any subject, weigh facts, and'express r them in'clear Krtd concise language. Probably mariy of these boys'will' become legislators. J'The wellbeing of a Sfjate depends largely pif phc intellectual qualities of its - lev. makers. Yet roost 1 legislators seem to b* guided, not by their own inteUttfa i&

determining between right and wrong, but by the consideration whether they sit on the s%me bench as Sir Harry Wriggler or Lord Twistfaots. If the practical training of the moral sentiments be neglected in the masses such spectacles may result as were seen at Rome, where, although intellectual education was not neglected, yet Pompey slaughtered five hundred lions j and Trajan eleven thousand wild beasts, and five thousand gladiators to glut the public taste for blood. If the education of the intellect be neglected, men may be very patriotic, as the Spartans were, but they will not enjoy .'the highest pleasure possible to man, the possession of »n educated mind, that can calculate the position o f a star ; thg date of the next eclipse ; and understand 'the general operations of nature. A complete system of education will fit its subject to successfully follow the occupation or trade of his choice, and will further place within his reach the means of enjoying the true pleasures to be derived from contemplating and understanding Nature and her operations.