'^cf ^ .^ A ^^^^ "Cv ^^ A^ ^V "bvJ- aV 'V fvSC^' 4 o <."> ^"^^^ .. ...,. Xc^ I 1 A^ «s>- ^ ^"^ ; ^v^ ^ ^mW/: xo-^^ ^r. '" O^ s.. % 4 o C' > c, A° ^^Qi ' £^. ^oV° ; ^ ^. * A ^ "^..N o DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. WHAT IS EDUCATION? OF EMINENT MEN !-> 7 3 WASHINGTON. ; ; ; GOVERNMENT PRINTING t'i't'.C 1^.. . 1870. ','r ^ ^ ?ba' soning and evidence, in the true methods of inquiry, and in tUe-Vources of false judgments, is an essential part of a good education. .'Auci yet, how little is done to teach the right use of the intellect, in tlio common modes of training either rich or poor. As a general rule, the yOung are to be made, as far as possible, their own teachers— the disco%-aiers of truth — the interpreters of nature — the framers of science. They are to be helped to help themselves. They should be taught to observe and study the world in which they live, to trace the connections of events, to rise from particular facts to general principles, and then to apply these in explaining new phenomena. Such is a rapid outline of the intellectual education, which, as far as possible, should be given to all human beings ; and with this, moral education should go hand in hand. In proportion as the child gains knowledge, he should be taught how to use it well- how to turn it to the good of mankind. He should study the world as God's world, and as the sphere in which he is to form interesting connec- tions with his fellow-creatures. A spirit of humanity should be breathed into him from all his studies. In teaching geography, the physical and moral condition, the wants, advantages, and striking peculiarities of dif- ferent nations, and the relations of climate, seas, rivers, mountains, to their characters and pursuits, should be pointed out, so as to awaken an interest in man wherever he dwells. History should be constantly used to exercise the moral judgment of the young, to call forth sympathy with the fortunes of the human race, and to expose to indignation and abhor- rence that selfish ambition, that passion for dominion, which has so long deluged the earth with blood and woe. And not only should the excite- ment of just moral feeling be proposed in every study, the science of morals should form an important part of every child's instruction. One branch of ethics should be particularly insisted on by the government. Every school, established by law, should be specially bound to teach the duties of the citizen to the state, to unfold the principles of fi-ee institu- tions, and to train the young to an enlightened patriotism. W. E. Channing. Christian Uxamiiier, Nov., 1833. The object of the science of education is to render the mind the fittest possible instrument for discovering, applying, or obeying the laws under which God has placed the universe. Wayland. 16 APHORISMS ON EDUCATION. ""WfeTegsi'd education as the formation of the character, physical, in- t6lle«tvfal,''iand moral; as the process by which our faculties are devel- oppplj. cultivated, and directed, and by which we are prepared for our stJrtlCn and employment, for usefulness and happiness, for time and eteilnitj^.' | . W. C. AVoodbridge. « Aii inte'lligent thinkers upon the subject now utterly discard and repu- (Ji4tc the'Wea that reading and writing, with a knowledge of accounts, cons{itKt(;' education. The lowest claim which any intelligent man now ^^^(e"rs^i»;ts behalf is, that its domain extends over the threefold nature o'f'RTfan',' oyer his body, training it by the systematic and intelligent ob- Bervanee'^t those benign laws which secure health, impart strength and prolong; Jife ; over his intellect, invigorating the mind, replenishing it with knowledj,'e{ and cultivating all these tastes, which are allied to virtue ; and oVfef.ins moral and religious susceptibilities also, dethroning selfish- ness, ei)jth,rpning conscience, leading the affections outwardly in good-will towards man, and upward in gratitude, and reverence to God. Far above and beyond all special qualifications for special pursuits, is the importance of forming to usefulness and honor the capacities which are common to all mankind. The endowments that belong to all, are of far greater consequences than the peculiarities of any. The practical farmer, the ingenious mechanic, the talented artist, the upright legislator or judge, the accomplished teacher, are only modifications or varieties of the original 7nan. The man is the trunk ; occupations and profes- sions are only different qualities of the fruit it yields. The development of the common nature; the cultivation of the germs of intelligence, up- rightness, benevolence, truth that belong to all ; these are the principal, the aim, the end, — ^while special preparations for the field or the shop, for the forum or the desk, for the land or the sea, are but incidents. The great necessities of a race like ours, in a world like ours, are : a Body, grown from its elemental beginning, in health ; compacted with strength and vital Math activity in every part ; impassive to heat and cold, and victorious over the vicissitudes of seasons and zones ; not crip- pled by disease nor stricken down by early death ; not shrinking from bravest effort, but panting, like fleetest runner, less for the prize than for the joy of the race; and rejuvenant amid the frosts of age. A Mind, as strong for the immortal as is the body for the mortal life ; alike enlight- ened by the wisdom and beaconed by the errors of the past ; through intelligence of the laws of nature, guiding her elemental forces, as it directs the limbs of its own body through the nerves of motion, thus making alliance with the exhaustless forces of nature for its strength and clothing itself with her endless charms for its beaut}^ and, wherever it goes, carrying a sun in its hand with which to explore the realms of na- ture, and reveal her yet hidden truths. And then a Moral Nature, pre- siding like a divinity over the whole, banishing sorrow and pain, gather- ing in earthly joys and immortal hopes, and transfigured and rapt by the sovereign and sublime aspiration to know and do the will of God. Horace Mann. .^ sq. -J." / 'f<^\\ .^ ^^:^ ^'-^^^ ^0•' '^. * O K O -7* -^Jm- : . 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