How TO Educate the Laborer. 441 



knowledge, and thus, during the intervals of work, edu- 

 cated themselves. 



It does not by any means follow that ever}' boy can 

 become learned and well disciplined, mentally, because 

 Franklin, Burritt and a few others have arisen to positions 

 of honor and trust. 



To all general rules there are exceptions. The men 

 above named fall under this category. The rule, from 

 actual experience and observation of facts, is that hard 

 manual labor and deep thouglit are inconsistent ; no person, 

 unless under intense excitement, can think intently wliile 

 the body is fatigued. 



In accordance with the laws of the human mind, we see 

 why those manual labor schools which, a few years since, 

 were so popular, have nearly all failed ; and, also, we see 

 why the position which some honest farmers and mechanics 

 take is untenable. They say the best place to educate the 

 boy is on the farm or in the shop. These are good places 

 to learn a trade, but, if the position taken in this discus- 

 sion be correct, it follows that a boy cannot, while actively 

 engaged in learning his trade, receive very much mental 

 discipline, or, in other words, cannot be educated. Time, 

 independent of all work, must be taken for this special 

 purpose. 



Again, no art, or trade, can be successfully learned until 

 the child has mental discipline or culture to understand, 

 readil}', how any handicraft ought to be done. The pupil 

 at scliool cannot form gracefully the letter " A " or " B " 

 imtil he sees the form clearly in his mind, and then, with 



