TRAINING AT THE MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 161 



Avhich to test the value of tlic training which this C/ollcge affords, or at least 

 Avhich it alTordcd to us. Tiiis (juestiou — of tlic value of tliat training — how- 

 ever, cannot be separated from that fundamental one as to " what knowledge 

 is of greatest wortii?" True, this question has been learnedly and exhaustively 

 treated Iiy many scientists and thinkers; but certain spccilic apidications of 

 even tlie most universally acknowledged })rinciples are still left open to us. 



1. A lirst re(iuisite of an education it seems to me, is that it should be of 

 practical utility, excejit perhaps in the case of tlie few who are, happily or 

 otherwise, endowed with an abundance of this Avorld's goods. To gain a liveli- 

 hood is a first necessity; and one's education should be so shaped as to contrib- 

 ute to this end. There are tliose who contend, with a sincere honesty no doubt, 

 that this is but a sordid view to tiike of so exalted a subject; that the sole pur- 

 pose of an education sliould be the cultivation of the intellect, the development 

 of tlic mind, and tlie advancement of knowledge for its own sake. But after 

 all the mind does not exist independent of the body; and we know very well 

 that as a rule mental conditions arc the direct result of bodily conditions. 

 Whether, therefore, it be a high or low view, we find that the point is already 

 irrevocably lixcd, tliat the wants of the body must take precedence to those of 

 the mind. 



A first question to decide in all cases, therefore, is whether or not this or that 

 particular education would bo likely to contribute to one's material success. 

 This })oint, when once correctly decided, is an important advance towards the 

 correct solution of the whole question ; but unfortunately the solution is often, 

 one of great difficulty. And just here the turning point no doubt is closely 

 connected with one's individual abilities — his natural endowments and tastes. 

 It is an actual loss to the world and to the individual that some who might have 

 been successful mechanics are occupying places in the ministry and tlie law, 

 and other positions which they are by no means competent to fill. It is always 

 sheer waste to sjioil a good artisan for the sake of supplying a poor divine, and 

 vice versa. 



I suspect there is needed just here such a careful classification of facts with, 

 perhaps, the making out of some new ones, as shall practically amount to a 

 new science, — one tliat will enable the parent and the teacher to so guide the 

 child and the youth, that all the efforts to be put forth in the gaining of an 

 education shall be directed to his prepiaration for that exact position in life for 

 which he is best fitted. But how many parents are there who are capable of 

 giving sound advice in this connection? tStill, an early decision is often indis- 

 pensable, — it is often one that changes for better or worse a whole life's career, 

 even as a pebble may sometimes cliange the course of a brooklet down the 

 mountain side. 



This new sort of science to which I have referred, but for which I have no 

 name to suggest, would then, simply, have for its jiractical object the so direct- 

 ing and shaping of the education of the youth of the land, by both parent 

 and teacher, that, developing into maturity, the right man might be found 

 much more universally than at present, to fill the right place with credit and 

 success. Especially should our new science enable the parent to study with dis- 

 crimination and intelligence the idiosyncracies of the child from its earliest 

 years; to watch the unfolding of its mind; to understand its inherent tastes 

 and disposition ; to note especially its physical peculiarities and requirements, 

 and thus be able to so direct and control its course and habits as to favor its 



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