752 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 



directly in our State schools. It is, therefore, necessaiy to leiterate 

 the law demonstrated by psychology. Intellectual cognition can- 

 not of itself initiate actions of any kind; much less can it initiate 

 those complex actions classed as moral. Only when a cognition 

 calls forth an emotion can action follow. And this action is not 

 the result of the cognition, but of the emotion. The nature and 

 intensity of the action does not depend upon the quality and 

 quantit}- of the cognition, but does depend upon the quality and 

 quantity of the emotion called forth. Psychology, therefore, 

 provides us with the elemental piinciplos that, knowledge does not 

 directly determine action; on the contrary, action is determined by 

 feeling and emotion. Let us consider a concrete illustration. An 

 explosion has occurred in a coal mine. Living men are imprisoned 

 by the debris. A thousand workers throng to the pit mouth. 

 Knowledge of the conditions is general among the group. Their 

 daily toil has made them acquainted with all the minute details 

 wliich go to make up the horror of the situation. Strong emotions 

 are called into being. The desire to help a mate in distress is 

 throbbing through each consciousness. These, and kindred emotions, 

 ■would urge a simultaneous rush to the rescue. But emotions of a 

 deterrent nature are also present. The rescuer must risk his life, 

 and emotions of fear and self-interest arise. This man has a wife 

 and family dependent upon him; and a quick imagination pictures 

 what his death would mean to them. Another is the support of 

 an aged mother. Dare he leave her destitute? The whole crowd 

 is swayed by conflicting emotions. The rush to the rescue does not 

 take place. But here and there a man steps out from the crowd — 

 " I will go," and " I," and " I.'' Twenty men out of a thousand 

 offer themselves. In what respect do the twenty differ from the 

 crowd? Not in knowledge; for practical knowledge of the conditions 

 is equally open to all. The line of divergence lies, not in superior 

 knowledge, but in superior emotions. In the minds of the twenty the 

 altruistic emotions were stronger than the egoistic emotions. And 

 that fact determined their conduct. Many and varied were the 

 causes which led to this dominance of the altruistic emotions. A 

 few of the men may have inherited a stronger sympathetic mental 

 constitution. Others have loved relations, or respected friends 

 imprisoned in that house of death, and the mental concepts of 

 these call forth still more complex emotions, which, uniting with 

 like impulses already present, determine the nature of action, in 

 spite of 'Strong counter emotions prompting to selfi-preservation. 

 The experience of each of us provides similar illustrations. All 

 serving to show that no amount of knowldge, per se, will determine 

 a man's action in any given direction. And emphasising the fact 

 that emotions, good or evil, determine conduct. 



Ethical training, therefore, is resolved into a training of the 

 emotions. And in no branch of the teacher's art is such careful and 

 sincere thought called for as in this. The emotinal responsiveness 

 of a child's mind varies greatly. The individual capacity to benefit 

 by the best training is ultimately dependent upon inherited qualities. 

 But even the least promising can be wonderfully influenced by right 

 methods. On the other hand, wrong methods may not only be 

 unfruitful ethically, they may actually be harmful. 



