38 



der that they will be obliged to mount to gain enough to live I 

 and fill the place assigned them in this busy world. They " 

 seem to be dipped slightly in a thin sokition of accomplish- -m 

 ments, they are taught that that alone is necessary ; — not 

 that they will one day be the men and women, and should 



be fitting themselves to take and carry on the work which 

 the hands of their fathers and mothers have laid down. 



Education we make much effort for, both with time and 

 money ; culture we leave almost entirely. The farmer who 

 should manure and plough his ground, plant his seed, and 

 leave the rest untouched cannot ' expect much of a crop 

 except weeds ; — but when we feed, clothe, and educate, our 

 children, leaving meanwhile, tlie cultivation to be picked up 

 from street society, can we wonder at a crop of weeds. We 

 write learned articles on the cidtivation of vegetables, to be 

 read from the agricultural papers, and provide Paris green 

 for potato bugs ; but our boys are found with oaths and cuds 

 of tobacco in their mouths, cigars between their lips ; girls, 

 whose chief talk is a series of slang ; and who provides a 

 remedy ? Saloons are erected, licensed by law, and the smart 

 boy considers it no disgrace to toss off his glass of beer, but 

 he would not think it smart to go to Sabbath School. The 

 remedy for this is to teach the useful to our children, that 

 which will make the world better, and it can be taught in 

 but one way, the earnestness of men and women in their 



intercourse with children. 



Plato taught that the successful Commonwealth should 



recognize the worth of labor, culture, music, poetry, and 

 painting. The ornamental, useful and graceful should go 

 together working for the same end, the greatest individual 

 good and related life. The Emperor of Germany, after hav- 

 ing been despoiled by a long war with Austria, in looking 

 over their despoiled country and empty exchequer, and in 

 trying to plan for future posterity and prosperity of the 

 country, said his hope and salvation was in the boys, and by 



