powell] sophiology cxcv 



Instruction 



Having set forth the nature of the opinions hekl by mankind 

 in diflterent stages of cnltnre, and the way in whicli science sup- 

 plants superstition through the agency of verification, it yet 

 remains for us to characterize tlie agencies by which opinions 

 are propagated. This gives rise to the fifth great system of 

 arts, the hist in the pentakigic series, the arts of sopJiiology. A 

 brief characterization will be suflicient for our purposes. 



Sophiology is the art of instruction. 



NURTURE 



It is found that in organized society man has developed five 

 distinct agencies for instruction. In infancy parents instruct 

 their children. As children advance in age, other members of 

 the family take part in the work ; and still as the child advances 

 in years his associations are enlarged and all of those persons 

 who constitute his social environment take part. Instruction 

 of this character is well recognized under the term nurture. 



ORATORY 



In tribal society an important agency of instruction is found 

 in oratory. Every patriarch of a clan, every chief of a tribe, 

 every shaman of a brotherhood, every chief of a confederacy, 

 must be an instructor of his people. This instruction is neces- 

 sarily conveyed by oratory; hence in tribal society a com- 

 paratively large number of persons are spokesmen or official 

 orators. In the frequent assemblages of the people b}' clans, 

 tribes, phratries, and confederacies abundant opportunity 

 occurs for the exercise of this office, and when important mat- 

 ters are up for consideration in the council every man has a 

 right to a voice, and his influence in the tribe depends largely 

 on his powers of persuasion as an orator. Oratory is there- 

 fore very highly developed in tribal society. At the dawn 

 of ancient civilization the Greek philosophers employed this 

 method of conveying instruction. In national society there is 

 still opportunit}' for oratory in the more highly developed 

 council of state. 



