118 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



" CHARACTER AS RESULTING FROM CULTURE," 



We give the following abstract of it : 



This is the theme of the hour. As both the words "character" and ''cul- 

 ture " are ordinarily used with considerable latitude, we had best begin with defi- 

 nitions of them. Character is the sum of the qualities which distinguish one man 

 from another. It includes every element that enters into one's make-up. The 

 second word will be limited to school-training, the process of acquiring knowl- 

 edge. 



Educational machinery abounds among us, school-houses dot the land, and 

 schools have become the hobby of our age. What is to be the result of all this? 

 When I view man's achievements with steam, electricity and the magnifying- 

 glass, I am overwhelmed at the thought of his possibilities. But after all they 

 are only instruments — good if they do good — if they add to the permanent hap- 

 piness or the moral sturdiness of man. This then must be the true test of all 

 school culture. 



If you teach a fact to a child you have not only added to his knowledge but 

 you have thrilled him with your own self, and this is by far the most lasting and 

 important of the teacher's work. Culture is of itself a most energetic producer of 

 character. The boy who finishes the work of a school from the primary to the 

 college has acquired habits of industry, perseverance and self-control. The 

 habits of mind demanded by study are all ennobling, they foster manly resolution 

 and sturdy- strength. They release the soul from the slavery of delusions that 

 so readily take hold of ignorant minds. 



Consider, for a moment, the qualities which are developed by sustained 

 habits of study. When a young child begins the study of language the work to 

 be done comes upon him in whelming flood ; the forms of the letters, their arrange- 

 ment into words, and their entirely arbitrary connection with idea present a great 

 undertaking. The study compels a high degree of concentration. Each victory 

 is followed by a new conflict ; a line seems to stretch out further than he can 

 see ; farther, in fact, than eye hath ever seen. These conflicts and victories beget 

 that calm patience which is the key to all true achievement, and besides patience 

 it seems to me we may name as a distinct result the development of that cheerful 

 courage which comes as a product of repeated conquest over difficulties. A man 

 or boy may be afraid of something whose power he has never resisted, but no 

 one is afraid of an enemy he has once met and beaten. He would go into such 

 a fight with alacrity. 



From this well-founded confidence comes a vast increase of strength, and 

 many other ennobling qualities of mind are developed by the school and its pro- 

 cesses. Industry is one, and it indirectly cultivates morality, in that it precludes 

 immoral thoughts and tendencies by its activity. I believe that the moral stamina 

 of the cultured man is of a sturdier, more trustworthy substance than that of the 

 ignorant. I believe that with study comes an increase of genuine, modest self- 



