THE Connecticut Common School Journal, AND ANNALS OF EDUCATION. VOL. XI. NEW BRITAIN, NOVEMBER, 1864. SELF CULTURE. Read before the " Teacher's Association," Alameda Co., Cal. BY LAURA T. FOWLER. No. 11. AWAY back among the prineval songs of old Eng you will find this line, "My mind to me an empire is," written by one of those Rhyming Chroniclers who made her hills and valleys classical with the first utterings of British Genius. Happy man! Blessed contentment! to rule and reign, a crowned king in his own mind! Though confusion and war rage through all the earth, the harmony of that one kingdom shall be unbroken, its monarch sitting unmoved in the serene felicity of quietude and peace, his willing subjects: bringing their sheaves of golden fruitage from the realms of thought and research. Self culture is a hackneyed term. The young teacher has heard it from time immemorial. All through the years of preparation for the future labor was heard the ominous text, VOL. XI. 19 Eduel 290 V. 19, holl Self Culture. "know thyself," if thou wouldst teach others, and, all along the palace walls of life, there have started forth, now and then, the mysterious words of warning and condemnation, "Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," till, like the affrighted Belshazzar, the disciple of Plato and Socrates, too often shrinks before the accusation. Clad in the paraphanalia of his royal vocation, and stepping from the academy or college on the arena of action, he often imagines that he has secured all that is necessary for the splendid accomplishment of his hopes. Alas! the thing he most needs is left out of his attainments,-the simple power to think! His philosophy, and his opinions, and his accumulated knowledge are but counterparts of the wonderfully profound text-books over which he has pored day and night, and, like the bound Prometheus forever afterwards chained to the rock. Oh, if he could only break away and soar out into the genial, gushing life of God and Nature how blessed for himself and those for whom he works. The teacher of children should not be a mental dwarf, or a one-sided deformity, subjected to a constant bias from any direction. His should be a well-rounded and generous mind. A look at the trees all through this beautiful valley will show any one from what direction the wind generally blows. Trade winds always leave their mark. They are fierce and powerful enough to cleave great channels through the mighty ocean. So there are mental trade winds,-ungodly bigotry, opinionated willfulness and a freezing apathy and indolence which the teacher should curb. If the touch of humanity is so strong that he must bear its stains, by all means let his failings "lean to virtue's side. In his labor for others he must ever strive himself for the "larger worth." As he taxes his physical strength over the frailty and ignorance he must combat, his soul life and spirituality should he crowned with a glory not of earth, and in that eternal battle of the mind, should the smoke and car. nage shut out all from sight, let him not falter, the Great Leader is just beyond,-let him hold it truth, "With him who sings To one clear harp in divers tones, Discipline. That men may rise on stepping stones 291 Culture of the mind does not imply simply book-learning. Many a cobwebby, scholastic life hangs upon the peg of time with the significant " April Fool" pinned upon it. But it does mean the growth and care of those subtle powers nature has implanted in us, and which are absolutely necessary for guiding children. Bright hopefulness, large heartedness and a warm sympathetic enthusiasm combined with clear, quick perceptions, and a plain forcible language should be cultivated, for these things have a grander sway over young minds than any other, especially if that teacher possesses a rare fund of "quaint and curious lore." The curiosity of a child's mind is never satiated. It never ceases to wonder at the new, and the teacher's mind should be a sort of Pandora's Box of lovely things to the prying eyes that seek to fathom it. Always a student, let him in those studies keep close to the warm influences of Nature, receiving from her suggestions of truth, far more valuable than found in the dry logic of books. The wonderful histories, and mysterious revelations of the child-life before him, are grander fields for study than any he may pursue. Books are helps, and we all love to lean on some support. It is easier for us to let some giant worker go ahead and beat the track for our lazy incapable feet. But as much as possible, we should be independent of another's strength. The work should be our own. The cross lashed to our shoulders if we would be crowned. Hand in hand, then, walk with the invisible teachers around thee and thy life folded in a blessed sympathy with Nature. In treating this topic we shall consider its bearing and beneficial effect on schools; and if we occasionally digress it will be to enforce and illustrate. |