The Elements of General Method | Page 8

He must partake of the loaf he
distributes to them. The clergyman also should be an example of
Christian virtue, but he preaches the gospel as illustrated in the life of
Christ, of St. Paul, and of others. In pressing home moral and religious
truths his appeal is to great sources of inspiration which lie outside of
himself. Why should the teacher rely upon his own unaided example
more than the preacher? No teacher can feel that he embodies in
himself, except in an imperfect way, the strong moral ideas that have
made the history of good men worth reading. No matter what resources
he may have in his own character, the teacher needs to employ moral
forces that lie outside of himself, ideals toward which he struggles and
towards which he inspires and leads others. The very fact that he

appreciates and admires a man like Longfellow or Peter Cooper will
stir the children with like feelings. In this sense it is a mistake to center
all attention upon the conduct of the teacher. He is but a guide, or, like
Goldsmith's preacher, he allures to brighter worlds and leads the way. It
is better for pupil and teacher to enter into the companionship of
common aims and ideals. For them to study together and admire the
conduct of Roger Williams is to bring them into closer sympathy, and
what do teachers need more than to get into personal sympathy with
their children? Let them climb the hill together, and enjoy the views
together, and grow so intimate in their aims and sympathies that
afterlife cannot break the bond. When the inspirations and aims thus
gained have gradually changed into tendencies and habits, the child is
morally full-fledged. It is high ground upon which to land youth, or aid
in landing him, but it is clearly in view.
It is only gradually that moral ideas gain an ascendency, first over the
thoughts and feelings of a child and later still over his conduct. Many
good impressions at first seem to bear no fruit in action. But examples
and experience reiterate the truth till it finds a firm lodgment and
begins to act as a check upon natural impulses. Many a child reads the
stories in the Youth's Companion with absorbing interest but in the
home circle fails noticeably to imitate the conduct he admires. But
moral ideas must grow a little before they can yield fruit. The seed of
example must drop into the soil of the mind under favorable conditions;
it must germinate and send up its shoots to some height before its
presence and nature can be clearly seen. The application of moral ideas
to conduct is very important even in childhood, out patience and care
are necessary in most cases. There must be timely sowing of the seed
and judicious cultivation, if good fruits are to be gathered later on.
There is indeed much anxiety and painful uncertainty on the part of
those who charge themselves with the moral training of children. Labor
and birth pains are antecedent to the delivery of a moral being. Then
again a child must develop according to what is in him, his nature and
peculiar disposition. The processes of growth are within him and the
best you can do is to give them scope. He is free and you are bound to
minister to his best freedom. The common school age is the formative
period. At six a child is morally immature; at fifteen the die has been

stamped. This youthful wilderness must be crossed. We can't turn back.
There is no other way of reaching the promised land. But there are
rebellions and baitings and disorderly scenes.
This is a tortuous road! Isn't there a quicker and easier way? The most
speedily constructed road across this region is a short treatise on
morals for teacher and pupil. In this way it is possible to have all the
virtues and faults tabulated, labeled, and transferred in brief space to
the minds of the children (if the discipline is rigorous enough).
Swallow a catechism, reduced to a verbal memory product. Pack away
the essence of morals in a few general laws and rules and have the
children learn them. Some day they may understand. What astounding
faith in memory cram and dry forms! We can pave such a road through
the fields of moral science, but when a child has traveled it is he a whit
the better? No such paved road is good for anything. It isn't even
comfortable. It has been tried a dozen times in much less important
fields of knowledge than morals. Moral ideas spring up out of
experience with persons either in real life or in the books we read.
Examples of moral action drawn from life are