The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 12 October 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1880.

The Canterbury Education Board has - resolved that Dr. Richardson's Class " Boole on Temperance shall be read in I the public schools throughout their district. The Board deserves the Mantra of the Colony for having taken _ this step. There is ample room for improvement in the subjects chosen as failing lessons in onr schools. Such lecuns should not only impart a knowledge of how to read-—they should, as a gl "possible, contain matter the h'. tendency of which would be to fashion i the.future lives of pupils. We i wthuig jn our . educational

cuVriculum. of greater importance than a knowledge of the physiology of common life. Such a knowledge would have a tendency, on the one hand, to induce oar school children to avoid the acquirement of habits pernicious to health, and, on the other, to adopt those having a contrary effect. If health is absent the mind cannot perform its functions up to the standard of its capacity. Mental strength, in fact, becomes subservient to physical weaknesses, and the body rules the mind—not the mind the body. What should be attempted is the crucifying of what is termed the " Old Adam," and the ennoblement of the whole nature, by means of mental training. The reading lessons in our school books are excellent as far as they go. They tell of deeds of valor and philanthropy that were performed by our ancestors, and infuse into the minds of our rising generation a laudable desire to emulate such good traits. But there is almost nothing in these books that is calculated tP impart a knowledge of our physical nature. Thev do not point out the effect of alcoholic drinks upon the human system ■ —the phvsicai and moral evils which arise from indulgence in our national sin. Such a knowledge is pf paramount importance. It is of little use to point out to our children the glorious deeds of great men and women and exhort them to do likewise unless we take st£ps to stem the evils of intemperance. It is jpst as useless to impart learning, however perfect otherwise, unless we teach them to be sober. The careers of .the brightest geniuses have been blighted by intemperance, How are children to be taught to avoid this Juggernaut] How is it possible to make our future men and women temperate ? There is nothing in the school curriculum that has any such tendency. The history of the past is indubitable evidence of this fact, They must be taught- what is the effect of over indulgence in alcoholic drinks i:pon their systems, just as they are taught by their mothers frOm earliest infancy that if they put their lingers in the fire thev will be burnt, | This must be done in youth, before the vicious and insinuating habit of ! imbibing intoxicants has cast its snares around them. Let them be taught that nature dictates that they should not drink unless they are thirsty, and to beware of indulgence in stimulants which create an unnatural thirst for more. Dr. Richardson demonstrates all this, and the penalties consequent upon the infringement of this natural law. No man has ever made the subject more profoundly fL study with such magnificent results. He new oflprs to the world the benefits of his searches. To • refuse to accept the lessons they teach is to decide in favor of the reproduction of our great national vice in ou? rising generation. To act in such a wanner is to neglect to accept the golden advantages do* ducible from modern research, and to confess ourselves either enthralled by the drinking customs of society or careless of the future of our children. We contend that the Education Boards who have decided to admit I)r, Richardson's last work into their schools mar be rightly viewed as benefactors in the true sense of the term, and we recommend that their example be followed by every Board throughout the Colony.