LECTURE ON EDUCATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1325, 21 April 1877, Page 22

LECTURE ON EDUCATION.

The Rev. Dr Roseby on "Wednesday delivered lecture in the Congregational Church, Moray Place, in connection with the Mutual Improvexcent Society. The subject chosen was that of " Education." Mr John Bathgate, R.M., was in the chair, and there wm * good attendance, considering the inclemency of the weather. The following is & condensed report : — The Leqcobkr slid that in considering upon what subject he should lecture in response to the request made by the Mutual Improvement Society, that which suggested itself to him was that of education— one always deeply interest: ing, but more especially so now that it promised to become the- burning question,- social; religious, and political, of the immediate future. He was much less disposed to deal with the political aspect of the subject than with the much more inviting one which.it presented itself to the student of letters and the observer of manners. The fact that the lecture was delivered in connection with a Mutual Improvement Society would also, suggest such a treatment of the subject. Having defined what education was, the lecturer proceeded to investigate first its intellectual aims in the cultivation of the intelligence, and secondly, its aesthetic ' aims in the refinement' of taste; third,' its* moral aims in the improvement of manners and the formation of character. The nobleness of education in this sense was then contrasted with certain counterfeits which too; commonly pass current under its name. The chief instruments of the art of self culture were then referred to, and the lecturer concluded with an enforcement of thoir duty as citizens, philanthropists, and * Christians in' the present. educational condition of the Colony. 1 Speaking, of the intellectual . objects of edu-j cation, . he , described the raw material on " which ' education had to do its work, and ' said that, it wa3 commonly marked by - sluggish, superficial, and incoherent thought. Illustrations .of this followed. Among others, the lecturer quoted from Archbishop What^ly in regard to "the pedantry of comnnn" sense and experience." For. one person who was overbearing them on account of hi? knowledge of technical, terms, they would _ find five or six still more provokingly imperti! rent with their common sense and experience."What," they say, has political economy got to do with' such simple matters as taxation, the education of the people, the national debt? we ocly want common sense and experience. But, . this coiumon sense will be found to be nothing: more than common prejudice, and their experience to consist in the fact of their havingdone! thesamethingwrongvery,often,and fancied that; they had dpne it right. The aim^of education: in 'dealing with ' this raw material 'was to form' . and cultivate the habit of exact thinking— that; is, of free, intense, coherent thought. Another! aim of education in this .intellectual region was; to deliver the mind of man from those many < kinds' of bias by which, in his uncultured; state especially, it waa apt to become i warped." ■> Referring to -the bias of prejudice, „ the ■• i lecturer said that jit was • marvellous that none of their local' astrpno-| meWhad discovered the planet, Yulcan. He: •thdughtf" it' spoke sfarongly in .favour "of their, freedom from prejudice that they, 'had not seen! it It would have gone hard with some of them; if, in being '.told -to find Vulcan, or anything; else on the sun's dißC, ! ,their^prejudice>hadnoti been strong enough to put it .there, and their; vision " keen enough ' to liaye discovered.*, ths • creation of their fancy. •''Another''biasi'^aslove of the marvellous. '-•'Now- one of the aims, of ; education-, in . its ! intellectual aspect, -wks : to free the mind from these , various < forms' o! bias, and its endeavour would . be , to J/nn the mind to a ample love of truth; and 'truth; I ! said the '■ lecturer, of every kind; from every sonr<Je,'by whomsoever found, ; and by whomsoever uttered, was of God. ' And they should not only be prepared to welcome the truth .when presented, but be concerned lesi any vestige 'of it,' should lie" lost, through their indolence ' or pride. He- farther described -the- aim of ' 'education to be to inform the mind -with' '-the best thoughts of the wise,, to present examples of the good, and to quicken with the .noble actions of scientific, moral, and religious heroism; to bring the'mind, heart, and soul into living 1 - contact with the sages, philosophers, poets,! divines, apostles, prophets, saints, and martyrs of the world's history. Eut true culture aimed not only at the education of the intelligence, but at the formation of "a true and pure taste. He described gro&saess of mind, rudeness of speech, and ungentleness of manner as not being very far removed from that bru tality of character which was termed vice. . He had heard penny readings encored which were S3 essentially in bad' taste that his deliberate judgment of them was that they were'demoralising. Finally, he described education as aim ing at the improvement of the character. • It sought to deliver the soul from that meanness which was co commonly associated with coarseness. It aimed at making a man truly a gentleman. • It 'developed "the virtues of consideration , for others, kindness, magnanimity, that reverence of spirit, soundness of heart, %nd that pure enthusiasm which brought them near to the ideal of manhood, and which «*nly needed the inspiration of Christian faith to entitle a man to that nune more honourable than any patent of nobility or crown of encpire — the name- of Christian. The lecturer then combated the notion that education was simply a means of earning one's livelihood, and deprecated its being regarded as the handmaid of vanity. The object of education was not to place men on the psdesttl of self-admiration. It was to make him intrinsically better. Speaking of the means ot forwarding true education/he strongly advocated the claims of literature. The dialectics of natural science were for the most part of an elementary character, whereas in literature — c =pecially in classical studies— there was a coastant demand upon the intelligence, judgment, and reason— to Bay nothing of the taste — of the learner. It was doubtless for this reason that while there were but few men of intellect who hid not been largely indebted for their culture to literature, a man might justly hold a very high place among men of learning and ability with hardly a rudimentary knowledge of the facls of physical science. He said this without in any way wishing to deprecate the value of physical science. The lecturer urged, moreover, that literature should not be regarded as the peculiar inheritance of the rich, b.ifc as belonging equally to the commonalty. There was a time when the very badge cf scholarship was poverty. "Why should not the shoemaker read Virgil, and yet etick to his List? Why open the doors of the theatres, public-houses, and concert halls, and shut the t- mple of the Muses ? If there was leisure for I c one there was leisure for the other. If t 1 ere was ta=>te for the one, it was the fault of t> eir miserably defective notions of education, their bad social habits, and their false c< jventionality, if there was so little taste for t» c other. Referring to the state of things in New Zealand, he urged upon them that it wes their duty as citizens to obtain some measure of the culture to which he referred, or at least some rudimentary education for every child in the Colony. Every child in the land should be able to read his Bible and his Shakjpeare, to write a letter, and to ca3t an account. Let them make up their minds

that education should at all costs be made universal, and he was convinced that there was no difficulty which their ingenuity would not be able to meet and their resolution to overcome. Education could not be universal unless it were made compulsory, but if it were made compulsory it could not be religious. Home, Sunday schools,. and the Church would have to be more diligent in order to supply this defect. Again, if compulsory, it must be placed withiu the reach of all, and in the case of th 3 very poor it must be free. Even as the case stood, he would' like to see a greater reduction in respect to large families. He was aware that compulsory education, and, therefore, in the case of many, free education, would saddle the State'with heavy pecuniary liabilities ; but did they prefer ignorance and vice to taxation? Vain alternative ! The question was, should they pay schoolmasters or policemen, the professor or the hangman ? The lecturer concluded as follows : —My fellow citizens, I would earnestly say let us leave no stone unturned to secure for every chiH in this land the blessing of a sound education., and as far as may be of advanced culture. Be true to the spirit of your forefathers. They won for us our glorious inheritance of civil and religious liberty, let us add to- that inheritance the blessing of a wise culture, and transmit, not impaired, but advanced, the gift of our fathers to our children. ' '■