The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1905. ANCIENT EDUCATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12871, 5 January 1906, Page 4

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1905. ANCIENT EDUCATION.

We cannot. *>i course, approach i3*c iju«s- j lion of education in the spirit which an;awtes the expert* who are attending the annual, meeting of tie Educational lasti-l lute in InvercargSl], but the view* of a; newspaper trr-y pwhaps be of some value even t« "lie cxpwl>. a.s as indication of she result* which penplc in the workaday world cxped from the schools they nidalain. At the lift of feeing accused of something little V-r?' than sactilegc therefore, wo nniM csprcw * doubt whether Ihe average member of the public is fired w;lh She same enthusiasm ; for nature study as i« professed fey thd member* of the teaching fraternity. We gather from, the * alert pronouncement on : the subject—thai of Mr Gil] at the opening; of the teachers' conference on Wednesday; —that the main object of nature *tndy is to cultivate the habit of observation and enquiry, two touts, by the way. which •appear so characteristic of children a* to become positively ea.ibarra.KHag to their elders. We shall not, however, ventureon such an intricate subject a* the »£*"; syllabus and it* effect on growing minds. That is dangerous ground for the unwary,; because, a* a recent writer ha* *aid, "edu-1 cation in thefc latter day* ha* become the ' object almost of a cult. Everywhere it. has its bierophanls, it« officials, and it* ministers. Esoteric journals solemnly die- [ cuss its dogmas, while popular writer*; ceaselessly criticise the practice of it* pro- ■ feasor*. The State aupports it. the secular; arm punishes resistance to it* claims, and its manifold ordeals are the constant heimr of our youth. "Great is Education our goddess' is the un'rersal cry; but realj sgj'i*"Ticat seem* hardly to extend further, j Prom cs&kerr to classic*, from morals to music, there is nothing which, her rantf&s] prophets <do not assert to be the peculiar cane «f their common divinity."' Yet it. seems that this devotion, to education is only a Late development in a nation, a! sign,* indeed., that its decay ha* already: set in.- That., at least, is the impression; gained: from a review of a work on " Roman Education " by the late Professor A. 6. '-. Wilkin*, whose rcc-etl death, just as the book was published, was a heavy loss to. English scholarship. It was aat education. but the strong arm, the iron will usi the hard head which made nation* great, of old. Wljea the Romans, after sixteen years of struggle, flung Hannibal back *m the shores of Alrica, they possessed neither; schools, nor art*, nor literature, but they' had icachtd a supreme height of grea tress. The year* that foHlowed brought wider dominion and wealthier triumphs, hut from, the cl<we of the Punic Wars, the old, Roman character became rapidly enervated, and enfeebled. A total change came over thc national temper, and exactly along with it there came as complete a change in the whole tnethwi of education. In the *»ld ■ days a b»y was educated i-ntirely at h<«3». His fitnit training, says Tacitus, w.a* "ia his mother's lap." but the tenderness of the phrase implies no effeminacy. Romaa mothers had little love for weakling. »<*r; did the austew simplicity of ht-me-life ; admit of pampering, whille, e%*en if the: lad met with indulgence for a time, it disappeared when he was transferred So his'father's charge. The Roman father was a, mivter with whom there was no trifling. His sutboirjiy was JifestJule. has discipline inflcxihli'.' and his aim undeviat-, ling. He was the least and the most efficient of teachers. !!«• knew that his forefathers, by their character and; conduct, had made the State what it was. and such as they L*d Wen he was that his *ons and him sens" *ons lie likewise. " Rnme is based on the a-jcicnl mor-Tls and mtiC says Enciu*. compjwriag i into a line the co:k of Rcjrablicaa ■ education—the -simpicut and code ercr drafted. It- .set before a. boy one aiiu—tJx~ »wrir-e «f cmmonwcallh and one rule of '•evrdset—the »!.':ipieg of his life after ihe pat .cm of the illustrious <dcad. The <"oma-jo«wealth, ju fact- waffl'od, mcr. and it* schooling was wholly direct'^. to the making of them. Rut in later. yeM-s. when Carthairc had bum destroyed, and when the lesic-ns were hurled feeble, tht<u;h cultured, Greek*, and fctbler Asiatics, wealth flowed in like st. ; tiidfi and swept a*nv 1}:« ol<3 matmtr> and the old life. eriftigli. in th«:ir &zx* -cf affluence a"'d l«xujy. Rotnatw. w-etu" saiittcn wjlh a to ctnulate the Greek* they had conquered, in that supreme art which was called ** dcelamn*' tioa."' Professors began to ply a busy; trade in latoriog the yotith of llama to mimic; the prefietitifw JnaoHw* of ibt\ (Jrcek sophists. Rnys were iaught to joggle dexterously wilb cmpiy phrane*. a»d. t<r> write elaborate essays on the mnsl ;,}). st»4 ihtsnc*. mhcm-rmc, for «sa.ffljilc. "wlietlscr mm should mam." and "tt-ljctlacr a mjgin-tra.il* could lawfully behead a cc»ndetnaftd ciimiral because hisi mistiess :after dinner desitwd -ii.« sn-e a. oiaa:! executed." This contrast feet ween the! later and the early education of the Ro- j mans is strSting, and perhaps, ax the ** SptdAtor * " icview v&Xf-. o«t wit haul sn> j leiest even Do-day. " Even in modern times a strong ram must rerjuire from its' sons not only intellectual vitality but also; x certain toughness both of moral and physical fibre: nor. although we may de> jipise the folly of 3at*-r Roman education. can wc afford entiiely i« neglect the clear lessnn that is lo be drawn friai it- tajlicr an<s nobler histon*."