He should have obtained an
acquaintance with logic rather by example than by precept; while the
acquirement of the elements of music and drawing should have been
pleasure rather than work.
It may sound strange to many ears if I venture to maintain the
proposition that a young person, educated thus far, has had a liberal,
though perhaps not a full, education. But it seems to me that such
training as that to which I have referred may be termed liberal, in both
the senses in which that word is employed, with perfect accuracy. In the
first place, it is liberal in breadth. It extends over the whole ground
of things to be known and of faculties to be trained, and it gives equal
importance to the two great sides of human activity--art and science. In
the second place, it is liberal in the sense of being an education
fitted for free men; for men to whom every career is open, and from whom
their country may demand that they should be fitted to perform the
duties of any career. I cannot too strongly impress upon you the fact
that, with such a primary education as this, and with no more than is to
be obtained by building strictly upon its lines, a man of ability may
become a great writer or speaker, a statesman, a lawyer, a man of
science, painter, sculptor, architect, or musician.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105