Part 3 (1/2)
SUBLIME CHAOS
=Acquisitiveness=--In fancy, at least, we may attain a position over and far above the city of London and frolasses, watch a panora The scene bewilders not alone by its scope, but stillone, too, never the saar Square, with its nobleus of Nelson in what is accounted one of the ements recorded in history
As we look, we reconstitute the scene, far away, in which he was conspicuous, and reread in our books his stirring appeal to his ed with equipages that betoken wealth and luxury Richly dressed people in great nu color to the picture A shabby garb cannot be made to fit into this picture When it appears, there is discord in the general harmony All this motion must have motives behind it somewhere; but we can only conjecture the uide us in our quest for these But we are reasonably certain that these people are aniet things, and so cos intangible=--There aretheir tortuous, sinuous ways in and out along streets that radiate hither and thither They stay their progress for a e's, at Liberty's Each of these is the Mecca of a thousand desires, and faces beam with pleasure when they reappear Soht at the National Gallery and enter its doors When they co happened to the The lines of care on their faces are not so evident, and their step is ible things as their objectives as in the case of the people who entered the shops for ht and, therefore, their quest must have been successful As we look, we realize that desires for intangible things ratification of these desires produces equal satisfaction
=West Westminster Abbey In those historic and hallowed precincts they are co with the Past, the Present, and the Future All about theht effectively in affairs of state and in the realm of letters History and literature have their shrine there, and these people are worshi+pers at that shrine All about them are reminders of the Past, while the worshi+pers before the Cross direct their thoughts to the Future Earth and Heaven both send forth an invitation for supres History and literature call to them to emulate the achievements whose monuments they see about them, while the Cross admonishes them that these achievements are but temporal Here they experience a fulfille is broadened, and their faith is lifted up The Past thrills them; the Future inspires them; and thus the Present is far more worth while
=House of Parliament=--Across the way is Parlia train of events of vast import The currents that flow out frolobe Here conquests have been planned that electrified nations Here have been generated vast arers of Desire Here have been voted vast treasures in execution of the desires of randizement These halls have resounded with the eloquence ofto inoculate other men with the virus of their desires; and the whole world has stood on tiptoe awaiting the issue of this eloquence Mo from the desires of men, and these scenes have touched the lives of untold millions of people
=Co with shi+ps from the uttermost corners of the earth, and we think of colibly, but no mind is able to comprehend its full i food and clothing to the peoples who live far away, but e attenitude of coreat We e, but we get, in consequence, an array of figures so great that they cease to have anyfor the finite mind The best and most that they can do for us is to les of Africa, who roam the pampas of South America, who climb the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes, and the Hi to gratify
=Social intercourse=--Going up the river to Hampton Court we see people out for a holiday There are house-boats with elaborate and artistic fittings and furnishi+ngs, and other craft of every sort that luxury can suggest One could ie such a scene The blending of colors, the easy dalliance, the rippling laughter, the graceful feasting, and the eddying wavelets all conspire to produce a scene that serves to emphasize the beauty of the shores
Underneath this enchanting scene of variegated beauty we discover the fundaarious animal, that he not only craves association with his kind but that playing with thes him into more harmonious communion with them In their play they meet upon the plane of a common purpose and are thus unified in spirit Hence, all this beauty and gayety is serving a beneficent purpose in the way of gratifying the inherent desire of mankind for social intercourse
=The travel instinct=--At Charing Cross the commerce drama is reenacted, only here with trains instead of boats, and, mainly, people instead of merchandise Here we see hurry and bustle, and hear the shriek of the engine and the warning blast of the guard Trains are going out, trains are co in When the people step out upon the platforms, they seem to know exactly whither they are bound There are porters all about to help them achieve their desires, and cabs stand ready at the curb to do their bidding Here is human commerce, and the trains are the answer to the call of the human family to see their own and other lands These trains are swifter and reeable for noon of the prairie The nomadic instinct pulls and pushes people away froines, air brakes, telegraph lines, wireless apparatuses, and all the ned at the behest of this desire to roam about
=Monuulates the clocks for the whole world, and furnishes the sea captain the talisainst St Paul's is the Bank of England, which for long years ruled the finances of the world Yonder is the Museues There is the Rosetta Stone, which is the gateway of history; there the Elgin Marbles, which proclailory of the Greece that was; there the palie when men had time to think; and there the books of all tihts of s that men now call curiosities that ht; and there are the senti after these giant stones have crumbled
=Desire for pastoral beauty=--Beyond the city, in the alluring country places, we see a landscape that delights the senses, ornate with hedges, flowers, vine-clad cottages, highways of surpassing smoothness, fertile fields, and thrifty flocks and herds There are carts and wagons on the roads bearing the products of field and garden to the marts of trade
Men, women, and children zealously ply the hoe, the plow, or the shovel, abetting Nature in her efforts to feed the hungry In this pastoral scene there is dignity, serenity, and latent power Its beauty answers back to the aesthetic nature ofthat is artificial can ever supplant it in the way of gratifying man's desire for the beautiful
=Econoh all the diversified phases of this panorama there runs a fundamental principle of unity There are no collisions In the economy of civilization the farmer is coordinate with the artist, the artisan, and the tradesman But, if all men were farmers, the econoineer is major because he is indispensable So, also, is the farislator, the artist, and the student There is a degree of interdependence that makes for econoives us an economic whole
=Aspirations=--This panorama is a picture of life; and the school is life Hence the panoraer than the panorah the picture is reduced in size to fit the frame of the school The pupils in the school have dreams and aspirations that reach far beyond the limits of the picture of our fancy And all these aspirations are a part of life and so are indigenous in the vitalized school And woe betide the teacher ould abridge or repress these dreams and aspirations They are the very warp and woof of life, and the teacher ould eliminate them would suppress life itself That teacher is in sorry business ould fit her pupils out with mental or spiritual strait-jackets, or h it be her own These pupils are the prototypes of the people in our panorama, and are, therefore, animated by like inclinations and desires
=Desire is fundary; he desires food
But so does theall his mental powers upon the problem of how he shall procure food The ht to a solution of his problem The school's business is to help the boy solve his problem and not to try to quench his desire for food or try to persuade him that no such desire exists This desire is one of the native dispositions to which the work of the school is to attach itself Desires are fundamental in the scheme of education, the very tentacles that will lay hold upon the school activities and render thethen and nourish incipient desires and to cause the pupil to hunger and thirst after thetheht to his inherent individuality The school should not only begin where the boy is, but should begin its work upon what he is Only so can it direct hiht at the National Gallery in order to regale himself with the masterpieces of art, why, pray, should the teacher try to curtail this desire and force him into Westminster Abbey? If she will accouide a the treasures of art, she will, doubtless, experience the joy of hearing hih the Abbey later on The Abbey is quite right in its way and the boy must visit it soon or late, but to this particular boy the Gallery comes first and he should be led to the Abbey by way of the Gallery In school work the parties are all personally conducted, but the rule is that a party is coirl is not to be condee shop rather than the Museum The teacher th, but the girl is thinking of the beautiful fabrics to be seen at the shop, and, especially, of the delicious American ice cream that can be had nowhere else in London It is rather a poor teacher who cannot lead the girl to the British Museue's If the teacher finds the task difficult, she would do well to traverse the route a few times in advance The ice creath, before the Rosetta Stone or read the original letter to Mrs
Bixby The store and the Museum are both in the picture, and the teacher must deterirl
The native dispositions and desires will point out the way to the teacher
The old-ti as a copy in the old-fashi+oned copy book ”All work and no play ht Jack playing he gave hi hie of psychology and fair play If we are going to Greene shall save tier journey by way of Haayeties of the Court we can prolong our pleasures by anticipating Greenwich, and so make our play the anteroom of our work
=Variety in excellence=--In the vitalized school we shall find each pupil eager in his quest of food for the hunger he feels, and the teacher rejoicing in the development of his individuality She would not have all her pupils attain the same level even of excellence They are different, and she would have them so Nor would she have her school exeallery of statues
Her school is a place of life, eager, yearning, pulsating life, and not a place of dead and deadening silence Her pupils have diversified tastes and desires and, in consequence, diversified activities, but work is the golden cord that binds them in a healthy and healthful unity
This is sublith at tasks that are worth while, and all animated by hopes and aspirations that reach out to the very limits of space
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1 What ive helpful direction and needed modifications to the instinct of acquisition?