THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3754, 8 January 1881, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1881.

The Education of the rising generation is a subject that demands the attention of all men—not only those on whom devolves the duty of exercising the functions of a paterfamilias, but also those who are living in ail the glory of " single blessedness." Everyone should think over the question of educating the young, as the manner in which they are reared involves the prosperity or aurea mediocritat of the coming generation. Unfortunately, men are too much engaged in the pursuit of money-making to think much over the question, and many look upon time occupied in philanthropical musings and discussions as so much wasted. Others who have to perform the duty of educating their children leave the system of Education in the hands of the House of Representatives without thinking over the question themselves, or arriving at any conclusion on the subject, but resting simply content with the course of Education prescribed for their offspring. But one decoction of medicine will not suit every class of constitution, the physic having to be prescribed according to the strength or weakness of the patient, and in like manner one system of education will not be suitable to some minds, although admirably adapted to others. The mind, like the body, requires different modes of treatment according to the talents possessed. Thus some have a special gift for languages, some for mechanics, and others for more scientific pursuits, and it is clear that the most prominent feature of the brain should be the one that should receive more attention than talents of a less marked character. It frequently happens, however, that children are "crammed "with an amount of learning which proves of little or no use to them in" after life, and many of their most noticeable proclivities are entirely left unnoticed, and instead of being developed are totally neglected. The child is made to pursue a course of study for which it has little or no inclination, taste or talent, and in consequence is handicapped by. a disadvantage, and the progress it makes in the acquisition of the knowledge, administered after the manner of medical doses, is usually extremely slow. At the age when children are at, school the mind i 3 fresh, imaginative, pliable, and eminently suited for the hand of the educational gardener, and the development of it rests to a large extent in his hands. This should

impress our public instructors with the grave responsibility resting on their shoulders-^-a responsibility which we fear is in many cases but lightly felt. The Educational System of New, Zealand ia no doubt an excellent system, and is admirably calculated to fu'rlhir the object desired—the endowment of the young with a sound mental education. Whether the results of this high class education will be satisfactory in time to come is a question that Time alone can answer, but from the present outlook it appears as if the higher class education of the youth in the present day would have the effect of causing them to develop a dislike for manual labour. It is very evideut, even to the most obtuse, that everyone CMmot be civil servants, school teachers, or engaged in clerical pursuits, but that by far the larger portion of mankind will have to follow mechanical or manufacturing pursuits. This being the case, the more acquainted a youth becomes with a trade, the mora likely, is he to obtain hereafter a permanent means of subsistence. But by the present system of education boys learn absolutely nothing iv the schools which has a tendency to develop a turn for mechanics or work in which skill ,is necessary. If the Government intend, or the wish to put before rising populations a means of gaining a livelihood when arrived at the age of maturity, they should adopt the system in vogue on the Continent, and in Germany especially, which has for its object

the development of both the mental and mechanical inclinations of the young. Were this system to be introduced, it would not only be a means of training the youth for some special branch of manufacture, but would elevate thcclass of work, would enable the coming generation to turn out work in a much more creditable style than it is produced at the present time, and would take a great load of anxiety off the parents, who, when they perceived that the natural proclivities of their children were being developed, would be far easier in mind as to their future success. <&•■■