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WHAT IS EDUCATION'^ 
 
 AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 KIFa^KENXH ANNUAI. CONVENTION 
 
 — OF THE- 
 
 ALPHA PHI FRATERNITY, 
 
 -AT- 
 
 HAMILTON, N. Y.. OCTOBER lOTH, 1890, 
 
 -BY 
 
 RALPH W^ T^HOMAS. 
 
 FUEIVIINGXON, N. J. 
 
 H. E. DEATS, 
 
 1891. 
 
V 
 
 PylM 
 
 (xEORCxE \V. KURROUOHtS, 
 
 CRANBURY, N. J., 
 
 PRINTER, BOOKBINDER RND STIITIONER, 
 
 Gilt. 
 
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 The trait of the time is progress. In the 
 material and in the mental world, activity 
 attracts. Man was satisfied to walk. Then 
 the horse was harnessed to his will, — an iron 
 horse next, which he improved and piished 
 to its limit of speed. And yet unsatisfied, 
 he ties his car to the lightning. At first, he 
 crossed the waters in a dug-out. This gave 
 way to oars, sails, steam, and now he is 
 crowned who crosses the Atlantic in the few- 
 est minutes. But in the face of such accom- 
 plishment, man stands on his vestibuled 
 trains, he walks the decks of his ocean grey- 
 hounds, and noting the swift flight of birds, 
 — he sighs. Achievement is the genius of 
 the age. Discoverers are pushing into the 
 sole remaining unknown lands. Scientists 
 are bringing to light the secrets of nature. 
 Inventors tread on each others heels. Scarce 
 do we exclaim at one triumph, when a suc- 
 cessor claims our homage. The world of 
 thought, too, ieels this impulse. The 
 human mind is revelling in freedom to think. 
 Never has there been such activity. Never 
 
 has the press been so industrious. No sub- 
 ject so unimportant, no theme so rare as to 
 remain unwritten. Papers, tracts, pamph- 
 lets, volumes are coming in long procession. 
 It is preeminently an age of literary activity. 
 A citizen of this era, asked to name its 
 grandest success, would wisely quote the 
 sculptor's famous answer: "The next !" 
 
 In the midst of these pulsations which are 
 felt to the tips of society, what of the school- 
 master.? What of the student? It would 
 be strange indeed, if, surroiinded by so much 
 of life, growth and inspiration, they should 
 remain at rest. It would be unnatural. For 
 the school is an integrant part of the .social 
 structure. It moulds thought. It influ- 
 ences life. It makes history. Of all our 
 civic institutions, it is neare,st the popular 
 life. \ If there is one ambition common to 
 American parents, it is to educate their 
 children. The schools are in touch with 
 their environment. The air is full of the 
 sound of discussion and debate. The old 
 methods are challenged. New theories are 
 advocated. Departures from old principles 
 
are not unconimon,^^Edvicational questions 
 have ever been favorite themes for discus- 
 sion. Educational method is the subject of 
 the best thought. Other problems arouse 
 more clamor. The tariff, the ballot, muni- 
 cipal reform, — these are more liable to be 
 noticed. But the activit}- of the pedagogical 
 discussion is seen in the teeming columns 
 of the educational press, in the institutes, 
 the state associations and convocations and 
 in the great gatherings of the National As- 
 sociation. Who has forgotten how school 
 circles were thrilled when the North Ameri- 
 can Revieiv lifted ' 'the cross of a new crusade' ' 
 against the examination system. Surround- 
 ed, as we are, b}- this agitation, care should 
 be taken not to make marking systems, 
 methods, examinations, theories, the end of 
 our thinking. >. There is something more 
 important than methods, something more 
 important than books, something more im- 
 portant than multitixdinous educational con- 
 ventions. Most important is the object ot it 
 all. What is it all for? What does it all 
 mean ? Whj' is the child sent to school ? 
 What does the j'oung man mean by an edu- 
 cation ? What is education? -. 
 
 In its fundamental meaning an education 
 is a kno'vledge of facts. Facts lie at the 
 threshold. They are the foundation of the 
 structure. There is no building without a 
 foundation ; there is no educatioti without 
 the substructure of acquired knowledge. 
 This knowledge is the substance of the text- 
 books — not crammed from cover to cover, 
 but assimilated and understood. >It is that 
 intelligent common-sense which can be ac- 
 quired and cultivated, which a man must 
 have to succeed, without which he becomes 
 the laughing stock of his fellows. This ele- 
 ment of education is wide spread.<The public 
 .school system has done its work. We must 
 all sympathize with that quiet contempt for 
 ignorance which is pervading the conimun- 
 it}'. Broader grow the smiles at Mrs. Mala- 
 prop and Mrs. Partington. Who has not 
 heard of that fair traveller who said that she 
 had been to Venice, but was so unfortunate 
 as to arrive just after a flood when all the 
 streets were full of water, and every one had 
 to go around in boats. Or of that alleged 
 Harvard student, who, asked b}- a literary- 
 
 lady of Boston for his estimate of Fielding — 
 said that it was important of course, but 
 that batting and base-running he thought 
 were the strong points of the game. Or of 
 that newspaper man who was before the bar 
 of the State Assemblj- for contempt ; "Sir," 
 thundered the speaker, "did you write this 
 article?" "I ma}- have did it," was the 
 reply — and a perceptible shudder told its 
 effect on the audience. It seemed — for the 
 moment, as if the thousand people present 
 were grammarians. The severest disadvan- 
 tage under which a 3-oung man can labor 
 to-da}- is ignorance. It is an ever present 
 revengeful spirit. It greets him from the 
 pages of the dail}- newspaper. It humiliates 
 him in societ}-. It makes him the butt of 
 the sallies of intelligence. True, it is diffi- 
 cult to tell just what knowledge makes a 
 man intelligent. It is not neces,sarih- the 
 knowledge gained in the schools. But 
 wherever found, there are certain require- 
 ments on which all agree. And the man 
 who takes up life's labor without them is 
 not an educated man. This element of an 
 education was never so widely valued as it 
 is to-day. It is necessary for admission to 
 every higher school worthy of the name. 
 We should feel proud of the fact that the 
 state of New York now requires this pre- 
 liminary education for admission to the bar 
 and to the practice of medicine. Even 
 around the great profession of teaching this 
 safe-guard is being thrown. It was not long 
 ago that a candidate wrote to a certain state 
 department for a "stiff kit" to teach school. 
 It is a difficult thing in this state to-da}- for 
 an incompetent person to become a licen.sed 
 teacher ; it ought to be an impOvSsibility. 
 Most important of all, this elementary know- 
 ledge is indispensable to standing in the 
 great University of Life, where men are 
 graded remorselessh-. The people test edu- 
 cation as the}- prove precious coin, — there is 
 the milling, the stamp, the color, the allo\-, 
 but there must be he gold. 
 
 Now this knowledge of facts has been 
 likened to the foundation of a building. 
 You have already- carried out the familiar 
 simile. A foundation must be thoroughly 
 laid. Trite as it may seem, of all the im- 
 portant truths in life this is the most often 
 
overlooked. INIental foundations are laid in 
 youth, and the tendenc}- is to begin too early 
 to specialize. Already, the boy has selected 
 his vocation, and is bending all his energies 
 toward that single end. Studies which do 
 not seem specially to fit him for this, he 
 neglects. If mature years fulfill the hopes 
 of his youth, it may be well. But what if 
 he has chosen a life w-ork for which he is 
 not fitted, or even for which he has no liking ! 
 The desert traveller, following through 
 weary weeks his dusty way, is gladdened 
 by beauteous illusions, which, far in the 
 distance, invite to cool and quiet oases of 
 rest. Not until he is almost upon the spot, 
 does the tantalizing picture fade away. Full 
 many a school bo}' has looked far ahead in 
 life, and seen in his profession, the flowing 
 stream, the green banks, the .shade trees of 
 the oasis — and has lived — alas ! to reach the 
 looked for spot, and find naught but the 
 sand of the desert. At such a time, nothing 
 can take the place of the power to applj' 
 one's self to the labor which may be at hand. 
 Build foundations for an}- superstructure. 
 Make no excuse for neglect. These dail}' 
 tasks you perform, this knowledge 3'ou are 
 now gaining, who can tell what strain it 
 may be called on to endure. A distinguish- 
 ed engineer invented a foundation for harbor 
 structures. It was designed to .stand amid 
 the smooth waters of a land-locked bay. But 
 the other day he received a contract to put 
 his foundation aiuid the storms and waves 
 and shifting sands of Hatteras. No stvident 
 can tell for what he is preparing. No man 
 can divine what, in the providence of God, 
 shall be his mission. He only is wise who 
 lays the foundation well. 
 .)> But education has a further meaning. An 
 education is mind pozuer. Put into homely 
 phrase, this is "the power to think for one's 
 self." \It is that quality of mind exercised 
 in original demon.stration, — the finest disci- 
 pline in Geometry. This mental qualit}' 
 sufiiciently exercised, becomes a habit which 
 renders the thinker independent of mental 
 preceptors. Then only is the man a free- 
 man. Now, there is a diflerence between 
 mental discipline and mind power. Power 
 is the result of discipline. > Power is the 
 ability to do. It grows out of discipline as 
 
 niu.scnlar strength comes from phvsical exer- 
 cise. This mind power, this ability to think, 
 is, in a very important .sen.se, an education. 
 It takes the scholar beyond the tutor's lead- 
 ing strings. It enables him to acquire 
 knowledge for himself; to leave the beaten 
 paths ; to gaze on new scenes ; to quench his 
 thirst at new springs. Possessed of true 
 mind power, he shall feel that stern joy 
 which comes from the successful grapple 
 with the knotty problem. There is no bet- 
 ter test of education than this ability to 
 think for one's self. It is a power to be used 
 in every day life. It may be applied to the 
 most ordinary duty. Not all discoverers are 
 famous. Not all investigators are known. 
 Fulton building the Clermont, Field placing 
 with labor of mind and body the submarine 
 cable, Stanley' penetrating "In Darkest 
 Africa" — these are but types of the educated 
 man, every where. <The crowed who trimmed 
 their .sails to the fickle winds, who waited 
 patientl}' for the .slow moving ships to bring 
 the news from Europe, who were content, 
 with ease of body, to perambulate the well 
 worn ways, — these typify the man whose 
 mental activity ceases before mind power 
 begins. Only the educated man can become 
 the original investigator. The mind that 
 would explore, mu.st be developed to the full 
 measure of its power, — as that vessel must 
 be braced and sheathed, whose captain would 
 become a discoverer in the Arctic Sea. But 
 such education is in demand ; such minds 
 awaited. Si;rgery and electricity-, to men- 
 tion no more, furni.sh rare opportunities to- 
 day for original investigators. I .stood — 
 .some time ago — in the amphitheatre of a 
 medical college in the city of New York. 
 Scores of students had gathered to see the 
 result of a remarkable diagnosis. By an 
 accident, the patient, an intelligent physi- 
 cian, had l)een .stricken with paralysis. In 
 the .short period of a daj-, he had lost con- 
 trol of limbs, body, arms, brain. Even the 
 power of speech was denied him. He forgot 
 the ver}- alphabet. To restore him was to 
 .solve a new problem in .science. The sur- 
 geon did it. Upon the skull of the patient, 
 he measured out a triangle. Then, he rea- 
 soned — as exact as Geometrj- — as inexorable 
 as Algebra. The symptom.s — movements — 
 
fi 
 
 actions, of the patient — these were the corol- 
 laries and the theorems on whicb was based 
 this marvelous demonstration^ So he locat- 
 ed the trouble, and on the indicated spot — 
 hidden awa}- amid the convolutions of the 
 brain — they found the cause of trouble and 
 removed it. Three months later, the para- 
 Ijtic walked across that room and spoke the 
 alphabet. No wonder that the students of 
 that college, accustomed though the}- were 
 to skillful surger\% burst into applause. It 
 was not for the cure ; it was not ss-mpathj- 
 for the patient ; it was a tribute to that men- 
 tal power which had enabled science to take 
 one more step into the unknown. 
 
 But, you .say, this is geniixs. I care not 
 what you call it. The power there displajed 
 is, in greater or less degree, within the at- 
 tainment of every student. Its price is 
 '^ron labor." * Genius ! They best defined 
 -•^ho called it "the length of time a man can 
 «iit," or "an infinite capacitj- for taking 
 .pains." Shrink not from the price but 
 strive for this high element of education. 
 The weapons with which the Spartan sol- 
 diers exercised were twice as heavj- as those 
 with which they fought. So Sparta gained 
 power. 
 
 Our definition is not yet complete. In its 
 best sense, an education is inspiratio)i. 
 Without this, the life will be a failure. In 
 spiration is that element in education which 
 always remains. The preceptor is not ever 
 with the student, urging him to his task. 
 His place must be taken by some other force, 
 or else the mind ceases to progress. There 
 is no more suggestive sight than the man 
 who has "finished his education." Not 
 only has he not completed it ; he has never 
 gained it. Education is motive power. Its 
 possessor can never be at rest. For him, 
 there are more worlds to conquer. Educa- 
 tional inspiration abides and overcomes all 
 obstacles. It is Elihu Burritt pursuing his 
 studies at the forge. It is Sir William Jones 
 turning to the study of the Oriental lan- 
 guages in his old age. It is Roger Bacon 
 beginning the study of Theology at eighty. 
 It is Mr. Gladstone — turning from the dis- 
 tractions of British politics to the study of 
 the technical peculiarities of the Hebrew- 
 diet. We must resolutel}- put out of sight 
 
 the idea that an education may be finished. 
 It co-exists with life. It may well be the 
 prayer of the .student, that he may find this 
 inspiring element in education. It is the 
 pith of the saying: "He has found his 
 work !" It is the enthusiasm of labor, which 
 in its highest form seems to consume the 
 very life. And it never comes until the man 
 finds the work for which he has been fitted. 
 Have you never seen this instance? Have 
 you seen a boj- plod from day to day, with 
 no special interest in his tasks, doing his 
 work as work. And have you seen that 
 same student — that same man — when at last 
 he finds his special study — the work which 
 appeals to just his order of mind.'' How 
 listlessness changes to interest, inactivity- 
 to effort, task to pleasure, plodding to run- 
 ning, weakness to power. You can almost 
 see such an intellect develop. It cannot 
 better be described than to say : "The mind 
 is waking up." Well, says Carl3-le, "Bless- 
 ed is the man who has found his work ! Let 
 him ask no other blessedness!" >There are. 
 men who go through this world without 
 finding that for which they are fitted. Life 
 to them is a grand mistake. It is passed in 
 a doze. The}- are never in earnest — never 
 engaged heart and soul in their labor. Such 
 men are not educated men — no ! not even if 
 certified by the proudest university in the 
 Old World or the New. • Inspiration springs 
 from love of one's work. Once touched 
 with this divine enthusiasm, the mind 
 awakes. If thoroughly aroused, it never 
 sleeps again. It is an educated mind — a 
 mind led out — investigating — acquiring — 
 growing to the end. Do you remember the 
 di.stinguishing feature of the Battle of Mis- 
 sion Ridge? It was fought without orders. 
 A line of rifle pits at the foot of the hill, 
 trench after trench up its sides, and a frown- 
 ing line of fortifications on the summit, and 
 the order of battle was to take the rifle pits 
 at the base. But when that was done the 
 army had waked up ; nothing could stop it 
 — and on it went. Back on Orchard Knob, 
 Grant was angrily asking, "Who sent those 
 men up that hill?" "I didn't," said Thomas. 
 "Nor I." said Sheridan. "But they are 
 going to the top." Far up on Lookout 
 Mountain was heard the booming of Hook- 
 
er's cannon, — but they were under orders. 
 Away to the end of Mission Ridge rattled 
 the musketry of Sherman, — but that was 
 under orders. The centre was beyond orders 
 and running away from Grant. vSlowly 
 — painfully— they toiled up those rugged 
 steeps, now fighting hand to hand — now 
 crawling on hands and knees until the line 
 in blue broke over the summit, and from its 
 highest point they flung to the willing 
 breeze, their much loved starry banners. It 
 was not done b}' tactics. It was not done 
 by orders. No general would have risked it. 
 At the first rifle-pit the army awoke. For 
 weeks they had been shut up in Chattanooga. 
 They had looked famine in the face, they 
 had scanned those surrounding lines in gray 
 and thought of captivit}' or worse. They 
 had seen artillerj' horses by the hundred 
 drop by the roadside and starve to death. 
 They had seen gaunt and haggard men fol- 
 low the Commissary wagons with out- 
 stretched palms to catch the dropping grains 
 of corn and eat them raw. Now, the dream 
 was over. Sleep had vanished. The army 
 was in dead earnest. The weakling had 
 
 become a giant. "No," said Gordon Grang- 
 er, "I didn't order them up that hill. But I 
 tell 3'ou, General, all hell can't stop the 
 Army of the Cumberland, when once it gets 
 started." 
 
 When God wakes up a human mind he 
 wakes it up for conquest. It stands not for 
 orders. No obstacles daunt it ; no opposi- 
 tion stays it. It grapples with difficulties. 
 It treads at last, the heights of truth, a con- 
 queror. 
 
 Take with you, these thoughts : What 
 is education? First: Acquired knowledge 
 which is foundation. Second: Self-thinking 
 which is mind power. Third : Enthusiasm 
 in work which is inspiration. -^ — 
 
 Brothers, we are proud of our heritage in 
 an order which stands for all that is gener- 
 ous in education. Let us be true to our tra- 
 ditions. Let us have broad ideas of the 
 meaning of these student days. Let each 
 man build such a foundation as mayhap 
 shall bear aloft a beacon light to cheer anr' 
 to illume, — a beacon light, whose inscription 
 shall be that upon the old perpetual calen- 
 dar "Not for a year ; but for all time." 
 
I TRRflRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 WHHt 
 
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