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Teachers are so situated that they may give wholesome advice; while
parents--and I say it with respect--are quite likely, under the
influence of an instinctive belief that their children are fitted for
any place within the range of human labor or human ambition, to make
fatal mistakes. While all pursuits and professions, if honest, are
equally honorable, the individual selection must be determined by taste,
circumstances, individual habits, and often by physical facts. It is not
for one person to do everything, but it is for each person to do at
least one thing well. As a general rule, the painter, who has spent his
youth and manhood in studying the canvas, had better not study the
stars; and the artist, who has power to bring the form of life from the
cold marble, has no right to solve problems in geometry, weigh planets,
or calculate eclipses. The proper choice of the business of life may do
much to perfect our social system, and it will certainly advance our
material prosperity. There is everywhere in our civilization mutual
dependence, and there must be mutual support. In no other way can we
advance to our destiny as becomes an enlightened people.
But all of life and education, either to pupil, teacher, or man, is not
to be found in the school-room. The common period of school-life is
sufficient only for elementary education. The average school-going
period is ten years.
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