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Education
bed and put a room in order, to wash dishes, to prepare a meal, to wash
and repair his own clothing, is a training that need not make any boy
less manly; it will make him happier and more useful. And if girls,
in turn, could learn to harness and drive a horse, and to use the saw
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and the hammer, as well as the rake and the hoe, they would be better
fitted to meet the emergencies of life.
Let the children and youth learn from the Bible how God has
honored the work of the everyday toiler. Let them read of “the sons of
the prophets” (
2 Kings 6:1-7
), students at school, who were building
a house for themselves, and for whom a miracle was wrought to
save from loss the ax that was borrowed. Let them read of Jesus the
carpenter, and Paul the tentmaker, who with the toil of the craftsman
linked the highest ministry, human and divine. Let them read of the lad
whose five loaves were used by the Saviour in that wonderful miracle
for the feeding of the multitude; of Dorcas the seamstress, called back
from death, that she might continue to make garments for the poor;
of the wise woman described in the Proverbs, who “seeketh wool and
flax, and worketh willingly with her hands;” who “giveth meat to her
household, and their task to her maidens;” who “planteth a vineyard,”
and strengtheneth her arms;” who “stretcheth out her hand to the poor;
yea, ... reacheth forth her hands to the needy;” who “looketh well
to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Proverbs 31:13, 15
, R.V.;
31:16, 17, 20, 27
.
Of such a one, God says: “She shall be praised. Give her of the
fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Proverbs 31:30, 31
.
For every child the first industrial school should be the home. And,
so far as possible, facilities for manual training should be connected
with every school. To a great degree such training would supply
the place of the gymnasium, with the additional benefit of affording
valuable discipline.
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Manual training is deserving of far more attention than it has
received. Schools should be established that, in addition to the highest
mental and moral culture, shall provide the best possible facilities for
physical development and industrial training. Instruction should be
given in agriculture, manufactures,—covering as many as possible of
the most useful trades,—also in household economy, healthful cookery,
sewing, hygienic dressmaking, the treatment of the sick, and kindred