Chapter 7—The Importance of Physical Training
The present age is one of unparalleled interest in education. The
wide diffusion of knowledge through the agency of the press, placing
the means for self-culture within the reach of all, has awakened a
general desire for mental improvement.
While we acknowledge with gratitude our increased facilities, we
should not close our eyes to the defects in the present system of ed-
ucation. In the eager effort to secure intellectual culture, physical as
well as moral training has been neglected. Many youth come forth
from institutions of learning with morals debased, and physical powers
enfeebled; with no knowledge of practical life, and little strength to
perform its duties.
As I have seen these evils, I have inquired, Must our sons and
daughters become moral and physical weaklings, in order to obtain an
education in the schools? This should not be; it need not be, if teachers
and students will but be true to the laws of nature, which are also the
laws of God. All the powers of mind and body should be called into
active exercise, that the youth may become strong, well-balanced men
and women.
Many students are in so great haste to complete their education
that they are not thorough in anything which they undertake. Few
have sufficient courage and self-control to act from principle. Most
students fail to understand the true object of education, and hence fail
to take such a course as to secure this object. They apply themselves
to the study of mathematics or the languages, while they neglect a
study far more essential to the happiness and success of life. Many
who can explore the depths of the earth with the geologist, or traverse
the heavens with the astronomer, show not the slightest interest in the
wonderful mechanism of their own bodies. Others can tell just how
many bones there are in the human frame, and correctly describe every
organ of the body, and yet they are as ignorant of the laws of health,
[72]
and the cure of disease, as though life were controlled by blind fate,
instead of definite and unvarying law.
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