ViiTAIL POBNT of EDUCATIO?€
By Marie Cordli
IN (id\ s •i k t these, when the necessity of education,
IN technica] or otherwise, is strenuously insisted ttpon
strenuously insisted upon
by all the u-urr.i-u w< rshipful, govermental and
dictatorial personages who "sit" on County Councils,
or talk away •:. pnri'vw time re* Idesdy in Parliament
without apparently arriving at *ny decision oi definite
workable pood for the nation, it will not, perhaps, be
considered obtrusive or intrusive if a suggest be
fyit forward as to the importance of one point: The
necessity <•: trafffing peop.e 10 read.
This essential of education is sadly larking among
the general majority of "educated" persons in Great
Brit;. it,, and 1 think 1 may say America — especially
am' ■ t hose of the "upper" classes, in both countries.
V hen we speak of these "upper" classes, are mean
of course those who by chance or fortune have been
Sbrn either to such rank or to such sufficient wealth
s bo be lifted above tin toiling million and who have
certair.ly had all the physical, mental and social ad
vantages that tuition, training and general surround
ings can give them
Vet it i- precisely among these that we find the
ones who cannot read, who frequently cannot spell,
■ad v hose handwriting is so bad as to !*■ well-nigh
nK-giMe When it is stated that they cannot read,
•hat statement is 1 1- -t by any means intended to con
\. v the idea that if a book or newspaper be given to
them they do not understand the letters or the print
ii. winch the reading matter is presented to their ejr< s.
They do. But such letters and such print impress no
meaning upon their minds. Anyone can prove this
by merely asking them what they have been reading.
[a dssk cases out of ten they "don't know."
And if they ever did know, during one unusual
m. meat of brain activity, they "forget." The think
ing fatuity is. with them, like a worn-out sieve, through
svbii b everything runs easily and drops to waste. '1 he
news of the day. be it set •■•• so boldly in no
matter what StartHngly Stout head-lines, barely ex
cite- their interest Cos more than a second. They
may perhap glance ..t a couple of newspaper placards,
a-i's '..:::.. ■■ "Russia at it again": but of the
ir.s and outs of policy, the di cutties of government,
the work of oatkn they grasp absolutely nothing.
Thus it happens that wh< n they are asked their opinion
<vi any such events <»i the hour as may be making
history in '"'• future, they display tli- ir utter ignorant c
in such a Eranklv Stupid fashion that any intelligent
inquirer is bound to \m tunned by their lack of knowl
edge-. ar>d will periia: t murmur feebly: "Have you not
lead the news' ' To which will tome the vague
.eplv "Oh. yes, I read all the newspapers; but I really
don't ne member tb particulars iust no.v."
What they do :< m- mbcr — these "cultured" persons
(and the more highly they are cultured, the mote
tenacious is tb b memory on the point) is a divorce
( as* rhej alwayi read that carefully over and over
again. They comment upon it afterward with such
gusto a^ to mala :'. evident to the merest tyro that
'hey ha\e learned all its worst details by heart. If
•'hey can only revel in the published shame and disgrace
• | (igCe or two of their very "dearest " friends, they enjoy
,-.nd appreciate that kind of mental fare more than
. . ! the beautiful poems and idyllic romances ever
earned to n id and
■ l (at t.
I to go\ ern them would <i>>
• ading i • I
<•<) at.'i y what
nd d
■p oui spi ■':"• witch's cauldron
SUNDAY MAGAZINE, for SEPTEMBER 25, 1904
thing ideas 'round which they gathei
the literary "bubble, bubble, toil and troubl< . " wherein
••• "ey< •• newt and toe of frog" in the 1 k line
■ ntrasi with something \\hi. h i togethei
outsidi the boiling hotchpotch, namely thai "sick
eagle looking .it tin- sky," whi I symbol
•- 1 !it> rary art ?
But the highest literary art. particularly in its •„ tic
form, is ut a discount nowadays. And why? Simply
because people do not know how to read Moreover,
h is difficult tn make them learn. They have neither
tin skill not the patience to study beautiful thought,
expressed in beautiful language. They want to
"rush" something through Whether poem, play or
novel, it must be "rushed through" and d ■?•■
with.
No author's book can be sure of an honest and unpre
judiced read either by those whose business it i-; to
review it for the press, or those whose pleasure it 1 to
"skim"" it for themselves. They have "no time."
They have time for motoring, cycling, card-playing,
racing, betting, tennis and croquet anything in short
v. lii does not directly appeal to the intellectual
faculties — but for real reading, they neither can make
leisure nor acquire aptitude.
Tins vague, sieve-like quality of brain .
menta v ibility to i ompreh< i
I ..rat ter or events, whw h is bo omii .
■ i "readt-i of i k
only make things dirVtcult for authors who hon<
seek to < ontribute something of th.-ir utmost best to the
w>rl<l of literature. Most men ami women who feel
tl.. "divine afflatus. ".and who are able to write in a
. abo ,- th< must !■■■ const ious of a desire
to rise yet higher than any of their own attempted
and to do something new, strong and
gh i" hold life, and lasting in i: when othei con
orary work is I ■ raxing ol the
"sick eagle looking at the sky." perha]
it is a noble cra\ing. In taking an aim it is as well to
let fly ;.t the moon, even if <;u- hits only a
But when fiery-footed Pegasus would fain
away with its rider into tin- realms of imagination and
.;• •. .. • when the i lisciple <■! literature,
all aglow with freshness and fer or, strives to catch
. new spirit "f thought as it rushes pasi on its
swift '.M.ij; . or s<-<-ks to create some fair, consoling
idyl of human circumstance, then all the publi
! massed in the way and cry "Halt! Don't lei
us have any great ideas!" they say; "they ar-- above
the beads of the publw ! Be domestic; be matrimon
iniqtritous; be anything in the line of fiction
Don't give us new things to think
about— the public have no time to thii 1,. W hai they
• is just something to glance at between tea and
dinner. '
Now, this condition of affairs, which is so positively
>us to all literary art, is entirely broughi aboul
by the lack of the one vital point in the modern educa
tion of the British and American people, namely, that
they have not been taught how t<> read As a resuli
of this, they frequently pronounce a !><".k "too long
or t"" 'lull." too this or too that, without having
looked a 1 more than perhaps twenty pages <>f its
■
As an example of what I mean, I shall here relate a
of my own which 1 purposely entered
for my own instruction and entertainment,
■ erning a novel which I greatly admire, "Simon
Dale," by Anthony Hope During ■ •■ tire year I
made rt my business to ask a p>«"l!v i well"
to-do "reading peopli their <■!'■■ i this book,
and I found that noi • all ■■ hoi i 1 i k< d had
read it act . on< woman, of such " blue "
■': thai 1 should ■•. ith
out having what ■■■ i all "the ' ;
I'iMilr me as a witn< I :r«: r« <1 me ti:.;t it
■ - : id ever read.
When 1
>•! i > turse t hai deal
■ a ' And i
■
1 said "But 1 I bj Blai k
■
" Thai 's the i ■ ■ ■ "Not
I red 1 as speaking ■
H ■• : : ; ■ you
i [er fat i fell. "Oh,
: il. •:■: ■ ••■ I■do ' ! didn t like
•Dodo ■"
It will be agreed. I think, that it was to use entering
into any discussion as to the merits of "Simon Dale"
with this excellent gentlewoman, who, however is only
one of the large "educated" class who do not know
how to read. They have never learned, and some of
them never will lean They cannot realize the
unspeakable delight and charm of giving oneself up
to one's author, sens prejudice, '•'in* criticism, ssir.s
everything that could possibly break or mar the spell,
and being carried ... the wings of gentle romance
away from self, away from the every -day cares and
petty personalities of so, ia! convention and observ
ance, and lhing "with" the characters which have
been created by the man or woman whose fertile brain
and toiling pen have unitedly done their best to give
this little respite and holiday to those ho will take
it and rejoice in it with gratitude
But unfortun itely ' ; ■ Fai larger is the
class <ii' peoj ■ ' ike up a novel oi .i volume of
essays merelj to find fault with it. and fling it aside
read Tb a litudc of the bad U mpered < hild
who does not know whal toy nexi ;■■ break is the
attitude '•! many modern nailer Nothing is more
manifestly i I an author than t.> judge a book
mere "r.kimming" "t its pages, though this
: tjee becon ■■ almosi felonious when the merits
■.r demerits i i the work are decided withoul reading
it at all.
! ; or in tance, Mr. Smith meets Mr. Jones in the
train which is taking them oui to their several "h'ttls
places" in the country, and says "Have you read
So-and-So's latest book? If not, don't! Whereupon
Mr. [ones murmurs: "Really? So bad as .ill that 5
Have you read it?" To which Smith rejoins rudely:
"No! And "li>n't intend! I've heard all about it'"
An«l [ones, acquiescing feebly, decides thai h< must
"taboo" that book, also its author, lest, ;
Ictus' virtue '■ put to the Mush ;.■ lion of
either. Now ii '■' Smith .. to dare to condemn
a tradesman in this way, and depreciate his )•'»"!* to
Mr. Imies in such wise thai the latt< r hould be led to
avoid him all >gether, thai tradesman could claim
damages for injuring his character a id depriving him
of custom. Should noi the >ame rule apply to authors
when t ln y aie condemned "ti mere hearsay? or
when their work i« wilfully misrepresented and mis
quoted in I he press?
li may noi be <>ut of place, perhaps, lure to recall
a "personal reminiscence" of the wilful misrepresen
tation made to a certain section <>!' the public of a
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