Newspapers / The Orphans’ Friend (Oxford, … / Dec. 22, 1875, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE ORPHAN S’ EKIEN I). W^tdiK.sday, 22, a8?5. woata>.~ That word is now. The form er appropriations of the Grand T 1 A ^ v-»r>-,rnl\l/:i in I^odge were made payable December. The appropriation for the current ^'car is payalde monthly. Eorinerly u'e could fortify the chiidren against tlie winds and snows ol winter and lay in supplies of provisions while prices were low. In sunw mer we made vegetables and gave entertainments to increase contributions. Now we confront a very fierce winter with limited supplies and a monthly allow ance. AVe Cannot take out the children and give entertainments to raise contribtitions. 1 be weather forbids it. Our only hope is in the benevolence ar.d liberality of our people. Only give them a chance. In churches and Sunday Schools, and public assemblies,' 1st the people have the opportunity, and let them have it noio. In the Lodges, let efficient committees be ajjpointed and let them be appointed noiv. Read the resolution of the Grand Lodge and see what is required and what is expected, and see it ^ww. Here is the lesolution: “Resolved, That the Master of each subordinate Lodge appoint a Standing Committee upon raising funds for the Orphan Asylum, and require said committee to report in writing each month, and that said reports and the funds received be forwarded monthly to the Superintendent of the Asylum and tha.t the support of the Orphan Asylum bo a regu lar order of business in eat h sub ordinate Lodge at each Commu nication. Mr. Darwin, w lio lias, perhaps,^ no superior in the knotvledge of the habits of plants and animals, asserts that “our common red clover i.s dependent upon the visits of the humble bees for its fertilization, as the tongues of tlie honey bees are not long enough to reach the nectar.” So if the humble bees sliould become ex tinct, our red clover would dis appear. But then the number of humble bees depends on the num ber of field mice which desti'oy their combs and nests, and the number of mice depcn.ls, as rve all know, on the number of cats; —and Mr. Huxley ungalanlly add.5, the number of cats depends on the number of old maids. Hence the farmers may, after all, come to owe their luxuriant clo ver crops to that useful class of beings old maids. BwrS WAKTE?). ^ We have about one Inmdred applications for boys. 1 hose applications came from all sorts of people. Some of them are excel lent men : but tbe boy.s are not ready to go. To send out an un taught aud untrained boy, would injure the character of our work. ATe prefer to keep some of them till they can honor tlie institution, ’^riie Orphan Asylums arc not muster-grounds for orjihans to he^ divided among those in need^ of servants; but they are training schools tor orphans in order that they may prepare fi>r the duties of useful citizens. The design of these institutions is so plainly set forth in the resolution of the Grand Lodge that there ought to be fewer mistakes in regard to it. Here is the resolution : 4. That orphan children in the said Asylum shall be fed and clothed, and shall receive such preparatory training a.nd edu cation as w'ill prepare them for useful occupations and for the usual business transactions of life. /' To pardon those absurdities iu ourselves, which tve cannot suffer iu others, is. neither better nor worse than to be more wdlling to be fools ourselves than to have others be so. Even a limited eduealion is not without its effect upon the^ mind of the pupil, and instruction in any of the various branches of knowledge will some day be of service to the rec.ipieut. For nn stance voung ladies iu ®ur semi naries in. studying Logic often find it diffic.ult to master the m'- gumentwii od liooihieni and the a>- guiiiei'Uuiii (ul ceipla'ii.iliini, but hitei they show their skill in the study by the success which attends their efforts in the art/iunciUtiiii ad h mill cj^itiuiduiii^ TSic KeSHit of street Edncatioii. Keep your children off the street. Bv that we mean do not let them make acquaintance ou the sidewalks. If they frequent the public schools, you must cstao- lish a sort of verbal quarantine at your own door, aud examine the useful toug'ue once a day, to see if it has not a secretion of slang upon it. Mrs. Paxton’s little son Man fred came runuiug into the pater- iral mansion the other day, shout ing to the cook; “Now then, old girl, slap up that dinner.” “Why! Manfred!” began tlie astonished mother, “where did you loaru such laugiuigc? who have 3’ou been playing with!” “Me,” said the hopeful.^ ^ “1 generally play with Dick d ur- ner, ’cause lie’s a bully boy with a glass eye. That’s so,” The fond mother was about to express some astonishment at the optical misfortune of Dick, wlieu tlie sou continued i “Ma, I’m going to buy aping ! Jem Smith w'cars one, and I’m as big as he.” “A plug 1” gasped his mother. “■Yes sir-ee, a plug, I’ve got ihe spondulicks salted down iu my box, sure ; it’s bound to come. The mother at this juncture or dered the youngster up stairs, and sent for a man servant to in terpret the slang, aivd wcu! to ad minister a correction. A young man advertises in a London paper his desu*e for a wife—‘Pretty and entirely igno rant of the fact!’ JTAPAMESE STBUENTS. BY WII.LIAM n. ORIITIS, Late of (he Imperial Jafunese Col lege, Tvkio, (Yedo,) Japan. AThile almost nothing is known abroad as to the truth concerning “native officials,” and hat little about “foreign teachers” in Japan, soiuctliing is kno'.vn and much has been said about Japanese students. Most persons have formed extremely favorable opin ions about tliein. In order to treat our subject fully, we must examine these opinions. Japan had been so long sealed from the ivorld that foreign na tions regarded it as- a land ivliose people might possess the average nature and capabilities of Asiatic nations. Indeed, it might be said that, of the mental and social status of the Japuiieso nation, the ordinary westerner knew nothing. 'iVhcn, 'then, a few years ago, ihore came upon America and i ivarnpe a sudden, influx of pol ished and eager travelers tind of bright, earnest, and very polite students, the tremendous reaction of 0})iniou oscillated into oxtrav- agtiut laudation and unbounded generositi^. The eiifrcc into homes and families closed to ordinary comers was theirs. Every social encouragement and educational aid was given them. The rules of most of the schools abroad were broken or made exce])tions to in their favor. Nothing seemed to be left undone to make these oriental strangers feel at home and to give them as complete an education as good schools, train ed ability, and faithful labor could secure. 'AVhen civil war broke out in Japan there w'ere several Japanese students in America and Europe. AABiile these in Europe returned home, those intheUnited States rvere supported by tiio pri vate contributions of American gentlemen aud retained iu sch.ool and homo until affairs in Japan were settled and remittances ar rived. The Japanese students abroad W'ere so earnest, diligent, polite, quick and eager to learn that they won iilandits even fromtliose unused to [jraise. The piatsident of a Massachusetts college said he ivislied to have a Japanese in every college in America to teach the undergraduates good man ners. The principal of a Con- netUicut high school said publicly that a body of young n\en of such powers of observation as the Japanese students exhibited could not be found iu America. The journals of England and Germa ny, as well as of America, stinted no praise of the graceful Orien tals in their schools. Several of tlie Ja])ancse students won dis tinctions at English, German, and French universities and at Amer ican colleges, and others ■would liave a.ssurcdly done so had not the a-rave come between them and tlie goal. All these things tend ed to produce the opinion held by some that the average Japanese is even suj>crior to the average American or European stiideiit. In order to judge the matter faii'lv, let us take a full view of the facts. In the first place it must bo borne ia mind that th.e Japanese students abro'ad itre the very best representatives of Japan’s intel lect, of iiigU social liositiou and hereditary culture. They are not the average of her sons. They are her best by nature, inberit- an-ce, chai’acter, and selection. They do not go iibroad indiscrim inately from the mass of tlie peo ple, as, for instance,. American students ffock to German}-. About 90 per cent, of the Jajia- nese students abroad are of the I samurai class, and were carefully chosen on account of their char acter and ability. By no canon of justice would it be fair to com pare them with the average wes tern studont. Further, in very many cases, extraordinary facili ties were given them to procure tutorial aids whicli the student abroad could not obtain. Again, those students who won distinc- tions or prizes were in eveiw ense students of special courses or sub jects; they did not compass the entire euiTicuium prescribed tor tbe regtilar university or college- students. Not one Japanese stu dent has yet been graduated from the full course of a European university or an American col- leg:e ; though that they are fnlly abie to do so, if they take the time, wc entirely believe. AV”e have stilted tliese facts simply to get at ihe truth aud to allow the subject to be soon from all sides. AYe have not spoken of the great obstacles to be surmounted by (he Japanese student abroad ; we suppose them to be known , and felt. It is because they are known that extraordinary merit attaches to tbe success of the Japanese students abroad. We shall now endeavor to give our impressions of the actual sta tus of the Jajianese student, his capabilities, and his mental coin- plexion. These impressions, it i.s but fair to state, have been form ed after five years’ constant in struction of Japanese youth, both abroad and in this country. AVe can treat onr subject best by making a contrast fietween the Japanese and the western student. The first great point ol difference wliich the foreign in structor notices in Japan is the a’most utter absence of any ne cessity of enforcing obedience. Ill his own country he knows that among his m ist important needs are physical vigor and a stern will. To govern a class of boys of the Anglo-Saxon race is like holding the safety-valves of as many steam-engines. To con trol a class of boys at home re quires the expenditure of an amount of nervous force that ma ny teachers do not jiossess, which injures the health of many and makes a day’s toil in tlie school room .sev'ore even to exhaustion. It has become almost a maxim in the United States that no one should be a teacher more than fif teen years of his life. No won der that the nervous and dyspep tic pedagogue or tlie worn pro fessor at liome looks upon .Japan as the teacher’s paradise and haiU the Japanese student as the em- b.oJiment of his ideals. To leave the boys of his own land, who feed fheir bodies with beef and tlieir brains with the ideas that liave made England and the Uni ted States wliat they are, who.se constant struggle is to ro})ress I their rebellious physical energies, and to come .'imong tlie quiet, sedentary, ar.d (iocile race of these islands, is a grateful relief to the nerves (,f the worn teacher. AA^hen, however, the instructor has }-outh and (■suberant liealtli and spirits, he would gladly ex- cliange a little of the easy sub missiveness and docility for alit- tle fire and cnerg}-, which he misses so m-ncli. The professional teacher comes to Japan with nreat expectations. In all the typical virtues of the scholar he e'xpects the ymmg na tive to he siqicrior. In his work tlie teacher hopes to find the hap piness tliat is to compensate him for his exile from home and con genial associations. Nor are Ins expectations too great or doomed to disappoint ment. lie meets as noble young men as ever thirsted for knowl edge. He finds that he has- birt to ])omt tlie way and his pupils follow. Their perfect trust and confidence in him are as beauti ful a« their diligence is commend able. It wai once said that Jap anese youths were fickle,- that they changed teachers as often as the moon her form. If this were true in the past it is not so now, at least in the government-schools'. The Alomhusiio have acted ener getically in tins'matter through out the country and deserve all praise for having enforced their rales requir'ng a student who en ters a school to remain for a term of years. Alore- than this, the very native officials, whose abili ty to plan and execute a sclieme of foreign language we deny and whose utter unfitness to make rules for foreign teachers and to liave cliarge of educational mat ters, properly so called, we think we have demonstrated by facts, ha', e shown themselves fully al l) to ho the strict wardens and the kind and careful governors of their students in all that is out side of educational matters. In the government of the students, after they leave their foreign in structors, we see little to con demn and much to commend, A’lic native official has demonstra ted his fitness to administer dis cipline and to provide for the dai ly need of the boarding-pupils and to administer the economics of education, lie has done his work, the cost being considered, far better than a foreigner could do it. From tlio chaos of three rears ago, to tlie order, regulari ty, and disciplitie of to-day, is a change that must bo as gratifying to the Mombusho as it is to their foreign servants. The Japanese student of the present no longer scrapes along, tintidy in summer and sliivering in winter, but comes to school clad as comfortably and appears with as much dignity, all the facts considered, as a critic could desire. The schools of Tokei are rapidly approaching that point when the precision, punctuality, and discipline observed will chal- i lenge comparison with the best of Europe or America. The average Japanese student is bright, quick, eager, earnest, and faitlifiil. He deliglits his teaclier’s heart by his dooilit}', his ■ industr}', his obedience, bis rc' - erance, his politeness. In tho course of five years the writer can remember no instance of rudeness, no case of slander, n i uncanny ti-ick, no impudent reply, from any of his many pupils. ?o ne teachers complain of de ception and l}'ii)g ])r.acticed by their pupils ; with them we can not from expeilence join. In deed, in-almost all the gentler virtues, in abstinence from what is rude, coarse, aud ohscciie, tho ’average Japanese school-boy is rather tlie superior of liis confrrre iu the west. In the hereditary '•irtues- of respect to superiors, obedience, ])oHtenoss, and self- control, IIS'is' unquestionably tlio superior. On the teacher’s fir. t entrance among Jaiianese stu dents who are umised to foreign ers, he may notice some oeciiliiir- itie.s, allowable in tho Japanos) code of etiipiette, but repulsive t > him ; but tliese soon disappear O" cease to annoy. In fire,, energ}''^ manly independence, and all those" positive '-Irttfes which ar@ i exhJb-ifed in action and not in rd) - stinenee, the Jaiianese student is quite inferior' to the western stu dent. Ill intellectual power and gen eral ability, we are very much inclined to believe that the aver age Japanese student is the equal of tho average western student, Even in the perception and con ception of abstract ideas, we are iueliiied to think him not inferior, provided his knoivledgo of the vehicle emplyed—i. e., the lan guage—'be equal to that of his rival, AVe have had two> years of expei'ienee and observation of Japanese, America, and English students in the same class,, and have not been able to detect any difference in their capabilities. AVhether tbe Japanese- studont can hold his equal way through. the high.est studies of a foreign- university, whether he can go- beyond a certain point and win independent conquests by his own intellect w'ith ability equal to that of the foreigner, is a question-not yet ripe for solution.
The Orphans’ Friend (Oxford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 22, 1875, edition 1
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