It is not easy to conceive a
situation that lacks the element of history in one or another of its
phases or manifestations. Whether the pupil travels, or embarks upon a
professional life, or associates, in any relation, with cultivated
people, he will find a knowledge of history not only a convenience but a
real necessity, if he is to escape the feeling of thralldom. The
utilitarian value of school studies has been much exploited, and that
phase is not to be neglected; but we need to go further in estimating
the influence of any study. We need to inquire not only how a knowledge
of the study will aid the pupil in his work, but also how it will
contribute to his life.
=Restricted concepts.=--We lustily proclaim our country to be the land
of the free, but our notion of freedom is much restricted. In the
popular conception freedom has reference to the body. A man can walk the
streets without molestation and can vote his sentiments at the polls,
but he may not be able to take a day's ride about Concord and Lexington
with any appreciable sense of freedom. He may walk about the
Congressional Library and feel himself in prison. He may desert a
lecture for the saloon in the interests of his own comfort. He may find
the livery stable more congenial than the drawing-room. His body may
experience a sort of freedom while his mind and spirit are held fast in
the shackles of ignorance.
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