cultivation of the mind and faculties. In these definitions we see that education signifies development, and rightly so, as its original meaning is to "draw out." The fundamental mistake of many modern systems is the utter disregard of this truth. Father Dowling, S. J., of Creighton University, has expressed this very well in the following words[1]: "Unfortunately education, which ought to signify a drawing out, has come to be regarded as the proper word to denote a putting in. Properly it supposes that there is something in the mind capable of development, faculties that can be trained, implicit knowledge which can be made explicit, dormant powers which can be awakened. The main end of education should be to unfold these faculties. It means not so much the actual imparting of knowledge, as the development of the power to gain knowledge, to apply the intellect, to cultivate taste, utilize the memory, make use of observations and facts. It is not essential that the studies which produce these results should be directly useful in after life any more than it is necessary for the athlete in the development of his powers to wield the blacksmith's hammer, instead of using dumb-bells or horizontal bars, none of which play any part in his subsequent career; he puts them all aside when the physical powers have been developed."
The Germans express the same idea admirably by the name they give to their colleges. They call a college a gymnasium. Indeed, this is what a college should be, a place of mental gymnastics, of training,
- ↑ The Catholic College as a Preparation for a Business Career, p. 7. – See also The Month, February, 1886: Education and School, by the Rev. John Gerard, S. J.
