Again, the higher education should be encouraged because of the moral
impotency of all the modes of education which do not touch and stir
the human spirit. It is folly to suppose that the moral nature of the
child is improved because it has been taught to read and write and cast
up accounts, or to practice a handicraft. Tracing the letters of the
alphabet with a pen has no bearing on the Golden Rule. The spelling of
words by sounds and syllables does not lead to the observance of the
Ten Commandments. Drill in the multiplication table does not fascinate
the learner with the sermon on the mount. Rules in grammar, dates in
history, sums in arithmetic, and points in geography do not strengthen
the grasp on moral truth. The ability to saw to a line or hit a nail
aplomb with a hammer does not create a zeal for righteousness and
truth. It is only when the pupil comes to feel the vitalizing power of
knowledge that it begins to re-act upon the life and to fructify in
character. This is especially true of a backward race whose acquisitive
power outruns its apperceptive faculty.