A Lecture on Physical Development, and its Relations to Mental and Spiritual Development, delivered before the American Institute of Instruction, at their Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting, in Norwich, Conn., August 20, 1858 — John Shaqi
A Lecture on Physical Development, and its Relations to Mental and Spiritual Development, delivered before the American Institute of Instruction, at their Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting, in Norwich, Conn., August 20, 1858Calthrop, S. R. (Samuel Robert)
Science
A Lecture on Physical Development, and its Relations to Mental and Spiritual Development, delivered before the American Institute of Instruction, at their Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting, in Norwich, Conn., August 20, 1858
Calthrop, S. R. (Samuel Robert)
Physical education and training
Let us then say, that there are five grand divisions in Human
Nature,--the physical, the intellectual, the affectional, the moral, and
the devotional,--or in other words, that man has body, mind, heart,
conscience, and soul.
Concerning these great divisions, I shall assert, _first_, that they are
all mutually dependent upon each other; that if one of them suffer, all
the others suffer with it; that man is dwarfed and incomplete, unless he
is fully developed in all the five: and, _secondly_, as my special
subject, I maintain that physical well-being, health of body, is
therefore necessary not only to the complete development of Human
Nature, but that it is also essential to a happy and harmonious
development of each one of the four other great divisions of Human
Nature; or in other words, I assert the body has something to do both
with the mind, heart, conscience, and soul of man, not merely to all
these collectively, but also to each of them separately.
First, then, I shall speak on the mutual dependence of the faculties.
Now, although it is not possible that any faculty should be so
completely isolated, as to act without moving any of the rest at all;
nevertheless, since a comparative isolation and separation of the
faculties is but too common, let us glance through the history of the
past, and mark any notable instances of such isolation; and if we find
that a one-sided development has always proved a failure, we shall begin
to discern the folly of trying such disastrous experiments over again,
specially since they would have to be made upon living human beings,
upon he young children of the rising generation, who cannot resent our
folly, but whose distorted natures will be living proofs of our
incapacity, of our impotence as educators, when the experiment tried for
the thousand and first time fails yet again, as it always has done, and
always will do to the world's end, while Human Nature remains the same.
Let us then take a few examples, which are not intended to stand the
test of severe criticism, but which are only used as illustrations of
the idea which we are now considering.
Let us then first suppose that the devotional element in man acts alone.
The experiment has already been tried. Many a hermit in lonely cell or
rocky cavern, has cut himself off from the society of men, from action,
duty and love, in order that he may be devout without hindrance. How
many such men have poured out their souls upon the ground, on barren
sand or desert rock, souls which might have watered thousands with the
dew of heaven, and all because they made one fatal life-mistake;--they
thought, that to pray always meant to be always saying prayers.
Who could be more devout than Saint Simeon Stylites? who spent all his
life upon the top of a tall pillar, absorbed in contemplation, ecstasy,
remorse and prayer. Let the poet speak for him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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