Education: How Old The NewWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
History
Education: How Old The New
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Education -- History
towns divided these phases of the mystery plays among themselves.
Every one had an opportunity to do something. They were the tanners
and the plasterers, the cardmakers and the fullers, the coopers, the
armorers, the gaunters and glovers, the shipwrights, the pessners,
fishmongers and mariners, the parchment-makers and bookbinders, the
hosiers, the spicers, the pewterers and founders, the tylers and
smiths, the chandlers, the orfevers, the goldsmiths, the goldbeaters,
the money-makers, and then many other trades whose names sound curious
to us of {182} the modern time. The bowyers or makers of bows; the
fletchers or arrow featherers; the hay-resters or workers in
horsehair, the bowlers or bowlmakers, the feystours, makers of
saddle-trees; the verrours, glaciers; the dubbers, refurbishers of
clothes; the lumniners or illuminators, the scriveners or public
writers; the drapers, the mercers; the lorymers or bridle-makers; the
spurriers, makers of spurs; the cordwaners; the bladesmiths; the
curriers; the scalers, and many others, all had their chances to take
part in these old plays.
[Footnote 14: Catholic Summer School Press, New York, 1907.]
They were not being entertained, but were themselves active agents in
the doing of things for themselves and for others. This is what brings
real contentment with it. Superficial entertainment that occupies the
surface of the mind for the moment means very little for real
recreation of mind. What men need is to have something that makes them
think along lines different to those in which they are engaged in
their daily work. This gives real rest. The blood gets away from parts
of the brain where it has been all day, flows to new parts, and
recreation is the result. Such entertainment, however, must occupy the
very centre of interest for the moment and not be something seen in
passing and then forgotten. The modern psychotherapeutist would say,
that no better amusement than this could possibly be obtained since it
brought real diversion of mind. Above all, we of the modern time who
know how vicious, how immoral in its tendencies, how {183} suggestive
of all that is evil, how familiarizing with what is worst in men until
familiarity begets contempt, commercial entertainment in the shape of
dramatics, so-called at least, may be, cannot help but admire and envy
and would emulate, if we could, this fine solution of a very pressing
social problem that the gilds found in an educational feature that is
of surpassing value.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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