have education and not mere knowledge, we may begin to hope. We must look
to the colleges and normal schools to furnish such teachers. If they
cannot do so, our schools must plod along on the path of tradition without
hope of finding the better way. There are faint indications, however, here
and there, that the colleges and normal schools are beginning to stir in
their sleep and are becoming somewhat aware of their opportunities and
responsibilities. We shall hail with acclaim the glad day when they come
to realize that the preparation of teachers for their work is a task of
large import and goes deeper than facts, and statistics, and theories, and
knowledge. If they furnish a teacher who has the quality of serenity, we
shall all be fully alive to the fact that that quality is the luscious and
nutritious fruitage of scholarship, of wide knowledge, of much reading, of
deep meditation, and keen observation. But these elements, either singly
or in combination, are but veneer unless they strike their roots into the
spiritual nature and are thus nourished into spiritual qualities.
Excavating into serenity, we shall discover the pure gold of scholarship;
we shall find knowledge in great abundance; we shall find the spirit of
the greatest and best books; and we shall come upon the cloister in which
meditation has done its perfect work.

The machine that is run to the extreme limit of its capacity splutters,
sizzles, hisses, and quivers, and finally shakes itself into a condition
of ineffectiveness. But the machine that is run well within the limits of
its capacity is steady, noiseless, serene, effective, and durable. So with
people. The person who essays a task that is beyond his capacity is
certain to come to grief and to create no end of disturbance to himself
and others before the final catastrophe. If the steam-chest or boiler is
not equal to the task, wisdom and safety would counsel the installation of
a larger one. Here is one of the tragedies of our scheme of education. The
spirit is the power-plant of all life's operations and in this plant are