system, however. For there are still many schools in which all forms of
handicraft are unknown, and in which the only training in artistic expression is
that which comes from caricaturing the teacher. Singing is still an unknown art
to many teachers. The play instinct is yet looked upon with suspicion and
distrust in some quarters. A large number of our schoolrooms are as barren and
ugly today as ever, and contain an atmosphere as stifling to all forms of natural
expression. We can only comfort ourselves with Holmes's maxim, that it matters
not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving. And we
certainly are moving toward a larger development and greater efficiency in
expression on the part of those who pass through our schools.
Expression and Character.—Finally, all that has been said in this discussion
has direct reference to what we call character—that mysterious something which
we so often hear eulogized and so seldom analyzed. Character has two distinct
phases, which may be called the subjective phase and the social phase; or,
stating it differently, character is both what we are and what we do. The first of
these has to do with the nature of the real, innermost self; and the last, with the
modes in which this self finds expression. And it is fair to say that those about us
are concerned with what we are chiefly from its relation to what we do.
Character is not a thing, but a process; it is the succession of our thoughts and
acts from hour to hour. It is not something which we can hoard and protect and
polish unto a more perfect day, but it is the everyday self in the process of living.
And the only way in which it can be made or marred is through the nature of this
stream of thoughts and acts which constitute the day's life—is through being or
doing well or ill.
Two Lines of Development.—The cultivation of character must, then, ignore
neither of these two lines. To neglect the first is to forget that it is out of the
abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks; that a corrupt tree cannot bring
forth good fruit; that the act is the true index of the soul. To omit the second is to
leave the character half formed, the will weak, and the life inefficient and barren
of results. The mind must be supplied with noble ideas and high ideals, with
right emotions and worthy ambitions. On the other hand, the proper connection
must be established between these mental states and appropriate acts. And the
acts must finally grow into habits, so that we naturally and inevitably translate
our ideas and ideals, our emotions and ambitions into deeds. Our character must
be strong not in thought and feeling alone, but also in the power to return to the
world its finished product in the form of service.