The Cultivation of the Sensibilities

 

         THE SENSIBILITIES will admit of culture, and should not be neglected in the work of education. They do not enter so prominently into the work of school training as the intellect, but they are no less important in the development of character. So, the importance of the Sensibilities and their culture should be fully appreciated, and sufficient provision should be made for their culture.

         The Value of the Sensibilities. Traditional curricula of studies are filled with branches to give activity to the intellect; but few, if anything right and significant, are given for the culture of the sensibilities. So great a lack of appreciation of this element of our nature demands the statement of a few reasons for its culture. 

         1. The Sensibilities exert influence on the intellect. The activity of the intellect is largely dependent upon the sensibilities. A quick and lively sensibility is usually attended with a quickness and strength of intellectual conception. A man with cold and sluggish feelings will usually be found to have a dull and plodding intellect. The emotional nature excites the intellectual nature to activity, and stimulates it to efforts that it would otherwise be unable to put forth. Thus under the stimulus of strong feeling, a man will accomplish what he would not have believed himself capable of performing.

         2. The Sensibilities have a relation to thought. Feeling gives force to thought. An idea without feeling in it is like a dead acorn; you must put your heart in your thoughts, if you would have them take root and grow in other hearts. Sentiment is not only the life, it is the soul of an idea. An abstract thought not warmed by the glow of the heart is a marble statue without life; put sentiment into the idea, and we have the statue with a beating heart, a flashing eye, and a rational soul.

         3. The Sensibilities exert a strong influence upon the will. Our volitions depend largely upon our feelings; and we reach the will of others through their hearts.

         4. The Sensibilities have a relation to oratory. The great orator relies on touching the feelings as well as upon convincing the judgment. The most intellectual speeches sometimes are not the most effective. The great orators have been men of emotional power, men who put their hearts into their thoughts. "The passions are the only orators that always succeed," says François LaRochefoucauld (1613-1680). Henry Clay (1777-1862), in his tribute to oratory, says "There is no power like oratory. Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; Cicero by swaying their passions."

         The Principles of Culture of the Sensibilities. There are three general principles to guide us in the work of cultivating the sensibilities.

         1. The Sensibilities are to be cultivated by exercise. Children must be placed in circumstances, through curriculum and school atmosphere, where they may develop benevolent feelings.

         2. We should develop the higher feelings and repress the lower feeling. The feelings, as we have learned, are dual; they are positive and negative. The positive feelings are usually of advantage to mankind; the negative feelings are usually of disadvantage. As a rule, therefore, we develop the positive feelings, and repress the negative feelings.

         3. The feelings should be under the control of the judgment and the sense of obligation. Many feelings that are frequently evil are allowable and even useful when under proper control. Moderation is thus the law of culture in respect to some of the sensibilities.

         Having stated these general principles of culture, and indicated their application, we shall endeavor in the following discussion to show the value of some prominent feelings, and indicate the importance of their culture.

         Culture of Some of the Instinctive and Rational Simple Emotions. These feelings need both stimulus and restraint; those that benefit us should be stimulated, and those that are an injury to us should be restrained.

         1. Every one should cultivate the emotion of Cheerfulness. A cheerful and happy disposition makes our life happy, and disseminates the sunshine of joy around us. Cheerfulness is conducive to health. We should endeavor, therefore, to cultivate in children a merry, cheerful disposition. Sympathize with them in their sports and pleasures; let not sour looks or scolding words check the flow of happiness in their souls. All courses, especially history and literature, must foster in them a benevolent sense of life where, if one thinks and acts in accordance with the facts of reality, one would achieve success and happiness.

         2. The tendency to Melancholy in a child requires the careful attention of teacher and parent. This tendency is sometimes due to natural disposition, and is sometimes the result of special causes, as the loss of a loved one. In any case, care should be taken to prevent its becoming a permanent disposition. This can be done by cheerful words, by pleasant surroundings, and by presenting pictures of the bright side of life. The children must be shielded from those affairs of the larger world which they have not been equipped to cope with so that they do not develop a feeling that they live in a malevolent universe where emergencies, disasters, catastrophes are the norm of life -that success and happiness can not be achieved. The courses must be carefully designed not to instill any sense of doom in the child.  

         3. The feeling of Pride, when under proper control, gives strength and dignity to the character. When it becomes a predominant feeling, however, it mars the spiritual excellence, and is a source of littleness and weakness. We should therefore be careful to regulate this feeling and its manifestation. We should aim to cultivate a noble pride of character that would scorn to do a base or ignoble act. Care should be taken, however, to suppress all exhibition of vanity, conceit, or haughtiness; as these degrade the character and subject the individual to the contempt of his fellows. Even the highest attainments or endowments lose their luster when the man is puffed up with pride or indulges in self‑laudation on account of them.

         4. The feeling of Humility, the opposite of pride, also demands attention in the work of culture. Humility, if not carried to excess, is a valuable and attractive trait of character. It endears a man to his friends, gives added merit to real excellence, and is an especial adornment to high attainments or great deeds. When carried to excess, however, it may disqualify a man for the real duties of life, or prevent him from accomplishing that for which his talents would otherwise qualify him. As a rule, however, humility is a crown of beauty and a robe of honor. It is a virtue that gives superior value to great gifts, and elevates the person in the estimation of mankind. The world delights to honor the man who is great without being proud or vain of his greatness. The man of finest character and greatest influence is he who, under the guise of a modest demeanor, possesses a firm self-reliance and a just confidence in his ability to discharge the duties that may devolve upon him. 

         5. The emotion of Beauty is the purest and highest of the esthetic emotions, and it should be sedulously cultivated. It has a purifying and elevating influence on the character, and is the source of some of the most exquisite enjoyments of life. The mind should be led to linger lovingly among the beautiful objects of nature, to find enjoyment in the figures and sentiments of poetry, to experience an exquisite delight in listening to the melodies and harmonies of music, and to fill the memory and the imagination with the graceful forms of the sculptor's art. Such a love for beauty will flow out into all our actions, and beautify our characters. It will enable us to make houses more attractive, and home life a source of highest enjoyment. It will elevate our tastes and aspirations, and, by its purifying influences, make our souls fit for a life of joy. 

         6. The feeling of the Ludicrous is worthy of culture. The enjoyment of humor is a source of refined pleasure, giving a buoyancy to the spirit and a zest to life. A person that sees the humorous side of things, finds much to lighten the cares of life, and is a source of sunshine to other hearts. The play of humor in the soul lightens and freshens the spirit, as music does the soldiers on a weary march. A hearty laugh, we are told, doeth good like a medicine. Care should be taken, however, that the taste for humor be refined and elevated; there is no necessary relation between vulgarity and wit. The humorous incidents and anecdotes remembered should be free from coarseness of word or suggestion. The humorous authors should be those of purity and refinement. The droll pages of Charles Dickens (1812-1870), the polished satire of William Thackeray (1811-1863), the gentle play of fancy in the pages of Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) and Washington Irving (1783-1859), the delicate wit of Charles Lamb (1775-1834), and the broader humor of Thomas Hood (1799-1845), are all adapted to cultivate a healthy taste for the humorous. Humor, however, must be scorned when it is used to laugh at that which is good, at heroes, and at values.

         7. The moral feelings are of immense importance in moral culture. The feeling that we ought to do the right has a strong influence in the clear conception of obligation and of the right. So also the feeling of satisfaction and remorse in respect to our actions, and the feelings of approval and censure for the actions of others, aid in the clear development of these ideas. Delicacy of feeling gives added delicacy of perception; and the heart aids the head in moral culture. Conscience, as we have seen, is emotional as well as intellectual. We should, therefore, cultivate the moral emotions. The child's heart may be aroused by incidents of moral action. Fable and fiction serve an excellent purpose in this culture by calling out the moral feelings. A tender and delicate conscience indicates, not weakness and effeminacy of character, but manly strength and dignity.

         Culture of Some of the Affections. The Benevolent Affections give beauty and excellence to character, while the Malevolent Affections usually weaken and debase it. In the culture of these forms of feeling, the fundamental principle is to stimulate the good feelings and repress the evil feelings. 

         1. In respect to the several forms of the malevolent affections, the one rule is that of suppression and control. Envy and jealousy are usually contemptible feelings, and degrade and contaminate the soul. Such feelings should be shunned as we would shun a viper or a beast of the forest. Resentment may be allowed under proper control when it is in the form of indignation at the wrongs of ourselves or of others. Meanness of character, the violation of principle, acts of injustice and oppression, are fit subjects for our indignation. Under such provocations the eye may flash, and the lip quiver, and the voice go forth in words of burning indignation. Most feelings of retaliation and all feelings of revenge, however, are unworthy of a moral being; they are a relic of barbarism, and fit only for the bosom of a savage.

         2. The Love of Kindred is one of the most important of the affections, giving rise to the family and the home. It is also a feeling which adorns the character and gives beauty to social life. The love of the mother for her child is one of the holiest feelings of the heart; and the reciprocal affection of children for their parents, especially when continued into mature manhood and womanhood, is an admirable virtue. The love of a boy for his mother is a strong influence to protect him from the evils of social life; and the attachment of a daughter to her father is no less admirable and useful. The young man who is ashamed of such a feeling, or who speaks of his father as the "old man " or of his mother as the "old woman," is on the high road to ruin. Special care should be taken in the nurture of this feeling. Parents should be careful to do nothing to weaken these attachments; and children should cherish their parents in their deepest affections.

         3. Patriotism is a high and noble feeling of our nature, and should not be neglected in the culture of youth. It is a source of excellence and happiness to its possessor, and blessing to the country in which one lives. It leads a man to guard the rightful institutions of his country from those influences that would subvert or impair its liberties. Proud of the good inheritance of the past, the patriotic heart desires to transmit the institutions unimpaired and even improved, if possible, to coming generations. Under the impulse of this sentiment, a man rushes to the defense of an imperiled nation, willing to die so that his country may live. A nation's life is rooted in the feeling of patriotism that lives in the bosoms of its citizens. The almost-past glory of the American republic, is the product of the feelings of patriotic hearts. A sentiment so noble in character and so rich in blessings to a nation, should be carefully nurtured in the minds of its youth. The teacher should endeavor to kindle and keep burning the flame of patriotism in the hearts of his pupils, by the recital of the glorious deeds of their ancestors, and by every means that shall make them love their country and watch over her institutions. However, enough care must be given to avoid mistaking chauvinism -undue partiality to the Nation- for patriotism -love for one's country due to its rightful existence.

         4. The feeling of love that goes out towards an ideal Hero, real or fictional, should not be overlooked in a scheme of education. As this is the highest form of affection, so it lifts the soul into the highest sphere of thought and feeling. As the soul tends to shape itself to that which it loves, so the love of ideal purity and excellence tends to develop the highest form of purity and excellence in the human soul. A Hero in the heart will tend to infuse heroic attributes into the character. A feeling so rich in its results to the spiritual nature should receive careful culture. The heart should be encouraged in its aspirations after heroic perfection.

         Culture of Some of the Desires. The law of culture of the desires is to control and repress the lower desires and stimulate and direct the higher ones. 

         1. The Desire of Food should be regulated. The desire of food is a natural feeling designed for the growth and repair of the body. So long as it is under the control of the judgment, it is not an ignoble feeling; but when it breaks away from such control, and the man becomes a glutton, we have one of the most repulsive pictures of humanity. As a rule, not much attention should be given to what we are to eat, except to see that it be nutritious, wholesome, tasteful, and esthetically well-arranged. Care should be taken to prevent overeating, as it is one of the most prevalent sources of disease and death. William Penn's (1644-1718) maxim is a good one in eating; "Always rise from the table with an appetite, and you will never sit down without one."

         2. The one rule in respect to the desire of stimulants is repression. Total abstinence is the only safe rule. The injury arising from their use is not so much in a single violation of the rule, as in the growth of the desire. In no other desire does the appetite so grow by what it feeds upon. The drunkard often knows the injurious effects of his habit, but he has not the power of will to break the chain with which his appetite has bound him. Not infrequently the maddening thought of his enslavement induces thoughts and acts of suicide. The use of alcohol, tobacco, and mind-altering drugs has become a curse to our country; thousands of lives are being wrecked yearly by these narcotics. We should write the maxim upon the hearts of our youth, that the only certain safety is total abstinence.

         3. The Desire of Society should be regulated. The desire of society is an instinctive feeling that contributes to the happiness and welfare of mankind. It is a feeling, however, that should be regulated with judgment. Care must be exercised that one does not acquire the habit of entire dependence on society for happiness. A person who lives for society alone is not only miserable a part of the time, but becomes disqualified for the proper discharge of the duties of life. Now and then we meet with young persons who shun society and seem happy only in solitude. This is the other extreme, and is also to be avoided. Efforts should be made to interest such persons in social pleasures. It must be remembered, however, that for the attainment of much that is valuable in life, in art or science, a person must work alone. Solitude is congenial to thought and philosophy; and the works of art are usually the products of lonely hours of imaginings.

         4. The Desire of Power should be regulated. The desire of power is a feeling almost universal in the human soul. The value of this feeling, and thus of its culture, depends on the object for which power is sought. If a man feels that he is gifted with the personal and intellectual qualities to exercise control over his fellow men, and desires this control for their advantage, the feeling is a noble one, and should be encouraged. If control is sought merely for the exercise of dominion, to gratify personal pride, or to secure the applause of the world, the feeling is an ignoble one, and should be suppressed. Inordinate ambition has been the source of untold sorrow and wretchedness; it has shed seas of blood, and piled up tombs of victims. A noble spirit recognizes all mankind as brethren, and seeks their well‑being, not by dominion, but by moral and intellectual influences.

         5. The Desire of Esteem is a strong incentive to exertion. Men will devote years to secure the good opinion of their fellow men; and for future fame they will expose themselves to danger, and even lay down their lives. It is, however, not a safe guide to conduct, for it may lead a person to sacrifice his own principles to gain the approval or applause of others. A man who trims his sails to the breath of public opinion, usually pursues a devious course through life. The entire disregard of public opinion is equally unsafe; we should have reason to distrust that young man who says he does not care what society or the world thinks of him. It may not be improper to try to influence a young person to well‑doing by appealing to the opinion of others; still it is a much higher motive to act so as to secure the approval of one's own sense of right. An inordinate love of esteem is unworthy of a truly noble character. The grandest spiritual natures have gone straight forward in the discharge of their duty, unappreciated, misunderstood, and even condemned by their contemporaries, supported by their own sense of right, and relying on the future to explain and appreciate their motives. The fundamental law of human action should be, not what others think of us, but what we think of ourselves.

         6. The Desire of Knowledge is a high and noble feeling of the soul. It is a longing for a possession that gives true dignity to the spiritual nature. Knowledge is the food of the mind, and gives growth and strength to it as material food does to the body. The intellect grows to a higher altitude by means of knowledge, and the growth of the intellect tends to lift the soul up into a higher spiritual life. Knowledge is a possession, too, that belongs essentially to its possessor, and cannot be taken away from him. It is a treasure stored where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, and where thieves cannot break through and steal. It elevates character by lifting a person above the desires of sense and physical gratifications, and is thus a means of moral culture. It is also a source of the most refined enjoyment. A person fond of knowledge can cheer his hours of solitude by holding communion with the rarest minds of every age, and thus be in the best society when he is most alone. The necessity to give fullest culture to this desire for knowledge needs no further suggestions.