0, ^ .0.3^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I !f la Ilia s« IIIIM 1 2.2 i '^ m 1.25 ^^ i !.4 1.6 M 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corporation # ^^ \w ^ O LV /> ^ «* ^ %■ s °^^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), wnichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaite fllm<^ fut reproduit grAce A la g6n6rosit6 de: La bibllothdque des Archives pubilques du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soln, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de Texemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplalres originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmis en commenpant par le premier plat et en tormlnant soit par la dernldre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'iilustratlon, soft par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplalres originaux sont film6s en commengant par la premldre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impresslon ou d'iilustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empi-einte. Un des symboles sulvanta apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — »> signlfie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signlfie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiimds d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seui cllch6, il est film6 i partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes sulvants lllustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ■f ^ J .r^-^f^ o7&~-^ Cy CZ. -f< * SOME CONSIDERATIONS.ON THE ADVANTAGES WE MAY HOPE TO DERIVE FROM EDUCATION. By William Kingsford, LL.D., F.R.S.(C.), Ottawa. It must generally be admitted that those who desire to give a flood education to their own children, or to young relatives depend- ent on them, are guided by some theory as to the object they have in view. It may not in their own mind always be capable of detini- tion, and the hope they form may be vague and wanting in preci- sion. The feeling, however, whatever it may be, has a recognized acti(vity; hence I humbly conceive that an inquiry into its char- acter may enable us to place it in a somewhat concrete form; moreover, that it will not be unacceptable to those on whom the obligation is entailed. If the intent be to assure the child's future, it becomes a duty tt> examine into the character of the direction to be given to the young mind, that this hoped-for result nuiy b • attained; and it is by no means clear that there will be a general acceptance of any posi- tive deiflnition of that suggestive word, success. The estimate of it mqsL vary in the ratio of the consideration given to the moral or material results desired. Some may regard the acquisition of wealth as the first object in life. Money will purchase much, but ii cannot be said that its power is unlimited. The most valuable acquisition it can confer undoubtedly is independence of conduct, and that it will extend liberty of acti(m; not always possible with men struggling for a livelihood. It is easy to conceive the strong- desire to obtain this independence, apart from any .craving for luxury, and free from the desire of being reputed to be wealthy, with the status it confers. There may be many who inculcate the doctrine of the all-potentiality of money, but it cannot be said to play an admitted part in any system of teaching. Of the same character is the desire that the youth may rise to a high position in his cjireer, for there are i)rize8 in every calling, and fond parents hope to see their child attam distinction, whatever vocation he may follow. With these aspirations there is a wholesome fear of the evil ( onsequences to which ignorance can lead. We are not wanting in examples of the extent it brutalizes the individual, and of itscr.a- / /ff^ W^ • ... i lion of a class dangerous to tho well-being of the state, to be duly 4?narded against with continual watchfulnes-s. It has also its «c(.iJiic side, when, if free from guilt and from endless evil conse- ijuences, it casts ndicule on those afflicted with it. A story is told of a baronet utterly uneducated, whose estate lay in the neighbour- hood of a battle ground renowned since the Wars of the Roses, Late ju life he resolved to be presented at Court. George III., who fol- :lowed the rule of making some civil remark to every perscm who attended his levee for the first time, found a difficulty in selecting a speciality in the baronet's career for a topic of personal comment, so he congratulated him on the historic associaHons of his estate as being near the scene of a renov/ned battle. The baronet was surprised by the remark. Finally he stammered out, *' It is true, your Majesty, that I did have a few rounds with the blacksmith, hni I am surprised the fajt shonld be known to your Majesty." We may smile at the story, let us profit by its teaching and cultivate the judgment and intelligence to avoid such an exhibi- tion. An unhappy incident of this character might mar a career from which much was hoped, and create a false impression only to be effaced by careful effort. We cannot fail early to learn the v.stness of the field of modern art, science and literature, in which as a whole we can attain but little more, than partial and elementary knowledge. We may see the plain widely extended before us, but how few are able to pass onward to any extent on its ample space. As we advanc<» foi*ward towards the goal we desire to reach, we soon learn that it is only by continuous movement we can accomj)lish the journey to excellence and prominence in any one branch of learn- ing. What really can we know of many subjects beyond their first principles and mere elementary facts? Whatever the training we pass through, and however efficient the aids we receive in our studies, we must be all more or less self-educated. The difference lies in the start made in life's race; the progress we ma/ achieve in our endeavour to reach the goal is really dependent on our own effort. It is by our own industry alone that the problem lying be- fore us for solution can be mastered. One of the objections urged against the study of the classics is the limited progress made by the schoolboy, and that unless con- tinued in mature life, from the insufficiency of the knowledge ob- tained, is of no value. It must be extremely limited for this criti- <'isni to be accepted. The boy at least learns the abstract laws '4 /I tind structure of grauiniar, and gains some acquaintance with the history and civilization of antiquity. Is it different in any other pursuit? In abstract mathematics, in chen istry, or in the study of any of the economic sciences that have advanced hunmu hap- piness and civilization? What proficiency under the conditions named are we able to attain beyond mastering some main facts? 1 lie first heights of a range of hills, seen from the plain below, stand out to us as the attainable object of our jourmy; when they have been gained they are discovered to be only a series of succes- sive elevations rising above us, which, one by one, have to be sur- mounted before the summit is reached. Equally in the pursuit of knowledge; in no long period we are taught how illimitable is the fifeld before us. It is not immediately that a boy can learn the books of Euclid that are read; but when mastered, I put it to any mathematician, if anything more than a trifling advance has been made in a long and diffcuii study. It was the tradition of a former time that mathen.atics expanded the reasoning faculties, and the study of them was comm-^nded as a means of mental discipline. This view has passed away. If we admit the testimony of ancient and modem thinkers, no studies tend to cultivate a smaller number of the faculties, or in a more partial or feeble manner, i could mul- tiply exampks of this view expressed by men eminent in the world's history. I will confine myself to d'Alembert and Des- cartes. The former said of the study that it only made straight the minds without a bias, and only dried up and chilled natures alrea^dy prepared for the operation. Descartes wrote that he was anxious not to lose any more of his time in the barren operaticm ol geometry and arithmetic studies which never lead to anything im- portant. Voltaire tells us, j'al toujoars rem])erishable works of ancient litera- ture remain to betoken the highest genius, the most subtle origin- ality, a marvellous knowledge of the human heart, set forth in an energetic and most perfect form of expression ; works which have outlived twenty centuries. Tlie improvement most discernible is to be traced in the attainments, the manners, habits and tastes of the humbler classes. The Roman spectators who crowded to the circus to witness the Christian overcome in the struggle with some wild, savage beast, and torn to pieces, or wiio shrieked out ai)plause during the combat of gladiators when the fate of the vanquished depended on the upturned thumbs of the excited crowd, as Byron I < Ims writ ten, Hlan^litcrcd to make >i Roman liolidii.v, froii; I heir standing point roiild not rcco^niizc llial there wan hard- hearted cruelty or inhumanity in their nature. In their view they were preHcnt at a legalized ordinary aniUHement. In tlieir hard code Huicide was hioked upon as the h'^itiuiate relief from miHery. Tiie render of Llvy nuiy recollect the lant Macedonian kinJ,^ !'<'r8euH, implorinii: his eon(|ueror, .KmlliuH PauluH, not to lead him in triumph, and re<'eivin{jf the rei)ly that the nuitter was in his own hands. Nowadays wo look sternly on amusenientN dlsj,'raced by brutality. We legislate ajjainst cock-fi};htinjj: and dog fights, linll-baiting has long been forbiddraclical; the other, for want of a better word, nuiy be cjilled the philosophi- cal, in the etymological meaning of the word; the love of wisdom. The former assumes that all teaching is prei>aratory for active in- tercourse with the world in the state of life \o be followed. ITie second keeps in piimary prominence the development of the moral being; the effort to endow it with fixed principles, to cr. ate a standard of duty, to impregrate the young mind with sentiments of hommr, truth and dutv. It would be absurd, as it would be unjvst, to deny that these views have ifi^place in practical education, and that the advocates of this system, when affirming as a prima>*y principle that nothing should be learned but what may prove UM?ful, neglect a'l moral training. Indeed the}' contend that it fully finds place in their system; but, that such is the competition in every avenue of pro- gress that in order to fit the youth successfully to struggle with his compelitors, it is necessary to gain the ability of doing so at as early a period of his life as possible. This argument is met by the objection that this peculiar training engenders much thought of self, that its tendency may make a man expert in a peculiar walk of life, but is not elevating in a moral point of view. Nor is there accord among those who adopt the o])posite theory that iL? greater advantage is attainable from the study of lan- guages. The advocates of this view are divided on the expediency of prominence being given to the ancient over modern languages. Here we meet the practical argument that Latin and (Jreek, in whatever light they may be regarded as accomplishments, are use- less in our intercourse with the world, while modern languages really prove of daily utility. I have spoken of the limit of attainment in the general know- ledge which a boy in the ordinary course of education may reach in the few years of his school novitiate. It is the common experi- ^ r 10 enf'P, unless with those endowed with rare ability, to permit of exceptional progress. It is stated of the late Lord Leightou that his father remarked to Powers, the sculptor, that after much hesi- tation he had at length consented to make his son an artist. Powers at once interrupted him by rej)lying " that, nature has done for you." This illustration sustains the view that those only gifted with genius and great powers can reach the first rank of the calling they embrace. Indeed the most able and conscientious teach- er can do little more than trace for us the path we sho ikl follow: it depends on our own abnegation and industry how far we advance upon it. I venture to express the opinion that in no one pursuit is the fact more apparent than in the study of a modern lanji,uage. There is hardly anything so special. So many considerations are embraced, grammar, idiom, the knowledge of the words and phrases in use, the tourniire of the language, the genders, the pronuncia- tion, both of great importance, for a fault in either direction may lead to a sad faux pas. I recollect once remarking to a young girl who, I was given to understand, knew French perfectly, " Vous parlez doiic Fraugnis, inaaemoisdle.^' Her intention was to reply • an pen," she said " un pou," for the meaning of which I refer you to the dictionary. Necessarily there are degrees of education enforced by circum- stances. If the boy, from family exigencies, is destined at an early age to gain his own bread, the time at his disposal will admit only of his learning reading, writing and arithmetic as they are now sometimes spoken of as the three R's. Th?s teaching is all that is possible with what incidental instruction can be given in general history, and in the principles of applied science. Where no such sacrifice is required, in my poor opinion, the study of the ancient languages should foim the basis of education: Latin preceding Greek, the cultivation of which must depend on time and opportu- nity. Even a moderate knowledge of the former language, and I admit such is the general result in ordinary cases, tends more than any other form of knowledge to discipline the mind. From the structure of these languages and the strict laws of grammar a logical habit of thought is called forth, and a key to the gram.mar of all modern languages is gained by the sthdy. Likewise the history of Greece and Rome encourages generous sympathies with the student, for it is replete with examples of patriotism, self- sacrifice, courage and devotion to duty ; conduct never recorded but with praise. While vice, cruelty, treachery, meanness, false- r 11 hood and tyranny are mentioned with detestation. Equally it in- culcates the love of truth, the foster-mother of every virtue. That sense of right and of duty, which, as Socrates tells Crito, is a voice I seem to hear as the coryphantes hear the sound of flutes with the resound of the echo, that nothing else can be heard. No one will dispute that the study confers purity of styh' and correctness of taste. Is it not something to speak and write our noble language with simplicity, force and correctness so that we are never misunderstood, and are able to express our thoughts with vigour and subtle emphasis? To command attention without affec- tation, to avoid the effort when artifice is apparent in every sentence? To learn to imitate the language we find in the writings of Goldsmith, of Macaulay, Jeffery, Sydney Smith and de Quincey. There must be a groundwork for every class of information, and what is essential is the creation of a core of sound knowledge, around which is to be coiled the technical attainments by which we are to gain our bread. Parents must not suppose that a schoolboy leaves the sixth form with much more than a general knowledge of the ancient languages. He does not in the allotted time become a professional scholar, such as we read of three centuries back, when Latin was- the common medium of corres])ondence; which produced men of the type of Erasmus, Luther, Roger Ascham, or Milton ; in modern times as Bentley ; or who possess the knowledge of Greek of Porson Jowett or Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke), of whom hereafter I have to speak. I have to ask, is the progress in science or in moderii lan- guages relatively greater under the conditions I name? My argu- ment is simply this, that limited as the knowledge of the classics possessed by the boy at the close of his school life, or even as a youth in leaving the university, the study of them is the safest ordeal to follow in the formation of mind and character. The rebound against this theory is attributable to the excessive and almost exclusive teaching of these languages in vogue until the first twenty years of this century. They formed the main basis of education; indeed little else was taught. What was known as " cyphering " was taught after Walker's Arithmetic. We are told by Lord Sherbrooke that the mathematical master at Winchester stopped at the fourth book of Euclid, and this was after 1825. Eng- lish grammar was not looked upon as an essential; modern history obtained but scant attention; French a moderate amount of study; German at that date was in the matter of education an unknown y ' ' 12 tonj^ue. Not the slij^htest .attention was given to science. Possibly there were occasional lectures on astronomy and on electricity, in the former with a workable orrery, in the latter the experiments made were the chief feature. Latin and Greek were alone con- sidered paramount. So much so, that in an essay written in 1811, Sydney Smith complained that it was the custom to bring up the first young men of the country as if they were all to keep grammar schools in little country towns; and that a nobleman, upon whose knowledge and liberality the honour and welfare of his country i.iay depend, is diligently worried for half his life with longs and shorts. No man was considered fit for a bishop who was not learned in Aristophanes; indeed we owe some of the best editions of classics to clergymen looking for preferment. The teaching is now in the opposite direction. Horace tells us that when foolish people avoid one vice they run to the opi)osite extreme. Dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt. Thus the exclusive study of science or modern languages is advocated and any attention given to the classics is pronounced to be a waste of time. A powerful advocate of this theory was one of the most dis- tinguished men of modern times, the late Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke, a scholar of rare gifts and multiplied attainments. From his recognized classical knowledge and his opposition to the study, there arose the mot that he was the IMiillippe Egalitt'' of this branch of learning. Of a respectable famih' in the squirearchy of Notts, under the great physical disadvantage of imperfect sight, he worked his way up to the first rank in political life, having been Chancellor of the Exchequer. He numbered among his friends the first public men and the first scholars in England. It may interest those who do me the favour to listen to me, that he was an intimate friend of Sir Edmund Head, and visited him when Governor- General, in Toronto in 1856. Sir Edmund thwi consulted him on the selection of the seat of government for the Province of Canada, as then constituted, and he is accredited with having contributed to the recommendation of Ottawa as the capital. We also read of him in the biography by Mr. Patcliet Martin, that his influence to some extent led to the withdrawal of the British garrisons from Canada. He said in the House of Commons, " In my opinion nothing could be so strong or so incentive in America to war with this country as the notion that they could catch a small English army and lead it away in triumph. Never mind, if it were thirty 13 to one it would be all the same; the popularity that such a capture would confer upon the suctessful general or President of the period would be irresistible." [Vol. II. p. 233.]' Mr. Lowe was one of those elaborately educated Englishmen who are entirely without ac(iuaintance with the history of Canada, some tell us we have no history, or even of the continent, until the United States became a power in modern intemati(mal rela- tions. He knew nothing of the revolutionary war of a century back, or he would have more correctly judged the two great disasters ex- perienced by the British, and there were two only, the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga and of Cornwallis at Yorktown; both per- fectly explicable. They were, in the first place, caused by the med- dling, cowardly, incapable Lord George Germain, typiciil of all that is insolent to an official subordinate, and of extreme sycophancy to the King. He was then Secretary of the Colonies, and he threw the blight of his presence on all brought in contact with him. The incompetence of Burgoyne, joined to the abandonment of him by Germain, led to his surrender. It was possible for him to have retreated with his army in safety, but to spare himself the disgrace of that reverse he strove to establish that he had been ordered to execute what was in itself impossible. It was Germain's corre- spondence with Cornwallis which led to his self-assertion, his dis- regard of orders, and his bad generalship that causiMl his defeat: and we must not set out of view the want of enterprise, courage and conduct of the British admiral. Mr. Lowe evidently knew nothing of the U. E. Loyalists who settled Upper Canada, and their descendants; and he had no thought of the war of 181-, and its stirring memories, which appeal so strongly to every Canadian heart. You, who are here present, cannot fail to remember that within the last few months a powerful appeal has been made to this sentiment, and that the whole country was sHrred to the heart's core, to a burst of feeling by what could only be construed as an ai)peal to their sense of duty and of patriotism. Let us fervently pray it may pass away. We cannot be insensible to the danger of our position, but then* is the common resolve, if the exigency so exact, we must meet it as men. I am not here to discuss this ])oint, but I feel bound to protest against the opinion of Lord Sherbrooke as irrational and unfounded. I fully recognize the great qualities that distinguished Lord Slierbrooke. Few public men have exceeded him in ability, in honesty of principle, in patriotism, courage and tenacity of puri>os<\ It is difficult to reconcile his utterances with his attainments, for all who follow his career must recognize how much he owed to the training he received. Jowett, the celebrated master of Baliol, de- di(rated to him his translation of Thu(;ydides. In doing so he de- Miii 14 scribed Lowe as one of tbe best Greek scholars in England, whose genuine love of ancient classical literature, tiiougli sometimes dis- sembled, is as well known to his friends as the kindness of his heart and the charm of his conversation. I can but cursorily allude to the arj>uments advanced by him. At Glasgow he dwelt upon the neglect of other and more valuable studies, and one of his epigram- matic say'nf.'s was that the English univcrsiti(.vs had loaded the dice in favoui" of the dead languages. At the dinner of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1872 he laughed at the battle of Marathon as a small affair, not calling for any particular criticism, for 192 were only killed on the side of the victors. Mr, Lowe could not but know on that day was decided whether or not the dawning light of intellect should be stamped out, and the rule of an irresponsible tyrant be affirmed. I'ntil Marathon the name of the Mede was a terror to the Greeks. '^The Athenians, who are tliey?" asked the great king. The answer was given on the plain of Marathon when the principles of civilization and liberty were first established. There was truth in Mr. Lowe's cnticism as to the excessive attention given to classics. But it may be said that he rather changed the direction of a youth's studies without conferring benefit on his mind and thought. It is difficult to recognize that he advanced the true purport of education, the development of the reasoning powers, bj' his advocacy of confining the attention of the boy to modern languages and the sciences. Every earnest student of a modern language not his own, early discovers that he must give to it exclusive attention. Let me ask you, of what value in the practical duties of life is superficial knowledge of any kind? But even .a little Latin is of use in the study of French. If 3^011 have a fair knowledge of both, and it is your fate to visit Italy, you will be suq^rised at the facility with which you will pick up the language for everyday conventional use. I do not speak of literary proficiency of the language, as any of you will soon discover if placed in a position to observe the distinction. German is another matter. It is a study entirely apart. Many may conceive that being cognate with English his mother tongue will aid him. It is (]uite the reverse. The analogies between the two languages re- quire advanced knowledge to perceive. I may adduce a familiar example. Our' gable, the wall closing at an angu'.ir ])oint, is the word qnhej, a fork. It conveys the s.ime idea; her(> the relation- ship sto])S. German is a language demanding the closest applica- tion. Thus, I contend that the study of these languages and the pursuit of science, however laudable in themselves and elevating in themselves, can only be considered as advanced studies for the hicrher education, when the character is formed and fitted to re- ceive them. 15 Lowe himself to the last clung to the love of classics, and they never ceased to furnish illustrations in his argument. There is a comic incident connected With the tax, which as Chancellor of the Exchequer he introduced, »4ft» on the manufacture of matches. It obtained favour in the House of Commons, and in the present day writers of eminence on political economy justify it. The manufac- turers opposed to the tax, as m.anufacturers are in such circum- stances, had a card to play which they did not neglect. They started up all the young girls engaged in the manufacture and in the sale, by the dread of losing their means of livelihood, and in- duced them to form themselves in a procession with banners and music, and proceed to the House of Commons, noisily to protest against the tax being enforced. The unthinking public accepted the trick as a good demonstration against an unjust imposition. The proposition at the time, and since that date, lias been brought forward in a disparaging spirit to Lowe's ability, and in a minor way caused him annoyance. A strange feature of the case was that the stamp required by law bore a Latin molto, Ex luce lucel- Imn, which may be translated, '* A little profit out of light." In a number of Punch at the time Mr. Lowe's statue was given placed on a match-box, with the distich: Ex luce lucellum^ we all of us know, But if Lucy can't sell them, what then, Mr. Lowe ? I have felt it my duty to introduce Mr. Lowe's name, as from his deservedly high reputation no one opposed to classical training has obtained greater countenance or weight. It remains for me briefly to summarize the advantages we may hope to confer by a judicious system of education. Primarily we escape the penalties entailed upon ignorance, and we avoid the errors it is too often the lot of the uneducated to commit. The manners of youth become more subdued and gentle. It is the effort to lead to the abandonment of prejudice, to inculcate habits of self-respect and self-reliance, and to endow manhood with the capacity of living respectably in the condition assigned to us, and of finding honest resour are taught how much of our fate lies in our own hands; that when dark day^ come upon us we have to be true to our purpose, and that we slacken neither our perseverance nor our hope. We cannot be insensible to the fact that there is much good and evil fortune by which our desti- nies are shaped, but we do not better our condition by stopping on the roadside to weep over a reverse. I trust my imperfectly expressed remarks have not tired you. I have to thank you for the attention you have been good enough to give in listening to me. Even if,, as Saint Paul says, you have had need of patience, I have striven not to be wearisome. l*ermit me in my last words to repeat Juvenal's celebrated lines from the Tenth Satire: ;, " The one certain path to a life of peace is through the observ- ance of virtue. Oh, fortune! if prudence guide us, thou hast no divinity, but we make thee a goddess and place thee in heaven." Nullum numen habes si ait prudentia sed te, Nos facimus, Fortuna, Deam, caeloque locamuB. ■ - I HjHWl n V'" '■ '■ . )H. IflJIJUI-P illiiPfpnil lUJ.llllfp ! , It < hit. 'V ■ll'