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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: Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ', le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent 6tre fiimis d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de i'ant^ie sup6rieur gauche, de gauche i droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 PRI] ni I '^^^ ^^S^^ SHORT SCHOOL TI WITH MILITARY OR NAVAL DRILL; IN CONNECTION E3PECULTA' WITH THE SUBJECT OF AN EFFICIENT MILITIA SYSTEM. BY E. A. iMEREDITH, LL.D. I^e^d before fftejifei-^i-ii qua ffi^ioMc^I SocIeii|, ^^Uz, QUEBEC: PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO., ST. URSULE STREET 1865. r ^ SHORT POOL TIME, WITH MIIITARV OR NAVAL DRILL: IN CONNKCTION ESPECIAMA" W ITll THE SUBJECT OF AN EFFICIENT MILITIA SYSTEM.^)- By E. a. MEREDITH, LL.D. J^Iiead before the Society, let April, 1864.) In 1860 a Iloyal Commission was appointed in England to report upon the state of popular Elementary Education in that country. The (Commission included the names of the hte Duke of Newcastle, Mr. W. Nassau Senior, and many other eminent educational reformers, peculiarly qualified for a work of such national importance. The results of the Commissioners' labors are contained in six bulky volumes, which form a valuable Repertory on the subject of National Education. Without at all undervaluing the importance of the labors of the Commissioners, it may be safely asserted that no part of their able and voluminous report is so suggestive, none so certain to bring about eventually a radical and permanent revolution in the whole system of education, as the short and unpretending communication, published in the appendix, addressed by >Ir. Edw. Chadwick to Mr. Senior.-j- It is to this paper of iMr. Chadwick, and to a subsequent explana- tory letter from him on the same subject, also addressed to Mr. Senior, that I am mainly indebted for the facts and arguments which follow. The object of Mr. Chadwick's paper is to establish that in ordinary public schools, too much time is devoted to book instruc- tion, too little to the physical dr aining of the pupil ; that the mind t Half.sclaool time, and Military and Naval drill in Public Schools. * SHORT SCHOOL TIME, is overworked-thc body insufficiently exercised; that book, work 18 generally prolonged much beyond the capacity of the pupil, to the injury alike of his physical and mental powers. Hd further asserts that it is demonstrable, nay that it has been demon- strated by actual experiment, that by employing in the physical training of the pupils, more particularly in systematic military and naval drill, a portion of the time, now uselessly or hurtfully mis- spent on books, incalculable benefits, physical, moral, intellectual and economical, will result to the persons taught, and, as a matter ot course, also to the nation. The startling novelty of Mr. Chadwick's views, and the verv magnitude of the benefits which he claimed as certain to follow from the general adoption of the plan of Education which he had maugurated, had a tendency to make most people incredulous of the project, if not to reject it altogether as Utopian. The high reputation, however, of Mr. Ohadwick, who had been for upwards of a quarter of a century an earnest and able laborer in the cause of social reforms, especially in matters connected with popular Education, would have amply sufficed with all thoughtful men to secure a respectful consideration for any opinion, however strange or Paradoxica , which had received the sanction of his advocacy But Mr. Chadwick did not rest satisfied with mere opinions or arguments in support of his views. He gave hard, unanswerable facts-facts sustained by the concurrent testimony of the most lutelligent and experienced school teachers and of some of the most able military men in Great Britain. Mr. Chadwick's revolutionary theories, for such in truth they were gave rise, as might be expected, to no little discussion in England France and Germany, and other European countries, took up the question, and on this continent too, especially amoo^ our practical neiglibors in the States, Mr. Chadwick's view^ attracted not a httle attention. Here, and there too. but particu- larly in England, the system was put to the true test, that of actual expenment. And it may be assented, beyond controversy, th.t an the discussions which have tak.n plage upou the merits of Mr.Chac it has b( (more its It can centuries out the ( after the most im] at this a debating science c whole su principlei at rest foi trary, it of the vol :iud the 1 In eve objects, V out, there threshold amount o children : in other w a child's c , most natu within th( the first t: It is, h ment as 1 with the g tion that to the Stat may be dc import oft all other J that book- »acity of the powers. He been demon- the physical military and urtfully mis. , intellectual » as a matter nd the verv in to follow hieh he had sreduloua of The high for upwards n the cause ith popular tful men to vcr strange s advocacy, spinions or answerable ' the most )ine of the truth they jcussion in countries^ illy among 3k's views ufc particu- 3t, that of utroversy, 3 merits of WITH MILITARY OR NAVAL DRILL. 5 Mr.Ohadwick's system, all the experience of its working, wherever it has been fairly tried, have alike served to establish more and more its infinite superiority over the old regime. Is cannot fail to strike us as passing strange that after so many centuries of experience in Great Britain, and everywhere through- out the civilized world, of various systems of popular education, after the countless volumes which have been written on this, the most important of all social questions, we should find ourselves, at this age of the world, in the middle of the nineteenth century,' debating about the primary and fundamental principles of Wxl |science of education. It might reasonably be supposed that the whole subject had been long since exhausted, that the grand principles of education had been absolutly established, and set at rest for ever. But this is far from being the case ; on the con- trary, it has very recently been asserted with truth that: *' Many of the very vital points of education, the education of the higher :md the lower classes, are still, to a great extent, open questio°ns." In every scheme of education, whatever may be its peculiar objects, whatever the particular means seleied for carrying them out, there is clearly one question Avhich meets us at the very threshold, and which demands a categorical answer : ^' What is the amount of time, the number of hours per day, durin^^ which children may be profitably employed in acquiring instruction ^ " in other words: " What are the limits physical and psychological of a child s capacity of attention ? " And yet this all-important and most natural preliminary question, is the very one which has Within the last few years, been formally mooted, apparently for the first time, by Mr. Chadwick. It is, huppily, unnecessary to enter into any elaborate argu- ment as to the paramount importance of every thing connected with the subject of national education. To the general proposi- tion that national education is a topic of the highest importance to the State, all are prepared to give a willing assent. But 'ct it may be doubted whether many fully appreciate the momentous import of the subject ; how, in a manner, it embraces and involves all Other great social questions. It is, in truth, the question of 6 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, questions. All the perpetually-recurring social problems, raendia-./j . canoy, pauperism, crime, physical deterioration, habitual juvcnil, 'J^ih^^ delinquency, and insanity itself, are ultimately connected with, if noi ^ \ J ^ in some sort different phases of, this great primal question ? Can i °" ° ^ be gainsaid that all the social plagues in this melancholy catalogu. '' P'"''^' arise in a very large degree from defective early education! ^'J'^rehe, Kemedy the defects in popular education, and you, pro tanto. ^^"^^l ^' diminish all the unnumbered evils of which these defects arc the °° fruitful parent. This, therefore, is the great question to which before and beyond nil others, statesmen, legislators, philanthropists and economists, should direct their most earnest attention. T„ promote the cause of general education is an object worthy the ambition of the noblest minds ; one for which every true lover ot his kind might well be content " To scorn delights and live laborious days." The schools established for the factory children under the profsually fol vision of the Short-time Factory Bill,* were the first in which thefie half-ti half-time teaching \^s established, and it is in the astonishiD-laining— success which has attended these half-time schools, when ^^/-oyWc^nd lastly lation whi reform v jhools fr ime gcn( uestion, ime stag( rowing cl We shal ast as ovi - It 13 a curious and interesting fact, that the first experiment upon ii ZlS"'>H M;..Chadwick's reformed system of education, was intimnt^l connected with, and m fact was the incidental result of, another mnortant cffor fl Inll vf thT ^'""^ f7^''^. f'' P^^*^"^'^ ""^^ '^l^^ '^'^ author, for tie Tnl fit of the youthful population of England ; the effort, namely, to protect lh» chi '^'Zu^ *^u P??,";'/ "'''''"' ^'""^ ^^'°S overworked in the factories. When the bill for liniiting the hours of work of children in factories was before the Lsgislature, the Government called upon Mr. Chadwick, who had civ m much attention to the whole subject, to prepare the details of the measuref T doing so Mr. Chadwick inserted provisions for the limitation of children's labor 1 . ' in factories to six nours ; ten hours being the time originally proposed : and fur- ' Xamine W t,i. '^'v?wrl^^'M^°u'^?T" ^' '' .""""'•''y «•''«'■"" overwork, he inserted a provision , l , m the bill that all children, while employed in factories, should be three loir" ^^^^ ^^^ Tr^^.fl t^- *" ''"'".P^;*^^* «?1^«°1 teacber. Mr. Chadwick was himself per We shall suaded, Irom his own information and experience, that the time thus allowed for he purposes of instruction was really as much as could under an v ci.vun. t'ui Jtates, wh( be profitably devoted to it ; but the primary object of tho provision wa.s to sJcu i , ' ^ fr„l'v,1,ii'T„.^°i^;i^l^l^-'l-'-^^- --tal education' By providi„r fystem of i he children should bo three hour, daily in the school room, he\.ccured'c¥et ually three hours absence from the factory. Whether anything was learnedTu be school or not, the poor factory children being there, gained at lea^tone th,ng-a short respite from their daily toil-they no longer were as before, " From morn to midnight tasked to earn their little meal ! " if the nevi ngth, th( ihool sys p'anada, — \ First, th resent p le school 1 "Six hou fart of the ( 3 van. Th( [entilated, i WITH MILITARY OR NAVAL DRILL. 7 , Jth properly trained and competent teachers, that Mr. Chadwick la 1 ua juvcnil( ^jg ^i^^ j^^^g^ powerful argument iu favor of his system. Thus om the philanthropic effort to rescue the overtasked children of -le poorer e.'isses from the evils inflicted on them by excessive y a a ogu( ^j^i^ work, has arisen another and even more important and ar y c uca ion jmprehensive school reform— one which will embrace the child- , ' ^"'^fen not only of the poorer, but of the middle and upper classes — , , I reform which has for its object to relieve all children who attend stion to which, i i /. xt. -i i.- /> , , ^ , ., , . Jhools Irom the evils resulting from over mental work. The philanthropists, ,..,,. ^ ", , „ , , , / ,, ,. ^ ime general principle lies at the root of both the reforms in t attention. Toi . , ;, ^, uestion, namely: "That working young children during the )jcct worthy the i , • i . *' ime stages as adults is always injurious overwork for voung and ry true lover of . ,.,, ,,,,,, Jo rowing children, whether the work be mental or manual." We shall now proceed to point out some of the evils, so far at last as over mental work is concerned, of the system of education under the prolsually followed in our public schools, and we shall then explain rst in which thd lie half-time system more in detail, noting the sort of physical the astonishinj; raining— military and naval drill— which Mr. Chadwick advocates ; when 2)rovidcd nd lastly, the enormous benefits to the individual and the . ation which may be expected to flow from the general adoption cperiment upon a ^ ^^^ "^^ System ; under the last head will be described, at some )n, was intimntelj sugth, the important bearing of the proposed reformation in our sr important effort, J, , o r r thor, for the i)encjciiooi system upou oue of the great questionb of the day in o^pro c(. I » cii I'anada, — the question, namely, of our national defences. rito hadglnM;! ^^''^^' *^^''' ^^^ "^ consider briefly the routine of education at the measure. Tii resent pursucd in the majority of our public schools, and >f children's labor • r • «• roposod : and fur- famine what are its effects upon the mental and bodily health of y providing thai ho secured cffec- ag was learned in' ined at least one re as before, meal ! " mt ^::tZ hose who are subjected to it. We shall hero quote the words of a recent able writer in the was himself per- ; B thus allowed for , my cin'umstanccsj >tates, who has discussed this subject with reference to the school I'' :_ _ siou was to secure 1„„. « ,, -rr • tt- , i I ystem ot the Union. His remarks, however, are as applicable to le school system of Canada as to that of the United States :— "Six hours a day, for the most part, is the allotted school time in this [art of the country. Occasionally we find it five, and as often probably Jeven. The rooms, with some exceptions, are badly warmed and badly lentilated, the thermometer ranging, in winter, from 55 to 80, and the ° SHORT SCHOOX. TIMB aiuvc loraistinction, and the morbidlj sensitive imd timid, it id long."* The author from whom I have quoted then gives several exam- ples of the lessons learned in a day in several public schools taken at random, and adds : — | other descript on of mental exPrni^P lhJ\ "/^V^". ^^ ^^^m, than any sleep imme4tely aS ucroc J^^ation S\'' 5^"° '°"^'.'^°" *'"^ verbs and fractions and 1.2.^3 ST \edlu/ T'"''"^' ''''^' away before it falls into a reTtl s Larce J rXsw"^ and dismrited it enters upon the duties of t fe day w thiit le of hat W aneywUh comes only fi^m ^nature's sweet resforer ' '' '^ '^^"^ ^""'^ It scarcely needs to be proved that such a mental strain as this upon the youthful mind must be injurious. We hardly require the testimony of a medical man to the fact : " That the youn- and adult brain, possess very unequal capacities of application" and ondurance^»_or^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ * Dr. Ray. Mental Hygiene, p. 122. ' " ~~* 1 pairs of lungs, lOve or furnace. »r oxercisea thut :ompliah all the 1 more or leas single hour J it Y tho amount of ly of the ni>j.>il. "0 to excel, and ihort. On the 1 the ambitious lid, it id long."* several exam- schools takeu nount of work le to hand, l)ut would oftener le every one to to which they •ree of healthy t must be con- I a late hour, lult, than any condition for kvarming Avith wo must pass aber. Jaded of that buoy- 3, the tender T eight hours als of rest as ion. Sunday ' has also its tis jubjected e it requires, ► a cultivated rain as this dly require young and 3ation and Qy that the WITH MILITARY OR NAVAL DRILL. 9 various organs do not arrive at their full maturity of vigor and power until sjme tioio uf'tcr tho adult age has been fairly coiu- manccd." To expect the satuo amount of mental endurance from a child of ten or twelve as fiom a full-grown mun is about as reasonable as to expect the former to curry the same load, and for the same distance, as tho latter. But beside these evils to tho mental health of children, result- ing from the strain upon their mental powers, there is the physical evil resulting from the prolonged and unnatural physical restraint and sedentary confinement of children. Wo have high authority for stating that the enforced .stillness of growing boys or girls in a school-room, however well warmed and ventilated, for five or six hours in tho day, is a violation of the primary laws of physiology. The restlessness and inattention of the unfortunate little viftims of our modern system, after a few hours schooling, their irrepressible eagerness to escape from their restraint, notwithstanding all the artifices of the teacher to interest them, might of themselves warn us that we arc doing violence to nature. " The cliiuf question," writes Dr. Schreiber, of Leipsic, is, '' how are our children brought up ? Is it according to the laws of nature ? The answer is no, or we should not see so many children who were rosy and healthy before going to school, become pale and bloodless after attending school." Another writer says: "Nature commands children to play and romp, just as she does young colts and lambs. Pen them up in school, fetter their limbs, shut them out from God's sunshine and vivifying breezes, and wha\. do we make them ? Their physi- cal integrity is certainly impaired, but is not their intellectual, nay, is not their moral integrity also aflfected by this unnatural and artificial system?" In their zeal for the mind, our modern educationists would seem to have altogether lost sight of the body. They forget that for the perfect man we must have the " mens Sana in corpore sano" ; they consider not that intimate '' consent between mind and body," by virtue of which the former must suffer, if the latter is neglected. In our modern system of education the physical training of 3 10 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, children has, for the most part, been left altogether to nature or to accident. The evil efFocts of the system have, therefore, shewn theiuselves, as might have been anticipated, more among girls than boys ; because the former are Icsjj likely than the latter to seek for themsdves those out-door Sports and amusements which counteract, to some extent, the injurious effect of excessive mental labor and bodily ":nfinement. lint it may be alleged that we have exaggerated the evil effects of our present school system on the mental and physical health of the children attending school ; we may be challenged to produce proof of our assertion. Innumerable instances are adduced of persons who have gone through the ordeal without any appreciable impairment of their mental or bodily health, and hence the infer- ence is somewhat hastily drawn that the system is innocent of the evils which we have laid at its door. On this ppint it will suffice to cite the opinion of Dr. Hay, who, from his well-known ability and large experience in mental diseases, is peculiarly competent to speak with authority upon the subject ; " The manner iu which the evil (leaultiiig from excessive mental appli- lication in schools) is manifested, is not very uniform, but however various the results, they agree in the one essential element of a disturbed or dirainiBhed nervous energy. It rarely comes immediately in the shape of insanity, for that is not a disease of childhood or early youth. It impairs the power of concentrating the faculties, and of mastering difficult problems, every attempt thereat producing confusion and distress. It banishes the hope and buoyancy natural to youth, and puts in their place anxiety, gloom, and apprehension. It diminishes the conservative po er of the animal economy to such a degree, that attacks of disease, which otherwise would have passed off safely, destroy life almost before danger is anticipated. Every intelligent physician understands that, other things being equal, the chances of recovery are far less in the studious, highly intellectual child than in one of an opposite description. Among the more obvious, and immediate effects upon the nervous system, ate unaccountable restlessness, dih;turbed and deficient sleep, loss of appetite, epilepsy, chorea, and especially a kind of irritability and exhaustion, which leads the van of a host of other ills, bodily and mental, that beriously impair the efficiency and comfort of the individual. '' I have said that insanity is rarely an immediate effsct of hard study at school. * • » When a person becomes insane, people look around lor the cause of his affection, and fix upon the most recent event apparently capable of producing it. Post hoc propter koc^ is the common philosophy on such occasions. But if the whole mental history of the patient were clearly unfolded to our view we should often find, I apprehend at a much ' particuh I which truth." element, just such a people : vancing t Both the importan( essential training w WITH MILITARY OR NAVAL DRILt. 11 nature or iforo, shewn imong girls itter to seek ents which f excessive evil effects al health of to produce, adduced of appreciable !e the infor- )ccnt of the '. Hay, who, ital diseases, ;he subject ; mental appli- vever various disturbed or the shape of I. It impairs ring difficult distress. It in their placi3 rvative po er isease, which Defore danger 1 that, other the studious, ion. Among s sybtem, are i of appctito, i exhaustion, mental, tliat of hard study ( look around at apparently )ii philosophy patient were ad at a much fearly period, some agency far more potent in causing the evil, than the mis/ortune, orthe passion, or the bereavement, or the disappointment which attracts the common attention. Among these remoZ aCcS "n defeats Ir^'r/^ "^'"'"^ disease, I doubt if 'any one, except h°ered 4 y o/zaI 'J. •T''\'°"""'°" ^' *^^ P'««^°t t''"^' '^«^ excessive applicaS fil Tf ''^'\yr'i^- The immediate mischief mav havf seen ed S tudio, I1T'^''^i,^''"PkP'"1^*^ ""^''^ ^ '^°*^1 separation fron, books and stud es, aided, perhaps, by chan-e of scence ; but the brain is left ma condition of peculiar impressibility which renders it morbidly sens tive to every adverse influence." "^uiuiy sensi Is it not in consequence of this unduly severe mental toil together with the absence of proper physical training, that we find that many a boy of high promise, the delight of his parents, the dux of his school, is found to " unbeseem the promise of his youth " and turn out a very common place, if not a dull and heavy man ? Is not this the reason why so many intellectual and inter- esting children are like medlars rotten before being ripe, and does it not supply us with the true answer to Dr° Johnson's query: "What becomes of all those prodigies ?'' Before leaving this part of my subject it may not be out of place to note very briefly the great and characteristic difference in this particular between the modern system of education, and that which obtained among some of the leading nations of antiquity. It is curious and instructive to mark the different degrees of im- portance assigned to the physical part of education in the ancient and the modern world. " Among the Persians " we are told, " the entire education of the youth from their fifth to their twentieth years was confined to three things: riding, shooting with the bow, and speakitiy the truth." Here Physical education is the chief, almost the only element, and mental education is not even mentioned. This is just such a system of education as we might expect to find amont? a people removed only a few degrees from the savage state. Ad- vancing to times cf civilization we come to the Greeks and Romans. Both these nations recognized, as we all know, the necessity and importance of mental education ; and it formed, accordingly, an essential pare of their system of education. But still physical training was by no means neglected j on the contrary, it was regarded 12 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, as an essential if not the most important part of the training of the youth. The very names, indeed, of the Greek and Roman schools — Gymnada and ludi — indicate places intended primarily for physical exercise. Looking at the Greek and Roman i,.an of education we, with our modern views as to the paramount importance of intellectual culture, may feel inclined to impeach it as giving too much im- portance to physical training, to the disparagement or neglect of mectal cultivatiqp. But when we call over the bright muster- roll of poets, statesmen, orators, and historians which both of these natiops produced, we must pause before we condemn the system; of education which can point to such splendid results. Mr. Chadwick refers with satisfaction to the fact that? the authorities of the venerable University of Oxford have| recently recognized the uecessit- of systematised bodily train- ing in connection with the mental labor of the University, and expresses the hope " that we may have from tiie university an example of the revival of a really classical education, an edu-^ cation founded on the precepts of Plato, Aristotle and Galen, J which divided the public education into three parts, of which one was fjr mental training in the schools, one for bodily training \u\ the gymnasium, and the third tuition in accomplishments as music," &c. Having dwelt so fully upon the grounds upon which Mr. Chad-j wick, and other educational reformers following in his track, have impeached the modern system of education, it is almost un- ; necessary to say that the remedies for the evil of which thsy complain are two-fold. 1st, A reduction to the proper limits of the time set apart in ': schools for book instructions; and, 2nd, Systematic physical train- I ing of the children ; including in that training for the male por- 1 tion of the school population, naval or military drill, or both. The extent to which the time usually devoted in schools to book-instruction may be advantageously reduced is a question of detail which cannot probably be conclusively established until the half-tim test of s testimoi fully be reduced amount With. nicety t may be down as should, 1 give his becomes hright v it is tim< profitabl eifort to his capa injurious he is att( or his to] ing to I likely tc. out thinl a habit i life, that ing of it ing of tl it with tl Of the we have against the pres the muel mental d WITH Military or naval drill. 18 the training of 3k and Roman ided primarily lation we, with of intellectual too much im- \ i or neglect of] bright muster- 1 both of these nn the system ; Its. the fact that Oxford have bodily train- e University, \ the university! :ation, an edu- ■ le and Galen,* , of which one ily training iu plishments as . ich Mr. Chad- lis track, have ; is almost un- if which thsy le set apart in physical train- the male por- or both. in schools to a question of shed until the^ half-time system has been submitted for a few more years to the test ot actual experience. Mr. Chadwick, indeed, asserts, and the testimony of the able and intelligent witnesses examined by him, fully bear out the assertion, that the ordinary school hours u^ay be reduced one-half, without, in ilsc slightest degree diminishing the amount of book-iustruction acquired by tlie pupil in a given time. Without however attempting, here, to fix with mathematical nicety the precise number of hours during which book-instruction may be profitably carried on in schools : it may, at least, be laid down as an axiom that such instruction ceases to be profitable, and should, therefore, be given up, when the pupil is no longer able to give his entire attention to what is taught. The instant the pupil becomes fatigued and tired, the instant he loses the power of hri(/ht voluntari/ attention (as one of the witnesses aptly calls it), it is time to stop the lesson. Everything done after that is either un- profitable or Jiurtful, or both. If a boy makes an extraordinary eifort to keep his attention fixed on the subject before him, when his capacity of voluntary attention is exhausted, the mental efl'ort is injurious. If, on the other band, the boy merely makes believe that he is attending to his lesson when his thoughts are on his marbles or his tops, he is acquiring a dishonest mora/ habit, that of pretend- ing to do what he is not doing ; a fatal mental habit, too likely to cling to him through life, of looking at a book with- out thinking of what he is reading, a habit of dawdling overwork; a habit the very opposite to that which is so invaluable in real life, that of doing earnestly the business of the moment; of think- ing of it and nothing else for the time, in obedience to the teach- ing of the golden maxim " whatever thy hand fiudeth to do, do it with thy might." Of the quality/ 0^ the mental training in our modern schools we have said nothing ; our special object has been to protest against the quantity of mental work. For the purposs of the present paper it is, fortunately, not ncc'-ssary to consider the much vexed question as to what constitutes the best kind of mental discipline for children ; to determine, for example, whether 14 SHORT SCHOOL TIMb, mathematics, laoguages or the natural sciences form the best sort ol ^^^^^ ^^ intellectual gymnastics. This is not the place to enforce the truths, which are now happily beginning to be at least dimly recognized ; that children should be made to learn as much as possible by and through their senses, by their own powers of observation : that "sdom a lody shal 'Essayists ent age when it is possible they should bu luude to study natural objects the things themselves, rather than the signs of things— words that the senses themselves, as well as the reasoning powers, should be carefully cultivated : and that the right education of ather thi our senses, especially of the eye, not only contributes much to our f^ are fo comfort and enjoyment in life, but, in the case of the working classes, adds very materially to their usefulness and efficiency and consequently to their value as workmen. I cannot, however, refrain from alluding, in passing, to the ^ambridg he advo s Monta hat porti yhole) w' md purp( TOrse tha very narrow and mistaken view which many persons take ol »f tbe mt ho digesi The se( be foui education. Physical education they wholly ignore, and of in tellectual education they take a very one-sided view. With them intellectual education means nothing more than impart ing to the child a certain amount of knowledge, and theyiicluding gauge the value of education by the quantity, of informa*Jry or na tion acquired in a given time. Whereas the aim and object off It is a education should be, as the word itself might teach us, to secure fio" shoul the healthy growth and development of the whole man —of all his |'it-door g powers and faculties, physical, moral and intellectual. The value |i'ickot, f( even of the intellectual training which a boy receives at school or w^^y reaj college is not to be tested solely or chiefly by the amount of know- I'l" ^lave. ledge he has acquired, the number of dates or facts ho may have lossibly b learned ; but rather by the mental discipline he has undergone, the i'^^^ '^ sy^ mental power and force he has acquired, the intellectual tastes and fthnit tha habits he has formed; not by the information he has stored up, but lymuastic by his thirst lor information, his power of grasping facts, his facultj'f 'liuk the of judging rightly; not in fact, by what he has done, but what he Irtificial j has the power and the will to do ; not by what he is in esse but ff the mental faculties; just as an excess of bodily food weakens ho digestive organs and impairs the physical health generally. The second remedy for the evils of the present school system is be found in a proper course of physical training for the pupil, idge, and theylicluding in that training (for boys) regular instruction in mili- ty. of informal^Jry or naval drill, or both. n and object of I It is almost needless to say that no system of physical educa- h us, to securejio" should supersede that voluntary physical training, those manly man —of all hisjut-door games which are. the delight and glory of the school-boy : lal. The valuej^ckot, foot-ball, prisoner's base, and all such field-games, are, in ves at school orj ^^any respects, the very best possible physical training that a boy mount of know-^ '*" have, liut there are many schools where such games cannot ts ho may havei 'ossibly be resorted to, and what shall we do with these ? Estab- undergone, thei i"^h a system of gymnastics for them. I am quite willing to ctual tastes audS ^dmit that when it is impossible to procure other exercises, s stored up, but) cymuastics may be used advantageously for boys and girls, but I acts, his facultyl 'liuk there is a tendency now-a-days to over-rate the value of le, but what hc^ artificial gymnastic exercises, and to mistake muscular strength } is in esse but? '^f health; and on thi^ {.Jint I may quote the words of a recent ferred, as to thejble writer on physiology : — forcing systemi " Grymnastics certainly encourage the development, and increase 16 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, the power of certain muscles ; and those who exerciso their mus cles in this way will be so far stronger than others. But it doe not foUoio that such 2Hrsons are healthier than those who tak ordinary exercise. It is a remark as old as the time of Hippoc rates, that men who practise gymnastics are in a dangerous stat of health. They may increase the power of their muscular system but, if they do so, it is at the expense of the rest of the body and it was remarked of old, that the athletes and others, wh practised gymnastic exercises, were subject to violent disorders and seldom long-lived. "It is difficult to prevent boys from taking too n.uch cxercisf During Ihe period of growth great fatigue injures the gener: health. But even when gymnastic exercises are so managed as t avoid this inconvenience, and when they succeed in imparting t the boy an extraordinary degree .of muscular development, I ai perfectly convinced that the natural adjustment of the function is thus prevented; for, however well fitted the frame of youth ma be for feats of agility, nature has not adapted it for strength, tli attainment of which she defers until the period of growth i passed ; and, consequently, her plans are deranged, when muscula strength is artificially and prematurely obtained."* But admitting, as I am ready lo do, that gymnastics, under pr per regulations, may be made useful for the bodily training youth, for teaching boys the proper use of their hands and liiii generally, a matter of no slight importance ; yet it would be fouii costly and difficult to introduce systematized gymnastics in the schools of the poorer classes ; but, further, and this is a mo< important consideration, their usefulness would terminate in t physical benefits derived from them. Their intellectual a!)d uioi effects would be nil. To occupy a portion of the time taken from book-instructio Mr. Chadwick therefore advocates the introduction of rc'^l: military or naval drill, as affording, under every aspect, the bej kind of physical training for tho scholars. Graves' " Studies in Physiology and Medicine," p. 183. The F missione witnesse whom sp time syi actually appeals t drill, wh( of the in As to new syst' economic wick's W( 1. Sam requisite) which the young of purposes t unci swimr military di 2. Mor. that is ira{ niand, self 3. Ecoi pleing the proraptituc trifling exj borers or j Th3 5 his first 1 brings oi same am( must havi ti.olti/J^ J ers of lal " long-tin On the 3Ir, Chad WITH MILITARY OR NAVAL DRILL. 17 roiso their mus s. But it doe those who tak time of Hippoc dangerous stat oauscular system est of the body ind others, wh iolont disorders n.uch cxorcisq ires the genera 10 managed as in imparting tl relopmcnt, I aij >f the functioDJ no of youth maj or strength, tli| d of growth , when musculal itics, unJer pr )dily train in lands and liiii would be fouD gymnastics iu d this is a mo jrmivate in tl ectual a!)d uioi look-instrucfcio ion of regul; aspect, the be S3. The paper which was submitted by Mr. Cl^wick to the com- missioners contains the evidence of a nuSLer of intelligent witnesses, principally school-teachers and military men, most of whom speak as to the results produced in schools, where the half- time system, accompanied by military and naval drill, had aciually been tried. That evidence Mr. Chadwick triumphantly appeals to as establishing conclusively the great value of military drill, whether regarded with reference to : 1st, The present welfare of the individual pupil; or, 2nd, The interests of the nation. As to die first head he holds that the evidence shews that the new system is attended with the following sanitary, moral, and economical benefits to the individual pupil. We quote Mr. Chad- wick's words : — 1. »S'am7ary.— That the drill is good ( and for defective constitutions requisite) for correction of con;,'onital l)odily defects and taints, wiih which the young of a very large proportion of our population, especially the young of the })oorer town populations, .ire aifected ; and that for these purposes the climbing of toasts, and other operations of the naval drill, and swimming, are valuable additions to the gymnastic exercises of the military drill, and wher. properly taught are greatly liked by boys. 2. iliom^.— That the systemal.i/ed drill gives an early initiation to all that is implied in the term discipline, viz., duty, order, obedience lo com- mand, self-restraint, punctuality, aud patience. 3. Econo'itiical. — That it is proved, when properly conducted by sup- pleing the joints, rendering the action prompt as well as easy, by giving promptitude in concurrent .ind punctual action with others, to .idd, at a trifling expense, to the efficiency and productive value of the pupils as la- borers or as foremen in after life. Th3 mental gain is not noticed by Mr. Chadwick in his first letter, but in the explanatory letter the .auLhor clearly brings out this poiut. "A boy," he s.iys, "who has acquired the same amount of knowledge in one half the time of another boy, must have obtained a proportionately superior habit of mental ac- ti.v'di/J' And this is found practically to be the case ; the employ- ers of labor giving the preference to " short-timers " as against " long-timers " wherever they can make the choice. On the second chief topic, as regards the interest of the nation; 3Ir. Chadwick argues that the general introduction of the drill is 3 18 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, called for, and will be of the same use as was of old the parochial traiaing* to the use^ the bow, he holds that it is proved oq practical evidence of officers engaged in the drill :— 1. That military and naval drill are more effectively and perma- or ad'ult'fges" "' "'"' "^ J'''"'' '^^'' ''^^" "^'''« '^''^'^^^ 2. That at school it may be taught most economicL'Jy, as not interfer- ing w.th productive labor ; and that30Jor40 boys may^e tauUt naval now taught; that the whole juvenile population may be drilled completelv m the juvenile stage, as economically as the small pit of it is now CS St?r" ''''f'""^ TJ".?'^^ "^"^* ''^So; Jd that, for teachi g the nffiirl „ T'"''-^^''"*"'''^^'"" «e^«ea»ts, an^ naval as well as military Strv P'"'^°"°'''' '''^y ^'^ ^'''^ economically in every part of the focft jilf III ^i"^*^!" ^';^^'°\'i^ f""? ^^^°°^^ ^^«"'- J have, in addition to the afford ^ ^^ ' ' P'''''"'' ''^ *^^^ '■'-''''' °^' I'^'P''''' "^"y .J^^^'^^^''^'^"'M■H''".™'''^^^*'°^''»"yP'■«^^le»t(withoutsupcrsedin small addition to the value of a man's heritage in himself! Cheerfulness .and prompt obedience seemed the characteristics of the children, both hoys and girls." an inves one poui by phys period o adds, '' { when he to give 1 Now, wl of our m of the na number oducatin or admin We u which V namely : on the qi From for Upp( attending was, in 190,000. The ni Canada, i dent lor ] given, am about the schools tl inumber oi school in ion. Ass physical o n over-esl rill in oui ut. At t WITH MILITARy OR NAVAL DRILL. 21 lip as soilors, striking. In ent, no fewer institution) ne, and their overwhelmed of the naval has, as might *Vance. try, resulting c importunce ^ered by Mr. Advancement 1 discusses it conclusively ov€r unedu- i over those ractical testi- membcrs of L'airburn and J civil labor, \ as five who xted child as ?A, there is an I the children's i system much the iutclligcnt ;iit the chihlrcn )S0 and eflicient ol on altcvnati^ d in indnstriii' an hours in thi' leing employed it in the system pect ; they be- [ over their own the virtues of leerf'ulness .ind both boys and an investment made by the State, for a trifling exponso of about one pound per head, the productive pc^i^er of that investment may, by physical training, bo augmented by one-fifth for the whole period of working ability. Somo .listinguishod authorities," be adds, "consider that he understates the gain of productive power when he put it down as one-fifth, and assert that it is practicable to give to three men by this system the working-power of five." Now, what does this mean 'i It means that we can, by a change of our mode of education, add as much to the productive ener^^ies of the nation as if we had added one-fifth, if not two-fifths, to the number of the working classes, and this " hout the expense oi educating the additional onc-fifth, feeding, clothing, housing them or administering their public affairs." We now proceed to say a very few words upon the last topic which we propose to discu.ss in connection with this subject, namely : the bearing of the half-time system with military drill on the question of our national defence. From the Report of the Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada for 1800, it appears that the number of boys attending the Common Schools in that part of the Province was, in round numbers, 172,000; last year the number was 190,000. The number of boys attending the Common Schools in Lower Canada, for 18G0, is not stated in the Report of the Superinten- dent lor Lower Canada. The total number of pupils, however is given, and assuming the proportion between boys and girls to be about the same as in Upper Canada, the number of boys attending schools that year may be put down at about 80,000. The total jnumber of boys, therefore, in Upper and Lower Canada, attending ischool in 1860, would be about 250,000 or a quarter of a mil- ion. Assuming, however, one-fifth of this number r, i om jphysical or other causes, incapable of drill, and this i^ , ■ r^y ,iess n over-estimate, there would still remain 200,000 boys undergoipg rill in our common schools — if the system was universally carried lut. At the end of ten or twelve years from the first inauguration 22 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, of such a system iu Canada wo should have, probably, half a million of youths who had undergone a regular course of drill; a very largo proportion of whom would bo capable of bearing arms, and, should the emergency arise, could be readily converted into good and serviceable soldiers. Our common schools would thus be made the nurseries of our militia.* It is not very long since the heart of our people was stirred at the near prospect of a struggle between the Mother Country and the States. That struggle has been for the present happily averted ; but who shall say ibr how long '( It is to be hoped that if the danger which then threatened us should hereafter actually c.>mo upon us we may not be found as hopelessly unprepared to meet it a;^ we then were. And, assuredly, we shall not be unprepared for such an emergency, if, wo shall have previously established military drill as pari of the ordinary instruction given in all our public schools. It has been wisely j;aid by one of orr ablcBt statesmen, referring to tl ! recent threatened difficulties with our neighbors : " That it is the first point of patriotism with us to create an enthusiastic attachment among all orders of men for our Constitution." If this be the first point of patriotism, I should say that the second is to give all orders of men in our State the skill and ability neces- sary to enable them to stand forth confidently in the hour of danger in defence of their altars and their homes. It is to be remembered, too, that within the last few years the position of Canada, both as regard^ the Mother Country and the States, is entirely changed. To e,L iuod we had been iu the habit of looking with confidence for pi-oi,ecUon from every danger, and from the States we thought there was no danger to be appro- bended. Now, on the contrary, we have received warning from England that we must take measures to protect ourselves, and at the same time, we have received warning from our neighbors ihat we need to do so. It is this peculiar crisis in our colonial « Drill when thoroughly acquired in youth, would, like swimmin.^, ridintr or f Icating, remain a permanent acquisition. So true is the maxim : •' Quo flemel est imbuta recons servabit odorera testa din." listory wl )araniuun i^'ith whi uon of )tlier, res )f the coi tnimatcs i o foster > the bcf Oar nci lattho be nilitary lij ysteni, am heir schoo or the last he Union lassachusi ailed attei •Iducatiooa Qtroduced urcsof cer bovc ten y le public I ■om our I ft unlearn id useful ] ows on t JiCt the di |ery iiregu ir colleges id the coc "ly of iiitc [t, who will Jmpetent, v the field.' robably, half )ur80 of drill; le of bearing lily converted ^ehools would WITH MILITARY OR NAVAl, DRILL. 28 listory which gives to the question of our national defences such rna stirred at untry and the averted ; but if the danu'cr Juoie upon us neet it a^ we ired for such hed military ill our public en, referring •s : " That it enthusiastic tution." If ;1io second is bility neces- ur of danger w years the itry and the >cen iu the 7cry danger, be appre- arning from vcs, and, at r neighbors our colonial ling, riding or m ^'^"^ ^^'l*^ iriramount interest at the present moment In the energy and zeal 7ith which, on the recent occasion to which we have referred, uen of all rank , irom one end of tl.o Proviuco to iho )tlier, responded to the call to enrol theniHclvcs for the defence )f the country, we have an earnest and a proof of the i^pirit which inimates the people. It will be the wisdom of our statesmen o foster and encourage this spirit of patriotism, r.ad to turn it the best account. Our neighbors across the lines have not been slow tu perceive ■at the best way of promoting the growth of patriotism and a love of mhtary life among their citizens is by following out the Chadwick iystem, and making military drill part of the ordinary business of heir schools. The system has in fact been in practical operation or the last two or three years in many schools and colleges in the lie Union. The Governors of the States of Nc^ York and lassachusetts have, in their addresses to the State Legislatures ailed attention to the subject as one of momentous ia^.portance! Educational reformers have advocated it, and measures have been Qtroduced (if they have not been actually passed) into the Legislu.. ares of certain States, to make military drill compulsory on alll,oys bovc ten years of ago attending the schools which receive aid from le public purse. " Fas est et ab hoste doceri." We have learned •om cur neighbors many a lesson, which had far better been ft unlearned ; let us learn from them, in this at least, one good lul useful lesson. A senator in Massachusetts lately, giving his ^ews on tho importance of military studies in colleges, s%s : Let the drill be regular and compulsory, taking the place of the ^ry irregular and inefficient physical exercise now in vogue, and ir colleges would be vastly improved in their educutiomil form iJ the commonwealth would, in a short time, have a numeVous -^'lyofuiteliigent men, well skilled in the military science and ■t, who will become teachers in our lower grades of schools, and be mpetent, when the alarm is soundc-d, to lead our citizen sold Hers in.' 24 SHORT SCHOOL TIME, In view then of tho present crisis of our national history, it is satisfactory to know that in Canada some steps are being taken towards "putting our house in order." In both ^ection^ of the Province the able Superintendents of Education have, of their own accord, established military drill in a large num ber of the grammar and common schools throughout the coun try. In the Journal of Education for Upper Canada, manj admirable articles on the subject of military drill in school- have from time to time been published. The Chief Superi.uendent of Education in Upper Canada, informs me, that eightceu gram mar schools reported military drill as part of their course of training in 1863, and ho also s*atcs, what is perhaps even more important, that during the last six months of 18G3, the stu students in the Normal School have formed themselves into a drill association, which he adds will doubtless contribute much t the general introduction of military drill into the Common Schools of Upper Canada.* ■'■ I havo much pleasure in quoting the following extract from the Annua Report of the Chief Suporintondent of Education for Upper Canada, for th year 186.3, published since the date of my paper. Under the head of " Militar; drill in schools" the Superintendent writes : — "The Board of Common School Trustees in the City of Toronto have, wiliJ praiseworthy intelligence and public .spirit, introduced a regular system ( ' military drill among the senior male pupils of thoir scliools ; the J'onrd ( 'irustecs in Port Hope havo done the same. The system of niilitiiry drill cm be easily introduced into the schools of all the cities, towns and villages i: Upper Canada, and perhaps in some of the larger rural schools ; and tli military training of teachers in the Normal School, together with the larg number of persons who are being taught and certificated in the (Jovernmeii Military School, afford great facilities for making military drill a part of iln^ instruction given in the grammar and common schools referred to. "In the neighboring States this subject is engaging the anxious jiUentio: of the governments and legislatures ; aud military drill is likely to become part of the system of education in all the public schools of their cities am towns. The JiCgislafuro of Massachusetts, at its lust .session, p.assed a resolutio: directing the State Board of Education ' to take into consideration the subjci of introducing an organization of scholars, above the ago of twelve years, ft militgry drill and discipline.' The Board appointed a Comuiittce (of whic the governor of the State was chairman) to investigate the subject, and I enquire into the result of an experiment which has been tiicd for two or thre years in one ( f the towns of the State— the town of Brooklinc. The resii of the enquiry is thus stated — ' The boys in the older class can already 1 selected from thoir playmates iy the improvement of their forms. Habits i prompt, instant, and unconditional obedience are also more successfully it culcated by this system of instruction than by any other with which we at acquainted. A perfect knowledge of the duties of the soldier can be taugl to the boys during the time of their .ittcndanco at the public schools, t\i> In encour in the among; receive cflicers might Genera autliorii udvocat cites, as superioi I he Isla; Drilli the ord( some ov 1 earned i obv ill ting liccoiuo m of our coi W*rld ; an urrango su The Con Canada as " The i)u youth for t of the (iov iucongruitj iiud mode.- witli the 0' " Uut cai Can it bo i -•iiul that t niiiit.iry at of time aud ho witlidrav ■' Under i jtlicro, ever attend drill' [being provii K'l'unomiciil i enter here '^sponsible t enquire in ost, a inili 'und that tl I'ill of ever' WITH MILITARY OK NAVAL DRILL. or, lational history, steps are being n both occtioii'' ]ducation have, ri a hirge nuiu :;hout the coun Canada, manjl Irill in school- 1 1! tSuperi.itendent cightceu gram their course of- aps even more 18G3, the stu- 1 lusclvcs into a ribute much to oramon Schools from tho Anmi;i :r Caiui'lii, for tli head of " Militan Toronto have, wit: •egular system i ols ; tho J'onrd i inilitiiry drill cm; IS and vilhigcs i: schools ; and tli or with the larg n tho (lOvernmeii drill a part of »li< rred to. anxious iV.iontio: ikely to bucome if their cities am passed a resolutio: eration tho subjc :' twelve years, ft nmittco (of whic ic subject, and I d for two or thre klinc. The rcsu 3S can already 1 forma. Habits 3 successfully i: nth which wo at Her can bo taufil blio schools, tb" In co„„ccl,,o„ „itl, the movon.ct may be mcnti,.ne,l tl„. .■Doourasuig iaot, tlua tl,o co,„|,a>,ic, which have boon for,,,,..! ... the .school, and collcaoa, both i„ Upper and Lower Canada, are a...o>,.-st the most proficict in the J>,ovince, and that they have .cccvcd hid. e„co„i„„,s on ,„,„,■»! occasion, fro,., the „,ilit,nv cftccs who have inspected then.. This i,, indeed, o.dy whd nnght have been anticipated. Colonel Wily, of the Adjutant (.cnerals Department (hi.nselfan experienced soldier), on whose au.hor,ty the preceding state.uent i, n,ade, ha3 long earnestly .dvoeateJ the .ntrodnction of n.ilitary drill into schools, and he ctes, as a proof of the practical results of the system, the adndtted super.o...ty o( the ,„,!itia of the Channel Islands, particularly of (he Island of Jersey, of which he is a native * Drillin, and volunteering have, for the Last two years, been Ihe order of the day in Canada, and nmst ,nen under lift; and some over that age have been initiated ia the •■ goos.step/' and learned the myster.es of "forming fours." If from our drill ez -i' the Oovcnuuent whenever t h weVer IsSni l'"^"^ '! J^ -''[^ >" ^'- ''^''-'•o '"congru.ty, no want of reason, in introdueS i fo nT^\' ^''i'"' ^'''™ '■■" "" *'"'! modes of discipline a,s shall rrei n- fnAi ,- u '"''°'''' "'"''» «t»dios wiM, f^,. .*i.„_ ...... .^ . . .' ^'}''^' rrep.uo for tho discharge of (his enualiv .... ..,,,„ ^„„ i/iuuuLuvo industry o l"lend,lnll„„coawock,com„„i,lim„,rli ,h .,?., "''' " «»'"l>«lli"l 1.' 20, > SHORT SCnOOL SYSTEM, ETC. perienco we have learned nothing more, wc must have at least learned this lesson : that soldiers are not made iu a day, and that to expect to make an efficient militia by drilling men, taken from the plough or from the workshop, for three or four weeks in the year is simply absurd. An English statesman once designated the militia as depositoines of panic. And the great Dryden describes the militia of his day in far from flattering terms, as " Mouths without arms, maintained at vast esponse, In peace a charge, in war a weak defence." If we desire to have in Canada a militia the opposite of this ; a militia which will cost us little ; one of which we may feel proud in peace, and upon which we may rely with confidence in time of waf ; a militia in a word which will recal the memories, and bo ready to repeat the deeds, of our ancestors in 1812 ; we must see that our sons, while at school, learn thoroughly their military drill. There let us instruct them in the first rudiments of the arts of war as well as peace. There let us teach them to regard it as their pride as well as their duty to be reaJy, aye ready, to stand forth, when the need comes, to do or die for their country. There let as imbue them with that high and noble patriotism, that spirit of intelligence and self-reliance which, aided by physi- cal health and strength, will make them good men, good citizens, and good soldiers, the ornament at oneo, and best defence ol' their country.* * Schools for the military instruction of candidates for commissions in the Service Militia of Canada were opened, about the date of this paper, April, 1864, in Quebec and Toronto. These schools have been most succossful, and by the end of the year upward:! of two hundred and fifty persons had obtained first class csrtificates.f Iu connection with these schools there are two points which the year's experience of their working has, I think, conclusively established and to which I wish to call attention in corroboration of the general argument^; advanced in the present paper : — Ist. That, as a general rule, the boys have raasteied the drill more easily and more thoroughly than the men. 2nd. That the six or eight weeks' tuition in the drill-shed has served, in a way quite unexpected by the parents, not only to brighten and sharpen the bojs' wits, but ever to make them, in many cases mere docile, useful and agreeable at homo. f Report on the Biaie of the Militia for 1864, p. 8. have at least vy, and that to aken from the kg in the year as depositories militia of liis ie, te of this; a lay feel proud [ence in time Qories, and be \ we must see military drill, le arts of war •d it as their stand forth, ntry. There triotisra, that }d by physi- ;ood citizens, 5t defence of imissions in the iper, April, 1864, sful, and by the (1 obtained first ,wo points which ' established and aeral arguments Irlll more easily served, in a way larpen the boys' and agreeable at