Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L i i^ucatioa 
 
 LT3
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 .1JOCT31 1938 
 
 \* 
 
 19 1U46 
 ! APR 211950 
 
 MAY 12 1960 
 
 DEC 19 1959 
 
 Form L-9-2M2,'28 

 
 LM Angeles, CaL 
 
 r 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 OX THE 
 
 SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION, 
 
 WITH OTHER LECTURES AND ESSAYS. 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 JOSEPH PAYNE, 
 
 TSX FIRST PROFESSOR OF THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION, IN THE COLLEGE 
 OF PRECEPTORS, LONDON. 
 
 ElMTKD BY HIS SOX, 
 
 JOSEPH FRANK PAYNE, M.D. 
 
 FKLLOW OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 "WITH AN INTRODUCTION BT THE REV. R. H. QUICK, M.A., TRIN. COLL. 
 CAMB. AUTHOB OF "ESSAYS ON EDUCATIONAL REFORMERS." 
 
 BOSTON : 
 WILLARD SMALL, 
 
 1883.
 
 BOSTON : 
 PRINTED BY CARL H. HEINTZEMANN, 
 
 50 SCHOOL STREET.
 
 
 L 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE lectures and pamphlets included in this volume relate chiefly 
 \ to the Theory or Science of Education, and form the greater part 
 of Mr. Payne's actually published papers on Educational sub- 
 jects. Besides these, he published lectures on Frobel, Jacotot 
 and Pestalozzi, which are omitted from this collection. They will 
 form, with some unpublished lectures, a volume on the History of 
 Education, which may, it is hoped, if sufficient encouragement be 
 met with, follow this. 
 
 It is thought that the papers here collected have sufficient unity 
 and completeness to give an adequate idea of Mr. Payne's prin- 
 ciples as a teacher. If account be taken of the dates at which 
 they were severally written, it will be seen that they exhibit, with 
 considerable diversity of illustration and some slight variance in 
 u points of detail, the persistence of certain dominant principles, 
 * the advocacy and enforcement of which was Mr. Payne's chief 
 object in his contributions to the cause of education. Nearly all 
 VJ of those lectures were composed during the last few years of the 
 Author's life ; but it has been thought that some interest would 
 attach to the re-publication of Mr. Payne's earliest educational 
 essay, "The Exposition of Jacotot's Method," which was indeed 
 his eai'liest published work on any subject. This essay, written 
 when the Author was only 23 years of age, shows how early he 
 had adopted and made his own those principles which he advocated 
 in later life. 
 
 A word of explanation may be desirable with respect to two 
 short documents, not previously published, included in this volume.
 
 yi PREFACE. 
 
 One, the paper entitled " Principles of the Science of Education" 
 (p. 95), was printed for the use of students attending the Lectmvs 
 on Education delivered by Mr. Payne as Professor at the College 
 of Preceptors. Its composition was the result of much thought 
 and pains, and it may be taken to present in an aphoristic form, 
 the writer's most mature conception of the educational problem, 
 viewed in the light of natural development. The other, the 
 " Proposal for Endowing a Professorship of Education " (p. 329), 
 was circulated, not by the Author, but by the Council of the 
 College of Preceptors. The scheme, at that time much less 
 familiar to the public ear than it has since become, was one in 
 which Mr. Payne always took a deep interest ; an interest which 
 he showed not only by the self-denying earnestness with which he 
 performed the duties of a Professor, but by the bequest of a sum 
 of money to the Endowment Fund ; and of a valuable library of 
 educational books, which he had been for some years collecting, 
 to the College of Preceptors. 
 
 The Editor has to thank the Council of the College of Precep- 
 tors for giving permission to reprint some of the lectures in this 
 volume; and Messrs Kegan Paul & Co., for facilitating the re- 
 publication of the Preface and Supplement to Miss Youmans' 
 work on Botany. 
 
 Last and above all, thanks are due to the Rev. R. H. Quick, 
 not only for the introduction which he has kindly written, but also 
 for valuable aid and advice in the selection and editing of the 
 volume. 
 
 J. F. PAYNE. 
 
 78, WIMPOLE STREET, LONDON, 
 June 1st, 1880.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 . INTRODUCTION, by the REV. R. H. QUICK 3 
 
 2. OBITUARY NOTICE, from the " Educational Times " . 7 
 
 3. LIST OF MR. PAYNE'S PUBLISHED WORKS .... 11 
 
 4. LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION . 13 
 
 I. Theory of Education 17 
 
 II. Practice of Education 43 
 
 III. Educational Methods 63 
 
 List of Books on Education . 89 
 
 5. PRINCIPLES OF THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION .... 95 
 G. THE TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHER FOE 
 
 HIS PROFESSION 103 
 
 7. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER . 125 
 
 8. THEORIES OF TEACHING WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING 
 
 PRACTICE 141 
 
 9. THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION, an Introductory 
 
 Lecture 159 
 
 10. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE TEACHING . . . 185 
 
 11. A PREFACE AND SUPPLEMENT TO AN ESSAY ON THE 
 
 CULTURE OF THE OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN, 
 
 by ELIZA A. YOUMANS 207 
 
 12. THE CURRICULUM OP MODERN EDUCATION, AND THE 
 
 RESPECTIVE CLAIMS OF CLASSICS AND SCIENCE TO BE 
 
 REPRESENTED IN IT CONSIDERED 231 
 
 13. ON THE IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY OF IMPROVING OUR 
 
 ORDINARY METHODS OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION . . 281
 
 Viii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 14. ON THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE COLLE.K 
 
 OF PRECEITORS 305 
 
 15. PROPOSAL FOR THE ENDOWMENT OF A PROFESSORSHIP ;>i 
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART v OF EDUCATION IN CONNECTION 
 WITH THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS 327 
 
 16. A COMPENDIOUS EXPOSITION OF JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF 
 
 EDUCATION 333
 
 INTRODUCTION, OBITUARY NOTICE, 
 
 AND 
 
 LIST OF MR. PAYNE'S PUBLISHED WORKS.
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 BY THE REV. R. H. QUICK. 
 
 A FEW words of introduction seem necessar} r to tell the general 
 reader what it concerns him to know about the author of this 
 volume, and his practical acquaintance with education. 
 
 At an early age Mr. Payne became an assistant in a London 
 school ; and, as he himself maintained, he would have fallen into 
 the ordinary groove of routine teaching had he not accidentally 
 become acquainted with the principles of the French reformer 
 Jacotot, and been fired with the enthusiasm which Jacotot suc- 
 ceeded in kindling far and wide both in his own country and in 
 Belgium. In England Mr. Payne was the first (in importance, if 
 not in time) of Jacotot's disciples ; and finding that the new prin- 
 ciples entirely changed his notion of the teacher's office, and 
 turned routine into a course of never-endiug experiment and 
 discovery, he forthwith set about preaching the new educational 
 evangel. Though a very young man and with small resources, he 
 published an account of Jacotot's system (1830), and gave public 
 lectures to arouse teachers to a sense of its importance. The 
 system interested a lad}', who induced Mr. Payne to undertake the 
 instruction of her own children : and this family became the 
 nucleus of a large school under Mr. Payne's management at 
 Denmark Hill. Some years afterwards, Mr. Payne established 
 himself at the Mansion House, Letherhead, where he was still very 
 successful as a schoolmaster, and where he acquired the means of 
 retiring, after thirty years' work, from the profession. In his 
 school-keeping, and in all his undertakings, even his studies, Mr. 
 Payne was greatly assisted by his wife, a lady who had herself been 
 engaged in education, and who entered into his pursuits with the 
 sympathy of the intellect as well as of the heart, till she was called 
 away, only a few months before her husband. Believing as I do 
 that Mr. Payne's labors have had and will have a great influence
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 oil education in this country, I feel bound to bear this testimony 
 to her by whom he was so greatly assisted. 
 
 We have seen that Mr. Payne became early in life an enthu- 
 siastic theorist. We most of us have our enthusiasms when we are 
 young, and teachers like other people, at first expect to do great 
 things, and make great advances on the practice of their pre- 
 decessors. But as they grow older the enthusiasms die out. All 
 sorts of concessions to use and wont are enforced upon them ; and 
 by degrees they find there is much to be said for the usual methods. 
 These methods are, for the master at all events, the easiest ; and 
 they have this great advantage, that they lead to the expected 
 results. Changes might lead to unexpected results, and these 
 would not find favor with parents. If we do well what other 
 people are doing, and doing in some cases very badly, we shall 
 please everybody ; and why not be satisfied with that which 
 satisfies our employers? In this way we find excuses for our 
 failing energ}', and by the time we have experience enough to 
 judge what reforms are possible, we have settled down into indolent 
 contentment with things as they are. To this law of the decay of 
 enthusiasms Mr. Payne's career shows us a striking exception. In 
 early life an interest in principles had changed his occupation from 
 a dull routine to an absorbing intellectual pursuit, and as he went 
 on he found tuat his study -of theory instead of making him " un- 
 practical" gave him great practical advantages. His pupils did 
 not fail in ordinary acquirements ; and their memory, even for 
 Latin Grammar, was developed without any assistance from the 
 cane. When I first became acquainted with Mr. Payne, he had 
 retired from his school, and I do not know how far he succeeded 
 in canning out his principles. That they had constant influence 
 over him, no one who knew him would for an instant doubt ; but 
 probably, like all high-minded men, he fell far short of his own 
 ideal. But the more he taught himself and the more he had to 
 direct other teachers, the stronger grew his conviction that educa- 
 tion should be studied scientifically, that principles should direct 
 practice, and further that the main cause of weakness in our school 
 system lay in our teachers' ignorance of the nature of their 
 calling, and of the main truths about it already established. The 
 consequence was that when after many years of labor he found 
 himself able to spend his remaining days as he chose, he set to 
 work with an enthusiasm and energy and self-devotion rarely found 
 even in young men, to arouse teachers to a sense of their deficien- 
 cies and to be a pioneer in the needed science of education. It
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 was. I believe, mainly owing to his influence, and to that of his 
 friend Mr. C. H. Lake, that the College of Preceptors instituted 
 an examination for teachers, the first held in this country. In 
 1*72, the College took another important step, and appointed the 
 first English Profcssor of the Science and Art of Education. 
 The Professor appointed was Mr. Pa}-ne, and no man could have 
 been found with higher qualifications. He had always been a 
 diligent student, and had a much wider culture than is usually found 
 in schoolmasters, or indeed in any class of hardworked men, and 
 his habits of reading and writing now gave him great advantages. 
 But these would have been of little avail had he not possessed the 
 main requisite for the professorship as few indeed possessed it, 
 viz., a profound belief in the present value and future possibilities 
 of the Science of Education. No work could have been more 
 congenial to him than endeavoring to awaken in young teachers 
 that spirit of inquiry into principles, which he had found the salt 
 of his own life in the schoolroom. And short as his tenure of the 
 Professorship unhappily proved, he succeeded in his endeavor, and 
 left behind him students who have learnt from him to make their 
 practice as teachers more beneficial to others and infinitely more 
 pleasurable to themselves, by investigating the theory which not 
 only explains right practice, but also points out the way to it. 
 
 That interest in education as a science and an art which was 
 awakened by the delivery of Mr. Payne's lectures, will one day, I 
 trust, be more widely spread by their publication. The papers in 
 this volume have already appeared at different times, and they are 
 now for the first time collected. But there are numerous lectures 
 which still remain in MS. 
 
 Mr. Payne always spoke-of Jacotot as " his master," and in one 
 of the paradoxes of Jacotot is contained the principle which takes 
 the leading place in Mr. Pa\-ne's teaching. Jacotot exposed him- 
 self to the jeers of schoolmasters by asserting that a teacher who 
 understood his business could "teach what he did not know." 
 By teacher is usually understood one who communicates knowledge. 
 This meaning of the word, however, was unsatisfactory to Jacotot 
 and to his English disciple. What is knowledge ? Knowledge is 
 the abiding result of some action of the mind. Whoever causes 
 the mind of pupils to take the necessary action teaches the pupils, 
 and this is the only kind of teaching which Mr. Payne would hear 
 of. Thus we see that Jacotot' s paradox points to a new conception 
 of the teacher's function. The teacher is not one who " tells," but 
 one who sets the learner's mind to work, directs it and regulates
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 its rate of advance. In order to "tell," one needs nothing 
 beyond a form of words which the pupils may reproduce with or 
 without comprehension. But to "teach," in Mr. Payne's sense 
 of the word, a vast deal more was required, an insight into the 
 working of the pupil's mind, a power of calling its activities into 
 play, and of directing, them to the needful exercise, a perception 
 of results, and a knowledge how to render those results permanent. 
 Such was Mr. Payne's notion of the teacher's office, and this 
 notion lies at the root of all that he said and wrote about instruc- 
 tion. It would be useless to attempt to decide how far the concep- 
 tion was original with him. " Ever3'thing reasonable has been 
 thought alread}'," says Goethe. Mr. Payne, as we have seen, 
 was always eager to declare his obligations to Jacotot. The same 
 notion of the teacher is found in the utterances of other men, 
 especially of Pestalozzi and Frobel. But when such a conception 
 becomes part and parcel of a mind like Mr. Payne's, it forthwith 
 becomes a fresh force, and its influence spreads to others. 
 
 To elevate the teacher's conception of his calling was the task 
 to which Mr. Payne devoted the latter years of his life ; and those 
 who knew him best, desire to see his influence extended by this 
 and other publications of his writings, that he may still be a 
 worker in the cause which he had at heart. 
 
 January, 1880. R. H. QUICK.
 
 MR. JOSEPH PAYNE. 
 
 The subjoined Obituary Notice appeared shortly after Mr. Payne's 
 death, in the Educational Times for June 1st, 1876. 
 
 IT would be difficult to over-estimate the loss which the cause of 
 educational progress and reform has sustained by the recent death 
 of Mr. Joseph Paj-ne. At the present juncture, when so great an 
 impetus has been given to popular education, and such rapid 
 strides are being taken, not always with the clearest light, or in 
 the wisest direction, and when the guidance and influence of men 
 of wide experience, careful thought, and untiring devotion, are more 
 than ever necessary, few could be named whose place it would be 
 more difficult to supply. 
 
 Those who had the privilege of knowing Mr. Pa} - ne are aware 
 that, both as a theorist and as a practical teacher, he had made it 
 the business of his life to expose the futility of the unintelligent 
 routine with which educators have too commonly contented them- 
 selves, and to rouse teachers to replace it by methods which would 
 call the expanding faculties of the young scholar into healthful 
 activity, which would promote and regulate their development by 
 well-considered and sympathetic guidance, and would direct their 
 action to the best and wisest ends. In short, he strove to make 
 education a reality instead of a pretence. "With this view he 
 constantly insisted on the too often forgotten truth, that the only 
 teaching that is worthy of the name is that which enables the 
 learner to teach himself, that which awakens in him the desire for 
 knowledge, and guides him by the surest and readiest methods 
 to its attainment. Such teaching proceeds upon intelligent and 
 scientific principles, and demands of the teacher something differ- 
 ent from the hum-drum giving of routine lessons. As the obvious 
 corollary of this, Mr. Payne urged upon teachers the necessity of 
 mastering the true principles that should guide them in the exercise 
 of their profession, and of rousing themselves to the perception 
 of the truth that the teacher must learn how to teach ; that he must 
 not only know thoroughly and fundamentally that ichich he teaches,
 
 8 OBITUARY NOTICE. 
 
 but must study well the laws which govern the exercise and 
 development of the faculties of those whom he teaches ; that he 
 must know both the lesson and the scholar, and the means by 
 which the two may be brought into fruitful contact. These aims 
 Mr. Payue pursued throughout his life, unobtrusively indeed, 
 yet with single-minded enthusiasm, and unswerving tenacity of 
 purpose. 
 
 Mr. Payne was born at Bury St. Edmund's on the 2nd of 
 March, 1808. His early education was very incomplete, and it 
 was not till he was about fourteen years old that, at a school kept 
 by a Mr. Freeman, he came under the instruction of a really com- 
 petent teacher. This advantage, however, he did not enjoy very 
 long. At a comparatively early age he was under the necessit}' of 
 getting his own living, which he did partly by teaching, partly by 
 writing for the press. His life at this period was laborious, and 
 not altogether free from privations. He found time, however, for 
 diligent study, and numerous extract and common-place books 
 testify to the wide range of his reading in the ancient classics and 
 in English literature. 
 
 When he was about twenty years of age he became a private 
 tutor in the family of Mr. David Fletcher, of Camberwell. His 
 exceptional aptitude for teaching, and his energetic devotion to 
 study attracted the appreciation and sympath}' of the mother of 
 his young pupils. The children of one or two neighbors were 
 admitted to share the benefits of his instruction, and thus a srhall 
 preparator}' school sprang up. Under his zealous and able direc- 
 tion it increased in numbers and consideration, till it expanded 
 into the important school known as " Denmark Hill Grammar 
 School," carried on in a fine old mansion (recently demolished) on 
 Denmark Hill. Here, in partnership with Mr. Fletcher, he con- 
 tinued his labors for some years. 
 
 In 1837 Mr. Payne married Miss Dyer, a lady who was at the 
 head of a girls' school of high repute, which she continued to 
 cany on for some time. In her he had the happiness of obtaining, 
 as the partner of his life, n lady of great energy of character, of 
 tact and method in the conduct of affairs, and admirably suited to 
 sympathise with him in the aims and ambitions of his life. 
 
 Mr. Payne's connection with the school at Camberwell con- 
 tinued till the year 1845, when he established himself indepen- 
 dently at the Mansion House, Letherhead. Here he labored with 
 great energy and success for about eighteen years, his school taking 
 rank as one of the very first private schools in this country. In
 
 OBITUARY NOTICE. 9 
 
 1863, having acquired a modest competence, he withdrew from the 
 active cares of his profession. None the less, however, did he 
 continue to devote himself strenuously to the cause of educational 
 progress. He took a lively and active interest in several of the 
 most important movements having this for their purpose, such 
 (for example) as the "Women's Education Union," and the 
 " Public Girls' School Company," the improvement of women's 
 education having long been one of his most cherished objects. 
 By lectures, and through the press, and b}' his active and energetic 
 participation in the operations earned on by the College of Pre- 
 ceptors, he still zealously pursued the great object of his life the 
 advancement of education by the improvement of the methods, 
 and the elevation of the character and status of the teacher. The 
 Kindergarten system of Frobel was one in which he took a keen 
 interest. He studied profoundly the methods and systems of all 
 who have obtained celebrity as educators, and Pestalozzi and 
 Jacotot had in him a warm admirer and an able expositor. When 
 a Professorship of the Science and Art of Education (the first of 
 its kind) was established bj" the College of Preceptors, he was 
 unanimously elected to occupy that Chair. 
 
 Throughout his life Mr. Payne was a hard student. Till but a 
 few months before his death, he was wont to continue his work 
 into the small hours of the morning. He was especially interested 
 in the history of the development of the English language, and the 
 characteristics of the different dialects, and more particularly in 
 the history of the Norman-French element. This led him to a 
 rather extensive study of the dialects of French, and the history 
 of the French language generally. A paper of great value by him 
 on these subjects appears in the " Transactions of the Philological 
 Society," of which he was one of the most distinguished and 
 active members. 
 
 Mr. Payne's life had been too laboriously occupied to leave time 
 for the composition of any large literary works ; but his little 
 volume of " Select Poetry for Children" is one of the very best 
 of its class, and his " Studies in English Prose," and " Studies 
 in English Poetry," have met with a wide appreciation. Among 
 various lectures and pamphlets published by him, may be men- 
 tioned : " Three Lectures on the Science and Art of Education," 
 delivered at the College of Preceptors in 1871. "The True 
 Foundation of Science Teaching," a lecture delivered at the Col- 
 lege of Preceptors in 1872. "The Importance of the Training of 
 the Teacher." "The Science and Art of Education," an iutro-
 
 10 OBITUARY NOTICE. 
 
 ductory lecture delivered at the College of Preceptors. *' Pesta- 
 lozzi," a lecture delivered at the College of Preceptors in 1875. 
 " Frobel and the Kindergarten System," a lecture delivered at the 
 College of Preceptors. " The Curriculum of Modern Education." 
 The death of his wife, which occured in the autumn of last year, 
 probably aggravated the symptoms of a malady of some standing, 
 which terminated on April 30th, 1876, a life of singular purity 
 and nobleness of aim, of strenuous and uuintermittiug industry, 
 and of unselfish devotion to high aud worthy ends.
 
 LIST OF MR. PAYNE'S CHIEF PUBLISHED 
 WORKS, PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS. 
 
 1. Principles and Practice of Jacotot's System of Education, 
 
 1830. 
 
 2. Epitome Historiae Sacrae. A Latin reading-book on Jacotot's 
 
 System, 1830. 
 
 3. Select Poetry for Children, First Edition, 1839 (?) 
 
 4. Studies in English Poetry, First Edition, 1845. 
 
 5. Studies in English Prose, First Edition, 1868. 
 
 6. The Curriculum of Modern Education, 1866. 
 
 7. Three Lectures on the Science and Art of Education, delivered 
 
 at the College of Preceptors in 1871. 
 
 8. The Training and Equipment of the Teacher for his Profession. 
 
 College of Preceptors, April 14th, 1869. 
 
 9. Theories of Teaching with their corresponding practice. Pro- 
 
 ceedings of Social Science Association, 1868-69. 
 
 10. On the Past, Present, and Future of the College of Preceptors. 
 
 " Educational Times," July, 1868. 
 
 11. On the Importance and Necessitj T of improving our ordinary 
 
 methods of School Instruction. Proceedings of Social 
 Science Association, 1871-1872. 
 
 12. Preface and Supplement to English Edition of Miss Youmans* 
 
 " Essay on the Culture of the Observing Powers of 
 Children," 1872. 
 
 13. The Importance of the Training of the Teacher, 1873. 
 
 14. The true Foundation of Science Teaching, 1873. 
 
 15. The Science and Art of Education ; an introductory lecture, 
 
 1874. 
 
 16. Pestalozzi ; a lecture delivered at the College of Preceptors, 
 
 1875. 
 
 17. Fro'bel and the Kindergarten System. Third Edition, 1876. 
 
 18. Jacotot : his Life and System of Universal Instruction : a 
 
 lecture delivered at the College of Preceptors, 1867.
 
 12 LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS. 
 
 19. Arnold ; a lecture delivered at the College of Preceptors. 
 
 20. Education in the United States. " British Quarterly Review," 
 
 1868. 
 
 21. The Higher Education of the United States. " British 
 
 Quarterly Review," 1870. 
 
 22. Eton. " British Quarterly Review," 1867. 
 
 23. The Norman Element in the Spoken and Written English of 
 
 the 12th, 13th, and 14th Centuries. u Proceedings of the 
 Philological Society." 
 
 24. A visit to German Schools, in the autumn of 1874. Published 
 
 after the author's death, 1876.
 
 THE 
 
 SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION.
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The three following Lectures formed part of a volume, published in 1872, 
 with this title 
 
 Lectures on Education, delivered before the members of the College of Pre- 
 ceptors in the year 1871 ; and published by order of the Council. London, 
 printed for the College of Preceptors, by C. F. Hodgson and Son, Gough 
 Square, Fleet Street. 
 
 Their object is best explained in the prefatory notice prefixed to the 
 volume, here reprinted. 
 
 "Among the special objects contemplated by the establishment of the 
 ' ' College of Preceptors in its general purpose ' of promoting sound learning 
 " and advancing the interests of education,' that of ' instituting lectureships 
 "on any subject connected with the theory and Practice of Education' 
 " holds a prominent place. In order to carry out this intention, the Council 
 " have recently instituted lectureships on education; and the present vol- 
 "ume, containing the lectures delivered before the Members during the 
 "year 1871, is the result of their arrangements. It will be followed by 
 "others in due course. 
 
 " It is only necessary to add, that while allowing the lecturers full liberty 
 " for the expression of individual opinions on various points of the theory 
 "of education, the Council do not hold themselves responsible for such 
 "opinions." 
 
 COLLEGE OF PEECEPTOKS, 
 
 42, Queen Square, London, W.O. 
 April, 1872.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTUBE I. 
 THE THEORY OB SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Correlation of the Theory or Science and the Practice or Art of Educa- 
 tion. Distinction between Education and Instruction. The unconscious 
 natural education of the young child, to be continued by the constructive 
 training of the teacher. The idea of a Theory of Education involves the 
 preliminary training of the teacher himself. Supposed antagonism of 
 Theory and Practice of Science and Koutlne. The scientific educator 
 applies the principles of Physiology, Psychology, and Ethics to his profes- 
 sion. He also knows and profits by the experience of the great masters of 
 his art. Three-fold nature of the child to be kept in view and harmoniously 
 trained. Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Education. The school is what 
 the teacher makes it : he is what his own training makes him. " As is the 
 teacher, so is the school," applied to the general results of teaching in 
 England, as shown by various Commissions. What is the remedy? The 
 training and equipment of the teacher for his profession. Training Colleges 
 for teachers. The examinations of the College of Preceptors. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Success in the Art of Teaching duo ultimately to recognition, unconscious 
 or conscious, of the Science of Education. Correlation of learning and 
 teaching. The act of learning resolves itself into self-teaching. The 
 pupil learns only what he teaches himself that is, masters by his own 
 thinking. The action and influence of the teacher absolutely necessary to 
 superintend and direct the pupil's process. Two typical specimens of the 
 art of teaching, one recognizing, the other ignoring, the pupil's competency 
 to teach himself. Essential difference of principles leading to different 
 results. The main business of the teacher is to get his pupil to teach 
 himself. Bishop Temple's and Rousseau's opinions on self-teaching. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 A method is a special mode of applying an Art. The aim of the art of 
 Education being to get the pupil to think for himself, that is the best method
 
 16 CONTENTS. 
 
 which accomplishes this most effectually. The pupil's subjective method 
 of learning suggests the teacher's objective counterpart method of teach- 
 ing. The establishment of the characteristics of a good method of teaching 
 supplies a test of the merit of certain well-known methods. Ascham's 
 method of teaching Latin, commencing with the facts of language and 
 building upon them. His principle of requiring the pupil to thoroughly 
 master a small portion of literary matter MuUum non multa. Mr. Quick's 
 "Essays on Educational Reformers." Pestalozzi his qualifications as a 
 teacher. Account of his practice, by a pupil; its defects. Jacotot 
 sketch of his life. The experiment at Louvaine, on which his method was 
 founded. Jacotot's method a recognition of the method of the learner 
 Apprenez quelque chose et rapportez-y tout le reste; or, Learn, repeat, reflect, 
 verify. Application to the teaching of reading, showing how instruction 
 becomes a means of education. Summary.
 
 LECTURES ON EDUCATION. 
 
 LECTURE I.* 
 THE THEORY OR SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 IT is proposed, in this course of three Lectures, to treat of, 1st, 
 The Theory or Science of Education ; 2nd, The Practice or Art 
 of Education ; 3rd, Educational Methods, or special applications 
 of the Science and Art. 
 
 The Science of Education is sometimes called Pedagogy or 
 Paideutics, and the Art of Education, Didactics. There seems, 
 however, no need for these technical terms. The expressions 
 Science and Art of Education are explicit, and sufficiently answer 
 the purpose. 
 
 The Theory or Science, as distinguished from the Practice or 
 Art, embraces an enquiry into the principles on which the Practice 
 or Art depends, and which give reasons for the efficiency or in- 
 efficiency of that practice. I do not profess in this Lecture to 
 construct the Science of Education that still waits for its devel- 
 opment. As, however, its ultimate evolution depends very much 
 on a general recognition of its value and importance, I propose to 
 indicate a few of its principles, as well as some of the sources 
 from which they may be derived ; and further, to show the need 
 for their application to the present condition of the art. 
 
 In the progress of knowledge, practice ever precedes theory. 
 We do, before we enquire why we do. Thus the practice of lan- 
 guage goes before the investigation into its laws, and the Art 
 before the Science of Music. It is the sa,me with Education. The 
 practice has long existed ; but the theory has, as yet, been only 
 partially recognized. As, however, theory re-acts on practice, and 
 improves it, we may hope to see the same results in Education, 
 when it shall be scientifically investigated. 
 
 As the terms Education and Instruction will frequently occur in 
 
 * Delivered at the House of tho Society of Arts, on 12th July, 1871; Professor Huxley, 
 LL.D.. in the Chair.
 
 18 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 these Lectures, it may be convenient at the outset to enquire into 
 their exact meaning. 
 
 The verb educare, from which we get our word educate, differs 
 from its primitive educere in this respect, that while the latter 
 means, to draw forth by a single act, the former, as a sort of fre- 
 quentative verb, signifies to draw forth frequentl}', repeatedly, 
 persistently, and therefore strongly and permanently ; and in a 
 secondary sense to draw forth faculties, to train or educate them. 
 An educator is therefore a trainer, whose function it is to draw 
 forth persistently, habitually and permanently, the powers of a 
 child, and education is the process which he emploj's for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Then as to Instruction. The Latin verb instruere, from which 
 we derive instruct, means to place materials together, not at ran- 
 dom, but for a purpose to pile or heap them one upon another 
 in an orderly manner, as parts of a preconceived Vhole. Instruc- 
 tion, then, is the orderly placing of knowledge in the mind, with a 
 definite object. The mere aggregation, by a teacher, in the minds 
 of his pupils, of incoherent ideas, gained by desultory and uncon- 
 nected mental acts, is no more instruction than heaping bricks and 
 stones together is building a house. The true instructor is never 
 contented with the mere collection of materials, however valuable 
 in themselves, but continually seeks to make them subservient to 
 the end he has in view. He is an educational Amphion, under 
 whose influence the bricks and stones move together to the place 
 where they are wanted, and grow into the form of a harmonious 
 fabric. 
 
 Instruction, thus viewed, is not as some conceive of it, the anti- 
 thesis of Education, nor generically distinct from it. Every 
 educator is an instructor ; for education attains its ends through 
 instruction ; but, as will be shown, the instructor who is not also 
 consciously an educator, fails to accomplish the highest aims of 
 his science. The instruction which ends in itself is not complete 
 education. 
 I But we wjll j^w .attempt to giye a definition o f 
 
 V 
 
 Education., in its widest sense, is a general expression that com- 
 prehends all the influences which operate on the human being, 
 stimulating his faculties to action, forming his habits, moulding 
 his character, and making him what he is.* Though so power- 
 
 'Whatever," says Mr. J. 8. Mill, "helps to shape the human being, to make the indi- 
 vidual what he la, or hinder him from being what he la not, ia part of his education." 
 Inaugural Address delivered at Si. Andrew's,
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 19 
 
 fully affected by these influences, he may be entirely unconscious 
 of them. They are to him as " the wind which bloweth whore it 
 listeth ; but he knows not whence it cometh nor whither it goeth." 
 They are not, however, less real on this account. The circumstances 
 by which he is surrounded the climate, the natural scenery, the 
 air he breathes, the food he eats, the moral tone of the family life, 
 that of the community all have a share in converting the raw 
 material of human nature, either into healthy, intelligent, moral 
 and religious man ; or, on the contrary, in converting it into an 
 embodiment of weakness, stupidity, wickedness, and misery. Thus 
 external influences automatically acting upon a neutral nature, pro- 
 duce, each after its kind, the most opposite results. In this sense 
 the poor little gamin of our streets, who defiles the air with his 
 blasphemies, whose thoughts are of the dirt, dirty, who picks our 
 pockets with a clear conscience, has been duly educated by the im- 
 pure atmosphere, the squalid misery, the sad examples of act and 
 speech presented to him in his daily life to be the outcast that 
 he is. Such instances show the wondrous power of the education 
 of circumstances. 
 
 It is a noticeable characteristic of this kind of education, that 
 its pupils rarely evince of their own accord any desire for improve- 
 ment, and are in this respect scarcely distinguishable from barbar- 
 ians. The savages of our race remain savages, not because they 
 have not the same original faculties as ourselves faculties gen- 
 erally capable of improvement but because they have no desire 
 for improvement. Nature does indeed furnish her children with 
 elementary lessons. She teaches them the use of the senses, 
 language, and the qualities of matter, but she leaves them to pro- 
 cure advanced knowledge for themselves, while she implants in 
 their minds neither motive nor desire for its acquisition. The 
 differentia of the savage is, that he has rarely any wish for self- 
 elevation. It is sad to think how many savages of this kind we 
 have still amongst ourselves ! 
 
 But education is conscious as wollfisnnronsoions. Some cause 
 or other suggests the desire for improvement. The teacher appears 
 in tlu> field, and civilisation begins its cajeer. The civilization 
 which we contrast with barbarism is simply the result of that action 
 of mind on mind .which carries forward v the teaching of Nature 
 in other words, of what we call education. "Where there is no 
 specific conscious education, there is no civilization. "Where edu- 
 cation is fully appreciated, the result is high civilization ; and 
 generally, as education advances, civilization advances in propor-
 
 20 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 tion, and thus affords a measure of its influence. It follows, then, 
 that all the civilization that exists is ultimately due to the educator, 
 including, of course, the educator in religion. 
 
 Education, then, as we may now more specifically define it, \g_ 
 the training carried on consciously and continuously by the edu- 
 cator, and its object is to convert desultory and accidental force 
 into organized action, and its ultimate aim is to make the child 
 operated on by it capable of becoming a healthy, intelligent, moral 
 and religious man ; or it may be described as the systematization 
 of all the influences which the Science of Education recognizes as 
 capable of being employed by one human being to develop, direct, 
 and maintain vital force in another, with a view to the formation 
 of habits. 
 
 This conception of the end of education defines the function of 
 the educator. He has to direct forces already existing to a definite 
 object, and in proportion as his direction is wise and judicious will 
 the object be secured. 
 
 He has in the child before him an embodiment of animal, intel- 
 lectual, and moral forces, the action of- which is irregular and for- 
 tuitous. These forces he has to develop further, direct, and 
 organize. The child has an animal nature, affected by external 
 influences, and endowed with vital energies, which may be used 
 or abused to his weal or woe. He has also an intellectual nature, 
 capable of indefinite development, which may be employed in the 
 acquisition of knowledge, and gain strength by the very act of 
 acquisition ; but which may, on the other hand, through neglect, 
 waste its powers, or by perversion abuse them. He has, moreover, 
 a moral nature capable by cultivation of becoming a means of use- 
 fulness and happiness to himself and others, or of becoming by 
 its corruption the fruitful source of misery to himself ami the 
 community. 
 
 It is the business of the educator, by his action and influence on 
 these forces, to secure their beneficial and avert their injurious 
 manifestation to convert this undisciplined energy into a fund of 
 organized self-acting power. 
 
 In order to do this efficiently, he ought to understand the nature 
 of the phenomena that he has to deal with ; and his own training 
 as a teacher ought especially to have this object in view. Without 
 this knowledge, much that he does may be really injurious, and 
 much more of no value. 
 
 To speak technically, then, a knowledge of what is going on in 
 his pupils' bodies, minds, and hearts, their subjective process, will
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 21 
 
 regulate the means which he adopts to direct the action of those 
 bodies, minds, and hearts, which is his objective process the one 
 being a counterpart of the other and the consideration of what 
 this knowledge consists of, and how it may be best applied, consti- 
 tutes the Theory or Science of Education. 
 
 I am well aware that the mention of the words " Theory of 
 Education," and the assumption that the educator ought to be 
 educated in it, is apt to excite some degree of opposition in the 
 minds of those who claim especially the title of " practical teach- 
 ers," and who therefore characterize this theory as " a quackery." 
 Now a quack, the dictionary tells us, is " one who practices an art 
 without any knowledge of its principles." There seems, then, to 
 be a cm-ious infelicity of language in calling a subject which em- 
 braces principles, which especially insists on principles, a quackery. 
 If education, thus viewed, is a quackery, then the same must be 
 said of medicine, law, and theology ; and it would follow that the 
 greatest proficient in the principles of these sciences must be the 
 greatest quack a remarkable reductio ad absurdum. This posi- 
 tion, then, will perhaps hardly be maintained. 
 
 But there is a second line of defence. The practical teachers 
 say and, doubtless say sincerely " We don't want any Theory 
 of Education ; our aim is practical, we want nothing but the 
 practical." We agree with them as to the value, the indispensable 
 value, of the practical, but not as to the assumed antagonism 
 between theory and practice. So far from being in any strict 
 sense opposed, they are identical. Theory is the general, practice 
 the particular expression of the same facts. The words of the 
 theory interpret the practice ; the propositions of the science inter- 
 pret the silent language of the art. The one represents truth in 
 posse, the other in esse; the one, as Dr. Whewell well remarks, 
 involves, the other evolves, principles. So in Education, theory and 
 practice go hand-iii-hand ; and the practical man who denounces 
 theory is a theorist in fact.* He does not of course drive blindly 
 on, without caring whither he is going ; the conception, then, 
 which he forms of his end, is his theory. Nor does he act without 
 considering the means for securing his object. This consideration 
 of the means as suitable or unsuitable for his purpose, is again his 
 theory. In fact, the reasons which he would give for his actual 
 practice, to account for it or defend it, constitute, whether he 
 
 * "Theory and practice always act upon each other; one can see from their works what 
 men's opinions arc; and from their opinions predict what they will do." Goethe.
 
 22 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 admits it or not, his theory of action. All that we ask, is that this 
 conception of theory, in relation to education, should be extended 
 and reduced to principles. 
 
 Mr. Grove, the eminent Q.C., in an address given at St. Mary's 
 Hospital, forcibly expresses the same opinion : "If there be one 
 species of cant," he says, "more detestable than another, it is 
 that which eulogizes what is called the practical man as contradis- 
 tinguished from the scientific. If, by practical man, is meant one 
 who, having a mind well stored with scientific and general informa- 
 tion, has his knowledge chastened and his theoretic temerity sub- 
 dued, by varied experience, nothing can be better ; but if, as is 
 commonly meant by the phrase, a practical man means one whose 
 knowledge is only derived from habit or traditional system, such a 
 man has no resource to meet unusual circumstances ; such a man 
 has no plasticity ; he kills a man according to rule, and consoles 
 himself, like Moliere's doctor, by the reflection that a dead man is 
 only a dead man, but that a deviation from received practice is an 
 injury to the whole profession." 
 
 Practical teachers may, however, admit that they have a theory, 
 an empirical theory, of their own which governs their practice, and 
 yet deny that the generalization of this theory into principles would 
 be of any value to themselves or to the cause of education. They 
 may go further still, and deny both that there is or can be any 
 Science of Education. Some do, indeed, deny both these positions. 
 It has already been admitted that the Science of Education is as 
 yet in a rudimentary condition. There is at present no such code 
 of indisputable laws to test and govern educational action as there 
 is in many other sciences. Its principles lie disjointed and unor- 
 ganized in the sciences of Physiology, Psychology, Ethics, and 
 Logic, and will only be gathered together and codified when we 
 rise to a high conception of its value and importance. Even now, 
 however, they are acknowledged in the discussion of such questions 
 as, the best method of training the natural faculties of children 
 the order of their development the subjects proper for the curri- 
 culum of instruction book teaching versus oral the differentia 
 of female education school discipline moral training, and a 
 multitude of others which will one day be decided by a reference, 
 not to traditional usage, but to the principles of the Science of 
 Kducation. The fact, then, that this science is not yet objectively 
 constructed is no argument against our attempting to construct it, 
 ivnd we maintain that the pertinacious adherence to the notion of 
 the all-sufficiency of routine forms the greatest difficulty in the
 
 
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 23 
 
 way of securing the object. It is, however, mainly for the sake 
 of the teachers of the next generation, that the importance of a 
 true conception of the value of principles in education is insisted on. 
 It follows, then, that practical teachers who desire to see prac- 
 / tice improved and surely there is need of improvement ought 
 to admit that there is the same obligation resting on the educator 
 to study the principles of his art as there is on the physician to 
 study anatomy and therapeutics, and on the civil engineer to study 
 mechanics. The art, in each of these cases, has a scientific basis^L * 
 and the practitioner who desires to be successful in it to be theL 
 master and not the slave of routine must studiously investigate 1 
 its fundamental principles. 
 
 But there is another argument against routine teaching which 
 ought not to be omitted. It is founded on the effect which such 
 teaching produces on the pupil. Those teachers who are them- 
 selves the slaves of routine make their pupils slaves also. "Without 
 intellectual freedom themselves, they cannot emancipate their 
 pupils. The machine generates machines. They make their pupils 
 mechanically apt and dexterous in processes, and in this way train 
 them to practice ; but not appreciating principles themselves, they 
 cannot train them to principles. Yet this latter training, which 
 essentially involves reasoning and thought, ought to be the con- 
 tinual and persistent aim of the educator. He has very imperfectly 
 accomplished the end of his being if he dismisses his pupils as 
 merely mechanical artisans, knowing the how, but ignorant of the 
 why ; expert in processes, but uninformed in principles ; instructed, 
 but not truly educated. It is the possession of principles which 
 gives mental life, courage, and power : the courage which is not 
 daunted where routine fails, the power which not only firmly 
 directs the established machinery, but corrects its apparent eccen- 
 tricities, can repair it when it is deranged, and adjust its forces to 
 new emergencies. Take the case of a routine pupil to whom you 
 propose an arithmetical problem. His first enquiry is, not what 
 are the conditions of the question, and the principles involved in 
 its solution, but what rule he is to work it by.* This is the question 
 of a slave, who can do nothing without orders from his master. 
 "\\Y11, you give him the rule. The rule is, in fact, a rsum6 of 
 principles which some scientific man has deduced from concrete 
 
 * MM. Demogeot and Montticcl, In their Report to the French Government on English 
 Secondary Instruction (Paris, 1867), severely comment on the mechanical spirit in which 
 mathematics are generally taught In our schools through our taking little account of the 
 reason, and making processes rather than principles the end of instruction (p. 120).
 
 24 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 facts, and which represents and embodies the net result of various 
 processes of his mind upon them. But what is it to our routine 
 pupil ? To him it is merely an order given by a slave driver, and 
 he hears in it the words, Do this; don't do that; don't ask 
 why ; do exactly as I bid you. He reads his rule, his order, does 
 what he is bid, grinds away at his work, and arrives at the end of 
 it as much a slave as ever, and he is a slave because his master 
 has made him one. 
 
 Educators, indeed, like other men, come under two large cate- 
 gories, which may be described in the pregnant words of the 
 accomplished author of the " Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." 
 " All economical and practical wisdom," he says, " is an extension 
 or variation of the following arithmetical formula 2 -\- 2 = 4. Every 
 philosophical proposition has the more general character of the 
 expression a -\-b = c. We are merely operatives, empirics, and 
 egotists, until we begin to think in letters instead of figures." 
 
 Now the mere routine teacher belongs to the former, and the 
 true educator to the latter class, and each will stamp his own 
 image on his pupils. 
 
 All that has been said resolves itself, then, into the proposition 
 that a man engaged in a profession, as distinguished from a mere 
 handicraft, ought not only to know what he is doing, but ://; the 
 one constituting his practice, the other his theory. He cannot give 
 a reason for the faith that is in him, unless he examines the grounds 
 of that faith, unless he examines them per se, and traces their 
 connection with each other and with the whole body of truth. The 
 possession of this higher kind of knowledge, the knowledge of 
 principles and laws, is, strictly speaking, his only warrant for the 
 pretension that he is a professional man, and not a mere mechanic. 
 Society has not, indeed, hitherto demanded this professional equip- 
 ment for the educator, nor has the educator himself generally 
 recognized the obligation, aptly stated by Dr. Arnold, that, " in 
 whatever it is our duty to act, those matters also it is our duty to 
 study," and hence the present condition of education in England. 
 Education can never take its proper rank among the learned pro- 
 fessions, that proper rank being really the highest of them all, 
 until teachers see that there really are principles of Education, and 
 that it is their duty to study them. 
 
 But there is another mode of studying principles besides investi- 
 gating them per se. They may be studied in the practice of those 
 who have mastered them. 
 
 It is clear that a man may have carefully investigated the priii-
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 25 
 
 ciples of an art, and yet fail in the application of them. This 
 generally arises from his not having fully comprehended them. He 
 has omitted to notice or appreciate something which, if he knew 
 it, would answer his purpose ; or from want of early training finds 
 it difficult to deduce facts from principles, practice from theory. 
 In such a case there is an available resource. Others have seen 
 what he has failed to see, have firmly grasped what he has not 
 comprehended, have made the necessary deductions, and embodied 
 them in their own practice. Let the learner, then, in the Science 
 of Education, study that practice, and trace it in the correspon- 
 dence between the principles which he but partially appreciates, 
 and their practical application in the methods of those who have 
 thought them out. In other words, let him study the great masters 
 of his art, and learn from them the philosophy which teaches by 
 examples. This study, so far from being inconsistent with the 
 Theory of Education, is, indeed, a necessary part of it. We may 
 all learn something from the successful experience of others. De 
 Quincy (as quoted by Mr. Quick in his valuable " Essays on Edu- 
 cational Reformers") has pointed out that a man who takes up 
 any pursuit, without knowing what advances others have made in 
 it, works at a great disadvantage. He does not apply his strength 
 in the right direction, he troubles himself about small matters and 
 neglects great, he falls into errors that have long since been ex- 
 ploded. To this Mr. Quick pertinently adds, "I venture to 
 think, therefore, that practical men, in education, as in most other 
 things, may derive benefit from the knowledge of what has been 
 already said and done by the leading men engaged in it both past and 
 present." Notwithstanding the obvious common sense of this 
 observation, it is undeniably true that the great majority of teach- 
 ers afre profoundly ignorant of the sayings and doings of the 
 authorities in Education. Their own empirical methods, their own 
 self-devised principles of instruction, generally form their entire 
 equipment for their profession. I have myself questioned on this 
 subject scores of middle-class teachers, and have not met with so 
 many as half-a-dozen who knew anything more than the names, 
 and often not these, of Quintilian, Ascham, Comenius, Locke, 
 Pestalozzi, Jacotot, Arnold, and Herbert Spencer. What should 
 we say of a physician who was entirely unacquainted with the re- 
 searches of Hippocrates, Galen, Harvey, Sydenham, the Hunters, 
 and Bright? 
 
 In the foregoing remarks I have endeavored to show that there 
 'B, and must be, a Theory of Education underlying the practice.
 
 6 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 however manifested, and to vindicate the conception of it from 
 the contempt sometimes thoughtlessly thrown upon it by practical 
 teachers. 
 
 But it is important now to attempt to ascertain what resources, 
 in the shape of principles, hints, and suggestions, it furnishes to 
 the educator in his three-fold capacity of director of Plysical, 
 Mental, and Moral education. 
 
 The conception we have formed of the educator in relation to 
 his work requires him to be possessed of a knowledge of the being 
 whom he has to control and guide. " "Whatever questions," says 
 Dr. Youmans, of New York, " of the proper subjects to be taught, 
 their relative claims, or the true methods of teaching them, may 
 arise, there is a prior and fundamental enquiry into the nature, 
 capabilities, and requirements of the being to be taught. A knowl- 
 edge of the being to be trained, as it is the basis of all intelligent 
 culture, must be the first necessity of the teacher" (p. 404).* 
 
 Physical Education. 
 
 Viewed merely as an animal, this being is a depository of vital 
 forces, which may be excited or depressed, well-directed or misdi- 
 rected. These forces are resident in a complicated structure of limbs, 
 senses, breathing, digesting and blood-circulating apparatus, &c. ; 
 and their healthy manifestation depends much (of course not 
 altogether) upon circumstances under the control of the educator. 
 If he understands the phenomena, he will modify the circumstances 
 for the benefit of the child ; if he does not understand them, the 
 child will suffer from his ignorance. The daily experience of the 
 school-room sufficiently illustrates this point. Place a large num- 
 ber of children in a small room with the windows shut down, and 
 detain them at their lessons for two or three hours together. Then 
 take note of what you see. The impure air, breathed and re- 
 breathed over and over again, has lost its vitality has become 
 poisonous. It reacts on the blood, and this again on the brain. 
 The teacher as well as the children all suffer from the same cause, 
 lie languidly delivers a lesson to pupils who more languidly receive 
 it. They are no longer able to concentrate their attention. They 
 answer his half-understood questions carelessly and incorrectly. 
 Not appreciating the true state of the case, he treats them as wil- 
 fully indifferent, and punishes the offenders, as they feel, unjustly. 
 
 * "The culture demanded by Modern Life: n series of addresses and arguments on the 
 claims of scientific education. Edited by Dr. Youmaus, Xew York, 1867." There Is also a.1 
 English edition, published by Mactulllau.
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 27 
 
 They retain this impression ; the cordial relation subsisting before 
 is rudely disturbed, and his moral influence over them is impaired. 
 AVe have here a natural series of causes and consequences. The 
 state of the air, a physical cause, acts first on the bodies, then on 
 the minds, and lastly on the hearts of the pupils ; the last being, 
 perhaps, the most important consequence of the three. Now in 
 this case both teacher and pupils suffer from neglect of those laws 
 of health which a knowledge of Physiology would have supplied. 
 It is unnecessary to dwell upon the obvious applications of such 
 knowledge to diet, sleep, cleanliness, clothing, &c. 
 
 Knowledge of this kind has been strangely overlooked in the 
 educator's own education, though so much of his efficiency depends 
 on his acting himself, and causing others to act, on the full recog- 
 nition of its value. Education has too generally been regarded in 
 its relations to the mind, and the co-operation of the body in the 
 mind's action has been forgotten. Those who listened to the 
 masterly lecture, delivered a few years ago at this College by Dr. 
 Youmans, on the "Scientific Study of Human Nature," will 
 remember his eloquent vindication of the claims of the body to 
 that consideration which educators too frequently deny it, and the 
 consequent importance to them of sound physiological knowledge. 
 With singular force of reasoning he showed that the healthiness of 
 the brain, as the organic seat of the mind, is the essential basis of 
 the teacher's operations ; that the efficiency of the brain depends 
 in a great degree on the health}' condition of the stomach, lungs, 
 heart and skin ; and that this condition is very much affected by 
 the teacher's application of the laws of health as founded on 
 Physiology. His 'general remarks on education, and especially on 
 physical education, are too valuable to be omitted : 
 
 " The imminent question," he says (p. 40G), "is, how may the 
 child and youth be developed healthfully and vigorously, bodily, 
 mentally, and morally ? and science alone can answer it by a state- 
 ment of the laws upon which that development depends. Ignorance 
 of these laws must inevitably involve mismanagement. That there 
 is a large amount of mental perversion and absolute stupidity, as 
 well as bodily disease, produced in school, by measures which 
 operate to the prejudice of the growing brain, is not to be doubted ; 
 that dullness, indocility, and viciousness, are frequently aggra- 
 vated by teachers, incapable of discriminating between their 
 mental and bodily causes, is also undeniable ; while that teachers 
 often miserably fail to improve their pupils, and then report the 
 result of their own iucompetcncy as failures of nature, all may
 
 28 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 have seen, although it is now proved that the lowest imbeciles are 
 not sunk beneath the possibility of elevation." 
 
 I give one short quotation from Dr. Andrew Combe, to the same 
 effect. " I cannot," he says, " regard any teacher, or parent, as 
 fully and conscientiously qualified for his duties, unless he has 
 made himself acquainted with the nature and general lawsx>f the 
 animal economy, and with the direct relation in which these stand 
 to the principles of education." Dr. Brigham also advices those 
 who undertake to cultivate and discipline the mind, to acquaint 
 themselves with Human Anatomy and Physiology. 
 
 All these authorities agree, then, that educators have a better 
 chance of improving the physical condition of their pupils if they 
 are themselves acquainted with the laws of health ; and they insist, 
 moreover, that the health of the body is not only desirable for its 
 own sake, but because, from the interdependence of mind and bod}-, 
 the mens sana depends so much on the corpus sanum. This truth is 
 strikingly, though paradoxically, expressed by Rousseau, when he 
 says, "The weaker the body is, the more it commands ; the stronger 
 it is the better it obeys ; " and when he also says, " make your pupil 
 robust and healthy, in order to make htm reasonable and wise." 
 
 In short, hundreds of writers have written on this subject for 
 the benefit of educators, thousands of whom have never even heard 
 of, much less read, their writings ; or, if they have, pursue the even 
 tenor of their way, doing just as they did before, and ignorantly 
 laughing at Hygiene and all the aid she offers them. 
 
 Physical education also comprehends the training of special 
 faculties and functions, with a view to impi'ove their condition. 
 The trainer of horses, dogs, singing birds, boxers, boat crews, and 
 cricketers, all make a study, more or less profound, of the material 
 they have to deal with all except the educator, the trainer of 
 trainers, who generally leaves things to take their chance, or 
 assumes that the object will be sufficiently gained by the exercises 
 of the playground and the gymnastic apparatus. It would be easy 
 to show that this self-education, although most valuable, is insuf- 
 ficient, and ought to be supplemented by the appliances of Physio- 
 logical Science. This science would suggest, in some cases, 
 remedies for natural defects ; in others, suitable training for 
 natural weakness ; in others, still graver reasons for checking the 
 injurious tendency, so common amongst children, to over-exertion ; 
 and in all these cases would be directly ancillary to the professed 
 object of the educator as a trainer of intellectual and moral forces. 
 
 The elFect, too, of the condition of the mind on that of the body
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 29 
 
 the converse reciprocal action is an important part of this 
 subject ; but there is no time to enter on it. 
 
 Intellectual Education. 
 
 But let us next consider the relation of the educator to the 
 intellectual education of his pupils. However willing he may be to 
 repudiate his responsibility for the training of their bodies, he 
 cannot deny his responsibility for the training of their minds. But 
 here Dr. Youmans' words, already quoted, apply with especial 
 force "A knowledge of the being to be trained, as it is the basis 
 of intelligent culture, must be the first necessity of the teacher," 
 and few perhaps will venture to argue against those that follow : 
 "Education," he says, "is an art, like locomotion, mining, and 
 bleaching, which may be pursued empirically or rationally as a 
 blind habit, or under intelligent guidance : and the relations of 
 science to it are precisely the same as to all the other arts to as- 
 certain then* conditions, and give law to their processes. What it 
 has done for navigation, telegraphy, and war, it will also do for 
 culture." 
 
 The educator of the mind ought, then, to be acquainted with its 
 phenomena and its natural operations ; he ought to know what the 
 mind does when it perceives, remembers, judges, &c., as well as 
 the general laws which govern these processes. He sees these pro- 
 cesses in action continually in his pupils, and has thus abundant 
 opportunities for studying them objectively. He is conscious of 
 them, too, in his own intellectual life, and there may study them 
 subjectively ; but the investigation, thus limited, is confessedly 
 difficult, and will be much facilitated by his making an independent 
 study of them as embodied in the science of Psychology or Mental 
 Philosophy. This science deals with everything which belongs to 
 the art which he is daily practising, will explain to him some 
 matters which he has found difficult, will open his eyes to others 
 which he has failed to see, will suggest to him the importance of 
 truths which he has hitherto deemed valueless ; and, in short, the 
 mastery of it will endow him with a power of which he will con- 
 stantly feel the influence in his practice. His pupils are continu- 
 ally engaged in observing outward objects, ascertaining their nature 
 by analysis, comparing them together, classifying them, gaining 
 mental conceptions of them, recalling these conceptions by mem- 
 ory, judging of their -relations to each other, reasoning on these 
 relations, imagining conceptions, inventing new combinations of 
 'Jiem, generalizing by induction from particulars, verifying these
 
 80 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 generalizations by deduction to particulars, tracing effects to causes 
 and causes to effects. Now, every one of these acts forms a part 
 of the daily mental life of the pupils whom the educator is to train. 
 "Will not the educator, who understands them as a part of his 
 science, be more competent to direct them to profitable action than 
 one who merely recognizes them as a part of his empirical routine? 
 Suppose that the object is to cultivate the power of observation. 
 Now the power of observation may vary in accuracy from the care- 
 less glance which leaves scarcely any impression behind it, to the 
 close penetrating scrutiny of the experienced observer, which leaves 
 nothing unseen. Mr. J. S. Mill (Logic i. 408) has pointed out the 
 difference between observers. " One man," he says, " from inat- 
 tention, or attending only in the wrong place, overlooks half of 
 what he sees ; another sets down much more than he sees, con- 
 founding it with what he imagines, or with what he infers ; another 
 takes note of the kind of all the circumstances, but, being inexpert 
 in estimating their degree, leaves the quantity of each vague and 
 uncertain ; another sees indeed the whole, but makes such awk- 
 ward division of it into parts, throwing things into one mass which 
 ought to be separated, and separating others which might more 
 conveniently be considered as one, that the result is much the 
 same, sometimes even worse, than if no analysis had been at- 
 tempted at all. To point out," he proceeds, "what qualities of 
 mind, or modes of mental culture, fit a man for being a good ob- 
 server, is a question which belongs to the theory of education. 
 There are rules of self-culture which render us capable of observ- 
 ing, as there are arts for strengthening the limbs." 
 
 But to return to our educator, who, having been educated him- 
 self in Mental Science, desires to make his pupils good observers. 
 He recognizes the fact that, to make them observe accurately, he 
 must first cultivate the senses concerned in observing ; he must 
 train the natural eye to see, that is, to perceive accurately by no 
 means an instinctive faculty ; for this he must cultivate the power 
 of attention ; he must lead them to perceive the parts in the whole, 
 the whole in the parts, of the object observed, calling on the analy- 
 tical faculty for the first operation, the synthetical for the second ; 
 he must invite comparison with other like and unlike objects, for 
 the detection of difference in the one' case, and of similarity in the 
 other, and so on. Is it probable that the teacher entirely ignorant 
 of the science of Psychology, and the educator furnished with its 
 resources, will make their respective pupils equally accurate ob- 
 servers ?
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 3i 
 
 It would not be difficult to show that a knowledge of Logic, as 
 " the science of reasoning " or of the formal laws of thought should 
 also be a part of the equipment of the accomplished educator. The 
 power of reasoning is a natural endowment of his pupils ; but the 
 power of correct reasoning, like that of observing, requires training 
 and cultivation. But we cannot dwell on this point. 
 
 In further illustration of the main argument, I beg to refer my 
 hearers to the very ingenious lecture lately delivered at this Col- 
 lege by my friend Mr. Lake, on " The Application of Mental 
 Science to Teaching," and especially to teaching Writing, wherein 
 he shows that even that mechanical art may be made a means of 
 real mental training to the pupil. He proves that Muscular Sensi- 
 bility, Sensation, Thought, Will, as well as the nascent sense of 
 Artistic Taste, are all involved in the subjective process of the 
 pupil ; that in accordance with this, the educated educator frames 
 the objective process, through which he develops the pupil's mind, 
 and to some extent his moral character, and thus makes him a 
 practical proficient in his art. Mr. Lake's lecture is probably the 
 first attempt ever made to show the direct practical bearing of 
 physiological and psychological knowledge on the art of teaching, 
 and deserves the thoughtful consideration of all educators. This 
 same Mental Science is also applicable to the teaching of Reading 
 and Arithmetic. Indeed, I am persuaded and I speak from some 
 experience that these elementary arts may be so taught as to 
 become, not only " instruction," but true " education," to the 
 child ; not merely, as they are generally regarded, " instruments of 
 education," but education itself. Observation, memory, judgment, 
 reasoning, invention, and pleasurable associations with the art of 
 learning, may all be cultivated by a judicious application of the 
 principles of Mental Science. Mulhauser, and Manly (of the City 
 of London School), have proved this for Writing, Jacotot for 
 Reading, and Pestalozzi for Arithmetic. When this truth is 
 acknowledged, it will be felt more generally than it is now, that 
 the most pretentious schemes and curricula of education are, after 
 all, comparatively valueless if they do not secure for the pupil the 
 power of doing common things well. This, however, is a theme 
 which would require a lecture by itself for its adequate treatment. 
 
 Moral Education. 
 
 But the child whom we have considered as the object of the 
 educator's operations has moral as well as physical and intellectual 
 faculties ; and the development of these, with the view of forming
 
 82 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 character, is a trauscendantly important part of the educator's 
 work. This child has feelings, desires, a will aud a conscience, 
 which are to be developed and guided. Here, too, as in the other 
 cases, Nature has given elementary teaching, and elicited desultory 
 and instinctive action ; but her lessons are insufficient, and require 
 to be supplemented by the educator's. 
 
 The child, as already said, is a moral being, but his moral 
 principles are crude and inconsistent. Acted on by the impulse of 
 the moment, he follows out the promptings of his will, without 
 any regard to personal or relative consequences ; and if the will 
 is naturally strong, even the experience of injurious consequences 
 does not, of itself, restrain him. Self-love induces him to regard 
 everything that he wishes to possess as rightfully his own. He 
 says by his actions, "Creation's heir, the world the world is 
 mine." He is therefore indifferent to the rights of others, and 
 resents all opposition to his self-seeking. He is also indifferent to 
 the feelings of others, and often tyrannizes over those who are 
 weaker than himself . His unbounded curiosity impels him inces- 
 santly to gain knowledge. He examines everything that interests 
 him ; acquires both ideas and expressions by listening to conver- 
 sation ; breaks his toys to see how they are made ; displays also 
 his constructive ability by cutting out boats and paper figures. 
 But he has sympathy as well as curiosity. He makes friends, 
 learns to love them, to yield up his own inclinations to theirs ; 
 imitates their sayings and doings, good and bad ; adopts their 
 notions, becomes like them. He has also a conscience, which, 
 when awakened, decides, though in an uncertain manner, on the 
 moral quality of his actions ', and lastly he has a will, which is 
 swayed by this self-love, curiosity, sympathy, and conscience. 
 
 This is a slight sketch of the moral forces which the educator 
 has to control and direct. Now every teacher is conscious that he 
 can, and does every day, by his personal character, by the economic 
 arrangements of the school, by his general discipline, by special 
 treatment of individual cases, exercise a considerable influence 
 over these moral phenomena ; and must confess that the extent of 
 this influence is generally measured by his own knowledge of 
 human nature, and that when he fails it is because he forgets 
 or is ignorant of some elementary principle of that nature. If 
 he allows this, he must allow that a larger acquaintance with the 
 principles on which human beings act, the motives which in- 
 fluence them, the objects at which they commonly aim, the 
 passions, desires, characters, manners which appear in the world
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 83 
 
 around him and in his own constitution, would proportionately 
 increase his influence. 
 
 But these are the very matters illustrated by the Science of 
 Morals, or Moral Philosophy, and the educator will be greatly 
 aided in his work by knowing its leading principles. 
 
 For what is the object of moral training ? Is it not to give a 
 wise direction to the moral powers, to encourage virtuous inclina- 
 tions, sentiments, and passions, and to repress those that are evil, 
 to cultivate habits of truthfulness, obedience, industry, temper- 
 ance, prudence, and respect for the rights of others, with a view 
 to the formation of character? 
 
 This enumeration of the objects of moral training presents a 
 wide field of action for the educator ; yet a single day's experience 
 in any large school will probably supply the occasion for his deal- 
 ing with every one of them. How important it is, then, that he 
 should be well furnished with resources. 
 
 Every earnest educator, moreover, will confess that he has much 
 to learn, especially in morals, from his pupils. To be successful, 
 he must study his own character in theirs, as well as theirs in his 
 own. Coleridge has well put this in these lines : 
 
 "O'er wayward childhood would'st thou hold firm rule, 
 And sun thee in the light of happy faces? 
 Love, Hope, and Patience these must be thy graces; 
 And in thine own heart let them first keep school." 
 
 A little story from Chaucer illustrates the same point. I give 
 it in his own words : "A philosopher, upon a tyme, that wolde 
 have bete his disciple for his grete trespas, for which he was 
 gretly amoeved, and brought a yerde to scourge the child ; and 
 whan the child saugh the yerde, he sayde to his maister, ' What 
 thenke ye to do? 'I wolde bete the,' quod the maister, ' for thi 
 correccioun.' ' Forsothe,' quod the child, ' ye oughte first correcte 
 youresilf that han lost al youre pacieuce for the gilt of a child.' 
 4 Forsothe,' quod the maister, al wepying, ' thou saist soth ; have 
 thou the yerde, my deere sone, and correcte me for myn impa- 
 cience.' ' This master was learning, we see, in the school of his 
 own heart, and his pupil was his teacher. 
 
 Time does not allow of our entering more in detail into the 
 question of moral training, and showing that the great object of 
 moral, like that of physical and intellectual education, is to develop 
 force, with a view to the pupil's self-action. Unless this point is 
 gained and it cannot be gained by preceptive teaching little is
 
 84 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 gained. Our pupil's character is not to be one merely for holiday 
 show, but for the daily duties of life a character which will not 
 be the sport of every wind of doctrine, but one in which virtue 
 moral strength, is firmly embodied. Such a character can only 
 be formed by making the child himself a co-operator hi a process 
 of formation. 
 
 If I have not specially referred to religious, as a part of moral 
 education, it is because no truly religious educator can fail to make 
 it a part of his system of means. As for the case of the teacher 
 whose every-day life shows that he is not influenced himself by the 
 religion which he, as a matter of form, imposes upon his pupils, I 
 have great difficulty in conceiving of him as a teacher of morals 
 at all. 
 
 I have now completed the general view I proposed to take of 
 the relation of the educator to his work ; and the gist of all that I 
 have said is contained in the simple proposition, that he ought to 
 know his business, if he wishes to accomplish his objects in the 
 best way. The deductions from this proposition are, that, as 
 his business consists in training physical, mental, and moral forces, 
 he ought to understand the nature of these forces, both in their 
 statical and dynamical condition, at rest and in action, and should 
 therefore study Physiology, Psychology, Ethics, and Logic, which 
 explain and illustrate so many of the phenomena ; * that he should, 
 moreover, study them, as embodied in the practice of the great 
 masters of the art. Inspired thus with a noble ideal of his work, 
 he will gradually realize it in his practice, and become an ac- 
 complished educator. He will meet with many difficulties in this 
 self-training, but the advantages he gains will more than compen- 
 sate him. None can know better than himself none so well 
 the trials, disappointments, fainting of heart, and defeats that his 
 utmost skill cannot always turn into victories, which he will have 
 to encounter ; but then, on the other hand, few can know as he 
 does those moments of wonderful happiness which fall to his lot 
 when he sees his work going on well ; when, in the improved health, 
 the increased intellectual and moral power of his pupils, he re- 
 cognizes the result of measures which he has devised, of principles 
 
 * The late Mr. Fletcher, Inspector of Schools, thus enforces the same doctrine : " The 
 Intellectual faculties can never be exercised thoroughly but by men of sound logical training, 
 perfect In the art of teaching; hence there exist so few highly-gifted teachers. In fact, there 
 are none but men of some genius who are said to have peculiar tact, which it is impossible to 
 imitate : but I am anxious to see every part of the fine art of Instruction redeemed from hope- 
 lew concealment under such a word, and made the subject of rational study and improved 
 training."
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 35 
 
 which he has learnt from the school without, from the. school 
 within, and from the ripe experience and thought of the fellow- 
 laborers of his craft. At such momeuts, fraught with the spirit of 
 the great artist, who exclaimed iu his enthusiasm, " Ed io anche 
 souo pittore ; " he also exclaims, " And I too am an educator ! " 
 This enthusiasm will be more common when educators entertain a 
 more exalted conception of their profession. 
 
 That the educater cannot fully realize his conception, is no argu- 
 ment against his keeping it constantly in view, to stimulate his 
 zeal and guide his practice. The eduation of aims and achieve- 
 ments must, after all, be an indeterminate one ; but we approach 
 nt'urer and nearer to its solution, by a high assumption for the 
 aims. "We strive," as Coleridge says, "to ascend, and we 
 ascend in our striving." 
 
 Nothing has been said of the value of Physiology, Psychology, 
 &c., to the educator merely as a man, not as a professional man. 
 But it is easy to see that it must be great. Nor have they been 
 pointed out as subjects of direct instruction for his pupils ; yet 
 surely it is important that he should be able to give in his classes 
 elementary lessons on all these subjects, particularly on Physiology. 
 The nomenclature, at least, and the rudiments of Psychology may 
 be advantageously learned by elder pupils, and the elements of 
 Logic should certainly form a part of the instruction of students 
 of Euclid and grammatical analysis. 
 
 But beyond the theoretical treatment of the Science of Edu- 
 cation, I have a practical object in view. I wish to show that 
 there is a strong presumption that the educator of our day needs 
 education in his art. Individual teachers may deny this for them- 
 selves they generally do but they freely admit it with regard 
 to their rivals in the next street, or the next town. Generalize 
 this admission, and all we ask for is granted. But there is a test 
 of a different kind which disposes of the question the test of 
 results. " By their fruits ye shall know them." If the fruit is 
 good, the tree is good. If the large majority of schools are in a 
 satisfactory condition, then the educator is doing his work well ; 
 for " as is the master, so is the school " which means, to speak 
 technically, that the results of a system of education are not as the 
 capabilities of the pupil, nor as the external school machinery, but 
 as the professional preparedness of the educator. If, then, the 
 large majority of schools are unsatisfactory, it is because the 
 teacher is unsatisfactory.. And that they are so, is proved by every 
 test that can be applied. All the Commissions on Education
 
 36 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 whether primary, secondary, or advanced tell the same tale, 
 pronounce the same verdict of failure ; and that verdict would have 
 been more decided had the judges been themselves educators. 
 Dealing with a subject which they know mostly as amateurs, not 
 as experts, they are not competent to estimate the results by a 
 scientific standard ; they therefore reckon as good much that is 
 really bad ; for the value of a result in education mainly depends 
 on the manner in which it has been gained. Yet even these esti- 
 mators severally declare that the educational machinery of this 
 country is working immensely under the theoretical estimate of its 
 power. The " scandalously small" results of the Public School 
 education are paralleled or exceeded by those of the Middle Class 
 and Primary Schools ; and in cases of primary schools where this 
 epithet would not apply, we find that the superiority is due to the 
 preliminary training of the teacher. 
 
 What, again, is to be said of the evidence furnished by such a 
 statement as the following, which we extract from the Athenaeum 
 of March 27, 1869 : "A petition was last week presented to the 
 House of Commons from the Council of Medical Education, 
 stating that the maintenance of a sufficient medical education is 
 very difficult, owing to the defective education given in middle class 
 schools. A similar complaint was made in a petition from the 
 British Medical Association, numbering 4000 members. In a third 
 petition, proceeding from the University of London, it was stated 
 that during the last 10 years 40 per cent, [it has since been more 
 than 50 per cent.] of the candidates at the Matriculation examina- 
 tions have failed to satisfy the examiners." 
 
 Once more, Sir John Lefevre, describing, in 1861, the mental 
 condition of the candidates for the Civil Sen-ice who came before 
 him for examination, refers to "the incredible failures in ortho- 
 graphy, the miserable writing, the ignorance of arithmetic. "It 
 is comparatively rare," he says, " to find a candidate who can add 
 correctly a moderately long column of figures." Some improve- 
 ment has taken place, no doubt, during the last ten years under 
 the influence of the examination of the College of Preceptors, and 
 those of Oxford and Cambridge, but the main difficulty remains 
 much the same. 
 
 This, then, is the evidence, or rather a part of the evidence which 
 attests the unsatisfactory results of our middle class teaching. But 
 we repeat, " as are the teachers, so are the schools ; " and, there- 
 fore, without hesitation make the teachers directly responsible for 
 these results. Had they been masters of their art, these results
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 37 
 
 would have been impossible ; and they are not masters of their 
 art, because they have not studied its principles, nor been scien- 
 tifically trained in its practice. 
 
 The true remedy has been suggested by many eminent men, not 
 merely by teachers. It consists in teaching the teacher how to 
 teach, in training the trainer, in educating the educator. 
 
 Thus, Dr. Gull, after complaining of the insufficient education 
 of youths who are to study medicine, said (Evidence before Schools 
 Enquiry Commission) that " improvement must begin with the 
 teachers. Anyone is allowed to teach. There is no testing of the 
 teacher. I think he should be examined as to his power of teaching 
 and his knowledge." " The subjects (for his preparation) should 
 include the training of the senses, and the intellect, and the teach- 
 ing of the moral relations of man to himself and his neighbor." 
 
 Mr. Robson, in his evidence before the same Commission, said, 
 " We should require certificates of teachers showing that knowledge 
 has been attained, and also some knowledge of Mental Philosophy 
 in connection with the art of teaching. Every teacher has to act 
 on the human mind, and unless he knows the best methods of so 
 acting, it is quite impossible he can exercise his powers to the best 
 advantage." The evidence of Messrs. Howson, Besant, Goldwin 
 Smith, Best, and others, was to the same effect. 
 
 The assistant Commissioners, Messrs. Bryce, Fearon, and espe- 
 cially Mr. Fitch, make the same complaints of the want of training 
 for the teacher. Mr. Fitch who has every right to be heard on 
 such a point, for he thoroughly knows the subject, practically as 
 well as theoretically says, in his report on Yorkshire Endowed 
 and Private Schools, " Nothing is more striking than the very gen- 
 eral disregard on the part of schoolmasters of the Art and Science 
 of Teaching. Few have any special preparation in it. Profes- 
 sional training for middle-class schoolmasters does not exist in this 
 country. It is certain that many of them would gladly obtain it, 
 if it were accessible. But at present it is not to be had." And 
 again, " It is a truth very imperfectly recognized by teachers, that 
 the education of a j'outh depends not only on what he learns, but 
 on how he learns it, and that some power of the mind is being daily 
 improved or injured by the methods which are adopted in teaching 
 him." Mr. Fitch, in another place,* also remarks, " We all know 
 instances of men who understand a subject thoroughly, and who 
 
 * " The Professional Training of Teachers " : a paper read at the Bradford Meeting of the 
 Association for promoting Social Science.
 
 88 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 are yet utterly incapable of teaching it. We have all seen that 
 waste of power and loss of time continually result from the tenta- 
 tive, haphazard, and unskilful devices to which teachers of this 
 kind resort. Yet we seem slow to admit the obvious inference 
 from such experience. The art of teaching, like other arts, must 
 be systematically acquired. The profession of a schoolmaster is 
 one for which no man is duly qualified who has not studied it 
 thoroughly, both in its principles and in their practical application." 
 
 The Rev. Evan Daniel, principal of Battersea Normal School, 
 aptly describes the two main classes of middle-class teachers. 
 1st. University men, " not infrequently of distinguished ability and 
 scholarship. Few of them, however, have had the advantage of 
 professional training. They enter on their work with but a slight 
 knowledge of child-life ; the}' have never studied the psychological 
 principles on which education should be based ; they are almost 
 utterly ignorant of the best modes of teaching, of organizing, and 
 of maintaining discipline." These are the teachers, rather the 
 would-be teachers, who, as a distinguished Head Master told us 
 some time ago in the Times, are to be allowed to find out their art 
 by victimizing their pupils for two whole years before they become 
 worth anything to their profession. But Mr. Daniel also refers to 
 the other class of teachers, who, besides wanting everything that 
 the former class want, also want their mental cultivation, and re- 
 main "in a state of intellectual stagnation, discharging their 
 duties in a half-hearted perfunctory spirit, and finding them twice 
 as hard and disagreeable as they need be, from the want of suit- 
 able preparation for them." 
 
 The arguments then from theory and those from facts meet at 
 this point, and demand with united force that the educator shall 
 be educated for his profession. But how is this to be brought 
 about? What is doing in furtherance of this most important ob- 
 ject? The answer to the question must be brief, and shows rather 
 tentative efforts than accomplished facts. 
 
 1. The training of teachers for primaiy schools is going on 
 satisfactorily in the Normal Colleges of the National and British 
 and foreign School Societies, so that what is asked for middle- 
 class teachers is evidently possible. The}' can be trained into 
 better teachers than they are. 
 
 2. This training of the middle-class teachers, which some decry 
 as quackery and others as useless, is actually going on in France 
 and Germany most satisfactorily. In both countries, highly culti- 
 vated and efficient educators, with whom the majority of English
 
 THE THEORY OF EDUCATION. 39 
 
 teachers would have no chance of competing, are the everyday 
 product of their respective systems of training. 
 
 3. Our Government, in the Educational Council Bill, for the 
 present withdrawn, provided " that all teachers of endowed schools 
 should be registered, as persons whose qualifications for teaching 
 have been ascertained by examinations, or by proved efficiency 
 in teaching on evidence satisfactory to the Council;" and that 
 teachers of private schools might also be entered on the registry, 
 by showing similar qualifications. 
 
 4. The Scholastic Registration Association, having for its object 
 "the discouragement of unqualified persons from assuming the office 
 of schoolmaster or teacher," has obtained a large share of public 
 approval, and numbers among its members many head-masters of 
 public schools and colleges, as Drs. Hornby, Kennedy, Haig-Brown 
 (President of the Association), Thring,Collis, Weymouth, Schmitz, 
 Rigg, Donaldson, Jones, Mitchinson, the Revs. E. A. Abbott and 
 F. \V. Farrar, and many other distinguished friends of education. 
 
 5. The College of Preceptors, too, by the institution of this 
 Lectureship, by the re-constitution of its Examinations for Teach- 
 ers, and by its recent memorial to the Government on Training 
 Colleges, is showing itself fully alive to the importance of the 
 subject. Its new examinations have just taken place, and candi- 
 dates have for the first time been examined on the principles of 
 Physiology, Psychology, Moral Philosophy and Logic, and their 
 application to the art of teaching, as well as on their own personal 
 experience as educators. The results have shown how deeply 
 needed is this knowledge of principles ; out of fifteen candidates 
 only three have satisfied the examiners. We still hope, however, 
 by placing a high standard before the candidates, and requiring an 
 earnest study of the subjects of examination, to make our diplomas 
 certificates of real qualification, as far as written and vivd voce 
 examinations can test it. 
 
 Yet the real desideratum, after all, is Training Colleges for 
 middle-class teachers, Professorships of Education at our leading 
 Universities, and more, perhaps, than all, a nobler conception of 
 education itself among English teachers. 
 
 In order to illustrate, to some extent, the bearing of scientific 
 principles upon educational practice, the papers set at the recent 
 Examination of Teachers at the College of Preceptors are ap- 
 pended. The primary questions, it will be seen, involve princi 
 pies ; the secondary, their application to practice.
 
 40 EXAMINATION PAPERS. 
 
 COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. EXAMINATION PAPERS. 
 June, 1871. 
 
 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 I. PHYSIOLOGY. 
 
 (Third Class Candidates for the Associate's Diploma; having had one year's 
 
 experience.) 
 
 1. Give a brief general view of the functions of the body, and their rela- 
 tion to each other. 
 
 (a.) How would you apply this knowledge to Education? Show how it 
 may be used in cases of inattention, obstinacy, sullenness, &c., as well 
 as in those of physical weakness, indolence of constitution, <Stc. 
 
 2. Give some account of the process of Respiration and its connection 
 with other functional processes, as well as of the results of its derangement. 
 
 (a.) What use would you make of your knowledge in teaching the art of 
 
 Eeading aloud? 
 (6.) Mention any defects of Vocalization common among children, and 
 
 show how you would treat them. 
 
 3. Give a brief account of the structure of the Heart, and describe the 
 Circulation of the Blood. 
 
 (a.) Is blushing under a charge of fault a necessary indication of guilt ? 
 
 , I. PHYSIOLOGY. 
 
 (Second Class Candidates for the Licentiate's Diploma; having had two years' 
 
 experience.) 
 
 1. Describe generally the functions of the body. 
 
 (a.) What is the value of a knowledge of Physiology to the educator, with 
 a view to promoting the health of his pupils? Give illustrations. 
 
 2. Describe Vesicular Nerve-substance. Distinguish the Cerebrum and 
 the Cerebellum. Explain what is meant by "motor nerves" and "reflex 
 action." What conditions are essential to Sensation? 
 
 (a.) Can you account for differences of intelligence in different indi- 
 viduals? 
 
 (6.) Describe any vicious processes of Education which produce un- 
 healthy brain action ; and classify the results. 
 
 3. How far does the health and mental power of a man depend on the 
 quantity and quality of the air which passes through his lungs? 
 
 4. Explain briefly the connection between Physical, Intellectual, and 
 Moral Education.
 
 EXAMINATION PAPERS. 41 
 
 II. MENTAL AND MORAL SCIENCE. 
 (Third Class.) 
 
 1. Why is a classification of the acts of the mind into Memory, Judgment, 
 &.C., unsatisfactory? 
 
 2. What is meant by Attention? In what respects is it the groundwork of 
 all mental education? 
 
 (a.) How would you cultivate Attention? how correct Inattention ? 
 (b.) How far is Will necessary to Attention, and how would you gain the 
 consent of the Will? 
 
 3. What are the characteristics of a good Memory? How would you 
 cultivate Memory? 
 
 (a.) Distinguish between Rote-Memory and Rational Memory. 
 
 4. To what extent (if any) is corporal punishment a legitimate agent in 
 education? How does it act? What are its effects on the moral sense? 
 Compare it with other means of gaining the same end ? 
 
 II. MENTAL AND MORAL SCIENCE, AND LOGIC.* 
 (Second Class.) 
 
 1. What is the relation between Mental and Moral Science ? 
 
 2. Criticise the usual classification of mental acts, as Perception, Memory, 
 &c. 
 
 3. What is Attention ? How connected with other modes of intellectual 
 actions ? 
 
 (a.) How would you cultivate Attention ? 
 
 (b.) To what extent is Attention connected with the Will ? How would 
 you gain the consent of the Will ? 
 
 (c.) Is it easier to abstract the mind from touches or from sounds ? De- 
 scribe the probable effect on different temperaments of an organ 
 playing a popular air while a lesson is going on. How would you 
 act in the different cases ? 
 
 4. What are the chief phenomena of Memory ? How may Memory be 
 cultivated ? 
 
 (a.) Distinguish between a memory (1) for words, (2) for things, (3) for 
 
 principles. 
 
 (b.) What is the connection of Memory with the "Association of ideas." 
 (c.) Describe and discuss different modes of learning Latin Grammar as 
 
 applications of memory. 
 (d.) How would you cause a pupil to unlearn ? 
 
 5. State and illustrate the law of the "Diffusion of Feeling." What are 
 the doctrines opposed to this law ? 
 
 (a.) Point out the mistakes, in cases of sullenness, sudden and violent 
 passion, and obstinacy, into which an educator ignorant of this law 
 is liable to fall. 
 
 * Some of the logic questions are expected to be answered by every Candi- 
 date.
 
 42 EXAMINATION PAPERS. 
 
 1. "Logic is the Science of the formal Laws of Thought." Explain and 
 criticise this or any other definition of Logic with which you are acquainted. 
 
 (a.) Give some examples showing the application of Logic to Arithmetic 
 and Grammar. 
 
 2. What is the essential difference between the propositions 2 -(- 1 = 3, 
 and a -j- b = c ? 
 
 (a.) How may this principle be a guide to the order of teaching ? Why 
 not teach Algebra before Arithmetic ? 
 
 3. Distinguish between Induction and Deduction. 
 
 (a.) What is the true relation between facts and principles ? To what 
 stages of mental development do these processes respectively belong? 
 
 (6.) Give some applications of Induction to (1) the teaching of Languages, 
 (2) the teaching of Science. 
 
 4. What is a " connotative " term? What is meant by its " comprehen- 
 sion " and " extension" ? 
 
 (a.) Take from English Grammar a connotative term, and show how you 
 would give the idea of its comprehension and extension. 
 
 III. LESSON-GIVING, TREATMENT OF CASES, AND CRITICISM OF METHODS. 
 (Second and Third Classes.) 
 
 1. Write a sketch of a lesson in " Division of Decimals," stating (1) pre- 
 vious knowledge acquired ; (2) the principles to which you would appeal ; 
 (3) the order you would adopt in development ; (4) the exercises you would 
 give, and the probable answers. 
 
 2. (a.) A is a child 11 years old, quick in apprehension, deficient in re- 
 
 tentiveness, gentle in manners, indifferent to regulations. 
 (6.) B is 13 years old, quick, retentive, wilful, obstinate, pugnacious, 
 (c.) C is 14 years old, of moderate capacity, of indolent temperament, 
 moody, thoughtful in subjects of his own choosing, indifferent in 
 those proposed to him. 
 
 Give similarly two other cases. How would you treat each and all in (1) 
 a small school (2) a large school of six classes ? 
 
 3. Draw out a time table (30 hours per week), for boys leaving school at 
 (1) 14 years of age, (2) 16 years of age, in Classics, Mathematics, History, 
 Geography, English Grammar, French, Writing, giving reasons for the time 
 you assign. Would you include any other subjects ? if so, what, and why ? 
 
 4. Mention any case of difficulty in (1) Teaching, (2) Discipline, which 
 you have experienced. Describe the causes of your difficulty, state the 
 course you adopted, and what principles of Physiology, Mental and Moral 
 Science, you had in view in adopting such a course, and how far you were 
 successful.
 
 LECTURE II.' 
 
 THE Theory of Education, as explained m the former Lecture, 
 consists in an appreciation of the influences which must be brought 
 to bear intentionally, consciously, and persistently on a child, with 
 a view to instruct him in knowledge, develop his faculties, and 
 train them to the formation of habits. It was shown that this 
 view of Education assumes that the educator must himself study 
 and comprehend the nature of these influences ; and that this 
 theoretical study, aided by the lessons of experience, both per- 
 sonal and that of others, constitutes his own education. 
 
 Assuming, then, the education of the educator himself, which 
 involves a due conception of the end in view, we have now to con- 
 sider some of the means by which he has to realize it, and this 
 constitutes the Practice or Art of Education. 
 
 I have already disclaimed the idea of attempting to construct a 
 symmetrical science of education, and am not bound therefore to 
 deduce a symmetrical art from a theoretical ideal. Nor is this 
 necessary ; for whatever ma} - be said of the Theory, there is no 
 doubt that the Art of Education exists, and that its fundamental 
 principles can be evolved from its practice. 
 
 The Art of Education, strictly considered, involves all the means 
 by which the educator brings his influence to bear on his pupils, 
 and embraces therefore organization, discipline, school economics, 
 the regulation of studies, &c. Our limited space, however, forbids 
 our entering on these matters, and the " Art of Education " will 
 in this lecture be considered as only another term for Teaching or 
 Instruction. 
 
 If we observe the process which we call instruction, we see two 
 parties conjointly engaged the learner and the teacher. The ob- 
 ject of both is the same, but their relations to the work to be done 
 are different. Inasmuch as the object can only be attained by the 
 
 * Delivered nt the House of the Society of Arts, on 14th July, 1871 ; J. G. Fitch, Esq., 
 in iln- chair.
 
 44 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 mental action of the learner, by his observing, remembering, &c., 
 it is clear that what he does, not what the teacher does, is the es- 
 sential part of the process. This essential part, the appropriation 
 and assimilation of knowledge by the mind, can be performed by 
 no one but the learner ; for the teacher can no more think for his 
 pupil, than he can walk, sleep, or digest for him. It is then on 
 the exercise of the pupil's own mind that his acquisition of knowl- 
 edge entirely depends, and this subjective process, performed 
 entirely by himself, constitutes the pupil's art of learning. If, 
 however, every act b}' which ideas from without become incorpo- 
 rated with the pupil's mind in an act which can only be performed 
 by the pupil himself, it follows that he is in fact his own teacher, 
 and we arrive at the general proposition, that learning is self- 
 teaching. This psychological principle is of cardinal importance 
 in the art of education. We see at once that it defines the function 
 of the teacher, the other party in the process of instruction. It 
 appears, from what has been just said, that the only indispensable 
 part of the process the mental act by which knowledge is 
 acquired is the pupil's, not the teacher's ; and, indeed, that the 
 teacher cannot, if he would, perform it for the pupil. On the other 
 hand, the experience of mankind shows that the pupil, however 
 capable, would not generally undertake his part spontaneously, nor, 
 if he did, carry it to a successful issue. The indispensable part 
 of the process cannot, it is true, be done without the mental exer- 
 tion of the pupil, but it is equally true that it will not be done 
 without the action and influence of the teacher. The teacher's 
 part then in the process of instruction is that of a guide, director, or 
 superintendent of the operations by which the pupil teaches himself.* 
 As this view of the correlation of learning and teaching assumes 
 the competency of the pupil to teach himself, it may of course be 
 theoretically disputed. It is important then, to add that the child 
 whom the teacher takes in hand has already learned or taught him- 
 self a great number of things. He has, in fact, learned the use of 
 his senses, the qualities of matter, and the elements of his mother- 
 tongue, without the aid of any professed teacher. The faculties, 
 however, by the use of which he has made these acquisitions, are 
 the same that he must employ in his further acquisitions, when the 
 
 * " To teach boys how to instruct themselves that, after all, is the great end of school- 
 work." MARKBY. 
 
 " The object of all education Is to teach people to think for themselves." " University Es- 
 tension," un Address delivered at the request of the Leeds Ladles' Education Association, by 
 James Stuart, Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge.
 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 45 
 
 action and influence of natural circumstances are superseded by 
 those of the professed teacher. 
 
 A slight review of the operation of these natural circumstances 
 which we may for convenience' sake call Nature will serve to 
 suggest some of the means b}* which the teacher, as a superinten- 
 dent of the pupil's process of self-instruction, is to exercise his 
 proper action and influence. 
 
 How, then, does nature teach? She furnishes knowledge by 
 object-lessons, and she trains the active powers by making them 
 act. She has given capability of action, and she develops this 
 capability by presenting occasions for its exercise. She makes 
 her pupil learn to do by doing, to live by living. She gives him 
 no grammar of seeing, hearing, &c. ; she gives no compendiums of 
 abstract principles. She would stop his progress at the very 
 threshold, if she did. Action ! action ! is her maxim of training ; 
 and things ! things ! are the objects of her lessons. She adopts 
 much repetition in her teaching, in order that the difficulty may 
 become easy, " use become a second nature." In physical train- 
 ing, '* use legs and have legs," is one of her maxims, and she acts 
 analogously, in regard to mental and moral training. She teaches 
 quietly. She does not continually interrupt her pupil, even when 
 he blunders, by outcries and objurgations. She bides her time, 
 and by prompting him to continued action, and inducing him to 
 think about what he is doing, and correct his errors himself, makes 
 his very blunders fruitful in instruction. She does not anxiously 
 intervene to prevent the consequences of his actions ; she allows 
 him to experience them, that he may learn prudence ; sometimes 
 even letting him burn his fingers, that he may gain at once a sig- 
 nificant lesson in physics, and also learn the moral lesson involved 
 in the ministry of pain. 
 
 These are some of the features of Nature's Art of Education, 
 and they are all consistent with the assumption that throughout 
 her course of instruction the pupil is teaching himself. 
 
 We infer, then, from these considerations, that the child whose 
 instruction is to be secured by the guidance of the teacher has 
 already shown his capacity to learn, and to learn, moreover, with- 
 out explanations. We remark, further, that an accurate analysis 
 of this process of self-tuition, based on the combined observations 
 and experiments of teachers carefully noted and compared together, 
 and generalized into principles of education, will, no doubt, in 
 time to come, furnish the true canons of the art of teaching, or, in 
 other words, that the pupil's subjective process of learning, when
 
 46 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 thorough!}' understood, will suggest, with proper limitations, the 
 teacher's counterpart objective process of teaching. 
 
 The principle I am contending for that the child is capable of 
 teaching himself without explanations is indeed very generally 
 acknowledged in word by teachers, who also very generally repu- 
 diate it in fact. They allow that it is not what they do for their 
 pupil, but what he does for himself, that gives him strength and in- 
 dependent force : but the multitude of directions, precepts, warn- 
 ings, exhortations, and explanations, with which they bewilder 
 and enfeeble him, neutralizes their theoretical acknowledgment of 
 the principle. Let such teachers say what they will, they virtually 
 deny the pupil's native capacity ; they act on the belief that he 
 cannot learn without explanations, and especially without their 
 explanations. 
 
 This question of the necessity of explanations is a vital point 
 in our argument, and needs further discussion. Explaining is 
 "flattening," or " making level," "clearing the ground" so as 
 to produce an even surface ; and, when applied to teaching, as 
 generally understood, means removing obstructions out of the way, 
 so as to make the subject clear to the pupil, and generally to do 
 this by verbal discourse. 
 
 But (1), we notice that Nature, who makes her pupil teach 
 himself, gives no explanations of this kind. She does not ex- 
 plain the difference between hard and soft objects she says, 
 feel them ; between this and that fact she says, place them side 
 by side, and mark the difference yourself ; and generally she says 
 to her pupil, don't ask me to tell you any thing that you can find 
 out for yourself. 
 
 (2) The question of explanations essentially involves those of 
 the order of studies and the method of teaching. If the subject 
 is unsuited to the pupil's stage of instruction, or if, instead of 
 presenting him with facts which he can understand, we force 
 upon him abstractions which he cannot, we create the need for 
 explanations ; and in this case it is not merely probable, but cer- 
 tain, that most of them, however elaborate, will be thrown away. 
 We are, in fact, calling on the immature faculties for an effort 
 which is beyond the strength of the trained intellect ; for the man 
 has never lived who can understand an abstract general prop- 
 osition while utterly ignorant of the facts on which it is ultimately 
 founded. But supposing that we admit the value of explanations 
 generally, and that the explanations given are admirably clear in 
 themselves, their value to the individual pupil will depend, not on
 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 47 
 
 their absolute excellence, but on their relation to the condition of 
 his mind. Unless, then, the teacher has well studied that mind, 
 so as to know its individual history, its actual condition, and its 
 needs, much of his explanation will "waste its sweetness on the 
 desert air." That portion only will be received and assimilated 
 for which the previous instruction has prepared the mind, and all 
 the rest will flow away and leave no impression whatever behind it. 
 And, in general, it may be laid down as a practical principle of 
 teaching, that long elaborate explanations are entirely out of place 
 in a class of children. They do not generally quicken, but rather 
 quell, attention. The children, indeed, consider that, though it 
 may be the teacher's duty to preach, it is no necessary part of 
 theirs to heed the preaching. This work, as they generally take it, 
 is the proper occasion for their play ; and this play, without out- 
 ward manifestation, may be going on uproariously in that inner 
 playground where the teacher cannot set his foot. Rousseau, in 
 his interesting if somewhat romantic " Emile," gives the following 
 opinion on this subject I adopt Mr. Quick's translation : " I do 
 not at all admire explanatory discourses ; young people give little 
 attention to them, and never retain them. Things ! things ! I can 
 never enough repeat it, that we make words of too much conse- 
 quence. With our prating modes of education, we make nothing 
 but praters." 
 
 Now in these cases the teacher fails because he does not follow 
 Nature. The pupils for whom he "clears the ground" would 
 have cleared it themselves if he had known how to direct them, 
 and would have been the stronger for the exercise. 
 
 Having thus indicated Nature's art of teaching, as, in a general 
 way, the archetype of the educator's, it is important now to say 
 that it is not to be implicitly followed. 
 
 (1.) Nature's teaching is desultory. She mingles lessons in 
 physics, language, morality, all together. Her main business seems 
 to b,e the training of faculty, and she subordinates to this the 
 orderly acquisition of knowledge by her pupils. We are to imitate 
 Nature in training faculty, but with a definite aim as regards 
 subjects. 
 
 (2.) Nature' s teaching is often inaccurate; not, however, from 
 any defect in her method, but from inherited defects in her pupils. 
 If she has not originally given a sound brain, she does not generally 
 herself improve upon her. handiwork. The impressions received 
 by a feeble brain become blurred, imperfect conceptions, and 
 Nature often leaves them so. It is the educator's business,
 
 48 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 however, to endeavor to improve upon her labors, to ascertain 
 the original fault, and by apt exercises to amend it. 
 
 (3.) Nature's teaching often appears to be ocerdone. She gives 
 ten thousand exercises to develop faculty, but she continues to 
 give them when that purpose is answered. The educator is to 
 imitate her in very frequently repeating his lessons, but to cease 
 when the object is gained. 
 
 (4.) Nature does not secure the results of her lessons with a direct 
 aim to mental and moral improvement. She exercises various 
 powers to a certain extent and with certain objects } but she does 
 not prompt to their improvement beyond this point, nor exercise 
 them equally upon objects unconnected with animal wants and 
 instincts. We are to imitate Nature in gaining such results for 
 our pupils as she gains, but we are to go beyond her in securing 
 these results as a means to the attainment of a higher platform of 
 knowledge and power. 
 
 (5.) Nature accustoms her f>upils to little, and that the simplest, 
 generalization. For any care that she takes, the materials suitable 
 for this process may remain unquickened throughout the whole of 
 a man's life. The educator is to imitate Nature in prompting his 
 pupils to generalize on facts, but to surpass her in carrying them 
 forward in practice. 
 
 (6.) Nature is relentless in her discipline. She takes no account 
 of extenuating circumstances. To disobey is to die. She not only 
 punishes the offender for his offence, but often makes him suffer 
 for the offences of others. She involves him in all the conse- 
 quences of his actions, and often gives him no opportunity for 
 repentance. The educator, on the other hand, while allowing his 
 pupil to be visited by the consequences of his actions, is to prevent 
 ruinous consequences to give him room for repentance, to love 
 the offender while punishing the offence, and to allow for extenu- 
 ating circumstances. 
 
 Nature's teaching, then, while in general the model of the e.du- 
 ca tor's, requires adaptation, extension, and correction, in order to 
 make the best use of it. The old adage, " Art improves Nature," 
 applies undoubtedly to the art of education, a truth which even 
 Pestalozzi certainly himself a choice specimen of Nature's 
 teaching, a head boy in her school failed, as we shall see, to 
 appreciate. 
 
 The upshot of what has been said hitherto is this, that the 
 natural process by which the mind acquires knowledge and power 
 is a process of self-education, that the educator should recognize
 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 49 
 
 that process as a guide to his practice, suggesting both what he 
 should aim at and what he should avoid. To this it is very im- 
 portant to add, that his success in carrying out his object will 
 greatly depend upon his being furnished with the resources of his 
 science. A thousand unforeseen difficulties, arising from the indi- 
 vidual personal characteristics of his pupils, will occur in the 
 progress of his work, and demand the exercise of his utmost skill 
 and moral courage for their treatment. It is here, quite as much 
 as in the normal action of the machinery that he is directing, that 
 the value of his own education as an educator will be found. It is 
 the " unusual circumstances " referred to by Mr. Grove, that call 
 for that "plasticity" that multiform power of applying prin- 
 ciples, which distinguishes the scientifically trained from the 
 routine teacher. 
 
 I will now illustrate my subject by presenting two typical speci- 
 mens of the Art of Teaching. In the first the teacher fully recog- 
 nizes the competency of his pupils to learn or teach themselves 
 without any explanations whatever from him, and, accordingly he 
 gives them none ; at the same time, however, he earnestly employs 
 himself in directing the forces under his command, and sees in the 
 self-instruction of his pupils, the result of his action and influence. 
 In the second instance the teacher acts on the presumption that 
 the pupil's success depends rather on what is done for him than on 
 what he does for himself. 
 
 Suppose that the object be to give a lesson on a simple machine 
 say the pile-driving machine in its least elaborate form. I 
 scarcely need say that it consists of two strong uprights, well 
 fastened into a solid, broad block of wood, as a basis, and sup- 
 plied with two thick ropes, one on each side, which are laid over 
 pities at the top of the uprights, and employed to draw up a 
 heavy mass of iron, the fall of which on the head of the pile 
 drives it into the earth. Two or three men at each rope supply 
 the motive power. 
 
 Let a large working model of the machine be so placed that all 
 the pupils of the class may see and have access to it. The teach- 
 er's object is to make this machine the means of communicating 
 knowledge and of drawing forth their intellectual powers. He has 
 no need to tell them to look at it. The image of it, as a whole, is 
 at once impressed upon their minds. The teacher need not tax his 
 ingenuity to devise methods for gaining their attention. Their 
 attention is already on the full stretch. Their curiosity is largely 
 excited their eyes wide open, and 4i unsatisfied with seeing."
 
 50 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 " What can it be ? What will it do ? " He tells them the purpose 
 of it, and nothing more, "It is a contrivance for driving piles 
 into the ground." They are eager to see it in action. 
 
 It is now at rest, the weight resting on the head of the pile. 
 The teacher directs two of the children, one on each side, to lay 
 hold of the ropes and pull up the weight, telling the class that the 
 weight is called a monkey a fact which they will certainly re- 
 member. [Names and conventionalities which they cannot find 
 out for themselves, he must, of course, tell them ; but telling of 
 this kind is not explanation.] Well, the monkey is drawn up 
 gradually, until the clutch relaxes its hold, and down it falls, to 
 their immense delight. This is the first experiment. Let all the 
 children try it all pull up the weight with their own hands, and 
 gain an idea, by personal, individual experience, of the resistance 
 of the weight. This experience involves muscular sensibility, sen- 
 sation, and a rudimentary notion of force. The children by this 
 time, have an idea of the machine, and begin to conceive the rela- 
 tion between the end and the means between the problem to be 
 solved and the means of solving it. The pile evidently gives wa}^ 
 under the repeated blows of the monkey. Let the monkey be 
 weighed, and another substituted heavier or lighter. What is the 
 result now ? Use the measuring scale to see exactly how much the 
 pile moves under the different weights. ' Why are the results differ- 
 ent ? [These mechanical acts of weighing and measuring exactly 
 are not to be despised ; they are fraught with practical instruction.] 
 Next, let the height from which the weight falls be gradually 
 varied, until there is no height, and the weight merely rests on the 
 head of the pile, as at first. What is gained by the motion of the 
 weight? Try the experiment many times weigh, measure, judge. 
 When is weight acting alone ? when along with motion ? The 
 children form a conception for themselves of momentum; and when 
 the thing is understood the technical name may be given. Next, let 
 the weight be detached and placed on an inclined plane a slant- 
 ing board. Why does it move now less easily than it did when 
 it was free ? Alter the inclination ; try all the possible varieties of 
 slope. When is the motion easiest? The pupils gain the idea of 
 friction, and may have the name given them. Let the clutch be ex- 
 amined. How does it act? Why hold the weight so firmly at one 
 moment and let it go the next? Try the experiment, handle it, 
 attach it to the weight? Does it hold the weight firmly? Why 
 does it let the weight go at the right moment? Again, suppose 
 the weight were made of wood, lead, putty, &c., instead of iron.
 
 THE PKACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 51 
 
 Try these substances for the weight. Why are they less suitable 
 for the purpose than iron ? 
 
 Attach weights to the ropes, and see whether they may be so 
 contrived as to supersede the manual labor. "What are the clifli- 
 culties in doing this? Can they be overcome ? What is the use of 
 the pulleys? Remove them, and pull at the ropes without them. 
 What difference is there now in the ease of motion. 
 
 Could any one devise another machine for driving piles, or any 
 other contrivance for doing the work of this better? Let every 
 one think of this before the next lesson, and bring his model with 
 him. The teacher sums up the results of the lesson, and tells the 
 pupils to write them down before him. He examines their papers, 
 and makes them correct the blunders themselves. The lesson is 
 concluded. 
 
 Now in this lesson we have a typical specimen of the self- 
 teaching of the pupils under the superintendence of the teacher. 
 If teaching means, as stated in books on the subject, the com- 
 munication of knowledge by the explanations of the teacher, he 
 has taught them nothing. Of that kind of teaching which Mr. 
 Wilson of Rugby calls "the most stupid and most didactic" 
 meaning that the most didactic is the most stupid we have here 
 not a trace. The teacher has recognized his true function as 
 simply a director of the mental machinery which is, in fact, to do 
 all the work itself ; for it is not he, but his pupils, that have to 
 learn, and to learn by the exercise of their own minds. He has 
 constituted himself, therefore, as (if the expression may be par- 
 doned) a sort of outside will and mind, to act on and co-operate 
 with the wills and minds of his pupils. He is the primum mobile 
 which sets the machinery in motion, and maintains and regulates 
 the motion ; but the work that it does, the results that it gains, 
 are not his work nor his results, but the machinery's. In the case 
 of the human machinery the children's minds, which are not 
 dead matter, but living organisms he Las had to supply motives 
 to action, sympathy and encouragement to apply, indeed all the 
 resources of his science. But still he is simply the superintendent 
 or director of the operations which constitute the learning or self- 
 teaching of the pupils ; and the intrusion of those explanations, 
 which some consider the essence of teaching, would have hindered 
 and frustrated the efficiency of those operations. For, in the case 
 before us, why should he explain, and what has he to explain? 
 The machine is its own interpreter. It answers those who interro- 
 gate it in the emphatic and eloquent language of facts a Ian-
 
 52 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 guage which the children understand without explanations ; and it 
 practises them abundantly in what Professor Huxley aptly calls 
 the " logic of experiment ; " and if it says nothing about abstrac- 
 tions and first principles, which they could not comprehend, it lays 
 before them the proper groundwork for these mental deductions, 
 ready for the superstructure of science when the proper time 
 comes. And until this groundwork of facts is laid, the teacher 
 may strain his mind and break his heart in his anxiety to give ex- 
 planations. In fact, none that he can give will be equal in value 
 to those given silently, powerfully, and effectually by the machine 
 itself. It is clear, then, that nothing would be gained by his ex- 
 planations, and that they are therefore unnecessary. 
 
 Without dwelling now on all the points of interest contained in 
 the lesson that I have described, which will be summarized here- 
 after, I invite attention especially to two or three. 
 
 (1.) We notice the pleasurable feeling of the children thus 
 | actively engaged in the free exercise of their own powers seeing, 
 handling, experimenting, discovering, investigating, and inventing 
 for themselves. This feeling will, by the necessary laws of asso- 
 ciation, always accompany the remembrance of the lesson. Is 
 not this in itself an immense gain both for teacher and pupils ? 
 
 But (2) there is another very important gain for the pupils thus 
 educating themselves. It is an approved principle of the science 
 of education that it should be the aim of the educator not merely 
 to train faculty, but to induce in his pupils the power of exercising 
 it without his aid in other words, to make the pupils independent 
 of the teacher. Now as, in the case before us, the children have 
 gained their knowledge by the exercise of their own faculties 
 have observed, experimented, &c., for themselves, they cannot but 
 have gained a rudimentary consciousness that they could, without 
 the teacher, go through the same process in acquiring the knowl- 
 edge of another machine. This consciousness of power, may, as 
 I have said, be, at the end of the first lesson, merely rudimentary ; 
 but -it will gain strength as they proceed, and the final result of 
 such teaching will be that they will acquire the valuable habit of 
 independent mental self-direction. An eminent French teacher 
 
 rused to be laughed at for saying that he was continually aiming to 
 make himself useless to his pupils. The silly laughers thought 
 that he had made a blunder, and meant to say useful. But they 
 were the blunderers. 
 
 (3.) It is a noticeable point in the process decribed that it led 
 the children to discover, investigate, and invent on their own
 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 53 
 
 i 
 
 account. They were continually conscious of the pleasure of 
 finding things out for themselves. They were continually making 
 advances, however feeble, in the very path that the first discoverers 
 of knowledge of the same kind, and indeed of every kind, had 
 trod before them. Though only little children, they were uncon- 
 sciously adopting the method of the scientific investigator, and 
 becoming trained, though as yet but very imperfectly, in his spirit. 
 Should they subsequently give themselves up to scientific inquiry, 
 they will not change their method, for it is even now essentially 
 that of scientific investigation. The value of this plan of learn- 
 ing is aptly pointed out in a well-known passage from Burke' s 
 essay on "The Sublime and Beautiful." "I am convinced," he 
 says, u that the method of teaching [or learning] which approaches 
 most nearly to the method of investigation is incomparably the 
 best ; since, not content with serving up a few barren and lifeless 
 truths [such as abstractions, general propositions, formulae, &c.], 
 it leads to the stock on which they grew ; it tends to set the reader 
 [or learner] himself on the track of invention, and to direct him 
 into those paths in which the author [or scientific investigator] 
 has made his own discoveries." It is obvious that our children, 
 engaged in investigating and dicoveriug for themselves, were pre- 
 cisely in the position, with regard to their subject, which is described 
 in these words. 
 
 But their native inventive faculty was also exercised. They 
 would be sure, before the next lesson, to take the hint given them 
 by the teacher, and would be ready with various contrivances for 
 modifying the pile-driving machine. When I say this I speak 
 from experience, not conjecture. I have myself, when engaged in 
 reading a simple narrative with a class of children, and meeting 
 with a reference to some gate to be burst open by mechanical 
 means, or some bridge to be extemporized in a difficult emergency, 
 simply said, " try to invent a contrivance for accomplishing these 
 objects, and show me to-morrow your notions by a drawing and 
 description," and have never failed to receive a number of .rude 
 sketches of schemes more or less suited to the purpose, but all 
 showing the intense interest excited by the devotion of their minds 
 to the object. I am persuaded that teachers generally overlook 
 half the powers latent in the minds of their pupils ; they do not 
 ci'edit children with the possession of them, and therefore fail to 
 call them out. An instructive instance of a different mode of 
 proceeding is furnished by the experience of Professor Tyndall, 
 when he was a teacher in Queeuwood School. The quotation is
 
 54 THE PEACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 rather long, but it is too valuable to be omitted. " One of the 
 duties," he says, in his Lecture at the Royal Institution, On the 
 Study of Physics as a branch of Education, " was the instruction 
 of a class in mathematics, and I usually found that Euclid, and the 
 ancient geometry generally, when addressed to the understanding, 
 formed a very attractive study for youth. But [mark the but /] it 
 was my habitual practice to withdraw the boys from the routine of 
 the book, and to appeal to their self-power in the treatment of 
 questions not comprehended in that routine. At first the change 
 from the beaten track usually excited a little aversion ; the youth 
 felt like a child among strangers ; but in no single instance have I 
 found this aversion to continue. When utterly disheartened, I 
 have encouraged the boy by that anecdote of Newton, where he 
 attributes the difference between him and other men mainly to his 
 own patience ; or of Mirabeau, when he ordered his servant, who 
 had stated something to be impossible, never to use that stupid 
 word again. Thus cheered, he has returned to his task with a 
 smile, which perhaps had something of doubt in it, but which 
 nevertheless evinced a resolution to try again. I have seen the 
 boy's eye brighten, and at length, with a pleasure of which the 
 ecstacy of Archimedes was but a simple expansion, heard him ex- 
 claim, ' I have it, sir ! ' The consciousness of self-power thus 
 awakened was of immense value ; and animated by it, the progress 
 of the class was truly astonishing. It was often my custom to 
 give the boys their choice of pursuing their propositions in the book, 
 or of trying their strength at others not found there. Never in a 
 single instance have I known the book to be chosen. I was ever 
 ready to assist when I deemed help needful, but my offers of 
 assistance were habitually declined. The boys had tasted the 
 sweets of intellectual conquest, and demanded victories of their 
 own. I have seen their diagrams scratched on the walls, cut 
 into the beams of the play-ground, and numberless other illus- 
 trations of the living interest they took in the subject. . . . 
 The experiment was successful, and some of the most delightful 
 hours of my existence have been spent in marking the vigorous 
 and cheerful expansion of mental power when appealed to in the 
 manner I have described." This is indeed a striking illustration 
 of the true art of teaching, as consisting in the mental and 
 moral direction of the pupils' self-education ; and the result 
 every one can see, was the acquisition of something far more 
 valuable than the knowledge of geometry. They gained, as an 
 acquisition for life, a knowledge of themselves, a consciousness of
 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 55 
 
 both mental and moral power, which all the didactic teaching in 
 the world could never have given them. All teachers should 
 learn, and practise, the lesson conveyed by such an example of 
 teaching as this. 
 
 Now, taking the former instance as a typical specimen of the 
 art of teaching, let us consider what is involved in it, and gather 
 from it a confirmation of the views already given of the relation 
 of the educator to his pupils, of the Science of Education to the 
 Art. 
 
 "NVr see (1) that the pupil, teaching himself under the direction 
 of the educator, begins with tangible and concrete facts which he 
 can comprehend, not with abstract principles which he cannot. 
 lie sees, handles, experiments upon the machine ; observes what 
 it is, what it does, draws his own conclusions ; and thus health- 
 fully exercise his senses, his powers of observation, his judg- 
 ment ; and prepares himself for understanding, at the proper 
 time, general propositions founded on the knowledge that he has 
 acquired. 
 
 (2.) That, in teaching himself in gaining his knowledge 
 he employs a method, the analytical, which lies in his own power, 
 not the synthetical, which would require the teacher's explanations, 
 yet that he employs also the synthetical, when called on to exercise 
 his combining and constructive faculty. He employs the analytical 
 method in resolving the machine into its parts, its actions into 
 their several constituents and means, and the synthetical when he 
 uses the knowledge thus gained for interpreting other parts and 
 other actions of the machine, and when he applies this knowledge 
 to the invention of other contrivances not actually contemplated 
 by the machine-maker. 
 
 (3.) That, in being made a discoverer and explorer on his own 
 account, and not merely a passive recipient of the results of other 
 people's discoveries, he not only gains mental power, but finds a 
 pleasure in the discoveries made by himself, which he could not 
 find in those made by others. 
 
 (4.) That in teaching himself, instead of being taught by the 
 explanations of the teacher, he proceeds, and can only proceed, in 
 exact proportion to his strength, gaining increased knowledge 
 just at the time that he wants it at the very moment when the 
 increment will naturally become, to use a happy expression of Mr. 
 Fitch, "incorporated with the organic life of his mind." It is 
 needless to add, that he advances in this self-teaching, from the 
 known to the unknown, for the process he employs leaves no other 
 course open to him.
 
 56 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 (5.) That, in teaching himself in this way, he learns to reason 
 both on the relation of facts and the relation of ideas to each other : 
 and that thus the " logic of experiment " leads him to the logic of 
 thought. 
 
 (6.) That, in this process of self- teaching, he acquires a fund 
 of knowledge and of mental conceptions, which, by the natural 
 association of ideas, forms the groundwork or nucleus to which 
 other knowledge and other conceptions of the same kiad will sub- 
 sequently attach themselves ; the machine which he knows, becom- 
 ing a sort of alphabet of mechanics, by means of which he will be 
 able to read and understand, in some degree, other machines. 
 
 (7.) That the knowledge, thus gained by the action of his own 
 mind, will be clear and accurate, as far as it goes, because it has 
 been gained by his own powers. He may, indeed have to modify 
 his first notions, to acknowledge to himself that his observations 
 were imperfect, his conclusions hasty ; but if not interfered with 
 by unseasonable meddling from without, his mind will correct its 
 own aberrations, and be much the stronger for being required to 
 do this itself. (You will remember Professor Tyndall's experience 
 in teaching geometry.) 
 
 (8.) That, by teaching himself in this special case, he is on the 
 way to acquire the power of teaching himself generally, to gain the 
 habit of mental self direction, of self power, the very end and 
 consummation of the educator's art. 
 
 In order to illustrate my point still more clearly, by force of 
 contrast, I will give a sketch of another mode of teaching, very 
 commonly known in schools, taking the same subject for the lesson 
 as before. 
 
 The teacher, whose operations we are now to observe, has a 
 notion a very common one that as rules and general principles 
 are compendious expressions representing many facts, he can 
 economize time and labor by commencing with them. They are 
 so pregnant and comprehensive, he thinks, that if (your if is a 
 great peace-maker) he can but get his pupils to digest them, they 
 will have gained much knowledge in a short time. This remark- 
 able educational fallacy I have already referred to. Our teacher, 
 however (not knowing the science of education, which refutes it), 
 assumes its truth, takes up a book (a great mistake to begin with, 
 to teach science from a book !), and in order to be quite in form 
 (scientific form being the very opposite to this) , reads out from 
 it a definition of a machine : "A machine is an artificial work which 
 serves to apply or regulate moving power ;" or another to the same
 
 THE PKACTICE OB ART OF EDUCATION. 57 
 
 effect: "A machine is an instrument formed by two or three of 
 the mechanical powers, in order to augment or regulate force or 
 motion." Now the men who wrote these definitions were scientific 
 men, already acquainted with the whole subject, and they summed 
 up in these few words the net result of their observation of a great 
 number of machines, so as logically to differentiate a machine from 
 everything else. Their definitions were intended for the mature 
 minds of students of science, and were therefore framed in a 
 scientific manner. This logical arrangement is, however, the very 
 opi>osite to that in which the science was historically developed, 
 and which is the only one possible for the child who teaches him- 
 self. Our teacher, uninformed in the science of education which 
 disposes of this and so many other questions belonging to the art, 
 implicitly follows the good old way, and reads out, as I have said, 
 the definition of a machine. The pupils, who are quite disposed to 
 learn whatever really interests them, listen attentively, but not 
 knowing anything about " moving power " or " force " nor what is 
 meant by augmenting or regulating it, nor what " mechanical 
 powers " are, at once perceive that this is a matter which does not 
 concern them, and very sensibly turn their minds in another direc- 
 tion. The vivid curiosity and sympathy manifested in the other 
 instance are wanting here. These pupils have no curiosity about 
 the entirely unknown, and no sympathy with the teacher who 
 presents them with the entirely unintelligible. The teacher per- 
 ceives this, and endeavors to " clear the ground," evidently filled 
 with stumbling-blocks and brambles, by an explanation: "A 
 machine," he says, (no machine being in sight) "is an artificial 
 work, that is, a work made by art." (Boy, really anxious to learn 
 something if he can, thinks, "What is art?" He has heard, 
 perhaps, of the art of painting, but what has a machine to do with 
 painting?) The teacher proceeds: "A machine you see [the 
 children see nothing] is an artificial work (that is, a work made 
 by art), which serves to apply, augment (that is add to) and 
 regulate (that is, direct) moving force or power ; you know what 
 that is of course [The teacher instinctively avoids explaining 
 the mechanical force of a mere idea] by combining or putting 
 together two or more of the mechanical powers that is, levers, 
 pulleys, &c. I need not explain these common words, everybody 
 knows what they mean ; so now you see what a machine is. 
 What is a machine? " A. B. answers, " A machine is a moving 
 power." C. D., "It is something which adds force." "Adds 
 force to what?" C. D. still, "to pulleys and levers." "How
 
 58 THE PEACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 stupid you all are ! " groans out the teacher, " there is no teach- 
 ing you anything!" At that moment, E. F., a practical boy, 
 gets a glimmering of the truth, and says, "A steam engine is a 
 machine." This is an effort of the boy to dash through the en- 
 tanglement of the words, and make his way up to the facts. The 
 teacher, however, at once throws him back again into the meshes, 
 by saying, "Well then, apply the definition." Boy replies, "I 
 don't understand the definition." "Not understand the definition ! 
 "Why, I have explained every word of it ; " and so on. He reads 
 the definition again, questions his pupils again upon it with the 
 same result. He perceives that he has failed altogether in his 
 <object. All his explanations, which have been nothing more than 
 \explanations of words, not of things, (a very common error in 
 teaching) have failed to " clear the ground," which remains as 
 of stumbling-blocks and brambles as ever. A bright thought 
 strikes him. He introduces a picture of a machine say of the 
 pile-driving machine (not the machine itself) , and a consider- 
 able enlightenment of the darkness at once takes place. There is 
 now something visible, if not tangible. Curiosity and sympathy 
 are awakened, and some of the ends of teaching are secured, and 
 more would be secured but that the teacher still confines himself to 
 reading from his book a description of the machine, though he 
 occasionally interpolates explanations of the technical words that 
 occur. But the picture is, after all, a dead thing ; all its parts are 
 in repose or equilibrium ; and the pupils, after giving their best 
 attention to it, see in it scarcely any illustration of the terms of 
 the definition through which they have labored so painfully. The 
 pictured machine represents " moving power" by not moving at 
 all, and "force" by doing nothing, while it leaves the "me- 
 chanical powers ' ' an entirely unsolved mystery . They depart 
 from the lesson with a number of confused notions of "moving 
 power," " augmentation of force," " mechanical powers," "pile- 
 driving," "monkeys," and " clutches," while the mental discip- 
 line they have acquired is an absolute nullity. Their minds have 
 indeed never once been brought into direct vital contact with the 
 matter they were to learn. The thing itself, the machine, has been 
 withheld from them ; nothing but a representation, possibly a mis- 
 representation, of it, has been seen, at a distance, in a state of 
 dead repose. Instead, therefore, of observing themselves its 
 action, they have been told what somebody else has observed ; 
 instead of trying experiments upon it with their own hands, they 
 have been treated with a description of somebody else's experi-
 
 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 59 
 
 ments ; instead of being required to form a judgment of their own 
 on the relation of cause and effect, as seen in the action and re- 
 action of forces, they have been made acquainted with the judg- 
 ments of others, and the general result of the whole lesson prob- 
 ably is, that while they have been, no doubt, deeply impressed with 
 the learning and science of their teacher (and especially of his 
 book) , they have left the class still more deeply impressed with 
 the determination that, if this is science, they will have as little as 
 possible to do with it.* 
 
 Now the teacher, in this case, may be credited with earnestness, 
 zeal, industry, knowledge of his subject (though he had better have 
 thrown away his book) , with all the knowledge in short that goes 
 to the making of a teacher, except (but the exception is rather 
 important) a knowledge of the art of teaching. 
 
 These specimens of the art of teaching strikingly illustrate the 
 principles before insisted on. It has been maintained that there 
 is an inherent capacity in the child who has taught himself to 
 speak and walk, to teach himself other things, provided that they 
 are things of the same kind as he has learnt already. Now all 
 children, not being born idiots, are capable of taking part in such 
 a lesson as I have described can employ their senses upon the 
 concrete matter of the machine, observe its phenomena, make ex- 
 periments themselves with it, and gain more or less knowledge by 
 this active employment of their minds upon it. And the same 
 would be true of lessons on other concrete matter on flowers, 
 stones, animals, &c. In fact, these children have been taught all 
 their lives by contact with concrete matter in some shape or other, 
 and the teacher who understands his science will see that there is 
 no other possible path to the abstract. It is obvious, then, that 
 rudimentary lessons on the properties of matter, in continuation 
 of those already received from natural circumstances, should con- 
 stitute the earliest instruction of a child ; and our typical lesson con- 
 clusively shows that such instruction is attainable, and most valuable, 
 not only for its own sake, but with a view to mental development. 
 
 It is also shown that when the subject of instruction is judi- 
 ciously chosen, the pupil needs no verbal explanations. The lesson 
 in question is a specimen of teaching in which, in accordance with 
 the theory with which we set out, oil the work on which the mental 
 acquisition depends is absolutely and solely done by the pupil, while 
 
 * " There Is no use, educationally, in telling you simply the results to which I have come. 
 But the true method of education is to show you a road, by pursuing which you cannot help 
 arriving at these results for yourselves." " University Extension," ubi supra.
 
 
 60 THE PRACTICE OR ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 the teacher's action and influence, which originate and maintain the 
 pupil's work, is confined to guidance and superintendence. 
 
 Many arguments might be adduced to show that the principle, 
 that the main business of {he teacher is to get the pupil to teach him- 
 self, lies at the basis of the entire art of Instruction. The teacher 
 who, by whatever means, secures this object, is an efficient artist -, 
 he who fails in this point, fails altogether ; and the various grades 
 of efficiency are defined by the degree of approximation to this 
 standard.* 
 
 The principle itself is recognized unconsciously in the practice 
 of all the best teachers. Such teachers, while earnestly intent on 
 the process by which their pupils are instructing themselves, 
 generally say little during the lesson, and that little is usually con- 
 fined to direction. Arnold scarcely ever gave an explanation ; and 
 if he did, it was given as a sort of reward for some special effort 
 of his pupils ; and his son, Mr. Matthew Arnold, tells us that such 
 is the practice of the most eminent teachers of Germany. 
 
 If further authority for the theoretical argument be needed, it 
 may be found in the words of Rousseau, who, recommending 
 *' self-teaching" (his own word) , says, " Obliged to learn by him- 
 self, the pupil makes use of his own reason, and not that of others. 
 From the continual exercise of the pupil's own understanding will 
 result a vigor of mind, like that which we give the body by labor 
 and fatigue. Another advantage is, that we advance only in pro- 
 portion to our strength. The mind, like the body, carries only 
 that which it can carry. But when the understanding appropriates 
 things before depositing them in the memory, whatever it after- 
 wards draws from thence is properly its own." Again : " Another 
 advantage, also resulting from this method, is, that we do not ac- 
 custom ourselves to a servile submission to the authority of others ; 
 but, by exercising our reason, grow every day more ingenious in 
 the discovery of the relations of things, in connecting our ideas, 
 and in the contrivance of machines ; whereas, by adopting those 
 
 * " All the best cultivation of a child's mind," says Dr. Temple, "is obtained by the child's 
 own exertions, and the master's success may be measured by the degree in which he can bring 
 his scholars to make such exertions absolutely without aid." 
 
 . . . "That divine and beautiful thing called teaching; that excellent power whereby we 
 are enabled to help people to think for themselves; encouraging them to endeavors, by dex- 
 terously guiding those endeavors to success; turning them from their error just when, and no 
 sooner than, their error has thrown a luminousness upon that which caused it; carefully- 
 leading them Into typical difficulties, of which the very path we lead them by shall itself ong- 
 gest the solution ; sometimes gently leading them, sometimes leaving them to the resource 
 of their own unaided endeavors; till, little by little, we have conducted them through a 
 process in which it would be almost impossible for them to tell 'how much is their own 
 discovery, how much is what they have been told." " University Extension," ubi supra.
 
 APPENDIX TO LECTURE II. 61 
 
 which arc put into our hands, our invention grows dull and indif- 
 ferent, as the man who never dresses himself, but is served in 
 everything by his servants, and drawn about everywhere by his 
 horses, loses by degrees the activity and use of his limbs." 
 ("Essays on Educational Reformers," p. 135.) 
 
 These views of the fundamental principles involved in the Art 
 of teaching, it will be seen, are not novel. The only novelty is in 
 the mode of stating them. Practical teachers will candidly judge, 
 by reference to their own experience, of their value and import- 
 ance. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. ETYMOLOGY OF "LEARN" AND "TEACH." 
 
 A brief investigation into the original meaning of these words may be in- 
 teresting to some readers, as throwing some light upon the theory of the 
 text. 
 
 'Learn (Old English, lerneri) is a modification of the primitive English (or 
 Anglo-Saxon) korn-ian, which is itself a derivative of A.S. ter-an (Old Eng- 
 lish, fer-en), to teach. The relation between ter-an and fern-ian is indicated 
 by the fact that in the Moeso-Gothic language, an elder sister of our own 
 English, there was a class of verbs distinguished from certain simpler forms 
 by an epenthetic n, which suggested a reflexive or passive meaning. Thus 
 M.G. luk-&n means to shut or lock up, but Zufcn-an, to lock oneself up, or be 
 locked up ; also wak-&n, to wake another ; wakn-&n, to wake oneself, to be 
 awake. Wo find traces of this usage in A.S. eac-an, to augment; eacn-i&n, 
 to augment oneself, be pregnant ; rfraie-an, to drench ; drencn-i&n, to drench 
 oneself, be dronched, drown ; airac-an, to wake up another ; awcEcn-i&n, to 
 wake oneself up, be waked up; and therefore ter-an, to teach another; 
 kom-ian, to teach oneself i. e. to learn.* As, however, the director of a 
 work often gets the credit duo to his subaltern, so the person who directed the 
 pupil to learn was formerly said and the usage still exists provincially to 
 learn, lern, or larn his pupil. Hence we find in Piers Plowman (v. 4756), 
 "Who lernede thce on boke?" also, in Cranmer's version of the Psalms (Ps. 
 cxix. 66), "O learne mee true understanding and knowledge;" and, in the 
 "Tempest," Caliban says, "The red plague rid you for learning me your 
 language," though he had, in the same sentence, said, "You taught me 
 language." 
 
 But what does the original root leer mean? It is evidently equivalent to 
 M.G. Jaw, lets, les, 8 being interchangeable with r, as in German eisen com- 
 pared with iron (Old Eng., iren) and hose = hare. But M.G. tats or tea is 
 
 * See on these traces of a passive In nnc'ent English. Rev. Oswald Cockayne's Notes, Noa. 
 43, 44, appended to his edition of " SU Marhartte." (Early English Text Society.)
 
 62 APPENDIX TO LECTURE n. 
 
 identical with German ks in lea-en, and signifies to gather together, acquire, 
 glean, as in the provincial word leasing, gleaning or gathering up. The 
 primitive meaning of the root A.S. fcer = M.G., lais, lea, though, as in learn 
 = teach, the causative sense to make to gather, acquire, or learn must have 
 been early superadded. On the whole, then, it appears that to learn is to 
 gather up or glean for oneself, i. e., to teach onself. 
 
 But the correlative teach must be briefly examined. The root appears as 
 teih, in M.G. teih-en ; zeig, in German zeig-en ; tax, in A.S. teo-an ; die, doc, 
 in Latin dic-ere, dt(c)-scere, tfoc-ere ; and in Greek KtiK-wfii ; and in all these 
 cases means to point out, show ; direct, lead the way i. e., teach. Thus dic- 
 ere means to show in words, to say ; doc-ere, to show the way ; di(c)scere, to 
 show oneself the way, to learn. The same idea is conveyed by the French 
 equivalents montrer and enseigner, both meaning to teach.* 
 
 The etymology, then, of both learn and teach supports, by the instinctive 
 genius of language, the theory that learning is gathering up or gleaning for 
 oneself, and teaching the guiding, directing, and superintending of tho 
 process. 
 
 II. ON BOTANY AS A STUDY SUITED TO TRAIN THE OBSERVING POWERS 
 
 OF CHILDREN. 
 
 Since the foregoing Lecture was delivered, I have met with a work which 
 remarkably illustrates the principles on which I have insisted. It is en- 
 titled "The First Book of Botany, Designed to Cultivate the observing 
 Powers of Children. By Eliza A. Youmans. (New York : Appleton & Co. ; 
 London : Appleton & Co., Little Britain, 1871.) " The method pursued is one 
 by which the pupil teaches himself, by exercising his mind unaided by the 
 explanations of the teacher on the flowers, leaves, and objects generally 
 of the vegetable world. It is, therefore, a practical illustration of the prin- 
 ciple that ' ' tho main business of the teacher is to get the pupil to teach 
 himself," and this little book admirably shows how it may be carried out. 
 In selecting Botany as a subject fitted for this purpose, by the abundance of 
 materials that it furnishes, and by the simplicity of its elementary facts, 
 the author has manifested a wise discretion. Nor is her method a merely 
 theoretical scheme; it is based on practical experience. The object she 
 considers so desirable she has herself accomplished, and her work shows 
 how other teachers may accomplish it also. I cannot do better than 
 present, in the words of the preface, the purpose of the book. 
 
 (1.) It lays the foundation for a knowledge of Botany in the only true 
 ^a,y. by providing for the actual and regular study of plants themselves. 
 This practice is enforced by the plan of the book. 
 
 (2.) It provides for a systematic training in the art of observation. The 
 book simply guides the pupil, but he must work his own way examining, 
 searching, comparing, judging, and describing the objects as he finds them. 
 
 * A curious instance of the use of the word teach has been pointed out by Mr. Farrar, who 
 quotes Judges vlH. 6: "Gideon took thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with these he 
 taught the men of Succoth." Gideon's plan of teaching is hardly yet obsolete.
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. C3 
 
 (3.) This plan first supplies the long-recognized deficiency of object- 
 teaching, by reducing it to a method and connecting it with an established 
 branch of school-study. Instead of desultory practice in noting the discon- 
 nected properties of casual objects, the exercises are made systematic, and 
 the pupil is trained not only to observe the sensible facts, but constantly to 
 put them in those relations of thought by which they become organized 
 knowledge. 
 
 The objects here described are strictly carried out, and we thus have, for 
 the first time, a realization of the idea of Dr. "Whewell, who, insisting on 
 the value, as a mental discipline, of the exact and solid study of some por- 
 tion of inductive knowledge, as botany, geology, or chemistry, proceeds, 
 " But I say the exact and solid knowledge ; not a mere verbal knowledge, 
 but a knowledge which is real in its character, though it may be elementary 
 and limited in its extent. The knowledge of which I speak must be a 
 knowledge of things, an acquaintance with the operations and productions 
 of Nature as they appear to the eye, not merely an acquaintance with what 
 has been said about them, a knowledge of the laws of Nature seen in 
 special experiments and observations, before they are conceived in general 
 terms, a knowledge of the types of natural forms, gathered from individ- 
 ual cases already familiar. By such study of one or more departments of 
 inductive knowledge, the mind may escape from the thraldom and illusion 
 which reigns in the world of mere words." 
 
 These weighty words aptly point out the importance of bringing the mind 
 of the pupil into actual contact with facts and phenomena, as. illustrated 
 both in the elementary lesson in mechanics given in the Lecture, and in the 
 systematic lessons in botany contained in Miss Youmans' book. 
 
 In view of the supreme importance of such a training as is here suggested 
 for children of all classes, Miss Youmans suggests the introduction of 
 botany into the curriculum of primary instruction, as "a fourth funda- 
 mental branch of study (i. e., in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic) 
 which shall afford a systematic training of the observing powers " a sugges- 
 tion well worth the attention of all teachers who desire to supersede the 
 senseless drill of routine by the processes of intellectual education. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 THERE is a just distinction between a Method and an Art, and 
 between these and a Science. A Method is a special mode of ad- 
 ministering an Art, and an Art is a practical display of a Science. 
 In education, every teacher must have some mode of exhibiting the 
 notions he has of his art, and this mode is his Method. He is
 
 64 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 practising his Art whenever he calls forth the active powers of his 
 pupils, let the subject on which he exercises them be what it may. 
 A simple machine, a flower, a bit of chalk, or a portion of language, 
 may be the means for displaying his art. But if he contents him- 
 self with leading his pupils, in a desultory way, from one point of 
 knowledge to another, from one temporary mental excitement to 
 another, he risks their loss both of instruction and education the 
 one consisting in the orderly acquisition of knowledge ; the other 
 in the attainment, through instruction, of good mental habits. The 
 teacher, then, must define his object by a special mode or method 
 for securing it. This method will be the exponent of his notions of. 
 the Art of Education, and will be good 6r bad just as these notions 
 are sound or unsound ; and this, again, will depend on his knowl- 
 edge of the Science of Education a science, as was before 
 shown, ultimately based on that of Human Nature. 
 
 The principle being once admitted, that the instruction aimed at 
 can only be gained by the thinking of the pupil, it follows that the 
 direct object of the teacher is to get the learner to think. The 
 mode of procedure which secures this object in the best way is the 
 best method of teaching. There may, therefore, be many good 
 methods of teaching ; but no method is good which does not recog- 
 nize and appreciate the pupil's natural method of learning. This 
 principle, I repeat, serves as the test of the method employed by 
 the teacher; and it is in this sense that the pupil's subjective 
 process of learning suggests the objective counterpart method of 
 teaching. If the teacher succeeds in getting his pupils to do all 
 the thinking by which the instruction is gained, the method he 
 employs must be a good one ; for, to repeat Dr. Temple's words 
 already quoted, "the master's success may be measured by the 
 degree in which he can bring his pupil's to make such exertions 
 [t.e., the exertions of their own minds] absolutely without aid." 
 In the system of agencies, then, by which the work of instruction 
 is to be accomplished, the principle, that the pupil's own mental 
 effort alone secures the intended result, is the centripetal force 
 which is ever tending to harmonize the details of the process. 
 Continually acting in opposition to this are the centrifugal forces 
 volatility, indolence, indifference, &c., which tend to disturb 
 its normal operation. The teacher who commands both these 
 forces, directing the centripetal and controlling the centrifugal, is 
 a master of educational method, and preserves unity of action 
 amidst the endless diversities of his practice. 
 
 It follows from the foregoing observations, that as the character-
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 65 
 
 istics of a good method of teaching are suggested and dictated by 
 the characteristics of a good method of learning, it is important to 
 know what is involved in a good method of learning. In the last 
 Lecture, I endeavored to show, by an illustrative lesson, what the 
 pupil, under the direction of the teacher, does when engaged in 
 teaching himself a machine. The lesson was, however, presented 
 as typical, and may be applied, mutatis mutandis, to other subjects 
 of instruction. It showed that a child can learn the elements of 
 physical science by the exercise of his own mind, " absolutely with- 
 out the aid " of the teacher, except that aid which consists in main- 
 taining the mental force by which the pupil acquires his knowledge. 
 The teacher throughout recognized the native capacity of his pupils 
 to learn, and his method consisted in stimulating that capacity to 
 do its proper work. He gave no explanations, because the machine 
 being its own interpreter, none were needed. He gave no defini- 
 tions, because all definitions, given in anticipation of the facts on 
 which they are founded, would have been unintelligible ; and he 
 properly considered that the true basis of all science is a knowledge 
 of facts. He recognized, in short, throughout the entire lesson, 
 the principle which I have so often insisted on, that his pupils 
 were teaching themselves, and that he was the director of the 
 process. 
 
 In order to show what the method of the pupil was, it is neces- 
 sary briefly to recapitulate the main points of the process. We 
 notice, then 
 
 1. That he began his self-teaching with tangible and concrete 
 matter, on which he could exercise his natural senses. 
 
 2. That he employed analysis in gaining his knowledge, and 
 synthesis in displaying and applying it. 
 
 3. That he was an explorer, experimenter, and inventor on his 
 own account a true, however feeble, disciple of the method of 
 scientific investigation. 
 
 4. That he proceeded in proportion to his strength, and conse- 
 quently from the known to the unknown. 
 
 5. That the ideas that he gained, being derived by himself from 
 facts present to his senses, were clear and accurate as far as they 
 went. 
 
 6. That by teaching himself relying on his own powers in 
 a special case, he was acquiring the power of teaching himself 
 generally ; and was therefore on the way to gain the habit of inde- 
 pendent mental self -direction the real goal of all the teacher's 
 efforts.
 
 66 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 7. That he dispensed with all explanations on the part of the 
 teacher, though he was told the conventional and technical names 
 for things which he already knew. 
 
 These are not all, but they are the mam, characteristics of the 
 pupil's method of learning elementary science, and indeed of learn- 
 ing everything language, geometry, arithmetic, for instance 
 which admits of analysis or decomposition into parts, or which 
 ultimately rests on concrete matter. In learning the imitative 
 arts, the process will be somewhat varied, but the principles re- 
 main essentially the same ; for it is the same human mind engaged 
 in teaching itself under the direction of the teacher. 
 
 All the main characteristics, then, of a good method of teach- 
 ing are involved in those of the pupil's natural method of learn- 
 ing, that is to say, the teacher must begin his instructions in 
 science, language, &c., with concrete matter with facts; must 
 exercise his pupil's native powers of observation, judgment, and 
 reasoning ; call on him to practise analysis and synthesis ; make 
 him explore, investigate, and discover for himself ; and so on. 
 
 Now it is obvious that, in order to maintain that action and in- 
 fluence by which the pupil's method is to end in complete and 
 accurate knowledge, the teacher must be well furnished with that 
 knowledge of mental and moral phenomena of human nature, 
 in short which, as I showed in the first Lecture, should consti- 
 tute his own equipment as an educator. He must know what the 
 mind does while thinking, in order to get his pupils to think cor- 
 rectly. He must also know the normal action of moral forces 
 before he can effectually control the moral forces of his pupils. 
 In short, he must know what education is, and what it can be ex- 
 pected to accomplish, before he can make it yield its best results. 
 Without this knowledge, much of his labor may be misapplied, 
 and, even if not altogether wasted, will be much less productive 
 than it would otherwise have been. 
 
 In order to show that these notions respecting the characteristics 
 of a good method are not merely theoretical, I will now quote from 
 an independent source Mr. Marcel's valuable treatise on Teach- 
 ing* what he considers to be the main features of such a method 
 generally. 
 
 * " Language aa a means of Mental Culture and International Communication ; a Manual 
 of the Teacher and the Learner of Languages." By C. Marcel, Knt. Leg. lion : French Con- 
 sul; 2voli. ]2mo; Chapman & Hall, 1853 a work of conspicuous excellence on the whole 
 art of teaching, and well deserving to be reprinted.
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. G7 
 
 First, says Mr. Marcel, " A good method favors self-teaching; " 
 and 011 this point he makes the following apt remarks : 
 
 " One of the chief characteristics of a good method consists in 
 enabling learners to dispense with the assistance of a teacher when 
 they are capable of self-government. It should be so contrived as 
 to excite and direct their spontaneous efforts, and lead them to the 
 conviction that they have the power, if they have the will, to 
 acquire whatever man has acquired. The prevailing notion that 
 we must be taught everything [that is, by "the most stupid and 
 most didactic method"] is a great evil. . . . The best informed 
 teachers and the most elaborate methods of instruction can impart 
 nothing to the passive and inert mind. If even a learner succeeded 
 in retaining and applying the facts enumerated to him, the mental 
 acquisition would then be vastly inferior to that which the investi- 
 gation of a single fact, the analysis of a single combination [e. </., 
 the fact of the pile-driving machine, the combinations it afforded], 
 by his unaided reason, would achieve." 
 
 2. " A good method is in accordance with nature." 
 
 He adds, " The natural process by which the vernacular idiom 
 is acquired demonstrates what can be done by self -instruction, and 
 presents the best model for our imitation in devising a method of 
 learning languages." [This is only another way of stating the 
 main proposition, that the method of teaching is suggested by the 
 natural method of learning.] 
 
 3. "A good method comprises Analysis and Synthesis." 
 "Analysis, the method of Nature, presents a whole, subdivides 
 
 it into its parts, and from particulars infers a general truth. By 
 analysis we discover, truths ; by synthesis we transmit them to 
 others. . . . Analysis, consistently with the generation of ideas 
 and the process of nature, makes the learner pass from the known 
 to the unknown ; it leaves him by inductive reasoning to the object 
 of study, and is both interesting and improving, as it keeps the 
 mind actively engaged. Synthesis [Mr. Marcel here means the 
 synthetic process of the teacher ; there is a little confusion in his 
 statement], on the contrary, which imposes truths, and sets out 
 with abstractions, presents little interest, and few means of mental 
 activity in the first stages of instruction. ... It is, however, 
 necessary for completing the work commenced by analysis. In a 
 rational method we should follow the natural course of mental 
 investigation ; we should proceed from facts to principles, and then 
 from principles down to consequences. We should begin with 
 analysis, and conclude with synthesis. ... In the study of the
 
 68 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 ails, decomposition and recom position, classification and general- 
 ization, are the groundwork of creation [i. e. of invention]." 
 
 4. "-<4 good method is both practical and comparative." 
 
 Mr. Marcel, who has in view especially the learning of language, 
 means, that there should be both practice founded on imitation, and 
 comparison, conducted by the exercise of the reasoning powers. 
 "The former," he says, "exercises the powers of perception, 
 imitation, and analogy ; the latter those of reflection, conception, 
 comparison, and reasoning , the first leads to the art, the second to 
 the science, of language. . . . The one teaches how to use a 
 language, the other how to use the higher faculties of the mind. 
 
 O O ' ^ 
 
 The combination of both would constitute the most efficient system." 
 [It is needless to say that our model lesson on teaching elementary 
 science presented both these characteristics.] 
 
 5. " A good method is an instrument of intellectual culture." 
 This is little more than a repetition of the previous statements. 
 
 However, Mr. Marcel, in insisting that a good method should culti- 
 vate all the intellectual faculties, further remarks, that " through 
 such a method the reasoning powers will be unfolded by comparing, 
 generalizing, and classifying the facts of language, by inferring 
 and applying the rules of grammar, as also by discriminating 
 between different sentiments, different styles, different writers 
 and different languages ; whilst the active co-operation of atten- 
 tion and memory will be involved in the action of all the other 
 faculties. 
 
 Such are, according to Mr. Marcel, who only represents all the 
 writers of any authority on the subject, the main criteria of a good 
 method of teaching. It is obvious that, though he has chiefly in 
 view the teaching of languages, they strikingly coincide with the 
 deductions we gathered from observing the pupil's own method of 
 learning elementary science. The conclusion, then, appears in- 
 evitable, that the characteristics of a good method must be the 
 same, whatever the subject of instruction, and that its goodness 
 must be tested by its recognition or non-recognition of the natural 
 laws of the process by which the human mind acquires knowledge 
 for itself. 
 
 Having thus indicated the main criteria of a good method of 
 teaching, I shall employ the remainder of our time in the exposi- 
 tion and criticism of the methods of a few of the masters of the 
 art. 
 
 I begin with Roger Ascham's method of teaching Latin, a method 
 characterized by Mr. J. B. Mayor (himself a high authority on
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 69 
 
 education), in his recently published valuable edition of "The 
 Scholemaster," as "the only sound method of acquiring a dead 
 language." 
 
 Ascham gave his pupils a little dose of grammar to begin with. 
 He required them to learn by heart about a page of matter con- 
 taining a synopsis of the eight parts of speech, and the three 
 concords. This was the grammatical equipment for their work. 
 He then took an easy epistle of Cicero. What he did with it may 
 be best learned 1'roui his own words. " First," he said, " let the 
 master teach the childe, cherefullie and plaiulie, the cause and 
 matter of the letter [that is, what it is about] , then let him con- 
 strue it into Englishe, so oft, as the childe may easilie carie awaie 
 the understanding of it. Lastlie, parse it over perfitlie. [The 
 teacher, it is seen, supplies conventional knowledge the English 
 words corresponding to the Latin which the child could not pos- 
 sibly find out for himself, and strictly applies the modicum of 
 grammar already learned.] This done thus, let the childe, by and 
 by, both construe and parse it over againe ; so that it may appeare, 
 that the childe douteth in nothing that his master taught him before. 
 [This is the reproductive part of the process, involving a partial, 
 mechanical, synthesis.] After this, the childe must take a paper 
 booke, and, sitting in some place where no man shall prompe him, 
 by himself, let him translate into Englishe his former lesson. 
 [This is a test of sound acquisition, and involves a more definite 
 synthesis.] Then showing it [his translation] to his master, let 
 the master take from his Latin booke, and pausing an houre, at 
 the least, than let the childe translate his owne Englishe into Latin 
 againe, in an other paper booke. [This is the critical test, the 
 exact reproduction by memory, aided by judgment, of the knowl- 
 edge gained by observation and comparison.] When the childe 
 briugeth it turned into Latin [his re-translation] the master must 
 compare it with Tullies booke [the Latin text of the epistle], and 
 laic them both togither ; and where the childe doth well, either in 
 chosing or true placing of Tullies words, let the master praise him, 
 and saie, Here ye do well. For I assure you there is no such whet- 
 stone to sharpen a good witte and encourage a will to learninge, as 
 is praise." [This last part of the process is especially valuable, 
 involving the correction of faults in the presence of the model, 
 the pupil being really taught, not by the arbitrary dictum of the 
 master, but by the superior authority of the master's master, the 
 author himself.] 
 
 In this way, supplying additional grammatical knowledge by the
 
 70 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 law of exigence, just when it is needed, the teacher finds in the 
 text thus carefully "lessoned," studied, and known by the pupil, 
 " the ground," as Ascham puts it, " of almost all the rewles that 
 are so busilie (anxiously) taught by the master, and so hardlie 
 learned by the scholer, in all common scholes ; which after this sort 
 ' the master shall teach without all error [because founded on facts 
 present to view] , and the scholer shall learn withoute great paine ; 
 the master being led by so sure a guide, and the scholer being 
 brought into so plaiiie and easie a waie. And, therefore," he pro- 
 ceeds, " we do not contemne rewles, but we gladlie teach rewles ; 
 and teach them more plainlie, sensibile, and orderlie than they be 
 commonlie taught in common scholes." 
 
 We see in Ascham 's method, that the concrete preceded the 
 abstract ; the particulars, the generalization ; the examples of 
 language, the grammatical rules. He was thus carrying out the 
 spirit of Dean Colet and Cardinal Wolsey, who had insisted, to use 
 the words of the former, that if a man desires " to attain to under- 
 stand Latin books, and to speak and to write clean Latin, let him 
 above all busily (carefully) learn and read good Latin authors of 
 chosen poets and orators, and note wisely how they wrote and 
 spake, and study always to follow them, desiring none other rules 
 but their examples." After much more to the same effect, he ends 
 his instructions to the masters of St. Paul's School, by urging that 
 "busy (careful) imitation with tongue and pen more availeth 
 shortly to get the true eloquent speech, than all the traditions, 
 rules, and precepts of masters." Cardinal Wolsey uses nearly the 
 same words in his directions to the masters of Ipswich School. 
 
 Into the further details of Ascham's method, so quaintly de- 
 scribed in the " Scholemaster," I cannot enter, except to say that 
 after a long training in double-translations, with the constant ap- 
 plication of grammar rules as they are wanted ("the grammar booke 
 being ever in the scholer 's hand, and also used by him, as a dic- 
 tionarie, for everie present use,") the master translates himself easy 
 portions of Cicero into English, and then requires the pupil, iclio 
 has not seen the original, to turn them into Latin. The pupil's work 
 is then to be carefully compared with- and corrected by, the origi- 
 nal, " for of good heedtaking springetn chiefly knowledge." This 
 exercise prepares the scholar for independent composition in Latin. 
 
 There is one feature especially in this method, as described by 
 Ascham, worthy of careful notice, and that is the dose study of a 
 small portion of literary matter, ending in a complete mastery of it. 
 The various exercises of the method require the pupil, as Ascharn
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 71 
 
 shows, to go over this portion at least a dozen times ; and he adds 
 significantly, "always with pleasure; for pleasure allureth love, 
 love hath lust to labor, labor always attaineth his purpose." By 
 continually coming into direct contact with the phraseology of the 
 text, the pupil masters the form, and through the form penetrates 
 into the spirit of the author ; or, as Ascham phrases it, " by mark- 
 ing dailie and following diligentlie the footsteps of the best authors, 
 the pupil understands their invention of arguments, their arrange- 
 ment of topics, and hereby," he adds, "your scholar shall be brought 
 not only to like [similar] eloquence, but also to all true understand- 
 ing and rightful judgment for speaking and writing." It appears, 
 then, that Ascham's pupil proceeds firmly on a broad basis of facts, 
 which he has made his own by mental conquest, and that this has 
 been possible because the field of conquest has been intentionally 
 limited. It is obvious that no method of teaching which consists 
 in bringing a bit of this thing (or author) , a bit of that thing (or 
 author), transiently before the pupil's mind, creating ideas, like 
 dissolving views, each of which in its turn displaces its predecessor, 
 which makes acquisitions only to abandon them before they are 
 " incorporated with the organic life of the mind," can possibly be 
 a good method. Hence the very general result of our systems of 
 education, so called, is a fan-ago of facts partially hatched into 
 principles, mingled in unseemly jumble with rules half understood, 
 exceptions claiming equal rank with the rules, definitions dislocated 
 from the objects they define, and technicalities which clog rather 
 than facilitate, as they should do, the operations of the mind. 
 
 It would be easy to show that the valuable ends of instruction 
 and education can only be gained by doing a little well; that the 
 ambition to grasp many things ignobly ends in the loss of the large 
 majority of them (quitrop embrasse mal &treint) ; that apprehension 
 is not comprehension, and generally, that to the characteristics of a 
 good method of teaching we must add this, that' it aims at securing 
 multum, but not mnlta. If the object of education is training to 
 faculty, to mental self-direction, his principle must be constantly 
 insisted on. I see, however, with the deepest regret, that our edu- 
 cational amateurs men of the best intentions, but of no prac- 
 tical experience are continually violating it in their persistent 
 attempts to extend the curriculum of elementary instruction. A 
 little bit of this knowledge, a little bit of that some information 
 on this point, and some on that is so " useful." They forget that 
 the most useful thing of all is the formation of good mental habits, 
 and that these can only be formed by concentrating the mind on a 
 few subjects, and making them the basis of training. When this su-
 
 72 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 premely useful object has been gained, the curriculum may be ex- 
 tended ad libitum; but not till then. What is really wanted in 
 primary, and indeed all classes of schools, is not so much, more 
 subjects to teach, but the power of teaching the ordinary subjects 
 well. Ascham's method, then, with some slight modifications, pre- 
 sents all the characteristic features of a good method of teaching, 
 and is, I need not point out, identical in principle with that already 
 illustrated. It is natural, simple, effective, although so widely 
 different, in most of its features, from the traditional methods of 
 our grammar schools ; which are indeed, in most respects, suited 
 to the mental condition of the ambitious, active-minded, inventive 
 few, but not at all to the ordinary mental condition of the ttaoy. 
 We too often forget that the raison d'etre of the schoolmaster is 
 the instruction, not of the minority who will and can teach them- 
 selves, but of the majority who can but will not. Our teaching 
 force should regulate the movements rather of the ordinary planets 
 than of the comets of the system. 
 
 In the seventeenth century, a number of thoughtful men Ger- 
 mans unsatisfied with the methods of education then in vogue, 
 began almost simultaneously to investigate the principles of educa- 
 tion ; and, as the result, arrived virtually at the conclusion on 
 which I have so often insisted, that the teacher's function is really 
 defined by that of the pupil, and that it is by understanding what 
 he is, and what he does, that we learn how to treat him wisely and 
 effectively. The eminent names of Ratich, Sturm, and especially 
 Comenius, are connected with this movement. I can do no more 
 ,than refer those who are interested in the details to Von Raumer's 
 valuable "Geschichte der Padagogik," or to Mr. Quick's exposi- 
 tion of them in the " Essays on Educational Reformers." The 
 results may be stated in Mr. Quick's words : 
 
 "1. They (the reformers in question) proceed from the con- 
 crete to the abstract, giving some knowledge of the thing itself 
 before the rules which refer to it. 2. They employ the student in 
 analyzing matter put before him, rather than in working syntheti- 
 cally according to precept. 3. They require the student to teach 
 himself, under the superintendence of the master, rather than be 
 taught by the master, and receive anything on the master's authority. 
 4. They rely on the interest excited in the pupil by the acquisition 
 of knowledge ; and renounce coercion. 5. Only that which is 
 understood may be committed to memory." 
 
 The methods, then, of these reformers present the same charac- 
 teristics which we have deductively gaiued by other means.
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 73 
 
 In a lecture on Methods, it is impossible to omit the names of 
 Locke and Rousseau. As, however, it is easy to read through the 
 short and very interesting "-Treatise of Education " and the capital 
 digest of the " Emile " in Mr. Quick's book, I may pass them over. 
 
 We come next to Pestalozzi a name of world-wide renown, of 
 still increasing influence. He differed essentially from Comenius, 
 whom he practically succeeded in the history of education, in 
 1 icing a comparatively uneducated man. When once reproached 
 by his enemies (of whom, from various causes, he had many) with 
 being unable to read, write, and cipher respectably, he frankly 
 acknowledged that the charge was true. On another occasjon he 
 confessed to an "unrivalled incapacity to govern" a confession 
 which discovered a most accurate self-knowledge on his part ; and 
 generally, his whole educational life bore witness to the deficiency 
 of his mental equipment and training. He often bitterly deplored, 
 when he could not remedy, this ignorance and incapacity. His 
 mind, however, was remarkably active and enterprising, and his 
 moral power truly immense. A thousand criticisms on his want of 
 knowledge, of judgment, of the power of government, of even 
 common sense (as men usually estimate that quality) , fall powerless 
 as attacks on a man whose unfailing hope, love, and patience not 
 only formed his inward support under trials and disappointments, 
 but combined with that intense necessity of action, which was the 
 essence of his nature, in stamping his moral influence on all around 
 him. Virtue, with him, was not a mere word ; it was an energetic, 
 ever-acting force.* To instruct and humanize the poor wretched 
 children who were generally his pupils, to relieve their physical 
 wants and sufferings, to sympathize with them under their diffi- 
 culties, was to him not only a duty but a delight. To accom- 
 plish these objects, he worked like a horse (only harder), fagging 
 and slaving sometimes from three in the morning till eleven at 
 night, dressed himself like a mechanic, almost starved himself, 
 became, as he tells us, " the children's teacher, trainer, paymaster, 
 man-servant, and almost house-maid ; " and all this to gain the 
 means for instructing, boarding, sometimes even clothing, children 
 who not nnfrequeutly rewarded his labors with ingratitude and 
 scorn. Pestalozzi was indeed the Howard of schoolmasters. 
 
 * Like most enthusiasts, however, he exerciced It very irregularly. On one occasion, we 
 are told, when reduced to the utmost extremity for want of money, he borrowed 400 francs from 
 a friend. Going home, be met a peasant wringing his hands in despair for the loss of his 
 cow. Without a moment's hesitation, lYstalozzi put the purse with all Its contents into the 
 man'ri hands and ran off, as quick as he could, to escape hU thanks.
 
 74 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 It was his unbounded philanthropy that first led him to become 
 a schoolmaster, his intense love and pity that supplied both 
 motive and means. He saw around him children perishing, as he 
 conceived, for lack of knowledge ; and though possessed of little 
 himself, though mentally untrained, though ignorant of the experi- 
 ence of other teachers, he resolved, with such appliances as he 
 had, to commence the work. The one ruling thought in his mind 
 was, "Here are poor ignorant children. From my heart I pity 
 them. I feel that I can do them some good. Let me try." 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that his trials often proved "trials" 
 indeed, and ended in utter disappointment : for although his edu- 
 cational instincts furnished him with excellent notions and theories 
 about teaching, the actual results were often unsatisfactory. In 
 this intense eagerness to press forward, he never stopped to examine 
 results, nor to co-ordinate means with ends. Provided that he 
 could excite, as he generally did, a vivid interest in the actual 
 lesson, he was contented with that excitement as the end of his 
 teaching. Thus, while he, to some extent, developed the mental 
 powers, he did not even conceive of the higher end of training 
 them to independent action. 
 
 In order to show what Pestalozzi's method of teaching really 
 was, I shall quote some passages from an interesting narrative 
 written by Ramsauer, who was first a pupil and then a teacher in 
 one of Pestalozzi's schools.* 
 
 Referring to his experience as a pupil, he says, " I got about as 
 much regular schooling as the other scholars namely, none at 
 all; but his (Pestalozzi's) sacred zeal, his devoted love, which 
 caused him to be entirely unmindful of himself, his serious and 
 depressed state of mind, which struck even the children, made the 
 deepest impression on me, and knit my childlike and grateful heart 
 to his for ever." 
 
 Pestalozzi had a notion " that all the instruction of the school 
 should start from form, number, and language ; so that the entire 
 curriculum consisted of drawing, ciphering, and exercises in 
 language." " "We neither read nor wrote," says Ramsauer, "nor 
 were we required to commit to memory, anything secular or sacred." 
 
 "For the drawing, we had neither copies to draw from nor 
 directions what to draw, but only crayons and boards ; and we 
 were told to draw 'what we liked.' . . . But we did not know 
 
 * Those quotations are taken from a translation by Mr. Tillcnrd of Von Uaumer's account 
 of Pcstalozzi's Life and System, given In the " Qeschlchte diT Piidagogik."
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 75 
 
 what to draw, and so it happened that some drew men and women, 
 some houses, &c. . . . Pestalozzi never looked to see what we had 
 drawn, or rather scribbled ; but the clothes of all the scholars, 
 especially the sleeves and elbows, gave unmistakable evidence* that 
 they had been making due use of their crayons." [This is a 
 remarkable specimen of children being left to teach themselves, 
 without the careful superintendence of the teacher, and certainly does 
 not recommend the practice.] 
 
 "For the ciphering," Ramsauer says, "we had between every 
 two scholars a small table pasted on mill-board, on which, in 
 quadrangular fields, were marked dots which we had to count, to 
 add together, to subtract, to multiply and divide, by one another." 
 [Here there is obviously some superintendence ; the character of 
 it, however, is seen in what follows.] " But as Pestalozzi only 
 allowed the scholars to go over and to repeat the exercises in their 
 turns, and never questioned them nor set them tasks, these exercises 
 which were otherwise very good, remained without any great utility. 
 He had not sufficient patience to allow things to be gone over again, 
 or to put questions ; and in his enormous zeal for the instruction 
 of the whole school, he seemed not to concern himself in the 
 slightest degree for the individual scholar." [These are Ramsauer's 
 words, and they give a curious idea of a superintendence which 
 involved neither knowledge of the nature of the machine, nor a 
 true conception of the end towards which it was working, nor any 
 notion of the corrections necessary to control its aberrations and 
 apply its action to special cases. Yet, as making concrete matter 
 the basis of the abstractions of number, it was good ; and good, 
 too, in employing the pupil's own observation, and his analytical 
 and synthetical faculties. Hence we find that Pestalozzi was more 
 successful in teaching arithmetic than anything else.] 
 
 Ramsauer proceeds, " The best things we had with him were 
 the exercises on language, at least those which he gave us on the 
 paper-hangings of the school-room, and which were real exercises 
 on observation." "These hangings," he goes on to say, " were 
 very old and a good deal torn ; and before these we had frequently 
 to stand for two or three hours together, and say what we observed 
 in respect to the form, number, position, and color of the figures 
 painted on them, and the holes torn in them, and to express what 
 we observed in sentences gradually increasing in length. On such 
 occasions he would say, ' Boys, what do you see ? ' (He never 
 named the girls). Ans. A hole in the wainscot (meaning the 
 hangings). P. Very good. Now repeat after me : I see a hole
 
 76 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 in the wainscot. I see a long hole in the wainscot. Through the 
 hole I see the wall. Through the long narrow hole I see the wall. 
 P. Repeat after me : I see figures on the paper-hangings. I see 
 black figures on the paper-hangings. I see round black figures on 
 the paper-hangings. I see a square yellow figure on the paper- 
 hangings. Beside the square yellow figure I see black round fig- 
 ures, &c. 
 
 " Of less utility were those exercises in language which he took 
 from natural history, and in which we had to repeat after him, and 
 at the same time to draw, as I have already mentioned. He would 
 say : Amphibious animals crawling amphibious animals, creep- 
 ing amphibious animals. Monkeys long-tailed monkeys, short- 
 tailed monkeys, and so on." 
 
 Ramsauer adds, " We did not understand a word of this, for 
 not a word was explained ; and it was all spoken in such a sing- 
 song tone, and so rapidly and indistinctly, that it would have been 
 a wonder if any one had understood anything of it, and had learned 
 anything from it. Besides, Pestalozzi cried out so dreadfully loud 
 and so continuously that he could not hear us repeat after him, the 
 less so as he never waited for us when he had read out a sentence, 
 but went on without intermission, and read off a whole page at 
 once. Our repetition consisted for the most part in saying the 
 last word or syllable of each phrase ; thus, " Monkeys monkeys," 
 or "Keys keys." There was never any questioning or re- 
 capitulation." 
 
 This long but interesting account, from the pen of an attached 
 pupil, fairly represents (as we learn from Von Raumer himself, 
 who spent nearly nine months in the school) Pestalozzi' s actual 
 teaching, though not the ideal which, in describing results to 
 strangers, he often, in his enthusiasm, substituted for it. 
 
 In criticizing it, we observe, in the first place, that Pestalozzi's 
 method excites mental action to some extent, but secures the ends 
 neither of instruction nor education. It scarcely at all recognizes 
 the self-teaching of the child, but rather supersedes it by the me- 
 chanical repetition of the master's words. The observation of 
 the child, called for a moment to the properties of objects, is 
 immediately checked by the resolution, on the part of the teacher, 
 of the lesson on things into a lesson on words. The naming of 
 qualities, not ascertained by investigation, but pointed out by the 
 teacher, constitutes what Pestalozzi looked on in theory as a train- 
 ing of the powers of obsei-vation. Von Raumer, Professors Maiden 
 and Mosely, and Herbert Spencer, all agree in their estimate both
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 77 
 
 of the value of Pestalozzi's theory respecting object-teaching, and 
 the comparative worthlessness of his practice. In fact, to hold up a 
 piece of chalk before a class (keeping it in your own hands all the 
 while), to call out " That is chalk," and to make the class repeat 
 after you three times, " That is chalk ! that is chalk ! that is 
 chalk!" or "Chalk is white," "Chalk is hard," &c., is in no 
 proper sense teaching the properties of chalk, but only the names 
 of its properties. Pestalozzi, however, never saw this, nor that 
 his method generally had no tendency to train the mind. An ad- 
 ditional proof of his blindness in this respect was that he drew up 
 manuals of instruction for his teachers which involved in their use 
 a perfectly slavish routine. Thus we learn from his " Book for 
 Mothers," that the teacher, in teaching a child the parts of his 
 own body (which he fancied was the subject to be first taught), 
 is to go, word for word, through a quantity of such matter as 
 this : " The middle bones of the index finger are placed outside, 
 on the middle joints of the index finger, between 'the back and 
 middle* members of the index finger," &c. Then he compiled a 
 spelling-book containing long lists of words, which were to be re- 
 peated to the infant in its cradle, before it was able to pronounce 
 even one of them, that they might be deeply impressed on its 
 memory by frequent repetition. 
 
 On the whole, then, from Pestalozzi's method pur et simple, 
 there is little to be gained. It was much improved subsequently 
 by some of his teachers, Schmid, Niederer, &c., who saw in his 
 theories applications which he failed to see himself. Had he been 
 educated in education, had he, moreover, profited by the experi- 
 ence of others, had he brought his practice into conformity with 
 his principles (crude enough though some of these were) his 
 career, instead of being a series of failures and disappointments, 
 many of them due, however, to his unrivalled " incapacity to 
 govern," would have been one of triumphant success. 
 
 As it is, we owe him much. His principles, and much of his 
 practice, are an inheritance that the world will not willingly let 
 die. Let us, however, leave the noble-minded, self-sacrificing 
 Pestalozzi, with all his virtues and all his faults, and pass on to 
 Jacotot. 
 
 It should be stated in the outset, that Jacotot was rather an 
 educator of the mind than of all the human forces. He does not 
 appear to have been placed in circumstances which required him 
 to develop and train, by special treatment, the physical and moral 
 powers ; although the moral force of his own energetic character,
 
 78 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 as well as that of bis system, could not but be, and was, vitally 
 influential on the whole being of his pupils. It is, however, mainly 
 as a teacher that I propose to consider him. 
 
 But some here will enquire who was Jacotot ; a question I have 
 no time to answer in detail. I can merely say that he was born at 
 Dijon in 1770 ; >was educated at the college of that town ; at nine- 
 teen years of age took the degree of Docteur-es-Lettres, and was 
 appointed Professor of Humanities (i. e., grammar, rhetoric, and 
 composition) in the same college ; when the troubles of his country 
 arose, became, at the age of twenty-two, a captain of artillery, 
 and fought bravely at the sieges of Maestricht and Valenciennes ; 
 was afterwards made sub-director of the Polytechnic School at 
 Paris ; then Professor of the Method of Sciences at Dijon ; and 
 later Professor of Pure and Transcendental Mathematics, Roman 
 Law, Ancient and Oriental Languages in different colleges and 
 universities. Obliged, as a marked opponent of the Bourbons, to 
 leave France on their restoration, he took refuge in Brussels, and 
 was in 1818 appointed by the Belgian government Professor of 
 the French Language and Literature in the University of Louvain ; 
 there discovered the method of teaching which goes by his name ; 
 devoted the remainder of his life to propagating it ; and died at 
 Paris in 1840, being then seventy years of age. 
 
 We are told that, as a schoolboy, he displayed some remarkable 
 characteristics. He was what teachers, and especially dull ones, 
 consider a particularly "objectionable" child. He was one of 
 those children who " wanted to know, you know," why this thing 
 was so ; why that other thing was not. He showed little defer- 
 ence, I am afraid, to the formal didactic prelections of his 
 teachers. Not that he was idle ; far from that. We are told that 
 he delighted in the acquisition of all kinds of knowledge that 
 could be gained by his own efforts, while he steadily resisted what 
 was imposed on him by authority ; admitting nothing which was 
 primd facie contestable ; rejecting whatever he could not see 
 clearly ; refusing to learn by heart grammars, or, indeed, any mere 
 digests of conclusions made by others. At the same time he eagerly 
 committed to memory passages of authors which pleased him, 
 thus spontaneously preferring the society of the " masters of the 
 grammarians " to that of the grammarians themselves. Even as 
 a child, nearly everything he knew he had taught himself. He 
 was, in short, ill adapted to be a pupil of any of those methods 
 which, in Mrs. Pipchin's fashion, are intended to open the mind 
 of a child like an oyster, instead of encouraging it to develop like a
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 79 
 
 flower. As a Professor, his rooms were always crowded with eager 
 pupils; and his inaugural address, at Lou vain, was received, we 
 are told by one who was present, with an enthusiasm like that 
 which usually greeted Talma on the stage. 
 
 His style of teaching, as a Professor, before the invention of his 
 method, was striking and original. Instead of pouring forth a 
 flood of information on the subject under attention from his own 
 ample stores, explaining everything, and thus too frequently super- 
 seding, in a great degree, the pupil's own investigation of it, 
 Jacotot, after a simple statement of the object of the lesson, with 
 its leading divisions, boldly started it as a quarry for the class to 
 hunt down, and invited every member to take part in the chase. 
 All were at liberty to raise questions, make objections, and suggest 
 answers, to ask for facts as the basis of arguments, to repudiate 
 mere didactic authority. During the discussion, the teacher con- 
 fined himself to asking questions, to suggesting now and then a fresh 
 scent, to requiring clear statements and mutual courtesy ; but of 
 teaching, in the popular sense of the term, as consisting in the 
 authoritative communication of knowledge, there was little or none. 
 His object throughout was to excite, maintain, and direct the in- 
 tellectual energies of his pupils to train them to think. The 
 lesson was concluded by his summing up the arguments that had 
 been adduced, and stating clearly the results obtained.* 
 
 "VVe come now to the origin of Jaco tot's method. In entering 
 on his duties at Louvain, he found that he had to lecture to 
 students, many of whom knew nothing of French. As he was 
 
 * Mr. Wilson of Rugby, in his admirable paper in the "Essays on a Liberal Education," 
 thus describes, in almost identical terms, what he considers a proper method of teaching 
 science : 
 
 "Theory and experience alike convince me that the master who is teaching a class quite 
 unfamiliar with scientific method, ought to make his class teach themselves, by thinking out 
 the subject of the lecture with them, taking up their suggestions and illustrations, criticizing 
 them, hunting them dawn, and proving a suggestion barren or an illustration inapt; starting 
 them on a fresh scent when they are at fault, reminding them of some familiar fact they had 
 overlooked, and so eliciting out of the chaos of vague notions that arc afloat on the matter 
 in hand be it the laws of motion, the evaporation of water, or the origin of the drift 
 something of order, and concatenation, and interest, before the key to the mystery is given, 
 even if, after all, it has to be given. Training to think, not to be a mechanic or surveyor, 
 must be lii>t and foremost as his object. So valuable tire the subjects intrinsically, and such 
 excellent models do they provide, that the most stupid and didactic teaching will not be use- 
 less, but It will not be the same source of power that " the method of investigation " will be 
 in the hands of a good master. Some few will work out a logic of proof, and a logic of dis- 
 covery, when the facts and laws that are discovered and proved have had time to lie and 
 crystallize in their minds. But imbued with scientific method they scarcely will be, unices it 
 springs up spontaneously in them." "On Teaching Natural Science In Schools. " Essays 
 on a Liberal Education, pp. 2S1, 2S2.
 
 80 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 himself ignorant of Flemish, the problem was how to teach them. 
 He solved it in this way. He put into their hands copies of 
 Te'lemaque, which contained a Flemish translation, not literal, on 
 the opposite page. After some exercises in pronunciation, he di- 
 rected the students, through an interpreter, to commit to memory 
 a few sentences of the French text, and gather their general mean- 
 ing from the version in their own language. They were told, on 
 the second day, and for several days, to add other portions in the 
 same way, while carefully repeating from the beginning. This 
 process, the laying in of materials, was repeated until a page or 
 two of the book was thoroughly known that is, known so that 
 the pupils could go on with any sentence of the French text from 
 memory, when the first word was given, or quote the whole sen- 
 tence in which any given word occurred, while they had at the 
 same time a general idea of the meaning. The teacher now began, 
 through his interpreter, to put questions, in order to test their 
 knowledge, not only of the sentences, as wholes, but also of the 
 component phrases and words. As the process of learning by 
 heart, and repeating from the beginning, went on, the questions 
 became more close and specific, so as to induce in the pupils' 
 minds an analysis of the text into its minutest elements. When 
 about half the first book of Telemaque was thus intimately known, 
 Jacotot told them to relate in their own French, good or bad, the 
 substance, not the exact words, of this or that paragraph of the 
 portion that they knew, or to read a paragraph of another part of 
 the book, and write down or say what it was about. He was sur- 
 prised at their success in this synthetic use of their fund of 
 materials. He praised their achievements ; saw, but took no notice 
 of, the blunders ; or if he did, it was simply to require the pupils 
 to correct them themselves by reference to the text (just as Ascham 
 did) . He reckoned on the power of the process itself, which in- 
 volved an active exercise of the mind, to correct blunders which 
 arose from inadvertence. In a very short time, these youths, 
 learning, repeating, answering questions, were able to relate any- 
 thing that they had first read over. Compositions of different 
 kinds, their text furnishing both subjects and language, were then 
 given, and it was found that as they advanced they spontaneously 
 recognized in their practice the rules of orthography and grammar 
 (without having learned them) , and at length wrote a language not 
 their own better (as Jacotot somewhat extravagantly declared) 
 that is with a more complete command of the force, correctness,
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 81 
 
 and even grace of style than either himself or any of his col- 
 leagues. 
 
 All were surprised at the result of his experiment, but Jacotot 
 alone perceived the principles involved in it. He saw 
 
 (1.) That his pupils had learned French, not through his 
 knowledge of it the circumstances forbade that but through the 
 exercise of their own minds upon the matter of the text, which 
 they had committed to memory. If they had had any teacher, the 
 book had been their teacher. It was from that source they had 
 derived all their knowledge, and the exercise of their observing, 
 remembering, comparing, generalizing, judging, and analyzing 
 powers upon it had supplied them with the materials they employed 
 in then- synthetic applications. 
 
 (2.) He saw that, though he had been nominally their teacher, 
 they had really taught themselves, that the acquisitions they had 
 made were their own acquisitions, the fruit of their own mental 
 exertions, that the method by which they had learned was really 
 their method, not his. 
 
 (3.) He deduced from this observation, that the function of 
 the teacher is that of an external moral force, always in operation 
 to excite, maintain and direct the mental action of the pupils, 
 to encourage and sympathize with his efforts, but never to super- 
 sede them. 
 
 After awhile Jacotot presented, in the form given below, the 
 result of his meditations on the principles involved in his experi- 
 ments. This precept for the guidance of the teacher, is in fact 
 as will be at once seen an epitome of the method of the learner, 
 and indeed of all learners, whatever be their age, or the subject 
 they may wish to learn so as really to know. 
 
 This, then, is the fundamental precept of Jacotot's method : 
 llfaut opprendre qnelque chose, etyrapporter tout le reste ; i. e., the 
 pupil must learn something, and refer all the rest to it. When 
 further explanation was demanded, he would reply to this effect : 
 
 (1) Learrt i. e., learn so as to know thoroughly, perfectly, 
 immovably (imperturbablement) , as well six months or twelve 
 months hence as now something, a portion of a book, for in- 
 stance. (2) Repeat that something, the portion learned, in- 
 cessantly i.e., every day or very frequently (sans cesse), from 
 the beginning, without any omission, so that no part of it be 
 forgotten. (3) Reflect upon the matter thus acquired analyze it, 
 decompose it, re-combine the elements, make it a real mental pos- 
 session in all its details, interpret the unknown by it. (4) Verify
 
 82 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 test general remarks i.e., grammatical and other rules by 
 comparing them with the facts the phraseology and construc- 
 tions which you already know. In brief, learn, repeat, reflect, 
 verify, or if you like, karn, verify, repeat, reflect; so that you 
 learn first, the order of the other processes is unimportant. Know 
 facts, then ; bring all the powers of the mind to bear upon them ; 
 and repeat what you know, to prevent its being lost. This is the 
 method of Jacotot, which may be otherwise represented thus : 
 
 In all your learning, do homage to the authority of facts. 
 
 ( 1 ) Apprenez. Learn them accurately ; grasp them firmly ; 
 apprehend, so as to know them. 
 
 ( 2 ) Rapportez. Compare them with each other, interpret one 
 by another, make the known explain the unknown, generalize them, 
 classify them, analyze them into their elements, re-combine the 
 elements, attach new knowledge to the pegs already fixed in your 
 mind. 
 
 (3 ) Repetez. Don't let the facts slip away from you. To lose 
 them, is to waste the labor you spent in acquiring them. Keep 
 them, therefore, continually before you by repetition. 
 
 Veriflez. Test general principles, said to be founded on them 
 by confronting them with your facts. Bring your grammatical 
 rules to the facts, and explain the facts by them. 
 
 In all this process, the pupil is employing natural means for a 
 natural end. He is doing what be did in the case of the pile-driv- 
 ing machine observing, comparing, investigating, discovering, in- 
 venting ; and if we apply the tests Mr. Marcel's or any other 
 of a good method, we find them all in this, which is the method of 
 the pupil, teaching himself under the direction of the master. 
 - It is, in short, as said before, the method by which all learners 
 
 whether the little child in nature's infant school, or the adult 
 man in the school of science learn whatever they really know. 
 In both cases, the essential basis of all mental progress is a knowl- 
 edge of facts a knowledge which, to be fruitful, must be gained 
 at first hand, and not on the report of others, must be strict and 
 accurate, and must be firmly retained. These are the essential 
 conditions for the subsequent operations by which knowledge is 
 appropriated, assimilated, and incorporated with the organic life 
 of the mind. On this point, however, I cannot further dwell. 
 
 In order to make the principles of Jacotot' s method clearer by a 
 practical example, I will give, in some detail, an account of his 
 plan of teaching Reading. 
 
 In this method, the sacred mysteries of b-a, ba ; b-e, be, in pro-
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 83 
 
 nouncing which, Dr. Bell gravely tells us, " the sound is an echo 
 to the sense," are altogether exploded; those columns too, all 
 symmetrically arranged in the vestibule of the temple of knowledge 
 to the dismay of the young pilgrim to its shriue, are entirely ig- 
 nored. The sphynx of the alphabet never asks him what see-a-tee 
 spells, nor devours him if he fails to give the impossible answer, 
 cat. The child who has already learnt to speak by hearing and 
 using whole words, not separate letters saying baby, not bee-a, 
 bee-wy has whole words placed before him. These words are 
 at first treated as pictures, which have names that he has to learn 
 to associate with the forms, in the same way that he already calls 
 a certain animal shape a cow, and another a dog, and knows a cer- 
 tain face as mamma's, and another as papa's. Suppose we take 
 a little story, which begins thus : 
 
 " Frank and Robert were two little boys about eight years old." 
 There is, of course, a host of reasons to show the unreasonable- 
 ness of beginning to teach reading by whole words. We ought, 
 we are told, to begin with the elements, put them together for the 
 child, arrange words in classes for him, keep all difficulties out of 
 his way, proceed step by step from one combination to another, and 
 so on. Reflecting, however, that Nature does not teach speaking 
 nor give her object-lessons in this way, but first presents wholes, 
 aggregates, compounds, which her pupil's analytic faculty resolves 
 into their elements, the teacher sets aside all these speculative dif- 
 ficulties ; and, believing in the native capacity of the child to exer- 
 cise on printed words the same powers which he has already 
 exercised on spoken words, forms the connection between the two 
 by saying to the child, "Look at me" (not at the book). He 
 then very deliberately and distinctly, but without grimacing, utters 
 the sound " Frank " two or three times, and gets the child to do 
 the same repeatedly, so as to secure from the first a clear and firm 
 articulation. He then points to the printed word, repeats "Frank" 
 and requires the child, in view of it, to utter the same sound several 
 times. The first word is learned and known. The teacher adds 
 " and." The child reads " Frank and." The teacher adds " Rob- 
 ert." The child reads "Frank and Robert." The teacher asks, 
 " Which is ' Robert ' ? and ' ? What is that word ?" (pointing to 
 it), "and that?" &c. The teacher says, "Show me 'and,' 
 4 Robert,' ' Frank,' in the same page in any page." 
 
 The same process is repeated with the rest of the words of the 
 sentence, and comes out thus :
 
 84 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Frank 
 Frank and 
 Frank and Robert 
 Frank and Robert were, &c. ; 
 
 the pupil is told each word once for all, and repeats from the begin- 
 ning, that nothing may be forgotten. By thus (1) learning, (2) 
 repeating, he exercises perception and memory. 
 
 Suppose that the next sentences are 
 
 " They were both very fond of playing with balls, tops, and 
 marbles. 
 
 " One day, as they were playing in the garden, it began to thun- 
 der very loud and to rain very hard. 
 
 " So they ran under the apple tree." 
 
 All the words of these sentences may be gradually learned, in the 
 same way, in four, six, or ten lessons. There is no need for haste. 
 The only thing needful is accurate knowledge to have something 
 ( quelque chose) thoroughly, perfectly, immoveably known (imper- 
 turbablement apprise). 
 
 The child has up to this point imitated the sounds given him, has 
 associated them with the signs, has exercised observation and 
 memory ; so that wherever he meets with these words in his book, 
 the sign will suggest the sound or given the sound, he will at 
 once point out the sign. 
 
 The teacher may now, if he thinks fit, begin to exercise the child's 
 analytical and inductive faculties ; not, however, necessarily on any 
 symmetrical plan. He says, " Look at me," and pronounces very 
 distinctly f-rank, repeating the process in view of the printed word. 
 He does the same with/-ond and/-as, and asks the child, "Which 
 letter is/?" (the articulation not the name e/), The child points 
 it out, and in this way/ (that is, the articulation, the power of it) 
 is learned and known. 
 
 The teacher covers over the / in fmnk, and asks what is left. 
 The child replies " rank." The tfcacher proceeds as before, utter- 
 ing r-anJc, and requiring the child to read for himself JR-obert, r-ain 
 ?--an, and thus the articulation of initial r is mastered. In the same 
 w:iy, the articulation I is gained from l-ittle and l-oud. Nor do the 
 mutes, as 6 and p present any difficulty. The utterance of b-oys, 
 b-oth, b-alls, b-egan suggests the necessary configuration of the or- 
 gans, and the function of these letters is appreciated. 
 
 The teacher may next, if he pleases, though it is not necessary 
 to anticipate the natural results of the process, try the synthetic 
 or combining powers of the child. He writes on a black-board, in
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 85 
 
 printing letters, the words, fold, falls, fops, fain, frond, fray, ray, 
 rap, lank, flank, last, loth, lops, let, lair, lap, bank, bat, bold, bay, 
 blank, &c., and requires the child, witJiout any help whatever, to 
 read them himself. Most children will do this at once. If there 
 is any difficulty, a simple reference, to the words Frank, little, 
 boys, &c., without any explanation, will immediately dispel it. 
 
 It is not necessary, I repeat, for the teacher thus to anticipate 
 the inevitable results of the process. The quickened mind of the 
 pupil will, of its own accord, analyze and combine, in its natural 
 instinct to interpret the unknown by the known. The only essen- 
 tial parts of the process are learning and repeating from the 
 beginning ; all the rest depends on these. And in guiding the 
 mind of the pupil to the intellectual use of his materials, the teacher 
 should be under no anxiety about the length of the process. He 
 should often practise a masterly inactivity ; should know how to 
 gain time by losing it to advance by standing still. If he have a 
 genuine belief in the native capacity of his pupils' minds, he need 
 have no fear as to the result. The pupil (1) learning, (2) repeat- 
 ing, (3) reflecting i. e., analyzing or de-composing, (4) re-com- 
 bining, is all along employing his active powers as an observer 
 and investigator, and learns at length to read accurately and to ar- 
 ticulate justly. The names of the letters may be given him when he 
 has thus learned their powers. It is a convenience, nothing more, 
 to know them. The young carpenter saws and planes no better 
 for knowing the names of his tools. 
 
 Such, then, is Jacotot's method applied to the teaching of Read- 
 ing. It ought, by theory, to accomplish this object, and it does. 
 "While philosophers are discussing the propriety of learning a sub- 
 ject without beginning secundum artem at what they call the be- 
 ginning, the child, like the epic poet, dashes in medias res, and 
 arrives at the end long before the discussion is over. A young 
 investigator of this school, initiated in the habit of actively em- 
 ploying his mind on the subject of study, laughs at the ingenious 
 arrangements, however kindly meant, furnished by various spelling- 
 book makers, to aid him in his career. lie turns aside from ram, 
 rem, rim, rom, rum adge, edge, idge, oclge, and udge, indeed, 
 from all the scientific permutations made for him on the assumption 
 that he cannot make them himself. He is told that there is a go- 
 cart provided to help him to walk, that the food is ready minced 
 for his eating : but he chooses to walk and comminute his food for 
 himself. Why should we prevent him? 
 
 This method is essentially the same as Mr. Curwen's " Look and
 
 86 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Say Method," and that of the little book entitled " Reading with- 
 out Spelling, or the Teacher's Delight ; " the only difference being 
 that the teacher here empk^s the process consciously as a means 
 of developing and training the mental powers as well as of teach- 
 ing to read, of education as well as of instruction. 
 
 My pleasant task is now done. I have left much unsaid that I 
 wished to sa}- ; and in criticising others, have, no doubt, exposed 
 myself to criticism. As that is the common lot, I ought not to 
 complain of it. I will, in conclusion, go over the main points 
 which I have touched upon in the three lectures. 
 
 In in}- first Lecture I endeavored to show that education is both 
 a science and an art, and that the principles of the science 
 account for, explain, and give laws to the processes of the art ; that 
 the educator's own education is incomplete without a knowledge of 
 these principles, which are ultimately grounded on those of Physi- 
 ology, Psychology, and Ethics ; that this knowledge is 'useful, not 
 only in its application to the normal phenomena occurring in prac- 
 tice, but especially to the abnormal, which demand for their treat- 
 ment all the resources of the science ; that knowledge of this kind 
 is comparatively rare among educators, and that its rarity is the 
 main cause of the unsatisfactory condition of much of our education. 
 
 In the second Lecture, assuming the education of the educator, 
 and confining myself to teaching, or the art of intellectual educa- 
 tion, I endeavored to show that the teacher ought, in the first 
 place, to have a just conception of his relation to his pupil ; that 
 this was gained by his seeing in the child one who had learned, or 
 taught himself, all that he already knew, and inferring, therefore, 
 that it was his business to continue the process already begun ; 
 that it thus appeared that the child's process of learning was, to 
 a great extent, a guide to the teacher's process of teaching, and 
 that the joint operation in which both were engaged resolved itself 
 into the superintendence, or direction, by the teacher, of the 
 pupil's method of self-instruction. 
 
 In this Lecture, I have shown that a method of teaching any 
 subject is a special mode of applying the art of teaching ; that to 
 be a good method, it must have certain characteristics, deduced 
 from successful practice, and ultimately referable to the principles 
 of the science of education, and I have described, and to some 
 extent criticized, a few well-known methods. 
 
 My simple aim, in these Lectures, has been to lead the educator 
 to form a high idea of his work ; to show that there are principles 
 underlying his practice which it is important for him to know, and
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 87 
 
 to induce him to study and apply them, not only for his own sake, 
 but as a protest against the despotism of routine, which has so long 
 hindered education from claiming its professional rights in England. 
 I trust I have not altogether failed to accomplish my purpose. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. THE RELATIVE CLAIMS OF SCIENCE AND LITERATURE IN THE CUR- 
 RICULUM OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 Lest it should be supposed that the writer believes that the teaching of 
 science ought to constitute of itself the curriculum of school instruction or 
 indeed to form its vital characteristic, he begs to append an extract from a 
 lecture he delivered at the College of Preceptors in 1866, on " The Curricu- 
 lum of Modern Education." This passage will show his opinion of the 
 relative value of scientific and literary instruction generally, and is quite 
 consistent with the argument advanced in these lectures, that the earliest 
 instruction of children ought to be a continuation of the natural process by 
 which they have learnt what they already know, and that this rudimentary 
 course of practice in the art of observing and discovering is the best prepara- 
 tion both for scientific and literary studies. It is for the sake of literary 
 studies themselves, and in order that they may be more efficiently pursued 
 by applying to them the method of scientific instruction, that the writer 
 recommends the preliminary training of the mind on natural objects. All 
 teaching, whatever be its subject, should be scientific in its spirit, if it is to 
 be really quickening. How far the ordinary grammar-school instruction is 
 so, may be seen by the evidence given before the Public Schools Commission 
 of 1862-3, the general result of which is thus pithily stated by the Senior 
 Censor of Christ Church : " The mass of young men, on entering the Uni- 
 versity (from the public schools ), have everything to learn, and no desire 
 to learn anything. In fact, very few of those who are candidates for ma- 
 triculation can construe with accuracy a piece from an author whom they 
 profess to have read. Wo never try them with an unseen passage ; it would 
 bo useless to do so." The Junior Censor of Christ Church adds : "The aver- 
 age men (from the public schools ) bring up but small results of the training 
 towhich they have been subjected for years. There is a general want of accu- 
 racy in their work. . . . They come up to us with very unawakened minds, 
 and" habits of mental indolence and inaccuracy." A third witness, a public 
 examiner of Oxford, also testifies that "the boys are not well grounded 
 in the subjects to which most of their time has been given ; and on other 
 points, less strictly academical, their ignorance is sometimes surprising. 
 ... The mass of boys sent out from Eton are very ignorant indeed." It is
 
 88 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 difficult to believe that the teaching which produces such results as these 
 can be scientific in its character or quickening in its spirit. 
 
 "If science, then, is to constitute a real discipline for the mind, much, 
 nay everything, will depend on the manner in which it is studied. In the 
 first place, it is to be remembered that the pupil is about to study things, 
 not words ; and therefore treatises on science are not, in the first instance, 
 to be placed before him. He must commence with the accurate examina- 
 tion of the objects and phenomena themselves, not of descriptions of them 
 prepared by others. By this means, not only will his attention be excited, 
 the power of observation previously awakened much strengthened, and the 
 senses exercised and disciplined, but the very important habit of doing 
 homage to the authority of facts, rather than to the authority of men, be 
 initiated. These different objects and phenomena may be placed and viewed 
 together, and thus the mental habits of comparison and discrimination may 
 be usefully practised. They may, in the next place, be methodically ar- 
 ranged and classified, and thus the mind may become accustomed to an or- 
 derly arrangement of its knowledge. Then the accidental may be distin- 
 guished from the essential, the common from the special, and so the habit 
 of generalization may be acquired ; and lastly, advancing from effects to 
 causes, or conversely from principles to their necessary conclusions, the 
 pupil becomes acquainted with induction and deduction processes of the 
 highest value and importance. It is no small advantage, moreover, that 
 this kind of study affords, both in its pursuit and in its results both in 
 the chase and the capture a very large amount of legitimate and generous 
 mental pleasure, and of a kind which the pupil will probably be desirous of 
 renewing for himself after he has left school. After all, however, it will 
 be observed, that while the study of the physical sciences tends to give 
 power over the material forces of the universe, it leaves untouched the 
 greater forces of the human heart ; it makes a botanist, a geologist, an elec- 
 trician, an architect, an engineer, but it does not make a man. The hopes, 
 the fears, the hatreds, and the loves ; the emotions which stir us to heroic 
 action, the reverence which bows in the presence of the inexpressibly good 
 and great ; the sensitive moral taste which shrinks from vice, and approves 
 virtue ; the sensitive mental taste which appreciates the sublime and beauti- 
 ful in art, and sheds delicious tears over the immortal works of genius 
 all this wonderful world of sensation, emotion, and thought lies outside of 
 that world which is the especial object of the study of the physical sciences." 
 ("The Curriculum of Modern Education," pp. 18, 19.)
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 89 
 
 LIST OF BOOKS ON EDUCATION. 
 
 SUITABLE FOR THE STUDY OF CANDIDATES FOR THE 
 DIPLOMAS OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 
 
 [Those marked * are the most important.] 
 
 SCIENCES ON WHICH THAT OF EDUCATION is BASED. 
 Physical Education. 
 
 Dr. Carpenter's Animal Pysiology. (Bell & Daldy.) 
 *Dr. Southwood Smith's Philosophy of Health. (Longmans.) 
 *Huxle3''s Lessons in Elementary Physiology. (Macmillan.) 
 *Dr. Andrew Combe's Principles of Physiology, applied to the 
 
 preservation of Health, and the improvement of Physical 
 
 and Mental Education. (Simpkin.) 
 
 Psychology and Ethics. 
 
 *Bain's The Senses and the Intellect. (Longmans.) 
 
 *Bain's The Emotions and the Will. (Longmans.) 
 
 *Bain's Mental and Moral Science ; a compendium of Psychology 
 
 and Ethics. (Longmans.) 
 *Morell's Introduction to Mental Philosophy on the Inductive 
 
 Method. (Longmans.) 
 Mansell's Metaphysics ; or, the Philosophy of Consciousness. 
 
 (Black.) 
 *Beneke's Elements of Psychology. Translated from the German. 
 
 (Parker.) 
 
 Dugald Stewart's Moral Philosophy. (Lmc.) 
 Abercrombie's Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers. 
 
 (Murray.) 
 
 Abercrombie's Philosophy of the Moral Feelings. (Murray.) 
 Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding. (Tegg.)
 
 90 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Logic. 
 
 *Jevons' Elementary Lessons in Logic. (Macmillan.) 
 *Bain's Inductive and Deductive Logic. 2 vols. (Longmans.) 
 *J. S. Mill's Logic. 2 vols. (Longmans.) 
 
 Archbishop Thompson's Laws of Thought. (Longmans.) 
 
 Whately's Logic. (Longmans.) 
 
 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION. 
 Theory mainly. 
 
 Herbert Spencer's Essays on Education, Physical, Mental, and 
 
 Moral. ( Williams & Norgate.) 
 Lectures on Education, delivered at the Royal Institution, by 
 
 Whewell, Faraday, Latham, Daubeny, Tyndall, Paget, and 
 
 Hodgson. (Parker.) 
 
 Jacob Abbott's "Teacher." Mayo's edition. (Hatchard.) 
 Rousseau's Emile. (Paris.) 
 Marcel's Language as a means of Mental Culture. 2 vols. 
 
 (Chapman & Hall.) 
 
 Tate's Philosophy of Education. (Longmans.) 
 Craig's Philosophy of Training ; or, the Principles and Art of a 
 
 Normal Education. (Simpkin.) 
 Essays on a Liberal Education. By Seeley, Farrar, Parker, 
 
 J. M. Wilson, Johnson, and Hales. (Macmillan.) 
 The Claims of Scientific Education. Addresses and arguments 
 
 by Tyndall, Henfrey, Huxley, De Morgan, Carpenter, 
 
 Herschell, &c. Edited by Dr. Youmans. (Macmillan.) 
 Locke on Education. St. John's Edition. (Hatchards.) 
 Stow's Training System. (Longmans.) 
 Fleury's Traite du Choix et de la Methode des Etudes. (Paris, 
 
 1759.) 
 Milton's Tractate on Education. 
 
 Practice mainly. 
 
 Edgeworth's Practical Education. 2 vols. (Baldwin.) 
 Currie's Principles and Practice of Early and Infant School 
 
 Education, and of Common School Education. 2 vols. 
 
 (Laurie.) 
 Gill's Introductory Text-Book to School Education, Method, and 
 
 School Management. (Longmans.) 
 Home and Colonial School Society's Manual of Elementary 
 
 Instruction. 2 vols. (Hamilton & Co.)
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 91 
 
 *IIome and Colonial School Society's Model Lessons. (Hamilton 
 
 & Co.) 
 Home and Colonial School Society's Practical Remarks on Early 
 
 Education. (Hamilton & Co.) 
 
 Manual of Human Culture. By Dr. Garvey. (Bell & Daldy.) 
 Dunn's Principles of Teaching. (Sunday School Union.) 
 AViUKrspin's Infant Education. (Hodson.) 
 Joseph! Juvencii Ratio Diseendi et Docendi. (Paris.) 
 Wood's Account of the Edinburgh Sessional School. Edin- 
 burgh : ( Wardlaw.) 
 
 *Pillans's Rationale of Discipline. (Taylor & Walton.) 
 *Dean Dawes's Suggestive Hints towards improved Secular In- 
 struction. (Groombridge.) 
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 Jullien's Esprit de la Methode de 1' Education de Pestalozzi. 
 
 2 vols. 
 Joseph Jacotot's Langue Maternelle et Langue Etraugere. 2 
 
 vols. (Paris.) 
 *Ered. Jacotot's L'Enseignement universel mis u la portee de 
 
 tons les peres de famillc. (Paris.) 
 
 Ascham's Scholemaster, J. B. Mayor's edition. (Bell & Daldy.) 
 Prendergast's Mastery System. (Longmans.) 
 Nasmith's Practical Linguist. (Nutt.) 
 Reading Disentangled. (Stanford.) 
 
 Letters from Hofwyl oa the Educational Institutions of De 
 Fcllenberg. ( Longmans. ) 
 
 LIVES OF EMINENT EDUCATORS. 
 
 Quick's Essays on Educational Reformers. (Longmans.) 
 
 Horace Mann's Life. Boston (U. S.) 
 
 Von Raumer's Life and System of Pestalozzi. Translated from 
 
 the Geschichte der Padagogik, by J. Tilleard. (Longmans.) 
 
 Life and Correspondence of Dr. Arnold. By Dean Stanley. 
 
 (Fdlowes.) 
 Life of Comenius, with his Essay on the Education of Youth 
 
 (Mallalieu.) 
 Memoir of Bernard Overberg. (Seeleys.)
 
 92 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 
 
 HISTORY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 *Von Eaumer's Geschichte der Piidagogik. 4 vols. (Stuttgart.) 
 Carl Schmidt's Geschichte der Piidagogik. 4 vols. 
 
 Geschichte der Erziehuug imd des Uuterrichts. 
 
 (Cothen.) 
 Fritz's Esquisse d'un Systeme complet d'Instruction et d'Educa- 
 
 tion, et de leur histoire. 3 vols. (Strassburg.) 
 Schmid's Encyclopadie des Erziehungs- und Uuterrichtswesens. 
 Hergang's Padagogische Real-Encvclopadie. 
 
 [We have no works in English corresponding to the above, nor any transla- 
 tion of them.] 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Wiese's German Letters on English Education. Translated by 
 
 W. D. Arnold. (Longmans.) 
 *Pestalozzi's Leonard and Gertrude. 2 vols. (Maioman.) 
 
 Dr. Paris' s Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest. 
 
 (Murray.) 
 *Miss Edgeworth's Harry and Lucy concluded. (Simpkin.) 
 
 Cousin's Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia. 
 Translated by Mrs. Austen. (Effingham Wilson.) 
 
 Whewell on University Education. (Parker.) 
 
 Sedgwick on the Studies of Cambridge. (Parker.) 
 
 George Combe on the Constitution of Man. (Simpkin.) 
 
 J. S. Mill's Inaugural Lecture at the University of St. Andrews. 
 (Longmans.) 
 
 The Prefaces to Professor De Morgan's Treatises on Mathematics, 
 especially Algebra. (Taylor & Walton.) 
 
 Quarterly Journal of Education. 10 vols. (Knight.) 
 
 The Museum. 8 vols. (Nelson.) 
 
 Educational Times, containing reports of all the Lectures de- 
 livered at the College of Preceptors, especially those pub- 
 lished by order of the Council : (1 .) On the Science and 
 Art of Education and Educational Methods, by Joseph 
 Payne ; (2) On the Teaching of English, by the Rov. E. A. 
 Abbott ; (3) Classics, by the Rev. Dr. Jacob ; (4) Physics, 
 by Professor Carey Foster ; (f>) Mechanics, by Professor 
 Adams ; (fi) Botany and Geology, by J. M. Wilson. 
 
 Principles of Education, especially that of Women, by M. A. 
 Stodart. (Seeleys.)
 
 EDUCATIONAL METHODS. 93 
 
 Thoughts on Self Culture, addressed to Women, by Maria G. 
 
 Grey and her sister Emily Shirreff. (Parker.) 
 Intellectual Education, by Emily Shirreff. (Parker.) 
 "The Education of Girls by Professor W. B. Hodgson. (Trub- 
 
 ner.) 
 
 *The Higher Education of Women, by Emily Davies. (Strahan.) 
 A Visit to some American Schools and Colleges, by Sophia 
 Jex Blake. (Macmillan.)
 
 PRINCIPLES 
 
 SCIENCE OF EDUCATION 
 
 AS EXHIBITED IN THE PHENOMENA ATTENDANT 
 
 ON THE UNFOLDING OF A YOUNG CHILD'S 
 
 POWEBS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF 
 
 NATURAL CIRCUMSTANCES. 
 
 [Printed for the use of the Members of Professor Payne's Class 
 at the College of Preceptors.]
 
 [The education considered in this paper is mainly that of the Intellect; 
 Will and Feeling being assumed, and not specially treated. 
 
 The objects aimed at are, to show (1) That the development of a 
 child's powers under the influence of external circumstances constitutes his 
 natural education ; (2) that formal education under the professed teacher is 
 to continue and supplement natural education, and mutatis mutandis, to 
 recognize and adopt the same agencies, processes and means ; and therefore 
 (3) that the Art of Education or Teaching, in general, is the practical ap- 
 plication of the principles of natural education.]
 
 PRINCIPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
 
 1 . Every child is an organism, furnished by the Creator The child an 
 
 organism. 
 
 with inherent capabilities of action, and surrounded by mate- 
 rial objects which serve as stimulants to action. 
 
 2. The channels of communication between the external Agency of the 
 
 .... ., . sensory organs. 
 
 stimulants and the* child s inherent capabilities of action are 
 the sensory organs, by whose agency he receives impressions. 
 
 3. These impressions, or sensations, being incapable of Sensations the 
 
 . . . . elements of 
 
 resolution into anything simpler than themselves, are the knowledge, 
 fundamental elements of all knowledge. The development 
 of the mind begins with the reception of sensations. 
 
 4. The grouping of sensations forms perceptions, which Sensations grow 
 
 into ideas. 
 
 are registered in the mind as conceptions or ideas.* Ihe 
 development of the mind, which begins with the reception of 
 sensr.tions, is canned onward by the formation of ideas. 
 
 5. The action and reaction between the external stimulants Natural 
 
 . ,, . , , education. 
 
 and the mind s inherent powers, involving processes of 
 development! and implying growth, may be regarded as 
 constituting a system of natural education. 
 
 6. A system of education implies (1) an educating what i* involved 
 influence, or educator ; (2) a being to be educated, or learner ; education? 1 
 (3) matter for the exercise of the learner's powers ; (4) a 
 
 method by which the action of these powers is elicited ; and 
 (5) an end to be accomplished. 
 
 * By " conception," or " idea," Is meant the trace, residuum, or ideal substitute 
 which represents the real pcrcoption. 
 
 t The term " development " is In TO i-mployed for that unfolding of the natural 
 powers of which " growth " is the registered result.
 
 98 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 The coefficients, 
 IMC.-IIIH, and ends 
 (if natural 
 education. 
 
 The educator 
 learns from the 
 child liow to 
 teach him. 
 
 The educator's 
 function. 
 
 Motives em- 
 ployed by the 
 educator. The 
 most influential, 
 the satisfaction 
 of the learner in 
 gaining knowl- 
 edge by himself. 
 
 The educator 
 purvey* 
 materials, and 
 stimulates the 
 child's mind to 
 work upon them. 
 
 What the child 
 does himself 
 educates him. 
 
 The child a 
 learner who 
 teaches hlnifelf. 
 
 The child learns 
 by personal 
 experience. 
 
 7. In the case before us, the educating influence, or educa- 
 tor, is God, represented by Nature, or natural circumstances ; 
 the being to be educated, or learner, a child ; the matter, the 
 objects and phenomena of the external world ; the method, 
 the processes by which this matter is brought into communi- 
 cation with the learner's mind ; and the object or end in 
 view, intellectual development and growth. 
 
 In view of the different agencies concerned in effecting this 
 intellectual education, and of their mutual relation, we arrive 
 at the following : 
 
 II. PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL EDUCATION. 
 
 I. Nature, as an educator, recognizes throughout all his 
 operations the inherent capabilities of the learner. The laws 
 of the learner's being govern the educator's action, and de- 
 termine what he does, and what he leaves undone. He 
 ascertains, as it were, from the child himself how to conduct 
 his education. 
 
 II. The natural educator is the prime mover and director 
 of the action and exercise in which the. learner's education 
 consists. 
 
 III. The natural educator moves the learner's mind to 
 action by exciting his interest in the new, the wonderful, the 
 beautiful ; and maintains this action through the pleasure felt 
 by the learner in the simple exercise of his own powers the 
 pleasure of developing and growing by means of acts of ob- 
 serving, experimenting, discovering, inventing, performed 
 by himself of being his own teacher. 
 
 IV. The natural educator limits himself to supplying 
 materials suitable for the exercise of the learner's powers, 
 stimulating these powers to action, and maintaining their 
 action. He co-operates with, but does not supersede, this 
 action. 
 
 V. The intellectual action and exercise in which the 
 learner's education essentially consists are performed by him- 
 self alone. It is what he does himself, not what is done for 
 him, that educates him. 
 
 VI. T*he child is therefore a learner who educates himself 
 under the stimulus and direction of the natural educator. 
 
 VII. The learner educates himself by his personal expe- 
 rience ; that is, by the direct contact of his mind at first hand 
 with the matter object or fact to be learned.
 
 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 99 
 
 VIII. The mind, in gaining; knowledge for itself, proceeds The mind 
 
 praowdi from 
 
 from the concrete to the abstract, from particular facts to t' 10 ">ncretu to 
 
 the abstract. 
 
 general facts, or principles ; and from principles to laws, 
 rules, and definitions ; and not in the inverse order. 
 
 IX. The mind, in gaining knowledge for itself, proceeds The mind 
 from the indefinite to the definite, from the compound to the method of 
 
 ,. . Investigation. 
 
 simple, from complex aggregates to their component parts, 
 from the component parts to their constituent elements by 
 the method of Investigation. It employs both Analysis and 
 Synthesis in close connection. 
 
 X. The learner's process of self-education is conditioned The laws of 
 by certain laws of intellectual action. These are (1) the action. 
 Law of Consciousness ; (2) of Attention, including that of 
 Individuation, or singling out ; (3) of Relativity, including 
 
 those of Discrimination and Similarity ; (4) of Retentiveness 
 including those of Memory and Recollection ; (5) of Associa- 
 tion, or Grouping ; (6) of Reiteration, or Repetition, includ- 
 ing that of Habit. 
 
 XI. Memory is the result of attention, and attention is the Memory the 
 
 result of atten- 
 
 concentration of all the powers of the mind on the matter to tion. 
 be learned. The art of memory is the art of paying attention. 
 
 XII. Ideas gained by personal experience are subjected by Processes of 
 the mind to certain processes of elaboration ; as classification elaboration, 
 abstraction, generalization, judgment, and reasoning. These 
 processes imply the possession of ideas gained by personal 
 experience, and they are all performed by the youngest 
 
 child who possesses ideas. 
 
 XIII. The learner's knowledge consists in ideas, gained Knowledge 
 from objects and facts by his own powers, and consciously ideas, not in 
 possessed not in tcords. The natural educator, by his action w 
 
 and influence, secures the learner's possession of clear and 
 definite primary ideas. Such ideas, so gained, are necessarily 
 incorporated with the organic life of the learner's mind, and 
 become a permanent part of his being. 
 
 XIV. Words are the conventional signs, the objective rep- words without 
 resentatives, of ideas, and their value to the learner depends k^owi^gJTto 
 on his previous possession of the ideas they represent. The th 
 
 words, without the ideas, are not knowledge to him. 
 
 XV. Personal experience is the condition of development, The growth of 
 whether of the body, mind, 'or moral sense. What the child ZS&SSfih?* 
 does himself, and loves to do, forms his habits of doing ; but education! lf ~ 
 the natural educator, by developing his powers and promoting
 
 100 Till: SCIKNCE OF EDUCATION. 
 
 their exercise, also guides him to the formation of right 
 habits. He therefore encourages the physical development 
 which makes the child healthy and robust, the intellectual 
 development which makes him thoughtful and reasonable, and 
 the moral development which makes him capable of appre- 
 ciating the beautiful and the good. This threefold develop- 
 mentof the child's powers tends to the formation of his bodily, 
 mental, and moral character, and prepares him to recognize 
 the claims of religion. 
 
 Definition of XVI. Education as a whole consists of development and 
 
 training, and mav therefore be denned as " the cultivation of 
 
 O * 
 
 all the native powers of the child, by exercising them in ac- 
 cordance with the laws of his being with a view to develop- 
 ment and growth." 
 
 These principles The above general facts or principles being the results of 
 
 constitute the . ' 
 
 Science of an analytical investigation into the nature of the child as a 
 Education. thinking being, and into the processes by which his earliest 
 
 education is carried on, constitute the Science of Natural 
 
 Education.. 
 Natural But as it is the same mind which is to be cultivated 
 
 Education the . 
 
 mod.-! of Formal throughout, .Natural Education is the pattern or model of 
 Formal Education, and consequently the Science of Natural 
 Education is the Science of Education in general. 
 
 The formal The formal educator or teacher, therefore, who professes 
 
 therefore 1 to take up and continue the education begun by Nature, is 
 SnTuTpractice 1 . to found his scheme of action upon the above principles, and 
 in supplementing and complementing the natural educator's 
 work, he is to proceed on the same lines. He is not to in- 
 trude modes of action which contravene and neutralize the 
 principles of natural education. 
 
 III. THE ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 n >*cation of 1 ^ r ^ * s ^ ne application of the laws of Science to a given 
 
 Science. subject under given circumstances. 
 
 Art the explicit 2. The Art of Education, or Teaching, is the explicit dis- 
 
 display of the 
 
 implicit pnnci- p] a y of the implicit principles of the Science of Education. 
 
 plen of Science. J 
 
 The child n 3. The principles already stated set the child or pupil 
 
 teac?it-8^1mm;if. before us as one who gains knowledge for himself, at tirst 
 
 hand, by the exercise of his own native powers, through 
 
 personal experience, and therefore as a learner who teaches 
 
 himself.
 
 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 101 
 
 4. This is the central principle of the Art of Teaching. It This central 
 
 principle a 
 
 serves as a limit to define both the functions of the formal "mit. 
 teacher, and the nature of the matter on which the learner's 
 powers are first to be exercised that is, of the subject of 
 instruction. 
 
 5. The limit which includes also excludes it proscribes itijm'tsor 
 
 define!* the 
 
 as well as prescribes. The teacher who regards the child as function ofthe 
 
 educator. 
 
 a learner who is to teach himself through personal experience 
 is therefore interdicted from doing anything to interfere with 
 the learner's own method, from telling, cramming, explain- 
 ing, and even from correcting, merely on his own authority, 
 the learner's blunders. The function assigned him by the 
 Science of Education is that of a stimulator, director, and 
 superintendent of the learner's work, and to that office he is 
 to confine himself. 
 
 6. But the limit in question determines also the character it also deter- 
 
 . i , i i * i *+ , mines the 
 
 of the matter on which the learner s powers are to be first nature of the 
 exercised. If he is to teach himself, he can only do so by u^nfu 
 exercising his mind on concrete objects or actions on facts. 
 These furnish him with ideas. He cannot teach himself by 
 abstractions, rules, and definitions, packed up for him in 
 words by others ; for these do not furnish him with ideas of 
 
 , his own. In all that he has to learn he must begin with 
 facts that is, with personal experience. It is clear, then, 
 that the conception of the learner as a self-teacher determines 
 
 i both the manner in which he is to be taught and the means. 
 
 7. This notion of the Art of Teaching, which has specially The ircn. -n.i 
 i in view the period of the child's life when the formal teacher ?tht 
 
 first takes him in hand, in order to develop and train his direc* kwtrue. 
 i mind, is capable of general application. It applies therefore, t10 "' 
 ' with the requisite modifications, to instruction properly so 
 i called, which consists in the orderly and systematic building 
 j of knowledge into the mind, with a definite object. 
 
 8. The teacher, therefore, educates by instructing, and 
 ji instructs by educating. Education and instruction are dif- 
 -, ferent aspects of the same process. 
 
 ( J. The sum of what has been laid down is, that the Art of The teacher 
 Education consists in the practical application of principles inrtmeHDofmnd 
 iraint'd by studying the nature, ofthe child; the central prin- doming. 1 
 ciple, which governs all the rest, being that it is what the Summary, 
 child does for and by himself that educates him.
 
 THE 
 
 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TEACHER FOE HIS PROFESSION. 
 
 AN EXAMINATION OF CERTAIN VIEWS ON THIS 
 SUBJECT ADVOCATED AT THE EECENT 
 CONFEEENCE HELD TO DISCUSS THE 
 REPORT OF THE SCHOOLS IN- 
 QUIRY COMMISSION. 
 
 [Read at the Evening Meeting of the College of Preceptors, April 14, 1869.] 
 
 "Le peuple qul a les meilleures 6coles est le premier peuple." Jules 
 Simon. 
 
 " Boys learn but little here below, 
 And learn that little ill." 
 
 Goldsmith altered by Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 " In no department of human activity [as in English Teaching] is there 
 such a pretentious display of power with such a beggarly account of re- 
 sults." Professor Blackie.
 
 THE 
 
 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE 
 TEACHER FOR HIS PROFESSION. 
 
 AMONG the various topics which presented themselves for discussion 
 at the Conference held on the 7th of January, there was one which 
 pre-eminently occupied the attention of the meeting. It was that 
 of the teaching of the teacher : the question, that is, whether any 
 special preparation was needed to fit him for his work ; and if so, 
 what should he its character and extent? Among the teachers who 
 took part in the discussion, there appeared to be many who were 
 directly opposed even to the idea of such a training ; while others, 
 sympathizing generally with the object, expressed great doubts 
 respecting the possibility of attaining it. Indeed, there was any- 
 thing but unanimity on the question. As, however, one more deeply 
 affecting the interests of education can scarcely, as I venture to 
 think, be entertained, it has seemed to me and to others that it 
 ought not to be left in its present condition ; and hence the occa- 
 sion of my presenting myself here this evening. 
 
 The reason why the teaching of the teacher his complete equip- 
 ment for his work is so exceedingly important, is, that the work 
 he has individually and personally to do is so important. The exter- 
 nal machinery of education its schoolroom, and forms, and books 
 has of course its value ; but, after all, it is nothing but machinery, 
 utterly destitute in itself of automatic power. It is dead, and 
 indeed useless, until the teacher's vital influence pervades it. He 
 is the very soul of the whole apparatus of means, and indeed the 
 only positively indispensable element in it. Hence it is found that 
 the quantity of force generated by a given system of educational 
 means and agencies is, to speak technically, as the teacher's knowl- 
 edge, virtue, and intelligence not as the external machinery. In 
 other words, while the teacher may in a great degree dispense with 
 the apparatus, the apparatus can in no degree dispense with him. 
 This vital connection between the teacher and his work renders the 
 one, in a certain respect, the measure of the other. Given the
 
 106 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHER 
 
 qualifications of the master, his conscientiousness, zeal, knowledge, 
 and experience, we can with tolerable accuracy predict what his 
 school will be and. on the other hand, given the school, we can 
 in a great degree resolve its character into that of the master. This 
 general conviction of the intimate, even indissoluble, connection 
 between the teacher and his work, is expressed in the popular adage, 
 " As is the teacher, not, as is the external machinery so is the 
 school" which of course is convertible into the equivalent propo- 
 sition, " As is the school, so is the teacher ; " or, in other words, the 
 school is what the master makes it. So far as this proposition is 
 tenable, it means, of course, that the condition of any given school 
 is the test or gauge of the master's efficiency. If that condition is 
 unsatisfactory, then the teacher is unsatisfactory ; if good, the 
 teacher's energy, devotion, and skill deserve the credit. But, 
 whether good or bad, the teacher must bear the responsibility. 
 This remark, as well as others I may have to make of the same 
 tenor, must be interpreted as having a general application. There 
 may be cases there probably are in which the circumstances 
 are so exceptional, and the difficulties of such a character, that the 
 teacher cannot fairly be made responsible for the result. These 
 exceptions do not, however, vitiate the general conclusion, that the 
 teacher, not the machinery with which he works, or the tools he 
 handles, must be tested by the rule above laid down, "As is the 
 teacher, so is the school." That conclusion, then, which may not 
 be true when drawn from a special case, must be absolutely true 
 when the number of cases is sufficiently large to enable us to ar- 
 rive at a fair average. In a general review of a very large number 
 of cases, the particular exceptions must be estimated on their own 
 separate account and allowed for accordingly ; but their individual 
 merit or demerit cannot be regarded as vitiating the general con- 
 clusion. If, then, we enlarge the field of observation so as tj em- 
 brace all the schools of any particular nation, we have a right to 
 say that the results of its formal education are the index or measure 
 of the efficiency of its teaching. Applying this argument to the 
 case of England, for instance if we find a thoroughly well instruc- 
 ted and educated people, we ought to conclude that the training 
 which has made them so is satisfactory ; and, therefore, that the 
 teachers who have conducted the training must have been thoroughly 
 competent in all respects. They must have been men of high in- 
 telligence to begin with ; they must have been extremely well 
 instructed in the subjects they have taught ; they must have employ- 
 ed the best methods, and they must have been conscientious, pains-
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 107 
 
 taking, zealous, and industrious. If, on the other hand, it should 
 be found that we are not a generally well instructed and educated 
 people and no one that examines into the facts, or even trusts 
 to common observation, will maintain that we are then, by the 
 argument I have adopted, we are compelled to make the teachers of 
 England generally responsible, for the failure. English pupils, as 
 a rule, are capable of instruction, they are not more stupid and 
 impracticable than those of other nations ; the external machinery 
 of education in our universities, colleges, and schools, whether of 
 secondary or primary instruction, is not singularly deficient in quali- 
 ty or quantity ; funds for working that machinery are in gen ml 
 adequately supplied ; and yet, in spite of all this costly apparatus, 
 in spite of the assumed sufficient abilities of the pupils, the results 
 are most unsatisfactory. The various commissions which have been 
 appointed of late years to inquire into our different kinds of educa- 
 tion from the Universities down to the dame-schools have told 
 us what these results are ; and, in doing so, have pronounced a 
 verdict of " failure " on them all.* The working of the machinery 
 in each of the four great departments of instruction has been proved 
 to be immensely below its theoretical power. It would be quite 
 
 * Universities and Public School*. The testimony of several distinguished public tutors 
 and examiners of Oxford and Cambridge is (as shown in the Report on Public Schools) that 
 the average of youths entering the Universities from Public School* are " badly grounded," 
 are, " in knowledge, absolute ignoramuses," " have everything to learn, and little desire 
 to learn anything," " have few intellectual tastes," have " very unawakened minds, and 
 habit* of mental indolence and inaccuracy," require " their shortcomings to be supplemented" 
 by the University teaching, which is therefore " hampered " by interference with its own proper 
 work, evince "surprising ignorance" on points not strictly academical, are "deplorably 
 ignorant of English literature, English history, and English composition," " read worse than 
 the majority of pupil teachers in elementary schools," and often spell notoriously ill. 
 
 Lord Clarendon, too, spoke severely, during the examination of Dr. Balston, of everything 
 in the way of general knowledge being given up at Eton in order that Classics might have all 
 the time, and yet that boys went up to Oxford, " not only not proficient, but in a lamentable 
 state of deficiency with respect to the Classics." Mr. Gladstone moreover testifies that "the 
 amount of work which we get out of the boys at our public schools, speaking of the mass of 
 them, is scandalously small." 
 
 These quotations have a significance in two directions. They indicate the necessary failure 
 of the University course for which such results arc a preparation ; and, by the argument a 
 fortiori, they measure the quality of middle class teaching, inasmuch as It is assumed, and 
 indeed was not long ago asserted by the Bishop of Oxford, that the teaching of the public 
 schools Is the best that can be found. 
 
 Mi'ldle Class Schools. See Chap. II. of the Schools Inquiry Commission's Report, pas- 
 sim; and also Dr. Gull's, Dr. Acland's, and Mr. Paget's evidence. 
 
 Primary Schools. See a Letter In the "Times," July !.">, isr,7, by Canon Govcr, whose 
 statistics supply evidence that 94 out of every 100 of the people are furnished with an educa- 
 tional equipment which consists onJy of the barest rudiments of instruction; so bare indeed, 
 as to be almost useless. Pee a discussion of this point in an article on " Eton " by the lecturer 
 in the " British Quartcly Review " for Jan. 1868.
 
 108 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHER 
 
 impossible, within the narrow limits of one lecture, to cuter on a 
 formal proof of this assertion, nor is it necessary for my present 
 purpose to attempt it. I can only refer those who have auy doubts 
 on the subject, to the admirable Reports of the Commissioners, 
 ami the evidence on which they are founded the evidence being 
 often more truly instructive than the Reports themselves to the 
 testimony of foreign reporters on the same subject, and to general 
 experience and observation all of which, with a combined force 
 which is irresistible, support the general proposition, that in our 
 Universities, Public Schools, Middle-class and elementary schools, 
 the general results of our teaching are deplorable. Leaving, how- 
 ever, out of consideration three out of these four main departments 
 of instruction, I will confine myself to that of middle class educa- 
 tion, concerning which the opinion of those who are competent to 
 form one is all but unanimous. With one voice then, competent 
 judges educated men, politicians and philanthropists declare 
 that the middle classes of England do not generally get a good 
 education in any sense of the term. We all know English society 
 everywhere knows that the great bulk of the men about us 
 pupils of the system are not cultivated, are indeed indifferent 
 to cultivation, are unacquainted with the fundamental principles of 
 literature and science, do not read works requiring thought and 
 study, despise those who do, are in fact unpermeated by the 
 "sweetness and light" on which Mr. Matthew Arnold has dis- 
 coursed so pleasantly. These men are, however, the living result 
 of middle-class education. Can they have received a really good 
 education, who, for the most part, do not appreciate education, who 
 not unfrequently treat both the educator and his work with half- 
 concealed contempt? Without, however, dwelling longer on gener- 
 al statements, every one of which may no doubt be opposed by the 
 citation of special exceptions which, however, do not, as I have 
 shown before, affect the average I will quote here a passage from 
 the Athenaeum of March 27 last, which well deserves to be read, 
 marked, learned, and inwardly digested, both by teachers and the 
 public. It is this : "A petition was last week presented to the 
 House of Commons from the Council of Medical Education, stating 
 that the maintenance of a sufficient medical education is very diffi- 
 cult, owing to the defective education given in middle-class schools. 
 A similar complaint was made in a petition from the British Medi- 
 cal Association, numbering 4000 members. In a third petition, 
 proceeding from the University of London, it was stated, that 
 during the last ten years 40 per cent, of the candidates at the Ma-
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 109 
 
 triculation examinations have failed to satisfy the examiners." 
 N<>\v, what reply can be made to a statement like this? Will it 
 still be maintained that the view that I have taken of the general 
 results of middle-class teaching is erroneous ? But if the test al- 
 ready adduced ' ' As is the teacher, so is the school " is worth 
 anything, we must surely apply it here. If the education of middle- 
 class schools is so defective that it cannot be employed as the basis 
 on which to found the scientific education necessary for the medi- 
 cal profession, on whom can the blame be cast? Who are respon- 
 sible for the results of middle-class education but middle-class 
 teachers ? If they all entered on their work, equipped with accurate 
 knowledge, cultivated intelligence, trained skill in teaching, and a 
 high appreciation of the grave importance of their functions, cbuld 
 such a complaint as the above be possible ? 
 
 But though the teachers must be charged with being the proxi- 
 mate cause of the failure, of our education, it may justly be re- 
 marked that they are themselves, to a large extent not large 
 enough, however, to acquit them of their own obligations the 
 effect of another cause, to which I will briefly call your attention. 
 That cause is the profound indifference of the public mind to the 
 value and power of education. This indifference is itself an effect, 
 as well as a cause, of the state of things in question. It is first 
 an effect or product of the unsatisfactory teaching complained of. 
 The public mind has been positively disqualified for fairly estimat- 
 ing anything better by having been persistently drilled and indoc- 
 trinated in what is proved to be bad. As well may you expect a 
 blind man to take delight in pleasant sights, and a deaf man in 
 pleasant sounds, as an uneducated public mind to appreciate cul- 
 ture. It does not know what you mean, when you urge the claims 
 of education as a civilizing agent, and insist upon the immense 
 value to the commonwealth of the accomplished teacher. It 
 scarcely comprehends the idea of an accomplished teacher, as dis- 
 tinguished from that of any other man, accomplished or not, 
 who calls himself by the same name. Hence that very indifference 
 and apathy, which is the result of inefficient teaching, becomes in 
 its turn a cause, and a very powerful one too, of the maintenance 
 of things as they are. But this general indifference as to the 
 quality of education leads, by an easy step, to a non-appreciation 
 of the profession of the educator. Society has taken note of the 
 fact, that hitherto the members of that profession have shown little 
 anxiety or care that those who enter it should be well qualified 
 men ; have indeed practically acquiesced in the assumption that
 
 110 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHER 
 
 any man could declare himself a teacher, and has therefore taken 
 the teacher at his own low estimate of himself, and treated him 
 accordingly. There cannot be a clearer proof of the general truth 
 of this observation than the fact, that the governments of our 
 country, whether Liberal or Conservative, have, without any ex- 
 ception that I am aware of, treated with contemptuous indifference 
 the notion that educators, as such, however highly qualified by 
 knowledge of the theory, and by dearly bought experience in the 
 practice of their profession, have any special authority in the dis- 
 cussion of educational matters. Their opinions and advice, if 
 listened to at all, are placed on exactly the same footing as those 
 of persons having neither their knowledge nor their experience ; 
 and* the world has seen with wonder commissions on education, 
 appointed one after another, from which, as if by preconcerted 
 ingenuity, the names of practical schoolmasters and of educators by 
 profession have been carefully excluded.* What a pregnant com- 
 mentary on the popular estimate of the value of education in this 
 country ! Imagine the parallel case of commissions on engineer- 
 ing, architecture, medicine, law, or church matters, appointed to 
 investigate the actual condition of these faculties, to ascertain the 
 causes of their failure in certain respects, and to devise measures 
 for their improvement, in which the names of the most eminent 
 engineers, architects, physicians, lawyers, and divines should be 
 conspicuous only by their absence. In thus acting, the govern- 
 ments in question have, it is true, only, as they were well aware, 
 reflected the popular estimate of the real value of the educator : 
 but then, what must have been the image which could be thus 
 reflected? The same thing will be done again in the constitution 
 of the new Educational Council, under Mr. Forster's Bill, if the 
 schoolmasters of England are weak enough to permit it. If 
 there were, indeed, a profession of teaching, united by the com- 
 mon interests of education, instead of a merely mechanical aggre- 
 gation of jarring and even opposing elements, which assumes the 
 name without any of the power of a united body, education would 
 certainly be represented in the Educational Council. As things 
 are, there is anything but a certainty that it will. When, however, 
 it shall be brought about that accomplished teachers are known to 
 be men possessed of knowledge of a special kind, and furnished 
 with credentials of unquestionable authority, which distinguish 
 
 * The single exception is Dr. Temple, who was appointed on the- Schools Inquiry Com- 
 mission.
 
 FOB HIS PROFESSION. Ill 
 
 them from those who, as things now are, without special qualifica- 
 tions of any kind, not even genuine interest in their work, assume, 
 but do not dignify, the honorable name of educator which they 
 bear, we shall be advancing on the road which will at last lead to 
 the establishment of the profession of education. We are, how- 
 ever, far enough from that consummation at present. Additional 
 instances might easily be quoted to illustrate the general proposi- 
 tion, that public opinion in England does not appreciate the teacher 
 or his work ; but the illustrations I have given must for the present 
 suflice, especially as I have still to bring forward another aspect 
 of the subject very intimately connected with the end I have in 
 view. I am fully prepared for the opposition which the statements 
 I am about to make will excite in the minds of some teachers ; 
 but it would betoken an abject and craven spirit in me to withhold 
 them on that account, conscious as I am that I have no interest 
 but theiis at heart. I therefore venture to affirm that the great 
 body of teachers are themselves responsible for the popular esti- 
 mate which has been formed of their profession. We all remem- 
 ber the pregnant words which tell us that in certain circumstances 
 " a man's enemies are the men of his own house." I cannot but 
 think that these words are strictly applicable to the case before 
 us. Surely there is no injustice in saying that those teachers who 
 express themselves as "satisfied" with the present miserable con- 
 dition of education amongst us, who deride every attempt made 
 to prepare the teacher for his work as unnecessary and absurd, 
 who characterize discussions on methods of teaching as " stuff," 
 who stigmatize the science of education as "quackery," are 
 among the direst enemies to the cause of education. 
 
 If time permitted I would refer to many conclusive evidences of 
 the truth of my position, that English teachers in general take but 
 little concern in education for its own sake. I must, however, 
 mention, as briefly as I can, one or two. How is it, I would in- 
 quire, if my views on this point are wrong, that it has never been 
 possible in England to establish a journal of education? The 
 attempt has frequently been made, but has never succeeded, while 
 such journals may be counted by dozens in Germany and America , 
 and are numerous in France and Switzerland ? Does this fact 
 show much interest in education on the part of English teachers? 
 How is it, again, that lectures on methods of teaching, delivered 
 in this very room by men of great knowledge and experience, open 
 to teachers without cost, are attended by an average of half a 
 dozen teachers out of the hundreds of London? How is it that
 
 T11A1N1NG AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACH KU 
 
 this College of Preceptors, disinterestedly founded by men whose 
 sole aim was the advancement of the interests of Education, has 
 been, and is, comparatively feebly supported? And finally, how 
 is it that works on Education, both as an art and as a science, 
 which are produced in numbers in Germany and America to 
 supply a recognized want, are here invariably published at a loss 
 to the author? Are these instances, which might easily be multi- 
 plied, proofs of interest in the cause of Education, or of indifference 
 to it? I pause not for a reply, but proceed to inquire how it hap- 
 pens, if the training of the teacher is a matter of so little concern 
 in England, that nations quite as competent as we are to estimate 
 the value of such training, come to so entirely different a conclusion ? 
 Are we to impugn the intelligence nay, even the common sense, 
 of France and Germany, for instance, in taking so much pains to 
 accomplish an object which we in England regard with supreme 
 indifference, if not with contempt and disgust? Is there anything 
 in our climate, national habits, or natural endowments, which 
 warrants us in dispensing with a machinery of means which has 
 accomplished so much for Frenchmen and Germans? 
 
 I do not suppose that anybody really acquainted with the subject 
 will attempt to reply to these questions affirmatively, and, in doing 
 so, confront either the actual persons, or the spirit which still lives 
 in their works, of such men as Silvestre de Sacy, Royer-Collard, 
 Georges Cuvier, Poisson, Victor Cousin, Guizot, Vatismenil, For- 
 toul, Prevost Paradol, Jules Simon, Michelet, and the present ac- 
 complished Minister of Instruction, M. Duruy, all of whom have 
 been either constructors or products of the training system of 
 France, and an equal, if not superior, array of distinguished men 
 in Germany, whose names I have no time to quote. Pupils of the 
 Ecole Normale, too, whose first year's course in Mathematics, for 
 instance, requires a good knowledge of the differential and integral 
 cnlculus, with an equivalent advance in other studies, and German 
 students of poedagogy, who, on leaving school, and before begin- 
 ning their special course, have passed a far harder examination 
 than that appointed for graduates in our Universities even these 
 pupils, to say nothing of their masters, might possibly be found 
 rather formidable antagonists. But I am reminded that a veritable 
 authority in education, a practical teacher of considerable eminence, 
 I mean Dr. Benson of Wellington College, has personally inquired 
 into the German system of teacher-training, and has pronounced 
 against it. A letter from him, you will remember, was quoted by 
 Mr. Walter in the course of the discussion on Mr Forster's Bill,
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 113 
 
 and it may, perhaps, relieve the tedium of my arguments and illus- 
 trations if we direct our attention, for a few minutes, to its con- 
 tents. It contained a statement of facts, as well as certain opinions 
 founded on Dr. Benson's own experience. Its statement was, 
 that Dr. Benson, being once at Berlin, was present at the trial 
 lesson of a young candidate for the facultas docendi, or final 
 diploma in education, given at an advanced Gymnasium of that 
 city. It appears from the account, that the juvenile doctor, for 
 he was already a high graduate perhaps fluttered somewhat by 
 the presence of the English doctor, who was keenly looking after 
 him "did very badly," but nevertheless got a first-class certifi- 
 cate. Dr. Benson, being grieved at the occurrence, spoke to the 
 professor in charge about it. That gentleman, evidently much 
 fluttered too, got out of the embarrassment into which our Doctor 
 had forced him as well as he could, muttered something about the 
 test being necessarily formal, and ended by saying that it would 
 be better dispensed with. The story would, perhaps, be more to 
 the point if we knew how far Dr. Benson's knowledge of German 
 enabled him to judge of the candidate's failure ; as, after all, it is 
 conceivable that he did not do " very badly," even though Dr. 
 Benson fancied that he did. Again, the expression " he did very 
 badly," is very vague. Was it ignorance of the subject of the 
 lesson, or want of nerve, or positive incompetency in handling the 
 class as a whole? On these points we remain uninformed. How- 
 ever, valeat quantum one example proves nothing against a com- 
 prehensive system. Would Dr. Benson like the Wellington College 
 system of education to be decided on by a German professor, from 
 the exhibition made by one* boy at one examination? If Dr. 
 Benson had kept silence on this subject, we might have credited 
 him with the possession of many stronger facts against the German 
 system than this which he has brought forward. Those who con- 
 sider it decisive against the system, are of course at liberty to 
 think so ; but those who know how numerous are the tests to 
 which the pupil-teacher in Germany is subjected throughout the 
 whole course of his three years' training, will not be of that 
 opinion. But while Dr. Benson is in the box, I will take the lib- 
 erty of examining him a little in his turn on another part of his 
 letter. He is a strenuous witness in the case of Chaos versus 
 Kosmos, and we will venture to ask him a few questions. He 
 wishes to show that an examination on paper an explanation of 
 actions in words does not supersede the experience which is to 
 be gained by the actions of themselves as if any one ever pre-
 
 114 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHER 
 
 tended that it did ; and he goes on to tell us that the weakest 
 master he ever knew was a man who would have been able to give 
 on paper the best description of the means by which the difficul- 
 ties of managing a form of boys were to be met ; whereas, iu pres- 
 ence of the actual difficulties themselves, his knowledge of theory 
 would have failed to give him any aid ; and therefore, argues Dr. 
 Benson, it is of no use to attempt to prepare teachers for the 
 work they undertake. "We may fairly inquire, however, whether 
 this weakest of teachers would have been any stronger without 
 the theoretical knowledge than he was with it ; and whether if, in 
 addition to this knowledge, he had been thoroughly practised in 
 witnessing how other teachers overcame similar difficulties for 
 that is an essential part of the German system he might not 
 have been better prepared to meet the difficulties which confronted 
 him in his own experience. Here too, we want to know all the 
 circumstances of the case before we can implicitly receive Dr. 
 Benson's evidently prejudiced testimony. But he goes on to 
 assure us that "only experience can prove whether a man can 
 teach or not " and that " probably a period of not less than two 
 years would be required to ascertain this point ; " and therefore 
 for this is the gist of the argument that any attempt to shorten 
 the period of trial for himself and his pupils (who by the hypoth- 
 esis must all the time be very much tried too) is useless, and 
 indeed absurd. This argument has, I believe, some weight with 
 opponents of training. Let us consider it for a moment. Stripped 
 of useless words, it amounts to this, tliat as you cannot learn to 
 swim before you go into the water, all exercises or training which 
 assume that you can is of the essence of quackery. I do not deny 
 that there is some truth mingled with the error which pervades this 
 argument. It is true enough that you cannot by any preconcerted 
 arrangements or contrivances anticipate all the practical lessons 
 of life ; but then this only means that you cannot live to-morrow 
 until to-morrow comes. Is this truism generally admitted as a 
 reason for utterly neglecting to prepare children for the business 
 of life ? Because it is true that in one sense we can only learn to live 
 by living, do we allow our children to grow up in perfect ignorance 
 of what is before them? Surely there is some fallacy in this 
 treatment of the question, which obviously assumes that those' 
 who, like the PVeneh, Germans, and Borne Englishmen, insist on 
 the value of training, deny the value of experience altogether. 
 Those who take this ground forget that the opportunity for experi- 
 ence is a common factor which stands on both sides of the equa-
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 115 
 
 tion. The trained and the untrained teacher must alike learu the 
 lessons of experience ; but to which of the two, I would ask, are 
 those lessons likely to prove most valuable? If the previous 
 training practically abridged the period of probation by one-half 
 or three-fourths, as it probably would, is this no gain to the 
 teacher himself, and especially to his pupils, who all the time 
 that their teacher is teaching himself at their expense, are mani- 
 festly, to some extent, defrauded of the instruction which is their 
 due? Supposing, however and it is a supposition which may 
 possibly be very near the truth that on the average, the masters 
 of Wellington College, or any similar institution, do not stay there 
 even so long as two years, are we to congratulate the Head Master 
 on the cleverness of the arrangement, which places his pupils 
 under a constant succession of raw recruits? Is this really the 
 best possible way of supplying our Colleges and Schools with su- 
 perior masters ? We decline, however, on the whole, to accept 
 either Dr. Benson's facts or his arguments as decisive against the 
 judgment and experience of the eminent men of France and Ger- 
 many, who, honoring the profession of the teacher, and having 
 regard to the importance of his functions to the commonwealth, 
 have concerted an admirable machinery of means, on which no 
 pains nor expense is spared, for equipping him worthily for his 
 career. I can only very briefly refer to the machinery devised for 
 accomplishing this purpose. In France, the Ecole Normale Superi- 
 eure is destined to the training of the highest professors and 
 public teachers ; but there are many other Normal Schools for 
 candidates of lower pretensions. In the former, the pupil must 
 pass an entrance competitive examination, under the stringency of 
 which most of our University passmen would certainly succumb 
 and, indeed, they must be Bachelors in Arts or Science before 
 they can compete at all. The successful candidate is then for 
 three years carried through courses of either literature or science, 
 at his choice ; and during the last year especially, is required to 
 attend lectures on pedagog}', including "method," and to visit 
 daily the superior lyctes of Paris, to observe and take notes of tho 
 routine -of teaching, and to teach occasionally himself. He ia 
 finally examined on the subjets which he has been studying, r.nd 
 required to give lessons, as if to a class, in several of thorn, in tli2 
 presence of competent judges of teaching. The result is thus 
 concisely stated in the Schools Inquiry Commission Keport : 
 "The Normal School at Paris is the pivot of their whole ma- 
 chinery. Filled by open competition with the pick of the French
 
 116 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHElt 
 
 youth, officered by the very best professors that can be found, it 
 annually supplies the French schools with teachers not surpassed 
 in the world, (p. 612.) This is one of the systems of teacher- 
 supply which is to be set against our own raw-recruit system. 
 But I turn for a moment to German}', where the object in view is 
 not less highly estimated, nor the means for securing it, though 
 quite different, less stringent. There is no Ecole Normale Superi- 
 eure in Germany, but the career of instruction and training for 
 the teacher is equally defined and prescribed. The German 
 authorities are quite as firmly resolved as those of France, to be 
 assured that the man who proposes to undertake the functions of 
 a teacher shall be as thoroughly prepared for his career as human 
 ingenuity and forethought can make him. The severest tests are 
 therefore applied to ascertain, in the first place, his knowledge of 
 the subjects which he will have to teach. In the next place, he 
 has to attend lectures on the principles and practice of the art of 
 teaching ; thirdly, he has to show his fitness fur teaching by re- 
 peatedly teaching in the presence of experts appointed to hear 
 him, from whom he receives a certificate graduated according to 
 his success in passing these tests ; and lastly, he is required, after 
 his course of special instruction is over, to pass a year, as a pro- 
 bationer, at some approved school, sometimes of a higher class 
 than that which he is himself preparing for, in order that he may 
 know what the highest instruction is. During this last year he is 
 directed to watch the work of the school, learn how it is done, and 
 occasionally, by way of practice, take a share in it. After this 
 elaborate course of preparation, he gains his certificate his un- 
 conditional facultas docendi, or leave to teach. Here again, if our 
 raw-recruit system is compared with that of cultivated Germany, 
 what must be in the mind of any rational investigator the inevit- 
 able result ? Is there not a necessary connection between cause 
 and effect and can any one now seriously dispute my main posi- 
 tion, that, the teacher and the school being criteria or measures 
 the one of the other, teachers who have been trained according to 
 either of the above systems must be better qualified than those not 
 trained at all ? Is it not ct priori probable that the work they have 
 to do will be more satisfactory? If it were not, it would argue a 
 remarkable degree of stolidity In the devisers of the machinery, 
 and in the teachers who are the results of it. No one, however, 
 who really examines into the facts, can doubt that improved results 
 in the pupils invariably follow improvement in the preparation of 
 the teacher ; and hence I am compelled to reassert the proposi-
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 117 
 
 tiou, that the results of teaching bear a direct ratio to the virtue, 
 intelligence, knowledge and skill of the teacher ; that if we take 
 no pains to secure the possession of these qualifications in the 
 teacher, we have no right to expect the fruits of them in the 
 pupils ; and, finally, to maintain that the present condition of 
 Middle Class education amongst us, unsatisfactory as by universal, 
 consent it is, is in a great measure the consequence of the insuffi- 
 cient training of the teachers. It will have been observed that 
 many of the arguments of my opponents if I must thus designate 
 them have been casually dealt with in the course of my paper. 
 I propose now to grapple rather more closely with them, and with 
 some others which were brought forward at the recent Conference. 
 There were three classes of opponents of the views which I and 
 some others took of the importance of training the teacher. 
 
 1. Those who advocated entire free trade in education, checked 
 by nothing but public opinion. 
 
 2. Those who would require no test whatever from a teacher 
 when he entered on his career, but would subject his work from 
 time to time to authoritative examination. 
 
 3. Those who would impose an intellectual test, and nothing 
 more, on entrance, and admit an examination of results. 
 
 The advocates of these three several views, while differing widely 
 from each other, agreed in denouncing the notion as Dr. Benson 
 also denounces it that there is any such thing as an art of educa- 
 tion ; that is, they denied the utility of training teachers under 
 competent direction for their profession, as you train engineers or 
 architects for theirs. In this denial was involved the counter- 
 assertion, that all methods of teaching are practically on the same 
 footing, that there is no such thing as a good, in distinction 
 from a bad, method ; and the further assertion, or implication if 
 you will, that a teacher's instinct is to be left to adopt the one or 
 reject the other. No one, I think, who listened here the other 
 evening to Mr. Meiklejohn's admirable lecture " On the Best and 
 Worst Methods of Teaching Geography," went away impressed 
 with that opinion. 
 
 They were, on the contrary, impressed with the notion which 
 is, I confess, my own that, as the bad methods happen to form 
 the rule and the good ones the exception, neither instinct, nor un- 
 instructed routine, is a good guide in the matter. Neither instinct 
 nor routine gives us the slightest guarantee against the perpetua- 
 tion of the worst methods, nor any encouragement for the adoption 
 of the best. But there was one gentleman who went still further,
 
 118 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACHER 
 
 and earnestly "hoped" that we might have " none of the quackery 
 of pedagogy;" by which he meant, as I suppose, to depreciate 
 both " method" and principles of teaching together. Of course, 
 it is easy to make sport of a name, and, as it happens, peda- 
 gogy is not a pretty one, but as "arose by any other name 
 would smell as sweet," it is, after all, the thing rather than the 
 name that is in question. Let us call it, as Professor Pillans did, 
 Paideutics or Didactics, and say in a few words what it means. 
 The practice of teaching, like that of every other art, must be 
 founded on principles which account both for what it does and for 
 what it leaves undone ; for its success under one arrangement, 
 for its failure under another. It is evident enough that in this 
 art, as in others, a man does acts every one of which, however 
 trivial, may require for its explanation very profound investigations. 
 Now, the man instructed in the practice simply, may perform 
 these acts perfectly, as a mere routineer, without knowing any- 
 thing of the theory which explains them ; but it must be allowed 
 that the man who merely knows the how does not stand so high as 
 he who also knows the why. The one merely works for results, the 
 other investigates causes. The former is, in the strict sense of 
 the term, instructed ; the latter is educated. Paideutics then, in- 
 cludes both the practice and the principles of education ; and why 
 this knowledge, which embraces, of course, the sciences of mental 
 and moral philosophy, as well as physical training, should be re- 
 garded as ridiculous, I am at a loss to conceive. 
 
 Having touched upon the common point of agreement between 
 my opponents, their repudiation of Paideutics, I come to 
 consider the first special point : the theory of free trade in educa- 
 tion. This theory was thus propounded by one of the speakers at 
 the Conference. He would allow " anyone to set up for a school- 
 master who chose to fancy he had the ability, leaving it to the 
 public to decide whether or not he was fit to follow the profes- 
 sion." This is indeed free trade pur et simple. Everyone is to 
 offer his wares, and it is the buyer's business to see that he is not 
 cheated in the bargain. There is nothing new in this idea ; it is, 
 in fact, the one almost universally prevalent amongst us. I have 
 referred already to its extraordinary results, and have questioned 
 the general competency of the buyer in this case to form a correct 
 judgment of the value of the article he buys. It has certainly 
 ITCH assumed that he is competent; but the state of the market, 
 and the general inferiority of the wares, invalidate the assumption. 
 But there is the seller also. Let us look at him for a minute. Is
 
 FOE HIS PROFESSION. 119 
 
 he, in the first place, an experienced and well-informed judge of 
 the article he sells ? Well, he may be ; but it is more likely in 
 this case that he is not ; and if he sells you bad and poisonous 
 meat for good, you have no sort of redress. You may try a 
 dozen ; and after suffering from each trial, you may perhaps, 
 for it is by no means certain, hit upon a thoroughly good man. 
 Is this a predicament in which to leave the education of the Eng- 
 lish people ? No ; we cannot admit that the fact, that a man 
 " chooses to fancy" that he has the ability to undertake a func- 
 tion, constitutes a sufficient warrant for the indulgence of his 
 fancy, and especially in a field of action where the dearest inter- 
 ests of society are at stake. "We do not permit a man "who 
 chooses to fancy ' ' that he has ability to practise surgery, to oper- 
 ate ad libitum, and only when public opinion is roused to its 
 danger, decide whether he is fit to follow the profession of a sur- 
 geon. Nor do we allow a man who may " choose to fancy " that 
 he has the ability to take the command of a man-of-war, to under- 
 take such a charge on the mere assurance that we may safely trust 
 to his " inward impulse." And if we require the strictest guaran- 
 tees of competency where our lives and property are risked, shall 
 we be less anxious to secure them when the mental and moral 
 lives of our children the children of our commonwealth are 
 endangered? We cannot, then, accept the free-trade theory as 
 meeting the case. It has been tried long enough, and has been 
 found utterly wanting. It has no tendency to supply us with the 
 best article, and it virtually places the worst and the best on the 
 same footing. The public of the year 2000 may perhaps think 
 favorably of it ; but then that public will consist of buyers com- 
 petent to judge of what they are buying : the public of 18G9 is 
 not. 
 
 The second class of opponents was composed of those who 
 would limit their interference with a teacher's qualifications to the 
 scrutiny of his work periodically. "Let him be what he may," 
 they say, " as far as preparation is concerned, if we find that he 
 turns out good work if his pupils stand a thorough examination 
 we have nothing more to do with the matter. By his fruits let 
 him be known. This plea is so plausible, so much may be said for 
 it, that when I begin to question whether it is perfect!}' satis- 
 factory, I may reckon on being deserted by some who have hitherto 
 supported me. Still I venture on the ground. It docs seem very 
 fair and straightforward in a teacher to say " If you doubt my 
 qualifications for my office, examine my work and form your own
 
 120 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACH I :i: 
 
 conclusions. You approve of the adage, ' As is the master, so is 
 the school,' trace me in my school, and give me credit for what 
 you find." This does, I say, look extremely fair: :md, if it 
 is to be taken literally, it is a capital concession to the advancing 
 power of Kosmos King vice Chaos deposed. There are, however, 
 two or three remarks to be made upon it. First, if we examine 
 the work, we must examine the whole, not merely a part of it. 
 The goodness of a school cannot be judged by the success of a 
 minority of its scholars. There are in nearly every school a few 
 boys whom natural talent, stimulated by ambition, will carry on, 
 by a very little exertion on the part of the master, to a high pitch 
 of advancement. These boys do, in fact, generally teach them- 
 selves, though the master gets and often deservedly the great- 
 est part of the credit for their work. The striking success of these 
 exceptional boys is not, however, the test we seek. It is no evi- 
 dence whatever that the general average of the teaching in the 
 school is good. The examinations which are to test the qualifica- 
 tions and powers of the teacher must then be examinations of the 
 whole school, and not of its picked boys only. If out of a hun- 
 dred pupils, ninety are not in a satisfactory condition, whatever 
 be that of the remaining ten, the success of these is not to be 
 attributed to the general goodness of the methods of teaching ; 
 while the failure of the ninety is distinctly chargeable with their 
 general badness. It is plain that, if the methods are generally 
 good, the result must be just the other way. Ninety would suc- 
 ceed, while ten might fail. Methods which, somehow or other, 
 end in the failure of a large majority of the pupils, cannot then be 
 pronounced satisfactory. But, again, suppose that, on looking 
 closely into the success of the one-tenth, we find that it consists 
 in a result gained for the most part by a very mechanical exercise 
 of the mind, that the memory only, and not the reason, has had 
 by far the greater share in the achievement, that the knowledge 
 gained, or apparently gained, so far from being digested and 
 assimilated into the life-blood of the mental system, is mainly in 
 so crude a condition that it is almost useless as a means to that 
 end, that the facts of which that knowledge consists are not only 
 in a crude state when viewed individually, but are so unconnected 
 with each other by natural association, as to be altogether unfitted 
 to form the basis for that science which, in a later stage of the in- 
 struction, ought to be founded on them, if, in short, on a fair 
 and accurate scrutiny, we find the success in question is rather 
 due to cramming than to enlightened instruction, are we, with-
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 121 
 
 out hesitation, to congratulate the teacher on the result of his 
 labors? Is it unjust to him to say, that, had he been acquainted 
 with better methods of teaching, the result would have been more 
 valuable ; and if he will insist on our seeing him in his work 
 that the reflection proves the imperfection of the image? Any 
 kind of exaggeration on my part would, I am aware, injure rather 
 than aid the cause I wish to serve ; and my statements and opin- 
 ions will and ought to be reduced to their proper worth ; but I 
 believe that no one who has bestowed the same amount of pains 
 upon the subject that I have done, will judge me to be far wrong 
 in the estimate I have formed. I therefore conclude, and hope I 
 carry you with me in the conclusion, that the real value of results 
 is to be estimated in connection with their causes ; and as, by my 
 argument, the teacher is responsible for the results of his teach- 
 ing, that the examination of his work requires to be preceded by a 
 preliminary examination of himself. This is conceded by those 
 whom I placed in my third category, and the only difference I 
 have with them consists in the different views we entertain respect- 
 ing the nature of the preliminary examination. I do not agree 
 with them in thinking that the examination should be merely an 
 intellectual test. I think it should also test the teacher's ability 
 to teach, and be itself the result of a special course of instruction 
 and training in the theory and practice of education. I need not, 
 however, dwell longer on this point. It has really formed the 
 substance of my entire paper. 
 
 I have thus endeavored to show : 
 
 1 . That the teacher is justly accredited with the good or bad 
 results of his teaching. 
 
 2. That the test applied to English education generally proves 
 that our teaching is to a large extent inefficient. 
 
 3. That the remedy for bad results is the reformation of their 
 cause ; in this case, the proper training and instruction of the 
 teacher. 
 
 4. That this suitable and sufficient training, assumed in England 
 to be absurd in conception and impossible in practice, is highly 
 valued in idea, and accomplished in fact, in France and Germany. 
 
 5. That, if teachers passed through a course of professional 
 and instructive training as a test both of their interest in educa- 
 tion and their fitness to undertake it, public opinion would begin 
 to recognize their fitness, and to honor proportionally the pro- 
 fession of the teacher ; and thus the interests of education, of
 
 TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT OF THE TEACH HI! 
 
 teachers as a class, and of the entire community, would be ad- 
 vanced together. 
 
 6. That the application of the theory of commercial free trade 
 to education is fallacious and mischievous, inasmuch as the general 
 public, the buyers, cannot, until they are more educated themselves, 
 be suitable judges of the quality of the wares the education 
 offered them. 
 
 7. That the test of results only is insufficient, inasmuch as, 
 however valuable they are in appearance, they may be the product 
 of contracted and unenlightened views, as embodied in practice, 
 of the true ends of education, and indeed may be entirely due to 
 that "cramming" which is directly antagonistic to healthful 
 mental training. 
 
 In conclusion, I beg to present you with a compressed statement 
 that I have purposely left to the last, of certain facts, which none, 
 I believe, can gainsay, and which serve to show what is at this 
 moment the popular estimate of the value of the preliminary 
 training and equipment of the teacher for his work. It consists 
 of a brief report of some remarks I lately addressed, as one of a 
 deputation from our Registration Society to the President of the 
 Committee of Council on Education. I stated, that the perfectly 
 unchartered "liberty of teaching" prevailing amongst us allows 
 a man with the four following disqualifications for the office of a 
 teacher to stand exactly on the same footing, as a candidate for 
 public support, with the man who is perfectly qualified in the same 
 respects : 
 
 1 . A man destitute of all knowledge of the subject he professes to 
 teach may stand before the world as a teacher. Now, whether 
 teaching be the communication of knowledge to the mind of 
 another, or, as I rather believe, the direction of the pupil's mind in 
 the process of acquisition, it is obvious, in the first case, that a 
 man cannot give what he has not got, and, in the second, that he 
 cannot be an efficient guide in a path which he has not himself 
 travelled before. 
 
 2. A man entirely unapt to teach, whether in the way of com- 
 munication or superintendence, entirely inexperienced too, knowing 
 nothing whatever of teaching as an art, and as conducted by those 
 who are authorities in the profession ; whose entire acquaintance 
 with the subject consists in a cold and colorless reminiscence of 
 that routine of his own school days which made him what he is 
 such a man may, without any authorization whatever declare him- 
 self to be a teacher.
 
 FOR HIS PROFESSION. 
 
 3. A man quite ignorant of the principles of education, which 
 underlie the practice of the art, and which become, when truly 
 possessed, a means of enlightenment and power to the teacher, as 
 rendering him the master and not the slave of routine, may profess 
 himself, unchallenged, a teacher. 
 
 4. A man may declare himself to be a teacher who knows nothing 
 whatever of the great practitioners and expounders of his art. What 
 those who have most profoundly investigated its principles have 
 written, what those who have most successfully carried out its 
 processes have done, may be utterly unknown by a person claim- 
 ing to be regai'ded as a teacher. For him Quintillian, Ascham, 
 Comenius, Locke, Pestalozzi, Jacotot, and even Arnold and Herbert 
 Spencer, may have lived and labored in vain. His own uninterest- 
 ing and inefficient methods, his own self-devised principles of 
 instruction, may be the sum of all that he knows on the subject. 
 
 Against such a state of things all teachers who are really inter- 
 ested in the general cause of education, in which their own is 
 essentially included, ought loudly and perseveringly to protest.* 
 
 * For additional enforcements of the argument for teaching the teacher, see especially Mr. 
 Fitch's admirable Report to the Schools Inquiry Commission.
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 
 
 " What is the whole business of education but a practical application of 
 rules, deduced from our own experiments, or from those of others, on the 
 most effectual modes of developing and of cultivating the intellectual fac- 
 ulties and the moral principles ? " DTJOALD STEWAKT. 
 
 [Series published under the sanction of the National Union for 
 Improving the Education of Women of all Classes. No. IV. 
 LONDON : WILLIAM RIDGEWAY, 169, PICCADILLY, W. 1873.]

 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING 
 OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 THIS subject, on which much has been at various times written and 
 said to little practical purpose, is again coming to the front as one 
 of paramount importance. No apology, therefore, is needed for 
 pressing the consideration of it on the attention of all who are 
 interested in the progress of education, and especially of all who are 
 interested in the " National Union for improving the education of 
 women of all classes." 
 
 Among the "objects" aimed at by the Union, one made es- 
 pecially prominent is this : " To raise the Social Status of female 
 teachers, by encouraging women to make teaching a profession, 
 and to qualify themselves for it by a sound and liberal education, 
 and by thorough training in the art of teaching." The " Social" 
 bearings of the subject have been already treated by Miss Shirreff 
 in No. 3 of this series of pamphlets, and it is not necessary here 
 further to speak of them. The special object I have in view is to 
 call attention to " the training of the teacher in the art of teach- 
 ing," and to show what is and what is not indicated by that ex- 
 pression. 
 
 In the first place, however, I wish to make a few remarks on 
 the term " profession," as applied to teaching. It cannot be said, 
 strictly, that we have in England, at this moment, any profession 
 of teaching. The term "profession," when properly, that is, 
 technically employed, connotes or implies "learned;" and in- 
 volves the idea of an incorporated union of persons qualified by 
 attainments and by a scientific training for a particular calling 
 in life, and duly authorized to pursue it. It is in this sense alone 
 that the term is emploj^ed, in speaking of the professions of law, 
 medicine and theology. As, however, in the case of education 
 and speaking particularly of secondary education no positive 
 attainments, no special training, no authoritative credentials what- 
 ever are demanded as professional qualifications, it is obvious that 
 there is, strictly speaking, no profession of teaching amongst us,
 
 128 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 and that when we use the term " profession" in this application 
 of it, we use it in a vague, inaccurate and untechnical sense. As 
 to attainments none whatever are required of the person who 
 "professes" to teach. The profound ignoramus, if sufficiently 
 endowed with assurance, may compete for public patronage on 
 nearly equal terms with the most cultivated student of learning 
 and science, and may in many cases even carry off the prize ; 
 while as to training, the teacher who has severely disciplined his 
 mind by the study of the theory of education, and carefully con- 
 formed his practice to it, scarcely stands a better chance of suc- 
 cess than the ignorant pretender who cannot even define the 
 term" education;" who has no conception of the meaning of 
 " training ; " and whose empirical self-devised methods of instruc- 
 tion constitute the sum total of his qualifications for the office he 
 assumes. 
 
 Lastly, as to credentials, both classes of teachers, the qualified 
 and the unqualified, stand on precisely the same footing before 
 the public. No authoritative exequatur distinguishes the compe- 
 tent from the incompetent teacher. Both jostle each other in the 
 strife for pre-eminence, and the public look on all the while with 
 indifference, apparently unconscious that their children's dearest 
 interests are involved in the issue.* 
 
 It is obvious then, that as neither knowledge, training, nor cre- 
 dentials are required of a teacher, there can be no " profession of 
 teaching." The assumption, however, that there is such a pro- 
 fession, and that an}* one who pleases may claim to be a member 
 of it, has proved very injurious to the interests of the public. 
 Girls left unprovided for, young widows left in a similar predica- 
 ment, and many others suddenly plunged into difficulties and 
 obliged to cast about for a livelihood, often can think of no other 
 employment than that of teaching, which, as being ra common 
 parlance "professional," is therefore "genteel ; " and accordingly, 
 without a single qualification, often with the disqualification that 
 they have nearly all their previous lives regarded teachers and 
 teaching with contempt, declare themselves before the world ready 
 to teach. The declaration, if it means anything, means that they 
 profess themselves ready to undertake the practice of an art 
 which, beyond most others, requires peculiar knowledge, experi- 
 ence, culture, and tact. It means further, that they are prepared 
 to watch over the development of a child's growing mind, to fur- 
 
 * Sec Appendix.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 129 
 
 nisli it with suitable mental food at the proper time ; to see that 
 the food is thoroughly digested ; to stimulate it to exercise its fac- 
 ulties in the right direction ; to curb its aberrations ; to elicit the 
 consciousness of independent power ; to form, in short, habits 
 of thinking for life-long use. All this, and very much more, is 
 really involved in the conception we ought to form of a teacher's 
 functions ; and yet we see every day persons who have not even a 
 conception of this conception : persons destitute of all knowledge 
 of the subjects they profess to teach, of the nature of the mind 
 which is to be taught, of the practical art itself, of the principles 
 of education which underlie the art, and of the experience of the 
 most eminent instructors, blindly and rashly forcing themselves 
 before the world as teachers. Such persons seem not to be aware 
 that if with similar qualifications they were to undertake to pi-ac- 
 tise the arts of medicine, law, architecture, engineering, or music, 
 they would be laughed at everywhere. Yet these very persons, 
 who would be instinctively conscious of their incompeteucy, with- 
 out knowledge or training, to perform a surgical operation, to 
 steer a vessel, to build a house, or to guide a locomotive, are ready, 
 at a moment's warning, to perform any number of operations on 
 a child's mind, and to undertake the direction of its mental or 
 moral forces a task, considering the delicacy of the machinery 
 with which they have to deal, more difficult in many respects than 
 any other that can be named. 
 
 In maintaining, however, generally that the professor of an art 
 should understand its principles, and that he cannot understand 
 them without study and training, I do not mean to assert that there 
 may not be found among those who feel themselves suddenly called 
 upon to act as teachers, especially among women, many, who with- 
 out obvious preliminary training, are really already far advanced in 
 actual training for the task they assume. In these cases, superior 
 mental culture, acute insight into character, ready tact and earnest 
 sympathy constitute, pro tanto, a real preparation for the profession ; 
 and supply, to a considerable extent, the want of technical training. 
 To such persons it not unfrcqueutly happens that a matured con- 
 sciousness of the importance of the task they have undertaken, 
 and actual contact with the work itself, rapidly suggest what is 
 needed to supplement their inexperience. Such cases, however, 
 as being rare and exceptional, are not to be relied on as examples. 
 Even in them, moreover, a thoughtful study of the Science of 
 Education, and of the correlated Art, would guide the presumed 
 faculty to better results than can be gained without it.
 
 130 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 We can have little hesitation then in asserting that the preten- 
 sion to be able to teach without knowing even what teaching 
 means ; without mastering its processes and methods as an art ; 
 without gaining some acquaintance with its doctrines as a science ; 
 without studying what has been said and done by its most eminent 
 practitioners, is an unwarrantable pretension which is so near akin 
 to empiricism and quackery,* that it is difficult to make the dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 There are, however, two or three fallacious arguments some- 
 times urged against the preliminary training of the teacher which 
 it is important briefly to discuss. 
 
 The first is, that "granting the need of such training for 
 teachers of advanced subjects, it is unnecessary for the teaching 
 of elementary subjects. Anybody can teach a child to read, write, 
 and cipher." This is, no doubt, true, if teaching means nothing 
 more than mechanical drill and cram ; but if teaching is an art and 
 requires to be artisticalty conducted, it is not true. A teacher is 
 one who, having carefully studied the nature of the mind, and 
 learned by reading and practice, some of the means by which that 
 nature may be influenced, applies the resources of his art to the 
 child-nature before him. Knowing that in this nature there are 
 forces, moral and intellectual, on the development of which the 
 child's well-being depends, he draws them forth by repeated acts, 
 exercises them in order to strengthen them, trains them into faculty, 
 and continually aims at making all that he does, all that he gets 
 his pupils to do, minister to the consciousness of growth and 
 power in the child's mind. If this is a correct description of the 
 teacher's function, it is obvious that it applies to every department 
 of the teacher's work ; as much to the teaching of reading and 
 arithmetic as to that of Greek pla3's, or the Differential Calculus. 
 The function does not change with the subject. But I go further, 
 and maintain that the beginning of the process of education is even 
 more important in some respects than the later stages. .77 n'y a 
 que le premier pas qui coMe. The teacher who takes in hand 
 the instruction and direction of a mind which has never been 
 taught before, commences a series of processes, which by our 
 theory should have a definite end in view and that end is to 
 induce in the child's mind the consciousness of power. Power is, 
 of course, a relative term, but it is not inapplicable to the case 
 
 * " Empiric; one of a sect of ancient physicians, who practised from experience, not from 
 theory." " Quack; a boastful pretender to arts he does not understand."
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 131 
 
 before us. The teacher, even of reading, who first directs the 
 child's own observation on the facts in view the combination of 
 the letters in separate words or syllables gets him to compare 
 these combinations together, and notice in what respect they differ 
 or agree, to state himself the difference or agreement to ana- 
 lyze each new compound, into its known and unknown elements, 
 applying the known, as far as possible, to interpret the unknown 
 to refer each fresh acquisition to that first made, to find out for 
 himself everything which can be found out through observation, 
 inference and reflection to look for no help, except in matters 
 (such as the sounds) which are purely conventional to teach 
 himself to read, in short, by the exercise of his own mind such 
 a teacher, it is contended, while getting the child to learn how to 
 read, is in fact, doing much more than this he is teaching the 
 child how to use his mind how to observe, investigate, think.* 
 It will probably be granted that a process of this kind if prac- 
 ticable would be a valuable initiation for the child in the art of 
 learning generally, and that it would necessarily be attended by 
 what I have described as a consciousness of power. But, more- 
 over, which is also very important it would be attended by a 
 consciousness of pleasure. Even the youngest child is sensible of 
 the charm of doing things himself of finding out things for 
 himself ; and it is of cardinal importance in elementary instruction 
 to lay the grounds for the association of pleasure with mental 
 activity. It would not be be difficult, but it is unnecessar}-, to 
 contrast such a method as this, which awakens all the powers of 
 the child's mind, keeps them in vivid and pleasurable exercise, and 
 forms good mental habits, with that too often pursued, which 
 deadens the faculties, induces idle habits, distaste for learning, 
 and incapacity for mental exertion. 
 
 It is clear, then, that " any teacher " cannot teach even reading, 
 so as to make it a mental exercise, and, consequently, a part, of 
 real education in other words, so as " to make all that he does, 
 and all he gets his pupil to do, minister to the consciousness of 
 growth and power in the child's mind." So far then from agree- 
 ing with the proposition in question, I believe that the early devel- 
 opment of a child's mind is a work that can only effectually be 
 performed by an accomplished teacher; such a one as I have 
 already described. In some of the best German elementary 
 
 * See this process fully described in the Author's third lecture " On the Science and Art of 
 Education," published by the College of Preceptors, p. 63.
 
 132 IMPORTANCE OT THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 schools men of literary distinction, Doctors in Philosophy, are 
 employed in teaching children how to read, and in the highly 
 organized Jesuit Schools, it was a regulation that only those 
 teachers who had been specially successful in the higher classes 
 should be entrusted with the care of the lowest. 
 
 There is, moreover, another consideration which deserves to be 
 kept in view in discussing the competency of " any teacher" to 
 take charge of a child who is beginning to learn. Most young 
 untrained teachers fancy when they give their first lesson to a 
 child who has not been taught before, that they are commencing 
 its education. A moment's reflection will show that this is not the 
 case. They may indeed be commencing its formal education, but 
 they forget that it has been long a pupil of that great School, of 
 which Nature is the mistress, and that their proper function is to 
 continue the education which is already far advanced. In that 
 School, observation and experiment, acting as superintendents of 
 instruction, through the agency of the child's own senses, having 
 taught it all it knows at the time when natural is superseded, or 
 rather supplemented by formal education. Can it then be a matter 
 of indifference whether or not the teacher understands the pro- 
 cesses, and enters into the spirit of the teaching carried on at that 
 former School ; and is it not certain that his want of knowledge 
 on these points will prove very injurious to the young learner? 
 The teacher who has this knowledge will bring it into active exer- 
 cise in every lesson that he gives, and, as I have shown in the case 
 of teaching to read, will make it instrumental in the development 
 of all the intellectual faculties of the child. He knows that his 
 method is sound, because it is based on Nature ; and he knows, 
 moreover, that it is better than Nature's, because it supersedes 
 desultory and fortuitous action by that which is organized with a 
 view to a definite end. The teacher who knows nothing of 
 Nature's method, and fails, therefore, to appreciate its spirit, de- 
 vises at haphazard a method of his own which too generally has 
 nothing in common with it, and succeds in effectually quenching the 
 child's own active energies ; in making him a passive recipient of 
 knowledge, which he has had no share in gaining ; and in finally 
 converting him into a mere unintellectual machine. Untrained 
 teachers, especially those who, as the phrase is, " commence " the 
 education of children, are, as yet, little aware how much of the 
 dulness, stupidity, and distaste for learning which they complain 
 of in their pupils, is of their own creation. The upshot then of 
 this discussion is, not that " any teacher," but only those teachers
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 133 
 
 who are trained in the art of teaching can be safely entrusted with 
 the education of the child's earliest efforts in the career of 
 instruction. 
 
 Another fallacy, which it is important to expose, is involved in 
 the assumption, not unfrequently met with, that a man's " choosing 
 to fancy that he has the ability to teach, is a sufficient warrant for 
 his doing so," leaving, it is added, "the public to judge whether 
 or not he is fit for his profession." Ridiculous as this proposition 
 may appear, I have heard it gravely argued for and approved in a 
 conference of teachers, many of whom, no doubt, had good 
 grounds of their own for their adherence to it. Simply stated, it 
 is the theory of free trade in education. Every one is to be at 
 liberty to offer his wares, and it is the buyer's business to take 
 care that he is not cheated in the bargain. It is unnecessary for 
 my present purpose to say more on the general proposition than 
 this that the state of the market and the frequent inferiority of 
 the wares invalidate the assumption of the competency of the 
 buyer to form a correct estimate of the value of the article he 
 buys, and, moreover, that an immense quantity of mischief may 
 be, and actually is done to the parties most concerned, the children 
 of the buyers, while the hazardous experiment is going on. As 
 to the minor proposition, the man's " choosing to fancy that he 
 has the ability " to teach is a sufficient warrant for his doing so, it 
 is obviously in direct opposition to the argument I am maintaining. 
 It cannot for a moment be admitted that a man's " choosing to 
 fancy that he has the ability" to discharge a function constitutes 
 a sufficient warrant for the indulgence of his fane}*, especially in a 
 field of action where the dearest interests of society are at stake. 
 We do not allow a man ' ' who chooses to fancy that he has the 
 ability " to practise surgery, to operate on our limbs at his plea- 
 sure, and only after scores of disastrous experiments, decide 
 whether he is " fit to follow the profession" of a surgeon. Nor 
 do we allow a man who may "choose to fancy that he has the 
 ability " to take the command of a man-of-war, to undertake such 
 a charge on the mere assurance that we may safely trust to his 
 "inward impulse." And if we require the strictest guarantees 
 of competencj 1 , where our lives and property are risked, shall we 
 be less anxious to secure them when the mental and moral lives of 
 our children the children of our commonwealth are endan- 
 gered? I repudiate then entirely this doctrine of an "inward 
 impulse," which is to supersede the orderly training of the teacher 
 in the art of teaching. It has been tried long enough, and has
 
 134 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 been found utterly wanting. Fallacies, however, are often singu- 
 larly tenacious of life, and we are not therefore surprised at Mr. 
 Meiklejohn's* assertion, that in more than 50 per cent, of the 
 letters which he examined, the special qualification put forward by 
 the candidates was their " feeling " that they could perform the 
 duties of the office in question to their own satisfaction." (!) 
 This is obviously only another specimen, though certainly a re- 
 markable one, of the " inward impulse " theory. 
 
 The third fallacy I propose to deal with is couched in the com- 
 mon assumption that " any one who knows a subject can teach it." 
 There can be no doubt that the teacher should have an accurate 
 knowledge of the subject he professes to teach, and especially for 
 this, if for no other reason that as his proper function is to 
 guide the process by which his pupil is to learn, it will be of the 
 greatest advantage to him as a guide to have gone himself through 
 the process of learning. But, then, it is very possible that although 
 his experience has been real and personal, it may not have been 
 conscious that is, that he may have been too much absorbed in 
 the process itself to take account of the natural laws of its opera- 
 ation. This conscious knowledge of the method by which the mind 
 gains ideas is, in fact, a branch of Psychology, and he may not 
 have studied that science. Nor was it necessary for his purpose, 
 as a learner, that he should study it. But the conditions are quite 
 altered when he becomes a teacher. He now assumes the direction 
 of a process which is essentially not his but the learner's ; for it is 
 obvious that he can no more think for the pupil than he can eat or 
 sleep for him. His efficient direction, then, will mainly depend on 
 his thoughtful conscious knowledge of all the conditions of the 
 problem which he has to solve. That problem consists in getting 
 his pupil to learn, and it is evident that he may know his subject, 
 without knowing the best means of making his pupil know it too, 
 which is the assumed end of all his teaching : in other words, he 
 may be an adept in his subject, but a novice in the art of teaching 
 it. Natural tact and insight may, in many cases, rapidly suggest 
 the faculty that is needed ; but the position still remains unaffected 
 that knowing a subject is a very different thing from knowing 
 how to teach it. This conclusion is indeed involved in the very 
 conception of an art of teaching, an art which has principles, 
 laws, and processes peculiar to itself. 
 
 But, again, a man profoundly acquainted with a subject may be 
 
 * See Appendix.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 135 
 
 unapt to teach it by reason of the very height and extent of his 
 knowledge. His mind habitually dwells among the mountains, and 
 he has therefore small sympathy with the toilsome plodders on the 
 plains below. It is so long since he was a learner himself that he 
 forgets the difficulties and perplexities which once obstructed his 
 path, and which are so painfully felt by those who are still in the 
 condition in which he once was himself. It is a hard task, there- 
 fore, to him to condescend to their condition, to place himself along- 
 side of them, and to force a sympathy which he cannot naturally 
 feel with their trials and experience. The teacher, in this case, even 
 less than in the other, is not likely to conceive justly of all that is 
 involved in the art of teaching, or to give himself the trouble of 
 acquiring it. Be this, however, as it may, both illustrations of the 
 case show that it is a fallacy to assert that there is any necessary 
 connection between knowing a subject, and knowing how to 
 teach it. 
 
 Having now shown that the present state of public opinion in 
 England, which permits any one who pleases to "set up" as a 
 teacher without regard to qualifications is inconsistent with the 
 notion that teaching is an art for the exercise of which preliminary, 
 training is necessary, and disposed of those prevalent fallacies 
 which are, to a great extent, constituents of that public opinion, 
 I proceed to give some illustrations of teaching as it is in contrast 
 with teaching as it should be. The fundamental proposition, to 
 which all that I have to say on the point in question must be re- 
 ferred, is this that teaching, in the proper sense of the term, is 
 a branch of education, and that education is the development and 
 training of the faculties with a view to create in the pupil's mind 
 a consciousness of power. Every process employed in what is 
 called teaching that will not bear this test is, more or less, of the 
 essence of cramming, and cramming is a direct interference with, 
 and antagonistic to, the true end of education. Cramming may 
 be defined for our present purpose as the didactic imposition on the 
 child's mind of ready-made results, of results gained by the 
 thought of other people ; through processes in which his mind has 
 not been called upon to take a part. During this performance the 
 mind of the pupil is for the most part a passive recipient of the 
 matter forced into it, and the only faculty actively employed is 
 memory. The result is that memory instead of being occupied in 
 its proper function of retaining the impression left on the mind by 
 its own active operations, and being therefore subordinate and sub- 
 sequent to those operations, is forced into a position to which it
 
 136 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 has no natural right, and made to precede, instead of waiting on, 
 the mind's action. Thus the true sequence of causes and con- 
 sequences is disturbed, and memory becomes a principal agent in 
 instruction. If we further reflect that ideas gained by the direct 
 action of the mind naturally find their proper place among the 
 other ideas already existing there by the law of association, while 
 those arbitrarily forced into it do so only by accident for the mind 
 receives only that which it is already prepared to receive we see 
 that cramming, which takes no account of preparedness, is abso- 
 lutely opposed to development, that is to education in the true sense 
 of the term. Cramming, therefore, has nothing in common with 
 the art of teaching, and the great didactic truth is established that 
 it is the manner or method rather than the thing taught, that con- 
 stitutes the real value of the teaching. 
 
 Mr. D'Arcy Thompson, in his interesting book entitled " Way- 
 side Thoughts," referring to the usual process of cramming in 
 education, compares it to the deglutition by the boa constrictor of 
 a whole goat at a meal, but he remarks that while the boa by de- 
 grees absorbs the animal into his system, the human boa often 
 goes about all his life with the undigested goat in his stomach ! 
 There may be some extraA'agance in this whimsical illustration, 
 but it involves, after all, a very serious truth. How many men 
 and women are there who, if they do not carry the entire goat with 
 them throughout life, retain in an undigested condition huge frag- 
 ments of it, which press as a dead weight on the system a source 
 of torpidity and uneasiness, instead of becoming through proper 
 assimilation a means of energy and power. The ti*ue educator, who 
 is at the same time a genuine artist, proceeds to his work on prin- 
 ciples diametrically opposed to those involved in cramming. -In 
 the first place he endeavors to form a just conception of the nature, 
 aims, and ends of education, as of a theory which is to govern his 
 professional action. According to this conception "education is 
 the training carried on consciously and continuously by the edu- 
 cator with the view of converting desultory and accidental force 
 into organized action, and of ultimately making the child operated 
 on by it a healthy, intelligent, moral, and religious man." Con- 
 fining himself to intellectual training, he sees that this must be 
 accomplished through instruction, which is " the orderly placing of 
 knowledge in the mind with a definite object ; the mere aggrega- 
 tion of incoherent ideas, gained by desultory and unconnected 
 mental acts being no more instruction than heaping bricks and
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 137 
 
 stone together is building a house."* These conceptions of the 
 nature and aim of education, and of its proper relation to instruc- 
 tion, suggest to him the consideration of the means to be employed. 
 These means to be effectual must have an exact scientific relation 
 to the nature of the machinery that is to be set in motion ; a rela- 
 tion which can only be understood by a careful study of the ma- 
 chinery itself. If it is a sort of machinery which manifests its 
 energies in acts of observation, perception, reflection, and remember- 
 ing, and depends for its efficacy upon attention, he must study these 
 phenomena subjectively in relation to his own conscious experi- 
 ence, and objectively as exhibited in the experience of others. 
 Regarding, further, this plexus of energies as connected with a 
 base to which we give the name of mind, he must proceed to study 
 the nature of the mind in general, and especially note the manner 
 in which it acts in the acquisition of ideas. This study will bring 
 him into acquaintance with certain principles or laws which are to 
 guide and control his future action. The knowledge thus gained 
 will constitute his initiation into the Science and Art of Education. 
 The Science or Theory of Education then is seen to consist in a 
 knowledge of those principles of Psychology, which account for 
 the processes by which the mind gains knowledge. It therefore 
 serves as a test, by which the Art or Practice of Education may 
 be tried. All practices which are not in accordance with the 
 natural action of the mind in acquiring knowledge for itself are 
 condemned by the theory of Education, and in this predicament 
 is cramming, which consists in forcing into the mind of the learner 
 the products of other people's thought. Such products are formulae, 
 rules, general abstract propositions, definitions, classifications, 
 technical terms, common words even, when they are not the signs 
 of ideas gained at first-hand by his own observation and percep- 
 tion. The Science of Education recognizes all these kinds of 
 knowledge as necessary to the formation of the mind ; but rele- 
 gates them to their proper place in the course of instruction, and 
 determines that that place is subsequent not antecedent to the 
 action of the learner's mind on the facts which serve as their 
 groundwork. Facts, then, things, material objects, natural phe- 
 nomena ; physical facts, facts of language, facts of nature, are 
 the true, the all-sufficient pabulum for the youthful mind, and the 
 careful study and investigation of them at first-hand, through his 
 own observation and experiment are to constitute his earliest initi- 
 
 * See the Author's " Lectures on the Science and Art of Education."
 
 138 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 ation in the art of learning. After this initiatory practice, which 
 involves analysis and disintegration, come, as the natural sequence, 
 the processes of reconstruction and classification of the elements 
 obtained, induction, framing of definitions, building up of rules, 
 generalization of particulars, construction of formulae, application 
 of technical terms, in all which processes the art of the teacher as 
 a director of the learner's intellectual efforts is manifestly called 
 into exercise ; and the need of his own experimental knowledge 
 of the processes he has to direct is too obvious to require to be 
 insisted on. 
 
 The comprehensive principle here enunciated, which regards even 
 the learning by rote of the multiplication table and Latin declen- 
 sions, antecedently to some preliminary dealing with the facts of 
 Latin and the facts of number, as of the essence of cramming, will 
 be theoretically received or rejected by teachers just in proportion 
 as they receive or reject the conception of au art of teaching 
 founded on intellectual principles. It is obvious enough that 
 cramming knowledge into the memory, without regard to its fitness 
 for mental digestion, if an art at all, is an art of a very low order, 
 and has little in common with that which consists in a conscious 
 appreciation of the means whereby the mind 'is awakened to ac- 
 tivity, and its energies trained to independent power. The teacher, 
 in fact, in the one case is an-artist, scientifically working out his 
 design in accordance with the principles of his art, and ready to 
 apply all its resources to the emergencies of practice ; in the other 
 case, he is an artisan empirically working by rule-of-thumb, un- 
 furnished with principles of action, and succeeding, when he suc- 
 ceeds at all, through the happy accident that the pupil's own 
 intellectual activity practically defeats the natural tendency of 
 the teacher's mechanical drill. 
 
 I do not, however, by any means pretend to assert that every 
 teacher who declines to accept this notion of teaching as an art, is 
 an artisan. It often happens that a man works on a theory which 
 he does not consciously appreciate, and in his actual practice 
 obviates the objection which might be taken against some of his 
 processes. Hence we find teachers, while denouncing such ex- 
 pressions as " development and cultivation of the intelligence " as 
 " frothy,"* doing practically all they can to develop and cultivate 
 the intelligence of their pupils. Such teachers do indeed violently 
 drive " the goat" into the stomach of their pupils, but when they 
 have got it there take great pains to have it digested in some 
 
 * See a letter in the " Educational Times," for December, 1872, from the Rev. E. Bodcn, 
 Ilcad Master of the Clithuroe Royal Grammar School.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 139 
 
 fashion or other. I believe that the process would be much facili- 
 tated by their knowing something of the physiology of digestion, 
 but I do not therefore designate such practitioners as artisans. 
 At the same time I do not call them artists, for their procedure 
 violates nature, and true art never does that. The epithet artisan 
 may however be restricted to those and their number is legion 
 whose practice consists of cramming pur et simple. 
 
 On the whole, then, I contend that if we could examine the entire 
 practice of those teachers who actually succeed in endowing the 
 large majority not a select few of then* pupils with sound and 
 systematic knowledge, and with well-informed minds, we should 
 find that, whatever be their theoretic notions, they have worked on 
 the principles on which I have been all along insisting. They have 
 succeeded by the development and cultivation of the intelligence of 
 their pupils, and by nothing else, arid they have succeeded just in 
 proportion as they have consciously kept this object in view. Let us 
 hear what Dean Stanley tells us of Arnold's teaching. "Arnold's 
 whole method was founded on the principle of awakening the 
 intelligence of every individual boy. Hence it was his practice to 
 teach, not, as you perceive, by downpouring, but by questioning. 
 As a general rule he never gave information except as a reward for 
 an answer, and often withheld it altogether, or checked himself in 
 the very act of uttering it, from a sense that those whom he was 
 addressing had not sufficient interest or sympathy to entitle them to 
 receive it. His explanations were as short as possible, enough to 
 dispose of the difficulty and no more, and his questions were of a 
 kind to call the attention of the boys to the real point of every 
 .subject, to disclose to them the exact boundaries of what they knew 
 and did not know, and to cultivate a habit not only of collecting 
 facts, but of expressing themselves with facility, and of under- 
 standing the principles on which these facts rested." Such was 
 Arnold's method of teaching ; and it is obvious that mutatis 
 mutandis, modified somewhat so as to apply to the earliest elemen- 
 tary instruction, it involves all the principles which I have con- 
 tended for, as constituting the true art of teaching. The boys 
 were, in fact, teaching themselves under the direction of the 
 teacher without, or with the slightest, explanation on his part. 
 They were using all their minds on the subject, and gain ing inde- 
 pendent power. Arnold, to use a famous French teacher's expres- 
 sion, was " laboring to render himself useless." 
 
 But I must draw these remarks to a conclusion. It is hardly 
 necessary for me to state formally the principles for which I have 
 been all along arguing.
 
 140 IMPORTANCE OF THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER. 
 
 The upshot is this Teaching is not a blind routine but an art, 
 which has a definite end in view. An art implies an artist who 
 works by systematic rules. The processes and rules of art ex- 
 plicitly or implicitly evolve the principles involved in science. 
 The art or practice of education, therefore, is founded on the 
 science or theory of education, while the science of education is 
 itself founded on the science of mind or psychology. The com- 
 plete equipment and training of the teacher for his profession 
 comprehends therefore : 
 
 (a.) A knowledge of the subject of instruction. 
 
 (6.) A knowledge of the nature of the being to be instructed. 
 
 (c.) A knowledge of the best methods of instruction. 
 
 This knowledge gained by careful study and conjoined with 
 practice, constitutes the training of the teacher. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A very instructive instance, as showing the popular estimate of the 
 " qualifications " deemed necessary at this very moment for the equipment 
 of the teacher, was recently brought forward by Mr. Meiklejohn, in a lec- 
 ture delivered at the College of Preceptors. The Principal of a Ladies' 
 College required the assistance of a Lady Superintendent to take charge of 
 the educational work of her establishment. In reply to an advertisement, 
 in -which she stated the duties of the office and the salary offered (one hun- 
 dred guineas per annum, with rooms and board) she received about nine 
 hundred letters. In her perplexity under this embarras de richesses, Mr. 
 Meiklejohn offered to look over, and report upon three hundred of these 
 epistles. Ho found, as the result, that about five per cent, of them were 
 "good and hopeful;" while the remaining ninety-five percent, "showed 
 every variety of incapacity and ignorance, and furnished examples of every 
 kind of sin against common sense and the English language." As evidence 
 on this last point, ho quotes numerous instances of spelling ; such as 
 "widdow," "affraid," "caricter," "responcible," "Bchollar," " controle," 
 "referrence," "exclent," "apoint an intervew," &c. ; of expression; such 
 as "yrs respectively," "quite compitant of undertaking," "with great 
 kindness to young people, being exceedingly fond of the above," "wishes 
 to resort to some capacity by way of employment, " &c. ; and of ' ' qualifi- 
 cations;" such as "can refer to Cannons," "is not so strong in the chest 
 as she used to be," " has gone through fever and small-pox cases very suc- 
 cessively," " is a Baronness," " is the widow of 'a Commercial,' and has 
 four small children," "has never held a similar post, and will soon bo 
 thirty-five," " has had experience in the management of a large institution 
 for babies," "is of exceedingly imposing appearance," "at present fills a 
 situation which she would bo happy to resign," "can carve well and 
 quickly," "can make nourishing soups, or get them made," &c., &c. It 
 is sad to conceive of nine hundred distressed women catching thus eagerly 
 at the offer of the salary, but even more sad, in the interest of education 
 itself, to think of the mean idea they must have entertained of what is 
 indicated by "educational work."
 
 THEORIES OF TEACHING 
 
 WITH THEIR 
 
 CORRESPONDING PRACTICE.
 
 THEORIES OF TEACHING WITH THEIR 
 CORRESPONDING PRACTICE * 
 
 THERE are, as we know, many methods of teaching. There are, 
 for instance, Ascham's, Hamilton's, and Ollendorf's method of 
 teaching languages, and Pestalozzi's and Jacotot's methods of 
 teaching generally ; there are the methods of the old Grammar 
 School, and those of the Dame Schools, and of the Kindergarten 
 and a great many others. Each of these has a theory which 
 underlies it and accounts for its specialty. Into the details, how- 
 ever, of various methods I am not about to enter ; my purpose is 
 the more general one of endeavoring to ascertain the leading spirit 
 which pervades them all, independently, for the most part, of the 
 details. 
 
 A little consideration of the subject, will, I believe, justify us 
 in taking, as the criterion of this spirit, the aspect under which we 
 regard the relation of the teacher to the pupil, and of both to their 
 joint work. One teacher may regard the communication of his 
 own ideas to his pupil as his proper and special function, and their 
 minds as a sort tabula rasa, on which he has to write himself. 
 According to this theory, he will then treat them merely as recipients, 
 and will carefully tell them what they ought to receive, and how 
 they ought to receive it. In placing facts before them, he will tell 
 them what conclusions they are to draw from them. When his 
 pupils commit faults he will correct them himself even though no 
 use whatever is made of the corrections by them. He will be so 
 careful that the pupil should not go wrong that he will continually 
 interfere with his free action, by urging him to aim at this point 
 and avoid that in short, he will assume that the ability of the 
 pupil to observe, compare, reason, think, depends almost entirely 
 upon his own continual telling, showing, explaining, and thinking 
 for him. Such a teacher evidently has a mean opinion of the 
 pupil's powers, he assumes that they cannot work without the 
 constant intervention of his own, and considers that in the joint 
 
 * Read at a meeting of the Education Department of the Social Science Association, 
 Monday, April 26, 1869.
 
 144 THEORIES OF TEACHING 
 
 operation carried on by himself and his pupil, he takes, and ought 
 to take, the larger share. 
 
 Another teacher entertains a very different view of the relation 
 he sustains to his pupil. He sets out, indeed, with a different esti- 
 mate of the pupil's native ability, which he regards as competent 
 to observe facts, compare them together and draw inferences re- 
 specting them without any authoritative interference on his part. 
 He sees this native faculty at work in daily life, and therefore 
 knows that it can be employed in self-instruction. He trusts in it, 
 therefore, and never tells the pupil what he can find out for him- 
 self ; he does not superfluously explain relations between objects or 
 facts which explain themselves by the simple juxtaposition of the 
 objects and facts. He does not correct blunders which almost invari- 
 ably arise either from insufficient knowledge or from carelessness : in 
 the one case he requires the pupil to gain the knowledge required, 
 or leaves the blunder for subsequent correction ; in the other he 
 demands more attention, and expects the pupil to correct his own 
 blunders. He feels no inordinate anxiety about his pupil's 
 occasional errors of judgment, provided that his mind is actively 
 engaged in the subject under instruction, in short, seeing that the 
 child is pursuing, in a natural way, his own self-teaching, he is 
 anxious not to supersede his efforts by any needless, and probably 
 injurious, interference with the process. He judges, therefore, 
 that in the joint operation referred to it is the pupil and not himself 
 who is to take the far larger share, inasmuch as t!.e pupil's ulti- 
 mate power of thinking will be in the inverse ratio of the teacher's 
 thinking for him. 
 
 It is evident that these different conceptions of the relation 
 between the teacher and the pupil are not easily reconcilable with 
 each other, and that the practical results must be respectively very 
 different. These results I will not now endeavor to estimate, but 
 address myself to my immediate purpose, which is to maintain the 
 latter theory, and to show that learning is essentially self-tuition, 
 and teaching the superintendence of the process; and, in short, that 
 compendiously stated, the essential function of the teacher con- 
 sists in helping the pupil to teach himself. 
 
 It may be worth while to inquire for a few minutes into the 
 exact meaning, as fixed by etymological considerations, of the 
 words learn and teach. As words represent ideas, we may thus 
 ascertain what conceptions were apparently intended to be repre- 
 sented by these or equivalent symbols. Now it does seem remark- 
 able that, in European languages at least, to learn means to gather
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 145 
 
 or glean for oneself and teach, to guide or superintend. In no 
 case that I am aware of do these words imply a correlation of re- 
 ceptivity on the one hand, with communicativeness on the other. A 
 brief reference to the facts will be sufficient to show this. I take 
 the word learn first, because learning must precede teaching. 
 Learn, in the earliest form of our language, which we erroneously 
 call Anglo-Saxon instead of Original or Primitive English, was 
 leorn-ian, a derivative of the simpler form la>r-an, to teach. There 
 is reason to believe that the longer form with the epenthetic n repre- 
 sents a class of words once not uncommon in Gothic languages, 
 though now no longer recognized in practice I mean words 
 endued in themselves with the functions of reflective or passive 
 verbs. Thus, in Moeso-Gothic, we have lukan, to shut or lock up, 
 lukn-an, to lock oneself up, or to be locked up ; wak-an, to wake 
 another, wakn-an, to wake oneself, to be awake. "We have the 
 corresponding awake and awaken ourselves. If this analogy be 
 correct^ then leorn-ian, as connected with Icer-an, to teach, means 
 to teach oneself, i. e., to learn. As, however, the director of a 
 work often gets the credit due to his subaltern, so the person who 
 directed his pupil to do his work of teaching himself was formerly 
 said and the usage still exists to learn or larn the pupil. In 
 nearly all European languages, this double force of the word is 
 found. Three hundred years ngo even it was unquestionably good 
 English to say, as Cranmer does in his version of the Psalter 
 " Lead me forth in thy truth and learn me," and as Shakespeare 
 does in the person of Caliban " the red plague rid you for learn- 
 ing me your language." But what does the original root leer 
 moan ? It is evidently equivalent to the Moeso-Gothic lais or les ; 
 s being interchangeable with r, as we see in the Latin, arbos, arbor 
 and in the German, eisen, compared with our iron. But the Moeso- 
 Gothic lais or les is identical with the German, les or lesen, and 
 means to pluck, gather, acquire, read, learn, and we have still a 
 trace of it in our provincial word leasing gleaning or gathering 
 up. The primitive meaning then of the root ?cer, of our original 
 English must have been the same as that of the Mtrso-Gothic les, 
 though, for reasons already referred to, the causative sense to 
 make to gather, acquire or learn, must have been very early super- 
 added. On the whole, then, it appears sufficiently clear that to 
 leam is to gather or glean for oneself i. e., to teach oneself. 
 But the correlative teach also requires a moment's consideration. 
 This is derived from, or equivalent to, the original P^nglish, tcec or 
 tcech (in teec-an or taech-an), to the German, zeig (in zeigen), to
 
 146 THEORIES OF TEACHING, 
 
 the Moeso-Gothic tech (in techo.n), to the Latin doc (in docere}, or 
 die in di(e)scere (of which the ordinary form is discere) and to the 
 Greek 8/c (in BeiKwp.t). This common root means to show, point 
 out, direct, lead the way. The same idea is conveyed by the French 
 equivalents montrer and enseigner, both meaning, as we know, to 
 teach. 
 
 The etymology, then, in both instances supports the theory that 
 learning is gathering up or acquiring for onself, and teaching, the 
 guiding, directing, or superintending of that process. 
 
 The pupil, then, by this theory is to advance by his own efforts, 
 to work for himself, to learn for himself, to think for himself ; and 
 the teacher's function is to consist mainly in earnest and sympa- 
 thizing direction. He is to devote his knowledge, intelligence, 
 virtue, and experience to that object. He has himself travelled 
 the road before which he and his }*oung companion are to travel 
 together ; he knows its difficulties, and can sympathize with the 
 struggles which must be made against them. He will therefore 
 endeavor to gain his pupil's confidence, by entering into them, and 
 by suggesting adequate motives for exertion when he sees the 
 needful courage failing. He will encourage and animate every 
 honest and manful effort of his pupil, but, remembering that he is 
 to be a guide and not a bearer, he will not even attempt to super- 
 sede that labor and exercise which constitute the value of the dis- 
 cipline to the pupil, which he cannot take upon himself without 
 defeating the very end in view. 
 
 It is worth while here to meet a plausible objection which has 
 been taken against this view of the teacher's function. If, it is 
 said, the pupil really after all learns by himself without the inter- 
 vention of the teacher's mind in the process though the inter- 
 vention of his moral influence is strenuously insisted on then this 
 superintendent of other people's efforts to gain knowledge may 
 really have none himself ; this director of machinery may know 
 nothing of mechanics. This objection is pertinent and deserves 
 attention. It is obvious that the teacher who is really able to enter 
 into his pupil's difficulties in learning effectively ought to be well 
 furnished with knowledge and experience. Knowledge of the 
 subject under instruction is to be required of the teacher, both 
 because the recognized possession of it gives him weight and 
 influence, and because the possession of a large store of well- 
 digested knowledge is itself distinct evidence that its owner has 
 gone through a course of healthful mental discipline, and is on that 
 ground other things being equal a fit and proper person to
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 147 
 
 superintend those who are going through the same discipline. 
 Knowledge also of a special kind he ought to have that derived 
 from thoughtful study, accompanied by practice, of the machinery 
 which he is to direct. He is not, by the assumption, himself an 
 essential part of it, but as an overlooker or engineer he certainly 
 ought to be acquainted with its nature and construction, so as to 
 be able to estimate its working power, and to know when to start 
 and when to stop ,it, to prevent both inaction and overaction. A 
 teacher, then, without some knowledge of psychology, gained both 
 systematically and by experience and observation, could hardly 
 be considered as fully equipped for his work. But I need not 
 dwell further on this point, though I could not well leave it un- 
 noticed. 
 
 It appears, then, that the teacher of a pupil who teaches himself 
 will find quite enough to do in his work of superintendence and 
 sympathy. It is only as far as the mental process of learning that 
 the pupil is in any sense independent of him. 
 
 I do not profess to describe in philosophic terms what the mental 
 process which we call learning really is, but it is necessary for my 
 argument to maintain that whatever it is, it can no more be per- 
 formed by deputy than eating, drinking, or sleeping, and further, 
 that every one engaged in performing it is really teaching himself. 
 If, then, the views I have suggested of the relation between the 
 teacher and the learner be generally correct, and the latter really 
 learns by teaching himself, it would follow that if we could only 
 ascertain his method as a learner, we should obtain the true ele- 
 ments of ours as teachers ; or in other words, that true principles 
 of the art of teaching would be educed from those involved in the 
 art of learning, though the converse is by no means true. 
 
 The establishment of these principles would furnish us with a 
 test of the real value of some of the practices in current use 
 amongst teachers, and perhaps help to lay the foundation of that 
 teaching of the future, which will, as I believe, identify self- 
 tuition, under competent guidance, with the scientific method of 
 investigation. 
 
 But I must endeavor to enlarge the field of inquiry, and show 
 that self-tuition under guidance is the only possible method in the 
 acquirement of that elementary instruction which is the common 
 property of the whole human race. Long before the teacher, with 
 his apparatus of. books, maps, globes, diagrams, and lectures, 
 appears in the field, the child has been pursuing his own education 
 under the direction of a higher teacher than any of those who bear
 
 148 THEORIES OF TEACHING, 
 
 the technical name. He has been learning the facts and pheno- 
 mena which stand for words and phrases in the great book of 
 Nature, and has also learned some of the conventional signs by 
 which those facts and phenomena are known in his mother- 
 tongue. 
 
 As my general proposition is that the art of teaching should 
 be, as far as possible, founded on those processes by which 
 Nature teaches those who have no other teacher those who learn 
 by themselves it is important to glance at a few of these pro- 
 cesses. 
 
 Nature's earliest lessons consist in teaching her pupils the use 
 of their senses. The infant, on first opening his eyes, probably 
 sees nothing. A glare of light stimulates the organ of sight, but 
 makes no distinct impression upon it. In a short time, however, 
 the light reflected from the various objects around him impinges 
 with more or less force, upon the eye and impresses upon it the 
 images of things without, the idea of the image is duly transferred 
 to the mind and thus the first lesson in seeing is given. 
 
 This idea of form, is, however, complex in its character, which 
 arises from the fact that the objects presented to his attention are 
 wholes or aggregates. He learns to recognize them in the gross 
 before he knows them in detail. He has no choice but to learn 
 them in this way. No child ever did learn them in any other way. 
 Nature presents him with material objects and facts, or things 
 already made or done. She does not invite him, in the first 
 instance, before he knows in a general way the whole object, to 
 observe the constituent parts, nor the manner in which the parts 
 are related to the whole. She never, in condescension to his 
 weakness of perception, separates the aggregate in its component 
 elements never presents these elements to his consideration one 
 by one. In short, she ignores altogether in her earliest lessons the 
 synthetical method, and insists on his employing only the analytical. 
 As a student of the analytical method he proceeds with his investi- 
 gations, observing resemblances and differences, comparing, con- 
 trasting, and to some extent generalizing (and thus using the 
 synthetical pi-ocess) , until the main distinctions of external forms 
 are comprehended, and their more important parts recognized as 
 distinct entities, to be subsequently regarded themselves as wholes 
 and decomposed into their constituent parts. Thus the child goes 
 on with Nature as his teacher, learning to read for himself and by 
 himself the volume she spreads out before him, mastering first some
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 149 
 
 of it8 sentences, then its phrases and words, and lastly, a few of 
 its separate letters. 
 
 So with regard to the physical properties of objects as distin- 
 guished from their mechanical divisions or parts. What teacher 
 but Nature makes the child an embryo experimental philosopher ? 
 It is she who teaches him to teach himself the difference between 
 hard and soft, bitter and sweet, hot and cold. He lays hold of 
 objects within his reach, conveys them to his mouth, knocks them 
 against the table or floor, and by performing such experiments 
 incessantly gratifies, instructs, and trains the senses of sight, touch, 
 taste, smelling, and hearing. At one time a bright and most 
 attractive object is close at hand. It looks beautiful, and he won- 
 ders what it can be. Nature whispers, "Find out what it is. 
 Touch it." He puts his fingers obediently into the flame, burns 
 them, and thus makes an experiment, and gains at the same time 
 an important experience in the art of living. He does not, how- 
 ever, feel quite certain that this may not be a special case of bad 
 luck. He therefore tries again, and of course with the same 
 result. And now, reflecting maturely on what has taken place, 
 he begins to assume that not only the flame already tried, but all 
 flames will burn him and thus dimly perceiving the relation 
 between cause and effect, he is already tracking, though slowly 
 and feebly, the footsteps of the inductive philosophy. Even 
 earlier in life as soon, indeed, as he was born, -as Professor 
 Tyndall remarks urged by the necessity of doing something for 
 his living, he improvised a suction-pump, and thus showed him- 
 self to be, even from his birth, a student of practical science. 
 
 These instances will serve to show that Nature's earliest lessons 
 are illustrations of the theory, that teaching essentially consists 
 in aiding the pupil to teach himself. The child's method of learn- 
 ing is evidently self-tuition under guidance, and nothing else. 
 He learns, i. e., gathers up, acquires, knows a vast number of 
 facts relating to things about him ; and, moreover, by imitation 
 solely, he gains a practical acquaintance with the arts of walking, 
 seeing, hearing, &c. Who has taught him ? Nature himself 
 practically the}- are one. In the ordinary sense, indeed, of the 
 word teaching, Nature has not taught him at all. She has given 
 him no rules, no laws, no abstract principles, no formulae, no 
 grammar of hearing, seeing, walking, or talking ; she simply gave 
 the faculty, supplied the material, and the occasion for its exer- 
 cise, and her pupil learnt to do by doing. This is what Nature, 
 the teacher, the guide, the directrix, did. But something more
 
 150 THEORIES OF TEACHING, 
 
 she did, or rather in her wisdom left undone. When her pupil, 
 through carelessness and heedlesness, failed to see what was 
 before him, when he blundered in his walking or talking, she 
 neither interposed to correct his blunders, nor indulged in outcries 
 and objurgations against him. She bided her opportunity. She 
 went on teaching, he went on learning, and the blunders were in 
 time corrected by the pupil himself. Even when he was about to 
 burn his fingers, it was no part of her plan to hinder him from 
 learning the valuable lessons taught by the ministry of pain. 
 Perhaps in these respects, as well as in so many others, teachers 
 of children might learn something from the example of their great 
 Archididascalos. 
 
 But it will be objected that Nature's wise, authoritative teach- 
 ing can be no guide for us. She teaches by the law of exigency, 
 and her pupil must perforce learn whether he will or not. In the 
 society in which we live there is no such imperative claim, and 
 the teacher, who appears as Nature's deputy, can neither wield 
 her authority nor adopt her methods. In reply to this objection 
 it may be urged that Society's claims upon her members are 
 scarcely less imperative than Nature's, and that the deputy can, 
 and ought to, act out his superior's principles of administration. 
 
 Suppose then, for instance, that Society requires that a child 
 should learn to read. In this case, certainly, Nature will not 
 intervene to secure that special instruction, but the method adopt- 
 ed by her deputy may be, and ought to be, founded on here. 
 Every principle of Nature's teaching is violated in the ordinary 
 plan of commencing with the alphabet. Nature, as I have already 
 said or implied, sets no alphabet whatever before her pupil ; nor 
 is there in the teaching of Nature anything that even suggests 
 such a notion as learning A, B, C. Nature's teaching, it cannot 
 be too frequently repeated, is, at first analytical, not synthetical, 
 and the essence of it is that the pupil makes the analysis himself. 
 
 Our ordinary teacher, however, in defiance of Nature, com- 
 mences his instructions in the art of reading with A, B, C, pointing 
 out each letter, and at the same time uttering a sound which the 
 child is expected to consider as the sound always to be associated 
 with that sign. At length, after many a groan, the alphabet is 
 learned perfectly and the teacher proceeds to the combinations. 
 He points to a word, and the pupil says, letter by letter, bee-a-tee, 
 and then, naturally enough, comes to a dead stop. His work is 
 done. Neither he nor Sir Isaac Newton in his prime, could take 
 the next unexpected step and compound these elements into bat.
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 151 
 
 The sphynx who proposes the riddle may indeed look menacingly 
 for the answer, but by no possible chance can she get it. The 
 teacher then conies to the rescue, utters the sound bat, which the 
 child duly repeats, and thus the second stage iu reading is 
 accomplished. 
 
 It will be observed that the only rational and sensible feature 
 in this process is the utterance and echo of the sound bat in view 
 of the word or sign, and if the teacher had begun with this, aud 
 not confused the child by giving him the notion that he was learn- 
 ing a sound, when he was in fact learning nothing but a name, 
 Nature would have approved of the lesson, as analagous to those 
 given by herself. She might also have asked the teacher to notice 
 that the child learns to speak by hearing and using whole 
 words. Nobody addresses him as bee-a-bee-wy, nor does he say 
 em-a-em-em-a. He, in fact, deals with aggregates, compares 
 them together, exercises the analytical faculty upon them, and 
 employs the constituent elements which he thus obtains in ever new 
 combinations There can be no doubt, then, that the child learns 
 to speak, by imitation, analysis, and practice. Why not, then, 
 says Nature, let him learn reading in the same way ? Let him in 
 view of entire words echo the sound of them received from the 
 teacher ; let him learn them thoroughly as wholes, let him by 
 analysis separate them into their syllables, and the S3'llables into 
 their letters, and it will be found that the phonic faculty of the 
 compound leads surely and easily to that of its separate parts. 
 The fact that our orthography is singularly anomalous is an argu- 
 ment for, rather than against, the adoption of this plan of teach- 
 ing to read. 
 
 In pursuing this only natural method of instruction we notice 
 that the pupil frequently repeats the same process, going over and 
 over the same ground until he has mastered it, and as in learning 
 to walk he often stumbled before he walked freely, and iu learning 
 to talk often blundered and stammered before he used his tongue 
 readily, so while learning to read in Nature's school, he will make 
 many a fruitless attempt, be often puzzled, often for awhile miss 
 his path, yet all the while he is correcting his errors by added 
 knowledge and experience, sharpening his faculties by practice, 
 teaching himself by his own active efforts, and not receiving 
 passively the explanations of others ; deeply interested too in dis- 
 covering for himself that which he would be even disgusted with 
 if imposed upon by dogmatic authority, he is trained, even from 
 the very beginning, in the method of investigation. I cannot but
 
 152 THEORIES OF TEACHING 
 
 look upon him as illustrating faithfully and fairly in his practice 
 the theory that learning is self-tuition under competent guidance, 
 and that teaching is, or ought to be, the superintendence of the 
 process. 
 
 Did time permit I could give many illustrations of the interest 
 excited, and the efficiency secured, by this method of teach- 
 ing reading. For example, I have seen and heard children 
 earnestly petitioning to be allowed to pursue their lessons in read- 
 ing, after a short experience of it, by what they called the " find- 
 ing out plan." It was known to me more than forty years ago, as 
 a part of Jacotot's once renowned " Enseignement Universel," 
 and I then put it to the severest test. It is also substantially con- 
 tained in Mr. Curwen's " Look and Say Method," in the little 
 book entitled " Reading without Spelling, or the Scholar's Delight," 
 and in articles by Mr. Dunning and Mr. Baker, of Doncaster, iu 
 the Quarterly Journal of Education for 1834. A natural method, 
 like others, requires of course to be judiciously directed, and the 
 teacher's especial duty is in this, as in other methods, to maintain 
 the interest of the lesson, and above all, to get the pupil, however 
 young he may be, to think; especially as, according to the prin- 
 ciples already laid down, it is rather the pupil who learns than the 
 master who teaches. As a case in point I quote a passage from 
 the life of Lord Byron. Speaking of a school he was in when five 
 years of age, he says, " I learned little there except to repeat by 
 rote the first lesson of monosyllables, * God made man, let us love 
 him, &c.,' by hearing it often repeated without acquiring a letter. 
 Whenever proof was made of my progress at home, 1 repeated 
 these words, with the most rapid fluency, but on turning over a 
 new leaf, I continued to repeat them, so that the narrow bounda- 
 ries of my first year's accomplishments were detected, my ears 
 boxed (which they did not deserve, seeing that it was by ear only 
 that I had acquired my letters) , and my intellects consigned to a 
 new preceptor." This case, however, proves only that Byron had 
 not been directed in teaching himself, and that he was not a pupil 
 of the analytical method. His mind had taken no cognizance of 
 the acquisitions which he had mechanically made. 
 
 Another instance, much more to the point, is supplied in n pas- 
 sage which I extracted many years ago from a Report of the 
 Gaelic School Society, and which contains a most valuable lesson 
 for the teachers of reading. " An elderly female in the parish of 
 Edderton was most anxious to read the Scriptures in her native 
 tongue. She did not, even know the alphabet, and of course she
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 153 
 
 began with the letters. Long and zealously she strove to acquire 
 these, and finally succeeded. She was then put into the syllable 
 class, in which she continued some time, but made so little progress 
 that, with a breaking heart, she retired from the school. The 
 clergyman of the parish, on being made acquainted with these 
 circumstances, advised the teacher to send for her again, and in- 
 stead of trying her with syllables, to which she could attach no 
 meaning, to give her the sixth Psalm at once. This plan suc- 
 ceeded to admiration : and when the school was examined by a 
 committee of presbytery, she read the thirty-seventh Psalm in a 
 manner that astonished all present." Whether this important dis- 
 covery for it was nothing less was made practically available 
 in the teaching of the parish of Edderton I do not know ; but I 
 should not be surprised to find that the good old A, B, C, and the 
 cabalistical b-a, ba ; b-e, be, in which Dr. Andrew Bell gravely 
 tells us "the sound is an echo to the sense!" is still going on 
 there as at the beginning. 
 
 I have detained you long over the practical illustration contained 
 in the method of teaching to read, because it really is a complete 
 application of the theory which I advocate, and involves such 
 principles as these which I state with the utmost brevity for want 
 of time : 
 
 1. The pupil, teaching himself, begins with tangible and con- 
 
 crete facts which he can comprehend, not with abstract 
 principles which he cannot. 
 
 2. He employs a method the analytical which lies in his 
 
 own power, not the synthetical, which mainly requires ap- 
 plication ab extra. 
 
 3. His early career is not therefore impeded by needless pre- 
 
 cepts, and authoritative dogmas. 
 
 4. He learns to become a discoverer and explorer on his own 
 
 account, and not merely a passive recipient of the results 
 of other people's discoveries. 
 
 5. He takes a degree of pleasure in the discoveries or acquisi- 
 
 tions made by himself, which he cannot take in those made 
 by others. 
 
 6. In teaching himself he proceeds he can only proceed in 
 
 proportion to his strength, and is not perplexed and en- 
 cumbered by explanations, which, however excellent in 
 themselves, may not be adapted generally are not 
 adapted to the actual state of his mind. 
 
 7. He consequently proceeds from the known to the unknown.
 
 154 THEORIES OF TEACHING, 
 
 8. The ideas that he thus gains will, as natural sequences of 
 
 those already gained by the same method, be clear and pre- 
 cise as far as they go, his knowledge will be accurate, 
 though of course very limited, because it is his own. 
 
 9. By teaching himself, and relying on his own powers in a 
 
 special case, he acquires the faculty of teaching himself 
 generally a faculty the value of which can hardly be 
 overrated. 
 
 If these principles are involved in the methoTl of self-tuitioii 
 they necessarily define the measure and limit of the teacher's 
 function, and show us what the art of teaching ought to be. They 
 seem also to render it probable that much that goes under the name 
 of teaching rather hinders than helps the self-teaching of the pupil. 
 The assumption of the pupil's inability to learn except through the 
 manifold explanations of the teacher is inconsistent with this 
 theory, nor less so is the universal practice of making technical 
 definitions, abstract principles, scientific rules, &c., form so large a 
 portion of the pabulum of the youthful mind. The superintending 
 teacher by no means however despises definitions, principles and 
 rules, but he introduces them when the pupil is prepared for them, 
 and then he gets him to frame them for himself. The self-teaching 
 student has no power to anticipate the time when these deductions 
 from facts for such they all ultimately are will, by the natural 
 course of mental development, take their proper place in the course 
 of instruction, and any attempt to force him to swallow them 
 merely as intellectual boluses prematurely can only end in derange- 
 ment of the digestive organs. His mind can digest, or at least 
 begin to digest, facts which he sees for himself, but not definitions 
 and rules which he has had no share in making. He cannot, in 
 the nature of things, assume the conclusions of others drawn from 
 facts of which he is ignorant as his conclusions, and he is not 
 therefore really instructed by passively receiving them. 
 
 Those who take a different view from this of teaching some- 
 times plead that inasmuch as rules and principles are compendious 
 expressions representing many facts, the pupil does in learning 
 them economize time and labor. Experience does not, however, 
 support this view, but it is rather against it. The elementary 
 pupil cannot, if he would, comprehend for instance the metaphys- 
 ical distinctions and definitions of grammar. They are utterly 
 unsuited for his stage of development, and if violently intruded 
 into his mind they cannot be assimilated to its substance, but must 
 remain there as crude, undigested matter until the sj'stem is pre-
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 155 
 
 pared for them. When that time arrives, he will welcome these 
 compendious generalizations of facts which when prematurely 
 offered he rejected with disgust. Stuffing a pupil with ready- 
 made rules and formulae may perhaps make an adept in cramming, 
 but is cramming the be-all and end-all of education? 
 
 But I must furl my sails and make for land. The idea which 1 
 have endeavored to give of the true relation of the pupil to the 
 teacher, and which represents the former as carrying on his own 
 self-tuition under the wise superintendence of the latter, is of course 
 not new. Nothing strictly new can be said about education. The 
 elements of it may easily be found in the principles and practice of 
 Ascham, Montaigne, Ratich, Milton, Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, 
 Pestalozzi, Jacotot, and Herbert Spencer. Those who are inter- 
 ested in the subject may find an account of the views and methods 
 of these eminent men in Mr. Quick's valuable little book on Edu- 
 cational Reformers. All, in fact, who have insisted on the great 
 importance of eliciting the pupil's own efforts and not supersed- 
 ing, enfeebling and deadening them by too much telling and 
 explaining all, too, who have urged that abstract rules and 
 principles should, in teaching, follow, not precede, the examples 
 on which they are founded, have virtually adopted the theory 
 which I have endeavored to state and illustrate. They have, in 
 substance, admitted that the teacher's function is defined by a true 
 conception of the mental operation which we call learning, and 
 that that operation is radically and essentially the work of the 
 pupil, and cannot be performed for him. 
 
 If I have succeeded at all in the development of my theory, 
 it must be obvious that a pupil thus trained must be a more accu- 
 rate observer, a more skilful investigator, more competent to deal 
 with subjects of thought in an intelligent way ; in a word, a more 
 awakened thinker than one trained in accordance with the opposite 
 theory. The process he goes through naturally tends to make him 
 such, and to prepare him to appreciate and adopt in his subsequent 
 career the methods of science. It is the want of that teaching 
 which comes from himself that makes an ordinary pupil the slave 
 of technicalities and routine, that prevents him from grappling 
 with a common problem of arithmetic or algebra unless he happens 
 to remember the rule, and from demonstrating a geometrical propo- 
 sition if he forgets the diagram ; which, even though he may be a 
 scholar of Eton or Harrow, leaves him destitute of power to deal 
 at sight with a passage of an easy Greek or Latin author. In the 
 great bulk of our teaching, with of course many and notable
 
 156 THEORIES OF TEACHING, 
 
 exceptions, the native powers of the pupil are not made the most 
 of ; and hence his knowledge, even on leaving school, is too gener- 
 ally a farrago of facts only partially hatched into principles, mingled 
 in unseemly jumble with rules scarcely at all understood, exceptions 
 claiming equal rank with the rules, definitions dislocated from the 
 objects they define, and technicalities which clog rather than facili- 
 tate the operations of the mind. 
 
 A slight exercise of our memories, and a slight glance at the 
 actual state of things amongst us, will, I believe, witness to the 
 substantial truth of this statement. If, however, we want other 
 testimony, we may find it in abundance in the Reports and evidence 
 of the four Commissions which have investigated the state of edu- 
 cation amongst us ; if we want more still, we may be supplied 
 not, I am sorry to say, to our heart's content, but discontent in 
 the reports of intelligent official observers from abroad. If we 
 want more still, let us read the petitions only lately presented to 
 the House of Commons from the highest medical authorities, who 
 complain that medical education is rendered abortive and impos- 
 sible by the wholly unsatisfactory results of middle-class teaching. 
 Does it appear unreasonable to suppose that such a chorus of dis- 
 praise and dissatisfaction could not be raised unless there were 
 something in the methods of teaching which naturally leads to the 
 results complained of ? If the quality of the teaching I am not 
 considering the quantity is not responsible for the quality of its 
 results, I really do not know where we are to find the cause, and 
 failing in detecting the cause, how are we to begin even our search 
 for the remedy ? Theories of teaching which distrust the pupil's 
 native ability, which iu one way or other repress, instead of aiding, 
 the natural development of his mind, which surfeit him with tech- 
 nicalities, which impregnate him with vague infructuous notions 
 that are never brought to the birth, that cultivate the lowest facul- 
 ties at the expense of the highest, that make him a slave of the 
 Rule-of-Thumb instead of a master of principles are these 
 theories, which have done much of the mischief, to be still relied 
 on to supply the reform we need? Or shall we find, at least, some 
 of the germs of future life in the other theory, which from the first 
 confides in, cherishes, and encourages the native powers of the 
 child, which take care that his acquisitions, however small, shall 
 be made by himself, and secures their possession by repetition and 
 natural association, which invests his career with the vivid interest 
 which belongs to that of a discoverer and explorer of unknown 
 lauds, which, in short, to adopt the striking words of Burke, iu-
 
 WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING PRACTICE. 157 
 
 x 
 
 stead of serving up to him barren and lifeless truths, leads him to 
 the stock on which they grew, which sets him on the track of in- 
 vention, and directs him into those paths in which the great authori- 
 ties he follows made their own discoveries ? Is a theory which 
 involves such principles, and leads to such results, worthy the 
 consideration of those who regard education as pre-eminently the 
 civilizing agent of the world, and lament that England, as a 
 nation, is so little fraught with its spirit?
 
 THE 
 
 SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 [Delivered at the College of Preceptors, on the 2Qth of January, 1874.] 
 
 "Nous avons des maitres de sciences; nous n'avons pas d'educateurs, 
 d'hommes qui aient fait leur etude de 1'art d'elever les enfants." Charles 
 Clavel.
 
 " Because our understanding cannot, in this body, found itself but on 
 sensible things, nor arrive so clearly to the knowledge of God and things 
 invisible, as by orderly coming over the visible and inferior creature, the 
 same method is necessarily to be followed in all discreet teaching. "- 
 MILTON, Tractate on Education. 
 
 "The aim of Education should be rather to teach us how to think, than 
 what to think ; rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for 
 ourselves than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men. DR. 
 BEATTIE. 
 
 " G'est dans la nature de 1'enfance, dans ses besoins, dans ses aptitudes, 
 dans ses gouts, dans les exigences de la vie qui commence et doit grandir 
 en elle, en urt mot, qu'il [the author] cherche les raisons de sa preference 
 ou de son exclusion pour telle ou telle etude, telle ou telle methode, tel ou 
 tel regime." CHARLES CLAVEL, (Euvres Diverges, i. 55. 
 
 ' ' Instead of second-hand knowledge being regarded as of less value than 
 first-hand knowledge, and as a knowledge to be sought only where first-hand 
 knowledge cannot be had, it is actually regarded as of greater value. . . . 
 Reading is seeing by proxy is learning indirectly through another man's 
 faculties instead of directly learning through one's own faculties ; and such 
 is the prevailing bias, that the indirect learning is thought preferable to the 
 direct learning, and usurps the name of cultivation." HERBERT SPENCEB, 
 The Study of Sociology, p. 364.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following Lecture was delivered at the College of Preceptors, 
 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, on the 20th of January last. The 
 Chair was taken by the Rev. Dr. Abbott, Head Master of the City 
 of London School. In the course of his remarks at the close of 
 the Lecture, besides expressing his general sympathy with the views 
 I had brought forward, Dr. Abbott also expressed his opinion that 
 there was a certain degree of novelty in the plan by which it was 
 proposed that the Science of Education, with its correlative Art, 
 should be studied by Teachers. I have therefore thought it worth 
 while, by the publication of the Lecture, to give those who are 
 interested in Education generally, and Teachers especially, an 
 opportunity of forming their own judgment on the value of my 
 theory ; and in order to furnish them with some idea of the nature 
 and scope of the "Training Course of Lectures and Lessons on 
 the Science, Art, and History of Education," which I delivered 
 last year, and am repeating at the present time, I subjoin the 
 "Syllabus." 
 
 "The object of the entire course is to show that there are 
 Principles of Education, on which, in order to be truly efficient, 
 Practice must be founded ; or, in other words, that there is a 
 Science of Education, in reference to which the Art must be con- 
 ducted, and the value of its processes tested. 
 
 " In the First Division of the Course, the Science of Education 
 will be built up on an investigation into the nature of the being 
 to be educated, and into the phenomena which indicate and result 
 in bodily, intellectual, and moral growth. This investigation 
 involves an analysis of the organic life of the child, beginning 
 with his earliest manifestations of Feeling, Will, and Intellect. 
 Such manifestations .are the result of external agencies which 
 develop the child's native powers. This development constitutes 
 his natural education, which, as being carried on without formal 
 means and appliances, resolves itself into self-education. The
 
 162 PEEFACE. 
 
 principles underlying the processes by which the child is stimulated 
 to educate himself constitute the Science of Natural Education, 
 which is, therefore, the model or type of Formal Education. 
 
 " In the Second Division of the Course, the application of the 
 principles or Science, to the practice or Art of Education, will be 
 treated, the difficulties in the way of their strict application con- 
 sidered, and suggestions offered for meeting them. The educator 
 will be shown to be an artist accomplishing his end through scien- 
 tific means. The ordinary methods of general education, and 
 those of teaching different subjects, will be critically examined, and 
 the principles involved in them subjected to the test of the Science 
 of Education. 
 
 " In the Third Division of the Course, a sketch of the History 
 of Education from the earliest times, and among different nations, 
 will be given. With this will be connected a detailed account of 
 the Theories and Methods of the most eminent Writers on Edu- 
 cation and Teachers in all ages Aristotle, Plato, Quintilian, 
 Erasmus, the Jesuits, Ascham, Ratich, Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, 
 Basedow, Pestalozzi, De Fellenberg, Jacotot, Frobel, Arnold, 
 Herbert Spencer, &c., and the conformity or disagreement of 
 their Theories and Methods with the Scientific principles of Edu- 
 cation examined and appreciated." 
 
 JOSEPH PAYNE. 
 
 4, KILDARE GARDENS, W. ; 
 Feb. 18th, 1874.
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 AT the beginning of last year I delivered, in this room, a lecture 
 intended to inaugurate the Course of Lectures and Lessons on the 
 Science and Art of Education, which the Council of the College of 
 Preceptors had appointed me to undertake. The experiment then 
 about to be tried was a new one in this country ; for, although we 
 have had for some years Colleges intended to prepare Elementary 
 Teachers for their work, nothing of the kind existed for Middle 
 Class and Higher Teachers. As I stated in that Inaugural Lecture, 
 the Council of the College of Preceptors, after waiting in vain 
 for action on the part of the Government or of the Universities, and 
 attempting, also in vain, to obtain the influential co-operation of 
 the leading scholastic authorities in aid of then* object,* resolved 
 to make a beginning themselves. They therefore adopted a scheme 
 laid before them by one of their colleagues a lady and offered 
 the first Professorship of the Science and Art of Education 
 to me. 
 
 "We felt that some considerable difficulties lay in the way of 
 any attempt to realize our intentions. Among these, there were 
 two especially on which I will dwell for a few minutes. The first 
 was, the opinion very generally entertained in this country, that 
 there is no Science of Education, that is, that there are no fixed 
 principles for the guidance of the Educator's practice. It is gener- 
 ally admitted that there is a Science of Medicine, of Law, of 
 Theology ; but it is not generally admitted that there is a corres- 
 ponding Science of Education. The opinion that there is no such 
 Science was, as we know, courageously uttered by Mr. Lowe, but 
 we also know that there are hundreds of cultivated professional 
 men in England, who silently maintain it, and are practically guided 
 by it. These men, many of them distinguished proficients in the 
 
 * It is pleasant to record the interesting fact, that at the last meeting of the Head Masters' 
 Committee, not only was the principle of a special professional training for teachers theoretic- 
 ally admitted, but steps taken for realizing it. The effective execution of this design will, of 
 course, involve a study of the Science as well as the Art of Education.
 
 1G4 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Art of teaching, if you venture to suggest to them that there must 
 be a correlated Science which determines whether they are con- 
 scious of it or not the laws of their practice, generally by a 
 significant smile let you know their opinion both of the subject 
 and of yourself. If they deign to open their lips at all, it is to 
 mutter something about "Pedagogy," "frothy stuff," "mere 
 quackery,"* or to tell you point-blank that if there is such a 
 Science, it is no business of theirs : they do very well without it. 
 This opinion, which they, no doubt, sincerely entertain, is, how- 
 ever, simply the product of thoughtlessness on their part. If they 
 had carefully considered the subject in relation to themselves if 
 they had known the fact that the Science which they disclaim or 
 denounce has long engaged the attention of hundreds of the pro- 
 fouudest thinkers of Germany many of them teachers of at 
 least equal standing to their own who have reverently admitted 
 its pretensions, and devoted their great powers of mind to the 
 investigation of its laws, they would, at least, have given you a 
 respectful hearing. But great, as we know, is the power of igno- 
 rance, and it will prevail for a time. There are, however, even 
 now, hopeful signs which indicate a change of public opinion. 
 Only a week ago, a leader in the Times called attention to Sir 
 Bartle Frere' s conviction expressed in one of his lectures in Scot- 
 land, that " the acknowledged and growing power of Germany is 
 intimately connected with the admirable education which the great 
 body of the German nation are in the habit of receiving." The 
 education of which Sir Bartle Frere thus speaks, is the direct 
 result of that very science which is so generally unknown, and 
 despised, because unknown, by our cultivated men, and especially 
 by many of our most eminent teachers. When this educated 
 power of Germany, which has already shaken to its centre the 
 boasted military reputation of France, does the same for our 
 boasted commercial reputation, as Sir Bartle Frere and others 
 declare that it is even now doing, and for our boasted engineering 
 reputation, as Mr. Mundella predicts it will do, unless we look 
 about us in time, the despisers of the Science of education will 
 adopt a different tone, and perhaps confess themselves in error, 
 
 * It Is remarkable that the dictionary meaning of "quack" is "n boastful pretender to arts 
 he does not understand," so that the asse.rter of principles as the foundation of correct prac- 
 tice is ipnorantly denounced a* weak on the very point which constitutes his strength. One 
 miiy imagine the shouts of laughter with which such a denunciation would be received in an 
 assembly of German experts in education.
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 165 
 
 at all events, they will betake themselves to a modest and respect- 
 ful silence. No later back than yesterday (January 19) the Times 
 contained three letters bearing on Sir Bartle Frere's assertion that 
 the increasing commercial importance of Germany is due mainly 
 to the excellence of German education. One writer refers to the 
 German Realschulen or Thing-Schools and to the High Schools of 
 Commerce, in both of which the practical study of matters bearing 
 on real life is conducted. Another writer, an Ex-Chairman of the 
 Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, sa3 - s, "I have no hesitation in 
 stating that young Germans make the best business men, and the 
 reason is, that they are usually better educated ; I mean by this, 
 they have a more thorough education, which imparts to them 
 accuracy and precision. Whatever they do, is well and accurately 
 done, no detail is too small to escape their attention, and this 
 engenders a habit of thought and mind, which in after life makes 
 them shrewd and thorough men of business. I think the main- 
 tenance of our commercial superiority is very much of a school- 
 master's question." A third writer speaks of the young German 
 clerks sent out to the East as " infinitely superior " in education to 
 the class of young men sent out from England, and ends by say- 
 ing, " Whatever be the cause, there can be no question that the 
 Germans are outstripping us in the race -for commercial superiority 
 in the far East." 
 
 Some persons, no doubt, will be found to cavil at these state- 
 ments ; the only comment, however, I think it necessary to make is 
 this " Germany is a country where the Science of Education is 
 widely and profoundly studied, and where the Art is conformed 
 to the Science." I leave you to draw your own inferences. With- 
 out, however, dwelling further on this important matter, though it 
 is intimately connected with my purpose, I repeat that this dead 
 weight of ignorance in the public mind respecting the true claims 
 of the Science of Education, constitutes one of the difficulties with 
 which we have had to contend. The writer of a leading article in 
 the Times, January 10, said emphatically, "In truth, there is 
 nothing in which the mass of Englishmen are so much in need of 
 education as in appreciating the value of Education itself." These 
 words contain a pregnant and melancholy truth, which will be more 
 and more acknowledged as time moves on. 
 
 But there was another difficulty of scarcely less importance with 
 which we had to contend, and this is the conviction entertained by 
 the general body of teachers that they have nothing to learn about 
 Education. We are now descending, be it remembered, from the
 
 166 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 leaders to the great band of mere followers, from the officers of the 
 army to the rank and file. My own experience, it may well be 
 believed, of teachers, has been considerable. ' As the net result of 
 it, I can confidently affirm that until I commenced my class in 
 February last, I never came in contact with a dozen teachers who 
 were not entirely satisfied with their own empirical methods of 
 teaching. To what others had written on the principles of Educa- 
 tion, to what these had reduced to successful practice, they 
 were, for the most part, profoundly indifferent. To move onward 
 in the grooves to which they had been accustomed in their school 
 days, or if more intelligent, to devise methods of their own, with- 
 out any respect to the experience, however enlightened, of others, 
 was, and is, the general practice among teachers. For them, 
 indeed, the great educational authorities, whether writers or 
 workers, might as well never have existed at all. In short, to 
 repeat what I said before, teachers, as a class (there are many 
 notable exceptions) , are so contented with themselves and their 
 own methods of teaching that they complacently believe, and act 
 on the belief, that they have nothing at all to learn from the Science 
 and Art of Education ; and this is much to be regretted for their 
 own sakes, and especially for the sake of their pupils, whose edu- 
 cational health and well-being lie in their hands. However this 
 may be, the fact is unquestionable, that one of the greatest impedi- 
 ments to any attempt to expound the principles of Education lies 
 in the unwarrantable assumption on the part of the teachers that 
 they have nothing to learn on the subject. Here, however, as is 
 often the case, the real need for a remedy is in inverse proportion 
 to the patient's consciousness of the need. The worst teachers 
 are generally those who are most satisfied with themselves, and 
 their own small performances. 
 
 The fallacy, not yet displaced from the mind of the public, on 
 which this superstructure of conceit is raised, is that "he who 
 knows a subject can teach it." The postulate, that a teacher 
 should thoroughly know the subject he professes to teach, is by 
 no means disputed, but it is contended that the question at issue is 
 to be mainly decided by considerations lying on the pupil's side of 
 it. The process of thinking, by which the pupil learns, is essen- 
 tially his own. The teacher can but stimulate and direct, he 
 cannot supersede it. He cannot do the thinking necessary to gain 
 the desired result for his pupil. The problem, then, that he has to 
 solve is how to get his pupil to learn ; and it is evident that he 
 may know the subject without knowing the best means of making
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 167 
 
 his pupil know it too, which is the assumed end of all his teach- 
 ing. He may be an adept in his subject, but a novice in the art 
 of teaching it an art which has principles, laws, and processes 
 peculiar to itself. 
 
 But, again ; a man, profoundly acquainted with a subject, may 
 be unapt to teach it by reason of the very height and extent of 
 his knowledge. His mind habitually dwells among the mountains, 
 and he has, therefore, small sympathy with the toiling plodders on 
 the plains below. The difficulties which beset their path have 
 long ceased to be a part of his own experience. He cannot then 
 easily condescend to their condition, place himself alongside of 
 them, and force a sympathy he cannot naturally feel with their 
 trials and perplexities. Both these cases tend to the same issue, 
 and show that it is a fallacy to assert that there is any necessary 
 connection between knowing a subject and knowing how to 
 teach it. 
 
 Our experiment was commenced on the 6th of February last. 
 On the afternoon of that day, only seventeen teachers had given in 
 their names as members of the class that was to be formed. In 
 the evening, however, to my surprise, I found no fewer than fifty- 
 one awaiting the lecture. This number was increased in a few 
 weeks to sevent}', and on the whole, there have been eighty mem- 
 bers in the course of the year. Having brought our little history 
 down to the commencement of the lectures in 1873, I propose to 
 occupy the remainder of our time with a brief account of what 
 was intended, and what has been accomplished by them. 
 
 Generally speaking, the intention was to show (1) that there is 
 a Science of Education, that is, that there are principles derived 
 from the nature of the mind which furnish laws for the educator's 
 guidance ; (2) that there is an Art founded on the Science, which 
 will be efficient or inefficient in proportion to the educator's con- 
 scious knowledge of its principles. 
 
 It will be, perhaps, remembered by some now present, that I 
 gave in my Inaugural Lecture a sketch of the manner in which I 
 intended to treat these subjects. As, however, memories are often 
 weak, and require to be humored, and as repetition is the teacher's 
 sheet-anchor, I may, perhaps, be excused if I repeat some of the 
 matter then brought forward, and more especially as I may calcu- 
 late that a large proportion of my audience were not present 
 last year. 
 
 I had to consider how I should treat the Science of Education, 
 especialty in relation to such a class as I was likely to have. It
 
 168 THE SCIENCE AND AKT OF EDUCATION. 
 
 was to be expected that the class would consist of young teachers 
 unskilled in the art of teaching, and perhaps even more unskilled 
 in that of thinking. Such in fact they, for the most part, proved 
 to be. Now the Science of Education is a branch of Psychology, 
 and both Education and Psychology, as sciences, may be studied 
 either deductively or inductively. We may commence with general 
 propositions, and work downward to the facts they represent, or 
 upward from the facts to the general propositions. To students 
 who had been mainly occupied with the concrete and practical, it 
 seemed to me much better to commence with the concrete and 
 practical ; with facts, rather than with abstractions. But what 
 facts ? That was the question. There is no doubt that a given art 
 contains in its practice, for eyes that can truly see, the principles 
 which govern its action. The reason for doing may be gathered 
 from the doing itself. If, then, we could be quite sure beforehand 
 that perfect specimens of practical teaching based on sound prin- 
 ciples, were accessible, we might have set about studying them 
 carefully, with a view to elicit the principles which underlie the 
 practice, and in this way we might have arrived at a Science of 
 Education. But then this involves the whole question Who is 
 to guarantee dogmatically the absolute soundness of a given method 
 of teaching, and if any one comes forward to do this, who is to 
 guarantee the soundness of his judgment? It appears, then, that 
 although we might evolve the principles of medicine from the 
 general practice of medicine, or the principles of engineering from 
 the general practice of engineering, we cannot evolve the prin- 
 ciples of education from the general practice of education as we 
 actually find it. So much of that practice is radically and ob- 
 viously unsound, so little of sequence and co-ordination is there 
 in its parts, so aimless generally is its action, that to search for 
 the Science of Education in its ordinary present practice would 
 be a sheer waste of time. We should find, for instance, the same 
 teacher acting one day, and with regard to one subject, on one 
 principle, and another day, or with regard to another subject, on a 
 totally different principle, all the time forgetting that the mind 
 really has but one method of learning so as really to know, 
 though multitudes of methods may be framed for giving the sem- 
 blance of knowing. We see one teacher, who is never satisfied 
 until he secures his pupils' possession of clear ideas upon a given 
 subject ; another, who will let them go off with confused and 
 imperfect ideas ; and a third, who will think his duty clone when 
 he has stuffed them with mere words with husks instead of grain.
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 169 
 
 It is then perfectly clear that we cannot deduce the principles of 
 true science from varying practice of this kind ; and if we confine 
 ourselves to inferences drawn from such practice, we shall never 
 know what the Science of Education is. Having thus shut our- 
 selves off from dealing with the subject by the high d priori 
 method, commencing with abstract principles, and also from the 
 unsatisfactory method of reference founded on various, but gener- 
 ally imperfect, practice ; and being still resolved, if possible, to 
 get down to a solid foundation on which we might build a fabric 
 of science, we were led to inquire whether any system of education 
 is to be found, constant and consistent in its working, by the study 
 of which we might reach the desired end. On looking round we 
 saw that there is such a system continually at work under our very 
 eyes, one which secures definite results, in the shape of positive 
 knowledge, and trains to habit the powers by which these results 
 are gained, which cannot but be consistent with the general 
 nature of things, because it is Nature's own. Here, then, we have 
 what we were seeking for a system working harmoniously and 
 consistently towards a definite end, and securing positive results 
 a system, too, strictly educational, whether we regard the develop- 
 ment of the faculties employed, or the acquisition of knowledge, as 
 accompanying the development a system in which the little child 
 is the Pupil, and Natui'e the educator. 
 
 Having gained this stand-point, and with it a conviction that if 
 we could only understand this great educator's method of teach- 
 ing and see the true connection between the means he employs and 
 the end he attains, we should get a correct notion of what is 
 really meant by education; we next inquire, "How are we to 
 proceed for this purpose? " The answer is, by the method through 
 which other truths are ascertained by investigation. We must 
 do what the chemist, the physician, the astronomer do, when they 
 study their respective subjects. We must examine into the facts, 
 and endeavor to ascertain, first, what they are ; secondly, what 
 they mean. The bodily growth of the child from birth is, for 
 instance, a fact, which we can all observe for ourselves. What 
 does it mean ? It means that, under certain external influences 
 such as air, light, food the child increases in material bulk 
 and in physical power : that these influences tend to integration, 
 to the forming of a whole ; that they are all necessary for that 
 purpose ; that the withholding of any one of them leads to dis- 
 integration or the breaking up of the whole. But as we continue 
 to observe, we see, moreover, evidences of mental growth. We
 
 170 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 witness the birth of consciousness ; we see the mind answering, 
 through the sense, to the call of the external world, and giving 
 manifest tokens that impressions are both received and retained by 
 it. The child "takes notice" of objects and actions, manifests 
 feelings of pleasure or pain in connection with them, and indicates 
 a desire or will to deal in his own way with the objects, and to take 
 part in the actions. We see that this growth of intellectual power, 
 shown by his increasing ability to hold intercourse with things 
 about him, is closely connected with the growth of his bodily 
 powers, and we derive from our observation one important prin- 
 ciple of the Science of Education, that mind and body are mutually 
 interdependent, and co-operate in promoting growth. 
 
 "We next observe that as the baby, under the combined influences 
 of air, light, and .food, gains bodily strength, he augments that 
 strength by continually exercising it ; he uses the fund he has 
 obtained, and, by using, makes it more. Exercise reiterated, 
 almost unremitting ; unceasing movement, apparently for its own 
 sake, as an end in itself; the jerking and wriggling in the mother's 
 arms, the putting forth of his hands to grasp at things near him, 
 the turning of the head to look at bright objects ; this exercise, 
 these movements, constitute his very life. He lives in them, and 
 by them. He is urged to exercise lay stimulants from without ; 
 but the exercise itself brings pleasure with it (labor ipse voluptas), 
 is continued on that account, and ends in increase of power. 
 What applies to the body, applies also, by the foregoing principle, 
 to the intellectual powers, which grow with the infant's growth, 
 and strengthen with his strength. Our observation of these facts 
 furnishes us, therefore, with a second principle of education 
 Faculty of ichatever kind grows by exercise. Without changing our 
 ground we supplement this principle by another. We see that the 
 great educator who prompts the baby to exercise, and connects 
 pleasure with all his voluntary movements, makes the exercise 
 effectual for the purpose in view by constant reiteration. Perfec- 
 tion in action is secured by repeating the action thousands of 
 times. The baby makes the same movements over and over 
 again ; the muscles and the nerves learn to work together, and 
 habit is the result. Similarly in the case of the mind, the impres- 
 sions communicated through the organs of sense grow from cloudy 
 to clear, from obscure to definite, by dint of endless repetition of 
 the functional act. By the observation of these facts we arrive 
 at a third principle of education: Exercise involves repetition, 
 which, as regards bodily actions, ends in habits of action, and as
 
 THE SCIENCE AND AKT OF EDUCATION. . 171 
 
 regards impressions received by the mind, ends in clearness of 
 perception. 
 
 Looking still at our baby as he pursues his education, we seo 
 that this manifold exercise is only apparently an end in itself. The 
 true purpose of the teaching is to stimulate the pupil to the acqui- 
 sition of knowledge, and to make all these varied movements 
 subservient to that end. This exercise of faculty brings the child 
 into contact with the properties of matter, initiates him into the 
 mysteries of hard and soft, heavy and light, &c., the varieties of 
 form, of round and flat, circular and angular, &c., the attractive 
 charms of color. All this is knowledge, gained by reiterated 
 exercise of the faculties, and stored up in the mind by its retentive 
 power. We recognize the baby as a practical inquirer after 
 knowledge for its own sake. But we further see him as a dis- 
 coverer, testing the properties of matter by making his own experi- 
 ments upon it. He knocks the spoon against the basin which 
 contains his food ; he is pleased with the sound produced by his 
 action, and more than pleased, delighted, if the basin breaks 
 under the operation. He throws his ball on the ground, and 
 follows its revolution with his enraptured eye. What a wonderful 
 experiment it is ! How charmed he is with the effect he has 
 produced ! He repeats the experiment over and over again with 
 unwearied assiduity. The child is surely a Newton, or a Faraday, 
 in petticoats. No, he is simply one of nature's ordinary pupils, 
 inquiring after knowledge, and gaining it by his own unaided 
 powers. He is teaching himself, under the guidance of a great 
 educator. His self-teaching ends in development and growth, 
 and it is therefore strictly educational in its nature. In view of 
 these facts we gain a fourth principle of the Science of Education. 
 The exercise of the child's own powers, stimulated but not super- 
 seded by the educator's interference, ends both in the acquisition of 
 knowledge and in the invigoration of the powers for further 
 acquisition. 
 
 It is unnecessary to give further illustrations of our method. 
 Every one will see that it consists essentially in the observation 
 and investigation of facts, the most important of which is that 
 we have before us a pupil going through a definite system of edu- 
 cation. We are convinced that it is education, because it develops 
 faculty, and therefore conduces to development and growth. By 
 close observation we detect the method of the master, and see that 
 it is a method which repudiates cramming rules and definitions, 
 and giving wordy explanations, and secures the pupil's utmost
 
 172 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 benefit from the work by making him do it all himself through the 
 exercise of his unaided powers.* We thus get a clue to the con- 
 struction of a Science of Education, to be built up, as it were, on 
 the organized compound of body and mind, to which we give 
 the name of baby. Continuing still our observation of the phe- 
 nomena it manifests, first, in its speechless, and afterwards in its 
 speaking condition, we gain other principles of education ; and 
 lastly, colligating and generalizing our generalizations, we arrive 
 at a definition of education as carried on by Nature. This may 
 be roughly expressed thus : Natural education consists in the 
 development and training of the learner's powers, through influences 
 of various kinds, which are initiated by action from without, met by 
 corresponding reaction from within. 
 
 Then assuming, as we appear to have a right to do, that this 
 natural education should be the model or type of formal education, 
 we somewhat modify our definition thus 
 
 Education is the development and training of the learner's native 
 powers by means of instruction carried on through the conscious and 
 persistent agency of the formal educator, and depends upon the 
 established connection between the world without and the world within 
 the mind between the objective and the subjective. 
 
 I am aware that this definition is defective, inasmuch as it 
 ignores or appears to ignore the vast fields of physical and 
 moral education. It will, however, serve my present purpose, 
 which is especially connected with intellectual education. 
 
 Having reached this point, and gained a general notion of a 
 Science of Education, we go on to consider the Art of Education, 
 or the practical application of the Science. We are thus led to 
 
 * The r.i-ln >p of Exeter, In the admirable address which he lately delivered on the occasion 
 of his presiding at the giving of prizes to the successful candidates for schools in union with 
 the College of Preceptors, confirmed in various ways the principles above laid down. This 
 address was delivered since my lecture at the College. It may be found fully reported In the 
 "Educational Times" for February. Among other remarks were the following: "Wo 
 often find that when teachers fancy their pupils have obtained a thorough mastery of a sub- 
 ject, they are deceived, because they have not noticed that, in almost imperceptible ways, they 
 have been doing for the pupil what he ought to be doing for himself. I have repeatedly gone 
 Into a school, and on examining it, say in arithmetic, have been told by the master, ''it is very 
 strange that the boys do not know it; I thought they knew it thoroughly.' I have always 
 asked them -this, 'When you have examined them, have you made them answer for them- 
 selves?" And the reply has been, 'Yes, I have left them with themselves except just the 
 very slightest possible help occasionally ; just enough to prevent them from wandering about.' 
 That is the whole thing. That very little help is the thing which vitiated the examination 
 altogether; and the test of real mastery is that the knowledge shall be produced [and there- 
 fore obtained] without any help at all. When men and women in after-life come to use their 
 knowledge, they will find that the knowledge is really of no use unless they are able to 
 apply it absolutely without assistance, and without the slightest guidance to prevent them 
 falling into the most grievous mistakes."
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 173 
 
 examine the difference between Science and Art, and between 
 Nature and Art. Science tells us what a thing is, and why it is 
 what it is. It deals therefore with the nature of the thing, with 
 its relations to other things, and consequently with the laws of its 
 being. Art derives its rules from this knowledge of the thing and 
 and its laws of action, and says, " Do this or that with the thing 
 in order to accomplish the end you have in view. If you act 
 otherwise with it, you violate the laws of its being." Now the 
 rules of Art may be carried out blindly or intelligently. If blindly, 
 the worker is a mere artisan an operative who follows routine, 
 whose rule is the rule-of-thumb. If intelligently, he is a true 
 artist, who not only knows what he is doing, but why this process 
 is right and that wrong, and who is furnished with resources suit- 
 able for guiding normal, and correcting abnormal, action. All the 
 operations of the true artist can be justified by reference to the 
 principles of Science. But there is also a correlation between 
 Nature and Art. These terms are apparently, but not really, 
 opposed to each other. Bacon long ago pointed out the true dis- 
 tinction when he said, Ars est Homo additus JFaturce Art is 
 Nature with the addition of Man Art is Man's work added to 
 (not put in the place of) Nature's work. Here then is the synthesis 
 of Nature and Man which justifies us in saj-ing that natural edu- 
 cation is the type or model of formal, or what we usually call, 
 without an epithet, education, and that the Art of Teaching Jgthd 
 application by the teacher of laws of Science, which he has 
 himself discovered by investigating Nature. This is the key- 
 stone of our position ; if this is firm and strong, all is firm and 
 strong. Abandon this position and you walk in darkness and 
 doubt, not knowing what you are doing or whither you are wander- 
 ing at the mercy of every wind of doctrine. 
 
 The artist in education, thus equipped, is read} 1 not only to work 
 himself, but to judge of the work of others. He sees, for instance, 
 a teacher coldly or sternly demanding the attention of a little 
 child to some lesson, say in arithmetic. The child has never been 
 led up gradually to the point at which he is. He has none but 
 confused notions about it. The teacher, without any attempt to 
 interest the child, without exhibiting affection or sympathy towards 
 him, hastily gives him some technical directions, and sends him 
 away to profit by them as he may simply " orders him to learn," 
 and leaves him to do so alone. Our teacher sa3"s, " This trans- 
 action is inartistic. The element of humanity is altogether want- 
 ing in it. It is not in accordance with the Science of Education ;
 
 174 THE SCIENCE AND AliT OF EDUCATION. 
 
 it is a violation of the Art. The great educator, in his teaching, 
 presents a motive and an object for voluntary action ; and there- 
 fore excites attention towards the object by enlisting the feelings 
 in the inquiry. He does not, it is true, show sympathy, because 
 he acts by inflexible rules. But the human educator, as an artist, 
 is bound not only to excite an interest in the work, but to sympa- 
 thize with the worker. This teacher does neither. His practice 
 ought to exemplify the formula, Ars = Natura-\- Homo. He 
 leaves out both Natura and Homo. His Ars therefore = 0." 
 
 Another case presents itself. Here the teacher does not leave 
 the child alone ; on the contrary, is continually by his side. At 
 this moment he is copiously " imparting his knowledge " of some 
 subject to his pupil, whose aspect shows that he is not receiving 
 it, and who therefore looks puzzled. The matter, whatever it is, 
 has evidently little or no relation to the actual condition of the 
 child's mind, in which it finds no links of association and produces 
 no intellectual reaction, and which therefore does not co-operate 
 with the teacher's. He patiently endures, however, because he 
 cannot escape from it, the downpouriug of the teacher's knowl- 
 edge ; but it is obvious that he gains nothing from it. It passes 
 over his mind as water passes over a duck's back. The subject 
 of instruction, before unknown, remains unknown still. Our 
 artist teacher, looking on, pronounces that this teaching is inar- 
 tistic, as not being founded on Science. "The efficiency of a 
 lesson is to be proved," he says, u by the part taken in it by the 
 pupil ; and here the teacher does all the work, the pupil does 
 nothing at all. It is the teacher's mind, not the learner's that is 
 engaged in it. Our great master teaches by calling into exercise 
 the learner's powers, not by making a display of his own. The 
 child will never learn anything so as to possess it for himself by 
 such teaching as this, which accounts the exercise of his own 
 faculties as having little or nothing to do with the process of 
 learning." 
 
 Once more ; our student, informed in the Science of Education, 
 watches a teacher who is giving a lesson on language say, on the 
 mother tongue. This mother tongue the child virtually knows 
 how to use already : and if he has been accustomed to educated 
 society, speaks and (if he is old enough to write) writes it cor- 
 rectly. The teacher puts a book into his hand, the first sentence 
 of which is, " English grammar is the art of speaking and writing 
 the English language correctly." The child does not know what 
 an " art " is, nor what is meant by speaking English " correctly."
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 175 
 
 If he is intelligent he wonders whether he speaks it " correctly" or 
 not. As to the meaning of " art," he is altogether at sea. The 
 teacher is aware of the perplexity, and desiring to make him really 
 understand the meaning of the word, attempts an explanation. 
 " An art," he says (getting the definition from a dictionary), " is 
 *a power of doing something not taught by Nature." The child 
 stares with astonishment, as if you were talking Greek or Arabic. 
 What can be meant by a " power " what by " being taught by 
 Nature"? The teacher sees that his explanation has only made 
 what was dark before darker still. He attempts to explain his 
 explanation, and the fog grows thicker and thicker. At last he 
 gives it up, pronounces the child stupid, and ends by telling him 
 to learn by rote that is, by hurdy-gurdy grind the unintelligible 
 words. That at least the child can do (a parrot could be taught to 
 do the same) , and he does it ; but his mind has received no instruc- 
 tion whatever from the lesson the intelligence which distinguishes 
 the child from the parrot remains entirely uncultivated. 
 
 Our teacher proceeds to criticise. "This is," he says, " alto- 
 gether inartistic teaching." Our great master does not begin 
 with definitions and indeed gives no definitions because they 
 are unsuited to the pupil's state of mind. He begins with facts 
 which the child can understand, because he observes them himself. 
 This teacher should have begun with facts. The first lesson in 
 Grammar (if indeed it is necessary to teach Grammar at all to a 
 little child) should be a lesson on the names of the objects in the 
 room objects which the child sees and handles, and knows by 
 seeing and handling that is, has ideas of them in his mind. 
 " What is the name of this thing and of that? " he inquires, and 
 the child tells him. The ideas of the things, and the names by 
 which they are known, are already associated together in his con- 
 sciousness, and he has already learned to translate things into words. 
 The teacher may tell him (for he could not discover it for himself) 
 that a name may also be called a noun. " What then," the teacher 
 may say, " is a noun ? " The child replies, " A noun is a name of a 
 thing." He has constructed a definition himself a very simple 
 one certainly but then it is a definition which he thoroughly 
 understands because it is his own work. This mode of proceeding 
 would be artistic, because in accordance with Nature. There 
 would be no need to commit the definition to memory, as a mere 
 collection of words, because what it means is already committed to 
 the understanding which will retain it, because it represents facts
 
 176 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 already known and appreciated. Thoroughly knowing things is the 
 sure way to remember them." 
 
 In some such way as this our expert brings the processes com- 
 monly called teaching to the touchstone of his Science, the Science 
 which he has built up on his observation of the processes of 
 Nature. 
 
 .1 am afraid that, in spite of my illustrations, I may still have 
 failed to impress you as strongly as I wish to do with the cardinal 
 truth, that you cannot get the best results of teaching unless you 
 understand the mind with which you have to deal. There are, 
 indeed, teachers endowed with the power of sympathizing so 
 earnestly with children, that in their case this sympathy does 
 the work of knowledge, or .rather it is knowledge unconsciously 
 'exercising the power proverbially attributed to it. The intense 
 interest they feel in their work almost instinctively leads them to 
 adopt the right way of doing it. They are artists without knowing 
 that they are artists. But, speaking generally, it will be found 
 that the only truly efficient director of intellectual action is one who 
 understands intellectual action that is, who understands the true 
 nature of the mind which he is directing. It is this demand which 
 we make on the teacher that constitutes teaching as a psychological 
 art, and which renders the conviction inevitable that an immense 
 number of those who practise it do so without possessing the 
 requisite qualifications. They undertake to guide a machine of 
 exquisite capabilites, and of the most delicate construction, with- 
 out understanding its construction or the range of its capabilities, 
 and especially without understanding the fundamental principles 
 of the science of mechanics. Hence the telling, cramming, the 
 endless explaining, the rote learning, which enfeeble and deaden 
 the native powers of the child ; and hence, as the final conse- 
 quence, the melancholy results of instruction in our primary 
 schools, and the scarcely less melancholy results in schools of 
 higher aims and pretensions, all of which are the legitimate fruit 
 of the one fundamental error which I have over and over again 
 pointed out. 
 
 In accordance with these views, it has been insisted on through- 
 out the entire Course of Lectures, that teaching, in the true sense 
 of the term, has nothing in common with the system of telling, 
 cramming, and drilling, which very generally usurps its name. 
 The teacher, properly so called, is a man who, besides knowing 
 the subject he has to teach, knows moreover the nature of the 
 mind which he has to direct in its acquisition of knowledge, and
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 177 
 
 the best methods by which this may be accomplished. He must 
 know the subject of instruction thoroughly, because, although it is 
 not he but the child who is to learn, his knowledge will enable him 
 to suggest the points to which the learner's attention is to be 
 directed ; and besides, as his proper function is to act as a guide, 
 it is important that he should have previously taken the journey 
 himself. But we discountenance the notion usually entertained 
 that the teacher is to know because he has to communicate his 
 knowledge to the learner ; and maintain, on the contrary, that his 
 proper function as a teacher does not consist in the communication 
 of his own knowledge to the learner, but rather in such action as 
 ends in the learner's acquisition of knowledge for himself. To 
 deny this principle isto give a direct sanction to telling and cram- 
 ming, which are forbidden by the laws of education. To tell the 
 child what he can learn for himself, is to neutralize his efforts ; 
 consequently to enfeeble his powers, to quench his interest in the 
 subject, probably to create a distaste for it, to prevent him from 
 learning how to learn to defeat, in short, all the ends of true 
 education. On the other hand, to get him to gain knowledge for 
 himself stimulates his efforts, strengthens his powers, quickens his 
 interest in the subject and makes him take pleasure in learning it, 
 teaches him how to learn other subjects, leads to the formation of 
 habits of thinking ; and, in short, promotes all the ends of true 
 education. The obvious objection to this view of the case is, that 
 as there are many things which the child cannot learn by himself, 
 we must of course tell him them. My answer is, that the things 
 which he cannot learn of himself are things unsuited to the actual 
 state of his mind. His mind is not yet prepared for them ; and by 
 forcing them upon him prematurely, you are injuriously anticipating 
 the natural course of things. You are cramming him with that 
 which, although it may be knowledge to }-ou, cannot possibly be 
 knowledge to him. Knowing, in relation to the training of the 
 mind, is the result of learning ; and learning is the process by 
 which the child teaches himself ; and he teaches himself he can 
 only teach himself by personal experience. Take, for instance, 
 a portion of matter which, for some cause or other, interests him. 
 He exercises his senses upon it, looks at it, handles it, &c., throws 
 it on the ground, flings it up into the air ; and while doing all this, 
 compares it with other things, gains notions of its color, form, 
 hardness, weight, &c. The.result is, that without any direct teach- 
 ing from you, without any telling, he knows it through his personal
 
 178 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 experience he knows it, as we say, of his own knowledge ; and 
 has not only learned by himself something that he did not know 
 before, but has been learning how to learn. But supposing that 
 you are not satisfied with his proceeding thus naturally and surely 
 in the career of self-acquisition, and you tell him something which 
 he could not possibly learn by this method of his own. Let it be, 
 for instance, the^istance of the sun from the earth, the superficial 
 area of Sweden, &c. When you have told him that the sun is 95 
 millions of miles from the earth, that the area of Sweden is so 
 many square miles, you have evidently transcended his personal 
 experience. What you have told him, instead of being knowledge 
 gained, as in the other case, at first hand, is information obtained 
 probably at tenth or even fiftieth hand, even by yourself, and is 
 therefore in no true sense of the word " knowledge " even to you, 
 much less is it knowledge to him ; and in telling it to him pre- 
 maturely, you are cramming and not teaching him. Dr. John 
 Brown (" Horae Subsecivae," Second series, p. 473) well says, 
 " The great thing with knowledge and the young is to secure that 
 it shall be their own ; that it be not merely external to their inner 
 and real self, but shall go in succum et sanguinem; and therefore 
 it is that the self-teaching that a baby and a child give themselves 
 remains with them for ever. It is of their essence, whereas 'what 
 is given them ab extra, especially if it be received mechanicallj-, 
 without relish, and without any energizing of the entire nature, 
 remains pitifully useless and wersh (insipid). Try, therefore, 
 always to get the resident teacher inside the skin, and who is for 
 ever giving his lessons, to help you, and be on your side." You 
 easily see from these remarks of Dr. Brown's that he means what 
 I mean ; that matters of information obtained by other people's 
 research, and which is true knowledge to those who have lawfully 
 gained it, is not knowledge to a child, who has had no share in the 
 acquisition, and your dogmatic imposition of it upon his mind, or 
 rather memory only, is of the essence of cramming. Such infor- 
 mation is merely patchwork laid over the substance of the cloth as 
 compared with the texture of the cloth itself. It is on, but not 
 o/, the fabric. This expansive and comprehensive principle 
 which regards all learning by mere rote, even of such matters as 
 multiplication-table or Latin declensions before the child's mind 
 has had some preliminary dealing with the facts of Number or of 
 Latin as essentially cramming, and therefore anti-educational in 
 its nature will be of course, received or rejected by teachers, just
 
 THE SCIENCE AND AET OF EDUCATION. 179 
 
 in proportion as they receive or reject the conception of an art of 
 teaching founded on psychological principles. 
 
 'And this brings me to the next point for special consideration. 
 I said that the teacher who is to direct intellectual operations 
 should understand what they are. He should, especially as a 
 teacher of little children, examine well the method, already referred 
 to, by which they gain all their elementary knowledge by them- 
 selves, by the exercise of their own powers. He should study 
 children in the concrete, take note of the causes which operate 
 on the will, which enlist the feelings, which call forth the intellect, 
 in order that he may use his knowledge with the best effect 
 when he takes the place of the great natural educator. To change 
 slightly Locke's words, he is to "consider the operation of the 
 discerning faculties of a child as they are employed about the 
 objects which they have to do with ; " and this because it is his 
 proper function as a teacher to guide this operation. And if he 
 wishes to be an accomplished teacher a master of his art he 
 should further study the principles of Psychology, the true ground- 
 work of his action, in the writings of Locke, Dugald Stewart, 
 Bain, Mill, and others, who show us what these principles are. 
 This study will give a scientific compactness and co-ordination to 
 the facts which -he has learned by his own method of investigation. 
 
 But it may be said, Do you demand all this preparation for the 
 equipment of a mere elementary teacher? My reply is, I require 
 it because lie is an elementary teacher. Whatever may be done 
 in the case of those children who are somewhat advanced in their 
 career, and who have, to some extent at least, learnt how to learn, 
 it is most of all important that in the beginning of instruction, 
 and with a view to gain the most fruitful results from that instruc- 
 tion, the earliest teacher should be an adept in the Science and 
 Art of Education. We should do as the Jesuits did in their 
 famous schools, who, when they found a teacher showing real 
 skill and knowledge in teaching the higher classes, promoted him 
 to the charge of the lowest. There was a wise insight into human 
 nature in this. Whether the child shall love or hate knowledge, 
 whether his fundamental notions of things shall be clear or 
 cloudy, whether he shall advance in his course as an intelligent 
 being, or as a mere machine, whether he shall, at last, leave 
 school stuffed with crude, undigested gobbets of knowledge, or 
 possessed of knowledge assimilated by his own digestion, and 
 therefore a source of mental health and strength, whether he
 
 180 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 shall be lean, atrophied, weak, destitute of the power of self- 
 government and self -direction, or strong, robust, and independ- 
 ent in thought and action, depends almost altogether on the 
 manner in which his earliest instruction is conducted, and this 
 again on the teacher's acquaintance with the Science and Art of 
 Education. 
 
 But besides knowing the subject of instruction, and knowing 
 the Art of Education founded on the Science, the accomplished 
 teacher should also know the methods of teaching devised or 
 adopted by the most eminent practitioners of his art. A teacher, 
 even when equipped in the manner I have suggested, cannot 
 safely dispense with the experience of others. In applying prin- 
 ciples to practice there is always a better or a worse manner of 
 doing so, and one may learn much from knowing how others 
 have overcome the difficulties at which we stumble. Many a 
 teacher, when doubtful of the principles which constitute his 
 usual rule of action, will gain confidence and strength by seeing 
 their operation in the practice of others, or may be reminded 
 of them when he has for the moment lost sight of them. Is it 
 nothing to a teacher that Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Quintilian, 
 in ancient times ; Ascham, Rousseau, Comenius, Sturm, Pestalozzi, 
 Ratich, Jacotot, Frobel, Richter, Herbart, Beneke, Diesterweg, 
 Arnold, Spencer, and a host of others in modern times, have 
 written and worked to show him what education is both in theory 
 and practice ? Does he evince anything but his own ignorance by 
 pretending to despise or ignore their labors ? What would be said 
 of a medical practitioner who knows nothing of the works or even 
 the names of Celsus, Galen, Harvey, John Hunter, Sydenham, 
 Bell, &c., and who sets up his empirical practice against the vast 
 weight of their authority and experience? I need not insist on 
 this argument ; it is too obvious. Much time, therefore, has been 
 devoted, during the year, to the History of Education in various 
 countries and ages, and to the special work of some of the great 
 educational reformers. In particular, the methods of Ascham, 
 Ratich, Comenius, Pestalozzi, Jacotot, and Frobel have been 
 minutely described and criticised. 
 
 And now it is only right to endeavor, in conclusion, to answer 
 the question which may be fairly asked, "After all, what have 
 you really accomplished by this elaborate exposition of principles 
 and methods ? You have had no training schools for the practice 
 of your students; it has all ended in talk." In reply to this
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 181 
 
 inquiry or objection, I have a few words to say. The students 
 whom I have been instructing are for the most part teachers 
 already, who are practising their art every day. My object has 
 been so forcibly to stamp upon their minds a few great principles, 
 so strongly to impress them with convictions of the truth of these 
 principles, that it should be impossible, in the nature of things, 
 for them as my disciples, to act in contradiction or violation of 
 them. Whenever, in their practice, they are tempted to resort to 
 drill and cram, I know, without being there to see, that the prin- 
 ciples which have become a part of their being, because founded 
 on the truths of nature recognized by themselves, rise up before 
 them and forbid the intended delinquency. In this way, without 
 the apparatus of a training school, the work of a training school 
 is done. 
 
 But, in order to show that I am not talking at random, I will 
 quote a few passages from exercises written by the students them- 
 selves, relative to their own experience : 
 
 " Before attending these Lectures, my aim was that my pupils should gain 
 a certain amount of knowledge. I now see how far more important is the 
 exercise of those powers by which knowledge is gained. I am therefore 
 trying to make them think for themselves. This, and the principle of repe- 
 tition, which has been so much insisted upon, prevents us from getting over 
 as much ground as formerly, but I feel that the work done is much more 
 satisfactory than it used to be. I now try to adapt my plan to the pupil, 
 not the pupil to my plan. I used to prepare a lesson (say in history) with 
 great care; all the information which I thus laboriously gained, I im- 
 parted to my pupils in a few minutes. I now see that, though I was 
 benefited by the process, my pupils could have gained but little good from 
 it. The fact of having a definite end in view gives me confidence in my 
 practice. The effect of these Lectures, as a whole, has boon to give me a 
 new interest in my work." 
 
 "I knew before that the ordinary 'learn by rote' method was not real 
 education ; but being unacquainted with the Science upon which the true 
 art of instruction is founded, all my ideas on the subject were vagxite and 
 changeable, and I often missed the very definite results of the ' hurdy-gurdy ' 
 system without altogether securing any better ones. 
 
 "I have learned that the only education worthy of the name is based upon 
 principles derived from the study of child-nature, and from the observation 
 of nature's methods of developing and training the inherent powers of chil- 
 dren from the very moment of their birth. I have had my eyes opened to 
 observe these processes, and now see much more in the actions of little 
 children than I formerly did. More than this, I have learned to apply the 
 principles of nature to the processes of formal education, and by them to 
 test their value and lightness, so that I need no longer be in doubt and dark-
 
 182 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 ness, but have sure grounds to proceed upon under any variation of cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 "Lastly, I have learned to reverence and admire the great and good, who 
 In different ages and various countries have devoted their minds to the 
 principles or the practice of education, whose thoughts, whose successes, 
 whose very failures are full of instruction for educators of the present day, 
 especially for those who, having been guided to the sure basis upon which 
 true education rests, are in a position to judge of the value of their different 
 theories and plans, and to choose the good and refuse the evil." 
 
 ' ' What you have done for me, I endeavor to do for my pupils. I make 
 them correct their own errors ; indeed, do their own work as much as pos- 
 sible. Since you have been teaching me, my pupils have progressed in 
 mental development as they have never done in all the years I have been 
 teaching. Though from want of power and early training I have not done 
 you the justice which many of your pupils have, still you have set your seal 
 upon me, and made me aim at being, what I was not formerly, a scientific 
 teacher." 
 
 "... And now to turn to the modifications introduced into my practice 
 by these Lectures. I was delighted with them, and was more astonished 
 as each week passed at what I heard. New light dawned upoa me, and I 
 determined to profit by it. I soon saw some of the prodigious imperfections 
 in my teaching, and set about remedying them. My 'pupils should be self- 
 teachers,' then I must treat them as such. I left off telling them so much, 
 and made them work more. I discontinued correcting their exercises, 
 and made them correct them themselves. I made them look over their 
 dictation before they wrote it, and, when it was finished, referred them to 
 the text-book to see whether they had written it correctly. . . . Time would 
 fail me to give in detail all the alterations introduced into my practice." 
 
 "In conclusion, considering what my theory and practice were when I 
 entered your class, I am convinced that the benefits I have derived as re- 
 gards both are as follows : (1) I have learned to observe, (2) to admire, 
 (3) to imitate, and (4) to follow, Nature. My theories have become based 
 on the firm foundation of principles founded on facts ; my practice (falling 
 far short of the perfection that I aim at attaining) is nevertheless in the 
 spirit of it. And although in all probability I shall never equal any of these 
 great teachers whose lives and labors you have described, yet I know that 
 I shall daily improve in my practice if I hold fast to the principles that you 
 have laid down. I consider you have shown me the value of a treasure that 
 I unconsciously possessed I mean the power of observing Nature, and 
 therefore I feel towards you the same sort of gratitude that the man feels 
 towards the physician who has restored his sight." 
 
 These expressions will show that my labors, however imperfect, 
 have not ended in mere talk. 
 
 And now it is time to set you free from the long demand I have 
 made on your patience. I have studiously avoided in this Lecture 
 tickling your ears with rhetorical flourishes. My great master,
 
 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 183 
 
 Jacotot, has taught me that " rhetoric and reason have nothing in 
 common." I have therefore appealed to your reason. I certainly 
 might have condensed my matter more ; but long experience in the 
 art of intellectual feeding has convinced me that concentrated food 
 is not easy of digestion. But for this fault if it be one and 
 for any other, whether of commission or omission, I throw myself 
 on your indulgent consideration.
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION 
 
 SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 A LECTURE. 
 
 [Delivered at the College of Preceptors, Queen Square, Bloomsbury, 
 December 11, 1872.]
 
 4
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE- 
 TEACHING. 
 
 IT is almost a truism to say, that the foundation of a building 
 is its most important feature. If the foundation be either insecure 
 in itself, or laid without regard to the plan of the superstructure, 
 the building, as a whole, will be found wanting both in unity and 
 strength. A building is in fact the embodiment and realization of 
 an idea conceived in the mind of the architect, and if he is com- 
 petent for his post, and can secure the needful co-operation, the 
 practical expression will symmetrically correspond to the conception. 
 But unless the foundation is solidly laid, and all the parts of the 
 building are constructed with relation to it, his aesthetic and 
 theoretic skill will go for little or nothing. His work is doomed to 
 failure from the beginning, and the extent of the failure will be 
 proportionate to the ambition of the design. These remarks are 
 applicable to the art of building generally, whether shown in large 
 and imposing structures, or in the meanest cottages. In no case 
 can the essential elements of unity and strength be dispensed with. 
 
 In these preliminary observations I have foreshadowed the sub- 
 ject with which I have to deal that of Science-teaching whether 
 carried on under the direction of a Science and Art Department, 
 or in the smallest class of a private school ; and my purpose is to 
 ascertain how far the ideal of theory is realized in the general 
 practice. 
 
 Whatever might have been said of the neglect of what is called 
 "science" in former times, we cannot make the same complaint 
 now. A ringing chorus of voices may be heard vociferously 
 demanding science for the children of primary, secondary, and 
 public schools ; for the Universities ; in short, for all classes of 
 society. " Science," it is said, " is the grand desideratum of our 
 age, the true mark of our civilization. We want science to supply 
 a mental discipline unfurnished by the old-estalished curriculum ; 
 we want it as the basis of the technical instruction of our 
 workmen."
 
 188 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 In answer to this universal demand we see something called 
 Science-teaching finding its way into primary, and even into public 
 schools, in spite of the declaration of an eminent Head-master, not 
 longer back than 1863, that instruction in physical science, in 
 the way in which it could be given in Winchester School, was 
 " worthless ; " that a " scientific fact was a fact which produced 
 nothing in a boy's mind;" and that this kind of instruction 
 "gave no power whatever." We further see this something, 
 called Science, stimulated by grants and prizes, through the vast 
 machinery of the Science and Art Department ; and lastly we 
 have, at this moment, a Royal Commission of eminent scientific 
 men, taking evidence and furnishing Reports on " Scientific in- 
 struction and the advancement of Science." Who, after this, 
 will be bold enough to say that Science is not looking up in the 
 knowledge-market ? 
 
 But amidst all the clamor of voices demanding instruction in 
 Science, we listen in vain for the authoritative voice the voice of 
 the master artist which shall define for us the aims and ends of 
 Science, and lay down the laws of that teaching by which they are 
 to be effectively secured. As things go, every teacher is left to 
 frame his own theory of Science-teaching, and his own empirical 
 method of carrying it out ; and the result is, to apply our illustra- 
 tion, that the fabric of Science-teaching now rising before us rests 
 upon no recognized and established foundation, exhibits no prin- 
 ciple of harmonious design, and that its various stages have 
 scarcely any relation to each other, xind least of all to any solidly 
 compacted ground-plan. 
 
 Before I proceed further in the task I have undertaken, I think 
 it wise, certainly politic, to defend myself against the charge which 
 justly attaches to him who ventures to speak with confidence on 
 a subject with which he is not largely and experimentally ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 It may be said with too much truth, that I am in this predica- 
 ment. I am not, and do not for a moment pretend to be, a man of 
 science. Scientific matters have, it is true, always been intensely 
 interesting to me from the time when, as a schoolboy, I used to 
 stuff a volume of Joyce's Scientific Dialogues into my pocket to 
 read when I ought to have been playing ; but I was never trained 
 in the method of Science, nor experienced what I have so often 
 conceived, the intense delight of the scientific investigator. 
 
 But though not qualified by scientific knowledge to speak of
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 189 
 
 Science, I may venture, as a teacher, to say something about 
 teaching ; and, as Science-teaching is a compound term, to hope 
 that any ignorance I may display in treating one of the factors, 
 will be pardoned me, if I can bring some few considerations de- 
 rived from experience in education, to bear upon the other, which 
 is, from my present point of view, the more important. 
 
 The only other preliminary remark that I need make is this, that, 
 as our subject is the foundation of Science-teaching, I am excused, 
 by the nature of my purpose, from dealing with the higher Science- 
 teaching, presumably built upon that foundation. It is the founda- 
 tion that, according to my view, requires the most attention. 
 
 The first question for consideration is, " What is meant by 
 Science? " The shortest answer that can be given is, that " Science 
 is organized knowledge." This is, however, too general for our 
 present purpose, which is, to deal with Physical Science. In a 
 somewhat developed form, then, physical science is an organized 
 knowledge of material, concrete, objective facts or phenomena. 
 The term " organized," it will be seen, is the essence of the defi- 
 nition, inasmuch as it connotes or implies that certain objective 
 relations subsisting in the nature of things, between facts or phe- 
 nomena, are subjectively appreciated by the mind that is, that 
 Science differs from mere knowledge by being a knowledge both 
 of facts, and of their relations to each other. The mere random, 
 haphazard accumulation of facts, then, is not Science ; but the per- 
 ception and conception of their natural relations to each other, the 
 comprehension of these relations under general laws, and the 
 organization of facts and laws into one body, the parts of which 
 are seen to be subservient to each other, is Science. 
 
 Returning to the other factor of the definition, "Knowledge," 
 we observe that there are two kinds of knowledge what we 
 know through our own experience, and what we know through 
 the experience of others. Thus, I know by my own knowledge 
 that I have an audience before me, and I know through the knowl- 
 edge of others that the earth is 25,000 miles in circumference. 
 This latter fact, however, I know in a sense different from that in 
 which I know the former. The one is a part of my experience, of 
 m}- very being. The other I can only be strictly said to know when 
 I have, by an effort of the mind, passed through the connected 
 chain of facts and reasonings on which the demonstration is 
 founded. Thus only can it become my knowledge in the true sense 
 of the term.
 
 190 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 Strictly speaking, then, organized knowledge, or Science, is 
 originally based on unorganized knowledge, and is the outcome of 
 the learner's own observation of facts through the exercise of his 
 own senses, and his own reflection upon what he has observed. 
 This knowledge, ultimately organized into Science through the 
 operation of his mind, he may with just right call his own ; and, 
 as a learner, he can properly call no other knowledge his own. 
 What is reported to us by another is that other's, if gained at 
 first-hand by experience ; but it stands on a different footing from 
 that which we have gained by our own experience. He merely 
 hands it over to us ; but when we receive it, its condition is al- 
 ready changed. It wants the brightness, definiteness, and cer- 
 tainty in our eyes, which it had in his ; and, moreover, it is merely 
 a loan, and not our property. The fact, for instance, about the 
 earth's circumference was to him a living fact ; it sprang into 
 being as the outcome of experiments and reasonings, with the 
 entire chain of which it was seen by him to be intimately indeed 
 indissolubly and organically connected. To us it is a dead fact, 
 severed from its connection with the body of truth, and, by our 
 hypothesis, having no organic relation to the living truths we 
 have gained by our own minds. These are convertible into our 
 Science ; that is not. What I insist on then is, that the knowl- 
 edge from experience that which is gained by bringing our own 
 minds into direct contact with matter is the only knowledge that 
 as novices in science we have to do with. The dogmatic knowledge 
 imposed on us by authority, though originally gained by the same 
 means, is, really, not ours, but another's is, as far as we are con- 
 cerned, unorganizable ; and therefore, though Science to its pro- 
 prietor, is not Science to us. To us it is merely information, or 
 haphazard knowledge. 
 
 The conclusions, then, at which we arrive, are (1) That the 
 true foundation of physical Science lies in the knowledge of 
 physical facts gained at first-hand by observation and experiment, 
 to be made by the learner himself ; (2) that all knowledge not thus 
 gained is, pro tanto, unorganizable, and not suited to his actual 
 condition ; and (3) that his facts become organized into Science 
 by the operation of his own mind upon them. 
 
 Having given some idea of what is meant by Science, and how 
 it grows up in the mind of the learner, I turn now to the teacher, 
 and briefly inquire what is his function in the process of Science- 
 teaching ?
 
 THE TllUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 191 
 
 I have elsewhere* endeavored to expound the correlation of 
 learning and teaching, and to show that the natural process of 
 investigation by which the unassisted student unassisted, that is 
 by book or teacher, would seek, as a first discoverer, to gain au 
 accurate knowledge of facts and their interpretation, suggests to 
 us both the nature and scope of the teacher's, and especially the 
 Science-teacher's, functions. According to this view of the sub- 
 ject, the learner's method, and the teacher's, serve as a mutual 
 limit to each other. The learner is a discoverer or investigator 
 engaged in interrogating the concrete matter before him, with a 
 view to ascertain its nature and properties : and the teacher is a 
 superintendent or director of the learner's process, pointing out 
 the problem to be solved, concentrating the learner's attention 
 upon it, varying the points of view, suggesting experiments, in- 
 quiring what they result in ; converting even errors and mistakes 
 into means of increased power, bringing back the old to interpret 
 the new, the known to interpret the unknown, requiring an exact 
 record of results arrived at in short, exercising all the powers of 
 the learner's mind upon the matter in hand, in order to make him 
 an accurate observer and experimenter, and to train him in the 
 method of investigation. 
 
 The teacher, then, is to be governed in his teaching, not by in- 
 dependent notions of his own, but by considerations inherent in 
 the natural process by which the pupil learns. He is not, there- 
 fore, at liberty to ignore this natural process, which essentially 
 involves the observation, experiment, and reflection of the pupil ; 
 nor to supersede it by intruding the results of the observation, 
 experiment, and reflection of others. He is, on the contrary, 
 bound to recognize these operations of his pupil's mind as the 
 true foundation of the Science-teaching which he professes to carry 
 out. In other words, the process of the learner is the true foun- 
 dation of that of the teacher. 
 
 This sketch would be sufficient were it merely my object to 
 present a theory. But as I am seriously in earnest, and wish to 
 see the claims of Science vindicated, and the teaching of its facts, 
 principles, and laws placed on a totally different ground from 
 that which it now generally occupies, I must pursue the subject 
 further. 
 
 It will have been observed, that I lay great stress on teaching 
 
 * See a Lecture entitled "Theories of Teaching with the corresponding Practice," delivered 
 April 26, 1869, at the Rooms of the Association for the Promotion of Social Science.
 
 192 THE TEUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 Science in such a way that it shall become a real training of the 
 student in the method of Science, with a view to the forming of 
 the scientific mind. According to the usual methods of Science- 
 teaching, it is quite possible for a student to "get up," by cram- 
 ming, a number of books on scientific subjects, to attend lecture 
 after lecture on the same subjects, to be drenched with endless 
 explanations and comments on descriptions of experiments per- 
 formed by others, to lodge in his memory the technical results of 
 investigations in which he has taken no part himself, together 
 with formulae, rules, and definitions ad iiifinilum, and yet, after all, 
 never to have even caught a glimpse of the idea involved in in- 
 vestigation, or to have been for a moment animated by the spirit of 
 the scientific explorer. That spirit is a spirit of power, which, not 
 content with the achievements gained by others, seeks to make 
 conquests of its own, and therefore examines, explores, discovers, 
 and invents for itself. These are the manifestations of the spirit 
 of investigation, and that spirit may be excited by the true Science- 
 teacher in the heart of a little child. I ma}* refer, for proof of 
 this assertion, to the teaching of botany to poor village children by 
 the late Professor Henslow ; to the teaching of general Science by 
 the late Dean Dawes to a similar class of children ; to that pursued 
 at the present time at the Bristol Trade School ; and to the in- 
 valuable lessons given to the imaginary Harry and Lucy by Miss 
 Edgeworth. "Without warranting every process adopted by these 
 eminently successful teachers, some of whom were perhaps a little 
 too much addicted to explaining, I have no hesitation in declaring 
 that they one and all acted mainby on the principle that true 
 Science-teaching consists in bringing the pupil's mind into direct 
 contact with facts in getting him to investigate, discover, and 
 invent for himself. The same method is recommended in Miss 
 Youmans' philosophical Essay "On the Culture of the Observing 
 powers of children,"* and rigorously applied in her " First Lessons 
 on Botany ; " and in the Supplement to that little volume I have 
 given, as its editor, a typical lesson on the pile-driving engine, 
 which illustrates the following principles : 
 
 1. That the pupils, throughout the lesson, are learning i. e., 
 teaching themselves, by the exercise of their own minds, without, 
 and not by, the explanations of the teacher. 
 
 * " An Essay on the Culture of the Observing Powers of Children, especially In connection 
 \v:th the Study of Botany. By Eliza A. Youmans, of New York, with Notes and a Sup- 
 plement by Joseph Payne." llenry S. King & Co., Cornhlll, 1872.
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 193 
 
 2. That the pupils gain their knowledge from the object itself, 
 not from a description of the object furnished by another. 
 
 3. That the observations and experiments are their own obser- 
 vations and experiments, made by their own senses and by their 
 own hands, as investigators seeking to ascertain for themselves 
 what the object before them is, and what it is capable of doing. 
 
 4. That the teacher recognizes his proper function as that of a 
 guide or director of the pupil's process of self-teaching, which he 
 aids by moral means, but does not supersede by the intervention of 
 his own knowledge. 
 
 These hints all tend to show what is really meant by Science- 
 teaching, as generally distinguished from other teaching. 
 
 In case, however, my competency to give an opinion on Science- 
 teaching should be questioned, I beg to enforce my views by the 
 authority of Professor Huxley, who, in a lecture on " Scientific 
 Education," thus expresses himself : "If scientific training is to 
 yield its most eminent results, it must be made practical that is 
 to say, in explaining to a child the general phenomena of nature, 
 you must, as far as possible, give reality to j'oar teaching by 
 object-lessons. In teaching him botany, he must handle the plants 
 and dissect the flowers for himself; in teaching him physics and 
 chemistry, you must not be solicitous to fill him with information, 
 but you must be careful that what he learns he knows of his own 
 knowledge. Do not be satisfied with telling him that a magnet 
 attracts iron. Let him see that it does ; let him feel the pull of 
 the one upon the other for himself. . . . Pursue this discipline 
 carefully and conscientiously, and you may make sure that, however 
 scanty may be the measure of information which you have poured 
 into the boy's mind, you have created an intellectual habit of 
 priceless value in practical life." 
 
 Again, in the same lecture, the Professor says, "If the great 
 benefits of scientific training are sought, it is essential that such 
 training should be real that is to say that the mind of the scholar 
 should be brought into direct relation with fact ; that he should not 
 merely be told a thing, but made to see, by the use of his own 
 intellect and ability, that the thing is so, and not otherwise. The 
 great peculiarity of scientific training that in virtue of which it 
 cannot be replaced by any other discipline whatever is this 
 bringing of the mind directly into contact with fact, and practising 
 the mind in the completest form of induction that is to say, iu 
 drawing conclusions from particular facts made known by im- 
 mediate observations of Nature."
 
 194 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 To the same effect another eminent Science-teacher, Mr. Wilson, 
 of Rugby School, thus expresses himself. "Theory and experi- 
 ence," he sa}-s, "alike convince me that the master who is teach- 
 ing a class quite unfamiliar with scientific method, ought to make 
 his class teach themselves, by thinking out the subject of the 
 lecture with them, taking up their suggestions and illustrations, 
 criticising them, hunting them down, and proving a suggestion 
 barren or an illustration inapt ; starting them on a fresh scent 
 when they tire at fault, reminding them of some familiar fact they 
 had overlooked, and so eliciting out of the chaos of vague notions 
 that are afloat on the matter in hand, be it the laws of motion, tha 
 evaporation of water, or the origin of the drift, something of order, 
 concatenation, and interest, before the key to the mystery is given, 
 even if, at all, it has to be given. Training to think, not to be a 
 mechanic or a surveyor, must be first and foremost as his object. 
 So valuable are the subjects intrinsically, and such excellent models 
 do they provide, that the most stupid and didactic teaching will 
 not be useless ; but it will not be the same source of power that 
 the method of investigation will be- in the hands of a good 
 master." 
 
 My last quotation will be from the very valuable lecture given 
 here by Dr. Kemshead, the able Science-teacher of Dulwich College, 
 on " The Importance of Physical Science as a branch of English 
 General Education." Referring to education generally, he says, 
 and I entirely agree with him, "I wish it particularly to be borne 
 in mind that, whenever I use the word education, I use it in its 
 highest and truest sense of training and developing the mind. I 
 hold the acquisition of mere useful knowledge, however important 
 and valuable it may be, to be entirely secondary and subsidiary. 
 I consider it to be of more value to teach the young mind to think 
 out one original problem, to draw one correct conclusion for itself, 
 than to have acquired the whole of ' Manguall's Questions ' or 
 ' Brewer's Guide to Science.' ' There speaks the true teacher. 
 But what does he say on Science-teaching? This: "I wish 
 particularly to draw the distinction between mere scientific knowl- 
 edge and scientific training. I do not believe in the former ; I do 
 believe in the latter. In physical and experimental science, studied 
 for the sake of training, the mode of teaching is everything. I 
 know of one school [we shall soon see that there are man}- such] in 
 which physical science is made a strong point in the prospectus, 
 where chemistry is taught by reading a text-book (a very anti- 
 quated one, since it only gives forty-five elements) , but in which 
 
 \
 
 THE TBUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 195 
 
 the experiments are learnt by heart, and never seen practically. 
 Such a proceeding is a mere farce ou Science." But Dr. Kcmshead 
 proceeds, "Of course, as mere useful knowledge, Lardner's 
 hand-books, or any other good text-books, might be committed to 
 memory. So long as the facts are correct, and are put in a manner 
 that the pupil can receive them, the end is gained ; but this is 
 not scientific teaching cramming if you like, but not teaching. 
 It will I am sure, be manifest to you all that there is nothing of 
 scientific training in this. To develop scientific habits of thought 
 the scientific mind, the teaching must be of a totally different 
 nature. In order to get the fullest benefit from a scientific educa- 
 tion, the teacher should endeavor to bring his pupil face to face 
 with the great problems of Nature, as though he were the first 
 discoverer. He should encourage him from the first to record 
 accurately all his experiments, the object he had in view iu 
 making them, the results even when they have failed, and the 
 inferences which he draws in each case, with as much rigor and 
 exactitude as though the}' were to be published in the ' Philosophical 
 Transactions.' He should, in fact, teach his pupil to face the 
 great problems of Nature as though they had never been solved 
 before." 
 
 " To face the great problems of Nature as though they had never 
 been solved before " "to bring the child face to face with the 
 great problems of Nature, as though he were the first discoverer" 
 these weighty, pregnant, and luminous expressions contain the 
 essence of the whole question I have endeavored to set before you. 
 They define, as you easily perceive, the attitude of the pupil in 
 regard to his subjective process of learning, and the function of 
 the teacher iu regard to his objective process of teaching the one 
 being the counterpart of the other. 
 
 It will have been noticed, perhaps, that nothing has been said 
 of text- books, which some consider as " the true foundation of 
 Science-teaching." The reason of this omission lies in the nature 
 of things. The books of a true student of physical Science are the 
 associated facts and phenomena of Nature. He finds them in " the 
 running brooks," the mountains, trees, and rocks; wherever, in 
 short, he is brought face to face witli facts and phenomena ; these 
 are the pages, whose sentences, phrases, words, and letters he is 
 to decipher and interpret by his own investigation. The inter- 
 vention of a text-book, so called, between the student and the 
 matter he is to study, is an impertinence. For what is such a text- 
 book? A compendium of observations and experiments made by
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 others in view of that very nature-book which, by the hypothesis, 
 he is to study at first-hand for himself, and of definitions, rules, 
 generalizations, and classifications which he is, through the active 
 powers of his mind, to make fcr himself. The student's own 
 method of study is the true method of Science. He is being gra- 
 dually initiated in the processes by which both knowledge, truly 
 his own, and the power of gaining more, are secured. Why should 
 we supersede and neutralize his energies, and altogether dis- 
 organize his plan by requiring him to receive on authority the 
 results of other people's labors in the same field? Again, a text- 
 book on Science is a logically-constructed treatise, in which the 
 propositions last arrived at by the author are presented first in 
 the reverse order to that followed by the method of Science. The 
 sufficient test of the use of books in Science-teaching, is, in fact, 
 this : Do they train the mind to scientific method ? If they do not 
 if on the contrary, they discountenance that method, then they 
 are to be rejected in that elementary work the foundation of 
 Science-teaching with which alone we are here concerned. Once 
 more, I appeal to Prof. Huxley, who tells us' that, "If Scientific 
 education is to be dealt with as mere book-work, it will be better 
 not to attempt it, but to stick to the Latin Grammar, which makes 
 no pretense to be anything but book- work." Again, in his Lec- 
 ture to Teachers, " But let me entreat you to remember my 
 last words. Mere book learning in physical Science is a sham 
 and a delusion. "What you teach, unless you wish to be impostors, 
 that you must first know ; and real knowledge in Science means 
 personal acquaintance with the facts, be they few or many ? " But 
 I must add to these authoritative words those of Dr. Acland, 
 who, when asked by the Public Schools Commission his opinion of 
 the London University Examinations in Physical Science, thus 
 replied: " I may say, generall}', that I should value all knowl- 
 edge of these physical sciences very little indeed unless it was 
 otherwise than book-work. If it is merely a question of getting 
 up certain books, and being able to answer certain book questions 
 that is merely an exercise of the memory of a very useless kind. 
 The great object, though not the sole object, of this training 
 should be to get the boys to .observe and understand the action of 
 matter in some department or another. ... I want them to see 
 and know the things, and in that way they will evoke many quali- 
 ties of the mind, which the study of these subjects is intended to 
 develop." (vol. iv. p. 407). These words sufficiently show both 
 what the true foundation is, and what it is not. Once more for
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 197 
 
 the importance of this matter can hardly be too much insisted on 
 hear what Prof. Kuxley says, in his evidence before the Commis- 
 sion on Scientific Instruction (p. 23) : " The great blunder that 
 our people make, I think, is attempting to teach from books ; 
 our schoolmasters have largely been taught from books and noth- 
 ing but books, and a great many of them understand nothing but 
 book-teaching, as far as I can see. The consequence is, that when 
 they attempt to deal with Scientific teaching, they make nothing 
 of it. If you are setting to work to teach a child Science, you 
 must teach it through its eyes, and its hands, and its senses." 
 
 Having now obtained some notion of the true foundation of 
 Science-teaching, we proceed to inquire where, and by whom, 
 this notion of it is carried out? At this point our ears are 
 saluted by a thousand voices, crying out, "Here here Science 
 is taught ! This this is the place you are seeking ! " We follow 
 the voices, and find, in a multitude of cases, that the thing called 
 Science-teaching has no feature in common with that of which 
 we are in search. We find cramming by text-books, cramming 
 by lectures, experimenting done for, and not by, the students, 
 &c. ; and only here and there do we find Science-teaching pursued 
 by the method of investigation the only method by which, ac- 
 cording to the best authorities, it can be pursued so as to gain 
 really valuable results results worthy of the high dignity of the 
 subject. But in the midst of our bewilderment, we hear the loud 
 voices of the Science and Art Department declaring, authorita- 
 tively, that the}' can show .us what we are seeking for. " Look," 
 they say, " at our 800 or 900 Science schools and classes ; examine 
 carefully our 38,000 pupils ; see the liberal grants and the numer- 
 ous prizes that we give every year to reward the teachers and the 
 cultivators of Science. What we are doing for Science is wonder- 
 ful. Have we not twenty-three Sciences in our curriculum, and 
 twenty-three eminent professional examiners to ascertain that they 
 are well learnt and taught ?" Our spirit rises to enthusiasm at 
 these tidings. We long to enter the schools, and observe the 
 studies of the 38,000 pupils, all presumably pursuing the true 
 method of investigation under teachers who understand it, and all, 
 in their different stages of advancement, gradually acquiring the 
 scientific mind. Seeing, moreover, the great name of Prof. 
 Huxley in the list of examiners, and knowing what his often- 
 expressed notions on Science-teaching are, we look forward with 
 delight to the exemplification of it in the Science schools and 
 classes. Before, however, we enter on our personal inquiry, we
 
 IDS THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 turn to the Directory of the Science Department, to discover the 
 views of the Department on the theory of Science-teaching, or at 
 least a definition of Science which may serve as a guide to the 
 practical operations of those who are engaged in carrying out its 
 views. Not one word, however, do we find to enlighten us on this 
 essential point, nor a single hint as to the true method of Science- 
 teaching. All that we ascertain at our first glance is, that Science 
 is Science. Our enthusiasm is somewhat damped ; but on look- 
 ing a little more closely, we come upon the formidable array of 
 twenty-three Sciences, which the Department takes under its 
 charge, or for " promoting instruction " in which it gives "grants " 
 as a " stimulus to the founding and maintenance of Science schools 
 and classes." We fail, however, to find in the Directory what we 
 wish to know about the spirit of the teaching ; whether it is such 
 as to realize " the great benefits " of which Prof. Huxley speaks ; 
 such as to " ensure real knowledge and practical discipline ; " 
 such as " to bring the mind directly into contact with facts ; " such 
 as "to practise the mind in the completest form of induction." 
 "VVe turn, therefore, to the Examination questions published by the 
 Department, not doubting to detect in the nature of the questions 
 the character of the instruction given ; the proof, in short, that 
 this instruction has been " real and practical," and that the ques- 
 tions are intended to ascertain "what the learner knows of his 
 own knowledge," as Prof. Huxley pithily phrases it. After 
 poring, however, over the ninety-one pages of Examination papers, 
 the only question that can be found which seems to answer the 
 requirement that the learner is to describe " what he knows of his 
 own knowledge," is one of Prof. Huxley's. Here it is " How 
 are sniffing and sneezing effected?" This seems to point to 
 practical experience but even here there is some room for 
 doubt. 
 
 The suspicions, then, that we entertained when we found that 
 the Science Department omitted to furnish a theory or definition of 
 Science to work up to, and any hint respecting the true method of 
 teaching it, are confirmed by an examination of the questions them- 
 selves, and we come to the inevitable conclusion that the whole 
 scheme for promoting Science is neither more nor less than a scheme 
 for promoting the cramming up of scientific text-books, for stimu- 
 lating that " mere book-work " which, we have just been told, is so 
 useless for the purposes of Science, that we had better " stick to 
 the Latin Grammar " than attempt to acquire it that way. Still we 
 can hardly believe that great authorities on education like " My
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 199 
 
 Lords " can fancy that they are effectually promoting the interests 
 of Science by paying for results gained by this " mere book- work," 
 which practically neutralizes all "the great benefits" to be 
 gained by true scientific training. All doubt on this point is 
 however, removed when we find page after page of the Directory 
 filled up with the titles of books which are, on the recommendation 
 of " My Lords," to help to defeat the very conception of scientific 
 teaching. 
 
 But we may inquire for a moment, How does this scheme act on 
 the future interests of Science as far as teachers are concerned ? 
 In this way. As soon as a young man has crammed up a subject 
 from his text-book, he presents himself for examination. He 
 passes, and receives a certificate ; and then, though he may never 
 have made a single independent observation or experiment, may 
 never have caught even a glimpse of scientific method, and may 
 be utterly without the valuable mental discipline which Prof. 
 Huxley tells us cannot be replaced by any other, he is ij>so facto 
 qualified and accredited to teach Science, and to earn payments on 
 the results of his so-called teaching. 
 
 I do not for a moment deny that much is to be gained from the 
 study of scientific text-books. It would be absurd to do so. What 
 I do deny is that the reading up of books on Science which is, 
 strictly speaking, a literary study either is, or can possibly be, a 
 training in scientific method. To receive facts in Science on any 
 other authority than that of the facts themselves ; to get up the 
 observations, experiments and comments of others, instead of 
 observing, experimenting, and commenting ourselves ; to learn 
 definitions, rules, abstract propositions, technicalities, before we 
 personally deal with the facts which lead up to them ; all this, 
 whether in literary or scientific education and especially in 
 the latter is of the essence of cramming, and is therefore 
 entirely opposed to, and destructive of, true mental training and 
 discipline. 
 
 Therefore it is that I see with regret the vast machinery of the 
 Science Department which, were it reconstructed and reorgan- 
 ized, might do so much for Science doing in effect so little so 
 little, that is, in proportion to its powers and opportunities 
 to help in laying the true foundation of Science-teaching. 
 
 This question of Science-teaching is, in fact, the question of all 
 education, and the process of reconstruction must be applied to 
 the Education Department as well as to the Science Department. 
 As things stand, these departments are perhaps the most powerful
 
 200 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 promoters of mechanical drill and cram that the world ever knew. 
 Hence the deplorable results of the Revised Code, one child only 
 in sixty-three throughout the primary schools of the country being 
 able to pass the 6th Standard : and hence, too, the scarcely less 
 deplorable result in the case of Science, that that special mental 
 training that method of investigation which constitutes its glory, 
 is set aside and treated as worthless. 
 
 It is pleasant, however, to see that light is springing up. There 
 is, as I have said, a Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and 
 the Advancement of Science, now sitting. In their second Report, 
 published a short time ago, occur these words in reference to their 
 opinion that instruction in physical Science ought to be a part of 
 the curriculum of primary schools. " The instruction," they say, 
 " to which we refer, though scientific in substance, should in form 
 be devoid of needless technicality, and should be almost wholly 
 confined to such facts as can be brought under the direct observa- 
 tion of the scholar. It should, in fact, be conveyed by object 
 lessons, so arranged and methodized as to give an intelligent idea 
 of those more prominent phenomena which lie around every child, 
 and which he is apt to pass without notice." 
 
 This is quite to the point, and, if carried out in a proper way, 
 will do much to vindicate the neglected claims of Science. Yet 
 even in this Report it is strange to notice the imperfect appre- 
 ciation of the central principle of the whole the spirit and method 
 of the teaching. The Commissioners do, indeed, say that, to 
 render this instruction successful, the teachers must have been 
 ," carefully trained in the special methods of teaching Science ; " 
 but they give no hint as to what these special methods are 
 whether their speciality consists in cramming up a book, or in 
 learning from Nature and fact. There ought to be no room for 
 mistake on a point like this. Both these processes go now by the 
 name of Science-teaching. Even Dr. Carpenter, who tells us truly 
 that "it is the essence [mark the word] of scientific training that 
 the mind finds the object of its study in the external world ; " also 
 claims credit, five minutes before, for the work of the University 
 of London, which simply consists in examining those whose minds 
 " find the objects of their study " in the pages of a book ; who, to 
 use the words of Agassiz, " study Nature in the house, and when 
 they go out of doors cannot find her." Now, I maintain that the 
 two teachings if both must be called by the same name are dia- 
 metrically opposed in spirit, in aim, in modus operandi, in results ;
 
 THE TKUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 201 
 
 and that he who loves the one must hate the other. In that serene 
 atmosphere of Science in which the eminent Commissioners con- 
 tinually dwell, of course no such feeling as " hate " is possible ; but 
 I do wish they had told us in unmistakeable language what they 
 mean by the special teaching of Science, and where we can see 
 it exemplified. It is clear enough that such teaching is by no 
 means universal : for we find the Commissioners, after having 
 had the Examiners of the Science Department before them, de- 
 claring to the world that these Examiners are "under the im- 
 pression that a very large part of the instruction is derived from 
 books; and that it is not often illustrated by specimens or 
 experiments, the use of apparatus, or the out-door study of 
 Nature." After rejecting (in 1870) 15,723 papers out of 34,413, 
 the Examiners certainly had some grounds for their impressions 
 (impressions which might have been anticipated from the nature of 
 the case) ; but the remarkable point the amusing point in the 
 whole business, is this, that the Commissioners appear to be sur- 
 prised at these results of the Science Department system. Surely 
 they had never looked into the Directory, nor observed that the 
 essence of that system is the cramming of book- work ; that long 
 lists of books suitable for the purpose are given, and not a single 
 hint thrown out that the teaching is to be practical or disciplinary, 
 or to have any connection whatever with Nature and fact. The 
 fruits, then, are the proper fruits of the tree ; they could hardly 
 have been other than they are ; and it is perhaps a little incon- 
 siderate on the part of the Commissioners to reproach, even in this 
 delicate way, the Science-teaching system which " My Lords," in 
 their wisdom, have sanctioned and promoted. One hopes, of 
 course, that "My Lords" will not be so imprudent as to reply 
 that the failures have arisen from the bad getting up of the books ; 
 and yet one can hardly see any other reply from them possible. If, 
 however, this should be the reply, the rejoinder that I venture to 
 make for the Commissioners is this, " Education means, and is, 
 development and training. Development and training of the mind 
 come from its own exercise, through observation and experiment 
 at first-hand upon Nature and fact. If for this primary study of 
 Nature and fact you substitute the study of other people's studies 
 of these same subjects, you necessitate cram ; and Nature ordains 
 that by cram you shall perish i. e., that by aiming simply at 
 quantity of results, without regard to quality, you shall end in 
 getting neither quantity nor quality." The experiment as to
 
 202 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 primary education is of the same kind, and its miserable results 
 bear witness to the fundamental error on which both are founded. 
 
 In reading over the evidence taken by the Commissioners, one 
 is struck by the apparent indifference to this very important 
 question of the teaching on the part of scientific men of all kinds. 
 Drs. Acland, Frankland, Sharpey, and Huxley stand almost alone 
 among the Professors ; and Mr. Louis Miall and Mr. Coomber almost 
 alone among the Science-teachers, in claiming for Science that it 
 should be worthily, i. e., soundly and practically, taught. Mr. 
 Miall particularly objects to the Science Department's scheme. He 
 says, "The regulations of the Department do not encourage 
 what I should call a real style, of teaching. Teaching of scientific 
 subjects, which ought, as I imagine, to be of a highly practical 
 character, is very largely conducted by such means as reading out 
 slowly notes to be taken down verbatim and committed to memory ; 
 or again, by a large use of elementary text-books, which are made 
 as condensed as possible, and are in many cases almost learnt off by 
 heart by frequent repetition." Admirable mental discipline ! a 
 singular exemplification of the way in which the scientific mind is 
 formed ! After this we are not surprised to find Mr. Miall (who is, 
 I am told, highly qualified by experience and knowledge to pro- 
 nounce an opinion) declaring : "If the Science classes in connec- 
 tion with the Department [he is speaking particularly of Bradford] 
 were to go on for fifty years as they are doing at present, I do not 
 think they would produce any perceptible effect upon the industrial 
 occupations " that being the object they have professedly in view. 
 
 As some set off against the strictures I have passed on the 
 Science Department arrangements, it ought to be mentioned that 
 the provisions made for giving practical instruction every year to 
 those teachers who come up to London for the purpose are most 
 excellent. Six weeks of such training is worth more than book- 
 work cramming for twelve months, especially if the teachers are 
 Professors Huxley and Carey Foster and Mr. Ray Lankester. 
 
 Had there been time, I would have given some account of 
 Weinhold's Treatise on Physics (" Vorschule der Experimental- 
 physik"), in which the subject is built up under the observing 
 eyes and experimenting hands of the students ; and a little element- 
 ary book on Heat by Mr. MacGill (published by Nelson & Co.), 
 in which Science is treated as a means of training, and the differ- 
 ence practically shown between " knowledge gained and used, and 
 knowledge merely given."
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 203 
 
 I must, however, conclude by urging upon your attention the 
 serious nature of the question I have discussed. If I have suc- 
 ceeded not only in making clear the true foundation of Science- 
 teaching, but in producing convictions in your minds which may 
 lead to action, I shall have accomplished my purpose. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. EXTKACTS FKOM KEPLIES TO QUESTIONS PUT BY DIRECTION OF THE 
 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, AS CHAIRMAN OF THE KOYAL COMMISSION 
 ON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION, TO THE PROFESSIONAL EXAMINERS 
 OF THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The questions were 
 
 1. What is the evidence afforded as to the practical nature of the teaching ? 
 
 2. What opinion have you formed as to the amount of " cram," and the 
 
 power of testing it by examination? 
 
 3. What test is afforded, by passing in the advanced papers, as to the 
 
 fitness of a candidate to become a teacher? 
 
 KEPLIES. 
 
 3. "In consequence of the plain evidences of the ' cram ' system pursued 
 which are afforded by the results that have passed through my hands, I beg 
 leave to give my unqualified opinion that no student who has obtained, even 
 a first class, in either first or second grade, should bo allowed, on the 
 strength of that success only, to constitute himself a teacher of others." 
 F. A. BRADLEY, Examiner in Practical Plane and Solid Geometry. 
 
 2. ' ' The amount of ' cram ' is considerable in some subjects, such as Geo- 
 metry and the introductory part of Trigonometry. In the former subject 
 it is an undoubted fact that Euclid is learned by heart in many schools." - 
 B. M. COWIE, Examiner in Pure Mathematics. 
 
 2. "By ' cram' in Mathematics I understand the loading of the memory 
 with verbal answers to anticipated questions, and with rules and demonstra- 
 tions which the understanding has not fathomed. This vicious habit un- 
 doubtedly prevails to a deplorable degree. It is the natural offspring of 
 competitive examination, the invariable resource of the incompetent and 
 indolent, who covet, but do not deserve, the worldly advantages which suc- 
 e3ss in examinations secures." T. A. HIRST, Examiner in the Higher Pure 
 Mathematics. 
 
 3. "A teacher ought to.be able to pass an examination in the higher 
 branches of the subject he professes to teach. This, however, is a very in- 
 sufficient test indeed of his fitness to teach. Other qualities, moral and in- 
 tellectual, are required in a teacher, the presence or absence of which written 
 examinations cannot in the least reveal." Idem.
 
 204 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 
 
 2. " There is undoubtedly a considerable amount of 'cram.' I judge of 
 this by the set phrases by which, in some classes, certain questions are 
 answered." ANDREW C. RAMSAY, Examiner in Geology, 
 
 3. ''Persons who 'go in' for this office [of teacher] are often very ill 
 qualified for it. It seems to me that often the fact that they are ignorant 
 and ill educated is the reason why they consider themselves likely to be 
 qualified for the office of teacher." Idem. 
 
 1. " The papers do not afford any strong evidence of the teaching having 
 been practical. ... As a whole the teaching must still be regarded as chiefly 
 book- work." Dr. RUTHERFOBD, Dr. MICHAEL FOSTER, Examiners for 
 Professor HUXLEY in Physiology. 
 
 2. " Thfre is abundant evidence every year of cramming." Idem. 
 
 2. "I am of opinion that there is a large amount of cram, and bad cram 
 too." JOHN PERCY, Examiner in Metallurgy. 
 
 II. EXTRACTS FROM THE EVIDENCE GIVEN BEFORE THE ROYAL 
 COMMISSION. 
 
 Mr. HENRY COLE. Mr. Cole is of opinion (Question 32, Second Report 
 of the Royal Commission) that " a preliminary examination [of the teacher's 
 qualifications] is not of much importance ; " and at the same time (Question 
 43) that a training school for teachers ' ' is the one thing that is especially 
 wanting at the present tirre; " inasmuch as (Question 83) "the acquisition 
 of general knowledge, and the power of efficiently imparting it, are two dif- 
 ferent things." 
 
 Professor HUXLEY, in opposition to Mr. Cole (Question 273), would "like 
 to see all the teachers put through a special examination." 
 
 Dr. RAMSAY (Question 569) says : "It appears to me that some of the 
 teachers . . . are apt to get up their knowledge by a special process of self- 
 cramming, and that from that imperfect kind of knowledge they cram a 
 number of the younger pupils, whom I guess to be mere children, and who 
 answer by rote. " Also, from Questions G01, 602, it appears that Dr. Ram- 
 say "infers" that " the instruction given is chiefly from books," and that 
 it "very rarely happens that the instruction is gained in any other way, 
 from specimens or from practical knowledge." 
 
 Professor FRANKLAND, speaking of the results of his own examinations 
 of the Chemistry papers, says (Questions 766), "It was evident that the 
 candidates had depended too much upon mere book-work and oral instruc- 
 tion ; they had not been sufficiently brought into contact with the phenomena 
 themselves. . . . Practical instruction, in which the pupil is made an oper- 
 ator, is by far the most valuable kind of chemical teaching. ... A train- 
 ing in experimental Science does not contemplate merely the reading and 
 committing to memory of the thoughts of others, but much more, an actual 
 contact of the student with the phenomena presented by the objects which 
 surround him." 
 
 Professor WILLIAMSON, in reference to the test of the teacher's fitness, 
 says (Question 1187 a) : "The examination test alone, when applied as it 
 is, is productive of one great evil, especially when examinations aim at 
 directing teaching, and profess to take the lead of teachers, and that is to 
 call forth crams. I believe that there is hardly any case of really good teach-
 
 THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE-TEACHING. 205 
 
 ing being produced by examinations." Further (Question 1297), " Anybody 
 who has done a thing has learned more than any one who has only seen it." 
 
 Mr. T. W. SHORE (Question 2206) : By the present wholesale and indis- 
 criminate system ... a candidate may be recognized as qualified to teach 
 such a subject as Chemistry without ever having handled chemical appara- 
 tus, or even seen a single chemical experiment, for the examination has 
 been, and can be, passed from book-work only. Such an attempt to spread 
 science among the masses will tend inevitably to a decrease of scientific ac- 
 curacy in teaching, a contempt for the teacher's office, and, among artisans, 
 a loss of confidence in such teachers, the power of maintaining which should 
 be an essential qualification." 
 
 Mr. Louis MIALL (Question 6247) : "Students are often passed whose 
 knowledge is, I might say, absurdly inadequate students who have no 
 real knowledge of the subject at all ; and this is particularly unfortunate, as 
 the passing of the examination qualifies them to become teachers." Again 
 (Question 6257) : "The teaching which I am accustomed to give would 
 not pass pupils. . . . We endeavor, as far as possible, to make all our teach- 
 ing practical. . . . Our teaching does not qualify students to pass the exami- 
 nation of the Science and Art Department. . . . They do not get up that style 
 of answers that would suffice to pass them. We endeavor to make our class 
 of instruction sound and practical, but we should have to adopt a totally 
 different system if we aimed at passing a number of pupils." (Question 
 6277) : "It would appear to me that the essential and cardinal faults of 
 the present system, are, first of all, that the training and teaching qalifica- 
 tion of the teachers is far too low ; secondly, that owing to the entire absence 
 of practical examination, a very defective style of teaching is encouraged ; 
 and thirdly, that it is at the option of the teacher to take any subjects he 
 pleases, in any order." 
 
 III. THE TEACHING OF NATURE AND FACT. 
 
 " The entire process of the earliest instruction of children should consist 
 in training the faculties for their subsequent work ; and for this instruction 
 God's book of the Universe is better suited than any books of men. The 
 facts and phenomena of Nature are the sentences, words and letters which, 
 before all others, the child should be taught to read ; and if taught to read 
 them by a teacher who knows his business, they furnish the soundest and 
 most interesting instruction that the child is capable of receiving. The 
 materials for the lesson are constantly at hand ; the faculties for using them 
 are constantly ready for use ; and it is the very raison d'etre of the teacher, 
 the purpose for which he exists, to bring the materials and the faculties 
 into contact; and thus to make the child find tongues in trees, sermons in 
 stones, and books in the running brooks. For want of such teaching, the 
 child grows to a man, and as a man lives all his life, carrying with him 
 eyes which do not see, ears which do not hear, a mind which does not think. 
 By means of such lessons the art of observing may be definitely taught, the 
 art of inventing prompted, and the method of scientific investigation ini- 
 tiated." From a paper read by the Lecturer " On the teaching of Elementary 
 Science as apart of the Earliest Instruction of Children," at the Leeds Meeting 
 of the Social Science Association.
 
 PREFACE AND SUPPLEMENT 
 
 TO AX 
 
 ESSAY ON THE CULTUEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN, 
 
 BY ELIZA A. YOUMANS.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE ENGLISH EDITION. 
 
 THE EDITOR'S ACQUAINTANCE with the valuable treatise which he now 
 brings before the English public is of recent date. He had under- 
 taken to write a brief paper for the Leeds Meeting of the Social 
 Science Association on "The Teaching of Elementary Science as 
 a Part of the Earliest Instruction of Children ; " and had com- 
 pleted the arguments and illustrations by which he endeavored to 
 show that, in the true order of things, the earliest formal instruc- 
 tion of children should be a continuation of that which they had 
 already unconsciously received from Nature and Fact, when Dr. 
 Youmans, of New York, put into his hands the " First Book of 
 Botany," and the little treatise, which is here republished, "On 
 the Culture of the Observing Powers of Children," written by Miss 
 Youmans. He was at once struck with the remarkable corres- 
 pondence between the views taken by Miss Youmans and those 
 which he had presented in his own paper, and proportionally 
 interested in the fact that these views had been realized in suc- 
 cessful practice. It therefore occurred to him that he should be 
 doing a service to the cause of education by bringing them under 
 the notice of English teachers, and of all who take an interest in 
 the improvement of elementary instruction. He has a profound 
 conviction which many others share with him that what is 
 demanded by the present times is not so much extended machinery 
 as better teachers teachers more thoroughly acquainted with the 
 nature of the mind with which they are professedly dealing, and 
 capable of making their knowledge of the processes of education 
 more productive in results ; and moreover, that the improved teach- 
 ing which is needed, must begin at the beginning. As things are, 
 we adopt conventional opinions respecting the essentials of in- 
 struction frequently confounding the means with the end and 
 entrust the most delicate and difficult part of the process the
 
 210 THE CULTURE OF THE 
 
 early development and training of the mind to teachers who have 
 no other idea of teaching than that it is a sort of mechanical 
 grinding, which is somehow or other to produce the desired result. 
 We all recognize the usual product of such grinding in countless 
 examples of children exposed to it, who grow up to manhood and 
 pass their lives in the possession of eyes that do not see, ears that 
 do not hear, and minds that have never been taught to think. 
 The teaching, however, which ends in such results as these is, to 
 speak strictly, no teaching at all. 
 
 It fails altogether as an agency for quickening intelligence 
 through the acquisition of knowledge. The teacher has not done 
 what he engaged to do. He professed to be an artist aiming to 
 secure, through the resources of his art, a definite end ; that end 
 he has not secured. He undertook what Nature left alone does 
 not undertake to teach his pupils not only to think, but to think 
 with a fixed purpose in view ; not only to set their minds in motion, 
 but to direct that motion so as to make it effectual for (1) the 
 acquisition of exact knowledge, (2) the formation of good mental 
 habits, (3) and consequent!}', the attainment of a consciousness of 
 power applicable to all cases of mental action. His work has 
 proved inefficient in all these respects, and he has therefore failed 
 in the very object of his existence. 
 
 The didactic method the method of endless telling, explain- 
 ing, thinking for the pupil, and ordering him to learn has had 
 its day. It is, then, worth while to consider whether it may not 
 be superseded by one which recognizes the native ability of the 
 human mind, under competent guidance, to work out its own edu- 
 cation by means of its own active exercise. 
 
 Miss Youmans' method, by providing for the exercise of the 
 pupil's own mind on concrete facts, which are to be observed, 
 investigated, judged of, and described by himself, is an obvious 
 recognition of this principle ; and in carrying it out she supersedes 
 " the usual desultory practice of object-teaching in noting the dis- 
 connected properties of casual objects," by " training him (to use 
 her own words) not only to observe the sensible facts, but con- 
 stantly to put them into those relations of thought by which they 
 become organized knowledge." 
 
 In general, then, the purpose of this little book is to give the 
 elementary teacher an enlarged and enlightened view of his proper 
 functions, to fix attention on principles rather than routine, to 
 supersede didactic cramming by systematic mental training ; and, 
 in short, to place the noble art of teaching upon a solid foundation.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 211 
 
 The editor has added a few notes by way of enforcing the 
 author's general argument, and in his "Supplement" has en- 
 deavored to illustrate a principle to which he attaches great impor- 
 tance, as the key-note to the art of teaching ; namely, that the 
 process by which the pupil learns being essentially one of subject- 
 ive, conscious, self-instruction, the teacher's counterpart, conscious 
 objective process, ought always to recognize this fact ; that, in 
 short, only in proportion as the teacher aids, without superseding, 
 the pupil's own efforts to teach himself, will he be successful in 
 his teaching. 
 
 From a conviction, moreover, that the study of a descriptive 
 science like Botany does not sufficiently develop the instinct for 
 experiment, nor supply a training in the doctrine of force, he has 
 shown, by a typical lesson, how the elements of mechanics may be 
 learnt by young children through their own observation and experi- 
 ments, without explanations from the teacher the learners being 
 considered in the light of investigators, seeking to ascertain at first 
 hand facts and their interpretation. 
 
 4, KILDARE GARDENS, 
 May 1st, 1872.
 
 SUPPLEMENT BY THE EDITOR 
 
 ILLUSTRATING THE FOREGOING PRINCIPLES AND APPLYING 
 THEM TO THE ELEMENTARY STUDY OF MECHANICS. 
 
 IT will have been seen that the special characteristic of the method 
 of this book is, that the author insists on the principle that all 
 elementary instruction which is intended to train the mind must be 
 based on objective, concrete fact, and provides no other basis. The 
 facts themselves, not the explanations, deductions, or comments of 
 others upon them, are to be brought at first hand into immediate 
 contact with the pupil's mind. In the natural order of things, the 
 fact comes first, the comments afterwards, and the child, in his 
 acquisition of knowledge, should follow the natural order. This is 
 the historical method,, the method of the investigator, who gains his 
 ends by observation and experiment, acquiring knowledge by the 
 exercise of his senses, by analysis and comparison, and testing it by 
 synthetical applications. The child, too, may be regarded as an 
 explorer or investigator, who is to proceed by the same method. 
 He, too, can gain knowledge by observation and experiment, and 
 that only is truly his own which he gains by these means. 
 
 This proposition will be considered by many teachers as needing 
 proof. The remark is, however, intended to apply only to the most 
 elementary instruction, as a part of a system of mental training. 
 The purpose of such instruction should obviously be to impress 
 upon the pupil's mind clear and definite ideas, however few, and to 
 foreclose his mind, for the time being, to all others.* The quantity 
 of knowledge that he gains under the process is of small import- 
 ance compared with its quality, and its quality depends upon the 
 manner in which he gains it. What he gains at first hand, by his 
 own mental labor, and what he acquires as the result of other 
 people's labor, may both become his own property, but they are 
 different in their nature, and are held on totally different tenures ; 
 
 * " L'esprit dc mon Institution n'est pas d'ensclgner k 1'enfant beaucoup de choscs, mais de 
 ne laisser jamais entrer dans sou ct-rveau quc des idecs jus tea et claires." ROUSSEAU, mile.
 
 CULTURE OF OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 213 
 
 and it is maintained that the child under training is only concerned 
 with the former. He is to learn how to acquire property himself, 
 that he may know the value of property in general, and may be 
 able to appreciate the various methods by which others acquire it. 
 In a similar way, the mechanic learns his art by continually hand- 
 ling his tools, until having gained experience by daily practice, he 
 at length becomes capable of appreciating the finished and elaborate 
 work of his more advanced fellow-laborers. His competency, 
 however, to form a mature judgment of their performance, and to 
 do what they do, is founded essentially on his own previous knowl- 
 edge and experience. It is in this sense that the assertion is made, 
 that in the case of a child under elementary training, that knowl- 
 edge only which he gains by his own observation and experiment 
 is truly his own. 
 
 The time of course comes when he must receive man} 1 things on 
 the authority of others, as, for instance, when he learns Geography 
 and History. These subjects do not, indeed, consistently with the 
 views here maintained, enter into the curriculum of the earliest 
 elementary instruction, which should be strictly confined to matters 
 on which the pupil can exercise his own powers of observation and 
 experiment. When, however, the time does come for learning 
 them, it will be found that the child furnished with a substratum 
 of knowledge gained by his own efforts, will be in a far better con- 
 dition for receiving and appropriating that supplied him by others 
 than one who has not had the previous training. 
 
 It may, however, be further objected, that it is unreasonable to 
 require the pupil to discover for himself what has been already dis- 
 covered by others, and lies ready at hand. The objection would 
 be valid if it were true that he could, while yet a novice in learn- 
 ing, in the true sense of the term, appropriate what another has 
 gained ; but the fact remains that the child's mental appropriation 
 of objective knowledge can be secured only by certain subjective 
 processes which another can no more perform for him, than walk, 
 sleep, or digest for him. That only, therefore, in an educational 
 sense, is knowledge to us which we have gained through the work- 
 ing of our own minds. We do indeed please ourselves with the 
 fancy that we can assume as our own the vast field of science 
 which, we have, as a people, inherited ; but after all, it is an ulti- 
 mate fact of human nature, that there is no " common measure " 
 between a nation's progress in knowledge and an individual's : so . 
 that, however large may be the inheritance bequeathed to us, we 
 can enter on it in no other way than that by which it was first
 
 214 THE CULTURE OF THE 
 
 acquired the way of observation and experiment. Whatever is 
 acquired by any other means is of the nature of cramming, and 
 has nothing in common with the true elementary culture of the 
 mind.* 
 
 These considerations help us to define the relation between the 
 material of instruction, the learner, and the teacher. The material 
 should be objective, concrete fact ; the learner, one who applies 
 his senses, his powers of perception, apprehension, analysis, com- 
 parison his whole mind, in short with a view to ascertain the 
 nature and phenomena of the fact, by interrogating it in every 
 possible way ; and the teacher, one who, recognizing and under- 
 standing the learner's process of investigation, aids him in it by 
 every means which does not interfere with it. He does not, there- 
 fore, tell his pupils that this object is hard, that soft ; he makes 
 them feel it themselves ; he does not explain that this object has 
 a certain external relation to that ; he places them in juxta- 
 position, and invites comparison ; he directs them to congre- 
 gate particulars, and at the right time calls for generalization and 
 classification ; he does not point out that this is a cause, and that 
 an effect, but prompts them to make the experiments which suggest 
 the relation ; he does not anxiously correct their blunders, but, 
 either at the moment or subsequently, takes care that they are cor- 
 rected by themselves ; he gives them no technical names until they 
 know the things or phenomena which require to be named ; and 
 finally, distrusting their memory, he often repeats his lessons in 
 order to deepen impressions and prevent the loss of what has once 
 been acquired. 
 
 From this enumeration of the several functions of the learner 
 and teacher, it is clear that the former is an investigator engaged 
 in teaching himself by means of concrete facts, and that the 
 latter is a guide, director, or superintendent of the process by 
 which the pupil learns. 
 
 The views of the respective functions of the learner and teacher 
 
 * The writer is anxious to guard against any misconstruction of his meaning in reference to 
 "cramming." He has already denounced its "unlawfulness" as a part of elementary train- 
 ing, but he admits, of course, Its lawfulness and Indeed necessity, in a more advanced stage 
 of instruction, and in the business of life. What he insists on is that by enfeebling the grow- 
 ing powers It is antagonistic to mental culture, and, moreover, that when It is necessary, tho 
 cultivated mind will appreciate in a higher sense and appropriate far more effectually tha 
 knowledge gained by others, than the mind which has been accustomed from the beginning 
 blindly to receive and adopt the conclusions of others as its own. In other words, tha mind 
 that is not used to cramming will cram to far better purpose when the occasion arises thaa 
 that which is; and will besides, more competently deal with general propositions framed by 
 others from having been employed in forming such propositions itself.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 215 
 
 \ 
 
 will of course hardly satisfy those who assume that every one who 
 knows a subject is competent to teach it : alLexperience, however, 
 is against this assumption. The teacher should indeed thoroughly 
 know his subject. This knowledge will guide him in bringing the 
 object to be learned in contact with the pupil's consciousness by 
 the questions he asks, and is, moreover a guarantee that he has 
 himself had experience of the subjective process of learning, but 
 is no guarantee that he has a right conception of his proper func- 
 tion as a teacher, or a conscious knowledge of the process by 
 which all minds learn. He may know his subject, but be entirely 
 ignorant of the best means of making his pupils know it too, 
 which should be the end of all teaching. The question at issue 
 resolves itself, indeed, into that of the means by which knowledge 
 is naturally gained ; and the main point in the inquiry is, How is 
 all knowledge which we can truly call our own obtained ? Does a 
 child come to know a flower, for instance, because his teacher, 
 having exercised his mind upon it, knows it, or because the child 
 himself has exercised his own mind upon it ? Even if we allow 
 which we do not that the child is incapable of seeing the flower 
 aright, of discriminating between its parts, and appreciating their 
 relations by his own powers of mind, it must be admitted that the 
 ultimate act which makes the idea a mental possession is, and 
 must be, the child's own, not the teacher's. But indeed all the pro- 
 cesses of perception, observation, comparison, reasoning, judgment, 
 by which solid knowledge is gained, are so many means by which 
 the investigating mind works in attaining its object, and can only 
 be performed by the learner himself. The teacher who intrudes the 
 knowledge he has gained by means equally accessible to the child, 
 does a work of supererogation, and gives at second hand what the 
 learner would better gain at first hand, and by so doing supersedes 
 the more valuable teaching given by the fact or object itself. In 
 learning what an object is, the object itself is the best possible 
 teacher. The lessons it gives are clear, forcible and definite, and 
 stamp themselves directly on the mind. Those substituted for 
 them by the professed teacher, may be quite otherwise, inasmuch as 
 if he learned them originally from the object itself, he may not have 
 learned them correctly, or if he merely transmits impressions which 
 have passed through other minds without reference to the original 
 teacher the fact or object he may convey error instead of truth 
 to his pupil. No account, in short, can be given by another, of the 
 nature of an object equal in vividness, force, and truth, to that
 
 216 THE CULTUKE OF THE 
 
 which the object itself can give. But further, the teacher who 
 assumes that his best service to his pupils consists in doing their 
 proper work of observation, &c., for them, not only does what is 
 unnecessary, but what may be positively injurious. His professed 
 object, as a teacher, is to educate as well as to instruct ; to train 
 the faculties through the process of instruction.* But he can train 
 only by calling into exercise the pupil's own powers. The substi- 
 tution of his own thought for the pupil's, except as a means to this 
 end, tends to defeat the object in view. All explanations, there- 
 fore, by the teacher, of relations which are obvious and patent in 
 the things themselves, supersede the pupil's own mental activities, 
 and hinder, to some extent, that exercise of mind which is essential 
 to development and training. Explanation is " flattening," 
 "making level," or "clearing the ground," so as to produce an 
 even surface, and as applied to teaching, signifies removing ob- 
 structions out of the way. This work, however, as being, in our 
 view, the only means by which the pupil's mind is to be trained to 
 the consciousness of its powers, belongs to the learner, not to the 
 teacher, and the teacher who does it for him injuriously interferes 
 with, and in fact defeats, as we have just said, the object in view. 
 The human mind, which is naturally endowed with a capacity for 
 observing aggregates, is also endowed with a capacity for disinte- 
 grating them, and detecting the relation of the parts to the whole, 
 and further, with a capacity for reasoning on these relations and 
 forming a judgment upon them. It has, moreover, the ability to 
 apply the knowledge thus gained to the acquisition of more to 
 use the known to interpret the unknown. All these processes are 
 essentially of the nature of explanations, but then they are ex- 
 planations which result from the working of the learner's own 
 mind on the matter of study, not from the working of the teacher's 
 mind ; and to return to the. former assertion the teacher who 
 intrudes his own explanations injuriously interferes with the ma- 
 chinery, and hinders it from securing its best products. The 
 teacher's whole business, in short, is to teach his pupil how to 
 think, and this can only be effected by making him do all the 
 
 * .It may be worth while to remark, us the point is often misapprehended, that Education 
 (from tducare, a frequentative of educere, to draw forth) is the drawing forth, by repeated 
 acts, of the pupil's powers, the training of them to their proper work, and that Instruction 
 (from inatruere, to place materials together for a definite end) is the orderly placing of 
 knowledge in the mind. Hence, only an instructor scientifically equipped for his profession 
 is at the same time an educator. The teacher who merely gets his pupil to accumulate discon- 
 nected bits of "Information" about all sorts of subjects is no instructor, and, therefore, no 
 educator, In the true sense of the terms.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 217 
 
 thinking himself, "absolutely without aid" (see Dr. Temple's 
 remark below), not thinking for him.* 
 
 It scarcely needs to be pointed out, that the question of the ne- 
 cessity of explanations in elementary teaching involves that of tho 
 subjects and order of studies. " If the subject is unsuited to the 
 child's stage of instruction, or if, instead of presenting him with 
 facts which he can understand, we force upon him abstractions 
 which he cannot, we create the need for explanations." He can 
 understand concrete facts, bj r applying his natural faculties of 
 observation to them, but he cannot understand general principles 
 framed by others upon facts which he does not know. The recog- 
 nition of this principle furnishes a test of the suitability of any 
 given subject for the earliest stage of elementary instruction. 
 Those subjects alone are suitable which admit of independent in- 
 vestigation, which require no evidence but that of the senses, and 
 can therefore be brought into immediate contact, without the 
 descriptions and explanations of others, with the learner's own 
 mind. In the progress of instruction, the knowledge gained by 
 others as in Geography and History will fitly take its proper 
 place ; but in the first instance and with an especial view to train- 
 ing the mind, the pupil's knowledge should be all his own the 
 sole product of his own thought. Facts, then, and phenomena 
 the facts and phenomena of the material world are the proper 
 food of the mind learning to think, and it is the perception and 
 appreciation of this principle which constitutes the merit of Miss 
 Youmaus' method of teaching Botany. 
 
 It is important, however, to remark, that, valuable as the study 
 of Botany is as a means of cultivating the observing powers, it 
 
 * Tlicrc is abundant authority for the correctness of these views on the value of the learner's 
 self-tuition. "All the best cultivation of a child's mind,'' says Bishop Temple, " is obtained 
 by the child's own exertion, and the master's success may bo measured by the degree in which 
 he can bring his scholars to make such exertions absolutely without aid." Rousseau, too, 
 recommending self-teaching, says, "Force d'apprendrc de lul-meme, 11 (the pupil) use de sa 
 ralson et non de cclle d'autrul, car, pour ne rien donner ii 1'oplnion, II ne faut rien donner it 
 1'autorite 1 ; et la plupart de nos errcurs noui viennent blen moins de nous que des nutrcs. De 
 cet exercice continue! 11 doit resulter une vigneur d'esprlt scmblable ii celle qu'on donne an. 
 corps par le travail et par la fatigue. Un autre avantage ost qu'on n'nvance qu'k proportion 
 de ses forces. L'esprit, non plus que le corps, ne porte quo ce qu'll pcut porter. Quand 
 1'entendement s'appropric leg choses avant de lea deposer dans la memoire, ce qu'll en tiro 
 ensuite est a lui; au lieu qu'en surehargeant la me'molre k son Inu on s'expose a nVn jnniais 
 rien tirer qul Inl soil propre." Again : " Sans contredit on prend des notions bien plus clalres 
 et bien plus sflres de ohoses qu'on. apprendainsi de soi-meme que de celles qii'on tlent des 
 enseigncments d'autrui : et, outre qu'on n'accoutume point sa raison a se soumettre si rvllemcnt 
 a 1'autorite, 1'on s? rend plus in-renieux k tronvcr des rapports, it Her dea Ide'es, k mventer 
 des instruments, que quand, adoptant tout cela tel qu'on nous le donnc, nous lalnsons affnisser 
 notre esprit dans la nonchalance, comme le corps d'un homme qul, toujours habille, chausee', 
 scrri par ses gens ct truind par BOS chcvaux, perd k la fin la f^rce et 1'usagc de sos membres." 
 Emile.
 
 218 THE CULTURE OF THE 
 
 fails to secure all the elementary training of which children are 
 capable. It leaves altogether uncultivated the instinct of experi- 
 ment, which equally with observation, is an indispensable agent in 
 the acquisition of physical knowledge. A child may become a 
 proficient in Descriptive Botany and remain ignorant of the action 
 and reaction of forces, and of the relation between cause and effect. 
 Yet this knowledge as a means of quickening mental effort is of 
 even more value than any that can be obtained from observation 
 alone, and tends more directly to form the scientific mind. Chil- 
 dren are always delighted with experiments, especially with those 
 which they make themselves. They like to set objects in motion, 
 and to watch the results. 
 
 The elementary discipline, then, which is to be a continuation of 
 Nature's method, should provide a systematic training in the 
 doctrine of forces.* This training will be one day recognized as 
 "the true basis of that Technical Education which is the deside- 
 ratum of our times. 
 
 "We are not yet furnished with a systematic arrangement of 
 means and agencies for such training, but in the meanwhile a 
 typical and theoretical specimen is here given of the manner in 
 which instructions of this kind might be conducted ; which will 
 also serve as an illustration of the principles already insisted on. 
 
 It may be premised that the object of this specimen of a lesson 
 is to show : 
 
 (1.) That the pupils throughout the lesson are learning, i. e., 
 teaching themselves by the exercise of their own minds, without, 
 not by, the explanations of the teacher. 
 
 (2.) That the pupils gain their knowledge from the object itself, 
 not from a description of the object furnished by another. 
 
 (3.) That the observation and experiment by which their knowl- 
 edge is gained, are their own observation and experiment made 
 by their own sense and by their own hands ; as investigators seek- 
 ing to ascertain for themselves what the object before them is, and 
 what it is capable of doing. 
 
 * That such knowledge is within the comprehension of children Is shown with admirable 
 tact and skill in Miss Edgeworth's " Harry and Lucy," as well as by the numerous actual 
 experiments in education recorded In Mr. Edgeworth and his daughter's joint work on 
 " Practical Education." It is much to be regretted that these valuable works, superseded by 
 none In recent times, are apparently falling Into oblivion. "When the nature and requirements 
 of elementary training are better understood, and our traditional routine submitted to the test 
 of educational science, teachers will study with deep interest the numerous experiments in 
 education which are minutely described in them, and recognize the sterling merits of the 
 Edgeworthion method.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 219 
 
 (4 ) That the teacher recognizes his proper function as that of 
 a guide and director of the pupil's process of self-teaching, which 
 he aids by moral means but does not supersede by the intervention 
 of his own knowledge or explanations. 
 
 Suppose, then, a large working model of the pile-driving ma- 
 chine placed in view of the whole class. As it is well known, it 
 is not necessary to describe it. The resistance of the earth may 
 be represented by a socket made of boards connected by strong 
 springs. 
 
 I. The teacher simply remarks that the object before them is 
 called a " machine," and that its purpose is to drive the pile into 
 the socket which represents the earth. He also tells them the 
 names (merely as conventionalities which they cannot find out for 
 themselves) of the " monkey," the " clutch," the " pulleys," &c. 
 The children are eager to see what the machine can do. He there- 
 fore directs two of them to lay hold of the cords and pull up the 
 weight or "monkey." This they do gradually until the clutch 
 relaxes its hold, and the weight falls down on the head of the pile. 
 The weight is then replaced in its original position, and all the 
 children in succession make the experiment. This employment of 
 their owh powers involves a personal experience of resistance to 
 muscular effort, and a rudimentary idea of force. 
 
 The teacher next directs them to measure the height from which 
 the weight falls, as well as the height of the head of the pile from 
 its insertion in the socket. He also detaches the monkey from the 
 clutch, directs them to weigh* it and he records the result on the 
 blackboard. 
 
 He then replaces the weight in its original position, and directs 
 the children to repeat the experiment ; but this time the height of 
 the pile is measured after the fall of the monkey, and the difference 
 recorded on the blackboard. "The iron weight of Ibs. drives 
 the pile into the earth inches." 
 
 He next substitutes for the iron weight masses of equal volume 
 made of lead and wood, directing the children in each case to 
 weigh the several masses and recording for them the several results 
 of the impact. 
 
 * Arrangement* for accurately weighing and measuring should always form a part of the 
 school apparatus, and should be used not for, but by the pupils. They should also be prac- 
 tised In poising weights In their hands, and in conjecturing heights and distance by the eye, 
 and then comparing the mental surmise with the facts, as ascertained and confirmed by actual 
 experiments. Much valuable mental discipline, as well as preparation for the business of 
 life, Is involved in processes of this kind. The vague evidence often given in courts of law 
 on such points, show how much they are neglected in early training.
 
 220 THE CULTURE OF THE 
 
 Teacher. Which weight drives the pile most, which least ? 
 
 Answer. The leaden one most, the wooden one least. 
 
 T. Why? 
 
 A. Because the leaden one is the heavier and the wooden one 
 the lighter. 
 
 T. How many inches in each case? 
 
 A. The leaden one inches, the wooden one inches. . 
 
 T. What are the weights of each ? 
 
 A. The leaden one weighs Ibs., the wooden one Ibs. 
 
 T. How do you state the result? 
 
 A. The leaden weight drives the pile twice as deep as the 
 wooden one. 
 
 T. Measure exactly the leaden and the wooden weights ; the 
 length, height, and thickness of each. What is the result? 
 
 A. They are exactly the same size. 
 
 T. We will say that they are of equal volume; yet being of 
 equal size or volume, and falling from the same height, you say 
 that the leaden weight produces twice as great a result as the 
 wooden one. 
 
 A. Yes, because it is twice as heavy. We found that it weighed 
 twice as much. 
 
 T. That is, as you told me, the leaden monkey weighed, say 20 
 Ibs., and the wooden one 10 Ibs., both having the same volume.* 
 How do you account for this ? 
 
 A. We don't know how it is. 
 
 T. Well, here is some wool. Weigh out two parcels of it which 
 shall be exactly equal to each other. Take one parcel and squeeze 
 it gently into a ball, squeeze the other parcel also into a ball tightly, 
 so that the one ball shall have as nearly as possible double the 
 volume of the other. What do you notice ? 
 
 A. That the quantity of wool is in both cases the same, but that 
 in the one case it is packed twice as closely as in the other, so that 
 it occupies only half the space. 
 
 T. We will call the wool, as being something that we can see, 
 touch, and smell, matter, and the " close packing," density. How 
 do you apply these terms? 
 
 A. The quantity of matter in the two balls is equal, but the 
 density of one is twice as great as that of the other. 
 
 * The teacher may legitimately aid his pupils by summing up and keeping before them the 
 results they gain ; that is, in the intellectual cbase in which they are engaged, he may, if he 
 thinks fit, carry the game-bag for them. This will often be found a great support to the 
 attention.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 221 
 
 T. Now returning to the case of the leaden and wooden weights, 
 how do you account for the fact that though equal in volume, the 
 one weighs twice as much as the other? 
 
 A. In the leaden weight, the matter is twice as closely packed, 
 or twice as dense as in the wooden one. 
 
 T. Now again. What was the effect of your squeezing the 
 parcels of wool? 
 
 A. To bring the bits of wool closely together. 
 
 T. Call these "bits" particles. Why is, it possible to bring 
 them closer together? 
 
 A. Because there are spaces between the particles. 
 
 T. These spaces are called pores, and the fact that there are 
 such pores, is called porosity. What relation has this quality to 
 that of density ? 
 
 A. It is the opposite to density. The more dense anything is, 
 the fewer pores it has ; the more pores it has, the less dense 
 it is. 
 
 T. How can you express this generally? 
 
 A. The greater the porosity, the less the density ; the greater 
 the density, the less the porosity. 
 
 T. Terms like density and porosity thus related to each other, 
 are called correlative, and we may therefore speak of the correla- 
 tion of density and porosity. 
 
 II. The teacher now shifts the beam ; arrangements having been 
 previously made for raising or lowering it. The experiments are 
 repeated. The beam is gradually lowered, and the results recorded 
 as before, until there is no height to fall from ; the weight simply 
 resting on the head of the pile. 
 
 T. What did you observe as the height was gradually lessened ? 
 
 A. That the pile was less and less driven down. 
 
 T. Why was this? 
 
 A. Because the monkey did not fall so far. 
 
 T. But if the weight is the same, why do the results differ? 
 
 A. It is the falling of the weight that makes the difference. 
 
 T. This "falling" is called motion what is it, then, which 
 produces the result? 
 
 A. The motion of the weight. 
 
 T. Let us call the weight as producing an effect in driving the 
 pile, a force. What is it when actually driving the pile? 
 
 A. A moving force. 
 
 T. A moving force is called momentum. What is it made up 
 of?
 
 222 THE CULTUKE OF THE 
 
 A. Motion and weight. 
 
 T. In what way could you drive the pile down without the 
 motion of the weight? 
 
 A. By making the weight a good deal heavier. 
 
 T. What advantage, then, is gained by making the smaller 
 weight do the work ? 
 
 A. It is much more convenient ; the smaller weight does as 
 much work by its motion as a larger one would do without motion. 
 
 The teacher now detaches the monkey and substitutes one-half 
 the weight ; he directs the pupils to experiment with this as they 
 did with the first, and to measure the result ; then to attach the 
 original weight so that it may fall from half the original height, 
 and to compare the results. 
 
 T. What is the momentum in these two cases ? 
 
 A. The same. 
 
 T. State the result. 
 
 A. The weight of Ibs. falling from a height of feet pro- 
 duces the same effect as the weight of Ibs. falling from half the 
 height. The greater fall makes up for the smaller weight. 
 
 T. Mention other instances of momentum. 
 
 A. A battering ram, a cannon-ball, a marble shot at another, 
 a stone breaking a pane of glass, a hammer driving a nail, &c. 
 
 T. You spoke just now of the falling weight as a "moving 
 force." May the weight acting by itself without motion also be a 
 force ? 
 
 A. Yes ; if it were placed upon an apple, it would crush the 
 apple. 
 
 T. What other kinds of force can you mention ? 
 
 A. The wind is a force when it blows down a tree ; water is a 
 force when it moves the water-wheel of a mill ; gunpowder is a 
 force when it explodes and bursts a rock to pieces, or when it drives 
 a cannon-ball through the air ; our strength is a force when we pull 
 up the monkey, &c. 
 
 III. The teacher now directs the pulleys to be removed and the 
 weight to be pulled up without them. The children are at once 
 sensible of the increased difficulty. 
 
 T. What difference do you now perceive in your pulling ? 
 
 A. We are obliged to pull harder than we did before. 
 
 T. Why is that? 
 
 A. Because the rope rubs on the edge of the board, which 
 does not give way ; when it moved on the pulleys, the pulleys gave 
 way.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 223 
 
 T. This rubbing is called friction. Could you lessen it without 
 using the pulleys ? 
 
 A. Yes, by putting some grease on the edge of the board. 
 
 T. Try that. 
 
 The experiment is made accordingly, and the rope of course 
 moves more easily ; the pulleys are then replaced. 
 
 T. What, then, is the use of the pulleys here? 
 
 A. By giving way they lessen the amount of friction. 
 
 IV. The teacher restores the apparatus to its first condition, 
 and directs the children to notice especially the fall of the weight. 
 
 T. Why does the weight fall? 
 
 A. Because the clutch opens and lets it go. 
 
 T. But why does it fall? 
 
 A. Because every heavy body falls down of its own accord to 
 the earth. 
 
 T. Give other instances of falling bodies. 
 
 A. If we throw a stone up into the air it falls down, if we let 
 go when we are climbing up a tree we fall down, &c. The earth 
 seems to pull everything down to itself. 
 
 T. This pulling force is called gravitation, or the attraction of 
 gravitation. . What makes the weight fall when it is let free ? 
 
 A. The attraction of gravitation. 
 
 T. Describe it in this case. 
 
 A. The earth attracts the weight, and the weight falls by the 
 attraction of gravitation. 
 
 T. Look carefully at it as it falls. Does the attraction increase 
 or lessen ? 
 
 A. It seems to increase. The weight falls faster and faster. 
 
 T. Swiftness of motion is called velocity. How do you apply 
 the term here. 
 
 A. The velocity increases as the weight gets nearer and nearer 
 to the earth. 
 
 T. A velocity which increases is said to be accelerated. How 
 do you apply the term to the case before us? 
 
 A. The attraction of gravitation causes a body left free to fall, 
 to fall towards the earth with accelerated velocity. 
 T. But how much is the velocity accelerated? 
 
 A. We cannot tell, the weight moves so very fast.* 
 
 The teacher may, if he Bees fit, put many more questions on the phenomena of falling 
 bodieo, and even introduce Attwood's machine to the notice and Investigation of hi* pupil*, 
 who will be found quite capable of comprehending its action. In reply to an objection that
 
 224 THE CULTURE OF THE 
 
 V. T. A thing that makes a change in another thing is called a 
 cause, and the change itself is called an effect. What instances of 
 cause and effect do you perceive in the action of this machine ? 
 
 A. The pulling of the rope causes the weight to rise, the letting 
 go of the weight causes it to be left free, the attraction of gravita- 
 tion causes it to fall, and the momentum of the weight causes the 
 pile to go down. 
 
 T. What was the first cause which led to all the others ? 
 
 A. The strength of our arms. 
 
 T. Tell me the causes separately. 
 
 A. 1. The strength of our arms. 2. The setting the weight 
 free. 3. The attraction of gravitation which gave the weight its 
 momentum. 
 
 T. Now tell me the effects separately. 
 
 A. 1. The lifting of the weight. 2. The setting the weight 
 free. 3. The blow upon the head of the pile. 
 
 VI. T. Now I will read to you from a book some descriptions, 
 which are called definitions, of a few of the special words called 
 technical terms, which we have been using. 
 
 1. "A machine is a contrivance for applying or regulating a 
 
 moving power or force." Explain this by what you know. 
 
 A. The moving force is the weight falling clown ; it is applied 
 to the head of the pile ; and it is regulated by making the weight 
 heavy enough to do the work well, and by letting it fall exactly on 
 the top. 
 
 T. Here is another definition. 
 
 2. " The force exerted by a mass of matter in motion is called, 
 
 in mechanics, momentum or moving force." Explain this. 
 A. The mass of matter in motion is the weight, and it exerts its 
 force in driving the pile. 
 
 T. Here is a third definition. 
 
 3. " Friction or rubbing is the resistance which a moving body 
 
 meets with from the surface on which it moves." Explain 
 this. 
 
 A. The friction of the rope against the board when the pulleys 
 were taken away prevented us from pulling up the weight easily. 
 
 The teacher may give at will more or fewer of these definitions, 
 but will require in each case that the explanation of the pupil shall 
 be founded on the facts that he knows. This condition is indis- 
 
 has been made to the use of costly machines in common schools, the writer would suggest 
 that they might be let out on hire, and passed on from school to school as required. The 
 expense in this way would be trifling, while the benefit would be very great.
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 225 
 
 pensable. A definition founded on facts which he does not yet 
 know, is no definition to him. This consideration suggests the 
 expediency of endeavoring to obtain from him in his own language, 
 however imperfect, the expression of the ideas, which he has 
 gained from the facts with which he has been dealing, before the 
 definitions of others, founded on the same or similar facts, are 
 brought under his notice. The teacher closes the lesson by direct- 
 ing every pupil to write down the definitions, as he may remember 
 them, each on a separate page of a book set apart for the purpose, 
 with a view to placing under them the new cases which ma}* after- 
 wards occur, as additional illustrations. He adds, in dismissing 
 the class : " Let each one contrive some other machine for doing 
 the same work, and bring a model or drawing of it for the next 
 lesson." 
 
 The next lesson will consist of a repetition of the main points 
 of the first, with an examination into the action of the clutch, more 
 experiments on velocity, momentum, friction, &c., as shown in other 
 machines and in common operations known to the children. The 
 products of their own invention will then be brought forward and 
 submitted to the criticism of the class, guided by the teacher, who, 
 in his turn, may give his own inventions, and submit them to 
 criticism. The definitions, too, will be repeated and tested by the 
 facts. In the third lesson the teacher, having removed the machine 
 out of sight, will examine the class upon the ideas they retain of its 
 form, operations, &c., as well as on the technical terms which they 
 have learnt, and finally exhibit a well-executed drawing of the 
 machine, which is forthwith to take its place on the walls of the 
 school-room. 
 
 The first sentence in the language of machines has now been to 
 some extent learnt learnt as a whole and in its principal parts ; 
 its clauses, many of its words, and some of its letters appreciated. 
 It is t\\e point de depart from which the pupil sets out in the acqui- 
 sition of fresh knowledge of the general subject, and to which all 
 that knowledge is to be continually referred. It is the " quelqne 
 chose " of Jacotot's famous maxim, " Apprenez quelque chose et 
 rapportez-y tout le reste." 
 
 In reflecting on the principles involved in this lesson, we 
 notice, 
 
 1. That the learner has throughout had his mind brought into 
 direct contact with material substances and phenomena at first 
 hand ; these he has himself seen, handled, and experimented upon, 
 and in so doing has gained mental cognitions and experiences more
 
 226 THE CULTUJIE OF THE 
 
 valuable than any that he could have gained by descriptions of 
 them or commentaries upon them furnished by others. 
 
 2. That the method he has employed is the true method of 
 analytical investigation, and proceeds from the whole to the parts, 
 from the complex to the simple, and not vice versd. 
 
 3. That bj 7 being an observer, explorer, and experimenter on his 
 own account, examining things with his own senses, and employing 
 his own intellect directly upon them, the ideas that he gains 
 respecting them are clear and definite as far as they go, and serve 
 as a solid substratum for those which he is afterwards to associate 
 with them. 
 
 4. That he learns to use words as the symbols of things that he 
 knows, technical and conventional terms being supplied, when, and 
 not before, they are needed to facilitate the operations of the mind. 
 
 5. That the habits of mind acquired by the process of teaching 
 himself in this special case, are such as prepare him for independ- 
 ent mental self-direction, and therefore for the successful study 
 of other subjects, literary as well as scientific. 
 
 We also notice (6) that the teacher while really the mainspring 
 of the educational machinery all along supporting its movements 
 by his moral and intellectual influence acts strictly as the super- 
 intendent of the processes on which its efficiency depends. He 
 removes, when necessary, hindrances out of the way, and places 
 the workers in the best position for accomplishing their object, but 
 he carefully abstains from doing any part of the work for them. 
 He directs their action but does not interfere with it. He therefore 
 explains nothing, and tells nothing, except technical terms, which, 
 as being conventional, the children could not find out for them- 
 selves. He uses no book, but treats the machine as a book, 
 which they are to learn to read for themselves under his direction. 
 
 Opinions will of course differ as to the value of this typical first 
 lesson in mechanics. It may be said that the information gained 
 by it is very small, and might more easily have been given by the 
 teacher. A full reply to this objectionwould be a mere repetition 
 of the principles already stated. It must, however, be remembered 
 that mental training the direct object in view does not consist 
 in giving information, but rather in stimulating the mind to gain 
 information for itself. The act of gaining it by a mental effort 
 involves and is the training of the faculties. In the lesson just 
 described, whatever knowledge was gained was the direct result of 
 the pupil's own observation and experiment, through the teaching 
 of the machine not through the didactic teaching of the in-
 
 OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 227 
 
 structor. The pupil was an original investigator, applying all hie 
 powers to ascertain what the machine was and what it could do, 
 and the teacher was a superintendent or director of the process, 
 anxious to make it as fruitful and efficient as possible. As the 
 head teacher the machine itself was at hand, ready to interpret 
 itself in the expressive and forcible language of facts, the subordi- 
 nate recognized his own proper function, as the director of the 
 process of interrogation, but not the interpreter of the answers. 
 To have assumed this office would have been an injurious inter- 
 ference with the instruction efficiently, conducted by his principal. 
 We see, then, in this lesson a typical specimen of a process by 
 which the pupil teaches himself, that is, learns without the ex- 
 planations of the teacher, and in gaining a certain quantity of 
 knowledge gains also the power of acquiring more. 
 
 In some such way as this, maintaining the principle, while 
 varying the form of its application, it is presumed that a solid 
 foundation will be laid for a real training of the mind a training 
 which will be the best preparation for further instruction, not only 
 in science but also in literature. 
 
 It will be thought by some who may accept generally the fore- 
 going principles that a needlessly difficult illustration of the theory 
 has been selected, and that it would be better to introduce the 
 subject of mechanics by taking for the first lesson simple levers, 
 &c., and so proceeding from the simple to the more complex by 
 " beginning," in short at what is usually called " the beginning." 
 The general reply to this objection is (1) that the investigator, 
 inquiring into a new science, strictly speaking, does not know 
 what the beginning is, and cannot, therefore, commence with it 
 and (2) that the fundamental point in the teaching here recom- 
 mended is that it requires the pupil to be considered as an inves- 
 tigator. In other words, the process is analytical, not synthetical, 
 and the pupil a student of inductive, not of deductive, philosophy. 
 His business is to get an accurate knowledge of the facts before 
 him with the view of framing them, as he proceeds, into general 
 propositions, but the logical co-ordination of these propositions 
 into a system is, while he is yet in his noviciate, no part of his 
 business. As he advances in his course, he will rise to higher and 
 higher generalizations, and see more and more clearly the relation 
 of the principles that he has gained, and at last, when he is master 
 of his subject, will arrive at the beginning and, may, perhaps, 
 write a treatise upon it in which all the propositions which consti- 
 tute the science are logically arranged. Such a treatise, however,
 
 228 THE CULTURE OF THE 
 
 will in no sense represent the process by which he gained his 
 knowledge, but rather its exact converse. Hence, a book of this 
 kind is wholly unsuited to the wants of a young investigator who 
 is to gain knowledge as the author gained it. Such books are, 
 however, on account of their logical completeness, often p-ut into 
 the hands of children b}- teachers ignorant of the science of edu- 
 cation, who do not perceive that the very characteristics which 
 give them their value in the e} - es of those who are already educated 
 render them unfit for the use of those who are learning how to 
 learn. It is hardly too much to say that scientifically constructed 
 school-books, whatever be their intrinsic merit as compendiums of 
 knowledge, ought to be reckoned among the hindrances, not the 
 aids, to early education, and indeed that their real fitness for their 
 purpose is in the inverse ratio of their logical completeness. The 
 knowledge displayed in them may be accurate, the propositions 
 they present uuimpeachably expressed both the matter, in short, 
 and the manner admirably adapted to the prepared mind and 
 3 - et they may be, and often are, wholly uusuited to the mind 
 under training. The food is of the best quality, and is artistically 
 cooked, but it is so concentrated that the youthful stomach cannot 
 possibly digest it. The purveyor in this case is surely somewhat 
 to blame for arrangements ending in such results. The fact is 
 that he has not truly understood the nature of the apparatus which 
 he was directing, and nothing short of a radical change of plan 
 will enable him to correct his error. What this radical change 
 should be has been already indicated. 
 
 It appears, then, that scientifically constructed treatises which 
 begin at the beginning a beginning which is really the end of 
 the investigator's labors are unsuited to the wants of a child 
 who is to be himself an investigator, and who, in pursuing his 
 process of self -instruction, can only advance from the concrete to 
 the abstract, from particulars to generals, from instances to rules, 
 arid who, moreover, has no choice but to advance from the whole 
 to the parts, and then conversely from the parts to the whole. 
 This is in fact Nature's method. She does not commence with 
 the elements with ABC. She supplies no grammar of the 
 senses. She teaches language by giving whole sentences or whole 
 words, and physics, by presenting wholes, aggregates, or complex 
 facts, and stimulating the analytic faculty to resolve them into 
 their parts or individual phenomena. The justification, then, for 
 beginning the instruction in mechanics by a machine rather than 
 by the elements of which it is composed, by concrete facts rather
 
 OBSKKV1NG POWJfcCKS OF CHILDREN. 229 
 
 than abstractions, is seen to be inherent in the nature of the 
 process recommended. If the child is to investigate facts at first 
 hand, we must imitate Nature by giving him something to investi- 
 gate which will exercise his analytical powers ; something divisible 
 into parts or elements which, after due recognition as individual 
 elements, will be traced in the composition of other wholes. On 
 the same principle, if he is to learn to frame general propositions 
 himself, he must commence by knowing the facts which they are 
 to express that is, by induction of particulai-s. But this practice 
 in forming inductions of his own will be a powerful aid to his 
 understanding the inductions of others founded on the same or 
 similar facts, and will moreover prepare him for proceeding in due 
 time, conversely, from general propositions to facts by the method 
 of deduction. 
 
 Whether such lessons in mechanics as have been suggested 
 should follow or accompany Miss Youmans' " Lessons in Botan}*," 
 or whether any other subject involving the notion of forces should 
 be taken instead of mechanics, are questions which must be left 
 to the judgment of the teacher. 
 
 Finally, it should be carefully noticed that the spirit of these 
 remarks on elementary teaching will not have been appreciated 
 unless it is fully understood that the change proposed is funda- 
 mental even revolutionary.* It is intended to supersede the 
 didactic, telling, explaining, condescending method which has long 
 prevailed, by one in which the child's own intellect is recognized 
 as the prime mover, and the exercise of his powers of perception 
 and reasoning as the only means by which knowledge which can 
 be truly called his own, is to be gained ; by a method, in short, of 
 self-teaching, under superintendence a method which is rather 
 the learner's than the teacher's. f The didactic method has had 
 its day, and we see its results, which are generally " a farrago of 
 
 * " The principle of connecting education with the laws of Nature Is rndical and In, as yet, 
 little appreciated, and still lc-.s worked out. When admitted and carried into practice, it 
 must revolutionize educational procedure, and in 1 believe, the only sound foundation for the 
 education of the future, and the only method which can bring education into consonance with 
 the method which has been so successful In scientific investigation." From a MS. Lecture, 
 one of a course on the Theory and Practice of Education, now being delivered by 3fr. 
 Lake, of the College of Preceptors, at the Xorth London Collegiate and Camdtn Schools 
 for Girls. 
 
 t Very interesting Illustrations of this kind of teaching may be seen In Mr. Wilson of 
 Rugby's description of his method of making a class "teach themselves" physical science 
 (Essays on a Liberal Education, p. 281), and in Professor Tyndall's description of the 
 experiments at Queenswood College, in which he got his pupils to "find out Euclid" for 
 themselves; a process by which they gained what he calls "self-power," and learned 
 geometry as a " means and not a branch of education." Lecture on the Study of Physics, 
 delivered at the Royal Institution, pp. 202-204.
 
 230 CULTURE OF OBSERVING POWERS OF CHILDREN. 
 
 facts partially hatched into principles, of exceptions claiming 
 equal rank with rules, of definitions dislocated from the objects 
 they define, and of technicalities which clod rather than facilitate 
 the operations of the mind."* It is not too much then to say 
 that this method quenches instead of quickening mental develop- 
 ment. It does not give children credit for the powers they possess, 
 and therefore fails to elicit them. It has nothing in common with 
 that which Burke, in a well-known passage, characterizes as "in- 
 comparably the best,"f and which recognizes even the youngest 
 child f.s an investigator, who has only to be set on the right path, 
 and to be competently directed, to find out truths for himself. J 
 It cannot, therefore, be a means of that training of vital forces 
 which, in the case of every human being, as an organism charac- 
 teristically endowed with will, must, under competent direction, 
 be ultimately wrought out by himself. 
 
 The great principles in short, (1) that knowledge is acquired by 
 investigation, through observation and experiment, and (2) that 
 the acquisition of it in this way, at first hand, constitutes the best 
 training of the youthful mind, are seen to be in direct opposition 
 to that which assumes the incapacity of the child to learn except 
 b} r means of the direct communication of the teacher's knowledge, 
 accompanied by the teacher's explanations and tellings, and which 
 therefore supersedes and neutralizes the most fruitful employment 
 of the child's faculties. That only is to be considered a fruitful 
 employment of the mental faculties, and answering the true ends 
 of education, which leads to enlargement of mental view, to the 
 sharpening of the perceptive faculties, to the formation of habits of 
 observing and investigating, to the strengthening of the memory, 
 and generally to the development of intellectual power, not only as 
 an object in itself, but as a basis for moral and religious character. 
 
 * From a paper on " The Correlation of Learning and Teaching," read by the editor at one 
 of the evening meetings of the Social Science Association. Numerous other illustrations and 
 arguments bearing upon the general subject may be also found in his three lectures " On the 
 Science and Art of Education, and Educational Methods," published by the Council of the 
 College of Preceptors. 
 
 t " I am convinced that the method of teaching [or learning] which approaches most nearly 
 to the method of investigation is incomparably the best; since, not content with serving up a 
 few barren and lifeless truths, it leads to the stock on which they grew; it tends to set the 
 reader [or learner] himself on the track of invention, and to direct him into those paths in 
 which the author [or investigator] has made his own discoveries." On the Sublime and 
 Beautiful. It would be curious to inquire how many English Teachers, even those who 
 have acknowledged the general truth of this remark, have ever practically applied it. 
 
 J " Qu'il (the child) nc sache rien parce quo vons le lui avez dit, mais parce qu'il 1'a compris 
 lui-meme; qu'il n'apprenne pas la science, qu'il Cinvente." ROUSSEAU, Emile.
 
 THE 
 
 CURRICULUM 
 
 OF 
 
 MODERN EDUCATION, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE RESPECTIVE CLAIMS OF CLASSICS AND SCIENCE 
 TO BE REPRESENTED IN IT CONSIDERED. 
 
 Being the substance of two Lectures delivered at the Monthly Evening Meetings 
 of the College of Preceptors, April Uth, and May 9th, 1866. 
 
 " Not to know at )ar(?e of things remote ' 
 From use, obscure and subtle, but to know 
 That which before us lies in daily life, 
 Is the prime wisdom : wh:it is more is fume, 
 Or emptiness, or fond impertinence, 
 And renders us, in things that most concern, 
 Unpractised, unprepared, and still to seek." 
 
 MILTON.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following pages contain the substance, with some alterations 
 and additions, of two Lectures lately delivered at the College of 
 Preceptors, and the writer seeks by the publication of them the 
 suffrages of that larger audience with which lies the ultimate 
 decision in discussions of this kind. 
 
 The question of the curriculum is daily becoming more and more 
 important. The demand that it shall represent, in a far greater 
 degree than it has hitherto done, the wants and wishes, the active 
 energies, and in short the spirit, of the age, cannot be, and ought 
 not to be, set aside. This claim, which involves particularly the 
 pretensions of physical science to be represented in the curricu- 
 lum, is much strengthened by the consideration, that science 
 furnishes, when properly taught, a kind of educational training of 
 special value, as a complement to that of language. The writer 
 has attempted to show, that science teaches' better, that is, more 
 directly and soundly than any other study, how to observe, how to 
 arrange and classify, how to connect causes with effects, how to 
 comprehend details under general laws, how to estimate the prac- 
 tical value of facts. Having, however, dealt out this measure of 
 justice to science, he maintains that the difficulties which lie in the 
 way of the attainment of these valuable results, by means of 
 school education, have not yet been overcome ; and that even if 
 they were, and science were fully admitted into the curriculum, 
 which ought to be the case, that the classical and literary training 
 is better adapted to the development of the whole man than the 
 scientific, and should therefore take the lead. In pursuing this 
 argument, he has been lead specially to deal with two fallacies, 
 which, under a variety of forms, are extensively prevalent at 
 present, and, by their evil influence, tend very much to hinder the 
 cause which they are, apparently, designed to promote. The first 
 is, That because there is so inuch to know in the world, we are 
 bound to try to make our children learn it all. The second is, 
 That because there is so much to do in the world, we ought to 
 force all kinds of business upon children's attention beforehand,
 
 234 PREFACE. 
 
 by way of preparation for it ; in other words, that the omne scibile 
 and the omne facibile (to use a barbarous Latin word) ought to be 
 comprehended in every good curriculum of education. If he has 
 succeeded in exploding these fallacies, and in making good his 
 own proposition, that all true education involves, fundamentally, 
 training, and training of a kind that is quite incompatible with tiie 
 claims of any system in which accumulation is the first principle, 
 and special preparation the second, he hopes to gain the thanks of 
 all judicious and really competent authorities in science ; of all 
 who mean by teaching science, training the mind to scientific 
 method, to habits of investigation, and the diligent search after 
 truth. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the recent Report on the results 
 of classical teaching in our public schools, and especially in the 
 case of Eton, has done much to strengthen the cause of those who 
 wish to see a reform in the curriculum. Few men, perhaps, at 
 the head of public institutions have ever stood in a more humiliat- 
 ing position than that occupied, about four years ago by the 
 Head-Master of Eton, who, being under -examination before the 
 Commission on Public Schools, could only say, in reply to the 
 following pungent remarks of Lord Clarendon, the chairman, 
 that he was "soriy"; thus allowing the full force of the 
 charges implied. "Nothing can be worse," said his Lordship, 
 "than this state of things, when we find modern languages, 
 geography, history, chronology, and everything else which a well- 
 educated English gentleman ought to know, given up in order 
 that the full time should be devoted to the classics ; and at the 
 same time we are told, that the boys go up to Oxford not only 
 not proficient, but in a lamentable state of deficiency with respect 
 to the classics." 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that those who were before discon- 
 tented with the established course of study in our public schools, 
 became, after such a statement of facts, amply borne out as it 
 was by the evidence, so indignant as to demand, in the interests 
 of philanthropy as well as science, that the system which had 
 borne such fruits should be not only degraded, but deposed. This 
 violent reaction cannot, however, be sustained. The abuse must 
 not be confounded with the use. It may be true that very little be- 
 sides classics is taught at Eton, and that they are not learnt ; but 
 this is no argument against either the theory or the practice of 
 classical instruction. But while the present writer, who has had 
 long experience in teaching, defends generally that theory and
 
 PREFACE. 235 
 
 practice, he believes that the time is come for such a modification 
 of its working, at least in the middle-class schools, as will admit 
 of the honorable introduction of science into the curriculum. It 
 is then as a friend, and not as an enemy to science, that he has 
 endeavored to clear the ground of some of the frivolous and 
 damaging arguments which theorists have imported into the dis- 
 cussion, and to plead that it shall be so taught as to make it a real 
 mental exercise. Thus introduced as a co-ordinate discipline, it 
 would prove a most valuable ally in education, and take its proper 
 place among the great elements which are moulding the civili- 
 zation of the age. 
 
 4, KILDARE GARDENS, BAYSWATER, 
 July 1, 1866.
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION, 
 
 RESPECTIVE CLAIMS OF CLASSICS AND SCIENCE TO BE 
 REPRESENTED IN IT CONSIDERED. 
 
 FROM the time when the idea was first conceived of interfering 
 with the natural libei*ty of children, and setting yiem down on 
 benches or on the ground to " learn," the question of what they 
 should be taught could not fail to be one of great interest. An 
 inquiry into the details of the various curricula arranged for the 
 purpose of instruction, by the wise men of the different nations of 
 antiquity, would no doubt elicit much that would be valuable for 
 the purpose of a writer on the History of Education, but opens up 
 far too wide a field for our present limits. It may, however, be 
 observed generally, in passing, that the scientific or practical 
 element seems to have prevailed more in the primary schools of 
 Egypt, India, Phoenicia, and Persia ; the linguistic or literary in 
 those of Judea, China, Greece, and Rome. Exception may, no 
 doubt, be taken to this general statement, which however, I must 
 leave in its vagueness, without even a momentary effort to estimate 
 the comparative value of the various curricula in their relation to 
 the spirit and character of the respective nations which adopted 
 them ; and without even contrasting, as educational products, 
 Plato, the pupil of Socrates, on the one side, and Alexander the 
 Great, the pupil of Aristotle, on the other. 
 
 Descending, then, as at a leap, to the commencement of the 
 Middle Ages in Europe, we find the omne scibile comprehended, 
 for the purpose of teaching, in two groups ; the Trivium, consist- 
 ing of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric ; and the Quadrivium, of 
 Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astronomy. These subjects 
 were designated by Cassiodorus, the literary adviser and friend of 
 Theodoric, the " seven pillars " hewn out by Wisdom to build her 
 
 house upon.* The structure, however, then, and for a thousand 
 
 i . 
 
 * " Wisdom hath bullded her house : she hath hewn out her seven pillars." (Prov. ir. 1.)
 
 238 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 years after, remain unfinished ; and even at the present day it 
 must be acknowledged that Wisdom's house of education is by no 
 means distinguished for symmetrical beauty and completeness. In 
 the rivalry which, not unnaturally, arose between these two courses 
 of study, it would appear that the physical or strict sciences were 
 usually defeated ; for, either from indolence or distaste, the founda- 
 tion of th% Trivium, to which precedence in education was con- 
 sidered due, was generally so long in laying that the pupil rarely 
 reached what was then treated as the higher course. Practical!}', 
 indeed, in the lower schools, no attempt was made to go much 
 beyond " Grammar," which, in connection with the study of Latin 
 alone at first, and subsequently of Greek, with a little reading, writ- 
 ing, and arithmetic, formed the common course for English boys in 
 the fQurteenth,fifteeuth, and sixteenth centuries. If the curriculum 
 of school education is to be considered -as reflecting the spirit of the 
 age, which, however, is not, as we see in our own case, a fair 
 criterion, it would appear that plrysical science was in those times, 
 if not altogether neglected, at least treated with indifference ; for 
 not only in schools, but even in the universities, the quadrivials 
 were as Harrison remarks, " smallie regarded."* This state of 
 things, continuing almost unaltered to the seventeenth century, 
 roused the indignation of Milton, who denounces " the hailing and 
 dragging of our choicest and hopefullest wits to that asinine feast 
 of sowthistles and brambles, which is commonly set before them as 
 all the food and entertainment of their tenderest and most docible 
 age ;" while Cowley, rather later, pleads for the initiation of chil- 
 dren into" " the knowledge of things as well as words," and for the 
 " infusing knowledge and language at the same time into them." 
 Both these eminent men constructed schemes, on paper, for revolu- 
 tionizing the existing curriculum in accordance with their views. 
 Inasmuch, however, as they were in no respect themselves the fruit 
 of the system they advocated, nor recommended it (I allude 
 specially to Milton) by their own practice, the public generally 
 seems to have attached little importance to their views, and 
 certainly showed no desire to adopt them. 
 
 After their days, the established system was occasionally com- 
 plained of (notably by Locke and Clarke, and more recently by 
 Sydney Smith) ; but within the last fifty years, various causes 
 have tended to strengthen the assailants and give piquancy to the 
 strife; and at the present moment, more than ever before, the 
 
 * Harrison's " Description of England," prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicle, 1577.
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 239 
 
 advocates of the old and new systems respectively are pertina- 
 ciously presenting their claims to the arbitration of the public. 
 The maintenance of a hostile feeling is, however, much to be 
 deprecated. This question may be, it is hoped, dispassionately 
 discussed ; and for myself, though advocating the retention of 
 much of the old system, I am, as will be seen, strongly impressed 
 with the great claims of science, and disposed to recomaend a fair 
 and liberal compromise. I cannot but think that curriculum 
 framed in such a way as to retain. the sound discipline of the 
 old classical course, and to embrace the vivifying influences of the 
 scientific element, would prove advantageous to both. Science, 
 judiciously and thoroughly taught, supplies a training of a 
 different kind from that supplied by classics, and of a kind 
 especially adapted to correct the defects of the latter. This has 
 been, indeed, to some extent, admitted by the general introduction 
 of mathematics into the curriculum. It will, however, be shown 
 that pure mathematics are not sufficiently comprehensive for the 
 purpose. The observational and experimental sciences, besides 
 being more generally inviting as a study than mathematics, are 
 recommended, too, by their much closer connection with the 
 interests and happiness of mankind. The fact cannot be denied, 
 that our general school curriculum includes much that is not 
 practically available in the world for which it is by theory a prepa- 
 ration, and excludes much that is ; that it rests mainly on the 
 traditions and experience of the past ; and that it does not appear 
 to keep pace, pan passu, with the actual life, the feelings, and 
 hopes, and aspirations of the present. If these admissions, literally 
 interpreted, are to be considered sufficient causes for condemnation, 
 the question is at once decided, and society has only to order the 
 delinquent for execution without delay. Before, however, the 
 matter is thus summarily disposed of, the defendant should, and 
 indeed must, in all fairness, be allowed to plead his cause at the bar 
 of reason and common sense. In the case of this as of other time- 
 honored institutions, it will probably be found that we are not so 
 very much wiser than our fathers as we may at first sight be 
 disposed to flatter ourselves. The very fact of the antiquity of an 
 institution is, at all events, a respectable plea, and should not be 
 wantonly rejected. It must, however, bo admitted that this plea 
 has not in our day the strength which it once had. Old institu- 
 tions, of whatever kind, are now required to prove that they 
 deserve to live, if that privilege is to be allowed them. 
 
 In the case before us, we have an extreme party of reformers,
 
 240 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 who without hesitation declare that the proper place for classical 
 instruction in the curriculum .is no place at all who would not 
 only dethrone it from the position it has so long held, but thrust it 
 ignominiously forth. This is the not unnatural reaction against the 
 unwarrantable assumption on the other side, that the proper place 
 of classics in the curriculum is the whole curriculum ; that they 
 nlone constitute "learning;" and that the most honorable and 
 lucrative positions in society ought to be allotted, as a matter of 
 course, to those who hold their certificate. Exaggerated preten- 
 sions, however, on whichever side they are held, only injure the 
 cause of those who maintain them, and in the present case are 
 especially unsuitable. For, as between the rival claims of language 
 and literature on the one side, and science on the other, there is 
 surely much to be said for both so true and so reasonable as to 
 claim the respectful attention of all fair and competent judges. It 
 must never be forgotten that out of those ages in which science, 
 properly so called, was unknown, came forth the great teachers of 
 mankind, the pioneers, nay more, the efficient agents, by words and 
 deeds, in originating and carrying on the civilization of the human 
 race. This important work was accomplished by men utterly 
 unacquainted with geology, the steam-engine, the electric tele- 
 graph, spectrum analysis, or the dynamic theory of heat. Without 
 these means and appliances, or even an atom of the spirit of which 
 they are the fruit, without any of the enthusiasm of modern 
 physical philosophy, statesmen and warriors, heroes, patriots, and 
 artists, of whom all ages are proud, have so lived as to leave an 
 imperishable name behind them. Whether the age of science will 
 produce grander results, has yet to be proved. On the other hand, 
 it is most reasonable that science too should, in our day especially, 
 claim its proper place in education as a civilizing agent. It may 
 point with pride to what it has done and is doing, and may without 
 rebuke exclaim: "If you need memorials of my power and 
 influence, look around you ; the results are everywhere. Nay 
 more, if, instead of mere details, dry facts, and practical applica- 
 tions, you have a taste for sublime speculations and theories, I can 
 furnish you with views into the distant and the past almost 
 unequalled for elevation, range, and depth, and fraught with the 
 profoundest interest to the present and all future generations." 
 We may therefore, without slavish humility, bow reverentially 
 before both these claimants on our homage, and denounce im- 
 partially the zealots and fanatics on either side, the men who 
 audaciously declare that scientific instruction is " worthless," and
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 241 
 
 equally those who stigmatize the classics as "useless," in the 
 curriculum of modern education. 
 
 In dealing with the subject of my lecture, I propose in the first 
 place, to consider generally the curriculum of modern education 
 for the middle classes, and to discuss some of the plans proposed 
 for its reformation ; and secondly to advocate the claims of clas- 
 sical instruction to continue to hold the leading place in it as a 
 mental discipline. 
 
 The object we have in view is to discuss the curriculum of mod- 
 ern education, as far as the middle classes of society are concerned 
 excluding, on the one hand, those whose instruction must, from 
 circumstances, be limited to the barest elements of learning ; and 
 those, on the other hand, whose course is intended to terminate in 
 a university career. The question then is considering the age 
 in which we live, with its immense accumulation, and wonderful 
 applications of knowledge ; considering too that the longest life is 
 too short for securing for the individual man any large portion of 
 this, which constitutes the treasury of the race ; and that the im- 
 mature faculties of the child can grasp only a very limited portion 
 of that which is ultimately attained by the man whe f her we do 
 wisely in giving up any considerable portion of the small space of 
 time available for acquisition, to the attainment of a kind of 
 knowledge which appears, in comparison with scientific and gen- 
 eral information, to be only slightly demanded by the wants and 
 wishes of the age. If it is necessary, or even important and de- 
 sirable, that we should all attempt to know all things, this question 
 is at once settled by the exigencies of the case. Every moment 
 of the time devoted to instruction must, on that assumption, be 
 given up to the earnest and unremitting pursuit of the " things that 
 lie about in daily life ;" and everything that impedes or interferes 
 with that pursuit must be regarded as impertinent. It is, how- 
 ever, perfectly clear that the attempt to force the individual man 
 to keep up with the intellectual march of the human race, must 
 end in utter disappointment ; and, moreover, involves a fatal 
 misconception of the object which all true education should have 
 in view. It cannot be too frequently repeated, that development 
 and training, and not the acquisition of knowledge, however valu- 
 able in itself, is the true and proper end of elementary education, 
 nor too strongly insisted on, that he who grasps too much holds 
 feebly, or, as the French pithily expresses it, qui trap embrasse 
 mal 6treint. The fact that there is a vast store of knowledge in 
 the world is no more a reason why I should acquire it all, than the
 
 242 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 fact that there is an immense store of food is a reason why I 
 should eat it all. We may mourn over the limitation of our 
 powers, but as our fate in this respect is quite inevitable, it is our 
 duty, as rational creatures, to submit to it, and to be satisfied 
 with doing, if not all that we fondly wish, yet all that we can, 
 and, what is more important, as well as we can. I cannot but 
 think that the protest of the high-minded and conscientious men 
 who are in our day aiming at the reform of the school curriculum, 
 would be much more influential with the public if they would keep 
 closely to the true issue in discussing this question. It is most 
 desirable, certainly, that there should be a thorough reform ; but 
 it is equally desirable that the reform should be established on a 
 sound basis, and that both parties should co-operate in arriving 
 at a wise decision on this point. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that so many of those who have 
 handled the subject of the curriculum in the interests of philan- 
 thropy, should be disqualified from treating it judiciously by a 
 want of practical acquaintance with education. Very much at 
 their ease, they construct airy and fantastic theories, founded not 
 on what is practicable, but what is desirable ; recommend them 
 earnestly, as if they were the genuine fruits of experience, and 
 too frequently reproach the hard-working teachers, who, however 
 much they may admire such theories, cannot by any amount of 
 labor realize them, and therefore feel themselves aggrieved at 
 having their actual educational product unfairly brought into com- 
 parison with the highly colored results promised by the theorist. 
 These writers, men, if you will, of benevolent hearts, certainly of 
 lively imaginations, evince far too little sympathy with the actual 
 work of the practical teacher, with his arduous, long continued, 
 little appreciated toils, his never-ending struggle against the 
 natural volatility, ignorance, dulness, obstinacy, and sometimes 
 depravity, of his pupils ; and comprehend not the true vital organ- 
 ization of that "pleasing, anxious (professional) being," which 
 perhaps, after all, no earnest teacher ever resigns without some 
 "longing, lingering look behind." 
 
 Two leading principles seem to characterize most of the theories 
 which have been, in modern times, proposed for the reform of the 
 old curriculum. The first is, that the curriculum ought to be con- 
 sidered as a counterpart or reflex of the world of knowledge to 
 which it is introductory, and that therefore the omne scibile of the 
 latter should be represented in the former. The other principle 
 seems to be, that as men are often found " unpracticed, unpre-
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 243 
 
 pared, and still to seek," in regard to the circumstances in which 
 they are actually placed in life, we should anticipate this difficulty 
 by making children acquainted beforehand with "the leading 
 kinds of activity which constitute human life" in other words, 
 with all varieties of practical business. In enforcing both these 
 views, touching appeals ad misericordiam are made by their sup- 
 porters, based, first, on the cruelty of withholding from the child 
 that knowledge of science which has become the inheritance of the 
 race, and which he so much desires to have ; and again, on the 
 criminal neglect of his teachers in not securing him, by ample 
 knowledge of practical business, against the dangers into which, 
 from ignorance and inexperience, he is not only likely, but certain 
 to fall. The theory, then, stated in its bare simplicity, is, that 
 the boy is to be provided by his education, first, with all scientific 
 1'iinidedge; and secondly, with all practical knowledge, as his 
 proper equipment for the battle of life. 
 
 That I may not, however, be suspected of misrepresenting these 
 theoretical views of the curriculum, 1 will now endeavor to 
 exhibit them, as taken from the works in which they are to be 
 found. 
 
 In the first number of the "Westminster Review," published in 
 1824, we find an article mainly devoted to the explanation and 
 enforcement of Mr. Bentham's " Chrestomathia"* as a scheme of 
 instruction which (to use the reviewer's words), should " compre- 
 hend the various branches of education which are spread over the 
 whole field of knowledge, giving to each its due share of importance 
 with a view to the greatest possible sum of practical benefit." It 
 is curious to see the course of study proposed by Bentham, and 
 which has been extended by the enthusiastic Mr. Simpson, in his 
 work entitled " The Philosophy of Education." 
 
 The subjects proposed for the Chrestomathic curriculum of study 
 in the case of boys, and girls too, " between the ages of seven and 
 fourteen," are as follows : 
 
 Elementary Arts. Reading, writing, arithmetic. 
 
 1st Stage. Mineralogy, botany, zoology, geography, geometry 
 (definitions only) , history, chronology, drawing. 
 
 * " Chrestomathi.i : being a Collection of Papers explanatory of the design of an Institution 
 proposed to be set on foot, under the name of the C hrewtomathic Day-Schools, or ChrrMo- 
 mathic School, for the Extension of the New System of Instruction to the Higher Branches 
 of Learning, for the use of the Middling and Higher Hanks of Life." By Jeremy Bcntham, 
 Esq. London: 1816.
 
 244 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 2d Stage. Same subjects, with mechanics, hydrostatics, hy- 
 draulics, pneumatics, acoustics, optics. 
 Chemistry, mineral, vegetable, animal. 
 Meteorology, magnetism, electricity, galvanism, balistics. 
 Archaeology, statistics. 
 
 English, Latin, Greek, French, and German grammars. 
 3d Stage. Subjects of previous stages, and mining, geology, 
 land-surveying, architecture, husbandry, including the 
 theory of vegetation and gardening. 
 
 Physical economics i. e., the application of mechanics and 
 chemistry to domestic management, involving " maximiza- 
 tion of bodily comfort in all its shapes, minimization of 
 bodily discomfort in all its shapes," biography. 
 4th Stage. Hygiastics (art of preserving and restoring health) , 
 comprising physiology, anatomy, pathology, nosology, die- 
 tetics, materia medica, prophylactics (art of warding off 
 evils), surgery, therapeutics, zohygiastics (art of taking 
 care of animals). 
 Phthisozoics (art of destroying noxious animals : vermin 
 
 killing, ratcatching, &c.). 
 
 5th Stage. Geometry (with demonstrations) , algebra, mathe- 
 matical geography, astronomy. 
 Technology, or arts and manufactures in general. 
 Book-keeping, or the art of registration or recordatiou. 
 Commercial book-keeping. 
 Note-taking. 
 
 Such is the scheme of the Chrestomathia, which designedly 
 omits (as Mr. Bentham tells us) gymnastic exercises, fine arts, 
 applications of mechanics and chemistry, belles lettres, and moral 
 arts and sciences. These are omitted on various grounds, which I 
 have no time to specify, except to mention one, which might indeed 
 have very suitably excluded five-sixths at least of those enumerated 
 "time of life too early." 
 
 Mr. Simpson, approving of the whole of the above curriculum, 
 thought it still incomplete, and therefore introduced the depart- 
 ment of Moral Science, omitted by Bentham, as a 
 6th Stage. History, government, commerce. 
 Political economy. 
 Philosophy of the human mind. 
 
 Risum teneatis, amid ! Was anything more extraordinary ever 
 proposed in the whole history of man? This imposing display of 
 the triumphs of the entire human race is actually presented as a
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 245 
 
 curriculum of study for children between seven and fourteen years 
 of age! 
 
 Such is the scheme lauded by a writer who complains that 
 " hitherto the education proper for civil and active life has been 
 neglected, and nothing has been done to enable those who are to 
 conduct the affairs of the world to carry them on in a manner 
 worthy of the age and country in which they live, by communi- 
 cating to them the knowledge and the spirit of their age and 
 country." This is the panacea, then, proposed by the Chresto- 
 mathic school for the cure of the educational maladies of the day. 
 Education, according to this view, is to consist in the administra- 
 tion of infinitesimal doses of knowledge : a little drop of this, a 
 pinch of that, an atom of the third article, and so on ; the names 
 and technicalities of a great range of subjects, and mastery and 
 power over none. Comment on such a scheme is unnecessary. 
 It condemns itself, as a method of teaching superficialit}' and sciol- 
 ism on system. Is there any connection between such a course 
 and the " complete and generous education " (these are Milton's 
 words) that " fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnani- 
 mously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and 
 war" ? Are we not rather injuring than aiding true mental de- 
 velopment, and perhaps moral too, by pretending to teach the 
 sciences when all the while we are teaching little but their names? 
 Is such a scheme as this to supersede the sound instruction and 
 invigorating discipline of the old school? Is this the desideratum 
 so eagerly looked for as a means of producing men capable of 
 carrying on the affairs of the world in " a manner worthy of the 
 age and country in which we live " ? I quite agree with the most 
 advanced of the reformers in question as to the need of reform ; 
 but I hope the}* will agree with me that this is not the direction in 
 which it is to be promoted, and that if the new crusade is to be 
 successful in its objects, Messrs. Bentham and Simpson must not 
 be permitted to head the movement. 
 
 Another theoretical writer on modern education is Mr. Herbert 
 Spencer, who, in his work entitled " Education, Intellectual, 
 Moral, and Physical," has presented us with a scheme evolved 
 apparently out of the depths of his own consciousness ; for he 
 does not profess to have any practical experience as a teacher or 
 schoolmaster so ingenious, and pretty, and complete, that one 
 can only sigh over the limited capacity of human nature, which 
 will, it is to be feared, forever prevent its being realized. While 
 agreeing for the most part with Mr. Bentham, that a child can
 
 246 THE CURKICULUM OP MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 and ought to learn at least what he calls learning an immense 
 number of subjects, he insists with great earnestness upon the 
 principle (which, if rightly interpreted, no one questions), that 
 education should prepare the pupil for the duties of life ; or, as he 
 styles it, for "the right ruliug of conduct in all directions, and 
 under all circumstances." This, as he remarks, and everyone 
 will agree with him, is the "general problem, which compre- 
 hends every special problem ; " and he goes on further to tell us, 
 that the solution of it involves our knowing " in what way to treat 
 the body ; in what way to treat the mind ; in what way to manage 
 our affairs ; in what way to bring up a family ; in what way to be- 
 have as a citizen ; and in what way to utilize those sources of 
 happiness which nature supplies ; how to use our faculties to the 
 greatest advantage of ourselves and others ; how to live com- 
 pletely. And this being the great thing needful for us to learn, is 
 by consequence the great thing which education has to teach." 
 
 This is an epitome of Mr. Spencer's views on the curriculum, 
 and it appears to be impossible to satisfy the conditions of his 
 theory *by anything short of special preparation for all the contin- 
 gencies of life. My limits will not allow of a close investigation 
 of arguments and illustrations, spread over nearly sixty pages of 
 his book ; but a practical schoolmaster has surely some right to 
 inquire, whether he is serious in adducing, as evidences of defect 
 in the school curriculum, numerous instances of persons injuring 
 their eyesight by over-studying, and their limbs by over-exercise ; 
 of others suffering "from heart-disease, consequent on a rheu- 
 matic fever that followed reckless exposure ; " and again, of " the 
 engineer who misapplies his formulae for the strength of materials, 
 and builds a bridge that breaks down ; " of the shipbuilder who, 
 " by adhering to the old model, is outsailed by one who builds on 
 the mechanically-justified wave-line principle ; of the bleacher, 
 the dyer, the sugar-refiner, the farmer, who fail more or less be- 
 cause unacquainted with chemistry ; and notably of the mining 
 speculators, who ruin themselves from ignorance of geology ; and 
 the constructors of electro-magnetic engines, " whp might have 
 had better balances at their bankers," if they had understood 
 "the general law of the correlation, and equivalence of forces." 
 Are all these sad delinquencies, and many more, recounted with ter- 
 rible accuracy by Mr. Spencer, fairly to be laid to lack of service 
 and duty and sense in the schoolmaster? Ought the elementary 
 schoolmaster that is the real question to have furnished 
 all his pupils of from seven to fourteen years of age with the
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 247 
 
 knowledge, and judgment, and common sense, and experience, 
 which are the proper safeguards against the failures I have 
 enumerated ? I answer distinctly, that he is not responsible ; and 
 I might say this much more strongly, but that I respect Mr. 
 Spencer's earnestness and true sincerity of purpose. But Mr. 
 Spencer, who is no schoolmaster himself, having, it would appear, a 
 most exalted opinion of the omnipotent and omniscient faculties of 
 that functionary, demands still something more of him, and regarding 
 it " as an astonishing fact, that not one word of instruction on the 
 treatment of offspring is ever given to those who will by-and-by 
 be parents," that is, given by the schoolmaster, lays that obliga- 
 tion also upon him. Here too, it appears to me, the practical 
 schoolmaster has a right to ask, very specifically, what kind of in- 
 formation "on the treatment of offspring" Mr. Spencer would 
 himself propose to give, as a sort of model school lesson, to a 
 child of twelve or fourteen years of age ? The child is, to be sure, 
 in a certain sense, " the father of the man, "but it is coming down 
 rather sharply upon him to apply this literally, and make him leave 
 his tops and balls so early in life, and set about this unseasonable 
 preparation for the duties of paternitj'. 
 
 The general conclusion, then, ffom our review of Mr. Spencer's 
 theory is, that its due satisfaction involves the assumption that 
 every man is to be his own doctor, lawyer, architect, bailiff, tailor, 
 and, I suppose, clergymen; so that the Chrestomathic scheme 
 which required the child to learn the omne scibile, is supplemented, 
 as not being comprehensive enough, by Mr. Spencer's, for learning 
 also the omne facibile ;* and both must, I fear, be condemned, not 
 only as being utterly impracticable, (though that might be a suf- 
 ficient objection,) but as being based on a total misconception of 
 what elementary education ought to be.f 
 
 The fact is, that however captivating to the imagination the 
 idea may be of communicating to our pupil those immense stores 
 of knowledge, the possession of which distinguishes the present 
 from all previous ages, it is one which, when brought to the test of 
 experience, proves utterly illusory. A higher power than that of 
 either the theoretical educationist, or the practical schoolmaster, 
 has ordained that into the kingdom of knowledge, as into the 
 kingdom of heaven, we must enter as little children. We must 
 begin at the beginning, and learn the prima elementa each for 
 
 * Tlu phrase is, I am aware, non-classical. It is, however, to be found In Ducange. 
 f Si-u Appendix, Note A.
 
 248 THE CUKKICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 himself, as all children before us have done, gaining little advan- 
 tage as individuals from the achievements which science has effected 
 for our race. We find, too, that if, from a desire to spare our pupil 
 the labor of learning fact after fact in apparently endless succes- 
 sion, we frame compendious formulae, rules, and general principles, 
 founded on other men's mental experience, and endeavor to feed 
 his mind with them, they prove, in the early stage Of instruction, 
 utterly indigestible, and minister no proper nourishment for him. 
 Mr. Spencer, in another part of his book, justly remarks: "To 
 give the net product of inquiry, without the inquiry that leads to 
 it, is found to be both inefficient and enervating. General truths, 
 to be of due and permanent use, must be earned." 
 
 The same principle would seem to decide the question of special 
 preparation. The experience of those who have gone before us 
 cannot supersede our own ; and no conceivable improvement, there- 
 fore, in the curriculum will ever provide for " the right ruling of 
 conduct in all directions, under all circumstances;" or, in other 
 words, furnish a child beforehand with the mental and moral 
 powers which are to be developed in the actual life of the man. 
 It is by living that we learn to live. 
 
 I have already suggested, that development and training, not 
 the acquisition of knowledge, however valuable in itself, is the true 
 and proper end of elementary education. In a general way it may 
 be asserted that the former is the main tenet of the old or con- 
 servative, the latter of the new or reforming school. We shall have 
 to dwell at some length on this point, that we may be prepared to 
 recognize the respective claims of various subjects to be admitted 
 into the curriculum. It is perfectly true that neither view of 
 necessity excludes the other. Any subject, however suitable in 
 itself for the discipline of the pupil, may be so taught as to involve 
 no good training ; and a subject presumptively unsuitable may, by 
 the skill of the teacher, be made to yield the happiest fruits. Still 
 the prominence given to these respective features in theory must 
 materially affect the practice founded on them. I need not re(er to 
 the very etymology of the word " education " to support the more 
 old-fashioned view of the case. All will allow that it means train- 
 ing or development; but I would dwell for a moment on the 
 meaning of the cognate term " instruction," in support of the same 
 argument, and also to show that a real and judicious teaching of 
 science, not a random gathering together of scraps of " useful 
 knowledge," does indeed involve a genuine discipline of the mind. 
 The original meaning of instruere is to heap up, or pile up, or put
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 together in a heap generally, and seems somewhat to countenance 
 the Chrestomathic notion ; but the secondary meaning, and that 
 with which we are more concerned, is to " put together in order, to 
 build or construct ; " so that instruction is the orderly arrangement 
 and disposition of knowledge, a branch of mental discipline which 
 all must acknowledge to be of great importance and value. But 
 heaping bricks together, and building a house with them, are two 
 very different things. The orderly arrangement of facts in the 
 mind implies a knowledge of their relation to each other ; and, if 
 carried out to a certain extent, furnishes the ground-work for the 
 establishment of those general laws which constitute what is 
 properly called science. The knowledge, however, of these mutual 
 relations is gained by quiet, earnest brooding over facts, viewing 
 them in every kind of light, comparing them carefully together 
 for the detection of resemblances and differences, classifying them, 
 experimenting upon them, and so on. Allowing, then, to science, 
 properly so called, all that can be claimed for it as a constituent of 
 the curriculum and of its immense value in education I shall have 
 to speak presently we must explode, definitely and finalh-, the 
 notion that these valuable results can be elicited by frittering away 
 the powers of the mind on a great variety of subjects. Nor must 
 we be led away by the frequently meaningless clamor for " useful 
 knowledge." Knowledge which may be unquestionably useful to 
 some persons may not be useful at all to others ; therefore, although 
 education is to be a preparation for after life, yet it is to be a 
 general, not a professional, preparation, and cannot provide for 
 minute and special contingencies. The object of education is to 
 form the man, not the baker the man, not the lawyer the 
 man, not the civil engineer. 
 
 What then, we may now inquire, should be the main features 
 of a training, as distinguished from an accumulating, system 
 of instruction? It should, I conceive, aim at quickening and 
 strengthening the powers of observation and memory, and forming 
 habits of careful and persevering attention ; it should habituate the 
 pupil to distinguish points of difference and recognize those of 
 resemblance, to analyze and investigate, to arrange and classify. 
 It should awaken and invigorate the understanding, mature the 
 reason, chasten while it kindles the imagination, exercise the 
 judgment and refine the taste. It should cultivate habits of order 
 and precision, and of spontaneous, independent, and long continued 
 application. It should, in short, be a species of mental gymnastics,
 
 250 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 fitted to draw forth, exercise, invigorate, and mature all the 
 faculties, so as to exhibit them in that harmonious combination 
 which is at once the index and the result of manly growth. In 
 order to gain the ends I have specified, or indeed any considerable 
 number of them, it is essential that the studies embraced in the 
 training course should be few. We cannot hope to have, in the 
 early stage of life, both quantity and quality. In giving a preference 
 to the latter, we do but consult the exigencies of the case. At the 
 same time, it may be hoped that, because the aim is to enrich and 
 prepare the soil, the ultimate harvest will be proportionately 
 bountiful.* 
 
 I have said that the subjects to be studied in the training course 
 should be few. But I proceed further, and maintain that for the 
 purpose of real discipline it is advisable nay, even necessary to 
 concentrate the energies for a long period together on some one 
 general subject, and make that for a time the leading feature, the 
 central study of the course keeping others in subordination to it. 
 By giving this degree of prominence to some particular branch of 
 instruction, we may hope to have it studied to such an extent, so 
 closely, so accurately, so soundly, so completely, that it may become 
 a real possession to the pupil a source of vital power, which the 
 mind " will not willingly let die." The concentration of mind and 
 range of research necessary for this purpose obviously involve many 
 of the advantages I have recently enumerated. In this way, too, 
 the pupil will become fully conscious of the difference between 
 "knowing a thing and knowing something about lY, and will be forcibly 
 impressed with the superiority of the former kind of knowledge. 
 This conviction is of no small importance ; for it gives him a clear, 
 experimental appreciation of the agency the measure and kind of 
 intellectual effort by which the complete and accurate knowledge 
 was gained, and thus can hardly fail to exercise a valuable influence 
 upon his character. He who has learned by experience the diffi- 
 culty of obtaining a thorough mastery of a subject, has made no 
 trifling advance in the knowledge of himself. He has tested his 
 power of struggling with difficulties, and acquired in the contest 
 that command over his faculties, and that habit of sustained and 
 vigorous application, which will ensure success in any undertaking. 
 He who has only begun a study, or advanced but little in it, is a 
 
 * The opinion of Locke confirms this view. His -words are : " The business of education 
 Is not, as I think, to perfect the learner in any of the sciences, but to give his mind that freedom 
 and disposition, und those habits which may enable him to attain every part of knowledge 
 himself." (Some Thoughts concerning Education.)
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 251 
 
 stranger to that consciousness of strength and range of mental 
 vision which are involved in the cultivation of it to a high point. 
 The knowledge, thus thoroughly acquired and possessed as a 
 familiar instrument by the pupil, becomes not only a powerful 
 auxiliary to his further attaiumeuts, but a high standard to which 
 he may continually refer them.* 
 
 One of the chief reasons why the study of one thing, one 
 subject, or one book, is so valuable a discipline, is that the matter 
 thus submitted to the mind's action forms a whole, and by degrees 
 reacts on the mind itself, and creates within it the idea of unity 
 and harmony. Suppose, for instance, that we read a book with the 
 view of thoroughly studying and mastering it. We find, as a con- 
 sequence of the unity of thought and expression pervading it, that 
 one part explains another, that what is hinted at in one page is 
 amplified in the next, that the matter of the first few sentences is 
 the nucleus (the oak in the acorn, as it were) of the entire work. 
 Thus the beginning of the book throws light upon the end, which 
 the end in its turn reflects upon the beginning. He who studies in 
 this way must carefully weigh each word, and estimate its value in 
 the sentence of which it is a part, and its bearing on those which 
 have preceded it ; he must also keep it in recollection, that he may 
 observe its connection with what follows. When he encounters 
 difficulties which he cannot at the moment solve, he must retain 
 them in mind until the clue to their solution is gained. He must 
 often retrace his steps with the experience he has acquired in ad- 
 vancing, and then advance again with the added knowledge gained 
 in his retrogression. It is only by thus wrestling agonizing, as it 
 were with a subject, that we eventually subdue it, and make it 
 ours, and a part of us. By such or analogous processes, constantly 
 and patiently pursued, we rise at last to the highest generalizations ; 
 so that a knowledge of the phenomena of the material world is 
 
 * The above argument is powerfully confirmed In the following passage from an " Intro- 
 ductory Lecture " by Professor De Morgan, delivered at University College, October 17, 
 1837: 
 
 " When the student has occupied his time In learning a moderate portion of many different 
 things, what hn* he acquired extensive knowledge or useful habiu? Kven if lie can be 
 said to hnve varied learning, it will not long be true of him, for nothing flics so quickly n 
 half-digested knowledge; and when this Is gone, there remains but a slender portion of uoeful 
 power. A small quantity of learning quickly evaporates from a mind which never held any 
 learning, except in small quantities; and the Intellectual philosopher can perhaps explain the 
 following phenomenon: that men who have given deep attention to one or more lil>ernl 
 studies, can learn to the end of their lives, and nre able to retain and apply very small quanti- 
 ties of other kinds of knowledge ; while those who have never learnt much of any one thing 
 seldom acquire new knowledge after they attain to years of maturity, and frequently lose the 
 the greater part of that which they once possessed." (p. 12.)
 
 252 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 digested into Science, a knowledge of the facts and matter of 
 language is elaborated into Learning, and a knowledge and inti- 
 mate appreciation of the facts of human life ripens into Wisdom. 
 Everyone will bear me out in the remark, that it is from those few 
 books that we read most carefully that we " chew and digest," 
 to use Bacon's words that we peruse again and again with still 
 increasing interest that we take to our bosom as friends and 
 counsellors ; it is from these that we are conscious of deriving real 
 nourishment for the mind. Nor is it perhaps rash to assert that 
 the general tendency, in our day, to dissipate the attention on all 
 sorts of books, on all sorts of subjects, which just flash before the 
 mind, excite it for a moment, leave a vague impression, and are 
 gone, is stamping a character upon the age which will render 
 nugatory the well-meant efforts which have of late been made for 
 the enlightenment of the popular mind, and the extension of useful 
 knowledge. It is, I say, characteristic of the age, that we emascu- 
 late and enfeeble our powers by the vain attempt to know everything 
 which everybody else knows; and learn, in conformity to the fashion 
 of the times, even to feel it as a reproach that we have not " dipped 
 into," or "skimmed over," or " glanced at" (very significant 
 phrases) all the articles in all the newspapers, magazines, and 
 reviews of the day. We indolently allow ourselves to be carried on, 
 in spite of our silent protest, against our real convictions, with the 
 shallow tide which is sweeping over the land ; and, inasmuch as we 
 do so, are neutralizing the real interests of the cause we profess 
 to be advocating, and preventing the formation of valuable and 
 useful judgments on any subject whatever. If you consider with 
 me that this general dissipation is an evil, you will also sym- 
 pathize with the desire to prevent the organization and establish- 
 ment of the principle in the curriculum of elementary education. 
 A thousand times better, in my opinion, to have the old hum- 
 drum monotony, the ceaseless drill, which ended only in preparing 
 the faculties to work to some purpose, when they did work on 
 the problems of life, than the counterfeit knowledge which can 
 give an opinion on every subject because substantially uninformed 
 on any. 
 
 It is not, perhaps, too much to assert, that concentration of 
 mind on a few subjects is, and ever has been, the only passport to 
 excellence. All the great literary and scientific men of all ages, 
 whose opinions we value, whose judgments are received as the 
 dictates of wisdom and authority, have acted on the conviction, that
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 253 
 
 the powers of the mind are strengthened by concentration, and 
 weakened by dissipation.* 
 
 The practical inference from the foregoing remarks is, that in 
 order to train the mind usefully, concentration, and not accumula- 
 tion, must be our guiding principle ; in other words, we must 
 direct the most strenuous efforts of our pupils to the complete and 
 full comprehension of some one subject as an iustrument of intel- 
 lectual discipline. 
 
 The next consideration, then, is, what the subject submitted to 
 this accurate and complete study ought to be. And here we come 
 again nearly to the point at which we set out, and must now for 
 ourselves renew the friendly strife between the "trivials" and 
 the " quadrivials " once more. I say "friendly," because the 
 claims of both are so reasonable, that it really ought not to be 
 very difficult to adjust them, and no angry feeling therefore ought 
 to accompany the discussion. We have left the theorists behind, 
 and are now to settle such questions as practical and experienced 
 men, with reference to their real merits, judiciously, and with some 
 degree of authority. 
 
 On the general subject of the curriculum, I will quote some 
 remarks which I have lately met with in a pamphlet by an able 
 American writer, apparently acquainted by experience with his 
 subject, f He is strongly opposed to what we usually call the 
 Classical System, but candidly admits that its defenders have 
 hitherto had greatly the advantage of their opponents in the line 
 of argument they have pursued. " Disagree with them," he says, 
 "as you may as to what studies go to make up a liberal educa- 
 
 * See some very interesting illustrations in Disraeli's "Curiosities of Literature," in the 
 essay entitled, " The Man of One Book." To these may be added, as an Instructive, though 
 somewhat extravagant specimen of the non-mnlta atd-mnltum principle advocated in the text, 
 the following taken from the " Foreign Quarterly Ilevlew" for 1841 : 
 
 " I'orpora, an Italian teacher of music, having conceived an affection for one of his pupils, 
 asked him if he hud courage to pursue indcfatigably a course which he would point out, how- 
 ever tiresome it might appear. Upon receiving an answer In the affirmative, he noted upon a 
 page of ruli-d paper, the diatonic and chromatic scales, ascending and descending with leaps 
 of a third, fourth, &c., to acquire the Intervals promptly, with shakes, turns, appoutfaturc, 
 and various pasungea of vocalization. This leaf employed master and pupil for a year; the 
 following year was bestowed upon it; the third year thc-rc was no talk of changing It; the 
 pupil began to murmur, hut was reminded of his promise. A fourth year elapsed, then a 
 fifth, and every day came the eternal leaf. At the sixth It was not done with, but lessons of 
 articulation, pronunciation, and declamation were added to the practice. At the end of this 
 year, howe'-cr, the scholar, who still Imagined that he was but at the elements, wns much 
 surprised when his master exclaimed, 'Go, my son; thou hast nothing more to learn; thou 
 art the first singer of Italy, and of the world.' He said true. This singer was Caffarelll." 
 
 f "Classical and Scientific Studies, and the Great Schools of England." By W. P. 
 Atkinson, Cambridge (U.S.), 1865.
 
 254 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 tion, you must go to them fora true definition of that training of 
 miud in which a liberal education consists." As he is one of the 
 ablest advocates of the claims of Science, we may listen to what 
 he says on ita behalf as a part of school education. He assumes, 
 then, as axioms these following propositions : 
 
 " 1. That in the Science and Art of education we must study 
 and follow Nature, that we shall only be successful as far as we 
 do. 
 
 "2. That there is a certain natural order in the development 
 of the human faculties ; and that a true system of education will 
 follow, not run counter to, that order. 
 
 "3. That we may divide the faculties of the mind, for the 
 purposes of education, into observing and reflective ; and that 
 in the order cf development the observing faculties come first. 
 
 " 4. That individual minds come into the world with individual 
 characteristics ; often, in the case of superior minds, strongly 
 marked, and qualifying them for the more successful pursuit of 
 some one career, than of any other. " 
 
 " 5. That the study of the material world may be said to be 
 the divinely appointed instrument for the cultivation and develop- 
 ment of the observing faculties ; while the study of the immaterial 
 mind, with all that belongs to it, including the study of language 
 as the instrument of thought, is the chief agent in the develop- 
 ment of the reflective faculties." 
 
 Speaking in the interests of that reform in the curriculum 
 which is very decidedly needed, I would frankly accept these 
 propositions, though the terms of some of them, especially those 
 of the fourth and fifth, might give a caviller a favorable oppor- 
 tunity. Of one point essentially involved in them, I have no 
 doubt ; and that is, that any rational curriculum of elementary 
 study must be based on the fact that the observing, are called 
 into action before the reflecting, faculties ; in other words, that 
 the food must be swallowed before it is digested ; though I believe 
 it to be an educational fallacy to maintain that therefore no food 
 should be swallowed that cannot be instantly digested. The gen- 
 eral consideration would, however, seem to justify us in carrying 
 forward, before anything else is attempted, the instruction which 
 the child has already commenced for himself, in the study of the 
 phenomena of the external world and in thafof the mother tongue. 
 Professor Tyndall has shown, in his interesting lecture on the 
 study of Physics, that even the new-born babe is an experimental 
 philosopher, and improvizes by instinct a suction-pump to supply
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 255 
 
 himself with his natural food, and day after day, by experiment 
 and observation, makes himself acquainted with the ordinary 
 properties of matter, acquires the idea of distance, sound, and 
 gravitation, and so on, and by burning his fingers, and scalding his 
 torgne, learns also the conditions of his physical well-being. In 
 this hand-to-mouth way the pupil in the great school of nature 
 Levins his lessons, and surely it is most natural that he should be 
 encouraged to continue this self -education, and under judicious 
 guidance, he may very properly be made acquainted with the 
 things " which lie about in daiby life," and also be trained to the 
 study of that proper connection between things and words which 
 is the true basis of a good knowledge of his own language. Such 
 a course of instruction, such " lessons on objects," will no doubt 
 amuse and interest the young natural philosopher, and may be the 
 means of eliciting even quite earl}' in life, those predilections of 
 which Mr. Atkinson speaks as the special characteristics of the 
 individual, and which, in certain cases, may furnish suggestions 
 to be afterwards employed in conducting his education. 
 
 Having arrived at this point in the discussion of my subject, I 
 must make a confession ; which, however, is not humiliating, 
 because, though I have to speak of personal failure, I am sup- 
 ported b}' the consciousness of honest intentions. I have always 
 been fond of science in every shape, and well remember the de- 
 light with which, when a boy, I adopted as the pocket companions 
 of ray leisure hours the little volumes of Joyce's " Scientific Dia- 
 logues," and Miss Edgeworth's charming " Harry and Luc}'." I 
 say this to show that in the experiments which I made in teaching 
 something that might be called science to young children, I was 
 working con amore, and with a real desire to succeed. But I 
 found my young natural philosophers somewhat difficult to manage. 
 As long as everything was new, and striking, and amusing, 
 the}' were attentive enough ; but as soon as anything like training 
 was attempted, as soon as I required perfect accuracy in observ- 
 ing, and careful classification and retention of results, my popu- 
 larity waned astonishingly. They were, for the most part, 
 satisfied with the attainments which they had made in the knowl- 
 edge of the external world within the first three or four years of 
 their lives, and did not.discover that " craving after knowledge " 
 which I am told by Mr. Spencer and others, is always exhibited 
 by children until it is forever extinguished by the spectral display 
 of the Latin Grammar, which like the famous Medusa's head, 
 turns every one that looks at it into stone. According to my
 
 256 THE CUKKICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 own experience, the young natural philosophers generally preferred 
 choosing their own subject of instruction, and their own arena for 
 the exercise ; and that subject was what is usuall}- called play, 
 and the arena the play-ground. It is true enough that there is a 
 great deal to be learned of the properties of matter, resistance, 
 elasticity, action and reaction, the composition of forces, &c. 
 in playing at bat, trap, and ball ;* but I doubt very much whether 
 there is any natural craving after such knowledge as the final 
 cause of the game. 
 
 In general, I must say from experience that it is as possible to 
 make even abstract subjects, such as arithmetic and grammar, 
 quite as interesting to young children as those parts of science 
 which really call for mental effort, and involve minute accuracy 
 and care. Facts and phenomena certainly do interest the young ; 
 but science, as such, the knowledge of the relations between them, 
 does not. Practical teachers are well aware of this fact, which 
 theoretical writers too often forget, or, most probably do not know. 
 
 Because children attending a lecture on natural science open 
 their eyes very wide, and look intensely interested when they hear 
 a loud bang, or see some of those striking experiments performed 
 often in a sort of d la Stodare fashion which form the stock- 
 in-trade of the lecturer on, say oxygen and hydrogen gases, it is 
 too hastily concluded that that would be the normal condition of 
 their attention to the science of chemistry in general. Look, 
 however, at the same children when the lecturer takes his chalk in 
 hand, and endeavors, by a diagram of very simple character, to 
 make them understand the causes of the phenomena. The lack- 
 lustre eyes and yawning mouth very soon tell us that what we just 
 witnessed was simple excitement, a matter of the senses, nerves, 
 and muscles mainly, and being connected with amusement, and 
 therefore involving no mental exertion, caught the attention for 
 an instant, but was not in itself an element of mental improve- 
 ment. The moment the mind was called on, it obeyed the summons 
 with just as much alacrity as it usually displays when invited to 
 dissect a diagram of Euclid. The assertion, that, as a general 
 rule (and independently of the all-important question of what sort 
 of a man the teacher is) , children love science and hate language, 
 is another fallacy of the same kind as those we have been already 
 so liberally dealing with this evening. Neither children nor men 
 naturally like the difficulties, the drudgery of any subject whatever. 
 
 * This is very pleasantly exemplified in Dr. Paris's ingenious little book, " Philosophy 
 in Sport made Science in Earnest."
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 257 
 
 No practical teacher will pretend that they do. Yet these diffi- 
 culties must be overcome, if the subject is to be really learned. 
 But we may test my position by reference to music. I might, of 
 course, indulge in any amount of rhapsody about music, its 
 exquisite charms, its universal popularity, and so on, but 
 what verdict would a jury of little girls give on what is technically 
 termed "practice," and on the " grammar of music?" That 
 " practice," however, and that " grammar," are the very founda- 
 tion of the excellent performance which so delights our ears and 
 our taste, and without the one we absolutely cannot have the 
 other. I wonder, indeed, whether, if we could collect all the tears 
 which have been shed by children respectively learning the Latin 
 grammar and the piano in two separate receptacles, the music 
 lachrymatory would not contain the larger quantity. And yet 
 music is so delightful, and the Latin grammar so horridly dis- 
 agreeable ! To return, however, to my main argument. 
 
 The early stage of life is doubtless the most suitable time for 
 improving and exercising the natural faculty of observation, and 
 much may be done at this time in preparing the mind for the 
 great benefit which the proper study of science is to confer upon 
 it. But I must protest against dignifying the desultory scraps of 
 information thus acquired the results of the process of taking 
 up one subject after another to keep the child in good humor 
 the cakes and honey supplied to sweeten the youthful lips by 
 the name of science ; nor do I feel inclined to think that we have 
 at last reached the long-sought desideratum in teaching, when a 
 band of children, in all the frolic and fun belonging to their nature, 
 gather handfuls of flowers, and run up to the teacher to ask the 
 names of them, and to forget them as soon as named.* How- 
 ever, if this is science, I would certainly teach it in the early stage 
 of instruction. Children generally like this desultory style of 
 skipping from subject to subject. It stimulates their senses, 
 brings them into contact with nature herself in the open air, 
 interests them in her glorious variety and boundless fullness, and 
 thus supplies happy emotions ; it calls for little exertion on their 
 part, does not " bother their brains," and is rarely the occasion 
 of tears or punishments.! If this is science, I would teach it as 
 
 Mr. HenslowV interesting experiments In teaching village children accomplished much 
 more than thin; and, Indeed, proves the applicability of the subject to the want* of the early 
 stage of education. (See "Museum." vol. ill. p. , and " Educational Time*," Nov., 1S65.) 
 
 t It Is well, too, to encourage children to make collection* of leavco, butterflies, beetle*, 
 &e. Everything should be done to make the connection between teacher and pupil* ploawint 
 for both; and therefore sympathy should be warmly evinced in such pursuit* an these. Pro-
 
 258 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 a part of the training of the observing faculties, a discipline 
 which has been too much neglected by the ordinary systems ; * 
 and in the hands of a judicious teacher, out of these random 
 efforts real instruction may grow ; and the bricks thrown together 
 in a heap, and so far valueless, may, under the genial influence of 
 the educational Amphion, rise up, like the walls of the fabulous 
 Thebes, into the form of a harmonious fabric. 
 
 We must not, however, forget that our young philosopher, who 
 has learnt so much by himself in the first two or three years of his 
 life by exercising his faculty of observation, also develops, in the 
 same space of time, eminent powers as a linguist ; and if we follow 
 Nature in aiding and encouraging his researches in the one field, 
 it appears quite right to do the same in the other. Indeed, the 
 two faculties are exactly adapted to assist each other ; for not- 
 withstanding all that is said about the learning of things as 
 opposed to the learning of words, there is a sense in which they 
 are one and the same, and it is very curious to see how Mr. 
 Spencer, for instance, in describing what he evidently considers 
 model lessons in elementary science, speaks as if a great part of 
 the object of these lessons was to teach the accurate meaning of 
 words. " The mother," he says, " must familiarize her little boy 
 with the names of the simpler attributes, hardness, softness, color ; 
 in doing which she finds him eagerly help by bringing this to show 
 that it is red, and the other to make her feel that it is hard, as 
 fast as she gives him icords for these properties." There is much 
 more to the same purport, which I have no time to quote. But is 
 it not singular that so ingenius a man does not see that this 
 process, which he lauds so highly, is only a sensible way of teaching, 
 not science merely, but the mother tongue? The teacher is trying to 
 get the pupil to attach clear ideas to the use of words ; and 
 while professing to despise the teaching of words, is in reality 
 doing little else ; for words are, in a well understood sense, the 
 depositories of the knowledge, spirit, and wisdom of a nation. f 
 I am perfectly aware that the pupil, while thus engaged, is learning 
 
 feRsor Blackic has well expressed these views In the following passage from a lecture do. 
 Hvered in Latin, at the Marischal College, Aberdeen : " Exeant in cainpos pueri, fluminuro. 
 cursus vestigent, in montes adscendant; eaxa, lapides, arbores, herbas, flores uotrnt, et no. 
 tando amare discant; oculin non vagis, flnitnntibus et somniculosls, Bed apertis, claris, firmis; 
 auribu non obtusis insertlsque fed erectis atqne accuratis rerum varietatem percipiant. (De 
 Latinarwn literarum prcextantla atque uliltfate, p. 13.) 
 
 * See Appendix, note B. 
 
 t He who completely known a word knows nil that that word is or ever was intended to 
 convey, its etymological oriein. its firot meaninc as fixed in the lani?uafre, its subbequent 
 history, its varying fortune*, and the idea it suggests to various classes of persona.
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 259 
 
 much more than mere words ; but I maintain that he is also learn- 
 ing words while he is learning things, and that the antithesis so 
 much insisted on is more specious than real. However this may 
 be, I quite approve of these lessons on things, or lessens on words, 
 whichever they may be called, as a part of the elementar}- stage 
 of instruction, which may be practically considered as terminating 
 at twelve years of age. 
 
 But this stage is also the most suitable for learning the use of a 
 foreign tongue, and, therefore, to the elementary subjects which 
 must, as a matter of course, come into the curriculum reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, taught at first by palpable objects, or counters ; 
 geography, commencing with the topography of the house and 
 parish in which the pupil lives ; history, made picturesque by oral 
 teaching in such a way as to arrest the attention and stimulate the 
 imagination ; lessons on objects as introductory to the rudiments of 
 science ; word -lessons,* gradually extended from the names of 
 material objects to those of moral and intellectual notions should 
 be added to the study of French. The lessons in this language should 
 be eminently practical ; accurate pronunciation should be insisted 
 on, and as rapidly as possible the actual practice secured. This is 
 the main point. At no period of life will so good an opportunity be 
 found for doing this in an easy, natural way. The organs are in a 
 flexible condition, the ear is apt at catching, the mouth at imitating, 
 sounds ; and without even talking of grammar (should such talk 
 seem very alarming) a true initiation into the language may be 
 gained. All that has now been suggested appears to be quite con- 
 sistent with the principle above recommended, of continuing the 
 exercise of the faculties of observation and imitation already 
 commenced by Nature. 
 
 Such rudimentary lessons in science as have been proi>osed 
 above, do not appear to involve much strict mental discipline ; nor 
 do I believe, for reasons which will presently be suggested, that 
 true science can advantageously be studied by very young pupils. f 
 
 * Hints for such lessons might be gained from Wood's "Account of the Edinburgh 
 Sessional School ; " but better ones can easily be frmm-d. 
 
 t It Is only fair to place In view here the opinions on this point of Dr. Carpenter and Mr. 
 Faraday, to whose judgment on any subject great deference is due; only adding, that I houM 
 attach more ^alue to their opinions on teaching men, to whom they are accustomed, than on 
 teaching children, to which, an far as I know, they are not accustomed. In this matter a> in 
 others referred to before (sec p. 13), going through with a thing is very different from merely 
 beiiinnins it. or touching it at special selected points. Have these gentlemen taught children 
 hour after hour, year after year? 
 
 " At ten years old a boy [and therefore the average of boys] Is quite capable of understand- 
 ing a very large proportion of what is set down for matriculation at the London University
 
 260 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 There is, however, one subject, which might, perhaps be taken as 
 the disciplinary study of the elementary stage, and with the greatest 
 advantage. That subject is Arithmetic, which, if judiciously taught, 
 involves a genuine mental discipline of the most valuable kind ; 
 and though really abstract in its nature, is capable of exciting the 
 liveliest interest, while it forms in the pupil habits of mental atten- 
 tion, argumeutatiA'e sequence, absolute accuracy, and satisfaction 
 in truth as a result, that do not seem to spring equally from the 
 study of any other subject suitable to this elementary stage of 
 instruction. 
 
 At twelve years of age the pupil may be considered as entering 
 on the second stage of the curriculum ; and henceforth the develop- 
 ment of the reflective faculties, and the acquisition of habits of 
 industry and hard work, are the main objects to be kept in view. 
 This is to be especially the stage of discipline ; discipline by means 
 of Science (including Mathematics) and Language. The question 
 now is, which shall take the lead. 
 
 Science may, for our present purpose, be defined to be the 
 "knowledge of the laws of Nature, as gained by reflection on facts 
 which have been previously arranged in an orderly and methodical 
 manner in the mind, in accordance with their natural relation to 
 each, other. Every one must see that such a subject as this affords 
 abundant scope for a life-long, and not merely a school, education. 
 Considering, too, that this knowledge is not only deeply interest- 
 ing in itself, but, being gained for the very purpose of diffusion, 
 adds greatly to the sum of human happiness and prosperity, the 
 motives to its pursuit are indeed transcendently powerful, so that 
 it must be a matter of great concern to all to secure for those who 
 are to pursue it, even in a subordinate degree, a worthy training. 
 
 If Science, then, is to constitute a real discipline for the mind, 
 much, nay everything, will depend on the manner in which it is 
 studied. In the first place, it is to be remembered that (to use the 
 oft-quoted phrase) the pupil is about to study things, not words ; 
 and therefore treatises on science are not to be in the first instance 
 placed before him. He must commence with the accurate examina- 
 tion (for which he has been partially prepared ~by the first stage 
 
 \mder the head of Natural Philosophy." (Dr. Carpenter's Evidence before a Commission, 
 on Public Schools, vol. lv., p. 364.) 
 
 "I would teach a littlu boy of eleven years of age [i. e. the average boys of eleven?] of 
 ordinary Intelligence, all these things that come before classics In this programme of the 
 London University, i. e. mechanics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, optics," &c. (Mr. Faraday's 
 Evidence, vol. lv., p. 378.)
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 261 
 
 of instruction) of the objects and phenomena themselves, not of 
 descriptions of them prepared by others. By this means not only 
 will his attention be excited, the power of observation, previously 
 awakened, much strengthened, and the senses exercised and 
 disciplined, but the very important habit of doing homage to the 
 authority of facts rather than to the authority of men, be initiated. 
 These different objects and phenomena may be placed and viewed 
 toiivthcT, and thus the mental faculties of comparison and dis- 
 crimination usefully practised. They may, in the next place, be 
 methodically arranged and classified, and thus the mind may 
 In-come accustomed to an orderly arrangement of its knowledge. 
 Then the accidental may be distinguished from the essential, the 
 common from the special, and so the habit of generalization ma}' 
 * be acquired ; and lastly, advancing from effects to causes, or con- 
 versely from principles to their necessary conclusions, the pupil 
 becomes acquainted with induction and deduction processes of 
 the highest value and importance. Every one will allow that such 
 a course as this, faithfully carried out, must prove to be a very 
 valuable training. It would not, indeed, discipline the mind so 
 closely as pure mathematics, yet its range is wider, and it is more 
 closely connected with human interests and feelings. It is no 
 small advantage, too, that it affords, both in its pursuits and its 
 results, both in the chase and the capture, a very large amount 
 of legitimate and generous mental pleasure, and of a kind which 
 the pupil will probably be desirous of renewing for himself after 
 he has left school. After all, however, it will be observed that, 
 while the study of the physical sciences tends to give power over 
 the material forces of the universe, it leaves untouched the greater 
 forces of the human heart ; it makes a botanist, a geologist, au 
 electrician, an architect, an engineer, but it does not make a man. 
 The hopes, the fears, the hatreds and the loves,*the emotions which 
 stir us to heroic action, the reverence which bows in the presence 
 of the inexpressibly good and great : the sensitive moral taste 
 which shrinks from vice and approves virtue ; the sensitive mental 
 taste, which appreciates the sublime and beautiful in art, and 
 sheds delicious tears over the immortal works of genius all this 
 wonderful world of sensation and emotion lies "outside that world 
 which is especially cultivated by the physical sciences. This is no 
 argument, of course, against their forming a proper, nay an 
 essential, part of the curriculum, but it is an argument against 
 their taking the first place. They are intimately connected, of 
 course, with our daily wants and conveniences. The study of tin m
 
 262 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 cultivates in the best way the faculties of observation, and leads 
 naturally to the formation in the mind of the idea of natural law, 
 and so ultimately to investigations and suggestions of a very high 
 order, in the pursuit of which it is sought to define the shadowy 
 boundary between mind and matter, or to reveal to present time 
 the long buried secrets of the past. But in order to attain at last 
 these eminent heights of science, the preliminary training must 
 be rigorous and exact. It must embrace the difficult as well as 
 the pleasing and amusing that wjiich requires close and long- 
 continued attention as well as that which only ministers to a 
 transient curiosity. It must be based on the " firm ground of 
 experiment," and be independent of a mere book study, which, it 
 has been well observed, is, in relation to science, only as valuable, 
 in the absence of the facts, as a commentaiy on the Iliad would 
 be to him who had never read the poem. 
 
 We may assent then, on the whole, without hesitation, to the 
 wise and careful judgment passed on the study of physical science 
 as a part of the Curriculum by the Public School Commissioners in 
 their report. " It quickens," they say, " and cultivates directly, 
 the faculty of observation, which in very many persons lies almost 
 dormant through life, the power of accurate and rapid generaliza- 
 tion, and the mental habit of method and arrangement; it accus- 
 toms young persons to trace the sequence of cause and effect ; it 
 familiarizes them with a kind of reasoning which interests them, 
 and which they can promptly comprehend ; and it is perhaps the 
 best corrective for that indolence which is the vice of half-awakened 
 minds, and which shrinks from any exertion that is not, like an 
 effort of memory, merely mechanical." In spite, then, of Dr. 
 Moberly's denunciation of such studies as " worthless," and as 
 "giving no power" in education,* I maintain that it is utterly 
 impossible to exclude a subject with pretensions like these from 
 our curriculum. They must and will occupy a considerable space 
 in it they deserve to do so. For reasons, however, already 
 stated, I would not give them the post of the highest distinction, 
 which ought to be reserved for the studies which exercise, not 
 special faculties, but the whole man ; not the man as a professional 
 and with a utilitarian end in view, but as a citizen of the world, 
 
 * In a School like this (Winchester), I consider instruction In physical science, In the way 
 In which we can give it, is worthless. ... A scientific fact ... is a fact which produces 
 nothing in a boy's mind. ... It leads to nothing. It does not germinate; it is a perfectly 
 unfruitful fact. . . . These things give no power whatever." (Evidence before Commission 
 on Public Sclwols, vol. iii., p. 344.)
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 263 
 
 as one who is to meet his fellow-men and to influence their decisions 
 upon the difficult and complicated problems of society.* 
 
 Some think that pure mathematics should occupy this central 
 post of honor. A moment's consideration, however, will show 
 that the stud}' of algebra, geometry, the calculus, &c., not only 
 does not embrace those topics of common interest which are 
 essential for our purpose ; but has a special and limited office to 
 perform I mean, of course, independently of their practical 
 applications. Lord Bacon has judiciously summed up their 
 special functions. "They do," he says, "remedy and cure 
 many defects in the wit and faculties intellectual ; for if the wit 
 be too dull, they sharpen it ; if too wandering, they fix it ; if too 
 inherent in the sense, they abstract it. So that as tennis is a 
 game of no use of itself, but of great use in respect it maketh a 
 quick eye, and a body ready to put itself into all postures ; so 
 with mathematics, that use which is collateral and intervenient 
 is no less worthy than that which is principal and intended." 
 These words aptly characterize the advantages of the study of 
 mathematics, and point out their proper office in education. They 
 cannot, from their very nature, exercise a formative power over 
 the whole mind ; but they are very profitably employed in correct- 
 ing certain defects, and in teaching, as scarcely anything else can 
 teach, habits of accuracy. They call into play but few of the 
 faculties ; but these they exercise rigorously, and therefore use- 
 fully. It has been objected to them, that when pursued to any 
 considerable extent, without the counterpoise of more general 
 studies, they become particularly exclusive and mechanical in 
 their influence ; but this perhaps can hardly be considered as an 
 essential characteristic. On the whole, however, it can scarcely 
 be maintained that mathematics will serve as the basis we require 
 for our educational operations, though no education can be con- 
 sidered as complete which excludes them. 
 
 Having then shown that, notwithstanding the great value both 
 of physics and of mathematics in education, they are too special 
 in their application to serve as the central subject in our curricu- 
 lum, we turn once more to language, and especially to the Latin lan- 
 guage which I should propose as the exercising ground best adapted 
 for the intellectual drilling of our young soldier. Greek, in the case 
 of those whose school education is to terminate at sixteen years 
 of age, must, I think, be displaced in favor of the practical claims 
 
 * See Dr. Johnson's opinion, Appendix C.
 
 264 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 of German. This concession, and this only, would I recommend 
 making to public opinion. And it is the less necessary to contest 
 this point, as nearly all the disciplinary advantages which so 
 eminently characterize the study of the classical languages may 
 be gained from the study of Latin alone. It may then, I conceive, 
 be fairly maintained that the place which classical instruction 
 holds in the curriculum of English education is not duo to preju- 
 dice, as some believe ; nor to ignorance of what is going on in 
 society around us, as others pretend ; but to a well-judged estimate 
 of its importance and value as a discipline to the youthful mind, 
 and as an element of the highest rank among the civilizing 
 influences of the world. 
 
 This study may be considered under two aspects, the language 
 itself and its literature. 
 
 My first proposition is that the study of the Latin language 
 itself does eminently discipline the faculties, and secure, to a 
 greater degree than that of the other subjects we have discussed, 
 the formation and growth of those mental qualities which are the 
 best preparatives for the business of life whether that business 
 is to consist in making fresh mental acquisitions, or in directing 
 the powers thus strengthened and matured, to professional or 
 other pursuits. 
 
 Written language consists of sentences, and sentences of words. 
 In commencing the study of a language, we may consider these 
 words as things, which we have to investigate and analyze. They 
 possess many qualities in common with natural objects, and may 
 ,be therefore treated in a somewhat similar wa} r . They have 
 material qualities ; they can be seen they can be named (their 
 sound is their name) they can be compared together their 
 resemblances and differences discriminated, and arrangements or 
 classifications of them made in accordance with observed similarity 
 or difference in form. The memory, too, is practically and sys- 
 tematically exercised. The paradigms of inflections must be 
 accurately learnt by heart, and so familiarly known that the 
 constant comparison between them as staudards, and the varying 
 forms which arise for interpretation may be spontaneous and easy. 
 And these acts of comparison are themselves, of great value, and 
 tend to cultivate accuracy of judgment : the very blunders made 
 are instructive : the half- perception induced by indolence must be 
 corrected by increased labor. The attempt at evasion ends in a 
 more complete reception ; hence a moral as well as a mental 
 lesson. Thus, acts of attention, observation, memory, and judg-
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 265 
 
 ment are called forth ; and these acts, by being performed 
 numberless times, grow into habits. Again, these words can be 
 analyzed, separated into their component parts, and these parts 
 severally examined, and their functious ascertained. Conversely, 
 we may employ the synthetic process. We may fashion these 
 elements in conformity with some given model, and thus adapt 
 them to some given end. By closer investigation and comparison, 
 affinities before unperceived are traced and appreciated, the 
 transformation of letters detected, and the foundation laid for 
 the science of Philology. It should be observed, that all these 
 operations or experiments (for so they may be called) are per- 
 formed on facts on objects (a word is as much an object as a 
 flower) directly exposed to observation ; that they are at the 
 same time simple in their nature, and though requiring minute 
 attention, and so forming the habit of accuracy, are evidently 
 within the competency of a child. It is no small advantage that 
 the means of training the mind to such habits are always within 
 reach, and available to an unlimited extent ; and not, as is often 
 the case with respect to physical objects, adapted to elicit some- 
 what similar exertions, obtained with difficulty, and therefore, 
 perhaps, only heard of, and not seen. 
 
 But the attention of the pupil, at times necessarily occupied 
 with the accidents or inflections the characteristic point of 
 difference between his own and the Latin language is at others 
 directed especially to what we may call the being of each word, 
 the idea which it is intended to convey or suggest. And now 
 these words, lately treated as simply material, inanimate, and 
 dead anatomical " subjects " are to be considered as invested 
 with a kind of physiological interest, and as exhibiting phe- 
 nomena of life whose nature it becomes important to study. Our 
 pupil's interest in them, viewed under this aspect, cannot but be 
 much augmented. Words are now no longer things merely, but 
 significant symbols of ideas. These little organisms, in one 
 sense mere torpid aggregations of matter, are in another, when 
 placed in juxtaposition with words of our language, or when 
 viewed in connection with cognates of their own, capable of 
 affording vivid illustrations of the methods and artifices by which 
 languages are formed. Hence arise exercises in derivation * or 
 tracing of words up to their roots, and in analysis, or breaking up 
 the compounds into their several components. These exercises 
 in derivation cultivate moreover, when properly carried out, the 
 habit of deducing the secondary and figurative senses of words
 
 266 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 from the primar}' and literal. Such an exercise leads the pupil 
 beyond the boundaries of mere language. In pursuing it, he 
 learns to study the mode in which the earl}- stages of society 
 formed their conceptions, and to notice how, as civilization 
 advanced, the language too bore evidence of the change. Thus 
 the word gubernare primarily means to pilot a vessel ; secondarily, 
 to direct the vessel of the state, to govern.* 
 
 But words, in themselves vital organisms, though frequently the 
 life is rather latent than visible, are also to be considered in their 
 combination in sentences. Their vitality now becomes intensified. 
 The original author, speaking to men of his own nation, and 
 aptly employing the resources of his craft, had by a kind of intel- 
 lectual magnetism converted the neutral and indifferent into the 
 active and significant, and constrained all to co-operate in effecting 
 his great purpose of speaking out to other minds. And there 
 before the eyes of our pupil is the result. But it does not speak 
 out to him. That sentence, beginning with a capital and ending 
 with a full stop, is a body with a soul in it, with which he has to 
 communicate. But how to do this ? His eye passes over it. It 
 looks unattractive, dark, and cold. Soon, however, something is 
 seen in the words or their inflections, which he recognizes, by a 
 kind of momentary flash as significant. The soul within begins 
 to speak to him ; and he catches some faint conception of what it 
 would reveal. As he still gives heed, other points show symptoms 
 of life, and the lately brute and torpid mass becomes vocal and 
 articulate. One after another the words kindle into expression ; 
 clause after clause is disentangled from its connection with the 
 main body of the sentence, and appreciated both separately and 
 in combination, until at length a thrill of intelligence pervades 
 the whole, and the passage, before dark, inanimate, and unmean- 
 ing, becomes instinct with light and life. 
 
 By these and similar processes, which it is needless to specify, 
 the pupil learns to apprehend his author's meaning, though 
 perhaps at first only obscurely. The next stage in his training is 
 to find words and phrases in his native tongue suited to express it. 
 To do this adequately, he must not only ascertain the meaning of 
 each term, but conceive fully and correctly all the propositions 
 
 * This sort of Investigation often opens a very interesting field of inquiry. Thus the word 
 virtu*, In different stages of the Roman history, meant successively, active physical courage 
 or manhood, and active moral courage, or virtue; while later, in Rome's comparatively 
 degenerate days, virtu signified a taste for the fine arts! a pregnant commentary on the 
 character of the people. That people, however, it may bo remarked, has already begun to 
 restore the original meaning of the word.
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 267 
 
 that constitute a complete sentence, in their natural connection and 
 interdependence ; he must observe the bearing of the previous 
 sentences on the one under consideration, and the ultimate point to 
 which all are tending. Now, in order to convey perfectly to others 
 the meaning, which he has himself laboriously acquired, he must 
 not only have made an exact logical analysis of the sentence, so 
 as to see what he has to say, but must exercise his judgment and 
 taste (not to say knowledge) on the choice of words and phrases 
 which will best answer the purpose, and truly represent the clear- 
 ness, energy, or eloquence of the author. To do this faultlessly 
 requires of course the matured judgment and refined taste of the 
 accomplished scholar ; but the very effort involved in the attempt 
 to grasp the spirit of the author, to rise to the elevation of his 
 thoughts, and to gain the sympathy of others for them by an 
 adequate and worthy representation of them in his native language, 
 cannot but elevate his own mental stature. " We strive to ascend, 
 and we ascend in our striving." 
 
 The advantages of such a course as I have now sketched must 
 be acknowledged to be very great, although only the language is as 
 yet under consideration. But there are two or three other points 
 that must not be omitted. The first of these is the value of the 
 strict grammatical analysis required. The process of eliciting 
 light out of darkness, before described, can only be accomplished 
 by one who is armed with grammatical power. Without this, the 
 efforts made to communicate with the soul of the author must be 
 feeble and ineffectual. It is one of the special objects of the course 
 I am advocating, to cultivate this faculty, because in doing so we 
 are in fact cultivating to a high degree the reasoning powers of the 
 pupil. The construction of words in a sentence does not depend 
 upon arbitrary laws, but upon right reason, upon the exact 
 correspondence between expression and thought, and therefore 
 "good grammar," as has been well observed, "is neither more 
 nor less than good sense."* 
 
 A wise teacher one who wishes to quicken, and is anxious not 
 to deaden, his pupil's mind will not, of course, force upon him 
 
 * Aa the analysis of sentences is now become a regular part of tin- study of English in all 
 good schools, I would strongly recommend its also being made ancillary in the study of Latin. 
 Lessons on the essential elements of u sentence, on "subject "and "predicate," and on the 
 predicative, attributive, and other relations (such as may be found admirably displayed In 
 Mason's English Grammar), should form the basis of the teaching of Latin, as they do of 
 English, syntax. Their application to Caesar, Cicero, or Virgil, would be not only most 
 valuable in itself as mental training;, but would greatly lessen the difficulties full by a boy hi 
 dealing with complicated construction* which arc new to him.
 
 268 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 those indigestible boluses, the technical rules and definitions of 
 syntax, before training him to observe the facts on which the rules 
 are founded ; but will accustom him to the habit of reasoning only 
 in the presence of facts, which is so valuable at all times. The 
 habit of reasoning on the construction, the syntax of one language, 
 is, of course, generally applicable to others ; and its practice in 
 connection with Latin tends by an amount of experience which 
 countervails all theory, to prepare the pupil for learning his own 
 language thoroughly. 
 
 In addition to the grammatical advantage just named, there are 
 two others I would mention which prove that learning Latin is a 
 good preparation for the better knowledge of the mother tongue, 
 the one is, that as so large a part of the vocabulary of the English 
 language is derived from the Latin, either directly, or indirectly 
 through the French, no accurate study of the former can be accom- 
 plished without a fundamental knowledge of Latin. According to 
 Archbishop Trench, thirty per cent of the vocabulary actually used 
 by our authors is derived from the Latin ; and the proportion is 
 still greater, if we analyze the columns of our English dictionary, 
 where the words are what is called " at rest." Indeed, to so great 
 a degree have we admitted these aliens into our language, that we 
 have learnt to attach Latin prefixes and suffixes to pure English 
 roots, so as to form new and hybrid compounds. But further, 
 and this point is less obvious than that just adduced, as almost all 
 our greatest authors were trained in the classical school, both their 
 vocabulary and phraseology, their language and their thoughts, 
 bear a characteristic stamp upon them which can only be fully 
 appreciated by those who have undergone a similar training. It is 
 not too much to say that many exquisite graces, both of thought 
 and expression, in the works of Bacon, Milton, Sir T. Brown, 
 Jeremy Taylor, Sir W. Temple, Gray, Young, Cowper, and others, 
 must elude the notice and so far fail in their object of a reader 
 not qualified to meet the authors as it were on their own ground.* 
 And may I add that, as far as my own observation goes, by far the 
 most enthusiastic lovers of our own language and literature are the 
 votaries of classical learning. They love more because they can 
 appreciate better. 
 
 * Examples are numberless : just three or four occur at this moment. Take Milton 
 " Satan exalted sat, by merit raised 
 
 To that bad eminence." Par. Lost, 11., 5.) 
 "The undaunted fiend what this might be admired; 
 Admired, not feared.' (Pur. Lost, 11., 67T.)
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 269 
 
 But it will be thought that I have sufficiently pleaded the cause 
 of Latin as far as the Language is concerned. I must, therefore, 
 devote a few words to its literature. In a course such as I have 
 proposed, and which I would commence at 12, with the idea of 
 carrying it on up to the age of 1C, and employing in it half the 
 hours of every school day, and which would comprehend, besides 
 the study of the language, such cultivation of geography, history, 
 archaeology, &c., as would be required for the elucidation of the 
 text, and also the parallel study of English literature, we could not 
 hope to read many authors. Indeed, faithful to the principle, 
 multum non multa, I would not even attempt it. A selection of the 
 best might be made, to be studied on the principle that they were 
 to be actually known, not merely " gone through,"* by means of 
 which not only would the pupil profit by the invigorating discipline 
 I have described, but be subjected to the enlarging and refining 
 influence which would place him in communion with some of the 
 master spirits of antiquity, and therefore give him an introduction 
 to those great authors of all modern times whose labors have 
 tended to form the civilization of Europe. In no other way can he 
 so well be introduced to the commonwealth of letters, and be made 
 free to avail himself of its privileges. The fact that these finished 
 works of literary art still survive amongst us, as real substantial 
 powers whose influence cannot be gainsaid, is a wondrous proof of 
 their merit as models of composition. They present us with his- 
 tories which still enlighten and instruct men in the art of govern- 
 ment, with oratory which still speaks in trumpet tones to the 
 human heart, with poetry still " musical as is Apollo's lute ; " in 
 short, with matter which, however now disparaged, has served in 
 successive ages both to furnish men with thoughts, and to teach 
 them how to think ; so that in truth, though styled doad, the}' are, 
 in the highest sense, ever living ; having (to use Hobbes' eloquent 
 expression) " put off flesh and blood, and put on immortality." 
 
 But I must pass in review a few of the objections commonly 
 taken against the positions I have maintained in this paper. 
 
 "That wise and civil Roman, Julius Agrioola." (Areopagitica.) 
 
 " Padness docs, in some CARPS, become a Christian, as being an index of a pious mind, of 
 compassion, and a wise, proper resentment of things." (Jtrfmy Taylor.) 
 " Prevent us, O Lord, with thy most gracious favor." (Book of Common Prayer ) 
 
 "This proud man affects Imperial sway." (Dryden.) 
 
 It is obvious that a more English scholar, uneducated in classics, would not of himself, 
 see the exact meaning of the words in italics. 
 * See Appendix D.
 
 270 THE CUK1UCULUM OF MODEKN EDUCATION. 
 
 1st. Some object to the very principle of a central or funda- 
 mental study, and denounce it as a fundamental fallacy. Since it 
 is admitted, they say, that it is not so much the subject as the 
 manner of learning it that constitutes the discipline, one subject 13 
 as good as another ; and as it is a matter of great importance to 
 interest the pupil, we had better adopt subjects pro re nata, which 
 seem likely to accomplish that object, without respect to their rank 
 in the circle of knowledge. We may thus secure the object in view 
 without the difficulty, perplexity, hard work, and sometimes even 
 tears, which are attendant on a stricter discipline, and which often 
 set the pupil against learning altogether. To refute this objection, 
 I should have to repeat much of my previous argument, in which 
 you will remember I contended for the upholding of one subject, or 
 at least very few subjects, on the principle that while, with regard 
 to some, we may be contented with a general knowledge, there 
 should be one at least which should be learned as well as possible, 
 and serve as a sort of standard of comparison. I accept, however, 
 these objections as valid, on condition that those who uphold them 
 will promise that their pupils shall not shirk the drudgery, the 
 drill, which must be undergone in the learning of any subject 
 whatever, and which often constitutes the most valuable part of 
 the process j that in teaching music they will strictly require the 
 "practice" and also the "grammar of music:" in teaching 
 languages, perfect grammatical analysis ; in teaching science, 
 rigidly close attention to details, however irksome, and to every 
 step of the reasoning properly deduced from them. If the ob- 
 jectors accept this test, they surrender the position that the study 
 is to be accommodated to the pupil, and therefore tacitly allow the 
 principle of a training subject ; if they do not, they are driven 
 back upon the Chrestomathic curriculum, and the idea of real 
 education, as I understand the term, is given up. 
 
 2d. It is maintained that if a leading subject is desirable, 
 modern languages, or our own, would more usefully occupy that 
 position. 
 
 First, with regard to the modern languages. Their eminent 
 claims to a high place in our curriculum are at once admitted. 
 They have a great practical value as languages : and their litera- 
 tures are brilliant and attractive, and fraught with modern interest. 
 Both French and German, too, have affinities with English, the 
 one as being a daughter of that paternal stock from which we 
 derive so much, and the other, as belonging to the great Teutonic 
 family of languages, of which ours is also a member. Then, in
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 271 
 
 consequence of the increasing intercourse between nations, they 
 are becoming every day more and more useful ; and lastly, involving 
 as they do many of the advantages claimed for Latin, they are 
 much more easily and rapidly acquired. These are valid reasons 
 for admission into the curriculum, but not for taking the leading 
 place in it. As to French, so many of its words resemble our 
 own, and its construction is apparently so simple and transparent, 
 that a pupil is tempted to guess or scramble at the meaning, 
 rather than carefully approach it by thoughtful consideration, as 
 he must do in Latin. Without dwelling on this as an evil in 
 itself, I must insist on it as a great disadvantage in a training 
 subject. A certain amount of resistance, enough to encourage 
 effort, and not enough to intimidate, is an advantage rather than 
 otherwise to the pupil. It serves to detain him awhile in face of 
 the difficulty, and gives him the opportunity of estimating both it 
 and the resources with which past experience has furnished him 
 for its solution, and thus trains the mind to encounter success- 
 fully other difficulties. On the other hand, as we avowedly learn 
 French and German more for practical than literary purposes, 
 more as means than ends, the less resistance we meet with, the 
 more rapid the acquisition, the better. The training subject is, 
 however, in a certain sense, the end itself ; and losing time in 
 acquiring it may be an ultimate gain. The same general remarks 
 apply, though less strictly, to German, which I have recommended 
 as a substitute for Greek. 
 
 Secondly, as to the claims of English to occupy the leading 
 place. The main objection to this claim, as far as the language 
 itself if concerned, is that we are, as is sometimes said of a 
 material object, too near to see it. We must stand at some dis- 
 tance from it, in order to comprehend its form and features or, which 
 is often easier, study the form and features of something else of the 
 same kind, and then apply the knowledge thus gained to the case 
 in point. Those who ask us to study the general principles of 
 grammar by the acknowledgment of all so valuable, in our own 
 language first, pretend that they are substituting the easy for the 
 difficult ; but it is not so. The real difficulty is to abstract the 
 clear and transparent medium in which our ideas circulate, and to 
 view it by itself. So with the study of human nature ; obvious as 
 it seems to look at home, to know ourselves, to watch the opera- 
 tions of our own hearts and minds, yet general experience admits 
 that it is far easier to gather its principles from observing the 
 actions of other men projected, as it were, before our view, and
 
 272 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 favorably adapted for our examination. Our own language, then, 
 is to be the object, rather than the means, of our pupil's training. 
 Throughout his entire course his training in another language is 
 preparing him most effectually to learn his own, and the practical 
 application of the disciplinary power should keep pace with its 
 attainment. 
 
 Another objection against the spirit of the method I would 
 recommend has been taken, and may be deserving of a brief treat- 
 ment. It is said that much of what I have described is simply 
 "drill," and that it is absurd to spend a great amount of labor 
 on mental gymnastics, merely for the sake of the discipline, while 
 by taking up a more suitable subject, we may get both discipline 
 and knowledge together. Why, says the objector, make a post- 
 man, who has to walk about all day, go through a preliminary 
 drill every morning, since he gets his exercise in his work ? * 
 And the argument seems to be, that exercise for the direct purpose 
 of developing power, which may be developed by ordinary action, 
 is undesirable. Without attempting a full reply to this objection, 
 I would however suggest, in the first place, that if logically carried 
 out, it would abolish education altogether. If the ordinary spon- 
 taneous action is sufficient, teaching is tyrann}-, for it implies that 
 the pupil must be constrained. Why not allow the child to wander 
 about and play from morning to night, " at his own sweet will'? " 
 His senses and his thoughts will be employed in some way or 
 another, and practice will make perfect. No teacher, however, 
 adopts such principles as these, nor are they worthy of serious 
 refutation. Secondly, I would remark that the practice of all 
 professed trainers, whether of men or animals, refutes the objec- 
 tion. In order to make a soldier, it is generally thought well to 
 keep him on the parade ground a long time, doing goose or other 
 steps, which he is not to use at all after the training is over. So 
 it is with music, dancing, riding, rowing, and other accomplish- 
 ments, in which the training exercises are the essence of the 
 teaching. The teachers of these arts consider practice so valuable, 
 so indispensable, as a means to the end they have in view, the 
 attainment of complete command over them, that they recommend 
 constant repetition of the same exercise until it is thoroughly 
 mastered, rather than rapid advancement to the next stage of 
 knowledge ; so that for a while to the horror of the objectors just 
 quoted they treat the means as if they were the end. The usual 
 
 * See Atkinson's pamphlet, before quoted, p. 33.
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 273 
 
 success of this policy may perhaps bo allowed to pass as an argument 
 for its continuance. This view, of course, does not satisfy those who 
 think that everything should be made pleasant to a child that 
 he should have no experience of difficulty, or trial, or ennui.* 
 Such is not, however, the spirit of the old system. We consider 
 that the man who has not encountered and overcome difficulties is 
 only half a man. Nor would we be so little friendly to the child 
 as to remove them all from his path, and leave him unwarned and 
 unprepared for those which he must meet with in his journey through 
 life. If the result of the training be that the pupil comes forth 
 from it firm in mind and limb, robust and well developed, in per- 
 fect health and capable of enduring fatigue, we may be well 
 contented with these as the results of the process he has gone 
 through. 
 
 And now, before closing my paper, I would make a few remarks 
 on the pretensions of science to supersede for that is what some 
 reformers aim at the classical training of our schools. I have 
 shown 1113' appreciation of the great value of science, not only in 
 itself, but as a means of education ; but I confess that I have not, 
 never having been enlightened on this point, a clear idea of the 
 manner in which it is to be taught, so as to be a real mental 
 discipline in schools. Those gentlemen one of whom we proudly 
 include in the governing body of our College who a few years 
 ago, at the Royal Institution, pleaded so eloquently the claims of 
 chemistry, f physics, philology, physiology, and economic science, 
 to be adopted in the curriculum as branches of education for all 
 classes, meant of course that all these subjects were to be intro- 
 duced. Even lately, two gentlemen, every way competent to speak 
 upon the subject, have urged in this room the claims of botany and 
 zoology as branches of education for all classes. We have, then 
 breaking up Professor Tyndall's "physics" into mechanics, 
 hydrostatics, optics, pneumatics, sound, heat, &c., some fifteen or 
 twenty subjects claiming admission into the school curriculum. I 
 again ask, how arc they to be taught? Each of these accomplished 
 
 * This too l8 one of the notions of Mr. Spencer. Everything In to be made eiuy and 
 delightful. He forgets that this Is not really consistent with his own Idea of education iu> ft 
 preparalion for life. A practical teacher would roinind him of the established dictum, <>n n 
 n'instruit pas en s'amusant. Every study Is, Indeed, to be rendered interf*ting to the pupil. 
 The work of the teacher fails If he does not accomplish this. The apt teacher, however, sue- 
 ceeds, not by amusing his pupil, but by sympathizing with him and thus Dining hi 
 dcnce by understanding and entering Into his difficulties by encouraging him w 
 or look, when he is puzzled, never Intruding help when It is not needed, never with 
 it when it Is. 
 
 t The lectures were d.-llvered by Drs. \Vhewell, Faraday, Latham, Daubeny, and I 
 and Messrs. Tyndall and Paget.
 
 274 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 men of course considers his own special subject as worthy of every 
 attention, and would not be satisfied with the communication of a 
 mere smattering of it as representing his idea of its value. "Would 
 any one of them be contented to hand over his subject to either 
 Mr. Bentham or Mr. Spencer to teach? Certainly not. They 
 would all wish the subjects which they know so well, which they 
 appreciate so highly, and on which they have expended so much 
 thought and labor themselves, to be thoroughly taught to be- 
 come a real possession of the pupil. But how is this to be done ? 
 That is the question, the satisfactory solution of which will do 
 more to advance the claims of science to admission into the curri- 
 culum than all the arguments that have hitherto been adduced. 
 We hear the pleadings in favor of each fair claimant for our re- 
 gard, as she appears before us, we admire her charms, we 
 admire all the charmers, but we cannot marry them all ; we 
 cannot take them all for better, for worse, to have and to hold, &c. 
 What, then, are we to do? We not only admit, but claim, the 
 aid of science in education. That general enlightenment that apt 
 handling of business "faculty," as some people call it; that 
 appreciation of cause and effec-t ; that comprehension of details 
 under general laws ; these, which are the proper fruits of scientific 
 culture, would form the best corrective of Literature, would 
 simplify and give a definite aim to her somewhat vague, though 
 noble, aspirations. But the question returns, How is science to be 
 taught? It will not be pretended that the scientific mind is formed 
 by a lecture once a week on electricity or chemistry, as the case 
 may be, nor by the occasional cramming of a text-book on the 
 subject. The advocates of science mean something far transcend- 
 ing this, or they mean just notlu'ug. But I am compelled to say 
 that their utterances on the practical part of the subject are 
 singularly vague and unsatisfactory. " Teach science," they say ; 
 but then Professor Huxley does not mean, teach Pneumatics, he 
 means, teach Physiology. Professor Tyndall means by these words, 
 Physics, and not Botany, and so on. Each thinks, and naturally 
 enough, that his own special subject is the one to be taught, and 
 therefore the general recommendation involves the teaching of 
 them all, and we come back to the Chrestomathic idea which, 
 presented pur el simple to these authorities in science, would be 
 indignantly rejected. I have read with much interest the evidence 
 given before the late Commission on Public Schools, by those 
 eminent men, Carpenter, Lyell, Faraday, Hooker, Owen, Airey, 
 and Acland. Whatever such men say must, of course, be interest-
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 275 
 
 ing ; but I confess that the impression left on my mind was not 
 that of profound admiration for their practical " faculty." Their 
 remarks and suggestions very valuable, no doubt, as "hints" 
 
 leave the real difficulties of teaching science in schools un- 
 touched ; and indeed will be found so various and inconsistent as 
 frequently to neutralize one another. With very few exceptions, 
 these eminent men scarcely seem to have perceived, or at least 
 appreciated, the fundamental principle, that teaching science does 
 not mean teaching electricity, or optics, or chemistry, or geolog}-, 
 but training the mind to scientific method; and that if all the 
 "ologies," from A to Z, are to have a chance of occupying the 
 field, a general m&Ue will be the result, which will effectually 
 frustrate the object. In that case, all the sciences might be taught 
 
 if that is the word for it but science would not be learned. 
 Dr. Aclaud's evidence is, however, very much to the point. He 
 had clearly given thought to the subject, and handled it like a 
 man of business. He recommended that Physics, Chemistry, and 
 PLysiology should be required of all educated men, and that the 
 two former should be learnt at school. When reminded, however, 
 that the Matriculation Examination of the London University 
 comprised these and other cognate subjects, he gave an opinion, 
 in which I confess I agree, upon the value of such scientific teach- 
 ing as that examination pre-supposcs. It is so much to the point 
 that I will quote it : "I may say, generally, that I should value 
 all knowledge of these physical sciences very little indeed unless 
 it was otherwise than book-work. If it is merely a question of 
 getting up certain books, and being able to answer certain book- 
 questions, that is merely an exercise of the memory of a very 
 useless kind. The great object, though not the sole object, of 
 the training should be to get the boys to observe and understand 
 the action of matter in some department or another, and though I 
 am perfectly aware that what is called practical knowledge, if 
 merely manipulatory, on any subject whatever, is a humble thing 
 enough ; yet, on the other hand, I must say that the utmost 
 amount of knowledge on these subjects, without that practical and 
 experimental knowledge, is to most persons nearly as useless. 
 You want the combination of the two ; and for youths, I value 
 very little the mere acquisition of a quantity of book-facts on these 
 subjects. I want them to see and know the things, and in that 
 way they will evoke many qualities of the mind which the study 
 of these subjects is intended to develop." Thus speaks the true 
 teacher and votary of science. His anxiety is to form the scien-
 
 276 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 tific mind, not merely to communicate information on science. 
 From a great part of the evidence of the men whose names I just 
 quoted you can only gather a commentary, by " eminent hands " 
 certainly, on the text, "That the soul be without knowledge, it is 
 not good;" which though not a Solomon myself I would 
 supplement by adding, " That the soul attempt to grasp all knowl- 
 edge, is not wise." 
 
 Dr. Aclaud, it will be observed, recommends that chemistry be 
 adopted as a general study ; and from some little opportunity I 
 have had of seeing that this subject may, to a certain extent, be 
 adopted into the school course, I should have thought it a wise 
 suggestion. But observe what a practical teacher of chemistry on 
 a large scale, Dr. Volcker, of the Cirencester Agricultural College, 
 says on this point : 
 
 "As an educational means, "he says, in a letter published by Mr. T. Dyke 
 Acland, in a document prepared by the latter for the Commission, 
 " chemistry is not to be compared with other means of training the mind. 
 . . . The direct benefit resulting from the teaching of analytical chem- 
 istry in schools is nil. ... I grant that two or three boys out of fifty 
 may be benefited by practical instruction in experimental and analytical 
 chemistry ; but am also bound to add, that the rest only waste the time 
 which may be more usefully employed. This is the result, not only of my 
 own personal experience, but also that of many of my scientific friends in 
 this country, at least of those who love science and desire its prosperity. 
 Moreover, I would direct your attention to the fact, that the attempt has 
 been made in Germany, on a large scale, to teach chemistry practically 
 in schools for lads under sixteen years of age, and has proved so complete 
 a failure, that it has been all but universally abandoned in my native 
 country." 
 
 It appears, then, that there are difficulties in the way of teach- 
 ing science, even where the subject is well chosen, the field com- 
 paratively limited, and the means and appliances amply provided. 
 Dr. Volcker' s cold and dry experience does not perfectly accord 
 with Mr. Spencer's enthusiastic theory, and does not go to prove 
 that children eagerly hunger after scientific knowledge as they do 
 after their daily food. Of course it is easy to throw the blame of 
 failure on the teacher ; but Dr. Volcker's words are too definite, and 
 apply to too large an area to admit of this. Still, there can be no 
 manner of doubt that science is immensely attractive ; that it is 
 favored by the spirit of the age ; and that it will and ought to be 
 extensively taught in schools. But its educational advocates have, 
 as yet, no practical plan involving good scientific discipline, and no 
 well digested results, to show. Their voice will be powerful enough
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 277 
 
 when they have, ami will command the attention of all. As the 
 case now stands, we have practice on the one side, and theory on 
 the other. An amount of experience which no one can effectually 
 gainsay attests the value of the Classical training ; while an 
 amount of theoretical plausibility, which no sane man can affect to 
 despise, supports the claims of science to a trial. Why should 
 there not be a compromise ? Intellectual education is strictly the 
 training of all the mental faculties in the best way. Science 
 teaches better, that is, more directly and thoroughly, than any 
 other study, how to observe, how to arrange and classify, how to 
 connect causes with effects, how to estimate the practical value of 
 facts. Why not adopt it then as the proper complement of the 
 literai*y element? Let botany be taught quite early in life, in 
 the first stage of instruction, together with such parts of physics 
 as give general views of science, and interest the mind in it. In 
 the second stage, let some one or two branches of physics be taken 
 as the basis of a sound training in science, with a view to the 
 formation of the really scientific mind.* The classical course 
 would thrive the better for the collateral study of science, and the 
 scientific would thrive the better for the classical. Why should 
 not both work harmoniously together in the curriculum? 
 
 The principle appears to be sound in general, that the spirit of 
 the age should be represented in the education of our schools ; 
 this is the reforming element of the question. At the same time 
 it seems equally reasonable that we should not forego our hold on 
 that mighty past of which the present is the legitimate offspring ; 
 
 and this is the conservative element. It is well for the son, 
 when prepared for the world of life, to leave his father's home 
 and create one for himself. It is not well that he should do so 
 too early, before he is prepared. Physical science may become 
 
 probably is destined to become the organic representative of 
 the civilization of the age. At present it cannot be so considered ; 
 and its claims, therefore, to take the lead in the curriculum of edu- 
 cation are inadmissible. While it is laboring to attain that posi- 
 tion, I would advise its votaries to aid those of classical instruction 
 in securing the great advantages of the training I have recom- 
 mended. The minds so prepared would lie the fittest of all for 
 sharing in the researches of science, and promoting its triumphs. 
 
 * Bee appendix, E.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. (See page 247.) 
 
 In a very interesting address of Lord Ashburton's, at the Meeting of 
 Schoolmasters in Manchester, in 1853, we find the following remarkable 
 words : "In this progressive country we neglect all that knowledge in 
 which there is progress, to devote ourselves to those branches in which we 
 are scarcely, if at all, superior to our ancestors. In this practical country, 
 the knowledge of all that gives power over nature is left to be picked up by 
 chance on a man's way through life. In this religious country, the knowl- 
 edge of God's works forms no part of the education of the people, no part 
 even of the accomplishments of a gentleman." It appears from this pas- 
 sage that Lord Ashburton does, after all, consider this to be a progressive, 
 practical, and religious country, though nothing would seem to be done to 
 make it so. The work goes on, and bravely too, in spite of the assumed 
 general low level of attainments, and the indifference with regard to prog- 
 ress. Lord Achburton does not see that there is, in fact, no ' ' common 
 measure " between the progress of a nation and that of an individual. 
 The time may come when the progress of knowledge and the practical 
 applications of it may be tenfold what they now are. But we shall still 
 have to consider the average capacity of the race as a " constant quantity," 
 and frame our curriculum accordingly. The progress in question arises 
 from the impulses generated in the minds of those who, being endowed 
 beyond their fellows, stand forth as their leaders to the promised land ; but 
 the common mass have to begin at the beginning still in their instruction, 
 just as if none had gone before them. 
 
 B. (See page 258.) 
 
 The following valuable remarks on the cultivation of the observing powers 
 are from an " Introductory Lecture" on the Educational Uses of Museums, 
 by the late Professor Edward Forbes, 1865 : 
 
 " The great defect of our systems of education is the neglect of the edu- 
 cating of the observing powers a very distinct matter, be it noted, from 
 scientific or industrial instruction. It is necessary to say this, since the 
 confounding of the two is evident in many of the documents that have been 
 published of late on these very important subjects. Many persons seem to 
 fancy that the elements that should constitute a sound and manly educa- 
 tion are antagonistic ; that the cultivation of taste through purely literary 
 studies, and of reasoning through logic and mathematics, one or both, is 
 opposed to the training in the equally important matter of observation 
 through those sciences that are descriptive and experimental. Surely this 
 is an error. Partisanship of the one or other method, or rather depart- 
 ment, of mental training, to the exclusion of the rest, is a narrow-minded 
 and cramping view, from whatsoever point it be taken. Equal develop-
 
 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 279 
 
 ment and strengthening of all are required for the constitution of the com- 
 plete mind ; and it is full time that we should begin to do now what we 
 ought to have done long ago." 
 
 C. (See page 263.) 
 
 "The purpose of Milton, as it seems, was to teach something more solid 
 than the common literature of schools, by reading those authors that treat 
 of physical subjects, such as the georgic (i. e. agricultural) and astronomi- 
 cal treatises of the ancients. This was a scheme of improvement which 
 seems to have busied many literary projectors of that age. Cowley, who 
 had more means than Milton of knowing what was wanting in the embellish- 
 ments of life, formed the same plan of education in his imaginary college. 
 
 " But the truth is, that the knowledge of external nature, and the sciences 
 which that knowledge requires or includes, are not the great or the fre- 
 quent business of the human mind. Whether we provide for action or 
 conversation, whether we wish to be useful or pleasing, the first requisite 
 is the religious and moral knowledge of right and wrong ; the next is an 
 acquaintance with the history of mankind, and with those examples which 
 may be said to embody truth and prove by events the reasonableness of 
 opinions. Prudence and justice are virtues and excellencies of all times 
 and of all places ; we are perpetually moralists, but we are geometricians 
 only by chance. Our intercourse with intellectural nature is necessary; 
 our speculations upon matter are voluntary and at leisure. Physiological 
 (physical?) learning is of such rare emergence that a man may know 
 another half his life without being able to estimate his skill in hydrostatics 
 or astronomy : but his moral and prudential character immediately appears. 
 Those authors, therefore, are to be read at schools that supply most 
 maxims of prudence, most principles of moral truth, and most materials 
 for conversation ; and these purposes are best served by poets, orators and 
 historians." (Johnson's "Lives of Poets," vol. i., p. 92.) 
 
 D. (See page 267.) 
 
 Merely as a suggestion, the following scheme for the study of Latin may 
 be proposed : 
 
 1. Dr. W. Smith's Principia Latina, Parts I. and IL 
 
 2. Ceesar De Bello Gallico. 
 
 3. Virgil Eclogro, books 1, 3, 4, and 5. 
 
 Georgica, books 1 and 2. 
 JEneis, books 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12. 
 
 4. Cicero Oratio pro Milone. 
 
 Onitiones in Catilinom. 
 De Amicitia. 
 6. Livy, books 1 and 21. 
 
 6. Terence Andria. 
 
 7. Tacitus Agricola. 
 
 Annales. books 1 and 2. 
 1. Horace Odee, Epistolse, and Are Poetica. 
 
 This matter should be thoroughly studied in the spirit of the method 
 described in the text (pp. 262-268),and would require therefore to be gone
 
 280 THE CURRICULUM OF MODERN EDUCATION. 
 
 over, parts of it at least the Caesar and Virgil three times : first very 
 slowly, weighing and investigating nearly every word ; the second time 
 less deliberately, improving the translation and enlarging the illustration ; 
 and the third time rapidly and in good English, so as to evince familiarity 
 with both language and matter. The passages from Virgil and Horace 
 should be committed to memory. 
 
 E. (See page 277.) 
 Subjoined is a scheme of an amended curriculum : 
 
 FIKST STAGE OF INSTRUCTION; 
 
 (From about eighth twelve years of age.) 
 
 First Division (about two years). 
 
 1. Beading, Spelling, and "Writing. 
 
 2. History, Scriptural and English. 
 
 3. Geography, Topographical and Physical. 
 
 4. French, Elementary Speaking and Beading. 
 
 5. Lessons on Objects. 
 
 6. Lessons on "Words. 
 
 7. Arithmetic, chiefly mental. 
 
 Second Division (about two years). 
 Same subjects as far as may be necessary, with - 
 
 1. Arithmetic, as an art generally. 
 
 2. Botany, Structural and Systematic. 
 
 3. Elementary Physics, general facts and phenomena. 
 
 4. English Grammar, Parsing and Analysis of Sentences. 
 
 SECOND STAGE OP INSTRUCTION. 
 (From about twelve to sixteen years of age.) 
 
 First Division (about two years.) 
 
 Proportion of 
 time, taking 
 40 hours pur 
 
 week for 
 school-work. 
 
 1. Latin, taught as a training subject 20 
 
 2. French and German, practical mainly 5 
 
 3. Mathematics, especially Euclid 5 
 
 4. Physics, taught as a training subject 5 
 
 6. English Language and Literature 5 
 
 Second Division (about two years). 
 
 1. Latin (time diminished) 10 
 
 2. French and German (time increased for more composi- 
 
 tion) 10 
 
 3. Mathematics analytical, with practical applications 5 
 
 4. Chemistry or Human Physiology 10 
 
 5. English Language and Literature 5 
 
 Of course "Latin "and " English " both include the subjects such as 
 geography, history, archaeology which may be necessary for their illus- 
 tration.
 
 ON THE 
 
 IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 IMPROVING OUR ORDINARY METHODS OF 
 SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 A Paper read at a Sessional Meeting of the Social 
 Science Association.
 
 ON THE 
 
 IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY OF IMPROVING OUR 
 ORDINARY METHODS OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION.* 
 
 IT is a fair proposition that the value of a given system of 
 means, professedly adapted to secure a certain end, ought to be 
 judged of by the results obtained through its ordinary working. 
 These are, in fact, the test or measure of its efficiency ; and if either 
 in quantity or quality they fall greatly short of the calculated 
 estimate, we decide that the system of means the machinery in 
 question whatever may be its intrinsic theoretical value, is on the 
 whole, a failure. In speaking, however, of results of machinery, it 
 must be distinctly understood that we speak of average results, and 
 that the occurrence of extraordinary instances of success does not 
 affect the general conclusion. It is obviously possible that these 
 may be due to unusually favorable circumstances not contemplated 
 by the theory of the machine, and therefore not due to its ordinary 
 action. If, then, taking into account the entire working of any 
 machine, we find that it fails more frequently than it succeeds, we 
 have a right to say that the failures, not the successes, represent its 
 true character, and hence to conclude either that the theory on 
 which it is constructed is erroneous, and that it ought therefore to 
 fail ; or that being good in theory, it fails because it is unskilfully 
 worked. It is further possible that both these assumptions may be 
 true ; that the theory of construction may be erroneous, and the 
 practical working of it unskilful. 
 
 Applying this illustration to our educational machinery generally, 
 I fear it will be found that both allegations are well founded ; that 
 the theory which underlies the greater part of our practice is 
 unsound, and that the practice is, generally speaking, unskilful, 
 and therefore inefficient. 
 
 To discuss the theory of education generally is not my immediate 
 object. I have considered it at some length in a lecture on the 
 
 * Head Monday, June 3d, 1872.
 
 284 ON IMPROVING OUR METHODS 
 
 * Science of Education," delivered before the College of Pre- 
 ceptors, and to discuss it fully now would interfere with the 
 business before us. It is sufficient for my present purpose to 
 enunciate in general terms, that intellectual education the branch 
 of the subject which immediately concerns us appears to consist 
 in the development and training, by means of instruction, of the 
 active powers of the pupil's mind, with a view to the attainment 
 of knowledge and the formation of habits of thinking. If this 
 view of education is correct, it must, of course, be applicable 
 wherever the process of teaching is going on, and therefore to 
 every kind of instruction, and to every class of pupils. The man 
 who keeps these objects steadily in view, and systematically aims 
 at securing them, is a teacher in the proper sense of the term. 
 He, on the other hand, who, from ignorance of the nature of the 
 mind with which he is dealing, or from ignorance of the resonrces 
 of his art, so operates as to quench rather than quicken intelligence 
 a frequent result of teaching may bear the same conventional 
 name, but belongs to a different class from the other. Dr. Hodgson 
 tells us that at a meeting of this Association, some years ago, he 
 heard one of the school inspectors declare that at certain schools he 
 could tell pretty accurately by the pupils' faces how long they had 
 been at school. The longer the period, the more stupid, vjfcant, 
 and expressionless the face.* 
 
 Without, however, dwelling longer at present on theory, I shall 
 now endeavor to show, by facts, that the average results of our 
 instruction, whether in primary, middle-class, or public schools, 
 answer neither to the demands of the theory of education that I 
 have suggested, nor to those of any theory which is worth the 
 name (for all practice involves a theory of some kind), and that 
 they show conclusively the importance, and, indeed, the necessity 
 of some improvement in our ordinary methods of school in- 
 struction. 
 
 We notice, first, the results of primary instruction. It would 
 be absurd, in this case, to apply our theoretical definition of educa- 
 tion. It is not even conceived, as far as I can see, by the syllabus 
 of the Education Department, that the children of our primary 
 schools shall have their minds trained at all. Not a syllable 
 appears in the instruction to lead us to infer that teaching has any- 
 thing whatever to do with mind ; the word even does not occur 
 
 * " Exaggerated Estimates of Heading and Writing"; a Paper read at the Belfast meeting 
 of the Association, 1867.
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 285 
 
 What we do see is, that certain processes, which we may fitly call 
 " grindings," are to be gone through, and that the quantity rather 
 than the quality of the grist is to be periodically examined. All, 
 indeed, that is demanded by the actual theory if we may give it 
 such a name of primary instruction is that children (from the 
 age of six to ten), shall during the average term of four years of 
 instruction be qualified to pass the fourth standard of the Revised 
 or New Code; i. e., that they shall be able (I quote from the 
 authorized instructions), (1) to " read a few lines of poetry or 
 prose;" (2) "to write a sentence, slowly, dictated once by a 
 few words at a time, from a reading-book used in the first class 
 of the school;" (3) to work sums "in the compound rules 
 (common weights and measures) of arithmetic." This is all that 
 is really required by our petty and ignominious theory of primary 
 school instruction ; and taking the mimimum number of attend- 
 ances of children throughout the year at 200, and reckoning five 
 hours of school for each day, we find in the four years about 4000 
 hours of practice allowed for carrying it out. Now, let us look 
 at the results. According to the official Report of 186G-7, it 
 appears that at the examinations in 18G6, 264,231 above 10 chil- 
 dren were qualified by age and attendances to present themselves 
 for examination, but for want of qualification by advancement 
 only 161,773 were actually examined. Of these only 97,364 
 passed without failure above Standard III., which means, as the 
 official Report tells us, that only 97,364 children above ten years 
 of age passed the examination, instead of 264,231 who ought to 
 have passed; and, consequent!}', " that the difference, 63 per 
 cent, or nearly two thirds, marks children passing out of school 
 to work with less of elementary knowledge than Standard IV. 
 denotes." The reporters may well say, as they do with proper 
 official calmness, " the general results of the individual, examina- 
 tions under the Revised Code still continue to show too backward 
 a state of instruction." 
 
 Things were much the same, if not worse, in 1870 : the last year 
 reported on. The reporters still call attention in a marginal note, 
 to the "unsatisfactory results of examination." Not without 
 reason, as shown by the explanatory text, where we find these 
 noticeable words : If we confine our attention to the scholars 
 above ten years of age, it further appears that out of every 100 of 
 these elder scholars examined, only 64 per cent, passed without 
 failure, although 129,331, or 44 per cent of the number, were 
 examined in the three lower standards (which I interpret aa
 
 286 ON IMPROVING OUR METHODS 
 
 meaning that only 20 per cent instead of 37 per cent as in the 
 former Report, of the scholars above ten years of age passed 
 Standard III.), "while," the Report proceeds, " those who passed 
 without failure in the three higher standards were only 33 per 
 cent out of the 100." Surely these are very extraordinary pro- 
 ducts of the working of the prodigious machine called National 
 Education ; a machine evidently either so badly constructed or so 
 badly worked, that it fails more than twice where it succeeds once. 
 Is this the sort of engineering that we find in the manufactories of 
 Birmingham and Manchester? How long would the proprietors 
 or directors put up with a machine which so signally defeated all 
 their calculations ? 
 
 In the presence of so notable a failure, it behoves us to inquire 
 a little into the causes. The elements of the problem to be solved 
 are, (1) School houses ; (2) School apparatus ; (3) School time ; 
 (4) The average intelligence of the pupils ; (5) Methods of 
 teaching. Now, we may safely eliminate the first three elements ; 
 as standing on both sides of the equation ; nor will it be seriously 
 pretended that English children, as compared with those of 
 Switzerland and Saxony, for instance countries in which it is 
 rare to find a child, ten 3 T ears of age, that cannot read, write, and 
 cipher well are exceptionally stupid.* Observe these children 
 at their games and their amusements, at their school tricks and 
 subterfuges ; in their intercourse with each other. It is quite 
 impossible to question their general intelligence, or to suppose 
 them naturally incapable of acquiring, in 4000 hours of instruc- 
 tion, sufficient knowledge to pass the fourth standard. We are 
 then, it appears, shut up to the conclusion that it is to the fifth 
 element the method of teaching, the working of the machinery 
 
 that we must look for the cause of the default ; and for this 
 the masters themselves are proximately, and the Education 
 Department ultimately, responsible. In proposing this as the 
 solution of the problem before us, I shall, of course, raise up a 
 host of opponents. I shall be told that, as the large majority of 
 the teachers are certificated masters, they must be competent to 
 teach. The answer to this plea is, that they obviously do not do 
 what they are by theory competent to do ; and the question still 
 
 * Mr. Hop worth Dixon, In his " Swltzers " (p. 296), says " Director Max Wirth, of Bern, 
 assures me that no boy and no girl exists in this Confederation save an idiot here and there 
 
 who cannot read and write," and Mr. Mundella tells us that in Saxony he actually offered 
 a premium (which he was never called on to pay) for the production of a child above ten 
 years of agu who could not read, write, and cipher well.
 
 OP SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 287 
 
 remaining for solution is, if they are not responsible for the fail, 
 ure, who or what is? and we are confronted by the absurdity of an 
 effect without a cause. If this is really the condition of the question, 
 we are of course doomed to failure : and in that case it would perhaps 
 be more to the purpose, instead of bemoaning our hard fate, to yield 
 to it at once, and give up the farce of national education altogether. 
 The public revenue would be relieved of an immense and continually 
 increasing burden ; the army of teachers would be set free for 
 employment in some more congenial sphere of labor; and the 
 select baud of accomplished gentlemen (highly-tempered razors, 
 now occupied in the ignoble task of cutting blocks) who kindly do 
 the work of finding out our faults for the contemptible sum of 
 about 65,000 a year, would probably meet with engagements 
 better suited for the display of their exquisife attainments in 
 Classics and High Mathematics ; the children would exchange the 
 dull lessons of the school-room for those taught by Nature in the 
 open air and green fields and woodlands ; and the average results 
 of this change of plan (involving, at all events, a large general 
 increase of happiness), would probably not very considerably differ 
 if accurately estimated from those attained under our wonder- 
 ful system of so-called education. 
 
 Turning away, however, our eyes from this glimpse of Elysium 
 with a sigh, we come back to the hard reality of facts, and in their 
 bare presence I ask, what other department of human industry is 
 there in which the article manufactured so inadequately represents 
 the immense cost and labor employed in its production ? 
 
 I have referred incidentally to the inspectorship of our schools ; 
 but I wish to make a remark or two on this feature of our national 
 system a feature which strikingly brings out our how-not-to-do-it 
 official spirit. One would think that the proper qualifications for 
 an inspector of schools were, (1) A thoughtful study of education 
 itself what it is, what it might be expected to achieve; (2) A 
 thorough acquaintance with school work, gained by long and 
 successful experience, and involving, therefore, an eye practised to 
 appreciate the merits and to detect the faults of the external 
 machinery, as well as of the mode in which it is worked : and (3) 
 A knowledge of the best methods of teaching generally, as prac- 
 tised in other countries, as well as in our own, with a view to the 
 suggestion of improvements wherever needed in the schools actually 
 under inspection. These being appnrantly the proper qualifications 
 of an inspector of schools, with no little amazement, that not one 
 of them is looked upon as weighing a straw in the selection of our
 
 288 ON IMPROVING OUtt METHODS 
 
 school inspectors. They are all absolutely set aside, and count 
 for nothing as against the claims founded on the ability to write 
 Greek iambics and solve differential equations ! And hence we 
 have school inspectors who, up to the moment of their appoint- 
 ment, may never have even set foot in a primary school ; men 
 destitute therefore of educational experience, of all knowledge of 
 education, whether as a science or an art, and wanting, in short, 
 every essential qualification for the task they undertake. It is no 
 answer to this charge against the system, that some of them 
 speedily, to some extent, qualify themselves. There is no doubt 
 about that. I cannot, however, in justice to my own convictions, 
 dismiss this subject without contending earnestly that these posts 
 belong, of right, to the most intelligent, hard-working, experienced, 
 and successful of the primary schoolmasters themselves ; and that 
 these men are defrauded by the present system of the reward 
 justly due to their labors. What a stimulus would be given to the 
 entire body of primary schoolmasters if a career were thus open 
 to them ! \Vhy then is it not done ? Let the authorities at head- 
 quarters answer the question. I shall not attempt it. 
 
 Having suggested the unsuitability and inadequacy of the methods 
 of teaching employed in our primary schools, as the apparent cause 
 of the failure in the ultimate result, and fixed the responsibility on 
 the teachers themselves, we are bound to proceed forward in the 
 inquiry, and endeavor to ascertain the nature and quality of the 
 production " teacher," which is fabricated in the educational 
 manufactories called training colleges. These institutions cost the 
 country at the present moment about, 100,0002. per annum. They 
 are presided over and officered by men of high intelligence, large 
 attainments, and much zeal. The machinery, then, viewed in 
 relation to its professed object, is ample and sufficient. This can 
 hardly be doubted. It is in these institutions that the teacher is to 
 receive a true conception of the nature, aims, and ends of education, 
 to acquire that culture which will fit him to direct the culture of 
 others ; and, moreover, to ascertain and be practiced in those 
 methods of securing culture which have been proved by experience 
 to be the best. Such are the theoretical professions of a training 
 college. I have carefully looked over the schemes of the training 
 colleges, and I am bound to say that these professions form a 
 constituent part of the machinery set forth on paper. As. how- 
 ever, we are dealing not with paper theories, but with practical 
 results, I must beg your attention to some of these, as derived from 
 the Reports of JVIr. Morgan Cowie and others, on the examinations
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 289 
 
 conducted in 1870, in the twenty-two training colleges of England, 
 Wales, and Scotland. We notice especially the Report on the 
 examination of students of the second or final year of instruction ; 
 and we find that the general terms employed in describing the 
 results are, such as these : " Fell below a fair standard," " Did not 
 pass creditably," "Did not acquit themselves creditably," " Did 
 badly," &c. ; and the subjects to which these remarks apply, are 
 "grammar," " mental arithmetic," "geography," "Euclid," &c. ; 
 all being, in fact, ordinary subjects taught in the colleges. Passing, 
 however, from the general to the special, we find in the tabulated 
 results of the examination of male students of the second, i. e., final 
 year of instruction, in these twenty-two training colleges, some 
 very extraordinary figures. These tables record the percentage of 
 marks gained by these male students who were entitled to the 
 epithets, "Excellent," "Good," and "Fair," and leave the rest 
 out altogether ; and it appears (to take only a few of the subjects) 
 that in mental arithmetic the highest percentage of marks gained 
 at any one of the colleges amounted to 32, in grammar 10, in 
 geography 43, in Euclid 58 ; while the average percentage of all 
 the colleges taken together, appears to be, in mental arithmetic !.">, 
 in grammar 3 ( !), in geography 10, in Euclid 28. Now, whether 
 we look at these remarkable figures as testing the soundness and 
 HIiciency of the teaching in these training colleges, or the industry 
 and earnestness of the taught, they are well worthy of serious 
 consideration. At all events, they help us greatly in the solution 
 of the problem we were just discussing the failure in the pupils' 
 examination. We are no longer surprised at finding the pupils of 
 such masters failing at the same or even a less rate ; nor can we 
 but entertain great doubts of the value of the average intellectual 
 training which ends in such results as these. Notwithstanding 
 then, the great professions of the training colleges, we are forced 
 to bring them to the practical test, " By their fruits ye shall know 
 them," and to conclude that these institutions give a poor return 
 for the funds expended on them. I am not unaware of the ex- 
 ceptions which may be taken to these conclusions, or of the 
 explanations, or attempts at explanation, which may be given to 
 extenuate what we must consider the true cause of the failure. I 
 have, however, no time to discuss them in detail. But there is one 
 especially which has been lately urged, which demands some con- 
 sideration. It is, in brief, this, that the acknowledged failure in 
 primary education is attributable not to the want of good teaehh:_-. 
 but to Mr. Lowe's much abused Revised Code : that is to say. that
 
 290 ON IMPROVING OUR METHODS 
 
 the true reason why two-thirds of the pupils of primary schools go 
 forth into the world with a " completed education," which consists 
 in their being unable to pass the fourth standard, that is, to read 
 accurately and intelligently, to write a decent hand, and to do sums 
 in the compound rules, is to be found in the fact that they are not 
 also taught history, geography, geometry, and physical science. 
 Now I am not about to defend the curriculum of the Revised or of 
 the New Code, which I honestly consider the meanest and the barest 
 that ever was devised as the be-all and end-all of a system of 
 primary education ; but at the same time, I must avow my inability 
 to see the logical connection between the two facts. We all 
 remember that, before the Revised Code was introduced, the 
 curriculum was larger than it is now ; and we also remember that 
 the results of elementary instruction were even smaller than they 
 are now, and that this fact constituted the strongest argument for 
 the Revised Code. This plea, then, does not meet the case, nor 
 solve the problem on which we are engaged. It was, however, 
 argued with much force and plausibility by several of the most 
 eminent principals of training colleges, in their evidence before the 
 Commission on Scientific Instruction, that the teaching of physical 
 science in primary schools and training colleges is the desideratum 
 required to mend the present system and make it truly efficient. 
 The value of instruction in physical science, even in the most 
 elementary schools, and to the youngest children, I am so far from 
 denying, that I strongly insist upon it as may be seen in the paper 
 which I read last year at the Leeds meeting of our Association 
 but to the inference that the introduction of science into the 
 curriculum (especially if it were taught to no better effect than 
 geography, grammar, and Euclid are now taught in the training 
 colleges) would supply what is needed I as strongly demur. It is 
 a singular fact that, having Mr. Cowie's report, with its striking 
 implied condemnation of- the system of teaching pursued in the 
 training colleges generally, before them, the principals to whom 
 I refer apparantly ignored that report altogether, nor in any wa}*, 
 as far as I can see, guarded themselves against the quiet but 
 decisive reprimand conveyed in these words of the Commissioners : 
 " While we are clearly of the opinion that scientific instruction 
 should form a substantial part of the curriculum of training colleges, 
 we feel the great difficulty which arises from the present condition 
 of the general instruction in those Colleges, as disclosed by the reports 
 of the inspectors for the years 1870-71," i. e., the reports from 
 which I have already given some quotations. This reprimand, if it
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 291 
 
 means anything, means, as addressed to the principals of the train- 
 ing colleges generally, " You ask for more subjects to teach. How 
 have you taught those for which you are already responsible? 
 You urge the value of physical science as an aid to intellectual 
 development, but what sort of intellectual development have you 
 secured by your methods of teaching other subjects manifestly, if 
 not equally, suitable for the same purpose and so on. I am not 
 called upon myself to answer these awkward questions, but I cannot 
 help thinking that they have a profound significance and well de- 
 serve a reply. I wish, however, to make a few remarks on the 
 assumption that the great majority of the pupils in primary schools 
 cannot be soundly instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
 because the small minority are debarred from learning acoustics, 
 electricity, &c. It has long been received as a fundamental prin- 
 ciple of teaching that it is not so much the thing taught as the 
 manner of teaching it that constitutes its value to the pupil. This 
 principle is capable of the widest application, and extends to the 
 teaching of the most elementary subjects ; and I contend that the 
 teacher who is shut up to the teaching of reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic, may, if he is really instructed in his art, find in these 
 simple subjects all the means absolutely required for developing, 
 training, and informing the minds of his pupils. There are, for 
 instance, methods of teaching reading, which involve processes 
 to be performed by the pupil himself of strict analytical investi- 
 gation methods of teaching writing, which train the hand, through 
 the eye, in the imitation of form, and lay the first foundation of 
 aesthetic culture methods of teaching arithmetic, which develop 
 valuable habits of reasoning, and of thinking generally arithmetic 
 being, as Dr. Hodgson has said, " at once a root science and a 
 great power in education." The teacher, then, furnished with a 
 high conception of the powers of his art, to begin with, well 
 instructed moreover in the nature of those mental and moral 
 forces, which he has every day to direct and control, thoroughly 
 convinced, too, that the pupil's most fruitful efforts in learning 
 must come from himself ; and lastly, well acquainted with the 
 methods of intellectual development, which the experience of the 
 masters of the didactic art have proved to be the best suited for 
 the purpose, sits down to his task of teaching reading, writing, 
 and arithemetic. Will such a teacher, in the nature of things, 
 employ 4000 hours in his work, and leave it unaccomplished after 
 all? Will he not do something more for his pupils than is now 
 done by the general body of certificated masters in our primary
 
 292 ON IMPROVING OUR METHODS 
 
 schools? And we may further inquire whether the formation of 
 such a teacher, by suitable means, is a conception too great and 
 brilliant for us to entertain . 
 
 But there is something more to be said on this subject. While 
 teachers of primary schools are complaining that they cannot 
 teach reading, writing, and arithmetic for want of a more 
 extended apparatus of means for teaching "higher subjects," 
 they strangely forget that, within the covers of the books 
 adapted to the six standards with the addition of the Bible and 
 History of England there lies a fund of language-phenomena, 
 in the examination of which they may find the fullest scope for 
 the exercise of their own and their pupils' ingenuity. Any 
 twenty pages, indeed, of these books, contain illustrations of 
 grammar, logic, rhetoric, psychology, philology, &c., which it 
 would tax the resources of the profoundest scholar fully to 
 exhaust ; and are we to be told that the primary teacher cannot 
 find materials there for developing, training, informing, and 
 fructifying the minds of his pupils, and for accomplishing, in 
 short, the very ends for which he is a teacher? 
 
 Suppose that in successive stages of instruction ten pages only 
 of each standard book were chosen, with the view of requiring 
 that eveYy sentence, clause, and even syllable in them should be 
 thorough!}" known and understood known so that the child 
 would distinctly recognize these elements whenever and wherever 
 they afterwards occurred, and would mentally refer them into the 
 place where they were first met with known so that the}- would 
 serve as examples of the rules of grammar, spelling, &c., from 
 time to time brought before him. Suppose too that these words 
 were, as far as possible, interpreted by the material objects, 
 actions, and qualities which they represent. Suppose all this 
 done not by the telling of the teacher, but by the exercise of 
 the child's own mind by his own observation and analysis ; and 
 suppose him to be practised in putting together as well as pulling 
 to pieces in synthesis as well as analysis. Suppose, in short, 
 that in every possible way his mind were exercised on the matter 
 before him, so that he mastered it as a whole, and in its minutest 
 details, do we not see that the very quickening of the attention to 
 facts patent to the eye and appreciated by the mind, would of 
 itself greatly lessen the difficulty of learning to read and spell 
 both for the most part matters of ej'esight and train the child 
 generally to habits of observation ? It is obvious that the child 
 whose mind is disciplined even to the extent which I have
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 293 
 
 suggested, is, by this thorough mastery of sixty pages of an 
 ordinary book, pro tanto, an educated person, and that he can 
 gain this education the means for which are found in every 
 school-room of the country without spending a single penny on 
 the machinery for " higher subjects." All that is really needed 
 is the wise and skillful use of the means already provided, and 
 this depends on teaching the teacher how to use them. That, 
 however, is the gist of the whole question. 
 
 I venture then to doubt wltether the mere enlargement of the 
 curriculum for the benefit of the few would of itself supply the 
 remedy we need for the default of the many, and especially if the 
 new subjects were taught in the same spirit and to the same effect 
 as the old ones. To teach the rudiments of science in the utterly 
 unscientific, unenlightened manner in which other truths seem to 
 be generally taught in our primary schools, would be a degrada- 
 tion of the very name of science. The true object of teaching 
 science is to form the scientific mind; and the only basis I 
 speak advisedly the only basis of science teaching is the method 
 of investigation. "We may struggle against admitting this propo- 
 sition as we please, but we must return to it at last. Teaching 
 science by books, by lecturing, by experiments performed by the 
 lecturer, are all beside the mark ; they do not teach the method 
 of investigation. It may, however, be taught to the youngest 
 child in the most elementary schools, and must be taught to such 
 children and in such schools before the proper training required 
 for technical education is secured. I cannot enlarge on this 
 topic. I only remark further that if the training colleges value 
 the scientific method, I cannot understand why they do not teach 
 other subjects in its spirit. Returning, however, to the imme- 
 diate object of our inquiry, we may sum up its results thus far. 
 If we cast our eyes from one end to the other of the vast system 
 of agencies employed in our primary education, we notice (1) that 
 the object aimed at is not secured. We fail twice as often as we 
 succeed. "We therefore, naturally make the teachers and the 
 methods of teaching they employ responsible for this result. AVe 
 notice, (2) that the teachers themselves are Ihe product of a 
 system of training which appears to fail more than twice as often 
 as it succeeds. "We therefore make the staff of teachers in the 
 training colleges, the methods of teaching they employ, responsible 
 for this result. "We notice, (3) that the training colleges are the 
 product of the Education Department, the mainspring or primum 
 mobile of the whole machine, and therefore fundamentally resjKm-
 
 294 ON IMPROVING OTJE, METHODS 
 
 sible for its entire working ; and we notice, finally, that the 
 Education Department itself is the product and embodiment of a 
 theory of education, mean and limited in its scope, and unenlight- 
 ened in its views ; a theory which carried out into practice, 
 ignores the essential while it strenuously promotes the incidental ; 
 which earnestly stimulates mechanical and "didactic" teaching, 
 and gives little or no encouragement to that which is intellectual, 
 scientific, artistic, and which aims at culture. Such is the broad 
 indictment, which after much examination of the facts, much 
 practice in the art, much study of the theory of education, I ven- 
 ture to bring against the entire scheme of primary instruction, in 
 this country. I hope no attempt will be made to meet it by 
 bringing forward notable exceptions. We have, strictly speak- 
 ing, nothing to do with exceptions. We have to do with the 
 rule, the general average ; and my argument and statements can 
 only be met by showing, (1) that the theory is good ; and (2) that 
 the average practical results prove it to be so. This, in fact, is 
 the gist of the whole question ; for efficient teaching implies the 
 success of the great majority of the pupils, not the success of the 
 small minority. If, however, exceptions are to be taken into 
 account, I turn away from the schools sanctioned by the Educa- 
 tion Department, and point with pleasure and satisfaction to the 
 late Dean Dawes's schools, at King's Somborne, the late Mr. 
 Henslow's, in his quiet country parish, and to the Trade Schools 
 at Bristol, all of which illustrate a totally different conception and 
 style of teaching from those so. elaborately pursued in our primary 
 schools, though the pupils belong to the same class of society. 
 
 But I have dwelt at sufficient length on our primary school sys- 
 tem, and I now call your attention to the general average results 
 of middle-class education. These have not been tabulated and 
 classified with the same degree of strictness as the former, but the 
 incidental evidence is sufficient for our purpose : 
 
 (l.)The youths examined for the Civil Service are the products 
 of the ordinary teaching of middle-class schools, plusfhc cramming 
 by which it is supplemented, in view of a competitive examina- 
 tion. We find Sir John Shaw Lefevre, an examiner of such 
 candidates, complaining bitterly, in '1861, of "their incredible 
 failures in orthography," their " miserable writing," their " igno- 
 rance of arithmetic," and remarking: " It is comparatively rare 
 to find a candidate who can add correctly a moderately long 
 column of figures." Only a short time back, it was reported that 
 out of 1U72 candidates, who in the course of four years failed in
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 295 
 
 the examination, 18GG were rejected for bad spelling ; and in the 
 last Report of the Civil Service Commissioners, we see that out of 
 11,424 candidates, nearly if not quite all middle-class pupils, 5696 
 failed to pass the examination. 
 
 (2.) At the first local examination under the Oxford scheme, 
 50 per cent of the candidates failed in the simple preliminary 
 examination, all being picked pupils expressly prepared for the 
 competition. The proportion of failures has, I believe, since 
 settled down to something less than one-third. 
 
 (3.) In 1869, a petition was presented to the House of Com- 
 mons by the Council of Medical Education, complaining that u the 
 maintenance of a sufficient medical education is very difficult, owing 
 to the defective education given in the middle-class schools." At 
 the same time, a similar petition was presented by the British 
 Medical Association a body numbering 4000 members ; and 
 another by the University of London, which stated that their 
 examiners had been obliged for the previous ten years to reject 
 40 per cent since 1869, even 55 percent of the candidates 
 sent up for matriculation from middle-class schools. 
 
 (4.) Not a month ago, the Report of the examination in arts 
 of the Apothecaries' Society, showed that at their recent examina- 
 tion nearly 40 per cent of the candidates sent up were rejected. 
 The candidates in this case were of the average age of seventeen ; 
 and most of them had probably been submitted to strenuous cram- 
 ming, to prepare them for the examination. This consisted of very 
 easy pieces of Latin, taken from a book announced three months 
 before ; of short and easy pieces of English for re-translation ; of 
 a similar paper in French ; of a few elementary questions in Latin 
 and French grammar ; of a paper on the first and second books of 
 Euclid, without problems or exercises; of a paper on arithmetic 
 to decimals, and one on algebra to simple equations all matters 
 which form the staple of instruction in middle-class schools. A 
 writer in the " Pall Mall Gazette," May 1, thus comments on this 
 examination : 
 
 " It is not a little startling that of the pupils of the upper ranks 
 of the schools at the age of seventeen, and after special training 
 for the purpose, nearly one-half are found to have spent their 
 lives thus far in a vain attempt to acquire the first elements of 
 languages and figures. If this were a special and solitary case, 
 it would be surprising as a phenomenon, but we learn that it is 
 something very like the rule. The experience of the examiners 
 at the College of Surgeons is of a nearly equally discouraging
 
 296 ON IMPROVING OUR METHODS 
 
 character ; " and he adds, " It will not," we believe, "be doubted, 
 that such a percentage of rejections of young men specially trained 
 for the examination of this simple kind is far from creditable, and 
 betokens serious unsoundness in our educational system." If, 
 however, we have any doubts on this point, they may be dispelled 
 by reference to the voluminous Report of the Schools Inquiry Com- 
 mission. Failure ! failure ! is the clear verdict the}' pass on the 
 average results of the teaching both in endowed and private middle- 
 class schools. As to the former, the general Report after quoting, 
 in detail, numerous instances, thus sums up its judgment. " The 
 foregoing account shows that the instruction given in the endowed 
 schools is very far removed from what their founders could have 
 anticipated or from what the country has a right to expect. The 
 districts assigned to our Assistant Commissioners embrace almost 
 every diversity of character and population, yet the results appear 
 very uniform." Again, " This unsatisfactory condition of second- 
 ary education is the natural consequence of the clearly proved ab- 
 sence, in a large number of cases, of the conditions of educational 
 success. Untrained teachers and bad methods of teaching, unin- 
 spected work by workmen without adequate motive . . . could 
 hardly lead to any other result." Of special Reports I can quote 
 only one sentence, from Mr. Fitch's, on Yorkshire Endowed 
 Schools -t "Three-fourths of the scholars whom I have examined 
 in endowed schools, if tested by the usual standard appropriate to 
 boys of similar age, under the Revised Code, would fail to pass 
 the examination either in arithmetic or any other elementary sub- 
 ject " (Report, p. 133). The general Report on "Private 
 Schools," though brief, is significant: "It appears to be too 
 certain that a great proportion of the private schools are inefficient. 
 All our evidence points to this conclusion with remarkable una- 
 nimity " (p. G54). A few special notes on private-school teaching 
 may be given. Mr. Bryce says, " Not in more than three or four 
 private schools in the whole country did I find that the main ob- 
 ject of the teachers was to invigorate the mind by these robust 
 studies (i. e. Latin and mathematics) ;" and he speaks of the 
 teaching of practical subjects as being "loose, confused, and 
 irrational," and " of the want of anything which can give tenacity 
 and clearness to the scholar's mind." Then we find Canon Norris, 
 when asked what he conceived to be the general state of middle- 
 class education, replying (Evidence, vol. i., 491), "My impres- 
 sion is that it is extremely unsatisfactory most unsatisfactoiy." 
 Professor Rawlinson, as an examiner of boys sent up to the
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 297 
 
 local examinations, after premising that these boys are " the pick 
 of the middle-class," says, "I certainly think that the general 
 condition of middle-class education must be very bad indeed, if 
 this is the best," and particularly complains of " the want of sound 
 elementary grounding." Then lastly, Mr. Moseley a man of the 
 highest authority in matters of education gives the same general 
 testimony, and speaks of the main defects in middle-class teaching, 
 as " the want of culture ; the want of exercising the understanding 
 of the children ; that it [teaching] is altogether a mechanical 
 thing ; " and that the great want of all is "to provide another and 
 a better class of schoolmasters ; men specially trained, not only to 
 know those subjects, but also to teach them." The entire evidence 
 indeed, and the uniform tenor of the Reports, furnished by the 
 Assistant Commissioners is to the same effect : while Miss Buss, 
 Miss Beale, and other high authorities on female education, tell 
 us that the average quality of the teaching, and the average results 
 obtained in girls' schools are still more unsatisfactor}*. 
 
 Now, what are we to say to this uniform testimony as to the 
 teachers, and the average results of the teaching, in middle-class 
 schools? Are we to regard them as indicating a high conception 
 of education as a theory, enlightened views as to its aims, and 
 efficient and sound methods of putting them into practice? These 
 questions require no answer ; but here, as in the case of primary 
 instruction, I see no escape from the conclusion that the failure is 
 due to the teachers. Their responsibility can in no way be set 
 aside, and we are the more closely shut up to this conclusion, 
 because it cannot be thrown back upon training colleges, of which 
 there are none for middle-class teachers. The teachers then must 
 bear the entire responsibility, and all the censure implied in the 
 crucial test, " As is the school, so is the master." There is, how- 
 ever, one power superior to the teacher's, and of which he is in a 
 certain sense the product and that is Public Opinion : a subtle 
 despot, at present almost blind, deaf, and imbecile in regard to this 
 matter of education. Who shall dare to shout into his ears the 
 summons to purge his eyesight and clear his wits, that he may 
 fully comprehend this simple proposition that England is suffer- 
 ing everywhere for want of teachers who know how to teach ? 
 AVho, indeed ! But I cannot dwell longer on this part of my 
 subject. I pass on, then, to the third division of it, which relates 
 to the ordinary instruction given in our public schools. 
 
 Here, too, as in the other cases we look in vain for the realiza- 
 tion of any ideal of education which is worthy of the name.
 
 298 ON IMPROVING OUlt METHODS 
 
 Neither education in its proper sense of intellectual training, nor 
 sound definite instruction in thes ubjects taught, appear to be the 
 general result of that public-school teaching which the Bishop of 
 "Winchester has emphaticall}- declared to be " the best that can be 
 found in this country." 
 
 The theory of the system, however, as far as it goes, seems 
 simple enough, and is not wanting in a certain air of plausibility. 
 It is this, that by the thorough study and mastery of Latin and 
 Greek the mind is so quickened, developed, and trained, that in 
 the process a sound knowledge of these subjects is gained, and 
 what is more important, an aptitude and skill, which, as a matter 
 of course, make the ordinary subjects of instruction easy of attain- 
 ment, and in point of fact ensure their attainment. This is the 
 theory ; but the practice founded upon it and its actual average 
 results woefully belie it. The premises indeed are not justified by 
 the facts of the case. The languages the mastering of which is 
 by the theory, to secure intellectual training, and all its consequent 
 benefits, are not generally mastered their rudiments even are not 
 generally mastered, at the public schools. The proofs of this 
 assertion are to be found abundantly in the Report and evidence 
 furnished by the Public Schools Commission of 1864, and are such 
 as cannot possibly be gainsaid or set aside. Several distinguished 
 public tutors and examiners of Oxford and Cambridge, haviug the 
 opportunity of examining young men on their entrance to the 
 university course, declare that the average of youths admitted from 
 the public schools are " badly grounded ; " are " in knowledge 
 absolute ignoramuses," "having everything to learn, and littlej 
 desire to learn anything," "have few intellectual tastes," have 
 "very unawakened minds, and habits of mental indolence and 
 inaccuracy," require "their shortcomings to be supplemented by 
 the university teaching," which is therefore " hampered " by intei'- 
 ference with its own proper work, evince " surprising ignorance 
 on points not strictly academical," are " deplorably ignorant of 
 English literature, English history, and English composition," 
 " read worse than the majority of pupil teachers in elementary 
 schools," and often spell flagrantly ill. 
 
 These, then, it appears are the average practical results of the 
 noble theory which promised so much, and the results, be it 
 remembered, in the case of those who go from the public schools 
 to enter on the university course, being a selection about one- 
 third of the total number who leave these schools. It would be
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 299 
 
 interesting to ascertain the mental condition and furniture of 
 those who never enter the universities at all. 
 
 Now these statements, so damaging to the theory of public- 
 school teaching, and so condemnatory of the methods by which 
 it is carried out, have never, as far as I know, been challenged ; 
 their substantial accuracy with regard to the average of the pupils 
 has indeed been tacitly acknowledged, or if any reply has been 
 attempted, it has consisted in fallaciously pointing to brilliant 
 exceptions, and calling on us to regard them as the rule. Here, 
 however, I once more apply the illustration with which I com- 
 menced, and contend that a system of machinery which only now 
 and then accomplishes its object, and as a rule works immensely 
 under its theoretical power, must be looked upon as a failure, and 
 that therefore, speaking generally, the public-school system, as 
 regards its average teaching, is in this predicament. Efficient 
 instruction, I repeat, implies the success of the great majority of 
 the pupils, not the success of the small minority. 
 
 While making the methods of teaching, and consequently the 
 teachers of our public schools, in strict logic, responsible for the 
 results described, I am not unaware of the peculiar difficulties 
 arising from the indifference of parents, the firm hold of estab- 
 lished traditionary plans of teaching, the rampant spirit of idle- 
 ness prevalent amongst the pupils, and so on, which these teachers 
 have to encounter. But while I know that many of them are men 
 of high attainments, cultivated minds, large experience, and inde- 
 fatigable industry, I have no choice but to apply to the great 
 body of them the test, " by their fruits ye shall know them," and. 
 to conclude generally that they are unacquainted with the true art 
 of teaching ; for no other hypothesis meets all the facts of the 
 case. It would not be difficult to show that in the nature of things 
 it must be so. "We have not in England even the pretence of that 
 Ecole Normale Superieure, which, on the testimony of the Schools 
 Inquiry Commission, " annually supplies the French schools with 
 teachers not surpassed in the world;" nor even the shadow of 
 that careful system of teaching and training by which the German 
 teacher is prepared for his career. With us all is left to hap- 
 hazard and chance. The teacher is chosen not because he knows 
 anything of teaching, or the management of a class on which so 
 much depends but because he is a first-classman, and we blindly 
 give ourselves up to that egregious non sequitur, " he knows ; 
 therefore he can teach what he knows" one of the most 
 remarkable educational fallacies that ever blinded the eyes of
 
 300 ON IMPROVING OUR METHODS 
 
 sensible men. He sits clown to his work, conscious of his high 
 qualifications in scholarship, but not conscious that he is merely a 
 raw recruit in teaching. Having long forgotten the time when 
 small difficulties in learning proved great impediments to his 
 course, he has little sympathy with the boys before him who are in 
 the condition in which he was then. He is, first, surprised at, 
 then resents, what appears to him wanton or wilful indifference or 
 crass stupidity, misunderstands his pupils, and forces them, by 
 the measures he adopts, to misunderstand him, and so goes on 
 blundering and floundering through difficulties really inherent in 
 his work, which nothing whatever in his scholastic career has pre- 
 pared him to deal with ; and so on. I cannot further follow him 
 in his course ; but we are told by a distinguished master of a pub- 
 lic school, that this soi't of trial a trial also for the pupils 
 continues on an average for about two years, during which time 
 the teacher is learning his profession in a great measure at the 
 expense of his pupils. If, however, it should happen that on the 
 average the masters do not stay longer than two } - ears at the same 
 school, we see that the pupils have the questionable advantage of 
 being placed under a constant succession of raw recruits. This I 
 know, is in some schools the fact, and, taken in connection with the 
 previous remarks, goes far to confirm the general assertion, that 
 the great bulk of the masters of our public schools are unacquainted 
 with the true art of teaching ; a supposition which serves to explain 
 in a great measure the deplorable results of the teaching. But I 
 must leave the case of the public schools, simply insisting on the 
 importance and necessity of some decided improvement in their 
 methods. 
 
 Glancing back over the whole field that we have traversed, 
 including primary, secondary, and higher education, we cannot 
 but see (!) That the results, considered merely as mechanical, 
 answer to no estimated calculation of the working power ; and (2) 
 That the general practice corresponds to no theory that we can 
 construct of the resources and capabilities of intellectual educa- 
 tion. We see, in fact, to use Mr. Gladstone's compendious trav- 
 esty of Goldsmith's lines that 
 
 " Boys learn but little here below, 
 And learn that little ill." 
 
 The results, in short, condemn the methods by which they have 
 been obtained, and the methods condemn the theory on which they 
 are founded. Good methods could not have produced such results
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 301 
 
 a good theory could not have suggested such methods. The 
 improvement, then, that is needed, must begin at the beginning, 
 and involves an entirely different conception of the nature and 
 powers of education from that which usually prevails among 
 teachers. We must begin by setting aside the commonly received 
 notion that teaching consists in the communication of the teacher's 
 knowledge to the pupil by didactically cramming him with it, 
 and by putting in its place the notion that it rather consists in 
 encouraging and aiding the pupil to gather knowledge for himself ; 
 viewing the child as an investigator, whose mind, by being brought 
 into direct contact with facts, is to be stimulated to that exercise 
 of the faculties which investigation at first hand requires. This 
 single consideration, if rightly estimated, revolutionizes the entire 
 machinery of teaching. (1) It transfers the essential process on 
 which success depends from the teacher to the pupil, who is, in 
 fact, teaching himself by means of the facts with which he is 
 dealing the facts themselves being the true teachers. (2) It 
 explodes the notion of supplying the child's mind with rules, 
 formula;, and abstractions, derived from facts not yet within his 
 knowledge. As an investigator he can only arrive at the abstract 
 through the concrete. (3) It places the teacher in his true and 
 proper relation to the learner. The learner, not the teacher, has 
 to go through all the- intellectual processes by which his mind is 
 instructed and educated : and the teacher who has gone through 
 them himself, and therefore knows them, is to direct and guide 
 not in any way to supersede the process of the learner. The 
 teacher's business, in short, is by his action and influence to make 
 the pupil his own teacher. 
 
 Without dwelling longer on these points, I beg to refer those 
 who are interested in them to Miss Youmans' " Essay on the 
 Culture of the Observing Powers of Children," just published by 
 Messrs. King, and to the supplementary remarks, which, as editor, 
 I have appended to it. Miss Youmans, with a view to secUre 
 the mental discipline at which I have hinted, proposes Botam - as 
 " a fourth fundamental branch of study, which shall afford a sys- 
 tematic training of the observing powers; " and shows in a very 
 interesting manner how it may be pursued so as " to secure the 
 formation of ideas by the study of facts." 
 
 If the views whic-h I have presented are correct, they point 
 directly to the reform which is needed. The teacher must be 
 taught how to teach. Like every other professional man, he must 
 be prepared for his profession by careful special training. This
 
 302 ON IMPROVING OUK METHODS 
 
 training to be complete involves, in addition to a sound knowledge 
 of the subject he has to teach, a knowledge of mental, moral, and 
 physiological phenomena ; phenomena such as in every variety of 
 complication he will meet with and have to deal with throughout 
 his entire educational experience. It may seem strange that a 
 lecturer on education should have to insist upon the proposition as 
 if it were new and unheard of that a man whose whole business 
 in life is to train the mind ; whose profession is distinguished 
 from all others by this specialty, should have a scientific acquaint- 
 ance with mental phenomena. Yet so it is. In the case of an 
 ordinary material machine of delicate and complicated construc- 
 tion, we require the engineer who is to guide it to give proofs of 
 his theoretical and practical knowledge of mechanics generally, 
 and of this peculiar kind of machine especially, before we intrust 
 him with it ; but in the case of the engineer of mind, we generally 
 require no certificate of competency whatever. The equipment of 
 the teacher, however, is incomplete without a sound, however 
 limited, knowledge of the principles of Psychology (including 
 Logic) Ethics, and Human Physiology. On the importance of 
 these sciences as lying at the foundation of the science of education 
 as forming therefore a proper part of the equipment of the 
 teacher I have no time to dwell. I will only mention that the 
 examination of teachers at the College of Preceptors requires a 
 competent knowledge of them all. 
 
 The theories of teaching now in vogue amongst us have had a 
 sufficient trial. We have seen their practical results in the evi- 
 dence brought before us this evening ; we see them everywhere 
 around us, in eyes which do not see, ears which do not hear, 
 minds which have never been taught to think. Their prominent 
 characteristics are these. They assume the native incapacity of 
 a child to comprehend simple truths without endless telling, 
 explaining, and thinking for him ; they tend to repress instead of 
 aiding the natural development of his mind ; they surfeit him with 
 technicalities, abstractions, and routine, and make him a slave of 
 rules instead of a master of principles : they cultivate the lowest 
 faculties at the expense of the highest ; and finally, and naturally, 
 the} - give as their total product, results which I venture to describe 
 generally as "a farrago of facts imperfectly apprehended, and 
 only partially hatched into principles ; of principles and rules 
 divorced from the facts they represent ; of exceptions claiming 
 equal rank with the rules ; of definitions dislocated from the
 
 OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 303 
 
 objects they define ; and of technicalities which clog rather than 
 facilitate the operations of the mind." 
 
 Let us look for a moment at the other theory, the leading fea- 
 tures of which I have already indicated. It assumes that the child 
 is naturally endowed with intellectual capacity, with vital forces, 
 which it is the business of the teacher to elicit, develop, and turn 
 to good account. It exercises these faculties on matters of fact 
 within his scope and comprehension. It calls upon him to employ 
 on these matters of fact the powers of observation, comparison, &c., 
 with which Nature has endowed him. It confines him, in the first 
 stage of instruction, to those concrete matters which he can 
 examine by means of his own senses, which he can see, handle, 
 hear, smell, experiment with, himself ; matters which form a part 
 of his ordinary experience ("that," to use Milton's words, 
 "which before us lies in daily life," "to know which," he says, 
 is " the prime wisdom ") ; and treats as " cram " rules, formulae, 
 definitions, abstractions, general principles, scientific digests, 
 dictionary meanings of words, &c. ; all matters which he has had 
 no hand in framing ; all indigestible by his mind in, its unformed 
 condition ; and all, therefore, to be relegated to a subsequent 
 stage of instruction. 
 
 This theory next makes him a pupil, of the inductive method. 
 It requires him to reflect and reason on the facts that he knows, to 
 take his first steps in generalization, and gradually to make his way 
 towards its higher stages, while all the time synthesis working 
 conjointly with analysis consolidates the acquisitions made, and 
 renders them permanent possessions of the mind. This theory, it 
 may be remarked by the way, does not regard memory as a separate 
 mental faculty, to whose charge we are to " commit" the results 
 obtained. It rather looks upon facts as already committed to 
 memory when they are thoroughly comprehended by the reason 
 though it sanctions and enforces the intention, by frequent 
 memoriter repetition of the facts that have been thus gained. 
 
 This theory, in the next place, requires the pupil, already prac- 
 tised to some extent in rule and definition-making and in general- 
 ization, to avail himself of the rules, definitions, and generalizations 
 of others, to examine into their meaning, and to test their accuracy 
 by his own knowledge ; lastly, to deal with deductive propositions 
 and trace them to the facts and principles which they represent. 
 But I cannot enter into details. 
 
 It is obvious that these theories of education are inconsistent
 
 304 IMPROVING METHODS OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 with each other. They rest on different foundations, and they 
 must end in different practical results. 
 
 The conclusion of the whole matter is, that our ordinary 
 methods of school instruction appear to fail in their object, and 
 to fail for want of better teachers. How the teachers shall be 
 more efficiently prepared for their difficult and exquisite art this 
 appears to be the question of questions as regards the educaiioual 
 future of England.
 
 ON THE 
 
 PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 
 
 OP THE 
 
 COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS.
 
 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF THE 
 COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS.* 
 
 THINKING that it might be interesting to the present Members of 
 the College of Preceptors to know something of its early history, 
 and that, in presenting some of the details of that history, I might 
 find a suitable occasion for a few remarks on its present, and a few 
 speculations upon its future position, I have ventured on intro- 
 ducing this subject to you this evening. 
 
 If the historian of an institution is the better qualified for his 
 task by having been present at its birth, almost at its conception, 
 and by having taken a warm and sympathetic interest in its 
 various fortunes ever since, I hope I may without arrogance claim 
 a right, not possessed by all its supporters, to speak both of the 
 successes and failures of the College of Preceptors. 
 
 I have said that I was present at the birth of the institution. 
 I may add, that before that important event I was in attendance, 
 taking my part, more however as a listener than as a talker, in the 
 gossip which generally goes on when a birth is expected, and which 
 becomes greatly intensified when the bantling proclaims his own 
 existence, and begins to be an object of observation and interest 
 to others beyond the family circle. 
 
 At that time, I certainly shared profoundly in the hopes that 
 were entertained by the promoters of the institution, that it would 
 advance steadily and strongly, and would do much to justify its 
 own existence and pretensions, and to prove that those who had so 
 earnestly labored in fostering it, had achieved a great service to 
 society. 
 
 Looking back, however, now, on its growth and so-called 
 maturity at the results actually attained one cannot help 
 doubting whether the child has repaid its parents for all their 
 anxious care and nursing ; whether, indeed the best has been 
 made of the faculties with which it was endowed a serious 
 
 * Paper read at an Evening Meeting of the College of Preceptors, June 17, 1808.
 
 308 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 consideration in the case of an institution, as well as ia that of 
 a child grown up to manhood. 
 
 On one point connected with the origin of the College of Pre- 
 ceptors I have a very strong conviction, which I cannot, without 
 doing injustice to my feelings, repress ; and that is, that the motive 
 which prompted the laborious exertions, as well as the sacrifice of 
 time and money, of the original promoters, was a simple and dis- 
 interested desire to effect a valuable service for their fellow-teachers 
 and for society at large. And I must not, in this connection, keep 
 undeclared another conviction which I hold as strongly, viz., that 
 the outside critics of the College have frequently failed to do 
 justice to the sincerity and good faith which have, as a general rule, 
 actuated the directors of the institution. The College of Preceptors 
 has not, it is generally agreed, obtained the standing which was 
 expected for it by its friends ; the direction and management have 
 been sometimes feeble and inefficient, and many very important 
 objects, which lay especially within its province, remain even now 
 unaccomplished. Still the failure cannot be attributed to want of 
 good faith and principle on the part of the Council, but is rather 
 due to the want of an adequate response on the part of those who 
 were intended to benefit by its arrangements. The fact indeed can 
 hardly be disputed, that the College was, and still is, in advance of 
 the age ; and hence, like all institutions which endeavor to do for 
 society a service which society cannot appreciate, must wait for the 
 favorable breeze of public opinion. When that breeze springs up, 
 the College will recur to those first principles, which it has in the 
 course of time somewhat lost sight of, and will, with a well-;devised 
 machinery already organized, be prepared both to obey and to 
 direct the great educational movement, to which so many signs of 
 the times are now pointing. 
 
 It may be well, now, to give some idea of the origin of the 
 institution. It commenced at Brighton, where a few school- 
 masters, after mutual discussion of the itUe mere of the College, 
 viz., the desirableness of an institution which should provide a better 
 class of teachers, formed a Provisional Committee, which, in Febru- 
 ary, 1846, was thus constituted : Chairman: H. S. Turrell, Esq. 
 Members : Rev. W. H. Butler, Rev. R. Lee, Messrs. J. Wharton, 
 J. Andrews, J. P. Hall, D. Gunton, R. Stokes, J. Sansbury, and 
 J. T. Coleman. After various meetings at Brighton, this Com- 
 mittee called one in London, where it was resolved to invite the 
 attendance of members of the profession at a General Meeting, to 
 be held at the Freemasons' Tavern. This meeting accordingly took
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PKECEPTOKS. 309 
 
 place on the 20th June, 1846. Mr. Turrell was the chairman ; and 
 the following amongst other resolutions were adopted : 
 
 "1. That, in the opinion of this meeting, it is desirable for the 
 protection of the interests both of the scholastic profession and 
 the public, that some proof of qualification, both as- to the amount of 
 knowledge and the art of conveying it to others, should be required, 
 from and after a certain time to be hereafter specified, of all per- 
 sons who ma}' be desirous of entering the profession ; and that 
 the test, in the first instance, be applied to Assistant Masters 
 only. 
 
 " 2. That, in the opinion of this meeting, the test of qualifica- 
 tion should be referred to a legally authorized or corporate body, 
 or college, consisting of persons engaged in tuition. 
 
 " 3. That for the purpose of effecting this object viz., the for- 
 mation of a corporate body the members of the profession who 
 enrol their names at this meeting, do resolve themselves, and are 
 hereby resolved, into the COLLEGE OP PRECEPTORS ; and that 
 those persons now enrolled, or who may hereafter be enrolled, 
 shall incur no liability beyond the amount of their respective 
 annual subscriptions. 
 
 "4. That a Council, consisting of the members of the Pro- 
 visional Committee, with power to add to their number, be now 
 appointed for the purpose of conducting the business of the insti- 
 tution, and that Mr. Turrell be appointed President of the 
 Council." 
 
 It Is worth while to pause a moment here to consider the clear 
 and precise object for which the College was established. That 
 object, pur et simple, was the testipg of the qualifications of 
 teachers, with a view to the protection both of the scholastic 
 profession and of the public. This test was to be applied by a 
 legally authorized or corporate bod}', and that body was the 
 College of Preceptors. Now it docs appear to me, that there was 
 great disinterestedness and simplicity in the idte ii\re of the insti- 
 tution ; and it would probably have been well for its success if that 
 idea had been strictly adhered to. It would not, in that case, have 
 been necessary, as it is, to confess that an institution founded 
 ad 7toc, has, in the course of 22 years, actually certificated a mere 
 handful of teachers.* In the first year 24 passed the examina- 
 tion ; in the second, about 1C ; in the third, fewer still, and so on 
 until we find the yearly average of the last seven years to be/owr. 
 
 * Tt lias been calculated, for exact information caiiaot be obtained, that the total 
 number certificated is about five hundred.
 
 310 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 The fact is, that the test, which was " to be applied in the first 
 instance to assistant masters only," has scarcely ever been applied 
 to any others, and to these only to the insignificant extent which 
 I have just indicated. There is no doubt that it was a capital 
 blunder, and a. blunder that good intentions do not excuse, to 
 omit the naming of a certain date, after which none, whether 
 assistant masters or principals, should be admitted as members 
 without examination ; or at all events, not to have made a clear 
 distinction, which the public in general could not fail to appre- 
 ciate, between examined and uncxamined members, regarding the 
 latter class merely as subscribers. Not only however, was this 
 not done ; but a positive sanction was given to the assumption 
 against which the public has frequently protested, by declaring 
 in the By-Laws, adopted at the general meetings held in London, 
 July 16, and Dec. 30, 1846, that 
 
 "1. All Schoolmasters who join the College prior to Jan. 1, 
 1847, shall have the highest rank the College confers, namely, 
 M. C. P. 
 
 "2. All Assistant Masters, who pass the highest test, either in 
 Classics or Mathematics, shall have the same rank as principals, 
 namely, M. C. P." 
 
 It was also stated that those Assistant Masters who passed in 
 other subjects should be entitled to the second rank, namely, 
 A. C. P. (i. e. Associate of the College of Preceptors). 
 
 Had these arrangements been merely ad interim, something 
 might have been said for them ; but knowing as we now do, that 
 the so-called temporary arrangement became perpetual, and has 
 never been positively rescinded, can any one wonder that the public 
 should from time to time protest against what frequently amounted 
 to a sanction of ignorance and incompetence, given by an insti- 
 tution especially founded for the purpose of testing qualifications, 
 and inquire into the real meaning of the mystic appendage, 
 M. C. P. Again, can an}- one wonder that schoolmasters by 
 hundreds, finding that hiyh rank in a learned corporation was to 
 be obtained at the rate of seven shillings a letter (for in many in- 
 stances the first payment was also the last) , should have availed 
 themselves of the golden opportunity. Never before could diplomas 
 (for so they were called), be obtained on such easy terms as these. 
 It is difficult now to say why that which was unavoidable at first 
 (for even Romulus was obliged to begin with proclaiming an asylum 
 for all sorts of people in order to commence his kingdom) , was 
 allowed to become established, and to lead in practice to a complete
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 311 
 
 perversion of the very principle which the College was instituted 
 to maintain. The only excuse I can find or frame is this that the 
 immense quantity of business which soon began to pour in upon 
 the Council, the great number of members that offered themselves 
 for enrolment, the establishment of local boards all over the country, 
 the sending of deputies to different towns to explain the objects 
 of the College, the formation of an examining body, the drawing 
 up of examination papers, &c., &c., involved them in an amount of 
 positive labor, which for a considerable time hid from their sight 
 the original principle to which everything else was to have been 
 held subordinate. It cannot be questioned certainly that, under 
 their able, energetic, and high-minded President, the Council did 
 get through an amazing quantity of work. Those who talk in the 
 present day of what the College is doing have little idea of what it 
 did in those early days. The single fact, that, in the course of six 
 months after the meeting in Freemasons' Hall, sixty members had 
 grown into six hundred, and in twelve months to one thousand, is a 
 sufficient proof of the popularity of the College with the profession ; 
 while the numerously attended meetings held in various parts of the 
 country, the establishment of nearly seventy local boards, each with 
 its honorary secretary, and the patronage of men of distinguished 
 position, showed that it was appreciated by the general public. If 
 I were so constituted as to attach a great degree of importance to 
 names, I should dwell more complacently than I can do on the fact 
 which, however, ought to be stated that the Patron was the 
 late Marquis of Northampton, a man whose rank among peers was 
 his least distinction ; and that among the Vice-Patrons were 
 Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart, Sir John William Lubbuck, Messrs. 
 Ewart, Godson, Ormsby Gore, Hastie, Mackinnon, Romilly, Wyse, 
 Aglionby, Brotherton, Members of Parliament ; Sir R. AVestmacott, 
 Serjeant Talfourd, Davenport Hill, Dr. Latham, J. W. Gilbart, 
 and J. J. Sylvester. I do not, I repeat, attach much importance to 
 the enrolment of aristocratic names in connection with a literary or 
 educational institution. I have long believed that there is a sort of 
 degradation in receiving patronage at all from a strong convic- 
 tion, that a man or an institution that is really worthy of patronage 
 does not want it, and that one that is unworthy cannot be made 
 worthy by any amount of patronage. Let a man's work praise 
 him, and he gains the highest praise. This is only an individual 
 opinion, I allow, but it is justified in the present instance by the 
 results. I never heard that the College was aided in any way to 
 the accomplishment of its object by its patrons, except perhaps in
 
 312 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 the obtaining of the Charter ; and that achievement was, in the 
 opinion of many friends of the institution, scarcely worth 500 
 pence out of the 500 pounds which it cost. But I have not yet 
 done full justice to the efforts of the Council of 184G-7. In addi- 
 tion to the objects already enumerated, they appointed a committee 
 to superintend the formation of a collateral Institution for Ladies ; 
 and they had a goodly show of Lady Patronesses to keep the 
 Patrons in countenance. There are the Dowager Marchioness of 
 Cornwallis, Lady Charlotte Lyndsay, the Hon. Miss Murray, 
 Lady Wilson, Lady Palmer, Lady Domville ; and the at least 
 equally distinguished names of Miss Edgeworth, Miss Corner, 
 Mrs. Ellis, Mrs. Marcet, Miss Stodart, and Miss M. A. Strickland. 
 This feature of the College, which it afterwards managed to lose, 
 was at that time very promising, and subsequently attained a 
 considerable amount of success. A good deal was at that time 
 said, and something done, in the interest of female education. An 
 effective committee was formed, and this collateral institution may 
 claim a portion, at all events, of the merit of laboring in a field 
 which at last seems likely to produce a crop. 
 
 The Benevolent Fund was also projected at this time, and gave, 
 even then, quite as much aid to " aged, distressed, and afflicted 
 schoolmasters," as it has done ever since. The authority on which 
 I am relying for the foregoing facts also tells us that on the 3d 
 of April, 1847, the registration books of the Agency Department 
 were first opened. 
 
 It remains only to add, that the Examining Board included the 
 names of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, of Chelsea, Rev. G. W. Stoddart, 
 and Mr. Eccleston, for Classics ; Rev. J. Hind, Mr. Wharton, and 
 Mr. Boole, for Mathematics ; and Messrs. Delille, Wattez, and 
 Gassion, for French ; that there was a special examination in the 
 Theory and Practice of Education, and that the first two or three 
 papers in that department were, at the request of the Dean, drawn 
 up by myself. Twenty-four candidates passed at the first examina- 
 tion in January, 18G7. How many presented themselves I do 
 not know. A characteristic address, from the Senior Moderator, 
 the Rev. Dr.. Wilson, closed the proceedings connected with the 
 first examination ; and in the compliments bestowed on the ''learn- 
 ing and ability " displayed by several of the candidates, as well as 
 on the great "judgment and knowledge of the human heart," 
 attributed by implication to the examiners, we detect the couleur de 
 rose which was suffused at that epoch over the budding hopes 
 and aspirations of the College. Even then, however, complaints
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 313 
 
 appear of " invidious attempts " that were made to dim those rosy 
 tints ; such attempts, however, only serving as a stimulus to the 
 enthusiasm which was enlisted on the side of " our truly glorious 
 institution." 
 
 It is a noticeable fact, that among the earliest manifestoes of 
 the College were Resolutions unanimously passed at a General 
 Meeting held at the Freemasons' Tavern, on the 14th Januaiy, 
 1847, which asserted the principle of " perfect freedom in educa- 
 tion," in opposition to Government interference, and invited 
 support for the College on the ground of its independent and un- 
 sectarian character. These professions of the College, it is 
 almost needless to say, elicited opposition as well as support. At a 
 public meeting at Manchester, addressed b}' several very eminent 
 men, an amendment on one of the Resolutions was moved, utterly 
 condemning the principle of freedom in education, and charging 
 the College with something akin to disaffection or sedition towards 
 the government. It was also charged in the public prints with 
 the crime of dissociating religion from education, and of endeavor- 
 ing to prove that lay schoolmasters might be as good as, nay 
 such was the audacity of the College better than, some clerical. 
 
 One or two points in the " Rules and Regulations" of 184G-7 
 may be worth attention, as showing that alteration is not always 
 improvement. Then, as now, the regulation respecting the elec- 
 tion of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Council was, 
 that they should be elected annually. But then, and not now, it 
 was ruled that each of the Vice-Presidents should go out of office 
 annually, and not be eligible for re-election until after the lapse of 
 one year. Then, the Vice-Presidents were elected as I think 
 they ought to be by the members of the College, and not by the 
 members of the Council. Then, one-fourth of the members of the 
 Council were to go out of office annually, and not to be eligible for 
 re-election until after the lapse of one year. In short, at that time 
 the democratic clement was in greater force than it is now ; and 
 the provisions made against the Council's becoming practically a 
 sort of Select Vestry more efficacious. Nothing can, in my own 
 opinion, tend more to the deterioration of races, councils, or 
 directing bodies generally and I include political rulers in the 
 same category than the practice of breeding in and in, which, 
 unless strongly guarded against, is almost inevitable. At the 
 same time I am bound to say, that the task of providing against 
 this cause of deterioration rests with the main body of the members, 
 rather than with the Council who are obliged to fill up their
 
 314 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 numbers, and of course with nominees of their own, unless others 
 are preseuted to them by the popular body. The College of Pre- 
 ceptors, however, is not the only instance of a popular constitu- 
 tion aristocratically managed, showing a practical abnegation of 
 the privileges conferred by the constitution. Whether this inac- 
 tion arises from indifference, or even from perfect confidence, it 
 is in itself a symptom of decay. Solon, it will be remembered, 
 punished the citizens who showed indifference to the welfare of 
 the State ; and I cannot but believe that a constitution is then 
 most flourishing, when it is continually receiving fresh blood into 
 its veins wherewith to maintain and stimulate its vital power. 
 
 I ought to add, in closing the annals of the eventful period 
 1846-7, that on the 2d October of the latter year the "Educa- 
 tional Times "'first commenced its checkered existence. It does 
 not lie in my way to criticise this periodical, which has had many 
 difficulties to contend with ; but I must express my individual and 
 personal regret that education should be in England so small a 
 matter of concern, for its own sake, to the great body of educators, 
 that no journal of this kind, however well conducted, has ever 
 paid the expenses of its projectors. Every other civilized nation 
 but England "the least educated of all" supports many 
 (Germany forty or fifty) such publications. 
 
 In the Calendar of the College of Preceptors for 1847, to which 
 I am largely indebted for the preceding narrative, I find reference 
 made to the assumed immense importance to the well-being of the 
 College of a royal Charter of Incorporation, in order these are 
 the words "that the scholastic body of this kingdom may in 
 truth be a profession, and be equally on a recognized position as " 
 (this English is not mine) "the Clerical, Legal, and Medical pro- 
 fessions." The idea, once started, was not allowed to fail for 
 want of support ; and we soon hear of subscriptions coming in 
 from all sides to defray the expenses connected with it. The 
 fact that it was necessary to pay more than 500 in hard cash to 
 lawyers to procure a sanction from Victoria, Queen, Defender of 
 the Faith, to a body of men seeking nothing for themselves per- 
 sonally, but only "to promote sound learning and advance the 
 interests of education," is one of those strange anomalies which, 
 with a crowd of others, we shall leave for the amusement of our 
 successors. Of course, the policy of giving an}* body of men such 
 rights, to confer diplomas, &c., as were asked for, might 
 fairly be questioned ; but if the disinterestedness of the promoters 
 was unquestionable, if their object was the public good, and if on
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 315 
 
 these grounds the government thought fit to grant those special 
 privileges, then to load, or allow to be loaded, the favor with fees, 
 iui positions, and embargoes of one kind or another to the amount 
 of hundreds of pounds, was a scandal and a shame. However, 
 the enthusiastic promoters of the College had made up their minds 
 that this Charter would have the magical power of constituting 
 the members ipso facto a professional guild, to whose prestige, 
 thus sanctioned, all teachers would do homage. The enthusiastic 
 promoters, alluded to, I am bound to say, nobly supported their 
 arguments by their subscriptions, and maintained, by so doing, 
 that character for disinterestedness which, through the various 
 vicissitudes of the College, has distinguished by far the larger 
 number of them. 
 
 It is surely a sight of no ordinary interest which we have before 
 us in the College of Preceptors of 1847. The measures I have 
 referred to are being pursued with extraordinary earnestness and 
 energy, and so much approved of by a largely increasing dient&e, 
 that in September, 1847, the members are spoken of as having 
 increased to above a thousand. The great difficulty, however, was 
 then, as it is now, to excite a corresponding interest among those 
 for whom it is not too much to say that the whole machinery had 
 been set in motion. It is so important to make this point evident 
 that I will quote a sentence or two from a letter published in the 
 first number of the " Educational Times," in which the writer, one 
 of the Council, using italics and capitals to emphasize his words, 
 earnestly insists: "That the grand fundamental principle or 
 object of the College of Preceptors is to guarantee to the British 
 public a number of Masters, possessing not only adequate literary 
 and scientific attainments, but also didactic knowledge, skill, and 
 experience." "This principle," he goes on to say, with even a 
 redundancy of words, " is the very foundation of our edifice ; this 
 principle is the keystone of our arch ; this principle is the corner- 
 stone of our temple ; this principle will prove the crown of our 
 glory, because it is the crown of our utility ; this principle is the 
 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC of our College, tftid gives it, in 
 point of public utility, precedence of Oxford and Cambridge, and 
 any other university hitherto founded." 
 
 In the course of 1847-8, we read of meetings more or less en- 
 thusiastic, in various localities, having for their object the making 
 known the objects of the College, and especially that of the ex- 
 amination of Teachers. It would be unjust to the early directors 
 of the College not to declare that this was, in then: estimation, a
 
 316 OX THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 matter of the highest importance. Over and over again did they 
 maintain, in public meetings, in meetings of Council, and in the 
 " Educational Times," that the real desideratum in education was 
 the teaching of the teacher, that the function of the educator 
 was not a merely accidental acquisition, but required experience 
 gained under qualified superintendence, together with adequate 
 knowledge and a spirit of earnest devotion to its work. With 
 teachers thus trained, education would assume a new aspect. It 
 would be no longer a spiritless and futile drudgery, a heart- 
 sickening work both for teacher and pupil, too frequently ending 
 in mutual disgust ; but a noble art, acting not only on the present 
 child, the actual pupil, for present purposes, but fitting him, in his 
 turn, to re-act on society, and to be himself an agent in the great 
 work of human civilization. Is this a task for the ignorant, the 
 nonchalant, the low-minded, the mere trader in education? Is it 
 not one rather to tax all the energies, and to elicit all the virtue 
 and enthusiasm, of the noblest of the race ? And if we can find 
 out and stimulate the powers of such men by our encouragement, 
 shall we not, in so doing, elevate the profession of which they are 
 members, and perform a valuable service to society in general ? 
 Such was the tone taken by the founders of the College of Pre- 
 ceptors, a tone which has not been so clearly maintained in the 
 years that have succeeded. In spite, however, of much bungling 
 (this must be allowed) on the part of some of the officers of the 
 institution, in spite, too, of party feeling, which intruded into 
 the Council, and nearly broke the heart of the noble-minded 
 Turrell, the effect of the agitation caused even by opposition to 
 the College, was good, and tended to enlighten the eyes and ele- 
 vate the hearts of many who had despised the task to which they 
 had devoted themselves. Well, thus, amidst smiles and frowns, 
 the College went on developing its aims and taxing its resources ; 
 suggesting many schemes which came to nothing, but which prom- 
 ised to be useful, such as an Assistant Masters' Association, 
 which was to have the use of the College rooms, and discuss with 
 Principals theft* common interests ; the formation of an educational 
 library to aid the young student of Didactics ; the publication 
 also for his use of a "suggestive manual" on the Theory and 
 Practice of Education, and also of a selection of the examination 
 papers which had been given out to candidates in that department ; 
 the offering of prizes for eminent success in this and other depart- 
 ments, and also for essays on education ; the publication, too, of 
 " occasional papers" relating to school economics fees, marks
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PHECEPTORS. 317 
 
 for lessons, organization of studies, &c., for the benefit of princi- 
 pals ; the publication of some of the admirable lectures which had 
 been given to the members by such men as Dr. Reid, Dr. Latham, 
 Dr. Pettigrew, A. J. Scott, Philip Kingsford, Ryrner Jones, Garth 
 Wilkinson, Arthur Henfrey, &c. ; the projection of a course of 
 twenty-five lectures directly on the art of teaching ; and the dis- 
 tribution among the members of 200 copies monthly of the " Edu- 
 cational Times." These and many other schemes, involving a 
 considerable expenditure, were actively discussed ; while deputa- 
 tions to important towns, also involving much expense, made 
 known with more or less ability sometimes the latter the aims 
 and plans of the College. Many of these sources of expense were 
 for a time checked, in order to procure at any cost what was con- 
 sidered the enormous advantage of the Charter. Some corres- 
 pondence took place as to the right of the College to the word 
 "Royal," which ended in its being finally disallowed by the 
 Government. The expenses connected with the obtaining of the 
 Charter pressed for a long time as a dead weight on the energies 
 of the College. I insist the more on this and the other causes of 
 expense just enumerated, because I consider that injustice has 
 been done to those whose main fault, after all, was that, in their 
 endeavor to carry out the original principles of the College, in- 
 cluding the charter, they in fact involved it in heavy pecuniary 
 responsibilities. It is very well for us, who have adopted the con- 
 servative policy, pride ourselves on our money in the funds, and 
 have spent scarcely anything of late years in extending the opera- 
 tions of the College, except in schemes which have more than paid 
 their own expenses, to speak of the measures of those days with 
 contempt. I acknowledge that there were at that time, encumber- 
 ing rather than aiding the Institution, a few very inefficient officers, 
 whose services it was a difficult and a delicate task to get rid of ; 
 but J say that, in spite of this severe disability, there was a power 
 and an energy in those days which we have scarcely maintained 
 since ; and further, that the pecuniary straits of the College were 
 mainly occasioned by the endeavor to accomplish objects most 
 of them worthy of praise with insufficient means. It is a dis- 
 grace to be poor ; and that disgrace the College long lay under. 
 
 At length the Royal Charter of 'Incorporation of the College of 
 Preceptors WAS obtained, and public meetings and a dinner cele- 
 brated the occasion. What especial good it has done the College, 
 beyond that of placing on record for all succeeding times the 
 original aims of the founders, I am myself rather at a loss to con-
 
 318 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 ceive. Neither the number of members (at that time 1000), nor 
 the number of teachers examined by the College, has been increased 
 in the smallest degree by the possession of the Charter ; and com- 
 paring the present year with the year 1849, 1 must remind you that 
 we have in the year 1868 fewer members than we had then, and of 
 teachers examined, 5 in 1868 against 16 in 1849. I must extract 
 from the text of the Charter a few sentences to show what it 
 pledged the College to consider as its primary objects. The preamble 
 thus states those objects : Certain persons, especially Henry Stein 
 Turrell, and others, did associate themselves together "as an educa- 
 tional institution called ' The College of Preceptors,' for the purpose 
 of promoting sound learning and of advancing the interests of 
 education, more especially among the middle classes, by affording 
 facilities to the teacher for the acquiring of a sound knowledge of 
 his profession, and by providing for the periodical session of a com- 
 petent body of examiners to ascertain and grant certificates of the 
 acquirements and fitness for their office of persons engaged or 
 desiring to be engaged in the education of youth, particularly in the 
 private schools of England and Wales ; and our said petitioner and 
 others have subscribed and collected considerable sums of money 
 for carrying out the purposes aforesaid, and are also desirous to 
 provide a fund for the relief of distressed members of the said 
 College of Preceptors and their widows and orphans." After 
 laying down some general rules, the Charter ends in these words : 
 " And we do hereby will and declare that the surplus funds of the 
 said corporation, after defraying the ordinary expenses thereof, 
 shall be applied by the Council, but with the consent and by the 
 direction of a general meeting in every particular case, in or 
 towards the maintenance of poor or diseased members of the 
 College, or of the widows or orphans of deceased members, or in 
 or towards the founding or endowing of normal or training schools, 
 or in instituting lectureships on any subject connected with the 
 theory and practice of education, or in or towards founding branch 
 institutions in connection with the said College hereby incorporated, 
 or in any other manner calculated to advance the cause of educa- 
 tion or in the interests of the scholastic profession, particularly 
 within England and Wales." 
 
 The next important event in our history was the establishment 
 of the Examination of Pupils by the College. Much controversy 
 took place in the Council as to the propriety of diverting to boys 
 that organization which had been originally intended for men. Dr. 
 Turrell, amongst others, from the most praiseworthy motives,
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 319 
 
 strongly resisted the proposal. It was, however, at last carried ; 
 aud looking back on the success which has attended it, both in 
 relation to the College itself, whose funds have been augmented by 
 it, and to the schools examined, it is a matter of much congratula- 
 tion that it was adopted. There can be no doubt that this scheme 
 long preceded that of the Oxford Local Examinations. It is on 
 record that the first school examination by the College that of 
 certain pupils of Messrs. Goodacre and Cockayne at Nottingham 
 took place at Christmas, 1850. The plan of examination was 
 from time to time modified and improved, and in 1854 was in full 
 operation that is, four years before the Oxford scheme, and two 
 years before that of the Society of Arts. 
 
 The time will not allow of any minute reports on the fortunes 
 of the College in late years. Suffice it to say, that a vigorous 
 effort on the part of some of its members for liquidating the debt 
 which weighed upon it the employment of an efficient in the 
 place of an inefficient Secretary the enlisting of several eminent 
 schoolmasters of the upper ranks of the profession among its sup- 
 porters, have delivered the College from the positive risk of de- 
 struction, with which, some few years ago, it was threatened. 
 The College can now point with some pride to the nine thousand 
 certificates it has awarded to successful candidates in the one 
 hundred and twenty schools in union with it, as well as to the fact 
 that its First-Class Certificates are recognized by Her Majesty's 
 Judges, and by the General Medical Council, as guarantees of 
 good general education, and therefore as superseding the prelim- 
 inary Literary Examinations of the Incorporated Law Society, 
 and of the various Medical corporations of the United Kingdom, 
 as well as those of the Pharmaceutical Society ; aud to the fact 
 that it periodically conducts the Preliminary Literary Examina- 
 tions of the College of Surgeons. Hence the total number of 
 persons at present examined annually by the College, including 
 the 1700 or 1800 School Pupils, amounts to nearly 2000 " a 
 number which" (to quote the Prospectus) "greatly exceeds that 
 of the Candidates who present themselves annually before any 
 other Examining body especially concerned with the improvement 
 of the education of the Middle Classes." 
 
 It will be unnecessary to discuss at any length the present 
 operations of the College. You are aware, for the most part, of 
 what they consist. But there is one feature to which I would de- 
 vote a few moments' attention. It is that of the Monthly Meet- 
 ings, one of which we arc now holding. They were commenced
 
 320 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 on the 16th of June, 1861, by an introductory address from the 
 Dean of the College. Many gentlemen interested in education, 
 both literary and scientific, have from time to time delivered lec- 
 tures, which had cost them more or less of labor to produce, to 
 audiences composed of from sixteen down to three, or even two, 
 Members of the College.* The repast was indeed prepared, but 
 the guests were wanting ; a circumstance which could hardly fail 
 to make the entertainment occasionally rather flat, at least for the 
 entertainer. His feeling, however, was, I believe, generally one 
 of surprise that education should be a matter of such profound in- 
 difference to educators, that after a man, in some cases of 
 considerable experience, had earnestly prepared himself to com- 
 municate what he had learned to his fellow-teachers, only three or 
 four of them out of all London should care enough about the sub- 
 ject to go to hear him. "Without wearying you with a complete 
 list of these lectures, I will mention a few, in order to give an 
 idea of their character, and, viewed in connection with the names 
 of the lecturers, of their value : Mr. Isbister has read a paper 
 on "The Teaching of Euclid;" Dr. Pinches, on " Public Ex- 
 aminations ; " Rev. W. T. Jones, on " The best means of Regis- 
 tering the Progress of Pupils ; " Mr. Robson, on " The Teaching 
 of the Classics;" Mr. Mason, on "The Teaching of English 
 Grammar ; " Mr. Nasmith, on " Teaching Chronology in connec- 
 tion with History ;" Dr. Ernest Adams, on "The Teaching of 
 English Composition ; " Mr. Alexander Herschel, on " The Study 
 of Astronomy ; " Mr. Edward Hughes, on " The Study of Geog- 
 raphy ; " Rev. G. Henslow, on " Teaching Elementary Botany ; " 
 Mr. Melville Bell, on "Visible Speech;" Dr. Hodgson, on 
 "Classical Instruction," on "Economics," and other subjects ; 
 Dr. Youmans, of New York, on "The Scientific Study of Human 
 Nature ; " Mr. Curtis, on " The History and Analysis of Words ; " 
 Dr. Schaible, on "The Teaching of Modern Languages;" Dr. 
 Buchheim, on " The History of Education ; " Dr. White, on " The 
 Apparatus of Education;" Mr. Morris, on "The English Lan- 
 guage before Chaucer; " Mr. Wilson, of Rugby, on "The Intro- 
 duction of Science into Schools ; " Mr. Meiklejohn, on " Teaching 
 English ; " Mr. Oppler, on " Education among the Ancient Greeks 
 and Romans," &c., &c. 
 
 It is not too much to say, that it would be difficult to match 
 
 * The above statement refers to "Members" of the College the audience has, with 
 the addition of friends of the Members and incidental visitors, amounted on a few occa- 
 sions to as many as thirty.
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 321 
 
 this list, imperfect as it is, considering the relation of the lecturers 
 to their subjects. They are practical subjects, dealt with by able 
 and practical men. They have not, however, received the honor 
 which would have been theirs in any other quarter of the civilized 
 world the crowded attendance of teachers. In Germany, Switzer- 
 land, and the United States, there are Congresses of School 
 Teachers, the avowed object of which is mutual improvement in 
 their common art, which are attended by three, four, or five 
 hundred teachers at a time. A teacher, however, in England, 
 that requires, or thinks he does, an}' teaching himself, is a phe- 
 nomenon of rare occurrence ; not unknown, certainly ; but very 
 rare. 
 
 In connection with the present of the College, I am bound, of 
 course, to report the judgment given upon it by the Schools Inquiry 
 Commissioners. This general judgment was founded on the facts 
 and opinions cited by the sub-commissioners, especially by Messrs. 
 Fearon, Bompas, and Fitch. Of these, the first reported the 
 estimate of the value of the College, which prevails in and near 
 London ; and the last, that of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Mr. 
 Bompas' district was Wales, and -the counties of Hereford and 
 Monmouth. Mr. Fearon found " the view to prevail that the 
 College is now doing a really valuable work among secondary 
 Schools, particularly those of the second grade." While, however, 
 evidently disposed to think well of the College, he feels bound to 
 add, that it is debarred from " undertaking the general control of 
 secondary education in England by its want of prestige." " The 
 College docs not occupy," he adds, 4 ' and never has occupied, a 
 position which would justify one in considering that it should 
 venture to undertake the general control of secondary education." 
 Mr. Bompas believes that " the College of Preceptors has not such 
 a standing in public estimation as to make masters seek its certifi- 
 cates." Mr. Fitch does not think that in his district " the objects 
 of the College had been fulfilled to any appreciable extent." " I 
 find," he says, " among schoolmasters here, considerable distrust of 
 the College of Preceptors. " Several schoolmasters of good stand- 
 ing, who once supported it, " had withdrawn themselves in disgust 
 at the shameless use which was made, in advertisements, of the 
 letters M.R.C.P., by men who are wholly unqualified." The 
 College, however, as Mr. Fitch acknowledges, can hardly be deemed 
 responsible for such abuses, inasmuch as it professes to recognize 
 as its proper " degrees" only the Associateship, the Liccntiateship, 
 and the Fellowship ; "the only titles," to use Dr. Kennedy's words,
 
 322 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 " which imply cither examination, or any recognition, on the part 
 of the College, of ascertained professional competency. "* It would, 
 however, be unfair to suppress Mr. Fitch's evidence respecting the 
 persons five in all whom he found in his district boasting of the 
 distinction of Licentiate or Associate : one of whom was made an 
 Associate because " he possessed a Government certificate;" a 
 second, because " he had thrice sent pupils to be examined ; " a 
 third, "for his long standing in his profession," and so on. Mr. 
 Fitch ends by saying that in the whole county he had found only 
 three men who had ever been examined by the College ; and of 
 these, one had been examined by papers sent down to him, to 
 which he had replied at home, sending them back after three days' 
 interval. If these assertions of Mr. Fitch's are founded on fact, 
 and not on misapprehension of some sort, we cannot wonder 
 much at his summing up his report on the subject in the following 
 words "On the whole, the excellent intentions of the College 
 of Preceptors have been chiefly nugatory, as far as this district is 
 concerned. It has no branch here, and I cannot find that it has 
 ever held a meeting in Yorkshire, or that it has made the humblest 
 attempt to unite the members of the profession into little associa- 
 tions for mutual counsel and help."f At the same time Mr. Fitch 
 touches the real difficulty when he stigmatizes the remarkable lack 
 of esxwit de corps among schoolmasters generally, whose relations 
 with each other seem to be much more governed by the law of re- 
 pulsion than that of attraction. The Schools' Inquiry Com- 
 missioners, in their general report, after quoting the above 
 criticisms of their assistants, add in their own name the follow- 
 ing remarks, which it will be observed, while quietly rebuking 
 self-complacency on the part of the College, do at the same time 
 minister to its honest aspirations. " The College, they say, " may 
 possibly win a higher position hereafter, and gain the confidence 
 of the public. All that can be said at present is, that according 
 to our reports that confidence has not been acquired as yet. And 
 however good the examinations may be, they cannot be pronounced 
 to satisfy the need." 
 
 I have not left much time for the future of the College. This 
 department of the subject can however by no means be passed over. 
 There are many energetic members of the Council at this moment 
 earnestly employed in devising means by which the future may be 
 
 * Address nt the General Meeting of the Mcmhers in July, 1862. 
 
 t It appears from the Calendar of 1847, that at Beverley and Drlffield there once were 
 local boards with honorary secretaries.
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 323 
 
 made to retrieve some of the errors of the past. I think I interpret 
 their w Lilies in expressing my own, that every effort that is possible 
 should be made for extending the influence of the College in accord- 
 ance with the spirit of the Charter. It is true that the early 
 theory of our Institution has in process of time become somewhat 
 obsolete, so that it is not so easy a thing as it once was to answer 
 the question What is the object of the College of Preceptors? An 
 early Councilman would have replied: " To cany out the spirit 
 of the Charter, and therefore, above all things, to aim at obtain- 
 ing better teachers to direct the training for their profession, 
 to examine them and certify to their qualifications and, with a 
 view to these objects, to found or endow normal schools, where 
 they should study and practice the art of teaching under compe- 
 tent superintendence ; to institute lectureships on the theory and 
 practice of education which they should attend ; to found branch 
 institutions as local representatives of the College, and to advance 
 in any other way the interests of education and educators." If a 
 councilman of the present day is asked the same question, he 
 must blush in giving his reply, that the main object of the Col- 
 lege, as interpreted by its practice, is to examine the pupils of 
 the schools in connection with it. The energetic members of the 
 Council to whom I have referred would by no means disparage the 
 accomplishment of this object, which is perfectly legitimate, per- 
 fectly in accordance with the spirit of the Charter, but they think 
 the College should claim a much higher position than that. The 
 College, according to their views, being the oldest, as it is still the 
 only corporate, body in England established for the advancement 
 of the interests of education without regard to religious or political 
 party, ought to be regarded as an authoritative embodiment of 
 the interests and aspirations of practical educators, and of the 
 theory of education generally. Those interests it should so 
 authoritatively represent (the authority being of course derived 
 from the great body of teachers), that, in all Government move- 
 ments respecting education, the College should be consulted ; that 
 its officers should advise respecting, and aid in, Government com- 
 missions on Education ; that co-ordinately at least it should take 
 part in Examinations appointed by the Government ; and that its 
 Examinations should be received on an equal footing with those 
 of any other educated body whatever ; that in order to increase its 
 influence with the public it should either proprio Mnrte, or by ex- 
 trinsic aid, found lectureships and professorships in education, 
 as well as found, endow, or utilize training schools. In short, it
 
 324 ON THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
 
 should, in every possible way, assert the principle, that education 
 is a science as well as an art that there are degrees of accom- 
 plishment in this as well as in other arts that it is of the highest 
 importance to society, both at present and for the future, that this 
 art should be encouraged and honored, and that those who by 
 natural gifts, acquired attainments, and long experience, have be- 
 come masters of it, should be allowed to speak and act with 
 authority upon it that their authority thus gained, (and as rep- 
 resented by the College) should be allowed as against those who 
 have not been similarly prepared, so that it should no longer be 
 possible for Government Commissions on Education to be consti- 
 tuted without containing a single member or only a single 
 member practically acquainted with the subject under investi 
 gation, nor for Government Inspectors of Schools to be gentlemen 
 who up to the day of their appointment, have had nothing what- 
 ever to do with teaching. 
 
 If teachers of all ranks and conditions would from high and 
 noble motives (not merely with a view to some personal and petty 
 advantage to themselves) gather round the College, even now 
 much might be done. Let them appreciate their profession at its 
 proper worth, and believing themselves in its value to society, let 
 each in his own person aim both to represent that professional 
 worth for his own sake, and to make the machinery itself as per- 
 fect as possible for the sake of society. By this combination of 
 special with general interests, education may be raised to the rank 
 of a profession a result greatly to be desired both for the sake 
 of teachers and of society. The elevation of teachers in the 
 social scale would be one of the best evidences of advancing 
 civilization. If, however, teachers desire the end, they must 
 co-operate actively and sympathetically to obtain it. Without 
 this co-operation, no college, however wisel}- constituted or 
 energetically conducted, can act strongly on public opinion. 
 
 There are many means, into which I cannot enter now, by which 
 educators might aid education in gaining a position of power and 
 authority in this country, which at present it is without. Too 
 man}' teachers, however it is no slander to say so are so 
 anxious about the near and the special, that they disregard the 
 remote and the general. If they would reject the narrow theory 
 which thus governs their action, and regard the interests of their 
 profession as their own personal interests, they would in the long 
 run more certainly secure the object of their ambition. They 
 would find that a nobler theory than theirs would convert even
 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS. 325 
 
 theirs to its own purposes, and give them back the result with 
 glorious usury. The inau who aids a great institution with a view 
 iiot merely to the good he can get from it, but to the good he can 
 do it, who looks with a generous eye on the interests of others as 
 involving his own, and works magnanimously for that posterity 
 which he will never see, will find, by a mysterious connection 
 between events and consequences, that in devising liberal things 
 he shall stand, and be supported, by them that in watering 
 others he shall be watered himself. 
 
 NOTE. In the discussion which followed the lecture, Mr. Freeman aid he waa one of 
 those members who usually relied on the reports of the meetings which appeared In the 
 " Educational Times; " but on this occasion he attended not only to hear the lecture, but 
 from respect to the lecturer. This principal omission in the paper was the part which Mr. 
 Payne himself had taken In establishing the College, of which he had been too modest to give 
 any account whatever.
 
 PEOPOSAL 
 
 ENDOWMENT OF A PROFESSORSHIP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION, 
 
 IN CONNECTION WITH THE 
 
 (INCORPORATED BY BOTAL CUAUTER.)
 
 PROPOSAL FOR THE ENDOWMENT OF A PROFESSOR- 
 SHIP OF THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION, 
 IN CONNECTION WITH THE COLLEGE OF PRE- 
 CEPTORS. 
 
 A FEELING of dissatisfaction, long entertained, as to the results 
 of our ordinary school instruction, has of late found expression 
 through many channels. The Reports of Royal Commissions, 
 Memorials, of learned bodies to both Houses of Parliament, the 
 published opinions of persons of authority, and the all but unani- 
 mous testimony of the daily press, concur in suggesting a grave 
 doubt whether such results adequately represent any sound theory 
 of Education. With this doubt has arisen a desire to improve the 
 quality of the teaching in schools, by making some provision for 
 the better training of Teachers, especially those of Middle-class 
 Schools, for their profession. 
 
 This important object has long engaged the attention of the 
 Council of the College of Preceptors. The College was authorized 
 by the Royal Charter it obtained in 1849, to apply its surplus 
 funds towards " founding and endowing Normal or Training 
 Schools, and establishing Lectureships on any subject connected 
 with the Theory or Practice of Education." In default, however, 
 of that general support from the whole body of Schoolmasters 
 which would have enabled them fully to carry out these objects, 
 they have never been in a position to do so from their own re- 
 sources, which, being mainly derived from the contributions of a 
 few earnest and public-spirited Teachers, are necessarily limited. 
 While Parliament has been liberal, not to say lavish, in its expen- 
 diture of public mouoy in promoting the training of Teachers for 
 Primary Schools ; and while the claims of our Universities, as well 
 as those of Science, Literature, and Art, have been fully recog- 
 nized by the Legislature, .as is shown by the ample Parliamentary 
 Grants annually voted for their support ; the important class of 
 Teachers engaged in our public and private schools, to whom so 
 large a part of the higher education of the country is entrusted, 
 have hitherto had no means provided for them by which they
 
 330 THE SCIENCE AND ART OF EDUCATION. 
 
 could obtain any professional training specially adapted to pre- 
 pare them for their responsible duties. The Council of the College 
 of Preceptors have repeatedly brought this grave defect in our 
 educational system under the notice of the Government ; and, 
 failing to obtain any aid or encouragement in their efforts to pro- 
 vide a remedy for it, they have endeavored, by holding Meetings 
 and Conferences of Teachers, to gain for their object the sympathy 
 and support of the leading scholastic authorities, and of the gen- 
 eral public. Finding themselves still unable single-handed to 
 cope with the difficulties in their path, they suggested, in a Me- 
 morial to the Privy Council in 1872, that the Universities should 
 take up the work, and, by establishing Professorial Chairs of 
 Education, follow the good example which has been set in Germany 
 and elsewhere. No response having been given to this appeal, 
 except in Scotland,* where the subject is now exciting much 
 interest, they resolved at length to take up the matter themselves, 
 and acordingly instituted a Professorship of Education the first 
 ever established in England. Considerable success has attended 
 their experiment. During the years 1873 and 1874, nearly 140 
 students of both sexes have attended the Professor's Class, and 
 derived great and acknowledged benefit from their attendance. 
 It is easy to see, however, that such a Class cannot be self-sup- 
 porting. The fees, unless very moderate, would exclude those 
 whom it especially sought to help ; while, on the other hand, the 
 College has no fund to fall back upon for supplementing the fees. 
 
 Having now carried on this important experiment for two years, 
 the Council are anxious to obtain such aid from the public as will 
 enable them permanently to endow a Chair of Education in con- 
 nection with the College. They are the more encouraged to hope 
 for this aid from the fact that the Class has been, and is, open to 
 Teachers of all grades, whether connected with the College or not, 
 without any sectarian or other restriction whatever. This liberal 
 and catholic character thej still resolve to maintain. 
 
 As the object they have in view is one which concerns not 
 Teachers only, but all classes of the community, they appeal with 
 confidence (1) to the General Public, who are interested in hav- 
 
 * It Is gratifying to be able to state that, since the above was written, the Govern- 
 ment authorities have responded to an appeal made to them by the Trustees of Dr. 
 Bell's Fund, and the senate of the University of Edinburgh, for help to establish a Professor- 
 ship of Education, by granting a sum of 10,000 toward the endowment of two Professorships 
 one at the University of Edinburgh, and the other at that of St. Andrews. The significance 
 of this event, which amounts to an authoritative recognition of Education, both as a Science 
 and as an An, la sufficiently obvious.
 
 THE SCIKXCK AND ART OF EDUCATION. 331 
 
 ing their children taught on rational principles ; (2) to the Friends 
 of Education, who have long complained of the unsatisfactory re- 
 sults of the present system, or want of system ; (3) to Principals 
 of Schools, both of boys and girls, who find an increasing difficulty 
 in meeting with Teachers who know how to teach ; and (4) to 
 Teachers of all kinds, who desire to see the standard of education 
 advanced, and their noble profession protected against the intru- 
 sion of ignorant and incapable pretenders. 
 
 The Council believe that a very moderate endowment would 
 enable them to carry out their object. The interest of the endow- 
 ment, with the addition of the fees charged to the students, would 
 probably suffice to engage the services of a Professor qualified by 
 experience in the Art, and knowledge of the Science, of Educa- 
 tion, and moreover thoroughly acquainted with the history of 
 Education, and the methods of the most eminent masters of teach- 
 ing, past and present, in England and elsewhere. The lectures, 
 lessons, and training of such a man, enforced by genuine enthu- 
 siasm for his subject, would, by inspiring young Teachers with a 
 respect for their profession, and correcting erroneous impressions 
 as to the objects to be aimed at in pursuing it, greatly promote 
 the cause of Education. 
 
 The Council are fully aware that the establishment of a Pro- 
 fessorship of Education does not alone accomplish all, or nearly 
 all, that is necessary for the equipment of the Teacher. They there- 
 fore have in view, should they meet with sufficient encouragement, 
 the founding of a Training College, with Model and Practising 
 Schools for exemplifying the best methods of teaching, the enlarge- 
 ment of their present Educational Library, and the addition of an 
 Educational Museum and Reading Room for students. 
 
 As the matter itself is of the deepest importance to the interests 
 of the whole community, and as the need for dealing with it is 
 urgent, the Council earnestly hope that this public appeal will not 
 be made in vain,
 
 A 
 
 COMPENDIOUS EXPOSITION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE 
 
 OF 
 
 PROFESSOR JACOTOT'S 
 
 CELEBRATED 
 
 SYSTEM OF EDUCATION, 
 
 Originally established at the University of Louvain, in the Kingdom 
 of the Netherlands. 
 
 BY JOSEPH PAYNE. 
 
 " Already are Schools, after the method of Jncotot, spread over France and the Xether- 
 l:imls, already does almost every town and province in the north of theao countries pxMNW 
 either an establishment upon the principle, or one or more Instructors." foreign Quarterly 
 Jtrttiew, February, 1830. 
 
 " M . Jacotot a rendu un service Inappreciable d 1'humanlte'. La methode dc M. Jitrotot 
 repose 8iir des princlpus nussl certains quo feconds en heurcux rvsultata. 2>e la 
 Jan/tot, par M. Iffy at Grenoblt. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FUR 
 
 E. STEPHENS, 18, SOUTHAMPTON ROW, RUSSELL SQUARE; 
 
 AND SOLD BT 
 
 SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONERS' HALL COURT. 
 
 1830.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A FEW particulars respecting the origin and progress of Jacotot's 
 System of Education, may, perhaps, form au appropriate Intro- 
 duction to this little Treatise. M. Jacotot, a native of Dijon, 
 became, in the year 1818, Professor of the French Language at 
 the University of Louvain, and there established the celebrated 
 system, which, from its principle of unlimited applicability, he 
 has denominated "Universal Instruction." He here, in the 
 course of his professional duties, accidentally made the important 
 discovery, for which he more especially claims the merit of origin- 
 ality, that it is not necessary to explain in order to teach, or in 
 other words, that the pupil may be made to discover for himself 
 everything requisite to be known. Called upon to teach the French 
 language, while unacquainted with the native tongue of his pupils, 
 he put into the hands of the latter, Fenelon's Telemaquc, with a 
 Dutch translation, directing them (through an interpreter) to 
 commit to memory the French text, and to gather the meaning 
 from the version which accompanied it. These pupils having 
 thoroughly learned half of the first book, were made to repeat 
 incessantly what they knew, and to read over the remainder 
 attentively, so as to be able to relate the substance of it. Their 
 thorough acquaintance with both the subject and the phraseology 
 was ascertained by rigid interrogation, and they were then directed 
 to write compositions in French, deriving all the necessary mate- 
 rials from their model-book. Their success in this exercise sur- 
 
 
 
 prised even the Piofessor himself ; and on considering the circum- 
 stances, he was led to observe, that all the results had been 
 attained without explanation on his part. He instantly resolved 
 to ascertain to how great an extent this principle might be applied, 
 and to tell his pupils nothing whatever. He found that, as they 
 became more and more acquainted, by repetition, with the twenty- 
 four booksof Telemaque, they spontaneously observed, in their com- 
 positions, every rule both of orthography and grammar, until at
 
 336 PREFACE. 
 
 length they showed themselves capable of writing (with regard to 
 style) as well as the best French authors, and consequently better 
 (as Jacotot said) than himself and his professional colleagues. The 
 complete success of this experiment led to the institution of others, 
 in which the spirit of the principle was carefully preserved, and 
 the entire pi'ocess and ultimate results accurately scrutinized. 
 The principle that explanations are unnecessary, was discovered 
 to be not merely general but universal ; and it was further ob- 
 served, that the method founded upon this principle is actuall}' 
 the method by which we acquire everything that we learn without 
 the aid of an instructor. The perception of this identity, tended 
 to confirm and harmonize the notions already springing up in the 
 mind of Jacotot, and laid the foundation of the System. 
 
 An allusion to its progress is seen in the motto to this pam- 
 phlet, and in the present instance this must suffice. To trace its 
 history through the many controversies of which it has been the 
 subject, might be interesting, but is here impracticable. It may 
 easily be imagined, that the Universal Instruction has some claims 
 to attention, when it is stated, that " the sale of M. Jacotot's own 
 publications is immense, and the number of explicatory pam- 
 phlets in the French language, published in France and other 
 places, almost incredible." * It is at length beginning to excite 
 an interest in England, and already many eminent private teachers 
 have adopted the method with unquestionable success. A Guide 
 to French, in conformity with its principles, has just been an- 
 nounced by M. Tarver, teacher of French at Eton College ; and 
 M. Henri, one of the most zealous of Jacotot's disciples, now 
 residing at Boulogne, is expected shortly to introduce the system, 
 in a practical shape, to the British public. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the writer of the present Treatise has at- 
 tempted to unfold the general principles and method in the fol- 
 lowing pages, to which he respectfully invites the attention of all 
 who feel an interest in the important science of education. It is 
 believed, that the S3'stem of Jacotot alone deserves the name of a 
 System of Education. If its individual principles are not novel, 
 the united whole is at least a novelt}" ; the wonderful results 
 which it has effected are novelties. It embraces the advantages, 
 without the blemishes, of other systems ; and presents, in harmo- 
 nious combination, all those elements that have ever been deemed, 
 by common consent, valuable and effective in practical tuition. 
 
 * " Foreign Quarterly Review," February, 1830. This number contains a sensible exposi- 
 tion of the system, scarcely, however, doing justice to its characteristic merits.
 
 PREFACE. 337 
 
 It is, in short, a KT^O. es a, a possession for ever ; and the 
 writer of the following pages feels that his humble name derives 
 an unanticipated degree of honor, from its being that of the first 
 Englishman who has publicly expressed his thorough conviction 
 of the validity of the principles, and efficacy of the method of the 
 Universal Instruction. 
 
 3, Rodney Buildings, 
 
 New Kent Road.
 
 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE 
 
 NEW SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 
 
 LEARN SOMETHING THOROUGHLY, AND REFER 
 EVERYTHING ELSE TO IT. 
 
 THE above sentence comprises the entire method of the Universal 
 Instruction. Whenever this precept is neglected, the constitu- 
 tional character of the system is disregarded, and the success of 
 the teacher's endeavors is no longer guaranteed by M. Jacotot. 
 The spirit of it so completely pervades every part of the machinery 
 of the method, that the one cannot, by any means, be separated 
 from the other. As, however, the terms in which it is expressed 
 may not intuitively convey the requisite notions to the mind of the 
 reader, an attempt will be made to develop more fully their strict 
 signification, as connected with the system of Jacotot. Their real 
 import here is, that whatever department of education be in 
 question, something, some particular fact, or group of facts, 
 shall be thoroughly impressed on the memory and comprehended 
 by the judgment; and that this individual fact or group of facts, 
 shall serve as a kind of rallying point, around which all other 
 facts, subsequently acquired, shall be made to attach themselves, 
 according to their resemblances and inherent relations. The habit 
 thus formed, of referring, by reflection, everything learned for the 
 first time to something previously learned, tends, of course, to 
 connect the entire mass together; and in this is seen the superi- 
 ority, as well as the peculiarity, of Jacotot's System of Education. 
 This system is indeed entirely conformable to the laws of Nature, 
 and the generally received opinions of common sense. He only 
 can be said to understand a subject thoroughly, who distinctly 
 perceives the relation of every part of it to every other part, and 
 who clearly traces the entire series of associated ideas which make
 
 840 P111HC1PLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 up the whole, from the beginning to the end, or back from the end 
 to the beginning. But who can do this? All, indubitably, who 
 are instructed by the method of Jacotot ; for this method leads 
 uniformly and invariably to that end. Will not every one then 
 agree, that the system which can accomplish so important a design 
 is undeniably superior to all others that have hitherto been pro- 
 jected ? Without doubt, if it can be done. But it has been 
 done, and repeatedly, and the reader will presently judge for 
 himself, whether the process followed is likeh" to effect its purpose. 
 It may not be amiss to consider, in the first instance, what is 
 generally meant by the expression, learning a thing. To learn 
 anything is evidently not the same as to forget it ; yet we might 
 almost imagine it were, by referring a moment to the common 
 plan pursued in the old method. Will any one maintain that, 
 speaking generally, at the end of his seven years or more of school 
 instruction, he actually recollects one thousandth part of the facts 
 that have been brought before him, or the observations that have 
 been addressed to him, connected with the course of tuition ? A 
 considerable portion of all this combined mass of information has 
 remained perfectly unintelligible to him, from the first moment 
 that it was introduced to his notice, to the time at which he throws 
 down his books and enters on the^ world. He perceived neither 
 the end nor the design of it ; and perhaps even the terms in which 
 it was expressed were never thoroughly comprehended, although 
 repeated incessantly in his hearing. In illustration of this it ma}- 
 be asked, Does one child in a hundred understand a single page of 
 that book which is put into his hands as soon he can read, and 
 over which he pores, year b}* year, and, at length, by dint of con- 
 stant repetition, has thoroughlj- impressed on his memory the 
 English Grammar? This may well be doubted. He learns, 
 indeed, what is to him a jargon of unintelligible technicalities, like 
 nothing that he meets with in the conversation of his comrades 
 and friends, or in the language of those juvenile volumes, which a 
 nascent taste for reading may induce him to peruse : and after all, 
 he is at a loss to conceive of what use it is for him then to know, 
 that a verb is a word which signifies to be, to do, or to suffer ; or 
 that there are two kinds of conjunctions, the copulative and the 
 disjunctive. It would be absurd to ask him if he thoroughly 
 understands these words, for it is quite impossible, even if the 
 individual terms be explained to him ; if, for instance, he perceives 
 tolerably well what is meant by the words conjunction, copulative
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 341 
 
 and disjunctive, how can any idea be received into his mind, of a 
 something which separates while it joins : and even supposing the 
 present difficulty surmounted, does not the question incessantly 
 recur to him, What is the use of all this? You tell him he cannot 
 speak properly unless he understands grammar ; but he does not, 
 he cannot, perceive why it should be so ; and perhaps he wonders 
 how it is that he contrives to utter a correct sentence without 
 recollecting, at the moment of utterance, all the grammatical rules 
 which have been so constantly urged upon his attention. He how- 
 ever infers, that he does very often speak correctly, because he 
 uses the same expressions as everybody else ; and the point of 
 mystery is, that he chances to do so without remembering the 
 rules of grammar. The same remarks will appty, more or less, to 
 many others of the generalities which, in the common course of 
 instruction, a pupil is called upon to learn, but which he cannot, 
 from a want of the information previously requisite, understand. 
 Even, however, supposing that he does actually acquire a number 
 of really useful facts, they form in his mind an indir/esta moles, a 
 shapeless mass, in which he perceives neither order nor connection. 
 He has not been taught by the method of Jacotot, to refer every- 
 thing learned for the first time to something previously learned ; 
 and he cannot, therefore, perceive the relation which the latter 
 . bears to the former. But there must necessarily exist a relation. 
 Unless the parts of the book committed to memory had been con- 
 nected with each other, in the mind of the author, he would of 
 course have produced a disorderly patchwork of incoherent facts. 
 But this is not the case, at least in any approved work ; and if 
 this be not the case, if it was necessary for the author to see 
 clearly the end and aim of all that he proposed to write in order 
 to convey a connected idea of the subject to the reader, it must be 
 equally necessary for the reader, if he wishes to understand the 
 subject as well as the author, to gain possession of the entire series 
 of facts, which compose the subject, as presented to his view. 
 This, however, cannot be done, unless the pupil is taught to con- 
 nect what he learns one day with all that he has learned, relating 
 to the same subject, on every previous day, from the time when it 
 was first urged on his attention. But the facts forgotten cannot, 
 of course, be connected with those remembered ; though it is easily 
 seen, that were these supplied, the whole subject would be before 
 the mind. This leads again to the remark previously made, that 
 scarcely a thousandth part of what is learned (using the word in 
 its conventional sense) at school, is retained for use in the actual
 
 342 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 business of life ; though this, most evidently, was the ostensible 
 purpose throughout the entire course. 
 
 If the considerations here adduced be thought to have any 
 weight, they must evince one of two things, either the positive 
 incapacity of pupils of the usual scholastic age to comprehend 
 any subject in the manner referred to, or the defectiveness of the 
 customary method of tuition. It would be impossible, in the face 
 of countless instances in opposition, to maintain the former asser- 
 tion. If a child can be made to commit to memory, and understand 
 one sentence, for instance, there seems no physical obstacle to his 
 doing the same with another, still retaining the first in his memory 
 by constant repetition, and thus connecting the new fact with all 
 that preceded it. This is the method of Jacotot, and he has proved 
 incontestably both the possibility and the effectiveness of such a 
 process. He indeed asserts, that the youngest child can comprehend 
 thoroughly the terms representing the most complex abstract notions, 
 that is, if he previously well understands all the simple subordinate 
 notions contained in those that are complex. Whether such attain- 
 ments as these here referred to, be within the reach of any child, 
 even the youngest, 'is only doubted by those who have never 
 attempted to satisfy themselves by actual -experiment. The proba- 
 bility of success, at least, will be presently shown. While a pupil, 
 by any particular method, can be taught to acquire more than he 
 would have done by another given method, it is absurd to tax the 
 incapacity of the pupil for that which is decidedly the fault of the 
 plan of tuition pursued. The general question, however, to which 
 this remark would lead, as to the actual fitness of the particular 
 systems of Education now in use, to the real purposes for which 
 instruction is needful and valuable, will not here be investigated. 
 Two or three facts, from which the inferences requisite to the view 
 now intended, may be drawn, are sufficiently obvious to the per- 
 sonal experience of all. After sedulously going through all the 
 manoeuvres of instruction, for several years, we come from school 
 to begin our education afresh, according to the particular objects 
 which it may be desirable for us to attain in life. We are in pos- 
 session, indeed, of a vast number of facts, but they lie for the 
 most part unconnectedly and incoherently in the mind. Of a 
 number of others we have a loose and vague notion, just sufficient 
 to admit of consciousness that they exist, and have names attached 
 to them, which names we know well, without knowing the things 
 themselves. Still less, however, in these latter fragments of 
 knowledge than in the former, do we perceive any sort of cohe-
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 343 
 
 rency or natural connection : and upon a review of the whole of 
 our acquirements, during the long time that we have been employed 
 in making them, the feeling which takes full possession of our 
 mind is, that nine-tenths of all that we learned has been for- 
 gotten ; that we are well-acquainted with no one subject what- 
 ever ; and that in nearly every point which most concerns us, 
 we are 
 
 Unpractis'd, unprepar'd, and still to seek. 
 
 But by the system of Jacotot, the faculties of the mind are kept 
 in constant action, from the commencement to the end of the 
 course of instruction ; the first acquisitions, as well as all that 
 succeed, are permanently retained, and accordingly, everything 
 learned once is learned for ever. This is a most essential point 
 secured ; for the time and labor spent upon the acquirement of 
 that which is not retained, must be considered as utterly lost. He 
 is not rich who has had a large fortune, but he who is still in 
 possession of it, and who can avail himself, at his pleasure, of the 
 advantages which it furnishes. Hence, says Jacotot, " We are 
 not learned merely because we have been taught, ice are learned only 
 when we have retained." A thorough helluo librorum may, like 
 Magliabcchi, devour six large roomsful of books and yet leave it 
 on record, as he did, that the reader of a vast quantity knows but 
 little of what he reads. One single book, thoroughly understood 
 and impressed on the memory, is of more service to the mind than 
 fifty hastily skimmed over, and forgotten even sooner than read. 
 And in the application and modification of this principle consists 
 the entire method of Jacotot. " But there is nothing new in this 
 plan," some will remark, "it has often been acted on before." 
 This is not questioned for a moment. It has often been acted on 
 before, and, as our author remarks, no man ever became great 
 without adopting and pursuing it. No one ever attained a com- 
 plete and profound knowledge of any subject but by means of tin- 
 principle now first proposed for adoption in the elementary st;i 
 of education. Whatever we wish to learn, whatever it becona s 
 absolutely necessary for us to learn, we acquire by this method, 
 and by no other. We cannot even understand what we read 
 without it. How can we be entertained by the perusal of a simple 
 tale or novel, unless we comprehend all the circumstances, as they 
 rise before us, and refer those which appear for the first time to 
 those which have already come under our view ? He who retains 
 in his memory the greater number of these circumstances, will, if
 
 344 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 the work be well executed, receive far greater pleasure from the 
 perusal, than he who forgets most of them, as he turns over the 
 pages in which they are contained. The one will perceive beau- 
 $ies which are to the other perfectly invisible ; the former will 
 comprehend the force of numerous allusions and acute witticisms, 
 which are to the latter quite unintelligible. The proviso has been 
 made, if the work be well executed ; for it is evidently a suppos- 
 able case, that the reader may examine more closely the several 
 parts of the work, their fitness to each other, and harmonious 
 combination in forming the whole, than did even the author him- 
 self during the composition of it. Many a work which has ob- 
 tained a fair reputation could ill bear this scrutiny. Many an 
 author is indebted to the careless memory of his readers for the 
 facility with which his own faults escape undetected. A truly 
 great work, however, can be submitted to this sort of examina- 
 tion. We here observe, that ever}* word, sentence, and circum- 
 stance, has its own duty to perform, and is placed in that order 
 of situation which shall most conduce to the perfection of each 
 part, and the perfect harmony and unity of the whole. Now we 
 cannot thoroughly enter into the spirit of an author, but by tracing 
 his design throughout all that he presents to us ; from an investi- 
 gation of the minute component particulars we obtain general 
 notions, and by comparing these amongst themselves, we obtain 
 others still more general, till at length, by this analytical process, 
 we arrive at the very point from which his mind first started, and 
 look back upon the whole in the same way, and with the same 
 train of feelings, as those with which he prospectively surveyed 
 it. Hence it is seen, that 'though the route which we traverse is 
 in a precisely contrary direction to that along which the author 
 passed, the one being analytical, and the other synthetical, yet 
 that in the course of it, we must necessarily pass through all the 
 associated ideas, with the variety of feelings and sentiments 
 excited by them, which linked and developed themselves in the 
 mind of the writer who gave them expression. It follows from 
 this, that if it be necessary for him to emplo}* every word and 
 phrase that he does emploj*, in order to conve}* to us the ideas or 
 sentiments which he himself perceived and felt, it must be equally 
 necessary for us to notice and comprehend each individual word 
 and expression, that we may trace on the tablet of our own mind 
 an exact copy, both in design and coloring, of that picture which 
 he has presented to our view. Now if he used more words than 
 were necessary, if, again, any. of these failed to transfer the
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 345 
 
 idea which he had pictured, to our mind so far is his perform- 
 ance faulty ; and it is not, on this account, that he is considered 
 a fine or correct writer. Inasmuch, however, as he avoids the 
 commission of these faults, so does he approach towards positive 
 perfection, and attain the envied reputation of a truly great author. 
 " But," it may be said, " what have all these critical observa- 
 tions to do with the system of Jacotot? Children cannot criticise 
 individual words and expressions, and perceive the design, or 
 detect the faults and beauties of an admired literary composition." 
 To this it is answered, that M. Jacotot has imagined, or to speak 
 correctly, has proved beyond a doubt that little girls and boys, of 
 between the ages of ten and fourteen, can do everything here 
 enumerated, not only with the classical authors of their own 
 language, but with those of any foreign language (living or dead) 
 which they may be studying ; and the observations referred to 
 embrace in part the method of the system. The pupil of the Uni- 
 versal Instruction is taught to believe, that every word used by a 
 good writer modifies in some respect the idea intended to be 
 conveyed, and that therefore, to understand the whole, he must 
 understand each individual part ; and he is never said to have 
 learned a thing which he does not thoroughly comprehend (that 
 is, receive altogether) in his mind, by an accurate perception of 
 every subordinate notion, and of all its relations with what he has 
 previously learned. The knowledge thus gained is not likely to 
 escape quickly from the mind ; and the practice of incessant repeti- 
 tion, which is the soul of the system, renders permanent the first and 
 all intervening ideas received by the understanding ; so that of 
 the mass of information ever rolling on, and becoming augmented 
 by contributions from all sides, may be justly said 
 
 Vires acquirit eundo. 
 
 But it maybe well to. enter more particularly into the details of 
 the method pursued, that the fitness of the means to attain the 
 cud predicted in the foregoing observations may be at once 
 perceived. 
 
 READING AND WRITING. 
 
 Instead of spending some few years in the acquisition of these 
 very useful elementary arts, as is generally the case by the 
 common method, the pupils of Jacotot learn to read and write in
 
 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 about a fortnight ! at the termination of which period they are 
 deemed capable of beginning the study of the vernacular language, 
 according to the method which will shortly be explained. In 
 perfect consistency with the harmony and unity of design, which 
 pervades the entire system, the little pupil is taught to acquire, at 
 the very commencement of his studies, those mental habits which 
 are the grand means of success in his advancement throughout the 
 entire course. He is at once taught to LEARN SOMETHING 
 
 THOROUGHLY, AND TO REFER EVERYTHING ELSE TO IT ; and, CO11- 
 
 sequently, begins to notice resemblances and differences, to 
 exercise his judgment, to analyze, to generalize, and in short, to 
 bring into play nearly the whole of his intellectual faculties. To 
 attain these advantages, all the customary helps of alphabets, 
 primers, spelling-books, first readings, &c., &c., are neglected, 
 and some standard classical work (generally that which is to be 
 his chief guide afterwards in the acquisition of the language) is 
 put into the hands of the pupil. In answer to anticipated objec- 
 tions, it may be here stated, that the young student is not 
 expected, at this stage of his progress, to understand what he is 
 taught to read. It is, however, highly probable, that his ideas 
 will be quite as clear and definite upon the subject, whatever it 
 may be, as those which he would have obtained by poring over 
 the cabalistical syllables, ba, be, bi, bo, bu, cat, lat, tat, &c., &c., 
 in all their array of conceivable combinations. 
 
 The work selected for the initiation of the pupil, and for pur- 
 poses hereafter to be mentioned, must, of course, depend upon 
 the will of the master. In the present instance, merely for con- 
 venience, reference will be continually made to the English 
 translation of Telemachus, since Fenelon's elegant fiction is the 
 work chosen by M. Jacotot as the standard or model-book of his 
 French pupils while acquiring the knowledge of their own language. 
 
 Supposing, then, that Dr. Hawkesworth's. Translation of Tele- 
 machus were the work selected, (though, of course, no English 
 teacher would adopt this as a model of English composition), the 
 attention of the pupil is at once directed by the master to the 
 opening sentence of the first book, which runs as follows 
 
 " The grief of Calypso for the departure of Ulysses would admit 
 of no comfort." 
 
 Pointing to the word " The " the master pronounces it in a very 
 distinct tone, and directs the pupil to repeat it after him. He 
 then recommences with the first word and adds the second, and 
 the two words are repeated in succession by the pupil. Beginning
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 347 
 
 again, the third word is added, and the three are repeated by the 
 child accordingly. The same process is used with the fourth word, 
 still recommencing with the first. A pause is now made, and the 
 pupil is at once called upon to exercise his faculty of noticing resem- 
 blances and differences. He is asked to- point out the respective 
 situations of the words " Calypso," " grief," "of," " the ;" the 
 interrogation, after this manner, being continued till he can show, 
 without the slightest hesitation, the place of each. He thus learns 
 to distinguish them from one another. Any page of the book is 
 then opened, and some particular sentence or line being pointed 
 out to him, he is asked if the words that he knows are to be found 
 there. If he is thoroughly acquainted with the forms of them by 
 the previous interrogation, he will have no great difficulty in per- 
 ceiving those of the same form, in whatever part of the book they 
 may be. As soon as the master is assured that the child is in 
 thorough possession of these four words, he goes on adding succes- 
 sively the remaining words of the sentence, -always recommencing 
 with the first. If the child becomes well acquainted with the word 
 " of " when first met with, he is, of course, expected to recognize 
 it twice afterwards in this sentence. The process of interrogation 
 pursued at the end of the first four words is now repeated with 
 each word of the sentence, until the child learns accurately to 
 distinguish those words which are different, to recognize the like- 
 ness between those which are similar, and to point out any word 
 of this sentence in any page of the book that may be opened 
 before him. Proceeding according to strict analysis, the master 
 now recommences the examination of each word of the sentence, 
 dividing every word of more than one syllable into its component 
 syllables, thus " The grief of Ca-lyp-so for the de-par-turc," 
 &c. The pupil is then called upon to notice and distinguish each 
 syllable, after the same plan as that pursued with respect to entire 
 words, and, at length, he is made acquainted with the name of 
 ever}' letter. After he has been well exercised, in this manner, 
 upon a few sentences, the teacher directs him to go on by himself, 
 without previously pronouncing the words to him, arid only assists 
 him when he meets with a word, syllable or letter, which has never 
 before come under his notice. Still, however, he must recommence 
 with the first icord learned, as it is by this means only that all his 
 previous acquisitions are permanently retained. He soon begins 
 to have the first three or four sentences, thus so frequently 
 repeated, impressed on his memory, and is told to spell them, divid- 
 ing them into their component syllables and letters, from recollec-
 
 348 PRINCIPLES ANp PRACTICE OP 
 
 tion. After about sixty lines have been thus gone through, he 
 cannot fail to be acquainted with nearly all, if not all, the letters 
 of the alphabet, and with a vast variety of their combinations. It 
 is, indeed, considered, that he is now taught to read, if any 
 hesitation, indicative of imperfect perception, is evident in the 
 pupil, the master must return to the same words, syllables or 
 letters, until they are thoroughly distinguished and comprehended. 
 By this means, every new acquisition becomes permanent, and 
 every effort brings with it the proof of some progress. Hence, as 
 has been before remarked generally, there is no lost labor. If the 
 pupil should only learn one word in an hour, yet is that word for 
 ever learned, and indelibly stamped on the memory by the inces- 
 sant repetition of the first thing required, which is the very life of 
 the system. The pupil is never to be assisted, except in what is 
 introduced to his notice for the first time. That which he has 
 already learned, he is expected to recognize wherever he may meet 
 with it. It is he, and not the master, who is to make remarks, 
 and discover relations of difference and similarity. The master 
 asks a great number of questions, and causes the pupil, whenever 
 a wrong answer is given, t& discover for himself the error into 
 which he has fallen. To do this, he must reflect, he must make 
 comparisons, and, however young he may be, these operations of 
 the mind are certainly within his reach, and nothing but a want of 
 attention can prevent him from performing them successfully. 
 The moment an infant opens its eyes to the light in this world it 
 begins to make comparisons ; that is, to discover resemblances 
 and differences. We can imagine no period in its infantile exist- 
 ence, supposing it to be born in the possession of the corporal 
 senses of humanity, in which it perceives not a distinction between 
 light and darkness, hot and cold, or in which it cannot recognize 
 its nurse from a total stranger. No one, then, can perhaps be 
 found, who will maintain the incapacity of any child that can 
 speak, for the performance of everything required in the process 
 just described, if only its attention can be gained. 
 
 "With respect to the motives to be applied, in order to make the 
 pupil attentive, these must be left to the discretion and judgment 
 of the instructor. One means, however, derived from the opera- 
 tion of the system itself, will be found very efficacious, and it is 
 so much the more to be relied on, as it is in unison with the pupil's 
 own feelings. This is the success of which the child is conscious 
 as the result of his own efforts. However young and thoughtless 
 he may be, a degree of pleasure to himself will always attend the
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION*. 349 
 
 consideration that he has accomplished his object. He is not 
 allowed to say, he cannot do what he is told to do, for he soon 
 finds that if he will try, he can overcome what at first lie may have 
 considered an insuperable difficulty. And if he once succeeds, 
 why not agaiu? and why not always'? These questions may not 
 indeed suggest themselves to him spontaneously ; it is not to be 
 expected, nor even desired, that he should lose the feelings of a 
 child, and prematurely assume those of a more advanced stage of 
 Jife ; but whenever even the most unpromising pupil is made con- 
 scious that he has done well, by paying attention, and that he 
 therefore knows something, his mind is then in a fit state for 
 receiving such injunctions as may gradually, by their constant 
 repetition at seasonable opportunities, induce those mental habits 
 whic-h will subsequently be of the most important service to him 
 in the acquirement of knowledge. 
 
 If the foregoing directions have been understood, a tolerably 
 correct notion will be obtained of Jacotot's method of instruction, 
 as regards the art of Reading. It may be observed, that the 
 object of the process described, is simply to make the pupil ac- 
 quainted with the forms of words, syllables, and letters. What 
 may be called declamatory reading, is reserved for a more ad- 
 vanced stage of his progress, and the general rule given for the 
 attainment of it, is, Read as you tcould speak. This direction 
 has often been given before the time of Jacotot, but it is rare to 
 find instances of its being implicitly and constantly obeyed by 
 pupils at school. Unless the sentences read are understood, they 
 cannot, of course, be felt, and to expect a child to read that 
 which he understands not, and feels not, with the same degree of 
 emphasis and propriety of tone as are dictated to him by Knture 
 in his own spontaneous expression, is to indulge a hope which 
 cannot, by any possibility, be gratified. But the Universal In- 
 struction, as will be presently seen, ensures the thorough compre- 
 hension of every idea presented to the pupil's notice, and he is, 
 therefore, so far prepared to read as he would speak. 
 
 After the child has received two lessons in reading, he is made 
 to begin to write. And here again, the process employed is very 
 different from that in common use. Instead of commencing with 
 elementary lines, curves, and letters, in what is culled text-hand, 
 a complete sentence, written by the master or engraved in *#- 
 hand, is put before his eyes, which he is directed to copy. For 
 obvious reasons, this sentence is generally the same as that from 
 which he received his first notions of reading. The two pursuits
 
 350 PllINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OP 
 
 are thus made mutually to assist each other, and the pupil very 
 soon learns, by himself, to distinguish between the printed charac- 
 ters aud those employed in writing. He writes, as well as he cau, 
 the first word " The," and no further progress must be made, till, 
 by an attentive comparison of his own performance with the 
 original copy, he becomes conscious of the faults and defects of 
 the former. But in exciting this consciousness, it is not necessary 
 for the instructor to make the slightest remark, the pupil himself dis- 
 covers all the faults, and suggests the proper remedies. The teacher 
 does nothing but ask such questions as may cause the pupil to 
 direct his attention to the subject, and induce him to see that the 
 means of success are entirely within his own power. Some 
 teachers may perhaps be inclined to doubt whether a very young 
 child can observe and particularize by itself every deviation from 
 the standard prototype which is proposed for imitation. The best 
 way of settling such doubts is to make the trial. This will prove 
 that every child can point out its own errors as well as the instruc- 
 tor himself, and the actual advantages gained in the respective 
 cases, admit of no comparison. The pupil who is constantly told 
 of his errors, listens, for the most part, to all that is said on the 
 subject, either with vacant indifference, or with that sort of feeling 
 which relies rather on the present indulgence of idleness, than on 
 the future rewards of attention. But a feeling of conscious shame 
 is induced in the mind of the child, who perceives from the an- 
 swers which he cannot fail to give to the questions propounded, 
 that he is perfectly aware both of the faults of his own perform- 
 ance, and of the proper remedies to be applied in subsequent 
 attempts. The appeal You see you know what is right, be 
 careful then to practise it, is often of considerable service in 
 exciting attention, when other means would probably fail. 
 
 The questions referred to as necessary to be put to the pupil 
 are of a similar character and tendency to the following : 
 Pointing to the first letter of the pupil's attempt, and directing 
 him to look carefully both at it and at the copy, the teacher 
 says, 
 
 Q. Is this GJ well made ? 
 
 A. No ; it is too high, or to short, or too long, &c. 
 
 Q. Could it be made better ? 
 
 A. I think so. 
 
 Q. "What must you do then to improve it ? 
 
 A. Make it longer, or shorter, or broader, &c.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 851 
 
 Q. How could you have made it bettor at first ? 
 
 A. By paying more attention. 
 
 These questions, it is easily seen, may be indefinitely varied 
 and extended, according to circumstances, but the principle must 
 never be lost sight of, that the pupil alicays corrects himself. Each 
 letter passes under a similar review, and the whole word is th'-n 
 written over again, the second and each successive attempt being 
 subjected to the same rigid investigation until the pupil learns to 
 correct, in a greater or less degree, every fault, as previously 
 particularized by himself. He then goes on to the second word, 
 in examining which, the process just described is invariably em- 
 ployed, and so on with regard to the rest of the seutence, recol- 
 lecting, that every time a fresh word is taken, the writing must 
 commence with the first word- written, that all the results of the 
 attention previously bestowed may be embraced and pre>erved 
 each time of transcription, and that the pupil may not fall again 
 into any of the errors of which he has already been made conscion-. 
 "NVhen the child begins to transcribe a sentence or two tolerably 
 well, he is required to write from memory, and afterwards note 
 his faults by comparison with the original copy. After some 
 considerable practice in the writing of small-hand, he is carried 
 forward to exercises in the bolder styles of writing, while at the 
 s:nne time, the incessant maintenance of the principles originally 
 urged upon him, is on no account, to be looked upon as a matter 
 of slight importance. He can never perform anything so well, but 
 that ivith more pains he may perform it better. 
 
 LANGUAGES. 
 
 As soon as the pupil has obtained, by the process already 
 described, a tolerable acquaintance with the elementary arN of 
 Heading and Writing, his future progress in them is made to 
 connect itself with the study of his own language, to which lie is 
 now, in course, directed. It is not, however, designed, that he 
 shall cease to give them the same attention as before, but that 
 they shall now be applied to some actual service. lie shall be 
 taught to see and prove for himself the useful purposes to which 
 they can be made subservient. An object will thus be apparent 
 to his view, and labor, with an object, is much more cheerfully 
 performed, even by an idler, than that which seems to be exacted
 
 352 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 arbitrarily, and the end and aim of which are but indistinctly 
 discerned. 
 
 M. Jacotot's method of teaching languages, considered as a 
 whole, is so different from all previously pursued, that it is easy 
 to account for the repugnance which many intelligent instructors 
 have evinced, to put the efficacy of it to proof by actual experi- 
 ment. They have found themselves unable to comprehend at a 
 glance, the connection between means and end, and have at once 
 decided that the alleged results are incredible, and 'the method 
 wholly incompetent. But this is a mere assertion, opposed both 
 by undeniable facts, and by the plausibility of the scheme itself, 
 which, indeed, they would have at once acknowledged, if it had 
 received, as it ought to have done, their serious unprejudiced con- 
 sideration. It is, however, hardly to be expected that any one, 
 unless the positive results were incessantly under his eyes, should 
 heartily adopt the method, before he had in some degree satisfied 
 himself with the arguments which serve to establish its theoretical 
 excellence. Were this not the case, one single page would be 
 sufficient to give the teacher all the necessary directions, since, as 
 before said, the practical part of the system is embraced in the 
 
 WOrds, LEARN SOMETHING THOROUGHLY, AND REFER EVERYTHING KI.-I. 
 
 TO IT. The principle comprehended in these terms, is modified or 
 varied, to suit different circumstances, but it still remains essen- 
 tially the same. To adapt it to the study of all languages, whether 
 the vernacular or others, it is made to assume the following form : 
 Learn one book in the language (whatever this may be) thoroughly, 
 refer all the rest to it by your own reflection and verify the obserca- 
 tions of others by what you know yourself. He who obeys this 
 direction, acquires languages in about one-tenth of the time usually 
 employed to arrive at the same result. It will be observed that 
 nothing is here said of learning grammar, writing exercises upon 
 it, &c. Grammar, instead of being introduced to the pupil's at- 
 tention as soon as he can read, is postponed to a very late stage 
 in his literary education. He writes themes, moral and meta- 
 physical essays, criticisms, &c., &c., and, in short, goes through 
 an entire course of elementary composition, before he is required 
 to investigate the principles of grammar. This must necessarily 
 surprise those who are accustomed to believe, that an acquaintance 
 with the rules of grammar is a pre-requisite to correct composition 
 in every language. This assumption, although very generally 
 prevalent, cannot be supported by any arguments whatever. As 
 far as the vernacular tongue is concerned, it is opposed by innu-
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 353 
 
 merable facts, which will occur lo the mind of every attentive 
 observer. Many persons write with perfect correctness without 
 being able to account grammatically for a single sentence, or even 
 a word in their composition. Many more speak grammatically, al- 
 though utterly unacquainted with grammar. But how could this 
 happen, if a knowledge of that science were indeed so essential to 
 accuracy of language, as it is assumed to be? Again, every one 
 concerned in tuition is aware, that a child may be able to repeat 
 the grammar from one end to the other, and yet be totally inca- 
 pable of putting three correct sentences together. It is, therefore, 
 evident that the science of grammar, and propriety of composition 
 in the language, are not quite so intimately connected as some 
 may imagine. No one will indeed deny, that a perfect acquaintance 
 with all the grammatical rules of a language would effectually pre- 
 vent the commission of errors, if the person thus gifted should 
 recollect, every time he spoke or wrote, the exact rule necessary 
 to be observed in the construction of his sentences. But no one 
 who speaks or writes well does this. He who is accustomed to 
 tremble at the thought of committing a grammatical solecism, or 
 who imagines that his thoughts can be at all strengthened or 
 adorned by a scrupulous anxiety of this kind, will never thoroughly 
 succeed in composition. His style must, of necessit}', be stiff and 
 constrained. Did Milton or Shakespeare stay, before they penned 
 their immortal lines, to consider if the expressions they employed 
 were precisely grammatical ? No ; the thought was entire, and 
 they were well acquainted with the conventional signs in which it 
 was to be conveyed, and they wrote what will last forever ; but 
 they did not effect this by a superior acquaintance with the techni- 
 calities of grammar ; many a school-boy would, probably, have 
 been more than a match for them both in this respect. The 
 immediate inference from the foregoing considerations, is, that 
 the real importance of grammatical knowledge, in the business of 
 education, is by no means commensurate with that factitious esti- 
 mation in which it has long been held. The pupil is taught to 
 consider that he is learning his own language, when he is, in fact, 
 only becoming acquainted with the general observations that have 
 been made upon it. Grammar is a science of generalities, entirely 
 derived from the actual state, the facts, indeed, of the language. 
 The language must indisputably have preceded all the grammatical 
 rules founded upon it. Instead, therefore, of learning rules, in 
 order to apply facts to them, the pupils of Jacotot arc directed to 
 learn the facts themselves, and afterwards to verify the rules or
 
 354 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 observations of the grammarians by their own knowledge. They 
 are, indeed, sent (to use the author's expression) to the masters of 
 the grammarians, that is, to the standard classical writers of the 
 language. Here facts are to be found in abundance, and when 
 the pupil is perfectly familiar with the phraseology of his model, 
 he is never at a loss for the means of verification. 
 
 Language is entirely conventional, and we learn to employ it 
 correctly by imitating those who are best acquainted with its 
 recognized forms. A child who mixes in no other society than 
 that of well educated persons, will as naturally speak with accu- 
 racy, as another, whose companions are of an opposite character, 
 will imitate their errors and improprieties. And hence we learn 
 to account for the fact, that a man may speak and write well, 
 without knowing grammar. This man has become acquainted 
 with the masters of the grammarians, and he therefore speaks and 
 writes grammar as the Bourgeois Gentilhomme of Moliere did 
 prose, without being aware of it. 
 
 These preliminary remarks were thought necessary, in anticipa- 
 tion of objections (perhaps not now satisfied) against this 
 particular point of Jacotot's system** the finishing instead of 
 commencing, with the science of grammar. It may now be proper 
 to unfold the method pursued in learning the vernacular tongue, 
 previously intimating to the reader, that the exercises soon to be 
 explained in detail, are the exact counterpart of those employed 
 in acquiring a thorough knowledge of foreign or dead languages. 
 The Universal Instruction has but one route. 
 
 The pupil is required to commit to memory the first six books 
 of Telemachus, as an introductory exercise. f These he must know 
 
 * It may be here objected, that Milton, Locke, Uumarsais, Dufief, Hamilton, &c., have all, 
 more or less, developed and enforced this principle, and consequently that there is neither 
 merit nor novelty in the adoption of it by Jacotot. To this it may be replied, that Jacotot 
 does not assume the novelty of any one of the principles which operate in his system ; he 
 merely contends, that he lias shown the conformity of them to the system of Nature, and 
 brought them together, so as to form a united whole. With respect to other objections on 
 this head, one answer may suffice, that with respect to celerity in the acquisition of 
 languages, Jacotot's method far outstrips that commonly designated the Ilamiltonian. 
 
 f It is to be recollected, that the writer of this pamphlet merely employs the illustra- 
 tions of the author for the sake of convenience. Telemachus Is the work by which 
 Jacotot's experiments were made in the tuition of French and Belglc pupils. The choice 
 of the most eligible book, for a similar course, as adapted to Instruction in England, 
 might require much deliberation. We have not perhaps any work so well fitted, in all 
 respects, for our purpose, as Telemachus is for theirs. The continental pupils of Jacotot's 
 system who learn English, are directed to commit to memory a portion of Johnson's 
 Rassclas, making this their model-book. There are, perhaps, some objections to selecting 
 Rassolas, ns a standard of style; though most parents, it is believed, would be well sat- 
 isfied, were their children taught to write English as well as Johnson, an attainment 
 which this system puts completely within their reach.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 355 
 
 perfectly, so as to be able to repeat them, from one end to the 
 other, without the slightest hesitation ; and whenever the teacher 
 mentions the first word of a paragraph or sentence, to continue 
 the paragraph or sentence without the omission of a single word. 
 Many persons to whom this has been mentioned, have been at 
 once startled at what they considered so vast a requirement, not 
 recollecting, at the same time, that much more, and, (as will be 
 shown,) to infinitely less purpose, is exacted from the pupil by the 
 common method. When the six books of Telemachus, or an 
 equivalent portion of any eminent work in the language which the 
 pupil ma}' be studying, is once thus thoroughly impressed on the 
 memory, his labor is almost all over. Evei-y exercise afterwards 
 required of him is little better than amusement ; he is in posses- 
 sion of all the necessary materials, and his mind will almost spon- 
 taneously employ them. In his book, he finds the elements of 
 Grammar, Composition, Criticism, Mental and Moral Philosophy, 
 Logic, the Science of Human Nature in general, History, Geo- 
 graphy, Science, &c., &c., of everything, indeed, that the author 
 deemed it necessary for himself to know, in order to produce his 
 work as it actually exists. He is in thorough possession of the 
 unembodied essence of all the subjects of knowledge just men- 
 tioned, though he is not made to stumble and start at their tech- 
 nical nomenclature. Nothing remains but to evolve the various 
 elements, and they are then seen to assume the form and character 
 ot distinct sciences. But this is not all; from particular facts, 
 and the particular reflections connected with them, the pupil's 
 mind is led on to anabyze circumstances in the aggregate, to 
 generalize, to trace the method pervading the whole, to see 
 the reason of that method, ana thus to enter into the very 
 spirit of his author, and to understand everything, to think upon 
 everything, as the author did while composing his work. These 
 are the advantages which it is not said inuy be obtained, bat which 
 actually have been obtained, from the employment of the method 
 of Jacotot. Let then calm consideration decide the question, 
 whether it is better to commit to memory a portion of any author 
 equivalent to the six books of Telemaehus, that the benefits just 
 mentioned may be gained, or whether the same results as easily 
 follow from the pursuit of the methods generally employed. But 
 Jacotot's system effects much more than has been stated. By 
 means of this process of committing to memory the first six books 
 of Telemachus, and performing the subsequent exercises, pupils 
 of fourteen and fifteen years of age have arrived at a proficiency
 
 356 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 in composition which would be perfectly incredible, did not the 
 development of the method itself furnish data quite sufficient to 
 induce credulity upon this point. These pupils have learned to 
 equal Fenelon in elegance and correctness of style, to approxi- 
 mate very nearly to Girard in detecting the difference of synony- 
 mous words, to criticise much better than Madame Dacier often 
 did, to make general observations on literature not inferior to 
 those of La Harpe, and, in short, (for to mention all, would, at 
 this stage of development, provoke positive incredulity), to do 
 more than ever was clone by any children, except those who have 
 been by common consent designated geniuses. It will hardly be 
 maintained after this, that the labor necessary to be applied in 
 committing thoroughly to memory six books of Telemachus, is 
 worth a single thought, when such advantages are consequent on 
 the exercise.* But whatever may be said, the fact is, that the 
 aggregate of icords actually committed to memory, is far greater 
 in the common system than in that of Jacotot. Some, however, 
 who feel convinced that this must be true, and that to learn a 
 hundred pages, in order to acquire a language, is in itself no very 
 laborious task, yet object, that to commit these pages to memory, 
 so as continuously to repeat them from beginning to end, without 
 hesitation, ' would, to some children, be quite impossible. M. 
 Jacotot at once denies the assertion, and maintains, that all chil- 
 dren have memory, and an equal memory, and therefore, that all 
 may be made to learn, what any one can learn. He does not 
 indeed maintain, that all have an equal will ; nor again, does he 
 assert, that those who have not been accustomed to committing to 
 memory, will, at first, succeed quite so well as those who are 
 adepts in the exercise. A little practice will, however, give a 
 facility which might have appeared unattainable at the commence- 
 ment of the attempt. This objection, indeed, cannot be main- 
 tained on any ground of argument. We say a child has a bad 
 memory, when, in nine cases out of ten, it is inclination, or to say 
 the least, exercise that is wanted, not the faculty of remem- 
 brance. This very child, were he interrogated on any topic 
 
 * The benefits of this exercise, It may be observed, are not restricted to the Immediate 
 
 purposes of the scholastic education in view. Every person tutored by the system of Jacotot 
 
 will doubtless be able to commit anything (whatever it may be) to memory more speedily, 
 
 and to retain it more durably than one unaccustomed to the process of this system. The 
 
 pages Indelibly stamped on the memory, as above directed, and anatomized (*o to ppea';) by 
 
 tie subsequent interrogatory scrutiny, will form in the mind a grand mnemonical gallery of 
 
 ictures with which almost everything within the range of human knowledge will form some 
 
 kind of association. Schenkel's once very celebrated system of mnemonics was founded 
 
 upon a principle similar to thia.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 357 
 
 connected with his spontaneous amusements, would very soon con- 
 vince the questioner, by the infinite variety of facts recollected, 
 that there could not, by possibilty, be any radical defect in his 
 memory. "Were this really deficient, how could any kind of facts 
 be so minutely remembered, and so clearly particularized? Give, 
 however, the same child a lesson of grammar to learn by heart. 
 He cannot he made to feel the same interest in grammar that he 
 does in sports and games, and besides, he does not understand the 
 subject. What then is the consequence? He pays little or no 
 attention, repeats the stipulated task very miserably, and we infer, 
 that he has a very bad memory. It would be more correct to say, 
 he has paid little attention to his lesson ; and it should then be a 
 point of conscientious consideration, whether we had chosen the 
 proper means for inducing attention, by teasing him with dry 
 technical terms, which he could not understand, and by not pro- 
 perl}' training his memory ; that is, by requiring too much from it 
 at this particular time, without regard to the previous state of 
 exercise to which it might have been accustomed. We owe all 
 our knowledge to memory, for without this faculty, the moment 
 we closed our eyes on external nature, the mind would be a perfect 
 blank. We possess not a single idea for which we are not ulti- 
 mately indebted to memory. Reasoning is essentially based OH 
 facts, and unless the mind possesses the necessary facts, there can 
 be no act of judgment, no connected chain of argumentation. It 
 is the practice of founding our reasonings on the reasonings of 
 others, which leads to mistaken notions and erroneous conclusions. 
 This view of the subject, intended to confirm the brief axioms of 
 Jacotot, is, it will be at once seen, quite incompatible with the 
 observations made by Montaigne, Watts, Kdgeworth, &c., that 
 an accurate judgment, and what is called great genius, may be 
 totally unconnected with a good memory. No great genius ever 
 existed without memory, nor without being indebted to memory 
 for nearly everything which stamped its productions with emin- 
 ence. Miss Edgcworth, in the Practical Education, labors to 
 show that Shakspeare had a very indifferent memory; but was 
 not this quite impossible ? If he depicts natural scenery, what 
 supplied him with the materials which he put into new combina- 
 tions, but memory? If he makes general reflections, whence were 
 these obtained, but from particular facts? and how are facts asso- 
 ciated and retained for reflection, but by memory? And again, 
 how could the numberless historical facts, upon which he builds 
 the entire structure of most of his surprising dramas, have been
 
 358 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 in his mind ready for use, if memory had not preserved them? 
 Could Shakspeare, more than any other man, have portrayed with 
 his pen an accurate picture of a thing without previously having 
 the idea of it mentally before him ? and could he have derived this 
 idea from any other source than facts ? If he himself were person- 
 ally cognizant of these facts, memory must have treasured his 
 perceptions ; if he received them from a secondary source, memory 
 must still have held the record. But because Shakspeare did 
 not sit down in the corner of a room, and commit to memory a 
 set form of words, but chose rather to see things, and because he 
 chose to make his own reflections, and not learn by rote those 
 made by others, is his faculty of memory to be depreciated? The 
 idea is too absurd to be entertained for an instant. It would be 
 much easier to maintain, in direct opposition, (though such a 
 hypothesis is incompatible with Jacotot's opinion, already cited,) 
 that as we do not precisely know what genius is, Shakspeare's 
 unrivalled eminence was owing to a superiority over other men in 
 the very article of memory. We do not learn facts by intuition, 
 nor do we arrive at general notions, except from facts. Percep- 
 tion supplies us with these, and memory retains them for the use 
 of the mind. But perhaps too much time has been already 
 devoted to this subject, in consistence with the limited plan of the 
 present work. It has been thought necessary to develop it more 
 fully, from the connection it manifestly exhibits to one of Jaco- 
 tot's most important principles, that the pupil is directed to commit 
 to memory facts, and to maJce his own reflections upon them. He 
 never commits to memory the reflections of others, but he is taught to 
 examine the correctness of these by reference to the facts upon tvhich 
 they are of necessity founded. From all the preceding remarks, may 
 be easily seen, in what the connection maintained between tho 
 memory and the judgment, by the system of the Universal Instruc- 
 tion, really consists. The memory is considered as the faculty 
 which supplies materials for the operations of the mind. This 
 duty is thought to be inefficiently performed, if the stores are 
 suffered to be lost, (for to forget, is the same as never to have learned,) 
 or if they remain, like number, unappropriated to any useful pur- 
 pose. The provisions of the system against these mischances, are 
 the incessant repetition of everything learned, and the constant 
 vigilance excited in the mind, that every idea introduced there 
 for the first time, shall not only find an associate amongst some 
 of the ideas already firmly established there, but shall itself serve 
 the same purpose with reference to any others subsequently intro-
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 859 
 
 cluced, whenever called upon. Thus, all the materials are ren- 
 dered serviceable, and, as they are permanently retained, no part 
 of the labor spent in the acquisition of them is lost. If then it be 
 allowed, that the memory is a most invaluable faculty, and that 
 we naturally acquire all our ideas, whatever they may be, by its 
 instrumentality, we must not forget to follow Nature's plan, with 
 respect to those things which we, to answer particular ends, find 
 it necessary to deposit in its custody. No ideas can long be 
 retained in the memory, which are not deeply impressed by repe- 
 tition. Were it not for constant repetition, we might even forget 
 our own names, as we frequently do those of strangers. This 
 exercise has been hitherto far too much neglected in education, 
 though even the greatest men, and, in fact, all who have 
 attained to true and solid learning, have invariably availed them- 
 selves of its powerful aid. Porson, in early life, was accustomed 
 to repeat the same Greek verses over and over again a great many 
 times, and he attributed to this practice the wonderful facility of 
 reference which he ever afterwards possessed. Permanent reten- 
 tion can, in fact, be ensured by no other process. Repetition, 
 therefore, is considered of vital importance in the system of Jaco- 
 tot ; not a mere repetition of the lesson of the preceding day, or 
 even a week, as is the case in some schools, but of even-thing 
 previously committed to memory. Nothing is omitted. It fol- 
 lows from this, that the facts learned and comprehended, are seen 
 by the mind, not merely as detached, insulated points, but in all 
 the varieties of analogy, succession, and consequence. 
 
 Learn then by heart, and understand, says Jacotot, the first six 
 books of Telemaque, or an equivalent portion of any eligible work in. 
 the language to be acquired, and repeat it incessantly. liefer every- 
 thing else to 'this, and you will certainly learn the language. The 
 following is the method proposed by Jacotot, in order to attain 
 that perfect mental retention necessary to the efficient operation 
 of this system. 
 
 The pupil must learn every day a sentence, a paragraph, or a 
 page, according as his memon' is more or less habituated to this 
 exercise ; and he must never fail to repeat all that he has previously 
 learned, from the first word of the book. Thus, if he learns one 
 sentence at first, on the following day he learns the next sentence, 
 but repeats the two, commencing with the first word of that pre- 
 viously learned. The same method is pursued to the end of the 
 sixth book. As however this repetition, as the pupil goes on, 
 necessarily occupies much time, it is sometimes found advisable
 
 360 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 to divide the portion thus accumulating : but still the general 
 repetition of the six books must have place at least twice a week. 
 The oftener the whole is repeated, the more prompt and durable 
 are the results. 
 
 It is confessed that the preceding exercise is tedious and weari- 
 some, and great care is required on the part of the teacher to 
 prevent it from becoming repulsive and disgusting to the pupil.* 
 Too much must not at first be exacted. If the child cannot learn 
 a paragraph in a day, let him learn two sentences, one sentence, 
 or even a single word. At all events he must learn something 
 thoroughly ; on the next day he will learn something more, still 
 repeating what he has previously learned ; and after a fortnight's 
 practice there will be little reason to tax him with want of memory. 
 When the pupil knows the first six books of Telemachus thoroughly, 
 it is not necessary to commit the remaining eighteen to memory ; 
 but he must read every day some pages of them, with a degree of 
 attention sufficient to enable him to relate what the}- contain. 
 This is a very important exercise, and is on no account to be 
 neglected. The recital of the pupil serves as an evidence of the 
 attention that he has paid during his perusal, and what is more, 
 accustoms him to the practice of speaking without hesitation upon 
 a fact present to his memory, and of employing expressions which 
 he has seen used in the book, in accordance with the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances of the fact or facts narrated. By this means he 
 becomes accustomed to the use of words as the signs of ideas 
 actually in his mind ; and hence result propriety and facility of 
 diction. He speaks of what he understands, and of course speaks 
 clearly, and, in a certain degree, well. This second exercise, 
 however, on no account excludes the general or partial repetition 
 of the first six books, which the pupil must go through at least 
 once a week, even when they are fixed immovably in his memory. 
 
 The pupil's greatest difficulties are now all conquered. He knows 
 all he ought to know : as lie knows one book he knows all books.-f 
 
 * It Is submitted, with much deference, that were some fow of the admirable exercises 
 which succeed this mnemonical practice, to precede it, much of the difliculty, confessedly 
 great, of committing thoroughly to memory a macs of words hut imperfectly comprehended 
 when first learned, would be obviated. If the pupil were made to read carefully over each 
 passage to be committed to memory, and rigidly interrogated as to the meaning, until all the 
 ideas which it embraced were comprehended by his mind, the task of subsequently learning 
 it by heart, would be comparatively slight; nor does it appear, that by so doing any one prin- 
 ciple of the system would be sacrificed; since the same interrogations might be afterwards 
 repeated. Still, however, this is merely a suggestion; of its propriety, let others judge. 
 
 f The strict import of this phraseology will be more apparent hereafter; for the present it 
 la eufflcient to enunciate it as the dictum of Jacotot.
 
 JACOTOT S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 
 
 All that now remains for him, is to distinguish, to compare, and to 
 refer. The materials have been stored, and the mental farulti.-, 
 are now called upon to do their part. It is singular, that what is 
 generally accounted the most difficult point of attainment l>y the 
 common method of tuition, the getting the pupil to think, becomes, 
 in the system of Jacotot, the easiest. The pupil cannot help think- 
 ing ; that is he cannot help noticing resemblances, and distinguish- 
 ing differences, and consequently exercising his judgment, when 
 led on according to the process now to be illustrated. Previously, 
 however, what was formerly intimated may be again remarked, 
 that the master, who pursues the method of the Universal Instruc- 
 tion, tells the pupil nothing. He explains nothing, insists upon nothing, 
 affirms nothing. The pupil is taught to see everything himself, and to 
 make his own reflections, not to receive those made by others. He is 
 called upon to answer the repeated interrogations put to him by his 
 teacher ; which, however, tell him nothing ; they only lead l>im to 
 view the subject in all its points of observation. This view must 
 be the same that his mind, were it actuated by the free impulses 
 of his will, that is, were he really desirous of thoroughly compre- 
 hending the matter, would of necessity take. Hence is the 8}'stem 
 of Jacotot undeniably based on the system of Nature. 
 
 In pursuance of this method, the pupil is directed to read the 
 two first paragraphs of the first book. He is told to pay the ut- 
 most possible attention to them : and the teacher then puts <jn< ttitn * 
 to him on every word and jrftrase, on each paragraph, and on the 
 two together : and, in short, the passage is not dismissed from 
 view, until it is evident that nothing has escaped the pupil's 
 attention. 
 
 The manner in which this is done will now be made to appear ; 
 and it may be recollected, that the principle on which its cfliearv 
 depends, is that the author would have not used every word, un- 
 less every word had been necessary to convey his ideas to the 
 reader. If then it was necessary for the author to employ all the 
 words and expressions brought before us, it must be equally neces- 
 sary for us to understand them. That the full fon < of this exer- 
 cise may be apparent, a translation of the first paragraph, (alteivd 
 from Hawkesworth's, wliich is too diffuse,) is subjoined. 
 
 "The grief of Calypso for" the departure of T'lv - v.nild admit of no 
 comfort. In the height of her sorrow, she even roj;n>tt<l Ix-r immortality. 
 Her grotto echoed no more with tli(> music of her voice, and hor attendant 
 nymphs dared not to address her. She often walked alone upon the flowory 
 turf, with which an eternal spring had docked the borders of her Isle ; but
 
 362 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 the beauties which bloomed around her, far from soothing her grief, only 
 revived the sad remembrance of Ulysses, who had been so frequently the 
 companion of her walks. Sometimes she stood motionless upon the beach, 
 which she bedewed with her tears, turning herself incessantly to that di- 
 rection in which the vessel of Ulysses, cleaving the waves, had disappeared 
 from her view." 
 
 The following questions and answers are, of course, given merely 
 as illustrations. If the method be thoroughly comprehended by 
 the teacher, he will, with the greatest ease, adapt himself to the 
 circumstances of the case. Taking then the first sentence 
 
 The grief of Calypso for the departure of Ulysses would admit of 
 no comfort 
 
 The teacher asks "Who was gone? 
 
 The pupil answers Ulysses. 
 
 Q. Who was grieved ? 
 
 A. Calypso. 
 
 Q. Who were Calypso and Ulysses? 
 
 A. I do not know.* 
 
 Q. What was the cause of Calypso's grief? 
 
 A. The departure of Ulysses. 
 
 Q. Did Calypso love Ulysses? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. How do you know that? 
 
 A. Because her grief for his departure would admit of no 
 comfort? 
 
 Q. Was she slightly grieved, or very much? 
 
 A. Very much. 
 
 Q. What do you call that grief which admits of no comfort ? 
 
 A. Inconsolable. 
 
 The teacher will use his own discretion as to asking such ques- 
 tions as the last, which require in the answers the use of words 
 and phrases not to be found in the original sentence. It is gen- 
 erally thought advisable to confine the attention solely to questions 
 which will introduce the very words of the sentence under notice. 
 If, however, such interrogations as the last be made, the pupil 
 will not find the slightest difficulty in giving appropriate answers. 
 When once he understands the idea, he will surprise his teacher 
 by the many modes in which he shows himself capable of giving it 
 expression. He will be found to have a distinct perception of the 
 
 * Tho pupil is supposed to know nothing of the characters, but what he can obtain from 
 an attentive examination of every word which relates to them la his book.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OP EDUCATION. 363 
 
 very lights and shades of the image depicted on his mind. The 
 teacher may ascertain this to his own perfect satisfaction, without 
 telling or explaining to his pupil a single word. The mind is to l>e 
 directed, not taught. It is to be placed so that it may sec the sub- 
 ject in every possible point of view, and the interrogation must be 
 continued, until the entire scene, the actors, the action performed, 
 the cause and object of the action, the modifying circumstances, 
 &c., &c., are all distinctly in view.* Not a word must be neg- 
 lected. This comprehends the learning thoroughly; and the prac- 
 tice of referring everything to the first thing learned, can, as will be 
 seen directly, even at this initiatory stage, be brought into ques- 
 tion. The next sentence is read : 
 
 In the height of her sorrow, she even regretted her immortality. 
 
 Q. To whose sorrow is reference here made ? 
 
 A. To that of Calypso. 
 
 Q. Who was immortal? 
 
 A. Calypso. 
 
 Q. Why did she regret her immortality ? 
 
 A. Because Ulysses was gone, and in her sorrow she would 
 have wished to die. 
 
 Q. Why wish to die? 
 
 A. That she might lose her sorrow. 
 
 Q. Why could she not die ? 
 
 A. Because she was immortal. 
 
 Q. What is it then to be immortal ? 
 
 A. Not to be able to die. 
 
 Q. What do we know of Calypso from this sentence? 
 
 A. That she was sorrowful and immortal. 
 
 Q. Did we know these circumstances from the first sentence? 
 
 A. No ; only one of them, that she was sorrowful. 
 
 Q. What more then do we now see ? 
 
 A. That she was immortal. 
 
 * The particular attention of the reader la requested to thin part of the system, for It U to 
 the an.-ilvMs (by meiinH of the interrogatory process above explained) of every complex Idea 
 presented to the pupil's notice, into Its compom-nt simple Idea*, that the wonderful result* 
 of Jacntot'8 nii-thod are ultimately owing. An Illustration of the efficacy of thU plan in 
 afforded by the instance of Abbe Longuerue, who lived in the reign of Louis XIV., a man 
 (to use D'Alemburt's expression) of" prodlgioxis memory and terrible erudition." He wrolo 
 a folio history of France entirely from memory, without referring to a dingle book. When 
 once asked by Marquis d'Argenson-to What he attributed his surprising power* of retention, 
 he answered, " Sir, the elements of every science the first principle* of every language 
 the a, b, c, as I may say, of every kind of knowledge, must be learned whilst we are very 
 young. This is not difficult in youth, especially as It is not necessary to penetrate far, 
 simple notion* are tufficient; icken t/tete ure acquired, everything we read <i/ltncardijl*d* 
 it* proper place.
 
 364 PRINCIPLES AND PKACTICE OF 
 
 Q. Was Ulysses immortal ? 
 
 A. I do not know. 
 
 Some may consider such questions as these ridiculous, and find 
 abundant matter for sport in the idea that this kind of exercise 
 should ever teach a child to write his own language, as well as the 
 author whose work is put into his hands. Some again will con- 
 tend, that there is not the least novelty in it, and that the practice 
 of interrogation is pursued by every teacher who wishes to ascer- 
 tain the knowledge of his pupil. To the former party of objectors, 
 Jacotot simply says, Try, and you will be sure to succeed ; an experience 
 often years warrants my prediction ; and to the other party he replies, 
 I acknowledge you ask questions, but your questions are confined 
 to the technicalities of grammar ; and I propose to reverse the order 
 that you follow, and to finish by grammar. But he might have 
 said more than this. No plan of interrogation was ever so emi- 
 nently successful as that now proposed, for it puts tie pupil in full 
 possession of every idea that is brought before him, and as he finds 
 himself able to answer every question, he gains confidence as he ad- 
 vances and perceives every difficulty vanish before him. Nine-tenths 
 of the actual waste of time in the common method, arises from 
 the pupil's obtaining an indistinct perception of many things, 
 which lie in the mind in a disjointed and disorderly state, because 
 the mutual bond of connection is hidden in the obscurity which 
 veils them. If he knew a little more about them, all would be 
 clear ; as it is, almost everything is misty. The system of Jacotot 
 allows of no such semi-perceptions. The j'oungest child may, with 
 the slightest attention, answer these questions, and consequently 
 comprehend the successive ideas which they are intended to lay 
 open before him. We proceed to the next sentence : 
 
 Her grotto echoed no more with the music of her voice, and her 
 attendant nymphs dared not to address her. 
 
 Q. To whom are we referring here ? 
 
 A. Calypso. 
 
 Q. Was she accustomed to sing? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Was she always singing? 
 
 A. No ; she did not sing now. 
 
 Q. How do you know that ? 
 
 A. Because her grotto echoed no more with her voice. 
 
 Q. Where did she generally sing ? 
 
 A. In her grotto. 
 
 Q. Why did her grotto echo no more with her singing?
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OP EDUCATION. 365 
 
 A. Because she was sorrowful. 
 
 Q. Who were Calypso's attendants ? 
 
 A. Nymphs. 
 
 Q. Why did they not dare to address her ? 
 
 A. Because she was sorrowful. 
 
 Q. What more of Calypso do we know than we did before? 
 
 A. That she had a grotto, that she sung, and that she was 
 attended by nymphs. 
 
 She often walked alone upon the flowery turf, with which an eternal 
 spring had decked the borders of her isle; but the beauties which 
 bloomed around her, far from soothing her grief, only revived the 
 sad remembrance of Ulysses, who had been so frequently the com- 
 panion of her walks. 
 
 Q. Where did Calypso walk ? 
 
 A. Upon the flowery turf. 
 
 Q. Where did she live? 
 
 A. In an island. 
 
 Q. Did we know that before? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Was it cold in the island of Calypso? 
 
 A. No : there was an eternal spring. 
 
 Q. In whose company did she walk? 
 
 A. She walked alone. 
 
 Q. With whom had she been accustomed to walk? 
 
 A. With Ulysses. 
 
 Q. Why did not she walk wilh him now? 
 
 A. Because he was gone. 
 
 Q. How do you know that? 
 
 . A. Because in the first sentence the grief of Calypso for the 
 departure of Ulysses is mentioned : this shows he was gone. 
 
 Q. Why was the remembrance of Ulysses sad ? 
 
 A. Because Calypso loved him, and he was gone away from her. 
 
 Q. Why did Calypso now walk alone ? 
 
 A. Because she was sorrowful. 
 
 Sometimes she stood motionless upon the bench, which she bedewed 
 wit?i her tears, turning herself incessantly to that direction in which 
 the vessel of Ulysses, cleaving the waves, had disappeared from her 
 vieiv. 
 
 Q. In what part of her isle did Calypso dwell? 
 
 A. Near the sea-shore. 
 
 Q. How do you know that? 
 
 A. Because she often walked on the turf which was on the
 
 366 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 border of her isle, and because her grotto must have been near at 
 hand, or it would not have been mentioned. 
 
 Q. Do we know, from the preceding sentences, in what manner 
 Ulysses had departed? 
 A. Xo. 
 
 Q. Do we now know? 
 
 A. Yes ; in a vessel. 
 
 Q. Was the vessel of Ulysses still in view ? 
 
 A. No ; it had disappeared. 
 
 Q. Why " cleaving the waves? " 
 
 A. Because the vessel was in motion. 
 
 Q. How do you know that ? 
 
 A. Because, if it had been still, it would not have been said 
 to cleave the waves. 
 
 Q. Can you give any other reason? 
 
 A. Yes. If it had been still, it would have been yet in view. 
 
 The foregoing illustrations may suffice to show what is meant 
 by asking questions on every word, phrase, &c. After each sentence 
 of the first two paragraphs has been thus passed through, the 
 teacher may propose questions on each paragraph, then on the 
 two together. This may be illustrated with reference to the first ; 
 its further application will be obvious. 
 
 Q. What persons have been mentioned by name in this para- 
 graph ? 
 
 A. Two : Calypso and Ulysses. 
 
 Q. What do you know of Calypso? 
 
 A. Calypso was a female, an immortal, attended by nymphs and 
 dwelling in an island. She lived near the sea-shore. 
 
 Q. What is she said to have done in this passage. 
 
 A. To have walked alone ; to have repulsed her nymphs ; stood 
 still weeping by the sea-shore, &c. 
 
 Q. Why did she act thus ? 
 
 A. Because she was sorrowful. 
 
 Q. What do we know of Ulysses? 
 
 A. Ulysses was a man who had accompanied Calypso in her 
 walks, whom she loved very much, and who was now gone away 
 in a ship. 
 
 When the attention of the pupil begins to waver at all, it is 
 proper to ask questions, which, unless he were strictly on his 
 guard, would lead him into an absurdity. Thus, for instance, 
 Ulysses went away : 
 
 Q. Did Ulysses go away in a coach?
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 367 
 
 A. No ; in a ship. 
 
 Q. Did he go along the high road ? 
 
 A. No ; he went upon the sea, and there are no roads on the sea. 
 
 Q. Is it expressly said that he went on the sea? 
 
 A. No : but he could not have travelled in a ship except on the 
 sea; and, besides, this expression " cleaving the waves," show* 
 that the sea must be meant. 
 
 The pupil in this way becomes well acquainted with each word, 
 phrase, paragraph, several paragraphs united, and, in short, with 
 an entire book. As the exercise is continued, and the pupil accus- 
 tomed to answer, his progress becomes more and more interesting. 
 Every new character, every new fact or group of facts, must be 
 compared with those that have preceded. The unremitted vigil- 
 ance of the teacher must stimulate the pupil to instruct himself, 
 by reflecting on the facts of his book, by associating and classify- 
 ing them, and by putting them into new combinations. Especial 
 care must however be taken (as has been already hinted) that no 
 questions be asked, the answers to which are not to be obtained from 
 the book that the pupil knows. It matters not in what part they may 
 be, for though the elements of the solution be scattered, the memory 
 will reunite them. The understanding always sees well what it really 
 sees, and we reason amiss only when we speak of what tee do not see. 
 
 A very interesting exercise is now proposed to the pupil, that 
 of defining words by the comparison of passages solely derived 
 from his model-book. Thus, suppose for instance, he were asked 
 
 What is the meaning of the word " Spring?" He answers, I 
 observe the word Spring in the following passages : Flowery 
 turf with which an eternal Spring had decked, &c. (l>ook i.) They 
 brought all the fruits which Spring promise* and Autumn, ctr. (b. i.) 
 He celebrated the flowers which crorcn the Spring, the fragrance 
 which she diffuses and the verdure that rises under her feet (b. i.), 
 &c., &c. 
 
 Well, says the teacher, what reflection do these passages excite 
 in your mind ? 
 
 A. I see that Spring is that season of the year in which fragrant 
 flowers begin to bloom, buds to open forth, birds to slug, &c., &c. 
 
 As the pupil advances, he is exercised in generalizing, that 
 is, speaking of a particular fact in a manner applicable to all facts 
 of the same nature. He is not taught to generalize ; the faculty is 
 common to all men. Let him be made to direct his undistracted atten- 
 tion to the subject before him, and he will reason upon it as well as 
 his instructor. In order then to bring this faculty into exercise,
 
 368 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 as soon as a great number of questions (similar to those given 
 for the sake of illustration), have been proposed on the first 
 paragraph, the pupil is asked, what do you perceive in the whole 
 of this paragraph? He will answer, probably, grief, sorrow, or 
 something of the kind. Suppose he answers grief. He is immedi- 
 ately asked, What then is grief? and he is at once obliged to 
 generalize. 
 
 The answer to the question, What is grief? founded upon the 
 facts of the paragraph under review, will of necessity assume a 
 form similar to the following, which is, indeed, the translated reply 
 of a child who had just commenced the study of his own language. 
 
 " Grief is a passion of which we become sensible after the loss 
 of any one dear to us. The person who experiences grief seeks 
 solitude, ceases to take delight in the most agreeable places, and 
 repulses the attentions of those who would willingly administer 
 solace. " 
 
 As soon as this, or a similar composition, is produced by the 
 pupil, he is called upon to justify every sentence employed, by 
 reference to the facts from which his general notion is derived. 
 Thus the teacher asks 
 
 Why do you say Grief is a passion of which we become sensible 
 after the loss of any one dear to us? The pupil replies, Because, 
 after the departure of Ulysses, the grief of Calypso would admit 
 of no comfort. 
 
 Q. Why do you say, The person tvho experiences grief seeks 
 solitude ? 
 
 A. She often walked alone on the flowery turf, &c. 
 
 Q. Why have you said, Ceases to take delight in the most agree- 
 able places ? 
 
 A. Calypso took no pleasure in her beautiful isle ; she noticed 
 not the flowery turf ; she thought of nothing but Ulysses. 
 
 Q. Why say, Repulses the attentions, &c. ? 
 
 A. Her attendant nymphs dared not to address her. 
 
 The composition in question, it should be^ remarked, is generally 
 submitted to three distinct readings. After the first, it is examined 
 as a whole ; after the second, the pupil gives an account of the 
 facts upon which he has written ; and, after the third, particular 
 attention is paid to individual words, and to improprieties of dic- 
 tion, if they occur. During the first reading, the pupil is made 
 to pay great attention to the manner in which he reads ; he must 
 pronounce very distinctly all the syllables of each word, and intro- 
 duce the proper inflections of voice. At the second reading, with-
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 369 
 
 out waiting for questions, he should explain his composition in 
 the following manner: " I have said grief is a passion of which 
 we become sensible after the loss of any one dear to us : because 
 I have seen, that after the departure of Ulysses the grief of 
 Calypso would admit of no comfort, &c., &c. After the third 
 reading, the pupil may be required to point out in Telemachus 
 every word and phrase that he has employed; for it is distinctly 
 understood, that he must never wander from his guide. Every 
 expression not authorized by his model, even though perfectly 
 correct, is inadmissible. This restriction ensures propriety of 
 language, for he is of necessity obliged to seek his phraseology 
 from passages which he well understands, and the ideas arising 
 from which are, of consequence, distinctly associated in his mind, 
 with their appropriate verbal signs. As long as he remains in 
 pupilage he must follow the model-book as his guide in every 
 respect. Afterwards, when he has acquired sufficient experience 
 to pursue his way alone, nothing will prevent him from employing 
 or imitating the expressions of other eminent authors. He will, 
 indeed, do this without previous reflection, but never without 
 being able to justify his language by reference to good authority. 
 
 Another very important exercise is made to depend upon what 
 Jacotot calls the oratorical artifice of rejfetition. The meaning of 
 this term will better appear from the following example than from 
 any brief explanation which could be given. 
 
 Q. Of what does the first paragraph of Telemachus consist? 
 (see p. 361.) 
 
 A. Of the fact that Calypso's grief for the departure of Ulysses 
 was inconsolable : it therefore contains three things ; Calypso (1), 
 her inconsolable grief (2), and the departure of Ulysses (3). 
 
 Q. How do you prove this ? 
 
 A. In the height of her sorrow, and she even regretted, etc., 
 are only repetitions of her grief was inconsolable. Her immor- 
 tality, gives the idea of Calypso. Her attendant nymphs this 
 makes me think of Calypso dared not to address her, reminds 
 me of her grief. Her grotto (1) echoed no more, &c. (2). She 
 often walked alone (2) upon the flowery turf , <tc. (1). But these 
 beautiful places (1), far from soothing, &c. (2), only revived the 
 sad remembrance, &c. (2, 3). She incessantly turned, rfv. (1, 2, 3), 
 to the direction in which, &c. (3). * 
 
 Now that the pupil can answer every question propounded to 
 
 * The purport of this exercise is too obvious to uccd explanation.
 
 370 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OP 
 
 him, can generalize, and justify everything that he has said or 
 written, it only becomes necessary to vary his exercises, and thus 
 to lead him gradually and easily to write whenever and upon what- 
 ever he pleases ; and finally, to speak extemporaneously upon a 
 given subject. The entire course, then, comprehends the following 
 exercises : 
 
 1. To imitate. 
 
 2. To make general reflections upon known facts. 
 
 3. To distinguish between synonymous words. 
 
 4. To distinguish between synonymous expressions. 
 
 5. To examine parallel subjects. 
 
 G. To examine analogous thoughts. 
 
 7. To transfer or translate the reflections arising from one 
 subject to another somewhat similar. 
 
 8. To analyze a chapter, book, poem, &c. 
 
 9. To develop or paraphrase the thoughts of an author. 
 
 10. To find subjects for transference. 
 
 11. To write upon a literary or critical subject; to furnish 
 descriptions of things observed. 
 
 12. To imitate a thought. 
 
 13. To write letters. 
 
 14. To portray a character. 
 
 15. To compare characters. 
 
 16. To write tales, sketches, &c. 
 
 17. To verify the grammar. 
 
 18. To write upon any given subject in a given time. 
 
 19. To speak extemporaneously upon a given subject. 
 
 20. All is in all. 
 
 During the performance of all these exercises, the pupil con- 
 tinues the general repetition of the six books of Telemachus, and 
 the reading (accompanied with recital) of the remainder. 
 
 A very brief notice of the most important exercises, must in the 
 present instance, suffice. A more ample development may be 
 hereafter furnished. 
 
 1. Imitations. In writing an imitation, the' pupil applies the 
 terms which express a general sentiment by means of special 
 facts, to the development of the same sentiment under different 
 circumstances. Thus, Calypso regretted the departure of Ulysses, 
 and Philoctetes, in the fifteenth book, regretted his perjury, in 
 betraying the secret of the burial-place of Hercules. Inasmuch, 
 then, as the same sentiment is exhibited in the two instances, so 
 will the general terms of expression be the same, or very similar.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 871 
 
 The circumstances alone entirely differ. To describe one, there- 
 fore, taking the other as a model for general phraseology and suc- 
 cession of circumstances, is to produce an imitation. Thus, to 
 recur to the instances already cited, the pupil preserves the features 
 of regret and sorrow in both ; but takes due care to notice, that 
 Calypso was a goddess, Philoctetes a- mortal ; that the one lived 
 in a beautiful island, and was attended by nymphs, that the other 
 inhabited a solitary cavern, and was surrounded only by wild 
 beasts ; that the former lamented the loss of a being whom she 
 had loved, that the latter deplored the commission of an irretrieva- 
 ble act of bad faith, &c., &c. All the points of distinction in the 
 two cases must be noticed, while those only are to be preserved in 
 the composition, which belong to the subject of the imitation. A 
 sentence or two from a piece written by one of Jacotot's pupils, 
 may illustrate this exercise. 
 
 " The grief of Philoctetes for having revealed the secret of 
 Alcides* death, which he had sworn to conceal, would admit of no 
 comfort. In the height of his sorrow he found the remembrance 
 of his perjury less supportable than the cruel abandonment of the 
 Greeks, the treachery of Ulysses, and the dreadful agonies occa- 
 sioned by his wound. Night and day his groans reverberated 
 through the cavern in which he dwelt," &c., &c. 
 
 After the pupil has read his composition aloud, he is called upon 
 to justify the introduction of each circumstance. 
 
 Q. Why have you said, For having revealed the secret of Alcides' 
 death? 
 
 A. Philoctetes says himself (see loth book) I eluded the vow 
 that I had made to heaven, &c. 
 
 Q. Why, which he had sworn to conceal? 
 
 A. Philoctetes also states this himself, The secret which I had 
 sworn to keep? 
 
 Q. Why mention, The abandonment of the Greeks, the treachery 
 of Ulysses, &c. ? 
 
 A. All these facts are particularized in the history of Philoc- 
 tetes, at the commencement of the fifteenth book of Telemaehus, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 It is easy to amplify this, as every other series of questions 
 proposed in accordance with the system, to any extent. The only 
 direction that can be given with respect to their number, is, that 
 Hie pupil must be interrogated until he evinces, by accounting for ewrjf 
 expression employed, a perfectly accurate conception of every idea.
 
 372 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 The exercise of imitation, now under notice, is especially useful 
 in habituating the pupil to employ correct phraseology. 
 
 2. To make general reflections upon iiarticular facts. This 
 exercise is merely an extension of that before referred to under 
 the name of generalization. The pupil now takes a wider range 
 of facts, and introduces into his composition a greater number of 
 reflections. He is told to consider attentively a given passage or 
 passages of his author, and to derive therefrom the reflections 
 connected with a proposed subject. His success will evidently be 
 proportionate to the combinations of facts which his memory will 
 enable him to form, and to the care with which he notices every 
 part of his subject. He thus learns to perceive how the actual 
 state of things under review is influenced by the modifications of 
 the sentiment which he is required to develop. Children begin to 
 generalize naturally, and to study the reciprocal relations of cause 
 and. effect, at a much earlier age than we are accustomed to con- 
 sider ; but their faculties often lie dormant because we overlook 
 their existence. The process of Jacotot's system leads the young 
 pupil to observe, that he partakes in the common features of human 
 nature, and hence spontaneous!}' generalizes upon matters which 
 concern him. By extending this principle, he considers that were 
 he placed in circumstances similar to those unfolded in his book, 
 his actions would, for the most part, resemble those attributed to 
 the personages under his notice. He knows as well that sorrow 
 attends the loss of anything he may have held dear, as that the 
 sunbeams do not freeze water ; aud hence he acknowledges that 
 the grief of Calypso, for instance, resembles human grief in gen- 
 eral. This is the true basis of the exercise in question. 
 
 Every sentence that the pupil reads and thoroughly understands, 
 must suggest a reflection of some kind or other. If, then, he dis- 
 covers in every instance the name of this reflection the proper 
 terms in which it should be expressed, the difficulty is over. 
 
 To exemplify the exercise is unnecessary. It should be remem- 
 bered, that the pupil must be able to justify every reflection by 
 reference to the facts upon which it is founded. 
 
 As soon as the pupil is tolerably well accustomed to this kind 
 of composition, it is considered advisable to exercise him in 
 speaking upon different subjects. The greatest difficulty is, to 
 induce him to make the attempt ; but when once his reluctance 
 has been overcome, he will easily advance, and with undoubted 
 success. 
 
 3. Synonymous words. 4. Synonymous phrases. When called
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 373 
 
 upon to distinguish between words or phrases, generally accounted 
 synonymous, the pupil, in the first instance, repeats from memory 
 a number (the extent of which may be determined b'y the teacher) 
 of sentences containing the words or phrases in question, and he 
 is particularly urged to recollect the precise circumstances in which 
 they were employed by the author. He is then required to pro- 
 duce a general composition, founded upon the especial facts under 
 his notice, of every part of which composition he is finally made 
 to render an account. 
 
 When he becomes well practised in this exercise, he is shown, 
 that the authors who have written on synonymy, have arrived at 
 their results, by pursuing a method precisely similar to that in 
 which he has been led ; and that if their productions are more 
 methodical and elaborate than his own, the only reason for this 
 superiority is found in the greater patience and attention that they 
 have bestowed on the subject. Thus, for instance, the explanation 
 of any particular word, as given by some reputable writer on the 
 subject, (Girard, or Crabbe, or Hill, for instance), is read to the 
 pupil, and he is told to justify every part of it by facts witli which 
 his memory will supply him from the pages of Telemachus. By 
 110 means the least advantage consequent upon this practice, is its 
 leading the pupil to discover, that in learning one book thoroughly 
 he learns all books; for the writer of the sj'nonymes undoubtedly 
 collected his observations from a vast number of sources, though 
 this exercise proves that the justificator} 7 facts may be derived 
 from a single one. 
 
 5. Parallel subjects. 6. Analogous thoughts. As a preliminary 
 part of the former of these exercises, the pupil is required to furnish 
 an analysis of all the books of Telemachus. The following short 
 specimen of an analysis of part of the first book may suffice to 
 give an idea of what is meant : regrets, artifice, entreaty, 
 imitation, situation, advice, repast, invitation, &c. In 
 this way, the pupil learns to notice the different parts of his author, 
 in which similar subjects are treated, and he is then required to 
 contrast the manner of composition in an}' two or more of them. 
 For instance, Telemachus in the first book, addresses Acestes, 
 and in the second, Nesostris the pupil must compare the cir- 
 cumstances under which these addresses were made, and their 
 respective objects 
 
 1st. Telemachus, wandering in search of his father, is in the 
 presence of a king ; the subject is the same.
 
 374 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 2d. The situation is the same. He is in the power of Acestes, 
 he is in the power of Sesostris. 
 
 3d. But Acestes speaks harshly to him. Sesostris treats him 
 with kindness, &c., &c. 
 
 The above will serve to show the design of this exercise, to the 
 careful performance of which, great importance is attached. 
 
 The process of examining analogous thoughts requires no expla- 
 nation. The pupil has only to perform with the general reflections, 
 what he has in the preceding exercise, performed with the facts of 
 his author. As a variation, the pupil is told to open any book 
 whatever, at random, and read aloud the first sentence that his eye 
 may happen to glance upon. He is then asked to bring to mind 
 reflections or facts in Telemachus similar to that accidentally dis- 
 covered in the book which he opens. It will rarely happen that a 
 single reflection can thus come under his view, in which he cannot 
 observe some point of similarity to those already remarked in the 
 pages of Telemachus. Sometimes a maxim is selected from any 
 book of general reflections, and tlie,pupil is required to justify it by 
 facts from Telemachus. Wherever he turns his eyes, he perceives 
 Fenelon, and hence Jacotot contends, that one book contains all 
 books, or more generally, that All is in all. In this technical 
 expression, All is in all, is comprehended the fundamental principle 
 of the Universal Instruction. 
 
 7. Translation or Transfer. This exercise is somewhat similar 
 to that termed Imitation, but differs from it in assuming a more 
 general character. In the latter, particular circumstances are 
 imitated ; translation consists in imitating the general reflections 
 derived from those particular circumstances, and it therefore 
 embraces the results of two distinct operations of the mind. The 
 pupil must generalize before he can transfer, this is not neces- 
 sary in the exercise of imitation, in which a simple comparison of 
 facts is required. 
 
 Thus it was before seen, that the circumstances of Calypso's 
 grief, resembled, in several respects, those which evidenced the 
 wretchedness of Philoctetes, and upon this observed similarity 
 was founded an imitation. The regret of Calypso, stripped of 
 the accessory circumstances, must resemble in certain points, all 
 regrets whatever. Hence the regrets of the victim of ambition, may 
 be modelled on the regret of Calypso, and thus will be performed the 
 exercise of translation. Every passage in the book may furnish 
 materials for it, and by the combination of passages, one with 
 another, the resources become positively inexhaustible.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. :;T."> 
 
 It would be impossible, consistently with the plan of the present 
 publication, to enter into the details of the succeeding exercises. 
 If those already explained, have been rendered intelligible, the 
 slightest consideration will suffice to show the nature and object of 
 the rest. The 12th is a very important exercise. To write on any 
 subject whatever. Thus, an ode, a sonnet, an oration, &c., &c., 
 being put into the pupil's hands, he is required to determine from, 
 the production itself the rules of art according to which it is constructed. 
 Whatever be the subject, he learns to describe it in the common 
 language with which he is acquainted by his previous training. 
 The dialects of science and art, he may subsequently acquire. He 
 is exercised in Epistolary Composition, by being required to write 
 letters, with an object in view, and upon subjects which he well 
 comprehends. Thus he keeps up a fictitious correspondence 
 between Penelope, Telemachus, Mentor, Ulysses, &c. In making 
 Portraits, the pupil traces biographical sketches of the various 
 personages of his model-book, abstracting their characteristic 
 features from the associations in which they are originally found. 
 To this succeeds the exercise of comparing one portrait with 
 another, or, as it is termed, making parallels (after the manner 
 of Plutarch) , the importance of which speaks for itself. 
 
 Last of all comes the examination of grammar, the comprehen- 
 sion of which is rendered by the previous course remarkably easy, 
 for the pupil already knows the language. He is now only called 
 upon to remark the correctness of his own observations, .and to 
 verify the observations of others by comparison with facts which 
 have long been in his possession. This verification forms a vied 
 voce exercise for the pupil, and, when once gone through, will 
 scarcely need repetition. He is told beforehand, that the study 
 of grammar will add nothing to his knowledge of the language, as 
 far as words and phrases are concerned, and that he will not be 
 supplied by that science with resources of expression previously 
 inaccessible. He simply learns the technical verbiage adopted 
 to express the observations made upon the nature, order, and 
 reciprocal relations, of the words of the language. Hy comparing, 
 therefore, his own observations with those of the grammarian, the 
 pupil acquires the conventional terms in which they are appropri- 
 ately expressed. 
 
 A grammar is put into his hands, which he is directed to read, 
 at the same time carefully reflecting upon every sentence, and 
 producing from Telemachus examples confirmatory of every obser- 
 vation and rule met with. Thus, for instance, he reads, A nouu
 
 376 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 is the name of anything which exists, or of which we have any 
 notion. This definition he at once justifies by adducing the words 
 grotto, turf, &c., as the names of things that exist; and sorrow, 
 anger, &c., as the names of things of which he has a notion. This 
 example will suffice to show the nature of the exercise. 
 
 The exercises of extemporaneous composition and speaking upon 
 a given subject (and in the former cases within a given time of ten 
 minutes or a quarter of an hour) , are rather to be considered as 
 developments of the astonishing capabilities of the s^-stem, than as 
 necessary parts of the process employed. The pupil who shall 
 have performed every previous exercise, will, of necessity, be com- 
 petent to the performance of these, since all the elements which 
 enter into them will have become perfectly familiar to him by 
 incessant repetition. He has been habituated to the vivd voce 
 recitation of facts from the very commencement, as well as to 
 repeated compositions, both specific and general, and he is now 
 required to perform, in an unpremeditated manner, that which 
 was in the first instance the work of mature deliberation. Sur- 
 prising, then, as are exhibitions of this kind, when considered by 
 themselves, they appear simply as the natural results of the previ- 
 ous process, to any one who carefully estimates the end attained, 
 by the propriety of the means employed. But it should be remem- 
 bered, that such results were never before attained by any process, 
 nor are they now attainable by any other than that of Jacotot, for 
 the Universal Instruction is the Educational System of Nature. 
 
 The last exercise consists in verifying the assertion, All is in all. 
 , As soon as the pupil knows Telemachus, he is required to point 
 out, speaking extemporaneously, the particular art exhibited by 
 Fenelon in the composition of that work ; he is directed to refer 
 other productions of literary art to this, and to observe, that the 
 human mind, under all circumstances, whatever be its ends or 
 means, follows very nearly the same route. It is scarcely possible 
 to take any two sentences from any two works of the most opposite 
 character and nature, without observing some points of similarity. 
 If the whole of one complex idea is not like the whole of another, 
 some of the subordinate components will discover mutual analogies 
 and relations. Thus, every action must be like every other action 
 in several respects. No action can be performed without an agent 
 and an object, nor without the intervention of motion. Other 
 circumstances may vary, but these are of necessity fixed. More 
 generally, it may be asserted, that though one book does,, not, 
 strictly speaking, contain all others, yet it contains some particulars
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 377 
 
 which are common to all others : it contains the starting-points 
 of all knowledge, though not the amplification of the full course. 
 It has been remarked, that the entire amount, independent of 
 repetitions, of human knowledge, might be comprehended in a 
 very few volumes. The method of Jacotot tends to confirm the 
 correctness of this observation, and the proposition, All is in all, 
 in fact, the fundamental principle of the system. It is because All As 
 in all, that the precept, Learn something thoroughly, and refer every- 
 thing else to it, leads in practice to results so astonishing as those 
 which are the proud trophies of the Universal Instruction. Hence it 
 is, that by a thorough acquaintance with the words, syllables, and 
 letters, of the first sixty lines of Telemachus, the pupil is taught 
 to read, that by writing only one line well, he learns the entire 
 graphic art, that by completely mastering one book, he masters 
 all books, that is, acquires the language. It would be easy to 
 show, that this principle is not limited to the bare facts just 
 enumerated, to the mere operative machinery of education, 
 but that it pervades the Universe of Nature. It only assumes 
 another form when we call man a microcosm, a miniature of 
 the entire mass of human intelligence. It is merely modified by 
 Byron, when he says, 
 
 History, with all her volumes vast, 
 
 Hath but one page : 
 
 and again, contemplating a solitary ruin of Rome, 
 Ages and realms are crowded in this span. 
 
 Lady Montague, when she wittily said she had travelled from 
 London to Constantinople, and could find nothing but men and 
 women, and the common sense of mankind, when it pronounces 
 that Men are ever the same, merely diversify the proposition, 
 All is in all. The observation has been made thousands of years 
 ago, but Jacotot has first conceived the idea of rendering it practi- 
 cally useful, of deriving from it a precept applicable to the acquire- 
 ment of the various elements of Universal Knowledge. He then, 
 says Jacotot, who knoics one book knows all books, for all is in all. 
 Let not the expression be contemned. Those who have shone 
 most as divines, poets, mathematicians, orators, sculptors, or 
 painters, were men who devoted themselves to one book, to one 
 model. The profound theologian, is he who is thoroughly ac- 
 quainted, not with countless glosses and comments, but with that
 
 378 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 one book the Bible. The argument likewise receives confirmation 
 from the fact, that Demosthenes wrote out the Greek History of 
 Thucydides eight times, that Racine committed to memory, and 
 repeated very often, the entire works of Euripides. Will not he 
 who is thoroughly master of the Iliad find a translation of it in the 
 ^Eneid, and again, for the most part, in Paradise Lost? This 
 observation respects ideas only ; but considering both language 
 and ideas, is not the Iliad of Homer to be found in the greater 
 portion of the dramas of JEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides? 
 Without doubt, and he who knows (according to the system of 
 Jacotot) the Iliad, will have very few difficulties to contend with 
 in reading the Greek tragedians. He who would be a geometer 
 learns thoroughly Euclid's elements, and refers everything con- 
 nected with geometry to them. Again, a grain of sand resembles 
 a world ; and the assertion in mathematics, that two and two 
 make four, is analogous to this in moral reasoning, that an 
 accumulation of facts strengthens conviction ; increased conse- 
 quent force are common to both ; hence All is in all. In Tele- 
 machus then is found grammar, history, geography, &c., and, in 
 fact, all the subjects before particularized. The author abbreviates 
 in some passages what he amplifies in others. He imitates him- 
 self ; he translates himself ; he does, in short, everything that the 
 human mind can do, in any science whatever. 
 
 To show how the principle is verified, the teacher opens any 
 author, Massillon, for instance, and reads 
 
 " Pleasure is the first thing that endangers our innocence. The 
 other passions develop themselves and ripen (so to speak) only 
 with the advancement of reason." 
 
 The pupil is asked if he can verify the reflections of Massillon 
 by the facts of Fenelon ; and he answers in the following manner : 
 
 Telemachus yielding to pleasure in the island of Cyprus, shows 
 that pleasure endangers innocence, and it is the first thing ; because, 
 on the first occasion in which Telemachus found himself exposed 
 to peril, pleasure was the cause. The other passions, &c. this 
 is seen b}- Telemachus in the camp of the allies, by Idomeneus, &c. 
 
 It is easily seen that this exercise may be diversified to an in- 
 definite extent. Not merely literary productions, but all works 
 relating to science and the fine arts are submitted to its operation, 
 and the result, in every case, verifies the proposition All is in all. 
 The same thing may be said of the system itself, properly desig- 
 nated from its comprehensiveness, Universal Instruction. Here
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 379 
 
 All is in all; the features of the whole are discoverable in every 
 part, and its method, therefore, is the exact counterpart of the 
 method of Nature. 
 
 The brief exposition originally contemplated is now brought to 
 a termination, and the system of Jacotot is before the reader. It 
 would be incompatible with the evident design of the present 
 publication, to show the manner of applying the principles enforced 
 and illustrated in the preceding pages, to the various subjects 
 generally considered to form an Education. If, however, the 
 reader thoroughly comprehends the precept, Learn something 
 thoroughly, and refer everything else to it, he will have no difficultv 
 in perceiving the manner of its application to them. The pupil 
 must still learn by heart, repeat incessantly, compare by 
 reflection, and verify the observations of others ; and the teacher 
 must still be careful to explain nothing, to interrogate perpetu- 
 ally, to make the pupil discover his own errors, and justify 
 everything performed by himself. 
 
 To furnish some idea of the manner of its application to clas- 
 sical languages, the writer of this pamphlet is enabled to state the 
 particulars of an experiment made by himself upon a pupil, a little 
 boy of only eleven years of age. The experiment was instituted, 
 and is now carrying on, under circumstances by no means favorable 
 to the attainment of a flattering result, and which indeed rendered 
 the thorough adoption of the method of Jacotot inadvisable. 
 Enough, however, has been positively ascertained, to allow of A 
 tolerably accurate conjecture as to the ultimate result. The little 
 pupil in question, had been some time employed in committing to 
 memory the Greek grammar, and was al>out to commence the 
 business of elementary translation in that language, just at the 
 time when the writer of these pages first heard of the New System. 
 It was resolved by him, at once to put the pretensions of this 
 method to the test, and to make his pupil proceed according to the 
 instructions of Jacotot. The grammar was therefore temj>orarily 
 abandoned, and the Iliad of Homer, with an interlinear translation 
 of the first book, was at onee put into the pupil's hands. He was 
 told to commit to memory, the first five lines, and at the same time 
 to observe attentively in his translation, the English meaning of 
 every word contained in them. Five additional lines were stipu- 
 lated for the next day's task, which were repeated, together with 
 the five first learned. He continued to learn daily five or six
 
 380 PKLNCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 lines, always commencing the repetition with the beginning of the 
 book, until one hundred were thoroughly impressed on his memory, 
 which brings the experiment to the period of the present state- 
 ment. Whatever improvement then is at present evident, has 
 been derived from the thorough investigation of this century of 
 Greek verses. At first, the task of committing even five verses 
 to memory, and repeating them without a single error, was thought 
 very difficult by the pupil, and the blundering and hesitancy of the 
 first repetition, certainly repressed a little the sanguine anticipa- 
 tions of his instructor. Perseverance, however, in the practice of 
 always commencing with the first word learned, soon produced a 
 surprising facility of repetition. Within a week, the first thirty 
 verses were so well impressed on the pupil's memory, that he 
 could not only repeat them as quickly as utterance would permit, 
 without the omission of a single word, but whenever the first word 
 of any sentence whatever contained in them was mentioned, he 
 continued that sentence without the slightest hesitation. But more 
 than this, whatever word was pronounced, even though it were a mere 
 tmemphatical conjunction, he could repeat successively every line in 
 which it was to be found, within the range of his then limited 
 acquaintance with the book. 
 
 Before, however, the pupil had arrived at this proficiency of 
 repetition, as soon, indeed, as the second lesson had been re- 
 peated, he was directed to translate, from the Greek text alone, 
 the ten lines with which he had then become acquainted, by means 
 of the interlinear translation. This being performed without the 
 least difficulty, a series of questions upon the subject itself was 
 commenced by the instructor, of which the following formed a 
 part. The answers are nearly verbatim those given by the pupil 
 himself.* 
 
 Q. What is the subject of the Iliad of Homer? 
 
 A. The wrath of Achilles. 
 
 Q. How do you ascertain that ? 
 
 A. Because the Muse is called upon by Homer to sing the wrath 
 of Achilles. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether the wrath of Achilles produced any 
 mischievous effects? 
 
 A. Yes ; it is called destructive wrath, and 1 Homer says it caused 
 ten thousand u-oes to the Achaians. 
 
 * It should he observed, that the very words and phrases of the Greek text were given In 
 the answers of the pupil. It was not thought necessary to intermingle the two languages in 
 the present illustration.
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. 381 
 
 Q. Has the epithet destwctive any connection witli the fact, that 
 ten thousand woes were occasioned by the wrath of AchiK 
 
 A. Yes ; it was called destructive, because it occasioned, &c. 
 
 o. What kind of scenery may we expect to be introduced to in 
 the Iliad? 
 
 A. Scenes of battle and bloodshed. 
 
 Q. Why not pictures of pastoral happiness or riotous joy? 
 
 A. Because these would be inconsistent with destnt, ////< I'-mtli. 
 
 Q. Why inconsistent ; could not then these be introduced into 
 the poem? 
 
 A. Yes ; but there must be more of the others. 
 
 Q. What do you infer from the expression, And made tl,>,n 
 prey to the dogs and all birds f 
 
 A. That their bodies were left unburied on the field of battle. 
 
 Q. Does it positively state that? 
 
 A. No ; but if they had been buried, the dogs and birds could 
 not have got at them.* 
 
 After about twenty lines had boon translated, and examined 
 thoroughly by questions, in order to discover whether hi.s attention 
 had been uniform, the following question was asked : 
 
 Did you perceive in any line that you have translated, a word 
 or words not strictly necessary to the sense ? 
 
 The prompt answer was Yes ; Homer says, Apollo sent an evil 
 pestilence into the camp ; the word evil is not quite necessary, 
 it could not be good. 
 
 He afterwards said he thought there was another such instance 
 in the eighth verse, to light in xfrife, they could not fight, he 
 said, without st >>'/< . 
 
 To ascertain how far he could generalize upon what he knew. 
 he was told to observe the twelfth and nine lollowiiiT verses (which 
 narrate the arrival of Chryses at the camp of the Aehaians for the 
 purpose of redeeming his daughter, with his address to the army), 
 and to mention the sentiment or feeling discovered in action. lie 
 at once answered, Parental affection. The subjoined colloquy 
 then occurred. 
 
 (). Why came Chryses to the Achaian camp? 
 
 A. To redeem for him.-elf his daughter. 
 
 * As the instructor li.-ul re-olved to make tho pupil find out everything himwlf, It was not 
 thought advisable l<> explain that the Greek* were aeriiKtoraed to burn and not to bury their 
 dead. lie shortly after inferred this himself frmn the fifty. econd line, where It In utated. 
 that funeral pyres were incesxatitli/ burning In the camp of the Achaian*. on account of tho 
 numbers destroyed by the pestilence. Other passages subsequently met with he rrfrrrrd 
 to this, and thus confirmed his conjecture.
 
 382 PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 
 Q. How did he hope to effect his wishes ? 
 
 A. By bringing boundless ransoms, and by showing himself to 
 be Apollo's priest. 
 
 Q. What did he appeal to in bringing ransoms? 
 
 A. Their love of money. 
 
 Q. And what in exhibiting the ensiguia of the priesthood? 
 
 A. To their religious reverence. 
 
 Q. Can you confirm your assertions ? 
 
 A. Yes ; Chryses, in his address to the army, begs them to 
 liberate his daughter, reverencing the son of Jove, far-darting 
 Apollo. 
 
 The pupil having been led by two or three simple questions, to 
 notice that Chryses the priest, is twice observed supplicating 
 within the first fifty verses, was told to distinguish between the 
 objects of these two several addresses, and the persons to whom 
 they were made. He answered, Chryses, in the first instance, 
 addressed Atrides and the Achaian camp, in the second, King 
 Apollo. The object of his first prayer was, the recovery of his 
 daughter ; of the second, vengeance on those who had insulted him. 
 
 It was remarked, the expression of Chryses is, May the 
 Danaans atone for my tears by thy darts. What have you to say 
 upon this? 
 
 A. The Greeks had given him tears, and he asked Apollo to 
 give them darts. 
 
 His reasoning faculty was sometimes brought into exercise by 
 the following plan : Any fact amongst those that he knew, was 
 chosen as a point to set out from, and he was made to show how 
 it stood connected in both the relation of cause and effect, with 
 what preceded and succeeded it. For example, verse 58 : 
 
 And rising up, addressed the swift-footed Achilles 
 
 Q. Whom did Achilles address? 
 
 A. The people then assembled. 
 
 Q. Why were they assembled? 
 
 A. Because Achilles had called them together. 
 
 Q. Why? 
 
 A. Because Juno put it into his mind to do so. 
 
 Q. Why? 
 
 A. Because she pitied the Danaans. 
 
 Q. Why did she pity them ? 
 
 A. Because she saw them dj-ing. 
 
 (). Why dying?
 
 JACOTOT'S SYSTEM OF EDUCATION." 
 
 A. Because Apollo had sent a pestilence. 
 
 Q. Why? 
 
 A. Because he was enraged at his heart. 
 
 Q. Why was he enraged? 
 
 A. Because Chryses had told him of his wrongs, and prayed 
 for revenge. 
 
 Q. Why did Chryses thus pray ? 
 
 A. Because he had been harshly treated. 
 
 Q. Who treated him harshly? 
 
 A. Agamemnon, because he did not wish to give up his 
 daughter. 
 
 Q. How do you know Agamemnon had her? 
 
 A. Because he says expressly, J will not liberate her until old 
 age comes upon her in our (or my) house in Argos. 
 
 Q. Do you know from any single passage what we have thus 
 discovered, namely, that the harsh treatment of Chryses was the 
 cause of the pestilence sent upon the army ? 
 
 A. Yes; Homer states it beforehand, the son of Latona and 
 Jove, being enraged with the king, sent a pestilence, &c., because 
 Agamemnon dishonored Chryses, &c. 
 
 He was thus led to perceive the unity of design pervading the 
 work, and to enter into the spirit of every circumstance introduced. 
 But he did more. Not a single word was passed until the idea of 
 which it was the representative was distinctly pictured in his mind, 
 and hence, whenever the word afterwards occurred, both the idea 
 itself (which is evidently independent of language), and the 
 English term which answered to it, were instantaneously suggested. 
 The constant repetition was maintained, and his acquaintance with 
 the English expressions equivalent to those of the Greek was 
 ascertained, by the exercise of giving sometimes the Greek phrase 
 and requiring instantly the corresponding literal English; some- 
 times by giving the latter and requiring the former: thus, the 
 pupil was told to give the Greek for " Sing thou the wrath of 
 Achilles," " and prematurely sent many brave souls," " and 
 the will of Jove was accomplished," &c. In the first instance, 
 the exact expression was preserved. After a little time, the 
 exercise was varied by slightly changing the sentences, still requir- 
 ing nothing but what (as his prompt answers invariably showed) 
 he was fully competent to perform, thus "Sing thou, goddess, 
 the wrath of Pelides* son," u and sent brave souls," &c. 
 
 After his perfect acquaintance with the corresponding terms and 
 expressions in the two languages was thus ascertained, and he had
 
 384 PRINCIPLES OF JACOTOT S SYSTKM <>K EDUCATION. 
 
 been interrogated (as previously shown) , it was considered that 
 he thoroughly understood the sense of the hundred lines in ques- 
 tion, and his attention was sedulously directed to the terminations, 
 prefixes, &c., of all the words, and to the strict analysis of com- 
 pounds. Whenever a word came under notice which he had before 
 known, but the meaning of which he had forgotten, he was made 
 to refer to the previous sentences in which it was found, discover 
 what must have been its signification there, and give the same 
 meaning in the passage in question. He was never told a single 
 word, nor allowed to refer to dictionary or interlinear translation 
 while receiving a lesson. The author was always made to inter- 
 pret himself.* The present result is easily stated. From the 
 acquaintance he has obtained with the hundred lines in question, 
 after not more than twelve hours of lessons, it is considered (and 
 indeed this has been ascertained by careful examination), that he 
 will scarcely meet with fifty words in the remainder of the first 
 book of the Iliad, of which he will not know something. He will 
 be able to interpret the meaning, the prefix, or the termination. 
 Other experiments of the same kind are now making, the results 
 of which will shortly appear. 
 
 From the preceding pages it appears that the advantages of Jaco- 
 tot's system may be comprehended in the following summary : 
 It calls into action the mental faculties of the pupil himself, he 
 cannot rely on his teacher, he gains confidence in his own powers, 
 and his improvement is of necessity solid. Hence, It tends to culti- 
 vate in the highest possible degree the faculty of attention. It employs 
 the analytical plan in place of the synthetical, the pupil is not 
 puzzled with abstractions and generalities at the first stage ; he is 
 previously led to comprehend the facts upon which they are 
 founded. It thus conducts from the "known to the unknoivn, the 
 pupil makes what he knows serviceable in interpreting what he 
 knows not. It exercises equally the memory and the judgment, 
 everything that the pupil commits to memory he makes thoroughly 
 his own by reflection. And finally, it ensures the utmost facility of 
 performance by the incessant repetition of every prescribed lesson 
 and exercise. 
 
 * The following passage from the " Quarterly Review," No. XLIV., serves to enforce the ' 
 superiority of this method of acquiring languages. " The only method of obtaining an 
 accurate or extensive knowledge of any language is, to study it with as little use of the dic- 
 tionary as possible, to discover the exact signification and propriety of words by a comparison 
 of different passages, and to interpret authors by themselves." 
 
 PAUL It. HEINTZEMANN, PIUNTER, BOSTON, MASS. 
 \
 
 "... So each study In Its turn can give rcasonawhvlt should be cultivated to the utmost. 
 But nil these very arguments are met by an unanswerable fact, that our that- in limiu-d. It I* 
 not possible to teach boys everything. 
 
 " If it IB attempted, tho result is generally a superficial knowledge of exceedingly little 
 value, and liable to the great moral objection, that it encourage* conn-it and discourages hard 
 work. A boy who knows the general principles of the study, without knowing lu detail*, 
 easily get* the credit of knowing much, while the tent of putting hi* knowledge to am- will 
 quickly prove that he knows very little. Meanwhile he acquires a distaste for the dmdirery 
 of details, without which drudgery nothing worth doing ever yet was done." DR. T Hl-LE'8 
 Answer to Questions of the Commimiiontrs on Public Schools. 
 
 " If we are to choose a study which shall pre-eminently fit a man for life, It will be that 
 which shall best enable him to cuter into the thoughts, the fueling*, the motive* of ki fel- 
 lows." Ibid. 
 
 " All education really comes from intercourse with other mind*. The desire to supply 
 bodily needs and to get bodily comforts would prompt even a solitary human being (if he lived 
 long enough) to acquire some rude knowledge of nature. Butthls would not make him more of 
 a man. That which supplies the perpetual spur to the whole human race to continue inces- 
 i-.-mtly adding to our Mores of knowledge; that which retines and elevates, and does not edu- 
 cate merely the moral, nor merely the intellectual faculties, but tho whole man, is our connec- 
 tion with each other; and the highest study is that which most promotes this connection, by 
 enlarging its sphere, by correcting and purifying its influences, by giving perfect and pure 
 models of what ordinary experience can, for the most part, show only in adulterated and Im- 
 perfect forms." Ibid. 
 
 " Tho classic life contains precisely tho true corrective for the chief defects of modern life. 
 The classic writers exhibit precisely that order of virtues in which wo are apt to be deficient. 
 They altogether show human life on a grander scale, with less benevolence, but more patriot- 
 ism ; less sentiment, but more self-control ; of a lower average of virtue, hut more striking 
 individual examples of it; fewer small goodnesses, but more greatness and appreciation of 
 greatness; more which tends to exalt the imagination and inspire high conceptions of the 
 capabilities of human nature. If, as every one must see, the want of the affinity of these 
 studies to the modern mind is gradually lowering them in popular estimation, this is but a 
 confirmation of the need of them, and renders it more incumbent on those who have tho 
 power, to do their utmost to aid in preventing their decline." JOHN (STUART MILL. 
 
 " "We would have classics and logic taught far more really and deeply than at present, and 
 would ndd to them other studies more alien than any which yet exist to the business of the 
 world,' but more germane to tho great business of every rational being the strengthening 
 and enlarging of hU own Intellect and character." Ibid. 
 
 " In nations as In men, in intellect as in social condition, true nobility consists In Inheriting 
 what is best in the possessions and character of a line of ancestry. Those who can truce tho 
 descent of their own ideas and their own language through tho race of cultivated nations, 
 who can show that those whom they represent or reverence as their parents have everywhere 
 been foremost in the field of thought and intellectual progress : these arc the truo nobilitv of 
 the world of mind: the persons who have received true culture; and such it should b 
 the business of a liberal education to make men." ANON. 
 
 "The ancient classics would not be worse, but belter taught In the highest forms, did tho 
 pupil receive a more general culture in his early course." 1)R. HOIXJHON, " Clamical In- 
 struction," an Article rtprinteil from the Westminster Review, Oct. 18i3. 
 
 " It Is tho oarly age at which classical studies are begun that, rendering the work nt once 
 tedious and unprofitable, necessitates so terrible an expenditure of time, and prevents their 
 successf.il prosecution. Difllcultles which are now surmounted, if at all, with infinite labor 
 and many tears; details which are now mastered, if at all, by children who can have but little 
 comprehension of their meaning and purpose, and but little motive to mental effort, would 
 afford only an easy and pleasant exercise to minds more mature and better prepared." Ibid. 
 
 ' I claim for the study of physics the recognition that it answers to an Impulse Implanted by 
 nature in the human constitution, and he who would oppose such study must be pr< pared to 
 exhibit the credentials which authorize him to contravene nature's manifest design." On M 
 Importtinrt of the Study of 1'hytict ait a Branch of Education for alt Ctaitei. By PRurt"- 
 80R TYNUALL. 
 
 " Leave out tho physiological sciences from your curriculum, and you launch tho student 
 Into the world undisciplined In that science whose subject-matter wo-.ild best develop I i 
 powers of observation; Ignorant of facts of the deepest Impor'ance for his own and oth-r' 
 welfare; blind to the richest sources of bennty In God's creation; and unprovided with thnt 
 belief In a living law, and an order manifesting Itself In and through cndlrus change and 
 variety, which might serve to check and moderate that phase of despair through which. If he 
 take an earnest interest in social problems, he will nssuredlr. foont-r < r later, pa-s." On the 
 Educational Value of the A'aturat Ui*ttiry Scit nee*. Byl'BnriMOB T. H. llt'XLBY. 
 
 "J'almeles sciences mathcmatiqucs et physiques; chaouno, d'olles, I'algebro, la rhlmlo, la 
 botknique, est une belle application partielle de ('esprit huinain ; l.m I.tttrr*, c'rt /V/rif Ini- 
 mime ; 1'etude des lettres, c'est 1'edncatlon generale qui prepare a tout, I't-ducnlloii de l'imc." 
 Napoleon I., quoted by DR. HODGSON. 
 
 " Wenn uns unser Schulunterricht Immer auf dn Alterthum hlnwelst, das Stndinm drr 
 griechisehen und latelnlschen Spracbe fordert, so konncn wlr uns UlUck wtlnchen, da- 
 diese zu oiner hdheren Cultur so nothigen sJtudlcn nlemats rlickganglg werden." UOETIIK
 
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