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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b080007 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64410 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64410) diff --git a/old/64410-8.txt b/old/64410-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6d782fd..0000000 --- a/old/64410-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3955 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of a Great Schoolmaster, by H. G. -(Herbert George) Wells - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Story of a Great Schoolmaster - - -Author: H. G. (Herbert George) Wells - - - -Release Date: January 28, 2021 [eBook #64410] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A GREAT -SCHOOLMASTER*** - - -E-text prepared by Tim Lindell, Martin Pettit, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images digitized by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) and generously made available by -HathiTrust Digital Library (https://www.hathitrust.org/) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 64410-h.htm or 64410-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/64410/64410-h/64410-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/64410/64410-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - HathiTrust Digital Library. See - https://hdl.handle.net/2027/dul1.ark:/13960/t8z94cz5t - - - - - -THE STORY OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER - - - * * * * * * - -¶ Mr. Wells has also written the following novels: - - THE WHEELS OF CHANCE - LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM - KIPPS - TONO BUNGAY - ANN VERONICA - MR. POLLY - THE NEW MACHIAVELLI - MARRIAGE - THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS - THE WIFE OF SIR ISAAC HARMAN - BEALBY - THE RESEARCH MAGNIFICENT - MR. BRITLING SEES IT THROUGH - THE SOUL OF A BISHOP - JOAN AND PETER - THE UNDYING FIRE - THE SECRET PLACES OF THE HEART - - -¶ The following fantastic and imaginative romances: - - THE TIME MACHINE - THE WONDERFUL VISIT - THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU - THE INVISIBLE MAN - THE WAR OF THE WORLDS - THE SLEEPER AWAKES - THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON - THE SEA LADY - THE FOOD OF THE GODS - IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET - THE WAR IN THE AIR - THE WORLD SET FREE - MEN LIKE GODS - -And numerous Short Stories published in several different collections - - -¶ A Series of books upon Social, Religious and Political questions: - - ANTICIPATIONS (1900) - MANKIND IN THE MAKING - FIRST AND LAST THINGS - NEW WORLDS FOR OLD - A MODERN UTOPIA - THE FUTURE IN AMERICA - AN ENGLISHMAN LOOKS AT THE WORLD - WHAT IS COMING? - WAR AND THE FUTURE - IN THE FOURTH YEAR - GOD THE INVISIBLE KING - RUSSIA IN THE SHADOWS - THE SALVAGING OF CIVILIZATION - WASHINGTON AND THE RIDDLE OF PEACE - THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY - A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD - - -¶ And two little books about children's play, called: - - FLOOR GAMES and LITTLE WARS - - * * * * * * - - -[Illustration: F. W. Sanderson] - - -THE STORY OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER - -by - -H. G. WELLS - - - - - - -New York -The Macmillan Company -1924 - -All rights reserved - -Copyright, 1924, by H. G. Wells. - -Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1924. - -Printed in the United States of America by -The Ferris Printing Company, New York - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER I - PAGE -SANDERSON THE MAN 1 - - -CHAPTER II - -THE MODERNISATION OF OUNDLE SCHOOL 25 - - -CHAPTER III - -THE REPLACEMENT OF COMPETITION BY GROUP - WORK 45 - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN - SCHOOL AND REALITY 61 - - -CHAPTER V - -THE GROWTH OF SANDERSON SHOWN IN HIS - SERMONS AND SCRIPTURE LESSONS 72 - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE WAR AND SANDERSON'S PROPAGANDA OF - RECONSTRUCTION 97 - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE HOUSE OF VISION AND THE SCHOOL CHAPEL 131 - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE LAST LECTURE 147 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -F. W. SANDERSON _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - -INTERIOR IN SCIENCE BLOCK 34 - -THE HEAD AMONG THE PARENTS 84 - - - - -THE STORY OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER - - - - -CHAPTER I - -SANDERSON THE MAN - - -§ 1 - -Of all the men I have met--and I have now had a fairly long and active -life and have met a very great variety of interesting people--one only -has stirred me to a biographical effort. This one exception is F. W. -Sanderson, for many years the headmaster of Oundle School. I think him -beyond question the greatest man I have ever known with any degree of -intimacy, and it is in the hope of conveying to others something of -my sense not merely of his importance, but of his peculiar genius and -the rich humanity of his character, that I am setting out to write -this book. He was in himself a very delightful mixture of subtlety -and simplicity, generosity, adventurousness, imagination and steadfast -purpose, and he approached the general life of our time at such an -angle as to reflect the most curious and profitable lights upon it. To -tell his story is to reflect upon all the main educational ideas of -the last half-century, and to revise our conception of the process and -purpose of the modern community in relation to education. For Sanderson -had a mind like an octopus, it seemed always to have a tentacle free -to reach out beyond what was already held, and his tentacles grew and -radiated farther and farther. Before his end he had come to a vision -of the school as a centre for the complete reorganisation of civilised -life. - -I knew him personally only during the last eight years of his life; -I met him for the first time in 1914, when I was proposing to send -my sons to his school. But our thoughts and interests drew us very -close to one another, I never missed an opportunity of meeting and -talking to him, and I was the last person he spoke to before his -sudden death. He was sixty-six years of age when he died. Those last -eight years were certainly the richest and most productive of his -whole career; he grew most in those years; he travelled farthest. I -think I saw all the best of him. It is, I think, no disadvantage to -have known him only in his boldest and most characteristic phase. It -saves me from confusion between his maturer and his earlier phases. He -was a much stratified man. He had grown steadfastly all his life, he -had shaken off many habitual inhibitions and freed himself from once -necessary restraints and limitations. He would go discreetly while his -convictions accumulated and then break forward very rapidly. He had -a way of leaving people behind, and if I had fallen under his spell -earlier, I, too, might have been left far behind. He was, I recall, a -rock-climber; he was a mental rock-climber also, and though he was very -wary of recalcitrance, there were times when his pace became so urgent -that even his staff and his own family were left tugging, breathless -and perplexed, at the rope. - -Out of a small country grammar-school he created something more -suggestive of those great modern teaching centres of which our world -stands in need than anything else that has yet been attempted. By -all ordinary standards the Oundle School of his later years was -a brilliant success; it prospered amazingly, there was an almost -hopeless waiting-list of applicants; boys had to be entered five -years ahead; but successful as it was, it was no more than a sketch -and demonstration of the great schools that are yet to be. I saw my -own sons get an education there better than I had ever dared hope for -them in England, but from the first my interest in the intention and -promise of Oundle went far beyond its working actualities. And all the -educational possibilities that I had hitherto felt to be unattainable -dreams, matters of speculation, things a little too extravagant even -to talk about in our dull age, I found being pushed far towards -realisation by this bold, persistent, humorous and most capable man. - -Let me first try to give you a picture of his personality as he lives -in my memory. Then I will try to give an account of his beginnings, as -far as I have been able to learn about them, and so we will come to our -main theme, _Sanderson contra Mundum_, the schoolmaster who set out to -conquer the world. For, as I shall show, that and no less was what he -was trying to do in the last years of his life. - -'Ruddy' and 'jolly' are the adjectives that come first to mind when I -think of describing him. He had been a slender, energetic young man -his early photographs witness; but long before I met him he had become -plump and energetic, with a twinkling appreciation for most of the -good things of life. His complexion had a reddish fairness; he had -well-modelled features, thick eyebrows and thick moustache touched with -grey, and he wore spectacles through and over and beside which his -active eyes took stock of you. About his eyes were kindly wrinkles, and -generally I remember him as smiling--often with a touch of roguery in -the smile. Quick movements of his head caused animating flashes of his -glasses. He was carrying a little too much body for his heart, and that -made him short of breath. His voice was in his chest, there was a touch -of his native Northumbria in his accent, and he had a habit of speaking -in incomplete sentences with a frequent use of the interrogative form. -His manner was confidential; he would bend towards his hearer and drop -his voice a little. 'Now what do you think of ----?' he would say, -or 'I've been thinking of ----' so and so. At times his confidential -manner became endearingly suggestive of a friendly conspirator. This, -as yet, he seemed to say, was not for too careless a publication. -You and he understood, but those other fellows--they were difficult -fellows. It might not be practicable to attempt everything at once. - -That reservation, that humorous discretion, is very essential in my -memory of him. It is essential to the whole educational situation of -the world. He was an exceptionally bold and creative man, and he was a -schoolmaster, and that is perhaps as near as one can come to a complete -incompatibility of quality and conditions. In no part of our social -life is dull traditionalism so powerfully entrenched as it is in our -educational organisation. We have still to realise the evil of mental -heaviness in scholastic concerns. We take, very properly, the utmost -precautions to exclude men and women of immoral character not only from -actual teaching but also from any exercise of educational authority. -But no one ever makes the least objection to the far more deadly -influences of stupidity and unteachable ignorance. Our conceptions of -morality are still grossly physical. The heavier and slower a man's -mind seems to be, the more addicted he is to intellectual narcotics, -the more people trust him as a schoolmaster. He will 'stay put.' - -A timid obstructiveness is the atmosphere in which almost all -educational effort has to work, and schoolmasters are denied a liberty -of thought and speech conceded to every other class of respectable men. -They must still be mealy-mouthed about Darwin, fatuously conventional -in politics, and emptily orthodox in religion. If they stimulate their -boys they must stimulate as a brass trumpet does, without words or -ideas. They may be great leaders of men--provided they lead backwards -or nowhither. Sanderson in his latter days broke into unexampled -freedom, but for the greater part of his life he was--like most of -his profession--'wading hips-deep in fools,' and equally resolved -to work out his personal impulse and retain the great opportunities -that the governing body of Oundle School had, almost unwittingly, put -into his hands. He was therefore not only a great revolutionary but -something of a Vicar of Bray. A large part of the amusing subtlety of -his personality was the result of the balanced course he had to pursue. -In all he did, in all he said, he was feeling his way. No other -schoolmaster--and there must be many a rebellious heart lying still -in the graves of dead schoolmasters and many a stifled rebel in the -schoolrooms of to-day--no other schoolmaster has ever felt his way so -discreetly, so far and, at last, so triumphantly. - -I remember as a very characteristic thing that he said one day when -I asked for his opinion of a particularly progressive and hopeful -addition to his board of governors: 'He does not know much about -schools yet, but he will learn. Oundle will teach him.' And in his last -great lecture, he flung out a general 'aside'--that lecture was full of -astonishing 'asides'--'I turned round on the boys and the parents,' he -said, '_both are my business_.' - -Never was schoolmaster so emancipated as he in his latter years from -the ancient servility of the pedagogue. Not for him the handing on -of mellow traditions and genteel gestures of the mind, not for him -the obedient administration of useful information to employers' sons -by the docile employee. He saw the modern teacher in university and -school plainly for what he has to be, the anticipator, the planner, and -the foundation-maker of the new and greater order of human life that -arises now visibly amidst the decaying structures of the old. - - -§ 2 - -Sanderson was born and brought up outside the British public-school -system that he was to affect so profoundly. His early education was -obtained in a parish school. His father was employed in the estate -office of Lord Boyne at Brancepeth in Durham. There were several -brothers but they all died before manhood, and the scanty indications -one can glean of those early years suggest a slender, studious, and -probably rather delicate youngster. He was never very proficient in -any out-of-door games. In the early days at Oundle he careered about -on a bicycle; in later years he played tennis; his vacation exercise -was rock-scrambling. He became a 'student-teacher,' so the official -Life phrases it, at a school at Tudhoe, but whether there was any -difference between being a student-teacher at a school at Tudhoe and -being an ordinary pupil-teacher in an ordinary elementary school under -the English Education Department I have been unable to ascertain. He -was already notable in his village world as exceptionally intelligent, -industrious, and ambitious, and with a little encouragement from the -local vicar and one or two friends he effected an escape from the -strangling limitations of elementary teaching. - -He may have aimed at the church at that time. At any rate he gained a -scholarship and entered Durham University as a theological student. -He did well in Durham University both in theology and mathematics; he -was made a Fellow and he was able to go on as a scholar from Durham to -the wider and more strenuous academic life of Cambridge. At Cambridge -theology drops out of the foreground of the picture. He took a fairly -good degree in mathematics, and he worked for the Natural Science -Tripos. He did not fight his way up into that select class which -secures Cambridge fellowships, but he had made a reputation as an able, -hard, and honest worker; he was much sought after as a coach, and he -was given a lectureship in the woman's college of Girton. From this he -went as senior physics master to the big school for boys at Dulwich. - -A photograph of him in the early Dulwich period shows him slender and -keen-looking, already bespectacled and with a thick moustache; except -for the glasses not unlike another ruddy north-countryman I once knew, -the novelist George Gissing. Both were what one might call Scandinavian -in type. But Gissing was as despondent as Sanderson was buoyant. In -those days, an old Dulwich associate tells me, Sanderson was in a -state of great mental fermentation. He loved long walks in his spare -time, and along the pebbly paths and roads and up and down the little -hills of that corner of Kent, the two of them talked out a hundred -aspects and issues of the perplexing changing world in which they found -themselves. - -It was the world of the eighteen-eighties they were looking at, -before the first Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and it may be worth while -to devote a paragraph or so to a reconstruction of the moral and -intellectual landscape this lean and eager young man was confronting. - -Upon the surface and in its general structure that British world of -the eighties had a delusive air of final establishment. Queen Victoria -had been reigning for close upon half a century and seemed likely to -reign for ever. The economic system of unrestricted private enterprise -with privately owned capital had yielded a great harvest of material -prosperity, and few people suspected how rapidly it was exhausting the -soil of willing service in which it grew. Production increased every -year; population increased every year; there was a steady progress -of invention and discovery, comfort, and convenience. Wars went on, -a marginal stimulation of the empire, but since the collapse of -Napoleon I. no war had happened to frighten England for its existence -as a country; no threat of warfare that could touch English life -or English soil troubled men's imagination. Ruskin and Carlyle had -criticised English ideals and the righteousness of English commerce -and industrialism, but they were regarded generally as eccentric -and unaccountable men; there was already a conflict of science and -theology, but it affected the national life very little outside the -world of the intellectuals; a certain amount of trade competition from -the United States and from other European countries was developing, but -at most it ruffled the surface of the national self-confidence. There -was a socialist movement, but it was still only a passionless criticism -of trade and manufacturers, a criticism poised between aesthetic -fastidiousness and benevolence. People played with that Victorian -socialism as they would have played with a very young tiger-cub. The -labour movement was a gentle insistence upon rather higher wages and -rather shorter hours; it had still to discover Socialism. In a world -of certainties the rate of interest fell by minute but perceptible -degrees, and as a consequence money for investment went abroad until -all the world was under tribute to Britain. History seemed to be -over, entirely superseded by the daily paper; tragedy and catastrophe -were largely eliminated from human life. One read of famines in India -and civil chaos in China, but one felt that these were diminishing -distresses; the missionaries were at work there and railways spreading. - -It was indeed a mild and massive Sphynx of British life that confronted -our young man at Dulwich and his friend, an amoeboid Sphynx which -enveloped and assimilated rather than tore and devoured. It had not -been stricken for a generation, and so it felt assured of the ages. -But beneath its tranquil-looking surfaces many ferments were actively -at work, and its serene and empty visage masked extensive processes -of decay. The fifty-year-old faith on which the social and political -fabric rested--for all social and political fabrics must in the last -resort rest upon faith--was being corroded and dissolved and removed. -Britain in the mid-Victorian time stood strong and sturdy in the -world because a great number of its people, its officials, employers, -professional men and workers honestly believed in the rightness of its -claims and professions, believed in its state theology, in the justice -of its economic relationships, in the romantic dignity of its monarchy, -and in the real beneficence and righteousness of its relations to -foreigners and the subject-races of the Empire. They did what they -understood to be their duty in the light of that belief, simply, -directly, and with self-respect and mutual confidence. If some of its -institutions fell short of perfection, few people doubted that they led -towards it. But from the middle of the century onward this assurance of -the prosperous British in their world was being subjected to a more -and more destructive criticism, spreading slowly from intellectual -circles into the general consciousness. - -It is interesting to note one or two dates in relation to Sanderson's -life. He was born in the year 1857. This was two years before the -publication of Darwin's _Origin of Species_. He was growing up -through boyhood as the application of the Darwinian criticism of life -to current theology was made, and as the great controversy between -Science and orthodox beliefs came to a head. Huxley's challenging -book, _Man's Place in Nature_, was published in 1863; Darwin became -completely explicit about human origins only in 1871 with _The Descent -of Man_. Sanderson, then a bright and forward boy of fourteen, was -probably already beginning to take notice of these disputes about the -fundamentals, as they were then considered, of sound Christianity. - -He was already at college when Huxley was pounding Gladstone and the -Duke of Argyll upon such issues as whether the first chapter of Genesis -was strictly parallel with the known course of evolution, and whether -the miracle of the Gadarene swine was a just treatment of the Gadarene -swineherds. Sanderson's Durham and Cambridge studies and talks went -on amidst the thunder of these debates, and there can be little doubt -that his early theology underwent much bending and adaptation to the -new realisations of the past of man, and of human destiny that these -discussions opened out. He did not take holy orders but he remained -in the Anglican Church; manifestly he could still find a meaning -in the Fall and in the scheme of Salvation. Many other promising -teachers of his generation found this impossible; such men as Graham -Wallas, for example, felt compelled for conscience'-sake to abandon -the public-school teaching to which they had hoped to give their -lives. Wallas found scope for his very great gifts of suggestion and -inspiration in the London School of Economics, but many others of these -Victorian non-jurors were lost to education altogether. - -The criticism of the economic life and social organisation of that age -was going on almost parallel with the destruction of its cosmogony. -Ruskin's _Unto this Last_ was issued when Sanderson was four years -old; _Fors Clavigera_ was appearing in the seventies and the early -eighties. William Morris was a little later with _News from Nowhere_ -and _The Dream of John Ball_; they must have still been vividly new -books in Sanderson's Cambridge days. Marx was little heard of then in -England. He was already a power in German socialism in the seventies, -but he did not reach the reader of English until the eighties were -nearly at an end. When Sanderson discussed socialism during those -Dulwich walks, it must have been Ruskin and Morris rather than Marx -who figured in his talk. Although there remains no account of those -early conversations, it is easy to guess that this stir of social -reconstruction and religious readjustment must have played a large part -in them. Sanderson meant to teach and wanted to teach; he was quite -unlike that too common sort of schoolmaster who has fallen back into -teaching after the collapse of other ambitions; like all really sincere -teachers he was eager to learn, open to every new and stimulating idea, -and free altogether from the malignant conservatism of the disappointed -type. - -He kept that adolescent power of mental growth throughout life. I -remember my pleased astonishment on my first visit to Oundle to -find in his library--I had drifted to his bookshelves while I -awaited him--a row of the works of Nietzsche (who came into the -English-speaking world in the late nineties) and recent books by -Bertrand Russell and Shaw. Here was a schoolmaster, a British public -schoolmaster, aware that the world was still going on! It seemed too -good to be true. But it was true, and in the end Sanderson was to die, -ten years, shall we say?--or twenty, ahead of his time. - -And while we are placing Sanderson in relation to the intellectual -stir of the age let us note, too, the general shape of human affairs -as it was presented to his mind. It was an age of steadily accelerated -political change, and of a vast increase in the population of the -world. The fifties and sixties of the nineteenth century had seen -the world-wide spread of the railway and telegraph network, and a -consequent opening up of vast regions of production that had hitherto -lain fallow. The screw was replacing the ineffective paddle-wheel of -the earlier steamships and revolutionising ocean transport. There was -a great increase in mechanical and agricultural efficiency. We still -call that time the mid-Victorian period, but the history teacher of -the future, more sensible than we are of the innocence of good Queen -Victoria in any concern of importance to mankind, is more likely to -distinguish it as the Advent of the New Communications. These new -inventions were 'abolishing distance.' They were demanding a political -synthesis of mankind. But there was little understanding as yet of -this now manifest truth. One hardly notes a sign of any such awareness -in literature and public discussions until the end of the century; -and failing a clear understanding of their nature the new expansive -forces operated through the cheap and unsound interpretations first of -sentimental nationalism and then of romantic imperialism. - -Sanderson's boyhood saw the differences of the cultures of north and -south in the United States of America at first exacerbated by the -new means of communication and then, after four years of civil war, -resolved into a stabler unity. The straggling peninsula of Italy -under the sway of the new synthetic forces recovered a unity it had -lost with the decay of the Roman roads; the internal tension of the -continental powers culminated in the Franco-German war. But these -were insufficient adjustments, and a renewed growth of armaments -upon land and sea alike, betrayed the growing mutual pressure of the -great powers. All dreamt of expansion and none of coalescence. The -dominant political fact in Europe while Sanderson was a young man, was -the rise of Germany to political and economic predominance. German -energy, restrained from geographical release, drove upward along the -lines of scientific and technical progress, and the outward thrust of -its pent-up imperialism took the form of a gathering military threat. -Germany first and then the United States, released and renewed after -their escape from the fragmentation that had threatened them, made the -economic pace for the rest of the world throughout the eighties and the -nineties. They stirred the British manufacturer and parent to indignant -inquiries; they forced the drowsy schools of Great Britain into a -reluctant admission of scientific and technical teaching. But they -awakened as yet no profounder heart-searchings. - -The young science-master at Dulwich talked, no doubt, as we all did in -those days, of Evolution and Socialism, of the rights of labour and -the Christianisation of industry, of the progress of science and the -scandal of the increasing expenditure upon armaments, with the illusion -of an immense general stability in the background of his mind. It was -an illusion that needed not only the Great War of 1914-18 but its -illuminating sequelae to shatter and destroy. - - -§ 3 - -Accounts of Sanderson's work in Dulwich school differ very widely. -At one time it would seem that he had troubles about discipline, and -it is quite conceivable that his methods there were experimental and -fluctuating. No doubt he was trying over at Dulwich many of the things -that were to establish his success at Oundle. On the whole the Dulwich -work was good work, and it gave him sufficient reputation to secure the -headmastership of Oundle School when presently the governing body of -that school sought a man of energy and character to modernise it. - -The most valuable result of his Dulwich period was the demonstration -of the interestingness of practical work in physical science for -boys who remained apathetic under the infliction of the stereotyped -classical curriculum. He was not getting the pick of the boys there but -the residue, but he was getting an alertness and interest out of this -second-grade material that surprised even himself. The interest of the -classical teaching was largely the interest of a spirited competition -which demanded not only a special sort of literary ability but a -special sort of competitive disposition. But there are quite clever -boys of an amiable type to whom competition does not appeal, and some -of these were among the most interesting of the youngsters who were -awakened to industrious work by his laboratory instruction. - -It is clear that before Sanderson went to Oundle he had already -developed a firm faith in the possibility of a school with a new and -more varied curriculum, in which a far greater proportion of the boys -could be interested in their work than was the case in the contemporary -classical and (formal) mathematical school, and also that he had -conceived the idea of replacing the competitive motive, which had ruled -the schools of Europe since the establishment of the great Jesuit -schools three hundred years before, by the more vital stimulus of -interest in the work itself. He also took to Oundle a proved and tested -conception of the need for the utmost possible personal participation -by every boy in every collective function of the school. Quite early -in his Oundle career he came into conflict with his boys and carried -his point upon the issue whether every boy was to sing in the school -singing or whether that was to be left to the specialised choir of -boys who had voices and a taste for that sort of thing. That was an -essential issue for him. From the very first he was working for the -rank and file and against the star system of school work by which a -few boys sing or work or play with distinction and encouragement, -against a background of neglected shirkers and defeated and discouraged -competitors. - -Sanderson married soon after he went to Dulwich. His wife came from -Cumberland and she excelled in all those domestic matters that made a -successful headmaster's wife. Throughout all the rest of his life she -was his loyal and passionate partisan. His friends were her friends, -and his critics and opponents were her enemies, and if she had a fault -it was that she found it difficult to forgive any one who had seemed -ever to differ from him. Two sons were born during the seven years -that passed in the little home in Dulwich. It must have been a very -brisk and happy little home. One can imagine the tall young man with -his gown a little powdered with blackboard chalk, flying out behind -him, striding along the school corridors to some fresh and successful -experiment in laboratory work, or in homely tweeds walking along the -Kentish lanes with his friend, or snatching a delightful half-hour in -the nursery to see Master Roy's first attempts to walk, or reading -some new and stirring book with the lamp of those days before electric -lighting at his elbow. He was thirty-five when he achieved his last -step in the upward career of a secondary schoolmaster and was appointed -headmaster of Oundle. That success probably came as a surprise, for -Sanderson's modest origins and the fact that he was not in holy orders -must have been a serious handicap upon his application. It must have -been a very elated young couple who packed their household belongings -for the unknown town of Oundle. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE MODERNISATION OF OUNDLE SCHOOL - - -§ 1 - -Oundle School, which was to be the material of Sanderson's life work, -which was to teach him so much and profit so richly by the reaction, -was one of comparatively old standing. It was a pre-reformation -foundation; a certain Joan Wyatt having endowed a schoolmaster in the -place in 1485. Its main revenues, however, derived from Sir William -Laxton, Lord Mayor of London and Master of the Grocers' Company, who -in 1556 left considerable property to that body on condition that it -supported a school in his native town of Oundle. The Grocers' Company -took over the Joan Wyatt school and schoolmaster, and has discharged -its obligations to Oundle with intermittent energy and honesty to this -day. - -Oundle has always been a school of fluctuating fortunes. The district -round and about does not sustain a sufficient population to maintain -full classes and an efficient staff, and only when the prestige of the -school was great enough to attract boys from a distance had it any -chance of flourishing. Time after time an energetic head with more -or less support from the distant governing body would push it into -prominence and prosperity only to pass away and leave it to an equally -rapid decline. The London Grocers' Company is a very unsuitable body -for educational work. It is not organised for any such work. It was -originally a chartered association of city wholesalers, spice-dealers, -and so forth, who maintained a certain standard of honest trading and -protected their common interests in the middle ages; it commended -itself to the spiritual care of St. Anthony, and built a great hall -and acted as almoner for its impoverished members and their widows and -orphans; its normal function to-day is the entertainment of princes -and politicians. It is now a fortuitous collection of merchants, -business-men, and prosperous persons, and it is only by chance that -now and then a group of its members have had the conscience and -intelligence to rise above the normal indifference of such people to -the full possibilities of the Laxton bequest. Generally the Company's -conduct of the school has varied between half-hearted help and -negligence and the diversion of the funds to other ends; it has no -tradition of competent governorship, and the ups and downs of Oundle -have been dependent mainly upon the personal qualities of the masters -who have chanced to be appointed. - -There was a period of prosperity during the second quarter of the -seventeenth century which was brought to an end by the plague, and -by the impoverishment of the school through the fire of London in -which various Laxton properties were destroyed. Throughout a large -part of the eighteenth century the school was completely effaced, -and the entire revenues of the Laxton bequest were no doubt expended -in hospitality. There was a revival in 1796. In the seventies of the -nineteenth century the school was doing well in mathematics under -a certain Dr. Stansbury, and in the eighties it had as many as two -hundred boys under the Rev. H. St. J. Reade. Then it declined again -until the numbers sank below a hundred. It was a time of quickened -consciences in educational matters, and some of the more energetic -and able members of the Grocers' Company determined to make a drastic -change of conditions at Oundle. They found Sanderson ready to their -hands. - - -§ 2 - -The world is changing so rapidly that it may be well to say a few words -about the type of school Sanderson was destined to renovate. Even in -the seventies and eighties these smaller 'classical' schools had a -quaint old-fashioned air amidst the surrounding landscape. They were -staffed by the less vigorous men of the university-scholar type; men of -the poorer educated classes in origin, not able enough to secure any of -the prizes reserved for university successes, and not courageous enough -to strike out into the great world on their own account. They protected -themselves from the sense of inferiority by an exaggeration of the -value of the schooling and disciplines through which they had gone, and -they ignored their lack of grasp in a worship of the petty accuracies -within their capacity. Their ambition soared at its highest to holy -orders and a headmastership, a comfortable house, a competent wife, -dignity, security, ease, and a certain celebrity in equation-dodging -or the imitation of Latin and Greek compositions. Contemporary life -and thought these worthy dominies regarded with a lofty scorn. The -formal mathematical work, it is true, was not older than a century -or a century and a half, but the classical training had come down in -an unbroken tradition from the seventeenth century. One of the staff -of Oundle when Sanderson took it over is described as a 'wonderful' -classical master. 'His master passion,' we are told, 'for Latin -elegiacs and Greek iambics fired many of his pupils, whose best efforts -were copied into a book that bore the title _Inscribatur_.' These -exercises in stereotyped expression were going on at Oundle right into -the eighteen-nineties. They had their justification. From the school -the boys passed on to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where -sympathetic examining authorities awarded the greater prizes at their -disposal to the more proficient of these victims. The Civil Service -Commissioners by a mark-rigging system that would have won the respect -of an American election boss, kept the Higher Division of the Civil -Service as a preserve for ignorance 'classically' adorned. So that the -school could boast of 'an almost uninterrupted stream of scholarship -successes at Cambridge' even in its decline in the late eighties, when -its real educational value to the country it served was a negative -quantity. - -This seventeenth century 'classical' grind constituted the main -work of the school, and no other subject seems to have been pursued -with any industry. Most of the staff could not draw or use their -hands properly; like most secondary teachers of that time they were -innocent of educational science, and no attempt was made to teach -every boy to draw. Drawing was still regarded as a 'gift' in those -days. The normally intelligent boy without the peculiar aptitudes -and plasticity needed to take Latin elegiacs seriously, had no -educational alternative whatever. There was no mathematical teaching -beyond low-grade formal stuff of a very boring sort, and the only -science available was a sort of science teaching put in to silence -the complaints of progressive-minded parents rather than with any -educational intention, science teaching that was very properly called -'stinks.' It was a stinking imposture. The boy of good ordinary quality -was driven therefore to games or 'hobbies' or mischief as an outlet for -his energies, as chance might determine. The school buildings before -Sanderson was appointed were as cramped as the curriculum; old boys -recall the 'redolent' afternoon class-rooms; the Grocers' Company in -its wisdom had built a new School-House during the brief boom under St. -John Reade, between a public house on either side and a slum at the -back. It must have been pleasant for master and boys alike to escape -from the stuffiness of general teaching upon these premises, and from -the priggish exploits in versification of the 'inspired' minority, to -the cricket field. There one had scope; there was life. The Rev. H. -St. J. Reade, the headmaster in the eighties, had been Captain of the -Oxford Eleven, and drove the ball hard and far, to the admiration of -all beholders. - -The Rev. Mungo J. Park, who immediately preceded Sanderson, is -described as a man of considerable personal dignity, aloof and -leisurely, and greatly respected by the boys. Under him the number -of the boys in the school declined to fewer than a hundred. That -dwindling band led the normal life of boys at any small public school -in England. Most of them were frightfully bored by the teaching of -the bored masters; the wonderful classical master lashed himself -periodically up to the infectious level of enthusiasm for his amazing -exercises; there was cribbing and ragging and loafing, festering -curiosities and emotional experimenting, and, thank Heaven! games -a fellow could understand. If these boys learnt anything of the -marvellous new vision of the world that modern science was unfolding, -they learnt it by their own private reading and against the wishes -of their antiquated teachers. They learnt nothing in school of the -outlook of contemporary affairs, nothing of contemporary human work, -nothing of the social and economic system in which many of them were -presently to play the part of captains. If they learnt anything about -their bodies it was secretly, furtively, and dirtily. The gentlemen -in holy orders upon the staff, and the sermons in the Oundle parish -church, had made souls incredible. There has been much criticism of the -devotion to games in these dens of mental dinginess, but games were -the only honest and conclusive exercises to be found in them. From the -sunshine and reality of the swimming-pool, the boats, the cricket or -football field, the boys came back into the ill-ventilated class-rooms -to pretend, or not even to pretend, an interest in languages not merely -dead, but now, through a process of derivation and imitation from one -generation to another, excessively decayed. The memory of school taken -into after life from these establishments was a memory of going from -games and sunshine and living interest into class-rooms of twilight, -bad air, and sham enthusiasm for exhausted things. - - -§ 3 - -Sanderson made his application for the headmastership of Oundle at -an unusually favourable time. There were several men of exceptional -enlightenment and intelligence upon the governing body of the school, -and they were resolved to modernise Oundle thoroughly and well. To -the innovators the very unorthodoxy of Sanderson's upbringing and -qualifications was a recommendation, to their opponents they made him -a shocking candidate, and the Grocers' Company was rent in twain -over his application. It requires a little effort nowadays for us to -understand just how undesirable a candidate this spectacled young -man from Dulwich must have appeared to many of the older and riper -'grocers.' - -In the first place he was not in holy orders, and it was a fixed belief -of many people--in spite of the fact that few of the clerically-ruled -English public schools of that time could be described as hotbeds -of chastity--that only clergymen in holy orders could maintain a -satisfactory moral and religious tone. On the other hand, he had been -a distinguished theological student. That, however, might involve -heresy; English people have an instinctive perception of the corrosive -effect of knowledge and intelligence upon sound dogma. Then he was not -a public-school boy, and this might involve a loss of social atmosphere -more important even than religion or morals. The almost natural grace -of deportment that has endeared the English traveller and the English -official to the foreigner, and particularly to the subject-races -throughout the world, might fail under his direction. Moreover, he was -no cricketer. He had no athletic distinction; a terrible come-down -after the Rev. H. St. J. Reade. These were all grave considerations in -those days. Against them weighed the growing dread of German efficiency -that was already spreading a wholesome modesty throughout the -commercial world of Britain. This young man from Dulwich might bring -to Oundle, it was thought, the base but valuable gifts of technical -science. And there was apparent in him a liveliness and energy uncommon -among scholastic applicants. His seemed to be a bracing personality, -and Oundle was in serious need of a bracing régime. The members who -liked him liked him warmly, and he roused prejudices as warm; feeling -seems to have run high at the decision, and he was appointed by a -majority of one. - -[Illustration: Interior in Science Block] - -The little world of Oundle heard of the new appointment with mixed and -various feelings, in which there was no doubt a considerable amount -of resentment. No man becomes headmaster of an established school -without facing many difficulties. If he is promoted from among the -staff of his predecessor old disputes and rivalries are apt to take on -an exaggerated importance, and if he comes in from outside he finds a -staff disposed to a meticulous defence of established usage. And the -young couple from Dulwich came to the place in direct condemnation -of its current condition and its best traditions. There can be no -doubt that at the outset the school and town bristled defensively and -unpleasantly to the new-comers. - -In one respect the old educational order had a great advantage over the -new that Sanderson was to inaugurate. It had a completed tradition, -and it provided the standards by which the new was tried. Whatever it -taught was held to be necessary to education, and all that it did not -know was not knowledge. By such tests the equipment of Sanderson was -exhibited as both defective and superfluous. Moreover, the new system -was confessedly undeveloped and experimental. It could not be denied -that Sanderson might be making blunders, and that he might have to -retrace his steps. People had been teaching the classics for three -centuries; the routine had become so mechanical that it was done best -by men who were intellectually and morally half asleep. It led to -nothing; except in very exceptional cases it did not even lead to a -competent use of either the Latin or Greek languages; it involved no -intelligent realisation of history, it detached the idea of philosophy -from current life, and it produced the dreariest artistic Philistinism, -but there was a universal persuasion that in some mystical way it -_educated_. The methods of teaching science, on the other hand, were -still in the experimental stage, and had still to convince the world -that even at the lowest levels of failure they constituted a highly -beneficent discipline. - -I do not propose to disentangle here the story of Sanderson's first -seven years of difficulty. He found the school and the town sullen and -hostile, and he was young, eager, and irascible. The older boys had all -been promoted upon classical qualifications, they were saturated with -the old public-school tradition that Sanderson had come to destroy, -and behind them were various members of a hostile and resentful staff -inciting them to obstruction and mischief. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. -Sanderson was old enough or wise enough to disregard slights or to -ignore mere gestures of hostility. - -Reminiscences of old boys in the official life give us glimpses of -the way in which the old order fought against the new. Everything -was done to emphasise the fact that Sanderson was 'no gentleman,' -'no sportsman,' 'no cricketer,' 'no scholar.' It is the dearest -delusion of snobs everywhere that able men who have made their way in -the world are incapable of acquiring a valet's knowledge of what is -correct in dress and deportment, and the dark legend was spread that -he wore a flannel shirt with a sort of false front called a 'dicky' -and detachable cuffs, in place of the evening shirt of the genteel. -Moreover, his dress tie was reported to be a made-up tie. Unless he is -to undress in public I do not see how a man under suspicion is to rebut -such sinister scandals. The boys, with the help and encouragement of -several members of the staff, made up a satirical play full of the puns -and classical tags and ancient venerable turns of humour usual in such -compositions, against this Barbarian invader and his new laboratories. -It was the mock trial of an incendiary found trying to burn down the -new laboratories. It was 'full of envenomed and insulting references' -to all the new headmaster was supposed to hold dear. Finally it was -rehearsed before him. He sat brooding over it thoughtfully, as shaft -after shaft was launched against him. 'It didn't seem so funny then,' -said my informant, 'as it had done when we prepared it.' It went to -a 'ragged and unconvinced applause.' At the end 'came a pause--a -stillness that could be felt.' The headmaster sat with downcast face, -thinking. - -I suppose he was chiefly busy reckoning how soon he would be rid of -this hostile generation of elder boys. They had to go. It was a pity, -but nothing was to be done with them. The school had to grow out of -them, as it had to grow out of its disloyal staff. - -He rose slowly in his seat. 'Boys, we will regard this as the final -performance,' he said, and departed thoughtfully, making no further -comment. He took no action in the matter, attempted neither reproof nor -punishment. He dropped the matter with a magnificent contempt. And, -says the old boy who tells the story, from that time the spirit of the -school seemed to change in his favour. The old order had discharged its -venom. The boys began to realise the true value of the forces of spite -and indolent obstructiveness with which their youth was in alliance. - - -§ 4 - -Not always did Sanderson carry things off with an equal dignity. -His temperament was choleric, and ever and again his smouldering -indignation at the obstinate folly and jealousy that hampered his work -blazed out violently. Dignified silence is impossible as a permanent -pose for a teacher whose duty is to express and direct. Sanderson's -business was to get ideas into resisting heads; he was not a born -orator but a confused, abundant speaker, and he had to scold, to thrust -strange sayings at them, to force their inattention, to beat down an -answering ridicule. He was often simply and sincerely wrathful with -them, and in his early years he thrashed a great deal. He thrashed hard -and clumsily in a white-heat of passion--'a hail of swishing strokes -that seemed almost to envelop one.' A newspaper or copybook at the -normal centre of infliction availed but little. Cuts fell everywhere -on back or legs or fingers. He had been sorely tried, he had been -overtried. It was a sort of heartbreak of blows. - -The boys argued mightily about these unorthodox swishings. It was all -a part of Sanderson being a strange creature and not in the tradition. -It was lucky no one was ever injured. But they found something in their -own unregenerate natures that made them understand and sympathise with -this eager, thwarted stranger and his thunderstorms of anger. Generally -he was a genial person, and that, too, they recognised. It is manifest -quite early in the story that Sanderson interested his boys as his -predecessor had never done. They discussed his motives, his strange -sayings, his peculiar locutions with accumulating curiosity. Two sorts -of schoolmasters boys respect: those who are completely dignified and -opaque to them, and those who are transparent enough to show honesty at -the core. Sanderson was transparently honest. If he was not pompously -dignified he was also extraordinarily free from vanity; and if he -thrust work and toil upon his boys it was at any rate not to spare -himself that he did so. And he won them also by his wonderful teaching. -In the early days he did a lot of the science teaching himself; later -on the school grew too big for him to do any of this. All the old -boys I have been able to consult agree that his class instruction was -magnificent. - -Every year in the history of Sanderson's headmastership shows a growing -understanding between the boys and himself. 'Beans,' they called him, -but every year it was less and less necessary to 'Give 'm Beans,' as -the vulgar say. The tale of storms and thrashings dwindles until it -vanishes from the story. In the last decade of his rule there was -hardly any corporal punishment at all. The whole school as time went on -grew into a humorous affectionate appreciation of his genius. It was a -sunny, humorous school when I knew it; there was little harshness and -no dark corners. No boy had been expelled for a long time. - - -§ 5 - -The official life gives a diagram and particulars of the growth of -the school during Sanderson's time, and there is no need to repeat -those particulars here. From 1892 to 1900 there was no very remarkable -increase in the number of boys; it rose from ninety-odd to a hundred -and twenty or so. Then as Sanderson's grip became sure there followed -a rapid expansion. - -From 1900 onwards Oundle grew about as fast as it was possible to -grow. New laboratories were built, new subjects introduced so as to -furnish a wider and wider variety of courses to meet such intellectual -types as the school had hitherto failed to interest. There was a great -development of biological and agricultural work from about 1909 onward. -The attention given to art increased, and there was a great change and -revolution in the history teaching. By 1920 the numbers of the school -were soaring up towards six hundred. He wanted them to go to eight -hundred, because he still wanted to increase the variety of courses, -and the larger numbers gave a better prospect of classifying out the -boys effectively and making sure that each course of studies was -sufficiently attended to keep it active and efficient. - -The prestige of the school grew even more rapidly than its size. From -1905 onward the inquiring parent who wanted something more than school -games and _esprit de corps_ was sure to hear of Oundle. - -And Sanderson was growing with his school. Every installment of -success stimulated him to new experiments and fresh innovations. No -one learnt so much at Oundle as he did, and it is with that growth -of his conception of school method and his widening vision of the -schoolmaster's rôle in the world that we must now proceed to deal. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE REPLACEMENT OF COMPETITION BY GROUP WORK - - -§ 1 - -When Sanderson first came to Oundle his ideas seem to have differed -from the normal scholastic opinion of his time mainly in his conviction -of the interestingness and attractiveness of real scientific work -for many types of boys that the established classical and stylistic -mathematical teaching failed to grip. He developed these new aspects -of school work, and his earliest success lay in the fact that he got -a higher percentage of boys interested and active in school work than -was usual elsewhere, and that the report of this and the report of his -wholesome and stimulating personality spread into the world of anxious -parents. But it early became evident to him that the new subjects -necessitated methods of handling in vivid contrast to the methods -stereotyped for the classical and mathematical courses. - -There have been three chief phases in the history of educational -method in the last five centuries, the phase of compulsion, the phase -of competition, and the phase of natural interest. They overlap and -mingle. Medieval teaching being largely in the hands of celibates, who -had acquired no natural understanding of children and young people, and -who found them extremely irritating, irksome, or exciting, was stupid -and brutal in the extreme. Young people were driven along a straight -and narrow road to a sort of prison of dusty knowledge by teachers -almost as distressed as themselves. The medieval school went on to the -chant of rote-learning with an accompaniment of blows, insults, and -degradations of the dunce-cap type. The Jesuit schools, to which the -British public schools owe so much, sought a human motive in vanity and -competition; they turned to rewards, distinctions, and competitions. -Sir Francis Bacon recommended them justly as the model schools of his -time. The class-list with its pitiless relegation of two-thirds of the -class to self-conscious mediocrity and dufferdom was the symbol of -this second, slightly more enlightened phase. The school of the rod -gave place to the school of the class-list. An aristocracy of leading -boys made the pace and the rest of the school found its compensation -in games or misbehaviour. So long as the sole subjects of instruction -remained two dead languages and formal mathematics, subjects -essentially unappetising to sanely constituted boys, there was little -prospect of getting school method beyond this point. - -By the end of the eighteenth century schoolmasters were beginning -to realise what most mothers know by instinct, that there is in all -young people a curiosity, a drive to know, an impulse to learn, that -is available for educational ends, and has still to be properly -exploited for educational ends. It is not within our present scope -to discuss Pestalozzi, Froebel, and the other great pioneers in this -third phase of education. Nearly all children can be keenly interested -in some subject, and there are some subjects that appeal to nearly -all children. Directly you cease to insist upon a particular type of -achievement in a particular line of attainment, directly your school -gets out of the narrow lane and moves across open pasture, it goes -forward of its own accord. The class-list and the rod, so necessary -in the dusty fury of the lane, cease to be necessary. In the effective -realisation of this Sanderson was a leader. - -For a time he let the classical and literary work of the school run -on upon the old competition-compulsion, class-list lines. For some -years he does not seem to have realised the possibility of changes in -these fields. But from the first in his mechanical teaching and very -soon in mathematics the work ceased to have the form of a line of boys -all racing to acquire an identical parcel of knowledge, and took on -the form more and more of clusters of boys surrounding an attractive -problem. There grew up out of the school Science a periodic display, -the Science Conversazione, in which groups of youngsters displayed -experiments and collections they had co-operated to produce. Later on -a Junior Conversazione developed. These conversaziones show the Oundle -spirit in its most typical expression. Sanderson derived much from -the zeal and interest these groups of boys displayed. He realised how -much finer and how much more fruitful was the mutual stimulation of a -common end than the vulgar effort for a class place. The clever boy -under a class-list system loves the shirker and the dullard who make -the running easy, but a group of boys working for a common end display -little patience with shirking. The stimulus is much more intimate, and -it grows. Jones minor is told to play up, exactly as he is told to play -up in the playing field. - -In the summer term the conversazione in its fully developed form took -up a large part of the energy of the school. Says the official life: - -'All the senior boys in the school were eligible for this work, -the only qualification necessary being a willingness to work and -to sacrifice some, at least, of one's free time. There was never -any dearth of willing workers, the total number often exceeding two -hundred. The chief divisions of the conversazione were: Physics and -Mechanics; Chemistry; Biology; and Workshops. A boy who volunteered -to help was left free to choose which branch he would adopt. Having -chosen, he gave his name to the master in charge; if he had any -particular experiment in view, he mentioned it, and if suitable, it was -allotted to him. If he had no suggestion, an experiment was suggested, -and he was told where information could be obtained. As a general rule -two or three boys worked together at any one experiment. - -'Some of the experiments chosen required weeks of preparation; there -was apparatus to be made and fitted up, information to be sought and -absorbed, so that on the final day an intelligent account could be -given to any visitor watching the experiment. This work was all done -out of school hours. Four or five days before Speech Day, ordinary -school lessons ceased for those taking part in the conversazione; the -laboratories, class-rooms, and workshops were portioned out so that -each boy knew exactly where he was to work, and how much space he -had. The setting up of the experiments began. To any one visiting the -school on these particular days it must have seemed in a state of utter -confusion, boys wandering about in all directions apparently under no -supervision, and often to all appearances with no purpose. A party -might be met with a jam-jar and fishing-net near the river; others -might be found miles away on bicycles, going to a place where some -particular flower might be found. Three or four boys would appear to -be smashing up an engine and scattering its parts in all directions, -while others could be seen wheeling a barrow-load of bricks or trying -to mix a hod of mortar. Gradually a certain amount of order appeared, -some experiments were tried and found to work satisfactorily, others -failed, and investigation into the cause of failure had to be carried -out. As the final day approached excitement increased, frantic -telegrams were sent to know, for example, if the liquid air had been -despatched, frequent visits to the railway-station were made in the -hopes of finding some parcel had arrived; sometimes it was even -necessary to motor to Peterborough to pick up material which otherwise -would arrive too late. A programme giving a short description of the -experiment or exhibit had to pass through the printer's hands. At last -everything would be ready; occasionally, but very seldom, an experiment -had to be abandoned or another substituted at the last moment.' - -The year 1905 marked a phase in the co-operative system of work on the -mechanical side with the machining and erection of a six-horse-power -reversing engine, designed for a marine engine of 3500 horse-power. -Castings and drawings were supplied by the North Eastern Marine -Engineering Works. The engine was a triumphant success, and thereafter -a number of engines has been built by groups of boys. Concurrently -with this steady replacement of the instructional-exercise system -by the group-activity system, the mathematical work became less and -less a series of exercises in style and more and more an attack upon -problems needing solution in the workshops and laboratories, with the -solution as the real incentive to the work. These dips into practical -application gave a great stimulus to the formal mathematical teaching, -for the boys realised as they could never have done otherwise the value -of such work as a 'tool-sharpening' exercise of ultimately real value. - - -§ 2 - -Quite early in his Oundle days Sanderson displayed his disposition -towards collective as against solitary activity in his dealings with -the school music. When he came to the school the 'musical' boys -were segregated from the non-musical in a choir; the rest listened -in conscious exclusion and inferiority. But from the outset he set -himself to make the whole school sing and attend to music. The few -boys with bad ears were carried along with the general flood; the -discord they made was lost in the mass effect. Towards the end a very -great proportion of the boys were keen listeners to and acute critics -of music. They would crowd into the Great Hall on Sunday evenings to -listen to the organ recital with which that day usually concluded. - - -§ 3 - -Presently Sanderson began to apply the lessons he had learnt from -grouping boys for scientific work to literature and history. Most of -us can still recall the extraordinary dreariness of school literature -teaching; the lesson that was a third-rate lecture, the note-taking, -the rehearsal of silly opinions about books unread and authors unknown, -the horrible annotated editions, the still more horrible text-books of -literature. Sanderson set himself to sweep all this away. A play, he -held, was primarily to be played, and the way to know and understand -it was to play it. The boys must be cast for parts and learn about the -other characters in relation to the one they had taken. Questions -of language and syntax, questions of interpretation, could be dealt -with best in relation to the production. But most classes had far -too many boys to be treated as a single theatrical company, so small -groups of boys were cast for each part. There would be three or four -Othellos, three or four Desdemonas or Iagos. They would act their -parts simultaneously or successively. The thing might or might not -ripen into a chosen cast giving a costume performance in public. The -important thing is that the boys were brought into the most active -contact possible with the reality of the work they studied. The groups -discussed stage 'business' and gesture and the precise stress to lay on -this or that phrase. The master stood like a producer in the auditorium -of the Great Hall. Let any one compare the vitality of that sort of -thing with the ordinary lesson from an annotated text-book. - -The group system was extended with increasing effectiveness into -more and more of the literary and historical work. Here the School -Library took the place of the laboratory and was indeed as necessary -to the effective development of the group method. The official life -of Sanderson gives a typical scheme of operations pursued in the -case of a form studying the period 1783-1905. The subject was first -divided up into parts, such as the state of affairs preceding the -French Revolution; the French Revolution in relation to England; the -industrial system and economic problems generally; and so on. The form -divided up into groups and each group selected a part or a section of -a part for its study. The objective of each group was the preparation -of a report, illustrated by maps, schedules, and so forth, upon the -section it had studied. After a preliminary survey of the whole field -under the direction of a master, each boy followed up the particular -matter assigned to him by individual reading for a term, supplemented -when necessary by consultation with the master. Then came the -preparation of maps and other material, the assembling of illuminating -quotations from the books studied, the drafting of the group's report, -the discussion of the report. In some cases where the group was in -disagreement there would be a minority report. - -In this way there was scarcely a boy in the form who did not feel -himself contributing and necessary to the general result, and who was -not called upon not merely by his master but by his colleagues, for -some special exertion. It might be thought that the departmentalising -of the subject among groups would mean that the knowledge would -accumulate in pockets, but this was not the case. Boys of separate -groups talked with one another of their work and found a lively -interest in their different points of view. It is rare that boys who -have received the same lesson can find much in it to talk about, -unless it is a comparison of who has retained most, but a boy who has -been preparing maps of the Napoleonic military campaigns may find the -liveliest interest in another who has been following the history of -the same period from the point of view of sea power. There was indeed -a very considerable amount of interchange, and when it came to facing -external examiners and testing the general knowledge attained, the -Oundle boys were found to compare favourably with boys who had been -drummed in troops through complete histories of the chosen period. - -This group system of work had arisen naturally out of the conditions of -the new laboratory teaching, and it had been developed for the sake of -its educational effectiveness; but as it grew it became more and more -evident to Sanderson that its effects went far beyond mere intellectual -attainment. It marked a profound change in the spirit of the school. -It was not only that the spirit of co-operation had come in. That had -already been present on the cricket and football fields. But the boys -were working to make something or to state something and not to gain -something. It was the spirit of creation that now pervaded the school. - -And he perceived, too, that the boys he would now be sending out -into the world must needs carry that creative spirit with them -and play a very different part from the ambitious star boys who -went on from a training under the older methods. They would play -an as yet incalculable part in redeeming the world from the wild -orgy of competition that was now afflicting it. In one of his very -characteristic sermons he gave his ripened conception of this side of -his work. He had been speaking, perhaps with a certain idealisation, -of the old craftsmen's guilds--with a glance or so at the Grocers' -Company. The school, he declared, was to be no longer an arena but a -guild. For what was a guild? - -'A community of co-workers and no competition, that was its idea. It -is all based on the system of apprenticeships and co-workers. The -apprentices helped the masters in every way they could; even the -masters were grouped together for mutual assistance and were called -assistants. The Company was a mystery or guild of craftsmen and -dealers, and their aim was to produce good craftsmen and good dealers. - -'To-day, in these days of renascence, we return to the aim and methods -of the guilds. Boys are to be apprentices and master-workers and -co-workers. In a community this needs must be. We are called to a -definite work, all who are privileged to attend here, staff and boys -alike--the work of infusing life into the boys committed to our care. -Nor can any one stand out of this and seek work elsewhere. Nemesis -sets in for all who try to live for themselves alone. They may try to -work--but their work is sterile. The community calls for the energies -and activities of all. We are beginning to learn something of what -this means. It does not mean an abandonment of the best methods of -the past. But it does mean that we have to concern ourselves with the -pressing needs and problems of to-day, and join in the work. I do not -dwell on this now. My mind goes off to the possible effect of these -ideas on the general life of the school. - -'The working of these ideas is well seen already in the outdoor life -of the school. We see it when houses are getting their teams together -to join a competition for a shield, say. We see the mutual help, the -voluntary practice, the consultations of the captain with others. We -see it in the work in the Cadet Corps. We see it in the preparation -for a play--this time, the _Midsummer Night's Dream_. We see it in the -new work in the library, and we see it as clearly as in anything in -the preparation for a conversazione. No more valuable training can be -given than this last--well worth all the many kinds of sacrifice it -entails. From it, at any rate, the spirit of competition is, I think, -altogether removed. Boys, we believe, set forth to do their work as -well as they possibly can--but not to beat one another.... I dwell upon -these things because we hope that all boys will become workers at last, -with interest and zeal, in some part of the field of creation and -inquiry, which is the true life of the world. It is from such workers, -investigators, searchers, the soul of the nation is drawn. We will -first of all transform the life of the school, then the boys, grown -into men--and girls from their schools grown into women--whom their -schools have enlisted into this service, will transform the life of the -nation and of the whole world.' - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN SCHOOL AND REALITY - - -§ 1 - -In the previous chapter I have told how Sanderson was taught by his -laboratories and library the possibility of a new type of school with -a new spirit, and how he grew to realise that an organisation of such -new schools, a multiplication of Oundles, must necessarily produce a -new spirit in social and industrial life. Concurrently with that, the -obvious implications of applied science were also directing his mind to -the close reaction between schools and the organisation of the economic -life of the community. - -It is amusing to reflect that Sanderson probably owed his appointment -at Oundle to the simple desire of various members of the Grocers' -Company for a good school of technical science. They did not want any -change in themselves, they did not want any change in the world nor in -the methods of trading and employment, but they did want to see their -sons and directors and managers equipped with the sharper, more modern -edge of a technical scientific training. Germany had frightened them. -If this new training could be technical without science and modern -without liberality, so much the better. So the business man brought his -ideas to bear upon Oundle, to produce quite beyond his expectation a -counteroffensive of the school upon business organisation and methods. -Oundle built its engines, organised itself as an efficient munitions -factory during the war, made useful chemical inquiries, extended its -work into agriculture, analysed soils and manures for the farmers of -its district, ran a farm and did much able competent technical work, -but it also set itself to find out what were the aims and processes -of business and what were the reactions of these processes upon the -life of the community. From the laboratory a boy would go to a careful -examination of labour conditions under the light of Ruskin's _Unto This -Last_; he was brought to a balanced and discriminating attitude towards -strikes and lock-outs; he was constantly reminded that the end of -industry is not profits but life--a more abundant life for men. - -As one reads through the sermons and addresses that are given in -_Sanderson of Oundle_ one finds a steadily growing consciousness of the -fact that there was a considerable and increasing proportion of Oundle -boys destined to become masters, managers, and leaders in industrial -and business life, and with that growing consciousness there is a -growing determination that the school work they do shall be something -very far beyond the acquisition of money-getting dodges and devices and -commercialised views of science. More and more does he see the school -not as a training ground of smart men for the world that is, but as a -preliminary working model of the world that is to be. - -Two quotations from two of Sanderson's sermons will serve to mark how -vigorously he is tugging back the English schools from the gentlemanly -aloofness of scholarship and school-games to a real relationship to -the current disorder of life, and how high he meant to carry them to -dominance over that disorder. - -The first extract is from a sermon on Faraday. Under Sanderson, it has -been remarked, Faraday ousted St. Anthony from being the patron saint -of Oundle School. 'With what abundant prodigality,' Sanderson exclaims, -'has Nature given up of her secrets since his day!' - -'A hundred years ago Man and Nature as we think of them to-day were -unexplored by science; to-day a new world, a new creation. Industrial -life has developed, machinery, discoveries, inventions--steam engine, -gas engine, dynamo--electrical machinery, telegraphy, radioactive -bodies, tremendous openings out of chemistry, biology, economics, -ethics. All new. These are Thy works, O God, and tell of Thee. Not now -only may we search for Thy Presence in the places where Thou wert wont -in days of old to come to man. Not there only. Not only now in the -stars of heaven; or by the seashore, or in the waters of the river, -or of the springs; among the trees, the flowers, the corn and wine, -on the mountain or in the plain; not now only dost Thou come to man -in Thy works of art, in music, in literature; but Thou, O God, dost -reveal Thyself in all the multitude of Thy works; in the workshop, the -factory, the mine, the laboratory, in industrial life. No symbolism -here, but the Divine God. A new Muse is here-- - - - 'Mightier than Egypt's tombs, - Fairer than Grecia's, Roma's temples. - Prouder than Milan's statued, spired cathedral, - More picturesque than Rhenish castle-keeps, - We plan even now to raise, beyond them all, - Thy great cathedral, sacred industry, no tomb-- - A keep for Life.' - - -And the builders, a mighty host of men: Homeric heroes, fighting -against a foe, and yet not a foe, but an invisible, impalpable thing -wherein the combatant is the shadow of the assailant. - -'Mighty men of science and mighty deeds. A Newton who binds the -universe together in uniform law; Lagrange, Laplace, Leibnitz -with their wondrous mathematical harmonies; Coulomb measuring out -electricity; Oversted with the brilliant flash of insight "that the -electric conflict acts in a revolving manner"; Faraday, Ohm, Ampère, -Joule, Maxwell, Hertz, Röntgen; and in another branch of science, -Cavendish, Davy, Dalton, Dewar; and in another, Darwin, Mendel, -Pasteur, Lister, Sir Ronald Ross. All these and many others, and some -whose names have no memorial, form a great host of heroes, an army of -soldiers--fit companions of those of whom the poets have sung; all, we -may be sure, living daily in the presence of God, bending like the reed -before His will; fit companions of the knights of old of whom the poets -sing, fit companions of the men whose names are renowned in history, -fit companions of the great statesmen and warriors whose names resound -through the world. - -'There is the great Newton at the head of this list comparing himself -to a child playing on the seashore gathering pebbles, whilst he could -see with prophetic vision the immense ocean of truth yet unexplored -before him. At the end is the discoverer Sir Ronald Ross, who had gone -out to India in the medical service of the Army, and employed his -leisure in investigating the ravishing diseases which had laid India -low and stemmed its development. In twenty years of labour he discovers -how malaria is transmitted and brings the disease within the hold of -man.' - -The second is from a sermon called 'The Garden of Life.' - -'As Canon Driver says, "Man is not made simply to enjoy life; his -end is not pleasure; nor are the things he has to do necessarily to -give pleasure or lead to what men call happiness." This is not the -biological purpose of man. His purpose or instinctive end is to develop -the capacities of the garden in the wilderness of nature; to adapt it -to his own ends, _i.e._ to the ends of the races of men. Or, as we -would now say, his aim is to take his part in the making of his kind; -and he is to "keep it," or guard it--_i.e._ he is to conquer the jungle -in it, to prevent it from roving wild again, from reverting to the -jungle, from losing law and order, from becoming unruly and disorderly, -from breaking loose and running amok. He is to bring and maintain order -out of the tangle of things, he is to diagnose diseases; he is to -co-ordinate the forces of nature; he is above all things to reveal the -spirit of God in all the works of God. - -'And in all this we read the duty and service of schools. The business -of schools is through and by the use of a common service to get at the -true spiritual nature of the ordinary things we have to deal with. The -spirit of the true active life does not come to us _only_ in those -experiences we have been so accustomed to think of as beautiful and -revealing. The active spirit of life is not revealed simply by the -arts--the beautiful arts as they may be thought--of music or painting, -or literature. These indeed may be only and abundantly _material_, -and the eye and ear may be blind and deaf to the active, creative, -discovering, revealing spirit. "Painting, or art generally, as such," -says Ruskin in his _Modern Painters_, "with all its technicalities, -difficulties, executive skills, pleasant and agreeable sensations, and -its particular ends, is nothing but an expressive language, invaluable -if we know it as we might know it as the vehicle of thought, but by -itself nothing." He who has learnt what is commonly considered as the -whole art of painting, that is the art of representing any natural -object faithfully, has as yet only learnt the language by which his -thoughts are to be expressed. One language or mode of expression may be -more difficult than another; but it is not by the mode of representing -and saying, but by the greatness, the awakening, the transmuting and -transfiguring conception and knowledge of the thought presented, that -the gift cometh, that man is created. Awkward, discordant, stammering -attempts may be the burning message of a new hope. But this "voice" of -art is too often drowned. It is drowned by executive skill--as is the -history of all art--when this skill stretches itself to present things -that are static, motionless, dead.... - -'It is especially our duty to reveal the spirit of God in the things -of science and of the practical life. Herein lies a new revelation, a -new language, a direct symbolism. Science, just like art and music, can -be materialistic--science can aim only at mechanical advancement and -worldly wealth, which is not wealth at all--just as art can aim only at -pleasure, desire, and drawing-room appreciation. But this need not be -so. Certainly no one in a responsible position can teach science for -long without the coming of the revelation of a new voice, a new method -of expression, a new art--revealing quite changed standards of value, -quite new significances of what we speak of as culture, beauty, love, -justice. A new voice speaks to the souls of men and women calling for a -new age with all its altered relationships and adventures of life. - -'With eyes opened to this new art you can wander through the science -block and find in it all a new Bible, a new book of Genesis. So we -believe. This is our duty and our faith. Into this Paradise have you -been placed to dress it and to keep it.' - -Let me turn from these two passages of talk to his boys--they are -rescued from a mass of pencil notes in his study--to a passage from an -address delivered in the Great Hall in Leeds in 1920. It shows very -plainly the quality of his conception of what I have called the return -of schools to reality. - -'Schools should be miniature copies of the world. We often find that -methods adopted in school are just the methods we should like applied -in the state. We should, in fact, direct school life so that the -spirit of it may be the spirit which will tend to alleviate social and -industrial conditions. I will give an example of the kind of influence -the ideals and methods of a school can exert upon the working life. I -will take a condition of labour which is now recognised as probably the -greatest of tragedies. It is the slow decay of the faculties of crowds -of men and women, caused by the nature of their employment--the tragedy -of the unstretched faculties. So common is it, and ordinary, that -we pass it by on one side; but no one can go into a factory without -seeing workers engaged in work which is far below their capacities. -Decay sets in, and the death of talent and enthusiasm, the inspirer of -creative work. A little thought will convince us that the process of -decay of such a delicate and vital organism as the brain is bound to -set up violent, destructive, anarchic forces which go on for several -years. A recent writer in the _Times Educational Supplement_ (and -this paper cannot be called revolutionary) says that the tragedy of -undeveloped talent is being seen more and more to be a gigantic waste -of potentiality and an unpardonable cruelty. It is a tragic disease and -produces in early life startling intellectual and moral disturbances, -which are the natural sources of unrest. As years go on a mental stupor -sets in, and there is peace, but peace on a low plane of life. The loss -to the community by this waste is colossal, and it is not too much to -say that the output of man could be multiplied beyond conception. - -'Schools should send boys out into the industrial world whose aim -should be to study these tragedies, and by experiments, by new -inventions, by organisation, try, we may hope, by some of their own -school experience, to alleviate the disease. To my mind this is the -supreme aim of schools in the new era.' - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE GROWTH OF SANDERSON SHOWN IN HIS SERMONS AND SCRIPTURE LESSONS - - -§ 1 - -Before I go on to a discussion of the latest, broadest, and most -interesting phase of Sanderson's mental life, I would like to give -my readers as vivid a picture as I can of his personality and his -methods of delivery. I have tried to convey an impression of his stout -and ruddy presence, his glancing spectacles, his short, compact but -allusive delivery, his general personal jolliness. I will give now a -sketch of one of his Scripture lessons made by two of the boys in the -school. Nothing I think could convey so well his rich discursiveness -nor the affectionate humour he inspired throughout the school. Here it -is. - - 'SCRIPTURE LESSON - - '_Delivered by F. W. Sanderson on Sunday, 25th May 1919, and taken - down word for word by X and Y, and subsequently written up by - them._ - - '_Limitations of space and time have prevented them from including - all the lesson. Omissions have been indicated. They apologise for - the lapses of the speaker into inaudibility, which were not their - fault. They do not hold themselves in any way responsible for the - opinions expressed herein._ - - - 'ANALYSIS - - 'of the portions copied. - - 'Characteristic portions in the Gospel of St. Matthew. - - 'Obstinacy of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board. - - 'Character of the devil, according to some modern writers. - - 'First act of our Lord on beginning the Galilean Ministry. - - 'Empire Day. - - - '_Subject of the Scripture lesson:--St. Matthew, chaps. iv and v._ - - ('The Temptations, the commencement of the Galilean Ministry, the - first portion of the Sermon on the Mount.') - -'(The headmaster enters, worries his gown, sits down, adjusts his -waistcoat, and coughs once.) - -'The--um--er--I am taking you through the Gospel of St. Matthew. I -think, as a matter of fact, we got to the end of the third chapter. -We won't spend much time over the fourth. The fourth, I think, is -the--er--er--Temptations, which I have already taken with you--a -rather--er--very interesting--ah--very interesting--er--survival. -That the Temptation Narrative should have survived shows that there -is probably something of value in it or I do not think it would -have survived. There are two incidents of very similar character -of--er--very--er--similar character and--ah--different to a certain -extent from everything else--er--ah-- There is a boy in that -corner not listening to me. Who is that boy in the corner there? -No, not you--two rows in front. I will come down to you later, my -boy. There are two incidents in the Gospel Narrative which are -similar in--er--character and which I have for the moment called -"Survivals"--very characteristic, namely, the somewhat surprising -narrative of the Temptation of our Lord, and the other the account of -the Transfiguration. These are different in form and character from -other narratives, just in the same way as the account of our Lord -sending messages to the Baptist differs from others. Er--yes--that -last one. I should put them together as coming from a similar source -(lapse into inaudibility--bow wow wow. Unique in characteristic--bow -wow wow--Somewhat subtle--bow wow). One remarks that the Temptations -are always looked at from the personal point of view, which I have -put down in my synopsis. Has anybody here got my synopsis? lend it to -me a moment. I don't think the personal significance of the Gospel -stories has importance nowadays. We needn't consider it. That's what -I think about things in general. Personal importance giving place to -universal needs. We are not so much concerned with whether boys do -_evil_ or not. Of course it annoys me if I find a boy doing evil. -Leading others astray. Shockingly annoying. Oughtn't to be. Like -continuous mathematics not enabling a boy to pass in arithmetic--bow -wow wow--screw loose. See what I mean, K----? Not referring to you, my -boy (laughter). Hunt me up something in Plato about all these things. -During the last generation-- - -'(Half a page omitted.) - -'Just in the same way from another point of view shall we live for -own advancement, which we are continually tempted to do? It's awfully -annoying if you do certain things and people won't recognise them. -I was pretty heftily annoyed myself at a meeting of the Oxford and -Cambridge Board. Professor Barker--great man--I nearly always agree -with him. Professor Barker. They had made science compulsory for the -school certificate. Bow wow wow. I don't want boys turned aside from -their main purpose to have to get up scraps and snippets of science. -Literary pursuits and so on. I wouldn't have it at any price. Bow wow -wow. Modern languages are compulsory too. By looking at a boy's French -set I can tell whether he can pass or not. Bow wow. Professor Barker -proposed that science should be voluntary. I seconded him, but I said -that languages should be voluntary as well. He didn't see that at all. -Isn't it enough to make a man angry? - -'(Half a dozen lines omitted from our note as incomprehensible.) - -'Now I am inclined to think that Satan in this Gospel is not intended -to be the Satan of our minds--the prince of evil. He is intended to be -more like the Satan in the book of Job. He is the devil's advocate. He -argues for the other side. For the opposition. He is put up to create -opposition. This may in itself be a valuable thing. I don't know that -I need go further into it. I would just like to tell you this, boys. -Some modern writers, especially Bernard Shaw, have a very high esteem -for the devil. He[1] prefers hell to heaven. So he says. Of course -he hasn't been there, so he can't tell. So he is voted a dangerous -personage because, dear souls, they don't know what he means. What -_he_ means is that heaven as it has been run down to and God as He -has been run down to--everything placid and simple and inactive and -non-creative and sleepy. People don't worship God. They worship (burble -burble). They don't disturb their minds and think about things. That's -what he means. Yes. Man and Superman. Activity of intellect. That's -more or less what he has in mind. He prefers people doing something -outrageously wrong than doing nothing at all. I don't know if it's -true; it's all expressed in Greek thought. - -'(Four pages omitted on running with the tide, Lloyd George, the -importance of French in examinations, and the correct way of getting a -true national spirit.) - -'Well, our Lord now proceeded to found His Galilean Ministry. And what -was the first thing He did, L----? It's quite obvious. What did He -do? Obvious. Were you thinking of what I said just now? No, sir. My -stream of words goes over you, not through you. Obvious. Now what was -the first thing He did? What is obviously the first thing He did? Why, -it's painfully obvious, even to L----. What was it? What? Where are we, -L----? L---- has lost the place. Which paragraph do I mean, L----? Read -the paragraph I mean. No. I have finished that. Next one. Obvious. What -is it about? Yes, what is it about? What is it about? Two or four? Yes, -four! Now what is obvious? Obvious! Now you've just got it, and you're -ten minutes behind. Of course. The first obvious thing He had to do -was to get a band of faithful disciples. Very first thing He did. What -did He call them to be? To be what? Fishers of Men. Obvious. - -'(Five pages omitted on Empire Day, Medical Study, and Cancer.) - -'Now the--er--the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard this ever -since you were on your mother's knee. At least I hope so. Beyond the -historical times of your memory. For you, the Sermon on the Mount is as -old as the ages. And yet I dare trespass on the Sermon on the Mount. -"I've heard of it before," you say. "I'm tired of it. Do something -fresh." Boys, you must go and read old things and breathe into them -the new Spirit of Life. Now what is that chapter in Ezekiel, boys? Do -you know the number of the page, and the paragraph, and the chapter? -No. What am I talking about? Why, the valley of dry bones. Never heard -of it! No. Is it in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or where, or Habakkuk? Is it in -Ezekiel 1? No. 36? No. 37? Yes. Dry Bones. Bones. Yes. That's what. I -am going to take you to a valley of dry bones. Dry Bones. Bones. It is -your business to go into the dry bones of the past and cover them with -flesh, and breathe into them the new Spirit. I often read the Sermon on -the Mount. It never bores me. I have more excuse to be bored than you. -I learned it, gracious goodness, how long ago! Beyond Historic times. I -loved it as a boy. Dry Bones. - -'(Three pages on the Sermon on the Mount.) - -'Now yesterday was Empire Day. Why did you want me to put the flag -up? Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves! Is not that it? (Yes, -sir.) Dear boys! I wouldn't throw cold water on it for worlds. Well, -you had your flag. It didn't fly. There was no wind behind it. There -was no devil to blow it. Dear boys, you wanted that flag for a reason -I think a shade wrong. It wouldn't be within the--what's the word I -want?--suited for our modern gauges. The new world won't come until we -give up the idea of Conquest and Extension of Empire--no new kingdom -until its members are imbued with the principles that competition is -wrong, that conquest is wrong, that co-operativeness is right, and -sacrifice a law of nature. Now, how do the seven Beatitudes read with -_Rule Britannia_? Now you say you believe in your Bibles. You say you -are Christians. Pious Christians. You would be most annoyed if I called -you heathens. Well, if so, you believe that these are right:-- - -'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -Rule Britannia! - -'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Rule -Britannia! - -'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Rule Britannia! - -'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they -shall be filled. Britannia rules the waves! - -'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Rule Britannia! - -'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see all that is worth -seeing and living for. Wave your flag! Rule Britannia! - -'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. -Rule Britannia! - -'Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness sake. -Rule Britannia! It is incongruous.... - -'Dear souls! My dear souls! I wouldn't lead you astray for anything. -I can't explain it ... this national spirit of yours. Beneath it all -there is a spirit of great righteousness. I wouldn't tamper with it for -thousands of pounds. But you must just see the other side.... - -'(Starts on the Salt of the Earth, but is interrupted by time. Sets a -heavy prep., and goes.)' - - -§ 2 - -Now that was the key in which Sanderson dealt with his boys and in -which he gave his message to the world. And that is also the key in -which they dealt with him. I want to clear out of the reader's mind any -idea that this great teacher of men was a solemn and superior person, -clear, exact, and exalted, and that his boys had any vague sentimental -worship for him. They laughed at him, loved him, understood him, -assimilated his ideas, and worked with him. He was much more like a -sweating, panting, burly leader pushing a way for himself and others -through a thorny thicket. And when I sat in his study and read over the -notes of his sermons and scripture lessons I got the same impression of -a sturdy fighter thrusting through a tangle. - -Altogether there were several hundred of these sermon-memoranda. He -would take a quire of manuscript paper and write down his notes, not -headings merely but sentences, writing very fast, missing out halves -of words, leaving phrases incomplete. The result would be a little -book with perhaps a title and a date scribbled on the back page. The -dozen specimen sermons in the official Life were mostly taken from -these rough drafts. There was also a quantity of printed sermons dating -from his earliest days at Oundle. So that it was possible to trace his -development from the days when every heretical utterance was jealously -noted, to the days of complete freedom of thought and expression. - -He came into the interlaced briars and brakes of modern religious -thought, a trained theological student, but already a very broad -one, far from the trite materialistic superstitions of the narrowly -orthodox. 'Of what is termed "definite religious teaching" his boys -received little,' says one of his clerical assistants. 'The Head fought -shy of anything which he felt might cramp a boy's tendency to think for -himself and develop his own views.' - -This is far from the old days of salvation by belief. - -He took Christ as the central figure in his teaching. In his early -days he had prepared a parallel arrangement of the gospels, and this -developed into his _Synopsis of the Life of Christ_. He seems to have -clung stoutly to the authenticity of the recorded sayings of Christ, -but he held himself free to doubt whether we have as yet 'got to the -bottom of many sayings of the Master.' And, says the same witness, -at once rather vaguely and rather illuminatingly: 'He brushed aside -impatiently doubts as to the feasibility of this miracle or that. To -any who seemed to be worrying about the actual turning of water into -wine at Cana he would urge that they were missing the whole point; -cold, lifeless water was turned into warm, life-giving wine--and this -was the work of the Master and His new teaching. Could they doubt -that? He seemed to feel acutely that the passing of the centuries is -liable to bring a distortion as well as an enrichment of the Christian -revelation, and for that reason he was always trying to meditate -himself, and to get others to meditate, on the true characteristics of -the Master in the earliest portraits of Him handed down to us in the -Gospels.' - -[Illustration: The head among the parents] - -Like all religious teachers he emphasised some aspects of the -general doctrine in preference to others, but his accent was never -on the sacramental or ceremonial side. The root ideas of orthodox -Christianity, the ideas of sin and an atonement, never very prominent -in his teaching, faded more and more from his discourses as the years -went on. He never seems to have had much sense of sin, and he laid an -increasing stress on action, on courage and experiment. One saying -he repeated endlessly, 'Give, and it shall be given unto you; good -measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give -into your bosom.' Still more frequently he quoted, 'I came that ye -might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.' In his -later days that had become a new motto for Oundle School; it ousted -'God grant Grace' from the boys' thoughts in much the same way that -Faraday for all spiritual purposes ousted St. Anthony as the patron -saint of the school. And in the later sermons one would find side by -side with Gospel sayings, exhortations from quite another quarter. -The boys were told to 'live dangerously.' The Christ of later Oundle -became indeed a very Nietzschean Christ. - - -§ 3 - -Orthodox Christianity is built upon the doctrine of the Fall of Man -and the damnation of mankind, but I could find only the rarest and -remotest allusions to this ground beneath the Christian corner-stone of -salvation in the bale of sermons I examined. There is no evidence that -Sanderson ever denied the fallen state of man, but he never alluded -to it, and the general effect of his teaching went far beyond a mere -avoidance. As his teaching developed, another word, a word infrequent -in the gospels, became dominant, the word 'creative.' For any mention -of 'salvation' you will find twenty repetitions of 'creative.' So far -as I can gather he took the word from a hitherto unrecognised Christian -father, St. Bertrand Russell. And I should submit the following passage -from a sermon on The Garden of Life, to any competent theological body -with very grave doubts whether they would accept it as consistent with -the teaching of any recognised Christian Church. - -'God had created man, and had moulded and fashioned him, and had -breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a -living soul, possessed of the divine and eternal indestructible -spirit, the God-like spirit which would fill him with the glorious and -life-giving spirit of unrest, of unsatisfied longings and desire, of -the instinctive natural urge to have more of life. A mighty power, a -dynamic creative force, a daemonic increasing urge--against which the -forces of hell, of destructiveness, of caprice, of lawlessness, of -the jungle, cannot prevail. Under this power man and the races of man -progress: but without this mental fight, this constant struggle, no -life can come. I dwelt on this fact last time I spoke to you, having -in mind the mental or intellectual aspect of it, especially for those -of you who are working for some searching examinations: for without -a persistent, painful, and often enough disappointing effort the -understanding of things will not come to you, or to any of us. - -'Be true to yourselves, suffer no artifice, or artificial -understanding, to throw dust in your eyes. Do not struggle for -a static victory. Be true to yourselves. Do not struggle for -your own recognition, as it were, or for the mere appearance of -knowledge--rather struggle to enter into the kingdom, the kingdom of -service. - -'And where can you find the inspiration and urge of life? The source -is wonderfully drawn out for us in the illuminating and suggestive -commentary on Genesis you have the advantage to study. A great human -book is Canon Driver's _Commentary_, digging out for us the deep truths -of life embedded in the ancient myths of Genesis. A study in the use of -words; of what we can learn from words; a new form of text-book. Such a -text-book as we should have for the new era. This picture of the coming -and making of man tells us a story of the widest applicability. It is -found in all the works of God; it is found in all our surroundings; it -is found in all our work and toil; it is found most fully and actively -in all our daily working life. God, we are told, made a garden for -man, and there He placed him and gave him charge of it; and there the -Lord God came and walked with man, and communed with man, and breathed -into his nostrils the breath of life. And there He gave him his chief -aim of life, his one purpose. And the Lord God took man, and put him -in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. And then with the -memory and order of that garden in his mind He permitted him to receive -knowledge, and then sent him out into the great wilderness to find his -garden there.' - -And here is another passage from a sermon entitled 'Creative.' - -In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth -was waste and void. The world was in chaos, darkness, and gloom. But -it was not to be left in this state. All this condition of anarchy, -this waste and void, was the material out of which a new world was to -be created. Confused and impossible though everything appeared, yet -there was something present that made steadfastly and incessantly for -order. So we believe it is now, in the present state of things. All -the conflicts and strifes of to-day are the breaking up of the fallow -ground. They are the effort to create life. They are the messengers of -the coming of the Son of Man. In storm and tempest cometh the Son of -Man. Over all this lawless, shapeless, impossible material of chaos -there brooded, we are told, the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was -brooding over the waters like a bird over its nest, and in due time, -in the order of creation, a new life was to take shape, and a new world -was to rise up. In stately, ordered, majestic manner with all the -certainty and irresistible power of gravitation, step by step, stage by -stage, out of the welter of anarchy, a life--a new life--was to come -into the world. A new life came. - -And at each stage we hear the words of the Lord God, "Let there be," -and "there was." And then: "God saw that it was good." There was -evening, and there was morning--darkness changed into light--and the -day's work was done. And God saw that it was good. - -So, too, it is and will be in the history of the human race. The -uplifting of mankind, the coming of fuller life to nations, to man, to -classes and sections of men, has come in epochs of change. Such stages -in history are like the stages in the life history of a plant. There -seem to be resting phases, epochs of apparent quiescence, the cessation -of struggle. - -The fact is that some new freedom, some new principle of life, some -desire to grow, has for a long time been taking root in the minds and -souls of men. The urge to become more creative--to gain more of life -and give more of life--becomes at last intense. And there is an immense -desire to satisfy the great urge of nature. The old order passes. The -gathered forces seek release. The pangs of birth are upon us.' - -The further one goes with Sanderson, the stronger is one's sense of new -wine fermenting in the old bottle of orthodox Christian formulæ. In one -of the late sermons he deliberately sets aside the Epistles of the New -Testament as of less account than the gospels. He was still diverging -when he died. In the last year or so of his life a new word crept into -his talk and played an increasingly important part in it. That word -was 'syncretism.' He spoke of it more and more plainly as an evil -thing. And I cannot but believe, knowing his sources of knowledge and -the angle at which he approached history, that he must have been aware -that doctrinal Christianity--as detached from the personal teaching -of Jesus--is, with its Mithraic blood sacrifice and Sabbath keeping, -its Alexandrine trinity, its Egyptian priests, shaven and celibate, -its Stella Maris and infant Horus, the completest example of a -syncretic religion in the world. My impression is that if he had lived -another two years he would have shed his last vestiges of theological -paraphernalia and gone straight back to the teaching of the Nazarene, -openly and plainly. And that would have created a very embarrassing -situation for the members of the Grocers' Company, in the school at -Oundle. - - -§ 4 - -And what creed was taking the place of the old theological tangle? -What interpretation was Sanderson putting upon this ever-new teaching -of Christ in the world, that he was stripping so steadily out of its -irrelevant casings of dogma and superstition? I cannot do better in -answer to that than quote from one of his latest sermons, a sermon -delivered on the reassembly of the school at the opening of a new -school year. - -'The fundamental instinct of life is to create, to make, to discover, -to grow, to progress. Every one in some form or other has experience -of this joy of creating; the joy of seeing the growth, the building, -the change, the coming. The instinct of those in authority has -recognised--without perhaps knowing it--the love to create, when they -devised punishment--the treadmill, prisons, routine, all thwarting that -free creative impulse to the point of torture. Or on a minor scale -the trivial school stupidities and idlenesses of 'lines'; detentions -without labour or sacrifice or both; or even the cheap and easy -physical punishment. Such punishment, if not all inflicted punishment, -springs out of the distinctive protective aim of slavery. Creative life -comes slowly. - -Life, this beautiful, creative life, comes slowly through the ages, -but it comes. Slowly mankind is emerging out of slavery into the -beautiful freedom of creative life. Slowly mankind is realising the -natural desire, the instinctive natural urge, the essential need for -life--of each individual to be free. Free--_i.e._ free to strive, to -endeavour, to reach onwards, to create, to make, to beget. The economic -freedom of the individual has been slowly escaping throughout history. -It burst into a new vigorous life through the hammering blows of the -French Revolution. During the last century or more this principle of -freedom has been changing our political relationships and values. This -economic escape may be said to have reacted on science, and the modern -developments of evolution have benefited by the spreading change in the -temper of mind, and by the influx of workers and creative thinkers from -the enslaved order. - -And this raises a large question which I have in mind this morning. -Every one can see to-day the immensity of the problems before the -world. It does not need much reflection, or foresight, or knowledge, to -see that the organisation of the intercourse of races is hurrying on to -becoming a dangerous problem. As has been said, and as any one I think -with powers of sight can see, it is in a large sense a race between -education and catastrophe. And the question we in schools have to ask -is, Can we in schools be outside all this? Can we confine our work, -our play, our necessary work, our necessary play, to the recognised, -traditional work or play of schools? We here think not. We believe -that schools should move on towards becoming always a microcosm of the -new world. A microcosm, and experiment, of the standards of value, of -the commandments, the statutes and judgments, of the organisation, of -the visions and aims of a coming world. We must not get into our heads -that these are theoretical things, it may be pure idealistic sort of -things, or, it may be new and dangerous things. They are none of these -things--they can be expressed in very everyday, homely, matter-of-fact -things and in the doing of our ordinary work. Of course they do mean -thought, a tendency to believe, a faith in boys--and they do mean -labour, and sacrifice--as they are called or thought of at first--until -both pass on into the beautiful life. - -Such aims and urges become terrific powers for prolonging the life of -man; and as the stream of life goes on it becomes more and more like -a vast river moving slowly forward with great power, receiving more -and more of tributaries, slowly, strongly, surely flowing on "unto -the estuary that enlarges, and spreads itself grandly as it pours its -waters into the great ocean of sea." - -But the beginnings are here: and here boys must find themselves in the -great stream of true life. They must find themselves in the land of the -great vision, of faith, of service. No beating or marking of time here. -No easy static state. No satisfaction with conventional static comfort. -Here they will join in this great world-life. They came from their -homes to join the great world-life here. Even these tiny boys here will -feel that something is before them that matters, something of true life -and true intent. They will get the germs of life from some of those -things we are perpetually trying to do, and never succeeding in doing. -They will catch the contagion of effort. For learning is not our object -here, but doing. They may learn things in a deadly static way, they may -learn much in a static way and gain nothing of life. Not here, I hope. -No, the germs of life come from the spirit; from the incessant travail -of the soul; from high intent; they come from the burning desire to -know of the things that are coming into the world....' - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] Mr. Shaw. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE WAR AND SANDERSON'S PROPAGANDA OF RECONSTRUCTION - - -§ 1 - -The disaster of the great war came to Sanderson as a tremendous -distressful stimulant, a monstrous and tragic turn in human affairs -that he had to square with his aims and teaching. He had had our common -awareness of its possibility, and yet when the crash came it took him, -as it took most of us, by surprise. At first he accepted the war as a -dire heroic necessity. This aggression of a military imperialism had to -be faced valiantly. That was how he saw it. Both his sons joined up at -the earliest possible moment, and the school braced itself up to train -its senior boys as officers, to help in the production of munitions, to -produce aviators, gunners and engineers for the great service of the -war. - -The practical quality of the old boys from Oundle became apparent -at once. They stepped from laboratory and factory and office into -commissions; they returned from all over the world to prepare for -the battlefields. By 1918 over a thousand Oundle boys had gone into -the fighting services, three had V.C.'s, many had been mentioned in -despatches, awarded the Military Cross and the like. - -He did his best to find God and creative force in the world convulsion. -Here is a part of an address to the Church Parade of the Cadet Corps -which shows his very fine and very human struggle to impose a nobility -of interpretation upon the grim distressful last stages of the war. - -'It is a pleasant thing to wander about these fields and watch the -cadets who are told off to instruct their squads. It is a splendid -illustration of the power of co-operation in education--where boys -and men, or where a community work together, teaching one another, -learning one from the other, where all are teachers and scholars, a -body of co-workers, helping, encouraging, stimulating each other. -This community method is dominant wherever there is a great stirring, -_e.g._ a great call, a great pressing into a new kingdom; wherever -there is a great discovery and a new need. The war will establish it in -schools. - -And just one word when you go forth from here. You will carry this -mutual co-operative spirit with you. You will love your men, take care -of their interests, making full use of their individual faculties, and -learn to be co-workers with them. - -It is often said that wars will never cease--that they are a -necessity--and in a sense this is true. One thing we know quite well, -that in all affairs of life _peace_ may be simply the peace of death. -There is the peace of lifelessness, of inactivity, notwithstanding all -its autumnal beauty. There is the quiet peace which changes not, the -conventional belief, the conventional kind of round of work, with lack -of initiative, of experiment, of testing and trials. There is the peace -which follows on contentment with things as they are, the peace of -death. The land of peace and of convention, and of cruel contentment. -The land of dark Satanic mills--as in Blake's imagery. War may come to -break up this deathful peace. So said John Ruskin. I have a letter -written to me just when the war broke out. In July 1914 the O.T.C. -was inspected by General Birkbeck, and in his speech he expressed his -belief that war was coming. On 2nd August, 1914, he wrote to me:-- - - - "DEAR MR. SANDERSON,--We little thought when I spoke to those boys - of yours how near we were to our trial!" and he adds: "These are - the words of a peaceful philosopher, Mr. Ruskin, when concluding a - series of lectures on War at Woolwich Royal Academy Institution, - which may give you comfort. Men talk of peace and plenty, of peace - and learning, of peace and civilisation; but I found that those - are not the words which the muse of history has coupled together! - On her lips the words are Peace and Selfishness, Peace and - Sensuality, Peace and Death!!! I learned, in short, that all great - nations learned their truth of word and strength of thought in - war; that they were taught by war and betrayed by peace--trained - by war and deceived by peace--nourished in war and decayed in - peace; in a word, that they were born in war and expired in peace." - - -This is the prophet's call to arise and awaken out of sleep; to abandon -the easy life of routine and routine's belief. It is a call to rise up -and breathe life into the dry bones of the past; it is the trumpet -blast for active warfare against all things that have become lifeless -and dead. It is the herald call for a new army, to build up a new world -of active, creative, dynamic Peace.' - - -§ 2 - -In April 1918 his eldest son, Roy, died of wounds at Estaires after the -battle of the Lys. Loss after loss of boys and trusted colleagues had -grieved and distressed him; now came this culminating blow. There had -been the closest understanding between father and son; Roy had left -engineering to become a master at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, -which Sanderson had helped to reconstruct, and more and more had the -father looked to his boy as his chosen disciple and possible successor. - -On the Whitsunday following Sanderson preached a sermon on the text: 'I -will not leave you desolate, I will come unto you.' The notes of the -sermon were untidy, and have had to be carefully pieced together, but -I think they rise to a very high level of poetry. And when I copy them -out I think how the dear sturdy man in his academic gown must have -stood up and clung to his desk, after his manner, full of grief and -sorrowful memories of the one 'gentle soul,' in particular, and of many -other gentle souls, he had lost--clinging to his desk with both hands -as he clung to his faith and speaking stoutly. - -Whitsunday--White Sunday--white, pure, untainted--day of -consolation--day of inspiration--perhaps the most joyous time of all -the year. Spring in its power, life, Spirit of Peace, joy. Everywhere -joy--sanctified, subdued. Joy, and peace, and new life in the music, -the harmonies and discords, of Nature--here, in the country. The -singing of the birds, their twittering, chattering, calling; their -excitement; their restful chirping, abandon of joy, peace without -alloy--they are friends of the soul. The atmosphere too--the gentleness -of it, the life within it and soft warmth of it: freedom, imagination, -inspiration are in the air; the wind bloweth where it listeth. Joy, -innocent, white, pure, and happy. Happiness too. Life steeped in the -sunshine of happiness. The spring, the elasticity, the eutrophy of -life: life-creating life; life-giving life. Happiness on every hand -mystic, elusive as the forces of Nature. "The wind bloweth where it -listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but cannot tell whence it -cometh, nor whither it goeth." Happiness! Not freedom from care, or -from sorrow, or from sleepless anguish; not freedom from abasement, -not even from dark gloom--the accidie of depression--yet nevertheless -the increasing sense of the life of love and service, the power of -service, the completeness of it. The happiness which breaks ever and -again through the clouds of uncertainties, doubts, darknesses of -life--revealing it may be, for a moment, the signs of long years of -effort--for as life goes on it is given to catch glimpses of the growth -of the soul, something of the part the soul has taken in the building -of the kingdom. It is in this life of love and service the words of the -Master come to us: "I will not leave you desolate, I will come unto -you."' - -Followed praise of the beauty of work with which his congregation must -have been familiar. And then came this concluding passage:-- - -'And when these days of wrath are passed away, there will be a great -battlefield for a new birth. Days of wrath and then a new revelation. -When God came down on the first Pentecost on Mount Sinai, He came amid -thunders and lightnings, and in a thick dark cloud--and when the Holy -Spirit of God came to the waiting disciples there was a sound of a -rushing mighty wind. And it must be so. New birth comes through much -sorrow. So we may hope that new theories of life which for a century -have been growing towards birth will spring forth out of this great -contest in all the lands of the earth. Vast work there will be, and the -labourers sadly fewer. The nation is now sending of her very best into -the battlefield. There will be great call for new recruits to restore -the countries which are devastated--great calls, too, for investigators -in all branches of knowledge. Pioneers are now leading the way in -research, in mathematics, in science, in industry, in the laws of logic -and thought, with new ways of expression in language and art. - -'There is the great pressing need of revolution in the laws and -relationships in the social life. We may have visions of a regenerated -social state, in which courtesy, justice, mercy, the spirit of the -gentle knight, will show themselves in change of thought, of belief; -we may have visions of communities guided by principles which we hope -and believe rule in our great school. Care for the weak; clothing, -feeding, housing, medical care for all; a crime to be poor; to be -diseased, to be underfed; these regenerations controlled by the true -and public spirit at the cost of the community. Laws for reform and -redemption, and not for punishment. Each member of the state cared for, -as it is our hope each boy of this school is. Great changes--essential -to the well-being of a state, and to each member of it. We may have -visions that the spirit of chivalry, of kindness, of courtesy, of -gentleness, of all that goes to make the "gentle soul" will bring this -redemption to the people.' - - -§ 3 - -The war turned Sanderson from a successful schoolmaster into an -amateur statesman. Life had become intolerable for him unless he could -interpret all its present disorders as the wreckage and confusion of -the house-breakers preparing the site for a far nobler and better -building. He shows himself at times by no means certain that this -would ever prove to be the case, but he had the brave man's assurance -that with luck and courage there was nothing impossible in the hope -that a more splendid human order might be built at last upon this -troubled and distressful planet. But for that to happen every possible -soul must be stirred, no latent will for order but must be roused -and brought into active service. He had no belief in hopeless and -irremediable vulgarity. People are mean, base, narrow, implacable, -unforgiving, contentious, selfish, competitive, because they have still -to see the creative light. Let that but shine upon them and seize them -and they would come into their places in that creative treatment of -life which ennobles the servant and enriches the giver, which is the -true salvation of souls. - -He became a propagandist. He felt he had now made good sufficiently -in his school. He had established a claim as an able and successful -man to go out to able men, to business men, to influential men of all -sorts, and tell them the significance of this school of his, this -hand-specimen, this assay sample, of what could be done with the world. -He went to Chambers of Commerce, to Rotary Clubs, to Civic Assemblies, -to Luncheon gatherings of business men, to tell them of this idea of -organisation for service, instead of for profit and possession. He -tried to find industrial magnates who would take up the methods of -Oundle in productive organisation. He corresponded extensively with -such men as, for example, Lord Weir and Sir Alfred Yarrow and Lord -Bledisloe. He wanted to see them doing for industrial and agricultural -production what he had done for education, reconstructing it upon a -basis of corporate service, aiming primarily at creative achievement, -setting aside altogether competitive success or the amassing of private -wealth as the ends of human activity. Surely they would see how much -finer this new objective was, how much fuller and richer it must make -their own lives! - -When I tell of this search for a kindred spirit among ironmasters -and great landlords and the like I am reminded of Confucius and his -search for a duke in China, or of Plato or Machiavelli looking for -a prince. There is the same belief in the power of a leader and the -need of a personal will; the same utter scepticism in any automatic -or crowd achievement of good order; once again the schoolmaster sets -out to conquer the world. Perhaps some day that perennial attempt will -come to fruition, and the schoolmaster will then indeed conquer the -world. Perhaps the seeds that Sanderson has sown will presently be -germinating in a crop of masterful business men of a new creative type. -Perhaps there are Sandersons yet to come, men of energy; each with his -individual difference, but all alight with the new conception of man's -creative life. Perhaps Oundle may, after all, prove to be the egg of a -new world. Oundle may relapse, probably will relapse, but other, more -enduring Oundles may follow in other parts of the world. At present all -that I can tell is of the message Sanderson was preaching during the -last six years of his life. - -Here he is, talking to the textile manufacturers of Bradford. This that -follows is from his printed address, restrained and pruned, but for the -manner of his delivery, the reader should think rather of that sample -sermon and the other descriptions I have given of his personal quality. - -'I am very much honoured by your invitation to address this important -congress, and I am honoured, too, in being permitted to speak on -education in this great city of Bradford. For your city stands out very -prominently in the annals of education, and its work is well known by -all who have watched educational progress. - -You, gentlemen, are concerned with education: you are much concerned -with the education which will promote the welfare of the leaders -and workers in your industry; and the welfare of the people in your -districts. Industrialism has tumbled upon us, and it is an untamed, -unruly being, the laws of which are not yet known, and need study. -For some thirty-five years--a long spell--I have, in places removed -far away from the voices of industry, devoted my time towards the -introduction into Public Schools of those Scientific and Technical -studies which, as I understand it, lie at the basis of industrial life. -I have always had before me the work of organising Technical Subjects -so that they might give all that is best to give of spiritual and -intellectual training. And our object is to send forth from school boys -that will be in sympathy with the work that they have to do, that they -will be privileged to do, and to send them forth equipped for it. You -have the same purpose. Your wish is that the boys and girls of your -country should have every chance of developing into effective workers -in the community, and that they should take a zealous intellectual -interest in their work--that they should love their work, love to do it -well, ever anxious to mount to higher things. - -And one of the difficulties of the immediate future will be to -reorganise industrial conditions so that each worker may have the -chance of stretching his faculties and of getting the work that will -give him reasonably full play for his abilities. The fact that able and -clever men are, in the present system, kept too long at work which does -not stretch their brains, is a cause of unrest. Fortunately there is a -growing consensus of opinion that more freedom for opportunity and for -advancement is seriously necessary, and this sympathetic opinion will -lead towards a solution. It is also well within the work of a school to -promote this sympathy by sending out boys with those intellectual and -scientific tastes and knowledge which will react upon themselves and -attract them to the workers. - -There are two other questions which I will mention before I come to -the actual work which may be done in schools. One of the main aims -of a good school is to see that each boy and girl is cared for, that -each one has every opportunity for development. We must not cast out, -or send our weak ones away, we must keep them in school--we must find -out what kind of work will appeal to them, so that they, too, may move -upwards, gain in self-respect, and love their life. And we claim that -this is what we would have done in all factories, or in any occupation. -It is the essential duty of every nation. We are anxious that no -worker should be stunted mentally or physically by the kind of work -he has to do. This again is a difficult as it is an urgent problem. -It is one which can be studied in schools, and there is no doubt -that the attempts of a school to provide avenues of advance for all -kinds of boys will tend to bring the right spirit into industrial and -agricultural life....' - - -§ 4 - -So much for the Bradford discourse. Here is the gist of a discourse -given to the Reconstruction Council in London a year later. - -'The object of this paper is to describe in practical working -terms an organisation of schools which shall be based on a close -association with the manifold needs and labours of the community life. -At the outset I may say that the proposals will refer--even if not -specifically so stated--to all types of schools, from the elementary to -the Public Schools. It will be seen that the change needs a change in -the ideals which have usually prevailed in schools of the past. In the -community life the one urgent thing to be done to-day is to reorganise -industry and the conditions of labour. This reorganisation may require -quite organic or even anarchic changes--and for these changes the -ideals of boys and girls must be changed, and to prepare for this -change is the urgent work of the schools. - -'Before I come to the proposals for reconstruction of schools, I will -state very briefly some facts in industry which are now meeting with -acceptance: - -'1. Modern industrial life has come in with a tumultuous rush, in -a haphazard, ungoverned way, through the activities of forceful, -capable, and industrious leaders who have made use of the scientific -discoveries of another type of men. - -'2. The shrinkage of the world, and the growth of population which -followed, has led to fierce competition; and this spirit of competition -has ruled everywhere. - -'3. In the ungoverned rush for production all sorts of methods are -adopted which seem to be justified by their effectiveness. An example -is the modern system of efficiency, at first sight captivating to the -intellect and the desires, but yet a method which needs very careful -study. - -'4. Now men are beginning to believe that the first product of industry -must be for the worker; that the worker should grow physically, -intellectually, spiritually by his work. - -'I shall claim that the work in schools should be permeated by Science -and by the scientific method and outlook, and it will be found that -Science itself does not set all this store on efficiency. Efficiency, -I believe, is entirely contained within the first, or quantitative law -of Thermo-dynamics. But eutrophy based on the more elusive qualitative -law is concerned with the quality which leads to the giving up of life -to others. We must see to it that whatever the efficiency may be, the -eutrophy of industry be high. - -'The principle that the first product of industry must be the worker -leads to great organic changes. It will lead to no less a thing than -closing down certain productions, certain classes of occupations, -certain industries or processes. It will lead to a modification in -repetition work; and to adjustments in organisation. I hope to show the -bearing of this on our educational methods, and how the ideals implied -may bring some help in diagnosing Labour unrest. - -'It will be seen that most of the changes needed to-day depend upon -international agreements; and a league of nations is essential, not, -I think, to end wars, but to make the change from competition to -co-operation possible. - -'We are concerned to-day with the part education must take in this -change of ideals of life. It is not too much to say that without the -influence of a reconstructed education the way to change in the ideals -of men will be hard to find. The change has to be made from competitive -methods and ideals to co-operative methods; from the spirit of -dominance to creativeness; and the present system of aristocraticism in -schools must give way to democratisation. - -'Competition holds sway to-day in industrial life with disastrous -results. Every employer of labour feels this, and wrestles, and would -be glad of a change, but he is held in the grip of a system. Every -one feels that competition destroys the creative, inventive life--and -is the seat of unrest. And yet the spirit of competition holds sway, -not in commerce only nor in diplomacy, but in the schools. Our public -schools are professedly schools for training a dominant class; the -aims, the educational methods, the school subjects and their relative -values, the books read, the life led--are all based on this spirit. The -methods are largely competitive, possessive. With, as I believe, tragic -results in industrial life this same system, with the ideals behind it, -has been unwittingly impressed on the working class in the elementary -schools.... - -'The change which I am advocating will demand a new organisation, -and will call for a new type of school buildings, and new values of -subjects. The new-comer Science, and with it organised industry, -which springs out of it, must take a prominent and inspiriting place -in school, and in every part of school work. It is not sufficient to -say that Science should be taught in schools. The time has gone by for -this. We claim that scientific thought should be the inspiring spirit -in school life. Science is essentially creative and co-operative, its -outlook is onwards towards change, it means searching for the truth, it -demands research and experiment, and does not rest on authority. Under -this new spirit all history, literature, art, and even languages should -be rewritten. - -'A new type of school buildings and requirements will arise. No longer -buildings comprised only of class-rooms, but large and spacious -workrooms. Class-rooms are places where boys go to be taught. They -are tool-sharpening rooms--necessary, but subsidiary. For research -and co-operative creative work the larger halls are needed. Spacious -engineering and wood-working shops, well supplied with all kinds of -machine tools, a smithy, a foundry, a carpenter's shop, a drawing -office--all carried on for manufacturing purposes. Plenty of work -which will employ boys of all ages will be found to do. - -'There will be a corresponding spacious literary and historical -workshop with a really spacious library full of books: books on modern -subjects, as well as reference books. The building should have wings in -it for foreign books--modern as well as classic, history, economics, -literary, scientific. As many as possible of the foreign languages -should be represented here, that boys may grow up with knowledge and -sympathy and respect for other nations, and thus aid in promoting wider -and deeper ideals of life. Another gallery for geography, and natural -history, travels, ethnology. - -'Here is full scope for a large number of boys of all ages to be -engaged in research. It is all of a co-operative character. They can -study the various social and economic systems--from co-partnership to -syndicalism; or the Liberation of Slaves; or the League of Nations; or -the Liberation of Italy. - -'Another block will be a science block with an engineering laboratory, -machinery hall, physical, chemical, and biological laboratories--well -supplied with apparatus and plant for applied science; plant, too, to -lead to the investigations of the day; testing machine, ship tank, air -tunnel; a miniature standardising laboratory; and with this a botanical -garden and an experimental farm. - -'Another would be an art-room, music-room, theatre, a home of industry -for studying industrial development and industrial life. - -'This is not a Utopian scheme, but one within possibility in town and -country. To each large central high school should be associated groups -of elementary schools, and there should be free highways between them, -neither barred by examinations nor barred by expense.... - -'Another change must also come. Books on modern problems, strangely -enough, are not yet read in schools. For example, the time is overdue -for a change in the English books: Burke's _Reflections_ and Pitt's -_War Speeches_, or Addison, to Ruskin's _Unto This Last_ and _Time and -Tide_, or to Bernard Shaw, Wells, Galsworthy, and the modern poets. -Some would go so far as to give Shakespeare a rest. It is astonishing -how the newer books bearing on the large questions of the day, and -bearing on the actual life of the boy, strike the imagination of -boys--even quite young boys of the upper elementary school age. They -stir up the faculties and appeal to a less used kind of imagination. -It is surprising, too, what open and live views young boys will reach. -And one thing the study of these books possesses, which I hope to dwell -upon later, is that they bring the schools into close touch with the -everyday life of their homes and of the community. - -'Creative education demands that schools should be brought into harmony -with the community life, and should take part in the industrial and -economic life. When boys and girls go home from school (even to the -humblest home) the parents should find there is something their -children have done at school which will help them in their work. This -means that technical and vocational training should hold a prominent, -and not a subsidiary, place in the schools. It is not difficult to see -that this kind of work contains within it the spirit and genius of -Science. We claim that education should be turned in this direction, -with confidence and inspiration. The divorce of industrial life from -the life of the spirit is one of the tragedies of the age. It produces -calamitous results. A man's work may be of an impossible kind, it may -be sordid and destructive of life--and the cure proposed is that he -should have shorter hours and more pay. This leads to bad diagnosis of -the cause of the Labour difficulty, and prevents necessary reforms in -the industries.... - -'Creativeness, the co-operative spirit and method, the vision, the -experimental method of searching for the truth, form the unique gift -Science and Industry have to give to the "New Education." Under the -influence of this new outlook all other departments of knowledge must -be restudied. Under its influence the life of school will become -active, the workers self-reliant, love abounding. It will make good -craftsmen and make the school of use in the community--whether in the -manufacturing life or in the investigation of economic conditions. -Incidentally it will give rise to a new body of men capable of going -wholly or in part to teaching, and the school will be thus linked up -with the life of the place. - -'It may be well to state that with an education of this kind based -fundamentally on Science a capable boy will leave a secondary school -with a good knowledge of Science and of its application, with a -research attitude towards history and modern problems, and with a good -working knowledge of two, or three, or even four languages.... - -'The study of social questions is seriously needed. Industries would -then have a close connection with the boys and girls, and yet boys -and girls would be free to follow the best of their own talents and -inclinations--the industrial life would not be separated from the -spiritual life; and we may hope that some part of this ideal would pass -over into the workshops and factories; so that the labourer would learn -to love his work better than his wage--for so indeed he would wish to -do. And the faculties of the worker would grow. The method of the work -would follow the method of the school, as it is doing more and more -in our own land and in many a workshop. For the spirit is with these -ideals; the practice difficult for any single firm to carry out. Hence -is the need for radical change in schools. Firms are being driven to -start trade schools of their own, when they would prefer the work to -be done with all the wider scope of a school. And the same enlightened -firms endeavour to "promote" their men. - -'And here we come to what is probably the natural source of all -labour "unrest"--the unstretched faculties of the worker. Men there -are in any great shops who have intellectual faculties of the highest -order, and these faculties are not used, so the greatest possession -a man has, and the greatest his country has--the "faculties" of its -owners--is allowed to dissipate. And in the feeling of the mental want -of equilibrium, in the slow frittering away of life, there arrives the -turbulent spirit. The study of these questions is the problem for our -coming international university. The industrial and economic problems -involved can only be approached under international agreement. All that -has been possible at present in the way of making industrial life pure -and holy is by legislative restrictions, often enough rankling to the -worker even when needed for his amelioration. Such legislation (Factory -Acts, Insurance Acts, wages, hours) does not remove the source of the -disease; at best it only mitigates the worst results. More drastic -changes may be needed in the nature of the work--to the ruling out -certain manufacturing processes until new discoveries can be made. - -'So with the work in the shops. Men do not want wages, or shorter -hours; these demands are only symptoms of a disease; short cuts to -amelioration. They are doctoring. What men want is that their work may -be such that they can love it, and want more of it. They do not want -slaves' work in the shops and a "dose" of the spiritual life out of it. -So we believe. - -'Parents, too, would let their children remain at school. As a class -there is no one more unselfish and self-sacrificing and co-operative -than the working-class parent. Boys want to leave school because of -the natural urge for making something and getting to business--as they -see it at home. To remain at school without joining in some work is -unthinkable when they see the life their parents lead. - -'I may be permitted to insert one paragraph on the unfortunate -opposition to this new position which is claimed for Science in the -schools. The opposition springs from the belief that vocational work is -simply material, having no spiritual outlook. But the truth is all the -other way. Unfortunately the present studies of history, art, economy, -literature, are biassed by "possessive" instincts and education, and -we claim that Science and its methods are seriously demanded for a new -reading of these things. However, the opposition finds expression in -high quarters. The Workers' Educational Union, acting in sympathy with -the Labour view--that vocational studies are to be avoided--practically -taboos technical studies. This is reasonable as things are to-day, -when a man's work is too often for the profit of others, and for this -reason the workers are not in love with their work, and when the day -is over they have seen plenty of it; so the best of them go elsewhere -for the springs of the spiritual life. But this is all disastrous to -individuals and disastrous to progress. What the workers should do is -to watch for the spirit in their daily work, for it is the work itself -which will hold a man to God--nothing else will.' - - -§ 5 - -I have quoted from this London Reconstruction discourse very fully. -In the official Life there are a number of such addresses in which -the student will find the main doctrines of that particular address -repeated, varied, amplified, but as my object in this book is to strip -Sanderson's views down to his essential ideas, I will make only one -further quotation from this propaganda material here. This is from the -notes he arranged for an address to the Newcastle Rotary Club. His -favourite contrast between the possessive instincts and the creative -instincts comes out very clearly here. Like all the great religious -teachers, Sanderson aims quite clearly at an ultimate communism, to be -achieved not by revolution but by the steady development of a creative -spirit in the world. - -'Schools should be miniature copies of the world we should love to -have. Hence our outlooks and methods must have these aims in mind. -Schoolmasters have great responsibilities. We should be able to say to -a boy, we have endeavoured to do such things for you, and we ask you to -go forth, it may be, into your father's business or factory and do the -same to the workers. Let me illustrate from the workshops. Workshops in -a school are by far the most difficult things to carry on along the -lines I have in mind. Here are three conditions which must be kept in -the shops:-- - - - '(_a_) The work boys are doing should not be for themselves, or - exercises to learn by; it must always be work required by the - community. - - '(_b_) Each boy must have the opportunity of doing all the main - operations, and all the operations should be going on in the - workshops. - - '(_c_) Whenever a boy goes into the shop he should find himself - set to work which is up to the hilt of his capacity. There is - no "slithering" down to work which is easy, no unnecessary and - automatic repetition, no working for himself but for the community. - - -'And we can say, and are entitled to say, to the boy, when you go forth -into life, perhaps into your father's work or business or profession, -you must try to do for your apprentices and workers what we have tried -to do for you. You, too, will try to see that every one has work which -exacts their faculties--by which they will grow and develop; you will -see to it that they are working directly on behalf of and for the -welfare of the community, and not for yourself. - -'This is your real duty towards your neighbour. It is a vastly hard -thing to do. This duty of believing that others are of the same blood -with yourself, and have the same feelings, and loves, and desires and -needs, and natural elementary rights; this duty of setting them free -to exercise their faculties spaciously that they, too, may get more of -life--is the real duty towards your neighbour. It is a hard thing. If -you think of the works, the factory, the office, it is a hard thing. It -involves vast sacrifice--the hardest sacrifice--the sacrifice of belief -and economic tradition. We need not be surprised that Christianity -has "slithered down" to an easier and softer level of culture and -duty towards our neighbours. But whether the workers know it or not, -this hard duty is essential in considering the relationships of our -community system and our international system to-day. - -'It is a hard duty, and boys must be immersed in it in school. The -outlook, values, and organisation of a school should be based on the -fundamental fact of the community service. By habit of mind, and by the -activity of the schools, boys should be imbued with this high duty. It -means a reorganisation of methods and aims. - -'It is a hard duty, this duty towards your neighbour--the hardest -part being to believe that he has like feelings with yourself and -equal rights. The young man went away sorrowful, for he had great -riches--riches intellectual or other. Yet the young man went away -sorrowful, and there is no doubt that he eventually sold all that -he had. This is Watts' version of it. The young man was at heart a -follower of Jesus; he did not say that the commandment was an old one -and well known, that it had been said before in the Hagadah and by -Moses; he did not say that the language was the language of Plato or -Philo; he did not say that it was too difficult and could not be true -for every one--he went away sorrowful. We have no doubt that he sold -all that he had. - -'The system of education in the past has been based on training for -leadership, _i.e._ for a master class, and its method has been a -training of the faculties. But the sharply defined line between the -leaders and the led has been broken down. The whole mass of people has -been aroused towards intellectual creative efforts. The struggle going -on in all communities and amongst all races is a struggle to grow and -have more of life. Whether at home amongst our workers, or in India, -or Egypt, or Ireland; or between China and Europe--the struggle is the -same. It is a struggle to make progress, and have more of life. This -urge to grow is a biological fact. We cannot tell why it is or what -creates it--but everything around us has this urge to grow, and to grow -in its own particular way. One seed grows into a tulip, another into -wheat. We know not how, but we recognise it. And it is precisely the -same urge to grow that is causing all this apparent conflict. It is the -fundamental creative instinct--the most powerful instinct of the human -race, by which the race is preserved. Deep down in human nature lies -this instinct; it is never forgotten, it is always present in the mind. -It is voluptuous, anarchic, joyful, violent, powerful. - -'The other instinct is called the fighting, aggressive, acquisitive, -possessive instinct. It is the instinct to acquire, to overcome. It is -distinct from the creative instinct even in the biological growth, but -the distinction manifests itself more clearly in the community or herd -relationships. It has none of the beautiful and life-giving qualities -of the creative urge. It is essentially, even in its romance (of which -we have plenty), dull, selfish, destructive. It varies its forms from -sheer animal force to the dialectical methods which have assumed the -names of talent and culture. The same characteristics are seen in -the force of the slave-driver, in the forces of the wage-nexus, and -in the dialectical force of the council. These are hard sayings, but -for the solution of the problems of the present times it is wise, and -necessary, to look facts in the face. At any rate it is well to know of -the possibilities, feelings, and loves of the uprising mass.... - -'But what has this to do with schools? My answer is that if we are to -deal with the problems thrown up by science in our industrial system, -and our close national and international contacts, the schools must be -the seed grounds of the new thought and visions....' - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE HOUSE OF VISION AND THE SCHOOL CHAPEL - - -§ 1 - -I come now to one of the most curious and characteristic things in -Sanderson's later life, a conflict and interaction that went on between -two closely related and yet in many ways intensely competitive ideas, -the idea on the one hand of a new sort of building unprecedented among -schools, a building which should symbolise and embody the whole aim -of the school and the renewed community of which it is the germ, and -on the other hand the idea of a great memorial chapel to commemorate -the sacrifice of those who had fallen in the war. These ideas assumed -protean forms in his mind, they grew, they blended and separated again. -I will call the first, for reasons that will appear later, the House of -Vision; the second, the school chapel. For though Oundle had thrown -up a great cluster of houses, halls, laboratories, and other buildings -during its quarter of a century of growth, it had never yet produced -anything more than a corrugated-iron meeting-house for its religious -services. The want of some more dignified chapel had long been evident, -and even before the war was very much in Sanderson's mind. - -The idea of a House of Vision was therefore the later of the two. -Very early in the war a boy of great promise, Eric Yarrow, the son of -Sir Alfred Yarrow, the great shipbuilder, was killed at Ypres, and -parent and schoolmaster met at the house of the former to mourn their -common loss. Sanderson and Eric Yarrow had been close friends; they -had discussed and developed the idea of a creative reconstruction -of industry together; Eric Yarrow was to have played a part in the -industrial world similar to the part that Roy Sanderson was to have -played in the educational world. - -The two men sat late at night and talked of these vanished hopes. -Could not something be done, they asked, to record at least the spirit -of these fine intentions, and they sketched out a project for a -memorial building that should be a symbol and incitement to effort for -the reorganised industrial state. It should be in a sense a museum -containing a record of human effort and invention in the past; a museum -of the development of work and production and a statement of the -economic problems before mankind. Sir Alfred produced a cheque more -than sufficient to cover the building of such a memorial as they had -planned, and Sanderson returned to Oundle to put the realisation of the -project in hand. Probably the two of them also discussed the need for a -memorial chapel and probably neither of them realised a possible clash -between that older project and the new one they were now starting. - -It was in the early stage when the Eric Yarrow memorial was to be -nothing more than a museum of industrial history and organisation -that Sanderson set afoot the building at Oundle which is now known -by that name. Apparently he did not get much inspiration over to the -architect, and at any rate the edifice that presently rose was a very -weak and dull-looking one, more suitable for a herbarium or a minor -lecture-hall than for a temple of creative dreams. It was a premature -materialisation, done in the stress and under the cramping limitations -of war time. Long before it was finished Sanderson's imaginations had -outgrown it. I think this unconfessed architectural disappointment -probably played a large part in the subsequent development of the idea -of the school chapel, still to be planned, still capable of being made -a spacious and beautiful building. To the latter dream he transferred -more and more of the ideas that arose properly out of the germ of the -Eric Yarrow memorial. - -At first the House of Vision was to have been no more than an -industrial museum. It was not to be used as a class-room or -lecture-room. It was to be empty of chairs, desks, and the like, -and clear for any one to go in to think and dream. About its walls, -diagrams and charts were to display the progress of man from the -sub-human to his present phase of futile power and hope. There were to -be time-charts of the whole process of history, and a few of these have -been made. As his idea ripened it broadened. The memorial ceased to be -a symbol merely of industrial reorganisation and progress, and became a -temple to the whole human adventure. He began to stress first social -and then imaginative growth. The charts were to be full and accurate, -everything shown was to be precisely true, but there was to be no -teaching in the building, no direction beyond the form and spirit of -the place. - -And so while the scaffolds of the workmen rose about the commonplace -little erection in the school fields, the schoolmaster in his -day-dreams realised more and more the full measure of the opportunity -he was missing. - -The realisation of the past is the realisation of the future, and it -was an easy transition to pass to the idea of this building as an -expression of the creative will in man. In it the individual boy was to -realise the aim of the school and of schooling and living. It was to be -the eye of the school, its soul, its headlight. - -The idea of this 'House of Vision' was still growing in his mind when -he died. He had not yet settled upon a name for it, though he had -tried over a number of names--a House of Vision, which is the name we -have taken for it here, the Home of Silence, the Hall of Industry, the -Anthropaeum, the Making of Man, the Life Creative, the Soul of the -School. All these names converge upon the end he was seeking. This -approach by trial, by leaving the idea to shape itself for a time and -then taking it up again, by talking it over with this man and that, was -very characteristic of his mental processes. - -A member of the staff recalls a stage in the development of the idea. -'I talked with the headmaster about the Yarrow Memorial in October -1920,' he says. 'He then seemed to dally with a suggestion to name it -the "Temple of the World"--he expressed his hatred of the tendency to -call it the "Museum." I gathered that his idea was to fill it with -charts of all things and all ages, including pictures of at least all -the world's great men--then to turn a boy loose in it, thereby to -realise his position in the world as a unit of its time, as opposed to -the inculcation of any idea of his having a part in his nationality -only. His root idea seemed to be that it should be a place for -meditation--restful as well as invigorating.' - -Here is a passage written by Sanderson himself a little later. The idea -ripens and broadens out very manifestly. - -'Every school, every locality and industry,' he writes, 'might build -within their boundaries a new kind of chapel, a heritage, a temple--a -beautiful building in which are gathered together and exhibited the -records of man's great deeds and of man's progress, and the records -of his needs. It is such a "Hall of Needs" that we regard the Yarrow -Memorial, and to this end it is being equipped.' - -And here Sanderson speaks again in a sermon preached upon the text of -Moses' withdrawal to the mount. - -'A school will grow into a book. It will take upon itself the form of a -Bible. Within it will appear the stages in the life of the soul--"the -coming of a kingdom"; the foundations, the building, the furniture, -the complex apparatus, the organised beauty. A school--its buildings, -workshops, class-rooms, and all that goes towards a great school--can -take on the form of a parable. As we wander from one place to another -all that speaks of life will manifest itself before us. How life -begins, what is needed for its growth; what shall be its standards, its -ideals; what the nature of its proof-plate; the craftsman and what he -is; the craftsman in languages, in mathematics, in science, in art; -the secrets of nature revealing themselves; progress, change, vision. - -'And boys will go out into the factory, or mine, or business, or -profession, imbued with the spirit of the active love of humanity. Some -will be called to lead, as Moses was called. They, too, will plant -the "Tent of Meeting," the "Temple of Vision." A return with a new -view-point will be made to the temple of ages gone by. The Assyrian -frescoed his walls with sculptures of the deeds of his hero-kings; the -Franciscans frescoed the walls of their chapels with the life of Jesus -as told in the Gospels--the life of the Divine builder, of Him who came -to restore a kingdom, by whose life and death a new world was created. - -'But the Temple of Vision of to-day; the new Tent of Meeting. What -of it? The new home of vision will be frescoed with the thoughts of -to-day, changing into the thoughts of to-morrow. Generations of workers -will go up into the mount, and to them, too, will be shown the pattern. -"See that thou make them after their pattern which hath been shown thee -in the mount."' - - -§ 2 - -Now this is a very great and novel idea, the idea of a modern temple -set like a miner's lantern in the forefront of school or college to -light its task in the world. It rounds off and completes Sanderson's -vision of a modern school; it is logically essential to that vision. -But meanwhile what was happening to the school-chapel project? - -For, after all, in the older type of school, the chapel with its -matins and evensong, its _Onward Christian Soldiers_ and suchlike -stirring hymns, its confirmations and first communions, was in a rather -dreamy, formless mechanical way undertaking to do precisely what the -new House of Vision was also to do, that is, to give a direction to -the whole subsequent life. But was it the same direction? The normal -school-chapel points up--not very effectively one feels; the House -of Vision was to point onward. Sanderson had a crowded, capacious -mind, but sooner or later the question behind these two discrepant -objectives, whether men are to live for heaven or for creation, was -bound to have come to an issue. - -His mental process was at first syncretic. He began to think of a -school-chapel, not as a place for formal services but as a place of -meditation and resolve. He began to speak of the chapel also as though -it was to be 'the tent on the mount,' the place of vision. He betrayed -a growing hostility to the intoned prayers, the trite responses, -the tuneful empty hymns, the Anglican vacuity of the normal chapel -procedure. Had he lived to guide the building of Oundle chapel I -believe it would have diverged more and more from any precedent, more -and more in the direction of that House of Vision, that the premature -and insufficient Eric Yarrow building had so pitifully failed to -realise. - -Here is evidence of that divergence in a passage from a sermon preached -after a gathering of parents and old boys in the Court Room at the -London Grocers' Hall to discuss the chapel project. I ask any one -trained in the services of the Church of England and accustomed to -enter, pray into a silk hat, deposit it under the seat, sit down, -stand up, bow, genuflect, kneel decorously on a hassock, sing, repeat -responses, and go through the simple and wholesome Swedish exercises -of the Anglican prayer book, what is to be thought of this project of -a chapel with hardly a sitting in it? And what is to be thought of -this suggestion of wandering round the aisles? And what is this talk -of young gentlemen who have died 'for king and country,' casting down -their lives for the rescue of man? - -'For the years to come, when the war is over, it will be well to have -some visible memorial; some symbol of the redemption of the Great -War, and of the heroic part old boys have taken in it; some record of -the great struggle from out of which the new spirit will rise; some -record of the part the whole school took in this; some record of the -boys who have fallen; some thanksgiving symbol for all who have given -their service. And for this it is proposed to build a chapel. But when -the time comes we shall be sad to leave our present building. It is a -poor building, but it is very rich in its associations. The services -in this temporary chapel have taken a large part in the building of -the school. Simple as is the Tent in the Wilderness, yet we have hoped -that the Spirit of God would come and dwell in it. We have hoped that -the Divine Spirit would come into all the activities and outlook of the -school in its diverse occupations, whether they be literary or whether -they be scientific or technical. And we have always looked onward to -the day when a permanent chapel should be built, symbolic of the Divine -Omnipresence for worship and for sacrifice. - -'And this is what is in mind to do--and yet I confess to a certain -amount of fear. A lofty, spacious chapel I have had no doubt would at -the right moment be built by the Grocers' Company. Just before the war -the building of this chapel was emerging as the next great building -to undertake--a chapel, such as a college chapel with stalls, as -for private service. But now we look beyond this. We want something -different, more open. A lofty, spacious chapel to form the nave--no -fixed seats, the clear open space; quiet, still, "urgent with beauty." -Joined to this the choir and sanctuary, with aisles round the three -sides of it, forming an ambulatory. Round these aisles, on the walls -and in the windows, the recorded memory of the boys who have fallen. -An east window, a reredos, stalls, altar. A chapel, abundant in space, -not for the mind to sit down in, but for the mind to move about in, for -contemplation, for dwelling in the infinite, for piercing through the -night, for vision, for the clear spirit of thankfulness, for communion -with the saints, our own young saints among them. So we hope. As you -wander round the aisles there will pass before you the memorial of -those boys who have cast down their lives for the rescue of man.' - - -§ 3 - -I cannot guess how Sanderson, had he lived, would have resolved this -conflict between his House of Vision and his Great Chapel, just as -I can hazard no opinion of the ultimate form his interpretation of -Christianity would have taken. But the recognition of these conflicts -is fundamental to my conception of the man and his significance. - -He stands for a great multitude reluctant to abandon many of the -familiar phrases of the Christian use and eager to read new and deeper -meanings into them. But he never took 'holy orders'; he knew the days -of the priest, except for evil, were past, and it is only by its being -born again as a House of Vision that he could anticipate his chapel -with contentment. The time has come for mankind to choose plainly -between the priest and the teacher. - -Some six months after Sanderson's death I went to Oundle and visited -the Yarrow Memorial, that abortive first House of Vision. Except for -a bronze statue of a boy by Lady Scott that Sanderson had liked and -bought, it was as I had seen it with Sanderson a year before. It was -still, deserted, and I suppose I must count it dead. The time-charts -had not been carried on. The collection of inventions, the display of -humanity's growth, were still represented by empty cases. The statue -was intended for the school chapel, but meanwhile it had been dumped in -the House of Vision as a convenient vacant place for such dumping. The -bronze boy is in an eager pose; there is duty to be done and danger to -be faced and a great creative effort to be made. 'Send me!' he said, in -that empty, neglected House of Vision. But the hand that would have put -that dart to the bowstring and aimed it at work and service was there -no more. - -Building operations upon the chapel were proceeding slowly. The rising -walls were very like the rising walls of the sort of church for -respectable people that gets built in Surbiton or Beckenham. I gather -that in all probability it will even carry the debt customary in such -cases. The new headmaster was, I found, a thoroughly pleasant man who -came not from an elementary school but from Eton, and had never met -Sanderson in his life and knew nothing of his work. He seemed disposed -to regard Sanderson as a bit of a crank and to be intelligently -puzzled by his originalities. I felt assured that when at last that -old corrugated-iron building is abandoned for the new chapel there -would be pews in the new nave in spite of Sanderson, and services of an -altogether normal type and no nonsense of walking about and thinking or -anything of that sort. - -But though I have seen the House of Vision at Oundle dead and vacant -as a museum skull, yet I know surely that neither Sanderson nor his -House of Vision are in any real sense dead at all. A day will certainly -come when his name will be honoured above all other contemporary -schoolmasters as the precursor of a new age in education and human -affairs. In that age of realisation every village will be dominated -by its school, with its library and theatre, its laboratories and -gymnasium, every town will converge upon its cluster of schools and -colleges, its research buildings and the like, and it will have its -Great Chapel, its House of Vision as its crown and symbol even as the -cathedral was the crown and symbol of the being and devotion of the -medieval city. And therein Sanderson's stout hopefulness and pioneer -thrustings will be kept in remembrance by generations that have come up -to the pitch of understanding him. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE LAST LECTURE - - -§ 1 - -Sanderson's propaganda of this idea of the possible reorganisation -of the world through schools came to an abrupt end in the summer of -1922. He died suddenly of heart failure in the Botanical Theatre of -University College, London, at the end of an address to the National -Union of Scientific Workers. He had chosen as the title of the -address, 'The Duty and Service of Science in the New Era,' and it -was in effect a recapitulation of his most characteristic views. He -attached considerable importance to the delivery and he made unusual -preparations for it. - -Upon his desk after his death seven separate drafts, and they were -all very full drafts, of this address were found. In the margins of -the pages little sums have been worked out--so many pages at three -hundred words a page, four thousand, five thousand words; a full hour's -talking, and still so much to say! There are little notes framed in -a sort of Oxford frame of lines reminding him, for example, to 'say -more of bringing scientific method into _all_ parts of school.' On the -reverse of the pages of manuscript are trial restatements. He tried -back several times to a fresh beginning. There is a page headed 'The -New School,' and giving three headings: the first, which he afterwards -marked as second, is, 'The faculty of each member shall be developed'; -the second, which became the first, is 'Community service--no -competition'; the third is, '_Outlook--aim_, more value than ability. -Service. All are equal. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Let all -that will, come.' - -Then we find him trying over his ideas about science under a heading, -'What we claim for science.' Under that are a number of interesting -subheads:-- - - - 'Its own value in the great discoveries. - - 'That its spirit is that of life, giving, changing, searching. - (Marginal note:--without being deterred by any of the results - which may follow.) - - 'It is "natural" to the vast number of boys. - - 'Very directly applicable to needs. - - 'That it has a language and a message. (Marginal note:--it seeks - to test, to create new standards, to fearlessly rewrite knowledge.) - - 'The same spirit. (? as Christianity: Editor.) - - -Finally he produced a draft which was at least his eighth. This he had -printed and this he may have intended to read to the meeting. But he -did not do so. In the end he spoke from a fresh set of notes, which -must have been at least the ninth draft. That eighth draft is given in -full in the official Life. - -His health had not been good for some time, and he kept this lecture -and his exceptional interest in it more or less secret from his wife. -He spent a long and interested morning at the experimental farm at -Rothamsted, and in the afternoon he went to the opticians to get a new -pair of spectacles and attended to other small businesses. He met a -small party of us at the London University Club in Gower Street to -take tea before lecturing. Sir Richard Gregory, the editor of _Nature_, -was present, Major Church, the secretary of the National Union of -Scientific Workers, and Dr. Charles Singer, the historian of classical -science. Sanderson was evidently hot and rather tired, but he did not -seem to be ill; he gossiped pleasantly with us and showed us his new -spectacles. They were made of a recently discovered glass, opaque to -ultra-violet rays and he betrayed the pride and interest of a boy in -possessing them. - -University College was not very far away, but he asked for a cab -thither because he felt fagged. The audience was already assembled -and he went straight on to the platform. The present writer made a -few introductory remarks, and the lecture began. It is a matter of -keen regret to all of us that we allowed him to stand throughout his -discourse. It would have been so easy to have arranged for him to talk -from a chair; the Botanical Theatre is not a large one and it is quite -conceivable that he might be alive now, if one of us could have had -that much thoughtfulness for him. We had thought of it--ten minutes -after his death. - -But we were all so used to the quality of effort in his voice, so -accustomed to its sudden fall into almost inaudible asides, that we -did not mark what hung over us until the very moment of catastrophe. -His sentences seemed to me a little more broken than usual; he was -rather more disconnected, he was leaving rather more than usual to -the intelligence of his audience, and as he talked I watched the -faces before me rather anxiously to see just how much they missed of -what he was trying to get over to them. He got over much more than I -supposed, for I have since talked with many who were present. A fairly -full shorthand note was made at the time, and on this the following -rendering of the last address is based. Like everything that has been -printed of his here, it has been clipped and shorn, little distracting -side glances have been eliminated and broken sentences filled in and -rounded off. - - -§ 2 - -'It is a great honour,' he began, 'to come and address scientific -workers (I have only recently discovered my claim to be a scientific -worker), and to describe to you what has turned out to be a scientific -experiment. I hope to show the results of an experiment carried on, not -in a scientific laboratory so-called--physical, chemical, biological, -or anthropological--but in a school for boys. - -'Before doing that, I should like to say that we scientific workers -do very much depend on having a number of us together. One scientific -worker placed in charge of any great work finds it difficult; -scientific workers do not get the chance of appointing men in sympathy -with themselves often enough; so it is frequently said that scientific -men placed in command of a factory in industry or a department of -state at home or in the colonies fail. Well, if so, they fail because -scientific men have not often got the opportunity of getting men of -like sympathy to work with them. I take it that the object of the -National Union of Scientific Workers is to get scientific men with -scientific views of life and experimental experience to join together -in some great work. When I speak of the duty and service of science in -the new era, I mean that I want scientific men to claim justly a larger -share in the work of the world, and not to confine themselves to what -is called purely scientific work. We want them to expand themselves -over a wider area. As a matter of fact, that is what two distinguished -writers have suggested: that the time has come when the ordinary -discoveries and inventions of science should be closed down in order to -enable scientific minds to do this simple thing. Practically everything -that exists now is the work of scientific men, their discoveries and -their inventions. The whole world teems with the results of the work -of science. The great machines we see used in industry--the industrial -machine itself--have been created by men of science. Now, I put it to -you that when motor cars came in, the nobility of the land found their -coachmen of little use. The scientific machine requires scientific men -to manage it. Our industrial life is imperfectly organised; all our -troubles are due to the fact that we have a process created by science, -but organised in the old way by men of a different outlook. The -discoveries of science have rushed into the world a considerable amount -of unexpected ability. Working men engaged in industrial pursuits have -had their intelligence discovered and brought out, and it is one thing -to control a mass of human beings who are not thus inspired with the -knowledge of their own possibilities, and another to control those who -are. It is like trying to control a set of live molecules. It is one -thing to control a hard atom and another to control a live electron. - -'So that the duty and service of science would seem to lie in -scientific men bringing their ideal of life, their standards, their -vision, their outlook, and their methods to organise the great machine -that their inventions have created. You cannot have a world half -scientific and the other half nothing of the sort. - -'That is to say, scientific workers will have to consider the whole -question, for instance, of economics. I heard yesterday a distinguished -member of the Government saying that we cannot change economics. Of -course, that is one thing scientific men have got to do, to change -economics so that the system of our industry shall be recreated. The -system of management by dual control of the master and the slave will -not work when the slave becomes an alive, active, intelligent, anarchic -being. He will not be governed by the rein but by a system which the -magnet can influence. However, the last hundred years has resulted in -a race between the changed conditions that science has brought about -and the organisation required to control them, in what has been called -by Mr. Wells a race between education and catastrophe. In scientific -language, it has produced a serious stress because of the hurrying -on of change of conditions and the lagging behind of the methods of -controlling them. It is this stress, I think, which has broken up the -system. You may even say that the war itself is no cause of anything, -but a result of the purely automatic action of shearing forces, as when -a testing machine breaks a metal bar. - -'The end of the war has left us with a whole host of individuals set -free, and the business before science men is to organise this new body. -It is a big problem, and requires scientific thought, temperament, and -outlook to rewrite practically the whole of our knowledge. It reminds -me of the tremendous rush there was amongst scientific men to provide -workers to overhaul practically everything in biology (and theology) -and other parts of human knowledge after the doctrines of Darwin were -well established. I take it that all the departments of human life have -to be rewritten by men under the influence of the spirit of science. -Our books have to be rewritten, our very dictionaries. I have often -amused myself with the _Oxford Dictionary_, or found it necessary to -send a boy to that authority for a definition, and it has pretty nearly -always been false. Take such a simple case as the word "democracy." -The _Oxford Dictionary_ hasn't a thing to tell you about the meaning -of "democracy" as we use it to-day. It tells you nothing of the living -use of words. That is one of the terrible dangers of leaving our books -in the hands of men who have not got that outlook which experiment in -science brings to the individual. Consequently I say that the duty of -scientific men is to scour the whole area of knowledge and rewrite it -to bring out new standards, new values, by means of which labour and -industry itself, in the first instance, can be reorganised (the schools -first should be reorganised), and then you can extend it into the wider -area of international affairs. - -'They tell us that economics cannot change our human nature. That -is the great duty and service of science--to change human nature. -Scientific men have to collect a band of disciples and make a new -world. As far as I can gather, from a long connection with boys, the -only scientific quality which is constant is inertia in response to -change. The actual change itself, when it has arrived, no one objects -to, and every one says, "Why didn't we do that before?" Scientific -workers rarely have their opportunity in industry. To have their full -opportunity they are to set forth in the spirit of the Great Master to -found a new kingdom: not to manage industry by the standards and values -of the present, but to transform them. And they must do what our Master -Himself did--collect a faithful band of disciples imbued with the same -belief. I know it is freely said (I have been corresponding with some -of the leaders in industry) that scientific men cannot do this thing. -They can, if only they are true to themselves and their vision; they -can absolutely change the whole system under which industry is worked, -and change the world to their ideals. - -'"Come, and I will make you fishers of men...." The great work that -lies before scientific workers to-day is to extend the area of their -labours, to become not fishers of facts but fishers of men. There will -always be a distinguished band of purely scientific men devoted to -pure science, who will abide devoted to pure science; but with the -present number trained in science, we claim them also to organise the -machinery that science has created. They must leave their ships and -nets and become fishers of men.... I dare-say even scientific workers -know that is from the Bible. One of the greatest tragedies scientific -men have allowed is for others to steal the Bible from them. The Old -and New Testaments, with their record of progressive revelation, form -the most scientific book ever seen. Yet scientific men have allowed a -certain type of men to steal it from them. Bible stealing is an old -thing, and one favourite method is to bind it in morocco and to put it -on a top shelf.... - -'But I must return to my scientific business. When I was at Cambridge -I was not regarded as scientific. I was amongst those who took -mathematics, and those who took mathematics and classics were -respectable and had to attend chapel. But if you inclined at all -towards science, or even ethics, you were not supposed to attend -chapel.... - -'I said that I have recently discovered I am a scientific worker, -that I have been working a scientific experiment, though not of the -kind accepted for report to the Royal Society. It has been worked by -being headmaster of a school for thirty years and by having taught -for forty years. When I became a headmaster I began by introducing -engineering into the school--applied science. The first effect was -that a large number of boys who could not do other things could do -that. They began to like their work in school. They began to like -school. That led on to introducing a large number of other sciences, -such as agricultural chemistry, horse-shoeing (if that is a science), -metallurgical chemistry, bio-chemistry, agriculture; and, of course, -these new sorts of work interested a large number of other boys of a -type different from the type interested in the old work, so we got an -exceptional number of boys, curiously enough, unexpectedly liking what -they had to do in school. Then I ventured to do something daring; it -is most daring to introduce the scientific method of finding out the -truth--a dangerous thing--by the process of experiment and research. We -began to replace explicit teaching by finding out. We did this first -with these newly introduced sciences. Then we began to impress the -aims and outlook of science on to other departments of school life. -History, for instance: we began to replace the old class-room teaching -and learning by a laboratory for history, full of books and other -things required in abundance, so that boys in all parts of the school -could, for some specific purpose (not to learn; to go into school to -learn was egotistical), find out the things we required for to-day. We -set them to find out things for the service of science, the service of -literature, modern languages, music. - -'This began to change the whole organisation of the school, its aims -and methods. It was no use organising boys in forms by the ordinary -methods of promotion for this sort of work. You have to make up your -mind what you have to do, and then go about and collect anybody who -would be of service to that particular work. You would require boys of -one characteristic and boys of another. You make them up into teams for -the particular work they have to do. The boys who do not fit into this -or that particular work must have some other particular work found for -them. You begin to design the work of the school for them. You must -have all the apparatus you want for it, and you must organise for it, -but you begin by organising the work for the boys and what they need -to find out, and not by putting the boys into the organisation. Now, -presently you discover, when you do this, that not a single boy exists -who is not wanted for some particular work; to carry out your object -every boy is fundamentally equal. One does this, one does that. Each -boy has his place in the team, and in his place he is as important as -any other boy. Placing them in order of merit does not work any more. -The scientific method absolutely changed the position towards class -lists and order of merit. That was an astonishing result. - -'Another astonishing result was that we could not have anybody who was -not working. If a boy was not working, you could see that he was not -working. You could see that he was doing nothing. He could not sit at -the back of a class-room and seem to be working. Everybody was working. -You can manage that in school, but what about the world? All sorts of -people may seem to be working and not be working at all. The curate -may be doing nothing! (_Chuckle and something inaudible._) This seems -to land us into the extraordinary fact that no community if it is -scientifically organised can carry any one who does not do service. I -hope you will agree with me that that is scientific. - -'A little farther on I turned round on the boys and the parents. (Both -are my business.) I said, "I have and the school has tried all it -could to see to it that your boy got the right kind of work to do. We -spared no trouble or expense to see to it that he might be able to -perform his service in the school and to the community.... When you go -forth to your father's works, keep in mind that it is your business -to see to it that every person that comes within your influence has a -like opportunity." That is totally different from your duty to your -neighbour as taught in the Church Catechism. We have landed ourselves -hopelessly in the position of having a practical community definition -of our duty towards our neighbour. You remember the rich young ruler -who came to ask what his duty was, and went away sorrowful because -he had great possessions. Some of these possessions were perhaps -intellectual. I like to think of Watts' picture of that man and I like -Watts' idea that he came back. I hope if any of our boys go away they -will come back. - -'Another step. This actual love of work spreads, and ultimately every -one comes within its influence, and they begin to like the service they -are rendering. Finally, competition dwindles and passes away, so that -we have reached what appears to be a change in human nature. It is not -really a change, but by care and attention calling out what has always -been ready there in human nature, namely, a first instinctive love to -create. I have always held that competition is a secondary interest -and creation a primary instinct. Competition dwindles and passes away. -Competition is a very feeble incentive to live. It is cheap and easy to -arouse the motive, it is a swift motive and on the surface of things -ready for you, but it is not even a powerful motive. Half the boys it -dispirits and leaves idle and useless. - -'The passing of competition leads on to another thing passing away, -which is this: you soon find that a body of workers that as a community -has attempted to provide for itself, as a community adapts itself to -the community spirit, and punishment is totally unnecessary. It was -a long time before that dawned on me. I have not, as a headmaster, -taken any part in any shape in punishing boys directly, either by the -easy methods supposed to train them for after life or by the other -methods that have sprung from the fertile brains of a dominant order. -Punishment, I declare from years of experience in this experiment, is -a crime: not only a crime but a blunder. Why? Because it is a cheap -and easy thing. If you punish it is easy, but if a community has so -to arrange itself and adapt itself as to produce the reaction on -the individual not to do objectionable things, that is hard. It is -complicated. It requires an abundance of real sacrifice. It demands -readjustment of everything upon a basis of service. I have been much -impressed recently by the effect of having punishment organised in -removing any activity on the part of the community itself towards -adjusting itself so that punishment should not be necessary. I used to -flatter myself, "I don't punish that boy, my prefects do; they keep me -right." But I have been convinced by my thirty years of experiment that -that was all wrong. These things come slowly. Now, without any action -on my part, the prefects have stopped punishing, and a good thing for -them. If they leave their boots about, the small boys will too, and -they will have to punish them for doing so. To leave your own boots -about like a lord is a fine thing, and to punish the small boy who does -so is also a fine thing! But it is easy. The hard thing is never to -leave your own boots about.... - -'The reactions that we have been taught to make in the world are weakly -static. What is the good of static methods? There is friction; we -are told how to overcome frictional resistance. We can put an end to -friction by stopping the machine. That is the static method of dealing -with friction. Or we can go on working the machine, with oil and care -... which is not so cheap and easy, but which gets somewhere.... If -we try to remove friction by the static methods of punishment we are -removing the incentive to live a dangerous life. "The secret of a -joyful life is to live dangerously." You only live dangerously if you -are perpetually trying to overcome your own inertia and trying to get -the capacity to do great things. If you are only defensive, static, it -is a waste of time. Yet those defences and resistances are securely -placed in the governance of the state. What a curious thing is the -form of government! Its characteristics include no repentance, no -regret, otherwise it would acknowledge itself less than the governed. -Its ideal is a perpetual static calm. _Suaviter in modo, fortiter in -re._ It is the method of people who perform the confidence trick. It is -the method of "If you want peace, prepare for war." ...' - -For some minutes Mr. Sanderson paused. He looked at his notes. He was -obviously very fatigued, but very resolute to continue. He read:-- - -'Acquisitiveness leads to these glorified things: general science, -general knowledge, national history, scholarships, examinations, -advanced courses, "interesting" things (whoever wanted to be -interested?), the theological thing called "syncretism," tact, -swindling....' - -Mr. Sanderson stopped and smiled in a breathless manner, half panting, -half laughing, very characteristic of him. His glasses gleamed at the -audience. His smile meant: 'We are going a little too fast, boys. Where -are we getting to? Where are we getting to?' He affected to refer to -his notes and then broke away upon a new line. - -'Out of all these things I have been telling you, out of all these -considerations, evolves the modern school. The modern school is -not made by the very simple and easy method of abandoning Greek. -(Laughter.) Nor is it made by introducing science or engineering. The -modern school's business is to impress into the service of man every -branch of human knowledge we can get hold of. The modern method in the -modern school does not depend on any method of teaching. We hear a -great deal about methods of teaching languages, mathematics, science; -they are all trivial. The great purpose is to enlist the boys or girls -in the service of man to-day and man to-morrow. The method which makes -learning easy is waste of time. What boy will succumb to the entreaty: -"Come, I will make you clever; it will be so easy for you; you will be -able to learn it without an effort"? What they succumb to is service -for the community. I have tested that in the workshops. They don't want -to make things for themselves; they soon cease to have any longing -desire to make anything even for their mothers. What they love to do is -to take part in some great work that must be done for the community; -some work that goes on beyond them, some great spacious work. You can -spread them out into all sorts of spacious things, in all departments, -such things as taking part in investigating the truth. The truth, -for instance, of the actual condition of the coal-miners or of any -miners. An important question which we have been concerned with for at -least three years is "_What is China?_ What is it like?" You may say, -"Methods of teaching geography." But who ever learned anything from -geography--as geography? Who wants to know geography--as geography? -Books exist for it, maps, plasticine exists for it. We want to know -about China. If we are going to see to it that every one of our working -men has the same opportunities that in our school we give to our boys -we shall have some difficulty with China. We shall never be able to -give our working people these opportunities unless the Chinese give -them too. Scientific men must find themselves dominant in the Foreign -Office and Colonial Service so as to know what is the nature of the -people in these distant places, how we can bring to them what we are -able to give to our sons--the opportunity of making the highest and -best use of their faculties. We shall not get that sort of thing from -geography books. You will have to take the boys and let them find out -what men have done who have been in China: to get products from China; -to know its geology, and whether, after all, the Chinese do so deeply -love rice that they want to live on a very little a day. Do the Chinese -love rice? Do they love underselling white labour? Do they want to? -That is real geography, but not class-room geography. That extension -of interest, until China is brought into the class-room and the boys -are finding out about it, is, I claim, one of the deepest and greatest -tasks to be undertaken. China--India--the Durham miners--spacious -undertakings.... - -'Schools must be equipped spaciously, _spaciously_, and they must have -a spacious staff. I have the list of our staff here. We have masters -for mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, zoology, -anthropology, botany, geology, architecture, classics, history, -literature, geography, archaeology, economics, French, German, Spanish, -Italian, Russian, Eastern languages, art, applied art, handicrafts, and -music. - -'"Impossible," some people say. There is no great school in the land -but could quite well afford it.... - -'We must send out workers imbued with the determination to seek and -investigate truth--truth that will make them free--and to take great -care that in the search for truth they will never take part in or -sympathise with those methods by which the edge of truth is blunted.' - - -§ 3 - -The voice beside me stopped. Some one pushed up a chair for Sanderson -and he sat down. There was applause. I stood up and then struck by a -thought, whispered: 'Would you like to answer a few questions?' - -'Yes, yes. Certainly,' he said. - -'Not too tired to answer them?' - -'No--no.' - -I had a little strip of notes in my hand and I thought of underlining -one or two points in this tremendous project of a school he had spread -before his audience before I let in the questioners. I began by saying -that the lecture had been a little hard to follow but that it would -repay following into the remotest corners of its meaning. Then I heard -a little commotion behind me and turned round to see what was the -matter. Sanderson had slipped from his chair on to the platform and was -lying on his back breathing hoarsely. His collar and tie were removed -forthwith. There were several doctors on the platform with us and -they set to work upon him. I hesitated for a moment and then declared -the meeting at an end, and asked the audience to disperse as speedily -as possible. I thought it was an epileptic fit and I had no sense of -Sanderson's impending death. I had never seen anything of the sort -before. I could not believe it when they told me he was dead. - -The windows of the hot and sultry room were opened and most of the -people made their way out, but the reporters remained and one or two -persons of the curious type who hung about vaguely with an affectation -of decorous sympathy. The lecture had been a very difficult one for -the newspaper men, and they came now with a certain eagerness to -ask questions about Oundle and Sanderson's career. I answered them -as well as I could. Sanderson lay across the back of the platform, -bare-chested and still. It became evident that I had to seek out Mrs. -Sanderson and tell her of this disaster. - -There was a little difficulty in ascertaining at which hotel Mr. and -Mrs. Sanderson had been staying, and when I got there I found she was -out shopping, and I waited some time for her return. Meanwhile her -daughter and her daughter-in-law at Oundle were called up by telephone -to come to her at once in London. I told her at first that her husband -was ill, and then, as we went together in a cab to University College, -dangerously ill. She was fully prepared to hear from the doctors at the -hospital that the end had come. The poor lady took the news very simply -and bravely. - -In the Mortuary Chapel of University College Hospital I saw my friend's -face for the last time, in all the irresponsive dignity of death. We -took Mrs. Sanderson to him and left her for a time alone with him. Four -years before in the same London hotel at which she was now solitary, -he and she had shared the bitter grief of their eldest son's death -together. - - -§ 4 - -An event of this sort produces the most various reactions in people, -and I recall with a distressful amusement two unknown persons who -accosted me as I went out from University College to find a taxi to -take me to Mrs. Sanderson. One was a young woman who came up to me and -said: 'Don't be grieved for your friend, Mr. Wells. It was a splendid -thing to die like that in the midst of life, after giving his message.' - -I did not accept these congratulations and I made no reply to her. -I was thinking that a little acute observation, a little more -consideration on my part, a finer sense of the labour I was putting -upon my friend, might have averted his death altogether. And I was by -no means convinced that his message was delivered, that it had reached -the people I had hoped it would reach and awaken. I had counted on much -more from Sanderson. This death seemed to me and still seems far more -like frustration than release. - -Then presently as I gesticulated for a cab near Gower Street Station, I -found a pale-faced, earnest-looking man beside me asking for a moment's -speech. 'Mr. Wells,' he said, 'does not this sudden event give you new -views of immortality, new lights upon spiritual realities?' - -I stared at a sort of greedy excitement in his face. 'None whatever!' I -said at last and got into my taxi. - -I must confess that to this day I can find in Sanderson's death nothing -but irreparable loss. He left much of his work in a state so incomplete -that I cannot see how his successors can carry it on. In matters -educational he was before all things a practical artist, and education -is altogether too much the prey of theories. He filled me--a mere -writer, with envious admiration when I saw how he could control and -shape things to his will, how he could experiment and learn and how he -could use his boys, his governors, his staff, to try out and shape his -creative dreams. - -He was a strong man and in a very profound and simple way a good man, -and it was a very helpful thing to feel oneself his ally. But now that -he is gone, now that all his later projects and intentions shrivel and -fade and his great school recedes visibly towards the commonplace, I do -not know where to turn to do an effective stroke for education. It is -only schoolmasters and schoolmistresses and educational authorities -and school governors and school promoters and university teachers who -can really carry on the work that he began. In this book I have tried -to set out as clearly as possible, and largely in his own words, his -fundamental ideas of the supersession of competition by co-operation, -of the return of schools to real service and of a House of Vision, a -Temple of History and the Future, as the brain and centre of community -life. This present book is, as it were, a simplified diagram of the -teachings less luminously and more fully set out in the official Life. - -One thing I shared with Sanderson altogether, and that was our -conviction that the present common life of men, at once dull and -disorderly, competitive, uncreative, cruelly stupid and stupidly -cruel, unless it is to be regarded merely as a necessary phase in the -development of a nobler existence, is a thing not worth having, that -it does not matter who drops dead or how soon we drop dead out of such -a world. Unless there is a more abundant life before mankind, this -scheme of space and time is a bad joke beyond our understanding, a -flare of vulgarity, an empty laugh, braying across the mysteries. But -we two shared the belief that latent in men and perceptible in men is a -greater mankind, great enough to make every effort to realise it fully -worth while, and to make the whole business of living worth while. - -And the way to that realisation lies, we both believed, through thought -and through creative effort, through science and art and the school. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER*** - - -******* This file should be named 64410-8.txt or 64410-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/4/4/1/64410 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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(Herbert George) Wells</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - - p { margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } - - p.bold {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} - p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; - } - h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } - #id1 { font-size: smaller } - - - hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; - } - - body{margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - } - - table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} - - .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - text-indent: 0px; - } /* page numbers */ - - .center {text-align: center;} - .smaller {font-size: smaller;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .box {max-width: 35em; margin: 1.5em auto;} - .space-above {margin-top: 3em;} - .left {text-align: left;} - - .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - .poem br {display: none;} - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem div {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - .poem div.i3 {margin-left: 3em;} - - - h1.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 190%; - margin-top: 0em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h2.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 135%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - page-break-before: avoid; - line-height: 1; } - h3.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of a Great Schoolmaster, by H. G. -(Herbert George) Wells</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Story of a Great Schoolmaster</p> -<p>Author: H. G. (Herbert George) Wells</p> -<p>Release Date: January 28, 2021 [eBook #64410]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Tim Lindell, Martin Pettit,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (http://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images digitized by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)<br /> - and generously made available by<br /> - HathiTrust Digital Library<br /> - (https://www.hathitrust.org/)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - HathiTrust Digital Library. See - https://hdl.handle.net/2027/dul1.ark:/13960/t8z94cz5t - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/front.jpg" alt="front" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> - -<h1>THE STORY OF A<br /> GREAT SCHOOLMASTER</h1> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="box"> -<p>¶ Mr. Wells has also written the following novels:</p> - -<blockquote><p>THE WHEELS OF CHANCE<br /> -LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM<br /> -KIPPS<br /> -TONO BUNGAY<br /> -ANN VERONICA<br /> -MR. POLLY<br /> -THE NEW MACHIAVELLI<br /> -MARRIAGE<br /> -THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS<br /> -THE WIFE OF SIR ISAAC HARMAN<br /> -BEALBY<br /> -THE RESEARCH MAGNIFICENT<br /> -MR. BRITLING SEES IT THROUGH<br /> -THE SOUL OF A BISHOP<br /> -JOAN AND PETER<br /> -THE UNDYING FIRE<br /> -THE SECRET PLACES OF THE HEART</p></blockquote> - -<p>¶ The following fantastic and imaginative romances:</p> - -<blockquote><p>THE TIME MACHINE<br /> -THE WONDERFUL VISIT<br /> -THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU<br /> -THE INVISIBLE MAN<br /> -THE WAR OF THE WORLDS<br /> -THE SLEEPER AWAKES<br /> -THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON<br /> -THE SEA LADY<br /> -THE FOOD OF THE GODS<br /> -IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET<br /> -THE WAR IN THE AIR<br /> -THE WORLD SET FREE<br /> -MEN LIKE GODS</p></blockquote> - -<p>And numerous Short Stories published in several different collections</p> - -<p>¶ A Series of books upon Social, Religious and Political questions:</p> - -<blockquote><p>ANTICIPATIONS (1900)<br /> -MANKIND IN THE MAKING<br /> -FIRST AND LAST THINGS<br /> -NEW WORLDS FOR OLD<br /> -A MODERN UTOPIA<br /> -THE FUTURE IN AMERICA<br /> -AN ENGLISHMAN LOOKS AT THE WORLD<br /> -WHAT IS COMING?<br /> -WAR AND THE FUTURE<br /> -IN THE FOURTH YEAR<br /> -GOD THE INVISIBLE KING<br /> -RUSSIA IN THE SHADOWS<br /> -THE SALVAGING OF CIVILIZATION<br /> -WASHINGTON AND THE RIDDLE OF PEACE<br /> -THE OUTLINE OF HISTORY<br /> -A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD</p></blockquote> - -<p>¶ And two little books about children's play, called:</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smaller">FLOOR GAMES</span> and <span class="smaller">LITTLE WARS</span></p></blockquote> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><a name="frontispiece.jpg" id="frontispiece.jpg"></a><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="F. W. Sanderson" /></div> - -<p class="bold">F. W. Sanderson</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/title.jpg" alt="title page" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">THE<br />STORY OF A GREAT<br />SCHOOLMASTER</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">H. G. WELLS</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">New York<br />THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br />1924</p> - -<p class="bold"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1924,<br /><span class="smcap">By</span> H. G. WELLS.<br /> -———<br />Set up and electrotyped.<br />Published January, 1924.</p> - -<p class="center space-above"><i>Printed in the United States of America by</i><br />THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CONTENTS</span></h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER I</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Sanderson the Man</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER II</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Modernisation of Oundle School</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER III</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Replacement of Competition by Group Work</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER IV</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Re-establishment of Relations between School and Reality</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER V</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Growth of Sanderson Shown in His Sermons and Scripture Lessons</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER VI</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The War and Sanderson's Propaganda of Reconstruction</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER VII</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The House of Vision and the School Chapel</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="center">CHAPTER VIII</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Last Lecture</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> - -<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table summary="LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><span class="smaller">FACING PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">F. W. Sanderson</span></td> - <td><a href="#frontispiece.jpg"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><span class="smaller">FACING PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Interior in Science Block</span></td> - <td><a href="#i034.jpg">34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Head among the Parents</span></td> - <td><a href="#i084.jpg">84</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">THE STORY OF A<br />GREAT SCHOOLMASTER</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">THE STORY OF A GREAT<br />SCHOOLMASTER</p> - -<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">Sanderson the Man</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>Of all the men I have met—and I have now had a fairly long and active -life and have met a very great variety of interesting people—one only -has stirred me to a biographical effort. This one exception is F. W. -Sanderson, for many years the headmaster of Oundle School. I think him -beyond question the greatest man I have ever known with any degree of -intimacy, and it is in the hope of conveying to others something of -my sense not merely of his importance, but of his peculiar genius and -the rich humanity of his character, that I am setting out to write -this book. He was in himself a very delightful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> mixture of subtlety -and simplicity, generosity, adventurousness, imagination and steadfast -purpose, and he approached the general life of our time at such an -angle as to reflect the most curious and profitable lights upon it. To -tell his story is to reflect upon all the main educational ideas of -the last half-century, and to revise our conception of the process and -purpose of the modern community in relation to education. For Sanderson -had a mind like an octopus, it seemed always to have a tentacle free -to reach out beyond what was already held, and his tentacles grew and -radiated farther and farther. Before his end he had come to a vision -of the school as a centre for the complete reorganisation of civilised -life.</p> - -<p>I knew him personally only during the last eight years of his life; -I met him for the first time in 1914, when I was proposing to send -my sons to his school. But our thoughts and interests drew us very -close to one another, I never missed an opportunity of meeting and -talking to him, and I was the last person he spoke to before his -sudden death. He was sixty-six years of age when he died. Those last -eight years were certainly the richest and most productive of his -whole career;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> he grew most in those years; he travelled farthest. I -think I saw all the best of him. It is, I think, no disadvantage to -have known him only in his boldest and most characteristic phase. It -saves me from confusion between his maturer and his earlier phases. He -was a much stratified man. He had grown steadfastly all his life, he -had shaken off many habitual inhibitions and freed himself from once -necessary restraints and limitations. He would go discreetly while his -convictions accumulated and then break forward very rapidly. He had -a way of leaving people behind, and if I had fallen under his spell -earlier, I, too, might have been left far behind. He was, I recall, a -rock-climber; he was a mental rock-climber also, and though he was very -wary of recalcitrance, there were times when his pace became so urgent -that even his staff and his own family were left tugging, breathless -and perplexed, at the rope.</p> - -<p>Out of a small country grammar-school he created something more -suggestive of those great modern teaching centres of which our world -stands in need than anything else that has yet been attempted. By -all ordinary standards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> Oundle School of his later years was -a brilliant success; it prospered amazingly, there was an almost -hopeless waiting-list of applicants; boys had to be entered five -years ahead; but successful as it was, it was no more than a sketch -and demonstration of the great schools that are yet to be. I saw my -own sons get an education there better than I had ever dared hope for -them in England, but from the first my interest in the intention and -promise of Oundle went far beyond its working actualities. And all the -educational possibilities that I had hitherto felt to be unattainable -dreams, matters of speculation, things a little too extravagant even -to talk about in our dull age, I found being pushed far towards -realisation by this bold, persistent, humorous and most capable man.</p> - -<p>Let me first try to give you a picture of his personality as he lives -in my memory. Then I will try to give an account of his beginnings, as -far as I have been able to learn about them, and so we will come to our -main theme, <i>Sanderson contra Mundum</i>, the schoolmaster who set out to -conquer the world. For, as I shall show, that and no less was what he -was trying to do in the last years of his life. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - -<p>'Ruddy' and 'jolly' are the adjectives that come first to mind when I -think of describing him. He had been a slender, energetic young man -his early photographs witness; but long before I met him he had become -plump and energetic, with a twinkling appreciation for most of the -good things of life. His complexion had a reddish fairness; he had -well-modelled features, thick eyebrows and thick moustache touched with -grey, and he wore spectacles through and over and beside which his -active eyes took stock of you. About his eyes were kindly wrinkles, and -generally I remember him as smiling—often with a touch of roguery in -the smile. Quick movements of his head caused animating flashes of his -glasses. He was carrying a little too much body for his heart, and that -made him short of breath. His voice was in his chest, there was a touch -of his native Northumbria in his accent, and he had a habit of speaking -in incomplete sentences with a frequent use of the interrogative form. -His manner was confidential; he would bend towards his hearer and drop -his voice a little. 'Now what do you think of ——?' he would say, -or 'I've been thinking of ——' so and so. At times his confidential -manner became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> endearingly suggestive of a friendly conspirator. This, -as yet, he seemed to say, was not for too careless a publication. -You and he understood, but those other fellows—they were difficult -fellows. It might not be practicable to attempt everything at once.</p> - -<p>That reservation, that humorous discretion, is very essential in my -memory of him. It is essential to the whole educational situation of -the world. He was an exceptionally bold and creative man, and he was a -schoolmaster, and that is perhaps as near as one can come to a complete -incompatibility of quality and conditions. In no part of our social -life is dull traditionalism so powerfully entrenched as it is in our -educational organisation. We have still to realise the evil of mental -heaviness in scholastic concerns. We take, very properly, the utmost -precautions to exclude men and women of immoral character not only from -actual teaching but also from any exercise of educational authority. -But no one ever makes the least objection to the far more deadly -influences of stupidity and unteachable ignorance. Our conceptions of -morality are still grossly physical. The heavier and slower a man's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -mind seems to be, the more addicted he is to intellectual narcotics, -the more people trust him as a schoolmaster. He will 'stay put.'</p> - -<p>A timid obstructiveness is the atmosphere in which almost all -educational effort has to work, and schoolmasters are denied a liberty -of thought and speech conceded to every other class of respectable men. -They must still be mealy-mouthed about Darwin, fatuously conventional -in politics, and emptily orthodox in religion. If they stimulate their -boys they must stimulate as a brass trumpet does, without words or -ideas. They may be great leaders of men—provided they lead backwards -or nowhither. Sanderson in his latter days broke into unexampled -freedom, but for the greater part of his life he was—like most of -his profession—'wading hips-deep in fools,' and equally resolved -to work out his personal impulse and retain the great opportunities -that the governing body of Oundle School had, almost unwittingly, put -into his hands. He was therefore not only a great revolutionary but -something of a Vicar of Bray. A large part of the amusing subtlety of -his personality was the result of the balanced course he had to pursue. -In all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> he did, in all he said, he was feeling his way. No other -schoolmaster—and there must be many a rebellious heart lying still -in the graves of dead schoolmasters and many a stifled rebel in the -schoolrooms of to-day—no other schoolmaster has ever felt his way so -discreetly, so far and, at last, so triumphantly.</p> - -<p>I remember as a very characteristic thing that he said one day when -I asked for his opinion of a particularly progressive and hopeful -addition to his board of governors: 'He does not know much about -schools yet, but he will learn. Oundle will teach him.' And in his last -great lecture, he flung out a general 'aside'—that lecture was full of -astonishing 'asides'—'I turned round on the boys and the parents,' he -said, '<i>both are my business</i>.'</p> - -<p>Never was schoolmaster so emancipated as he in his latter years from -the ancient servility of the pedagogue. Not for him the handing on -of mellow traditions and genteel gestures of the mind, not for him -the obedient administration of useful information to employers' sons -by the docile employee. He saw the modern teacher in university and -school plainly for what he has to be, the anticipator, the planner, and -the foundation-maker <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>of the new and greater order of human life that -arises now visibly amidst the decaying structures of the old.</p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>Sanderson was born and brought up outside the British public-school -system that he was to affect so profoundly. His early education was -obtained in a parish school. His father was employed in the estate -office of Lord Boyne at Brancepeth in Durham. There were several -brothers but they all died before manhood, and the scanty indications -one can glean of those early years suggest a slender, studious, and -probably rather delicate youngster. He was never very proficient in -any out-of-door games. In the early days at Oundle he careered about -on a bicycle; in later years he played tennis; his vacation exercise -was rock-scrambling. He became a 'student-teacher,' so the official -Life phrases it, at a school at Tudhoe, but whether there was any -difference between being a student-teacher at a school at Tudhoe and -being an ordinary pupil-teacher in an ordinary elementary school under -the English Education<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> Department I have been unable to ascertain. He -was already notable in his village world as exceptionally intelligent, -industrious, and ambitious, and with a little encouragement from the -local vicar and one or two friends he effected an escape from the -strangling limitations of elementary teaching.</p> - -<p>He may have aimed at the church at that time. At any rate he gained a -scholarship and entered Durham University as a theological student. -He did well in Durham University both in theology and mathematics; he -was made a Fellow and he was able to go on as a scholar from Durham to -the wider and more strenuous academic life of Cambridge. At Cambridge -theology drops out of the foreground of the picture. He took a fairly -good degree in mathematics, and he worked for the Natural Science -Tripos. He did not fight his way up into that select class which -secures Cambridge fellowships, but he had made a reputation as an able, -hard, and honest worker; he was much sought after as a coach, and he -was given a lectureship in the woman's college of Girton. From this he -went as senior physics master to the big school for boys at Dulwich. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> - -<p>A photograph of him in the early Dulwich period shows him slender and -keen-looking, already bespectacled and with a thick moustache; except -for the glasses not unlike another ruddy north-countryman I once knew, -the novelist George Gissing. Both were what one might call Scandinavian -in type. But Gissing was as despondent as Sanderson was buoyant. In -those days, an old Dulwich associate tells me, Sanderson was in a -state of great mental fermentation. He loved long walks in his spare -time, and along the pebbly paths and roads and up and down the little -hills of that corner of Kent, the two of them talked out a hundred -aspects and issues of the perplexing changing world in which they found -themselves.</p> - -<p>It was the world of the eighteen-eighties they were looking at, -before the first Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and it may be worth while -to devote a paragraph or so to a reconstruction of the moral and -intellectual landscape this lean and eager young man was confronting.</p> - -<p>Upon the surface and in its general structure that British world of -the eighties had a delusive air of final establishment. Queen Victoria -had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> been reigning for close upon half a century and seemed likely to -reign for ever. The economic system of unrestricted private enterprise -with privately owned capital had yielded a great harvest of material -prosperity, and few people suspected how rapidly it was exhausting the -soil of willing service in which it grew. Production increased every -year; population increased every year; there was a steady progress -of invention and discovery, comfort, and convenience. Wars went on, -a marginal stimulation of the empire, but since the collapse of -Napoleon I. no war had happened to frighten England for its existence -as a country; no threat of warfare that could touch English life -or English soil troubled men's imagination. Ruskin and Carlyle had -criticised English ideals and the righteousness of English commerce -and industrialism, but they were regarded generally as eccentric -and unaccountable men; there was already a conflict of science and -theology, but it affected the national life very little outside the -world of the intellectuals; a certain amount of trade competition from -the United States and from other European countries was developing, but -at most it ruffled the surface of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> the national self-confidence. There -was a socialist movement, but it was still only a passionless criticism -of trade and manufacturers, a criticism poised between aesthetic -fastidiousness and benevolence. People played with that Victorian -socialism as they would have played with a very young tiger-cub. The -labour movement was a gentle insistence upon rather higher wages and -rather shorter hours; it had still to discover Socialism. In a world -of certainties the rate of interest fell by minute but perceptible -degrees, and as a consequence money for investment went abroad until -all the world was under tribute to Britain. History seemed to be -over, entirely superseded by the daily paper; tragedy and catastrophe -were largely eliminated from human life. One read of famines in India -and civil chaos in China, but one felt that these were diminishing -distresses; the missionaries were at work there and railways spreading.</p> - -<p>It was indeed a mild and massive Sphynx of British life that confronted -our young man at Dulwich and his friend, an amoeboid Sphynx which -enveloped and assimilated rather than tore and devoured. It had not -been stricken for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> generation, and so it felt assured of the ages. -But beneath its tranquil-looking surfaces many ferments were actively -at work, and its serene and empty visage masked extensive processes -of decay. The fifty-year-old faith on which the social and political -fabric rested—for all social and political fabrics must in the last -resort rest upon faith—was being corroded and dissolved and removed. -Britain in the mid-Victorian time stood strong and sturdy in the -world because a great number of its people, its officials, employers, -professional men and workers honestly believed in the rightness of its -claims and professions, believed in its state theology, in the justice -of its economic relationships, in the romantic dignity of its monarchy, -and in the real beneficence and righteousness of its relations to -foreigners and the subject-races of the Empire. They did what they -understood to be their duty in the light of that belief, simply, -directly, and with self-respect and mutual confidence. If some of its -institutions fell short of perfection, few people doubted that they led -towards it. But from the middle of the century onward this assurance of -the prosperous British in their world was being subjected to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> more -and more destructive criticism, spreading slowly from intellectual -circles into the general consciousness.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to note one or two dates in relation to Sanderson's -life. He was born in the year 1857. This was two years before the -publication of Darwin's <i>Origin of Species</i>. He was growing up -through boyhood as the application of the Darwinian criticism of life -to current theology was made, and as the great controversy between -Science and orthodox beliefs came to a head. Huxley's challenging -book, <i>Man's Place in Nature</i>, was published in 1863; Darwin became -completely explicit about human origins only in 1871 with <i>The Descent -of Man</i>. Sanderson, then a bright and forward boy of fourteen, was -probably already beginning to take notice of these disputes about the -fundamentals, as they were then considered, of sound Christianity.</p> - -<p>He was already at college when Huxley was pounding Gladstone and the -Duke of Argyll upon such issues as whether the first chapter of Genesis -was strictly parallel with the known course of evolution, and whether -the miracle of the Gadarene swine was a just treatment of the Gadarene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -swineherds. Sanderson's Durham and Cambridge studies and talks went -on amidst the thunder of these debates, and there can be little doubt -that his early theology underwent much bending and adaptation to the -new realisations of the past of man, and of human destiny that these -discussions opened out. He did not take holy orders but he remained -in the Anglican Church; manifestly he could still find a meaning -in the Fall and in the scheme of Salvation. Many other promising -teachers of his generation found this impossible; such men as Graham -Wallas, for example, felt compelled for conscience'-sake to abandon -the public-school teaching to which they had hoped to give their -lives. Wallas found scope for his very great gifts of suggestion and -inspiration in the London School of Economics, but many others of these -Victorian non-jurors were lost to education altogether.</p> - -<p>The criticism of the economic life and social organisation of that age -was going on almost parallel with the destruction of its cosmogony. -Ruskin's <i>Unto this Last</i> was issued when Sanderson was four years -old; <i>Fors Clavigera</i> was appearing in the seventies and the early -eighties.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> William Morris was a little later with <i>News from Nowhere</i> -and <i>The Dream of John Ball</i>; they must have still been vividly new -books in Sanderson's Cambridge days. Marx was little heard of then in -England. He was already a power in German socialism in the seventies, -but he did not reach the reader of English until the eighties were -nearly at an end. When Sanderson discussed socialism during those -Dulwich walks, it must have been Ruskin and Morris rather than Marx -who figured in his talk. Although there remains no account of those -early conversations, it is easy to guess that this stir of social -reconstruction and religious readjustment must have played a large part -in them. Sanderson meant to teach and wanted to teach; he was quite -unlike that too common sort of schoolmaster who has fallen back into -teaching after the collapse of other ambitions; like all really sincere -teachers he was eager to learn, open to every new and stimulating idea, -and free altogether from the malignant conservatism of the disappointed -type.</p> - -<p>He kept that adolescent power of mental growth throughout life. I -remember my pleased astonishment on my first visit to Oundle to -find in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> his library—I had drifted to his bookshelves while I -awaited him—a row of the works of Nietzsche (who came into the -English-speaking world in the late nineties) and recent books by -Bertrand Russell and Shaw. Here was a schoolmaster, a British public -schoolmaster, aware that the world was still going on! It seemed too -good to be true. But it was true, and in the end Sanderson was to die, -ten years, shall we say?—or twenty, ahead of his time.</p> - -<p>And while we are placing Sanderson in relation to the intellectual -stir of the age let us note, too, the general shape of human affairs -as it was presented to his mind. It was an age of steadily accelerated -political change, and of a vast increase in the population of the -world. The fifties and sixties of the nineteenth century had seen -the world-wide spread of the railway and telegraph network, and a -consequent opening up of vast regions of production that had hitherto -lain fallow. The screw was replacing the ineffective paddle-wheel of -the earlier steamships and revolutionising ocean transport. There was -a great increase in mechanical and agricultural efficiency. We still -call that time the mid-Victorian period,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> but the history teacher of -the future, more sensible than we are of the innocence of good Queen -Victoria in any concern of importance to mankind, is more likely to -distinguish it as the Advent of the New Communications. These new -inventions were 'abolishing distance.' They were demanding a political -synthesis of mankind. But there was little understanding as yet of -this now manifest truth. One hardly notes a sign of any such awareness -in literature and public discussions until the end of the century; -and failing a clear understanding of their nature the new expansive -forces operated through the cheap and unsound interpretations first of -sentimental nationalism and then of romantic imperialism.</p> - -<p>Sanderson's boyhood saw the differences of the cultures of north and -south in the United States of America at first exacerbated by the -new means of communication and then, after four years of civil war, -resolved into a stabler unity. The straggling peninsula of Italy -under the sway of the new synthetic forces recovered a unity it had -lost with the decay of the Roman roads; the internal tension of the -continental powers culminated in the Franco-German war. But these -were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> insufficient adjustments, and a renewed growth of armaments -upon land and sea alike, betrayed the growing mutual pressure of the -great powers. All dreamt of expansion and none of coalescence. The -dominant political fact in Europe while Sanderson was a young man, was -the rise of Germany to political and economic predominance. German -energy, restrained from geographical release, drove upward along the -lines of scientific and technical progress, and the outward thrust of -its pent-up imperialism took the form of a gathering military threat. -Germany first and then the United States, released and renewed after -their escape from the fragmentation that had threatened them, made the -economic pace for the rest of the world throughout the eighties and the -nineties. They stirred the British manufacturer and parent to indignant -inquiries; they forced the drowsy schools of Great Britain into a -reluctant admission of scientific and technical teaching. But they -awakened as yet no profounder heart-searchings.</p> - -<p>The young science-master at Dulwich talked, no doubt, as we all did in -those days, of Evolution and Socialism, of the rights of labour and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -the Christianisation of industry, of the progress of science and the -scandal of the increasing expenditure upon armaments, with the illusion -of an immense general stability in the background of his mind. It was -an illusion that needed not only the Great War of 1914-18 but its -illuminating sequelae to shatter and destroy.</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>Accounts of Sanderson's work in Dulwich school differ very widely. -At one time it would seem that he had troubles about discipline, and -it is quite conceivable that his methods there were experimental and -fluctuating. No doubt he was trying over at Dulwich many of the things -that were to establish his success at Oundle. On the whole the Dulwich -work was good work, and it gave him sufficient reputation to secure the -headmastership of Oundle School when presently the governing body of -that school sought a man of energy and character to modernise it.</p> - -<p>The most valuable result of his Dulwich period was the demonstration -of the interestingness of practical work in physical science for -boys who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> remained apathetic under the infliction of the stereotyped -classical curriculum. He was not getting the pick of the boys there but -the residue, but he was getting an alertness and interest out of this -second-grade material that surprised even himself. The interest of the -classical teaching was largely the interest of a spirited competition -which demanded not only a special sort of literary ability but a -special sort of competitive disposition. But there are quite clever -boys of an amiable type to whom competition does not appeal, and some -of these were among the most interesting of the youngsters who were -awakened to industrious work by his laboratory instruction.</p> - -<p>It is clear that before Sanderson went to Oundle he had already -developed a firm faith in the possibility of a school with a new and -more varied curriculum, in which a far greater proportion of the boys -could be interested in their work than was the case in the contemporary -classical and (formal) mathematical school, and also that he had -conceived the idea of replacing the competitive motive, which had ruled -the schools of Europe since the establishment of the great Jesuit -schools three hundred years before, by the more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> vital stimulus of -interest in the work itself. He also took to Oundle a proved and tested -conception of the need for the utmost possible personal participation -by every boy in every collective function of the school. Quite early -in his Oundle career he came into conflict with his boys and carried -his point upon the issue whether every boy was to sing in the school -singing or whether that was to be left to the specialised choir of -boys who had voices and a taste for that sort of thing. That was an -essential issue for him. From the very first he was working for the -rank and file and against the star system of school work by which a -few boys sing or work or play with distinction and encouragement, -against a background of neglected shirkers and defeated and discouraged -competitors.</p> - -<p>Sanderson married soon after he went to Dulwich. His wife came from -Cumberland and she excelled in all those domestic matters that made a -successful headmaster's wife. Throughout all the rest of his life she -was his loyal and passionate partisan. His friends were her friends, -and his critics and opponents were her enemies, and if she had a fault -it was that she found it difficult<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> to forgive any one who had seemed -ever to differ from him. Two sons were born during the seven years -that passed in the little home in Dulwich. It must have been a very -brisk and happy little home. One can imagine the tall young man with -his gown a little powdered with blackboard chalk, flying out behind -him, striding along the school corridors to some fresh and successful -experiment in laboratory work, or in homely tweeds walking along the -Kentish lanes with his friend, or snatching a delightful half-hour in -the nursery to see Master Roy's first attempts to walk, or reading -some new and stirring book with the lamp of those days before electric -lighting at his elbow. He was thirty-five when he achieved his last -step in the upward career of a secondary schoolmaster and was appointed -headmaster of Oundle. That success probably came as a surprise, for -Sanderson's modest origins and the fact that he was not in holy orders -must have been a serious handicap upon his application. It must have -been a very elated young couple who packed their household belongings -for the unknown town of Oundle.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The Modernisation of Oundle School</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>Oundle School, which was to be the material of Sanderson's life work, -which was to teach him so much and profit so richly by the reaction, -was one of comparatively old standing. It was a pre-reformation -foundation; a certain Joan Wyatt having endowed a schoolmaster in the -place in 1485. Its main revenues, however, derived from Sir William -Laxton, Lord Mayor of London and Master of the Grocers' Company, who -in 1556 left considerable property to that body on condition that it -supported a school in his native town of Oundle. The Grocers' Company -took over the Joan Wyatt school and schoolmaster, and has discharged -its obligations to Oundle with intermittent energy and honesty to this -day.</p> - -<p>Oundle has always been a school of fluctuating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> fortunes. The district -round and about does not sustain a sufficient population to maintain -full classes and an efficient staff, and only when the prestige of the -school was great enough to attract boys from a distance had it any -chance of flourishing. Time after time an energetic head with more -or less support from the distant governing body would push it into -prominence and prosperity only to pass away and leave it to an equally -rapid decline. The London Grocers' Company is a very unsuitable body -for educational work. It is not organised for any such work. It was -originally a chartered association of city wholesalers, spice-dealers, -and so forth, who maintained a certain standard of honest trading and -protected their common interests in the middle ages; it commended -itself to the spiritual care of St. Anthony, and built a great hall -and acted as almoner for its impoverished members and their widows and -orphans; its normal function to-day is the entertainment of princes -and politicians. It is now a fortuitous collection of merchants, -business-men, and prosperous persons, and it is only by chance that -now and then a group of its members have had the conscience and -intelligence to rise above<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> the normal indifference of such people to -the full possibilities of the Laxton bequest. Generally the Company's -conduct of the school has varied between half-hearted help and -negligence and the diversion of the funds to other ends; it has no -tradition of competent governorship, and the ups and downs of Oundle -have been dependent mainly upon the personal qualities of the masters -who have chanced to be appointed.</p> - -<p>There was a period of prosperity during the second quarter of the -seventeenth century which was brought to an end by the plague, and -by the impoverishment of the school through the fire of London in -which various Laxton properties were destroyed. Throughout a large -part of the eighteenth century the school was completely effaced, -and the entire revenues of the Laxton bequest were no doubt expended -in hospitality. There was a revival in 1796. In the seventies of the -nineteenth century the school was doing well in mathematics under -a certain Dr. Stansbury, and in the eighties it had as many as two -hundred boys under the Rev. H. St. J. Reade. Then it declined again -until the numbers sank below a hundred. It was a time of quickened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -consciences in educational matters, and some of the more energetic -and able members of the Grocers' Company determined to make a drastic -change of conditions at Oundle. They found Sanderson ready to their -hands.</p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>The world is changing so rapidly that it may be well to say a few words -about the type of school Sanderson was destined to renovate. Even in -the seventies and eighties these smaller 'classical' schools had a -quaint old-fashioned air amidst the surrounding landscape. They were -staffed by the less vigorous men of the university-scholar type; men of -the poorer educated classes in origin, not able enough to secure any of -the prizes reserved for university successes, and not courageous enough -to strike out into the great world on their own account. They protected -themselves from the sense of inferiority by an exaggeration of the -value of the schooling and disciplines through which they had gone, and -they ignored their lack of grasp in a worship of the petty accuracies -within their capacity. Their ambition soared at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> its highest to holy -orders and a headmastership, a comfortable house, a competent wife, -dignity, security, ease, and a certain celebrity in equation-dodging -or the imitation of Latin and Greek compositions. Contemporary life -and thought these worthy dominies regarded with a lofty scorn. The -formal mathematical work, it is true, was not older than a century -or a century and a half, but the classical training had come down in -an unbroken tradition from the seventeenth century. One of the staff -of Oundle when Sanderson took it over is described as a 'wonderful' -classical master. 'His master passion,' we are told, 'for Latin -elegiacs and Greek iambics fired many of his pupils, whose best efforts -were copied into a book that bore the title <i>Inscribatur</i>.' These -exercises in stereotyped expression were going on at Oundle right into -the eighteen-nineties. They had their justification. From the school -the boys passed on to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where -sympathetic examining authorities awarded the greater prizes at their -disposal to the more proficient of these victims. The Civil Service -Commissioners by a mark-rigging system that would have won the respect -of an American<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> election boss, kept the Higher Division of the Civil -Service as a preserve for ignorance 'classically' adorned. So that the -school could boast of 'an almost uninterrupted stream of scholarship -successes at Cambridge' even in its decline in the late eighties, when -its real educational value to the country it served was a negative -quantity.</p> - -<p>This seventeenth century 'classical' grind constituted the main -work of the school, and no other subject seems to have been pursued -with any industry. Most of the staff could not draw or use their -hands properly; like most secondary teachers of that time they were -innocent of educational science, and no attempt was made to teach -every boy to draw. Drawing was still regarded as a 'gift' in those -days. The normally intelligent boy without the peculiar aptitudes -and plasticity needed to take Latin elegiacs seriously, had no -educational alternative whatever. There was no mathematical teaching -beyond low-grade formal stuff of a very boring sort, and the only -science available was a sort of science teaching put in to silence -the complaints of progressive-minded parents rather than with any -educational intention, science teaching that was very properly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> called -'stinks.' It was a stinking imposture. The boy of good ordinary quality -was driven therefore to games or 'hobbies' or mischief as an outlet for -his energies, as chance might determine. The school buildings before -Sanderson was appointed were as cramped as the curriculum; old boys -recall the 'redolent' afternoon class-rooms; the Grocers' Company in -its wisdom had built a new School-House during the brief boom under St. -John Reade, between a public house on either side and a slum at the -back. It must have been pleasant for master and boys alike to escape -from the stuffiness of general teaching upon these premises, and from -the priggish exploits in versification of the 'inspired' minority, to -the cricket field. There one had scope; there was life. The Rev. H. -St. J. Reade, the headmaster in the eighties, had been Captain of the -Oxford Eleven, and drove the ball hard and far, to the admiration of -all beholders.</p> - -<p>The Rev. Mungo J. Park, who immediately preceded Sanderson, is -described as a man of considerable personal dignity, aloof and -leisurely, and greatly respected by the boys. Under him the number -of the boys in the school declined to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> fewer than a hundred. That -dwindling band led the normal life of boys at any small public school -in England. Most of them were frightfully bored by the teaching of -the bored masters; the wonderful classical master lashed himself -periodically up to the infectious level of enthusiasm for his amazing -exercises; there was cribbing and ragging and loafing, festering -curiosities and emotional experimenting, and, thank Heaven! games -a fellow could understand. If these boys learnt anything of the -marvellous new vision of the world that modern science was unfolding, -they learnt it by their own private reading and against the wishes -of their antiquated teachers. They learnt nothing in school of the -outlook of contemporary affairs, nothing of contemporary human work, -nothing of the social and economic system in which many of them were -presently to play the part of captains. If they learnt anything about -their bodies it was secretly, furtively, and dirtily. The gentlemen -in holy orders upon the staff, and the sermons in the Oundle parish -church, had made souls incredible. There has been much criticism of the -devotion to games in these dens of mental dinginess, but games were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -the only honest and conclusive exercises to be found in them. From the -sunshine and reality of the swimming-pool, the boats, the cricket or -football field, the boys came back into the ill-ventilated class-rooms -to pretend, or not even to pretend, an interest in languages not merely -dead, but now, through a process of derivation and imitation from one -generation to another, excessively decayed. The memory of school taken -into after life from these establishments was a memory of going from -games and sunshine and living interest into class-rooms of twilight, -bad air, and sham enthusiasm for exhausted things.</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>Sanderson made his application for the headmastership of Oundle at -an unusually favourable time. There were several men of exceptional -enlightenment and intelligence upon the governing body of the school, -and they were resolved to modernise Oundle thoroughly and well. To -the innovators the very unorthodoxy of Sanderson's upbringing and -qualifications was a recommendation, to their opponents they made him -a shocking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> candidate, and the Grocers' Company was rent in twain -over his application. It requires a little effort nowadays for us to -understand just how undesirable a candidate this spectacled young -man from Dulwich must have appeared to many of the older and riper -'grocers.'</p> - -<p>In the first place he was not in holy orders, and it was a fixed belief -of many people—in spite of the fact that few of the clerically-ruled -English public schools of that time could be described as hotbeds -of chastity—that only clergymen in holy orders could maintain a -satisfactory moral and religious tone. On the other hand, he had been -a distinguished theological student. That, however, might involve -heresy; English people have an instinctive perception of the corrosive -effect of knowledge and intelligence upon sound dogma. Then he was not -a public-school boy, and this might involve a loss of social atmosphere -more important even than religion or morals. The almost natural grace -of deportment that has endeared the English traveller and the English -official to the foreigner, and particularly to the subject-races -throughout the world, might fail under his direction. Moreover, he was -no <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>cricketer. He had no athletic distinction; a terrible come-down -after the Rev. H. St. J. Reade. These were all grave considerations in -those days. Against them weighed the growing dread of German efficiency -that was already spreading a wholesome modesty throughout the -commercial world of Britain. This young man from Dulwich might bring -to Oundle, it was thought, the base but valuable gifts of technical -science. And there was apparent in him a liveliness and energy uncommon -among scholastic applicants. His seemed to be a bracing personality, -and Oundle was in serious need of a bracing régime. The members who -liked him liked him warmly, and he roused prejudices as warm; feeling -seems to have run high at the decision, and he was appointed by a -majority of one.</p> - -<div class="center"><a name="i034.jpg" id="i034.jpg"></a><img src="images/i034.jpg" alt="Interior in Science Block" /></div> - -<p class="bold">Interior in Science Block</p> - -<p>The little world of Oundle heard of the new appointment with mixed and -various feelings, in which there was no doubt a considerable amount -of resentment. No man becomes headmaster of an established school -without facing many difficulties. If he is promoted from among the -staff of his predecessor old disputes and rivalries are apt to take on -an exaggerated importance, and if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> he comes in from outside he finds a -staff disposed to a meticulous defence of established usage. And the -young couple from Dulwich came to the place in direct condemnation -of its current condition and its best traditions. There can be no -doubt that at the outset the school and town bristled defensively and -unpleasantly to the new-comers.</p> - -<p>In one respect the old educational order had a great advantage over the -new that Sanderson was to inaugurate. It had a completed tradition, -and it provided the standards by which the new was tried. Whatever it -taught was held to be necessary to education, and all that it did not -know was not knowledge. By such tests the equipment of Sanderson was -exhibited as both defective and superfluous. Moreover, the new system -was confessedly undeveloped and experimental. It could not be denied -that Sanderson might be making blunders, and that he might have to -retrace his steps. People had been teaching the classics for three -centuries; the routine had become so mechanical that it was done best -by men who were intellectually and morally half asleep. It led to -nothing; except in very exceptional cases it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> did not even lead to a -competent use of either the Latin or Greek languages; it involved no -intelligent realisation of history, it detached the idea of philosophy -from current life, and it produced the dreariest artistic Philistinism, -but there was a universal persuasion that in some mystical way it -<i>educated</i>. The methods of teaching science, on the other hand, were -still in the experimental stage, and had still to convince the world -that even at the lowest levels of failure they constituted a highly -beneficent discipline.</p> - -<p>I do not propose to disentangle here the story of Sanderson's first -seven years of difficulty. He found the school and the town sullen and -hostile, and he was young, eager, and irascible. The older boys had all -been promoted upon classical qualifications, they were saturated with -the old public-school tradition that Sanderson had come to destroy, -and behind them were various members of a hostile and resentful staff -inciting them to obstruction and mischief. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. -Sanderson was old enough or wise enough to disregard slights or to -ignore mere gestures of hostility.</p> - -<p>Reminiscences of old boys in the official life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> give us glimpses of -the way in which the old order fought against the new. Everything -was done to emphasise the fact that Sanderson was 'no gentleman,' -'no sportsman,' 'no cricketer,' 'no scholar.' It is the dearest -delusion of snobs everywhere that able men who have made their way in -the world are incapable of acquiring a valet's knowledge of what is -correct in dress and deportment, and the dark legend was spread that -he wore a flannel shirt with a sort of false front called a 'dicky' -and detachable cuffs, in place of the evening shirt of the genteel. -Moreover, his dress tie was reported to be a made-up tie. Unless he is -to undress in public I do not see how a man under suspicion is to rebut -such sinister scandals. The boys, with the help and encouragement of -several members of the staff, made up a satirical play full of the puns -and classical tags and ancient venerable turns of humour usual in such -compositions, against this Barbarian invader and his new laboratories. -It was the mock trial of an incendiary found trying to burn down the -new laboratories. It was 'full of envenomed and insulting references' -to all the new headmaster was supposed to hold dear. Finally it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> was -rehearsed before him. He sat brooding over it thoughtfully, as shaft -after shaft was launched against him. 'It didn't seem so funny then,' -said my informant, 'as it had done when we prepared it.' It went to -a 'ragged and unconvinced applause.' At the end 'came a pause—a -stillness that could be felt.' The headmaster sat with downcast face, -thinking.</p> - -<p>I suppose he was chiefly busy reckoning how soon he would be rid of -this hostile generation of elder boys. They had to go. It was a pity, -but nothing was to be done with them. The school had to grow out of -them, as it had to grow out of its disloyal staff.</p> - -<p>He rose slowly in his seat. 'Boys, we will regard this as the final -performance,' he said, and departed thoughtfully, making no further -comment. He took no action in the matter, attempted neither reproof nor -punishment. He dropped the matter with a magnificent contempt. And, -says the old boy who tells the story, from that time the spirit of the -school seemed to change in his favour. The old order had discharged its -venom. The boys began to realise the true value of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> forces of spite -and indolent obstructiveness with which their youth was in alliance.</p> - -<h3>§ 4</h3> - -<p>Not always did Sanderson carry things off with an equal dignity. -His temperament was choleric, and ever and again his smouldering -indignation at the obstinate folly and jealousy that hampered his work -blazed out violently. Dignified silence is impossible as a permanent -pose for a teacher whose duty is to express and direct. Sanderson's -business was to get ideas into resisting heads; he was not a born -orator but a confused, abundant speaker, and he had to scold, to thrust -strange sayings at them, to force their inattention, to beat down an -answering ridicule. He was often simply and sincerely wrathful with -them, and in his early years he thrashed a great deal. He thrashed hard -and clumsily in a white-heat of passion—'a hail of swishing strokes -that seemed almost to envelop one.' A newspaper or copybook at the -normal centre of infliction availed but little. Cuts fell everywhere -on back or legs or fingers. He had been sorely tried, he had been -overtried. It was a sort of heartbreak of blows. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> - -<p>The boys argued mightily about these unorthodox swishings. It was all -a part of Sanderson being a strange creature and not in the tradition. -It was lucky no one was ever injured. But they found something in their -own unregenerate natures that made them understand and sympathise with -this eager, thwarted stranger and his thunderstorms of anger. Generally -he was a genial person, and that, too, they recognised. It is manifest -quite early in the story that Sanderson interested his boys as his -predecessor had never done. They discussed his motives, his strange -sayings, his peculiar locutions with accumulating curiosity. Two sorts -of schoolmasters boys respect: those who are completely dignified and -opaque to them, and those who are transparent enough to show honesty at -the core. Sanderson was transparently honest. If he was not pompously -dignified he was also extraordinarily free from vanity; and if he -thrust work and toil upon his boys it was at any rate not to spare -himself that he did so. And he won them also by his wonderful teaching. -In the early days he did a lot of the science teaching himself; later -on the school grew too big for him to do any of this.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> All the old -boys I have been able to consult agree that his class instruction was -magnificent.</p> - -<p>Every year in the history of Sanderson's headmastership shows a growing -understanding between the boys and himself. 'Beans,' they called him, -but every year it was less and less necessary to 'Give 'm Beans,' as -the vulgar say. The tale of storms and thrashings dwindles until it -vanishes from the story. In the last decade of his rule there was -hardly any corporal punishment at all. The whole school as time went on -grew into a humorous affectionate appreciation of his genius. It was a -sunny, humorous school when I knew it; there was little harshness and -no dark corners. No boy had been expelled for a long time.</p> - -<h3>§ 5</h3> - -<p>The official life gives a diagram and particulars of the growth of -the school during Sanderson's time, and there is no need to repeat -those particulars here. From 1892 to 1900 there was no very remarkable -increase in the number of boys; it rose from ninety-odd to a hundred -and twenty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> or so. Then as Sanderson's grip became sure there followed -a rapid expansion.</p> - -<p>From 1900 onwards Oundle grew about as fast as it was possible to -grow. New laboratories were built, new subjects introduced so as to -furnish a wider and wider variety of courses to meet such intellectual -types as the school had hitherto failed to interest. There was a great -development of biological and agricultural work from about 1909 onward. -The attention given to art increased, and there was a great change and -revolution in the history teaching. By 1920 the numbers of the school -were soaring up towards six hundred. He wanted them to go to eight -hundred, because he still wanted to increase the variety of courses, -and the larger numbers gave a better prospect of classifying out the -boys effectively and making sure that each course of studies was -sufficiently attended to keep it active and efficient.</p> - -<p>The prestige of the school grew even more rapidly than its size. From -1905 onward the inquiring parent who wanted something more than school -games and <i>esprit de corps</i> was sure to hear of Oundle.</p> - -<p>And Sanderson was growing with his school.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> Every installment of -success stimulated him to new experiments and fresh innovations. No -one learnt so much at Oundle as he did, and it is with that growth -of his conception of school method and his widening vision of the -schoolmaster's rôle in the world that we must now proceed to deal.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The Replacement of Competition by Group Work</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>When Sanderson first came to Oundle his ideas seem to have differed -from the normal scholastic opinion of his time mainly in his conviction -of the interestingness and attractiveness of real scientific work -for many types of boys that the established classical and stylistic -mathematical teaching failed to grip. He developed these new aspects -of school work, and his earliest success lay in the fact that he got -a higher percentage of boys interested and active in school work than -was usual elsewhere, and that the report of this and the report of his -wholesome and stimulating personality spread into the world of anxious -parents. But it early became evident to him that the new subjects -necessitated methods of handling in vivid contrast to the methods -stereotyped for the classical and mathematical courses. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>There have been three chief phases in the history of educational -method in the last five centuries, the phase of compulsion, the phase -of competition, and the phase of natural interest. They overlap and -mingle. Medieval teaching being largely in the hands of celibates, who -had acquired no natural understanding of children and young people, and -who found them extremely irritating, irksome, or exciting, was stupid -and brutal in the extreme. Young people were driven along a straight -and narrow road to a sort of prison of dusty knowledge by teachers -almost as distressed as themselves. The medieval school went on to the -chant of rote-learning with an accompaniment of blows, insults, and -degradations of the dunce-cap type. The Jesuit schools, to which the -British public schools owe so much, sought a human motive in vanity and -competition; they turned to rewards, distinctions, and competitions. -Sir Francis Bacon recommended them justly as the model schools of his -time. The class-list with its pitiless relegation of two-thirds of the -class to self-conscious mediocrity and dufferdom was the symbol of -this second, slightly more enlightened phase. The school of the rod<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -gave place to the school of the class-list. An aristocracy of leading -boys made the pace and the rest of the school found its compensation -in games or misbehaviour. So long as the sole subjects of instruction -remained two dead languages and formal mathematics, subjects -essentially unappetising to sanely constituted boys, there was little -prospect of getting school method beyond this point.</p> - -<p>By the end of the eighteenth century schoolmasters were beginning -to realise what most mothers know by instinct, that there is in all -young people a curiosity, a drive to know, an impulse to learn, that -is available for educational ends, and has still to be properly -exploited for educational ends. It is not within our present scope -to discuss Pestalozzi, Froebel, and the other great pioneers in this -third phase of education. Nearly all children can be keenly interested -in some subject, and there are some subjects that appeal to nearly -all children. Directly you cease to insist upon a particular type of -achievement in a particular line of attainment, directly your school -gets out of the narrow lane and moves across open pasture, it goes -forward of its own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> accord. The class-list and the rod, so necessary -in the dusty fury of the lane, cease to be necessary. In the effective -realisation of this Sanderson was a leader.</p> - -<p>For a time he let the classical and literary work of the school run -on upon the old competition-compulsion, class-list lines. For some -years he does not seem to have realised the possibility of changes in -these fields. But from the first in his mechanical teaching and very -soon in mathematics the work ceased to have the form of a line of boys -all racing to acquire an identical parcel of knowledge, and took on -the form more and more of clusters of boys surrounding an attractive -problem. There grew up out of the school Science a periodic display, -the Science Conversazione, in which groups of youngsters displayed -experiments and collections they had co-operated to produce. Later on -a Junior Conversazione developed. These conversaziones show the Oundle -spirit in its most typical expression. Sanderson derived much from -the zeal and interest these groups of boys displayed. He realised how -much finer and how much more fruitful was the mutual stimulation of a -common end than the vulgar effort for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> a class place. The clever boy -under a class-list system loves the shirker and the dullard who make -the running easy, but a group of boys working for a common end display -little patience with shirking. The stimulus is much more intimate, and -it grows. Jones minor is told to play up, exactly as he is told to play -up in the playing field.</p> - -<p>In the summer term the conversazione in its fully developed form took -up a large part of the energy of the school. Says the official life:</p> - -<p>'All the senior boys in the school were eligible for this work, -the only qualification necessary being a willingness to work and -to sacrifice some, at least, of one's free time. There was never -any dearth of willing workers, the total number often exceeding two -hundred. The chief divisions of the conversazione were: Physics and -Mechanics; Chemistry; Biology; and Workshops. A boy who volunteered -to help was left free to choose which branch he would adopt. Having -chosen, he gave his name to the master in charge; if he had any -particular experiment in view, he mentioned it, and if suitable, it was -allotted to him. If he had no suggestion, an experiment was suggested, -and he was told where information could be obtained.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> As a general rule -two or three boys worked together at any one experiment.</p> - -<p>'Some of the experiments chosen required weeks of preparation; there -was apparatus to be made and fitted up, information to be sought and -absorbed, so that on the final day an intelligent account could be -given to any visitor watching the experiment. This work was all done -out of school hours. Four or five days before Speech Day, ordinary -school lessons ceased for those taking part in the conversazione; the -laboratories, class-rooms, and workshops were portioned out so that -each boy knew exactly where he was to work, and how much space he -had. The setting up of the experiments began. To any one visiting the -school on these particular days it must have seemed in a state of utter -confusion, boys wandering about in all directions apparently under no -supervision, and often to all appearances with no purpose. A party -might be met with a jam-jar and fishing-net near the river; others -might be found miles away on bicycles, going to a place where some -particular flower might be found. Three or four boys would appear to -be smashing up an engine and scattering its parts in all <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>directions, -while others could be seen wheeling a barrow-load of bricks or trying -to mix a hod of mortar. Gradually a certain amount of order appeared, -some experiments were tried and found to work satisfactorily, others -failed, and investigation into the cause of failure had to be carried -out. As the final day approached excitement increased, frantic -telegrams were sent to know, for example, if the liquid air had been -despatched, frequent visits to the railway-station were made in the -hopes of finding some parcel had arrived; sometimes it was even -necessary to motor to Peterborough to pick up material which otherwise -would arrive too late. A programme giving a short description of the -experiment or exhibit had to pass through the printer's hands. At last -everything would be ready; occasionally, but very seldom, an experiment -had to be abandoned or another substituted at the last moment.'</p> - -<p>The year 1905 marked a phase in the co-operative system of work on the -mechanical side with the machining and erection of a six-horse-power -reversing engine, designed for a marine engine of 3500 horse-power. -Castings and drawings were supplied by the North Eastern Marine -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>Engineering Works. The engine was a triumphant success, and thereafter -a number of engines has been built by groups of boys. Concurrently -with this steady replacement of the instructional-exercise system -by the group-activity system, the mathematical work became less and -less a series of exercises in style and more and more an attack upon -problems needing solution in the workshops and laboratories, with the -solution as the real incentive to the work. These dips into practical -application gave a great stimulus to the formal mathematical teaching, -for the boys realised as they could never have done otherwise the value -of such work as a 'tool-sharpening' exercise of ultimately real value.</p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>Quite early in his Oundle days Sanderson displayed his disposition -towards collective as against solitary activity in his dealings with -the school music. When he came to the school the 'musical' boys -were segregated from the non-musical in a choir; the rest listened -in conscious exclusion and inferiority. But from the outset he set -himself to make the whole school sing and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> attend to music. The few -boys with bad ears were carried along with the general flood; the -discord they made was lost in the mass effect. Towards the end a very -great proportion of the boys were keen listeners to and acute critics -of music. They would crowd into the Great Hall on Sunday evenings to -listen to the organ recital with which that day usually concluded.</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>Presently Sanderson began to apply the lessons he had learnt from -grouping boys for scientific work to literature and history. Most of -us can still recall the extraordinary dreariness of school literature -teaching; the lesson that was a third-rate lecture, the note-taking, -the rehearsal of silly opinions about books unread and authors unknown, -the horrible annotated editions, the still more horrible text-books of -literature. Sanderson set himself to sweep all this away. A play, he -held, was primarily to be played, and the way to know and understand -it was to play it. The boys must be cast for parts and learn about the -other characters in relation to the one they had taken.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> Questions -of language and syntax, questions of interpretation, could be dealt -with best in relation to the production. But most classes had far -too many boys to be treated as a single theatrical company, so small -groups of boys were cast for each part. There would be three or four -Othellos, three or four Desdemonas or Iagos. They would act their -parts simultaneously or successively. The thing might or might not -ripen into a chosen cast giving a costume performance in public. The -important thing is that the boys were brought into the most active -contact possible with the reality of the work they studied. The groups -discussed stage 'business' and gesture and the precise stress to lay on -this or that phrase. The master stood like a producer in the auditorium -of the Great Hall. Let any one compare the vitality of that sort of -thing with the ordinary lesson from an annotated text-book.</p> - -<p>The group system was extended with increasing effectiveness into -more and more of the literary and historical work. Here the School -Library took the place of the laboratory and was indeed as necessary -to the effective development of the group method. The official life -of Sanderson<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> gives a typical scheme of operations pursued in the -case of a form studying the period 1783-1905. The subject was first -divided up into parts, such as the state of affairs preceding the -French Revolution; the French Revolution in relation to England; the -industrial system and economic problems generally; and so on. The form -divided up into groups and each group selected a part or a section of -a part for its study. The objective of each group was the preparation -of a report, illustrated by maps, schedules, and so forth, upon the -section it had studied. After a preliminary survey of the whole field -under the direction of a master, each boy followed up the particular -matter assigned to him by individual reading for a term, supplemented -when necessary by consultation with the master. Then came the -preparation of maps and other material, the assembling of illuminating -quotations from the books studied, the drafting of the group's report, -the discussion of the report. In some cases where the group was in -disagreement there would be a minority report.</p> - -<p>In this way there was scarcely a boy in the form who did not feel -himself contributing and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> necessary to the general result, and who was -not called upon not merely by his master but by his colleagues, for -some special exertion. It might be thought that the departmentalising -of the subject among groups would mean that the knowledge would -accumulate in pockets, but this was not the case. Boys of separate -groups talked with one another of their work and found a lively -interest in their different points of view. It is rare that boys who -have received the same lesson can find much in it to talk about, -unless it is a comparison of who has retained most, but a boy who has -been preparing maps of the Napoleonic military campaigns may find the -liveliest interest in another who has been following the history of -the same period from the point of view of sea power. There was indeed -a very considerable amount of interchange, and when it came to facing -external examiners and testing the general knowledge attained, the -Oundle boys were found to compare favourably with boys who had been -drummed in troops through complete histories of the chosen period.</p> - -<p>This group system of work had arisen naturally out of the conditions of -the new laboratory <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>teaching, and it had been developed for the sake of -its educational effectiveness; but as it grew it became more and more -evident to Sanderson that its effects went far beyond mere intellectual -attainment. It marked a profound change in the spirit of the school. -It was not only that the spirit of co-operation had come in. That had -already been present on the cricket and football fields. But the boys -were working to make something or to state something and not to gain -something. It was the spirit of creation that now pervaded the school.</p> - -<p>And he perceived, too, that the boys he would now be sending out -into the world must needs carry that creative spirit with them -and play a very different part from the ambitious star boys who -went on from a training under the older methods. They would play -an as yet incalculable part in redeeming the world from the wild -orgy of competition that was now afflicting it. In one of his very -characteristic sermons he gave his ripened conception of this side of -his work. He had been speaking, perhaps with a certain idealisation, -of the old craftsmen's guilds—with a glance or so at the Grocers' -Company. The school,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> he declared, was to be no longer an arena but a -guild. For what was a guild?</p> - -<p>'A community of co-workers and no competition, that was its idea. It -is all based on the system of apprenticeships and co-workers. The -apprentices helped the masters in every way they could; even the -masters were grouped together for mutual assistance and were called -assistants. The Company was a mystery or guild of craftsmen and -dealers, and their aim was to produce good craftsmen and good dealers.</p> - -<p>'To-day, in these days of renascence, we return to the aim and methods -of the guilds. Boys are to be apprentices and master-workers and -co-workers. In a community this needs must be. We are called to a -definite work, all who are privileged to attend here, staff and boys -alike—the work of infusing life into the boys committed to our care. -Nor can any one stand out of this and seek work elsewhere. Nemesis -sets in for all who try to live for themselves alone. They may try to -work—but their work is sterile. The community calls for the energies -and activities of all. We are beginning to learn something of what -this means. It does not mean an abandonment of the best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> methods of -the past. But it does mean that we have to concern ourselves with the -pressing needs and problems of to-day, and join in the work. I do not -dwell on this now. My mind goes off to the possible effect of these -ideas on the general life of the school.</p> - -<p>'The working of these ideas is well seen already in the outdoor life -of the school. We see it when houses are getting their teams together -to join a competition for a shield, say. We see the mutual help, the -voluntary practice, the consultations of the captain with others. We -see it in the work in the Cadet Corps. We see it in the preparation -for a play—this time, the <i>Midsummer Night's Dream</i>. We see it in the -new work in the library, and we see it as clearly as in anything in -the preparation for a conversazione. No more valuable training can be -given than this last—well worth all the many kinds of sacrifice it -entails. From it, at any rate, the spirit of competition is, I think, -altogether removed. Boys, we believe, set forth to do their work as -well as they possibly can—but not to beat one another.... I dwell upon -these things because we hope that all boys will become workers at last, -with interest and zeal, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> some part of the field of creation and -inquiry, which is the true life of the world. It is from such workers, -investigators, searchers, the soul of the nation is drawn. We will -first of all transform the life of the school, then the boys, grown -into men—and girls from their schools grown into women—whom their -schools have enlisted into this service, will transform the life of the -nation and of the whole world.'</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The Re-establishment of Relations Between School and Reality</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>In the previous chapter I have told how Sanderson was taught by his -laboratories and library the possibility of a new type of school with -a new spirit, and how he grew to realise that an organisation of such -new schools, a multiplication of Oundles, must necessarily produce a -new spirit in social and industrial life. Concurrently with that, the -obvious implications of applied science were also directing his mind to -the close reaction between schools and the organisation of the economic -life of the community.</p> - -<p>It is amusing to reflect that Sanderson probably owed his appointment -at Oundle to the simple desire of various members of the Grocers' -Company for a good school of technical science. They did not want any -change in themselves, they did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> not want any change in the world nor in -the methods of trading and employment, but they did want to see their -sons and directors and managers equipped with the sharper, more modern -edge of a technical scientific training. Germany had frightened them. -If this new training could be technical without science and modern -without liberality, so much the better. So the business man brought his -ideas to bear upon Oundle, to produce quite beyond his expectation a -counteroffensive of the school upon business organisation and methods. -Oundle built its engines, organised itself as an efficient munitions -factory during the war, made useful chemical inquiries, extended its -work into agriculture, analysed soils and manures for the farmers of -its district, ran a farm and did much able competent technical work, -but it also set itself to find out what were the aims and processes -of business and what were the reactions of these processes upon the -life of the community. From the laboratory a boy would go to a careful -examination of labour conditions under the light of Ruskin's <i>Unto This -Last</i>; he was brought to a balanced and discriminating attitude towards -strikes and lock-outs; he was constantly reminded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> that the end of -industry is not profits but life—a more abundant life for men.</p> - -<p>As one reads through the sermons and addresses that are given in -<i>Sanderson of Oundle</i> one finds a steadily growing consciousness of the -fact that there was a considerable and increasing proportion of Oundle -boys destined to become masters, managers, and leaders in industrial -and business life, and with that growing consciousness there is a -growing determination that the school work they do shall be something -very far beyond the acquisition of money-getting dodges and devices and -commercialised views of science. More and more does he see the school -not as a training ground of smart men for the world that is, but as a -preliminary working model of the world that is to be.</p> - -<p>Two quotations from two of Sanderson's sermons will serve to mark how -vigorously he is tugging back the English schools from the gentlemanly -aloofness of scholarship and school-games to a real relationship to -the current disorder of life, and how high he meant to carry them to -dominance over that disorder.</p> - -<p>The first extract is from a sermon on Faraday.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> Under Sanderson, it has -been remarked, Faraday ousted St. Anthony from being the patron saint -of Oundle School. 'With what abundant prodigality,' Sanderson exclaims, -'has Nature given up of her secrets since his day!'</p> - -<p>'A hundred years ago Man and Nature as we think of them to-day were -unexplored by science; to-day a new world, a new creation. Industrial -life has developed, machinery, discoveries, inventions—steam engine, -gas engine, dynamo—electrical machinery, telegraphy, radioactive -bodies, tremendous openings out of chemistry, biology, economics, -ethics. All new. These are Thy works, O God, and tell of Thee. Not now -only may we search for Thy Presence in the places where Thou wert wont -in days of old to come to man. Not there only. Not only now in the -stars of heaven; or by the seashore, or in the waters of the river, -or of the springs; among the trees, the flowers, the corn and wine, -on the mountain or in the plain; not now only dost Thou come to man -in Thy works of art, in music, in literature; but Thou, O God, dost -reveal Thyself in all the multitude of Thy works; in the workshop, the -factory, the mine, the laboratory, in industrial life. No<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> symbolism -here, but the Divine God. A new Muse is here—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>'Mightier than Egypt's tombs,</div> -<div>Fairer than Grecia's, Roma's temples.</div> -<div>Prouder than Milan's statued, spired cathedral,</div> -<div>More picturesque than Rhenish castle-keeps,</div> -<div>We plan even now to raise, beyond them all,</div> -<div>Thy great cathedral, sacred industry, no tomb—</div> -<div class="i3">A keep for Life.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And the builders, a mighty host of men: Homeric heroes, fighting -against a foe, and yet not a foe, but an invisible, impalpable thing -wherein the combatant is the shadow of the assailant.</p> - -<p>'Mighty men of science and mighty deeds. A Newton who binds the -universe together in uniform law; Lagrange, Laplace, Leibnitz -with their wondrous mathematical harmonies; Coulomb measuring out -electricity; Oversted with the brilliant flash of insight "that the -electric conflict acts in a revolving manner"; Faraday, Ohm, Ampère, -Joule, Maxwell, Hertz, Röntgen; and in another branch of science, -Cavendish, Davy, Dalton, Dewar; and in another, Darwin, Mendel, -Pasteur, Lister, Sir Ronald Ross. All these and many others, and some -whose names have no memorial, form a great host of heroes, an army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> of -soldiers—fit companions of those of whom the poets have sung; all, we -may be sure, living daily in the presence of God, bending like the reed -before His will; fit companions of the knights of old of whom the poets -sing, fit companions of the men whose names are renowned in history, -fit companions of the great statesmen and warriors whose names resound -through the world.</p> - -<p>'There is the great Newton at the head of this list comparing himself -to a child playing on the seashore gathering pebbles, whilst he could -see with prophetic vision the immense ocean of truth yet unexplored -before him. At the end is the discoverer Sir Ronald Ross, who had gone -out to India in the medical service of the Army, and employed his -leisure in investigating the ravishing diseases which had laid India -low and stemmed its development. In twenty years of labour he discovers -how malaria is transmitted and brings the disease within the hold of -man.'</p> - -<p>The second is from a sermon called 'The Garden of Life.'</p> - -<p>'As Canon Driver says, "Man is not made simply to enjoy life; his -end is not pleasure; nor are the things he has to do necessarily to -give <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>pleasure or lead to what men call happiness." This is not the -biological purpose of man. His purpose or instinctive end is to develop -the capacities of the garden in the wilderness of nature; to adapt it -to his own ends, <i>i.e.</i> to the ends of the races of men. Or, as we -would now say, his aim is to take his part in the making of his kind; -and he is to "keep it," or guard it—<i>i.e.</i> he is to conquer the jungle -in it, to prevent it from roving wild again, from reverting to the -jungle, from losing law and order, from becoming unruly and disorderly, -from breaking loose and running amok. He is to bring and maintain order -out of the tangle of things, he is to diagnose diseases; he is to -co-ordinate the forces of nature; he is above all things to reveal the -spirit of God in all the works of God.</p> - -<p>'And in all this we read the duty and service of schools. The business -of schools is through and by the use of a common service to get at the -true spiritual nature of the ordinary things we have to deal with. The -spirit of the true active life does not come to us <i>only</i> in those -experiences we have been so accustomed to think of as beautiful and -revealing. The active spirit of life is not revealed simply by the -arts—the beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> arts as they may be thought—of music or painting, -or literature. These indeed may be only and abundantly <i>material</i>, -and the eye and ear may be blind and deaf to the active, creative, -discovering, revealing spirit. "Painting, or art generally, as such," -says Ruskin in his <i>Modern Painters</i>, "with all its technicalities, -difficulties, executive skills, pleasant and agreeable sensations, and -its particular ends, is nothing but an expressive language, invaluable -if we know it as we might know it as the vehicle of thought, but by -itself nothing." He who has learnt what is commonly considered as the -whole art of painting, that is the art of representing any natural -object faithfully, has as yet only learnt the language by which his -thoughts are to be expressed. One language or mode of expression may be -more difficult than another; but it is not by the mode of representing -and saying, but by the greatness, the awakening, the transmuting and -transfiguring conception and knowledge of the thought presented, that -the gift cometh, that man is created. Awkward, discordant, stammering -attempts may be the burning message of a new hope. But this "voice" of -art is too often drowned. It is drowned by executive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> skill—as is the -history of all art—when this skill stretches itself to present things -that are static, motionless, dead....</p> - -<p>'It is especially our duty to reveal the spirit of God in the things -of science and of the practical life. Herein lies a new revelation, a -new language, a direct symbolism. Science, just like art and music, can -be materialistic—science can aim only at mechanical advancement and -worldly wealth, which is not wealth at all—just as art can aim only at -pleasure, desire, and drawing-room appreciation. But this need not be -so. Certainly no one in a responsible position can teach science for -long without the coming of the revelation of a new voice, a new method -of expression, a new art—revealing quite changed standards of value, -quite new significances of what we speak of as culture, beauty, love, -justice. A new voice speaks to the souls of men and women calling for a -new age with all its altered relationships and adventures of life.</p> - -<p>'With eyes opened to this new art you can wander through the science -block and find in it all a new Bible, a new book of Genesis. So we -believe. This is our duty and our faith. Into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> this Paradise have you -been placed to dress it and to keep it.'</p> - -<p>Let me turn from these two passages of talk to his boys—they are -rescued from a mass of pencil notes in his study—to a passage from an -address delivered in the Great Hall in Leeds in 1920. It shows very -plainly the quality of his conception of what I have called the return -of schools to reality.</p> - -<p>'Schools should be miniature copies of the world. We often find that -methods adopted in school are just the methods we should like applied -in the state. We should, in fact, direct school life so that the -spirit of it may be the spirit which will tend to alleviate social and -industrial conditions. I will give an example of the kind of influence -the ideals and methods of a school can exert upon the working life. I -will take a condition of labour which is now recognised as probably the -greatest of tragedies. It is the slow decay of the faculties of crowds -of men and women, caused by the nature of their employment—the tragedy -of the unstretched faculties. So common is it, and ordinary, that -we pass it by on one side; but no one can go into a factory without -seeing workers engaged in work which is far below their capacities.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> -Decay sets in, and the death of talent and enthusiasm, the inspirer of -creative work. A little thought will convince us that the process of -decay of such a delicate and vital organism as the brain is bound to -set up violent, destructive, anarchic forces which go on for several -years. A recent writer in the <i>Times Educational Supplement</i> (and -this paper cannot be called revolutionary) says that the tragedy of -undeveloped talent is being seen more and more to be a gigantic waste -of potentiality and an unpardonable cruelty. It is a tragic disease and -produces in early life startling intellectual and moral disturbances, -which are the natural sources of unrest. As years go on a mental stupor -sets in, and there is peace, but peace on a low plane of life. The loss -to the community by this waste is colossal, and it is not too much to -say that the output of man could be multiplied beyond conception.</p> - -<p>'Schools should send boys out into the industrial world whose aim -should be to study these tragedies, and by experiments, by new -inventions, by organisation, try, we may hope, by some of their own -school experience, to alleviate the disease. To my mind this is the -supreme aim of schools in the new era.'</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The Growth of Sanderson Shown in His Sermons and Scripture Lessons</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>Before I go on to a discussion of the latest, broadest, and most -interesting phase of Sanderson's mental life, I would like to give -my readers as vivid a picture as I can of his personality and his -methods of delivery. I have tried to convey an impression of his stout -and ruddy presence, his glancing spectacles, his short, compact but -allusive delivery, his general personal jolliness. I will give now a -sketch of one of his Scripture lessons made by two of the boys in the -school. Nothing I think could convey so well his rich discursiveness -nor the affectionate humour he inspired throughout the school. Here it is.</p> - -<blockquote><p class="center">'SCRIPTURE LESSON</p> - -<p>'<i>Delivered by F. W. Sanderson on Sunday, 25th May 1919, and taken -down word for word</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> <i>by X and Y, and subsequently written up by -them.</i></p> - -<p>'<i>Limitations of space and time have prevented them from including -all the lesson. Omissions have been indicated. They apologise for -the lapses of the speaker into inaudibility, which were not their -fault. They do not hold themselves in any way responsible for the -opinions expressed herein.</i></p> - -<p class="center">'ANALYSIS</p> - -<p class="center">'of the portions copied.</p> - -<p>'Characteristic portions in the Gospel of St. Matthew.</p> - -<p>'Obstinacy of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board.</p> - -<p>'Character of the devil, according to some modern writers.</p> - -<p>'First act of our Lord on beginning the Galilean Ministry.</p> - -<p>'Empire Day.</p> - -<p>'<i>Subject of the Scripture lesson:—St. Matthew, chaps. iv and v.</i></p> - -<p>('The Temptations, the commencement of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>Galilean Ministry, the -first portion of the Sermon on the Mount.')</p></blockquote> - -<p>'(The headmaster enters, worries his gown, sits down, adjusts his -waistcoat, and coughs once.)</p> - -<p>'The—um—er—I am taking you through the Gospel of St. Matthew. I -think, as a matter of fact, we got to the end of the third chapter. -We won't spend much time over the fourth. The fourth, I think, is -the—er—er—Temptations, which I have already taken with you—a -rather—er—very interesting—ah—very interesting—er—survival. -That the Temptation Narrative should have survived shows that there -is probably something of value in it or I do not think it would -have survived. There are two incidents of very similar character -of—er—very—er—similar character and—ah—different to a certain -extent from everything else—er—ah— There is a boy in that -corner not listening to me. Who is that boy in the corner there? -No, not you—two rows in front. I will come down to you later, my -boy. There are two incidents in the Gospel Narrative which are -similar in—er—character and which I have for the moment called -"Survivals"—very characteristic, namely, the somewhat surprising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -narrative of the Temptation of our Lord, and the other the account of -the Transfiguration. These are different in form and character from -other narratives, just in the same way as the account of our Lord -sending messages to the Baptist differs from others. Er—yes—that -last one. I should put them together as coming from a similar source -(lapse into inaudibility—bow wow wow. Unique in characteristic—bow -wow wow—Somewhat subtle—bow wow). One remarks that the Temptations -are always looked at from the personal point of view, which I have -put down in my synopsis. Has anybody here got my synopsis? lend it to -me a moment. I don't think the personal significance of the Gospel -stories has importance nowadays. We needn't consider it. That's what -I think about things in general. Personal importance giving place to -universal needs. We are not so much concerned with whether boys do -<i>evil</i> or not. Of course it annoys me if I find a boy doing evil. -Leading others astray. Shockingly annoying. Oughtn't to be. Like -continuous mathematics not enabling a boy to pass in arithmetic—bow -wow wow—screw loose. See what I mean, K——? Not referring to you, my -boy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> (laughter). Hunt me up something in Plato about all these things. -During the last generation—</p> - -<p>'(Half a page omitted.)</p> - -<p>'Just in the same way from another point of view shall we live for -own advancement, which we are continually tempted to do? It's awfully -annoying if you do certain things and people won't recognise them. -I was pretty heftily annoyed myself at a meeting of the Oxford and -Cambridge Board. Professor Barker—great man—I nearly always agree -with him. Professor Barker. They had made science compulsory for the -school certificate. Bow wow wow. I don't want boys turned aside from -their main purpose to have to get up scraps and snippets of science. -Literary pursuits and so on. I wouldn't have it at any price. Bow wow -wow. Modern languages are compulsory too. By looking at a boy's French -set I can tell whether he can pass or not. Bow wow. Professor Barker -proposed that science should be voluntary. I seconded him, but I said -that languages should be voluntary as well. He didn't see that at all. -Isn't it enough to make a man angry? </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> - -<p>'(Half a dozen lines omitted from our note as incomprehensible.)</p> - -<p>'Now I am inclined to think that Satan in this Gospel is not intended -to be the Satan of our minds—the prince of evil. He is intended to be -more like the Satan in the book of Job. He is the devil's advocate. He -argues for the other side. For the opposition. He is put up to create -opposition. This may in itself be a valuable thing. I don't know that -I need go further into it. I would just like to tell you this, boys. -Some modern writers, especially Bernard Shaw, have a very high esteem -for the devil. He<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> prefers hell to heaven. So he says. Of course -he hasn't been there, so he can't tell. So he is voted a dangerous -personage because, dear souls, they don't know what he means. What -<i>he</i> means is that heaven as it has been run down to and God as He -has been run down to—everything placid and simple and inactive and -non-creative and sleepy. People don't worship God. They worship (burble -burble). They don't disturb their minds and think about things. That's -what he means. Yes. Man and Superman. Activity of intellect. That's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -more or less what he has in mind. He prefers people doing something -outrageously wrong than doing nothing at all. I don't know if it's -true; it's all expressed in Greek thought.</p> - -<p>'(Four pages omitted on running with the tide, Lloyd George, the -importance of French in examinations, and the correct way of getting a -true national spirit.)</p> - -<p>'Well, our Lord now proceeded to found His Galilean Ministry. And what -was the first thing He did, L——? It's quite obvious. What did He -do? Obvious. Were you thinking of what I said just now? No, sir. My -stream of words goes over you, not through you. Obvious. Now what was -the first thing He did? What is obviously the first thing He did? Why, -it's painfully obvious, even to L——. What was it? What? Where are we, -L——? L—— has lost the place. Which paragraph do I mean, L——? Read -the paragraph I mean. No. I have finished that. Next one. Obvious. What -is it about? Yes, what is it about? What is it about? Two or four? Yes, -four! Now what is obvious? Obvious! Now you've just got it, and you're -ten minutes behind. Of course. The first obvious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> thing He had to do -was to get a band of faithful disciples. Very first thing He did. What -did He call them to be? To be what? Fishers of Men. Obvious.</p> - -<p>'(Five pages omitted on Empire Day, Medical Study, and Cancer.)</p> - -<p>'Now the—er—the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard this ever -since you were on your mother's knee. At least I hope so. Beyond the -historical times of your memory. For you, the Sermon on the Mount is as -old as the ages. And yet I dare trespass on the Sermon on the Mount. -"I've heard of it before," you say. "I'm tired of it. Do something -fresh." Boys, you must go and read old things and breathe into them -the new Spirit of Life. Now what is that chapter in Ezekiel, boys? Do -you know the number of the page, and the paragraph, and the chapter? -No. What am I talking about? Why, the valley of dry bones. Never heard -of it! No. Is it in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or where, or Habakkuk? Is it in -Ezekiel 1? No. 36? No. 37? Yes. Dry Bones. Bones. Yes. That's what. I -am going to take you to a valley of dry bones. Dry Bones. Bones. It is -your business to go into the dry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> bones of the past and cover them with -flesh, and breathe into them the new Spirit. I often read the Sermon on -the Mount. It never bores me. I have more excuse to be bored than you. -I learned it, gracious goodness, how long ago! Beyond Historic times. I -loved it as a boy. Dry Bones.</p> - -<p>'(Three pages on the Sermon on the Mount.)</p> - -<p>'Now yesterday was Empire Day. Why did you want me to put the flag -up? Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves! Is not that it? (Yes, -sir.) Dear boys! I wouldn't throw cold water on it for worlds. Well, -you had your flag. It didn't fly. There was no wind behind it. There -was no devil to blow it. Dear boys, you wanted that flag for a reason -I think a shade wrong. It wouldn't be within the—what's the word I -want?—suited for our modern gauges. The new world won't come until we -give up the idea of Conquest and Extension of Empire—no new kingdom -until its members are imbued with the principles that competition is -wrong, that conquest is wrong, that co-operativeness is right, and -sacrifice a law of nature. Now, how do the seven Beatitudes read with -<i>Rule Britannia</i>? Now you say you believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> in your Bibles. You say you -are Christians. Pious Christians. You would be most annoyed if I called -you heathens. Well, if so, you believe that these are right:—</p> - -<p>'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -Rule Britannia!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Rule -Britannia!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Rule Britannia!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they -shall be filled. Britannia rules the waves!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Rule Britannia!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see all that is worth -seeing and living for. Wave your flag! Rule Britannia!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. -Rule Britannia!</p> - -<p>'Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness sake. -Rule Britannia! It is incongruous....</p> - -<p>'Dear souls! My dear souls! I wouldn't lead you astray for anything. -I can't explain it ... <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>this national spirit of yours. Beneath it all -there is a spirit of great righteousness. I wouldn't tamper with it for -thousands of pounds. But you must just see the other side....</p> - -<p>'(Starts on the Salt of the Earth, but is interrupted by time. Sets a -heavy prep., and goes.)'</p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>Now that was the key in which Sanderson dealt with his boys and in -which he gave his message to the world. And that is also the key in -which they dealt with him. I want to clear out of the reader's mind any -idea that this great teacher of men was a solemn and superior person, -clear, exact, and exalted, and that his boys had any vague sentimental -worship for him. They laughed at him, loved him, understood him, -assimilated his ideas, and worked with him. He was much more like a -sweating, panting, burly leader pushing a way for himself and others -through a thorny thicket. And when I sat in his study and read over the -notes of his sermons and scripture lessons I got the same impression of -a sturdy fighter thrusting through a tangle. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<p>Altogether there were several hundred of these sermon-memoranda. He -would take a quire of manuscript paper and write down his notes, not -headings merely but sentences, writing very fast, missing out halves -of words, leaving phrases incomplete. The result would be a little -book with perhaps a title and a date scribbled on the back page. The -dozen specimen sermons in the official Life were mostly taken from -these rough drafts. There was also a quantity of printed sermons dating -from his earliest days at Oundle. So that it was possible to trace his -development from the days when every heretical utterance was jealously -noted, to the days of complete freedom of thought and expression.</p> - -<p>He came into the interlaced briars and brakes of modern religious -thought, a trained theological student, but already a very broad -one, far from the trite materialistic superstitions of the narrowly -orthodox. 'Of what is termed "definite religious teaching" his boys -received little,' says one of his clerical assistants. 'The Head fought -shy of anything which he felt might cramp a boy's tendency to think for -himself and develop his own views.' </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> - -<p>This is far from the old days of salvation by belief.</p> - -<p>He took Christ as the central figure in his teaching. In his early -days he had prepared a parallel arrangement of the gospels, and this -developed into his <i>Synopsis of the Life of Christ</i>. He seems to have -clung stoutly to the authenticity of the recorded sayings of Christ, -but he held himself free to doubt whether we have as yet 'got to the -bottom of many sayings of the Master.' And, says the same witness, -at once rather vaguely and rather illuminatingly: 'He brushed aside -impatiently doubts as to the feasibility of this miracle or that. To -any who seemed to be worrying about the actual turning of water into -wine at Cana he would urge that they were missing the whole point; -cold, lifeless water was turned into warm, life-giving wine—and this -was the work of the Master and His new teaching. Could they doubt -that? He seemed to feel acutely that the passing of the centuries is -liable to bring a distortion as well as an enrichment of the Christian -revelation, and for that reason he was always trying to meditate -himself, and to get others to meditate, on the true characteristics of -the Master in the earliest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> portraits of Him handed down to us in the -Gospels.'</p> - -<div class="center"><a name="i084.jpg" id="i084.jpg"></a><img src="images/i084.jpg" alt="The head among the parents" /></div> - -<p class="bold">The head among the parents</p> - -<p>Like all religious teachers he emphasised some aspects of the -general doctrine in preference to others, but his accent was never -on the sacramental or ceremonial side. The root ideas of orthodox -Christianity, the ideas of sin and an atonement, never very prominent -in his teaching, faded more and more from his discourses as the years -went on. He never seems to have had much sense of sin, and he laid an -increasing stress on action, on courage and experiment. One saying -he repeated endlessly, 'Give, and it shall be given unto you; good -measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give -into your bosom.' Still more frequently he quoted, 'I came that ye -might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.' In his -later days that had become a new motto for Oundle School; it ousted -'God grant Grace' from the boys' thoughts in much the same way that -Faraday for all spiritual purposes ousted St. Anthony as the patron -saint of the school. And in the later sermons one would find side by -side with Gospel sayings, exhortations from quite another quarter. -The boys were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> told to 'live dangerously.' The Christ of later Oundle -became indeed a very Nietzschean Christ.</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>Orthodox Christianity is built upon the doctrine of the Fall of Man -and the damnation of mankind, but I could find only the rarest and -remotest allusions to this ground beneath the Christian corner-stone of -salvation in the bale of sermons I examined. There is no evidence that -Sanderson ever denied the fallen state of man, but he never alluded -to it, and the general effect of his teaching went far beyond a mere -avoidance. As his teaching developed, another word, a word infrequent -in the gospels, became dominant, the word 'creative.' For any mention -of 'salvation' you will find twenty repetitions of 'creative.' So far -as I can gather he took the word from a hitherto unrecognised Christian -father, St. Bertrand Russell. And I should submit the following passage -from a sermon on The Garden of Life, to any competent theological body -with very grave doubts whether they would accept it as consistent with -the teaching of any recognised Christian Church. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> - -<p>'God had created man, and had moulded and fashioned him, and had -breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a -living soul, possessed of the divine and eternal indestructible -spirit, the God-like spirit which would fill him with the glorious and -life-giving spirit of unrest, of unsatisfied longings and desire, of -the instinctive natural urge to have more of life. A mighty power, a -dynamic creative force, a daemonic increasing urge—against which the -forces of hell, of destructiveness, of caprice, of lawlessness, of -the jungle, cannot prevail. Under this power man and the races of man -progress: but without this mental fight, this constant struggle, no -life can come. I dwelt on this fact last time I spoke to you, having -in mind the mental or intellectual aspect of it, especially for those -of you who are working for some searching examinations: for without -a persistent, painful, and often enough disappointing effort the -understanding of things will not come to you, or to any of us.</p> - -<p>'Be true to yourselves, suffer no artifice, or artificial -understanding, to throw dust in your eyes. Do not struggle for -a static victory. Be true to yourselves. Do not struggle for -your own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> recognition, as it were, or for the mere appearance of -knowledge—rather struggle to enter into the kingdom, the kingdom of -service.</p> - -<p>'And where can you find the inspiration and urge of life? The source -is wonderfully drawn out for us in the illuminating and suggestive -commentary on Genesis you have the advantage to study. A great human -book is Canon Driver's <i>Commentary</i>, digging out for us the deep truths -of life embedded in the ancient myths of Genesis. A study in the use of -words; of what we can learn from words; a new form of text-book. Such a -text-book as we should have for the new era. This picture of the coming -and making of man tells us a story of the widest applicability. It is -found in all the works of God; it is found in all our surroundings; it -is found in all our work and toil; it is found most fully and actively -in all our daily working life. God, we are told, made a garden for -man, and there He placed him and gave him charge of it; and there the -Lord God came and walked with man, and communed with man, and breathed -into his nostrils the breath of life. And there He gave him his chief -aim of life, his one purpose. And the Lord God took man, and put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> him -in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. And then with the -memory and order of that garden in his mind He permitted him to receive -knowledge, and then sent him out into the great wilderness to find his -garden there.'</p> - -<p>And here is another passage from a sermon entitled 'Creative.'</p> - -<p>In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth -was waste and void. The world was in chaos, darkness, and gloom. But -it was not to be left in this state. All this condition of anarchy, -this waste and void, was the material out of which a new world was to -be created. Confused and impossible though everything appeared, yet -there was something present that made steadfastly and incessantly for -order. So we believe it is now, in the present state of things. All -the conflicts and strifes of to-day are the breaking up of the fallow -ground. They are the effort to create life. They are the messengers of -the coming of the Son of Man. In storm and tempest cometh the Son of -Man. Over all this lawless, shapeless, impossible material of chaos -there brooded, we are told, the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was -brooding over the waters like a bird over its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> nest, and in due time, -in the order of creation, a new life was to take shape, and a new world -was to rise up. In stately, ordered, majestic manner with all the -certainty and irresistible power of gravitation, step by step, stage by -stage, out of the welter of anarchy, a life—a new life—was to come -into the world. A new life came.</p> - -<p>And at each stage we hear the words of the Lord God, "Let there be," -and "there was." And then: "God saw that it was good." There was -evening, and there was morning—darkness changed into light—and the -day's work was done. And God saw that it was good.</p> - -<p>So, too, it is and will be in the history of the human race. The -uplifting of mankind, the coming of fuller life to nations, to man, to -classes and sections of men, has come in epochs of change. Such stages -in history are like the stages in the life history of a plant. There -seem to be resting phases, epochs of apparent quiescence, the cessation -of struggle.</p> - -<p>The fact is that some new freedom, some new principle of life, some -desire to grow, has for a long time been taking root in the minds and -souls of men. The urge to become more creative—to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> gain more of life -and give more of life—becomes at last intense. And there is an immense -desire to satisfy the great urge of nature. The old order passes. The -gathered forces seek release. The pangs of birth are upon us.'</p> - -<p>The further one goes with Sanderson, the stronger is one's sense of new -wine fermenting in the old bottle of orthodox Christian formulæ. In one -of the late sermons he deliberately sets aside the Epistles of the New -Testament as of less account than the gospels. He was still diverging -when he died. In the last year or so of his life a new word crept into -his talk and played an increasingly important part in it. That word -was 'syncretism.' He spoke of it more and more plainly as an evil -thing. And I cannot but believe, knowing his sources of knowledge and -the angle at which he approached history, that he must have been aware -that doctrinal Christianity—as detached from the personal teaching -of Jesus—is, with its Mithraic blood sacrifice and Sabbath keeping, -its Alexandrine trinity, its Egyptian priests, shaven and celibate, -its Stella Maris and infant Horus, the completest example of a -syncretic religion in the world. My impression is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> that if he had lived -another two years he would have shed his last vestiges of theological -paraphernalia and gone straight back to the teaching of the Nazarene, -openly and plainly. And that would have created a very embarrassing -situation for the members of the Grocers' Company, in the school at -Oundle.</p> - -<h3>§ 4</h3> - -<p>And what creed was taking the place of the old theological tangle? -What interpretation was Sanderson putting upon this ever-new teaching -of Christ in the world, that he was stripping so steadily out of its -irrelevant casings of dogma and superstition? I cannot do better in -answer to that than quote from one of his latest sermons, a sermon -delivered on the reassembly of the school at the opening of a new -school year.</p> - -<p>'The fundamental instinct of life is to create, to make, to discover, -to grow, to progress. Every one in some form or other has experience -of this joy of creating; the joy of seeing the growth, the building, -the change, the coming. The instinct of those in authority has -recognised—without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> perhaps knowing it—the love to create, when they -devised punishment—the treadmill, prisons, routine, all thwarting that -free creative impulse to the point of torture. Or on a minor scale -the trivial school stupidities and idlenesses of 'lines'; detentions -without labour or sacrifice or both; or even the cheap and easy -physical punishment. Such punishment, if not all inflicted punishment, -springs out of the distinctive protective aim of slavery. Creative life -comes slowly.</p> - -<p>Life, this beautiful, creative life, comes slowly through the ages, -but it comes. Slowly mankind is emerging out of slavery into the -beautiful freedom of creative life. Slowly mankind is realising the -natural desire, the instinctive natural urge, the essential need for -life—of each individual to be free. Free—<i>i.e.</i> free to strive, to -endeavour, to reach onwards, to create, to make, to beget. The economic -freedom of the individual has been slowly escaping throughout history. -It burst into a new vigorous life through the hammering blows of the -French Revolution. During the last century or more this principle of -freedom has been changing our political relationships and values. This -economic escape may be said to have reacted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> on science, and the modern -developments of evolution have benefited by the spreading change in the -temper of mind, and by the influx of workers and creative thinkers from -the enslaved order.</p> - -<p>And this raises a large question which I have in mind this morning. -Every one can see to-day the immensity of the problems before the -world. It does not need much reflection, or foresight, or knowledge, to -see that the organisation of the intercourse of races is hurrying on to -becoming a dangerous problem. As has been said, and as any one I think -with powers of sight can see, it is in a large sense a race between -education and catastrophe. And the question we in schools have to ask -is, Can we in schools be outside all this? Can we confine our work, -our play, our necessary work, our necessary play, to the recognised, -traditional work or play of schools? We here think not. We believe -that schools should move on towards becoming always a microcosm of the -new world. A microcosm, and experiment, of the standards of value, of -the commandments, the statutes and judgments, of the organisation, of -the visions and aims of a coming world. We must not get into our heads -that these are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> theoretical things, it may be pure idealistic sort of -things, or, it may be new and dangerous things. They are none of these -things—they can be expressed in very everyday, homely, matter-of-fact -things and in the doing of our ordinary work. Of course they do mean -thought, a tendency to believe, a faith in boys—and they do mean -labour, and sacrifice—as they are called or thought of at first—until -both pass on into the beautiful life.</p> - -<p>Such aims and urges become terrific powers for prolonging the life of -man; and as the stream of life goes on it becomes more and more like -a vast river moving slowly forward with great power, receiving more -and more of tributaries, slowly, strongly, surely flowing on "unto -the estuary that enlarges, and spreads itself grandly as it pours its -waters into the great ocean of sea."</p> - -<p>But the beginnings are here: and here boys must find themselves in the -great stream of true life. They must find themselves in the land of the -great vision, of faith, of service. No beating or marking of time here. -No easy static state. No satisfaction with conventional static comfort. -Here they will join in this great world-life. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> came from their -homes to join the great world-life here. Even these tiny boys here will -feel that something is before them that matters, something of true life -and true intent. They will get the germs of life from some of those -things we are perpetually trying to do, and never succeeding in doing. -They will catch the contagion of effort. For learning is not our object -here, but doing. They may learn things in a deadly static way, they may -learn much in a static way and gain nothing of life. Not here, I hope. -No, the germs of life come from the spirit; from the incessant travail -of the soul; from high intent; they come from the burning desire to -know of the things that are coming into the world....'</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Mr. Shaw.</p></div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The War and Sanderson's Propaganda of Reconstruction</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>The disaster of the great war came to Sanderson as a tremendous -distressful stimulant, a monstrous and tragic turn in human affairs -that he had to square with his aims and teaching. He had had our common -awareness of its possibility, and yet when the crash came it took him, -as it took most of us, by surprise. At first he accepted the war as a -dire heroic necessity. This aggression of a military imperialism had to -be faced valiantly. That was how he saw it. Both his sons joined up at -the earliest possible moment, and the school braced itself up to train -its senior boys as officers, to help in the production of munitions, to -produce aviators, gunners and engineers for the great service of the -war. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> - -<p>The practical quality of the old boys from Oundle became apparent -at once. They stepped from laboratory and factory and office into -commissions; they returned from all over the world to prepare for -the battlefields. By 1918 over a thousand Oundle boys had gone into -the fighting services, three had V.C.'s, many had been mentioned in -despatches, awarded the Military Cross and the like.</p> - -<p>He did his best to find God and creative force in the world convulsion. -Here is a part of an address to the Church Parade of the Cadet Corps -which shows his very fine and very human struggle to impose a nobility -of interpretation upon the grim distressful last stages of the war.</p> - -<p>'It is a pleasant thing to wander about these fields and watch the -cadets who are told off to instruct their squads. It is a splendid -illustration of the power of co-operation in education—where boys -and men, or where a community work together, teaching one another, -learning one from the other, where all are teachers and scholars, a -body of co-workers, helping, encouraging, stimulating each other. -This community method is dominant wherever there is a great stirring, -<i>e.g.</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> a great call, a great pressing into a new kingdom; wherever -there is a great discovery and a new need. The war will establish it in -schools.</p> - -<p>And just one word when you go forth from here. You will carry this -mutual co-operative spirit with you. You will love your men, take care -of their interests, making full use of their individual faculties, and -learn to be co-workers with them.</p> - -<p>It is often said that wars will never cease—that they are a -necessity—and in a sense this is true. One thing we know quite well, -that in all affairs of life <i>peace</i> may be simply the peace of death. -There is the peace of lifelessness, of inactivity, notwithstanding all -its autumnal beauty. There is the quiet peace which changes not, the -conventional belief, the conventional kind of round of work, with lack -of initiative, of experiment, of testing and trials. There is the peace -which follows on contentment with things as they are, the peace of -death. The land of peace and of convention, and of cruel contentment. -The land of dark Satanic mills—as in Blake's imagery. War may come to -break up this deathful peace. So said John Ruskin. I have a letter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> -written to me just when the war broke out. In July 1914 the O.T.C. -was inspected by General Birkbeck, and in his speech he expressed his -belief that war was coming. On 2nd August, 1914, he wrote to me:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Sanderson</span>,—We little thought when I spoke to -those boys of yours how near we were to our trial!" and he adds: -"These are the words of a peaceful philosopher, Mr. Ruskin, when -concluding a series of lectures on War at Woolwich Royal Academy -Institution, which may give you comfort. Men talk of peace and -plenty, of peace and learning, of peace and civilisation; but I -found that those are not the words which the muse of history has -coupled together! On her lips the words are Peace and Selfishness, -Peace and Sensuality, Peace and Death!!! I learned, in short, -that all great nations learned their truth of word and strength -of thought in war; that they were taught by war and betrayed by -peace—trained by war and deceived by peace—nourished in war -and decayed in peace; in a word, that they were born in war and -expired in peace."</p></blockquote> - -<p>This is the prophet's call to arise and awaken out of sleep; to abandon -the easy life of routine and routine's belief. It is a call to rise up -and breathe life into the dry bones of the past; it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> the trumpet -blast for active warfare against all things that have become lifeless -and dead. It is the herald call for a new army, to build up a new world -of active, creative, dynamic Peace.'</p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>In April 1918 his eldest son, Roy, died of wounds at Estaires after the -battle of the Lys. Loss after loss of boys and trusted colleagues had -grieved and distressed him; now came this culminating blow. There had -been the closest understanding between father and son; Roy had left -engineering to become a master at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, -which Sanderson had helped to reconstruct, and more and more had the -father looked to his boy as his chosen disciple and possible successor.</p> - -<p>On the Whitsunday following Sanderson preached a sermon on the text: 'I -will not leave you desolate, I will come unto you.' The notes of the -sermon were untidy, and have had to be carefully pieced together, but -I think they rise to a very high level of poetry. And when I copy them -out I think how the dear sturdy man in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> academic gown must have -stood up and clung to his desk, after his manner, full of grief and -sorrowful memories of the one 'gentle soul,' in particular, and of many -other gentle souls, he had lost—clinging to his desk with both hands -as he clung to his faith and speaking stoutly.</p> - -<p>Whitsunday—White Sunday—white, pure, untainted—day of -consolation—day of inspiration—perhaps the most joyous time of all -the year. Spring in its power, life, Spirit of Peace, joy. Everywhere -joy—sanctified, subdued. Joy, and peace, and new life in the music, -the harmonies and discords, of Nature—here, in the country. The -singing of the birds, their twittering, chattering, calling; their -excitement; their restful chirping, abandon of joy, peace without -alloy—they are friends of the soul. The atmosphere too—the gentleness -of it, the life within it and soft warmth of it: freedom, imagination, -inspiration are in the air; the wind bloweth where it listeth. Joy, -innocent, white, pure, and happy. Happiness too. Life steeped in the -sunshine of happiness. The spring, the elasticity, the eutrophy of -life: life-creating life; life-giving life. Happiness on every hand -mystic, elusive as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> forces of Nature. "The wind bloweth where it -listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but cannot tell whence it -cometh, nor whither it goeth." Happiness! Not freedom from care, or -from sorrow, or from sleepless anguish; not freedom from abasement, -not even from dark gloom—the accidie of depression—yet nevertheless -the increasing sense of the life of love and service, the power of -service, the completeness of it. The happiness which breaks ever and -again through the clouds of uncertainties, doubts, darknesses of -life—revealing it may be, for a moment, the signs of long years of -effort—for as life goes on it is given to catch glimpses of the growth -of the soul, something of the part the soul has taken in the building -of the kingdom. It is in this life of love and service the words of the -Master come to us: "I will not leave you desolate, I will come unto -you."'</p> - -<p>Followed praise of the beauty of work with which his congregation must -have been familiar. And then came this concluding passage:—</p> - -<p>'And when these days of wrath are passed away, there will be a great -battlefield for a new birth. Days of wrath and then a new revelation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -When God came down on the first Pentecost on Mount Sinai, He came amid -thunders and lightnings, and in a thick dark cloud—and when the Holy -Spirit of God came to the waiting disciples there was a sound of a -rushing mighty wind. And it must be so. New birth comes through much -sorrow. So we may hope that new theories of life which for a century -have been growing towards birth will spring forth out of this great -contest in all the lands of the earth. Vast work there will be, and the -labourers sadly fewer. The nation is now sending of her very best into -the battlefield. There will be great call for new recruits to restore -the countries which are devastated—great calls, too, for investigators -in all branches of knowledge. Pioneers are now leading the way in -research, in mathematics, in science, in industry, in the laws of logic -and thought, with new ways of expression in language and art.</p> - -<p>'There is the great pressing need of revolution in the laws and -relationships in the social life. We may have visions of a regenerated -social state, in which courtesy, justice, mercy, the spirit of the -gentle knight, will show themselves in change<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of thought, of belief; -we may have visions of communities guided by principles which we hope -and believe rule in our great school. Care for the weak; clothing, -feeding, housing, medical care for all; a crime to be poor; to be -diseased, to be underfed; these regenerations controlled by the true -and public spirit at the cost of the community. Laws for reform and -redemption, and not for punishment. Each member of the state cared for, -as it is our hope each boy of this school is. Great changes—essential -to the well-being of a state, and to each member of it. We may have -visions that the spirit of chivalry, of kindness, of courtesy, of -gentleness, of all that goes to make the "gentle soul" will bring this -redemption to the people.'</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>The war turned Sanderson from a successful schoolmaster into an -amateur statesman. Life had become intolerable for him unless he could -interpret all its present disorders as the wreckage and confusion of -the house-breakers preparing the site for a far nobler and better -building. He shows himself at times by no means certain that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> this -would ever prove to be the case, but he had the brave man's assurance -that with luck and courage there was nothing impossible in the hope -that a more splendid human order might be built at last upon this -troubled and distressful planet. But for that to happen every possible -soul must be stirred, no latent will for order but must be roused -and brought into active service. He had no belief in hopeless and -irremediable vulgarity. People are mean, base, narrow, implacable, -unforgiving, contentious, selfish, competitive, because they have still -to see the creative light. Let that but shine upon them and seize them -and they would come into their places in that creative treatment of -life which ennobles the servant and enriches the giver, which is the -true salvation of souls.</p> - -<p>He became a propagandist. He felt he had now made good sufficiently -in his school. He had established a claim as an able and successful -man to go out to able men, to business men, to influential men of all -sorts, and tell them the significance of this school of his, this -hand-specimen, this assay sample, of what could be done with the world. -He went to Chambers of Commerce, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> Rotary Clubs, to Civic Assemblies, -to Luncheon gatherings of business men, to tell them of this idea of -organisation for service, instead of for profit and possession. He -tried to find industrial magnates who would take up the methods of -Oundle in productive organisation. He corresponded extensively with -such men as, for example, Lord Weir and Sir Alfred Yarrow and Lord -Bledisloe. He wanted to see them doing for industrial and agricultural -production what he had done for education, reconstructing it upon a -basis of corporate service, aiming primarily at creative achievement, -setting aside altogether competitive success or the amassing of private -wealth as the ends of human activity. Surely they would see how much -finer this new objective was, how much fuller and richer it must make -their own lives!</p> - -<p>When I tell of this search for a kindred spirit among ironmasters -and great landlords and the like I am reminded of Confucius and his -search for a duke in China, or of Plato or Machiavelli looking for -a prince. There is the same belief in the power of a leader and the -need of a personal will; the same utter scepticism in any <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>automatic -or crowd achievement of good order; once again the schoolmaster sets -out to conquer the world. Perhaps some day that perennial attempt will -come to fruition, and the schoolmaster will then indeed conquer the -world. Perhaps the seeds that Sanderson has sown will presently be -germinating in a crop of masterful business men of a new creative type. -Perhaps there are Sandersons yet to come, men of energy; each with his -individual difference, but all alight with the new conception of man's -creative life. Perhaps Oundle may, after all, prove to be the egg of a -new world. Oundle may relapse, probably will relapse, but other, more -enduring Oundles may follow in other parts of the world. At present all -that I can tell is of the message Sanderson was preaching during the -last six years of his life.</p> - -<p>Here he is, talking to the textile manufacturers of Bradford. This that -follows is from his printed address, restrained and pruned, but for the -manner of his delivery, the reader should think rather of that sample -sermon and the other descriptions I have given of his personal quality.</p> - -<p>'I am very much honoured by your invitation to address this important -congress, and I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> honoured, too, in being permitted to speak on -education in this great city of Bradford. For your city stands out very -prominently in the annals of education, and its work is well known by -all who have watched educational progress.</p> - -<p>You, gentlemen, are concerned with education: you are much concerned -with the education which will promote the welfare of the leaders -and workers in your industry; and the welfare of the people in your -districts. Industrialism has tumbled upon us, and it is an untamed, -unruly being, the laws of which are not yet known, and need study. -For some thirty-five years—a long spell—I have, in places removed -far away from the voices of industry, devoted my time towards the -introduction into Public Schools of those Scientific and Technical -studies which, as I understand it, lie at the basis of industrial life. -I have always had before me the work of organising Technical Subjects -so that they might give all that is best to give of spiritual and -intellectual training. And our object is to send forth from school boys -that will be in sympathy with the work that they have to do, that they -will be privileged to do, and to send them forth equipped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> for it. You -have the same purpose. Your wish is that the boys and girls of your -country should have every chance of developing into effective workers -in the community, and that they should take a zealous intellectual -interest in their work—that they should love their work, love to do it -well, ever anxious to mount to higher things.</p> - -<p>And one of the difficulties of the immediate future will be to -reorganise industrial conditions so that each worker may have the -chance of stretching his faculties and of getting the work that will -give him reasonably full play for his abilities. The fact that able and -clever men are, in the present system, kept too long at work which does -not stretch their brains, is a cause of unrest. Fortunately there is a -growing consensus of opinion that more freedom for opportunity and for -advancement is seriously necessary, and this sympathetic opinion will -lead towards a solution. It is also well within the work of a school to -promote this sympathy by sending out boys with those intellectual and -scientific tastes and knowledge which will react upon themselves and -attract them to the workers.</p> - -<p>There are two other questions which I will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> mention before I come to -the actual work which may be done in schools. One of the main aims -of a good school is to see that each boy and girl is cared for, that -each one has every opportunity for development. We must not cast out, -or send our weak ones away, we must keep them in school—we must find -out what kind of work will appeal to them, so that they, too, may move -upwards, gain in self-respect, and love their life. And we claim that -this is what we would have done in all factories, or in any occupation. -It is the essential duty of every nation. We are anxious that no -worker should be stunted mentally or physically by the kind of work -he has to do. This again is a difficult as it is an urgent problem. -It is one which can be studied in schools, and there is no doubt -that the attempts of a school to provide avenues of advance for all -kinds of boys will tend to bring the right spirit into industrial and -agricultural life....'</p> - -<h3>§ 4</h3> - -<p>So much for the Bradford discourse. Here is the gist of a discourse -given to the Reconstruction Council in London a year later. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> - -<p>'The object of this paper is to describe in practical working -terms an organisation of schools which shall be based on a close -association with the manifold needs and labours of the community life. -At the outset I may say that the proposals will refer—even if not -specifically so stated—to all types of schools, from the elementary to -the Public Schools. It will be seen that the change needs a change in -the ideals which have usually prevailed in schools of the past. In the -community life the one urgent thing to be done to-day is to reorganise -industry and the conditions of labour. This reorganisation may require -quite organic or even anarchic changes—and for these changes the -ideals of boys and girls must be changed, and to prepare for this -change is the urgent work of the schools.</p> - -<p>'Before I come to the proposals for reconstruction of schools, I will -state very briefly some facts in industry which are now meeting with -acceptance:</p> - -<p>'1. Modern industrial life has come in with a tumultuous rush, in -a haphazard, ungoverned way, through the activities of forceful, -capable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> and industrious leaders who have made use of the scientific -discoveries of another type of men.</p> - -<p>'2. The shrinkage of the world, and the growth of population which -followed, has led to fierce competition; and this spirit of competition -has ruled everywhere.</p> - -<p>'3. In the ungoverned rush for production all sorts of methods are -adopted which seem to be justified by their effectiveness. An example -is the modern system of efficiency, at first sight captivating to the -intellect and the desires, but yet a method which needs very careful -study.</p> - -<p>'4. Now men are beginning to believe that the first product of industry -must be for the worker; that the worker should grow physically, -intellectually, spiritually by his work.</p> - -<p>'I shall claim that the work in schools should be permeated by Science -and by the scientific method and outlook, and it will be found that -Science itself does not set all this store on efficiency. Efficiency, -I believe, is entirely contained within the first, or quantitative law -of Thermo-dynamics. But eutrophy based on the more elusive qualitative -law is concerned with the quality which leads to the giving up of life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> -to others. We must see to it that whatever the efficiency may be, the -eutrophy of industry be high.</p> - -<p>'The principle that the first product of industry must be the worker -leads to great organic changes. It will lead to no less a thing than -closing down certain productions, certain classes of occupations, -certain industries or processes. It will lead to a modification in -repetition work; and to adjustments in organisation. I hope to show the -bearing of this on our educational methods, and how the ideals implied -may bring some help in diagnosing Labour unrest.</p> - -<p>'It will be seen that most of the changes needed to-day depend upon -international agreements; and a league of nations is essential, not, -I think, to end wars, but to make the change from competition to -co-operation possible.</p> - -<p>'We are concerned to-day with the part education must take in this -change of ideals of life. It is not too much to say that without the -influence of a reconstructed education the way to change in the ideals -of men will be hard to find. The change has to be made from competitive -methods and ideals to co-operative methods; from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> spirit of -dominance to creativeness; and the present system of aristocraticism in -schools must give way to democratisation.</p> - -<p>'Competition holds sway to-day in industrial life with disastrous -results. Every employer of labour feels this, and wrestles, and would -be glad of a change, but he is held in the grip of a system. Every -one feels that competition destroys the creative, inventive life—and -is the seat of unrest. And yet the spirit of competition holds sway, -not in commerce only nor in diplomacy, but in the schools. Our public -schools are professedly schools for training a dominant class; the -aims, the educational methods, the school subjects and their relative -values, the books read, the life led—are all based on this spirit. The -methods are largely competitive, possessive. With, as I believe, tragic -results in industrial life this same system, with the ideals behind it, -has been unwittingly impressed on the working class in the elementary -schools....</p> - -<p>'The change which I am advocating will demand a new organisation, -and will call for a new type of school buildings, and new values of -subjects. The new-comer Science, and with it <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>organised industry, -which springs out of it, must take a prominent and inspiriting place -in school, and in every part of school work. It is not sufficient to -say that Science should be taught in schools. The time has gone by for -this. We claim that scientific thought should be the inspiring spirit -in school life. Science is essentially creative and co-operative, its -outlook is onwards towards change, it means searching for the truth, it -demands research and experiment, and does not rest on authority. Under -this new spirit all history, literature, art, and even languages should -be rewritten.</p> - -<p>'A new type of school buildings and requirements will arise. No longer -buildings comprised only of class-rooms, but large and spacious -workrooms. Class-rooms are places where boys go to be taught. They -are tool-sharpening rooms—necessary, but subsidiary. For research -and co-operative creative work the larger halls are needed. Spacious -engineering and wood-working shops, well supplied with all kinds of -machine tools, a smithy, a foundry, a carpenter's shop, a drawing -office—all carried on for manufacturing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> purposes. Plenty of work -which will employ boys of all ages will be found to do.</p> - -<p>'There will be a corresponding spacious literary and historical -workshop with a really spacious library full of books: books on modern -subjects, as well as reference books. The building should have wings in -it for foreign books—modern as well as classic, history, economics, -literary, scientific. As many as possible of the foreign languages -should be represented here, that boys may grow up with knowledge and -sympathy and respect for other nations, and thus aid in promoting wider -and deeper ideals of life. Another gallery for geography, and natural -history, travels, ethnology.</p> - -<p>'Here is full scope for a large number of boys of all ages to be -engaged in research. It is all of a co-operative character. They can -study the various social and economic systems—from co-partnership to -syndicalism; or the Liberation of Slaves; or the League of Nations; or -the Liberation of Italy.</p> - -<p>'Another block will be a science block with an engineering laboratory, -machinery hall, physical, chemical, and biological laboratories—well -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>supplied with apparatus and plant for applied science; plant, too, to -lead to the investigations of the day; testing machine, ship tank, air -tunnel; a miniature standardising laboratory; and with this a botanical -garden and an experimental farm.</p> - -<p>'Another would be an art-room, music-room, theatre, a home of industry -for studying industrial development and industrial life.</p> - -<p>'This is not a Utopian scheme, but one within possibility in town and -country. To each large central high school should be associated groups -of elementary schools, and there should be free highways between them, -neither barred by examinations nor barred by expense....</p> - -<p>'Another change must also come. Books on modern problems, strangely -enough, are not yet read in schools. For example, the time is overdue -for a change in the English books: Burke's <i>Reflections</i> and Pitt's -<i>War Speeches</i>, or Addison, to Ruskin's <i>Unto This Last</i> and <i>Time and -Tide</i>, or to Bernard Shaw, Wells, Galsworthy, and the modern poets. -Some would go so far as to give Shakespeare a rest. It is astonishing -how the newer books bearing on the large questions of the day, and -bearing on the actual life of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> boy, strike the imagination of -boys—even quite young boys of the upper elementary school age. They -stir up the faculties and appeal to a less used kind of imagination. -It is surprising, too, what open and live views young boys will reach. -And one thing the study of these books possesses, which I hope to dwell -upon later, is that they bring the schools into close touch with the -everyday life of their homes and of the community.</p> - -<p>'Creative education demands that schools should be brought into harmony -with the community life, and should take part in the industrial and -economic life. When boys and girls go home from school (even to the -humblest home) the parents should find there is something their -children have done at school which will help them in their work. This -means that technical and vocational training should hold a prominent, -and not a subsidiary, place in the schools. It is not difficult to see -that this kind of work contains within it the spirit and genius of -Science. We claim that education should be turned in this direction, -with confidence and inspiration. The divorce of industrial life from -the life of the spirit is one of the tragedies of the age. It <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>produces -calamitous results. A man's work may be of an impossible kind, it may -be sordid and destructive of life—and the cure proposed is that he -should have shorter hours and more pay. This leads to bad diagnosis of -the cause of the Labour difficulty, and prevents necessary reforms in -the industries....</p> - -<p>'Creativeness, the co-operative spirit and method, the vision, the -experimental method of searching for the truth, form the unique gift -Science and Industry have to give to the "New Education." Under the -influence of this new outlook all other departments of knowledge must -be restudied. Under its influence the life of school will become -active, the workers self-reliant, love abounding. It will make good -craftsmen and make the school of use in the community—whether in the -manufacturing life or in the investigation of economic conditions. -Incidentally it will give rise to a new body of men capable of going -wholly or in part to teaching, and the school will be thus linked up -with the life of the place.</p> - -<p>'It may be well to state that with an education of this kind based -fundamentally on Science a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> capable boy will leave a secondary school -with a good knowledge of Science and of its application, with a -research attitude towards history and modern problems, and with a good -working knowledge of two, or three, or even four languages....</p> - -<p>'The study of social questions is seriously needed. Industries would -then have a close connection with the boys and girls, and yet boys -and girls would be free to follow the best of their own talents and -inclinations—the industrial life would not be separated from the -spiritual life; and we may hope that some part of this ideal would pass -over into the workshops and factories; so that the labourer would learn -to love his work better than his wage—for so indeed he would wish to -do. And the faculties of the worker would grow. The method of the work -would follow the method of the school, as it is doing more and more -in our own land and in many a workshop. For the spirit is with these -ideals; the practice difficult for any single firm to carry out. Hence -is the need for radical change in schools. Firms are being driven to -start trade schools of their own, when they would prefer the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> work to -be done with all the wider scope of a school. And the same enlightened -firms endeavour to "promote" their men.</p> - -<p>'And here we come to what is probably the natural source of all -labour "unrest"—the unstretched faculties of the worker. Men there -are in any great shops who have intellectual faculties of the highest -order, and these faculties are not used, so the greatest possession -a man has, and the greatest his country has—the "faculties" of its -owners—is allowed to dissipate. And in the feeling of the mental want -of equilibrium, in the slow frittering away of life, there arrives the -turbulent spirit. The study of these questions is the problem for our -coming international university. The industrial and economic problems -involved can only be approached under international agreement. All that -has been possible at present in the way of making industrial life pure -and holy is by legislative restrictions, often enough rankling to the -worker even when needed for his amelioration. Such legislation (Factory -Acts, Insurance Acts, wages, hours) does not remove the source of the -disease; at best it only mitigates the worst results. More drastic -changes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> may be needed in the nature of the work—to the ruling out -certain manufacturing processes until new discoveries can be made.</p> - -<p>'So with the work in the shops. Men do not want wages, or shorter -hours; these demands are only symptoms of a disease; short cuts to -amelioration. They are doctoring. What men want is that their work may -be such that they can love it, and want more of it. They do not want -slaves' work in the shops and a "dose" of the spiritual life out of it. -So we believe.</p> - -<p>'Parents, too, would let their children remain at school. As a class -there is no one more unselfish and self-sacrificing and co-operative -than the working-class parent. Boys want to leave school because of -the natural urge for making something and getting to business—as they -see it at home. To remain at school without joining in some work is -unthinkable when they see the life their parents lead.</p> - -<p>'I may be permitted to insert one paragraph on the unfortunate -opposition to this new position which is claimed for Science in the -schools. The opposition springs from the belief that vocational work is -simply material, having no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> spiritual outlook. But the truth is all the -other way. Unfortunately the present studies of history, art, economy, -literature, are biassed by "possessive" instincts and education, and -we claim that Science and its methods are seriously demanded for a new -reading of these things. However, the opposition finds expression in -high quarters. The Workers' Educational Union, acting in sympathy with -the Labour view—that vocational studies are to be avoided—practically -taboos technical studies. This is reasonable as things are to-day, -when a man's work is too often for the profit of others, and for this -reason the workers are not in love with their work, and when the day -is over they have seen plenty of it; so the best of them go elsewhere -for the springs of the spiritual life. But this is all disastrous to -individuals and disastrous to progress. What the workers should do is -to watch for the spirit in their daily work, for it is the work itself -which will hold a man to God—nothing else will.'</p> - -<h3>§ 5</h3> - -<p>I have quoted from this London Reconstruction discourse very fully. -In the official Life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> there are a number of such addresses in which -the student will find the main doctrines of that particular address -repeated, varied, amplified, but as my object in this book is to strip -Sanderson's views down to his essential ideas, I will make only one -further quotation from this propaganda material here. This is from the -notes he arranged for an address to the Newcastle Rotary Club. His -favourite contrast between the possessive instincts and the creative -instincts comes out very clearly here. Like all the great religious -teachers, Sanderson aims quite clearly at an ultimate communism, to be -achieved not by revolution but by the steady development of a creative -spirit in the world.</p> - -<p>'Schools should be miniature copies of the world we should love to -have. Hence our outlooks and methods must have these aims in mind. -Schoolmasters have great responsibilities. We should be able to say to -a boy, we have endeavoured to do such things for you, and we ask you to -go forth, it may be, into your father's business or factory and do the -same to the workers. Let me illustrate from the workshops. Workshops in -a school are by far the most <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>difficult things to carry on along the -lines I have in mind. Here are three conditions which must be kept in -the shops:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>'(<i>a</i>) The work boys are doing should not be for themselves, or -exercises to learn by; it must always be work required by the -community.</p> - -<p>'(<i>b</i>) Each boy must have the opportunity of doing all the main -operations, and all the operations should be going on in the -workshops.</p> - -<p>'(<i>c</i>) Whenever a boy goes into the shop he should find himself -set to work which is up to the hilt of his capacity. There is -no "slithering" down to work which is easy, no unnecessary and -automatic repetition, no working for himself but for the community.</p></blockquote> - -<p>'And we can say, and are entitled to say, to the boy, when you go forth -into life, perhaps into your father's work or business or profession, -you must try to do for your apprentices and workers what we have tried -to do for you. You, too, will try to see that every one has work which -exacts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> their faculties—by which they will grow and develop; you will -see to it that they are working directly on behalf of and for the -welfare of the community, and not for yourself.</p> - -<p>'This is your real duty towards your neighbour. It is a vastly hard -thing to do. This duty of believing that others are of the same blood -with yourself, and have the same feelings, and loves, and desires and -needs, and natural elementary rights; this duty of setting them free -to exercise their faculties spaciously that they, too, may get more of -life—is the real duty towards your neighbour. It is a hard thing. If -you think of the works, the factory, the office, it is a hard thing. It -involves vast sacrifice—the hardest sacrifice—the sacrifice of belief -and economic tradition. We need not be surprised that Christianity -has "slithered down" to an easier and softer level of culture and -duty towards our neighbours. But whether the workers know it or not, -this hard duty is essential in considering the relationships of our -community system and our international system to-day.</p> - -<p>'It is a hard duty, and boys must be immersed in it in school. The -outlook, values, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>organisation of a school should be based on the -fundamental fact of the community service. By habit of mind, and by the -activity of the schools, boys should be imbued with this high duty. It -means a reorganisation of methods and aims.</p> - -<p>'It is a hard duty, this duty towards your neighbour—the hardest -part being to believe that he has like feelings with yourself and -equal rights. The young man went away sorrowful, for he had great -riches—riches intellectual or other. Yet the young man went away -sorrowful, and there is no doubt that he eventually sold all that -he had. This is Watts' version of it. The young man was at heart a -follower of Jesus; he did not say that the commandment was an old one -and well known, that it had been said before in the Hagadah and by -Moses; he did not say that the language was the language of Plato or -Philo; he did not say that it was too difficult and could not be true -for every one—he went away sorrowful. We have no doubt that he sold -all that he had.</p> - -<p>'The system of education in the past has been based on training for -leadership, <i>i.e.</i> for a master class, and its method has been a -training of the faculties. But the sharply defined line between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> the -leaders and the led has been broken down. The whole mass of people has -been aroused towards intellectual creative efforts. The struggle going -on in all communities and amongst all races is a struggle to grow and -have more of life. Whether at home amongst our workers, or in India, -or Egypt, or Ireland; or between China and Europe—the struggle is the -same. It is a struggle to make progress, and have more of life. This -urge to grow is a biological fact. We cannot tell why it is or what -creates it—but everything around us has this urge to grow, and to grow -in its own particular way. One seed grows into a tulip, another into -wheat. We know not how, but we recognise it. And it is precisely the -same urge to grow that is causing all this apparent conflict. It is the -fundamental creative instinct—the most powerful instinct of the human -race, by which the race is preserved. Deep down in human nature lies -this instinct; it is never forgotten, it is always present in the mind. -It is voluptuous, anarchic, joyful, violent, powerful.</p> - -<p>'The other instinct is called the fighting, aggressive, acquisitive, -possessive instinct. It is the instinct to acquire, to overcome. It is -distinct<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> from the creative instinct even in the biological growth, but -the distinction manifests itself more clearly in the community or herd -relationships. It has none of the beautiful and life-giving qualities -of the creative urge. It is essentially, even in its romance (of which -we have plenty), dull, selfish, destructive. It varies its forms from -sheer animal force to the dialectical methods which have assumed the -names of talent and culture. The same characteristics are seen in -the force of the slave-driver, in the forces of the wage-nexus, and -in the dialectical force of the council. These are hard sayings, but -for the solution of the problems of the present times it is wise, and -necessary, to look facts in the face. At any rate it is well to know of -the possibilities, feelings, and loves of the uprising mass....</p> - -<p>'But what has this to do with schools? My answer is that if we are to -deal with the problems thrown up by science in our industrial system, -and our close national and international contacts, the schools must be -the seed grounds of the new thought and visions....'</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The House of Vision and the School Chapel</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>I come now to one of the most curious and characteristic things in -Sanderson's later life, a conflict and interaction that went on between -two closely related and yet in many ways intensely competitive ideas, -the idea on the one hand of a new sort of building unprecedented among -schools, a building which should symbolise and embody the whole aim -of the school and the renewed community of which it is the germ, and -on the other hand the idea of a great memorial chapel to commemorate -the sacrifice of those who had fallen in the war. These ideas assumed -protean forms in his mind, they grew, they blended and separated again. -I will call the first, for reasons that will appear later, the House of -Vision; the second, the school chapel. For though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> Oundle had thrown -up a great cluster of houses, halls, laboratories, and other buildings -during its quarter of a century of growth, it had never yet produced -anything more than a corrugated-iron meeting-house for its religious -services. The want of some more dignified chapel had long been evident, -and even before the war was very much in Sanderson's mind.</p> - -<p>The idea of a House of Vision was therefore the later of the two. -Very early in the war a boy of great promise, Eric Yarrow, the son of -Sir Alfred Yarrow, the great shipbuilder, was killed at Ypres, and -parent and schoolmaster met at the house of the former to mourn their -common loss. Sanderson and Eric Yarrow had been close friends; they -had discussed and developed the idea of a creative reconstruction -of industry together; Eric Yarrow was to have played a part in the -industrial world similar to the part that Roy Sanderson was to have -played in the educational world.</p> - -<p>The two men sat late at night and talked of these vanished hopes. -Could not something be done, they asked, to record at least the spirit -of these fine intentions, and they sketched out a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> project for a -memorial building that should be a symbol and incitement to effort for -the reorganised industrial state. It should be in a sense a museum -containing a record of human effort and invention in the past; a museum -of the development of work and production and a statement of the -economic problems before mankind. Sir Alfred produced a cheque more -than sufficient to cover the building of such a memorial as they had -planned, and Sanderson returned to Oundle to put the realisation of the -project in hand. Probably the two of them also discussed the need for a -memorial chapel and probably neither of them realised a possible clash -between that older project and the new one they were now starting.</p> - -<p>It was in the early stage when the Eric Yarrow memorial was to be -nothing more than a museum of industrial history and organisation -that Sanderson set afoot the building at Oundle which is now known -by that name. Apparently he did not get much inspiration over to the -architect, and at any rate the edifice that presently rose was a very -weak and dull-looking one, more suitable for a herbarium or a minor -lecture-hall than for a temple of creative dreams. It was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> premature -materialisation, done in the stress and under the cramping limitations -of war time. Long before it was finished Sanderson's imaginations had -outgrown it. I think this unconfessed architectural disappointment -probably played a large part in the subsequent development of the idea -of the school chapel, still to be planned, still capable of being made -a spacious and beautiful building. To the latter dream he transferred -more and more of the ideas that arose properly out of the germ of the -Eric Yarrow memorial.</p> - -<p>At first the House of Vision was to have been no more than an -industrial museum. It was not to be used as a class-room or -lecture-room. It was to be empty of chairs, desks, and the like, -and clear for any one to go in to think and dream. About its walls, -diagrams and charts were to display the progress of man from the -sub-human to his present phase of futile power and hope. There were to -be time-charts of the whole process of history, and a few of these have -been made. As his idea ripened it broadened. The memorial ceased to be -a symbol merely of industrial reorganisation and progress, and became a -temple to the whole human adventure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> He began to stress first social -and then imaginative growth. The charts were to be full and accurate, -everything shown was to be precisely true, but there was to be no -teaching in the building, no direction beyond the form and spirit of -the place.</p> - -<p>And so while the scaffolds of the workmen rose about the commonplace -little erection in the school fields, the schoolmaster in his -day-dreams realised more and more the full measure of the opportunity -he was missing.</p> - -<p>The realisation of the past is the realisation of the future, and it -was an easy transition to pass to the idea of this building as an -expression of the creative will in man. In it the individual boy was to -realise the aim of the school and of schooling and living. It was to be -the eye of the school, its soul, its headlight.</p> - -<p>The idea of this 'House of Vision' was still growing in his mind when -he died. He had not yet settled upon a name for it, though he had -tried over a number of names—a House of Vision, which is the name we -have taken for it here, the Home of Silence, the Hall of Industry, the -Anthropaeum, the Making of Man, the Life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> Creative, the Soul of the -School. All these names converge upon the end he was seeking. This -approach by trial, by leaving the idea to shape itself for a time and -then taking it up again, by talking it over with this man and that, was -very characteristic of his mental processes.</p> - -<p>A member of the staff recalls a stage in the development of the idea. -'I talked with the headmaster about the Yarrow Memorial in October -1920,' he says. 'He then seemed to dally with a suggestion to name it -the "Temple of the World"—he expressed his hatred of the tendency to -call it the "Museum." I gathered that his idea was to fill it with -charts of all things and all ages, including pictures of at least all -the world's great men—then to turn a boy loose in it, thereby to -realise his position in the world as a unit of its time, as opposed to -the inculcation of any idea of his having a part in his nationality -only. His root idea seemed to be that it should be a place for -meditation—restful as well as invigorating.'</p> - -<p>Here is a passage written by Sanderson himself a little later. The idea -ripens and broadens out very manifestly.</p> - -<p>'Every school, every locality and industry,' he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> writes, 'might build -within their boundaries a new kind of chapel, a heritage, a temple—a -beautiful building in which are gathered together and exhibited the -records of man's great deeds and of man's progress, and the records -of his needs. It is such a "Hall of Needs" that we regard the Yarrow -Memorial, and to this end it is being equipped.'</p> - -<p>And here Sanderson speaks again in a sermon preached upon the text of -Moses' withdrawal to the mount.</p> - -<p>'A school will grow into a book. It will take upon itself the form of a -Bible. Within it will appear the stages in the life of the soul—"the -coming of a kingdom"; the foundations, the building, the furniture, -the complex apparatus, the organised beauty. A school—its buildings, -workshops, class-rooms, and all that goes towards a great school—can -take on the form of a parable. As we wander from one place to another -all that speaks of life will manifest itself before us. How life -begins, what is needed for its growth; what shall be its standards, its -ideals; what the nature of its proof-plate; the craftsman and what he -is;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> the craftsman in languages, in mathematics, in science, in art; -the secrets of nature revealing themselves; progress, change, vision.</p> - -<p>'And boys will go out into the factory, or mine, or business, or -profession, imbued with the spirit of the active love of humanity. Some -will be called to lead, as Moses was called. They, too, will plant -the "Tent of Meeting," the "Temple of Vision." A return with a new -view-point will be made to the temple of ages gone by. The Assyrian -frescoed his walls with sculptures of the deeds of his hero-kings; the -Franciscans frescoed the walls of their chapels with the life of Jesus -as told in the Gospels—the life of the Divine builder, of Him who came -to restore a kingdom, by whose life and death a new world was created.</p> - -<p>'But the Temple of Vision of to-day; the new Tent of Meeting. What -of it? The new home of vision will be frescoed with the thoughts of -to-day, changing into the thoughts of to-morrow. Generations of workers -will go up into the mount, and to them, too, will be shown the pattern. -"See that thou make them after their pattern which hath been shown thee -in the mount."'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>Now this is a very great and novel idea, the idea of a modern temple -set like a miner's lantern in the forefront of school or college to -light its task in the world. It rounds off and completes Sanderson's -vision of a modern school; it is logically essential to that vision. -But meanwhile what was happening to the school-chapel project?</p> - -<p>For, after all, in the older type of school, the chapel with its -matins and evensong, its <i>Onward Christian Soldiers</i> and suchlike -stirring hymns, its confirmations and first communions, was in a rather -dreamy, formless mechanical way undertaking to do precisely what the -new House of Vision was also to do, that is, to give a direction to -the whole subsequent life. But was it the same direction? The normal -school-chapel points up—not very effectively one feels; the House -of Vision was to point onward. Sanderson had a crowded, capacious -mind, but sooner or later the question behind these two discrepant -objectives, whether men are to live for heaven or for creation, was -bound to have come to an issue.</p> - -<p>His mental process was at first syncretic. He began to think of a -school-chapel, not as a place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> for formal services but as a place of -meditation and resolve. He began to speak of the chapel also as though -it was to be 'the tent on the mount,' the place of vision. He betrayed -a growing hostility to the intoned prayers, the trite responses, -the tuneful empty hymns, the Anglican vacuity of the normal chapel -procedure. Had he lived to guide the building of Oundle chapel I -believe it would have diverged more and more from any precedent, more -and more in the direction of that House of Vision, that the premature -and insufficient Eric Yarrow building had so pitifully failed to -realise.</p> - -<p>Here is evidence of that divergence in a passage from a sermon preached -after a gathering of parents and old boys in the Court Room at the -London Grocers' Hall to discuss the chapel project. I ask any one -trained in the services of the Church of England and accustomed to -enter, pray into a silk hat, deposit it under the seat, sit down, -stand up, bow, genuflect, kneel decorously on a hassock, sing, repeat -responses, and go through the simple and wholesome Swedish exercises -of the Anglican prayer book, what is to be thought of this project of -a chapel with hardly a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> sitting in it? And what is to be thought of -this suggestion of wandering round the aisles? And what is this talk -of young gentlemen who have died 'for king and country,' casting down -their lives for the rescue of man?</p> - -<p>'For the years to come, when the war is over, it will be well to have -some visible memorial; some symbol of the redemption of the Great -War, and of the heroic part old boys have taken in it; some record of -the great struggle from out of which the new spirit will rise; some -record of the part the whole school took in this; some record of the -boys who have fallen; some thanksgiving symbol for all who have given -their service. And for this it is proposed to build a chapel. But when -the time comes we shall be sad to leave our present building. It is a -poor building, but it is very rich in its associations. The services -in this temporary chapel have taken a large part in the building of -the school. Simple as is the Tent in the Wilderness, yet we have hoped -that the Spirit of God would come and dwell in it. We have hoped that -the Divine Spirit would come into all the activities and outlook of the -school in its diverse occupations, whether they be literary or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> whether -they be scientific or technical. And we have always looked onward to -the day when a permanent chapel should be built, symbolic of the Divine -Omnipresence for worship and for sacrifice.</p> - -<p>'And this is what is in mind to do—and yet I confess to a certain -amount of fear. A lofty, spacious chapel I have had no doubt would at -the right moment be built by the Grocers' Company. Just before the war -the building of this chapel was emerging as the next great building -to undertake—a chapel, such as a college chapel with stalls, as -for private service. But now we look beyond this. We want something -different, more open. A lofty, spacious chapel to form the nave—no -fixed seats, the clear open space; quiet, still, "urgent with beauty." -Joined to this the choir and sanctuary, with aisles round the three -sides of it, forming an ambulatory. Round these aisles, on the walls -and in the windows, the recorded memory of the boys who have fallen. -An east window, a reredos, stalls, altar. A chapel, abundant in space, -not for the mind to sit down in, but for the mind to move about in, for -contemplation, for dwelling in the infinite, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> piercing through the -night, for vision, for the clear spirit of thankfulness, for communion -with the saints, our own young saints among them. So we hope. As you -wander round the aisles there will pass before you the memorial of -those boys who have cast down their lives for the rescue of man.'</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>I cannot guess how Sanderson, had he lived, would have resolved this -conflict between his House of Vision and his Great Chapel, just as -I can hazard no opinion of the ultimate form his interpretation of -Christianity would have taken. But the recognition of these conflicts -is fundamental to my conception of the man and his significance.</p> - -<p>He stands for a great multitude reluctant to abandon many of the -familiar phrases of the Christian use and eager to read new and deeper -meanings into them. But he never took 'holy orders'; he knew the days -of the priest, except for evil, were past, and it is only by its being -born again as a House of Vision that he could <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>anticipate his chapel -with contentment. The time has come for mankind to choose plainly -between the priest and the teacher.</p> - -<p>Some six months after Sanderson's death I went to Oundle and visited -the Yarrow Memorial, that abortive first House of Vision. Except for -a bronze statue of a boy by Lady Scott that Sanderson had liked and -bought, it was as I had seen it with Sanderson a year before. It was -still, deserted, and I suppose I must count it dead. The time-charts -had not been carried on. The collection of inventions, the display of -humanity's growth, were still represented by empty cases. The statue -was intended for the school chapel, but meanwhile it had been dumped in -the House of Vision as a convenient vacant place for such dumping. The -bronze boy is in an eager pose; there is duty to be done and danger to -be faced and a great creative effort to be made. 'Send me!' he said, in -that empty, neglected House of Vision. But the hand that would have put -that dart to the bowstring and aimed it at work and service was there -no more.</p> - -<p>Building operations upon the chapel were proceeding slowly. The rising -walls were very like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> the rising walls of the sort of church for -respectable people that gets built in Surbiton or Beckenham. I gather -that in all probability it will even carry the debt customary in such -cases. The new headmaster was, I found, a thoroughly pleasant man who -came not from an elementary school but from Eton, and had never met -Sanderson in his life and knew nothing of his work. He seemed disposed -to regard Sanderson as a bit of a crank and to be intelligently -puzzled by his originalities. I felt assured that when at last that -old corrugated-iron building is abandoned for the new chapel there -would be pews in the new nave in spite of Sanderson, and services of an -altogether normal type and no nonsense of walking about and thinking or -anything of that sort.</p> - -<p>But though I have seen the House of Vision at Oundle dead and vacant -as a museum skull, yet I know surely that neither Sanderson nor his -House of Vision are in any real sense dead at all. A day will certainly -come when his name will be honoured above all other contemporary -schoolmasters as the precursor of a new age in education and human -affairs. In that age of realisation every village will be dominated -by its school,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> with its library and theatre, its laboratories and -gymnasium, every town will converge upon its cluster of schools and -colleges, its research buildings and the like, and it will have its -Great Chapel, its House of Vision as its crown and symbol even as the -cathedral was the crown and symbol of the being and devotion of the -medieval city. And therein Sanderson's stout hopefulness and pioneer -thrustings will be kept in remembrance by generations that have come up -to the pitch of understanding him.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> - -<p class="bold"><span class="smcap">The Last Lecture</span></p> - -<h3>§ 1</h3> - -<p>Sanderson's propaganda of this idea of the possible reorganisation -of the world through schools came to an abrupt end in the summer of -1922. He died suddenly of heart failure in the Botanical Theatre of -University College, London, at the end of an address to the National -Union of Scientific Workers. He had chosen as the title of the -address, 'The Duty and Service of Science in the New Era,' and it -was in effect a recapitulation of his most characteristic views. He -attached considerable importance to the delivery and he made unusual -preparations for it.</p> - -<p>Upon his desk after his death seven separate drafts, and they were -all very full drafts, of this address were found. In the margins of -the pages little sums have been worked out—so many pages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> at three -hundred words a page, four thousand, five thousand words; a full hour's -talking, and still so much to say! There are little notes framed in -a sort of Oxford frame of lines reminding him, for example, to 'say -more of bringing scientific method into <i>all</i> parts of school.' On the -reverse of the pages of manuscript are trial restatements. He tried -back several times to a fresh beginning. There is a page headed 'The -New School,' and giving three headings: the first, which he afterwards -marked as second, is, 'The faculty of each member shall be developed'; -the second, which became the first, is 'Community service—no -competition'; the third is, '<i>Outlook—aim</i>, more value than ability. -Service. All are equal. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Let all -that will, come.'</p> - -<p>Then we find him trying over his ideas about science under a heading, -'What we claim for science.' Under that are a number of interesting -subheads:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>'Its own value in the great discoveries.</p> - -<p>'That its spirit is that of life, giving, changing, searching. -(Marginal note:—without being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> deterred by any of the results -which may follow.)</p> - -<p>'It is "natural" to the vast number of boys.</p> - -<p>'Very directly applicable to needs.</p> - -<p>'That it has a language and a message. (Marginal note:—it seeks -to test, to create new standards, to fearlessly rewrite knowledge.)</p> - -<p>'The same spirit. (? as Christianity: Editor.)</p></blockquote> - -<p>Finally he produced a draft which was at least his eighth. This he had -printed and this he may have intended to read to the meeting. But he -did not do so. In the end he spoke from a fresh set of notes, which -must have been at least the ninth draft. That eighth draft is given in -full in the official Life.</p> - -<p>His health had not been good for some time, and he kept this lecture -and his exceptional interest in it more or less secret from his wife. -He spent a long and interested morning at the experimental farm at -Rothamsted, and in the afternoon he went to the opticians to get a new -pair of spectacles and attended to other small businesses. He met a -small party of us at the London <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>University Club in Gower Street to -take tea before lecturing. Sir Richard Gregory, the editor of <i>Nature</i>, -was present, Major Church, the secretary of the National Union of -Scientific Workers, and Dr. Charles Singer, the historian of classical -science. Sanderson was evidently hot and rather tired, but he did not -seem to be ill; he gossiped pleasantly with us and showed us his new -spectacles. They were made of a recently discovered glass, opaque to -ultra-violet rays and he betrayed the pride and interest of a boy in -possessing them.</p> - -<p>University College was not very far away, but he asked for a cab -thither because he felt fagged. The audience was already assembled -and he went straight on to the platform. The present writer made a -few introductory remarks, and the lecture began. It is a matter of -keen regret to all of us that we allowed him to stand throughout his -discourse. It would have been so easy to have arranged for him to talk -from a chair; the Botanical Theatre is not a large one and it is quite -conceivable that he might be alive now, if one of us could have had -that much thoughtfulness for him. We had thought of it—ten minutes -after his death. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<p>But we were all so used to the quality of effort in his voice, so -accustomed to its sudden fall into almost inaudible asides, that we -did not mark what hung over us until the very moment of catastrophe. -His sentences seemed to me a little more broken than usual; he was -rather more disconnected, he was leaving rather more than usual to -the intelligence of his audience, and as he talked I watched the -faces before me rather anxiously to see just how much they missed of -what he was trying to get over to them. He got over much more than I -supposed, for I have since talked with many who were present. A fairly -full shorthand note was made at the time, and on this the following -rendering of the last address is based. Like everything that has been -printed of his here, it has been clipped and shorn, little distracting -side glances have been eliminated and broken sentences filled in and -rounded off.</p> - -<h3>§ 2</h3> - -<p>'It is a great honour,' he began, 'to come and address scientific -workers (I have only recently discovered my claim to be a scientific -worker),<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> and to describe to you what has turned out to be a scientific -experiment. I hope to show the results of an experiment carried on, not -in a scientific laboratory so-called—physical, chemical, biological, -or anthropological—but in a school for boys.</p> - -<p>'Before doing that, I should like to say that we scientific workers -do very much depend on having a number of us together. One scientific -worker placed in charge of any great work finds it difficult; -scientific workers do not get the chance of appointing men in sympathy -with themselves often enough; so it is frequently said that scientific -men placed in command of a factory in industry or a department of -state at home or in the colonies fail. Well, if so, they fail because -scientific men have not often got the opportunity of getting men of -like sympathy to work with them. I take it that the object of the -National Union of Scientific Workers is to get scientific men with -scientific views of life and experimental experience to join together -in some great work. When I speak of the duty and service of science in -the new era, I mean that I want scientific men to claim justly a larger -share in the work of the world, and not to confine themselves to what -is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> called purely scientific work. We want them to expand themselves -over a wider area. As a matter of fact, that is what two distinguished -writers have suggested: that the time has come when the ordinary -discoveries and inventions of science should be closed down in order to -enable scientific minds to do this simple thing. Practically everything -that exists now is the work of scientific men, their discoveries and -their inventions. The whole world teems with the results of the work -of science. The great machines we see used in industry—the industrial -machine itself—have been created by men of science. Now, I put it to -you that when motor cars came in, the nobility of the land found their -coachmen of little use. The scientific machine requires scientific men -to manage it. Our industrial life is imperfectly organised; all our -troubles are due to the fact that we have a process created by science, -but organised in the old way by men of a different outlook. The -discoveries of science have rushed into the world a considerable amount -of unexpected ability. Working men engaged in industrial pursuits have -had their intelligence discovered and brought out, and it is one thing -to control a mass of human<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> beings who are not thus inspired with the -knowledge of their own possibilities, and another to control those who -are. It is like trying to control a set of live molecules. It is one -thing to control a hard atom and another to control a live electron.</p> - -<p>'So that the duty and service of science would seem to lie in -scientific men bringing their ideal of life, their standards, their -vision, their outlook, and their methods to organise the great machine -that their inventions have created. You cannot have a world half -scientific and the other half nothing of the sort.</p> - -<p>'That is to say, scientific workers will have to consider the whole -question, for instance, of economics. I heard yesterday a distinguished -member of the Government saying that we cannot change economics. Of -course, that is one thing scientific men have got to do, to change -economics so that the system of our industry shall be recreated. The -system of management by dual control of the master and the slave will -not work when the slave becomes an alive, active, intelligent, anarchic -being. He will not be governed by the rein but by a system which the -magnet can influence. However, the last hundred years has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> resulted in -a race between the changed conditions that science has brought about -and the organisation required to control them, in what has been called -by Mr. Wells a race between education and catastrophe. In scientific -language, it has produced a serious stress because of the hurrying -on of change of conditions and the lagging behind of the methods of -controlling them. It is this stress, I think, which has broken up the -system. You may even say that the war itself is no cause of anything, -but a result of the purely automatic action of shearing forces, as when -a testing machine breaks a metal bar.</p> - -<p>'The end of the war has left us with a whole host of individuals set -free, and the business before science men is to organise this new body. -It is a big problem, and requires scientific thought, temperament, and -outlook to rewrite practically the whole of our knowledge. It reminds -me of the tremendous rush there was amongst scientific men to provide -workers to overhaul practically everything in biology (and theology) -and other parts of human knowledge after the doctrines of Darwin were -well established. I take it that all the departments of human life have -to be rewritten <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>by men under the influence of the spirit of science. -Our books have to be rewritten, our very dictionaries. I have often -amused myself with the <i>Oxford Dictionary</i>, or found it necessary to -send a boy to that authority for a definition, and it has pretty nearly -always been false. Take such a simple case as the word "democracy." -The <i>Oxford Dictionary</i> hasn't a thing to tell you about the meaning -of "democracy" as we use it to-day. It tells you nothing of the living -use of words. That is one of the terrible dangers of leaving our books -in the hands of men who have not got that outlook which experiment in -science brings to the individual. Consequently I say that the duty of -scientific men is to scour the whole area of knowledge and rewrite it -to bring out new standards, new values, by means of which labour and -industry itself, in the first instance, can be reorganised (the schools -first should be reorganised), and then you can extend it into the wider -area of international affairs.</p> - -<p>'They tell us that economics cannot change our human nature. That -is the great duty and service of science—to change human nature. -Scientific men have to collect a band of disciples and make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> a new -world. As far as I can gather, from a long connection with boys, the -only scientific quality which is constant is inertia in response to -change. The actual change itself, when it has arrived, no one objects -to, and every one says, "Why didn't we do that before?" Scientific -workers rarely have their opportunity in industry. To have their full -opportunity they are to set forth in the spirit of the Great Master to -found a new kingdom: not to manage industry by the standards and values -of the present, but to transform them. And they must do what our Master -Himself did—collect a faithful band of disciples imbued with the same -belief. I know it is freely said (I have been corresponding with some -of the leaders in industry) that scientific men cannot do this thing. -They can, if only they are true to themselves and their vision; they -can absolutely change the whole system under which industry is worked, -and change the world to their ideals.</p> - -<p>'"Come, and I will make you fishers of men...." The great work that -lies before scientific workers to-day is to extend the area of their -labours, to become not fishers of facts but fishers of men. There will -always be a distinguished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> band of purely scientific men devoted to -pure science, who will abide devoted to pure science; but with the -present number trained in science, we claim them also to organise the -machinery that science has created. They must leave their ships and -nets and become fishers of men.... I dare-say even scientific workers -know that is from the Bible. One of the greatest tragedies scientific -men have allowed is for others to steal the Bible from them. The Old -and New Testaments, with their record of progressive revelation, form -the most scientific book ever seen. Yet scientific men have allowed a -certain type of men to steal it from them. Bible stealing is an old -thing, and one favourite method is to bind it in morocco and to put it -on a top shelf....</p> - -<p>'But I must return to my scientific business. When I was at Cambridge -I was not regarded as scientific. I was amongst those who took -mathematics, and those who took mathematics and classics were -respectable and had to attend chapel. But if you inclined at all -towards science, or even ethics, you were not supposed to attend -chapel....</p> - -<p>'I said that I have recently discovered I am a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> scientific worker, -that I have been working a scientific experiment, though not of the -kind accepted for report to the Royal Society. It has been worked by -being headmaster of a school for thirty years and by having taught -for forty years. When I became a headmaster I began by introducing -engineering into the school—applied science. The first effect was -that a large number of boys who could not do other things could do -that. They began to like their work in school. They began to like -school. That led on to introducing a large number of other sciences, -such as agricultural chemistry, horse-shoeing (if that is a science), -metallurgical chemistry, bio-chemistry, agriculture; and, of course, -these new sorts of work interested a large number of other boys of a -type different from the type interested in the old work, so we got an -exceptional number of boys, curiously enough, unexpectedly liking what -they had to do in school. Then I ventured to do something daring; it -is most daring to introduce the scientific method of finding out the -truth—a dangerous thing—by the process of experiment and research. We -began to replace explicit teaching by finding out. We did this first -with these newly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>introduced sciences. Then we began to impress the -aims and outlook of science on to other departments of school life. -History, for instance: we began to replace the old class-room teaching -and learning by a laboratory for history, full of books and other -things required in abundance, so that boys in all parts of the school -could, for some specific purpose (not to learn; to go into school to -learn was egotistical), find out the things we required for to-day. We -set them to find out things for the service of science, the service of -literature, modern languages, music.</p> - -<p>'This began to change the whole organisation of the school, its aims -and methods. It was no use organising boys in forms by the ordinary -methods of promotion for this sort of work. You have to make up your -mind what you have to do, and then go about and collect anybody who -would be of service to that particular work. You would require boys of -one characteristic and boys of another. You make them up into teams for -the particular work they have to do. The boys who do not fit into this -or that particular work must have some other particular work found for -them. You begin to design the work of the school for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> them. You must -have all the apparatus you want for it, and you must organise for it, -but you begin by organising the work for the boys and what they need -to find out, and not by putting the boys into the organisation. Now, -presently you discover, when you do this, that not a single boy exists -who is not wanted for some particular work; to carry out your object -every boy is fundamentally equal. One does this, one does that. Each -boy has his place in the team, and in his place he is as important as -any other boy. Placing them in order of merit does not work any more. -The scientific method absolutely changed the position towards class -lists and order of merit. That was an astonishing result.</p> - -<p>'Another astonishing result was that we could not have anybody who was -not working. If a boy was not working, you could see that he was not -working. You could see that he was doing nothing. He could not sit at -the back of a class-room and seem to be working. Everybody was working. -You can manage that in school, but what about the world? All sorts of -people may seem to be working and not be working at all. The curate -may be doing nothing! (<i>Chuckle and</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> <i>something inaudible.</i>) This seems -to land us into the extraordinary fact that no community if it is -scientifically organised can carry any one who does not do service. I -hope you will agree with me that that is scientific.</p> - -<p>'A little farther on I turned round on the boys and the parents. (Both -are my business.) I said, "I have and the school has tried all it -could to see to it that your boy got the right kind of work to do. We -spared no trouble or expense to see to it that he might be able to -perform his service in the school and to the community.... When you go -forth to your father's works, keep in mind that it is your business -to see to it that every person that comes within your influence has a -like opportunity." That is totally different from your duty to your -neighbour as taught in the Church Catechism. We have landed ourselves -hopelessly in the position of having a practical community definition -of our duty towards our neighbour. You remember the rich young ruler -who came to ask what his duty was, and went away sorrowful because -he had great possessions. Some of these possessions were perhaps -intellectual. I like to think of Watts' picture of that man and I like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -Watts' idea that he came back. I hope if any of our boys go away they -will come back.</p> - -<p>'Another step. This actual love of work spreads, and ultimately every -one comes within its influence, and they begin to like the service they -are rendering. Finally, competition dwindles and passes away, so that -we have reached what appears to be a change in human nature. It is not -really a change, but by care and attention calling out what has always -been ready there in human nature, namely, a first instinctive love to -create. I have always held that competition is a secondary interest -and creation a primary instinct. Competition dwindles and passes away. -Competition is a very feeble incentive to live. It is cheap and easy to -arouse the motive, it is a swift motive and on the surface of things -ready for you, but it is not even a powerful motive. Half the boys it -dispirits and leaves idle and useless.</p> - -<p>'The passing of competition leads on to another thing passing away, -which is this: you soon find that a body of workers that as a community -has attempted to provide for itself, as a community adapts itself to -the community spirit, and punishment is totally unnecessary. It was -a long time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> before that dawned on me. I have not, as a headmaster, -taken any part in any shape in punishing boys directly, either by the -easy methods supposed to train them for after life or by the other -methods that have sprung from the fertile brains of a dominant order. -Punishment, I declare from years of experience in this experiment, is -a crime: not only a crime but a blunder. Why? Because it is a cheap -and easy thing. If you punish it is easy, but if a community has so -to arrange itself and adapt itself as to produce the reaction on -the individual not to do objectionable things, that is hard. It is -complicated. It requires an abundance of real sacrifice. It demands -readjustment of everything upon a basis of service. I have been much -impressed recently by the effect of having punishment organised in -removing any activity on the part of the community itself towards -adjusting itself so that punishment should not be necessary. I used to -flatter myself, "I don't punish that boy, my prefects do; they keep me -right." But I have been convinced by my thirty years of experiment that -that was all wrong. These things come slowly. Now, without any action -on my part, the prefects have stopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> punishing, and a good thing for -them. If they leave their boots about, the small boys will too, and -they will have to punish them for doing so. To leave your own boots -about like a lord is a fine thing, and to punish the small boy who does -so is also a fine thing! But it is easy. The hard thing is never to -leave your own boots about....</p> - -<p>'The reactions that we have been taught to make in the world are weakly -static. What is the good of static methods? There is friction; we -are told how to overcome frictional resistance. We can put an end to -friction by stopping the machine. That is the static method of dealing -with friction. Or we can go on working the machine, with oil and care -... which is not so cheap and easy, but which gets somewhere.... If -we try to remove friction by the static methods of punishment we are -removing the incentive to live a dangerous life. "The secret of a -joyful life is to live dangerously." You only live dangerously if you -are perpetually trying to overcome your own inertia and trying to get -the capacity to do great things. If you are only defensive, static, it -is a waste of time. Yet those defences and resistances are securely -placed in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>governance of the state. What a curious thing is the -form of government! Its characteristics include no repentance, no -regret, otherwise it would acknowledge itself less than the governed. -Its ideal is a perpetual static calm. <i>Suaviter in modo, fortiter in -re.</i> It is the method of people who perform the confidence trick. It is -the method of "If you want peace, prepare for war." ...'</p> - -<p>For some minutes Mr. Sanderson paused. He looked at his notes. He was -obviously very fatigued, but very resolute to continue. He read:—</p> - -<p>'Acquisitiveness leads to these glorified things: general science, -general knowledge, national history, scholarships, examinations, -advanced courses, "interesting" things (whoever wanted to be -interested?), the theological thing called "syncretism," tact, -swindling....'</p> - -<p>Mr. Sanderson stopped and smiled in a breathless manner, half panting, -half laughing, very characteristic of him. His glasses gleamed at the -audience. His smile meant: 'We are going a little too fast, boys. Where -are we getting to? Where are we getting to?' He affected to refer to -his notes and then broke away upon a new line. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> - -<p>'Out of all these things I have been telling you, out of all these -considerations, evolves the modern school. The modern school is -not made by the very simple and easy method of abandoning Greek. -(Laughter.) Nor is it made by introducing science or engineering. The -modern school's business is to impress into the service of man every -branch of human knowledge we can get hold of. The modern method in the -modern school does not depend on any method of teaching. We hear a -great deal about methods of teaching languages, mathematics, science; -they are all trivial. The great purpose is to enlist the boys or girls -in the service of man to-day and man to-morrow. The method which makes -learning easy is waste of time. What boy will succumb to the entreaty: -"Come, I will make you clever; it will be so easy for you; you will be -able to learn it without an effort"? What they succumb to is service -for the community. I have tested that in the workshops. They don't want -to make things for themselves; they soon cease to have any longing -desire to make anything even for their mothers. What they love to do is -to take part in some great work that must be done for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>community; -some work that goes on beyond them, some great spacious work. You can -spread them out into all sorts of spacious things, in all departments, -such things as taking part in investigating the truth. The truth, -for instance, of the actual condition of the coal-miners or of any -miners. An important question which we have been concerned with for at -least three years is "<i>What is China?</i> What is it like?" You may say, -"Methods of teaching geography." But who ever learned anything from -geography—as geography? Who wants to know geography—as geography? -Books exist for it, maps, plasticine exists for it. We want to know -about China. If we are going to see to it that every one of our working -men has the same opportunities that in our school we give to our boys -we shall have some difficulty with China. We shall never be able to -give our working people these opportunities unless the Chinese give -them too. Scientific men must find themselves dominant in the Foreign -Office and Colonial Service so as to know what is the nature of the -people in these distant places, how we can bring to them what we are -able to give to our sons—the opportunity of making the highest and -best use<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> of their faculties. We shall not get that sort of thing from -geography books. You will have to take the boys and let them find out -what men have done who have been in China: to get products from China; -to know its geology, and whether, after all, the Chinese do so deeply -love rice that they want to live on a very little a day. Do the Chinese -love rice? Do they love underselling white labour? Do they want to? -That is real geography, but not class-room geography. That extension -of interest, until China is brought into the class-room and the boys -are finding out about it, is, I claim, one of the deepest and greatest -tasks to be undertaken. China—India—the Durham miners—spacious -undertakings....</p> - -<p>'Schools must be equipped spaciously, <i>spaciously</i>, and they must have -a spacious staff. I have the list of our staff here. We have masters -for mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, zoology, -anthropology, botany, geology, architecture, classics, history, -literature, geography, archaeology, economics, French, German, Spanish, -Italian, Russian, Eastern languages, art, applied art, handicrafts, and -music.</p> - -<p>'"Impossible," some people say. There is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> great school in the land -but could quite well afford it....</p> - -<p>'We must send out workers imbued with the determination to seek and -investigate truth—truth that will make them free—and to take great -care that in the search for truth they will never take part in or -sympathise with those methods by which the edge of truth is blunted.'</p> - -<h3>§ 3</h3> - -<p>The voice beside me stopped. Some one pushed up a chair for Sanderson -and he sat down. There was applause. I stood up and then struck by a -thought, whispered: 'Would you like to answer a few questions?'</p> - -<p>'Yes, yes. Certainly,' he said.</p> - -<p>'Not too tired to answer them?'</p> - -<p>'No—no.'</p> - -<p>I had a little strip of notes in my hand and I thought of underlining -one or two points in this tremendous project of a school he had spread -before his audience before I let in the questioners. I began by saying -that the lecture had been a little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> hard to follow but that it would -repay following into the remotest corners of its meaning. Then I heard -a little commotion behind me and turned round to see what was the -matter. Sanderson had slipped from his chair on to the platform and was -lying on his back breathing hoarsely. His collar and tie were removed -forthwith. There were several doctors on the platform with us and -they set to work upon him. I hesitated for a moment and then declared -the meeting at an end, and asked the audience to disperse as speedily -as possible. I thought it was an epileptic fit and I had no sense of -Sanderson's impending death. I had never seen anything of the sort -before. I could not believe it when they told me he was dead.</p> - -<p>The windows of the hot and sultry room were opened and most of the -people made their way out, but the reporters remained and one or two -persons of the curious type who hung about vaguely with an affectation -of decorous sympathy. The lecture had been a very difficult one for -the newspaper men, and they came now with a certain eagerness to -ask questions about Oundle and Sanderson's career. I answered them -as well as I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> could. Sanderson lay across the back of the platform, -bare-chested and still. It became evident that I had to seek out Mrs. -Sanderson and tell her of this disaster.</p> - -<p>There was a little difficulty in ascertaining at which hotel Mr. and -Mrs. Sanderson had been staying, and when I got there I found she was -out shopping, and I waited some time for her return. Meanwhile her -daughter and her daughter-in-law at Oundle were called up by telephone -to come to her at once in London. I told her at first that her husband -was ill, and then, as we went together in a cab to University College, -dangerously ill. She was fully prepared to hear from the doctors at the -hospital that the end had come. The poor lady took the news very simply -and bravely.</p> - -<p>In the Mortuary Chapel of University College Hospital I saw my friend's -face for the last time, in all the irresponsive dignity of death. We -took Mrs. Sanderson to him and left her for a time alone with him. Four -years before in the same London hotel at which she was now solitary, -he and she had shared the bitter grief of their eldest son's death -together.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> - -<h3>§ 4</h3> - -<p>An event of this sort produces the most various reactions in people, -and I recall with a distressful amusement two unknown persons who -accosted me as I went out from University College to find a taxi to -take me to Mrs. Sanderson. One was a young woman who came up to me and -said: 'Don't be grieved for your friend, Mr. Wells. It was a splendid -thing to die like that in the midst of life, after giving his message.'</p> - -<p>I did not accept these congratulations and I made no reply to her. -I was thinking that a little acute observation, a little more -consideration on my part, a finer sense of the labour I was putting -upon my friend, might have averted his death altogether. And I was by -no means convinced that his message was delivered, that it had reached -the people I had hoped it would reach and awaken. I had counted on much -more from Sanderson. This death seemed to me and still seems far more -like frustration than release.</p> - -<p>Then presently as I gesticulated for a cab near Gower Street Station, I -found a pale-faced, earnest-looking man beside me asking for a moment's -speech. 'Mr. Wells,' he said, 'does not this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> sudden event give you new -views of immortality, new lights upon spiritual realities?'</p> - -<p>I stared at a sort of greedy excitement in his face. 'None whatever!' I -said at last and got into my taxi.</p> - -<p>I must confess that to this day I can find in Sanderson's death nothing -but irreparable loss. He left much of his work in a state so incomplete -that I cannot see how his successors can carry it on. In matters -educational he was before all things a practical artist, and education -is altogether too much the prey of theories. He filled me—a mere -writer, with envious admiration when I saw how he could control and -shape things to his will, how he could experiment and learn and how he -could use his boys, his governors, his staff, to try out and shape his -creative dreams.</p> - -<p>He was a strong man and in a very profound and simple way a good man, -and it was a very helpful thing to feel oneself his ally. But now that -he is gone, now that all his later projects and intentions shrivel and -fade and his great school recedes visibly towards the commonplace, I do -not know where to turn to do an effective stroke for education. It is -only schoolmasters and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>schoolmistresses and educational authorities -and school governors and school promoters and university teachers who -can really carry on the work that he began. In this book I have tried -to set out as clearly as possible, and largely in his own words, his -fundamental ideas of the supersession of competition by co-operation, -of the return of schools to real service and of a House of Vision, a -Temple of History and the Future, as the brain and centre of community -life. This present book is, as it were, a simplified diagram of the -teachings less luminously and more fully set out in the official Life.</p> - -<p>One thing I shared with Sanderson altogether, and that was our -conviction that the present common life of men, at once dull and -disorderly, competitive, uncreative, cruelly stupid and stupidly -cruel, unless it is to be regarded merely as a necessary phase in the -development of a nobler existence, is a thing not worth having, that -it does not matter who drops dead or how soon we drop dead out of such -a world. Unless there is a more abundant life before mankind, this -scheme of space and time is a bad joke beyond our understanding, a -flare of vulgarity, an empty laugh,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> braying across the mysteries. But -we two shared the belief that latent in men and perceptible in men is a -greater mankind, great enough to make every effort to realise it fully -worth while, and to make the whole business of living worth while.</p> - -<p>And the way to that realisation lies, we both believed, through thought -and through creative effort, through science and art and the school.</p> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A GREAT SCHOOLMASTER***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 64410-h.htm or 64410-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/4/4/1/64410">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/4/1/64410</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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