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diff --git a/old/66369-0.txt b/old/66369-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c72cf29..0000000 --- a/old/66369-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15134 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education, -by Charlotte M. Mason - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education - A Liberal Education for All - -Author: Charlotte M. Mason - -Release Date: September 23, 2021 [eBook #66369] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, John Campbell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital - Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF -EDUCATION *** - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been - placed at the end of the book. - - Basic fractions are displayed as ½ ⅓ ¼ etc; other fractions are shown - in the form a-b/c, for example 3/11 or 15-8/12. - - The acronym P.N.E.U. stands for “Parents’ National Educational Union”. - - Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. - - - - - AN ESSAY TOWARDS - A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION - - - - +------------------------------------------------------+ - | | - | _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ | - | | - +------------------------------------------------------+ - | | - | HOME EDUCATION. | - | | - | PARENTS AND CHILDREN. | - | | - | SCHOOL EDUCATION. | - | | - | OURSELVES. | - | | - | SOME STUDIES IN THE FORMATION OF | - | CHARACTER. | - | | - | THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD: OR, THE | - | GOSPELS IN VERSE. | - | Each Volume profusely illustrated. | - | | - | VOL. I: THE HOLY INFANCY. | - | VOL. II: HIS DOMINION. | - | VOL. III: KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. | - | VOL. IV: BREAD OF LIFE. | - | VOL. V: THE GREAT CONTROVERSY. | - | VOL. VI: THE TRAINING OF THE DISCIPLES. | - | | - | THE AMBLESIDE GEOGRAPHY READERS. | - | | - | BOOK 1.--ELEMENTARY. Maps, Plans, etc. | - | | - | BOOK 2.--CHIEF DIVISIONS OF THE WORLD, | - | with special reference to the British | - | Empire. | - | | - | BOOK 3.--COUNTIES OF ENGLAND. | - | | - | BOOK 4.--EUROPE. | - | | - | BOOK 5.--ASIA, AFRICA, N. AND S. AMERICA, | - | AUSTRALIA. | - | | - +------------------------------------------------------+ - - - - - An Essay Towards - A Philosophy of Education - - A LIBERAL EDUCATION FOR ALL - - - BY - CHARLOTTE M. MASON - - - LONDON - KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO., LTD. - BROADWAY HOUSE: 68-74, CARTER LANE, E.C. 4 - 1925 - - - - - _Printed in Great Britain by - The Bowering Press, Plymouth._ - - - - - “ALL KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL MEN.” - _Comenius._ - - - “Books, we know, - Are a substantial world, both pure and good, - Round which, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, - Our pastime and our happiness will grow.” - _Wordsworth._ - - - - - Contents - - - PAGE - - FOREWORD xxiii - - PREFACE xxv - - SYNOPSIS xxix - - INTRODUCTION 1 - - - BOOK I - - CHAPTER I - - SELF-EDUCATION 23 - - Not self-expression--A person, built up from within--Life, - sustained on food--Plant analogy misleading--Mental and - physical gymnastics--Mental food--The life of the mind--Proper - sustenance--Knowledge, not sensation or information--Education, - of the spirit--Cannot be applied from without--Modern educators - belittle children--Education will profit by divorce from - sociology--Danger of an alliance with pathology--A comprehensive - theory--Fits all ages--Self-education--All children have - intellectual capacity--Should learn to ‘read’ before mechanical - art of reading--Are much occupied with things and books--A - knowledge of principles, necessary--Education chaotic for want of - unifying theory--The motive that counts. - - - CHAPTER II - - CHILDREN ARE BORN PERSONS 33 - - 1.--_The Mind of a Child_: The baby, more than a huge - oyster--Poets on infancy--Accomplishments of a child of - two--Education does not produce mind--The range of a child’s - thoughts--Reason and imagination present in the infant--Will and - wilfulness. - - 2.--_The Mind of a School-Child_: Amazing potentialities--Brain, - the organ of mind--The “unconscious mind,” a region of - symptoms--Mind, being spiritual, knows no fatigue--Brain, duly - fed, should not know fatigue--A “play-way” does not lead to - mind--Nor does environment--Mind must come into contact with - mind--What is mind?--Material things have little effect upon - mind--Education, the evidence of things not seen--Ideas, only fit - sustenance for mind--Children must have great ideas--Children - _experience_ what they hear and read of--Our want of confidence - in children--Children see, in their minds--Mind, one and works - altogether--Children must _see_ the world--Dangers of technical, - commercial, historical geography--Every man’s mind, his means - of living--All classes must be educated--The æsthetic sense--A - child’s intellect and heart already furnished--He learns to order - his life. - - 3.--_Motives for Learning_: Diluted teaching--_Every_ child has - infinite possibilities--The Parents’ Union School--The House of - Education--Teachers must know capabilities and requirements of - children. - - - CHAPTER III - - THE GOOD AND EVIL NATURE OF A CHILD 46 - - 1.--_Well-Being of Body_: “Children of wrath”--“Little - angel” theory--Good and evil tendencies--Education, handmaid - of Religion--Religion becoming more magnanimous--New-born - children start fair--Children, more of persons in their - homes--Appetites--Senses--Undue nervous tension--Overpowering - personality--Parasitic habits. - - 2.--_Well-Being of Mind_: Mind, not a chartered - libertine--Has good and evil tendencies--Intellectual - evil--Intellect enthroned in every child--A child’s vivifying - imagination--Explanations unnecessary--Children sense the - meaning of a passage--_Incuria_--Going over same ground--Dangers - of specialisation--Of the _questionnaire_--Capacity _v._ - aptness--Imagination, good and evil--Reason deified by - the unlearned--Fallacious reasoning--A liberal education - necessary--The beauty sense. - - 3.--_Intellectual Appetite_: The desires--Wrong use of--Love of - knowledge sufficient stimulus. - - 4.--_Misdirected Affections_: The feelings--Love and - justice--Moral education--Children must not be fed morally--They - want food whose issue is conduct--Moral lessons worse than - useless--Every child endowed with love--And justice--Rights and - duties--Fine art of self-adjustment--To think fairly requires - knowledge--Our thoughts are not our own--Truth, justice in - word--Opinions show integrity of thought--Sound principles--All - children intellectually hungry--Starve on the three R’s. - - 5.--_The Well-Being of the Soul_: Education and the Soul of - a child--Ignorance of the child--Approaches towards God--How - knowledge grows--Narration--Great thoughts of great thinkers - illuminate children--Education drowned by talk--Formative - influence of knowledge--Self-expression--Education, a going forth - of the mind--The “unconscious mind”--Mind always conscious--But - thinks in ways of which we are unconscious--Dangers of - introspection--“Complexes”--Necessity for a Philosophy of - Education. - - - CHAPTER IV - - AUTHORITY AND DOCILITY 68 - - Deputed authority, lodged in everyone--No such thing as - anarchy--A mere transference of authority--Authority makes - for Liberty--Order, the outcome of authority--Docility, - universal--The principles of authority and docility inherent - in everyone--_Crux_, to find the mean--Freedom, offered as - solution--“Proud subjection and dignified obedience”--Secured - by feeding the mind--Subservience _v._ docility--Docility - implies equality--Physical activities do not sustain mind--Many - relationships must be established--No undue emphasis--Sense of - _must_ in teacher and child--Freedom comes with knowledge--The - office makes the man--Children must have responsibility of - learning--The potency of their minds--All children have quick - apprehension--And the power of attention--Humane letters make for - efficiency--Delightful to use any power--Common interests--Powers - of attention and recollection a national asset--But want of - intellectual interests a serious handicap. - - - CHAPTER V - - THE SACREDNESS OF PERSONALITY 80 - - An adequate conception of children necessary--All - action comes from the ideas held--The child’s estate - higher than ours--Methods of undermining personality-- - Fear--Love--“Suggestion”--Influence--Methods of stultifying - intellectual and moral growth--The desires--Of approbation--Of - emulation--Of ambition--Of society--The natural desire of - knowledge--Definite progress, a condition of education--Doctrine - of equal opportunities for all, dangerous--But a liberal - education the possibility for all. - - - CHAPTER VI - - THREE INSTRUMENTS OF EDUCATION 94 - - 1.--_Education is an Atmosphere_: Only three means of - education--Not an artificial environment--But a natural - atmosphere--Children must face life as it is--But must not be - overburdened by the effort of decision--Dangers of intellectual - feebleness and moral softness--Bracing atmosphere of truth and - sincerity--Not a too stimulating atmosphere--Dangers of “running - wild”--Serenity comes with the food of knowledge--Two courses - open to us. - - 2.--_Education is a Discipline_: We must all make efforts--But - a new point of view, necessary--Children must work for - themselves--Must perform the _act of knowing_--Attention, the - hall-mark of an educated person--Other good habits attending upon - due self-education--Spirit, acts upon matter--Habit is to life - what rails are to transport cars--Habit is inevitable--Genesis - of habit--Habits of the ordered life--Habits of the religious - life--De Quincey on going to church--Danger of thinking in a - groove--Fads. - - 3.--_Education is a Life_: Life is not self-existing--Body pines - upon food substitutes--Mind cannot live upon information--What - is an idea?--A live thing of the mind--Potency of an - idea--Coleridge on ideas--Platonic doctrine of ideas--Functions - of education not chiefly gymnastic--Dangers attendant upon - “original composition”--Ideas, of spiritual origin--The child, - an eclectic--Resists forcible feeding--We must take the risk of - the indirect literary form--Ideas must be presented with much - literary padding--No one capable of making extracts--Opinions - _v._ ideas--Given an idea, mind performs acts of selection and - inception--Must have humane reading as well as human thought. - - - CHAPTER VII - - HOW WE MAKE USE OF MIND 112 - - Herbartian Psychology--“Apperception masses”--Dangers of - correlation--“Concentration series”--Children reduced to - inanities--Mind, a spiritual organism--Cannot live upon - “sweetmeats”--Burden of education thrown on teacher--Danger of - exalting personality of teacher--“Delightful lessons”--_Across - the Bridges_, by A. Paterson--Blind alleys--Unemployment--Best - boys run to seed--Continuation Classes--Education Act of - 1918--An eight hours’ University course--Academic ideal of - Education--Continuation school, a People’s University--Dangers - of utilitarian education--The “humanities” in English--Narration - prepares for public speaking--Father of the People’s High - Schools--Munich schools--Worship of efficiency--A well-grounded - humanistic training produces capacity--Mr. Fisher on Continuation - Schools--A more excellent way--Education from six to seventeen--A - liberal education for all. - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE WAY OF THE WILL 128 - - Will, “the sole practical faculty”--“The will is the man”--Its - function, to choose, to decide--Opinions provided for us--We take - second-hand principles--One possible achievement, character--Aim - in education, less conduct than character--Assaults upon the - will--“Suggestion”--Voluntary and involuntary action--We - must choose between suggestions--Danger of suggestion given - by another with intent--Vicarious choosing--Weakens power - of choice--Parasitic creatures may become criminal--Gordon - Riots--His will, the safeguard of a man--Indecent to probe - thoughts of the “unconscious mind”--Right thinking, _not_ - self-expression--It flows upon the stimulus of an idea--Will must - be fortified--Knowledge of the “city of Mansoul” necessary--Also - instruction concerning the will--Dangers of drifting--A child - must distinguish between will and wilfulness--A strong will - and “being good”--Will must have object outside of self--Is - of slow growth--Will _v._ impulse--A constant will, compasses - evil or good--The “single eye”--_Bushido_--Will, subject to - solicitation--Does not act alone--Takes the whole man--He must - _understand_ in order to will--Will, a free agent--Choice, a - heavy labour--Obedience, the sustainer of personality--Obedience - of choice--Persons of constant will--Dangers of weak - allowance--Two services open to all--Self and God--Will is - supreme--Will wearies of opposition--Diversion--The “way of the - will”--Freewill--We may not think what we please--Will supported - by instructed conscience and trained reason--Education must - prepare for immediate choice--Adequate education must be outward - bound. - - - CHAPTER IX - - THE WAY OF THE REASON 139 - - Reason brings forward infallible proofs--May be furtherer of - counsels, good _or_ bad--Inventions--How did you think of - it?--Children should follow steps of reasoning--Psychology - of crime--Reasonable and right, not synonymous--Reason works - involuntarily--Reason never begins it--Reason will affirm any - theory--Logic, the formula of reason--But not necessarily - right--Beauty and wonder of act of reasoning--But there - are limitations--We must be able to expose fallacies--Karl - Marx--Socialistic thought of to-day--Reason requires material - to work upon--Reason subject to habit--Children must have - principles--Be able to detect fallacies--Must know what Religion - is--Miracles--Quasi-religious offers--Great things of life - cannot be proved--Reason is fallible--Children, intensely - reasonable--Reasoning power of a child does not wait upon - training--But children do not generalise--Must not be hurried to - formulate--Mathematics should not monopolise undue time--Cannot - alone produce a reasonable soul. - - - CHAPTER X - - THE CURRICULUM 154 - - Standard in Secondary Schools set by public - examinations--Elementary Schools less limited with regard - to subjects--A complete curriculum in the nature of - things--Education still at sea--Children have inherent - claims--Law of supply and demand--Human nature a composite - whole--The educational rights of man--We may not pick and - choose--Shelley offers a key--Mistakes _v._ howlers--Knowledge - should be consecutive, intelligent, complete--Hours of work, not - number of subjects, bring fatigue--Short hours--No preparation. - - SECTION I: THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD 158 - - Knowledge of God indispensable--Mothers communicate it - best--Relation to God a first-born affinity--“Kiddies” not - expected to understand--School education begins at six--_No - conscious mental effort_ should be required earlier--Dr. - Johnson on “telling again”--Two aspects of Religion--Attitude - of Will towards God--Gradual perception of God--Goethe - on repose of soul--Children must have passive as well as - active principle--New Testament teaching must be grounded - on Old--Sceptical children--Must not be evaded or answered - finally--A thoughtful commentator necessary--Method of lessons, - six to twelve, twelve to fifteen, fifteen to eighteen--Aids of - modern scholarship--Dogmatic teaching comes by inference--Very - little hortatory teaching desirable--Synthetic study of life and - teaching of Christ, a necessity--“Authentic comment” essayed in - verse--Catechism--Prayer Book--Church History. - - SECTION II: THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN 169 - - (_a_) _History_: Montaigne on history--The League of Nations - and its parallels--_Henry VIII_ on precedent--Dangers of - indifference to history--Rational patriotism depends upon - knowledge of history--History must give more than impressions - and opinions--P.U.S. method multiplies time--Concentrated - attention given to the right books--Condition, a _single_ - reading--Attention a natural function--Teacher’s interest - an incentive--Teacher who “makes allowance” for wandering, - hinders--Narration in the history lesson--Distinction between - word memory and mind memory--English history for children of six - to nine--Of nine to twelve--French history--Ancient history--For - children of twelve to fifteen--Indian history--European - history--History for pupils of fifteen to eighteen--Literature--A - mental pageant of history--Gives weight to decisions, - consideration to action, stability to conduct--Labour - unrest--Infinite educability of all classes--Equal opportunity - should be afforded--But uneasiness apt to follow--Knowledge - brings its own satisfaction--Education merely a means of getting - on, or, of progress towards high thinking and plain living. - - II: THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN 180 - - (_b_) _Literature_: Literature in Form I--Classics, not - written down--In Form II--Children show originality in “mere - narration”--Just as Scott, Shakespeare, Homer--Children all - sit down to the same feast--Each gets according to his needs - and powers--Reading for Forms III and IV--Abridged editions - undesirable--Children take pleasure in the “dry” parts--Must have - a sense of wide spaces for the imagination to wander in--Judgment - turns over the folios of the mind--Statesmanship, formed upon - wide reading--Reading for Forms V and VI (fifteen to eighteen). - - II: THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN 185 - - (_c_) _Morals and Economics_: _Citizenship_: Form - I--Tales--Fables--Hears of great citizens--Form II--The - inspiration of citizenship--Plutarch--Present day - citizenship--Problems of good and evil--Plutarch does not - label actions--Children weary of the doctored tale--The - human story always interesting--Jacob--The good, which is - all virtuous, palls--Children must see life whole--Must be - protected from grossness by literary medium--Learn the science - of proportion--Difficulty of choosing books--Chastely taught - children watch their thoughts--Expurgated editions--Processes - of nature must not be associated with impurity--Games--Offences - bred in the mind--Mind must be continually and wholesomely - occupied--A sound body and a sound mind--_Ourselves, our Souls - and Bodies_--An ordered presentation of the possibilities and - powers of human nature. - - II: THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN 190 - - (_d_) _Composition_: Oral, from six to seven--Dangers of - teaching composition--The art of “telling”--Power of composition - innate--Oral and written from nine to twelve--Integral - part of education in every subject--From twelve to - fifteen--An inevitable consequence of free and exact use of - books--Verse--Scansion--Rhythm--Accent--Subject must be one - of keen interest--From fifteen to eighteen, some definite - teaching--Suggestions or corrections--Education bears on the - issues and interests of everyday life. - - II: THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN 209 - - (_e_) _Languages_: English--Grammar--Begin with - sentence--Difficulty of abstract knowledge--French--Narration - from the beginning--Italian--German--Latin. - - II: THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN 213 - - (_f_) _Art_: Art is of the spirit--Reverent knowledge of - pictures themselves--Method--No talk of schools of painting - or style--Picture tells its own tale--Drawing--Original - illustrations--Figures--Objects--Colour--Field - studies--Architecture--Clay-modelling--Artistic - handicrafts--Musical Appreciation. - - SECTION III: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE 218 - - (_a_) _Science_: Huxley--“Common information”--Books should be - literary in character--French approach to science--Principles - underlying science meet for literary treatment--Details of - application too technical for school work--Universal principles - must be linked with common incidents--Verbiage that darkens - counsel--Out-of-door work--Natural history, botany, astronomy, - physiology, hygiene, general science--A due combination of field - work with literary comments--Fatal divorce between science and - the “humanities”--Nature Note Books--Science not a utilitarian - subject. - - _Geography_: Suffers from utilitarian spirit--Mystery and - beauty gone--Modern geography, concerned with man’s profit--A - map should unfold a panorama of delight--Map work--Children - read and picture descriptions--Knowledge of England, a key - to the world--Naval history--Empire geography--Current - geography--Countries of Europe--Romance of natural features, - peoples, history, industries--Generalisations, not - geography--Children must see with the mind’s eye--Two ways of - teaching geography--Inferential method--But general principles - open to modification--No local colour and personal interests--No - imaginative conception--Panoramic method--Gives colour, detail, - proportion, principles--Pictures not of much use--Except those - constructed by the imagination from written descriptions--Survey - of Asia--Africa--America--Physical geography--Geography in - connection with history--Practical geography. - - III: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE 230 - - (_b_) _Mathematics_: Reasoning powers do not wait upon our - training--Beauty and truth of Mathematics--A sense of limitation - wholesome--We should hear _sursum corda_ in natural law--Mind - invigorated by hard exercise--Mathematics easy to examine - upon--Dangers of education directed not to awaken awe but to - secure exactness--Which does not serve in other departments - of life--Work upon special lines qualifies for work on those - only--Mathematics to be studied for their own sake--Not as - they make for general intelligence and grasp of mind--Genius - has her rights--Tendency to sacrifice the “humanities” to - Mathematics--Mathematics depend upon the teacher--Few subjects - worse taught--A necessary part of education. - - III: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE 233 - - (_c_) _Physical Development, Handicrafts._ No special methods for - these. - - - BOOK II - - THEORY APPLIED - - - CHAPTER I - - A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 235 - - A liberal education, birthright of every child--Good life implies - cultivated intelligence--Difficulty of offering Humanism to - everyone--Problem solved at last--by the Drighlington School - (Yorks)--Teachers, not satisfied--Potency, not property, - characteristic of mind--We try to give potency rather than - knowledge--Result, devitalisation--Mind receives knowledge _in - order to grow, not to know_--Office of teacher depreciated--He - has prophetic power of appeal and inspiration--Delightful - commerce of equal minds--And friction of wills ceases--Children - not products of education and environment--Carlyle on “a - person”--Children not incomplete and undeveloped, but - ignorant and weak--Potentialities of a child as he is--_David - Copperfield_--Knowledge, conceived in mind--Ignorance, a chief - cause of our difficulties--Matthew Arnold--Three divisions - of knowledge--All classed under Humanism--Mind acts upon - it--Vitality results--Mind and knowledge like ball and socket - joint--Results of P.N.E.U. method made good by thousands of - children--Work done by self-effort--Single reading tested - by narration--No revision--For children _know_--Use proper - names with ease--Write fully--Rarely make howlers--Get at - gist of book or subject--Children of six to eight dictate - answers at examination time--Teacher reads with intention--Is - careful to produce author--Children listen with attention--No - selection of subjects--Book read through--Older children read - for themselves--Work done in less time--No preparation--No - working-up--Time for vocational work--Such education, a social - lever--A venture of faith--In knowledge and in children--A - new product appears--Peculiar experience, misleading--General - experience testifies to laws--Usual educational equipment - based on false assumption--Which intervenes between child and - knowledge--Method specially suitable for large classes--Labour - of correction minimised--Choice of books--Character of P.U.S. - examination--Children reject wrong book--Great cause of Education - _v_. Civilisation--Grand elementary principle of pleasure--Only - one education common to all. - - - CHAPTER II - - A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 250 - - Pelmanism, an indictment--Monotonous drudgery the stumbling-block - to education--A “play way”--Handicrafts--Eurhythmics--Enthusiasm - of teachers amazing--Education, a passion--_Joan and Peter_ - types--Public School men do the work of the world--But schools - do not teach what a boy wants to know--Mulish resistance--Ways - of mind subtle and evasive--The error of “not what you know - that matters but how you learn it”--Every school must educate - every scholar--What is knowledge?--Intellectual requirements - satisfied by bridge and golf--Attention acts without marks, - praise or blame--But training, not education--No faculties, - only mind--Text-books make no appeal to mind--Way of Natural - Science through field work illuminated by literature--Mind, - a crucible, but no power to distil ideas from sawdust--Dr. - Arnold--“Very various reading”--Mind, a deceiver ever--Class - will occupy itself and accomplish nothing--Outer court of - mind--Inner place where personality dwells--We “go over it in our - minds”--Attention must not be allowed a crutch--Should be tested - by the reader--Knowledge, received with attention, fixed by - narration--We have ceased to believe in mind--Physical brain and - spiritual mind--Education must go as a bolt to the mind--Teacher - not a bridge--A key to humanistic teaching in English--A - liberal education, measured by the number of substantives used - with fitness and simplicity--The school not merely a nursery - for the formation of character--Knowledge in common for the - “masses” and the “classes”--All hearts rise to a familiar - allusion--Speech with those who know--Opposition, natural - resource of ignorance--A democratic education--We shall cease - to present motives of self-interest and personal advantage--The - classics in English--Old exclusive education must broaden its - base and narrow its bounds--Avoid overlapping--Academic success - and knowledge not the same thing--Brilliant, average and dull - children delight in knowledge--It unites the household--Makes - children delightful companions--A fine sense of things - worth knowing and living for--Magnanimity, proper outcome - of education--The schoolboy’s sterile syllabus--In spite of - culture common among teachers--A method which brings promise of - relief from _aphasia_--Barrenness in the written essay--Oral - composition, a habit from six to eighteen--Method cannot be - worked without a firm adherence to principle--Otherwise the books - a failure--Parents must provide necessary books--Which must take - root in the homes--Spelling comes with the use of books--Books - _and_ text-books--The choice of books, a question of division of - labour--Terminal examinations, records of permanent value--Bible - teaching must further the knowledge of God--The law and the - prophets still interpreters--History, the rich pasture of the - mind--Amyot on history--Plutarch--Poets--Every age has its - poetic aspect--Gathered up by a Shakespeare--A Dante--A world - possession--An essence of history which is poetry--An essence of - science to be expressed in exquisite prose--Art--Drawing, not - a means of self-expression--Languages--Possibility of becoming - linguists--Finally, another basis for education--Which must be - in touch with life--We aim at securing the vitality of many - minds--Which shall make England great in art and in life--Great - character comes from great thoughts--Great thoughts from great - thinkers--Thinking, not doing, the source of character. - - - CHAPTER III - - THE SCOPE OF CONTINUATION SCHOOLS 279 - - Napoleonic Wars outcome of the wrong thinking of - ignorance--Intellectual renaissance followed--To be superseded by - the utilitarian motive--Continuation School movement--Technical - education--The Munich Schools--“The utilitarian theory profoundly - immoral”--“Service and self-direction”--But food and work not - synonymous terms--The wide reading of great statesmen--Duly - ordered education means self-sustaining minds and bodies--Moral - bankruptcy--Co-existent with utilitarian education--Moral - madness--National insanity--The better man does better - work--German efficiency--We depreciate ourselves--People’s High - Schools of Denmark--“A well of healing in the land”--“To blend - all classes into one”--A profoundly Christian movement--Widely - liberal as that of the “Angelic Doctor”--Agricultural - schools--Humanistic training for business capacity--A village - should offer happy community life--Intellectual well-being - makes for stability--An empty mind seizes on any notion--A - hungry mind, responsible for labour unrest--Continuation - Schools should not exist for technical instruction--Evening - hours still free for recreation--Eight hours a week for things - of the mind--Not for opinions--Lest leisure bore and strikes - attract--But for knowledge--Not for due exercise but for food--No - education but self-education--A great discovery has been - vouchsafed--Not a “good idea” or a “good plan”--But a natural - law in action--Grundtvig saw impassible barrier of no literary - background--But hope of Comenius “all knowledge for all men” - is taking shape--In the case of thousands of children--Even - dull and backward ones--Under the right conditions--Knowledge - meet for the people--The Parents’ Union School--A common - curriculum for _all_ children of _all_ classes--Test of a - liberal education--Only one education common to all--Nothing - can act but where it is--National work done by men brought up - on the “humanities”--Fetish of progress--The still progress - of growth--The “humanities” in English alone, bring forth - stability and efficiency--A common ground of thought has cohesive - value--Kindles light in the eyes--Peace, signalised by a new bond - of intellectual life--Danger of ignorance in action--A hopeful - sign--Demos perceives the lack. - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE BASIS OF NATIONAL STRENGTH - - A LIBERAL EDUCATION FROM A NATIONAL STANDPOINT 300 - - 1. _Knowledge_: Failure of attempt to educate average - boy--Industrial unrest often reveals virtue but want - of knowledge--Dangerous tendency--The spirit of the - horde--Individual, less important--“Countenance,” a - manifestation of thought, dropped out of use--Never were more - devoted teachers--Substitutes for knowledge--A mischievous - fallacy--A child brought up for uses of society--Joy in - living a chief object of education--Knowledge is the - source of Pleasure--Children get knowledge for their own - sakes--Assets within power of all--Intellectual resources--No - dull hours--Knowledge passed like light of torch from - mind to mind--Kindled at original minds--A school judged - by books used--Indirect method of teaching--Parables of - Christ--Not enough even of the right books--Children, beings - “of large discourse”--Alertness comes of handling various - subjects--Scholarship _v._ knowledge--Napoleon a great - reader--Nations grow great upon books--Queen Louisa of - Prussia--Kant--Fichte--The Danes--The Japanese. - - 2. _Letters, Knowledge and Virtue_: Classics take so much - time--But University men, our educational achievement--Letters, - the content of Knowledge--Knowledge, not a store but a - state--Culture begins with the knowledge that everything has - been said and known--We have a loss to make good--Rich and - poor used to be familiar with the Bible--A well of English - undefiled--And no longer rule as those who serve--Recklessness - due to ignorance--Scholarship, an exquisite distinction--But not - the best thing--Erudition, out of count--The average boy--Ladies - of the Italian and French Renaissance--Tudor women--“Infinitely - informed”--A leakage somewhere--Democracy coming in like a - flood--Examination tests should safeguard Letters--Which open - life-long resources--We need a practical philosophy--Not to be - arrived at by Economics, Eugenics--But gathered harvests of - Letters. - - 3. _Knowledge, Reason and Rebellion_: Irresponsibility - characterises our generation--Lettered ignorance follows specious - arguments to logical conclusions--Reason apt to be accompanied - by Rebellion--Reason cannot take place of Knowledge--Shakespeare - on reason--The art of living is long--Bodies of men act with - momentum which may be paralysing or propelling--Glorious thing - to perceive action of mind, reasoning power--Greek training - in use and power of words--Great thoughts anticipate great - works--People, conversant with great thoughts--Knowledge - of The Way, the Truth, the Life--A region of sterility - in intellectual life--Science the preoccupation of our - age--Principle of life goes with flesh stripped away--History - expires--Poetry, not brought forth--Religion faints--Science, - without wonder, not spiritual--Eighteenth Century Science - was alive--Lister--Pasteur--Science, as taught, leaves us - cold--Coleridge has revealed the secret--Science waits its - literature--We are all to blame--Man does not live by bread - alone--We are losing our sense of spiritual values--An industrial - revolution--“Humbler franchises” won by the loss of “spiritual - things”--Wordsworth--Trade Unionism a tyranny, centuries - ago--Predicts no triumph for Syndicalism now--Irresponsible - thought and speech--Question must be raised to plane of spiritual - things--Working man demands too little--And things that do not - matter--For knowledge, the basis of a nation’s strength. - - 4. _New and Old Conceptions of Knowledge_: Knowledge, - undefined and undefinable--Knowledge _v._ facts--England - suffering from intellectual inanition--Mediæval conception - of knowledge--_Filosofica della Religione Cattolica_--_The - Adoration of the Lamb_--Promethean Fable--Knowledge does - not arrive casually--Is not self-generated in man--“The - teaching power of the Spirit of God”--Unity of purpose in - the education of the race--Knowledge comes to the man who - is ready--“Abt Vogler”--All knowledge is sacred--A great - whole--Mind lives by knowledge--Which must not be limited - by choice--or time--Knowledge and “learning”--Country needs - persons of character--“New” educational systems present - a grain of knowledge in a gallon of diluent--Rousseau’s - theory--Joy in “sport”--Knowledge plays no part in - these--“Get understanding,” our need--Fallacious - arguments--Prejudice--Platitudes--Insincerity, outcome of - ignorance--Most teachers doing excellent work--New universities - full of promise--But need for the “Science of Relations”--And the - Science of the proportion of things. - - 5. _Education and the Fulness of Life_: “I must live - my life”--What should the life be?--We are doing - something--The book of nature--Relations with Mother - Earth--Sports--Handicrafts--Art--We all thrive in the well-being - of each--The contribution of our generation to the science - of education--Person to be brought up for his own uses--But - what of mind?--Mechanical art of reading, _not_ reading--An - unsuspected unwritten law concerning “material” converted into - knowledge--The Logos--“The words of eternal life”--Words, - more things than events--Rhetoric a power--Motives conveyed - by words--American negroes fell upon books--Mechanical labour - performed in solitude--Labour goes better because “my mind to - me a kingdom is”--Browning on mind--“Have mynde”--Faith has - grown feeble, Hope faints, Charity waxes strong--But social - amelioration not enough--The pleasant places of the mind--Books, - “watered down”--Christ exposed profoundest philosophy to - the multitude--Working men value knowledge--Can deal with - it--Emotional disturbances come from mind hunger. - - 6. _Knowledge in Literary Form_: Mind demands method--No one can - live without a philosophy which points out the end of effort--A - patchwork of principles betrays us--Human nature has not - failed--But education has failed us--A new scale of values--We - want more life--Engrossing interests--We want hope--Pleasure - comes in effort, not attainment--We want to be governed--A new - start--Other ways of looking at things--We are uneasy--And yet - almost anyone will risk his life--Splendid magnanimity in the - War--We are not decadent--Are ready for a life of passionate - devotion--Our demands met by Words--And by the manifestation of - a Person--“The shout of a King” among us--But _understanding_, - prior to good works--A consummate philosophy which meets every - occasion--The teaching of Christ--Other knowledge “dumb” without - the fundamental knowledge--Our latest educational authority on - imagination--Rousseau--Our chief business the education of - the succeeding generation--The slough of materialism--Children - must have freedom of city of mind even in order to handle - things--Imagination does not work upon a visual presentation--Dr. - Arnold and mental pictures--“Selections” to be avoided--Dangers - of the flood-gates of knowledge--Erasmus--Rossetti--Friedrich - Perthes--Publishers and their educational mission--Dr. Arnold - on reading--A crucial moment--John Bull on the results of forty - years’ education--England can be saved--Knowledge exalteth a - nation--Matthew Arnold’s monition. - - - SUPPLEMENTARY - - TOO WIDE A MESH 343 - - A luminous figure of Education--But only ‘universal - opportunity’--No new thing--No universal boon like air--Only - for the few who choose--No reflection on Public Schools but - on the system of the Big Mesh--The letters of two Public - School boys pathetic but reassuring--Desire of knowledge, - inextinguishable--But limitations of the absence of education--No - cultivated sense of humour--No sense of the supreme - delightfulness of knowledge--_Coningsby_--Teaching how to learn, - a farce--No avenue to knowledge but knowledge itself. - - - INDEX 349 - - -_The Trustees have, at the request of the Publishers, been obliged -to reduce the original volume. Two important sections on the -practical work have been omitted,--(A)--Children’s examination -answers and, (B)--Some discussions of the method by Educational -Authorities and teachers. A pamphlet will be issued from the -P.N.E.U. Office, 26, Victoria Street, S.W., covering section B. -Sets of children’s answers (A) can be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office, -26, Victoria Street, S.W._ - - - - - Foreword - - -Our forefathers trusted of yore to the rod and to coercion for -the evoking in children of a love of learning. For the last fifty -years we have rested our hopes on the enthusiasm of the teachers. -But that enthusiasm, when not fictitious, often acts prejudicially -by diverting the child’s love of knowledge and new ideas into -admiration for his teacher: and when that fails, as it frequently -does, nothing is left, except extraneous and baneful appeals to -self-interest. - -Miss Mason saw and in this volume has explained that the natural -and only quite wholesome way of teaching is to let the child’s -desire for knowledge operate in the schoolboy and guide the -teacher. This means that without foregoing discipline, nor cutting -ourselves off from tradition, we must continue experiments already -being started in our elementary schools. These are based on the -chastening fact that children learn best before we adults begin -to teach them at all: and hence that however uncongenial the task -may be, we must conform our teaching methods to those of Nature. -The attempt has often been made before. But in this volume there -is a rare combination of intuitive insight and practical sagacity. -The author refused to believe that the collapse of the desire for -knowledge between seven and seventeen years of age is inevitable. -So must we. - - EDWARD LYTTELTON, D.D. - - - - - Preface - - -It would seem a far cry from _Undine_ to a ‘liberal education’ -but there is a point of contact between the two; a soul awoke -within a water-sprite at the touch of love; so, I have to tell -of the awakening of a ‘general soul’ at the touch of knowledge. -Eight[1] years ago the ‘soul’ of a class of children in a mining -village school awoke simultaneously at this magic touch and has -remained awake. We know that religion can awaken souls, that love -makes a new man, that the call of a vocation may do it, and in -the age of the Renaissance, men’s souls, the general soul, awoke -to knowledge: but this appeal rarely reaches the modern soul; -and, notwithstanding the pleasantness attending lessons and marks -in all our schools, I believe the ardour for knowledge in the -children of this mining village is a phenomenon that indicates new -possibilities. Already many thousands of the children of the Empire -had experienced this intellectual conversion, but they were the -children of educated persons. To find that the children of a mining -population were equally responsive seemed to open a new hope for -the world. It may be that the souls of all children are waiting for -the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living. - -This is how the late Mrs. Francis Steinthal, who was the happy -instigator of the movement in Council Schools, wrote,--“Think of -the meaning of this in the lives of the children,--disciplined -lives, and no lawless strikes, justice, an end to class warfare, -developed intellects, and no market for trashy and corrupt -literature! We shall, or rather they will, live in a redeemed -world.” This was written in a moment of enthusiasm on hearing -that a certain County Council had accepted a scheme of work for -this pioneer school; enthusiasm sees in advance the fields white -to the harvest, but indeed the event is likely to justify high -expectations. Though less than nine years have passed since that -pioneer school made the bold attempt, already many thousands of -children working under numerous County Councils are finding that -“Studies serve for delight.” - -No doubt children are well taught and happy in their lessons as -things are, and this was specially true of the school in question; -yet both teachers and children find an immeasurable difference -between the casual interest roused by marks, pleasing oral lessons -and other school devices, and the sort of steady avidity for -knowledge that comes with the awakened soul. The children have -converted the school inspectors: “And the English!” said one of -these in astonishment as he listened to their long, graphic, -dramatic narrations of what they had heard. During the last thirty -years we (including many fellow workers) have had thousands of -children, in our schoolrooms, home and other, working on the lines -of Dean Colet’s prayer for St. Paul’s School,--“Pray for the -children to prosper in good life and good literature;” probably all -children so taught grow up with such principles and pursuits as -make for happy and useful citizenship. - -I should like to add that we have no axe to grind. The public good -is our aim; and the methods proposed are applicable in any school. -My object in offering this volume to the public is to urge upon all -who are concerned with education a few salient principles which are -generally either unknown or disregarded; and a few methods which, -like that bathing in Jordan, are too simple to commend themselves -to the ‘general.’ Yet these principles and methods make education -entirely effectual. - -I should like to add that no statement that I have advanced in the -following volume rests upon opinion only. Every point has been -proved in thousands of instances, and the method may be seen at -work in many schools, large and small, Elementary and Secondary. - -I have to beg the patience of the reader who is asked to approach -the one terminus by various avenues, and I cannot do so better than -in the words of old Fuller:--“Good Reader. I suspect I may have -written some things twice; if not in the same words yet in sense, -which I desire you to pass by favourably, forasmuch as you may -well think, it was difficult and a dull thing for me in so great -a number of independent sentences to find out the repetitions.... -Besides the pains, such a search would cost me more time than I -can afford it; for my glass of life running now low, I must not -suffer one sand to fall in waste nor suffer one minute in picking -of straws.... But to conclude this, since in matters of advice, -Precept must be upon Precept, Line upon Line, I apologise in the -words of St. Paul, ‘To write the same things to you to me indeed is -not grievous, but for you it is safe.’” - -I am unwilling to close what is probably the last preface I shall -be called upon to write without a very grateful recognition of the -co-operation of those friends who are working with me in what seems -to us a great cause. The Parents’ National Educational Union has -fulfilled its mission, as declared in its first prospectus, nobly -and generously. “The Union exists for the benefit of parents and -teachers of _all classes_;” and, for the last eight[2] years it -has undertaken the labour and expense of an energetic propaganda -on behalf of Elementary Schools, of which about 150[3] are now -working on the programmes of the Parents’ Union School. During the -last year a pleasing and hopeful development has taken place under -the auspices of the Hon. Mrs. Franklin. It was suggested to the -Head of a London County Council School to form an association of -the parents of the children in that school, offering them certain -advantages and requiring a small payment to cover expenses. At the -first meeting one of the fathers present got up and said that he -was greatly disappointed. He had expected to see some three hundred -parents and there were only about sixty present! The promoters of -the meeting were, however, well pleased to see the sixty, most of -whom became members of the Parents’ Association, and the work goes -on with spirit. - -We are deeply indebted to many fellow-workers, but not even that -very courteous gentleman who once wrote a letter to the Romans -could make suitable acknowledgments to all of those to whom we owe -the success of a movement the _rationale_ of which I attempt to -make clear in the following pages. - - CHARLOTTE M. MASON. - - HOUSE OF EDUCATION, - AMBLESIDE. - 1922. - - - - -A Short Synopsis - -OF THE EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY ADVANCED IN THIS VOLUME - - “_No sooner doth the truth ... come into the soul’s sight, but - the soul knows her to be her first and old acquaintance._” - - “_The consequence of truth is great; therefore the judgment of it - must not be negligent._” (WHICHCOTE). - - -1. Children are born _persons_. - -2. They are not born either good or bad, but with possibilities for -good and for evil. - -3. The principles of authority on the one hand, and of obedience on -the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but-- - -4. These principles are limited by the respect due to the -personality of children, which must not be encroached upon, whether -by the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, or by -undue play upon any one natural desire. - -5. Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments--the -atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the -presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. Motto is: “Education is -an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.” - -6. When we say that “_education is an atmosphere_,” we do not -mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a -‘child-environment’ especially adapted and prepared, but that we -should take into account the educational value of his natural home -atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him -live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to -bring down his world to the ‘child’s’ level. - -7. By “_education is a discipline_,” we mean the discipline of -habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of -mind or body. Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain -structures to habitual lines of thought, _i.e._, to our habits. - -8. In saying that “_education is a life_,” the need of intellectual -and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind -feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous -curriculum. - -9. We hold that the child’s mind is no mere _sac_ to hold -ideas; but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual -_organism_, with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper -diet, with which it is prepared to deal; and which it can digest -and assimilate as the body does food-stuffs. - -10. Such a doctrine as _e.g._ the Herbartian, that the mind is -a receptacle, lays the stress of Education (the preparation of -knowledge in enticing morsels duly ordered) upon the teacher. -Children taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much -teaching with little knowledge; and the teacher’s axiom is “what a -child learns matters less than how he learns it.” - -11. But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind -which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a -full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge -offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without -their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle -that,-- - -12. “_Education is the Science of Relations_”; that is, that a -child has natural relations with a vast number of things and -thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, -handicrafts, science and art, and upon _many living_ books, for we -know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but -to help him to make valid as many as may be of-- - - “Those first-born affinities - That fit our new existence to existing things.” - -13. In devising a SYLLABUS for a normal child, of whatever social -class, three points must be considered:-- - - (_a_) He requires _much_ knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient - food as much as does the body. - - (_b_) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental - diet does not create appetite (_i.e._, curiosity). - - (_c_) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language, - because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in - literary form. - -14. As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, -children should ‘tell back’ after a single reading or hearing: or -should write on some part of what they have read. - -15. A _single reading_ is insisted on, because children have -naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by -the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarising, -and the like. - -Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of mind, -we find that _the educability of children is enormously greater -than has hitherto been supposed_, and is but little dependent on -such circumstances as heredity and environment. - -Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children -or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in -Elementary Schools respond freely to this method, which is based on -the _behaviour of mind_. - -16. There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management -to offer to children, which we may call ‘the way of the will’ and -‘the way of the reason.’ - -17. _The way of the will_: Children should be taught, (_a_) to -distinguish between ‘I want’ and ‘I will.’ (_b_) That the way to -will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire -but do not will. (_c_) That the best way to turn our thoughts is -to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or -interesting. (_d_) That after a little rest in this way, the will -returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct of the will -is familiar to us as _diversion_, whose office it is to ease us -for a time from will effort, that we may ‘will’ again with added -power. The use of _suggestion_ as an aid to the will _is to be -deprecated_, as tending to stultify and stereotype character. It -would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and that -human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of success.) - -18. _The way of reason_: We teach children, too, not to ‘lean (too -confidently) to their own understanding’; because the function -of reason is to give logical demonstration (_a_) of mathematical -truth, (_b_) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the -former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in -the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be -right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs. - -19. Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature -enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility -which rests on them as _persons_ is the acceptance or rejection -of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of -conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These -principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and -heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level -than we need. - -20. We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and -‘spiritual’ life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit -has constant access to their spirits, and is their continual Helper -in all the interests, duties and joys of life. - - - - -Introduction - - -These are anxious days for all who are engaged in education. -We rejoiced in the fortitude, valour and devotion shown by our -men in the War and recognize that these things are due to the -Schools as well as to the fact that England still breeds “very -valiant creatures.” It is good to know that “the whole army was -illustrious.” The heroism of our officers derives an added impulse -from that tincture of ‘letters’ that every Public schoolboy gets, -and those “playing fields” where boys acquire habits of obedience -and command. But what about the abysmal ignorance shown in the -wrong thinking of many of the men who stayed at home? Are we to -blame? I suppose most of us feel that we are: for these men are -educated as we choose to understand education, that is, they can -read and write, think perversely, and follow an argument, though -they are unable to detect a fallacy. If we ask in perplexity, -why do so many men and women seem incapable of generous impulse, -of reasoned patriotism, of seeing beyond the circle of their own -interests, is not the answer, that men are enabled for such things -by education? These are the marks of educated persons; and when -millions of men who should be the backbone of the country seem to -be dead to public claims, we have to ask,--Why then are not these -persons educated, and what have we given them in lieu of education? - -Our errors in education, so far as we have erred, turn upon the -conception we form of ‘mind,’ and the theory which has filtered -through to most teachers implies the out-of-date notion of the -development of ‘faculties,’ a notion which itself rests on the -axiom that thought is no more than a function of the brain. Here -we find the sole justification of the scanty curricula provided in -most of our schools, for the tortuous processes of our teaching, -for the mischievous assertion that “it does not matter what a -child learns but only how he learns it.” If we teach much and -children learn little we comfort ourselves with the idea that we -are ‘developing’ this or the other ‘faculty.’ A great future lies -before the nation which shall perceive that knowledge is the sole -concern of education proper, as distinguished from training, and -that knowledge is the necessary daily food of the mind. - -Teachers are looking out for the support of a sound theory, and -such a theory must recognize with conviction the part mind plays -in education and the conditions under which this prime agent acts. -We want a philosophy of education which, admitting that thought -alone appeals to mind, that thought begets thought, shall relegate -to their proper subsidiary places all those sensory and muscular -activities which are supposed to afford intellectual as well as -physical training. The latter is so important in and for itself -that it needs not to be bolstered up by the notion that it includes -the whole, or the practically important part, of education. The -same remark holds good of vocational training. Our journals ask -with scorn,--“Is there no education but what is got out of books at -school? Is not the lad who works in the fields getting education?” -and the public lacks the courage to say definitely, “No, he is -not,” because there is no clear notion current as to what education -means, and how it is to be distinguished from vocational training. -But the people themselves begin to understand and to clamour for -an education which shall qualify their children for life rather -than for earning a living. As a matter of fact, it is the man who -has read and thought on many subjects who is, with the necessary -training, the most capable whether in handling tools, drawing -plans, or keeping books. The more of a person we succeed in making -a child, the better will he both fulfil his own life and serve -society. - -Much thoughtful care has been spent in ascertaining the causes of -the German breakdown in character and conduct; the war scourge -was symptomatic and the symptoms have been duly traced to their -cause in the thoughts the people have been taught to think during -three or four generations. We have heard much about Nietzsche, -Treitschke, Bernhardi and the rest; but Professor Muirhead did us -good service in carrying the investigation further back. Darwin’s -theories of natural selection, the survival of the fittest, the -struggle for existence, struck root in Germany in fitting soil; and -the ideas of the superman, the super state, the right of might--to -repudiate treaties, to eliminate feebler powers, to recognize no -law but expediency--all this appears to come as naturally out of -Darwinism as a chicken comes out of an egg. No doubt the same -_dicta_ have struck us in the _Commentaries_ of Frederick the -Great; “they shall take who have the power, and they shall keep -who can,” is ages older than Darwin, but possibly this is what our -English philosopher did for Germany:--There is a tendency in human -nature to elect the obligations of natural law in preference to -those of spiritual law; to take its code of ethics from science, -and, following this tendency, the Germans found in their reading of -Darwin sanction for manifestations of brutality. - -Here are a few examples of how German philosophers amplify the -Darwinian text:--“In matter dwell all natural and spiritual -potencies. Matter is the foundation of all being.” “What we call -spirit, thought, the faculty of knowledge, consists of natural -though peculiarly combined forces.” Darwin himself protests against -the struggle for existence being the most potent agency where the -higher part of man’s nature is concerned, and he no more thought -of giving a materialistic tendency to modern education than Locke -thought of teaching principles which should bring about the -French Revolution; but men’s thoughts are more potent than they -know, and these two Englishmen may be credited with influencing -powerfully two world-wide movements. In Germany, “prepared by a -quarter of a century of materialistic thought,” the teaching of -Darwin was accepted as offering emancipation from various moral -restraints. Ernst Haeckel, his distinguished follower, finds -in the law of natural selection sanction for Germany’s lawless -action, and also, that pregnant doctrine of the superman. “This -principle of selection is nothing less than democratic; on the -contrary it is aristocratic in the strictest sense of the word.” -We know how Büchner, again, simplified and popularised these new -theories,--“All the faculties which we include under the name of -psychical activities are only functions of the brain substance. -Thought stands in the same relation to the brain as the gall to the -liver.” - -What use, or misuse, Germany has made of the teaching of Darwin -would not (save for the War) be of immediate concern to us, were -it not that she has given us back our own in the form of that -“mythology of faculty psychology” which is all we possess in the -way of educational thought. English psychology proper has advanced -if not to firm ground, at any rate to the point of repudiating the -‘faculty’ basis. “However much assailed, the concept of a ‘mind’ -is,” we are told, “to be found in all psychological writers.”[4] -But there are but mind and matter, and when we are told again that -“psychology rests on feeling,” where are we? Is there a middle -region? - - -II - -We fail to recognize that as the body requires wholesome food and -cannot nourish itself upon _any_ substance so the mind too requires -meat after its kind. If the War taught nothing else it taught us -that men are spirits, that the spirit, mind, of a man is more than -his flesh, that his spirit _is_ the man, that for the thoughts -of his heart he gives the breath of his body. As a consequence -of this recognition of our spiritual nature, the lesson for us -at the moment is that the great thoughts, great events, great -considerations, which form the background of our national thought, -shall be the content of the education we pass on. - -The educational thought we hear most about is, as I have said, -based on sundry Darwinian axioms out of which we get the notion -that nothing matters but physical fitness and vocational training. -However important these are, they are not the chief thing. A -century ago when Prussia was shipwrecked in the Napoleonic -wars it was discovered that not Napoleon but Ignorance was the -formidable national enemy; a few philosophers took the matter in -hand, and history, poetry, philosophy, proved the salvation of a -ruined nation, because such studies make for the development of -personality, public spirit, initiative, the qualities of which the -State was in need, and which most advance individual happiness -and success. On the other hand, the period when Germany made her -school curriculum utilitarian marks the beginning of her moral -downfall. History repeats itself. There are interesting rumours -afloat of how the students at Bonn, for example, went in solemn -procession to make a bonfire of French novels, certain prints, -articles of luxury and the like; things like these had brought -about the ruin of Germany and it was the part of the youth to save -her now as before. Are they to have another Tugendbund? - -We want an education which shall nourish the mind while not -neglecting either physical or vocational training; in short, -we want a working philosophy of education. I think that we of -the P.N.E.U. have arrived at such a body of theory, tested and -corrected by some thirty years of successful practice with -thousands of children. This theory has already been set forth in -volumes[5] published at intervals during the last thirty-five -years; so I shall indicate here only a few salient points which -seem to me to differ from general theory and practice,-- - - (_a_) The children, not the teachers, are the responsible - persons; they do the work by self-effort. - - (_b_) The teachers give sympathy and occasionally elucidate, sum - up or enlarge, but the actual work is done by the scholars. - - (_c_) These read in a term one, or two, or three thousand pages, - according to their age, school and Form, in a large number of set - books. The quantity set for each lesson allows of only a single - reading; but the reading is tested by narration, or by writing on - a test passage. When the terminal examination is at hand so much - ground has been covered that revision is out of the question; - what the children have read they know, and write on any part of - it with ease and fluency, in vigorous English; they usually spell - well. - - Much is said from time to time to show that ‘mere book-learning’ - is rather contemptible, and that “Things are in the saddle and - ride mankind.” May I point out that whatever discredit is due to - the use of books does not apply to this method, which so far as I - can discover has not hitherto been employed. Has an attempt been - made before on a wide scale to secure that scholars should know - their books, many pages in many books, at a single reading, in - such a way that months later they can write freely and accurately - on any part of the term’s reading? - - (_d_) There is no selection of studies, or of passages or of - episodes, on the ground of interest. The best available book is - chosen and is read through perhaps in the course of two or three - years. - - (_e_) The children study many books on many subjects, but exhibit - no confusion of thought, and ‘howlers’ are almost unknown. - - (_f_) They find that, in Bacon’s phrase, “Studies serve - for delight”; this delight being not in the lessons or the - personality of the teacher, but purely in their ‘lovely books,’ - ‘glorious books.’ - - (_g_) The books used are, whenever possible, literary in style. - - (_h_) Marks, prizes, places, rewards, punishments, praise, blame, - or other inducements are not necessary to secure attention, which - is voluntary, immediate and surprisingly perfect. - - (_i_) The success of the scholars in what may be called - disciplinary subjects, such as Mathematics and Grammar, depends - largely on the power of the teacher, though the pupils’ habit of - attention is of use in these too. - - (_j_) No stray lessons are given on interesting subjects; the - knowledge the children get is consecutive. - -The unusual interest children show in their work, their power -of concentration, their wide, and as far as it goes, accurate -knowledge of historical, literary and some scientific subjects, has -challenged attention and the general conclusion is that these are -the children of educated and cultivated parents. It was vain to -urge that the home schoolroom does not usually produce remarkable -educational results; but the way is opening to prove that the power -these children show is common to _all_ children; at last there is -hope that the offspring of working-class parents may be led into -the wide pastures of a liberal education. - -Are we not justified in concluding that singular effects must have -commensurate causes, and that we have chanced to light on unknown -tracts in the region of educational thought. At any rate that -GOLDEN RULE of which Comenius was in search has discovered itself, -the Rule,--“WHEREBY TEACHERS SHALL TEACH LESS AND SCHOLARS SHALL -LEARN MORE.” - -Let me now outline a few of the educational principles which -account for unusual results. - - -III - -PRINCIPLES HITHERTO UNRECOGNIZED OR DISREGARDED - -I have enumerated some of the points in which our work is -exceptional in the hope of convincing the reader that unusual -work carried on successfully in hundreds of schoolrooms--home -and other--is based on principles hitherto unrecognized. The -recognition of these principles should put our national education -on an intelligent basis and should make for general stability, joy -in living, and personal initiative. - -May I add one or two more arguments in support of my plea,-- - -The appeal is not to the clever child only, but to the average and -even to the ‘backward’ child. - -This scheme is carried out in less time than ordinary school work -on the same subjects. - -There are no revisions, no evening lessons, no cramming or -‘getting up’ of subjects; therefore there is much time whether for -vocational work or interests or hobbies. - -All intellectual work is done in the hours of morning school, -and the afternoons are given to field nature studies, drawing, -handicrafts, etc. Notwithstanding these limitations the children -produce a surprising amount of good intellectual work. - -No home-work is required. - -It is not that ‘we’ (of the P.N.E.U.) are persons of peculiar -genius; it is that, like Paley’s man who found the watch, “we have -chanced on a good thing.” - - “No gain - That I experience must remain unshared.” - -We feel that the country and indeed the world should have the -benefit of educational discoveries which act powerfully as a moral -lever, for we are experiencing anew the joy of the Renaissance, but -without its pagan lawlessness. - -Let me trace as far as I can recall them the steps by which I -arrived at some of the conclusions upon which we are acting. While -still a young woman I saw a great deal of a family of Anglo-Indian -children who had come ‘home’ to their grandfather’s house and -were being brought up by an aunt who was my intimate friend. The -children were astonishing to me; they were persons of generous -impulses and sound judgment, of great intellectual aptitude, of -imagination and moral insight. These last two points were, I -recollect, illustrated one day by a little maiden of five who came -home from her walk silent and sad; some letting alone, and some -wise openings brought out at last between sobs,--“a poor man--no -home--nothing to eat--no bed to lie upon,”--and then the child was -relieved by tears. Such incidents are common enough in families, -but they were new to me. I was reading a good deal of philosophy -and ‘Education’ at the time for I thought with the enthusiasm of -a young teacher that Education should regenerate the world. I had -an Elementary School and a pioneer Church High School at this same -time so that I was enabled to study children in large groups; but -at school children are not so self-revealing as at home. I began -under the guidance of these Anglo-Indian children to take the -measure of a _person_ and soon to suspect that children are _more_ -than we, their elders, except that their ignorance is illimitable. - -One limitation I did discover in the minds of these little people; -my friend insisted that they could not understand English Grammar; -I maintained that they could and wrote a little Grammar (still -waiting to be prepared for publication!) for the two of seven and -eight; but she was right; I was allowed to give the lessons myself -with what lucidity and freshness I could command; in vain; the -Nominative ‘Case’ baffled them; their minds rejected the abstract -conception just as children reject the notion of writing an “Essay -on Happiness.” But I was beginning to make discoveries; the second -being, that the mind of a child takes or rejects according to its -needs. - -From this point it was not difficult to go on to the perception -that, whether in taking or rejecting, the mind was functioning for -its own nourishment; that the mind, in fact, requires sustenance -as does the body, in order that it increase and be strong; but -because the mind is not to be measured or weighed but is spiritual, -so its sustenance must be spiritual too, must, in fact, be ideas -(in the Platonic sense of images). I soon perceived that children -were well equipped to deal with ideas, and that explanations, -questionings, amplifications, are unnecessary and wearisome. -Children have a natural appetite for knowledge which is informed -with thought. They bring imagination, judgment, and the various -so-called ‘faculties,’ to bear upon a new idea pretty much as the -gastric juices act upon a food ration. This was illuminating but -rather startling; the whole intellectual apparatus of the teacher, -his power of vivid presentation, apt illustration, able summing -up, subtle questioning, all these were hindrances and intervened -between children and the right nutriment duly served; this, on the -other hand, they received with the sort of avidity and simplicity -with which a healthy child eats his dinner. - -The Scottish school of philosophers came to my aid here with -what may be called their doctrine of the desires, which, I -perceived, stimulate the action of mind and so cater for spiritual -(not necessarily religious) sustenance as the appetites do for -that of the body and for the continuance of the race. This was -helpful; I inferred that one of these, the Desire of Knowledge -(Curiosity) was the chief instrument of education; that this -desire might be paralysed or made powerless like an unused limb -by encouraging other desires to intervene between a child and the -knowledge proper for him; the desire for place,--emulation; for -prizes,--avarice; for power,--ambition; for praise,--vanity, might -each be a stumbling block to him. It seemed to me that we teachers -had unconsciously elaborated a system which should secure the -discipline of the schools and the eagerness of the scholars,--by -means of marks, prizes, and the like,--and yet eliminate that -knowledge-hunger, itself the quite sufficient incentive to -education. - -Then arose the question,--Cannot people get on with little -knowledge? Is it really necessary after all? My child-friends -supplied the answer: their insatiable curiosity shewed me that the -wide world and its history was barely enough to satisfy a child who -had not been made apathetic by spiritual malnutrition. What, then, -is knowledge?--was the next question that occurred; a question -which the intellectual labour of ages has not settled; but perhaps -this is enough to go on with;--that only becomes knowledge to a -person which he has assimilated, which his mind has acted upon. - -Children’s aptitude for knowledge and their eagerness for it made -for the conclusion that the field of a child’s knowledge may not be -artificially restricted, that he has a right to and necessity for -as much and as varied knowledge as he is able to receive; and that -the limitations in his curriculum should depend only upon the age -at which he must leave school; in a word, a _common_ curriculum (up -to the age of say, fourteen or fifteen) appears to be due to all -children. - -We have left behind the feudal notion that intellect is a class -prerogative, that intelligence is a matter of inheritance and -environment; inheritance, no doubt, means much but everyone has -a very mixed inheritance; environment makes for satisfaction or -uneasiness, but education is of the spirit and is not to be taken -in by the eye or effected by the hand; mind appeals to mind and -thought begets thought and that is how we become educated. For this -reason we owe it to every child to put him in communication with -great minds that he may get at great thoughts; with the minds, -that is, of those who have left us great works; and the only vital -method of education appears to be that children should read worthy -books, many worthy books. - -It will be said on the one hand that many schools have their own -libraries or the scholars have the free use of a public library and -that children do read; and on the other that the literary language -of first-rate books offers an impassable barrier to working-men’s -children. In the first place we all know that desultory reading is -delightful and incidentally profitable but is not _education_ whose -concern is _knowledge_. That is, the mind of the desultory reader -only rarely makes the act of appropriation which is necessary -before the matter we read becomes personal knowledge. We must read -in order to know or we do not know by reading. - -As for the question of literary form, many circumstances and -considerations which it would take too long to describe brought me -to perceive that delight in literary form is native to us all until -we are ‘educated’ out of it. - -It is difficult to explain how I came to a solution of a puzzling -problem,--how to secure attention. Much observation of children, -various incidents from one’s general reading, the recollection of -my own childhood and the consideration of my present habits of -mind brought me to the recognition of certain laws of the mind, by -working in accordance with which the steady attention of children -of any age and any class in society is insured, week in, week -out,--attention, not affected by distracting circumstances. It is -not a matter of ‘personal magnetism,’ for hundreds of teachers of -very varying quality, working in home schoolrooms and in Elementary -and Secondary Schools on this method,[6] secure it without effort; -neither does it rest upon the ‘doctrine of interest’; no doubt -the scholars are interested, sometimes delighted; but they are -interested in a great variety of matters and their attention does -not flag in the ‘dull parts.’ - -It is not easy to sum up in a few short sentences those principles -upon which the mind naturally acts and which I have tried to -bring to bear upon a school curriculum. The fundamental idea is, -that children are _persons_ and are therefore moved by the same -springs of conduct as their elders. Among these is the Desire of -Knowledge, knowledge-hunger being natural to everybody. History, -Geography, the thoughts of other people, roughly, the humanities, -are proper for us all, and are the objects of the natural desire -of knowledge. So too, are Science, for we all live in the world; -and Art, for we all require beauty, and are eager to know how to -discriminate; social science, Ethics, for we are aware of the need -to learn about the conduct of life; and Religion, for, like those -men we heard of at the Front, we all ‘want God.’ - -In the nature of things then the unspoken demand of children is -for a wide and very varied curriculum; it is necessary that they -should have some knowledge of the wide range of interests proper -to them as human beings, and for no reasons of convenience or time -limitations may we curtail their proper curriculum. - -Perceiving the range of knowledge to which children as persons are -entitled the questions are, how shall they be induced to take that -knowledge, and what can the children of the people learn in the -short time they are at school? We have discovered a working answer -to these two conundrums. I say discovered, and not invented, for -there is only one way of learning, and the intelligent persons -who can talk well on many subjects and the expert in one learn in -the one way, that is, _they read to know_. What I have found out -is, that this method is available for every child, whether in the -dilatory and desultory home schoolroom or in the large classes of -Elementary Schools. - -Children no more come into the world without provision for dealing -with knowledge than without provision for dealing with food. They -bring with them not only that intellectual appetite, the desire of -knowledge, but also an enormous, an unlimited power of attention to -which the power of retention (memory) seems to be attached, as one -digestive process succeeds another, until the final assimilation. -“Yes,” it will be said, “they are capable of much curiosity and -consequent attention but they can only occasionally be beguiled -into attending to their lessons.” Is not that the fault of the -lessons, and must not these be regulated as carefully with regard -to the behaviour of mind as the children’s meals are with regard to -physical considerations? - -Let us consider this behaviour in a few aspects. The mind concerns -itself only with thoughts, imaginations, reasoned arguments; -it declines to assimilate the facts unless in combination with -its proper pabulum; it, being active, is wearied in the passive -attitude of a listener, it is as much bored in the case of a child -by the discursive twaddle of the talking teacher as in that of a -grown-up by conversational twaddle; it has a natural preference -for literary form; given a more or less literary presentation, the -curiosity of the mind is enormous and embraces a vast variety of -subjects. - -I predicate these things of ‘the mind’ because they seem true of -all persons’ minds. Having observed these, and some other points -in the behaviour of mind, it remained to apply the conclusions to -which I had come to a test curriculum for schools and families. -Oral teaching was to a great extent ruled out; a large number -of books on many subjects were set for reading in morning -school-hours; so much work was set that there was only time for -a single reading; all reading was tested by a narration of the -whole or a given passage, whether orally or in writing. Children -working on these lines know months after that which they have read -and are remarkable for their power of concentration (attention); -they have little trouble with spelling or composition and become -well-informed, intelligent persons.[7] - -But, it will be said, reading or hearing various books read, -chapter by chapter, and then narrating or writing what has been -read or some part of it,--all this is mere memory work. The value -of this criticism may be readily tested; will the critic read -before turning off his light a leading article from a newspaper, -say, or a chapter from Boswell or Jane Austen, or one of Lamb’s -Essays; then, will he put himself to sleep by narrating silently -what he has read. He will not be satisfied with the result but he -will find that in the act of narrating every power of his mind -comes into play, that points and bearings which he had not observed -are brought out; that the whole is visualized and brought into -relief in an extraordinary way; in fact, that scene or argument -has become a part of his personal experience; he _knows_, he has -assimilated what he has read. _This is not memory work._ In order -to memorise, we repeat over and over a passage or a series of -points or names with the aid of such clues as we can invent; we -do memorise a string of facts or words, and the new possession -serves its purpose for a time, but it is not assimilated; its -purpose being served, we know it no more. This is memory work by -means of which examinations are passed with credit. I will not try -to explain (or understand!) this power to memorise; it has its -subsidiary use in education, no doubt, but it must not be put in -the place of the prime agent which is _attention_. - -Long ago, I was in the habit of hearing this axiom quoted by a -philosophical old friend:--“The mind can know nothing save what -it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put to -the mind by itself.” I have failed to trace the saying to its -source, but a conviction of its importance has been growing upon -me during the last forty years. It tacitly prohibits questioning -from without; (this does not, of course, affect the Socratic use -of questioning for purposes of _moral_ conviction); and it is -necessary to intellectual certainty, to the act of knowing. For -example, to secure a conversation or an incident, we ‘go over it -in our minds’; that is, the mind puts itself through the process -of self-questioning which I have indicated. This is what happens -in the narrating of a passage read: each new consecutive incident -or statement arrives because the mind asks itself,--“What next?” -For this reason it is important that only one reading should be -allowed; efforts to memorise weaken the power of attention, the -proper activity of the mind; if it is desirable to ask questions in -order to emphasize certain points, these should be asked after and -not before, or during, the act of narration. - -Our more advanced psychologists come to our support here; they, -too, predicate “instead of a coterie of faculties, a single -subjective activity, attention;” and again, there is “one common -factor in all psychical activity, that is attention.”[8] My -personal addition is that attention is unfailing, prompt and -steady when matter is presented suitable to a child’s intellectual -requirements, _if_ the presentation be made with the conciseness, -directness, and simplicity proper to literature. - -Another point should be borne in mind; the intellect requires a -moral impulse, and we all stir our minds into action the better if -there is an implied ‘must’ in the background; for children in class -the ‘must’ acts through the _certainty_ that they will be required -to narrate or write from what they have read with no opportunity of -‘looking up,’ or other devices of the idle. Children find the act -of narrating so pleasurable in itself that urgency on the part of -the teacher is seldom necessary. - -Here is a complete chain of the educational philosophy I have -endeavoured to work out, which has, at least, the merit that it -is successful in practice. Some few hints I have, as I have said, -adopted and applied, but I hope I have succeeded in methodising the -whole and making education what it should be, a system of applied -philosophy; I have, however, carefully abstained from the use of -philosophical terms. - -This is, briefly, how it works:-- - - A child is a _person_ with the spiritual requirements and - capabilities of a person. - - Knowledge ‘nourishes’ the mind as food nourishes the body. - - A child requires knowledge as much as he requires food. - - He is furnished with the desire for Knowledge, i.e., Curiosity; - - with the power to apprehend Knowledge, that is, attention; - - with powers of mind to deal with Knowledge without aid from - without--such as imagination, reflection, judgment; - - with innate interest in all Knowledge that he needs as a - human being; - - with power to retain and communicate such Knowledge; and to - assimilate all that is necessary to him. - - He requires that in most cases Knowledge be communicated to him - in literary form; - - and reproduces such Knowledge touched by his own personality; - thus his reproduction becomes original. - - The natural provision for the appropriation and assimilation of - Knowledge is adequate and no stimulus is required; but some moral - control is necessary to secure the act of attention; - - a child receives this in the certainty that he will be - required to recount what he has read. - - Children have a right to the best we possess; therefore their - lesson books should be, as far as possible, our best books. - - They weary of talk, and questions bore them, so that they should - be allowed to use their books for themselves; they will ask for - such help as they wish for. - - They require a great variety of knowledge,--about religion, the - humanities, science, art; - - therefore, they should have a wide curriculum, with a definite - amount of reading set for each short period of study. - - The teacher affords direction, sympathy in studies, a vivifying - word here and there, help in the making of experiments, etc., as - well as the usual teaching in languages, experimental science and - mathematics. - - Pursued under these conditions, “Studies serve for delight,” - and the consciousness of daily progress is exhilarating to both - teacher and children. - -The reader will say with truth,--“I knew all this before and have -always acted more or less on these principles”; and I can only -point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not ‘more -or less,’ but strictly to the principles and practices I have -indicated. I suppose the difficulties are of the sort that Lister -had to contend with; every surgeon knew that his instruments and -appurtenances should be kept clean, but the saving of millions -of lives has resulted from the adoption of the great surgeon’s -antiseptic treatment; that is from the substitution of exact -principles scrupulously applied for the rather casual ‘more or -less’ methods of earlier days. - -Whether the way I have sketched out is the right and the only way -remains to be tested still more widely than in the thousands of -cases in which it has been successful; but assuredly education is -slack and uncertain for the lack of sound principles _exactly_ -applied. The moment has come for a decision; we have placed our -faith in ‘civilisation,’ have been proud of our progress; and, -of the pangs that the War has brought us, perhaps none is keener -than that caused by the utter breakdown of the civilisation which -we have held to be synonymous with education. We know better now, -and are thrown back on our healthy human instincts and the Divine -sanctions. The educable part of a person is his mind. The training -of the senses and muscles is, strictly speaking, training and not -education. The mind, like the body, requires quantity, variety and -regularity in the sustenance offered to it. Like the body, the -mind has its appetite, the desire for knowledge. Again, like the -body, the mind is able to receive and assimilate by its powers of -attention and reflection. Like the body, again, the mind rejects -insipid, dry, and unsavoury food, that is to say, its pabulum -should be presented in a literary form. The mind is restricted to -pabulum of one kind: it is nourished upon ideas and absorbs facts -only as these are connected with the living ideas upon which they -hang. Children educated upon some such lines as these respond in -a surprising way, developing capacity, character, countenance, -initiative and a sense of responsibility. They are, in fact, even -as children, good and thoughtful citizens. - -I have in this volume attempted to show the principles and methods -upon which education of this sort is being successfully carried -out, and have added chapters which illustrate the history of a -movement the aim of which is, in the phrase of Comenius,--“All -knowledge for all men.” As well as these I have been permitted -to use the criticisms[9] of various teachers and Directors of -education and others upon the practical working of the scheme. - -It is a matter of rejoicing that the way is open to give to all -classes a basis of common thought and common knowledge, including a -common store of literary and historic allusions, a possession which -has a curious power of cementing bodies of men, and, in the next -place, it is an enormous gain that we are within sight of giving to -the working-classes, notwithstanding their limited opportunities, -that stability of mind and magnanimity of character which are the -proper outcome and the unfailing test of A LIBERAL EDUCATION. - -I shall confine myself in this volume to the amplification and -illustration of some of the points I have endeavoured to make in -this introductory statement. - - - - -Book I - - - - -CHAPTER I - -SELF-EDUCATION - - -The title of this chapter may awaken some undeserved sympathy; -gratifying visions of rhythmic movements, independent action, -self-expression in various interesting ways, occur to the mind--for -surely these things constitute ‘self-education’? Most of these -modern panacea are desirable and by no means to be neglected; -limbs trained to grace and agility, a hand, to dexterity and -precision, an eye made to see and an ear to hear, a voice taught to -interpret,--we know to-day that all these possibilities of joy in -living should be open to every child, and we look forward even too -hopefully to the manner of citizen who shall be the outcome of our -educational zeal. - -Now, although we, of the Parents’ Union, have initiated some of -these educational outworks and have gladly and gratefully adopted -others, yet is our point of view different; we are profoundly -sceptical as to the effect of all or any of these activities upon -character and conduct. A person is not built up from without but -from within, that is, he is _living_, and all external educational -appliances and activities which are intended to mould his character -are decorative and not vital. - -This sounds like a stale truism; but, let us consider a few -corollaries of the notion that ‘a child is a person,’ and that -a person is, primarily, living. Now no external application is -capable of nourishing life or promoting growth; baths of wine, -wrappings of velvet have no effect upon physical life except as -they may hinder it; life is sustained on that which is taken in by -the organism, not by that which is applied from without. - -Perhaps the only allowable analogy with the human mind is the -animal body, especially the human body, for it is that which -we know most about; the well-worn plant and garden analogy is -misleading, especially as regards that tiresome busybody, the -gardener, who _will_ direct the inclination of every twig, the -position of every leaf; but, even then apart from the gardener, the -child-garden is an intolerable idea as failing to recognize the -essential property of a child, his personality, a property all but -absent in a plant. Now, let us consider for a moment the parallel -behaviour of body and mind. The body lives by air, grows on food, -demands rest, flourishes on a diet wisely various. So, of the -mind,--(by which I mean the entire spiritual nature, all that which -is not body),--it breathes in air, calls for both activity and rest -and flourishes on a wisely varied dietary. - -We go round the house and round the house, but rarely go into the -House of Mind; we offer mental gymnastics, but these do not take -the place of food, and of that we serve the most meagre rations, -no more than that bean a day! Diet for the body is abundantly -considered, but no one pauses to say, “I wonder does the mind need -food, too, and regular meals, and what is its proper diet?” - -I have asked myself this question and have laboured for fifty years -to find the answer, and am anxious to impart what I think I know, -but the answer cannot be given in the form of ‘Do’ this and that, -but rather as an invitation to ‘Consider’ this and that; action -follows when we have thought duly. - -The life of the mind is sustained upon ideas; there is no -intellectual vitality in the mind to which ideas are not presented -several times, say, every day. But ‘surely, surely,’ as ‘Mrs. -Proudie’ would say, scientific experiments, natural beauty, nature -study, rhythmic movements, sensory exercises, are all fertile in -ideas? Quite commonly, they are so, as regards ideas of invention -and discovery; and even in ideas of art; but for the moment it -may be well to consider the ideas that influence life, that is, -character and conduct; these, it would seem, pass directly from -mind to mind, and are neither helped nor hindered by educational -outworks. Every child gets many of these ideas by word of mouth, -by way of family traditions, proverbial philosophy,--in fact, by -what we might call a kind of oral literature. But, when we compare -the mind with the body, we perceive that three ‘square’ meals a -day are generally necessary to health, and that a casual diet of -ideas is poor and meagre. Our schools turn out a good many clever -young persons, wanting in nothing but initiative, the power of -reflection and the sort of moral imagination which enables you to -‘put yourself in his place.’ These qualities flourish upon a proper -diet; and this is not afforded by the ordinary school book, or, -in sufficient quantity by the ordinary lesson. I should like to -emphasize _quantity_, which is as important for the mind as for the -body; both require their ‘square meals.’ - -It is no easy matter to give its proper sustenance to the mind; -hard things are said of children, that they have ‘no brains,’ ‘a -low order of intellect,’ and so on; but many of us are able to -vouch for the fine intelligence shewn by children who are fed -with the proper mind-stuff; but teachers do not usually take the -trouble to find out what this is. We come dangerously near to what -Plato condemns as “that lie of the soul,” that corruption of the -highest truth, of which Protagoras is guilty in the saying that, -“Knowledge is sensation.” What else are we saying when we run -after educational methods which are purely sensory? Knowledge is -not sensation, nor is it to be derived through sensation; we feed -upon the thoughts of other minds; and thought applied to thought -generates thought and we become more thoughtful. No one need invite -us to reason, compare, imagine; the mind, like the body, digests -its proper food, and it must have the labour of digestion or it -ceases to function. - -But the children ask for bread and we give them a stone; we give -information about objects and events which mind does not attempt -to digest but casts out bodily (upon an examination paper?). But -let information hang upon a principle, be inspired by an idea, -and it is taken with avidity and used in making whatsoever in the -spiritual nature stands for tissue in the physical. - -“Education,” said Lord Haldane, some time ago, “is a matter of the -spirit,”--no wiser word has been said on the subject, and yet we -persist in applying education from without as a bodily activity -or emollient. We begin to see light. No one knoweth the things of -a man but the spirit of a man which is in him; therefore, there -is no education but self-education, and as soon as a young child -begins his education he does so as a student. Our business is to -give him mind-stuff, and both quality and quantity are essential. -Naturally, each of us possesses this mind-stuff only in limited -measure, but we know where to procure it; for the best thought the -world possesses is stored in books; we must open books to children, -the best books; our own concern is abundant provision and orderly -serving. - -I am jealous for the children; every modern educational movement -tends to belittle them intellectually; and none more so than a -late ingenious attempt to feed normal children with the pap-meat -which may (?) be good for the mentally sick: but, “To all wildly -popular things comes suddenly and inexorably death, without -hope of resurrection.” If Mr. Bernard Shaw is right, I need not -discuss a certain popular form of ‘New Education.’ It has been -ably said that education should profit by the divorce which is now -in progress from psychology on the one hand and sociology on the -other; but what if education should use her recovered liberty to -make a monstrous alliance with pathology? - -Various considerations urge upon me a rather distasteful task. -It is time I showed my hand and gave some account of work, the -principles and practices of which should, I think, be of general -use. Like those lepers who feasted at the gates of a famished city, -I begin to take shame to myself! I have attempted to unfold (in -various volumes[10]) a system of educational theory which seems to -me able to meet any rational demand, even that severest criterion -set up by Plato; it is able to “run the gauntlet of objections, -and is ready to disprove them, not by appeals to opinion, but -to absolute truth.” Some of it is new, much of it is old. Like -the quality of mercy, it is not strained; certainly it is twice -blessed, it blesses him that gives and him that takes, and a sort -of radiancy of look distinguishes both scholar and teacher engaged -in this manner of education; but there are no startling results to -challenge attention. - -Professor Bompas Smith remarked in an inaugural address at the -University of Manchester that,--“If we can guide our practice by -the light of a comprehensive theory we shall widen our experience -by attempting tasks which would not otherwise have occurred to us.” -It is possible to offer the light of such a comprehensive theory, -and the result is precisely what the Professor indicates,--a large -number of teachers attempt tasks which would not otherwise have -occurred to them. One discovers a thing because it is there, and -no sane person takes credit to himself for such discovery. On the -contrary, he recognizes with King Arthur,--“These jewels, whereupon -I chanced Divinely, are for public use.” For many years we have had -access to a sort of Aladdin’s cave which I long to throw open ‘for -public use.’ - -Let me try to indicate some of the advantages of the theory I am -urging:--It fits all ages, even the seven ages of man! It satisfies -brilliant children and discovers intelligence in the dull. It -secures attention, interest, concentration, without effort on the -part of teacher or taught. - -Children, I think, all children, so taught express themselves -in forcible and fluent English and use a copious vocabulary. An -unusual degree of nervous stability is attained; also, intellectual -occupation seems to make for chastity in thought and life. Parents -become interested in the schoolroom work, and find their children -‘delightful companions.’ Children shew delight in books (other than -story books) and manifest a genuine love of knowledge. Teachers are -relieved from much of the labour of corrections. Children taught -according to this method do exceptionally well at any school. It is -unnecessary to stimulate these young scholars by marks, prizes, etc. - -After all, it is not a quack medicine I am writing about, though -the reader might think so, and there is no 1_s._ 1½_d._ a bottle in -question! - -Over thirty years ago I published a volume about the home -education of children and people wrote asking how those counsels -of perfection could be carried out with the aid of the private -governess as she then existed; it occurred to me that a series of -curricula might be devised embodying sound principles and securing -that children should be in a position of less dependence on their -teacher than they then were; in other words, that their education -should be largely self-education. A sort of correspondence school -was set up, the motto of which,--“I am, I can, I ought, I will,” -has had much effect in throwing children upon the possibilities, -capabilities, duties and determining power belonging to them as -persons. - -“Children are born persons,” is the first article of the -educational _credo_ in question. The response made by children -(ranging in age from six to eighteen) astonished me; though they -only shewed the power of attention, the avidity for knowledge, the -clearness of thought, the nice discrimination in books, and the -ability to deal with many subjects, for which I had given them -credit in advance. I need not repeat what I have urged elsewhere -on the subject of ‘Knowledge’ and will only add that anyone may -apply a test; let him read to a child of any age from six to ten an -account of an incident, graphically and tersely told, and the child -will relate what he has heard point by point, though not word for -word, and will add delightful original touches; what is more, he -will relate the passage months later because he has visualised the -scene and appropriated that bit of knowledge. A rhetorical passage, -written in ‘journalese,’ makes no impression on him; if a passage -be read more than once, he may become letter-perfect, but the -spirit, the individuality has gone out of the exercise. An older -boy or girl will read one of Bacon’s Essays, say, or a passage from -De Quincey, and will write or tell it forcibly and with some style, -either at the moment or months later. We know how Fox recited -a whole pamphlet of Burke’s at a College supper though he had -probably read it no more than once. Here on the very surface is the -key to that attention, interest, literary style, wide vocabulary, -love of books and readiness in speaking, which we all feel should -belong to an education that is only begun at school and continued -throughout life; these are the things that we all desire, and how -to obtain them is some part of the open secret I am labouring to -disclose ‘for public use.’ - -I am anxious to bring a quite successful educational experiment -before the public at a moment when we are told on authority that -“Education must be ... an appeal to the spirit if it is to be -made interesting.” Here is Education which is as interesting and -fascinating as a fine art to parents, children and teachers. - -During the last thirty years thousands of children educated on -these lines have grown up in love with Knowledge and manifesting a -‘right judgment in all things’ so far as a pretty wide curriculum -gives them data. - -I would have children taught _to read_ before they learn -the mechanical arts of reading and writing; and they learn -delightfully; they give perfect attention to paragraph or page read -to them and are able to relate the matter point by point, _in their -own words_; but they demand classical English and cannot learn to -read in this sense upon anything less. They begin their ‘schooling’ -in ‘letters’ at six, and begin at the same time to learn mechanical -reading and writing. A child does not lose by spending a couple -of years in acquiring these because he is meanwhile ‘reading’ -the Bible, history, geography, tales, with close attention and a -remarkable power of reproduction, or rather, of translation into -his own language; he is acquiring a copious vocabulary and the -habit of consecutive speech. In a word, he is an educated child -from the first, and his power of dealing with books, with several -books in the course of a morning’s ‘school,’ increases with his age. - -But children are not all alike; there is as much difference between -them as between men or women; two or three months ago, a small -boy, not quite six, came to school (by post); and his record -was that he could read anything in five languages, and was now -teaching himself the Greek characters, could find his way about -the Continental Bradshaw, and was a chubby, vigorous little person. -All this the boy brings with him when he comes to school; he is -exceptional, of course, just as a man with such accomplishments -is exceptional; but I believe that all children bring with them -much capacity which is not recognized by their teachers, chiefly -intellectual capacity, (always in advance of motor power), which we -are apt to drown in deluges of explanation, or dissipate in futile -labours in which there is no advance. - -People are naturally divided into those who read and think and -those who do not read or think; and the business of schools is to -see that all their scholars shall belong to the former class; it is -worth while to remember that thinking is inseparable from reading -which is concerned with the content of a passage and not merely -with the printed matter. - -The children I am speaking of are much occupied with things as well -as with books, because ‘Education is the Science of Relations,’ is -the principle which regulates their curriculum; that is, a child -goes to school with many aptitudes which he should put into effect. -So, he learns a good deal of science, because children have no -difficulty in understanding principles, though technical details -baffle them. He practises various handicrafts that he may know -the feel of wood, clay, leather, and the joy of handling tools, -that is, that he may establish a due relation with materials. -But, always, it is the book, the knowledge, the clay, the bird or -blossom, he thinks of, not his own place or his own progress. - -I am afraid that some knowledge of the theory we advance is -necessary to the open-minded teacher who would give our practices -a trial, because every detail of schoolroom work is the outcome -of certain principles. For instance it would be quite easy -without much thought to experiment with our use of books; but in -education, as in religion, it is the motive that counts, and the -boy who reads his lesson for a ‘good mark’ becomes word-perfect, -but does not _know_. But these principles are obvious and simple -enough, and, when we consider that at present education is chaotic -for want of a unifying theory, and that there happens to be no -other comprehensive theory in the field which is in line with -modern thought and fits every occasion, might it not be well to try -one which is immediately practicable and always pleasant and has -proved itself by producing many capable, serviceable, dutiful men -and women of sound judgment and willing mind? - -In urging a method of self-education for children in lieu of the -vicarious education which prevails, I should like to dwell on -the enormous relief to teachers, a self-sacrificing and greatly -overburdened class; the difference is just that between driving a -horse that is light and a horse that is heavy in hand; the former -covers the ground of his own gay will and the driver goes merrily. -The teacher who allows his scholars the freedom of the city of -books is at liberty to be their guide, philosopher and friend; and -is no longer the mere instrument of forcible intellectual feeding. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -CHILDREN ARE BORN PERSONS - - -1.--THE MIND OF A CHILD - - “_No sooner doth the truth ... come into the soul’s sight, but - the soul knows her to be her first and old acquaintance._” - - “_The consequence of truth is great, therefore the judgment of it - must not be negligent._” - -It should not surprise the reader that a chapter, designed to set -forth a startling truth, should open with the weighty words of an -old Divine (Whichcote). But truths get flat and wonders stale upon -us. We do not care much about the starry firmament, the budding -trees, the cunning architecture of the birds; and to all except -young parents and young brothers and sisters a baby is no longer a -marvel. The completeness of the new baby brother is what children -admire most, his toes and his fingers, his ears and all the small -perfections of him. His guardians have some understanding of the -baby; they know that his chief business is to grow and they feed -him with food convenient for him. If they are wise they give free -play to all the wrigglings and stretchings which give power to -his feeble muscles. His parents know what he will come to, and -feel that here is a new chance for the world. In the meantime, he -needs food, sleep and shelter and a great deal of love. So much we -all know. But is the baby more than a ‘huge oyster’? That is the -problem before us and hitherto educators have been inclined to -answer it in the negative. Their notion is that by means of a pull -here, a push there, a compression elsewhere a person is at last -turned out according to the pattern the educator has in his mind. - -The other view is that the beautiful infant frame is but the -setting of a jewel of such astonishing worth that, put the whole -world in one scale and this jewel in the other, and the scale which -holds the world flies up outbalanced. A poet looks back on the -glimmering haze of his own infancy and this is the sort of thing he -sees,-- - - “I was entertained like an angel with the works of God in their - splendour and glory.... Is it not strange that an infant should - be heir of the whole world and see those mysteries which the - books of the learned never unfold?... The corn was orient and - immortal wheat which never should be reaped nor was ever sown. I - thought it had stood from everlasting to everlasting. The dust - and stones of the street were as precious gold.... The green - trees transported and ravished me. Their sweetness and unusual - beauty made my heart to leap.... Boys and girls tumbling in the - streets were moving jewels. I knew not that they were born or - should die.... The streets were mine, the people were mine, their - clothes and gold and silver were mine as much as their sparkling - eyes, fair skins and ruddy faces. The skies were mine and so were - the sun and moon and stars, and all the world was mine and I the - only spectator and enjoyer of it.” - -It takes a poet like Traherne to retain and produce such vivid -memories, though perhaps we can all recall the sense that we were -spectators at the show of life, and we can recollect a sunny -time before we were able to speak or tell what we knew. _Punch_ -amused us at one time with a baby’s views of his nurse and his -surroundings and especially of the unwarranted pulls and pushes -to which he was subject; but probably an infant is no critic. His -business is to perceive and receive and these he does day in and -day out. - -We have an idea that poets say more than they know, express more -than they see, and that their version of life must be taken _cum -grano_, but perhaps the fact is that no labour of the mind enables -them to catch and put into words the full realities of which they -are cognisant, and therefore we may take Wordsworth, Coleridge, -Vaughan and the rest as witnesses who only hint at the glory which -might be revealed. We are not poets and are disposed to discount -the sayings of the poets, but the most prosaic of us comes across -evidence of mind in children, and of mind astonishingly alert. Let -us consider, in the first two years of life they manage to get -through more intellectual effort than any following two years can -show. Supposing that much-discussed Martian were at last able to -make his way to our planet, think of how much he must learn before -he could accommodate himself to our conditions! Our notions of hard -and soft, wet and dry, hot and cold, stable and unstable, far and -near, would be as foreign to him as they are to an infant who holds -out his pinafore for the moon. We do not know what the Martian -means of locomotion are but we can realise that to run and jump and -climb stairs, even to sit and stand at will must require fully as -much reasoned endeavour as it takes in after years to accomplish -skating, dancing, ski-ing, fencing, whatever athletic exercises -people spend years in perfecting; and all these the infant -accomplishes in his first two years. He learns the properties -of matter, knows colours and has first notions of size, solid, -liquid; has learned in his third year to articulate with surprising -clearness. What is more, he has learned a language, two languages, -if he has had the opportunity, and the writer has known of three -languages being mastered by a child of three, and one of them was -Arabic; mastered, that is, so far that a child can say all that -he needs to say in any one of the three--the sort of mastery most -of us wish for when we are travelling in foreign countries. Lady -Mary Wortley Montagu tells us that in her time the little children -of Constantinople prattled in five tongues with a good knowledge -of each. If we have not proved that a child is born a person with -a mind as complete and as beautiful as his beautiful little body, -we can at least show that he always has all the mind he requires -for his occasions; that is, that his mind is the instrument of his -education and that _his education does not produce his mind_. - -Who shall measure the range of a child’s thoughts? His continual -questions about God, his speculations about ‘Jesus,’ are they no -more than idle curiosity, or are they symptoms of a God-hunger -with which we are all born, and is a child able to comprehend as -much of the infinite and the unseen as are his self-complacent -elders? Is he ‘cabined, cribbed, confined,’ in our ways and does -the fairy tale afford a joyful escape to regions where all things -are possible? We are told that children have no imagination, that -they must needs see and touch, taste and handle, in order to know. -While a child’s age is still counted by months, he devotes himself -to learning the properties of things by touching, pulling, tearing, -throwing, tasting, but as months pass into years a _coup d’œil_ -suffices for all but new things of complicated structure. Life is -a continual progress to a child. He does not go over old things in -old ways; his joy is to go on. The immensity of his powers brings -its own terrors. Let me again quote Traherne,-- - - “Another time in a lowering and sad evening being alone in the - field when all things were dead and quiet a certain wanton horror - fell upon me beyond imagination. The unprofitableness and silence - of the place dissatisfied me: its wildness terrified me. From - the utmost ends of the earth fear surrounded me.... I was a weak - and little child and had forgotten there was a man alive on the - earth. Yet also something of hope and expectation comforted me - from every border.” - -Traherne never loses the lessons that come to him and he goes on,-- - - “This taught me that I was concerned in all the world ... that - the beauties of the earth were made to entertain me ... that the - presence of cities, temples and kingdoms, ought to sustain me and - that to be alone in the world was to be desolate and miserable.” - -Reason is present in the infant as truly as imagination. As soon -as he can speak he lets us know that he has pondered the ‘cause -why’ of things and perplexes us with a thousand questions. His -‘why?’ is ceaseless. Nor are his reasonings always disinterested. -How soon the little urchin learns to manage his nurse or mother, -to calculate her moods and play upon her feelings! It is in him to -be a little tyrant; “he has a will of his own,” says his nurse, -but she is mistaken in supposing that his stormy manifestations of -greed, wilfulness, temper, are signs of will. It is when the little -boy is able to stop all these and restrain himself with quivering -lip that his will comes into play; for he has a conscience too. -Before he begins to toddle he knows the difference between right -and wrong; even a baby in arms will blush at the ‘naughty baby!’ -of his nurse; and that strong will of his acts in proportion as he -learns the difficult art of obedience; for no one can make a child -obey unless he wills to do so, and we all know how small a rebel -may make confusion in house or schoolroom. - - -2.--THE MIND OF A SCHOOL-CHILD - -But we must leave the quite young child, fascinating as he is, and -take him up again when he is ready for lessons. I have made some -attempt elsewhere[11] to show what his parents and teachers owe to -him in those years in which he is engaged in self-education, taking -his lessons from everything he sees and hears, and strengthening -his powers by everything he does. Here, in a volume which is -chiefly concerned with education in the sense of schooling, I am -anxious to bring before teachers the fact that a child comes into -their hands with a mind of amazing potentialities: he has a brain -too, no doubt, the organ and instrument of that same mind, as a -piano is not music but the instrument of music. Probably we need -not concern ourselves about the brain which is subject to the same -conditions as the rest of the material body, is fed with the body’s -food, rests, as the body rests, requires fresh air and wholesome -exercise to keep it in health, but depends upon the mind for its -proper activities. - -The world has concerned itself of late so much with psychology, -whose province is what has been called ‘the unconscious mind,’ -a region under the sway of nerves and blood (which it is best -perhaps to let alone) that in our educational efforts we tend to -ignore the _mind_ and address ourselves to this region of symptoms. -Now mind, being spiritual, knows no fatigue; brain, too, duly -nourished with the food proper for the body, allowed due conditions -of fresh air and rest, should not know fatigue; given these two -conditions, we have a glorious field of educational possibilities; -but it rests with us to evolve a theory and practice which afford -due recognition to mind. An authoritative saying which we are apt -to associate with the religious life only is equally applicable -to education. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh, we are -told; but we have forgotten this great principle in our efforts -at schooling children. We give them a ‘play way’ and play is -altogether necessary and desirable but is not the avenue which -leads to mind. We give them a fitting environment, which is again -altogether desirable and, again, is not the way to mind. We teach -them beautiful motion and we do well, for the body too must have -its education; but we are not safe if we take these by-paths as -approaches to mind. It is still true that that which is born of -the spirit, is spirit. The way to mind is a quite direct way. Mind -must come into contact with mind through the medium of ideas. -“What is mind?” says the old conundrum, and the answer still is -“No matter.” It is necessary for us who teach to realize that -things material have little effect upon mind, because there are -still among us schools in which the work is altogether material and -technical, whether the teaching is given by means of bars of wood -or more scientific apparatus. The mistress of an Elementary School -writes,--“The father of one of my girls said to me yesterday, ‘You -have given me some work to do. E. has let me have no rest until I -promised to set up my microscope and get pond water to look for -monads and other wonders.’” Here we have the right order. That -which was born of the spirit, the idea, came first and demanded to -confirm and illustrate. “How can these things be?” we ask, and the -answer is not _evident_. - -Education, like faith, is the evidence of things not seen. We must -begin with the notion that the business of the body is to grow; -and it grows upon food, which food is composed of living cells, -each a perfect life in itself. In like manner, though all analogies -are misleading and inadequate, the only fit sustenance for the -mind is ideas, and an idea too, like the single cell of cellular -tissue, appears to go through the stages and functions of a life. -We receive it with appetite and some stir of interest. It appears -to feed in a curious way. We hear of a new patent cure for the -mind or the body, of the new thought of some poet, the new notion -of a school of painters; we take in, accept, the idea and for days -after every book we read, every person we talk with brings food to -the newly entertained notion. ‘Not proven,’ will be the verdict of -the casual reader; but if he watch the behaviour of his own mind -towards any of the ideas ‘in the air,’ he will find that some such -process as I have described takes place; and this process must be -considered carefully in the education of children. We may not take -things casually as we have done. Our business is to give children -the great ideas of life, of religion, history, science; but it is -the _ideas_ we must give, clothed upon with facts as they occur, -and must leave the child to deal with these as he chooses. - -This is how he deals with Geography, for example:-- - - “When I heard of any new kingdom beyond the seas the light and - glory of it entered into me. It rose up within me and I was - enlarged by the whole. I entered into it, I saw its commodities, - springs, meadows, inhabitants and became possessor of that new - room as if it had been prepared for me so much was I magnified - and delighted in it. When the Bible was read my spirit was - present in other ages. I saw the light and splendour of them, - the land of Canaan, the Israelites entering into it, the ancient - glory of the Amorites, their peace and riches, their cities, - houses, vines and fig-trees.... I saw and felt all in such a - lively manner as if there had been no other way to those places - but in spirit only.... Without changing place in myself I could - behold and enjoy all those. Anything when it was proposed though - it was a thousand years ago being always present before me.” - -I venture again to quote Traherne because I know of no writer who -retains so clear a memory of his infancy; but Goethe gives as full -and convincing an account of his experience of the Bible,[12] I say -‘experience’ advisedly, for the word denotes the process by which -children get to know. They _experience_ all the things they hear -and read of; these enter into them and are their life; and thus it -is that ideas feed the mind in the most literal sense of the word -‘feed.’ - -Do our Geography lessons take the children _there_? Do they -experience, live in, our story of the call of Abraham?--or of the -healing of the blind man on the way to Jericho? If they do not, -it is not for lack of earnestness and intention on the part of -the teacher; his error is rather want of confidence in children. -He has not formed a just measure of a child’s mind and bores -his scholars with much talk about matters which they are able -to understand for themselves much better than he does. How many -teachers know that children require no pictures excepting the -pictures of great artists, which have quite another function than -that of illustration? They see for themselves in their own minds -a far more glorious, and indeed more accurate, presentation than -we can afford in our miserable daubs. They read between the lines -and put in all the author has left out. A child of nine, who had -been reading Lang’s _Tales of Troy and Greece_, drew Ulysses on -the Isle of Calypso cutting down trees to make a raft; a child of -ten, revelling in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, drew that Indian -Princess bringing her lovely boy to Titania. We others are content -to know that Ulysses built a raft, that the boy was the child of -an Indian Princess. This is how any child’s mind works, and our -concern is not to starve these fertile intelligences. They must -have food in great abundance and variety. They know what to do with -it well enough and we need not disturb ourselves to provide for -the separate exercise of each so-called ‘faculty’; for the mind -is one and works all together; reason, imagination, reflection, -judgment, what you please, are like ‘all hands’ summoned by the -‘heave-ho!’ of the boatswain. All swarm on deck for the lading of -cargo, that rich and odorous cargo of ideas which the fair vessel -of a child’s mind is waiting to receive. Do we wish every child in -a class to say,--or, if he does not say, to feel,--“I was enlarged -wonderfully” by a Geography lesson? Let him see the place with -the eyes of those who have seen or conceived it; your barographs, -thermographs, contour lines, relief models, sections, profiles and -the like, will not do it. A map of the world must be a panorama -to a child of pictures so entrancing that he would rather ponder -them than go out to play; and nothing is more easy than to give him -this _joie de vivre_. Let him see the world as we ourselves choose -to see it when we travel; its cities and peoples, its mountains -and rivers, and he will go away from his lesson with the piece -of the world he has read about, be it county or country, sea or -shore, as that of “a new room prepared for him, so much will he -be magnified and delighted in it.” All the world is in truth the -child’s possession, prepared for him, and if we keep him out of his -rights by our technical, commercial, even historical, geography, -any sort of geography, in fact, made to illustrate our theories, -we are guilty of fraudulent practices. What he wants is the world -and every bit, piece by piece, each bit a key to the rest. He reads -of the Bore of the Severn and is on speaking terms with a ‘Bore’ -wherever it occurs. He need not see a mountain to know a mountain. -He sees all that is described to him with a vividness of which -we know nothing just as if there had been “no other way to those -places but in spirit only.” Who can take the measure of a child? -The Genie of the Arabian tale is nothing to him. He, too, may be -let out of his bottle and fill the world. But woe to us if we keep -him corked up. - -Enough, that the children have minds, and every man’s mind is his -means of living; but it is a great deal more. Working men will have -leisure in the future and how this leisure is to be employed is a -question much discussed. Now, no one can employ leisure fitly whose -mind is not brought into active play every day; the small affairs -of a man’s own life supply no intellectual food and but small and -monotonous intellectual exercise. Science, history, philosophy, -literature, must no longer be the luxuries of the ‘educated’ -classes; all classes must be educated and sit down to these things -of the mind as they do to their daily bread. History must afford -its pageants, science its wonders, literature its intimacies, -philosophy its speculations, religion its assurances to every man, -and his education must have prepared him for wanderings in these -realms of gold. - -How do we prepare a child, again, to use the æsthetic sense with -which he appears to come provided? His education should furnish him -with whole galleries of mental pictures, pictures by great artists -old and new;--Israels’ _Pancake Woman_, his _Children by the Sea_; -Millet’s _Feeding the Birds_, _First Steps_, _Angelus_; Rembrandt’s -_Night Watch_, _The Supper at Emmaus_; Velasquez’s _Surrender of -Breda_,--in fact, every child should leave school with at least a -couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in -the halls of his imagination, to say nothing of great buildings, -sculpture, beauty of form and colour in things he sees. Perhaps we -might secure at least a hundred lovely landscapes too,--sunsets, -cloudscapes, star-light nights. At any rate he should go forth -well furnished because imagination has the property of magical -expansion, the more it holds the more it will hold. - -It is not only a child’s intellect but his heart that comes to -us thoroughly furnished. Can any of us love like a little child? -Father and mother, sisters and brothers, neighbours and friends, -“our” cat and “our” dog, the wretchedest old stump of a broken toy, -all come in for his lavish tenderness. How generous and grateful he -is, how kind and simple, how pitiful and how full of benevolence -in the strict sense of goodwill, how loyal and humble, how fair -and just! His conscience is on the alert. Is a tale true? Is a -person good?--these are the important questions. His _conscience_ -chides him when he is naughty, and by degrees as he is trained, -his _will_ comes to his aid and he learns to order his life. He is -taught to say his prayers, and we elders hardly realize how real -his prayers are to a child. - - -3.--MOTIVES FOR LEARNING - -Now place a teacher before a class of persons the beauty and -immensity of each one of whom I have tried to indicate and he will -say, “What have I to offer them?” His dull routine lessons crumble -into the dust they are when he faces children as they are. He -cannot go on offering them his stale commonplaces; he feels that he -may not bore them; that he may not prick the minds he has dulled -by unworthy motives of greed or emulation; he would not invite a -parcel of children to a Timon feast of smoke and lukewarm water. -He knows that children’s minds hunger at regular intervals as do -their bodies; that they hunger for knowledge, not for information, -and that his own poor stock of knowledge is not enough, his own -desultory talk has not substance enough; that his irrelevant -remarks interrupt a child’s train of thought; that, in a word, he -is not sufficient for these things. - -On the other hand, the children, the children of the slums -especially, have no vocabulary to speak of, no background of -thought derived from a cultured environment. They are like goodly -pitchers, capable of holding much but with necks so narrow that -only the thinnest stream can trickle in. So we have thought -hitherto, and our teaching has been diluted to dishwater and the -pitchers have gone empty away. - -But we have changed all that. Just as in the War the magnanimous, -patriotic citizen was manifested in every man so in our schools -every child has been discovered to be a person of infinite -possibilities. I say every child, for so-called ‘backward’ children -are no exception. I shall venture to bring before the reader -some experiences of the _Parents’ Union School_ as being ground -with which I am familiar. Examination papers representing tens of -thousands of children working in Elementary Schools, Secondary -Schools and home schoolrooms have just passed under my eye. How the -children have revelled in knowledge! and how good and interesting -all their answers are! How well they spell on the whole and how -well they write! We do not need the testimony of their teachers -that the work of the term has been joyous; the verve with which the -children tell what they know proves the fact. Every one of these -children knows that there are hundreds of pleasant places for the -mind to roam in. They are good and happy because some little care -has been taken to know what they are and what they require; a care -very amply rewarded by results which alter the whole outlook on -education. In our Training College, the students are not taught how -to stimulate attention, how to keep order, how to give marks, how -to punish or even how to reward, how to manage a large class or a -small school with children in different classes. All these things -come by nature in a school where the teachers know something of the -capacities and requirements of children. To hear children of the -slums ‘telling’ _King Lear_ or _Woodstock_, by the hour if you will -let them, or describing with minutest details Van Eyck’s _Adoration -of the Lamb_ or Botticelli’s _Spring_, is a surprise, a revelation. -We take off our shoes from off our feet; we ‘did not know it was -in them,’ whether we be their parents, their teachers or mere -lookers-on. And with some feeling of awe upon us we shall be the -better prepared to consider how and upon what children should be -educated. I will only add that I make no claims for them which -cannot be justified by hundreds, thousands, of instances within our -experience. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE GOOD AND EVIL NATURE OF A CHILD - -_Children are not born bad but with possibilities for good and for -evil._ - - -1.--WELL-BEING OF BODY - -A well-known educationalist has brought heavy charges against us -all on the score that we bring up children as ‘children of wrath.’ -He probably exaggerates the effect of any such teaching, and the -‘little angel’ theory is fully as mischievous. The fact seems -to be that children are like ourselves, not because they have -become so, but because they are born so; that is, with tendencies, -dispositions, towards good and towards evil, and also with a -curious intuitive knowledge as to which is good and which is evil. -Here we have the work of education indicated. There are good and -evil tendencies in body and mind, heart and soul; and the hope set -before us is that we can foster the good so as to attenuate the -evil; that is, on condition that we put Education in her true place -as the handmaid of Religion. The community, the nation, the race, -are now taking their due place in our religious thought. We are no -longer solely occupied in what an Irish woman called ‘saving yer -dirty sowl.’ Our religion is becoming more magnanimous and more -responsible and it is time that a like change should take place -in our educational thought. We find ourselves in open places -breathing fresher air when we consider, not the education of an -individual child or of a social class or even of a given country, -but of the race, of the human nature common to every class and -country, every individual child. The prospect is exhilarating and -the recognition of the potentialities in any child should bring -about such an educational renaissance as may send our weary old -world rejoicing on its way. - -Physicians and physiologists tell us that new-born children start -fair. A child is not born with tuberculosis, for example, if with -a tendency which it is our business to counteract. In the same -way all possibilities for good are contained in his moral and -intellectual outfit, hindered it may be by a corresponding tendency -to evil for every such potentiality. We begin to see our way. It -is our business to know of what parts and passions a child is made -up, to discern the dangers that present themselves, and still -more the possibilities of free-going in delightful paths. However -disappointing, even forbidding, the failings of a child, we may be -quite sure that in every case the opposite tendency is there and we -must bring the wit to give it play. - -Parents have this sort of mother-wit more commonly than we -outsiders, teachers and the like. Of course, we know of the -mothers and fathers who can’t do anything with Tom and hope the -schoolmaster will lick him into shape. But how often on the other -hand are we surprised to see how much more of persons Bob and Polly -are in their own homes than at school! Perhaps this is because -parents know their children better than do others and for that -reason believe in them more; for our faith in the divine and the -human keeps pace with our knowledge. For this reason it behoves -us teachers to get a bird’s eye view of the human nature which is -present in every child. Everybody knows that hunger, thirst, rest, -chastity are those natural endowments of the body by means of which -it grows and functions; but in every child there are tendencies -to greediness, restlessness, sloth, impurity, any one of which by -allowance may ruin the child and the man that he will be. - -Again, our old friends, the five senses, require direction and -practice. Smell, especially, might be made a source of delicate -pleasure by the habit of discriminating the good smells of -field and garden, flower and fruit, for their own sakes, not as -ministering to taste, which, unduly pampered, becomes a man’s -master. But there is little that is new to be learned about the -body and those various body-servants with which it is equipped. -Education already does her part in training the muscles, -cultivating the senses, ordering the nerves, of all children, rich -and poor; for in these days we perceive that the development which -is due to one child is due to all. If we make a mistake in regard -to physical education it is perhaps in the matter of ordering the -nerves of a child. We do not consider enough that the nourishment, -rest, fresh air and natural exercise, proper for the body as a -whole, meet the requirements of the nervous system and that the -undue nervous tension which a small child suffers in carrying a cup -of tea, an older boy or girl in cramming for an examination, may be -the cause later of a distressing nervous breakdown. We are becoming -a nervous, overstrained nation and though golf and cricket may -do something for us, a watchful education, alert to arrest every -symptom of nervous over-pressure, would do much to secure for every -child a fine physique and a high degree of staying power. - -A snare which attends the really brilliant teacher is the -exhausting effect upon children of an overpowering personality. -They are such ardent and responsive little souls that the teacher -who gives them nods and becks and wreathéd smiles may play the Pied -Piper with them. But he or she should beware. The undue play of -the personality of the teacher is likely to suppress and subdue -that of his scholars; and, not only so, children are so eager to -live up to the demands made upon them that they may be brought to a -state of continual nervous over-pressure under the influence of a -‘charming personality.’ This sort of subjection, the _Schwärmerei_ -of the Germans, was powerfully set forth in a recent novel in which -an unprincipled and fascinating mistress ‘ran’ her personality with -disastrous results. But the danger does not lie in extreme cases. -The girl who kisses the chamber door of her class mistress will -forget this lady by and by; but the parasitic habit has been formed -and she must always have some person or some cause on which to hang -her body and soul. I speak of ‘she’ and ‘her’ perhaps unfairly, -because ever since the Greek youth hung about their masters in the -walks of the Academy there have been teachers who have undermined -the stability of the boys to whom they devoted themselves. Were his -countrymen entirely wrong about Socrates? A tendency to this manner -of betrayal is the infirmity of noble minds, of those who have the -most to give; and for this reason, again, it is important that we -should have before us a bird’s eye view, let us call it, of human -nature. - - -2.--WELL-BEING OF MIND - -There is a common notion that it is our inalienable right not -only to say what we please but to think as we please, that is, we -believe that while body is subject to physical laws, while the -affections, love and justice, are subject to moral laws, the mind -is a chartered libertine. Probably this notion has much to do with -our neglect of intellect. We do not perceive that the mind, too, -has its tendencies both good and evil and that every inclination -towards good is hindered and may be thwarted by a corresponding -inclination towards evil; I am not speaking of moral evil but -of those intellectual evils which we are slow to define and are -careless in dealing with. Does the teacher of a large class always -perceive that intellect is enthroned before him in every child, -however dull and inattentive may be his outer show? Every child -in such a class is open to the wonders that science reveals, is -interested in the wheeling worlds of the winter firmament. “Child -after child,” said a schoolmistress, “writes to say how much they -have enjoyed reading about the stars.” “As we are walking sometimes -and the stars are shining,” says a girl of eleven in an Elementary -School, “I tell mother about the stars and planets and comets. She -said she should think astronomy very interesting.” - -But we teach astronomy, no, we teach ‘light and heat’ by means of -dessicated text-books, diagrams and experiments, which last are no -more to children than the tricks of white magic. The infinitely -little is as attractive to them as the infinitely great and the -behaviour of an atom, an ion, is a fairy tale they delight in, -that is, if no semblance to a fairy tale be suggested. The pageant -of history with its interplay of characters is as delightful as -any tale because every child uses his own film to show the scenes -and exhibit the persons. We fuss a good deal about the dress, -implements and other small details of each historic period but -we forget that, give the child a few fit and exact words on the -subject and he has the picture in his mind’s eye, nay, a series, -miles long of really glorious films; for a child’s amazing, -vivifying imagination is part and parcel of his intellect. - -The way children make their own the examples offered to them is -amazing. No child would forget the characterisation of Charles -IX as ‘feeble and violent,’ nor fail to take to himself a lesson -in self-control. We may not point the moral; that is the work -proper for children themselves and they do it without fail. The -comparative difficulty of the subject does not affect them. A -teacher writes (of children of eleven),--“They cannot have enough -of Publicola and there are always groans when the lesson comes to -an end.” - -I have said much of history and science, but mathematics, a -mountainous land which pays the climber, makes its appeal to mind, -and good teachers know that they may not drown their teaching in -verbiage. As for literature--to introduce children to literature -is to instal them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring -a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast -exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being -familiar with it from the very first. A child’s intercourse must -always be with good books, the best that we can find. Of course, -we have always known that this is the right thing for children in -cultivated homes, but what about those in whose dwellings books are -little known? One of the wise teachers in Gloucestershire[13] notes -that a recognition of two things is necessary in dealing with this -problem. First, that,-- - - “To explain the meaning of words destroys interest in the story - and annoys the child. Second, that in many instances it is - unnecessary. Although a child’s dictionary knowledge of words - is lacking it does not follow that the meaning of a sentence or - paragraph is unknown to him ... neither is the correct employment - of the words beyond him in writing or narrating. Two examples - of this power to sense the meaning were observed last term. - There is a particular boy in Form IIB who has not hitherto been - looked upon as possessing high intelligence. Classified by age he - ought to be two Forms higher. Last term in taking the story of - Romulus and Remus, I found that in power of narrating and degree - of understanding (that is, of ‘sensing’ a paragraph and either - translating it into his vocabulary or in using the words read to - him) he stood above the others and also above the majority in the - next higher Form.” - - “What has surprised us most,” said the Headmaster of A., “is - the ready way in which boys absorb information and become - interested in literature, literature which we have hitherto - considered outside the scope of primary school teaching. A year - ago I could not have believed that boys would have read Lytton’s - _Harold_, Kingsley’s _Hereward_, and Scott’s _Talisman_ with - real pleasure and zest or would study with understanding and - delight Shakespeare’s _Macbeth_, _King John_ and _Richard II_; - but experience has shown us we have underrated the abilities and - tastes of the lads we should have known better.” - -That is the capital charge against most schools. The teachers -underrate the tastes and abilities of their pupils. In things -intellectual, children, even backward children, have extraordinary -‘possibilities for good’--possibilities so great that if we had the -wit to give them their head they would carry us along like a stream -in spate. - -But what about intellectual tendencies, or ‘possibilities for -evil’? One such tendency dominates many schools notwithstanding -prodigious efforts on the part of the teachers to rouse slumbering -minds. Indeed, the more the teacher works, the greater the -_incuria_ of the children, so the class is prodded with marks, -the boys take places, the bogie of an oncoming examination is -held before them. Some spasmodic effort is the result but no -vital response and, though boys and girls love school, like -their teachers and even their lessons, they care not at all for -knowledge, for which the school should create enthusiasm. I can -touch here on no more than two potent means of creating _incuria_ -in a class. One is the talky-talky of the teacher. We all know -how we are bored by the person in private life who explains and -expounds. What reason have we to suppose that children are not -equally bored? They try to tell us that they are by wandering eyes, -inanimate features, fidgetting hands and feet, by every means at -their disposal; and the kindly souls among us think that they want -to play or to be out of doors. But they have no use for play -except at proper intervals. What they want is knowledge conveyed in -literary form and the talk of the facile teacher leaves them cold. - -Another soothing potion is little suspected of producing mental -lethargy. We pride ourselves upon going over and over the same -ground ‘until the children know it’; the monotony is deadly. A -child writes,--“Before we had these (books) we had to read the same -old lot again and again.” Is it not true? In the home schoolroom -books used by the grandmother are fit for the grandchildren, books -used in boys’ schools may be picked up at second-hand stalls with -the obliterated names of half-a-dozen successive owners. And what -of the compilations, neither books nor text-books, which do duty in -Elementary Schools? No wonder Mr. Fisher said, in opening a public -library, that he had been “surprised and pained when visiting -Elementary Schools to find that there was nothing in them which -could be called a book, nothing that would charm and enlighten and -expand the imagination.” And yet, as he went on to say, the country -is “full of artistic and literary ability and always has been so.” -If this ability is to be brought into play we must recognise that -children are not ruminants intellectually any more than physically. -They cannot go over the same ground repeatedly without deadening, -even paralysing results, for progress, continual progress is the -law of intellectual life. - -In matters of the mind again _Habit_ is a good servant but a bad -master. Specialisation, the fetish of the end of the last century, -is to be deprecated because it is at our peril that we remain too -long in any one field of thought. We may not, for example, allow -the affairs and interests of daily life to deprive the mind of its -proper range of interests and occupations. It is even possible for -a person to go into any one of the great fields of thought and to -work therein with delight until he become incapable of finding his -way into any other such field. We know how Darwin lost himself in -science until he could not read poetry, find pleasure in pictures, -think upon things divine; he was unable to turn his mind out of -the course in which it had run for most of his life. In the great -(and ungoverned) age of the Renaissance, the time when great things -were done, great pictures painted, great buildings raised, great -discoveries made, the same man was a painter, an architect, a -goldsmith and a master of much knowledge besides; and all that he -did he did well, all that he knew was part of his daily thought and -enjoyment. Let us hear Vasari on Leonardo,-- - - “Possessed of a divine and marvellous intellect and being an - excellent geometrician, he not only worked at sculpture ... but - also prepared many architectural plans and buildings ... he made - designs for mills and other engines to go by water; and, as - painting was to be his profession, he studied drawing from life.” - -Leonardo knew nothing about Art for Art’s sake, that shibboleth -of yesterday, nor did our own Christopher Wren, also a great -mathematician and master of much and various knowledge, to whom -architecture was rather a by-the-way interest, and yet he built St. -Paul’s. What an irreparable loss we had when that plan of his for -a beautiful and spacious London was flung aside because it would -cost too much to carry it out! Just so of our parsimony do we fling -aside the minds of the children of our country, also capable of -being wrought into pleasaunces of delight, structures of utility -and beauty, at a pitifully trifling cost. It is well we should -recognise that the business of education is with us all our lives, -that we must always go on increasing our knowledge. - -Of the means we employ to hinder the growth of mind perhaps none -is more subtle than the _questionnaire_. It is as though one -required a child to produce for inspection at its various stages -of assimilation the food he consumed for his dinner; we see at once -how the digestive processes would be hindered, how, in a word, -the child would cease to be fed. But the mind also requires its -food and leave to carry on those quiet processes of digestion and -assimilation which it must accomplish for itself. The child with -capacity, which implies depth, is stupified by a long rigmarole on -the lines of,--“If John’s father is Tom’s son, what relation is Tom -to John?” The shallow child guesses the riddle and scores; and it -is by the use of tests of this kind that we turn out young people -sharp as needles but with no power of reflection, no intelligent -interests, nothing but the aptness of the city _gamin_. - -_Imagination_ may become like that cave Ezekiel tells of wherein -were all manner of unseemly and evil things; it may be a temple -wherein self is glorified; it may be a chamber of horrors and -dangers; but it may also be a House Beautiful. It is enough for us -to remember that imagination is stored with those images supplied -day by day whether by the cinema, the penny dreadful, by Homer or -Shakespeare, by the great picture or the flaming ‘shocker.’ We have -heard of the imaginative man who conceived a passion for the Sphinx! - -In these days when _Reason_ is deified by the unlearned and plays -the part of the Lord of Misrule it is necessary that every child -should be trained to recognize fallacious reasoning and above all -to know that a man’s reason is his servant and not his master; that -there is no notion a man chooses to receive which his reason will -not justify, whether it be mistrust of his neighbour, jealousy of -his wife, doubts about his religion, or contempt for his country. - -Realising this, we ‘see reason’ in the fact that thousands of men -go on strike because two of their body have been denied permission -to attend a certain meeting. We see reason in this but the men -themselves confound reason with right and consider that such a -strike is a righteous protest. The only safeguard against fallacies -which undermine the strength of the nation morally and economically -is a liberal education which affords a wide field for reflection -and comparison and abundant data upon which to found sound -judgments. - -As for that _æsthetic_ ‘appetency’ (to use Coleridge’s word) upon -which so many of the gentle pleasures of life depend, it is open -to many disasters: it dies of inanition when beauty is not duly -presented to it, beauty in words, in pictures and music, in tree -and flower and sky. The function of the sense of beauty is to open -a paradise of pleasure for us; but what if we grow up admiring the -wrong things, or, what is morally worse, arrogant in the belief -that it is only we and our kind who are able to appreciate and -distinguish beauty? It is no small part of education to have seen -much beauty, to recognize it when we see it, and to keep ourselves -humble in its presence. - - -3.--INTELLECTUAL APPETITE - -As the body is provided with its appetites, by undue indulgence -of any one of which a man may make shipwreck, but which duly -ordered should result in a robust and vigorous frame; so, too, -the spiritual part of us is provided with certain caterers whose -business it is to secure that kind of nourishment which promotes -spiritual or intellectual growth in one or another direction. -Perhaps in no part of our educational service do we make more -serious blunders than in our use of those _desires_ which act as -do the appetites for the body’s service. Every child wants to be -approved, even baby in his new red shoes; to be first in what is -going on; to get what is going; to be admired; to lead and manage -the rest; to have the companionship of children and grown people; -and last, but not least, every child wants _to know_. There they -are, those desires, ready to act on occasion and our business is to -make due use of this natural provision for the work of education. -We do make use of the desires, not wisely, but too well. We run our -schools upon _emulation_, the desire of every child to be first; -and not the ablest, but the most pushing, comes to the front. We -quicken emulation by the common desire to get and to have, that -is, by the impulse of avarice. So we offer prizes, exhibitions, -scholarships, every incentive that can be proposed. We cause him -to work for our _approbation_, we play upon his vanity, and the -boy does more than he can. What is the harm, we say, when all -those springs of action are in the child already? The athlete is -beginning to discover that he suffers elsewhere from the undue -development of any set of muscles; and the boy whose ambition, or -emulation, has been unduly stimulated becomes a flaccid person. But -there is a worse evil. We all want knowledge just as much as we -want bread. We know it is possible to cure the latter appetite by -giving more stimulating food; and the worst of using other spurs -to learning is that a natural love of knowledge which should carry -us through eager school-days, and give a spice of adventure to the -duller days of mature life, is effectually choked; and boys and -girls ‘Cram to pass but not to know; they do pass but they don’t -know.’ The divine curiosity which should have been an equipment for -life hardly survives early schooldays. - -Now it has been demonstrated very fully indeed that the -delightfulness of knowledge is sufficient to carry a pupil joyfully -and eagerly through his school life and that prizes and places, -praise, blame and punishment, are unnecessary in so far as they -are used to secure ardent interest and eager work. The love of -knowledge is sufficient. Each of those other stimuli should no -doubt have its natural action, but one or two springs of action -seem to be played upon excessively in our schools. Conduct gives -opportunity for ‘virtue emulously rapid in the race’ and especially -that part of conduct known as ‘play’ in which most of the natural -desires come into action; but even in play we must beware of -the excess of zeal which risks the elimination of the primary -feelings of love and justice. In the schoolroom, without doubt, -the titillation of knowledge itself affords sufficient stimulus to -close attention and steady labour; and the desire of acquisition -has due play in a boy who is constantly increasing his acquirements. - - -4.--MISDIRECTED AFFECTIONS - -We are aware of more than mind and body in our dealings with -children. We appeal to their ‘feelings’; whether ‘mind’ or -‘feelings’ be more than names we choose to give to manifestations -of that spiritual entity which _is_ each one of us. Probably we -have not even taken the trouble to analyse and name the feelings -and to discover that they all fall under the names of love and -justice, that it is the glory of the human being to be endowed with -such a wealth of these two as is sufficient for every occasion of -life. More, the occasions come and he is ready to meet them with -the ease and triumph of the solvent debtor. - -But this rich endowment of the moral nature is also a matter with -which the educator should concern himself. Alas, he does so. He -points the moral with a thousand tedious platitudes, directs, -instructs, illustrates and bores exceedingly the nimble and -subtle minds of his scholars. This, of the feelings and their -manifestations, is certainly the field for the spare and guarded -praise and blame of parent and teacher; but this praise or blame is -apt to be either scrapped by children, or, taken as the sole motive -for conduct, they go forth unused to do a thing ‘for it is right’ -but only because somebody’s approbation is to be won. - -This education of the feelings, moral education, is too delicate -and personal a matter for a teacher to undertake trusting to -his own resources. Children are not to be fed morally like -young pigeons with predigested food. They must pick and eat for -themselves and they do so from the conduct of others which they -hear of or perceive. But they want a great quantity of the sort -of food whose issue is conduct, and that is why poetry, history, -romance, geography, travel, biography, science and sums must all -be pressed into service. No one can tell what particular morsel a -child will select for his sustenance. One small boy of eight may -come down late because--“I was meditating upon Plato and couldn’t -fasten my buttons,” and another may find his meat in ‘Peter Pan’! -But all children must read widely, and know what they have read, -for the nourishment of their complex nature. - -As for moral lessons, they are worse than useless; children want -a great deal of fine and various moral feeding, from which they -draw the ‘lessons’ they require. It is a wonderful thing that every -child, even the rudest, is endowed with _Love_ and is able for all -its manifestations,--kindness, benevolence, generosity, gratitude, -pity, sympathy, loyalty, humility, gladness; we older persons are -amazed at the lavish display of any one of these to which the most -ignorant child may treat us. But these aptitudes are so much coin -of the realm with which a child is provided that he may be able to -pay his way through life; and, alas, we are aware of certain vulgar -commonplace tendencies in ourselves which make us walk delicately -and trust, not to our own teaching, but to the best that we have in -art and literature and above all to that storehouse of example and -precept, the Bible, to enable us to touch these delicate spirits to -fine issues. St. Francis, Collingwood, Father Damien, one of the -V.C.’s among us, will do more for children than years of talk. - -Then there is that other wonderful provision for right living -without which no neglected or savage man-soul exists. Everyone has -_Justice_ in his heart; a cry for ‘fair play’ reaches the most -lawless mob, and we all know how children torment us with their -‘It’s not fair.’ It is much to know that as regards justice as -well as love there exists in everyone an adequate provision for -the conduct of life: general unrest, which has its rise in wrong -thinking and wrong judging far more than in faulty conditions, is -the misguided outcome of that sense of justice with which, thank -God, we are all endued. - -Here, on the face of it, we get one office of education. This, of -justice, is another spiritual provision which we fail to employ -duly in our schools; and so wonderful is this principle that we -cannot kill, paralyse, or even benumb it, but, choked in its -natural course, it spreads havoc and devastation where it should -have made the soil fertile for the fruits of good living. - -Few of the offices of education are more important than that -of preparing men to distinguish between their rights and their -duties. We each have our rights and other persons have their duties -towards us as we towards them; but it is not easy to learn that -we have precisely the same rights as other people and no more; -that other people owe to us just such duties as we owe to them. -This fine art of self-adjustment is possible to everyone because -of the ineradicable principle which abides in us. But our eyes -must be taught to see, and hence the need for all the processes of -education, futile in proportion as they do not serve this end. To -think fairly requires, we know, knowledge as well as consideration. - -Young people should leave school knowing that their thoughts are -not their own;[14] that what we think of other people is a matter -of justice or injustice; that a certain manner of words is due from -them to all manner of persons with whom they have to deal; and that -not to speak those words is to be unjust to their neighbours. They -should know that truth, that is, justice in word, is their due and -that of all other persons; there are few better equipments for a -citizen than a mind capable of discerning the truth, and this just -mind can be preserved only by those who take heed what they think. -“Yet truth,” says Bacon, “which only doth judge itself, teacheth -that the enquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of -it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the -belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good -of human nature.” - -If justice in word is to be duly learned by all scholars still more -is integrity, justice in action; integrity in work, which disallows -ca’canny methods, whether those of the artisan who does as little -as he can in the time, or of the schoolboy who receives payment -in kind--in his support, the cost of his education and the trust -imposed in him by parents and teachers. Therefore he may not scamp, -dawdle over, postpone, crib, or otherwise shirk his work. He learns -that “my duty towards my neighbour” is “to keep my hands from -picking and stealing,” and, whether a man be a workman, a servant, -or a prosperous citizen, he must know that justice requires from -him the integrity in material which we call honesty; not the common -honesty which hates to be found out, but that refined and delicate -sense of values which George Eliot exhibits for us in ‘Caleb Garth.’ - -There is another form in which the magnanimous citizen of the -future must be taught the sense of justice. Our opinions show -our integrity of thought. Every person has many opinions whether -his own honestly thought out, or notions picked up from his pet -newspaper or his companions. The person who thinks out his -opinions modestly and carefully is doing his duty as truly as if he -saved a life because there is no more or less about duty. - -If a schoolboy is to be guided into the justice of thought -from which sound opinions emanate, how much more does he need -guidance in arriving at that justice in motive which we call sound -principles. For what, after all, are principles but those motives -of first importance which govern us, move us in thought and action? -We appear to pick up these in a casual way and are seldom able to -render an account of them and yet our lives are ordered by our -principles, good or bad. Here, again, we have a reason for wide and -wisely ordered reading; for there are always catch-words floating -in the air, as,--‘What’s the good?’ ‘It’s all rot,’ and the like, -which the vacant mind catches up for use as the basis of thought -and conduct, as, in fact, paltry principles for the guidance of a -life. - -Here we have one more reason why there is nothing in all those -spiritual stores in the world’s treasury too good for the -education of _all_ children. Every lovely tale, illuminating poem, -instructive history, every unfolding of travel and revelation of -science exists for children. “_La terre appartient à l’enfant, -toujours à l’enfant_,” was well said by Maxim Gorky, and we should -do well to remember the fact. - -The service that some of us (of the P.N.E.U.) believe we have -done in the cause of education is to discover that all children, -even backward children, are aware of their needs and pathetically -eager for the food they require; that no preparation whatever is -necessary for this sort of diet; that a limited vocabulary, sordid -surroundings, the absence of a literary background to thought -are not hindrances; indeed they may turn out to be incentives to -learning, just as the more hungry the child, the readier he is for -his dinner. This statement is no mere pious opinion; it has been -amply proved in thousands of instances. Children of a poor school -in the slums are eager to tell the whole story of _Waverley_, -falling continually into the beautiful language and style of the -author. They talk about the Rosetta Stone and about treasures in -their local museum; they discuss Coriolanus and conclude that ‘his -mother must have spoiled him.’ They know by heart every detail of -a picture by La Hooch, Rembrandt, Botticelli, and not only is no -evolution of history or drama, no subtle sweetness, no inspiration -of a poet, beyond them, but they decline to know that which does -not reach them in literary form. - -What they receive under this condition they absorb immediately and -show that they _know_ by that test of knowledge which applies to -us all, that is, they can tell it with power, clearness, vivacity -and charm. These are the children to whom we have been doling out -the ‘three R’s’ for generations! Small wonder that juvenile crime -increases; the intellectually starved boy must needs find food for -his imagination, scope for his intellectual power; and crime, like -the cinema, offers it must be admitted, brave adventures. - - -5.--THE WELL-BEING OF THE SOUL - -If we leave the outer courts of mind and body, the holy places of -the affections and the will (we shall consider this last later) -and enter that holy of holies where man performs his priestly -functions, we may well ask with diffidence and humility what may -education do for the Soul of a child? “What is there that outwits -the understanding of a man or that is out of the range of his -thoughts, the reach of his aspirations? He is, it is true, baffled -on all hands by his ignorance, the illimitable ignorance of even -the wisest, but ignorance is not incapacity and the wings of a -man’s soul beat with impatience against the bars of his ignorance. -He would out, out into the universe of infinite thought and -infinite possibilities. How is the soul of a man to be satisfied? -Crowned kings have thrown up dominion because they want that which -is greater than kingdoms; profound scholars fret under limitations -which keep them playing upon the margin of the unsounded ocean of -knowledge; no great love can satisfy itself with loving; there -is no satisfaction save one for the soul of a man, because the -things about him are finite, measurable, incomplete and his reach -is beyond his grasp. He has an urgent, incessant, irrepressible -need of the infinite.”[15] “I want, am made for, and must have a -God;”--not a mere serviceable religion,--because we have in us an -infinite capacity for love, loyalty and service which we cannot -expend upon any other. - -But what sort of approaches do we prepare for children towards -the God whom they need, the Saviour in Whom is all help, the King -Who affords all delight, commands all adoration and loyalty? Any -words or thoughts of ours are poor and insufficient, but we have a -treasury of divine words which they read and know with satisfying -pleasure and tell with singular beauty and fitness. “The Bible -is the most interesting book I know,” said a young person of ten -who had read a good many books and knew her Bible. By degrees -children get that knowledge of God which is the object of the -final daily prayer in our beautiful liturgy--the prayer of St. -Chrysostom--“Grant us in this world knowledge of Thy truth,” and -all other knowledge which they obtain gathers round and illuminates -this. - -Here is an example of how such knowledge grows. I heard a class of -girls aged about thirteen read an essay on George Herbert. Three -or four of his poems were included, and none of the girls had read -either essay or poems before. They ‘narrated’ what they had read -and in the course of their narration gave a full paraphrase of _The -Elixir_, _The Pulley_, and one or two other poems. No point made by -the poet was omitted and his exact words were used pretty freely. -The teacher made comments upon one or two unusual words and that -was all; to explain or enforce (otherwise than by a reverently -sympathetic manner, the glance and words that showed that she too, -cared), would have been impertinent. It is an interesting thing -that hundreds of children of this age in Secondary and Elementary -Schools and in families scattered over the world read and narrated -the same essay and no doubt paraphrased the verses with equal ease. -I felt humbled before the children knowing myself incapable of such -immediate and rapid apprehension of several pages of new matter -including poems whose intention is by no means obvious. In such -ways the great thoughts of great thinkers illuminate children and -they grow in knowledge, chiefly the knowledge of God. - -And yet this, the chief part of education, is drowned in torrents -of talk, in tedious repetition, in objurgation and recrimination, -in every sort of way in which the mind may be bored and the -affections deadened. - -I have endeavoured to sketch some of the possibilities for good -and the corresponding possibilities for evil present in all -children; they are waiting for direction and control, certainly, -but still more for the formative influence of knowledge. I have -avoided philosophical terms, using only names in common use,--body -and soul, body and mind, body, soul and spirit,--because these -represent ideas that we cannot elude and that convey certain -definite notions; and these ideas must needs form the basis of our -educational thought. - -We must know something about the material we are to work upon if -the education we offer is not to be scrappy and superficial. We -must have some measure of a child’s requirements, not based upon -his uses to society, nor upon the standard of the world he lives -in, but upon his own capacity and needs. We would not willingly -educate him towards what is called ‘self-expression’; he has little -to express except what he has received as knowledge, whether by -way of record or impression; what he can do is to assimilate and -give this forth in a form which is original because it is modified, -re-created, by the action of his own mind; and this originality is -produced by the common bread and milk which is food for everyone, -acting upon the mind which is peculiar to each individual child. - -Education implies a continuous going forth of the mind; but -whatever induces introspection or any form of self-consciousness -holds up as it were the intellectual powers and brings progress to -a standstill. The reader may have noticed with some disappointment -that I have not invited him to the study of psychology as it is -understood to-day. No doubt there exists a certain dim region -described as the unconscious mind, a sort of half-way house between -mind and matter, a place where the intellect is subdued to the -action of nerves and blood. Mind is of its nature infinitely -and always conscious and to speak of the unconscious mind is a -contradiction in terms; but what is meant is that the mind thinks -in ways of which we are unconscious; and that our business is to -make ourselves aware by much introspection, much self-occupation, -of the nature and tendencies of this ‘unconscious’ region. The -results of this study, so far as they have been arrived at, are -not encouraging. The best that is in us would appear to find its -origin in ‘complexes,’ sensual, erotic, greedy. Granting that such -possibilities are in us safety, lies in so nourishing the mind -that seed of baseness may bear fruit of beauty. Researches in this -region are deeply interesting no doubt, to the psychologist, and -may eventually bear fruit if only as contributing a quota to the -classification of knowledge; but no authority on the subject is -willing to offer at present his researches as a contribution to -educational lore. It may be that the mind as well as the body has -its regions where _noli me tangere_ is a counsel of expedience; -and, by the time we have dealt with those functions of the mind -which we know, we may find ourselves in a position to formulate -that which we certainly do not possess, a Science, should it not be -a Philosophy, of Education? - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -AUTHORITY AND DOCILITY - -_The principles of Authority on the one hand and Docility on the -other are natural, necessary and fundamental_ - - -The War has made surprises stale but in those remote pre-war -days we were enormously startled by the discovery of wireless -telegraphy. That communications should pass through almost infinite -space without sign or sound or obvious channel and arrive instantly -at their destination took away our breath. We had the grace to -value the discovery for something more than its utility; we were -awed in the presence of a law which had always been there but -was only now perceived. In something the same way we have been -electrified by the discovery in the fields of France of heroism -in the breast of every common soldier. Now, just such discoveries -wait us in the field of education and any miner in this field may -strike a vein of ore which shall enrich the world. The citizens -of an ancient city on the shores of Gennesaret made one of those -startling discoveries and knew how to give it a name; they found -out that Christ ‘spake with authority’ and not as their scribes. - -It is not ours to speak with authority; the ‘verily, verily I -say unto you’ is a divine word not for us. Nevertheless deputed -authority is among us and in us. ‘He is an authority’ on such and -such a subject, is a correct expression because by much study -he has made it his own and has a right to speak. This deputed -authority appears to be lodged in everyone, ready for occasion. -Mr. Benjamin Kidd has told us how the London policeman is the very -embodiment of authority, implicitly obeyed in a way surprising to -strangers. Every king and commander, every mother, elder sister, -school prefect, every foreman of works and captain of games, -finds that within himself which secures faithful obedience, not -for the sake of his merits but because authority is proper to his -office. Without this principle, society would cease to cohere. -Practically there is no such thing as anarchy; what is so-called is -a mere transference of authority, even if in the last resort the -anarchist find authority in himself alone. There is an idea abroad -that authority makes for tyranny, and that obedience, voluntary or -involuntary, is of the nature of slavishness; but authority is, on -the contrary, the condition without which liberty does not exist -and, except it be abused, is entirely congenial to those on whom it -is exercised: we are so made that we like to be ordered even if the -ordering be only that of circumstances. Servants take pride in the -orders they receive; that our badge of honour is an ‘Order’ is a -significant use of words. It is still true that ‘Order is heaven’s -first law’ and order is the outcome of authority. - -That principle in us which brings us into subjection to authority -is docility, teachableness, and that also is universal. If a man -in the pride of his heart decline other authority, he will submit -himself slavishly to his ‘star’ or his ‘destiny.’ It would seem -that the exercise of docility is as natural and necessary as that -of reason or imagination; and the two principles of authority and -docility act in every life precisely as do those two elemental -principles which enable the earth to maintain its orbit, the one -drawing it towards the sun, the other as constantly driving it into -space; between the two, the earth maintains a more or less middle -course and the days go on. - -The same two principles work in every child, the one producing -ordered life, the other making for rebellion, and the _crux_ in -bringing up children is to find the mean which shall keep a child -true to his elliptical orbit. The solution offered to-day is -freedom in our schools; children may be governed but they must -not be aware that they are governed, and, ‘Go as you please,’ -must be the apparent rule of their lives, while, ‘Do as you’re -bid,’ is the moving force. The result of an ordered freedom is -obtained, that ordered freedom which rules the lives of 999 in -1000 of the citizens of the world; but the drawback to an indirect -method of securing this result is that when, ‘Do as you please,’ -is substituted for, ‘Do as you’re bid,’ there is dissimulation -in the air and children fail to learn that habit of ‘proud -subjection and dignified obedience’ which distinguishes great men -and noble citizens. No doubt it is pleasing that children should -behave naturally, should get up and wander about, should sit -still or frolic as they have a mind to, but they too, must ‘learn -obedience’; and it is no small element in their happiness and ours -that obedience is both delightful and reposeful. - -It is the part of the teacher to secure willing obedience, not -so much to himself as to the laws of the school and the claims -of the matter in hand. If a boy have a passage to read, he obeys -the call of that immediate duty, reads the passage with attention -and is happy in doing so. We all know with what a sense of added -importance we say,--“I must be at Mrs. Jones’s by eleven.” “It -is necessary that I should see Brown.” The life that does not -obey such conditions has got out of its orbit and is not of use -to society. It is necessary that we should all follow an ordered -course, and children, even infant children, must begin in the way -in which they will have to go on. Happily they come to us with the -two inherent forces, centripetal and centrifugal, which secure to -them freedom, _i.e._, self-authority, on the one hand, and ‘proud -subjection’ on the other. - -But parents and those who stand _in loco parentis_ have a delicate -task. There must be subjection, but it must be proud, worn as a -distinction, an order of merit. Probably the way to secure this -is to avoid standing between children and those laws of life and -conduct by which we are all ultimately ruled. The higher the -authority, the greater distinction in obedience, and children are -quick to discriminate between the mere will and pleasure of the -arbitrary teacher or parent and the chastened authority of him who -is himself under rule. That subservience should take the place -of docility is the last calamity for nation, family or school. -Docility implies equality; there is no great gulf fixed between -teacher and taught; both are pursuing the same ends, engaged on the -same theme, enriched by mutual interests; and probably the quite -delightful pursuit of knowledge affords the only intrinsic liberty -for both teacher and taught. “He is the freeman whom the truth -makes free,” and this freedom the steady pursuit and delightful -acquirement of knowledge afford to us day by day. “The mind is -its own place,” we are told, “and in itself can make a heaven of -hell, a hell of heaven”; and that heaven of the mind, is it not -continual expansion in ordered freedom? And that restless, burning, -inflammatory hell, does it not come of continual chafing against -natural and righteous order? - -As for the superficial freedom of sitting or standing, going or -coming, that is a matter which settles itself, as do all the -relations between teacher and taught, once children are allowed a -due share in their own education, not a benefit for us to confer -but rather a provision for them to take. Our chief concern for -the mind or for the body is to supply a well-ordered table with -abundant, appetising, nourishing and very varied food, which -children deal with in their own way and for themselves. This -food must be served _au naturel_, without the predigestion which -deprives it of stimulating and nourishing properties and no sort -of forcible feeding or spoon feeding may be practised. Hungry -minds sit down to such a diet with the charming greediness of -little children; they absorb it, assimilate it and grow thereby in -a manner astonishing to those accustomed to the dull profitless -ruminating so often practised in schools. When the teacher avoids -hortatory methods, his scholars change position when they have a -mind to; but their mind is commonly to sit still during a lesson -time because they are so intent on their work that they have no -desire for small divagations; while, on the other hand, the teacher -makes it his business to see that the body gets its share, and an -abundant share, of gymnastics whether by way of games or drill. -But this is a subject well understood in modern schools and it is -only necessary to say that though mental activity promotes bodily -functions in a surprising way--has not an American physiologist -discovered that people may live to 160 or 1000 years (!) if they -continue to use their minds?--athleticism, on the other hand, if -unduly pursued, by no means promotes mental activity. - -In days when the concern of educators seems to be to provide -an easy option for that mental activity, the sole condition of -education, it must be _urged_ that manual dexterity, gardening, -folk-dancing, and the like, while they fulfil their proper -function in training nerve and muscle to ready responsiveness, -_do not sustain mind_. Nor, again, can we educate children upon -the drama, even the Shakespearean drama, nor upon poetry, even -the most musical and emotional. These things children must have; -but they come into the world with many relations waiting to be -established; relations with places far and near, with the wide -universe, with the past of history, with the social economics of -the present, with the earth they live on and all its delightful -progeny of beast and bird, plant and tree; with the sweet human -affinities they entered into at birth; with their own country and -other countries, and, above all, with that most sublime of human -relationships--their relation to God. With such a programme before -his pupils only the uninstructed teacher will put undue emphasis -upon and give undue time to arithmetic and handicrafts, singing or -acting, or any of the hundred specifics which are passed off as -education in its entirety. - -The sense of _must_ should be present with children; our mistake -is to act in such a way that they, only, seem to be law-compelled -while their elders do as they please. The parent or teacher who is -pestered for ‘leave’ to do this or that, contrary to the discipline -of the house or school, has only himself to thank; he has posed as -a person _in_ authority, not _under_ authority, and therefore free -to allow the breach of rules whose only _raison d’être_ is that -they minister to the well-being of the children. Two conditions are -necessary to secure all proper docility and obedience and, given -these two, there is seldom a conflict of wills between teacher and -pupils. The conditions are,--the teacher, or other head, may not -be arbitrary but must act so evidently as one under authority[16] -that the children, quick to discern, see that he too must do the -things he ought; and therefore that regulations are not made for -his convenience. (I am assuming that everyone entrusted with the -bringing up of children recognises the supreme Authority to Whom -we are subject; without this recognition I do not see how it is -possible to establish the nice relation which should exist between -teacher and taught.) The other condition is that children should -have a fine sense of the freedom which comes of knowledge which -they are allowed to appropriate as they choose, freely given with -little intervention from the teacher. They do choose and are happy -in their work, so there is little opportunity for coercion or for -deadening, hortatory talk. - -But the principle of authority, as well as that of docility, is -inherent in children and it is only as the tact and judgment of the -teacher make opportunity for its free play that they are prepared -for the duties of life as citizens and members of a family. -The movement in favour of prefects, as in Public Schools, is a -recognition of this fact and it is well that children should become -familiar with the idea of representative authority, that is, that -they are governed by chosen members of their own body, a form of -self-government. To give effect to the idea, the prefect should be -elected and children shew extraordinary insight in choosing the -right officers. But that is not enough because only a few are set -in authority; certain small offices should be held in rotation -by every member of a class. The office makes the man as much as -the man makes the office and it is surprising how well rather -incompetent children will perform duties laid on them. - -All school work should be conducted in such a manner that children -are aware of the responsibility of learning; it is _their business_ -to know that which has been taught. To this end the subject -matter should not be repeated. We ourselves do not attend to the -matters in our daily paper which we know we shall meet with again -in a weekly review, nor to that if there is a monthly review in -prospect; these repeated aids result in our being persons of -wandering attention and feeble memory. To allow repetition of a -lesson is to shift the responsibility for it from the shoulders of -the pupil to those of the teacher who says, in effect,--“I’ll see -that you know it,” so his pupils make no effort of attention. Thus -the same stale stuff is repeated again and again and the children -get bored and restive, ready for pranks by way of a change. - -Teachers are apt to slight their high office and hinder the -processes of education because they cherish two or three fallacies. -They regard children as inferior, themselves as superior, -beings;--why else their office? But if they recognized that the -potency of children’s minds is as great or greater than that of -their own, they would not conceive that spoon-feeding was their -mission, or that they must masticate a morsel of knowledge to make -it proper for the feeble digestion of the scholar. - -We depreciate children in another way. We are convinced that -they cannot understand a literary vocabulary so we explain and -paraphrase to our own heart’s content but not to theirs. Educated -mothers know that their children can read anything and do not offer -explanations unless they are asked for them; and we have taken it -for granted that this quickness of apprehension comes only to the -children of educated parents. - -Another misapprehension which makes for disorder is our way of -regarding attention. We believe that it is to be cultivated, -nursed, coddled, wooed by persuasion, by dramatic presentation, -by pictures and illustrative objects: in fact, the teacher, -the success of whose work depends upon his ‘personality,’ is -an actor of no mean power whose performance would adorn any -stage. Attention, we know, is not a ‘faculty’ nor a definable -power of mind but is the ability to turn on every such power, -to concentrate, as we say. We throw away labour in attempting -to produce or to train this necessary function. There it is in -every child in full measure, a very Niagara of force, ready to be -turned on in obedience to the child’s own authority and capable of -infinite resistance to authority imposed from without. Our part is -to regard attention, too, as an appetite and to feed it with the -best we have in books and in all knowledge. But children do it ‘on -their own’; we may not play Sir Oracle any more; our knowledge is -too circumscribed, our diction too poor, vague, desultory, to cope -with the ability of young creatures who thirst for knowledge. We -must put into their hands the sources which we must needs use for -ourselves, the best books of the best writers. - -I will mention only one more disability which hinders us in our -work as teachers; I mean that depreciation of knowledge which is -just now characteristic of Englishmen. A well-known educationalist -lately nailed up the thesis that what children want in the way -of knowledge is just two things,--How to do the work by which -they must earn their living and how to behave as citizens. This -writer does not see that work is done and duties performed in the -ratio of the person who works: the more the man is as a person, -the more valuable will be his work and the more dependable his -conduct: yet we omit from popular education that tincture of humane -letters which makes for efficiency! One hears, for instance, of -an adolescent school with some nine thousand pupils who come in -batches of a few hundreds, each batch to learn one or other of a -score or so of admirable crafts and accomplishments; but not one -hour is spent in a three or four years’ course in this people’s -university on any sort of humane knowledge, in any reading or -thinking which should make the pupils better men and women and -better citizens. - -To return to our method of employing attention; it is not a casual -matter, a convenient, almost miraculous way of covering the ground, -of getting children to know certainly and lastingly a surprising -amount; all this is to the good, but it is something more, a root -principle vital to education. In this way of learning the child -comes to his own; he makes use of the authority which is in him in -its highest function as a self-commanding, self-compelling, power. -It is delightful to use any power that is in us if only that of -keeping up in cup and ball a hundred times as (to the delight of -small nephews and nieces), Jane Austen did. But to make yourself -attend, make yourself know, this indeed is to come into a kingdom, -all the more satisfying to children because they are so made that -they revel in knowledge. - -Here is some notice of a day or two spent in London by a child of -eleven which reaches me as I write:-- - - “Mother took her to Westminster Abbey one afternoon and while I - was seeing her to bed she told me all the things she had noticed - there which they had been hearing about in ‘architecture’ this - term. She loves ‘architecture.’ She also expressed her anxiety - to make acquaintance with the British Museum and see the things - there that they had been ‘having’ in their term’s work. So the - next morning we went there and studied the Parthenon Room in - great detail. She was a most interesting companion and taught me - ever so much! We also went to St. Paul’s and Madame Tussaud’s - where she was delighted to see so many people out of ‘history.’ - The modern people did not interest her so much except Jack - Cornwell and Nurse Cavell.” - -It will be noticed that the child is educating herself; her friends -merely take her to see the things she knows about and she tells -what she has read, a quite different matter from the act of pouring -information down the throats of the unhappy children who are taken -to visit our national treasure houses. - -A short time ago when the King and Queen paid a private visit to -the British Museum, in the next hall, also, no doubt, examining -the Parthenon Room, were a group of children from a London County -Council School, as full of information and interest as the child -above mentioned because they had been doing the same work. It was -not a small thing for those children to know that their interests -and delights were common to them and their Sovereigns. Of such -strands are formed the cord which binds society; and one of the -main purposes of a ‘liberal education for all’ is to form links -between high and low, rich and poor, the classes and the masses, in -the strong sympathy of common knowledge. The Public Schools have -arrived at this through the medium of the classics; an occasional -‘tag’ from Horace moves and unites the House of Commons, not only -through the urbane thought of the poet but because it is a key to a -hundred associations. If this has been effected through the medium -of a dead language, what may we not hope for in the way of common -thought, universal springs of action, conveyed through our own rich -and inspiring literature? - -Consider what this power of perfect attention and absolute -recollection should be to every employer and chief, what an asset -to the nation! I heard this week of a Colonel who said that his -best subaltern was an old “P.U.S.” (Parents’ Union School) boy; and -this sort of evidence reaches us continually. There are few who do -not know the mischievous and baffling effects of inattention and -forgetfulness on the part of subordinates; and we visualize a world -of surprising achievement when children shall have been trained to -quick apprehension and retention of instructions. - -We may not pose before children, nor pride ourselves on dutiful -getting up of knowledge in order to deliver it as emanating from -ourselves. There are those who have a right to lecture, those who -have devoted a life-time to some one subject about which they -have perhaps written their book. Lectures from such persons are, -no doubt, as full of insight, imagination and power as are their -written works; but we cannot have a score of such lecturers in -every school, each to elucidate his own subject, nor, if we could, -would it be good for the children. The personality of the teacher -would influence them to distraction from the delight in knowledge -which is itself a sufficient and compelling force to secure perfect -attention, and seemly discipline. - -I am not figuring an ‘Erewhon,’ some Utopia of our dreams; we of -the P.N.E.U. seem to have let loose a force capable of sending -forth young people firm with the resolve-- - - “I will not cease from mental strife - Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand - Till we have built Jerusalem - In England’s green and pleasant land.” - -Practically all schools are doing wonders. The schoolmaster is -abroad in the land and we are educating ‘our masters’ with immense -zeal and self-devotion. What we have reason to deplore is that -after some eight or twelve years’ brilliant teaching in school, -the cinema show and the football field, polo or golf, satisfy the -needs of our former pupils to whatever class they belong. We are -filled with compassion when we detect the lifeless hand or leg, -the artificial nose or jaw, that many a man has brought home as -a consequence of the War. But many of our young men and women -go about more seriously maimed than these. They are devoid of -intellectual interests, history and poetry are without charm for -them, the scientific work of the day is only slightly interesting, -their ‘job’ and the social amenities they can secure are all that -their life has for them. - -The maimed existence in which a man goes on from day to day without -either nourishing or using his intellect, is causing anxiety to -those interested in education, who know that after religion it is -our chief concern, is, indeed, the necessary handmaid of religion. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE SACREDNESS OF PERSONALITY - - _These principles (i.e., authority and docility) are limited by - the respect due to the personality of children which may not - be encroached upon whether by the direct use of fear or love, - suggestion or influence, or by undue play upon any one natural - desire._ - - -People are too apt to use children as counters in a game, to be -moved hither and thither according to the whim of the moment. -Our crying need to-day is less for a better method of education -than for an adequate conception of children,--children, merely as -human beings, whether brilliant or dull, precocious or backward. -Exceptional qualities take care of themselves and so does the -‘wanting’ intelligence, and both of these share with the rest in -all that is claimed for them in the previous chapters. Our business -is to find out how great a mystery a person is _quâ_ person. All -action comes out of the ideas we hold and if we ponder duly upon -personality we shall come to perceive that we cannot commit a -greater offence than to maim or crush, or subvert any part of a -person. - -We have many ingenious, not to say affectionate, ways of doing -this, all of them more or less based upon that egoism which -persuades us that in proportion to a child’s dependence is our -superiority, that all we do for him is of our grace and favour, -and that we have a right, whether as parents or teachers, to do -what we will with our own. Have we considered that in the Divine -estimate the child’s estate is higher than ours; that it is ours -to “become as little children,” rather than theirs to become as -grown men and women; that the rules we receive for the bringing -up of children are for the most part negative? We may not despise -them, or hinder them, (“suffer little children”), or offend them by -our brutish clumsiness of action and want of serious thought; while -the one positive precept afforded to us is “feed” (which should be -rendered ‘pasture’) “my lambs,” place them in the midst of abundant -food. A teacher in a Yorkshire Council School renders this precept -as,--“I had left them in the pasture and came back and found -them feeding,” that is, she had left a big class reading a given -lesson and found them on her return still reading with eagerness -and satisfaction. _Maxima reverentia debetur pueris_ has a wider -meaning than it generally receives. We take it as meaning that we -should not do or say anything unseemly before the young, but does -it not also include a profound and reverent study of the properties -and possibilities present in a child? - -Nor need we be alarmed at so wide a programme. The vice which -hinders us in the bringing up of children is that so heavily -censured in the Gospel. We are not simple; we act our parts and -play in an unlawful way upon motives. Perhaps after all the least -reprehensible pedagogic motive is that which is most condemned -and the terrorism of ‘Mr. Creakle’ may produce a grey record in -comparison with the blackness of more subtle methods of undermining -personality. We can only touch upon a few of these, but a part may -stand for the whole. For the action of fear as a governing motive -we cannot do better than read again our _David Copperfield_ (a -great educational treatise) and study ‘Mr. Creakle’ in detail for -terrorism in the schoolroom and ‘Mr. Murdstone’ for the same vice -in the home. But,--is it through the influence of Dickens?--fear -is no longer the acknowledged basis of school discipline; we have -methods more subtle than the mere terrors of the law. Love is one -of these. The person of winning personality attracts his pupils -(or hers) who will do anything for his sake and are fond and -eager in all their ways, docile to that point where personality -is submerged, and they live on the smiles, perish on the averted -looks, of the adored teacher. Parents look on with a smile and -think that all is well; but Bob or Mary is losing that growing time -which should make a self-dependent, self-ordered person, and is -day by day becoming a parasite who can go only as he is carried, -the easy prey of fanatic or demagogue. This sort of encroachment -upon the love of children offers as a motive, ‘do this for my -sake’; wrong is to be avoided lest it grieve the teacher, good is -to be done to pleasure him; for this end a boy learns his lessons, -behaves properly, shows good will, produces a whole catalogue of -schoolboy virtues and yet his character is being undermined. - -‘Suggestion’ goes to work more subtly. The teacher has mastered the -gamut of motives which play upon human nature and every suggestion -is aimed at one or other of these. He may not use the nursery -suggestions of lollipops or bogies but he does in reality employ -these if expressed in more spiritual values, suggestions subtly -applied to the idiosyncrasies of a given child. ‘Suggestion’ is too -subtle to be illustrated with advantage: Dr. Stephen Paget holds -that it should be used only as a surgeon uses an anæsthetic; but -it is an instrument easy to handle, and unconsidered suggestion -plays on a child’s mind as the winds on a weathercock. “Unstable -as water, thou shalt not excel” is the unfortunate child’s doom; -for how is it possible for stability of mind and character to -evolve under a continual play of changing suggestions? But this -it will be said is true of the unconsidered suggestion. What of -a carefully laid train, all leading in the same direction, to -produce perseverance, frankness, courage, any other excellent -virtue? The child is even worse off in such a case. That particular -virtue becomes detestable; no other virtue is inviting; and he is -acquiring no strength to stand alone but waits in all his doings -for promptings from without. Perhaps the gravest danger attending -this practice is that every suggestion received lays the person -open to the next and the next. A due respect for the personality of -children and a dread of making them incompetent to conduct their -own lives will make us chary of employing a means so dangerous, no -matter how good the immediate end. - -Akin to suggestion is influence, which acts not so much by -well-directed word or inciting action as by a sort of atmosphere -proceeding from the teacher and enveloping the taught. Late in -the last century goody-goody books were written about the beauty -of influence, the duty of influence, the study of the means of -influence, and children were brought up with the notion that to -influence other persons consciously was a moral duty. No doubt -such influence is inevitable; we must needs affect one another, -not so much by what we do or say as by that which we are, and so -far influence is natural and wholesome. We imbibe it from persons -real and imaginary and we are kept strong and upright by currents -and counter-currents of unstudied influence. Supineness before a -single, steady, persistent influence is a different matter, and -the schoolgirl who idolises her mistress, the boy who worships his -master, is deprived of the chance of free and independent living. -His personality fails to develop and he goes into the world as a -parasitic plant, clinging ever to the support of some stronger -character. - -So far we have considered incidental ways of trespassing upon -those rights of personality proper to children, but we have more -pervasive, if less injurious, ways of stultifying intellectual and -moral growth. Our school ethic rests upon, our school discipline is -supported by, undue play upon certain natural desires. It is worth -while to reflect that the mind also has its appetites, better known -as desires. It is as necessary that Mind should be fed, should grow -and should produce, as that these things should happen to Body, -and just as Body would not take the trouble to feed itself if it -never became hungry, so Mind also would not take in that which it -needs if it were not that certain Desires require to be satisfied. -Therefore schoolmasters do not amiss in basing their practice upon -the Desires whose very function appears to be to bring nourishment -to Mind. Where we teachers err is in stimulating the wrong Desires -to accomplish our end. There is the desire of approbation which -even an infant shows, he is not happy unless mother or nurse -approve of him. Later this same desire helps him to conquer a sum, -climb a hill, bring home a good report from school, and all this -is grist to the mill, knowledge to the mind; because the persons -whose approbation is worth having care that he should learn and -know, conquer idleness, and get habits of steady work, so that his -mind may be as duly nourished every day as is his body. Alas for -the vanity that attends this desire of approbation, that makes the -boy more solicitous for the grin of the stable-boy than for the -approval of his master! Nay, this desire for approval may get such -possession of him that he thinks of nothing else; he must have -approval whether from the worthless or the virtuous. It is supposed -that outbreaks of violence, robbery, assassinations, occur at times -for the mere sake of infamy, just as deeds of heroism are done for -the sake of fame. Both infamy and fame mean being thought about -and talked about by a large number of people; and we know how this -natural desire is worked by the daily press; how we get, now a film -actress, now a burglar, a spy, a hero, or a scientist set before -us to be our admiration and our praise. - -Emulation, the desire of excelling, works wonders in the hands of -the schoolmaster; and, indeed, this natural desire is an amazing -spur to effort, both intellectual and moral. When in pursuit of -virtue two or a score are ‘emulously rapid in the race,’ a school -acquires a ‘good tone’ and parents are justified in thinking -it the right place for their boy. In the intellectual field, -however, there is danger; and nothing worse could have happened -to our schools than the system of marks, prizes, place-taking, by -which many of them are practically governed. A boy is so taken up -with the desire to forge ahead that there is no time to think of -anything else. What he learns is not interesting to him; he works -to get his remove. - -But emulation does not stand alone as Vicegerent in our schools; -another natural desire whose unvarnished name is avarice labours -for good government and so-called progress cheek by jowl with -emulation. “He must get a scholarship,”--is the duty of a small boy -even before he goes to school, and indeed for good and sufficient -reasons. Sometimes the sons of rich parents carry off these prizes -but as a rule they fall to those for whom they are intended, the -sons of educated parents in rather straitened circumstances, sons -of the clergy, for example. The scholarship system is no more -than a means of distributing the vast wealth left by benefactors -in the past for this particular purpose. Every Grammar School has -its own scholarships; the Universities have open scholarships and -bursaries often of considerable value; and a free, or partially -free, education is open to the majority of the youth of the upper -middle class on one condition, that of brains. It is small wonder -that every Grammar and Public School bases its curriculum upon -these conditions, knows exactly what standard of merit will secure -the ‘Hastings,’ knows the boys who have a chance, and orders their -very strenuous work towards the end in view. It is hard to say what -better could be done and yet this deliberate cult of cupidity is -disastrous; for there is no doubt that here and there we come upon -impoverishment of personality due to enfeebled intellectual life; -the boy did not learn to delight in knowledge in his schooldays and -the man is shallow in mind and whimsical in judgment. - -It is hopeless to make war from without on a system which affords -very effectual help in the education of boys who are likely later -to become of service to the country; but Britain must make the -most of her sons and many of these men are capable of being more -than they are. It is from within the schools that help must come -and the way is fairly obvious. Most schools give from eleven in -the lowest to eight hours in the highest Forms to ‘English’ that -is, from twenty to sixteen consecutive readings a week might be -afforded in a wide selection of books,--literature, history, -economics, etc.,--books read with the concentrated attention which -makes a single reading suffice. The act of narrating what has -been read might well be useful to boys who should be prepared for -public speaking. By a slight alteration of this kind, in procedure -rather than in curriculum or time-table, it is probable that our -schools would turn out many more well-read, well-informed men and -convincing speakers than they do at present. Such a method, even -if applied to ‘English’ only, would tend to correct any tendency -in schools to become mere cramming places for examinations, would -infect boys with a love of knowledge and should divert the natural -desire for acquisition into a new channel, for few things are more -delightful than the acquisition of knowledge. - -We need not delay over that desire of power, ambition, which plays -its part in every life; but the educator must see that it plays -no more than its part. Power is good in proportion as it gives -opportunities for serving; but it is mischievous in boy or man -when the pleasure of ruling, managing, becomes a definite spring -of action. Like each of the other natural desires, that for power -may ruin a life that it is allowed to master; ambition is the cause -of half the disasters under which mankind suffers. The ambitious -boy or man would as soon lead his fellows in riot and disorder -as in noble effort in a good cause; and who can say how far the -labour unrest under which we suffer is inspired and inflamed -by ambitious men who want to rule if only for the immediate -intoxication of rousing and leading men? It is a fine thing to say -of a multitude of men,--“I can wind them round my little finger”; -and the much-burdened Head of a school must needs beware! If the -able, ambitious fellow be allowed to manage the rest, he cheats -them out of their fair share of managing their own lives; no boy -should be allowed to wax feeble to make another great; the harm to -the ambitious boy himself must be considered too, lest he become an -ignoble, manœuvring person. It is within a teacher’s scope to offer -wholesome ambitions to a boy, to make him keen to master knowledge -rather than manage men; and here he has a wide field without -encroaching on another’s preserve. - -Another desire which may well be made to play into the -schoolmaster’s hands is that of society, a desire which has much -to do with the making of the naughty boys, idle youths and silly -women of our acquaintance. It is sheer delight to mix with our -fellows, but much depends on whom we take for our fellows and why; -and here young people may be helped by finger-posts. If they are so -taught that knowledge delights them, they will choose companions -who share that pleasure. In this way princes are trained; they -must know something of botany to talk with botanists, of history -to meet with historians; they cannot afford to be in the company -of scientists, adventurers, poets, painters, philanthropists or -economists, and themselves be able to do no more than ‘change the -weather and pass the time of day’; they must know modern languages -to be at home with men of other countries, and ancient tongues to -be familiar with classical allusions. Such considerations rule the -education of princes, and every boy has a princely right to be -brought up so that he may hold his own in good society, that is, -the society of those who ‘know.’ - -We hear complaints of the cast-iron system of British society; but -how much of it is due to the ignorance which makes it only possible -to men and women to talk to those of their own clique, soldiers -with soldiers, schoolmasters and schoolboys with their kind? The -boy who wants to be able to talk to people who ‘know’ has no -unworthy motive for working. - -We have considered the several desires whose function is to -stimulate the mind and save us from that _vis inertiæ_ which is our -besetting danger. Each such desire has its place but the results -are disastrous if any one should dominate. It so happens that -the last desire we have to consider, the desire of knowledge, is -commonly deprived of its proper function in our schools by the -predominance of other springs of action, especially of emulation, -the desire of place, and avarice, the desire of wealth, tangible -profit. This divine curiosity is recognised in ordinary life -chiefly as a desire to know trivial things. What did it cost? What -did she say? Who was with him? Where are they going? How many -postage stamps in a line would go round the world? And curiosity -is satisfied by incoherent, scrappy information which serves no -purpose, assuredly not the purpose of knowledge whose function is -to nourish the mind as food nourishes the body. But so besotted is -our educational thought that we believe children regard knowledge -rather as repulsive medicine than as inviting food. Hence our -dependence on marks and prizes, athletics, alluring presentation, -any jam we can devise to disguise the powder. The man who wilfully -goes on crutches has feeble incompetent legs; he who chooses to -go blindfold has eyes that cannot bear the sun; he who lives on -pap-meat has weak digestive powers, and he whose mind is sustained -by the crutches of emulation and avarice loses that one stimulating -power which is sufficient for his intellectual needs. This atrophy -of the desire of knowledge is the penalty our scholars pay because -we have chosen to make them work for inferior ends. Our young men -and maidens do not read unless with the stimulus of a forthcoming -examination. They are good-natured and pleasant but have no wide -range of thought, lofty purpose, little of the magnanimity which is -proper for a citizen. Great thoughts and great actions are strange -to them, though the possibility is still there and they may yet -shew in peace such action as we have seen and wondered at during -the War. But we cannot always educate by means of a great war; -the penalties are too heavy for human nature to endure for long. -Therefore the _stimuli_ to greatness, magnanimity, which the war -afforded we must produce in the ordinary course of education. - -But knowledge is delectable. We have all the ‘satiable curiosity’ -of Mr. Kipling’s Elephant even when we content ourselves with -the broken meats flung by the daily press. Knowledge is to us as -our mother’s milk, we grow thereby and in the act of sucking are -admirably content. - -The work of education is greatly simplified when we realize -that children, apparently all children, want to know all human -knowledge; they have an appetite for what is put before them, and, -knowing this, our teaching becomes buoyant with the courage of -our convictions. We know how Richelieu shut up colleges throughout -France, both Jesuit and secular, “in order to prevent the mania -of the poor for educating their children which distracts them -from the pursuits of trade and war.” This mania exists with us, -not only in the parents but in the children, the mania of hungry -souls clamouring for meat, and we choke them off, not by shutting -up schools and colleges, but by offering matter which no living -soul can digest. The complaints made by teachers and children of -the monotony of the work in our schools is full of pathos and all -credit to those teachers who cheer the weary path by entertaining -devices. But mind does not live and grow upon entertainment; it -requires its solid meals. - -The Gloucestershire teachers, under Mr. Household’s direction, -have entered so fully into the principles implied in the method, -that I am tempted to illustrate largely from their experience.[17] -But they by no means stand alone. Hundreds of other teachers have -the same experiences and describe them as opportunity offers. The -finding of this power which is described as ‘sensing a passage,’ -is as the striking of a vein of gold in that fabulously rich -country, human nature. Our ‘find’ is that children have a natural -aptitude for literary expression which they enjoy in hearing or -reading and employ in telling or writing. We might have guessed -this long ago. All those speeches and sayings of untamed warriors -and savage potentates which the historians have preserved for us, -critics have declined as showing too much cultivated rhetoric to -have been possible for any but highly educated persons. But the -time is coming when we shall perceive that only minds like those of -children are capable of producing thoughts so fresh and so finely -expressed. This natural aptitude for literature, or, shall we say, -rhetoric, which overcomes the disabilities of a poor vocabulary -without effort, should direct the manner of instruction we give, -ruling out the talky-talky of the oral lesson and the lecture; -ruling out, equally, compilations and text-books; and placing -books in the hands of children and only those which are more or -less literary in character that is, which have the terseness and -vividness proper to literary work. The natural desire for knowledge -does the rest and the children feed and grow. - -It must be borne in mind that in proportion as other desires -are stimulated that of knowledge is suppressed. The teacher who -proposes marks and places as worthy aims will get work certainly -but he will get no healthy love of knowledge for its own sake and -no provision against the _ennui_ of later days. The monotony I -have spoken of attends all work prompted by the _stimuli_ of marks -and places; such work becomes mechanical, and there is hardly -enough of it prepared to last through the course of a boy’s school -life. The master of a Preparatory School remarks,--“It must be a -well-known fact (I am not speaking of the exceptional but of the -average boy) that new boys are placed too low. We find--it is a -common experience--that if we send up a boy whether he be a good -mathematician, a good classic, a good English scholar or a good -linguist, a couple of years will pass by before he is doing at the -Public School the work he was doing when he left us.” The Public -Schoolmaster makes the same sort of complaint; he says, that “At -twenty the boy is climbing the same pear-tree that he climbed at -twelve,” that is to say, work which is done in view of examinations -must be of the rather narrow mechanical kind upon which it is -possible to set questions and mark answers with absolute fairness. -Now, definite progress, continual advance from day to day with no -treading of old ground, is a condition of education. - -There is an uneasy dread in some minds lest a liberal education -for all, the possibility which is now before us, should cause a -social _bouleversement_, such an upheaval as obtained in the French -Revolution. But this fear arises from an erroneous conception. The -doctrine of equal opportunities for all is no doubt dangerous. It -is the intellectual rendering of the ‘survival of the fittest’ and -we have had a terrible object lesson as to how that doctrine works. -The uneasy, ambitious spirit comes to the front, gets all the -chances, dominates his fellows, and thinks no upheaval too great a -price for the advancement of himself and his notions. Men of this -type come to the top through the avenue of examinations. Ambition -and possibly greed are seconded by dogged perseverance. As was said -of Louis XIV, such men elevate their practice into a theory and -arrogate to their habits the character of principles of government. -And these pseudo-principles inflame the populace because they -promise place and power to every man in the state, with no sense of -the proportion he bears to the rest. Probably the ‘labour unrest’ -of to-day is not without connexion with the habit of working in -our schools for prizes and places. The boy who works to be first -and to get something out of it does not always become the quiet, -well-ordered citizen who helps to cement society and carries on the -work of the State. - -Knowledge pursued for its own sake is sedative in so far as it -is satisfying; and the splendid consciousness that every boy in -your Form has your own delight in knowing, your own pleasure in -expressing that which he knows, shares your intimacy with this and -the other sage and hero, makes for good fellowship and magnanimity -and should deliver the citizen from a restless desire to come to -the front. It is possible that a conscientious and intelligent -teacher may be a little overwhelmed when he considers all that goes -to a man, all that goes to each of the boys under his care. It is -true that,-- - - “There lives - No faculty within us which the Soul - Can spare: and humblest earthly weal demands - For dignity not placed beyond her reach - Zealous co-operation of all means - Given or required to raise us from the mire - And liberate our hearts from low pursuits - By gross utilities enslaved; we need - More of ennobling impulse from the past - If for the future aught of good must come.” - -Wordsworth is no doubt right. There is no faculty within the soul -which can be spared in the great work of education; but then every -faculty, or rather power, works to the one end if we make the -pursuit of knowledge for its own sake the object of our educational -efforts. We find children ready and eager for this labour and their -accomplishment is surprising. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THREE INSTRUMENTS OF EDUCATION - - -I.--EDUCATION IS AN ATMOSPHERE - - _Seeing that we are limited by the respect due to the personality - of children we can allow ourselves but three educational - instruments--the atmosphere of environment, the discipline - of habit and the presentation of living ideas. Our motto - is,--‘Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.’ When we - say that education is an atmosphere we do not mean that a child - should be isolated in what may be called a ‘child environment’ - specially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into - account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere both - as regards persons and things and should let him live freely - among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down - his world to the ‘child’s’ level._ - -Having cut out the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or -influence, undue play upon any one natural desire, emulation, for -example, we are no longer free to use all means in the education -of children. There are but three left for our use and to each of -these we must give careful study or we shall not realise how great -a scope is left to us. To consider the first of these educational -instruments; for a decade or two we have pinned our faith on -environment as a great part of education; as, say, nine-tenths -rather than a third part of the whole. The theory has been,--put -a child in the right environment and so subtle is its influence, -so permanent its effects that he is to all intents and purposes -educated thereby. Schools may add Latin and sums and whatever -else their curriculum contains, but the actual education is, as -it were, performed upon a child by means of colour schemes, -harmonious sounds, beautiful forms, gracious persons. He grows up -æsthetically educated into sweet reasonableness and harmony with -his surroundings. - - “Peter’s nursery was a perfect dream in which to hatch the soul - of a little boy. Its walls were done in warm, cream-coloured - paint and upon them Peter’s father had put the most lovely - patterns of trotting and jumping horses and dancing cats and dogs - and leaping lambs, a carnival of beasts ... there was a big brass - fire-guard in Peter’s nursery ... and all the tables had smoothly - rounded corners against the days when Peter would run about. The - floor was of cork carpet on which Peter would put his toys and - there was a crimson hearthrug on which Peter was destined to - crawl ... there were scales in Peter’s nursery to weigh Peter - every week and tables to show how much he ought to weigh and when - one should begin to feel anxious. There was nothing casual about - the early years of Peter.” - -So, Mr. Wells, in that inconclusive educational treatise of his, -_Joan and Peter_. It is an accurate picture of the preparation -for ‘high-souled’ little persons all over the world. Parents make -tremendous sacrifices to that goddess who presides over Education. -We hear of a pair investing more than their capital in a statue -to adorn the staircase in order that ‘Tommy’ should make his -soul by the contemplation of beauty. This sort of thing has been -going on since the ‘eighties at any rate and, as usual, Germany -erected a high altar for the cult which she passed on to the rest -of us. Perhaps it is safe to say that the young Intelligenzia -of Europe have been reared after this manner. And is the result -that Neo-Georgian youth _Punch_ presents to us with his air -of weariness, condescension and self-complacency? Let us hear -Professor Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose, the Indian scientist, on one of -his conclusions concerning the nervous impulse in plants,-- - - “A plant carefully protected under glass from outside shocks - looks sleek and flourishing but its higher nervous function is - then found to be atrophied. But when a succession of blows” - (electric shocks) “is rained on this effete and bloated specimen, - the shocks themselves create nervous channels and arouse anew the - deteriorated nature. Is it not the shocks of adversity and not - cotton wool protection that evolve true manhood?” - -We had thought that the terrible succession of blows inflicted -by the War had changed all that; but, no; the errors of -education still hold sway and we still have amongst us the -better-than-my-neighbour folk, whose function, let us hope, is to -administer the benefits of adversity to most of us. What if parents -and teachers in their zeal misread the schedule of their duties, -magnified their office unduly and encroached upon the personality -of children? It is not an environment that these want, a set of -artificial relations carefully constructed, but an _atmosphere_ -which nobody has been at pains to constitute. It is there, about -the child, his natural element, precisely as the atmosphere of -the earth is about us. It is thrown off, as it were, from persons -and things, stirred by events, sweetened by love, ventilated, -kept in motion, by the regulated action of common sense. We all -know the natural conditions under which a child should live; how -he shares household ways with his mother, romps with his father, -is teased by his brothers and petted by his sisters; is taught -by his tumbles; learns self-denial by the baby’s needs, the -delightfulness of furniture by playing at battle and siege with -sofa and table; learns veneration for the old by the visits of his -great-grandmother; how to live with his equals by the chums he -gathers round him; learns intimacy with animals from his dog and -cat; delight in the fields where the buttercups grow and greater -delight in the blackberry hedges. And, what tempered ‘fusion of -classes’ is so effective as a child’s intimacy with his betters, -and also with cook and housemaid, blacksmith and joiner, with -everybody who comes in his way? Children have a genius for this -sort of general intimacy, a valuable part of their education; care -and guidance are needed, of course, lest admiring friends should -make fools of them, but no compounded ‘environment’ could make up -for this fresh air, this wholesome wind blowing now from one point, -now from another. - -We certainly may use atmosphere as an instrument of education, but -there are prohibitions, for ourselves rather than for children. -Perhaps the chief of these is, that no artificial element be -introduced, no sprinkling with rose-water, softening with cushions. -Children must face life as it is; if their parents are anxious and -perturbed children feel it in the air. “Mummie, Mummie, you aren’t -going to cry this time, are you?” and a child’s hug tries to take -away the trouble. By these things children live and we may not -keep them in glass cases; if we do, they develop in succulence and -softness and will not become plants of renown. But due relations -must be maintained; the parents are in authority, the children in -obedience; and again, the strong may not lay their burdens on the -weak; nor must we expect from children that effort of decision, the -most fatiguing in our lives, of which the young should generally be -relieved. - -School, perhaps, offers fewer opportunities for vitiating the -atmosphere than does home life. But teaching may be so watered -down and sweetened, teachers may be so suave and condescending, -as to bring about a condition of intellectual feebleness and -moral softness which it is not easy for a child to overcome. The -bracing atmosphere of truth and sincerity should be perceived in -every school; and here again the common pursuit of knowledge by -teacher and class comes to our aid and creates a current of fresh -air perceptible even to the chance visitor, who sees the glow of -intellectual life and moral health on the faces of teachers and -children alike. - -But a school may be working hard, not for love of knowledge, but -for love of marks, our old enemy; and then young faces are not -serene and joyous but eager, restless, apt to look anxious and -worried. The children do not sleep well and are cross; are sullen -or in tears if anything goes wrong, and are, generally, difficult -to manage. When this is the case there is too much oxygen in the -air; they are breathing a too stimulating atmosphere, and the -nervous strain to which they are subjected must needs be followed -by reaction. Then teachers think that lessons have been too hard, -that children should be relieved of this and that study; the -doctors probably advise that so-and-so should ‘run wild’ for a -year. Poor little soul, at the very moment when he is most in need -of knowledge for his sustenance he is left to prey upon himself! -No wonder the nervous symptoms become worse, and the boy or girl -suffers under the stigma of ‘nervous strain.’ The fault has been in -the atmosphere and not in the work; the teacher, perhaps, is over -anxious that her children should do well and her nervous excitation -is catching. “I am afraid X---- cannot do his examination; he loves -his work but he bursts into tears when he is asked an examination -question. Perhaps it is that I have insisted too much that he -must never be satisfied with anything but his best.” Poor little -chap (of seven) pricked into over exertion by the spur of moral -stimulus! We foresee happy days for children when all teachers know -that no other exciting motive whatever is necessary to produce -good work in each individual of however big a class than that love -of knowledge which is natural to every child. The serenity and -sweetness of schools conducted on this principle is surprising to -the outsider who has not reflected upon the contentment of a baby -with his bottle! - -There are two courses open to us in this matter. One, to create by -all manner of modified conditions a hot-house atmosphere, fragrant -but emasculating, in which children grow apace but are feeble -and dependent; the other to leave them open to all the “airts -that blow,” but with care lest they be unduly battered; lest, -for example, a miasma come their way in the shape of a vicious -companion. - - -2.--EDUCATION IS A DISCIPLINE - - _By this formula we mean the discipline of habits formed - definitely and thoughtfully whether habits of mind or of body. - Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structure to - habitual lines of thought, i.e., to our habits._ - -Education is not after all to either teacher or child the fine -careless rapture we appear to have figured it. We who teach and -they who learn are alike constrained; there is always effort to -be made in certain directions; yet we face our tasks from a new -point of view. We need not labour to get children to learn their -lessons; that, if we would believe it, is a matter which nature -takes care of. Let the lessons be of the right sort and children -will learn them with delight. The call for strenuousness comes with -the necessity of forming habits; but here again we are relieved. -The intellectual habits of the good life form themselves in the -following out of the due curriculum in the right way. As we have -already urged, there is but one right way, that is, children -must do the work for themselves. They must read the given pages -and tell what they have read, they must perform, that is, what -we may call the _act of knowing_. We are all aware, alas, what a -monstrous quantity of printed matter has gone into the dustbin of -our memories, because we have failed to perform that quite natural -and spontaneous ‘act of knowing,’ as easy to a child as breathing -and, if we would believe it, comparatively easy to ourselves. The -reward is two-fold: no intellectual habit is so valuable as that -of attention; it is a mere habit but it is also the hall-mark -of an educated person. Use is second nature, we are told; it is -not too much to say that ‘habit is ten natures,’ and we can all -imagine how our work would be eased if our subordinates listened to -instructions with the full attention which implies recollection. -Attention is not the only habit that follows due self-education. -The habits of fitting and ready expression, of obedience, -of good-will, and of an impersonal outlook are spontaneous -bye-products of education in this sort. So, too, are the habits of -right thinking and right judging; while physical habits of neatness -and order attend upon the self-respect which follows an education -which respects the personality of children. - -Physiologists tell us that thoughts which have become habitual -make somehow a mark upon the brain substance, but we are bold in -calling it a mark for there is no discernible effect to be quoted. -Whether or no the mind be served by the brain in this matter, we -are empirically certain that a chief function of education is the -establishment of such ways of thinking in children as shall issue -in good and useful living, clear thinking, æsthetic enjoyment, and, -above all, in the religious life. How it is possible that spirit -should act upon matter is a mystery to us, but that such act takes -place we perceive every time we note a scowling brow, or, on the -other hand,-- - - “A sweet attractive kind of grace, - A full assurance given by looks; - Continual comfort in a face, - The lineaments of gospel books.” - -We all know how the physical effort of smiling affects ourselves in -our sour moods,-- - - “Nor soul helps flesh more now, than flesh helps soul.” - -Both are at our service in laying down the rails, so to speak, upon -which the good life must needs run. - -In the past we have, no doubt, gone through an age of infant -slavery, an age of good habits enforced by vigorous penalties, -conscientiously by the over scrupulous eighteenth century parent, -and infamously by the schoolmasters, the ‘Creakles’ and the -‘Squeers’ who laboured only for their own ease and profit. Now, -the pendulum swings the other way. We have lost sight of the fact -that habit is to life what rails are to transport cars. It follows -that lines of habit must be laid down towards given ends and -after careful survey, or the joltings and delays of life become -insupportable. More, habit is inevitable. If we fail to ease life -by laying down habits of right thinking and right acting, habits of -wrong thinking and wrong acting fix themselves of their own accord. -We avoid decision and indecision brings its own delays, “and days -are lost lamenting o’er lost days.” Almost every child is brought -up by his parents in certain habits of decency and order without -which he would be a social outcast. Think from another point of -view how the labour of life would be increased if every act of the -bath, toilet, table, every lifting of the fork and use of spoon -were a matter of consideration and required an effort of decision! -No; habit is like fire, a bad master but an indispensable servant; -and probably one reason for the nervous scrupulosity, hesitation, -indecision of our day, is that life was not duly eased for us in -the first place by those whose business it was to lay down lines of -habit upon which our behaviour might run easily. - -It is unnecessary to enumerate those habits which we should aim at -forming, for everyone knows more about these than anyone practises. -We admire the easy carriage of the soldier but shrink from the -discipline which is able to produce it. We admire the lady who can -sit upright through a long dinner, who in her old age prefers a -straight chair because she has arrived at due muscular balance and -has done so by a course of discipline. There is no other way of -forming any good habit, though the discipline is usually that of -the internal government which the person exercises upon himself; -but a certain strenuousness in the formation of good habits is -necessary because every such habit is the result of conflict. The -bad habit of the easy life is always pleasant and persuasive and -to be resisted with pain and effort, but with hope and certainty -of success, because in our very structure is the preparation for -forming such habits of muscle and mind as we deliberately propose -to ourselves. We entertain the idea which gives birth to the act -and the act repeated again and again becomes the habit; ‘Sow an -act,’ we are told, ‘reap a habit.’ ‘Sow a habit, reap a character.’ -But we must go a step further back, we must sow the idea or notion -which makes the act worth while. The lazy boy who hears of the -Great Duke’s narrow camp bed, preferred by him because when he -wanted to turn over it was time to get up, receives the idea of -prompt rising. But his nurse or his mother knows how often and -how ingeniously the tale must be brought to his mind before the -habit of prompt rising is formed; she knows too how the idea of -self-conquest must be made at home in the boy’s mind until it -become a chivalric impulse which he cannot resist. It is possible -to sow a great idea lightly and casually and perhaps this sort -of sowing should be rare and casual because if a child detect a -definite purpose in his mentor he is apt to stiffen himself against -it. When parent or teacher supposes that a good habit is a matter -of obedience to his authority, he relaxes a little. A boy is late -who has been making evident efforts to be punctual; the teacher -good-naturedly foregoes rebuke or penalty, and the boy says to -himself,--“It doesn’t matter,” and begins to form the unpunctual -habit. The mistake the teacher makes is to suppose that to be -punctual is troublesome to the boy, so he will let him off; whereas -the office of the habits of an ordered life is to make such life -easy and spontaneous; the effort is confined to the first half -dozen or score of occasions for doing the thing. - -Consider how laborious life would be were its wheels not greased by -habits of cleanliness, neatness, order, courtesy; had we to make -the effort of decision about every detail of dressing and eating, -coming and going, life would not be worth living. Every cottage -mother knows that she must train her child in habits of decency, -and a whole code of habits of propriety get themselves formed -just because a breach in any such habit causes a shock to others -which few children have courage to face. Physical fitness, morals -and manners, are very largely the outcome of habit; and not only -so, but the habits of the religious life also become fixed and -delightful and give us due support in the effort to live a godly, -righteous and sober life. We need not be deterred by the fear that -religious habits in a child are mechanical, uninformed by the ideas -which should give them value. Let us hear what the young De Quincey -felt about going to church:-- - - “On Sunday mornings I went with the rest of my family to church: - it was a church on the ancient model of England having aisles, - galleries, organ, all things ancient and venerable, and the - proportions were majestic. Here, whilst the congregation knelt - through the long litany, as often as we came to that passage so - beautiful amongst many that are so where God is supplicated on - behalf of ‘all sick persons and young children’ and ‘that He - would show His pity upon all prisoners and captives,’ I wept in - secret, and raising my streaming eyes to the upper windows saw, - on days when the sun was shining, a spectacle as affecting as - ever prophet can have beheld ... _there_ were the Apostles that - had trampled upon earth and the glories upon earth, _there_ were - the martyrs who had borne witness to the truth through flames - ... and all the time I saw through the wide central field of the - window where the glass was uncoloured white fleecy clouds sailing - over the azure depths of the sky.” - -And then the little boy had visions of sick children upon whom God -would have pity.-- - - “These visions were self-sustained, the hint from the Litany, - the fragment from the clouds, those and the storied windows - were sufficient.... God speaks to children also in dreams and by - the oracles that lurk in darkness; but in solitude, above all - things when made vocal to the meditative heart by the truths and - services of a national church, God holds with children ‘communion - undisturbed.’” - -With such a testimony before us, supported by gleams of -recollection on our own part, we may take courage to believe that -what we rightly call Divine Service is particularly appropriate -to children; and will become more so as the habit of reading -beautifully written books quickens their sense of style and their -unconscious appreciation of the surpassingly beautiful diction of -our liturgy. - -We have seen the value of habit in mind and morals, religion -and physical development. It is as we have seen disastrous when -child or man learns to think in a groove, and shivers like an -unaccustomed bather on the steps of a new notion. This danger is -perhaps averted by giving children as their daily diet the wise -thoughts of great minds, and of many great minds; so that they may -gradually and unconsciously get the courage of their opinions. -If we fail in this duty, so soon as the young people get their -‘liberty’ they will run after the first fad that presents itself; -try it for a while and then take up another to be discarded in its -turn, and remain uncertain and ill-guided for the rest of their -days. - - -3.--EDUCATION IS A LIFE - -We have left until the last that instrument of education implied in -the phrase ‘Education is a life’; ‘implied’ because life is no more -self-existing than it is self-supporting; it requires sustenance, -regular, ordered and fitting. This is fully recognised as regards -bodily life and, possibly, the great discovery of the twentieth -century will be that mind too requires its ordered rations and -perishes when these fail. We know that food is to the body what -fuel is to the steam-engine, the sole source of energy; once we -realise that the mind too works only as it is fed education will -appear to us in a new light. The body pines and develops humours -upon tabloids and other food substitutes; and a glance at a ‘gate’ -crowd watching a football match makes us wonder what sort of -mind-food those men and boys are sustained on, whether they are -not suffering from depletion, inanition, notwithstanding big and -burly bodies. For the mind is capable of dealing with only one kind -of food; it lives, grows and is nourished upon ideas only; mere -information is to it as a meal of sawdust to the body; there are no -organs for the assimilation of the one more than of the other. - -What is an idea? we ask, and find ourselves plunged beyond our -depth. A live thing of the mind, seems to be the conclusion of our -greatest thinkers from Plato to Bacon, from Bacon to Coleridge. We -all know how an idea ‘_strikes_,’ ‘_seizes_,’ ‘_catches hold of_,’ -‘_impresses_’ us and at last, if it be big enough, ‘_possesses_’ -us; in a word, behaves like an entity. - -If we enquire into any person’s habits of life, mental -preoccupation, devotion to a cause or pursuit, he will usually -tell us that such and such _an idea struck him_. This potency of -an idea is matter of common recognition. No phrase is more common -and more promising than, ‘I have an idea’; we rise to such an -opening as trout to a well-chosen fly. There is but one sphere -in which the word idea never occurs, in which the conception of -an idea is curiously absent, and that sphere is education! Look -at any publisher’s list of school books and you shall find that -the books recommended are carefully dessicated, drained of the -least suspicion of an idea, reduced to the driest statements of -fact. Here perhaps the Public Schools have a little pull over the -rest of us; the diet they afford may be meagre, meagre almost to -starvation point for the average boy, but it is not destitute -of ideas; for, however sparsely, boys are nourished on the best -thoughts of the best minds. - -Coleridge has done more than other thinkers to bring the conception -of an idea within the sphere of the scientific thought of to-day; -not as that thought is expressed in _psychology_, a term which he -himself launched upon the world with an apology for it as _insolens -verbum_ (“we beg pardon for the use of this _insolens verbum_ but -it is one of which our language stands in great need.” _Method_, S. -T. Coleridge) but as shewing the reaction of mind to an idea. This -is how in his _Method_ Coleridge illustrates the rise and progress -of such an idea:-- - - “We can recall no incident of human history that impresses the - imagination more deeply than the moment when Columbus on an - unknown ocean first perceived that baffling fact, the change of - the magnetic needle. How many instances occur in history when - the ideas of nature (presented to chosen minds by a Higher Power - than Nature herself) suddenly unfold as it were in prophetic - succession systematic views destined to produce the most - important revolutions in the state of man! The clear spirit of - Columbus was doubtless eminently methodical. He saw distinctly - that great leading idea which authorised the poor pilot to become - a ‘promiser of kingdoms.’” - -Here we get such a genesis of an idea as fits in curiously with -what we know of the history of great inventions and discoveries -“presented to chosen minds by a higher Power than Nature herself.” -It corresponds too, not only with the ideas that rule our own -lives, but with the origin of practical ideas which is unfolded to -us by the prophet Isaiah:-- - - “Doth the ploughman plough continually to ... open and break the - clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, - doth he not cast abroad the fitches and scatter the cummin and - put the wheat in rows ... for his God doth instruct him aright - and doth teach him.... Bread corn is ground for he will not ever - be threshing it.... This also cometh from the Lord of Hosts - which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.”[18] - -Let us hear Coleridge further on the subject of those ideas which -may invest us as an atmosphere rather than strike as a weapon:-- - - “The idea may exist in a clear and definite form as that of a - circle in that of the mind of a geometrician or it may be a - mere instinct, a vague appetency towards something ... like the - impulse which fills a young poet’s eyes with tears.” - -These indefinite ideas which express themselves in an ‘appetency’ -towards something and which should draw a child towards things -honest, lovely and of good report, are not to be offered of set -purpose or at set times: they are held in that thought-atmosphere -which surrounds him, breathed as his breath of life. - -It is distressing to think that our poor words and ways should be -thus _inspired_ by children; but to recognise the fact will make us -careful not to admit sordid or unworthy thoughts and motives into -our dealings with them. - -Coleridge treats in more detail those definite ideas which are not -inhaled as air but are conveyed as meat to the mind:-- - - “From the first or initiative idea, as from a seed, successive - ideas germinate.” “Events and images, the lively and - spirit-stirring machinery of the external world, are like light - and air and moisture to the seed of the mind which would else - rot and perish.” “The paths in which we may pursue a methodical - course are manifold and at the head of each stands its peculiar - and guiding idea. Those ideas are as regularly subordinate - in dignity as the paths to which they point are various and - eccentric in direction. The world has suffered much in modern - times from a subversive and necessary natural order of science - ... from summoning reason and faith to the bar of that limited - physical experience to which by the true laws of method they owe - no obedience. Progress follows the path of the idea from which - it sets out requiring however a constant wakefulness of mind to - keep it within the due limits of its course. Hence the orbits of - thought, so to speak, must differ from among themselves as the - initiative ideas differ.” (_Method_, S. T. C.). - -Is it not a fact that the new light which biology is throwing upon -the laws of mind is bringing us back to the Platonic doctrine that -“An idea is a distinguishable power, self-affirmed and seen in -unity with the Eternal Essence”? - -I have ventured to repeat from an earlier volume[19] this -slight exposition of Coleridge’s teaching, because his doctrine -corresponds with common experience and should reverse our ordinary -educational practice. The whole subject is profound, but as -practical as it is profound. We must disabuse our minds of the -theory that the functions of education are in the main gymnastic, -a continual drawing out without a corresponding act of putting in. -The modern emphasis upon ‘self-expression’ has given new currency -to this idea; we who know how little there is in us that we have -not received, that the most we can do is to give an original twist, -a new application, to an idea that has been passed on to us; who -recognise, humbly enough, that we are but torch-bearers, passing on -our light to the next as we have received it from the last, even -we invite children to ‘express themselves’ about a tank, a Norman -castle, the Man in the Moon, not recognising that the quaint things -children say on unfamiliar subjects are no more than a patchwork of -notions picked up here and there. One is not sure that so-called -original composition is wholesome for children, because their -consciences are alert and they are quite aware of their borrowings; -it may be better that they should read on a theme before they write -upon it, using then as much latitude as they like. - -In the early days of a child’s life it makes little apparent -difference whether we educate with a notion of filling a -receptacle, inscribing a tablet, moulding plastic matter, or -nourishing a life, but as a child grows we shall perceive that only -those _ideas_ which have fed his life are taken into his being; -all the rest is cast away or is, like sawdust in the system, an -impediment and an injury. - -Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of -spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly -as we convey them to one another, whether by word of mouth, written -page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a -child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food. -Probably he will reject nine-tenths of the ideas we offer, as he -makes use of only a small proportion of his bodily food, rejecting -the rest. He is an eclectic; he may choose this or that; our -business is to supply him with due abundance and variety and his -to take what he needs. Urgency on our part annoys him. He resists -forcible feeding and loathes predigested food. What suits him best -is pabulum presented in the indirect literary form which Our Lord -adopts in those wonderful parables whose quality is that they -cannot be forgotten though, while every detail of the story is -remembered, its application may pass and leave no trace. We, too, -must take this risk. We may offer children as their sustenance the -Lysander of Plutarch, an object lesson, we think, shewing what a -statesman or a citizen should avoid: but, who knows, the child -may take to Lysander and think his ‘cute’ ways estimable! Again, -we take the risk, as did our Lord in that puzzling parable of the -Unjust Steward. One other caution; it seems to be necessary to -present ideas with a great deal of padding, as they reach us in a -novel or poem or history book written with literary power. A child -cannot in mind or body live upon tabloids however scientifically -prepared; out of a whole big book he may not get more than half -a dozen of those ideas upon which his spirit thrives; and they -come in unexpected places and unrecognised forms, so that no grown -person is capable of making such extracts from Scott or Dickens -or Milton, as will certainly give him nourishment. It is a case -of,--“In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not -thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this -or that.” - -One of our presumptuous sins in this connection is that we -venture to offer opinions to children (and to older persons) -instead of ideas. We believe that an opinion expresses thought -and therefore embodies an idea. Even if it did so once the very -act of crystallization into opinion destroys any vitality it may -have had; _pace_ Ruskin, a crystal is not a living body and does -not feed men. We think to feed children on the dogmas of a church, -the theorems of Euclid, mere abstracts of history, and we wonder -that their education does not seem to take hold of them. Let us -hear M. Fouillée[20] on this subject, for to him the _idea_ is all -in all both in philosophy and education. But there is a function -of education upon which M. Fouillée hardly touches, that of the -formation of habits, physical, intellectual, moral. - - “‘Scientific truths,’ said Descartes, ‘are battles won.’ Describe - to the young the principal and most heroic of these battles; you - will thus interest them in the results of science and you will - develop in them a scientific spirit by means of the enthusiasm - for the conquest of truth.... How interesting Arithmetic and - Geometry might be if we gave a short history of their principal - theorems, if the child were meant to be present at the labours - of a Pythagoras, a Plato, a Euclid, or in modern times, of a - Descartes, a Pascal, or a Leibnitz. Great theories instead of - being lifeless and anonymous abstractions would become living - human truths each with its own history like a statue by Michael - Angelo or like a painting by Raphael.” - -Here we have an application of Coleridge’s ‘captain-idea’ of every -train of thought; that is, not a naked generalisation, (neither -children nor grown persons find aliment in these), but an idea -clothed upon with fact, history and story, so that the mind -may perform the acts of selection and inception from a mass of -illustrative details. Thus Dickens makes ‘David Copperfield’ tell -us that,--“I was a very observant child,” and that “all children -are very observant,” not as a dry abstraction, but as an inference -from a number of charming natural incidents. - -All roads lead to Rome, and all I have said is meant to enforce the -fact that much and varied humane reading, as well as human thought -expressed in the forms of art, is, not a luxury, a tit-bit, to be -given to children now and then, but their very bread of life, which -they must have in abundant portions and at regular periods. This -and more is implied in the phrase, “The mind feeds on ideas and -therefore children should have a generous curriculum.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -HOW WE MAKE USE OF MIND - - “_We hold that the child’s mind is no mere sac to hold ideas but - is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a ‘spiritual organism’ - with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet with - which it is prepared to deal and what it is able to digest and - assimilate as the body does food-stuffs._ - - “_Such a doctrine as the Herbartian, that the mind is a - receptacle, lays the stress of education, the preparation of food - in enticing morsels, duly ordered, upon the teacher. Children - taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much teaching - but little knowledge; the teacher’s axiom being ‘what a child - learns matters less than how he learns it.’_” - - -I cannot resist presenting the Herbartian Psychology in the dry -light of Scottish humour.[21] - - “We have failed to explain ideas by the mind, how about - explaining the mind by ideas? You are not to suppose that this is - exactly how Herbart puts it, Herbart is a philosopher, a German - philosopher. It is true that he starts with the mind or, as he - prefers to call it, a soul: but do not fear that the sport of - the hunt is to be spoiled for that ... the ‘given’ soul is no - more a real soul than it is a real crater of a volcano. It has - absolutely no content: it is not even an idea trap. Ideas can - slip in and out of it as they please, or, rather, as other ideas - please but the soul has no power either to call, make, keep, - or recall, an idea. The ideas arrange all these matters among - themselves. The mind can make no objection.” - - “‘The soul has no capacity nor faculty whatever either to - receive or produce anything: it is therefore no _tabula rasa_ - in the sense that impressions, foreign to its nature, may be - made on it. Also it is no substance in Leibnitz’s sense, which - includes original self-activity. It has originally neither ideas, - nor feelings, nor desires. Further, within it lie no forms of - intuition and thought, no laws of willing and acting, nor any - sort of predisposition however remote towards these. The simple - nature of the soul is totally unknown and for ever remains so. - It is as little a subject for speculative as for empirical - psychology.’ (_Lehrbuch zur Psychologie_, by Herbart: Part III: - pp. 152, 153.) Thus, a vigorous _vis inertiæ_ is the only power - of the mind. Still it is subject to the action of certain forces. - Nothing but ideas (_Vorstellung_) can attack the soul so that the - ideas really make up the mind.” - -We are familiar with the struggle of ideas on the threshold, with -the good luck of those that get in and especially of those that -get in first and mount to high places; with the behaviour of -ideas, very much like that of persons who fall into groups in an -anarchical state. This behaviour is described as the formation of -‘apperception masses’ and the mass that is sufficiently strong has -it all its own way and dominates the mind. Our business is not to -examine the psychology of Herbart, a very serious and suggestive -contribution to our knowledge of educational principles, but -rather to consider how it works out practically in education. But -before we examine how Herbartian psychology bears this test of -experiment, let us consider what Professor William James has to say -of psychology in general. - - “When we talk of psychology as a natural science,” he tells us, - “we must not assume that that means a sort of psychology that - stands at last on solid ground. It means just the reverse. It - means a psychology particularly fragile and into which the waters - of metaphysical criticism leak at every joint, a psychology all - of whose elementary assumptions and data must be reconsidered - in wider connections and translated into other terms. It is, - in short, a phrase of diffidence and not of arrogance; and it - is indeed strange to hear people talk triumphantly of the ‘New - Psychology’ and write Histories of Psychology when into the - real elements and forces which the word covers not the first - glimpse of clear insight exists. A string of raw facts, a little - gossip and wrangle about opinions, a little classification and - generalisation on the mere descriptive level ... but not a single - law ... not a single proposition from which any consequence can - casually be deduced.” - -But Professor James went on and wrote his extraordinarily -interesting book on psychology, and we must do the same though our -basis is no more than the common experience of mankind so far as -one mind can express the experience common to us all. - -Herbart’s psychology is extraordinarily gratifying and attractive -to teachers who are, like other people, eager to magnify their -office; and here is a scheme which shows how every child is a new -creation as he comes forth from the hands of his teacher. The -teacher learns how to do it; he has but to draw together a mass -of those ideas which themselves will combine in the mind into -which they effect an entrance, and, behold, the thing is done: -the teacher has done it; he has selected the ideas, shewn the -correlation of each with the other and the work is complete! The -ideas establish themselves, the most potent rule and gather force, -and if these be good, the man is made. - -Here, for example, is a single week’s ‘Correlation of Subjects’ -worked out by a highly qualified teacher. “_Arithmetic_ (_Decimal -Fractions_), _Mathematics_ (_Simple Equations_, _Parallelograms_), -_Science_ (_Latent Heat_), _Housecraft_ (_Nerves_, _Thought_, -_Habits_), _Geography_ (_Scotland_, _General Industries_); or, -again, for another week,--under the same headings,--_Metric -problems_, _Symbols_ (_four rules_), _Triangles_ (_sum angles_), -_Machinery_, _Circulation_, _Sculpture of the British Isles_.” -The ideas, no doubt, have an agility and ability which we do not -possess and know how to jump at each other and form the desired -‘apperception masses.’ - -A successful and able modern educationalist gives us a valuable -introduction to Herbartian Principles, and, by way of example, “_A -Robinson Crusoe Concentration Scheme_,” a series of lessons given -to children in Standard I in an Elementary School. First we have -nine lessons in literature and language, the subjects being such -as ‘_Robinson climbs a hill and finds he is on an island_.’ Then, -ten object lessons of which the first is,--_The Sea_, the second, -_A Ship from Foreign Parts_, the sixth, _A Life-Boat_, the seventh, -_Shell-Fish_, the tenth, _A Cave_. How these ‘objects’ are to be -produced one does not see. The third series are drawing lessons, -probably as many, a boat, a ship, an oar, an anchor and so on. Then -follows a series on manual training, still built upon ‘Robinson’; -the first, a model of the sea-shore; then, models of Robinson’s -island, of Robinson’s house and Robinson’s pottery. The next course -consists of reading, an indefinite number of lessons,--‘passages -from _The Child’s Robinson Crusoe_ and from a general Reader on -the matters discussed in object lessons.’ Then follows a series -of writing lessons, “simple composition on the subject of the -lessons ... the children framed the sentences which the teacher -wrote on the blackboard and the class copied afterwards.” Here is -one composition,--“Robinson spent his first night in a tree. In -the morning he was hungry but he saw nothing round him but grass -and trees without fruit. On the sea-shore he found some shell-fish -which he ate.” Compare this with the voluminous output of children -of six or seven working on the P.U.S. scheme upon any subject -that they know; with, indeed, the pages they will dictate after a -single reading of a chapter of _Robinson Crusoe_, _not_ a ‘child’s -edition.’ - -Arithmetic follows with, no doubt, as many lessons, “many mental -examples and simple problems dealt with Robinson”; the eighth and -last course was in singing and recitation,--‘I am monarch of all I -survey,’ etc. “The lessons lasted about forty-five minutes each.... -Under ordinary conditions the story of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ would be -the leading feature in the work of a whole year ... in comparing -the English classes with the German classes I have seen studying -‘Robinson Crusoe’ I was convinced that the eagerness and interest -was as keen among the children here as in the German schools.... -One easily sees what a wealth of material there is in the further -development of the story.” One does indeed! The whole thing must -be highly amusing to the teacher, as ingenious amplifications -self-produced always are: that the children too were entertained, -one does not doubt. The teacher was probably at her best in getting -by sheer force much out of little: she was, in fact, acting a part -and the children were entertained as at a show, cinema or other; -but of one thing we may be sure, an utter distaste, a loathing, -on the part of the children ever after, not only for ‘Robinson -Crusoe’ but for every one of the subjects lugged in to illustrate -his adventures. We read elsewhere of an apple affording a text for -a hundred lessons, including the making of a ladder, (in paper), -to gather the apples; but, alas, the eating of the worn-out apple -is not suggested! The author whom we quote for ‘Robinson Crusoe’ -and whom we refrain from naming because, as a Greek Chorus might -say, ‘we cannot praise,’ follows the ‘Robinson’ series with another -interminable series on the Armada. - -The conscientious, ingenious and laborious teachers who produce -these ‘concentration series’ are little aware that each such lesson -is an act of _lèse majesté_. The children who are capable of and -eager for a wide range of knowledge and literary expression are -reduced to inanities; a life-long _ennui_ is set up; every approach -to knowledge suggests avenues for boredom, and the children’s -minds sicken and perish long before their school-days come to -an end. I have pursued this subject at some length because we, -too, believe in ideas as the proper and only diet upon which -children’s minds grow. We are more in the dark about Mind than -about Mars! We can but judge by effects, and these appear to point -to the conclusion that mind is a ‘spiritual organism.’ (I need -not apologise for speaking of that which has no substance as an -‘organism,’--no greater a contradiction in terms than Herbart’s -‘apperception masses.’) By an analogy with Body we conclude that -Mind requires regular and sufficient sustenance; and that this -sustenance is afforded by ideas we may gather from the insatiable -eagerness with which these are appropriated, and the evident growth -and development manifested under such pabulum. That children like -feeble and tedious oral lessons, feeble and tedious story books, -does not at all prove that these are wholesome food; they like -lollipops but cannot live upon them; yet there is a serious attempt -in certain schools to supply the intellectual, moral, and religious -needs of children by appropriate ‘sweetmeats.’ - -As I have said elsewhere, the ideas required for the sustenance of -children are to be found mainly in books of literary quality; given -these the mind does for itself the sorting, arranging, selecting, -rejecting, classifying, which Herbart leaves to the struggle of -the promiscuous ideas which manage to cross the threshold. Nor -is this merely a nominal distinction; Herbart was a philosopher -and therefore his thought embraced the universal. Probably few -schools of the day are consciously following the theories of -this philosopher; but in most schools, in England and elsewhere, -so far as any intelligent _rationale_ is followed it is that of -Herbart. There are many reasons for this fact. A scheme which -throws the whole burden of education on the teacher, which exalts -the personality of the teacher as the chief agent in education, -which affords ingenious, interesting, and more or less creative -work to a vast number of highly intelligent and devoted persons, -whose passionate hope is to leave the world a little better than -they found it by means of those children whom they have raised -to a higher level, must needs make a wide and successful appeal. -It appeals equally to Education Committees and school managers. -Consider the saving involved in the notion that teachers are -compendiums of all knowledge, that they have but, as it were, -to turn on the tap and the necessary knowledge flows forth. All -responsibility is shifted, and the relief is very great. Not only -so but lessons are delightful to watch and to hear; the success -of jig-saw puzzles illustrates a tendency in human nature to -delight in the ingenious putting together of unlikely things, as, -for example, a lifebuoy and Robinson Crusoe. There is a series of -small triumphs to be observed any day of the week, and these same -triumphs are brought about by dramatic display,--so ingenious, -pleasing, fascinating, are the ways in which the teacher chooses -to arrive at her point. I say ‘her’ point because women excel in -this kind of teaching, but men do not come far short. What of the -children themselves? They, too, are amused and entertained, they -enjoy the puzzle-element and greatly enjoy the teacher who lays -herself out to attract them. There is no flaw in the practical -working of the method while it is being carried out. Later, it -gives rise to dismay and anxiety among thoughtful people. - -Much water has run under the bridge since several years ago Mr. A. -Paterson startled us out of self-complacency with his _Across the -Bridges_. We as a nation were well pleased at the time with the -result of our efforts; nothing could be more intelligent, alert, -brighter, than the seventh standard boy about to leave school -and take up his life work. Conditions were unpropitious. We know -the old story of inviting blind alleys, present success and then -unemployment, with resulting depreciation in character. What is to -be done? The question of after conditions is now being taken up -seriously. We have Continuation Classes which even if a boy be -out of work will help him to the Chinese art of ‘saving his face.’ -But Mr. Paterson condemns the schools for the rapidity with which -their best boys run to seed. He does not quote the case of the boy -who gets work, earns fair wages, conducts himself respectably, -goes to a ‘Polytechnic,’ the sort of boy with whom Mr. Pett Ridge -makes us familiar, who is so much less than he might be, so crude -in his notions, so unmoral in his principles, so poor in interests, -so meagre if not coarse in his choice of pleasures and after all -such a good fellow at bottom. He might have been taught in school -to utilise his powers, to come into the enjoyment of the fine mind -that is in him; but in schools,-- - - “There is too much learning and too little work. The teacher - ready to use the powers that his training and experience have - given him works too hard while the boy’s share in the struggle - is too light. It is possible to make education too easy for - children and to rob learning of the mental discipline which often - wearies but in the end produces concentration and the capacity - to work alone.... He is rarely left to himself with the book in - his hands, forced to concentrate all his mind on the dull words - before him with no one at hand to explain or make the memory work - easier by little tricks of repetition and association.... The boy - who reaches the seventh standard with every promise and enters - the service of a railway company is first required to sit down by - himself and master the symbols of the telegraphic code. This he - finds extremely irksome for the only work he has ever done alone - before is the learning of racy poetry which is the very mildest - form of mental discipline.” “‘Silent reading’ is occasionally - allowed in odd half-hours ... it might well be a regular subject - for reading aloud is but a poor gift compared with the practice - of reading in private.”[22] - -What does his curriculum do for the boy? Let us again hear Mr. -Paterson:--[23] - - “What is the educational ideal set before the average boy - whose school-days are to end at fourteen? What type is it that - the authorities seek to produce? A glance at the syllabus - will reassure the ordinary cynic who still labours under the - quaint delusion that French and Algebra and violin-playing - are taught in every London Elementary School at the expense - of the ratepayer.... The syllabus was designed to leave a boy - at fourteen with a thoroughly sound and practical knowledge - of reading, writing and arithmetic and with such grounding in - English, geography and history, as may enable him to read a - newspaper or give a vote with some idea of what he is doing.... - But these are all subsidiary to teaching the three ‘R’s’ which - between them occupy more than half the twenty-four hours of - teaching in the week.... It is certain that the present object in - view is dispiriting to master and boy alike for a knowledge of - reading, writing and arithmetic is no education and no training - but merely the elementary condition of further knowledge. In many - schools the boy is labouring on with these mere rudiments for - two or more years after all reasonable requirements have been - satisfied. The intelligent visitor looking at the note-books - of an average class will be amazed at the high standard of the - neatness and accuracy but he will find the excellence of a very - visible order. The handwriting is admirable, sixteen boys out - of thirty can write compositions without a flaw in grammar or - spelling. Yet it will occur to him that the powers of voluntary - thought and reason, of spontaneous enquiry and imagination, - have not been stirred. This very perfection of form makes - him suspicious as to the fundamental principles of our State - curriculum. In Public Schools boys are not trained to be lawyers, - or parsons, or doctors, but to be men. If they have learned to - work systematically and think independently they are then fit to - be trained for such life and profession as taste or necessity - may dictate. But at our Elementary Schools we seem to aim at - producing a nation of clerks for it is only to a clerk that this - perfection of writing and spelling is a necessary training.” - -The very faults of his qualities nullify the work of the teacher. -His failing is that he does too much. Once more we quote our -authority:-- - - “With the average boy there is a marked waste of mental capital - between the ages of ten and thirteen and the aggregate of this - loss to the country is heavy indeed. Ten years at school conquer - many of the drawbacks of home and discover a quick, receptive - mind in the normal child.... Many opportunities have been lost - in these years of school but after fourteen there is a more - disastrous relapse. The brain is not taxed again and shrivels - into a mere centre of limited formulæ acting automatically in - response to appetite or sensation. The boy’s general education - fails utterly. Asia is but a name that it is difficult to - spell though at school he spoke of its rivers and ports.... It - is probable that the vocabulary of a working man at forty is - actually smaller than it was at fourteen so shrunk is the power - of the mind to feed upon the growing experience of life.... Of - the majority of boys it is true to say that only half their - ability is ever used in the work they find to do on leaving - school, the other half curls up and sleeps for ever.” - -Here we have a depressing prospect of grievous waste in the future. -We all applaud the Education Act of 1918, are convinced that every -boy and girl will receive education until the end of his sixteenth, -possibly eighteenth, year. A wave of generous feeling passed over -the nation and employers were willing to support the law; and -if the eight hours conceded be spent in making the young people -more reliable, intelligent and responsible persons no doubt the -employers will be rewarded for their generosity. - -But there are rocks ahead. The only way to take advantage of this -provision is to make this an eight hours’ University course. Now -as Mr. Paterson happily remarks the Universities do not undertake -to prepare barristers, parsons, stockbrokers, bankers, or even -soldiers and sailors, with a specialised knowledge proper for each -profession. Their implicit contention is, given a well-educated -man with cultivated imagination, trained judgment, wide interests, -and he is prepared to master the intricacies of any profession; -while he knows at the same time how to make use of himself, of -the powers with which nature and education have endowed him for -his own happiness; the delightful employment of his leisure; for -the increased happiness of his neighbours and the well-being of -the community; that is, such a man is able, not only to earn his -living, but to _live_. - -The Universities fulfil this claim; the various professions -abound with men who, in newspaper phrase, are ‘ornaments to -their professions,’ and who gave up leisure and means to serve -their fellow-citizens as magistrates, churchwardens, members of -committees, special constables when needed, until lately, members -of Parliament, holding service as an honour, and as proud as was -‘Godfrey Bertram,’ that unhappy laird in _Guy Mannering_, to write -‘J.P.’ after their names. The enormous amount of voluntary service -rendered in such ways throughout the Empire as well as that of -insufficiently, or duly, paid service justifies the Universities in -their reading of their peculiar function. But not only so, generous -disinterested work can never be paid for, and our great statesmen, -churchmen, soldiers and civil servants, as well as the members of -County, Municipal, and Urban District Councils, have done their -_devoir_ over and above the bond. - -To secure this same splendidly devoted voluntary service from all -classes is the task set before us as a nation, a task the more -easy because we have all seen it fulfilled in the War when every -man was a potential hero. Now is it not the fact that the Army -proved itself an unequalled University for our men, offering them -increased knowledge, broad views, lofty aims, duty and discipline, -along with the finest physical culture? So much so, that instead of -going on from where the War left off, we have to be on the watch -against retrograde movements, physical, moral, intellectual. The -downward grade is always at hand and we know how easy it is. We -cannot afford another great war for the education of our people -but we must in some way supply the ‘University’ element and Mr. -Fisher’s great Act points out such a way. The young people are for -four years (a proper academic period) to be under influences that -make for ‘sweetness and light.’ But we must keep to the academic -ideal: all preparation for specialised industries should be taboo. -Special teaching towards engineering, cotton-spinning, and the -rest, is quite unnecessary for every manufacturer knows that given -a ‘likely’ lad he will soon be turned into a good workman in the -works themselves. The splendid record of women workers in the war -supports our contention. The efforts of Technical Schools and the -like are not greatly prized by the heads of firms so far as the -technical knowledge they afford goes. Boys from them are employed -rather on the off chance that they may turn out intelligent and apt -than for what they know beforehand of the business. Here is one -more reason for treating the Continuation School as the People’s -University and absolutely eschewing all money-making arts and -crafts. Denmark and Scandinavia have tried this generous policy of -educating young people, not according to the requirements of their -trade but according to their natural capacity to know and their -natural desire for knowledge, that desire to know history, poetry, -science, art, which is natural to every man; and the success of the -experiment now a century old is an object lesson for the rest of -the world. - -Germany has pursued a different ideal. Her efforts, too, have -been great, unified by the idea of utility; and, if we will -only remember the lesson, the war has shown us how futile is an -education which affords no moral or intellectual uplift, no motive -higher than the learner’s peculiar advantage and that of the State. -Germany became morally bankrupt (for a season only, let us hope) -not solely because of the war but as the result of an education -which ignored the things of the spirit or gave these a nominal -place and a poor rendering in a utilitarian syllabus. We are -encouraged to face the fact boldly that it is a People’s University -we should aim at, a University with its thousands of Colleges up -and down the land, each of them the Continuation School (the name -is not inviting) for some one neighbourhood. - -But, it will be argued, the subject matter of a University -education is conveyed for the most part through the channel of -dead languages, Latin and Greek. Our contention is that, however -ennobling the literature in these tongues, we cannot honestly -allow our English literature to take a second place to any other, -and that therefore whatever Sophocles, Thucydides, Virgil, have -it in them to do towards a higher education, may be effected more -readily by Milton, Gibbon, Shakespeare, Bacon, and a multitude of -great thinkers who are therefore great writers. Learning conveyed -in our common speech is easier come by than that secreted in a dead -language and this fact will help us to deal with the inadequacy of -the period allowed. Given absolute attention, and we can do much -with four hundred hours a year (1,600 hours in our four years’ -course) but only if we go to work with a certainty that the young -students crave knowledge of what we call the ‘humanities,’ that -they read with absolute attention and that, having read, they -_know_. They will welcome the preparation for public speaking, an -effort for which everyone must qualify in these days, which the act -of narration offers. - -The alternative is some such concentration scheme as that indicated -in _Robinson Crusoe_,--a year’s work on soap, its manufacture, -ingredients, the Soap Trade, Soap Transport, the Uses of Soap, -how to make out a Soap invoice, the Sorts of Soap, and so on _ad -infinitum_. Each process in the iron, cotton, nail, pin, engine, -button,--each process in our thousand and one manufactures--will -offer its own ingenious Concentration Scheme. The advocates of -utilitarian education will be delighted, the young students will be -kept busy and will to some extent use their wits all the time. With -what result? Some two centuries ago when a movement for adolescent -education agitated Europe, devastated by the Napoleonic wars, we -English took our part. The current early divided into two streams, -the material and the spiritual, the useful and the educative, and -England, already great in manufactures, was carried along by the -first of these streams, followed by Germany, France, Switzerland; -while the Scandinavian group of countries learned at the lips of -that ‘Father of the People’s High Schools’ that “spirit is might, -spirit reveals itself in spirit, spirit works only in freedom.” We -see the apotheosis of utilitarian education in the Munich schools -on the one hand and in the _morale_ of the German army on the -other. But we are slow to learn because we have set up a little tin -god of efficiency in that niche within our private pantheon which -should be occupied by personality. We trouble ourselves about the -uses of the young person to society. As for his own use, what he -should be in and for himself, why, what matter? Because, say we, -if we fit him to earn his living we fit him also to be of service -to the world and what better can we do for him personally? We -forget that it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but -by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God shall man -live,--whether it be spoken in the way of some truth of religion, -poem, picture, scientific discovery, or literary expression; by -these things men live and in all such is the life of the spirit. -The spiritual life requires the food of ideas for its daily bread. -We shall find, in the words of a well-known Swedish professor, -that, “just as enrichment of the soil gives the best conditions for -the seed sown in it so a well-grounded humanistic training provides -the surest basis for a business capacity, and not the least so in -the case of the coming farmer.” But we need not go so far afield, -we have a prophet of our own, and I will close this part of my -subject by quoting certain of Mr. Fisher’s words of wisdom:-- - - “Now let me say something about the content of education, about - the things which should be actually taught in the schools, and - I am only going to talk in the very broadest possible way. In my - afternoon’s reading I came upon another very apposite remark in - the letters of John Stuart Mill. Let me read it to you:-- - - ‘What the poor, as well as the rich, require is not to be - taught other people’s opinions, but to be induced and enabled - to think for themselves. It is not physical science that will - do this, even if they could learn it much more thoroughly than - they are able to do.’ - - “The young people of this country are not to be regenerated by - economic doctrine or economic history or physical science; they - can only be elevated by ideas which act upon the imagination and - act upon the character and influence the soul, and it is the - function of all good teachers to bring those ideas before them. - - “I have sometimes heard it said that you should not teach - patriotism in the school. I dissent from that doctrine. I think - that patriotism should be taught in the schools. I will tell you - what I mean by patriotism. By patriotism I do not mean Jingoism, - but what I mean by patriotism is an intelligent appreciation of - all things noble in the romances, in the literature and in the - history of one’s own country. Young people should be taught to - admire what is great while they are at school. And remember that - for the poor of this country the school is a far more important - factor than it is for the rich people of this country.... - - “I say that I want patriotism in the larger sense of the term - taught in the schools. Of course there is a great deal to - criticise in any country, and I should be the last person to - suggest that the critical faculty should not be exercised and - trained at school. But before we teach children to criticise - the institutions of their country, before we teach them to be - critical of what is bad, let us teach them to recognize and - admire what is good. After all life is very short; we all of us - have only one life to live, and during that life let us get into - ourselves as much love, as much admiration, as much elevating - pleasure as we can, and if we view education merely as discipline - in critical bitterness, then we shall lose all the sweets of life - and we shall make ourselves unnecessarily miserable. There is - quite enough sorrow and hardship in this world as it is without - introducing it prematurely to young people.” ... - - N.B.--Probably some educational authorities may decide to give - one hour or two weekly to physical training and handicrafts, - in which case the time-table must allow for so much the less - reading. But I should like to urge that, with the long evening - leisure of which there is promise, Club life will become an - important feature in every village and district. Classes will - certainly be arranged for military and other drills, gymnastics, - dancing, singing, swimming, carpentry, cooking, nursing, - dress-making, weaving, pottery, acting,--in fact, whatever the - quickened intelligence of the community demands. No compulsion - would be necessary to enforce attendance at classes, for which - the machinery is already in existence in most places, and which, - associated with Club life, would have certain social attractions - in the way of public displays, prize givings and so on. The - intellectual life of the Continuation School should give zest to - these evening occupations as well as to the Saturday Field Club - which no neighbourhood should be without. - -I have put the case for Continuation Schools as strongly as may be, -but there is a more excellent way. In these days of high wages it -may well happen that parents will be willing to let their children -remain at school until the end of their seventeenth year, in which -case they will be able to go on with the ‘secondary education’ -which they have begun at the age of six and we shall see a new -thing in the world. Every man and woman will have received a -liberal education; life will no longer discount the ideas and -aims of the schoolroom, and, if according to the Platonic saying, -“Knowledge is virtue,” knowledge informed by religion, we shall see -even in our own day how righteousness exalteth a nation. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -I.--THE WAY OF THE WILL - - _We may offer to children two guides to moral and intellectual - self-management which we may call ‘the Way of the Will’ and ‘the - Way of the Reason.’_ - - _The Way of the Will: Children should be taught (a) to - distinguish between ‘I want’ and ‘I will.’ (b) That the way - to will effectively is to turn our thoughts away from that - which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn - our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, - entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this - way, the will returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct - of the will is familiar to us as diversion, whose office it is to - ease us for a time from will effort that we may ‘will’ again with - added power. The use of suggestion as an aid to the will is to be - deprecated, as tending to stultify and stereotype character. It - would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and - that human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of - success.)_ - - -The great things of life, life itself, are not easy of definition. -The Will, we are told, is ‘the sole practical faculty of man.’ -But who is to define the Will? We are told again that ‘the Will -is the man’; and yet most men go through life without a single -definite act of willing. Habit, convention, the customs of the -world have done so much for us that we get up, dress, breakfast, -follow our morning’s occupations, our later relaxations, without an -act of choice. For this much at any rate we know about the will. -Its function is to _choose_, to decide, and there seems to be no -doubt that the greater becomes the effort of decision the weaker -grows the general will. Opinions are provided for us, we take our -principles at second or third hand, our habits are suitable and -convenient, and what more is necessary for a decent and orderly -life? But the one achievement possible and necessary for every man -is character; and character is as finely wrought metal beaten into -shape and beauty by the repeated and accustomed action of will. -We who teach should make it clear to ourselves that our aim in -education is less conduct than character; conduct may be arrived -at, as we have seen, by indirect routes, but it is of value to the -world only as it has its source in character. - -Every assault upon the flesh and spirit of man is an attack however -insidious upon his personality, his will; but a new Armageddon is -upon us in so far as that the attack is no longer indirect but is -aimed consciously and directly at the will, which is the man; and -we shall escape becoming a nation of imbeciles only because there -will always be persons of good will amongst us who will resist the -general trend. The office of parents and teachers is to turn out -such persons of good will; that they should deliberately weaken -the moral fibre of their children by suggestion is a very grave -offence and a thoughtful examination of the subject should act as -a sufficient deterrent. For, let us consider. What we do _with the -will_ we describe as voluntary. What we do _without the_ conscious -action of _will_ is involuntary. The will has only one mode of -action, its function is to ‘choose,’ and with every choice we make -we grow in force of character. - -From the cradle to the grave suggestions crowd upon us, and such -suggestions become part of our education because we must choose -between them. But a suggestion given by intent and supported by an -outside personality has an added strength which few are able to -resist, just because the choice has been made by another and not -by ourselves, and our tendency is to accept this vicarious choice -and follow the path of least resistance. No doubt much of this -vicarious choosing is done for our good, whether for our health of -body or amenableness of mind; but those who propose suggestion as -a means of education do not consider that with every such attempt -upon a child they weaken that which should make a man of him, -his own power of choice. The parasitic creatures who live upon -the habits, principles and opinions of others may easily become -criminal. They only wait the occasion of some popular outburst to -be carried into such a fury of crime as the Gordon Riots presented: -a mad fury of which we have had terrible examples in our own day, -though we have failed to ascribe them to their proper cause, the -undermining of the will of the people, who have not been instructed -in that ordering of the will which is their chief function as men -and women. His will is the safeguard of a man against the unlawful -intrusion of other persons. We are taught that there are offences -against the bodies of others which may not be committed, but who -teaches us that we may not intrude upon the minds and overrule -the wills of others; that it is indecent to let another probe the -thoughts of the ‘unconscious mind’ whether of child or man? Now -the thought that we choose is commonly the thought that we ought -to think and the part of the teacher is to afford to each child -a full reservoir of the right thought of the world to draw from. -For right thinking is by no means a matter of _self_-expression. -Right thought flows upon the stimulus of an idea, and ideas are -stored as we have seen in books and pictures and the lives of men -and nations; these instruct the conscience and stimulate the will, -and man or child ‘chooses.’ An accomplished statesman[24] exhibited -to us lately how the disintegration of a great empire was brought -about by the weakness of its rulers who allowed their will-power to -be tampered with, their judgment suggested, their actions directed, -by those who gained access to them. - -There is no occasion for panic, but it is time that we realised -that _to fortify the will_ is one of the great purposes of -education, and probably some study of the map of the City of -Mansoul would afford us guidance: at least, a bird’s eye view of -the riches of the City should be spread before children. They -should themselves know of the wonderful capacities to enter upon -the world as a great inheritance which exist in every human being. -All its beauty and all its thought are open to everyone. Everyone -may take service for the world’s use, everyone may climb those -delectable mountains from whence he gets the vision of the City of -God. He must know something of his body with its senses and its -appetites: of his intellect, imagination and æsthetic sense: of his -moral nature, ordered by love and justice. Realising how much is -possible to Mansoul and the perils that assail it, he should know -that the duty of self-direction belongs to him; and that powers for -this direction are lodged in him, as are intellect and imagination, -hunger and thirst. These governing powers are the conscience and -the will. The whole ordering of education with its history, poetry, -arithmetic, pictures, is based on the assumption that conscience -is incapable of ordering life without regular and progressive -instruction. We need instruction also concerning the will. Persons -commonly suppose that the action of the will is automatic, but no -power of Mansoul acts by itself and of itself, and some little -study of the ‘way of the will’--which has the ordering of every -other power--may help us to understand the functions of this -Premier in the kingdom of Mansoul. - -Early in his teens we should at least put clearly before a child -the possibility of a drifting, easy life led by appetite or desire -in which will plays no part; and the other possibility of using the -power and responsibility proper to him as a person and _willing_ as -he goes. He must be safeguarded from some fallacies. No doubt he -has heard at home that Baby has a strong will because he cries for -a knife and insists on pulling down the table-cloth. In his history -lessons and his readings of tale and poem, he comes across persons -each of whom carries his point by strong wilfulness. He laughs -at that rash boy Phaëton, measures Esau with a considering eye, -finds him more attractive than Jacob who yet wins higher approval; -perceives that Esau is wilful but that Jacob has a strong will, -and through this and many other examples, recognises that a strong -will is not synonymous with ‘being good,’ nor with a determination -to have your own way. He learns to distribute the characters he -comes across in his reading on either side of a line, those who -are wilful and those who are governed by will; and this line by no -means separates between the bad and the good. - -It does divide, however, between the impulsive, self-pleasing, -self-seeking, and the persons who have an aim beyond and outside -of themselves, even though it be an aim appalling as that of -Milton’s Satan. It follows for him that he must not only _will_, -but will with a view to an object outside himself. He will learn -to recognise in Louis XI a mean man and a great king, because -France and not himself was the object of his crooked policy. The -will, too, is of slow growth, nourished upon the ideas proposed to -it, and so all things work together for good to the child who is -duly educated. It is well that children should know that while the -turbulent person is not ruled by will at all but by impulse, the -movement of his passions or desires, yet it is possible to have -a constant will with unworthy or evil ends, or, even to have a -steady will towards a good end and to compass that end by unworthy -means. The simple rectified will, what our Lord calls ‘the single -eye,’ would appear to be the one thing needful for straight living -and serviceableness. But always the first condition of will, good -or ill, is an object outside of self. The boy or girl who sees -this will understand that self-culture is not to be accepted as -an ideal, will not wonder why _Bushido_ is mighty in Japan, will -enter into the problem which Browning raises in _The Statue and the -Bust_. By degrees the scholar will perceive that just as to _reign_ -is the distinctive function of a king, so to _will_ is the function -of a man. A king is not a king unless he reigns and a man is less -than a man unless he wills. Another thing to be observed is that -even the constant will has its times of rise and fall, and one of -the secrets of living is how to tide over the times of fall in will -power. - -The boy must learn too that the will is subject to solicitations -all round, from the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye and -the pride of life; that will does not act alone; it takes the -whole man to will and a man wills wisely, justly and strongly, in -proportion as all his powers are in training and under instruction. -We must understand in order to will. “How is that ye _will_ not -understand?” said our Lord to the Jews; and that is the way with -most of us, we _will_ not understand. We look out for great -occasions which do not come and do not see that the sphere for the -action of our wills is in ourselves. Our concern with life is to be -fit, and according to our fitness come our occasions and the uses -we shall be put to. - -Unlike every other power in the kingdom of Mansoul, the will is -able to do what it likes, is a free agent, and the one thing the -will has to do is to prefer. “_Choose_ ye this day,” is the command -that comes to each of us in every affair and on every day of our -lives, and the business of the will is to choose. But, choice, -the effort of decision, is a heavy labour, whether it be between -two lovers or two gowns. So, many people minimise this labour by -following the fashion in their clothes, rooms, reading, amusements, -the pictures they admire and the friends they select. We are -zealous in choosing for others but shirk the responsibility of -decisions for ourselves. - -What is to be said about obedience, to the heads of the house -first, to the State, to the Church, and always to the laws of God? -Obedience is the test, the sustainer of personality, but it must -be the obedience of choice; because choice is laborious, little -children must be trained in the obedience of habit; but every -gallant boy and girl has learned to _choose_ to obey all who are -set in authority. - -Such obedience is of the essence of chivalry and chivalry is that -temper of mind opposed to self-seeking. The chivalrous person is -a person of constant will for, as we have seen, will cannot be -exercised steadily for ends of personal gain. - -It is well to know what it is we choose between. Things are only -signs which represent ideas and several times a day we shall find -two ideas presented to our minds and must make our choice upon -right and reasonable grounds. We shall thus be on our guard against -the weak allowance which we cause to do duty for choice and against -such dishonest fallacies as, that it is our business to get the -best that is to be had at the lowest price; and it is not only in -matters of dress and ornament, household use and decoration, that -we run after the cheapest and newest. We chase opinions and ideas -with the same restlessness and uncertainty; any fad, any notion in -the newspapers, we pick up with eagerness. Once again, the will -is the man. The business of the will is to choose. There are many -ways to get out of the task of choosing but it is always,--“Choose -you this day whom ye will serve.” There are two services open -to us all, the service of God, (including that of man) and the -service of self. If our aim is just to get on, ‘to do ourselves -well,’ to get all possible ease, luxury and pleasure out of our -lives, we are serving self and for the service of self no act of -will is required. Our appetites and desires are always at hand to -spur us into the necessary exertions. But if we serve God and our -neighbour, we have to be always on the watch to choose between the -ideas that present themselves. What the spring is to the year, -school days are to our life. You meet a man whose business in the -world appears to be to eat and drink, play golf and motor; he may -have another and deeper life that we know nothing about, but, so -far as we can see, he has enlisted in the service of self. You meet -another, a man of position, doing important work, and his ideas -are those he received from the great men who taught him at school -and College. The Greek Plays are his hobby. He is open to great -thoughts and ready for service, because that which we get in our -youth we keep through our lives. - -Though the will affects all our actions and all our thoughts, its -direct action is confined to a very little place, to that postern -at either side of which stand conscience and reason, and at which -ideas must needs present themselves. Shall we take an idea in -or reject it? Conscience and reason have their say, but _will_ -is supreme and the behaviour of will is determined by all the -principles we have gathered, all the opinions we have formed. We -accept the notion, ponder it. At first we vaguely intend to act -upon it; then we form a definite purpose, then a resolution and -then comes an act or general temper of mind. We are told of Rudyard -Kipling that his great ambition and desire at one time was to keep -a tobacconist’s shop. Why? Because in this way he could get into -human touch with the men who came to buy their weekly allowance of -tobacco. Happily for the world he did not become a tobacconist but -the idea which moved him in the first place has acted throughout -his life. Always he has men, young men, about him and who knows how -many he has moved to become ‘Captains Courageous’ by his talk as -well as by his books! - -But suppose an unworthy idea present itself at the postern, -supported by public opinion, by reason, for which even conscience -finds pleas? The will soon wearies of opposition, and what is to be -done? Fight it out? That is what the mediæval Church did with those -ideas which it rightly regarded as temptations; the lash, the hair -shirt, the stone couch, the emaciated frame told of these not too -successful Armageddons. - -When the overstrained will asks for repose, it may not relax to -yielding point but may and must seek recreation, diversion,--Latin -thought has afforded us beautiful and appropriate names for that -which we require. A change of physical or mental occupation is -very good, but if no other change is convenient, let us _think_ of -something else, no matter how trifling. A new tie, or our next new -hat, a story book we are reading, a friend we hope to see, anything -does so long as we do not suggest to ourselves the thoughts we -_ought_ to think on the subject in question. The will does not -want the support of arguments but the recreation of rest, change, -diversion. In a surprisingly short time it is able to return to -the charge and to choose this day the path of duty, however dull -or tiresome, difficult or dangerous. This ‘way of the will’ is a -secret of power, the secret of self-government, with which people -should be furnished, not only for ease in practical right doing, or -for advance in the religious life, but also for their intellectual -well-being. Our claim to free will is a righteous claim; will -can only be free, whether its object be right or wrong; it is a -matter of choice and there is no choice but free choice. But we are -apt to translate free will into free thought. We allow ourselves -to sanction intellectual anarchism and forget that it rests with -the will to order the thoughts of the mind fully as much as the -feelings of the heart or the lusts of the flesh. Our thoughts -are not our own and we are not free to think as we choose. The -injunction,--“Choose ye this day,” applies to the thoughts which we -allow ourselves to receive. Will is the one free agent of Mansoul, -will alone may accept or reject; and will is therefore responsible -for every intellectual problem which has proved too much for a -man’s sanity or for his moral probity. We may not think what we -please on shallow matters or profound. The instructed conscience -and trained reason support the will in those things, little and -great, by which men live. - -The ordering of the will is not an affair of sudden resolve; it is -the outcome of a slow and ordered education in which precept and -example flow in from the lives and thoughts of other men, men of -antiquity and men of the hour, as unconsciously and spontaneously -as the air we breathe. But the moment of choice is immediate and -the act of the will voluntary; and the object of education is to -prepare us for this immediate choice and voluntary action which -every day presents. - -While affording some secrets of ‘the way of the will’ to young -people, we should perhaps beware of presenting the ideas of -‘self-knowledge, self-reverence, and self-control.’ All adequate -education must be outward bound, and the mind which is concentrated -upon self-emolument, even though it be the emolument of all the -virtues, misses the higher and the simpler secrets of life. Duty -and service are the sufficient motives for the arduous training of -the will that a child goes through with little consciousness. The -gradual fortifying of the will which many a schoolboy undergoes is -hardly perceptible to himself however tremendous the results may be -for his city or his nation. Will, free will, must have an object -outside of self; and the poet has said the last word so far as we -yet know,---- - - “Our wills are ours we know not how; - Our wills are ours to make them Thine.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -2.--THE WAY OF THE REASON - - _We should teach children, also, not to lean (too confidently) - unto their own understanding because the function of reason is - to give logical demonstration of (a) mathematical truth and (b) - of initial ideas accepted by the will. In the former case reason - is, perhaps, an infallible guide but in the latter is not always - a safe one, for whether the initial idea be right or wrong reason - will confirm it by irrefragable proofs._ - - _Therefore children should be taught as they become mature enough - to understand such teaching that the chief responsibility which - rests upon them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of - ideas presented to them. To help them in this choice we should - afford them principles of conduct and a wide range of fitting - knowledge._ - - -Every child, every man, who comes to a sudden halt watching the -action of his own reason, is another Columbus, the discoverer of -a new world. Commonly we let reason do its work without attention -on our part, but there come moments when we stand in startled -admiration and watch the unfolding before us point by point of a -score of arguments in favour of this carpet as against that, this -route in preference to the other, our chosen chum as against Bob -Brown; because every _pro_ suggested by our reason is opposed -to some _con_ in the background. How else should it happen that -there is no single point upon which two persons may reason,--food, -dress, games, education, politics, religion,--but the two may take -opposite sides, and each will bring forward infallible proofs -which must convince the other were it not that he too is already -convinced by stronger proofs to strengthen his own argument. Every -character in history or fiction supports this thesis; and probably -we cannot give a better training in right reasoning than by -letting children work out the arguments in favour of this or that -conclusion. - -Thus, Macbeth, a great general, returns after a brilliant victory, -head and heart are inflated, what can he not achieve? Could he not -govern a country as well as rule an army? Reason unfolds the steps -by which he might do great things; great things, ay, but are they -lawful, these possible exploits? And then in the nick of time he -comes across the ‘weird Sisters,’ as we are all apt to take refuge -in fatalism when conscience no longer supports us. He shall be -Thane of Cawdor, and, behold, confirmation arrives on the spot. He -shall also be king. Well, if this is decreed, what can he do? He -is no longer a free agent. And a score of valid arguments unfold -themselves showing how Scotland, the world, his wife, himself, -would be enhanced, would flourish and be blessed if he had the -opportunity to do what was in him. Opportunity? The thing was -decreed! It rested with him to find the means, the tools. He was -not without imagination, had a poetic mind and shrank before the -horrors he vaguely foresaw. But reason came to his aid and step by -step the whole bloody tragedy was wrought out before his prescient -mind. When we first meet with Macbeth he is rich in honours, troops -of friends, the generous confidence of his king. The change is -sudden and complete, and, we may believe, reason justified him at -every point. But reason did not begin it. The will played upon by -ambition had already admitted the notion of towering greatness or -ever the ‘weird Sisters’ gave shape to his desire. Had it not been -for this countenance afforded by the will, the forecasts of fate -would have influenced his conduct no more than they did that of -Banquo. - -But it must not be supposed that reason is malign, the furtherer -of ill counsels only. Nurse Cavell, Jack Cornwell, Lord Roberts, -General Gordon, Madame Curie, leave hints enough to enable us -to follow the trains of thought which issued in glorious deeds. -We know how Florence Nightingale received, welcomed, reasoned -out the notion of pity which obsessed her, and how through many -difficulties her great project for the saving of the sick and -suffering of her country’s army worked itself out; how she was able -to convey to those in power the same convincing arguments which -moved herself. That was a happy thought of the mediæval Church -which represented the leading idea of each of the seven Liberal -Arts by a chosen exponent able to convince others by the arguments -which his own reason brought forward. So Priscian taught the world -Grammar; Pythagoras, Arithmetic; and the name of Euclid still -stands for the science which appealed to his reason. But it is not -only great intellectual advances and discoveries or world-shaping -events for good or evil, that exhibit the persuasive power of -reason. There is no object in use, great or small, upon which -some man’s reason has not worked exhaustively. A sofa, a chest of -drawers, a ship, a box of toy soldiers, have all been thought out -step by step, and the inventor has not only considered the _pros_ -but has so far overcome the _cons_ that his invention is there, -ready for use; and only here and there does anyone take the trouble -to consider how the useful, or, perhaps, beautiful article came -into existence. It is worth while to ask a child, How did you think -of it? when he comes to tell you of a new game he has invented, a -new country of the imagination he has named, peopled and governed. -He will probably tell you what first ‘put it into his head’ and -then how the reasons one after another came to him. After,--How -did _you_ think of it?--the next question that will occur to a -child is,--How did _he_ think of it?--and he will distinguish -between the first notion that has ‘put it into his head’ and the -reasoned steps which have gone to the completion of an object, -the discovery of a planet, the making of a law. Sometimes a child -should be taken into the psychology of crime, and he will see that -reason brings infallible proofs of the rightness of the criminal -act. From Cain to the latest great offender every criminal act has -been justified by reasoned arguments which come of their own accord -to the criminal. We know the arguments before which Eve fell when -the Serpent played the part of the ‘weird Sisters.’ It is pleasant -to the eye; it is good for food; it shall make you wise in the -knowledge of good and evil--good and convincing arguments, specious -enough to overbear the counter-pleadings of Obedience. Children -should know that such things are before them also; that whenever -they want to do wrong capital reasons for doing the wrong thing -will occur to them. But, happily, when they want to do right no -less cogent reasons for right doing will appear. - -After abundant practice in reasoning and tracing out the reasons of -others, whether in fact or fiction, children may readily be brought -to the conclusions that reasonable and right are not synonymous -terms; that reason is their servant, not their ruler,--one of those -servants which help Mansoul in the governance of his kingdom. But -no more than appetite, ambition, or the love of ease, is reason to -be trusted with the government of a man, much less that of a state; -because well-reasoned arguments are brought into play for a wrong -course as for a right. He will see that reason works involuntarily; -that all the beautiful steps follow one another in his mind without -any activity or intention on his own part; but he need never -suppose that he was hurried along into evil by thoughts which he -could not help, because reason never begins it. It is only when he -chooses to think about some course or plan, as Eve standing before -the apples, that reason comes into play; so, if he chooses to think -about a purpose that is good, many excellent reasons will hurry -up to support him; but, alas, if he choose to entertain a wrong -notion, he, as it were, rings the bell for reason, which enforces -his wrong intention with a score of arguments proving that wrong is -right. - -A due recognition of the function of reason should be an enormous -help to us all in days when the air is full of fallacies, and -when our personal modesty, that becoming respect for other people -which is proper to well-ordered natures whether young or old, -makes us willing to accept conclusions duly supported by public -opinion or by those whose opinions we value. Nevertheless, it is -something to recognise that probably no wrong thing has ever been -done or said, no crime committed, but has been justified to the -perpetrator by arguments coming to him involuntarily and produced -with cumulative force by his own reason. Is Shakespeare ever wrong? -And, if so, may we think that a Richard III who gloats over his -own villainy as villainy, who is in fact no hypocrite, in the -sense of acting, to himself--is hardly true to human nature? Great -is Shakespeare! So perhaps Richard was the exception to the rule -which makes a man go out and hang himself when at last he sees his -incomparable villainy, and does not Richard say in the end,--“I -myself find in myself no pity for myself”? For ourselves and our -children it is enough to know that reason will put a good face on -any matter we propose; and, that we can prove ourselves to be in -the right is no justification for there is absolutely no theory -we may receive, no action we may contemplate, which our reason -will not affirm. Of course we know by many infallible proofs that -Bacon wrote Shakespeare, and an ingenious person has worked out -a chain of arguments proving that Dr. Johnson wrote the Bible! -Why not? For a nation of logical thinkers, the French made an -extraordinary _faux-pas_ when they elected the Goddess of Reason to -divine honours. But, indeed, perhaps they did it because they are a -logical nation; for logic gives us the very formula of reason, and -that which is logically proved is not necessarily right. We need -no longer wonder that two men equally upright, equally virtuous, -selected out of any company, will hold opposite views on almost any -question; and each will support his views by logical argument. So -we are at the mercy of the _doctrinaire_ in religion, the demagogue -in politics, and, dare we say, of the dreamer in science; and we -think to save our souls by being in the front rank of opinion -in one or the other. But not if we have grown up cognisant of -the beauty and wonder of the act of reasoning, and also, of the -limitations which attend it. - -We must be able to answer the arguments in the air, not so much by -counter reasons as by exposing the fallacies in such arguments and -proving on our own part the opposite position. For example, “that -very lovable, very exasperating but essentially real, though often -wrong-headed enthusiast,” Karl Marx, dominates the socialistic -thought of to-day. Point by point, for good or for evil, the -Marxian Manifesto of 1848 is coming into force. “For the most -advanced countries,” we are told, “the following measures might -come into very general application.” - -(1) “Expropriation of landed property and application of rent -to State Expenditure.” We have not space to examine the Marxian -proposition in detail but let us consider a single fallacy. It -is assumed that the rent of landed property is for the sole use, -enrichment and enjoyment of the owner. Now the schedule of the Duke -of Bedford, for example, published recently, shows that the income -derived from park property is inadequate to its upkeep and to the -taxes imposed upon the owner. Again, landowners are not only large -employers of labour, generally under favourable conditions, but -they keep up a very important benefaction; most of the extensive -landowners make of their places _public_ parks kept in beautiful -order at their _private_ expense. - -(2) “Heavy progressive taxation.” The fallacy lies in the fact -that the proletariat in whose interest the Manifesto was issued -must necessarily on account of their numbers be large taxpayers. -Therefore it is upon them that heavy progressive taxation will -press--as we have all seen in Russia--to the point of their -extinction. - -(3) “Abolition of inheritance.” A measure designed to reduce all -persons to the same level. As we know, the abolition of class is -the main object of socialism. But the underlying fallacy is the -assumption that class is stable and is not in a state of continual -flux, the continual upward and downward movement as of watery -particles in the ocean. The man at the bottom to-day may be at the -top to-morrow, as we see, not only in Soviet Russia, but in most -civilised countries. Attempts to control this natural movement are -as vain as King Canute’s command to the ocean. - -(4) “Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.” -Assumed authority must be supported by tyranny, that worst tyranny -which requires all men to think to order, as they must in a Soviet -State, or be penalised to make them powerless. The fallacy lies in -a misconception of human nature. There is nothing that men will -not sacrifice for an idea, for such an idea as that of freedom of -thought and of movement. - -(5), (6), (7), deal with centralisation, credit, of transport, -of factories, of instruments of production in the hands of the -State,--the State, that is, Everyman,--the Proletariat, in -fact,--in whose hands all wealth and means of obtaining wealth -shall be lodged. - -Here we have a logically thought-out preparation for the -government of the people, by the people, for the people; but the -underlying fallacy is that it makes for revolution which effects no -change but a mere change of rulers, better or worse as may be. In -the Soviet Republic, according to the law of perpetual social flux, -new rulers would come to the top, arbitrary and tyrannical, because -not hemmed in by precedent and custom; and children will be at no -loss to show how the last state of a nation so governed is worse -than the first. - -(8) “Compulsory obligation of labour upon all.” The initial idea -of a Soviet State is that it shall afford due liberty and equal -conditions for all. But even in the contemplation of such a State -it was necessary to postulate for everybody conscription and the -discipline of an army. - -(9) “Joint prosecution for Agriculture and Manufacture.” The aim -being the gradual removal of the distinction of town and country. -Here is a point in the Manifesto which we should all like to see in -practice but--is it possible? - -(10) “Public and gratuitous education for all children.” This -happily we have seen carried out with the proviso, ‘for whom -it may be necessary or desirable.’ The difficulty lies in the -conception of education formed by a Soviet community; and the -plea for free education is a specious blind, the intention being -such an education as shall train the coming generation in rabid -revolutionary principles. - -To continue our examination of the Tenth Maxim; the next clause -(_b_) requires “abolition of children’s labour in factories in its -present form.” So far so good. Happily we have lived to see this -abolition; there may be a sinister reading of the clause but on the -surface it carries the assent of all good citizens. - -(_c_) “Union of education with material production.” Here from -motives of economy we are going the way of the Communists in our -Continuation Schools; but a fallacy underlies the maxim which may -well frustrate our efforts towards the better education of the -people. The assumption is that the boy who learns, say, certain -manufacturing processes, _pari passu_ with his intellectual -education does better in the future than he who gives the full -period to education. There is no consensus of the opinion of -employers to prove that this is the case. On the contrary, given a -likely boy, and a manufacturer will be satisfied that he will soon -learn his business in the ‘works.’ But the function of education is -not to give technical skill but to develop a person; the more of a -person, the better the work of whatever kind; and as I have said -before, the idea of the Continuation School is, or should be, a -University course in the ‘humanities’; not in what have been called -the ‘best humanities,’ _i.e._, the Classics, though whether these -are in any sense ‘best’ is a moot question, but in the singularly -rich ‘humanities’ which the English tongue affords. - -These Ten Marxian Maxims give us ample ground for discussion not -for lectures or for oral lessons, but for following for a few -minutes any opening suggested by ‘current events,’ a feature in -the children’s programme of work. But they must follow arguments -and detect fallacies for themselves. Reason like the other powers -of the mind, requires material to work upon whether embalmed in -history and literature, or afloat with the news of a strike or -uprising. It is madness to let children face a debatable world with -only, say, a mathematical preparation. If our business were to -train their power of reasoning, such a training would no doubt be -of service; but the power is there already, and only wants material -to work upon. - -This caution must be borne in mind. Reason, like all other -properties of a person, is subject to habit and works upon the -material it is accustomed to handle. Plato formed a just judgment -on this matter, too,[25] and perceived that mathematics afford no -clue to the labyrinth of affairs whether public or private. - -We have seen that their reading and the affairs of the day should -afford scope and opportunity for the delight in ratiocination -proper to children. The fallacies they themselves perpetrate when -exposed make them the readier to detect fallacies elsewhere. - -What are we to do? Are we to waste time in discussing with children -every idle and blasphemous proposition that comes their way? Surely -not. But we may help them to principles which should enable them to -discern these two characters for themselves. A proposition is idle -when it rests on nothing and leads to nothing. Again, blasphemy is -a sin, the sin of being impudent towards Almighty God, Whom we all -know, without any telling, and know Him to be fearful, wonderful, -loving, just and good, as certainly as we know that the sun -shines or the wind blows. Children should be brought up, too, to -perceive that a miracle is not less a miracle because it occurs so -constantly and regularly that we call it a law; that sap rises in a -tree, that a boy is born with his uncle’s eyes, that an answer that -we can perceive comes to our serious prayers; these things are not -the less miracles because they happen frequently or invariably, and -because we have ceased to wonder about them. No doubt so did the -people of Jerusalem when our Lord performed many miracles in their -streets. - -When children perceive that,--“My Father worketh hitherto and I -work”--is the law which orders nations and individuals: that “My -spirit shall not always strive with man,” is an awful warning -to every people and every person; that to hinder the mis-doing, -encourage the well-doing of men and nations is incessant labour, -the work of the Father and the Son:--to a child who perceives -these things miracles will not be matters of supreme moment because -all life will be for him matter for wonder and adoration. - -Again, if we wish children to keep clear of all the religious -clamours in the air, we must help them to understand what religion -is.--[26] - - “Will religion guarantee me my private and personal happiness? To - this on the whole I think we must answer, No; and if we approach - it with a view to such happiness, then most certainly and - absolutely No.” - -Here is a final and emphatic answer to the quasi religious offers -which are being clamourously pressed upon hesitating souls. Ease -of body is offered to these, relief of mind, reparation of loss, -even of the final loss when those they love pass away. We may -call upon mediums, converse through table-rappings, be healed by -faith,--faith, that is, in the power of a Healer who manipulates -us. Sin is not for us, nor sorrow for sin. We may live in continual -odious self-complacency, remote from the anxious struggling souls -about us, because, forsooth, there is no sin, sorrow, anxiety or -pain, if we _will_ that these things shall not be. That is to say, -religion will “guarantee me my private and personal happiness,” -will make me immune from every distress and misery of life; and -this happy immunity is all a matter within the power of my own -will; the person that matters in my religion is myself only. -The office of religion for me in such a case is to remove all -uneasiness, bodily and spiritual, and to float me into a Nirvana -of undisturbed self-complacency. But we must answer with Professor -Bosanquet, “absolutely NO.” True religion will not do this for me -because the final form of the religion that will do these things is -idolatry, self-worship, with no intention beyond self. - -To go on with our quotation,-- - - “Well, but if not that then what? We esteem the thing as good - and great, but if it simply does nothing for us, how is it to be - anything to us? But the answer was the answer to the question and - it might be that to a question sounding but slightly different, - a very different answer would be returned. We might ask, for - instance,--‘does it make my life more worth living?’ And the - answer to this might be,--‘It is the only thing that makes life - worth living at all.’” - -In a word, “I want, am made for and must have a God.” - -No doubt through the sweetness of their faith and love children -have immediate access to God, and what more would we have? ‘Gentle -Jesus’ is about their path and about their bed; angels minister -to them; they enjoy all the immunities of the Kingdom. But we may -not forget that reason is as active in them as the affections. -Towards the end of the last century people had a straight and easy -way of giving a reasonable foundation to a child’s belief. All the -articles of the Christian Faith were supported by a sort of little -catechism of ‘Scripture Proofs’; and this method was not without -its uses. But, to-day, we have to prove the Scriptures if we rely -upon Scripture proofs and we must change our point of attack. -Children must know that we cannot prove any of the great things of -life, not even that we ourselves live; but we must rely upon that -which we know without demonstration. We know, too, and this other -certainty must be pressed home to them, that reason, so far from -being infallible, is most exceedingly fallible, persuadable, open -to influence on this side and that; but is all the same a faithful -servant, able to prove whatsoever notion is received by the will. -Once we are convinced of the fallibility of our own reason we are -able to detect the fallacies in the reasoning of our opponents and -are not liable to be carried away by every wind of doctrine. Every -mother knows how intensely reasonable a child is and how difficult -it is to answer his quite logical and foolishly wrong conclusions. -So we need not be deterred from dealing with serious matters with -these young neophytes, but only as the occasion occurs; we may not -run the risk of boring them with the great questions of life while -it is our business to send them forth assured. - -We find that, while children are tiresome in arguing about trifling -things, often for the mere pleasure of employing their reasoning -power, a great many of them are averse to those studies which -should, we suppose, give free play to a power that is in them, even -if they do not strengthen and develop this power. Yet few children -take pleasure in Grammar, especially in English Grammar, which -depends so little on inflexion. Arithmetic, again, Mathematics, -appeal only to a small percentage of a class or school, and, for -the rest, however intelligent, its problems are baffling to the -end, though they may take delight in reasoning out problems of -life in literature or history. Perhaps we should accept this tacit -vote of the majority and cease to put undue pressure upon studies -which would be invaluable did the reasoning power of a child wait -upon our training, but are on a different footing when we perceive -that children come endowed to the full as much with reason as with -love; that our business is to provide abundant material upon which -this supreme power should work; and that whatever development -occurs comes with practice in _congenial fields of thought_. At -the same time we may not let children neglect either of these -delightful studies. The time will come when they will delight in -words, the beauty and propriety of words; when they will see that -words are consecrated as the vehicle of truth and are not to be -carelessly tampered with in statement or mutilated in form; and -we must prepare them for these later studies. Perhaps we should -postpone parsing, for instance, until a child is accustomed to -weigh sentences for their sense, should let them dally with figures -of speech before we attempt minute analysis of sentences, and -should reduce our grammatical nomenclature to a minimum. The fact -is that children do not generalise, they gather particulars with -amazing industry, but hold their impressions fluid, as it were; -and we may not hurry them to formulate. If the use of words be -a law unto itself, how much more so the language of figures and -lines! We remember how instructive and impressive Ruskin is on the -thesis that ‘two and two make four’ and cannot by any possibility -that the universe affords be made to make five or three. From -this point of view, of immutable law, children should approach -Mathematics; they should see how impressive is Euclid’s ‘Which is -absurd,’ just as absurd as would be the statements of a man who -said that his apples always fell upwards, and for the same reason. -The behaviour of figures and lines is like the fall of an apple, -fixed by immutable laws, and it is a great thing to begin to see -these laws even in their lowliest application. The child whose -approaches to Arithmetic are so many discoveries of the laws which -regulate number will not divide fifteen pence among five people -and give them each sixpence or ninepence; ‘which is absurd’ will -convict him, and in time he will perceive that ‘answers’ are not -purely arbitrary but are to be come at by a little boy’s reason. -Mathematics are delightful to the mind of man which revels in the -perception of law, which may even go forth guessing at a new law -until it discover that law; but not every boy can be a champion -prize-fighter, nor can every boy ‘stand up’ to Mathematics. -Therefore perhaps the business of teachers is to open as many doors -as possible in the belief that Mathematics is one out of many -studies which make for education, a study by no means accessible -to everyone. Therefore it should not monopolise undue time, nor -should persons be hindered from useful careers by the fact that -they show no great proficiency in studies which are in favour with -examiners, no doubt, because solutions are final, and work can be -adjudged without the tiresome hesitancy and fear of being unjust -which beset the examiners’ path in other studies. - -We would send forth children informed by “the reason firm, the -temperate will, endurance, foresight, strength and skill,” but we -must add resolution to our good intentions and may not expect to -produce a reasonable soul of fine polish from the steady friction, -say, of mathematical studies only. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE CURRICULUM[27] - - _We, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit - him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and - generous curriculum, taking care only that all knowledge offered - to him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without - their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle - that:--_ - - “Education is the Science of Relations”; _that is, a child has - natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so - we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, - science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our - business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him - to make valid as many as may be of_-- - - “_Those first-born affinities - That fit our new existence to existing things._” - - _In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social - class, three points must be considered_:-- - - (_a_) _He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs - sufficient food as much as does the body._ - - (_b_) _The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental - diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity)._ - - (_c_) _Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen - language, because his attention responds naturally to what is - conveyed in literary form._ - - _As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children - should “tell back” after a single reading or hearing: or should - write on some part of what they have read._ - - _A_ single reading _is insisted on, because children have - naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated - by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, - summarising, and the like._ - - _Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of - mind, we find that the educability of children is enormously - greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little - dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment._ - - _Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children - or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in - elementary schools respond freely to this method, which is based - on the_ behaviour of mind. - - -Few things are more remiss in our schools than the curriculum which -is supposed to be entirely at the option of the Head: but is it? -Most Secondary schools work towards examinations which more or less -afford the privilege of entry to the Universities. The standard to -be reached is set by these and the Heads of schools hold themselves -powerless. - -Though Elementary schools no longer work with a view to examination -results yet as their best pupils try for scholarships admitting -them to secondary schools, they do come indirectly under the same -limitations. There is, however, much less liberty in Secondary than -in Primary schools with regard to the subjects taught and the time -devoted to each. The result is startling. A boy of eight in an -Elementary school may shew more intelligence and wider knowledge -than a boy of fourteen in a Preparatory school, that is, if he have -been taught on the principles I have in view, while the other boy -has been instructed with a view to a given standard of scholarship. -The Preparatory school boy does, however, reach that standard in -Latin, if not in Greek also, and in Mathematics. - -If we succeed in establishing a similar standard which every -boy and girl of a given age should reach in a liberal range of -subjects, a fair chance will be afforded to the average boy and -girl while brilliant or especially industrious young people will go -ahead. - -We labour under the mistake of supposing that there is no natural -law or inherent principle according to which a child’s course of -studies should be regulated; so we teach him those things which, -according to Locke, it is becoming for a ‘gentleman’ to know on -the one hand, and, on the other, the arts of reading, writing and -summing, that he may not grow up an illiterate citizen. In both -cases the education we offer is too utilitarian,--an indirect -training for the professions or for a craftsman’s calling with -efforts in the latter case to make a boy’s education bear directly -on his future work. - -But what if in the very nature of things we find a complete -curriculum suggested? “The human race has lost its title deeds,” -said Voltaire, and mankind has been going about ever since seeking -to recover them; education is still at sea and Voltaire’s epigram -holds good. We have not found our title deeds and so we yield to -the children no inherent claims. Our highest aim is to educate -young people for their uses to society, while every faddist is -free to teach what he pleases because we have no title deeds to -confront him with. Education, no doubt, falls under the economic -law of supply and demand; but the demand should come from the -children rather than from teachers and parents; how are their -demands to become articulate? We must give consideration to this -question because the answer depends on a survey of the composite -whole we sum up as ‘human nature,’ a whole whose possibilities are -infinite and various, not only in a budding genius, the child of a -distinguished family, but in every child of the streets. - -A small English boy of nine living in Japan, remarked,--“Isn’t it -fun, Mother, learning all these things? Everything seems to fit -into something else.” The boy had not found out the whole secret; -everything fitted into something within himself. - -The days have gone by when the education befitting either a -gentleman or an artisan was our aim. Now we must deal with a child -of man, who has a natural desire to know the history of his race -and of his nation, what men thought in the past and are thinking -now; the best thoughts of the best minds taking form as literature, -and at its highest as poetry, or, as poetry rendered in the -plastic forms of art: as a child of God, whose supreme desire and -glory it is to know about and to know his almighty Father: as a -person of many parts and passions who must know how to use, care -for, and discipline himself, body, mind and soul: as a person of -many relationships,--to family, city, church, state, neighbouring -states, the world at large: as the inhabitant of a world full of -beauty and interest, the features of which he must recognise and -know how to name, and a world too, and a universe, whose every -function of every part is ordered by laws which he must begin to -know. - -It is a wide programme founded on the educational rights of man; -wide, but we may not say it is impossible nor may we pick and -choose and educate him in this direction but not in that. We may -not even make choice between science and the ‘humanities.’ Our part -it seems to me is to give a child a vital hold upon as many as -possible of those wide relationships proper to him. Shelley offers -us the key to education when he speaks of “understanding that grows -bright gazing on many truths.” - -Because the relationships a child is born to are very various, the -knowledge we offer him must be various too. A lady teaching in Cape -Colony writes,--“The papers incorporated in the pamphlet _A Liberal -Education: Practice_ (by A. C. Drury) testify to--to me--an almost -incredible standard of proficiency. The mistakes are just the kind -of mistakes that children should make and no more of them than just -enough to keep them from being priggish. There are none of those -howlers of fact or expression that make one view one’s efforts with -a feeling of utter despondency.” - -The knowledge of children so taught is consecutive, intelligent -and complete as far as it goes, in however many directions. For it -is a mistake to suppose that the greater the number of ‘subjects’ -the greater the scholar’s labour; the contrary is the case as -the variety in itself affords refreshment, and the child who has -written thirty or forty sheets during an examination week comes out -unfagged. Not the number of subjects but the hours of work bring -fatigue to the scholar; and bearing this in mind we have short -hours and no evening preparation. - - -SECTION I - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD - -Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child,--the knowledge -of God, of man, and of the universe,--the knowledge of God ranks -first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making. -Mothers are on the whole more successful in communicating this -knowledge than are teachers who know the children less well and -have a narrower, poorer standard of measurement for their minds. -Parents do not talk down to children, but we might gather from -educational publications that the art of education as regards young -children is to bring conceptions down to their ‘little’ minds. If -we give up this foolish prejudice in favour of the grown-up we -shall be astonished at the range and depth of children’s minds; -and shall perceive that their relation to God is one of those -‘first-born affinities’ which it is our part to help them to make -good. A mother knows how to speak of God as she would of an absent -father with all the evidences of his care and love about her and -his children. She knows how to make a child’s heart beat high in -joy and thankfulness as she thrills him with the thought, ‘my -Father made them all,’ while his eye delights in flowery meadow, -great tree, flowing river. “His are the mountains and the valleys -his and the resplendent rivers, whose eyes they fill with tears -of holy joy,” and this is not beyond children. We recollect how -‘Arthur Pendennis’ walked in the evening light with his mother -and recited great passages from Milton and the eyes of the two -were filled ‘with tears of holy joy,’ when the boy was eight. -The teacher of a class has not the same tender opportunities but -if he take pains to get a just measure of children’s minds it is -surprising how much may be done. - -The supercilious point of view adopted by some teachers is the -cause of the small achievements of their scholars. The ‘kiddies’ -in a big girls’ school are not expected to understand and know -and they live down to the expectations formed of them. We (of the -P.N.E.U.) begin the definite ‘school’ education of children when -they are six; they are no doubt capable of beginning a year or two -earlier but the fact is that nature and circumstances have provided -such a wide field of education for young children that it seems -better to abstain from requiring _direct_ intellectual efforts -until they have arrived at that age. - -As for all the teaching in the nature of ‘told to the children,’ -most children get their share of that whether in the infant school -or at home, but this is practically outside the sphere of that -part of education which demands a _conscious mental effort_, from -the scholar, the mental effort of telling again that which has -been read or heard. That is how we all learn, we tell again, to -ourselves if need be, the matter we wish to retain, the sermon, the -lecture, the conversation. The method is as old as the mind of man, -the distressful fact is that it has been made so little use of in -general education. Let us hear Dr. Johnson on the subject:-- - - “‘Little people should be encouraged always to tell whatever they - hear particularly striking to some brother, sister, or servant, - immediately, before the impression is erased by the intervention - of newer occurrences.’ He perfectly remembered the first time - he heard of heaven and hell because when his mother had made - out such a description of both places as she thought likely to - seize the attention of her infant auditor who was then in bed - with her, she got up and dressing him before the usual time, sent - him directly to call the favourite workman in the house to whom - she knew he would communicate the conversation while it was yet - impressed upon his mind. The event was what she wished and it - was to that method chiefly that he owed the uncommon felicity of - remembering distant occurrences and long past conversations.” - (Mrs. Piozzi). - -Now our objective in this most important part of education is -to give the children the knowledge of God. We need not go into -the question of intuitive knowledge, but the expressed knowledge -attainable by us has its source in the Bible, and perhaps we cannot -do a greater indignity to children than to substitute our own or -some other benevolent person’s rendering for the fine English, -poetic diction and lucid statement of the Bible. - -Literature at its best is always direct and simple and a normal -child of six listens with delight to the tales both of Old and New -Testament read to him passage by passage, and by him narrated in -turn, with delightful touches of native eloquence. Religion has two -aspects, the attitude of the will towards God which we understand -by Christianity, and that perception of God which comes from a -gradual slow-growing comprehension of the divine dealings with -men. In the first of these senses, Goethe was never religious, but -the second forms the green reposeful background to a restless and -uneasy life and it is worth while to consider how he arrived at so -infinitely desirable a possession. He gives us the whole history -fully in _Aus Meinem Leben_, a treatise on education very well -worth our study. There he says,-- - - “Man may turn where he will, he may undertake what he will but - he will yet return to that road which Dante has laid down for - him. So it happened to me in the present case: my efforts with - the language” (Hebrew, when he was ten) “with the contents of the - Holy Scriptures, resulted in a most lively presentation to my - imagination of that beautiful much-sung land and of the countries - which bordered it as well as of the people and events which - have glorified that spot of earth for thousands of years.... - Perhaps someone may ask why I set forth here in such detail this - universally known history so often repeated and expounded. This - answer may serve, that in no other way could I show how with the - distractions of my life and my irregular education I concentrated - my mind and my emotion on one point because I can in no other - way account for the peace which enveloped me however disturbed - and unusual the circumstances of my life. If an ever active - imagination of which the story of my life may bear witness led - me here and there, if the medley of fable, history, mythology, - threatened to drive me to distraction, I betook myself again to - those morning lands, I buried myself in the five books of Moses - and there amongst the wide-spreading, shepherd people I found the - greatest solitude and the greatest comfort.” - -It is well to know how Goethe obtained this repose of soul, this -fresh background for his thoughts, and in all the errors of a -wilful life this innermost repose appears never to have left -him. His eyes, we are told, were tranquil as those of a god, and -here is revealed the secret of that large tranquility. Here, -too, Goethe unfolds for us a principle of education which those -who desire their children to possess the passive as well as the -active principle of religion would do well to consider; for it is -probably true that the teaching of the New Testament, not duly -grounded upon or accompanied by that of the Old, fails to result -in such thought of God, wide, all-embracing, all-permeating, as -David, for example, gives constant expression to in the Psalms. -Let us have faith and courage to give children such a full and -gradual picture of Old Testament history that they unconsciously -perceive for themselves a panoramic view of the history of -mankind typified by that of the Jewish nation as it is unfolded -in the Bible. Are our children little sceptics, as was the young -Goethe, who take a laughing joy in puzzling their teachers with -a hundred difficulties? Like that wise old Dr. Albrecht, let us -be in no haste to explain. Let us not try to put down or evade -their questions, or to give them final answers, but introduce them -as did he to some thoughtful commentator who weighs difficult -questions with modesty and scrupulous care. If we act in this way, -difficulties will assume their due measure of importance, that -is to say, they will be lost sight of in the gradual unfolding -of the great scheme whereby the world was educated. I know of no -commentator for children, say, from six to twelve, better than -Canon Paterson Smyth (_The Bible for the Young_). He is one of the -few writers able to take the measure of children’s minds, to help -them over real difficulties, give impulse to their thoughts and -direction to their conduct. - -Between the ages of six and twelve children cover the whole of -the Old Testament story, the Prophets, major and minor, being -introduced as they come into connection with the Kings. The teacher -opens the lesson by reading the passage from _The Bible for the -Young_, in which the subject is pictorially treated; for example,-- - - “It is the battle field of the valley of Elah. The camp of Israel - is on one slope, the big tents of the Philistines on the other. - The Israelites are rather small men, lithe and clever, the - Philistines are big men, big, stupid, thick-headed giants, the - same as when Samson used to fool them and laugh at them long ago. - There is great excitement on both sides,” etc. - -There will be probably some talk and discussion after this -reading. Then the teacher will read the Bible passage in question -which the children will narrate, the commentary serving merely as a -background for their thoughts. The narration is usually exceedingly -interesting; the children do not miss a point and often add -picturesque touches of their own. Before the close of the lesson, -the teacher brings out such new thoughts of God or new points of -behaviour as the reading has afforded, emphasising the moral or -religious lesson to be learnt rather by a reverent and sympathetic -manner than by any attempt at personal application. - -Forms III and IV (twelve to fifteen) read for themselves the whole -of the Old Testament as produced by the Rev. H. Costley-White in -his _Old Testament History_. Wise and necessary omissions in this -work make it more possible to deal with Old Testament History, in -the words of the Authorised Version, than if the Bible were used as -a single volume. Then, “each period is illustrated by reference to -contemporary literature (e.g., Prophets and Psalms and monuments).” -Again, “Brief historical explanations and general commentary are -inserted in their proper places.” For example, after Genesis iii, -we read, as an introduction to the story of Cain and Abel,-- - - “The original object of this story was to explain the development - of sin amongst mankind and the origin of homicide which in this - first instance was actual murder. There are difficulties in the - story which do not admit of satisfactory explanation. It may be - asked,--‘Why did God not accept Cain’s offering?’ ‘How was His - displeasure shewn?’ ‘What was the sign appointed for Cain?’ ‘Whom - did he marry?’ The best way to answer such questions is to admit - that we do not know, but we may add that these early stories are - only a selection which do not necessarily form a consistent and - complete whole, and that in this very case there are signs that - the original story has been cut down and edited. - - “Among the lessons taught are the following,--(1) God judges - man’s motives rather than his acts. The service of the heart is - worth more than any ceremonial. (2) It is not the sin of murder - that is condemned so much as the sin of jealousy and malice: cf. - the Sermon on the Mount, Matt, xxi, 6. (3) The great doctrine of - the Brotherhood of Man, that each man is his brother’s keeper and - has his share of responsibility for the conditions of the lives - of others. (4) Sin always brings its own punishment. (5) God - remonstrates with man before the climax of sin is reached.” - -The footnotes which form the only commentary upon the text are -commendably short and to the point. - -Having received a considerable knowledge of the Old Testament in -detail from the words of the Bible itself and having been trained -to accept difficulties freely without giving place to the notion -that such difficulties invalidate the Bible as the oracle of God -and our sole original source of knowledge concerning the nature -of Almighty God and the manner of His government of the world, -children are prepared for a further study of divinity, still -following the Bible text. - -When pupils are of an age to be in Forms V and VI (from 15 to 18) -we find that Dummelow’s _One Volume Bible Commentary_ is of great -service. It is designed to provide in convenient form,-- - - “A brief explanation of the meaning of the Scriptures. - Introductions have been supplied to the various books and Notes - which will help to explain the principal difficulties, textual, - moral or doctrinal, which may arise in connection with them. - A series of articles has also been prefixed dealing with the - larger questions suggested by the Bible as a whole. It is hoped - that the Commentary may lead to a perusal of many of the books - of Holy Scripture which are often left unread in spite of their - rare literary charm and abundant usefulness for the furtherance - of the spiritual life.... In recent years much light has been - thrown upon questions of authorship and interpretation and the - contributors to this volume have endeavoured to incorporate in it - the most assured results of modern scholarship whilst avoiding - opinions of an extreme or precarious kind. Sometimes these - results differ from traditional views but in such cases it is not - only hoped but believed that the student will find the spiritual - value and authority of the Bible have been enhanced rather than - diminished by the change.” - -The Editor has in these words set forth so justly the aims of the -Commentary that I need only say we find it of very great practical -value. The pupils read the general articles and the introductions -to the separate Books; they read too the Prophets and the poetical -books with the notes supplied. Thus they leave school with a fairly -enlightened knowledge of the books of the Old Testament and of the -aids modern scholarship has brought towards their interpretation; -we hope also with increased reverence for and delight in the ways -of God with men. - -The New Testament comes under another category. The same -commentaries are used and the same methods followed, that is, the -reverent reading of the text, with the following narration which -is often curiously word perfect after a single reading; this is -the more surprising because we all know how difficult it is to -repeat a passage which we have heard a thousand times; the single -attentive reading does away with this difficulty and we are able -to assure ourselves that children’s minds are stored with perfect -word pictures of every tender and beautiful scene described in the -Gospels; and are able to reproduce the austere if equally tender -teaching which enforces the object lessons of the miracles. By -degrees the Person of Our Lord as revealed in His words and His -works becomes real and dear to them, not through emotional appeals -but through the impression left by accurate and detailed knowledge -concerning the Saviour of the World, Who went about doing good. -Dogmatic teaching finds its way to them by inference through a -quiet realisation of the Bible records; and loyalty to a Divine -Master is likely to become the guiding principle of their lives. - -I should like to urge the importance of what may be called a poetic -presentation of the life and teaching of Our Lord. The young reader -should experience in this study a curious and delightful sense of -harmonious development, of the rounding out of each incident, of -the progressive unfolding which characterises Our Lord’s teaching; -and, let me say here, the custom of narration lends itself -surprisingly to this sort of poetic insight. Every related incident -stands out in a sort of bas-relief; every teaching so rendered -unfolds its meaning; every argument convinces; and the personages -reveal themselves to us more intimately than almost any persons -we know in real life. Probably very little hortatory teaching is -desirable. The danger of boring young listeners by such teaching -is great, and there is also the further danger of provoking -counter-opinions, even counter-convictions, in the innocent-looking -audience. On the whole we shall perhaps do well to allow the -Scripture reading itself to point the moral. - -“We are at present in a phase of religious thought, Christian and -pseudo-Christian, when a synthetic study of the life and teaching -of Christ may well be of use. We have analysed until the mind -turns in weariness from the broken fragments; we have criticised -until there remains no new standpoint for the critic; but if we -could only get a whole conception of Christ’s life among men and -of the philosophic method of His teaching, His own words should be -fulfilled and the Son of Man lifted up, would draw all men unto -Himself. It seems to me that _verse_ offers a comparatively new -medium in which to present the great theme. It is more impersonal, -more condensed, is capable of more reverent handling than is prose; -and what Wordsworth calls the ‘authentic comment’ may be essayed -in verse with more becoming diffidence. Again, the supreme moment -of a very great number of lives, that in which a person is brought -face to face with Christ, comes before us with great vividness in -the Gospel narratives, and it is possible to treat what we may call -dramatic situations with more force, and at the same time with more -reticence, in verse than in prose. - -“We have a single fragment of the great epic which the future may -bring forth,-- - - ‘Those holy fields - Over whose acres walked those blessed feet - Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed - For our advantage to the bitter cross.’ - -“If Shakespeare had given us the whole how rich should we be! Every -line of verse dealing directly with Our Lord from the standpoint of -His personality is greatly treasured. We love the lines in which -Trench tells us,-- - - ‘Of Jesus sitting by Samarian well - Or teaching some poor fishers on the shore.’ - -and Keble’s,-- - - ‘Meanwhile He paces through the adoring crowd - Calm as the march of some majestic cloud.’ - -or his,-- - - ‘In His meek power He climbs the mountain’s brow.’ - -Every line of such verse is precious but the lines are few, no -doubt because the subject is supremely august. Meantime we are -waiting for the great epic: because the need seems to be urgent -the writer has ventured to offer a temporary stop-gap in the six -volumes of _The Saviour of the World_.” (_From the Preface to the -first volume_). - -A girl of thirteen and a half (Form IV) in her Easter examination -tackled the question: “_The people sat in darkness_”.... “_I am -the Light of the World._” _Shew as far as you can the meaning of -these statements._ She was not asked to write in verse, and was she -not taught by a beautiful instinct to recognise that the phrases -she had to deal with were essential poetry and that she could best -express herself in verse? - - “The people sat in darkness--all was dim, - No light had yet come unto them from Him, - No hope as yet of Heaven after life, - A peaceful haven far from war and strife. - Some warriors to Valhalla’s halls might go - And fight all day, and die. At evening, lo! - They’d wake again, and drink in the great hall. - Some men would sleep for ever at their fall; - Or with their fickle Gods for ever be: - So all was dark and dim. Poor heathens, see! - _The Light ahead_, the clouds that roll away, - The golden, glorious, dawning of the Day; - And in the birds, the flowers, the sunshine, see - The might of Him who calls, ‘Come unto Me.’” - -A girl of seventeen (Form V) answered the question: _Write an essay -or a poem on the Bread of Life_, by the following lines,-- - - “‘How came He here,’ ev’n so the people cried, - Who found Him in the Temple: He had wrought - A miracle, and fed the multitude, - On five small loaves and fish: so now they’d have - Him king; should not they then have ev’ry good, - Food that they toiled not for and clothes and care, - And all the comfort that they could require?-- - So thinking sought the king.... - Our Saviour cried: - ‘Labour ye not for meat that perisheth, - But rather for the everlasting bread, - Which I will give’--Where is this bread, they cry, - They know not ’tis a heavenly bread He gives - But seek for earthly food--‘I am the Bread of Life - And all who come to Me I feed with Bread. - Receive ye then the Bread. Your fathers eat - Of manna in the wilderness--and died-- - But whoso eats this Bread shall have his part - In everlasting life: I am the Bread, - That cometh down from Heaven; unless ye eat - Of me ye die, but otherwise ye live.’ - So Jesus taught, in Galilee, long since. - - “The people murmured when they heard His Word, - How can it be? How can He be our Bread? - They hardened then their hearts against His Word, - They would not hear, and could not understand, - And so they turnéd back to easier ways, - And many of them walked with Him no more. - May He grant now that we may hear the Word - And harden not our hearts against the Truth - That Jesus came to teach: so that in vain - He may not cry to hearts that will not hear, - ‘I am the Bread of Life, for all that come, - I have this gift, an everlasting life, - And room within my Heavenly Father’s House.’” - -The higher forms in the P.U.S. read _The Saviour of the World_ -volume by volume together with the text arranged in chronological -order. The lower forms read in turns each of the Synoptic Gospels; -Form IV adds the Gospel of St. John and The Acts, assisted by the -capital Commentaries on the several Gospels by Bishop Walsham How, -published by the S.P.C.K. The study of the Epistles and the Book -of Revelation is confined for the most part to Forms V and VI. -The Catechism, Prayer-book, and Church History are treated with -suitable text-books much in the same manner and give opportunities -for such summing-up of Christian teaching as is included in the -so-called dogmas of the Church. We find that Sundays together with -the time given to preparation for Confirmation afford sufficient -opportunities for this teaching.[28] - - -SECTION II - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN - -(_a_) HISTORY - -I have already spoken of history as a vital part of education and -have cited the counsel of Montaigne that the teacher ‘shall by the -help of histories inform himself of the worthiest minds that were -in the best ages.’ To us in particular who are living in one of -the great epochs of history it is necessary to know something of -what has gone before in order to think justly of what is occurring -to-day. The League of Nations, for example, has reminded us not -only of the Congress of Vienna but of the several Treaties of -Perpetual Peace which have marked the history of Europe. It is -still true that,-- - - “Things done without example, in their issue - Are to be feared. Have you a precedent - Of this commission?” - (_Henry VIII._) - -We applaud the bluff King’s wisdom and look uneasily for precedents -for the war and the peace and the depressing anxieties that have -come in their train. We are conscious of a lack of sound judgment -in ourselves to decide upon the questions that have come before -us and are aware that nothing would give us more confidence than -a pretty wide acquaintance with history. The more educated among -our ‘Dominion’ cousins complain that their young people have no -background of history and as a consequence ‘we are the people’ is -their master thought; they would face even the loss of Westminster -Abbey without a qualm. What is it to them where great events -have happened, great persons lived and moved? And, alas, this -indifference to history is not confined to the Dominions; young -people at home are equally indifferent, nor have their elders such -stores of interest and information as should quicken children with -the knowledge that always and everywhere there have been great -parts to play and almost always great men to play those parts: that -any day it may come to anyone to do some service of historical -moment to the country. It is not too much to say that a rational -well-considered patriotism depends on a pretty copious reading of -history, and with this rational patriotism we desire our young -people shall be informed rather than with the jingoism of the -emotional patriot. - -If there is but little knowledge of history amongst us, no doubt -our schools are in fault. Teachers will plead that there is no -time save for a sketchy knowledge of English history given in a -course of lectures of which the pupils take notes and work up -reports. Most of us know how unsatisfying is such a course however -entertaining. Not even Thackeray could introduce the stuff of -knowledge into his lectures on _The Four Georges_. Our knowledge -of history should give us something more than impressions and -opinions, but, alas, the lack of time is a real difficulty. - -Now the method I am advocating has this advantage; it multiplies -time. Each school period is quadrupled in time value and we find -that we get through a surprising amount of history in a thorough -way, in about the same time that in most schools affords no more -than a skeleton of English History only. We know that young people -are enormously interested in the subject and give concentrated -attention if we give them the right books. We are aware that our -own discursive talk is usually a waste of time and a strain on the -scholars’ attention, so we (of the P.N.E.U.) confine ourselves -to affording two things,--knowledge, and a keen sympathy in the -interest roused by that knowledge. It is our part to see that every -child _knows_ and _can tell_, whether by way of oral narrative -or written essay. In this way an unusual amount of ground is -covered with such certainty that no revision is required for -the examination at the end of the term. A _single reading_ is a -condition insisted upon because a naturally desultory habit of mind -leads us all to put off the effort of attention as long as a second -or third chance of coping with our subject is to be hoped for. -It is, however, a mistake to speak of the ‘effort of attention.’ -Complete and entire attention is a natural function which requires -no effort and causes no fatigue; the anxious labour of mind of -which we are at times aware comes when attention wanders and has -again to be brought to the point; but the concentration at which -most teachers aim is an innate provision for education and is not -the result of training or effort. Our concern is to afford matter -of a sufficiently literary character, together with the certainty -that no second or third opportunity for knowing a given lesson will -be allowed. - -The personality of the teacher is no doubt of much value but -perhaps this value is intellectual rather than emotional. The -perception of the teacher is keenly interested, that his mind and -their minds are working in harmony is a wonderful incentive to -young scholars; but the sympathetic teacher who believes that to -attend is a strain, who makes allowance for the hundred wandering -fancies that beset a child--whom he has at last to pull up with -effort, tiring to teacher and pupil--hinders in his good-natured -efforts to help. - -The child of six in IB has, not stories from English History, but -a definite quantity of consecutive reading, say, forty pages in -a term, from a well-written, well-considered, large volume which -is also well-illustrated. Children cannot of course themselves -read a book which is by no means written down to the ‘child’s -level’ so the teacher reads and the children ‘tell’ paragraph by -paragraph, passage by passage. The teacher does not talk much and -is careful never to interrupt a child who is called upon to ‘tell.’ -The first efforts may be stumbling but presently the children get -into their ‘stride’ and ‘tell’ a passage at length with surprising -fluency. The teacher probably allows other children to correct any -faults in the telling when it is over. The teacher’s own really -difficult part is to keep up sympathetic interest by look and -occasional word, by remarks upon a passage that has been narrated, -by occasionally shewing pictures, and so on. But she will bear in -mind that the child of six has begun the serious business of his -education, that it does not matter much whether he understands this -word or that, but that it matters a great deal that he should learn -to deal directly with books. Whatever a child or grown-up person -can tell, that we may be sure he knows, and what he cannot tell, -he does not know. Possibly this practice of ‘telling’ was more -used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than it is now. We -remember how three gentlemen meet in _Henry VIII_ and one who has -just come out of the Abbey from witnessing the coronation of Anne -Boleyn is asked to tell the others about it, which he does with -the vividness and accuracy we obtain from children. In this case -no doubt the ‘telling’ was a stage device, but would it have been -adopted if such narration were not commonly practised? Even in our -own day a good _raconteur_ is a welcome guest; and a generation or -two ago the art was studied as a part of gentlemanly equipment. The -objection occurs that such a social accomplishment is unnecessary -for children and is a mere exercise of memory. Now a passage to be -memorised requires much conning, much repetition, and meanwhile the -learners are ‘thinking’ about other matters, that is, the _mind_ -is not at work in the act of memorising. To read a passage with -full attention and to tell it afterwards has a curiously different -effect. M. Bergson makes the happy distinction between _word_ -memory and _mind_ memory, which, once the force of it is realised, -should bring about sweeping changes in our methods of education. - -Trusting to mind memory we visualise the scene, are convinced by -the arguments, take pleasure in the turn of the sentences and frame -our own upon them; in fact that particular passage or chapter has -been received into us and become a part of us just as literally as -was yesterday’s dinner; nay, more so, for yesterday’s dinner is of -little account to-morrow; but several months, perhaps years hence, -we shall be able to narrate the passage we had, so to say, consumed -and grown upon with all the vividness, detail and accuracy of the -first telling. All those powers of the mind which we call faculties -have been brought into play in dealing with the intellectual -matter thus afforded; so we may not ask questions to help the child -to reason, paint fancy pictures to help him to imagine, draw out -moral lessons to quicken his conscience. These things take place as -involuntarily as processes of digestion. - -Children of seven are promoted to Form IA in which they remain -for a couple of years. They read from the same capital book, Mrs. -Marshall’s _Our Island Story_, and about the same number of pages -in a term; but while the readings in IB are confined to the first -third of the book embodying the simpler and more direct histories, -those in IA go on to the end of the volume and children learn at -any rate to love English history. “I’d a lot sooner have history -than my dinner,” said a sturdy boy of seven by no means inclined to -neglect his dinner. - -In IA the history is amplified and illustrated by short biographies -of persons connected with the period studied, Lord Clive, Nelson, -etc.; and Mrs. Frewen Lord’s delightful _Tales from Westminster -Abbey_ and _from St. Paul’s_ help the children immensely in -individualising their heroes. It is good to hear them ‘tell’ -of Franklin, Nelson, Howard, Shaftesbury, and their delight in -visiting the monuments is very great. One would not think that -Donne would greatly interest children but the excitement of a small -party in noticing the marks of the Great Fire still to be seen on -his monument was illuminating to lookers-on. - -Possibly there is no sounder method of inculcating a sane and -serviceable patriotism than this of making children familiar with -the monuments of the great even if they have not the opportunity -to see them. Form II (ages 9 to 12) have a more considerable -historical programme which they cover with ease and enjoyment. -They use a more difficult book than in IA, an interesting -and well-written history of England of which they read some -fifty pages or so in a term. IIA read in addition and by way -of illustration the chapters dealing with the social life of -the period in a volume, treating of social life in England. We -introduce children as early as possible to the contemporary history -of other countries as the study of English history alone is apt to -lead to a certain insular and arrogant habit of mind. - -Naturally we begin with French history and both divisions read from -the _First History of France_, very well written, the chapters -contemporary with the English history they are reading. The -readiness with which children write or tell of Richelieu, Colbert, -Bayard, justifies us in this early introduction of foreign history; -and the lucidity and clearness with which the story is told in -the book they use results on the part of the children in such a -knowledge of the history of France as throws light on that of their -own country and certainly gives them the sense that history was -progressing everywhere much as it was at home during the period -they are reading about. - -The study of ancient history which cannot be contemporaneous we -approach through a chronologically-arranged book about the British -Museum (written for the scholars of the P.U.S. by the late Mrs. -W. Epps who had the delightful gift of realising the progress of -the ages as represented in our great national storehouse). I have -already instanced a child’s visit to the Parthenon Room and her -eager identification of what she saw with what she had read, and -that will serve to indicate the sort of key to ancient history -afforded by this valuable book. Miss G. M. Bernau has added to the -value of these studies by producing a ‘Book of Centuries’ in which -children draw such illustrations as they come across of objects of -domestic use, of art, etc., connected with the century they are -reading about. This slight study of the British Museum we find very -valuable; whether the children have or have not the opportunity of -visiting the Museum itself, they have the hope of doing so, and, -besides, their minds are awakened to the treasures of local museums. - -In Form III children continue the same history of England as in II, -the same French history and the same British Museum Book, going on -with their ‘Book of Centuries.’ To this they add about twenty to -thirty pages a term from a little book on Indian History, a subject -which interests them greatly. - -Slight studies of the history of other parts of the British Empire -are included under ‘Geography.’ - -In Form IV the children are promoted to Gardiner’s _Student’s -History of England_, clear and able, but somewhat stiffer than that -they have hitherto been engaged upon, together with Mr. and Mrs. -Quennell’s _History of Everyday Things in England_ (which is used -in Form III also). Form IV is introduced to outlines of European -history. _The British Museum for Children_ and ‘Book of Centuries’ -are continued. - -It is as teachers know a matter of extreme difficulty to find the -exactly right book for children’s reading in each subject and -for some years we have been regretting the fact that Lord’s very -delightful _Modern Europe_[29] has been out of print. - -The history studies of Forms V and VI (ages 15 to 18) are more -advanced and more copious and depend for illustration upon readings -in the literature of the period. Green’s _Shorter History of the -English People_ is the text-book in English history, amplified, -for example, by Macaulay’s _Essays on Frederick the Great_ and the -_Austrian Succession_, on _Pitt_ and _Clive_. For the same period -we use an American history of Western Europe and a very admirable -history of France, well-translated from the original of M. Duruy. -Possibly Madame de Staël’s _L’Allemagne_ or some other historical -work of equal calibre may occur in their reading of French. It is -not possible to continue the study of Greek and Roman history in -detail but an admirably written survey informed with enthusiasm is -afforded by Professor de Burgh’s _The Legacy of the Ancient World_. -The pupils make history charts for every hundred years on the plan -either adapted or invented by the late Miss Beale of Cheltenham, -a square ruled into a hundred spaces ten in each direction with -the symbol in each square showing an event which lends itself to -illustration during that particular ten years. Thus crossed battle -axes represent a war. - -The geographical aspects of history fall under ‘Geography’ as a -subject. This course of historical reading is valued exceedingly -by young people as affording a knowledge of the past that bears -upon and illuminates the present. The writer recollects meeting -a brilliant group of Oxford undergraduates, keen and full of -interest, but lamentably ignorant, who said, “We want to know -something about history. What do you advise us to read? We know -nothing.” Perhaps no youth should go to College without some such -rudimentary course of English, European, and, especially, French -history, as is afforded by the programmes.[30] Such a general -survey should precede any special course and should be required -before the more academic studies designed to prepare students for -‘research work.’ - -It will be observed that the work throughout the Forms is always -chronologically progressive. The young student rarely goes over -old ground; but should it happen that the whole school has arrived -at the end of 1920, say, and there is nothing for it but to begin -again, the books studied throw new light and bring the young -students into line with modern research. - -But any sketch of the history teaching in Forms V and VI in a given -period depends upon a notice of the ‘literature’ set; for plays, -novels, essays, ‘lives,’ poems, are all pressed into service and -where it is possible, the architecture, painting, etc., which the -period produced. Thus questions such as the following on a term’s -work both test and record the reading of the term,--“Describe the -condition of (_a_) the clergy, (_b_) the army, (_c_) the navy, -(_d_) the general public in and about 1685.” “Trace the rise of -Prussia before Frederick the Great.” “What theories of government -were held by Louis XIV? Give some account of his great ministers.” -“Describe the rise of Russia and its condition at the opening of -the eighteenth century.” “Suppose Evelyn (Form VI) or Pepys (Form -V) in counsel at the League of Nations, write his diary for three -days.” “Sketch the character and manners of Addison. How does he -appear in _Esmond_?” - -It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the -background of one’s thoughts. We may not be able to recall this or -that circumstance, but, ‘the imagination is warmed’; we know that -there is a great deal to be said on both sides of every question -and are saved from crudities in opinion and rashness in action. The -present becomes enriched for us with the wealth of all that has -gone before. - -Perhaps the gravest defect in school curricula is that they fail to -give a comprehensive, intelligent and interesting introduction to -history. To leave off or even to begin with the history of our own -country is fatal. We cannot live sanely unless we know that other -peoples are as we are with a difference, that their history is as -ours, with a difference, that they too have been represented by -their poets and their artists, that they too have their literature -and their national life. We have been asleep and our awaking is -rather terrible. The people whom we have not taught, rise upon us -in their ignorance and ‘the rabble,’-- - - “As the world were now but to begin - Antiquity forgot, custom not known, - They cry,--‘Choose we!’” - (_Hamlet._) - -Heaven help their choice for choosing is indeed with them, and -little do they know of those two ratifiers and props of every -present word and action, Antiquity and Custom! It is never too late -to mend but we may not delay to offer such a liberal and generous -diet of History to every child in the country as shall give weight -to his decisions, consideration to his actions and stability to his -conduct; that stability, the lack of which has plunged us into many -a stormy sea of unrest. - -It is to be noted that ‘stability’ is the mark of the educated -classes. When we reflect upon the disturbance of the national -life by labour unrest and, again, upon the fact that political -and social power is passing into the hands of the majority, that -is of the labouring classes, we cannot but feel that there is a -divine fitness, a providential adaptation in the circumstance -that the infinite educability of persons of all classes should -be disclosed to us as a nation at a time when an emotional and -ignorant labouring class is a peculiar danger. I am not sure that -the education implied in the old symbol of the ladder does make -for national tranquility. It is right that equal opportunity of -being first should be afforded to all but that is no new thing. Our -history is punctuated by men who have risen, and the Roman Church -has largely founded herself as has the Chinese Empire upon this -doctrine of equal opportunity. But let us remember that the men -who climb are apt to be uneasy members of society; the desire for -knowledge for its own sake, on the other hand, finds satisfaction -in knowledge itself. - -The young men see visions; the hardships of daily life are -ameliorated, and while an alert and informed mind leads to decency -and propriety of living it does not lead to the restless desire to -subvert society for the sake of the chances offered by a general -upheaval. Wordsworth is right:-- - - “If rightly trained and bred Humanity is humble.” - -We live in times critical for everybody but eminently critical for -teachers because it rests with them to decide whether personal -or general good should be aimed at, whether education shall be -merely a means of getting on or a means of general progress towards -high thinking and plain living and therefore an instrument of the -greatest national good.[31] - - -II - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN - -(_b_) LITERATURE - -Except in Form I the study of Literature goes _pari passu_ with -that of History. Fairy tales, (Andersen or Grimm, for example), -delight Form IB, and the little people re-tell these tales -copiously, vividly, and with the astonishing exactness we may -expect when we remember how seriously annoyed they are with -the story-teller who alters a phrase or a circumstance. Æsop’s -_Fables_, too, are used with great success, and are rendered, after -being once heard, with brevity and point, and children readily -appropriate the moral. Mrs. Gatty’s _Parables from Nature_, again, -serve another purpose. They feed a child’s sense of wonder and are -very good to tell. There is no attempt to reduce the work of this -form, or any other, to a supposed ‘child level.’ Form IA (7 to 9) -hears and tells chapter by chapter _The Pilgrim’s Progress_ and the -children’s narrations are delightful. No beautiful thought or bold -figure escapes them. Andrew Lang’s _Tales of Troy and Greece_, a -big volume, is a _pièce de resistance_ going on from term to term. - -The great tales of the heroic age find their way to children’s -hearts. They conceive vividly and tell eagerly, and the difficult -classical names instead of being a stumbling-block are a delight, -because, as a Master of a Council school says,-- - - “Children have an instinctive power by which they are able to - sense the meaning of a whole passage and even some difficult - words.” - -That the sonorous beauty of these classical names appeals to them -is illustrated by a further quotation from the same Master,-- - - “A boy of about seven in my school the other day asked his mother - why she had not given him one of those pretty names they heard in - the stories at school. He thought Ulysses a prettier name than - his own, Kenneth, and that the mother of his playmate might have - called him Achilles instead of Alan.” - -There is profound need to cultivate delight in beautiful names -in days when we are threatened with the fear that London itself -should lose that rich halo of historic associations which glorifies -its every street and alley, that it may be made like New York, -and should name a street X500,--like a workhouse child without -designation; an age when we express the glory and beauty of the -next highest peak of the Himalayas by naming it K2! In such an age, -this, of their inherent aptitude for beautiful names, is a lode of -much promise in children’s minds. The Kaffir who announced that -his name was ‘Telephone’ had an ear for sound. Kingsley’s _Water -Babies_, _Alice in Wonderland_, Kipling’s _Just So Stories_, scores -of exquisite classics written for children, but not written down to -them, are suitable at this stage. - -Form IIB has a considerable programme of reading, that is, not the -mere mechanical exercise of reading but the reading of certain -books. Therefore it is necessary that two years should be spent -in Form IA and that in the second of these two years the children -should read a good deal of the set work for themselves. In IIB -they read their own geography, history, poetry, but perhaps -Shakespeare’s _Twelfth Night_, say, Scott’s _Rob Roy_, _Gulliver’s -Travels_, should be read to them and narrated by them until they -are well in their tenth year. Their power to understand, visualise, -and ‘tell’ a play of Shakespeare from nine years old and onwards is -very surprising. They put in nothing which is not there, but they -miss nothing and display a passage or a scene in a sort of curious -relief. One or two books of the calibre of _The Heroes of Asgard_ -are also included in the programme for the term. - -The transition to Form IIA is marked by more individual reading -as well as by a few additional books. The children read their -‘Shakespeare play’ in character. Certain Council School boys, we -are told, insist on dramatising Scott as they read it. Bulfinch’s -_Age of Fable_ admits them to the rich imaginings of peoples who -did not yet know. Goldsmith’s poems and Stevenson’s _Kidnapped_, -etc., may form part of a term’s work, and in each and all children -shew the same surprising power of knowing, evinced by the one sure -test,--they are able to ‘tell’ each work they have read not only -with accuracy but with spirit and originality. How is it possible, -it may be asked, to show originality in ‘mere narration’? Let us -ask Scott, Shakespeare, Homer, who told what they knew, that is -narrated, but with continual scintillations from their own genius -playing upon the written word. Just so in their small degree do the -children narrate; they see it all so vividly that when you read or -hear their versions the theme is illuminated for you too. - -Children remain in Form II until they are twelve, and here I would -remark on the evenness with which the power of children in dealing -with books is developed. We spread an abundant and delicate feast -in the programmes and each small guest assimilates what he can. -The child of genius and imagination gets greatly more than his -duller comrade but all sit down to the same feast and each one gets -according to his needs and powers. - -The surprises afforded by the dull and even the ‘backward’ children -are encouraging and illuminating. We think we know that man is an -educable being, but when we afford to children all that they want -we discover how straitened were our views, how poor and narrow -the education we offered. Even in so-called deficient children we -perceive,-- - - “What a piece of work is man.... In apprehension, how like a god!” - -In Forms III and IV we introduce a _History of English Literature_ -carefully chosen to afford sympathetic interest and delight while -avoiding stereotyped opinions and stale information. The portion -read each term (say fifty pages) corresponds with the period -covered in history studies and the book is a great favourite with -children. They have of course a great _flair_ for Shakespeare, -whether _King Lear_, _Twelfth Night_, _Henry V_, or some other -play, and _The Waverleys_ usually afford a contemporary tale. -There has been discussion in Elementary Schools as to whether -an abridged edition would not give a better chance of getting -through the novel set for a term, but strong arguments were brought -forward at a conference of teachers in Gloucester in favour of -a complete edition. Children take pleasure in the ‘dry’ parts, -descriptions and the like, rendering these quite beautifully -in their narrations. Form IV may have quite a wide course of -reading. For instance if the historical period for a term include -the Commonwealth, they may read _L’Allegro_, and _Il Penseroso_, -_Lycidas_, and contemporary poets as represented in a good -anthology, or, for a later period, Pope’s _Rape of the Lock_, or -Gray’s poems, while Form III read poems of Goldsmith and Burns. The -object of children’s literary studies is not to give them precise -information as to who wrote what in the reign of whom?--but to give -them a sense of the spaciousness of the days, not only of great -Elizabeth, but of all those times of which poets, historians and -the makers of tales, have left us living pictures. In such ways the -children secure, not the sort of information which is of little -cultural value, but wide spaces wherein imagination may take those -holiday excursions deprived of which life is dreary; judgment, too, -will turn over these folios of the mind and arrive at fairly just -decisions about a given strike, the question of Poland, Indian -Unrest. Every man is called upon to be a statesman seeing that -every man and woman, too, has a share in the government of the -country; but statesmanship requires imaginative conceptions, formed -upon pretty wide reading and some familiarity with historical -precedents. - -The reading for Forms V and VI (ages 15 to 18) is more -comprehensive and more difficult. Like that in the earlier Forms, -it follows the lines of the history they are reading, touching -current literature in the occasional use of modern books; but young -people who have been brought up on this sort of work may, we find, -be trusted to keep themselves _au fait_ with the best that is being -produced in their own days. Given the proper period, Form V would -cover in a term Pope’s _Essay on Man_, Carlyle’s _Essay on Burns_, -Frankfort Moore’s _Jessamy Bride_, Goldsmith’s _Citizen of the -World_ (edited), Thackeray’s _The Virginians_, the contemporary -poets from an anthology. Form VI would read Boswell, _The Battle of -the Books_, Macaulay’s _Essays_ on Goldsmith, Johnson, Pitt; the -contemporary poets from _The Oxford Book of Verse_, and both Forms -read _She Stoops to Conquer_. This course of reading, it will be -seen, is suggestive and will lead to much reading round and about -it in later days. As for the amount covered in each Form, it is -probably about the amount most of us cover in the period of time -included in a school term, but while we grown-up persons read and -forget because we do not take the pains to _know_ as we read, these -young students have the powers of perfect recollection and just -application because they have read with attention and concentration -and have in every case reproduced what they have read in narration, -or, the gist of some portion of it, in writing. - -The children’s answers[32] in their examination papers, show that -literature has become a living power in the minds of these young -people. - - -II - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN - -(_c_) MORALS AND ECONOMICS: CITIZENSHIP - -Like Literature this subject, too, is ancillary to History. In Form -I, children begin to gather conclusions as to the general life of -the community from tales, fables and the story of one or another -great citizen. In Form II, Citizenship becomes a definite subject -rather from the point of view of what may be called the inspiration -of citizenship than from that of the knowledge proper to a citizen, -though the latter is by no means neglected. We find Plutarch’s -_Lives_ exceedingly inspiring. These are read aloud by the teacher -(with suitable omissions) and narrated with great spirit by the -children. They learn to answer such questions as,--“In what ways -did Pericles make Athens beautiful? How did he persuade the people -to help him?” And we may hope that the idea is engendered of -preserving and increasing the beauty of their own neighbourhood -without the staleness which comes of much exhortation. Again, they -will answer,--“How did Pericles manage the people in time of war -lest they should force him to act against his own judgment?” And -from such knowledge as this we may suppose that the children begin -to get a sympathetic view of the problems of statesmanship. Then, -to come to our own time, they are enabled to answer,--“What do -you know of (_a_) County Councils, (_b_) District Councils, (_c_) -Parish Councils?”--knowledge which should make children perceive -that they too are being prepared to become worthy citizens, each -with his several duties. Our old friend Mrs. Beesley’s _Stories -from the History of Rome_ helps us here in Form IIB instead of -Plutarch, illumined by Macaulay’s _Lays of Ancient Rome_. In giving -children the knowledge of men and affairs which we class under -‘Citizenship’ we have to face the problem of good and evil. Many -earnest-minded teachers will sympathise with one of their number -who said,-- - - “Why give children the tale of Circe, in which there is such - an offensive display of greediness, why not bring them up - exclusively on heroic tales which offer them something to live up - to? Time is short. Why not use it all in giving examples of good - life and instruction in good manners?” - -Again,-- - - “Why should they read any part of _Childe Harold_, and so become - familiar with a poet whose works do not make for edification?” - -Now Plutarch is like the Bible in this, that he does not label the -actions of his people as good or bad but leaves the conscience -and judgment of his readers to make that classification. What to -avoid and how to avoid it, is knowledge as important to the citizen -whether of the City of God or of his own immediate city, as to know -what is good and how to perform the same. Children recognise with -incipient weariness the doctored tale as soon as it is begun to be -told, but the human story with its evil and its good never flags in -interest. Jacob does not pall upon us though he was the elect of -God. We recognise the justice of his own verdict on himself, “few -and evil have been the days of my life.” We recognise the finer -integrity of the foreign kings and rulers that he is brought in -contact with, just as in the New Testament the Roman Centurion is -in every case a finer person than the religious Jew. Perhaps we -are so made that the heroic which is all heroic, the good which -is all virtuous, palls upon us, whereas we preach little sermons -to ourselves on the text of the failings and weaknesses of those -great ones with whom we become acquainted in our reading. Children -like ourselves must see life whole if they are to profit. At the -same time they must be protected from grossness and rudeness by -means of the literary medium through which they are taught. A daily -newspaper is not on a level with Plutarch’s _Lives_, nor with -Andrew Lang’s _Tales of Troy and Greece_, though possibly the same -class of incidents may appear in both. The boy, or girl, aged from -ten to twelve, who is intimate with a dozen or so of Plutarch’s -_Lives_, so intimate that they influence his thought and conduct, -has learned to put his country first and to see individuals only as -they serve or dis-serve the State. Thus he gets his first lesson in -the science of proportion. Children familiar with the great idea -of a State in the sense, not of a government but of the people, -learn readily enough about the laws, customs and government of -their country; learn, too, with great interest something about -themselves, mind and body, heart and soul, because they feel it is -well to know what they have it in them to give to their country. - -We labour under a difficulty in choosing books which has exercised -all great thinkers from Plato to Erasmus, from Erasmus to the -anxious Heads of schools to-day. I mean the coarseness and -grossness which crop up in scores of books desirable otherwise for -their sound learning and judgment. Milton assures us with strong -asseveration that to the pure all things are pure; but we are -uneasy. When pupils in the higher forms read the _Areopagitica_ -they are safeguarded in some measure because they perceive that to -see impurity is to be impure. The younger children are helped by -the knowledge we offer them in _Ourselves_, and chastely taught -children learn to watch over their thoughts ‘because of the -angels.’ So far as we can get them we use expurgated editions; in -other cases the book is read aloud by the teacher with necessary -omissions. We are careful not to associate the processes of nature -whether in the plant or animal world with possible thoughts of -impurity in the mind of a child. One point I should like to touch -upon in this connection. The excessive countenance sometimes -afforded to games by the Heads of schools is not altogether for the -sake of distinction in the games. “I keep under my body,” says St. -Paul, and games which exhaust the physical powers have as their -unspoken _raison d’être_ the desire to keep boys and girls decent. -No doubt they do so to some extent though painful occurrences -come to light in even the best schools. Now a fact not generally -recognised is that offences of the kind which most distress parents -and teachers are _bred in the mind_ and in an empty mind at that. -That is why parents, who endeavour to save their sons from the -corruption of the Public School by having them taught at home, -are apt to miss their mark. The abundant leisure afforded by home -teaching offers that empty chamber swept and garnished which -invites sins that can be committed in thought and in solitude. Our -schools err, too, in not giving anything like enough work of the -kind that from its absorbing interest compels reflection and tends -to secure a mind continually and wholesomely occupied. Supply a -boy with abundant mental pabulum, not in the way of desultory -reading, (that is a sort of idleness which leads to mischief), but -in the way of matter to be definitely known, give him much and -sound food for his imagination, speculation, aspiration, and you -have a wholesome-minded youth to whom work is a joy and games not a -strain but a healthy relaxation and pleasure. I make no apology for -what may appear like a divergence from the subject of citizenship, -because all boys and girls should know that they owe a sound mind -and a sound body as their personal contribution alike to their city -and their State. - -_Ourselves, our Souls and Bodies_ (by the Writer) is much used -in the P.U.S., as I know of no other attempt to present such a -ground plan of human nature as should enable the young student to -know where he is in his efforts to ‘be good’ as the children say. -The point of view taken in this volume is, that all beautiful and -noble possibilities are present in every one; but that each person -is subject to assaults and hindrances in various ways of which he -should be aware in order that he may watch and pray. Hortatory -teaching is apt to bore both young people and their elders; but an -ordered presentation of the possibilities and powers that lie in -human nature, and of the risks that attend these, can hardly fail -to have an enlightening and stimulating effect. - -But the objects we have in view in teaching ‘Everyday Morals’ and -‘Citizenship’ cannot be better illustrated than by a few papers[33] -written by children of various ages, dealing with self management, -and exemplifying the virtues that help and serve city and country. -“Oh dear,” said a little girl coming out of a swimming bath, “I’m -just like Julius Cæsar, I don’t care to do a thing at all if I’m -not best at it.” So, in unlikely ways, and from unlikely sources, -do children gather that little code of principles which shall guide -their lives. - - -II - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN - -(_d_) COMPOSITION - -Composition in Form I (A and B) is almost entirely oral and is so -much associated with Bible history, English history, geography, -natural history, that it hardly calls for a special place on the -programme, where however it does appear as ‘Tales.’ In few things -do certain teachers labour in vain more than in the careful and -methodical way in which they teach composition to young children. -The drill that these undergo in forming sentences is unnecessary -and stultifying, as much so perhaps as such drill would be in the -acts of mastication and deglutination. Teachers err out of their -exceeding goodwill and generous zeal. They feel that they cannot -do too much for children and attempt to do for them those things -which they are richly endowed to do for themselves. Among these -is the art of composition, that art of ‘telling’ which culminates -in a Scott or a Homer and begins with the toddling persons of -two and three who talk a great deal to each other and are surely -engaged in ‘telling’ though no grown-up, not even a mother, can -understand. But children of six can tell to amazing purpose. The -grown-up who writes the tale to their ‘telling’ will cover many -pages before getting to the end of “Hans and Gretel” or “The Little -Match Girl” or a Bible story. The facts are sure to be accurate and -the expression surprisingly vigorous, striking and unhesitating. -Probably few grown-ups could ‘tell’ one of Æsop’s _Fables_ with -the terse directness which children reproduce. Neither are the -children’s narrations incoherent; they go on with their book, -week by week, whatever comes at a given time,--whether it be -Mrs. Gatty’s _Parables from Nature_, Andersen or Grimm or _The -Pilgrim’s Progress_, from the point where they left off,--and there -never is a time when their knowledge is scrappy. They answer such -questions as,--“Tell about the meeting of Ulysses and Telemachus,” -or, “about Jason and Hera.” “Tell how Christian and Hopeful met -with Giant Despair,” or, “about the Shining Ones.” - -Children are in Form IA from 7 to 9 and their reading is wider -and their composition more copious. They will ‘tell’ in their -examinations about the Feeding of the Four Thousand, about the -Building of the Tabernacle, How Doubting Castle was demolished, -about the burning of Old St. Paul’s, How we know that the world is -round and a great deal besides; for all their work lends itself to -oral composition and the power of such composition is innate in -children and is not the result of instruction. Two or three points -are important. Children in IB require a quantity of matter to be -read to them, graduated, not according to their powers which are -always present, but they require a little time to employ their -power of fixed attention and that other power which they possess of -fluent narration. So probably young children should be allowed to -narrate paragraph by paragraph, while children of seven or eight -will ‘tell’ chapter by chapter. Corrections must not be made during -the act of narration, nor must any interruption be allowed. - -Children must not be teased or instructed about the use of stops -or capital letters. These things too come by nature to the child -who reads, and the teacher’s instructions are apt to issue in the -use of a pepper box for commas. We do not say that children should -never read well-intentioned second-rate books, but certainly they -should not read these in school hours by way of lessons. From their -earliest days they should get the habit of reading literature which -they should take hold of for themselves, much or little, in their -own way. As the object of every writer is to explain himself in -his own book, the child and the author must be trusted together, -without the intervention of the middle-man. What his author does -not tell him he must go without knowing for the present. No -explanation will really help him, and explanations of words and -phrases spoil the text and should not be attempted unless children -ask, What does so and so mean? when other children in the class -will probably tell. - -Form II (A and B), (ages 9 to 12). Children in this Form have -a wider range of reading, a more fertile field of thought, and -more delightful subjects for composition. They write their little -essays themselves, and as for the accuracy of their knowledge -and justice of their expression, why, ‘still the wonder grows.’ -They will describe their favourite scene from _The Tempest_ or -_Woodstock_. They write or ‘tell’ stories from work set in Plutarch -or Shakespeare or tell of the events of the day. They narrate from -English, French and General History, from the Old and the New -Testament, from _Stories from the History of Rome_, from Bulfinch’s -_Age of Fable_, from, for example, Goldsmith’s or Wordsworth’s -poems, from _The Heroes of Asgard_: in fact, Composition is not -an adjunct but an integral part of their education in every -subject. The exercise affords very great pleasure to children, -perhaps we all like to tell what we know, and in proportion as -their composition is entirely artless, it is in the same degree -artistic and any child is apt to produce a style to be envied for -its vigour and grace. But let me again say there must be no attempt -to teach composition. Our failure as teachers is that we place too -little dependence on the intellectual power of our scholars, and -as they are modest little souls what the teacher kindly volunteers -to do for them, they feel that they cannot do for themselves. But -give them a fair field and no favour and they will describe their -favourite scene from the play they have read, and much besides. - -Forms III and IV. In these Forms as in I and II what is called -‘composition’ is an inevitable consequence of a free yet exact use -of books and requires no special attention until the pupil is old -enough to take of his own accord a critical interest in the use of -words. The measured cadences of verse are as pleasing to children -as to their elders. Many children write verse as readily as prose, -and the conciseness and power of bringing their subject matter to -a point which this form of composition requires affords valuable -mental training. One thing must be borne in mind. Exercises in -scansion are as necessary in English as in Latin verse. Rhythm and -accent on the other hand take care of themselves in proportion as a -child is accustomed to read poetry. In III and IV as in the earlier -Forms, the matter of their reading during the term, topics of the -day, and the passing of the Seasons, afford innumerable subjects -for short essays or short sets of verses of a more abstract nature -in IV than in III: the point to be considered is that the subject -be one on which, to quote again Jane Austen’s expression, the -imagination of the children has been ‘warmed,’ They should be asked -to write upon subjects which have interested them keenly. Then when -the terminal examination comes they will respond to such a question -as,--“Write twelve lines (which must scan) on ‘Sir Henry Lee,’ or -‘Cordelia,’ or Pericles, or Livingstone,” or, to take a question -from the early day’s of the War, “Discuss Lord Derby’s Scheme. How -is it working?”; or, (IV) an essay on “The new army in the making, -shewing what some of the difficulties have been and what has been -achieved.” - -Forms V and VI. In these Forms some definite teaching in the art -of composition is advisable, but not too much, lest the young -scholars be saddled with a stilted style which may encumber them -for life. Perhaps the method of a University tutor is the best that -can be adopted; that is, a point or two might be taken up in a -given composition and suggestions or corrections made with little -talk. Having been brought up so far upon stylists the pupils are -almost certain to have formed a good style; because they have been -thrown into the society of _many_ great minds, they will not make a -servile copy of any one but will shape an individual style out of -the wealth of material they possess; and because they have matter -in abundance and of the best they will not write mere verbiage. -Here is an example of a programme set for a term’s work in these -two Forms,--“A good précis; letters to _The Times_ on topics of the -day; subjects taken from the term’s work in history and literature; -or notes on a picture study; dialogues between characters occurring -in your literature and history studies; ballads on current events; -(VI) essays on events and questions of the day; a patriotic play in -verse or prose.” Here are questions set for another term,--“Write -a pæan, rhymed or in blank verse, on the Prince of Wales’s tour -in the Dominions.” “An essay, dated 1930, on the imagined work of -the League of Nations.” Form V, “Write a woeful ballad touching -the condition of Ireland, or, a poem on the King’s garden party to -the V.C.’s.” “An essay on the present condition of England, or, on -President Wilson.” - -The response of the young students to such a scheme of study is -very delightful. What they write has literary and sometimes poetic -value, and the fact that they can write well is the least of the -gains acquired. They can read, appreciating every turn of their -author’s thought; and they can bring cultivated minds to bear on -the problems of the hour and the guiding of the State; that is -to say, their education bears at every point on the issues and -interests of every day life, and they shew good progress in the art -of becoming the magnanimous citizens of the future. Here are a few -examples[34] of the compositions of the several Forms. - - -(F. B. IIA. Council School.) - -ARMISTICE DAY - - Soldiers dying, soldiers dead, - Bullets whizzing overhead. - Tommies standing cheerily by. - Waiting for their time to die; - Soon the lull of firing comes, - And naught is heard but the roll of drums. - - And now the last shell crashes down, - A soldier reels in pain - Too late the glad news comes to him. - He never moves again, - He is the Unknown Warrior, - A man without a name. - - Two years have passed and home he comes, - To the hearts that loved him well, - Who is the Unknown Warrior,? - No lips the tale can tell, - His tomb is in the Abbey, - Where the souls of Heroes dwell. - - A nations sorrow and a nations tears, - Have gone with the nameless man, - Who knows, who can tell, the Warriors name, - We think that no man can, - So let our sorrow turn to joy - On the grave of the Unknown man. - - -(A. B. 13¾. III.) - -_Write some lines, in blank verse, that must scan on one of the -following: (a), Scylla and Charybdis; (b), The White Lady of -Avenel; (c), The Prince of Wales in India._ - -THE WHITE LADY OF AVENEL - - The sun had set and night was drawing on, - The hills stood black against the twilight sky. - A faint young crescent moon shone dimly forth - Casting a pale and ghostly radiance - Upon the group of pine trees on the hill, - And silvering the rivers eddying swirl. - Now all was silent, not a sound disturbed - The summer night, and not a breath of wind - Stirred in the pines. All nature slept in peace. - But what was that, standing up in the shade? - A woman, straight, and slim, all clad in white, - Upon her long soft hair a misty crown, - And ever and anon she deeply sighed, - Leaning against the rugged mountain rock, - Like to a moon beam, or a wisp of smoke. - And on her shimmering, moonlit, robe she wore - A golden girdle, in whose links was woven - The fortunes of the house of Avenel. - A cloud past o’er the moon, and the slim ghost - Faded and disapeared into the air. - A breeze sprang up among the pine trees tall; - And then the river murmuring on its way - Whispered a sad lament unto the night. - - -(K. L. 13½. III.) - -_Write in Ballad Metre some lines on “Armistice Day” or “Echo.”_ - -ARMISTICE DAY, or THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR - - Within the ancient Abbey’s sacred pyle, - Which proudly guards the noblest of our dead. - Where kings and statesmen lie in every aisle, - And honoured poets, soldiers, priests are laid; - - Behold a stranger comes. From whence is he? - Is he of noble birth; of rank or fame? - Was he as great as any whom we see - Around, who worked to make themselves a name? - - Surely he is a prince, nay, e’en a king? - For see the waiting thousands gathered here; - And hear the streets of ancient London ring - To the slow tramp of men who guard his bier! - - And, surely, ’tis the King himself who comes - As chiefest mourner on this solemn day, - And these who walk behind him are his sons-- - All here to mourn this man. Who is he? Say! - - How long the ranks of men who follow him - To his last resting-place--the House of God. - Our bishops, soldiers, statesmen all are here, - Gathered to lay him in his native sod. - - You ask “Is he a prince?” I answer “No! - Though none could be interred with greater state! - This man went forth to guard us from a foe, - Which threatened this our land--He did his work!” - - He raised the flag of Liberty on high - And challenging the powers of Wrong and Might - He gave up all he had without a sigh - And died for the good cause of God and Right. - - -Nor is a sense of humour wanting,-- - -(M. O. 13. III.) - -_Write in Ballad Metre some lines on “Echo.”_ - -ECHO - - Jupiter once went away from his wife - To flirt with some nymphs in a wood - But Juno, suspecting that he was with them - Came after as fast as she could. - - Now Echo, a nymph, knew that Juno was there - That the nymphs they would soon be found out, - And so she kept Juno away from the wood - For if they had gone she did doubt. - - But Juno knew all; and her anger was great - And Echo this dreadful thing heard - “Since you are so fond of talking, from now - You only shall have the last word!” - - Now Echo went far from the dwellings of men - And spent her sad life all alone - And often she’d weep and think of the past - And over her fate make her moan. - - Echo loved a Greek youth, but he could not love her. - And she watched him all day from her bower - Till she pined away, all but her voice, which lives still, - And the youth was turned into a flower. - - -(R. C. 15. III. Elementary, Convent School.) - -_Write some verses on (a) ‘Dandie Dinmont,’ or, (b) ‘Atalanta,’ or, -(c) Allenby._ - - Atlanta was a huntress, - Who dearly loved the chase. - She out-ran the deer in fleetness, - And possessed a lovely face. - - Many eager suiters sought her, - But they sought her all in vain, - For she vowed she’d never marry - And her suiters all were slain. - - She had heeded well the warning, - From a witch well skilled in lore, - Who had told her if she married, - Happiness was hers no more. - - Then a youth whom Venus favoured, - Came one day to run the race, - And by throwing golden apples, - He out-ran her in the chase. - - In their hour of joy and triumph - Venus they forget to thank, - And the goddess sore offended, - Lowered them to the wild beast’s rank. - - -(J. T. III.) - - Phaëton was a wilful youth who always got his way. - He asked to drive his father’s charge upon a certain day. - But Phœbus knowing well what danger lurkéth in the sky, - Implored of him to wish again and not that task to try. - But Phaëton determined was to best this dangerous way, - And leaped into the chariot to spite his father’s sway. - The horses started forward at a dashing headlong pace, - Phaëton tried to hold them back and modify the race. - With dreadful swiftness on he flew, losing his proper road, - The earth and sky began to smoke in an alarming mode. - At length when all had burst in flames, Jupiter cried aloud, - Phaëton who had lost his head was killed beneath a cloud. - - -(H. E. M. 15-8/12 IV.) - -_Write thirty lines of blank verse on (a), “A Spring Morning” -(following “A Winter Morning Walk”), or, (b), Pegasus, or, (c), -Allenby._ - -A SPRING MORNING. - - ’Tis Spring; and now the birds with merry song - Sing with full-throated voice to the blue sky - On which small clouds float, soft as a dove’s wing. - Against the blue the pale-green leaflet gleams. - The darker green of elder, further down, - Sets off the brilliance of the hawthorn-hedge. - Close to the ground, the purple violet peeps - From out its nest of overhanging leaves. - On yonder bank the daffodils toss their heads - Under the shady lichen trees so tall. - Close by a chesnut, bursting into leaf, - Drops down it’s sticky calyx on the ground; - An early bumble-bee dives headlong in - To a half-opened flower of early pear. - O’erhead, in the tall beech trees, busy rooks, - With great caw-caws and many angry squawks - Build their great clumsy nests with bits of twig - And little sticks just laid upon a bough. - And by the long, straight, path tall fir trees wave - Their graceful heads in the soft whisp’ring breeze - And pressed against one ruddy trunk, an owl - In vain tries to avoid the light of day, - But blinks his wise old eyes, and shakes himself, - And nestles close amid the sheltering leaves. - Now on the rhubarb-bed we see, glad sight, - Large red buttons, which promise fruit quite soon - And further down the lettuce shoots up pale - Next to a row of parsley, getting old. - But see the peas, their curly tendrils green - Clinging to their stout pea-sticks for support. - - -(B. B. 15. IV.) - -A SPRING MORNING - - Soft on the brown woods - A pale light gleams, - And slowly spreading seems - To change the brown wood to a land of dreams, - Where beneath the trees - The great god Pan, - Doth pipe, half goat, half man, - To satyrs dancing in the dawning wan. - And then comes Phœbus, - The visions fade - And down the dewy glade - The rabbits scuttle o’er the rings they made. - In the fields near-by - The cattle rise - And where the river lies - A white mist rises to the welcoming skies. - Where the downs arise - And blue sky crowns - Their heads, fast o’er the mounds - The mist is driv’n to where the ocean sounds. - White wings against blue sky, - Gulls from the cliffs rise, - Watching, with eyes - That see from shore to where the sky line lies, - Where blue sea fades in bluer skies - Soft, doth the tide creep - O’er the golden sands - With sea-weed strands - Which, mayhap, knew the dawn of other lands. - - -(R. B. IV.) - -_Write thirty lines of blank verse on “Pegasus.”_ - - The sky was blue and flecked with tiny clouds - Like sheep they ran before the driving wind - The sun was setting like a big red rose - The clouds that flew by him like rose-buds were - And as I gaz’d I saw a little cloud - White as the flower that rises in the spring - Come nearer, nearer, nearer as I looked - And as it came it took a diff’rent shape - It seemed to turn into a fairy steed. - White as the foam that rides the roaring waves - Still it flew on until it reached the earth - And galloping full lightly came to me - And then I saw it was a wondrous thing - It leapt about the grass and gently neighed - I heard its voice sound like a crystal flute - “Oh come” he said “with me ascend the sky - Above the trees, above the hills we’ll soar - Until we reach the home of all the gods - There will we stay and feast awhile with them - And dance with Juno and her maidens fair - And hear dear Orpheus and the pipes of Pan - And wander, wander, wander up above” - “Oh fairy steed, oh angel steed” I said - “Horse fit for Jupiter himself to ride - What is thy name I pray thee tell me this” - Then came the magic voice of him again - “If thou wilt know my name then come with me.” - Yet tell me first I hesitating said - He told me and when I had heard the name - I leapt upon his back and flew with him. - - -(A. B. 16. V.) - -_Some verses, in the metre of Pope’s “Essay on Man,” on the meeting -of the League of Nations._ - - From each proud kingdom and each petty state - The statesmen meet together to debate - Upon the happy time when wars shall cease - And joy shall reign, and universal peace. - No more shall day with radience cruelly bright - Glare down upon the carnage of the fight. - No more shall night’s dark cloak be rent aside - By flashing shells and searchlight’s stealthy glide - No more shall weary watchers wait at home - With straining eyes for those that cannot come - The nations shall forget their strife and greed - The strong shall help the weak in time of need - May they succeed in every peaceful plan - If war can cease as long as man is man. - - -(E. H. 16-11/12. V.) - -_Gather up in blank verse the impressions you have received from -your reading of Tennyson’s poems._ - - Take up a volume of the poet’s works, - Read on, lay it aside, and take thy pen, - Endeavour in a few, poor, worthless lines - To give expression of thy sentiments.... - Surely this man loved all the joys of life, - Saw beauty in the smallest and the least, - Put plainer things that hitherto were dim, - And lit a candle in the darkest room. - His thoughts, now sad, now gay, may surely be - The solace sweet for many a weary hour, - His words, drunk deeply, seem to live and burn - Clear, radiant, gleaming from the printed page. - Nature to him was dear and so has made - Her wiles for other men a treasure vast. - Old Books, his master mind could comprehend - Are shown to us as pictures to a child. - Read on--and when the volume’s put away, - Muse on the learnings thou hast found therein; - The time thus spent thou never will repent, - For love of good things all should seek and find. - - -(E. P. H. 16-11/12 V.) - -A LULLABY SONG - - The little waves are sighing on the shore, - And the little breezes sobbing in the trees; - But the little stars are shining, - In the sky’s blue velvet lining, - And Lady Sleep is tapping at the door. - - The little gulls are flying home to shore, - And the little lights are flashing from the ships, - But close your eyes, my sweet, - And be ready then to greet - Dear Lady Sleep who’s tapping at the door. - - The wind is rising all around the shore, - And the fishing boats speed home before the gale; - But hark not to the rain - That is lashing on the pane, - For Lady Sleep has entered by the door. - - The storm has sunk the ships and swept the shore, - But there’s weeping in the town and on the quay, - But, sweet, you’re dreaming fast - Even though the dawn be past, - And Lady Sleep has gone, and closed the door. - - -(M. H. 17⅓. VI.) - -_Write a letter in the manner of Gray on any Modern Topic._ - - Mr. Gray to Mr. ---- At Torquay. - - My dear ---- - - “Savez vous que je vous hais, que je vous deteste--voici des - termes un peu forts,” still, I think that they are justified, - imagine leaving a friend for two months in this place without - once taking up the pen upon his behalf. If this neglect be due - only to your low spirits, I will for once pardon you but only - upon condition that you should come down here to visit me and at - the same time strengthen your constitution. I can promise you but - little diversion, but I think that the scenery will repay the - journey--not to speak of myself. You will also be able to study - many “venerable vegetables” which are not usually to be found in - England. But, I waste your time and my paper with these “bêtises” - and I know well upon what subject your mind is at present - dwelling--which of us indeed is not thinking of Ireland. I would - give much to hear your views upon the subject. For my part it - seems to me that there can be but one true view, and it surprises - me mightily to hear so much discussion upon the subject. Are we - not truly a peculiar nation who pass bills of Home Rule etc., - with much discussion and debate, when neither of the two parties - concerned will accept the conditions that we offer them? The one - considering they give too little freedom, and the other too much. - Accursed be the man who invented a bill which was and will be the - cause of so much trouble “in sæcula sæculorum.” Surely we need - not have any doubt as to what line of action we should adopt, - surely it has not been the habit of England to let her subjects - revolt without an attempt to quell them, surely the government - will not stand by and see its servants murdered, and the one - loyal province oppressed. But alas many things are possible with - such a government. Here it is said by people who have been driven - from that country by incendiaries that the Government will let - things take their course till everything is in such a condition - that the Premier will rise in the house and say “You see how - things stand--it is no use trying to control Ireland, let us - leave it to the Seinn Feiners, and live happily ever afterwards, - free from such unprofitable cares.” - - Such is the talk, but I believe it not. We have as a nation - always muddled things but we have muddled through triumphant - in the end. It is so obvious that our interests and those of - Ireland co-incide, that even to contemplate separation is to me - incredible. - - Thus I remain your harassed friend, etc. - - -(N. S. 15-10/12. VI.) - -_Gather up in blank verse the impressions you have received from -your reading of Tennyson’s poems._ - -ON READING TENNYSON’S POEMS. - - Oh! Prophet of an era yet to come, - When men shall sing where men were wont to speak - In words which even Englishmen knew not. - And when I read thy songs, at once I felt - The breath of Nature that was lurking there. - And then I knew that all thy life thou dwelt - Amid the changing scenes of Nature’s play, - And knew the very language of the birds, - And drank the essence of the honeysuckle. - And when thou wast but young, I knew thy thoughts, - Thy Doubts and struggles, for thou gave them me; - And yet, had I been thee, my thoughts would still - Have rested deep within my heart; but still - T’would be relief to pour out all my woes - In the sweet flow of sympathetic verse. - Thy epithets produce a vivid scene - Of knights in armour or of maiden fair, - And yet, methinks, the fairness of her face - Doth sometimes cover many a fault below. - But to thy genius and thy work for ever - Be owed a debt of thankfulness that we - No longer tread the paths of level Pope - Or read those words that are not English-born. - - -(K. B. 16. V.) - -THE CLOUDS - - Among the spirits of the nearer air - There are three children of the sun and sea-- - The Genii of the clouds; it is their care - To give the ocean’s bounty to the earth: - Oft they retain it in a time of dearth, - But they give all, however much it be. - - The youngest of the three is very fair; - She is a maiden beautiful and sweet, - Of ever varying mood, changeful as air. - Now, plunged in merriment, she takes delight - In all she sees, now tears obscure her sight; - A breeze-swept lake shows not a change more fleet. - - The fleecy clouds of April own her sway-- - They, golden, lie against the golden sun, - Or sport across the blue when she is gay; - But when, anon, her girlish passions rise, - She marshalls them across the sunny skies - To flood the earth, then stops ere half begun. - - Her elder brother is of different mien, - The clouds he governs are of different mould; - When the earth pants for moisture he is seen - To spread his clouds across the filmy blue. - When his rain falls, it steady is and true; - Persistent, gentle, ceaseless, yet not cold. - - From the grey bowl with which he caps the earth, - It sweetly falls with earth-renewing force. - Not April’s rapid change from grief to mirth - Excites its fall, but calm, determined thought - Of middle age, of deeds from judgment wrought; - He recks not blame, but still pursues his course. - - Aged, yet of awesome beauty is the third, - Of flashing eye and sullen, scornful brow-- - With an imperious hand she guides her herd - Of wild, tempestuous mood; quick roused to ire - Is she, slow to forgive, of vengeance dire; - Before her awful glance the tree-tops bow. - - And when enraged, she stretches forth a hand-- - A long, thin hand--to North, South, East and West, - And draws from thence clouds num’rous as the sand; - They crowd on the horizon, and blot out - The sun’s fair light; then, like a giant’s shout, - The thunder booms at her dread spear’s behest. - - -(A. P. V.) - -_Sketch a scene between a “Mr. Woodhouse” of to-day and a neighbour -of his._ - - SCENE:--Mr. Woodhouse’s private study. - - _Persons present_:--Owner of study, and Miss Syms, a very modern - young lady. - - _Mr. Woodhouse._--“Oh, good afternoon Miss Syms, I am charmed to - see you. Dear, dear, how dark it is. One might almost think it - were evening, if the clock opposite did not directly oppose the - fact.” - - _Miss S._--“Oh, I don’t know, it’s not so bad out. I’m awfully - sorry to blow in like this, but I came to enquire after Miss - Woodhouse’s cold. Is she better?” - - _Mr. W._--“How very thoughtful of you! No, I am afraid dear - Emma is very indisposed. It is so trying having an invalid in - the house, it makes me quite miserable when I think of my poor - daughter having to stay all alone, in bed. But really, that is - almost the best place in this dreadful weather. Do you really - mean to say that you have been taking a walk.” - - _Miss S._--“Yes, why on earth shouldn’t I? It’s about the only - way to get really warm.” - - _Mr. W._--“If the liberty might be allowed me, (dryly) I should - say, that it was the one way in which to get a feverish cold, - besides making oneself thoroughly miserable; and the ground is so - damp under foot!” - - _Miss S._--“Oh, it hasn’t been raining much lately. I only got - caught in a little shower, (visible start from Mr. W.). (coyly,) - Excuse me, but is that a box of cigarettes up there on the - mantlepiece?” - - _Mr. W._--“Cigarettes? Oh, no! I couldn’t think of keeping them - near the house. I _never_ smoke. It irritates my throat, which is - naturally weak.” - - _Miss S._--“But don’t your visiters ever take the liberty - of enjoying something of the sort? Besides, what about Miss - Woodhouse?” - - _Mr. W._--(horrified,) “Dear Emma smoke a cigarette!! Why, I - never heard of such a thing. What would she say if I told her. - Dear Emma smoke, no, no, certainly not.” - - _Miss S._--(Laughing,) “Oh, I am sure I’m very sorry. I didn’t - mean to offend. - - How do you think the old Johnnies in Ireland are behaving - themselves?” - - _Mr. W._--(coldly,) “I _beg_ your pardon.” - - _Miss S._--(sweetly,) “I said, how do you think matters are - looking, in Ireland.” - - _Mr. W._--“I am sorry, I think I could not have heard aright - before.--Matters in Ireland, yes, oh I think the Irish rebels are - positively awful. To think of breaking into houses, and turning - the poor inhabitants out into the cold streets, (where they - probably nearly die of cold), it is too dreadful!” - - _Miss S._--“Oh, I s’pose they are rather brutes sometimes. But - in a way I almost sympathise with them. I wouldn’t like to have - to knuckle under to the English (catching sight of Mr. W.’s - expression of horror and pained surprise,) I really think I’d - better get a move on. Please don’t look at me like that! I really - don’t mean half I say. Cheerio!!” - - _Mr. W._--“Good afternoon Miss Syms, it was so kind of you to - come. (aside) Oh, how unfeeling of dear Emma to have a cold, if - it means visiters like this every hour. (aloud,) Good afternoon, - can you find your way out. I really shall catch cold if I move - out of this room!!” - - -(E. G. 17. V.) - -_Write some lines on “Spring” in the metre of “Allegro.”_ - -SPRING - - Begone! for a short space - Ye whistling winds, and fogs, and snowy clouds, - And frosts that with fair lace - Each window-pane in dainty pattern shrouds, - Offsprings of Winter, ye! - Begone! find out some icy arctic land. - Upon that cheerless strand - ’Mongst piercing ice, and chilling glaciers dwell - Such regions suit ye well, - Go, cold Winter, well are we rid of thee! - Come Spring, thou fairest season come! - With the bee’s enchanting hum, - And the dainty blossoms swinging - On the tree, while birds are singing, - See how they clothe the branches gray - In dress of freshest pink, all day, - Then when the dewy evening falls - They close their flowers till Morning calls. - Sweet Morn! Spring leads thee by the hand - And bids thee shine o’er all the land; - Thou send’st forth beams of purest gold, - To bid the daffodils unfold, - While Spring bends down with her fresh lips - To kiss the daisie’s petal tips. - And as she walks o’er the green sward - A cheerful mavis, perfect bard - Breaks into song; his thrilling notes - Are echoed from a hundred throats - Of eager birds, who love to sing - To their sweet mistress, fairest Spring. - Then as she sits on mossy throne - A scarlet lady-bird, alone, - Bids her good welcome; and above - Is heard the cooing of the dove. - Two butterflies in russet clad - Fly round her head with flutt’rings glad; - While at her side a giddy fly - Buzzes his joy that she is nigh, - Oh! Spring my heart’s desire shall be - That thou wilt ever dwell with me! - - -II - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN - -(_e_) LANGUAGES - -_English_ is rather a logical study dealing with sentences and -the positions that words occupy in them than with words and what -they are in their own right. Therefore it is better that a child -should begin with a sentence and not with the parts of speech, that -is, he should learn a little of what is called analysis before he -learns to parse. It requires some effort of abstraction for a child -to perceive that when we speak, we speak about something and say -something about it; and he has learned nearly all the grammar that -is necessary when he knows that when we speak we use sentences -and that a sentence makes sense; that we can put words together -so as to make utter nonsense, as,--“Tom immediately candlestick -uproarious nevertheless”--a string of words making perfect nonsense -and therefore not a sentence. If we use words in such a way as to -make sense we get a sentence; “John goes to school” is a sentence. -Every sentence has two parts, (1), the thing we speak of, and (2), -what we say about it. We speak of John, we say about him that he -goes to school. At this stage the children require many exercises -in finding out the first and second parts of simple sentences. -When they are quite familiar with the fact that the first part of -a sentence is what we speak about, they may get a name for it, -subject, which will be made simpler to them if they know the word -subject means that which we talk about. For instance, we may say, -the subject of conversation was parsley, which is another way of -saying the thing we were speaking about was parsley. To sum up such -a lesson, the class should learn,--Words put together so as to make -sense form a sentence. A sentence has two parts, that which we -speak of and what we say about it. That which we speak of is the -subject. - -Children will probably be slow to receive this first lesson in -abstract knowledge, and we must remember that knowledge in this -sort is difficult and uncongenial. Their minds deal with the -concrete and they have the singular faculty of being able to make -concrete images out of the merest gossamer of a fairy tale. A seven -year old child sings,-- - - “I cannot see fairies, - I dream them. - There is no fairy that can hide from me; - I keep on dreaming till I find him. - There you are, Primrose! I see you, Blackwing!” - -But a child cannot dream parts of speech, and any grown-up twaddle -attempting to personify such abstractions offends a small person -who with all his love of play and nonsense has a serious mind. Most -children can be got to take in the notion of a sentence as, words -making sense, especially if they are allowed a few excursions into -non-sense, the gibberish of strings of words which do not make -sense. Again, by dint of many interesting exercises in which they -never lose sight of the _subject_, they get hold of that idea also. - -One more initial idea is necessary if children are not to wander -blindfold through the mazes of grammar ‘as she is’ not ‘spoke,’ -but writ in books. They must be familiar with verbs and perhaps -the simplest way to approach this idea is to cause them to make -sentences with two words, the thing they speak of and what they say -about it,--Mary sings, Auntie knits, Henry runs. In each of these -examples, the child will see the thing we speak of and what we say -about it. - -But these are matters familiar to all teachers and we have nothing -new in the teaching of grammar to suggest; but we probably gain in -the fact that our scholars pay full attention to grammar, as to all -other lessons. We look forward hopefully to the result of efforts -so to unify grammar that it will no longer perplex the student, as -English, Latin, French grammar, each with its own nomenclature. - -Children in Form IIB have easy French Lessons with pictures which -they describe, but in IIA while still engaged on the _Primary -French Course_ children begin to use the method which is as full of -promise in the teaching of languages as in English, that is, they -are expected to narrate the sentence or paragraph which has been -read to them. Young children find little difficulty in using French -vocables, but at this stage the teacher should with the children’s -help translate the little passage which is to be narrated, then -re-read it in French and require the children to narrate it. This -they do after a time surprisingly well, and the act of narrating -gives them some command of French phrases as far as they go, much -more so than if they learnt the little passage off by heart. They -learn French songs in both divisions and act _French Fables_ (by -Violet Partington) in Form IIA. This method of closely attentive -reading of the text followed by narration is continued in each -of the Forms. Thus Form II is required to “Describe in French, -picture 20.” “Narrate the story _Esope et le Voyageur_.” Part of -the term’s work in Form III is to “Read and narrate _Nouveaux -Contes Français_, by Marc Ceppi.” Form IV is required amongst other -things to “Read and narrate Molière’s _Les Femmes Savantes_.” -Forms V and VI are required to “Write a résumé of _Le Misanthrope_ -or _L’Avare_,” “Translate into French, _Modern Verse_, page 50, -‘Leisure.’” - -We have not space to follow in detail the work of the P.U.S. in -French, which of course includes the usual attention to French -Grammar but it may interest the reader to see the sort of thing -that students of the House of Education are able to accomplish in -the way of narration. The French mistress gives, let us suppose, a -lecture in history or literature lasting, say, for half an hour. At -the end the students will narrate the substance of the lecture with -few omissions and few errors. Here is an example of the sort of -thing Mr. Household heard, on the occasion of a short visit to the -House of Education, Ambleside,-- - - “A French lesson was given to the second-year students by the - French mistress, a native of Tournai, who came to Ambleside in - 1915. She had been teaching in England for some years, but had - not previously come into contact with Miss Mason’s methods. - Those methods were exactly followed during the lesson. There - was the book of recognised literary merit, the single reading, - and the immediate narration--of course in French. The book was - Alphonse Daudet’s _Lettres de Mon Moulin_, and the story read - was ‘La Chèvre de M. Seguin.’ Before the reading began, a few--a - very few--words of explanation were given--of course, in French. - Then nine pages of the story were read straight through by the - mistress, without pause or interruption of any kind, at the same - pace that one would read an English story. The students followed - by ear only: they had no books. As soon as the reading ended, - on the instant, without hesitation of any kind, narration began - in French, different members of the class taking up the story - in turn till it was finished. All were good; some astonishingly - good. To all French was a tongue in which they could think and - speak with considerable facility. Yet the time given to French - is two hours and three-quarters a week only. Such results compel - attention. It may be added that last year the writer heard a - history lecture on the reign of Louis XI given in French by - the same mistress to the then senior students, and the content - of the lecture was narrated in a similar manner, with the same - astonishing success.” - -This hitherto unused power of concentrated attention in the study -of languages whether ancient or modern appears to hold promise of -making us at last a nation of linguists. We have attained very good -results in Italian and German by this same method, both in the -House of Education and the Practising School belonging to it, and -we are in a fair way to produce noticeable results in Latin. The -Classical mistress writes,-- - - “Latin is taught at the House of Education by means of narration - after each section has been thoroughly studied in grammar, syntax - and style. The literature studied increases in difficulty as - the pupil advances in grammar, etc. Nothing but good Latin is - ever narrated, so the pupil acquires style as well as structure. - The substance of the passage is usually reproduced with the - phraseology and style of the original and both students and - children learn what is really Latin and realise that it is a - language and not a mere grammar.” - -Here we get Grammar, that is, construction, learned as we learn it -in English, at the lips of those who know, and the extraordinary -readiness in acquiring new words shewn by the scholars promises -English folk the copious vocabulary in one or another foreign -language, the lack of which is a national distress. - - -II - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN - -(_f_) ART - -There are few subjects regarded with more respect and less -confidence in our schools than this of ‘Art.’ Of course, we say, -children should have their artistic powers cultivated, especially -those who have such powers, but _how_ is the question. The neat -solution offered by South Kensington in the sixties,--freehand -drawing, perspective, drawing from the round, has long been -rejected; but nothing definite has taken its place and we still -see models of cones, cubes and so on, disposed so that the eye may -take them in freely and that the hand may perhaps produce what the -eye has seen. But we begin now to understand that art is not to be -approached by such a macadamised road. It is of the spirit, and -in ways of the spirit must we make our attempt. We recognise that -the power of appreciating art and of producing to some extent an -interpretation of what one sees is as universal as intelligence, -imagination, nay, speech, the power of producing words. But there -must be knowledge and, in the first place, not the technical -knowledge of how to produce, but some reverent knowledge of what -has been produced; that is, children should learn pictures, line -by line, group by group, by reading, not books, but pictures -themselves. A friendly picture-dealer supplies us with half a dozen -beautiful little reproductions of the work of some single artist, -term by term. After a short story of the artist’s life and a few -sympathetic words about his trees or his skies, his river-paths or -his figures, the little pictures are studied one at a time; that -is, children learn, not merely to see a picture but _to look at -it_, taking in every detail. Then the picture is turned over and -the children tell what they have seen,--a dog driving a flock of -sheep along a road but nobody with the dog. Ah, there is a boy -lying down by the stream drinking. It is morning as you can see -by the light so the sheep are being driven to pasture, and so on; -nothing is left out, the discarded plough, the crooked birch, the -clouds beautiful in form and threatening rain, there is enough for -half an hour’s talk and memory in this little reproduction of a -great picture and the children will know it wherever they see it, -whether a signed proof, a copy in oils, or the original itself in -one of our galleries. We hear of a small boy with his parents in -the National Gallery; the boy, who had wandered off on his own -account, came running back with the news,--“Oh, Mummy, there’s -one of our Constables on that wall.” In this way children become -acquainted with a hundred, or hundreds, of great artists during -their school-life and it is an intimacy which never forsakes them. -A group of children are going up to London for a treat. “Where -would you like to go?” “Oh, Mummy, to the National Gallery to see -the Rembrandts.” Young people go to tea in a room strange to them -and are delighted to recognise two or three reproductions of De -Hooch’s pictures. In the course of school-life children get an Open -Sesame to many art galleries, and to many a cultivated home; and -life itself is illustrated for them at many points. For it is true -as Browning told us,-- - - “For, don’t you mark, we’re made so that we love - First when we see them painted, things we have passed - Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see.” - -Here is an example of how beautiful and familiar things give quite -new delight when they are pictured. A lady writes,-- - - “I was invited to a small village to talk about the P.U. School. - Twelve really interested women came in spite of heavy rain.... I - suggested introducing them to some of the friends their children - had made and we had a delightful picture talk with Jean B. - Corot, delightful to me because of the way one woman especially - narrated. She did it as if she had been set free for the first - time for months. It was the ‘Evening’ picture with a canal on the - right and that splendid mass of quiet trees in the centre. The - others gave bits of the picture but she gave the whole thing. It - was a green pasture to her.” - -The noteworthy thing is that these women were familiar with all -such details as Corot offers in their own beautiful neighbourhood, -but Browning is right; we learn to see things when we see them -painted. - -It will be noticed that the work[35] done on these pictures is -done by the children themselves. There is no talk about schools of -painting, little about style; consideration of these matters comes -in later life, but the first and most important thing is to know -the pictures themselves. As in a worthy book we leave the author -to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale -through the medium the artist gave it. In the region of art as -elsewhere we shut out the middleman. - -Forms V and VI are asked to,--“Describe, with study in sepia, -Corot’s ‘Evening.’” Beyond this of a rough study from memory of -a given picture or of any section of it, these picture studies -do not afford much material for actual drawing; they are never -copied lest an attempt to copy should lessen a child’s reverence -for great work. We are shy in speaking of what we do in actual -drawing since Herr Cizek came among us and shewed what great -things children could do with scarcely any obvious teaching and -but little suggestion. But probably such work is only to be done -under the inspiration of an artist of unusual powers and I am -writing for teachers who depend upon their children rather than -upon themselves. They illustrate favourite scenes and passages -in the books read during the term and the spirit with which the -illustrations are drawn and the fitting details introduced make -the teacher aware of how much more the children have seen in the -passage than he has himself. Their courage in grappling with -points of technique is very instructive. They tackle a crowd with -wonderful ingenuity, a crowd listening to Mark Antony’s oration, -cheering the Prince of Wales in India, in fact wherever a crowd is -wanted it is suggested pretty much as an artist would give it by -a show of heads. Like those Viennese children they use all their -paper, whether for a landscape or the details in a room. They -give you horses leaping brooks, dogs running after cats, sheep -on the road, always with a sense of motion. It is evident that -children study the figures they see with due attention and will -give you a gardener sharpening his scythe, their mother sewing, -a man rowing, or driving, or mowing. Their chairs stand on four -legs and their figures on two feet in a surprising way, and they -are always on the watch to correct their errors by what they see. -They have a delightful and courageous sense of colour, and any -child will convince you that he has it in him to be an artist. -Their field studies give them great scope. The first buttercup in -a child’s nature note book is shockingly crude, the sort of thing -to scandalise a teacher of brush-drawing, but by and by another -buttercup will appear with the delicate poise, uplift and radiance -of the growing flower. - -Drawing is generally so well taught now that we need do no more -than emphasize one or two special points in our work, such as the -definite study of pictures and the illustrations of Nature Note -Books. - -We do what is possible to introduce children to Architecture; and -we practise clay-modelling and the various artistic handicrafts, -but there is nothing unusual in our work in these directions.[36] - -With Musical Appreciation the case is different; and we cannot do -better than quote from an address made by Mrs. Howard Glover at the -Ambleside Conference of the Parents’ Union, 1922:-- - - “Musical Appreciation--which is so much before the eye at the - present moment--originated in the P.N.E.U. about twenty-five - years ago. At that time I was playing to my little child much of - the best music in which I was interested, and Miss Mason happened - to hear of what I was doing. She realised that music might give - great joy and interest to the life of all, and she felt that just - as children in the P.U.S. were given the greatest literature - and art, so they should have the greatest music as well. She - asked me to write an article in the _Review_ on the result of my - observations, and to make a programme of music each term which - might be played _to_ the children. From that day to this, at the - beginning of every term a programme has appeared; thus began a - movement which was to spread far and wide. - - “Musical Appreciation, of course, has nothing to do with playing - the piano. It used to be thought that ‘learning music’ must mean - this, and it was supposed that children who had no talent for - playing were unmusical and would not like concerts. But Musical - Appreciation had no more to do with playing an instrument than - acting had to do with an appreciation of Shakespeare, or painting - with enjoyment of pictures. I think that all children should take - Musical Appreciation and not only the musical ones, for it has - been proved that only three per cent. of children are what is - called ‘tone-deaf’; and if they are taken at an early age it is - astonishing how children who appear to be without ear, develop it - and are able to enjoy listening to music with understanding.” - - -SECTION III - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE - -(_a_) SCIENCE[37] - -Huxley’s axiom that science teaching in the schools should be -of the nature of ‘common information’ is of use in defining our -limitations in regard to the teaching of science. We find another -limitation in the fact that children’s minds are not in need of the -mental gymnastics that such teaching is supposed to afford. They -are entirely alert and eager to know. Books dealing with science -as with history, say, should be of a literary character, and we -should probably be more scientific as a people if we scrapped all -the text-books which swell publishers’ lists and nearly all the -chalk expended so freely on our blackboards. The French mind has -appreciated the fact that the approach to science as to other -subjects should be more or less literary, that the principles which -underlie science are at the same time so simple, so profound and -so far-reaching that the due setting forth of these provokes what -is almost an emotional response; these principles are therefore -meet subjects for literary treatment, while the details of their -application are so technical and so minute as,--except by way of -illustration,--to be unnecessary for school work or for general -knowledge. We have not a copious scientific literature in English -but we have quite enough to go on with in our schools. We find an -American publication called _The Sciences_ (whose author would seem -to be an able man of literary power) of very great value in linking -universal principles with common incidents of every day life in -such a way that interest never palls and any child may learn on -what principles an electric bell works, what sound means, how a -steam engine works, and many other matters, explained here with -great lucidity. Capital diagrams and descriptions make experiments -easy and children arrive at their first notions of science without -the verbiage that darkens counsel. Form IIA read _Life and Her -Children_ by Arabella Buckley and get a surprising knowledge of the -earlier and lower forms of life. IIB take pleasure in Kingsley’s -_Madam How and Lady Why_. They are expected to do a great deal -of out-of-door work in which they are assisted by _The Changing -Year_, admirable month by month studies of what is to be seen -out-of-doors. They keep records and drawings in a Nature Note Book -and make special studies of their own for the particular season -with drawings and notes. - -The studies of Form III for one term enable children to--“Make -a rough sketch of a section of ditch or hedge or sea-shore and -put in the names of the plants you would expect to find.” “Write -notes with drawings of the special study you have made this term.” -“What do you understand by calyx, corolla, stamen, pistil? In -what ways are flowers fertilised?” “How would you find the Pole -Star? Mention six other stars and say in what constellations they -occur.” “How would you distinguish between Early, Decorated and -Perpendicular Gothic? Give drawings.” Questions like these, it will -be seen, cover a good deal of field work, and the study of some -half dozen carefully selected books on natural history, botany, -architecture and astronomy, the principle being that children -shall observe and chronicle, but shall not depend upon their own -unassisted observation. - -The study of natural history and botany with bird lists and plant -lists continues throughout school life, while other branches of -science are taken term by term. - -The questions for Form IV for one term illustrate the various -studies of the scholars in natural history, general science, -hygiene and physiology; in fact, their studies are so various that -it is difficult to give each a separate title in the programme:-- - - - GEOGRAPHY. - - 1. Write a short sketch of Central Asia, with map. - - 2. Compare Palestine with the Yorkshire moors. Describe the - valley of the Jordan. - - 3. “There is but one Nelson.” Illustrate by half-a-dozen - instances. - - 4. What is said in _Eöthen_ of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? - - - NATURAL HISTORY. - - 1. What do you know of (_a_), the manatee, (_b_), the whalebone - whale (sketch of skeleton), (_c_), porpoises and dolphins? - - _or_, 1. Describe (_a_), quartz crystals, (_b_), felspar, (_c_), - mica, (_d_), hornblende. In what rock do these occur? - - 2. What do you know of insectivorous plants? Name those you know. - - 3. What circumstances strike you in a walk in summer? - - - GENERAL SCIENCE. - - 1. What do you understand by,--(_a_), electrical attraction, - (_b_), repulsion, (_c_), conductors, (_d_), insulators, (_e_), - methods of obtaining electricity? - - 2. Prove that “you never see matter itself,” and show how sight - gives us knowledge. - - - PHYSIOLOGY. - - 1. Describe the structure of the human ear. - -Perhaps _Some Wonders of Matter_ by Bishop Mercer is the most -inspiring of the half-dozen volumes in current use in Form IV for -this section of their work. The questions indicate the varied -nature of the work and the answers shew that in every case the -knowledge is fairly wide and thorough. All the children in the -school are usually ready to answer each question on the work of the -term. - -Forms V and VI again cover a wide field as the following questions -on a term’s work sufficiently indicate,-- - - - GEOGRAPHY. - - VI. - - 1. Show how the discovery of the New World affected England in - commerce and war. - - 2. According to what general law is life distributed on the earth? - - 3. Describe the Siege of Mexico by Cortes, and its surrender. - - VI. & V. - - 4. How has the war affected (_a_), Luxembourg, (_b_), the Eastern - frontier of Belgium, (_c_), Antwerp and the Scheldt? - - V. - - 1. Show how the Restoration affected our American possessions. - - 2. Show accurately how longitude is determined. - - 3. Sketch the history and character of Montezuma. - - - GEOLOGY AND GENERAL SCIENCE. - - VI. - - 1. Discuss fully (_a_), the cause of radio-activity, (_b_), - gravitation. - - 2. What have you to say of the scenic aspects of the English - Trias? Name a dozen of the fossils. Sketch half-a-dozen. - - V. - - 1. Give as full an explanation as you can of colour. - - 2. Describe the composition of the igneous rocks. Where do they - appear? - - - BIOLOGY, BOTANY, ETC. - - VI. - - 1. What are the characters of the backboneless animals? Describe - half-a-dozen examples. - - 2. Describe and account for the vegetation of (_a_), woodlands, - (_b_), heath, (_c_), moorland, (_d_), meadow. - - V. - - 1. How would you classify the industries of animals? Give - examples. - - 2. Describe the flora of the seashore. - - VI. & V. - - 3. Describe, with drawings, the special study you have made this - term. - - - ASTRONOMY. - - VI. - - 1. What do you understand by precession? Describe the precession - and mutation of the earth’s axis. - - V. - - 1. Write an essay on the planet Mercury. - -If we wanted an excuse for affording children a wide syllabus -introducing them at any rate to those branches of science of which -every normal person should have some knowledge, we find it in -the deprecatory words of Sir Richard Gregory in his Presidential -Address in the Education Science Section of the British -Association. He said that,-- - - “Education might be defined as a deliberate adjustment of a - growing human being to its environment, and the scope and - character of the subjects of instruction should be determined - by this biological principle. What was best for one race or - epoch need not be best for another. The essential mission of - school science was to prepare pupils for civilised citizenship - by revealing to them something of the beauty and the power of - the world in which they lived, as well as introducing them to - the methods by which the boundaries of natural knowledge had - been extended. School science, therefore, was not intended to - prepare for vocations, but to equip pupils for life. It should - be part of a general education, unspecialised, but in no direct - connexion with possible university courses to follow. Less than - three per cent. of the pupils from State-aided secondary schools - proceeded to universities, and yet most of the science courses in - these schools were based on syllabuses of the type of university - entrance examinations. The needs of the many were sacrificed to - the few. - - “Too much importance was attached to what could be covered by - personal experiment and observation. Every science examination - qualifying for the first school certificate, which now - represented subjects normally studied up to about sixteen years - of age, was mainly a test of practical acquaintance with facts - and principles encountered in particular limited fields, but not - a single one afforded recognition of a broad and ample course - of instruction in science such as was a necessary complement to - laboratory work. - - “The numbers [of examination candidates] suggested that general - scientific teaching was almost non-existent. The range of - instruction in the portions of subjects taken, moreover, was - almost confined to what could be taught in a laboratory. Reading - or teaching for interest or to learn how physical science was - daily extending the power of man received little attention - because no credit for knowledge thus gained was given in - examinations. There was very special need for the reminder that - science was not all measurement, nor all measurement science.” - -It is reassuring to see methods that we have pursued for -over thirty years with admirable results recommended thus -authoritatively. The only sound method of teaching science is to -afford a due combination of field or laboratory work, with such -literary comments and amplifications as the subject affords. For -example, from _Ethics of the Dust_ children derive a certain -enthusiasm for crystals as such that their own unaided observation -would be slow to afford. As a matter of fact the teaching of -science in our schools has lost much of its educative value through -a fatal and quite unnecessary divorce between science and the -‘humanities.’ - -The nature note books which originated in the P.U.S. have -recommended themselves pretty widely as travelling companions and -life records wherein the ‘finds’ of every season, bird or flower, -fungus or moss, is sketched, and described _somewhat_ in the -manner of Gilbert White. The nature note book is very catholic and -finds room for the stars in their courses and for, say, the fossil -anemone found on the beach at Whitby. Certainly these note books -do a good deal to bring science within the range of common thought -and experience; we are anxious not to make science a utilitarian -subject. - - -GEOGRAPHY - -The teaching of Geography suffers especially from the utilitarian -spirit. The whole tendency of modern Geography, as taught in -our schools, is to strip the unfortunate planet which has been -assigned to us as our abode and environment of every trace of -mystery and beauty. There is no longer anything to admire or to -wonder at in this sweet world of ours. We can no longer say with -Jasper Petulengro,--“Sun, moon and stars are sweet things, brother; -there is likewise the wind on the heath.” No, the questions -which Geography has to solve henceforth are confined to how and -under what conditions is the earth’s surface profitable to man -and desirable for his habitation. No more may children conceive -themselves climbing Mont Blanc or Mount Everest, skating on the -Fiords of Norway or swimming in a gondola at Venice. These are not -the things that matter, but only how and where and why is money -to be made under local conditions on the earth’s surface. It is -doubtful whether this kind of teaching is even lucrative because -the mind works on great ideas, and, upon these, works to great -ends. Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it -has perhaps no educative value. - -Perhaps no knowledge is more delightful than such an intimacy -with the earth’s surface, region by region, as should enable the -map of any region to unfold a panorama of delight, disclosing not -only mountains, rivers, frontiers, the great features we know as -‘Geography,’ but associations, occupations, some parts of the past -and much of the present, of every part of this beautiful earth. -Great attention is paid to map work; that is, before reading a -lesson children have found the places mentioned in that lesson -on a map and know where they are, relatively to other places, to -given parallels, meridians. Then, bearing in mind that children -do not generalise but must learn by particulars, they read and -picture to themselves the Yorkshire Dales, the Sussex Downs, the -mysteries of a coal-mine; they see ‘pigs’ of iron flowing forth -from the furnace, the slow accretions which have made up the -chalk, the stirring life of the great towns and the occupations -of the villages. Form II (A and B) are engaged with the counties -of England, county by county, for so diverse are the counties in -aspect, history and occupations, that only so can children acquire -such a knowledge of England as will prove a key to the geography -of every part of the world, whether in the way of comparison or -contrast. For instance, while I write, the children in IIA are -studying the counties which contain the Thames basin and “Write -verses on ‘The Thames’” is part of their term’s work. _Our Sea -Power_, by H. W. Household, is of extraordinary value in linking -England with the world by means of a spirited account of the -glorious history of our navy, while the late Sir George Parkin, -than whom there is no better qualified authority, carries children -round the Empire. They are thrown on their own resources or those -of their teachers for what may be called current Geography. For -instance, “Learn what you can about _The Political Map of Europe -after the Great War_. (Evans, 4_d._).” - -In Form III the Geography is still regional, that is, children are -led to form an intimate acquaintance with the countries of Europe -so that the map of any country calls up in a child’s imagination -a wonderful panorama of the diversities of the country, of the -people, their history and occupations. It is evident that this -kind of geographical image cannot be secured in any other way -than by considering Europe country by country. They begin with a -general survey of the seas and shores of the continent, of the -countries and peoples, of the diversities of tongues and their -historical origin, of the plains and mountains, of the rivers -and their basins; a survey after which they should be able to -answer such questions as,--“Name three rivers which flow into the -Baltic.” “What lands form the southern and eastern shores of the -Mediterranean?” “What countries are washed by the Baltic?” “Between -what parallels does Europe extend? What other continents lie partly -within the same parallels?” The young scholars are at home with the -map of Europe before they consider the countries separately. - -The picture we present of the several countries is meant to be -before all things interesting and at the same time to provide an -intelligent and fairly exhaustive account of the given country. -Whatever further knowledge a child acquires will fit in to this -original scheme. For example, “The Rhône Valley and the Border -lands.”[38] - - “The warm and fertile Rhône valley belongs in climate to the - southern region, where, although the vine is grown, large - plantations of olive and mulberry occupy much of the land. We - are apt to think of the South of France as the sunny south, the - sweet south, ‘but,’ says a writer whom we have already quoted, - ‘it is austere, grim, sombre’ ... but the mulberry feeds the - silkworm and so furnishes material for the great manufacture of - France. Lyons, the second city of France, is the seat of the silk - manufacture including those of velvets and satins. It is seated - upon a tongue of land at the confluence of the rapid Rhône and - the sluggish Saône, and along the banks of both rivers are fine - quays.” - -This extract indicates how geographical facts are introduced -incidentally, pretty much as a traveller comes across them. The -work for one term includes Belgium, Holland, Spain and Portugal, -and the interests connected with each of these countries are -manifold. For example,-- - - “On the seashore near Leyden is Katwyck where the expiring Rhine - is helped to discharge itself into the sea by means of a wide - artificial channel provided with no less than thirteen pairs of - enormous floodgates. These are shut to keep out the sea when the - tide is coming in, and open to let the streams pass out during - ebb tide. Notwithstanding these great works the once glorious - Rhine makes but an ignoble exit. The delta of this river may be - said to include the whole breadth of Holland.”[39] - -It will be noticed that an attempt is made to shew the romance -of the natural features, the history, the industries, so that a -country is no more a mere matter of names on a map, or of sections -shewn by contour lines. Such generalisations are not Geography -but are slow conclusions which the mind should come to of itself -when it acquires intimacy with a region. Something of a literary -character is preserved in the Geography lessons. The new feature in -these is the study of maps which should be very thorough. For the -rest the single reading and narration as described in connection -with other work is sufficient in this subject also. Children cannot -tell what they have not seen with the mind’s eye, which we know as -imagination, and they cannot see what is not told in their books -with some vividness and some grasp of the subject. The thoroughness -of the map study is shewn by such a question to be answered from -memory as,--“What part of Belgium does the Scheldt drain? Name any -of its feeders. Name ten famous places in its basin. What port -stands at the head of its estuary?” We find great light thrown upon -the geography of the Empire in a little book of literary quality, -_Fighting for Sea Power in the Days of Sail_. - -There are two rational ways of teaching Geography. The first is -the inferential method, a good deal in vogue at the present time; -by it the pupil learns certain geographical principles which he is -expected to apply universally. This method seems to me defective -for two reasons. It is apt to be misleading as in every particular -case the general principle is open to modifications; also, local -colour and personal and historical interests are wanting and the -scholar does not form an intellectual and imaginative conception -of the region he is learning about. The second which might be -called the panoramic method unrolls the landscape of the world, -region by region, before the eyes of the scholar with in every -region its own conditions of climate, its productions, its people, -their industries and their history. This way of teaching the most -delightful of all subjects has the effect of giving to a map of a -country or region the brilliancy of colour and the wealth of detail -which a panorama might afford, together with a sense of proportion -and a knowledge of general principles. I believe that pictures are -not of very great use in this study. We all know that the pictures -which abide with us are those which the imagination constructs from -written descriptions. - -The Geography for Form IV[40] includes Asia, Africa, America -and Australasia. But the same principle is followed: vivid -descriptions, geographical principles, historical associations and -industrial details, are afforded which should make, as we say, an -impression, should secure that the region traversed becomes an -imaginative possession as well as affording data for reasonable -judgments. The pupil begins with a survey of Asia followed by a -separate treatment of the great countries and divisions and of the -great physical features. Thus of Siberia we read,-- - - “All travellers unite in praise of the free Siberian peasant. As - soon as one crosses the Urals one is surprised by the extreme - friendliness and good nature of the inhabitants as much as by the - rich vegetation of the well-cultivated fields and the excellent - state of the roads in the southern part of the government of - Tobolsk.” - -or,-- - - “The glossy jet black soft thick fur of the sea-otter is the most - valuable of all the Russian skins. Next ranks the skin of the - black fox. But though a thousand of its skins are worth no more - than one skin of the sea-otter, the little grey squirrel whose - skins are imported by the million really plays the most important - part in the Siberian fur trade.” - -Of Further India,-- - - “Pigou, the middle division, is really the vast delta of the - Irrawaddy, a low-lying country which yields enormous quantities - of rice while on the higher grounds which wall in the great river - are the finest teak forests in the world.” - -Africa follows Asia with the discoveries of Livingstone, Speke, -Burton, Grant, etc. We get an account of African village life and -among the chapter headings are Abyssinia, Egypt, Up the Nile, The -Soudan, The Sahara, The Barbary States, South Africa, Cape Colony, -The Islands. America follows with an account of the progress of -discovery, a geographical sketch of South America, the Andes -and the Mountain States, Chili, Peru, Bolivia, etc., the Great -Plains of South America, Central America, North America, Canada, a -historical sketch of the United States, the Eastern States, States -of the Mississippi valley, the prairies, the Western States and -territories, California. In the section on the Eastern States we -read,-- - - “Stretching from this chain (the Alleghanies) is the great - Appalachian coalfield which extends through Pennsylvania, - Virginia and Ohio, with a length of 720 miles containing, it is - said, coal enough to supply the world for four thousand years! - Iron occurs with the coal in great abundance. Most of this - coal is of the kind called Anthracite. It is extremely slow in - burning, emits no smoke, but has a painfully drying effect upon - the air of a room. Sir Charles Lyall speaking of Pottsville on - this coalfield says,--‘Here I was agreeably surprised to see - a flourishing manufacturing town with the tall chimneys of a - hundred furnaces burning night and day, yet quite free from - smoke. Leaving this clear atmosphere and going down into one of - the mines it was a no less pleasing novelty to find that we could - handle the coal without soiling our fingers.’” - -But enough has been said to indicate the sort of intimacy that -scholars in Form IV get with all quarters of the world, their -geography, landscape, histories and industries, together with the -study of the causes which affect climate and industries. Geikie’s -_Physical Geography_ affords an admirable introduction to the -principles of physical geography. - -Forms V and VI are expected to keep up with the newspapers and -know something about places and regions coming most into note in -the current term. Also, in connection with the history studied, -Seeley’s _Expansion of England, The Peoples and Problems of -India_, Geikie’s _Elementary Lessons in Physical Geography_, -Mort’s _Practical Geography_, and Kipling’s _Letters of Travel_ -are included in the reading of one term. In these Forms the young -students are expected to apply their knowledge to Geography, both -practical and theoretical, and to make much use of a good Atlas -without the map questions which have guided the map work of the -lower Forms. - - -III - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE - -(_b_) MATHEMATICS - -The question of Arithmetic and of Mathematics generally is one of -great import to us as educators. So long as the idea of ‘faculties’ -obtained no doubt we were right to put all possible weight on a -subject so well adapted to train the reasoning powers, but now -we are assured that these powers do not wait upon our training. -They are there in any case; and if we keep a chief place in our -curriculum for Arithmetic we must justify ourselves upon other -grounds. We take strong ground when we appeal to the beauty and -truth of Mathematics; that, as Ruskin points out, two and two make -four and cannot conceivably make five, is an inevitable law. It -is a great thing to be brought into the presence of a law, of a -whole system of laws, that exist without our concurrence,--that -two straight lines cannot enclose a space is a fact which we can -perceive, state, and act upon but cannot in any wise alter, should -give to children the sense of limitation which is wholesome for all -of us, and inspire that _sursum corda_ which we should hear in all -natural law. - -Again, integrity in our dealings depends largely upon ‘Mr. -Micawber’s’ golden rule, while ‘Harold Skimpole’s’ disregard of -these things is a moral offence against society. Once again, -though we do not live on gymnastics, the mind like the body, is -invigorated by regular spells of hard exercise. - -But education should be a science of proportion, and any one -subject that assumes undue importance does so at the expense of -other subjects which a child’s mind should deal with. Arithmetic, -Mathematics, are exceedingly easy to examine upon and so long -as education is regulated by examinations so long shall we have -teaching, directed not to awaken a sense of awe in contemplating a -self-existing science, but rather to secure exactness and ingenuity -in the treatment of problems. - -What is better, it will be said, than a training in exactness and -ingenuity? But in saying so we assume that this exactness and -ingenuity brought out in Arithmetic serve us in every department -of life. Were this the case we should indeed have a royal road to -learning; but it would seem that no such road is open to us. The -habits and powers brought to bear upon any one educational subject -are exercised upon that subject simply. The familiar story of how -Sir Isaac Newton teased by his cat’s cries to be let in caused a -large hole in the door to be made for the cat and a small one for -the kitten, illustrates not a mere amusing lapse in a great mind -but the fact that work upon special lines qualifies for work upon -those lines only. One hears of more or less deficient boys to whom -the study of _Bradshaw_ is a delight, of an admirable accountant -who was otherwise a little ‘deficient.’ - -The boy who gets ‘full marks’ in Arithmetic makes a poor show in -history because the accuracy and ingenuity brought out by his sums -apply to his sums only: and as for the value of Arithmetic in -practical life, most of us have private reasons for agreeing with -the eminent staff officer who tells us that,-- - - “I have never found any Mathematics except simple addition of - the slightest use in a work-a-day life except in the Staff - College examinations and as for mental gymnastics and accuracy - of statement, I dispute the contention that Mathematics supply - either any better than any other study.” - -We have most of us believed that a knowledge of the theory and -practice of war depended a good deal upon Mathematics, so this -statement by a distinguished soldier is worth considering. In a -word our point is that Mathematics are to be studied for their own -sake and not as they make for general intelligence and grasp of -mind. But then how profoundly worthy are these subjects of study -for their own sake, to say nothing of other great branches of -knowledge to which they are ancillary! Lack of proportion should be -our _bête noire_ in drawing up a curriculum, remembering that the -mathematician who knows little of the history of his own country or -that of any other, is sparsely educated at the best. - -At the same time Genius has her own rights. The born mathematician -must be allowed full scope even to the omission of much else that -he should know. He soon asserts himself, sees into the intricacies -of a problem with half an eye, and should have scope. He would -prefer not to have much teaching. But why should the tortoise keep -pace with the hare and why should a boy’s success in life depend -upon drudgery in Mathematics? That is the tendency at the present -moment--to close the Universities and consequently the Professions -to boys and girls who, because they have little natural aptitude -for mathematics, must acquire a mechanical knowledge by such heavy -all-engrossing labour as must needs shut out such knowledge of the -‘humanities’ say, as is implied in the phrase ‘a liberal education.’ - -The claims of the London Matriculation examination, for example, -are acknowledged by many teachers to be incompatible with the wide -knowledge proper to an educated person. - -Mathematics depend upon the teacher rather than upon the text-book -and few subjects are worse taught; chiefly because teachers have -seldom time to give the inspiring ideas, what Coleridge calls, the -‘Captain’ ideas, which should quicken imagination. - -How living would Geometry become in the light of the discoveries of -Euclid as he made them! - -To sum up, Mathematics are a necessary part of every man’s -education; they must be taught by those who know; but they may not -engross the time and attention of the scholar in such wise as to -shut out any of the score of ‘subjects,’ a knowledge of which is -his natural right. - -It is unnecessary to exhibit mathematical work done in the P.U.S. -as it is on the same lines and reaches the same standard as in -other schools. No doubt his habit of entire attention favours the -P.U.S. scholar. - - -III - -THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE - -(_c_) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, HANDICRAFTS - -It is unnecessary, too, to say anything about games, dancing, -physical exercises, needlework and other handicrafts as the methods -employed in these are not exceptional.[41] - - - - -Book II - -Theory Applied - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS - - -I need not waste time in attempting to convince the reader of what -we all know, that a liberal education is, like justice, religion, -liberty, fresh air, the natural birthright of every child. Neither -need we discuss the scope of such an education. We are aware that -good life implies cultivated intelligence, that, according to the -Platonic axiom, ‘Knowledge is virtue,’ even though there be many -exceptions to the rule. Educated teachers are not slow to perceive -the part the Humanities play in a worthy scheme of education, but -they are faced by enormous difficulties which are admirably summed -up in a recent work,--[42] - - “The tragedy of modern education has been the prolonged failure - of Humanism to secure conditions under which its purpose might be - realised for the people at large.” - -It is because we (of the Parents’ Union School) have succeeded in -offering Humanism under such conditions that we believe the great -problem of education is at last solved. We are able to offer the -Humanities (in the mother tongue) to large classes of children from -illiterate homes in such a way that the teaching is received with -delight and freely assimilated. One swallow does not make a summer, -we all know, but the experience of one school shows that it is -possible to carry out a pretty full literary programme joyously and -without effort while including all the usual school activities. -Wireless telegraphy was, so to speak, in the air before the first -Marconi message was sent, but that first wireless message made -it possible for any passenger on board a Channel steamer to send -such a message. Just so, the experiment in the Drighlington School -(Yorkshire) placed the conditions for a humanistic education at the -service of any teacher. I am much impressed by the amount of work -of this kind which is already being done in our schools. I heard -the other day of a man whose whole life had been elevated by a -single inspiring (poetic) sentence which he heard as a schoolboy; -we have been told that the ‘man in the street’ cannot resist a row -of books; we are told, too, that the War has made us a nation of -readers, both at home and in the trenches, readers largely of the -best books in poetry and history; is there no credit due to the -schools for these things? But teachers are not satisfied; their -reach is greater than their grasp and they are more aware of the -sordid lives about them, of the “dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance” -which prevails, than of any success they have yet attained. -Therefore they fret under the time limitations which seem to make -it impossible to do anything worth while in such vast subjects as -History and Literature, for example. - -I wonder does this uneasiness point to a fact which we are slow -to realise,--that the requirements of the mind are very much like -those of the body? Both require as conditions of health,--activity, -variety, rest and, above all, food. There has been some tendency -among us to offer gymnastics, whether intellectual or physical, -by way of a square meal of knowledge, which is as if one were -to invite a boy to Swedish Drill by way of his dinner; and that -wretched misnomer ‘education’ is partly to blame. Now, potency, -not property, is the characteristic of mind. A child is able to -deal with much knowledge, but he possesses none worth speaking -of; yet we set to work to give him that potency which he already -possesses rather than the knowledge which he lacks; we train -his reason, cultivate his judgment, exercise this and the other -faculty, which we have no more to do with than with the digestive -processes of a healthy child; we know that the more we meddle with -these the worse for the child; but what if the devitalisation -we notice in so many of our young people, keen about games but -dead to things of the mind, is due to the processes carried on -in our schools, to our plausible and pleasant ways of picturing, -eliciting, demonstrating, illustrating, summarising, doing all -those things for children which they are born with the potency to -do for themselves? No doubt we do give intellectual food, but too -little of it; let us have courage and we shall be surprised, as we -are now and then, at the amount of intellectual strong meat almost -any child will take at a meal and digest at his leisure. - -Perhaps the first thing for us to do is to get a just perception -of what I may call the relativity of knowledge and the mind. The -mind receives knowledge, not in order that it may know, but in -order that it may grow, in breadth and depth, in sound judgment and -magnanimity; but in order to grow, it _must know_. - -The fact is that we are handicapped, not so much by the three or -four difficulties I have already indicated, as by certain errors of -judgment, forms of depreciation, which none of us escape because -they are universal. We as teachers depreciate ourselves and our -office; we do not realise that in the nature of things the teacher -has a prophetic power of appeal and inspiration, that his part -is not the weariful task of spoon-feeding with pap-meat, but the -delightful commerce of equal minds where his is the part of guide, -philosopher and friend. The friction of wills which makes school -work harassing ceases to a surprising degree when we deal with the -children, mind to mind, through the medium of knowledge. - -Next, we depreciate children, even though most teachers lay down -their lives for their charges with amazing devotion. We have been -so long taught to regard children as products of education and -environment, that we fail to realise that from the first they are -persons; and, as Carlyle has well said,-- - - “The mystery of a person, indeed, is ever divine, to him that has - a sense for the godlike.” - -We must either reverence or despise children; and while we regard -them as incomplete and undeveloped beings who will one day arrive -at the completeness of man, rather than as weak and ignorant -persons, whose ignorance we must inform and whose weakness we must -support, but whose potentialities are as great as our own, we -cannot do otherwise than despise children, however kindly and even -tenderly we commit the offence. - -As soon as he gets words with which to communicate with us, a -child lets us know that he thinks with surprising clearness and -directness, that he sees with a closeness of observation that -we have long lost, that he enjoys and that he sorrows with an -intensity we have ceased to experience, that he loves with an -abandon and a confidence which, alas, we do not share, that he -imagines with a fecundity no artist among us can approach that he -acquires intellectual knowledge and mechanical skill at a rate so -amazing, that, could the infant’s rate of progress be kept up to -manhood, he would surely appropriate the whole field of knowledge -in a single lifetime! (It is worth while in this connection to -re-read the early chapters of _David Copperfield_.) - -I am considering a child as he is, and am not tracing him, either -with Wordsworth, to the heights above, or, with the evolutionist, -to the depths below; because a person is a mystery, that is, -we cannot explain him or account for him, but must accept him -as he is. This wonder of personality does not cease, does not -disappear, when a child goes to school; he is still ‘all there’ -in quite another sense from that of the vulgar catch-word. But we -begin to lose the way to his mind from the day that he enters the -schoolroom; the reason for this is, we have embraced the belief -that ‘knowledge is sensation,’ that a child knows what he sees and -handles rather than what he conceives in his mind and figures in -his thoughts. I labour this point because our faith in a child’s -spiritual, _i.e._, intellectual educability is one of our chief -assets. Having brought ourselves face to face with the wonder of -mind in children, we begin to see that knowledge is the aliment -of the mind as food is that of the body. In the days before the -War, a lifetime ago it seems, our insular contempt for knowledge -was a by-word; except for a schoolmaster or other thinker here and -there, nobody took knowledge seriously; we announced boldly that -it did not matter what a child learned but only how he learned -it. As for mere ‘book-learning,’ for that we had a fine contempt! -But we have changed all that. We are beginning to suspect that -ignorance is our national stumbling-block, a chief cause of those -difficulties at home which hinder our efforts abroad. For ignorance -there is only one cure, and that is, knowledge; his school is the -seat of knowledge for a child, and whatever else his teachers do -for him, first of all they must sustain him with knowledge, not in -homœopathic doses, but in regular, generous servings. If we ask, -what is knowledge?--there is no neat and ready answer at hand. -Matthew Arnold, we know, classifies all knowledge under three -heads,--the knowledge of God, divinity, the knowledge of man, -known as the ‘humanities’ and the knowledge of the physical world, -science, and that is enough to go on with. But I should like to -question this division and to class all three parts of knowledge -under the head of Humanism, which should include all knowledge -that makes a direct appeal to the mind through the channel of -literary form; now, the substance of Divinity is contained in -one of the three great literatures of the world, and Science, in -France if not usually in England, is embodied in a beautiful and -poetic literature of great clarity, precision and grace. Is it -not then allowable to include all knowledge of which literature -is a proper medium under the head of ‘Humanism’? One thing at any -rate we know with certainty, that no teaching, no information -becomes knowledge to any of us until the individual mind has acted -upon it, translated it, transformed, absorbed it, to reappear, -like our bodily food, in forms of vitality. Therefore, teaching, -talk and tale, however lucid or fascinating, effect nothing until -self-activity be set up; that is, self-education is the only -possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of -a child’s nature. - -I have endeavoured to call your attention to a certain undervaluing -of children and undervaluing of knowledge which seem to me to mar -our twentieth century ideal of education, fine as that is. If we -realise that the mind and knowledge are like two members of a ball -and socket joint, two limbs of a pair of scissors, fitted to each -other, necessary to each other and acting only in concert, we shall -understand that our function as teachers is to supply children with -the rations of knowledge which they require; and that the rest, -character and conduct, efficiency and ability, and, that finest -quality of the citizen, magnanimity, take care of themselves. “But -how?” cries the teacher, whose life is spent in the labour of -Sisyphus. I think we have chanced on a way that, at any rate, works -to admiration, the principles and practice of which I am anxious to -bring before you. - -Let me first repeat[43] a few of the results that have been made -good by thousands of children, and within the last few years by -many Council Schools throughout the country:-- - -The children, not the teachers, are the responsible persons; they -do the work by self-effort. - -The teachers give the uplift of their sympathy in the work and -where necessary elucidate, sum up or enlarge, but the actual work -is done by the scholars. - -These read in a term from one thousand to between two and three -thousand pages, according to age and class, in a large number of -set books; the quantity set for each lesson allows of only a single -reading. - -The reading is tested by narration, or by writing on a test passage. - -No revision is attempted when the terminal examination is at hand; -because too much ground has been covered to allow of any ‘looking -up.’ - -What the children have read they know, and write on any part of it -with ease and fluency, in vigorous English. They usually spell well. - -During the examinations, which last a week, the children cover say -from twenty to sixty sheets of Cambridge paper, according to age -and class; but if ten times as many questions were set on the work -studied most likely they would cover ten times as much paper. - -It rarely happens that all the children in a class are not able -to answer all the questions set in such subjects as history, -literature, citizenship, geography, science. But here differences -manifest themselves; some children do better in history, some in -science, some in arithmetic, others in literature; some, again, -write copious answers and a few write sparsely; but practically all -know the answers to the set questions. - -In the course of an examination they deal freely with a great -number of substantives, including many proper names; I once had the -names used by a child of ten in an examination paper counted; there -were well over a hundred, of which these are the ‘A’s’-- - - Africa, Alsace-Lorraine, Abdomen, Antigonons, Antennæ, Aphis, - Antwerp, Alder, America, Amsterdam, Austria-Hungary, Ann Boleyn, - Antarctic, Atlantic; - -and these are the ‘M’s,’-- - - Megalopolis, Maximilian, Milan, Martin Luther, Mary of the - Netherlands, Messina, Macedonia, Magna Charta, Magnet, Malta, - Metz, Mediterranean, Mary Queen of Scots, Treaty of Madrid; - -and upon all these subjects the children wrote as freely and fully -as if they were writing to an absent sister about a new family of -kittens! - -The children write with perfect understanding as far as they go -and there is rarely a ‘howler’ in hundreds of sets of papers. -They have an enviable power of getting at the gist of a book or -subject. Sometimes they are asked to write verses about a personage -or an event; the result is not remarkable by way of poetry, but -sums up a good deal of thoughtful reading in a delightful way; for -example,--the reading of _King Lear_ is gathered in twelve lines on -‘Cordelia,’-- - -CORDELIA - - Nobliest lady, doomed to slaughter, - An unlov’d, unpitied daughter, - Though Cordelia thou may’st be, - “Love’s” the fittest name for thee; - If love doth not, maid, bestow - Scorn for scorn, and “no” for “no,” - If love loves through scorn and spite, - If love clings to truth and right, - If love’s pure, maid, as thou art, - If love has a faithful heart, - Thou art then the same as love; - Come from God’s own realms above! - - M. K. C. 10-10/12 Form II. - -A life of Livingstone (read in connection with the Geography of -Africa) is thus epitomised,-- - -LIVINGSTONE - - “The whole of Africa is desert bare, - Except around the coast.” So people said, - And thought of that great continent no more. - “The smoke of thousand villages I’ve seen!” - So cried a man. He knew no more. His words - Sank down into one heart there to remain. - The man who heard rose up and gave his all: - Into the dark unknown he went alone. - What terrors did he face? The native’s hate, - The fever, tetse-fly and loneliness. - But to the people there he brought great Light. - Who was this man, the son of some great lord? - Not so. He was a simple Scottish lad - Who learnt to follow duty’s path. His name - Was Livingstone, he will not be forgot. - - E. P. (15.) Form IV. - -And here is a rendering of Plutarch’s _Life of Pericles_ by a girl -of fourteen in Form IV,-- - - Oh! land, whose beauty and unrivalled fame; - Lies dead, obscure in Time’s great dusty vault. - Not so in memory, for truly here, - Each and alike look up and do revear - Those heroes of the hidden past. Plato, - Who’s understanding reached the wide world’s end; - Aristides, that just and noble man. - And last, not least, the great wise Pericles - Who’s socialistic views and clever ways - For governing the rich and poor alike - Were to be envied. In his eyes must Greece - Live for ever as the home of beauty. - So to the Gods great marble shrines he made, - Temples and theatres did he erect; - So that the beauty of his beloved Greece - Might live for ever. And now when seeing - What is left of all those wondrous sights - We think not of the works _themselves_ - But rather of the man who had them built. - - J. F. - -One wonders is ‘socialistic’ used for democratic; any way, the -notion is original. There is little to be said for the technique of -the verses but I think the reader will agree that each set shows -thoughtful appreciation of some part of the term’s reading. The -verses are uncorrected. - -Much use is made according to this method of the years from 6 to -8, during which children must learn to read and write; they get at -the same time, however, a good deal of consecutive knowledge of -history and geography, tale and fable, some of which at the end of -the term they dictate in answer to questions and their answers form -well-expressed little essays on the subjects they deal with. - -The time appropriated in the time-table at this stage to the -teaching of some half-dozen more or less literary subjects such as -Scripture, and the subjects I have indicated, is largely spent by -the teachers in reading, say, two or three paragraphs at a time -from some one of the set books, which children, here and there -in the class, narrate. The teacher reads with the intention that -the children shall know, and therefore, with distinctness, force, -and careful enunciation; it is a mere matter of sympathy, though -of course it is the author and not himself, whom the teacher is -careful to produce. This practice, of the teacher reading aloud -and the class narrating, is necessarily continued through all the -classes of an elementary school, because some of the books used -are rather costly and only one copy is furnished. I wonder does -this habit of listening with close attention to what is read aloud -tend to equalise the children of the ‘uneducated’ with those of the -educated classes? Certainly, the work of the two is surprisingly -equal. By the way, there is no selection of subjects, passages or -episodes on the ground of interest. The best available book is -chosen and read through in the course, it may be, of two or three -years. - -Let me add that the appeal of these principles and this method -is not to the clever child only but to the average and even to -the ‘backward’ child; indeed we have had several marked successes -with backward children. Just as we all partake of that banquet -which is ‘Shakespeare’ according to our needs and desires, so do -the children behave at the ample board set before them; there -is enough to satisfy the keenest intelligence while the dullest -child is sustained through his own willing effort. This scheme -of fairly wide and successful intellectual work is carried out -in the same or less time than is occupied in the usual efforts -in the same directions; there are no revisions, no evening -preparations (because far more work is done by the children in -ordinary school-time than under ordinary school methods, when the -child is too often a listener only): no note-taking, because none -are necessary, the children having the matter in their books and -knowing where to find it; and as there is no cramming or working up -of subjects there is much time to spare for vocational and other -work of the kind. - -Such an education as I am urging should act as a social lever also; -everyone is much occupied with problems concerning amelioration of -life for our ‘poorer classes’ but do we sufficiently consider that, -given a better education, the problems of decent living will for -the most part be solved by the people themselves? - -Like all great ventures of life this that I propose is a venture -of faith, faith in the saving power of knowledge and in the -assimilative power of children. Its efficacy depends upon the fact -that it is in the nature of things, that is, in the nature of -knowledge and in the nature of children. Bring the two together in -ways that are sanctioned by the laws of mind and, to use a figure, -a chemical combination takes place and a new product appears, a -person of character and intelligence, an admirable citizen whose -own life is too full and rich for him to be an uneasy member of -society. - -Education is part and parcel of religion and every enthusiastic -teacher knows that he is obeying the precept,--‘feed my -lambs’--feed with all those things which are good and wholesome for -the spirit of a man; and, before all and including all, with the -knowledge of God. - -I have ventured to speak of the laws of mind, or spirit, but indeed -we can only make guesses here and there and follow with diffidence -such light as we get from the teachings of the wise and from -general experience; general experience, because peculiar experience -is apt to be misleading; therefore, when I learned that long tried -principles and methods were capable of application to the whole of -a class of forty children in the school of a mining village, I felt -assured that we were following laws whose observance results in -education of a satisfying kind. - -The mind requires sustenance as does the body, that it may increase -and be strong; so much everybody knows. A long time ago it was -perceived that the pabulum given in schools was of the wrong -sort; Grammar rules, lists of names and dates and places,--the -whole stock in trade of the earlier schoolmaster--was found to -be matter which the minds of children reject: and, because we -were wise enough to see that the mind functions for its own -nourishment whether in rejecting or receiving, we changed our -tactics, following, so we thought, the lead of the children. We -did well, and therefore are prepared, if necessary, to do better. -What, then, if our whole educational equipment, our illustrations, -elucidations, questionings, our illimitable patience in getting a -point into the children, were all based on the false assumption of -the immature, which we take to connote the imperfect, incomplete -minds of children? “I think I could understand, Mummy, if you did -not explain quite so much,”--is this the inarticulate cry of the -school child to-day? He really is capable of much more than he -gets credit for, but we go the wrong way about getting his capable -mind into action. - -We err when we allow our admirable teaching to intervene between -children and the knowledge their minds demand. The desire for -knowledge (curiosity) is the chief agent in education: but this -desire may be made powerless like an unused limb by encouraging -other desires to intervene, such as the desire for place -(emulation), for prizes (avarice), for power (ambition), for praise -(vanity). But I am told that marks, places and prizes (except for -attendance) do not figure largely in Elementary Schools, therefore -the love of knowledge for its own sake is likely to have a freer -course in these schools than in others. - -That children are born persons,--is the first article of the -educational _credo_ which I am concerned to advance; this implies -that they come to us with power of attention, avidity for -knowledge, clearness of thought, nice discrimination in books even -before they can read, and the power of dealing with many subjects. - -Practical teachers will say, guarantee to us the attention of our -scholars and we will guarantee their progress in what Colet calls -‘good literature,’ I have already explained[44] how I came to a -solution of this puzzling problem,--how to secure attention. - -Let me add again that the principles and methods I have indicated -are especially suitable for large classes; what is called the -‘sympathy of numbers’ stimulates the class, and the work goes with -added impetus: each child is eager to take part in narration or -to do written work well. By the way, only short test answers are -required in writing, so that the labour of correction is minimised. - -To two further points I must invite attention; the choice of books -and the character of the terminal examinations. I do not know -better how to describe the sort of books that children’s minds will -consent to deal with than by saying that they must be literary -in character. A child of seven or eight will narrate a difficult -passage from _The Pilgrim’s Progress_, say, with extraordinary -zest and insight; but I doubt if he or his elders would retain -anything from that excellent work, Dr. Smiles’s _Self-Help_! The -completeness with which hundreds of children reject the wrong book -is a curious and instructive experience, not less so than the -avidity and joy with which they drain the right book to the dregs; -children’s requirements in the matter seem to be quantity, quality -and variety: but the question of books is one of much delicacy and -difficulty. After the experience of over a quarter of a century[45] -in selecting the lesson books proper to children of all ages, we -still make mistakes, and the next examination paper discovers the -error! Children cannot answer questions set on the wrong book; and -the difficulty of selection is increased by the fact that what they -like in books is no more a guide than what they like in food. - -The moment has come to try the great cause of _Education v. -Civilisation_, with the result, let us hope, that the latter will -retire to her proper sphere of service in the amelioration of -life and will not intrude on the higher functions of inspiration -and direction which belong to Education. Both Civilisation and -Education are the handmaids of Religion, but, each in its place, -and the one may not thrust herself into the office of the other. -It is a gain, any way, that we are within sight of giving to all -members of the working classes notwithstanding their limited -opportunities that stability of mind and magnanimity of character -which are the proper outcome and the unfailing test of a LIBERAL -EDUCATION; also it is to the good that “the grand elementary -principle of pleasure” should be discovered in unexpected places, -in what is too often the drudgery of the schoolroom. - -Milton’s ideal of a “complete and generous education” meets our -occasions;--“that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully -and magnanimously all the offices both private and public of peace -and war”; and perhaps it remains for our generation to prove that -this ideal is open to and necessary for persons of all sorts and -conditions. It has been well said that,-- - - “Just as there is only one kind of truth common to us all, so - there is only one education common to us all. In the case of the - education of the people the only question is: How is this common - education to be developed under the circumstances of simple - conditions of life and large masses of people? That this should - be accomplished is the decisive mark of all real education.” - -The writer (Eucken) offers no solution of this problem: and it -remains with the reader to determine each with himself whether that -solution which I here propose is or is not worth a trial. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS - - -Mighty is the power of persistent advertisement. The author of _The -Pagan_ may or may not be bringing an indictment against Pelmanism, -but without any doubt ‘Pelmanism’ is bringing an indictment against -secondary education. Half a million souls, Judges and Generals, -Admirals and Barristers, are protesting that they have not been -educated. No doubt the spirit that informs advertisements is often -a lying spirit but claims so well attested as these may have -something in them, and we who are engaged in secondary education -are uneasy. Again, we have the Board of Education desiring that -returns should be made promptly of all schools not already in -communication with the State, which, by the way, is taking paternal -action in several directions to secure a liberal education for -_all_ His Majesty’s lieges. “Pay the schoolmaster well and you -will get education” is the panacea of the moment, and so we get -in one neighbourhood a village schoolmaster with a salary of £350 -and a house, and a singularly able curate, an Oxford man, with a -wife and family and no house who flourishes on £150 a year! Work, -however, is more than wages, and this exclusive stress on high -salaries is a tacit undervaluing of teachers. Most of us know of -fine educational work being done with little inducement in the way -of either pay or praise. The real drawback to a teacher’s work -and the stumbling-block in the way of a liberal education is the -monotonous drudgery of teaching continually what no one wants to -learn. Before the War, the President of the British Association -complained that education was uninteresting alike to pupils, -teachers and parents. That is why we are always learning and never -knowing, and why teachers exert themselves to invent a ‘Play Way,’ -why handicrafts, ‘Eurhythmics’ and the like are offered, not as -adjuncts to, but as substitutes for, education, why our Public -Schools are exhorted to change their ways and our lesser private -schools are threatened with extinction. - -And with all this the intelligence and devotion, the enthusiasm -and self-sacrificing zeal of teachers generally is amazing. They -realise that education is, not merely an interest, but a passion; -and this is true not only of the heads and the staffs of great -schools but of those hundreds of little private schools scattered -over the country. - -We have all heard of “the two Miss Prettymans, who kept a girls’ -school at Silverbridge. Two more benignant ladies than the Miss -Prettymans never presided over such an establishment.” As for -Miss Annabella Prettyman, the elder, “it was considered ... that -she did all the thinking, that she knew more than any other -woman in Barsetshire, and that all the Prettyman schemes for -education emanated from her mind. It was said, too, by those who -knew them best, that her sister’s good-nature was as nothing to -hers, that she was the most charitable, the most loving, the most -conscientious of schoolmistresses.” To be sure Miss Ann, the -younger sister, knew more about Roman History and Roman Law than -about current history and English Law, but what would you have? - -Here was a type of school with which Trollope was familiar -generations ago, and perhaps it would not be hard to find such -another school in every ‘Silverbridge’ of to-day. To-day, however, -we are uneasy, and in our unrest produce “Joan and Peter” types -of education; that is, small schools indulge in freaks and great -schools with much reason to believe in themselves are aware of -a hitch somewhere, for they fail to turn out many boys or girls -who have intellectual interests, or have that flexibility of mind -which Matthew Arnold tells us their Academy gives to our neighbours -across the Channel. There is that bugbear of ‘Pelmanism’ urging a -charge of inadequacy against our methods; there is always some new -book by a man who brings railing accusations against his particular -school; and here is a tempered protest from Colonel Repington which -is telling:-- - - “When I look back upon Eton schooling I regard it with mixed - feelings, for I loved my five years at Eton, gloried in its - beauties and traditions, and was in upper division when I left. - But all the same I was conscious that Eton was not teaching me - the things that I wanted to know, and was trying to teach me - things that revolted me, particularly mathematics and classics. I - wanted to learn history, geography, modern languages, literature, - science, and political economy, and I had a very poor chance at - Eton of obtaining anything but a smattering of any one of them. I - do not agree that we learnt nothing or were lazy. We worked very - hard, but at what, to my mind, were useless things, and, with my - feet planted firmly in the ground, I resisted in a mulish way all - attempts to teach me dead languages and higher mathematics. I - believe that I was right. Classics have left nothing with me but - some ideas that I could have learnt better from a crib.” - -Probably the writer is mistaken as to what he owes to Eton. Without -those five years he might not have become the authority on the -theory and practice of war he is admitted to be. Who knows how much -‘Cæsar’ may have influenced him as a small boy! No doubt Public -Schools have many defects but they also have the knack of turning -out men who do the work of the world. We know about the ‘playing -fields,’ but perhaps when all is said it is the tincture of the -classics that every public schoolboy gets which makes him ‘to -differ.’ Nevertheless such protests as ‘Eton was not teaching me -the things I wanted to know’ deserve consideration. - -It is easy to condemn the schools, but the fact is, a human being -is born with a desire to know much about an enormous number of -subjects. How is the school time table to get them all in or an -adequate treatment of any one of them? Then, boys (and girls too) -offer a resisting medium of extraordinary density. Every boy -‘resists in a mulish way’ attempts to teach him, not only dead -languages and higher mathematics, but literature and science and -every subject the master labours at; with the average boy a gallon -of teaching produces scarce a gill of learning, and what is the -master to do? It is something to know, however, that behind all -this ‘mulishness’ there is avidity for knowledge, not so much for -the right sort (every sort is the right sort), but put in the right -way, and we cannot say that every way is the right way. - -I put before the reader what we (of the P.N.E.U.) have done towards -the solution of this educational problem with sincere diffidence, -but also with courage, because I know that no persons are more open -to conviction on reasonable grounds than are many distinguished -Headmasters and Mistresses; may they, if convinced, have the -courage of their convictions! - -So little is known about the behaviour of mind that it is open to -anyone to make discoveries in this _terra incognita_. I speak, not -of psychology, of which we hear a great deal and know very little, -but of mind itself, whose ways are subtle and evasive; nevertheless -that education only is valid which has mind for its objective. The -initial difficulty is the enormous field of knowledge to which a -child ought to be introduced in right of his human nature and of -those “first born affinities” which he lives to make good. First -and chiefest is the knowledge of God, to be got at most directly -through the Bible; then comes the knowledge of man, to be got -through history, literature, art, civics, ethics, biography, the -drama, and languages; and lastly, so much knowledge of the universe -as shall explain to some extent the phenomena we are familiar with -and give a naming acquaintance at any rate with birds and flowers, -stars and stones; nor can this knowledge of the universe be carried -far in any direction without the ordering of mathematics. The -programme is immense and school life is limited. What we may call -the ‘Academic’ solution of the problem is,--teach a boy to know one -thing thoroughly, say, Greek or Chemistry or Mathematics, and you -give him the key to all knowledge. Therefore, we are told, it is -not what you know that matters, but how you learn it; and a grammar -grind, a mathematics grind or a laboratory ‘stunt,’ with a few -odd matters thrown in, is supposed to answer all the purposes of -education. The plan answers fairly well with the dozen best boys or -girls in any school, because these are so keen and intelligent that -they forage for themselves in various directions; but it does not -answer with the average pupil, and he is coming in for his share of -public attention. Shortly we shall have a new rule,--every school -must educate _every_ scholar in the three sorts of knowledge proper -to him as a human being. What is knowledge? some one will say, and -there is no pat, neatly-framed answer to be given; only this we can -assert,--Knowledge is that which we know; and the learner knows -only by a definite act of knowing which he performs for himself. -But appalling _incuria_ blocks the way. Boys and girls do not want -to know; therefore they do not know; and their future intellectual -requirements will be satisfied by bridge at night and golf by day. - -It has come to us of the Parents’ Union School to discover great -avidity for knowledge in children of all ages and of every class, -together with an equally remarkable power of attention, retention, -and intellectual reaction upon the pabulum consumed. The power -which comes into play in the first place is, of course, attention, -and every child of any age, even the so-called ‘backward’ child -seems to have unlimited power of attention which acts without mark, -prize, place, praise or blame. This fact clearly recognised opens -great possibilities to the teacher; though his first impulse be -to deny statements which seem to him sweeping and absurd. But the -education of the future will probably offer us intellectual assets -in human nature as surprising as the ethical values exhibited by -the War. - -We have not attained but I think we are on the way to attainment. -After over a quarter of a century of experiment on a wide scale and -consequent research, we have discovered what children are able to -know and desire to know; what their minds will act upon in the ways -of judgment and imagination; what they are incapable of knowing; -and under what conditions knowledge must be offered to them. We do -not want a ‘play-way,’ nor need we substitute arts and crafts or -eurhythmics or even ‘rugger’ and the swimming bath, as things that -boys take to, whereas learning goes against the grain. Physical -and mechanical training are necessary for the up-bringing of the -young, but let us regard them for the moment as training rather -than education,--which ought to concern itself with things of the -mind. Education as we know it is admirably designed to ‘develop -the faculties’; but if “All that’s an exploded idee,” if there -be no faculties to develop, but only mind,--alert, self-active, -discriminating, logical, capable alike of great flights and of -minute processes--we must necessarily alter our educational -tactics. Mind is benefitted by occasional gymnastics just as is -‘Brother Body,’ but cannot subsist on these any more than ‘Body’ -can live on Swedish drill. - -As I have said, knowledge, that is, roughly, ideas clothed upon -with facts, is the proper pabulum for mind. This food a child -requires in large quantities and in great variety. The wide -syllabus I have in view is intended in every point to meet some -particular demand of the mind, and the curious thing is that in a -syllabus embracing a score of subjects the young learner is quite -unconfused, makes no howlers, and never mixes, say, a fact of -English with a fact of French history. - -Again, we have made a rather strange discovery,--that the mind -refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less -literary form. It is not surprising that this should be true of -children and persons accustomed to a literary atmosphere but -that it should be so of ignorant children of the slums points to -a curious fact in the behaviour of mind. Persons can ‘get up’ -the driest of pulverised text-books and enough mathematics for -some public examination; but these attainments do not appear to -touch the region of mind. When we get a young Pascal who enters -voluntarily and eagerly into the study of mathematics he finds -himself in a region of high thinking and self-existent law of the -very nature of poetry; minds of this calibre assert themselves; but -this is a gift and does not come of plodding. For the general run -of scholars probably the “Association of Head Mistresses” are right -and a less exacting standard should be set for public examinations. - -Of Natural Science, too, we have to learn that the way into the -secrets of nature is not through the barbed wire entanglements of -science as she is taught but through field work or other immediate -channel, illustrated and illuminated by books of literary value. - -The French Academy was founded to advance _Science_ and Art, a -fact which may account for the charming lucidity and the exquisite -prose of many French books on scientific subjects. The mind is a -crucible which brings enormous power to act on what is put into it -but has no power to distil from sand and sawdust the pure essence -of ideas. So much for the manner of food which that organism (if I -may be allowed the figure) called the mind requires for its daily -subsistence. How various this sustenance must be I have already -indicated and we remember how urgently Dr. Arnold insisted on ‘very -various reading’ in the three parts of knowledge, knowledge of God, -of man, and of the universe. - -But the mind was a deceiver ever. Every teacher knows how a class -will occupy itself diligently by the hour and accomplish nothing, -even though the boys think they have been reading. We all know how -ill we could stand an examination on the daily papers over which -we pore. Details fail us, we can say,--“Did you see such and such -an article?” but are not able to outline its contents. We try to -remedy this vagueness in children by making them take down, and get -up, notes of a given lesson: but we accomplish little. The mind -appears to have an outer court into which matter can be taken and -again expelled without ever having entered the inner place where -personality dwells. Here we have the secret of learning by rote, -a purely mechanical exercise of which no satisfactory account has -been given, but which leaves the patient, or pupil, unaffected. -Most teachers know the dreariness of piles of exercises into -which no stray note of personality has escaped. Now there is a -natural provision against this mere skimming of the ground by the -educational plough. Give children the sort of knowledge that they -are fitted to assimilate, served in a literary medium, and they -will pay great attention. What next? A clever _questionnaire?_ -Questions, as Dr. Johnson told us, are an intrusion and a bore; -but here we have a word of ancient wisdom for our guidance; “The -mind can know nothing except what it can express in the form of -an answer to a question put by the mind to itself.” Observe, not -a question put by an outsider, but, put by the mind to itself. We -all know the trick of it. If we want to tell the substance of a -conversation, a sermon, a lecture, we ‘go over it in our minds’ -first and the mind puts its question to itself, the same question -over and over again, no more than,--What next?--and lo, we have it, -the whole thing complete! We remember how one of Burke’s pamphlets, -by no means light affairs, was told almost verbatim at a College -supper. We admire such a feat and think it quite out of our reach -but it is the sort of thing that any boy or girl of fifteen could -do if allowed to read the pamphlet only once; a second reading -would be fatal because no one can give full attention to that -which he has heard before and expects to hear again. Attention -will go halt all its days if we accustom it to the crutch. We as -teachers offend deeply in this matter. We think that we shall be -heard for our much speaking and we repeat and enforce, explain -and illustrate, not altogether because we love the sound of our -own voices, but because we depreciate knowledge, we depreciate -children, and we do not understand that the mind and knowledge -are as the two members of a ball and socket joint, each of them -irrelevant without the other. ‘Education’ will have turned over a -new leaf once we realise that knowledge is to the mind as food is -to the body, without which the one faints and flags and eventually -perishes as surely as does the other. - -The way to bring this panacæa into use is exceedingly simple. Let -the child (up to any age while he is an infant in the eye of the -law) tell what he has read in whole or in part on the instant, and -again, in an examination paper months later. ‘Mere verbal memory,’ -some reader will say, and there is no answer to be given but that -which one must give to oneself. Let the objector read an essay of -Lamb’s, say, or of Matthew Arnold’s, _Lycidas_ or the ‘raven’ -scene in _Barnaby Rudge_ and then put himself to sleep or wile -away an anxious or a dull hour by telling to himself what he has -read. The result will be disappointing; he will have forgotten this -and that turn of thought, link in the chain of argument, but he -will know the whole thing in a surprising way; the incidents, the -figures, the delicate play of thought in the author will be brought -out in his mind like the figures in the low relief which the -sculptor produces from his block. He finds he has taken in ‘mind -stuff’ which will come into use in a thousand ways perhaps as long -as he lives. - -Here we get the mind forces which must act continuously in -education,--attention, assimilation, narration, retention, -reproduction. But what of reason, judgment, imagination, -discrimination, all the corps of ‘faculties’ in whose behoof the -teacher has hitherto laboured? These take care of themselves and -play as naturally and involuntarily upon the knowledge we receive -with attention and fix by narration as do the digestive organs -upon duly masticated food-stuff for the body. We must feed the -mind as the body fitly and freely; and the less we meddle with the -digestive processes in the one as in the other the more healthy the -life we shall sustain. It is an infinitely great thing, that mind -of man, present in completeness and power in even the dullest of -our pupils; even of him it may be said,-- - - “Darkness may bound his Eyes, not his Imagination. In his Bed he - may lie, like Pompey and his Sons, in all quarters of the Earth, - may speculate the Universe, and enjoy the whole World in the - Hermitage of Himself.” - -We are paying in our education of to-day for the wave of -materialism that spread over the country a hundred years ago. -People do not take the trouble to be definitely materialistic now, -but our educational thought has received a trend which carries us -whither we would not. Any apostle of a new method is welcome to -us. We have ceased to believe in mind, and though we would not -say in so many words that “the brain secretes thought as the liver -secretes bile,” yet the physical brain rather than the spiritual -mind is our objective in education; therefore, “things are in the -saddle and ride mankind,” and we have come to believe that children -are inaccessible to ideas or any knowledge. - -The message for our age is, Believe in mind, and let education go -straight as a bolt to the mind of the pupil. The use of books is a -necessary corollary, because no one is arrogant enough to believe -he can teach every subject in a full curriculum with the original -thought and exact knowledge shown by the man who has written a -book on perhaps his life-study. But the teacher is not moved by -arrogance but by a desire to be serviceable. He believes that -children cannot understand well-written books and that he must make -of himself a bridge between the pupil and the real teacher, the man -who has written the book. - -Now we have proved that children, even children of the slums, -are able to understand any book suitable for their age: that is, -children of eight or nine will grasp a chapter in _Pilgrim’s -Progress_ at a single reading; children of fourteen, one of Lamb’s -Essays or a chapter in _Eöthen_, boys and girls of seventeen -will ‘tell’ _Lycidas_. Given a book of literary quality suitable -to their age and children will know how to deal with it without -elucidation. Of course they will not be able to answer questions -because questions are an impertinence which we all resent, but they -will tell you the whole thing with little touches of individual -personality in the narrative. Perhaps this is the key to the -enormous difficulty of humanistic teaching in English. We are no -longer overpowered by the mass of the ‘humanities’ confronted with -the slow process of getting a child to take in anything at all of -the author he is reading. The slow process is an invention of our -own. Let the boy read and he knows, that is, if he must tell again -what he has read. - -This, of telling again, sounds very simple but it is really a -magical creative process by means of which the narrator sees what -he has conceived, so definite and so impressive is the act of -narrating that which has been read only once. I dwell on the single -reading because, let me repeat, it is impossible to fix attention -on that which we have heard before and know we shall hear again. - -Treat children in this reasonable way, mind to mind; not so much -the mind of the teacher to that of the child,--that would be to -exercise undue influence--but the minds of a score of thinkers -who meet the children, mind to mind, in their several books, the -teacher performing the graceful office of presenting the one -enthusiastic mind to the other. In this way children cover an -incredible amount of ground in the time at their disposal. - -Perhaps there is no better way of measuring a person of liberal -education than by the number of substantives he is able to use -with familiarity and discrimination. We remember how Scott tried -a score of openings with the man on the coach and got no further -until he hit upon ‘bent leather’; then the talk went merrily for -the man was a saddler. We have all had such experiences and know to -our shame that we ourselves have victimised interlocutors who have -not been able to find our particular ‘bent leather.’ Now, this is -a matter for teachers to consider. There are a thousand subjects -on which we should have definite knowledge and be able to speak -with intelligence; and, indeed, do we not set ‘general knowledge’ -papers, with the result that boys and girls are ‘out’ for scrappy -information and provide material for comic paragraphs? There is no -remedy for this state of things but a great deal of _consecutive_ -reading from very various books, all of some literary value; and -this we find can be accomplished readily in school hours because -one reading is sufficient; nor should there be any revision for -the distant examination. Here is an uncorrected list of 200 names, -used with ease and fitness in an examination on one term’s work by -a child of eleven in Form II. - - Abinadab, Athenian, Anne Boleyn, Act of Uniformity, Act of - Supremacy, America, Austria, Alcibiades, Athens, Auckland, - Australia, Alexandria, Alhambra. - - Bible, Bishop of Rochester, Baron, Bean-shoots, Bluff, Bowen - Falls, Bishoprics, Blind Bay, Burano. - - Currants, Cupid, Catholic, Court of High Commission, Cranmer, - Charles V, Colonies, Convent, Claude, Calais, Cook Strait, - Canterbury Plain, Christchurch, Cathedral, Canals, Caliph of - Egypt, Court of the Myrtles, Columbus, Cordova. - - David, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Guise, Dunedin, Doge’s - Palace. - - England, Emperor, Empire, Egmont (Count), English Settlement. - - Flour, Fruits, French, Francis I, Francis of Guise, Ferdinand, - Foveau Strait, Fuchsias, Fiords, Ferns. - - Greek, Germany, Gondolas, “Gates of the Damsels,” Gondoliers, - Granada, Gate of Justice, Gypsies. - - Henry VIII, History, Hooper, Henry II, Hungary, Haeckel. - - Israel, Italian (language), Italy, Infusoria. - - Jesse, Jonathan, Joseph, John, Jerusalem, James, Jane Seymour. - - King of Denmark, King of Scotland, Kiwi. - - “Love-in-idleness,” Lord Chancellor, Lord Burleigh, Lord Robert - Dudley, Lime, Lyttleton, N.Z., Lake Tango. - - Mary (The Virgin), More (Sir Thomas), Music, Martyr’s Memorial, - Milan, Metz, Monastery, Mary, Queen of Scots, Mediterranean, - Microscope, Messina, Middle Island, Mount Egmont, Mount Cook, - Milford Sound, Museum, Moa, Maoris, Mussulman, Moorish King. - - Naomi, Netherlands, Nice, New Zealand, North Island, Napier, - Nelson. - - Oberon, Oxford, Orion. - - Pharisees, Plants, Parliament, Puck, Pope, Protestant, Poetry, - Philosophy, “_Paix des Dames_,” Philip II, Paris, Planets, “Pink - Terraces,” Piazetta, Philip of Burgundy. - - Queen Catherine, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, Queen Isabella, - Queen Juana. - - Ruth, Robin Goodfellow, Ridley, Reformation, Radiolaria, - Rotomaliana (Lake), Rea. - - Saul, Samuel, Simeon, Simon Peter, Sunshine, Sugar-cane, Spices, - Sultan, Spain, St. Quentin, Socrates, Stars, Sycamore, Seed-ball, - Stewart Island, Seaports, Southern Alps, Scotch Settlement, St. - Mark, St. Theodore, St. Maria Formosa (Church), Sierra Navada. - - Temple, Titania, Testament, Treaty, Turks, Toul, Thread Slime, - Tree Ferns, Timber Trees, Trieste, Toledo. - - Verdure, Venus (Planet), Volcano, Volcanic Action, Venice. - - Wheat, Wiltshire, William Cecil, Walsingham, Winged Seed, - Wellington, Waikato. - - Zaccharias, Zebedee. - -The fitness and simplicity with which these substantives are -employed is evidenced in the complete sets of papers that -follow.[46] - -Supposing we have succeeded in shifting a conscientious and -intelligent teacher from one mental position to another, suppose -that he give up the notion of developing ‘faculties’ because he -perceives that mind is complete and sufficient and wants nothing -but its proper pabulum; that, again, he yield his place as the -medium of all knowledge because his boys are qualified to deal with -knowledge at first hand from the right books; suppose he scrap all -the text-books and compendiums he has in use, perceiving that only -that curious outsider, the verbal memory, and not the mind, will -consent to deal with these dry-as-dust compilations; suppose he -concede that much knowledge of various sorts and therefore a wide -curriculum is necessary for the production of an intelligent and -magnanimous citizen; supposing he has proved that any boy can face -such a curriculum because all boys have immense power of attention -and are able to know their work after a single reading,--surely -he has still one or two strongholds that have not been attacked! -What he aims at, he will tell you, is, not to open avenues of -approach to the subjects about which intelligent citizens should -know something, but to give pretty thorough knowledge in two or -three directions and to turn out straight Englishmen; that is, -he looks upon school as a nursery for the formation of character -rather than for the acquisition of knowledge. As for the one or two -subjects, practically, classics and mathematics, I have nothing -to say; those subjects are of real value and also under existing -regulations pretty high attainments in them are necessary as a -preliminary to professional advancement. It is possible that when -a boy has the habit of covering the ground rapidly he may get more -into the given ‘period’ and leave a margin for the wider range -of subjects proper to a liberal education. Experiments in this -direction are being tried in one of our great Grammar Schools, -and how important such experiments are to us as a democracy, I -need not be at pains to show. There is every promise that the -‘masses’ will learn to read in their schools in such wise as to -produce in a terminal examination as considerable a list of names -as those on the preceding page. If the masses know ‘Sancho Panza,’ -Elsinore, ‘Excalibur,’ ‘Rosinante,’ ‘Mrs. Jellaby,’ redstart, -‘Bevis,’ bogbean,--the classes must know these things too with -easy intimacy. If the one class is familiar with the pictures of -the Van Eycks, with ‘Comus,’ ‘Duessa,’ ‘Baron of Bradwardine,’ the -other class must know them too, and be able to use the knowledge -with such effect as does the ‘Honourable Member’ when he quotes a -familiar tag from Horace. He touches a spring to which all hearts -rise, because allusions to what we know are like the light on ‘old -familiar faces.’ What we want is a common basis of thought, such -a ground work as we get from having read the same books, grown -familiar with the same pictures, the same musical compositions, the -same interests; when we have such a fundamental basis, we shall be -able to speak to each other whether in public speaking or common -talk; we shall “all hear ... in our own tongue the wonderful works -of God” because we have learned a common speech through those who -in their books have lived to educate the race. And how persuasively -shall we speak to those who know, and therefore do not present the -dead front of opposition--the natural resource of ignorance! - -A democratic education must have new features. We must all be able -to ‘take the front’ of men and women by speaking of that which -they have known and felt and already found joy in. So shall we -cease to present motives of self interest and personal advantage as -incentives to public action; we shall touch springs of poetry, of -heroism, to which all natures have the habit of rising; and thus -shall we build “Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land.” -Towards this, we must have read the same books, only in English -rather than in Latin or Greek, because the people will probably -never have time to attain proficiency in these; neither, as a -matter of fact, has the average boy at our great schools. If we -must still have an exclusive education to which only the few best -in a school can attain,--and it seems to me that we must, that this -is, in fact, the one thing we have achieved, an education that has -accomplished great results in character and conduct;--but if we -would keep this possession, we must at the same time broaden its -base and narrow its bounds. We must give wide reading in the lower -forms, reading that everybody has read, and we must so compress -our classical and mathematical work in the higher Forms that much -history and ‘English’ may be included. I speak without authority -but is it not true that there is overlapping in the passage from -Preparatory to Public School, from one Form to a higher, from the -Sixth to the University? Probably it will be found possible to give -the old training which has produced such notable results, but to -make it an inclusive not an exclusive education, to take in the -books which everyone should know, the pictures everyone should be -familiar with, the history, the travel, in which we should all be -at home, some understanding of the phenomena which come before us -all. Once we give up the notion that education is a development -of the ‘faculties’ to be accomplished by the teacher, and realize -that it is on the contrary an appropriation of wide knowledge -which the pupil must get for himself, there is some fear that the -old exclusive education must go by the board; but this would be a -national calamity. We must keep that to which we have attained and -add to it the wide reading of a liberal education. The careers of -‘Joan’ and ‘Peter,’ as depicted by Mr. Wells are instructive. Peter -is not entered for a recognised Public School for his guardian -had many things against such schools, but games are his chief -concern. Later we find the two at College, and of Joan it is said, -“No religion has convinced her of a purpose in her life, neither -Highmorton nor Cambridge has suggested any mundane devotion to -her nor pointed her ambitions to a career. The only career these -feminine schools and Colleges recognized was a career of academic -success and teaching.” The implicit charge against the schools is -that they try each in its own way to find a substitute for the -saving grace of knowledge. Academic success and knowledge are not -the same thing and many excellent schools fail to give their pupils -delight in the latter for its own sake or to bring them in touch -with the sort of knowledge that influences character and conduct. -The slow, imperceptible, sinking-in of high ideals is the gain that -a good school should yield its pupils. - -We have, if not a higher, yet another standard which it may be -interesting to consider. We offer children knowledge for its own -sake and our pupils discover that ‘studies serve for delight.’ We -do not give our best attention to brilliant children, it is not -necessary; these work well on their own account and so do the -average and even the dull pupils. Historical characters become -real to them and a fairly wide historical field comes under their -purview; they do not grow up in crass ignorance of the history -of foreign countries; they understand, for example, the India of -to-day the better because they have some slight intimacy with Akbar -as a contemporary of Elizabeth. They take to themselves a lesson -from the youthful presumption of ‘Phaëton’; ‘Midas’ and ‘Circe,’ -Xerxes and Pericles enrich the background of their thoughts. The -several Forms get through a great deal of reading because we -have discovered that a single reading suffices to secure a clear -knowledge (as far as it goes) of a subject, given the right book. -Therefore, many books are necessary, and each is read consecutively -so that the knowledge acquired is not scrappy and insecure. I know -that teachers enjoy the work set term by term fully as much as -do the children and that a schoolroom life in which there is no -monotony, no dulness, little or no idleness or inattention, does -away with the necessity to make games the paramount interest of the -school--to make them indeed a stem necessity rather than a joyous -relaxation. - -The introduction of the methods I advocate has a curious effect -on a whole family. The old nurse and the gardener are told of the -adventures of ‘Waverley.’ “A. B. has named a moss her father picked -on the tip-top of Ben Lawers. It is very rare and only grows on -Ben Lawers and one other mountain. She is so pleased,” and so, no -doubt, is her father! The whole household thinks of and figures to -itself great things, for nothing is so catching as knowledge and -that fine temper of mind that knowledge brings with it. Children so -taught are delightful companions because they have large interests -and worthy thoughts; they have much to talk about and such casual -talk benefits society. The fine sense, like an atmosphere, of -things worth knowing and worth living for, this it is which -produces magnanimous citizens, and we feel that Milton was right in -claiming magnanimity as the proper outcome of education. - -When we compare the large number of books, of historical and -literary personages, the range of natural phenomena, with which -children brought up on these lines are acquainted, with the sterile -syllabus, not very well mastered, which is the schoolboy’s normal -fare, we find matter for reflection. Yet I suppose that in few -things is the general moral and intellectual progress evidenced -more than in the culture common among the teachers of secondary -schools. Every Head knows how to draw up the best possible syllabus -and to secure good work, if upon narrow lines, but we (of the -P.N.E.U.) work at an advantage when, as I have said, we recognise -one or two natural laws. - -I have no doubt that some of my readers are interested in the work -we are doing in Elementary schools,--a work the more astonishing -because children who have little vocabulary to begin with, no trace -of literary background, show themselves able to hear or read a -work of literary value and after a single reading to narrate pages -with spirit and accuracy, not hedging at the longest names nor -muddling complicated statements. This was a revelation to us, and -it signifies that a literary education is open to all, not after -tedious and laborious preparation, but immediately. The people wait -only for the right books to be put into their hands and the right -method to be employed. - -Let me repeat that we live in times critical for everybody, but -eminently critical for teachers, because it rests with them whether -personal or general good shall be aimed at, whether education -shall be merely a means of getting on, or a means of general -progress towards high thinking and plain living, and therefore an -instrument of the greatest national good. - -Let me beg that Heads of schools, so far in sympathy with me that -they perceive we are at the parting of the ways, will consider a -method which brings promise of relief. - -We are in a condition, for example, to answer the questions to be -considered by the Departmental Committee on English:-- - - “Can history and literature be brought into closer relations - with the school curriculum than is the case at present? How much - grammar is necessary? Could not oral composition and drama and - debate, do something to cure our national _aphasia_? How can the - preparatory schools improve their English teaching? How can the - school essay be redeemed from barrenness? How can examinations be - made a test of English without destroying the love of literature?” - -These questions might have been framed with a view to bring out -the attainments of the Parents’ Union School. History, European -as well as English, runs in harness with literature. Some Syntax -is necessary and a good deal of what may be called historical -Grammar, but, not in order to teach the art of correct writing and -speaking; this is a native art, and the beautiful consecutive and -eloquent speech of young scholars in narrating what they have read -is a thing to be listened to not without envy. As to _aphasia_, to -quote a Director of Education on this subject,--“Conversational -readiness becomes a characteristic. A quarter of a century of these -methods with all the children of England and the strong silent -Englishman should be a rare bird!” A schoolmaster remarks that his -big boys are now eager to speak at some length--a thing new in his -experience. Consider what an asset this should be to a country -whose safety will depend more and more upon the power in the middle -classes of clear and conclusive speech. Oral composition is the -habit of the school from the age of six to eighteen. “Children of -ten who read Shakespeare” is the heading of an article in a local -newspaper which sent a reporter to investigate the P.N.E.U. method -at work in a school as the result of an article in the _Nineteenth -Century and After_ written by the Headmaster. As for preparatory -schools, we can do no more than offer them a method the results of -which in teaching English are rather surprising. The final question -as to how examinations may be made a source of intellectual -profit is I think sufficiently answered in the P.U.S. children’s -examination papers. - -We do not invite Heads of schools to take up work lightly, which -implies a sound knowledge of certain principles and as faithful a -practice. The easy tolerance which holds smilingly that everything -is as good as everything else, that one educational doctrine -is as good as another, that, in fact, a mixture of all such -doctrines gives pretty safe results,--this sort of complacent -attitude produces lukewarm effort and disappointing progress. I -feel strongly that to attempt to work this method without a firm -adherence to the few principles laid down would be not only idle -but disastrous. “Oh, we could do anything with books like those,” -said a master; he tried the books and failed conspicuously because -he ignored the principles. We teachers are really modest and -diffident and are not prepared to say that we are more capable of -handling a subject than is a carefully chosen author who writes -especially upon that subject. “Yes, but,” says a young and able -teacher, “we know better how to reach the minds of children than -does the most eloquent author speaking through the dull pages of a -book.” This is a contention of which we have finally disposed. We -have shown that the mass of knowledge, evoking vivid imagination -and sound judgment, acquired in a term from the proper books, is -many times as great, many times more thoroughly visualised by the -scholars, than had they waited upon the words of the most able and -effective teacher. This is why we insist upon the use of books. -It is not that teachers are not eminently capable but because -information does not become knowledge unless a child perform the -‘act of knowing’ without the intervention of another personality. - -Heads of schools are a generous folk and perhaps they have some -reason to think parents are niggardly, but the provision of the -necessary books by the parents is a _sine quâ non_. It is our part -to see to it that books take root in the homes of our scholars -and we must make parents understand that it is impossible to give -a liberal education to children who have not a due provision of -very various books. Moreover, it is impossible to teach children -to spell when they do not read for themselves; we hear complaints -of the difficulties of spelling, of the necessity to do violence -to the language which is dear to us all in order to make ‘spelling -made easy’; but in thousands of cases that come before us we -find that children who use their books for themselves spell well -because they visualise the words they read. Those who merely -listen to their teacher have no guide (in English at any rate) -to the spelling of the words they hear. We are, perhaps, opposed -to oral lessons or lectures except by way of occasional review -or introduction. For actual education children must do their own -work out of their own books under the sympathetic guidance of -an intelligent teacher. We find, I may add, that once parents -recognise how necessary a considerable supply of books is, they -make no difficulty about getting those set in our programmes. Mr. -Fisher says,--“there are books and text-books,” and the day is at -hand when we shall all see that the latter are of no educational -value. We rarely use text-books in the Parents’ Union School but -confine ourselves as far as possible to works with the imaginative -grasp, the touch of originality, which distinguish a book from a -text-book. Perhaps we should apologise for ourselves as purveyors -not precisely of books but of lists of books. Every headmaster or -mistress is able to draw up such lists, but think of the labour -of keeping some 170 books in circulation with a number of changes -every term! Here is our excuse for offering our services to -much-occupied teachers. There has been talk from time to time about -interfering with the liberty of teachers to choose their own books, -but one might as well contend for everyman’s liberty to make his -own boots! It is one of those questions of the division of labour -which belong to our civilisation; and if the question of liberty be -raised at all, why should we not go further and let the children -choose their books? But we know very well that the liberty we -worship is an elusive goddess and that we do not find it convenient -to do all those things we are at liberty to do. - -The terminal examinations are of great importance. They are not -merely and chiefly tests of knowledge but records which are -likely to be permanent. There are things which every child must -know, every child, for the days have gone by when ‘the education -befitting a gentleman’ was our aim. - -The knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and no teaching -of the Bible which does not further that knowledge is of religious -value. Therefore the children read, or if they are too young to -read for themselves the teacher reads to them, a passage of varying -length covering an incident or some definite teaching. If there -are remarks to be made about local geography or local custom, the -teacher makes them before the passage has been read, emphasizing -briefly but reverently any spiritual or moral truth; the children -narrate what has been read after the reading; they do this with -curious accuracy and yet with some originality, conveying the -spiritual teaching which the teacher has indicated. Now this is -no parrot-exercise, but is the result of such an assimilation of -the passage that it has become a part of the young scholar. It is -only by trying the method oneself on such an incident, for example, -as the visit of Nicodemus or the talk with the woman of Samaria, -that we realise the wonderful clearness with which each incident -is brought out, the fullness of meaning with which every phrase -is invested by such personal effort. This method of teaching is -especially valuable in dealing with the Gospel history, but none -of us who read during the War the daily lessons appointed by the -Church could fail to be struck by the fact that the law and the -prophets still interpret the ways of God, and we shall not do well -if we tacitly treat the Old Testament as out-of-date as a guide to -life. - -Next in order to religious knowledge, history is the pivot upon -which our curriculum turns. History is the rich pasture of the -mind--which increases upon the knowledge of men and events and, -more than all, upon the sense of nationhood, the proper corrective -of the intolerable individualism of modern education. Let Amyot -tell us,-- - - “How greatly is the reading of histories to be esteemed, which - is able to furnish us with more examples in one day, than the - whole course of the longest life of any man is able to do. - Insomuch that they which exercise themselves in reading as they - ought to do, although they be but young, become such in respect - of understanding of the affairs of this world, as if they were - old and grayheaded and of long experience. Yea, though they - never have removed out of their houses, yet are they advertised, - informed and satisfied of all things in the world.” - -Hence, the great value of the Old Testament,--history and poetry, -the law and the prophets; and perhaps no one was more sensible of -this educative value of the Scriptures than Goethe, though he was -little sensible of their more spiritual worth. We endeavour to -bring records contemporary with the Bible before children, using -the contents of certain Rooms of the British Museum as a basis. -Episodes of Greek and Roman history come in, partly for their -historical, partly for their distinctly ethical value. Plutarch is, -of course, our great authority. - - “(Plutarch) hath written the profitable story of all authors. - For all other were fain to take their matter, as the fortune of - the countries whereof they wrote fell out: But this man being - excellent in wit, learning, and experience, hath chosen the - special acts of the best persons, of the famousest nations of the - world.” (_North_). - -English History is always with us, but only in the earliest years -is it studied alone. It is not, as we know, possible always to -get the ideal book, so we use the best we can find and supplement -with historical essays of literary value. Literature is hardly -a distinct subject, so closely is it associated with history, -whether general or English; and whether it be contemporary or -merely illustrative; and it is astonishing how much sound learning -children acquire when the thought of an age is made to synchronise -with its political and social developments. A point which I -should like to bring before the reader is the peculiar part which -poetry plays in making us aware of this thought of the ages, -including our own. Every age, every epoch, has its poetic aspect, -its quintessence, as it were, and happy the people who have a -Shakespeare, a Dante, a Milton, a Burns, to gather up and preserve -its meaning as a world possession. - -Let me repeat that what is called ‘composition’ is an inevitable -consequence of this free yet exact use of books and requires no -special attention until the pupil is old enough to take naturally -a critical interest in the use of words. Civics takes place as a -separate subject, but it is so closely bound up with literature and -history on the one hand and with ethics, or, what we call everyday -morals, on the other, that the division of subjects is only -nominal. - -We have considered in a previous chapter[47] what we do for -children as inhabitants of a world ordered by natural law. Here we -have a contention with some teachers of science who maintain that a -child can only learn what he discovers for himself _de novo_. The -theory is plausible, but the practice is disappointingly narrow and -inexpansive. The teacher has got his knowledge through books; why -then are they taboo for the children? Probably the reason is that -text-books of science are dessicated to the last degree, so the -teacher hopes to make up for their dryness by familiar talk about -the Hydra, for example, as a creature capable of close friendships, -about the sea-anemone as a ‘Granny’ of enormous longevity; that is, -the interest of the subject is made to depend upon side issues. -The French scientists know better; they perceive that as there -is an essence of history which is poetry so there is an essence -of science to be expressed in exquisite prose. We have a few -books of this character in English and we use them in the P.U.S. -in conjunction with field work and drawing--a great promoter of -enthusiasm for nature. - -I have already shown[47] what we do, for example, in the way of -affording children familiar acquaintance with great music and -great pictures. An eminent art-dealer in London paid us a pretty -compliment when he said,--“Lord help the children!” were our work -to come to an end; and he had reason for he had just sold to P.U.S. -children thousands of little exquisite reproductions of certain -pictures by Velasquez which were the study of the term; no wonder -that a man who loves art and believes in it should feel that -something worth while was being done. In drawing, the scholars work -very freely in colour from natural figures and objects and draw -scenes visualised in the term’s reading. We do not teach drawing as -a means of self-expression; the scholars express, not themselves, -but what they can see and what they conceive. - -I have already gone into the teaching of languages; the habit of -fixed attention and ready narration which the P.U.S. pupils acquire -should be of value in this branch of work, and I believe a new era -is opening for us and we English will at last become linguists. At -the House of Education the students narrate in French,[48]--more -readily and copiously than they do in English,--the courses of -lectures in French history and literature which form part of -their work. In German and Italian they are able to read a scene -in a play and ‘tell’ the scene in character, or a short passage -from a narrative. We rather emphasise Italian, the language is so -beautiful and the literature so rich, and I should like to suggest -that schools should do the same. Latin and Greek we learn in the -usual ways, but we apply the method of narration to the former. - -I must commend any further study of the _rationale_ of our syllabus -to the reader’s own kind consideration; he will perceive that -we have a principle of correlation in things essential, but no -fatiguing practice of it in detail. But to one more statement, a -very daring one, I beg for favourable attention. The common theory -and practice of education are on trial. It is idle to ‘develop -the faculties’ if there be no faculties, but only _mind_, which, -like Wordsworth’s cloud, moves altogether when it moves at all. -Therefore, those subjects whose _raison d’être_ is to develop this -and the other faculty are practically out of court and we must seek -another basis for education. Subjects of instruction which would be -valuable if reason, judgment, imagination, had to be ‘developed’ -become as meretricious, as much ‘accomplishments,’ as those early -Victorian accomplishments over which we make merry. Education must -be in touch with life. We must learn what we _desire to know_. -Nobody talks to his friend about ‘stinks,’ about the niceties of -Greek accents, nor, unless the two be mathematicians, about surds. -But, when Jupiter is regnant, how good to tell and to learn! What -a welcome companion is he who can distinguish between songs that -differ in the vespers of the birds! How grateful the company of the -reader of history who brings forward parallels to episodes in the -great War! We are apt to work for one thing in the hope that we -shall get another and a very different thing; we don’t. If we work -for public examinations, the questions in which must be of a narrow -academic cast, we get a narrow, accurate, somewhat sterile type of -mind. We reap as we have sown. - -The future of England depends largely upon Secondary schools; -let the Heads of these lay out a liberal field of study and -astonishingly fair things will grow in that garden of mind in which -we are invited to sow the seeds of all knowledge. My bold proposal -is that the Heads of Secondary Schools from the least to the -greatest should adopt a scheme of work following the lines I have -indicated, _faute de mieux_, that of the Parents’ Union School, and -that they should do this for the nation’s sake. - -Mr. Masefield remarks,-- - - “There can be no great art without great fable. Great art can - only exist where great men brood intensely on something upon - which all men brood a little. Without a popular body of fable - there can be no unselfish art in any country. Shakespeare’s art - was selfish till he turned to the great tales in the four most - popular books of his time, Holinshed, North’s Plutarch, Cinthio - and De Belleforest. Since the newspaper became powerful, topic - has supplanted fable and subject comes to the artist untrimmed - and unlit by the vitality of many minds.” - -It is this vitality of many minds that we aim at securing and -entreat educational workers and thinkers to join in forming a -common body of thought which shall make England great in art no -doubt, and also great in life. - -This is the way to make great men and not by petty efforts to form -character in this direction or in that. Let us take it to ourselves -that great character comes out of great thoughts, and that great -thought must be initiated by great thinkers; then we shall have a -definite aim in education. Thinking and not doing is the source of -character. - - (Here followed a set of examination answers in each form. Space - forbids their inclusion but specimen sets can be seen at the - P.N.E.U. Office.) - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE SCOPE OF CONTINUATION SCHOOLS - - -A hundred years ago, about the close of the Napoleonic wars, there -was such another stirring among the dry bones as we are aware of -to-day. All the world knew then, as now, that war was the outcome -of the wrong thinking of ignorance, and that education was the -nostrum for minds diseased. - -Prussia led the way; not the children but the young people were -the immediate concern of Statesmen, and, guided by the philosophy -of Fichte, and organised under the statesmanship of Stein, that -noble league of youth, the Tugendbund, came into being. Prussia -was miserably impoverished, but her concern was not with the arts -which should make her rich; her young people looked to philosophic -principles for precept and to history for example, and, it was well -with the land. - -Not only in Prussia but throughout western Europe there was a more -or less active intellectual renaissance, but, whether because the -times were not ripe or the peoples were not worthy, the high ideals -of the early days of the century were superseded by the utilitarian -motive. - -When the ‘Continuation School’ movement revived, envy of the -commercial and manufacturing successes of England actuated the new -effort; and already in 1829 a Bavarian statesman had announced -that if you would have the fruit you must sow the seed, that is, -manufacturing success is to be had only at the cost of technical -education. - -We all know the result in the great Munich schools where first-rate -organisation and admirable teaching have produced an appreciable -effect upon German industries. But the best German minds have long -been aware that “an education which has powerful economic interests -behind it is apt to become too narrowly utilitarian in motive and -to lose that ideal element which gives all education its chief -power over character.” As Mr. Lecky has said concerning morals, -“the Utilitarian theory is profoundly immoral.” - -The occasion brought forth the man; we know how in 1900 Dr. -Kirschensteiner chanced to see the announcement of a prize offered -for an essay on the best way of training youth. He wrote the essay, -was crowned by the Academy of his country, and that essay in -pamphlet form has influenced opinion and directed action throughout -the west: Professors Dewey and Stanley Hall in the United States, -Dr. Armstrong and Sir Philip Magnus at home, are among its leading -exponents. - -And what was the note of this new gospel of education? Practically -that same note which had proceeded from England, France, -Switzerland, a century earlier: a utilitarian education should be -universal and compulsory; child and adolescent should be “saturated -with the spirit of service, provided with the instruments of -effective self-direction.” Behold, Utopia at hand! every young -person fitted, body and soul, for the uses of society; as for his -own uses, what he should be in and for himself--why, what matter? - -It is not that the eminent educationalists I have referred to -would willingly sacrifice the individual youth to society; on the -contrary they would raise him, give him place and power, give him -opportunity; place his feet on the rungs of that ladder we used to -hear about; but we have all been misled by mistaken views as to -the function of education. We have believed that knowledge may be -derived from sensation, that what we have seen with our eyes and -our hands have handled affords us the nutriment our souls demand. -No doubt a boy uses his mind to some purpose when he makes, for -example, an ingenious model; and, seeing mind at work, we run away -with the notion that food and work are synonymous terms; for the -body they may be so in a certain sense, for work brings pay and pay -buys food, but no such indirect transaction is possible to mind; -a mind perpetually at heavy work is a sort of intellectual navvy, -whose food must be proportioned to his labour. Our great statesmen, -Gladstone, Lord Salisbury and others, knew this, and their wide and -deep reading in other matters than politics should not occasion -surprise. - -The War has forced new ideas upon us; we begin, for instance, to -realise the avidity of the _adult_ mind for instruction; it was -startling to read of 1,500 soldier candidates for twenty vacant -places in a certain class. We begin to see that mind, the mind of -all sorts and conditions of men, requires its rations, wholesome -and regularly served. As things are we shall have to see to it -that everybody gets fed; but our hope is that henceforth we shall -bring up our young people with self-sustaining minds, as well -as self-sustaining bodies, by a due ordering of the process of -education. We hope so to awaken and direct mind hunger that every -man’s mind will look after itself. - -What is the proper food of mind, has already been discussed but -we may assume that education should make our boys and girls rich -towards God (we remember the fool of the parable who failed because -he was _not_ “rich towards God”), rich towards society and rich -towards themselves. I will not press my point by urging the moral -bankruptcy which has been exposed to us during recent years as -co-existent with, if not caused by, utilitarian education; for -the catastrophe has been accelerated by the sort of moral madness -of which we too have had our seasons in the past,--witness our -_Barnaby Rudge_ and _Peveril of the Peak_ episodes; we have indeed -been carried off our feet by a fallacious notion once and again, -but our national insanity has on each occasion been short-lived -because our education hitherto has not taught us to believe a lie. - -We are not worse than others, and if we think well of ourselves -as a nation, why, national pride and personal modesty do not go -ill together; in peace-time we have bitter things to say of our -British working-man, but all the same he compares favourably with -the somewhat sardonic Latin, the sullen Teuton, whom we all know. -And the better man does the better work. We have heard much of -German efficiency, and perhaps the German excels in little matters -like doors that shut, blinds that draw, springs that act, things of -domestic utility important in a country with a more extreme climate -than ours; but these are little matters and perhaps our failing is, -not to do our best except on big occasions; give us a big job or a -big war and we show our mettle. - -But probably in all our considerable industries we excel. German -women will purr over the material of our dresses with “Ach, -englisches Tuch!” Well dressed men are English tailored in English -cloths. We buy, or bought, things “made in Germany” because they -were cheap, but the most costly and most desired goods in German -shops are advertised as “englisch.” - -This is a point to be borne in mind in considering the education of -adolescents. We are given to depreciating ourselves and each other, -but in fact we have no lee-way to make up; as both a manufacturing -and commercial nation we are well in the van and are without -inducement to sell the people’s birthright for a mess of pottage. - -Before I come to the point I desire to make, let us consider -whether the problem of Continuation Schools has been attacked -anywhere more successfully than in those countries of Middle -Europe. Some of them, Germany especially, have done all that -is to be done in response to the cry for efficiency with its -resultant big returns and high wages; but from the beginning of the -Continuation School movement in, say, 1806, the four north-western -countries have worked towards different ends. In Denmark they have, -not Continuation Schools, but People’s High Schools, a pleasanter -name for possibly a pleasanter thing. - -Denmark, like Germany, was, as we know, devastated by the -Napoleonic wars, but had been vitalised by the liberation of its -serfs in 1788, and this prepared the ground for Grundtvig, that -poet, historian and enthusiast, who became the “Father of the -People’s High Schools.” - -“Where there is most life, there is the victory,” said he, and -the immediate way to an access of life he saw in “A Danish High -School accessible to young people all over the land,” a school -which should inspire “admiration for what is great, love for what -is beautiful, faithfulness and affection, peace and unity, innocent -cheerfulness, pleasure and mirth.” Observe, there is no word of -‘efficiency’ in this poet’s dream, but he did assure Charles VIII -that with such a school, “a well of healing in the land,” he might -afford to smile at the newspapers, whether they chose to praise or -blame. The King gave heed, begged for a further development of his -plans than was afforded in the original pamphlet, and by 1845 the -schools he had dreamed of began to be. - -We cannot follow the development of these Danish People’s Schools, -but in 1903-4 their pupils numbered over three thousand men and -rather more women, and wise men cherished the hope that “the new -Danish school for youth is to have the good fortune to blend all -classes of the people into one.” - -All of these High Schools bear the mark of the genius of their -“Father”--whose pupils have known how to sum up his teaching in -three sayings,--“Spirit is might; Spirit reveals itself in spirit; -Spirit works only in freedom.” We are able to trace the source of -these sayings, and indeed this movement seems to have been from -the first profoundly Christian--Christian in no narrow sense, -but sharing the wide liberality of that _Allegoria filosofica -della Religione Cattolica_ conceived by the ‘Angelic Doctor’ and -pictured by Simone Memmi on the walls of the Spanish chapel in -Santa Maria Novella (Florence): the several teachers commemorated -were themselves illustrious pagans but not therefore the less under -Divine teaching. Here, it seems to me, is an educational _credo_ -worth reviving in these utilitarian days, and some such creed seems -to have been Grundtvig’s, though probably independently conceived. -His great hope is that “above all, some acquaintance with popular -literature, especially with the poetry and history of one’s own -country, will create a brand new world of readers all over the -land.” - -I cannot go into the question of the Agricultural Schools of which -it is said that “the Danish Agricultural School is the child of the -Danish Folkshöjskole, and must, like this, have Christian faith and -national life for its basis.” In the careless days before the War -we could all testify to the excellence of Danish butter, but did we -consider the “resolution and capacity” with which Danish peasants -passed over from the making of poor butter in their various small -holdings to the “manufacture in co-operative dairies of butter of -an almost uniform fineness”? This, too, says an eminent Swedish -Professor, is due to the High Schools, for, said he, “Just as the -enrichment of the soil gives the best conditions for the seeds -sown in it, so a well-grounded humanistic training provides the -surest basis for business capacity, and not the least so in the -case of the coming farmers.”[49] These are weighty words deserving -our consideration at a moment when we, too, are on the eve of a new -departure. - -The three neighbouring countries watched the experiments in Denmark -with keen interest, and almost simultaneously People’s High Schools -sprang up in all four. - -These northern High Schools, necessarily winter schools, were not -open at the time of my visit, but two or three things casually -observed might, I think, be traced to their influence. For -instance, Copenhagen itself, as compared with Munich, strikes one -as a city with a soul. At the Hague, again, I saw an artisan in -his working clothes shewing pictures in one of the galleries to -his boy of seven who looked earnestly and listened eagerly. The -young people in the great Delft porcelain works shewed traces of -culture and gentleness in countenance and manner. But nothing -struck me more than what I saw in the general shop of an out of -the way village in Sweden; the villagers were peasants and the one -shop sold cabbages and herrings, cheese and calico; but across the -small-paned window was a shelf closely packed with volumes in paper -covers which had not had time to get dusty; of course I could not -read all the titles, but among them were translations from French, -German and English. I noticed slim volumes of Scott, Dickens, -Thackeray, Ruskin, Carlyle and the last thing out. One felt assured -that the village was in ‘kingdom come,’ that of a long winter’s -evening, in any home, one read aloud whilst the rest worked, that -there was much to talk about when friends met and lovers walked. -(How sad, by the way, to read that ‘Tommy,’ whom we all love and -revere, is quick to form friendships but that these do not progress -for the friends have nothing to talk about.) Think of little plays -got up, of public readings given by the villagers themselves; might -such things be with us, the lure of the town would cease to draw -our village men and maids, for the village that can offer a happy -community life, sustained by the people themselves, is able to hold -its people. - -Our upper and middle classes, professional and other, are -singularly stable folk, and they are so, not because of their -material but of their intellectual well-being; in this sense only -they are most of them the ‘Haves’ as compared with the ‘Have-nots.’ -The reason is not far to seek. Are there not agitators abroad whose -business it is to sow seeds of discontent in the gaping minds of -the multitude? The full mind passes on, but that which is empty -seizes on _any_ new notion with avidity, and is hardly to be blamed -for doing so; a hungry mind takes what it can get, and the baker is -apt to be lenient about prosecuting the starving man who steals a -loaf. I do not hesitate to say that the constantly recurring misery -of our age, ‘Labour Unrest,’ is to be laid at the door, not of the -working man, but of the nation which has not troubled itself to -consider the natural hunger of mind and the manner of meat such -hunger demands. - -I have tried to establish that the Kultur offered by the Munich -type of Continuation School has had no good effect upon morals or -manners and no conspicuously good effect upon manufactures. - -That England is under no necessity to follow Germany’s lead in this -matter for Germany allows our superiority by paying a high price -for our goods. - -That Denmark and the neighbouring states, on the contrary, excel in -those things in which we fall short. - -That the People’s High Schools of Denmark are worthier of our -imitation than the Continuation Schools of Germany. - -That they are so because character and conduct, intelligence and -initiative, are the outcome of a humanistic education in which the -knowledge of God is put first. - -But we cannot take educational prescriptions designed for another -patient; the Grundtvig Schools are for students ranging from -eighteen to twenty-five, not for the more difficult ages from -fourteen to eighteen. Again, these People’s High Schools are -residential. In countries so largely agricultural it is possible -for a great part of the young adult population to spend the five -winter months year by year at one of these People’s High Schools. -Their case and ours do not go on all fours. Our problem is the -young adolescent in a country largely manufacturing. - -Now, we have received our cloth, and not in ungenerous measure. -How shall we cut our coat, that is, how shall we spend those seven -or eight hours a week in which “Education” is to do her part -for the young citizen? If we take the easiest way, we shall let -the boy do what he is doing for the rest of the week,--work for -his employer, whether directly, by way of increased output, or -indirectly, by way of increased skill. This would be a betrayal. No -employer wishes to take with one hand what he gives with the other; -besides, what employer doubts the ability of his staff to train his -young employees? Again, the technique of any employment takes but -little time to understand. It is the practice that is of value, -and such practice is--work. Continuation Schools should not exist -for technical instruction; they are established definitely for the -sort of education of which such instruction forms no part; and will -not the evening hours be free as they are at present for technical -classes, gymnastic clubs, and various forms of recreative exercise? - -This particular gift of _time_ must be dedicated to things of the -mind if we believe that mind too requires its rations and that to -use the mind is by no means the same thing as to feed it. - -With the best will in the world to give boys and girls something -on which to chew the cud, real mind-stuff for digestion and -assimilation, we find that the flood-gates are opened; an ocean of -things good to know overwhelms us and we have--eight hours a week! -We seize on that blessed word compromise and see two possibilities: -we are in a hurry to make good citizens. Now, good citizens must -have sound opinions about law, duty, work, wages, what not; so we -pour opinions into the young people from the lips of lecturer or -teacher, his opinions, which they are intended to take as theirs. -In the next place there is so much to be learned that a selection -must needs be made; the teacher makes this selection and the young -people are “poured into like a bucket,” which, says Carlyle, “is -not exhilarating to any soul.” Some ground is covered; teachers and -Education Authorities are satisfied; and if, when the time comes, -the young people leave school discontented and uneasy, if their -work bore them and their leisure bore them, if their pleasures are -mean and meagre, and if they become men and women rather eager -than otherwise for the excitement of a strike, that is because the -Continuation, as the Elementary, School will have failed to find -them. - -This is the real educational difficulty in schools for all classes, -for pupils of all ages,--the enormous field of knowledge which it -is necessary to cover in order to live with intelligence and moral -insight. Know one thing well and you have the power to apprehend -many things is the academic solution, which has not worked -altogether badly, but it cannot be stretched to fit our present -occasion,--the “Enlightenment of the Masses.” What we may call -the ‘academic’ doctrine assumes that mind like body is capable -of development in various directions by means of due exercise. -Profounder educational thought, however, reveals mind to us as of -enormous capacity, self-active, present in everyone and making but -one demand--its proper pabulum. Feed mind duly and its activities -take care of themselves. As the well-fed workman is fit for all his -labours, so the duly nourished mind knows, thinks, feels, judges -with general righteousness. The good man and magnanimous citizen is -he who has been fed with food convenient for him. - -Such a view of education naturally includes religion, not only “for -his God doth instruct him and doth teach him,” but because we may -take knowledge roughly as of three sorts,--knowledge of God, to be -got first-hand through the sacred writings, knowledge of man, to be -arrived at through history, poetry, tale; through the customs of -cities and nations, civics; through the laws of self-government, -morals. One other great branch of knowledge remains. Every youth -should know something of the flowers of the field, the birds of the -air, the stars in their courses, the innumerable phenomena that -come under general observation; he should have some knowledge of -physics, though chemistry perhaps should be reserved for those who -have a vocation that way. - -Here are we on the verge of that new life for our country which we -all purpose, faced with infinite possibilities on either hand,--the -vast range of knowledge and the vast educability of mind. Another -certainty presents itself, that we have not time for short cuts: -the training of muscle and sense, however necessary, does not -nourish mind; and, on the other hand, the verbiage of a lecturer is -not assimilated. There is no education but self-education and only -as the young student works with his own mind is anything effected. - -But we are not without hope. An astounding field has been -opened to us; thousands of children in Council Schools are doing -incredible things with freedom and joy. They have taken in hand -their own education and are greedy of knowledge for its own sake, -knowledge in the three great fields that I have indicated. - -The fact is that a great discovery has been vouchsafed to -us, greater, I think, as concerns education, than any since -the invention of the first alphabet. Let us again refer to -Coleridge[50] on the origin of great discoveries. Coleridge gives -no qualification to the minds which receive these great ideas, -they are not described as great minds, but, he says, they are -“previously prepared to receive them,” that is, the great ideas. -If the reader will forgive me for saying so I think my mind has -been so prepared--by extraordinary incapacity in one direction, the -direction, roughly, of academic attainments, and by some degree of -capacity in other directions, and it has been gradually borne in -upon me that this incapacity and this capacity are pretty general, -and perhaps afford a key to the problem of education. A further -preparation came to me in unusual opportunities for testing and -understanding the minds of children and young people. I am anxious -to bring this idea of a discovery before the reader because our -methods are so simple and obvious that people are inclined to take -them up at random and say that extensive reading is a “good idea -which we have all tried more or less” and that free narration -“is a good plan in which there is nothing new.” It is true that -we all read and that narration is as natural as breathing, its -value depending solely upon what is narrated. What we have perhaps -failed to discover hitherto is the immense hunger for knowledge -(curiosity) existing in everyone and the immeasurable power of -attention with which everyone is endowed; that everyone likes -knowledge best in a literary form: that the knowledge should be -exceedingly various concerning many things on which the mind of -man reflects; but that knowledge is acquired only by what we may -call “the _act of knowing_,” which is both encouraged and tested -by narration, and which further requires the later test and record -afforded by examinations. This is nothing new, you will say, and -possibly no natural law in action appears extraordinarily new; we -take flying already as a matter of course; but though there is -nothing surprising in the action of natural laws, the results are -exceedingly surprising, and to that test we willingly submit these -methods. - -“All is not for all” was the sad conclusion of that Danish patriot -and prophet. No doubt Grundtvig thought of the impassable barriers -presented by a poor and mean vocabulary and a field of thought -without literary background. So “all is not for all” he said, even -as a prophet of our own proclaims that a worthy education is only -for the _élite_. Books are not for the people, was Grundtvig’s -conclusion; wherefore those young Danes were lectured to by men -of enthusiasm who had their country’s literature and history at -their fingers’ ends and could convey the temper of their own minds. -A great deal was effected, but minds nourished at the lips of a -teacher have not the stability of those which seek their own meat. - -But what if all _were_ for all, if the great hope of Comenius--“All -knowledge for all men”--were in process of taking shape? This is -what we have established in many thousands of cases, even in those -of dull and backward children, that any person can understand any -book of the right calibre (a question to be determined mainly by -the age of the young reader); that the book must be in literary -form; that children and young persons require no elucidation -of what they read; that their attention does not flag while so -engaged; that they master a few pages at a single reading so -thoroughly that they can ‘tell it back’ at the time or months -later whether it be the _Pilgrim’s Progress_ or one of Bacon’s -Essays or Shakespeare’s plays; that they throw individuality -into this telling back so that no two tell quite the same tale; -that they learn incidentally to write and speak with vigour and -style and usually to spell well. Now this art of telling back is -_Education_ and is very enriching. We all practise it, we go over -in our minds the points of a conversation, a lecture, a sermon, an -article, and we are so made that only those ideas and arguments -which we go over are we able to retain. Desultory reading or -hearing is entertaining and refreshing, but is only educative here -and there as our attention is strongly arrested. Further, we not -only retain but realise, understand, what we thus go over. Each -incident stands out, every phrase acquires new force, each link -in the argument is riveted, in fact we have performed THE ACT OF -KNOWING, and that which we have read, or heard, becomes a part -of ourselves, it is assimilated after the due rejection of waste -matter. Like those famous men of old we have found out “knowledge -meet for the people” and to our surprise it is the best knowledge -conveyed in the best form that they demand. Is it possible that -hitherto we have all been like those other teachers of the past who -were chidden because they had taken away the key of knowledge, not -entering in themselves and hindering those who would enter in? - -To-day we are in this position. We realise that there is an act of -knowing to be performed; that no one can know without this act, -that it must be self-performed, that it is as agreeable and natural -to the average child or man as singing is to the song thrush, -that “to know” is indeed a natural function. Yet we hear of the -_incuria_ which prevails in most schools, while there before us are -the young consumed with the desire to know, can we but find out -what they want to know and how they require to be taught. - -Humanistic education, whether in English or Latin, affects conduct -powerfully; knowledge of this sort is very welcome to children -and young persons; a good deal of ground may be covered because a -single reading of a passage suffices; this sort of humanistic work -has been tried with good effect; and if our Continuation Schools -are to be of value they must afford an education on some such lines. - -The Parents’ Union School, originally organised[51] for the benefit -of children educated at home, is worked by means of programmes -followed by examination papers sent out term by term. When the same -work, if not the whole of it, was taken up by Council Schools,[52] -the advantage of such an organisation was apparent, especially in -that it afforded a common curriculum for children of all classes. -By using this curriculum we were enabled to see that the slum child -in a poor school compares quite favourably with the child of clever -or opulent parents who had given heed to his education. - -Now one of our national difficulties is the fact that we have -no common basis of thought or ground for reflection. No doubt, -by pretty copious reading, links of common interests might be -established, and the schoolroom might do at least as much for -the general life as does the cricket-pitch. The scheme works -practically without a hitch in Council Schools; this is the sort of -work that the highest class in these Schools, (in Standard VII), -are doing with great success and very great delight. They read -English, French and General History (three or four volumes), two or -three books dealing with citizenship and morals from various points -of view; Literature, contemporary with the history read (several -works); natural history, physical geography and science (three or -four books); Scripture (chiefly the Bible). Every term brings a new -programme of work, the continuation usually of books already in -reading. Children in Secondary Schools and in families remain for -one year in Form IV and that work seems adapted to the status of -Continuation Schools for the first year or two. After that the more -advanced programme (Forms V and VI) might be used in the same way. -This work would appeal to young people as being unlike the ordinary -school grind, and as giving them opportunity for consecutive -speaking and essay writing. - -There is probably no better test of a liberal education than the -number of names a person is able to use accurately and familiarly -as occasion requires. We all recollect a character of Miss Austen’s -who had no opinion to offer as to whether the Bermudas should be -described as the West Indies or not, because she had never called -them anything in her life! - -Now, here is an alphabetical (uncorrected) list taken from the -examination papers of a girl of thirteen, containing 213 proper -names, all of them used accurately, easily and with interest. - - Amaziah, Ariel, Ayrshire, Arcot, America, Austrian Army, - Artemidorus, Antium, Aufidius, Auditors, Apotheosis, Altai - Mts., Assouan, Africa, Atbara, Annulosa, Arachnoida, Armadillo, - Albumen, Abdomen, Auricles, Angle, Arc. - - Burns (Robert), Bastille, Bombay, Bengal, Burke, Black Hole - of Calcutta, British Museum, Benevolence, Basalt, Butterfly, - Beetles, Blood-vessels, Berber, Blue Nile Baghdad, Burne Jones. - - Cowper, Calcutta, Clive, Canada, Colonel Luttrel, Cleopatra, - Candace, Coriolanus, Cassowary, Cormorants, Curlews, Cranes, - Calyptra, Cotton grass, Chalk, Conglomerate, Crustacea, - Cheiroptera, Carnivora, Chyle, Centre of Circle, China Proper, - Canton, Cairo, Cheops, Circe. - - ‘Dick Primrose,’ “Deserted Village,” Dupleix, Demotic characters, - Ducks, Despotic Government, Doctor Livingstone, Deposits, Delta, - Diaphragm, Duodenum. - - England, East India Company, Economical Reform, Europe, Emperor - of Austria, Empress of Russia, Emu, Eastern Turkestan, Egypt. - - France, Frederick the Great, Frederick William of Prussia, - Flightless birds, First Cataract, Foraminifera. - - Gadarenes, Gizeh, Great Commoner, George III, General Warrants, - Governor General, Grace and Free-will, Greek language, - Generosity, Gulls, Granite, Grubs, Gastric juice, Globules. - - Huldah, Highlands of Scotland, Herodotus, Hieroglyphics, Herons, - Hoang-ho, Hedgehog, Hydrochloric Acid, Hydrocarbons, Heart. - - Isaiah, India, Influence of light. - - Josiah, Judah, Jehosaphat, Jerusalem, Jonas, Jonah, Jesuits, - Jansenists, Japan. - - Künersdorf, Kuen Lun Mts., Kioto, Karnac, Khartum, Kolcheng, - Kalabari. - - Lord North, “Lords in Waiting” of Love, Land birds, Lamellæ, - Luxor, Lake Ngami, Loanda, Lake Nyassa. - - Manasseh, Mongolia, Manchuria, Madras, Mahrattas, Member of - Parliament, Middlesex, Methodists, Mississippi Company, Maria - Theresa, Mummies, Microscopic Shells, Membrane. - - Nagasaki, Nile, Nitrogenous food. - - ‘Olivia Primrose,’ Ostriches. - - Pharisees, ‘Primrose (Mrs.),’ Philosophers Plassey, Pitt, Prime - Minister, Pragmatic Sanction, Prague, Peace of Hubertusburg, - Pity, Puffins, Penguins, Plovers, Pelicans, Plants, Polytrichum - formosum, Peristom, Porphyric, Puddingstone, Pepsin, Peptone, - Pancreas, Pulmonary artery, Pamir Plateau, Prairies, Pyramid, - Portuguese West Africa. - - Quilemane. - - Rome, Rossbach, Rosetta Stone, Rhea, Rodentia. - - Sea of Galilee, ‘Sophia Primrose,’ Surajah Dowlah, Seven Years’ - War, Silesia, Saxony, Secretary, Storks, Sandpipers, Seedlings. - - “The Task,” Treaty of Dresden, Tullus, Trade Unions, Trustees, - Treasurer, Tropical countries. - - Ulysses, Ungulata. - - Volcanic eruptions, Vermes, Vertebrate, Villi, Ventricles, Vernæ - Cavæ, Vicar of Wakefield, Volscians, Vice President. - - Wallace, Walpole, War of Independence, Wilkes, Whitfield, Wesley, - War of the Austrian Succession, Water birds, Wady Halfa. - - Yang-tse-kiang. - - Zonga, Zambesi, Zorndorff. - -This is ‘Secondary’ work, but supposing the young people of a -Continuation School, who could not read all the books on the -programmes, got some degree of intimacy, some association, with, -say, one hundred such names in a term, we might believe that they -were receiving a liberal education. This is the sort of work we -hope to see done in Continuation Schools by pupils from fourteen -to sixteen. The young people of the future between sixteen and -eighteen should be prepared to work in Forms V and VI. - -It is not the best children that answer the examination questions; -the general rule is that everybody takes every question. I have -touched only on the more humanistic subjects as whatever is done -in Mathematics, for instance, the Head of the Continuation School -will no doubt arrange; and indeed so much has been done in the -Elementary School already that probably the keeping of fictitious -account books would be a sufficient exercise for young people who -show some mathematical talent. - -No cost whatever is attached to the adoption and continued working -of this method[53] except the cost of books and of these, young -wage-earners would no doubt buy their own, so that by degrees -each would form his little library of books that he has read, -understands and knows his way about. I should like to quote a few -sentences from Professor Eucken on the education of the people:-- - - “By education of the people it must not for a moment be supposed - that we mean a special kind of education. We do not refer to - a condensed preparation of our spiritual and intellectual - possessions, suitable for the needs and interests of the great - masses; we are not thinking of a diluted concoction of the real - draught of education which we are so kind and condescending as - to dispense to the majority. No!... There is only one education - common to us all.” “We can all unite in the construction of a - spiritual world over against that of petty human routine. Thus - there is, in truth, a possibility of a truly human education, and - therefore of a true education of the people.” - -The Jena Professor sees clearly enough the task before us all; but -he sees, or sets forth, no possible way of accomplishing it, nor -is there any other way than that which we have set forth that can -afford this sort of liberal education; the electric telegraph was -not discovered twice over. - -After all our protests we are in our way utilitarian for no other -study is so remunerative as that of the ‘humanities.’ Let me draw -the reader’s attention to one point. Instability, unrest, among our -wage-earners is the serious danger threatening our social life. -Now it is said that nothing can act but where it is and the class -which acts steadily where it is, at some outpost of empire, on a -home estate, in Parliament, where you will, is the class educated -at Public Schools, that is, men brought up on the ‘humanities.’ -Strong language will be used about the deadness and decadence of -these men although they do much of our national work. Their defects -are obvious and manifold, but still, as I say, the public work -that is done is, for the most part, done by men whom no one could -describe as progressive. Is there not some confusion of ideas about -this fetish of progress? Do we not confound progress with movement, -action, assuming that where these are there is necessarily advance? -Whereas much of our activity is like the waves of the sea, going -always and arriving never. What we desire is the still progress -of growth that comes of root striking downwards and fruit urging -upwards. And this progress in character and conduct is not attained -through conditions of environment or influence but only through the -growth of ideas, received with conscious intellectual effort. - -It will be possible to have only a little of this strong meat in -Continuation Schools, but a little goes a long way, how far, our -Public School men illustrate; for a careful analysis will bring us -to the conclusion that not Latin and Greek, Games, Athletics, or -environment, but the ‘humanities’ in English alone will bring forth -the stability and efficiency which we desire to see in all classes -of society. - -I have said that we have after all a generous allowance of cloth -from which to cut our garment, seven or eight hours a week. In -that time we may get in, page for page, book for book, as full a -complement of the ‘humanities,’ poetry, history, essay, tragedy, -comedy, philosophy, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, as -our public men have imbibed at their schools. To be sure these -do it in the classic tongues while for those there is only plain -English; but however duly we magnify Greek literature we cannot -honestly say that that of England is second to any the world -has yet seen. We can give to the people the thought of the best -minds and we can secure on their part the conscious intellectual -effort, the act of knowing, which bears fruit in capability, -character and conduct. We cannot offer to the people the grace of -scholarship in the allotted time, but no doubt earnest souls will -find a way to get this surpassing excellence also; if there be -profit in ‘grinding at Grammar’ that they must forego, too, but -the inspiration and delight of entering into an intellectual world -full of associations, this they should have, a well of healing and -fountain of delight. - -Now a common ground of thought is inestimable in what may be -called its cohesive value; and what we desire to afford to the -nation at large is such another background of thought, sketched in -like that of the Public School man from the books men and women -have read at school, books which made them intimate with Pitt and -Fox, ‘Dick Swiveller,’ ‘Mrs. Quickly,’ with daffodils and clouds -and nightingales as the poets have seen them, with a thousand -promiscuous and seemingly purposeless scenes and sayings which -somehow combine to serve the purpose of a background throwing the -thoughts and incidents of to-day into clear relief. For this reason -we, like the Public Schools, all read the same books, with such an -intensive single reading that for the rest of the lives of these -young people phrases or allusions they come across will kindle in -their eyes that ‘light which never was on sea or land.’ We may hope -that Public Schools will presently add this modicum of English to -their classical studies; then the candidate for election will have -something to appeal to other than the desire to better himself, -which is supposed to dominate every man. By the way, is the paucity -of literary or historical allusions, not in Latin, to be heard -in the House due to the fact that the audience cannot be counted -upon to rise to a reference not included in the well-known school -books? If so, we shall change all that; once the _masses_ read, the -_classes_ must read, too, and the Peace will be signalised by a new -bond of intellectual life in common. - -“There is no more dreadful sight,” says Goethe, “than ignorance -in action,” and is not this the sight that is at the present -time dismaying us all? Demos is king to-day, and who may dispute -his right? But let us all give him the chance to become that -philosopher-king who according to an ancient dream was to be the -fit ruler, or rulers, of the people. The hopeful sign is that -Demos himself perceives his lack, and clamours for the humanistic -education in which he sees his salvation. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE BASIS OF NATIONAL STRENGTH[54] - -A LIBERAL EDUCATION FROM A NATIONAL STANDPOINT - - -I - -KNOWLEDGE - -We have from time to time given some attention to the failure of -our attempts to educate “The Average Boy,” and it may be useful -to look into one or two fundamental principles upon which this -question and others seem to me to depend. For if our conceptions -of education are heterogeneous and incoherent, naturally, we -shall have a tangle of examination schemes evolved to test our -ill-conceived work. - -Educationally, we are in a bad way. We were told some time ago, -in _Across the Bridges_, of the rapid deterioration of the bright -intelligent responsive schoolboy who has passed through the sixth -and seventh standards. Why? we ask. Industrial unrest often -reveals virtue, even heroism of a sort, in the working man, but a -lamentable want of knowledge--lack of education; he appears to have -little insight, imagination, or power of reflection. The tendency -in his class is that “dangerous tendency which we must all do our -best to resist” indicated by Mr. Burns at a public meeting some few -years ago; “the spirit of the horde,” he said, “is being developed; -and whether it is in exhibitions, sports, or legislation, the -individual is becoming less and less important and the mob more -and more so.” And again, “the tendency of the present day in all -modern movements is for great crowds to be brought together to see -other people play; and that is extending not only to play, but to -other fields of life.” Could the industrial movement of to-day be -better diagnosed? Again we ask, Why? As for those young men from -Public Schools who fail in the Dominions, enough has been said -about them; but those other Public School men who succeed in a -measure at outposts of the Empire because of the virtue that is in -them, do they not fail sometimes in an equal measure for lack of -the insight, imagination, intelligence, which come of knowledge? As -for the people who stay at home, “educated” men and women, I write -as an old woman who remembers how in the sixties and seventies -“countenance” was much talked of; “an intelligent countenance,” -“a fine countenance,” “a noble countenance,” were matters of -daily comment. The word has dropped out of use; is it because the -thing signified has dropped out of existence? Countenance is a -manifestation of thought, feeling, intelligence; and it is none of -these, but stolid indifference combined with physical well-being, -that we read in many faces to-day. - -If we have these grounds for discontent, education is no doubt -the culprit at the bar, though there never was, I suppose, a -more heroic and devoted body of teachers at work. They get for -themselves the greater blessing of those who give; but the children -suffer, poor little souls; “poured into like a bucket,” they -receive without stint, and little comes of it. There is no lack -of zeal on the part of the teaching profession, but there is a -tendency amongst us to depreciate knowledge and to depreciate our -scholars. Now, knowledge is the material of education, as flour is -the material of bread; there are substitutes for knowledge, no -doubt, as there are for flour. Before the era of free meals I heard -of a little girl in East London whose mother gave her a penny, to -buy dinner for herself and her little sister, when the two set out -for school. The child confided to her teacher that a ha’porth of -aniseed drops “stays your stomach” more than a halfpenny bun. Now, -our schools are worked more or less upon aniseed drops--marks, -prizes, scholarships, blue ribbons, all of which “stay the stomach” -of the boy who does not get the knowledge that he needs. That is -the point. He needs knowledge as much as he needs bread and milk; -his appetite for knowledge is as healthy as his appetite for his -dinner; and an abundant regular supply at short intervals of -various knowledge is a constitutional necessity for the growing -youth as well as for the curious child; and yet we stay his hunger -pangs upon “aniseed drops.” - -We do worse. We say, “What is the good of knowledge? Give a boy -professional instruction, whether he is to be a barrister or a -bricklayer, and strike out from his curriculum Greek or geography, -or whatever is not of utilitarian value. Teach him to play the game -and handle the ropes of his calling, and you have done the best for -him.” Now, here is a most mischievous fallacy, an assertion that -a child is to be brought up for the uses of society only and not -for his own uses. Here we get the answer to the repeated question -that suggested itself in a survey of our educational condition. We -launch children upon too arid and confined a life. Now personal -delight, joy in living, is a chief object of education; Socrates -conceived that knowledge is for pleasure, in the sense, not that -knowledge is one source, but is the source of pleasure. - -It is for their own sakes that children should get knowledge. -The power to take a generous view of men and their motives, to -see where the greatness of a given character lies, to have one’s -judgment of present events illustrated and corrected by historic -and literary parallels, to have, indeed, the power of comprehensive -judgment--these are admirable assets within the power of every -one according to the measure of his mind; and these are not the -only gains which knowledge affords. The person who can live upon -his own intellectual resources and never know a dull hour (though -anxious and sad hours will come) is indeed enviable in these -days of intellectual inanition, when we depend upon spectacular -entertainments _pour passer le temps_. - -If knowledge means so much to us, “What is knowledge?” the reader -asks. We can give only a negative answer. Knowledge is not -instruction, information, scholarship, a well-stored memory. It is -passed, like the light of a torch, from mind to mind, and the flame -can be kindled at original minds only. Thought, we know, breeds -thought; it is as vital thought touches our minds that our ideas -are vitalized, and out of our ideas comes our conduct of life. The -case for reform hardly needs demonstration, but now we begin to see -the way of reform. The direct and immediate impact of great minds -upon his own mind is necessary to the education of a child. Most of -us can get into touch with original minds chiefly through books; -and if we want to know how far a school provides intellectual -sustenance for its scholars, we may ask to see the list of books in -reading during the current term. If the list be short, the scholar -will not get enough mind-stuff; if the books are not various, his -will not be an all-round development; if they are not original, but -compiled at second hand, he will find no material in them for his -intellectual growth. Again, if they are too easy and too direct, -if they tell him straight away what he is to think, he will read, -but he will not appropriate. Just as a man has to eat a good dinner -in order that his physical energies may be stimulated to select -and secrete that small portion which is vital to him, so must the -intellectual energies be stimulated to extract what the individual -needs by a generous supply, and also by a way of presentation that -is not obvious. We have the highest authority for the indirect -method of teaching proper to literature, and especially to poetry. -The parables of Christ remain dark sayings; but what is there more -precious in the world’s store of knowledge? - -How injurious then is our habit of depreciating children; we water -their books down and drain them of literary flavour, because we -wrongly suppose that children cannot understand what we understand -ourselves; what is worse, we explain and we question. A few -pedagogic maxims should help us, such as, “Do not explain” “Do not -question,” “Let one reading of a passage suffice,” “Require the -pupil to relate the passage he has read.” The child must read to -know; his teacher’s business is to see that he knows. All the acts -of generalization, analysis, comparison, judgment, and so on, the -mind performs for itself in the act of knowing. If we doubt this, -we have only to try the effect of putting ourselves to sleep by -relating silently and carefully, say, a chapter of Jane Austen or -a chapter of the Bible, read once before going to bed. The degree -of insight, the visualization, that comes with this sort of mental -exercise is surprising. - -As I have said, a child in his seventh year will relate _The -Pilgrim’s Progress_, chapter by chapter, though he cannot read it, -and some half-dozen other books of the best we can find for him. In -his eighth or ninth year he works happily with a dozen books at a -time, books of history, adventures, travels, poems. From his tenth -to his twelfth year he reads considerable books of English and -French history, seriously written, Shakespeare’s historical plays, -North’s _Plutarch’s Lives_, and a dozen other worthy books. As he -goes up the school, his reading becomes wider and more difficult, -but every one knows the reading proper at the ages of fifteen, -seventeen, eighteen. The right books are given, but not enough -of them. The reading dietary is too meagre for the making of a -full man. A score of first-rate books should appear in the school -curriculum term by term. The point that I insist upon, however, is -that from his sixth year the child should be an “educated child” -for his age, should love his lesson books, and enjoy a terminal -examination on the books he has read. Children brought up largely -on books compare favourably with those educated on a few books and -many lectures; they have generous enthusiasms, keen sympathies, a -wide outlook and sound judgment, because they are treated from the -first as beings of “large discourse looking before and after.” They -are persons of leisure too, with time for hobbies, because their -work is easily done in the hours of morning school. - -It is not necessary to speak of modern languages and mathematics, -field work in natural history, handiwork, etc. Schools are pretty -much agreed about the treatment of these subjects. As for Latin and -Greek, the teaching of these and the possibility of getting in any -work beyond these is a crucial question; but I think it is open to -Public Schoolmasters to discover that, given boys who have read -and thought, and who have maintained the habit of almost perfect -attention that a child begins with, the necessary amount of work in -the Classics may be done in a much shorter time, and that the mind -of the pupil is the more alert because it is engaged in handling -various subjects. - -Perhaps, too, some enlightened Headmaster may come to distinguish -between scholarship and knowledge--a distinction which practical -men, like Napoleon, for example, have known how to draw. Probably -there never was a life on which the ‘humanities’ exercised a more -powerful influence; rarely has there been such an example of the -power of the informed mind to conquer the world. Napoleon is the -final answer to the contention that a knowledge of books has no -practical value, for there was, perhaps, no incident in his career -that was not suggested, inspired, illustrated by some historical -precedent, some literary apophthegm. He was, as we know, no -scholar, but he read diligently, even in the midst of absorbing -affairs, Homer, the Bible, the Koran, poetry, history, Plutarch. - -Nations grow great upon books as truly as do individuals. We know -how that heroic young Queen, Louisa of Prussia, perceived that the -downfall of her country was not due to Napoleon alone, but also -to national ignorance, and that if Prussia were to rise it must -be through the study of history. So she set herself to work at -the history of modern Europe during that sojourn at Memel, when -she knew poverty as a peasant woman knows it. The disciples of -Kant founded a league of virtue to arouse Prussian students to the -duty of patriotism; Fichte knew how to issue a trumpet call; the -nation became a nation of students, and the son of Queen Louisa -established the German Empire! Alas, that an age should have -come when the ‘humanities’ were proscribed on German soil--and -humanity followed them into exile! A noble view of education was -as righteousness exalting a nation; but, alas, we all know what -universal havoc and disaster have proceeded from the debased and -materialised theory of education promulgated at Munich. - -The Danes, again, as we all know, owe their rise out of illiteracy -to the Napoleonic impulse. After we had seized their battleships, -by way of clipping the claws of Bonaparte, they set to work to make -themselves the first farmers in Europe; this they have done in and -through their schools and their continuation schools, where they -get, not technical instruction, but a pretty wide course in history -and literature. As for the Japanese revolution of some fifty years -ago, history has little to show of a finer quality; and this, -again, was the work of a literary people. - -If we would not be left behind by the East and the West we must, -as other nations have done, “add to our virtue, knowledge”; and we -are still competent, as some of these are not, to mount from the -bottom rung of the Apostolic educational ladder. It rests with us -to add to our faith, virtue, and to our virtue, knowledge. It is -an unheard of thing that the youth of a great nation should grow -up without those ideals, slow enough in maturing, which are to be -gathered for the most part from wide and wisely directed reading. - - -II - -LETTERS, KNOWLEDGE AND VIRTUE - -The following fragments of a valuable letter illustrate the -contention of the foregoing chapter:-- - - “There is one thing, however, one note of regret, and that is - that one paragraph, that on classical education, was not more - expanded. I am satisfied that your central view covers the whole - truth; and I am going to give you a small individual experience - illustrating this fact--viz., that an early education in the - great books of our own language, read, with enjoyment, by - children and appropriately given to them from year to year, is - the true groundwork of later expansion. Here is the story:--My - three daughters were suckled on Walter Scott and Shakespeare. - Later, about the ages of from ten to twelve, off their own, they - took up Plutarch’s Lives, Bunyan, Defoe, and in the same period - they refused to learn arithmetic and geography, the former on - the ground of its monotony, and the latter, because, although - they loved it, they held that the existing system of teaching - geography was ‘rotten,’ and that geography ought to be learnt by - going to the places. I knew better than to remonstrate. I meekly - suggested that perhaps they would substitute something else in - their curriculum, and they said at once, in an obviously prepared - sentence, ‘That’s just it, we want to learn Latin and harmony.’ - Now here comes _your_ point (in that lamentably abbreviated - paragraph):-- - - ‘Given boys (or girls) who have read and thought, and who have - maintained the habit of almost perfect attention that a child - begins with, the necessary amount of work in the classics may be - done in a much shorter time, and the mind of the pupil is the - more alert because it is engaged in handling various subjects.’ - - Six months later these girls knew more Latin than I learnt in - six years under distinguished scholars with very eminent names. - They could sling passages from Horace appropriately; they knew - the first two Eclogues and half the Æneid by heart; they regarded - Cicero’s Letters to Atticus as a ‘penny post’ affair, and were - quite unduly familiar with the private life of Seneca. But all - this did not interfere with their painting or their horsemanship, - and better authorities on cricket and the Turf I don’t happen to - know. That is the illustrative episode. The point, in my mind, is - that an early education from great books with the large ideas and - the large virtues is the only true foundation of knowledge--the - knowledge worth having.” - -This interesting letter brings us straight to a question which I -thought had been pretty fully threshed out; and I tackle it with -diffidence, only because an outsider may see aspects overlooked by -experts. The gist of the charges brought against Public Schools -is,--Classics take up so much time that there is no opportunity for -_Litteræ Humaniores_ in any other form. It is easy to say,--Gain -time by giving up Greek; but, in the first place, Public Schools, -with our old Universities in sequence, are our educational -achievement. Other efforts are experimental, but this one thing we -know--that men are turned out from this course who are practically -unmatched for quality, culture, and power; even the average B.A. -shows up better than his compeers, and a degree in Arts signifies -more than one in any other faculty. - -We return thus to my original contention--that letters, primarily, -are the content of knowledge; that if Wellington ever said how -Waterloo was won, it was not on the playing-fields only, but in the -class-rooms of Eton; that Cæsar, Thucydides, _Prometheus Bound_, -have won more battles than we know on fields civil and military. -A little strong meat goes a long way, and even the average Public -School boy turns out a capable man. But, alas, if capable, he is -also ignorant; he does not know the history and literature of -his own country or any other. He has not realised that knowledge -is, not a store, but rather a state that a person remains within -or drops out of. His degree taken, he shuts his books, reads the -newspapers a little, perhaps a magazine or two, but otherwise -occupies himself with the interests of sports, games, shows, or -his employment. What is to be done, we wonder vaguely, to secure -to this average boy some tincture of knowledge and some taste for -knowledge? The expedient of dropping Greek to make room for other -things recurs; but on reflection we say, “No”; for culture begins -with the knowledge that everything has been known and everything -has been perfectly said these two thousand years ago and more. -This knowledge, slowly drummed into a youth, should keep him from -swelled head, from joining in the “We are the people” cry of the -blatant patriot; and there is no better way of knowing a people -than to know something of their own words in their own speech. - -It is well, by the way, that we should remember that we have as a -nation an enormous loss to make good; time was, and not so long -ago, when rich and poor were intimately familiar with one of the -three great classical literatures. Men’s thoughts were coloured, -their speech moulded, their conduct more or less governed, by -the pastoral idylls called “Genesis,” the impassioned poetry of -Isaiah, the divine philosophy of John, the rhetoric of Paul--all, -writings, like the rest of the Bible, in what Matthew Arnold calls -“the grand manner.” Here is the well of English undefiled from -which men have drawn the best that our literature holds, as well as -their philosophy of life, their philosophy of history, and that -principal knowledge we are practising to do without--the knowledge -of God. And we wonder that the governing classes should forget how -to rule as those who serve; and that the working man, brought up -on “Readers” in lieu of a great literature, should act with the -obstinate recklessness proper to ignorance. - -But to return to the main issue. How shall we instruct the -ignorance and yet retain the classical culture of the average -Public School boy? I should like to suggest, again, with -diffidence, that he, like his more brilliant compeer, is driven -through a mill the outpour of which should be scholarship. Now, -scholarship is an exquisite distinction which it would be ill -for us as a nation to miss; but if all the men in an assemblage -were decorated, who would care to wear an order? Some things are -precious for their rarity, and to put a school in the running -for this goal is as absurd as the ambition of the little boy who -meant to be a Knight of the Garter when he grew up. The thing is -not to be done; some men are born to be scholars, as the shape -of their heads testifies. The rest of us take pleasure in their -decoration, but are not envious, for scholarship is not the best -thing, and does not necessarily imply that vital touch of mind -upon mind out of which is got knowledge. As for erudition, we may -leave that out of count, it is hardly even an aim at the present -time. The geniuses, as one to some thousands, say, of our best, do -not trouble themselves much about the regimen we offer--classics -or modern languages, or what not; an idle tale, a puppet show, the -meanest flower that blows, is enough for them. Anyway, they take -care of themselves, and we come back to the average boy. - -He must learn his Greek and Latin, but there is an easier way; -the girls mentioned in the letter I cite had hit upon it. That -favourite girl pupil of Vittorino’s who spoke and wrote Greek -with “remarkable purity” at twelve, having, so to speak, done -with Latin at an earlier age--she, we may be sure, had not been -through the grammar school grind. Nor had any of the learned ladies -of the Italian and the French Renaissance, the list of whose -accomplishments leaves us breathless. While still children, we know -how early they married, their knowledge of the classics was copious -(and not too wholesome), they knew two or three modern languages, -could treat the wounded, nurse the sick, prepare simples, govern -great households, ride to chase, yes, and kill too! and do -exquisite embroidery. Our own women of the Tudor times appear -likewise to have been “infinitely informed” and to have carried -their learning gaily; Maria Theresa, by no means a learned lady, -could make speeches and converse with her Magyar nobles in Latin, -and they could respond, neither knowing the native speech of the -other. If these things were true of girls and women, how much more -was expected of boys and men! - -Are we persons of less intelligence, or how did they do it all? -_Every preparatory school knows how._ Perhaps few boys enter Public -Schools who could not pass “Responsions,” that is, who are not, -as far as Greek goes, ready for Oxford. I once heard a Headmaster -say:-- - - “A boy does as much Latin now by the age of twelve as he will - ever need for examination purposes, and he spends the next eight - years in doing over again and again the same work! A clever boy - of twelve could easily pass Responsions.” - -A headmaster in Newfoundland mentions in his school report for 1905 -a boy who “began Greek in October and passed the Oxford Responsions -in January.” - -There is a leakage somewhere, and there is overlapping, and both -are due to the examinations upon which scholarships are awarded. -Something must be done, because Public Schools, with all their -splendid records, are not effective in the sense that they turn -out the average boy a good all-round man. For better or for worse, -who knows? the Democracy is coming in like a flood, and our old -foundations will be tossed about in the welter unless we make haste -to strengthen our weak places. Might not a commission--consisting -of two or three headmasters, as many preparatory school masters, -University “Dons,” and public men (once public school boys and -now the fathers of such boys) look into the question and devise -examination tests which shall safeguard Letters, ancient and -modern, without putting too high a premium upon scholarship? - -Once the hands of schoolmasters were united, they would no doubt -devise means by which our friend, the average boy, would get such -a knowledge of the classics as should open life-long resources -to him. Like the ‘Baron of Bradwardine’ he would go about with a -pocket Livy (as he would say, “Titus Livius,”) to be read, not -laboured at a few lines at a time: _The Seven against Thebes_, -_Iphigenia in Aulis_, the few tragedies left to us by the great -dramatists would form part of the familiar background of his -thoughts. He would know somewhat of the best that has been written -in Greek and Latin, whether through printed translations or through -the text itself rendered in the sort of running translation which -some masters know how to give. _Pari passu_, he would do his share -of gerund-grind, and construe the two or three books of his present -limited acquaintance. But his limitations would be recognised, and -he would not be required to turn out Greek and Latin verse. - -Meantime his master will require him to know pretty intimately a -hundred worthy books in addition to the great novels--to be read -in class periods, in vacation, and in leisure time--his knowledge -of each to be tested by a single bit of oral description or -written work in verse or prose. “Ground he at Grammar,” sums up -every successful school boy’s record as it did that of the dead -“Grammarian”; but the ten or twelve years of school life should -yield more than this. - -I say nothing now about the teaching of science, for which most -schools provide, except that for our generation, science seems -to me to be the way of intellectual advance. All the same, the -necessity incumbent upon us at the moment is to inculcate a -knowledge of _Letters_. Men and their motives, the historical -sequence of events, principles for the conduct of life, in fact, -practical philosophy, is what the emergencies of the times require -us to possess, and to be able to communicate. These things are not -to be arrived at by any short cut of economics, eugenics, and the -like, but are the gathered harvests of many seasons’ sowing of -poetry, literature, history. The nation is in sore need of wise -men, and these must be made out of educated boys. - - -III - -KNOWLEDGE, REASON, AND REBELLION - -We have been very busy about education these sixty years or -more--diligently digging, pruning, watering; but there is something -amiss with our tree of knowledge; its fruits, both good and evil, -are of a mean, crabbed sort, with so little to choose between them -that superior persons find it hard to determine which is which. -To examine the individual apples would be a long process, but let -me take one at a venture: is it not true that a conviction of -irresponsibility characterises our generation? - -If this be true, seeing that we all think as we have been brought -up to think, our education is at fault. Faulty education is to -blame if private property be recklessly injured in broad day, if -working men do vital injury to their country thinking to serve -their caste, if there be people who love to have it so, as long -as their own interests are immune. The melancholy fact is that -the people who do damage to private property, to public interests, -and to that more delicate asset of a nation, public opinion, are -all by way of being educated in their several degrees. All of them -can write and speak clearly, think logically if not sincerely, -and exhibit a certain practical ability. It is true that the War -has changed much and has brought us a temporary salvation, but -education must secure to us our gains or the last state of the -nation may be worse than the first. - -No doubt we are better and not worse than our forefathers; and, -where we err, it is through ignorance. “Through ignorance ye did -it,” was said of the worst crime that men have done; and that -appalling offence was wrought for no worse reason than because it -is the habit of more or less lettered ignorance to follow specious -arguments to logical conclusions. The sapient East knows all -about it. Lady Lugard tells us how “the Copts have a saying that -‘in the beginning when God created things He added to everything -its second.’ ‘I go to Syria,’ said Reason; ‘I go with you,’ said -Rebellion.” We need not follow the other pairs that went forth, but -still Reason is apt to be accompanied by Rebellion when it sets out -in search of a logical issue. - -For it is a fatal error to think that reason can take the place of -knowledge, that reason is infallible, that reasonable conclusions -are of necessity right conclusions. Reason is a man’s servant, -not his master; and behaves like a good and faithful servant--a -sort of ‘Caleb Balderstone,’ ready to lie royally in his master’s -behoof--and bring logical demonstration of any premiss which the -will chooses to entertain. But the will is the man, the will -chooses; and the man must _know_, if the will is to make just -and discriminating decisions. This is what Shakespeare, as great -a philosopher as a poet, set himself to teach us, line upon -line, precept upon precept. His ‘Leontes,’ ‘Othello,’ ‘Lear,’ -‘Prospero,’ ‘Brutus,’ preach on the one text--that a man’s reason -brings certain infallible proofs of any notions he has wilfully -chosen to take up. There is no escape for us, no short cut; art is -long, especially the art of living. - -In the days when the working man represented only the unit of -his family he picked up enough knowledge to go on with at church -and chapel, by scrutinizing his neighbour’s doings, in the -village parliament, held at pump or “public,” from the weekly -news-sheet. But we have changed all that: bodies of working men -have learned by means of union to act with a momentum which may -be paralysing or propelling _according to whether the men have -or have not knowledge_. Without knowledge, Reason carries a man -into the wilderness and Rebellion joins company. The man is not -to be blamed: it is a glorious thing to perceive your mind, your -reasoning power, acting of its own accord as it were and producing -argument after argument in support of any initial notion; how is -a man to be persuaded, when he wakes up to this tremendous power -he has of involuntary reasoning, that his conclusions are not -necessarily right, but rather that he who reasons without knowledge -is like a child playing with edged tools? Following his reason, -he acquires this and the other sort of freedom; but is it not -written:-- - - “Nor yet - (Grave this upon thy heart!) if spiritual things - Be lost through apathy, or scorn, or fear, - Shalt thou thy humbler franchises support, - However hardly won or justly dear.” - -If, then, the manners and the destinies of men are shaped by -knowledge, it may be well to inquire further into the nature -of that evasive entity. Matthew Arnold helps us by offering a -threefold classification which appeals to common sense--knowledge -of God, knowledge of men, and knowledge of the natural world; -or, as we should say, Divinity, the Humanities, and Science. -But I think we may go further and say that Letters, if not (as -I said before) the main content of knowledge, constitute anyway -the container--the wrought salver, the exquisite vase, even the -alabaster box to hold the ointment. - -If a man cannot think without words, if he who thinks with words -will certainly express his thoughts, what of the monosyllabic habit -that is falling upon men of all classes? The chatter of many women -and some men does not count, for thought is the last thing it is -meant to express. The Greeks believed that a training in the use -and power of words was the chief part of education, recognising -that if the thought fathers the word, so does the word in turn -father the thought. They concerned themselves with no language, -ancient or modern, save their own, but of that they acquired a -consummate appreciation. With the words came the great thoughts, -expressed in whatever way the emergencies of the State called -for--in wise laws, victorious battles, glorious temples, sculpture, -drama. For great thoughts anticipate great works; and these come -only to a people conversant with the great thoughts that have been -written and said. In what strength did the youngest and greatest -of our Premiers bring about the “revival of England”? He was -fortified by illimitable reading, by a present sense of a thousand -impossibilities that had been brought to pass--of a thousand -things so wisely said that wise action was a necessary outcome. -To say that we as a nation are suffering from our contemptuous -depreciation of knowledge is to say that we scorn Letters, the -proper vehicle of _all_ knowledge. - -Let us glance at the three departments of knowledge to see in -regard to which of the three we are most in error. Some of us are -content with such knowledge of Divinity as is to be picked up from -the weekly sermon heard in church, but even with the qualification -of a degree in Arts I wonder do our divines lift us as much as -they might into that serener region where words fitly spoken beget -thoughts of peace and holy purpose? That worship is the main end -of our Church services is a sublime ideal, but, “The Way, without -which there is no going, the Truth, without which there is no -knowing, the Life, without which there is no living,” must needs -be set before us in “words that burn,” and we wait for preachers -like those of a bygone day, “Whose pulpit thunders shook a nation’s -soul.” - -It is possible that the Church may err in keeping us underfed upon -that knowledge which is life, but she does not send us away empty. -We get some little share, too, of literature, poetry, history: a -phrase, a line, lights up a day for us; to read of Charles Fox’s -having said, “Poetry’s everything,” of that black conqueror of the -Soudan who said, “Without learning life would have neither pleasure -nor savour”--these things do us good, we cannot tell why. - -But there is a region of apparent sterility in our intellectual -life. Science says of literature, “I’ll none of it,” and science is -the preoccupation of our age. Whatever we study must be divested to -the bone, and the principle of life goes with the flesh we strip -away: history expires in the process, poetry cannot come to birth, -religion faints; we sit down to the dry bones of science and say, -Here is knowledge, all the knowledge there is to know. “I think -that is very wonderful,” a little girl wrote in an examination -paper after trying to explain why a leaf is green. That little girl -had found the principle--admiration, wonder--which makes science -vital, and without wonder her highest value is, not spiritual, but -utilitarian. A man might as well collect matchboxes, like those -charming people in one of Anatole France’s novels, as search for -diatoma, unless the wonder of the world be ever fresh before his -eyes. In the eighteenth century science was alive, quick with -emotion, and therefore it found expression in literature. Still, a -Lister, a Pasteur, moves us, and we feel that in one department of -science, anyway, men stirred by the passion of humanity (“letters” -at the fountain head?) are doing monumental work. - -But for the most part science as she is taught leaves us cold; -the utility of scientific discoveries does not appeal to the best -that is in us, though it makes a pretty urgent and general appeal -to our lower avidities. But the fault is not in science--that -mode of revelation which is granted to our generation, may we -reverently say?--but in our presentation of it by means of facts -and figures and demonstrations that mean no more to the general -audience than the point demonstrated, never showing the wonder and -magnificent reach of the law unfolded. The Hebrew poet who taught -us that “Breadcorn is bruised ... because his God doth instruct him -and doth teach him,” glorified life. Coleridge has revealed the -innermost secret, whether of science or literature: speaking on the -genesis of an idea, he says, “When the idea of Nature (presented -to chosen minds by a Higher Power than Nature herself),” etc. The -man who would write for us about the true inwardness of wireless -telegraphy, say, how truly it was a discovery, a revealing of that -which was there and had been there all along, might make our hearts -burn within us. No doubt there are many scientific men who are also -men of letters, and some scientific books as inspiring as great -poems--but science is waiting for its literature; and, though we -cannot live in shameful ignorance and must get what we can out of -the sources open to us, science as it is too commonly taught tends -to leave us crude in thought and hard and narrow in judgment. - -We are told that in times of great upheaval it profits not to cast -blame on this or that section of the community; that we are all to -blame even for the offences of individuals; and we partly believe -it because our fathers have told us; thus did the prophets humble -themselves before God, and bemoaned each his exceeding great sin in -the sin of his people. We, too, are meek under chastisements, but -we are vague and, to that extent, insincere. Perhaps our duty is -to give serious thought to the problems of our national life; then -we may come to realise that man does not live by bread alone; we -may perceive that “bread” (or cake!) is our sole and final offer -to all persons of all classes; that we are losing our sense of any -values excepting money values; that our young men no longer see -visions, and are attracted to a career in proportion as “there’s -money in it.” Nothing can come out of nothing, and, if we bring up -the children of the nation on sordid hopes and low ambitions, need -we be surprised that every man plays for his own hand? - -We recognise now and then, when the shoe pinches, that the nation -is in the threes of a revolution, but do we take trouble to find -out the cause of “industrial unrest” and the correct attitude -of the public towards that unrest? The revolution which is in -progress may, it seems to me, develop on either of two lines: the -men may get those “humbler franchises” they covet, but at the -loss of “spiritual things”--such as the character for fair play, -straight dealing, and loyalty to contract, which we like to think -of as distinctively English. But what about the warning that these -“humbler franchises” will be likewise lost? Trade unionism is no -new thing; centuries ago and for centuries, as we know, England -and Europe were under the dominion of those states within the -State--the Trades Guilds. At this distance of time we can afford -to admire these for the spiritual things to which they held fast; -their religious organisation, the thorough training they afforded -to their apprentices, and the obligation every member of a guild -was under to use just weights and measures and to turn out first -rate work of whatever kind. But, notwithstanding these moral -safeguards, the tyranny of the guilds became insupportable, and -they disappeared into the limbo of things no longer serviceable. -Could any dream of Socialism, again, offer more perfect conditions -than did the Russian village communes? But these too established a -tyranny which was felt to be more oppressive than serfdom itself: -the _Mir_ disappeared, lost in that Gehenna which engulfed the -guilds. - -Wordsworth’s prophetic lines should instruct us. “However hardly -won or justly dear” those humbler franchises for which men are -standing out in their tens of thousands with unanimity, courage, -devotion to a cause justified by their REASON, they will not be -able to support those same franchises if spiritual things, the real -things of life, be lost in gaining them. Therefore we may predict -that the present movement may well issue in worse things but will -not issue in the triumph of either trade unionism or syndicalism. - -Here is our opportunity. We blame the workmen for their -irresponsible action, for what seems to us the reckless way in -which the poorest are impoverished and multitudes of workers are -compelled to unwilling idleness. But those of us who are neither -miners nor owners may not allow ourselves irresponsible thought or -speech, and we may contribute our quota towards appeasement. It is -within everybody’s province to influence public opinion, if it be -only the opinion of two or three; we may raise the whole question -to a higher plane, the plane of those spiritual things--duty, -responsibility, brotherly love (towards all men)--which make the -final appeal. We could not, and we need not try to, obstruct the -revolution of which we are vaguely conscious, but we may help -to make it a turn of the wheel which shall bring us out of the -darkness of a Simplon Tunnel into the light and glory of a Lombard -plain. We may, respecting the claims of working men, perceive that -they demand too little, and that the things they demand are not -those which matter. Even the shock of a revolution is not too high -a price for an experience which should convince us that knowledge -is the basis of a nation’s strength. - - -IV - -NEW AND OLD CONCEPTIONS OF KNOWLEDGE - -I have so far advanced that “knowledge” is undefined and probably -indefinable; that it is a state out of which persons may pass and -into which they may return, but never a store upon which they -may draw; that knowledge-hunger is as universal as bread-hunger; -that our best provision for conveying knowledge is marvellously -successful with the best men, but rather futile with the second -best; that persons whose education has not enriched them with -knowledge store up information (statistics and other facts), -upon which they use their reasoning powers; that the attempt to -reason without knowledge is disastrous; and that, during the -present distress, England is, for various economical reasons, in -a condition of intellectual inanition consequent upon a failure -in her food supply, in this case the supply of food proper for -the mind. I have glanced at Knowledge under the three headings -suggested by one who speaks with authority, and have contended -that, even if the knowledge be divisible, the vehicle by which -it is carried is one and indivisible, and that it is generally -impossible for the mind to receive knowledge except through the -channel of letters. - -But the mediæval mind had, as we know, a more satisfactory -conception of knowledge than we have arrived at. Knowledge is for -us a thing of shreds and patches, knowledge of this and of that, -with yawning gaps between. - -The scholastic mediæval mind, probably working on the scattered -hints which the Scriptures offer, worked out a sublime _Filosofica -della Religione Cattolica_, pictured, for example, in the great -fresco painted by Simone Memmi and Taddeo Gaddi (which Ruskin -has taught us to know), and implied in “The Adoration of the -Lamb” painted by the two Van Eycks. In the first picture we get -a Pentecostal Descent, first, upon the cardinal virtues and the -Christian graces, then, upon prophets and apostles, and below these -upon the seven Liberal Arts represented each by its captain figure, -Cicero, Aristotle, Zoroaster, etc., none of them Christian, not -one of them a Hebrew. Here we get the magnificent idea that all -knowledge (undebased) comes from above and is conveyed to minds -which are, as Coleridge says, previously prepared to receive it; -and, further, that it comes to a mind so prepared, without question -as to whether it be the mind of pagan or Christian; a truly liberal -catholic idea, it seems to me, corresponding marvellously with the -facts of life. As sublime and even more explicit is the Promethean -fable which informed the Greek mind. With the sense of a sudden -plunge we come down to our own random and ineffectual notions, and -are tempted to cry with Wordsworth,-- - - “Great God! I’d rather be - A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,” - -and know that a God had brought gifts of knowledge to men at awful -cost, than to sit serene in the vague belief that knowledge arrives -in incoherent particles, no one knows how and no one knows whence; -or that it is self-generated in a man here and there who gets out -of himself new insight into the motions of mind and heart, a new -perception of the laws of life, the hint of a new amelioration in -the condition of men. - -Because the notion that we entertain of knowledge as being -heterogeneous lies at the root of our heterogeneous theories of -education, it may be as well to quote a passage from Ruskin’s -description of that picture in the chapel of the Church of Santa -Maria Novella to which I have referred:-- - - “ ... On this side and the opposite side of the Chapel are - represented by Simon Memmi’s hand, the teaching power of the - Spirit of God and the saving power of the Christ of God in the - world according to the understanding of Florence in his time. - - “We will take the side of intellect first. Beneath the pouring - forth of the Holy Spirit in the point of the arch beneath are the - three Evangelical Virtues. Without these, says Florence, you can - have no science. Without Love, Faith and Hope--no intelligence. - Under these are the four Cardinal Virtues ... Temperance, - Prudence, Justice, Fortitude. Under these are the great Prophets - and Apostles.... Under the line of Prophets, as powers summoned - by their voices are the mythic figures of the seven theological - or spiritual and the seven geological or natural sciences; and - under the feet of each of them the figure of its Captain-teacher - to the world.” (_Mornings in Florence._) - -That is, the Florentines of the Middle Ages believed in “the -teaching power of the Spirit of God,” believed not only that -the seven Liberal Arts were fully under the direct outpouring -of the Holy Ghost, but that every fruitful idea, every original -conception, be it in geometry, or grammar, or music, was directly -derived from a Divine source. - -Whether we receive it or not, and the Scriptures abundantly support -such a theory regarding the occurrence of knowledge, we cannot fail -to perceive that here we have a harmonious and ennobling scheme -of education and philosophy. It is a pity that the exigencies of -his immediate work prevented Ruskin from inquiring further into -the origin, the final source, of knowledge, but we may continue -the inquiry for ourselves. In “the teaching power of the Spirit -of God” we have a pregnant and inspiring phrase. Supposing that we -accept this mediæval philosophy tentatively for present relief, -what would be our gains? - -First, the enormous relief afforded by a sense of unity of purpose, -of progressive evolution, in the education of the race. It induces -great ease of mind to think that knowledge is dealt out to us -according to our preparedness and according to our needs; that God -whispers in the ear of the man who is ready in order that he may be -the vehicle to carry the new knowledge to the rest of us. “God has -a few of us whom He whispers in the ear,” ‘Abt Vogler’ is made to -say; and another poet causes his Explorer to cry:-- - - “God chose me for His whisper, and I’ve found it, and it’s yours!” - -Next, that knowledge, in this light, is no longer sacred and -secular, great and trivial, practical and theoretical. All -knowledge, dealt out to us in such portions as we are ready for, is -sacred; knowledge is, perhaps, a beautiful whole, a great unity, -embracing God and man and the universe, but having many parts -which are not comparable with one another in the sense of less or -more, because all are necessary and each has its functions. Next, -we perceive that knowledge and the mind of man are to each other -as are air and the lungs. The mind lives by means of knowledge; -stagnates, faints, perishes, deprived of this necessary atmosphere. - -That, it is not for a man to choose, “I will learn this or that, -the rest is not my concern”; still less is it for parent or -schoolmaster to limit a child to less than he can get at of the -whole field of knowledge; for, in the domain of mind at least -as much as in that of morals or religion, man is under a Divine -Master; he has to know as he has to eat. - -That, there is not one period of life, our school days, in which -we sit down to regular meals of intellectual diet, but that we must -eat every day in order to live every day. - -That, knowledge and what is known as “learning” are not to be -confounded; learning may still be an available store when it is -not knowledge; but by knowledge one grows, becomes more of a -person, and that is all that there is to show for it. We sometimes -wonder at the simplicity and modesty of persons whose knowledge -is matter of repute; but they are not hiding their light; they -are not aware of any unusual possessions; they have nothing to -show but themselves, but we feel the force of their personalities. -Now, forceful personalities, persons of weight and integrity, of -decision and sound judgment, are what the country is most in need -of; and, if we propose to bring such persons up for the public -service, the gradual inception of knowledge is one condition -amongst others. - -There are various delightfully “new” educational systems in favour, -in all of which a grain of knowledge is presented in a gallon of -warm diluent. We have the theory that it does not matter what a -child learns, but only how he learns it; which is as sound as, -It does not matter what a child eats, but only how he eats it, -therefore feed him on sawdust! Then, we have Rousseau’s primitive -man theory, that a child must get all his knowledge through his own -senses and by his own wits, as if there were no knowledge waiting -to be passed on by the small torch-bearer; and there is the theory -which obtained in Catholic England, exemplified in more than one -of the Waverley Novels, in the sports purveyed for her tenantry -by ‘Lady Margaret Bellenden,’ for example. Those men and maidens -had been trained as children to be “supple, active, healthy, with -senses alert, ready for dance and song, with an eye and ear ready -for the beautiful, intelligent, happy, capable.” (I quote from a -valuable letter in _The Times_). What with our morris-dances, -pageants, living pictures, miracle plays, and so on, we are -reviving the Stuart educational ideals, and no doubt we do well to -aim at increasing the general joy. But our age requires more of us; -in the sort of self-activity and self-expression implied in these -and in half a dozen other educational theories, knowledge plays no -part, and the city _gamin_ exhibits in perfection every quality -of gaiety, alert intelligence, delight in shows, which we set -ourselves to cultivate. - -“With all thy getting, get understanding,” is the message for our -needs, and understanding is, in one sense, the conscious act of the -mind in apprehending knowledge, which is in fact relative, and does -not exist for any person until that person’s mind acts upon the -intellectual matter presented to it. “Why will ye not understand?” -is the repeated and poignant question of the Gospels. - -That is what ails us as a nation, we do not understand; not -ignorant persons only, but educated men and women, employ -fallacious arguments, offer prejudices for principles, and -platitudes for ideas. If it be argued that these failures are -due less to ignorance than to insincerity, I should reply that -insincerity is an outcome of ignorance; the darkened intelligence -cannot see clearly. “The day is unto them that know,” but knowledge -is by no means the facile acquirement of those who, according to -Ruskin, “cram to pass and not to know.” - -I would not be understood as passing strictures upon the vast -and excellent educational work nearly all teachers are doing; -it is impossible to go into an Elementary School without being -impressed by the competence of the teachers and the intelligence -of the children; I have already paid a worthless tribute to Public -Schools, and should like here to add a word of affectionate -and hearty appreciation of the High School girl as I know her, -thoughtful and well educated--a person quite undeserving of the -slings and arrows of outrageous criticism too freely aimed at -her. As for our new Universities, they remove the stigma under -which many of us have suffered in presence of the numerous centres -of intellectual life which add dignity and grace to continental -cities. The new Universities are full of promise for the land. - -We have, no doubt, arrived at a good starting place, but we may -not consider that the journey is accomplished. I need not repeat -the charges to which we have laid ourselves open because of our -ignorance, but I shall endeavour to take a closer survey of the -field of education as regarded from the standpoint of knowledge -and the innate affinities existing in the mind with that knowledge -which is proper for it. For the present the need is that “abstract -knowledge” should present itself to practical persons as the crying -demand of the nation; the “mandate,” let us say, pronounced by -certain general failures to understand the science of relations, -and that other neglected form of knowledge, “the science of the -proportion of things.” - - -V - -EDUCATION AND THE FULLNESS OF LIFE - -“I must live my life!” said the notorious bandit who before the War -terrorized Paris; and we have heard the sort of cant often, even -before _The Doll’s House_ gave to “self-expression” the dignity of -a cult; nevertheless, the brigand Bonnot has done an ill turn to -society, for a misguiding theory neatly put is more dangerous than -an ill-example. - -We are tired of the man who claims to live his life at the general -expense, of the girl who will live hers to her family’s annoyance -or distress; but there really is a great opportunity open to the -nation which will set itself to consider what the life of a man -should be and will give each individual a chance to live his life. - -We are doing something; we are trying to open the book of nature -to children by the proper key--knowledge, acquaintance by look and -name, if not more, with bird and flower and tree; we see, too, -that the magic of poetry makes knowledge vital, and children and -grown-ups quote a verse which shall add blackness to the ashbud, -tender wonder to that “flower in the crannied wall,” a thrill -to the song of the lark. As for the numerous field clubs of the -northern towns, the members of which, weavers, miners, artisans, -reveal themselves as accomplished botanists, birdmen, geologists, -their Saturday rambles mean not only “life,” but splendid joy. It -is to be hoped that the opportunities afforded in the schools will -prepare women to take more part in these excursions; at present the -work done is too thorough for their endurance and for their slight -attainments. - -In another direction we are doing well; we are so made that -every dynamic relation, be it leap-frog or high-flying, which we -establish with Mother Earth, is a cause of joy; we begin to see -this and are encouraging swimming, dancing, hockey, and so on, all -instruments of present joy and permanent health. Again, we know -that the human hand is a wonderful and exquisite instrument to be -used in a hundred movements exacting delicacy, direction and force; -every such movement is a cause of joy as it leads to the pleasure -of execution and the triumph of success. We begin to understand -this and make some efforts to train the young in the deft handling -of tools and the practice of handicrafts. Some day, perhaps, we -shall see apprenticeship to trades revived, and good and beautiful -work enforced. In so far, we are laying ourselves out to secure -that each shall “live his life”; and that, not at his neighbour’s -expense; because, so wonderful is the economy of the world that -when a man really lives his life he benefits his neighbour as -well as himself; we all thrive in the well-being of each. We are -perceiving, too, that a human being is endowed with an ear attuned -to harmony and melody, with a voice from which music may issue, -hands whose delicate action may draw forth sounds in enthralling -sequence. With the ancient Greeks, we begin to realise that music -is a necessary part of education. So, too, of pictorial art; at -last we understand that every one can draw, and that, because to -draw is delightful, every one should be taught how; that every one -delights in pictures, and that education is concerned to teach him -what pictures to delight in. - -A person may sing and dance, enjoy music and natural beauty, sketch -what he sees, have satisfaction in his own good craftsmanship, -labour with his hands at honest work, perceiving that work is -better than wages; may live his life in various directions, the -more the merrier. A certain pleasant play of the intellect attends -the doing of all these things; his mind is agreeably exercised; -he thinks upon what he is doing, often with excitement, sometimes -with enthusiasm. He says, “I must live my life,” and he lives it -in as many of these ways as are open to him; no other life is -impoverished to supply his fullness, but, on the contrary, the sum -of general joy in well-being is increased both through sympathy and -by imitation. - -This is the sort of ideal that is obtaining in our schools and -in the public mind, so that the next generation bid fair to be -provided with many ways of living their lives, ways which do not -encroach upon the lives of others. Here is the contribution of our -generation to the science of education, and it is not an unworthy -one; we perceive that a person is to be brought up in the first -place for his own uses, and after that for the uses of society; -but, as a matter of fact, the person who “lives his life” most -completely is also of most service to others because he contains -within him provision for many serviceable activities which are -employed in living his life; and, besides, there is a negative -advantage to the community in the fact that the man is able to live -on his own resources. - -But a man is not made up only of eyes to see, a heart to enjoy, -limbs delightful in the using, hands satisfied with perfect -execution: life in all these kinds is open more or less to all -but the idly depraved. But what of man’s eager, hungry, restless, -insatiable mind? True, we teach him the mechanical art of reading -while he is at school, but we do not teach him to read; he has -little power of attention, a poor vocabulary, little habit of -conceiving any life but his own; to add to the gate-money at a -football match is his notion of adventure and diversion. - -We are, in fact, only taking count of the purlieus of that vast -domain which pertains to every man in right of his human nature. -We neglect mind. We need not consider brain; a duly nourished and -duly exercised mind takes care of its physical organ provided that -organ also receives its proper material nourishment. But our fault, -our exceeding great fault, is that we keep our own minds and the -minds of our children shamefully underfed. The mind is a spiritual -octopus, reaching out limbs in every direction to draw in enormous -rations of that which under the action of the mind itself becomes -knowledge. Nothing can stale its infinite variety; the heavens and -the earth, the past, the present, and future, things great and -things minute, nations and men, the universe, all are within the -scope of the human intelligence. But there would appear to be, as -we have seen, an unsuspected unwritten law concerning the nature of -the “material” which is converted into knowledge during the act of -apprehension. The idea of the _Logos_ did not come by chance to the -later Greeks; “The Word” is not a meaningless title applied to the -second Person of the Trinity; it is not without significance that -every utterance which fell from Him is marked by exquisite literary -fitness; (a child’s comment on a hymn that was read to her was, -“that is not poetry; Jesus would have said it _much_ better”); -in rendering an account of His august commission Christ said:--“I -have given unto them _the words_ which Thou gavest me”; and one -disciple voiced the rest when he said, “Thou hast _the words_ of -eternal life.” The Greeks knew better than we that words are more -than things, more than events; with all primitive peoples rhetoric -appears to have been a power; the grand old sayings which we have -scorned as inventions are coming to their own again, because, what -modern is capable of such inventions? Men move the world, but the -motives which move men are conveyed by words. Now, a person is -limited by the number of things he is able to call by their names, -qualify by appropriate epithets; this is no mere pedantic ruling, -it belongs to that unfathomable mystery we call human nature; and -the modern notion of education, with its shibboleth of “things -not words,” is intrinsically demoralizing. The human intelligence -demands letters, literature, with a more than bread-hunger. It is -almost within living memory how the newly emancipated American -negroes fell upon books as the famished Israelites fell upon food -in the deserted camp of Sennacherib. - -Only as he has been and is nourished upon books is a man able to -“live his life.” A great deal of mechanical labour is necessarily -performed in solitude; the miner, the farm-labourer, cannot think -all the time of the block he is hewing, the furrow he is ploughing; -how good that he should be figuring to himself the trial scene in -the _Heart of Midlothian_, the “high-jinks” in _Guy Mannering_, -that his imagination should be playing with ‘Ann Page’ or ‘Mrs. -Quickly,’ or that his labour goes the better “because his secret -soul a holy strain repeats.” People, working people, do these -things. Many a one can say out of a rich experience, “My mind to me -a kingdom is”; many a one cries with Browning’s ‘Paracelsus,’ “God! -Thou art mind! Unto the master-mind, Mind should be precious. -Spare my mind alone!” We know how “_Have mynde_” appears on the -tiles paving the choir of St. Cross; but “_mynde_” like body, must -have its meat. - -Faith has grown feeble in these days, hope faints in our heavy -ways, but charity waxes strong; we would make all men millionaires -if we could, or, at any rate, take from the millionaires to give -to the multitude. No doubt some beneficent and venturous Robin -Hood of a minister will arise (has arisen?) to take steps in -that direction; but when all has been done in the way of social -amelioration we shall not have enabled men to “live their lives” -unless we have given them a literary education of such sort that -they choose to continue in the pleasant places of the mind. “That -is all very well in theory,” some one objects, “but look at the -Masses, are they able to receive Letters? When they talk it is in -journalese, and anything in the nature of a book must be watered -down and padded to suit their comprehension.” But is it not true -that working men talk in “journalese” because it is only the -newspapers that do them the grace to meet them frankly on their -own level? Neither school education nor life has put books in -their way, and their adoption of the only literary speech that -offers but proves a natural aptitude for Letters. One cannot always -avoid appeal to the authority one knows to be final, and I will -not apologise for citing the fact at which no doubt we have all -wondered that Christ should expose the profoundest philosophy to -the multitude, the “Many,” whom even Socrates contemns. - -May I quote, with apologies to the writer, a letter signed “A -Working Man,” written in answer to one of mine which was honoured -by being reprinted in _The Times Weekly Edition_? (It is good, by -the way, that such a journal should be in the hands of working -men). My correspondent “thanks Heaven that there are still a few -persons left in this country who regard education as somewhat -different from a means of _keeping a shop_.” We may all thank -Heaven that there are working men who value knowledge for its own -sake and hate to have it presented to them as a means of getting on. - -The fact is, Letters make a universal appeal because they respond -to certain innate affinities: young Tennysons, De Quinceys, and -the like, are, as we all know, inordinate readers, but these are -capable of foraging on their own account; it is for the average, -the dull, and the backward boy I would lay urgent claim to a -literary education; the minds of such as these respond to this -and to no other appeal, and they turn out perfectly intelligent -persons, open to knowledge by many avenues. For working men whose -intelligence is in excess of their education, Letters are the -accessible vehicle of knowledge; having learned the elements of -reading, writing, and summing, it is unnecessary to trouble them -with any other “beggarly elements”; their natural intelligence and -mature minds make them capable of dealing with difficulties as they -occur; and for further elucidation every working men’s club should -have an encyclopædia. Some men naturally take to learning, and -will struggle manfully with their Latin grammar, and Cicero, their -Euclid and trigonometry. Happy they! But the general conclusion -remains, that for men and women of all ages, all classes, and -all complexions of mind, Letters are an imperative and daily -requirement to satisfy that universal mind-hunger, the neglect of -which gives rise to emotional disturbances, and, as a consequence, -to evils that dismay us. - - -VI - -KNOWLEDGE IN LITERARY FORM - -I have so far urged that knowledge is necessary to men, and that, -in the initial stages, it must be conveyed through a literary -medium, whether it be knowledge of physics or of Letters, because -there would seem to be some inherent quality in mind which prepares -it to respond to this form of appeal and no other. I say in the -initial stages, because possibly, when the mind becomes conversant -with knowledge of a given type, it unconsciously translates the -driest formulæ into living speech; perhaps it is for some such -reason that mathematics seem to fall outside this rule of literary -presentation; mathematics, like music, is a speech in itself, a -speech irrefragably logical, of exquisite clarity, meeting the -requirements of mind. - -To consider Letters as the staple of education is no new thing; nor -is the suggestion new that to turn a young person into a library -is to educate him. But here we are brought to a stand; the mind -demands method, orderly presentation, as inevitably as it demands -knowledge; and it may be that our educational misadventures are due -to the fact that we have allowed ourselves to take up any haphazard -ordering that is recommended with sufficient pertinacity. - -But no one can live without a philosophy which points out the -order, means and end of effort, intellectual or other; to fail -in discovering this is to fall into melancholia, or more active -madness: so we go about picking up a maxim here, a motto there, -an idea elsewhere, and make a patchwork of the whole which we -call our principles; beggarly fragments enough we piece together -to cover our nakedness and a hundred phrases which one may hear -any day betray lives founded upon an ignoble philosophy. No doubt -people are better than their words, better than their own thoughts; -we speak of ourselves as “finite beings,” but is there any limit -to the generosity and nobility of almost any person? The hastily -spoken “It is the rule at sea,” that distressed us a while ago, -what a vista does it disclose of chivalric tenderness, entire -self-sacrifice! Human nature has not failed; what has failed us is -philosophy, and that applied philosophy which is called education. -Philosophy, all the philosophies, old and new, land us on the horns -of a dilemma; either we do well by ourselves and seek our own -perfection of nature or condition, or we do well by others to our -own loss or deterioration. If there is a mean, philosophy does not -declare it. - -There are things of which we have desperate need: we want a -new scale of values: I suppose we all felt when, in those days -before the War, we read how several millionaires went down in -the “Titanic” disaster, not only that their millions did not -matter, but that they did not matter to them; that possibly they -felt themselves well quit of an incessant fatigue. We want more -life: there is not life enough for our living; we have no great -engrossing interests; we hasten from one engagement to another and -glance furtively at the clock to see how time, life, is getting -on; we triumph if a week seems to have passed quickly; who knows -but that the approach of an inevitable end might find us glad to -get it all over? We want hope: we busy ourselves excitedly about -some object of desire, but the pleasure we get is in effort, -not in attainment; and we read, before the War, of the number -of suicides among Continental schoolboys, for instance, with -secret understanding; what is there to live for? We want to be -governed: servants like to receive their “orders”; soldiers and -schoolboys enjoy discipline; there is satisfaction in stringent -Court etiquette; the fact of being “under orders” adds dignity -to character. When we revolt it is only that we may transfer our -allegiance. We want a new start: we are sick of ourselves and of -knowing in advance how we shall behave and how we shall feel on -all occasions; the change we half-unconsciously desire is to other -aims, other ways of looking at things. We feel that we are more -than there is room for; other conditions might give us room; we -don’t know; any way, we are uneasy. These are two or three of the -secret matters that oppress us, and we are in need of a philosophy -which shall deal with such things of the spirit. We believe we -should be able to rise to its demands, however exigeant, for the -failure is not in us or in human nature so much as in our limited -knowledge of conditions. - -The cry of decadence is dispiriting, but is it well-founded? The -beautiful little gowns that have come down as heirlooms would -not fit the “divinely tall” daughters of many a house where -they are treasured. We have become frank, truthful, kind; our -conscientiousness and our charity are morbid; we cannot rest in -our beds for a disproportionate anxiety for the well-being of -everybody; we even exceed the generous hazard, that, peradventure -for a good man one might be found to die; almost any man will risk -his life for the perishing without question of good or bad; and we -expect no less from firemen, doctors, life-boatmen, parsons, the -general public. And what a comment on the splendid magnanimity of -men does the War afford! - -An annoying inquiry concerning risks at sea almost resulted in a -ruling that no one should let himself be saved so long as others -were in danger; it is preposterous, but is what human nature -expects of itself. No, we are not decadent on the whole, and our -uneasiness is perhaps caused by growing pains. We may be poor -things, but we are ready to break forth into singing should the -chance open to us of a full life of passionate devotion. Now, all -our exigeant demands are met by words written in a Book, and by the -manifestations of a Person; and we are waiting for a Christianity -such as the world has not yet known. Hitherto, Christ has existed -for our uses; but what if a time were coming when we, also, -should taste the “orientall fragrancie” of, “My Master!” So it -shall be when the shout of a King is among us, and are there not -premonitions? But these things come not by prayer and fasting, by -good works and self-denial, alone; there is something prior to all -these upon which our Master insists with distressful urgency, “Why -will ye not know? Why will ye not understand?” - -My excuse for touching upon our most intimate concerns is that this -matter, too, belongs to the domain of Letters; if we propose to -seek knowledge we must proceed in an orderly way, recognising that -the principal knowledge is of most importance; the present writer -writes and the reader reads, because we are all moved by the spirit -of our time; these things are our secret preoccupation, for we have -come out of a long alienation as persons “wearied with trifles,” -and are ready and anxious for a new age. We know the way, and we -know where to find our rule of the road; but we must bring a new -zeal and a new method to our studies; we may no longer dip here -and there or read a perfunctory chapter with a view to find some -word of counsel or comfort for our use. We are engaged in the study -of, in noting the development of, that consummate philosophy which -meets every occasion of our lives, all demands of the intellect, -every uneasiness of the soul. - -The arrogance which pronounces judgment upon the written “Word” -upon so slight an acquaintance as would hardly enable us to -cover a sheet or two of paper with sayings of the Master, which -confines the Divine teaching to the great Sermon, of which we are -able to rehearse some half-dozen sentences, is as absurd as it is -blameworthy. Let us give at least as profound attention to the -teaching of Christ as the disciples of Plato, say, gave to his -words of wisdom. Let us observe, note-book in hand, the orderly and -progressive sequence, the penetrating quality, the irresistible -appeal, the unique content of the Divine teaching; (for this -purpose it might be well to use some one of the approximately -chronological arrangements of the Gospel History in the words of -the text). Let us read, not for our profiting, though that will -come, but for love of that knowledge which is better than thousands -of gold and silver. By and by we perceive that this knowledge is -the chief thing in life; the meaning of Christ’s saying, “Behold, -I make all things new,” dawns upon us; we get new ideas as to the -relative worth of things; new vigour, new joy, new hope are ours. - -If we believe that knowledge is the principal thing, that knowledge -is tri-partite, and that the fundamental knowledge is the knowledge -of God, we shall bring up our children as students of Divinity and -shall pursue our own life-long studies in the same school. Then we -shall find that the weekly sermons for which we are prepared are as -bread to the hungry; and we shall perhaps understand how enormous -is the demand we make upon the clergy for living, original thought. -It is only as we are initiated that science and “Nature” come to -our aid in this chief pursuit; then, they “their great Original -proclaim”; but while we are ignorant of the principal knowledge -they remain dumb. Literature and history have always great matters -to speak of or suggest, because they deal with states or phases of -moral government and moral anarchy, and tacitly indicate to us the -sole key to all this unintelligible world; and literature not only -reveals to us the deepest things of the human spirit, but it is -profitable also “for example of life and instruction in manners.” - -We are at the parting of the ways; our latest educational -authority, one who knows and loves little children, would away -with all tales and histories that appeal to the imagination; -let children learn by means of things, is her mandate; and the -charm and tenderness with which it is delivered may well blind us -to its desolating character. We recognise Rousseau, of course, -and his _Emile_, that self-sufficient person who should know -nothing of the past, should see no visions, allow no authority. -But human nature in children is stronger than the eighteenth -century philosopher and the theories which he continues to inform. -Whoever has told a fairy tale to a child has been made aware of -that natural appetency for letters to which it is our business -to minister. Are we not able to believe that words are more than -meat, and, so believing, shall we not rise up and insist that -children shall have a liberal diet of the spirit? Rousseau, in -spite of false analogies, fallacious arguments, was able to summon -fashionable mothers and men of the world throughout Europe to the -great task of education, because his eloquence convinced them that -this was their assigned work and a work capable of achievement; -and we who perhaps see with clearer eyes should do well to cherish -this legacy--the conviction that the education of the succeeding -generation is the chief business of every age. - -Nevertheless, though we are ourselves emerging from the slough -of materialism, we are willing to plunge children into its heavy -ways through the agency of a “practical” and “useful” education; -but children have their rights, and among these is the freedom -of the city of mind. Let them use things, know things, learn -through things, by all means; but the more they know Letters the -better they will be able, with due instruction, to handle things. -I do not hesitate to say that the whole of a child’s instruction -should be conveyed through the best literary medium available. His -history books should be written with the lucidity, concentration, -personal conviction, directness, and admirable simplicity which -characterizes a work of literary calibre. So should his geography -books; the so-called scientific method of teaching geography now -in vogue is calculated to place a child in a somewhat priggish -relation to Mother Earth; it is impossible, too, that the human -intelligence should assimilate the sentences one meets with in -many books for children, but the memory retains them and the child -is put in the false attitude of one who offers pseudo-knowledge. -Most of the geography books, for example, require to be translated -into terms of literature before they can be apprehended. Great -confidence is placed in diagrammatic and pictorial representation, -and it is true that children enjoy diagrams and understand them -as they enjoy and understand puzzles; but there is apt to be -in their minds a great gulf between the diagram and the fact -it illustrates. We trust much to pictures, lantern slides, -cinematograph displays; but without labour there is no profit, and -probably the pictures which remain with us are those which we have -first conceived through the medium of words; pictures may help us -to correct our notions, but the imagination does not work upon a -visual presentation; we lay the phrases of a description on our -palette and make our own pictures; (works of art belong to another -category). We recollect how Dr. Arnold was uneasy until he got -details enough to form a mental picture of a place new to him. So -it is with children and all persons of original mind: a map to put -the place in position, and then, all about it, is what we want. - -Readings in literature, whether of prose or poetry, should -generally illustrate the historical period studied; but selections -should be avoided; children should read the whole book or the whole -poem to which they are introduced. Here we are confronted by a -serious difficulty. Plato, we know, determined that the poets in -his “Republic” should be well looked after lest they should write -matter to corrupt the morals of youth; aware of what happened in -Europe when the flood-gates of knowledge were opened, Erasmus was -anxiously solicitous on this score, and it is a little surprising -to find that here, Rossetti was on the side of the angels. Will -the publishers, who, since Friedrich Perthes discovered their -educational mission, have done so much for the world, help us -in this matter also? They must excise with a most sparing hand, -always under the guidance of a jealous scholar; but what an ease -of conscience it would be to teachers if they could throw open the -world of books to their scholars without fear of the mental and -moral smudge left by a single prurient passage! Many, too, who have -taken out their freedom in the republic of letters would be well -content to keep complete library editions in costly bindings in -their proper place, while handy volumes in daily use might be left -about without uneasiness. - -The Old Testament itself after such a (very guarded) process would -be more available for the reading of children; and few persons -would feel that Shakespeare’s plays suffered from the removal -of obscenities here and there. In this regard we cherish a too -superstitious piety. In another matter, let that great “remedial -thinker,” Dr. Arnold, advise us:--“Adjust your proposed amount of -reading to your time and inclination; but whether that amount be -large or small let it be varied in its kind and widely varied. If -I have a confident opinion on any one point connected with the -improvement of the human mind it is on this.” Here we get support -for a varied and liberal curriculum; and, as a matter of fact, we -find that the pupil who studies a number of subjects knows them as -well as he who studies a few knows those few. - -Children should read books, not about books and about authors; -this sort of reading may be left for the spare hours of the -dilettante. Their reading should be carefully ordered, for the -most part in historical sequence; they should read to _know_, -whether it be _Robinson Crusoe_ or Huxley’s _Physiography_; their -knowledge should be tested, not by questions, but by the oral (and -occasionally the written) reproduction of a passage after one -reading; all further processes that we concern ourselves about in -teaching, the mind performs for itself; and, lastly, this sort of -reading should be the chief business in the class room. - -We are at a crucial moment in the history of English education. -John Bull is ruminating. He says, “I have laboured at the higher -education of women; let them back to the cooking-pot and distaff -and learn the science (!) of domestic economy. I have tried for -these forty years to educate the children of the people. What is -the result? Strikes and swelled head! Let them have ’prentice -schools and learn what will be their business in life!” John Bull -is wrong. In so far as we have failed it is that we have offered -the pedantry, the mere verbiage, of knowledge in lieu of knowledge -itself; and it is time for all who do not hold knowledge in -contempt to be up and doing; there is time yet to save England and -to make of her a greater nation, more worthy of her opportunities. -But the country of our love will not stand still; if we let the -people sink into the mire of a material education our doom is -sealed; eyes now living will see us take even a third-rate place -among the nations, for it is knowledge that exalteth a nation, -because out of duly-ordered knowledge proceedeth righteousness and -prosperity ensueth. - -“Think clear, feel deep, bear fruit well,” says our once familiar -mentor, Matthew Arnold, and his monition exactly meets our needs. - - - - -SUPPLEMENTARY - -TOO WIDE A MESH - - -“The wide world dreaming on things to come” is concentrating on a -luminous figure of education which it beholds, dimly, emerging from -a cloudy horizon. This gracious presence is to change the world, -to give to all men wider possibilities, other thoughts, aims: but, -alas, this Education which is to be open to all promises no more -on a nearer view than to make Opportunity universal--that is, in -spiritual things, he may take who has the power and he may keep who -can. - -The net is cast wide no doubt and brings in a mighty haul but the -meshes are so wide that it will only retain big fishes. Now this is -the history of education since the world was and is no new thing. -The mediæval schools of castle or abbey, the Renaissance schools, -the very schools of China, have all been conducted upon this -plan. Education is for him who wants it and can take it but is no -universal boon like the air we breathe or the sunshine we revel in. - -We are a little sorry for the effect of this limitation upon the -‘working classes’: only a small percentage of the children of these -are ‘big’ enough to be retained in the examination net which, to -do it justice, explores all waters. A few of the pass men may do -big things and fill big posts, but for the rest, a large percentage -is, in practice, illiterate except for the spelling out of a local -‘rag’ for football and parish news. - -But is the mischief confined to what we call the ‘working -classes’? Is it not a fact that in most schools the full force -of instruction is turned on upon a few boys who are likely to -distinguish themselves? While for the rest of the school teaching -is duly given no doubt but the boys find they may take it or leave -it as the humour takes them. - -We were all fascinated a while ago by the story of a pair of -charming ‘Twins’; these went through the usual preparatory school -education and then passed on to a great Public School where they -remained until they were nineteen; that is, they had ten or twelve -good years among most excellent opportunities. As they were -attractive boys we may take it that their masters were not at any -rate unwilling to teach them. Their record should have been quite -a good one, and, though it is the fashion to sneer a little at -Public Schools, we know that these have turned out and do turn -out the best and most intellectual men the country has occasion -for. Therefore what happened in the case of these ‘Twins’ does -not cast any reflection upon Public Schools but solely upon the -system of the Big Mesh. Here are some of the things we read in that -delightful biography:-- - - “While in hospital after a smash at polo R---- wrote to - F----:--‘I enjoyed it immensely. What lucky people we are taking - an interest in so many things!’” - -Surely here was material for a schoolmaster to work upon! Again, we -read:-- - - “They never ceased to wonder at the magnificence of the world and - they carried a divine innocence into soldiering and travel and - sport and business and, not least,--into the shadows of the Great - War.” - -And this ‘wonder’ of theirs was the note that marked them at -school. Again, what material for their instructors! - - “But,” we read, “at X---- they showed little interest in books - and, later, were wont to lament to each other that ‘_They had - left school wholly uneducated._’” (The italics are ours.) - -Their kindly biographer and dear friend goes on to say:-- - - “But they learnt other things,--the gift of leadership, for - instance, and the power of getting alongside all varieties of - human nature.” - -But was not this nature rather than nurture, school nurture at any -rate, for these gifts seem to have been a family inheritance? Born -in 1880, they left school in 1899, when there follows a delightful -record for the one brother of successful and adventurous sport -while-- - - “R---- was soon absorbed in the city ... and beginning to lament - his want of education.” “F----, while in Egypt was greatly - impressed by Lord Cromer and writes to R----, ‘he is quite the - biggest man we have!... to hear him talk is worth hearing.’” - -The two brothers correspond constantly and R---- takes the part -of mentor to his brother. He advises him to learn _The Times_ -leaders by heart to improve his style,--“because they are very good -English.” Again,-- - - “I will send you out next mail a very good book, _Science and - Education_, by Professor Huxley which I have marked in several - places, the sort of book you can read over again.” R---- “had - discovered that he was very badly educated and was determined to - remedy this defect:--‘It don’t matter ... I do believe not having - learned at X---- so long as one does so now.’” - -See the fine loyalty of the young man; his failures were not to be -put down to his school! - -If the schools take credit for any one thing it is that they show -their pupils ‘how to learn’; but do they? We are told that R---- -set to work at a queer assortment of books and writes to F----:-- - - “Anyone can improve his memory: the best way is by learning by - heart--no matter what--and then when you think you know it, - say it or write it.... After two or three days you are sure to - forget it again and then instead of looking at the book ‘strain - your mind’ and try to remember it. Above all things always keep - your mind employed. One great man (I forget which) used to see - a number on a door, say 69, and tried to remember all that had - happened in the years ending in 69. Or, see a horse and remember - how many you have seen that day.... Asquith always learns things - by heart, he never wastes a minute; as soon as he has nothing to - do he picks up some book. He reads till 1-30 every night. When - driving to the Temple next morning he thinks over what he has - read. Result: he has a marvellous memory and knows everything.” - -Think of the Herculean labours the poor fellow set for both himself -and his brother! They ran an intellectual race across a ploughed -field after heavy rain and the marvel is that they made way at -all. Yet these two brothers had sufficient intellectual zeal to -have made them great men as Ambassadors, Governors of Dominions, -Statesmen, what not; whereas so far as things of the mind go, they -spent their days in a hopeless struggle, alert for any indication -which might help them to make up lee-way, and all because, -according to their own confession, they ‘had learned nothing at -school.’ Here are further indications of R----’s labours in the -field of knowledge:-- - - “I am reading Rosebery’s _Napoleon_ and will send it to you. - What a wonder he was! Never spent a moment of his life without - learning something.... I enclose an essay from Bacon’s book. - Learn it by heart if you can. I have and think it a clinker.... - I have also finished _Life of Macaulay_. I have always wondered - how our great politicians and literary chaps live.... I also - send you a Shakespeare. I learnt Antony’s harangue to the Romans - after Cæsar’s death; I am also trying to learn a little about - electricity and railroad organization, so have my time filled - up. _Pickwick Papers_ I also send to you. I have always avoided - this sort of books but Dickens’ works are miles funnier than the - rotten novels one sees.... I have learnt one thing by my reading - and my conversation with Professors,--_you and I go at a subject - all wrong_.” (Italics ours.) - -These letters are pathetic documents and, that they are reassuring -also, let us be thankful. They do go to prove that the desire of -knowledge is inextinguishable whatever schools do or leave undone; -but have these nothing to answer for when a pursuit which should -yield ever recurring refreshment becomes dogged labour over heavy -roads with little pleasure in progress? - -Here, again, is another evidence of the limitations attending an -utter absence of education. A cultivated sense of humour is a -great factor in a joyous life, but these young men are without it. -Perhaps the youth addicted to sports usually fails to appreciate -delicate nonsense; sports are too strenuous to admit of a subtler, -more airy kind of play and we read:-- - - “R---- heard Mr. Balfour and Lord Reay praising _Alice in - Wonderland_. Deeply impressed he bought the book as soon as he - returned to London and read it earnestly. To his horror he saw - no sense in it. Then it struck him that it might be meant as - nonsense and he had another try, when he concluded that it was - rather funny but he remained disappointed.” - -We need not follow the career of these interesting men further. -Both fell early before they were forty. Their fine qualities -and their personal fascination remained with them to the end, -as did also, alas, their invincible ignorance. They laboured -indefatigably, but, as R---- remarked,--“You and I go at a subject -all wrong!” - -The schools must tell us why men who attained mediocre successes -and the personal favour due to charming manners and sweet natures -were yet somewhat depressed and disappointed on account of the -ignorance which they made blind and futile efforts to correct; but -they never got so far as to learn that knowledge is delightful -_because one likes it_; and that no effort at self-education can -do anything until one has found out this supreme delightfulness of -knowledge. - -It must be noted that this failure of a great school to fulfil its -purpose occurred twenty years ago, and that no educational body has -made more well-considered and enlightened advances than have the -Headmasters of the great Public Schools. Probably that delightful -group of Eton boys in _Coningsby_ has always been and is to-day -typical; there is a certain knightly character in the fine bearing -and intelligent countenances of the Head Boys one comes across -there which speaks well for their intellectual activity. The -question is whether more might not be done with the average boy. - -The function of the schools is no doubt to feed their scholars on -knowledge until they have created in them a healthy appetite which -they will go on satisfying for themselves day by day throughout -life. We must give up the farce of teaching young people how to -learn, which is just as felicitous a labour and just as necessary -as to teach a child the motions of eating without offering him -food; and studies which are pursued with a view to improve the mind -must in future take a back seat. - -The multitudinous things that every person wants to know must -be made accessible in the schoolroom, not by diagrams, digests, -and abstract principles; but boys and girls, like ‘Kit’s little -brother,’ must learn ‘what oysters is’ by supping on oysters. There -is absolutely no avenue to knowledge but knowledge itself, and -the schools must begin, not by qualifying the mind to deal with -knowledge, but by affording all the best books containing all the -sorts of knowledge which these ‘Twins,’ like everyone else, wanted -to know. We have to face two difficulties. We do not believe in -children as intellectual persons nor in knowledge as requisite and -necessary for intellectual life. It is a pity that education is -conducted _in camera_ save for the examination lists which shew -how the best pupils in a school have acquitted themselves, the -half-dozen or dozen best in a big school. Finely conscientious as -teachers are they can hardly fail to give undue importance to their -group of candidates for examination and a school of four or five -hundred stands or falls by a dozen head boys. - - [See note under Table of Contents for (_a_) the large number of - children’s answers, and (_b_) Book IV of which only Chapter 1 - appears in this volume]. - - - - -Index - - - abridged editions, 183 - - _Abt Vogler_, 324 - - academic solution of educational problems, the, 254, 288 - - Academy (French), 252, 256 - - _Across the Bridges_, by A. Paterson, 118, 119, 300 - - act of knowing, 99, 254, 271, 292, 298; - knowledge acquired by, 291 - - Adams, Professor John, 112 - - æsthetic sense, 43; - open to disaster, 56 - - affections, mis-directed, 58 - - Albrecht, Dr., 162 - - allusions, literary, 264 - - Ambleside, 212, 217 - - _Ambleside Geography, The_, 226-229 - - Amyot, on history, 273 - - anarchy, 69 - - ‘Angelic Doctor,’ The, 284 - - ‘aniseed drops,’ educational, 302 - - _aphasia_, our national, 269 - - ‘appetency,’ 56, 107 - - apprenticeship, 328 - - architecture, 77, 217, 220 - - arithmetic, 59, 73, 141, 151, 152, 230-233 - - Armstrong, Dr., 280 - - Arnold, Dr., 257, 340, 341 - - Arnold, Matthew, 239, 252, 258, 309, 315, 342 - - art, xxx, 14, 43, 45, 63, 154, 157, 254; - teaching of, 213-217, 275; - is of the spirit, 214; - power of appreciating, 214; - reverent knowledge of, 214 - - Arthur, King, 28 - - assimilation, 259 - - astronomy, 50, 220, 222 - - Astrophel, 100 - - athleticism and mental activity, 72 - - atmosphere, education is an, xxix, 94-99 - - attention, 259; - a habit, 100; - a natural function, 171; - how secured, 13-15, 17, 28, 45, 76, 255; - must not have crutches, 258; - power of, present in children, xxxi, 7, 14, 18, 76, 154, 171, 255, - 263, 290; - the hall-mark of an educated person, 99; - the prime agent in education, 16, 76, 247; - weakened by efforts to memorise, 17; - unfailing, 17, 171, 291 - - _Aus Meinem Leben_ (Goethe), 161 - - Austen, Jane, 16, 77, 193, 294 - - authority, natural, necessary and fundamental, xxix, 68-78, 97, 134; - deputed, 68; - the condition of liberty, 69; - order, outcome of, 69; - chastened, 71; - _vide_ self-authority - - average boy, the, 300, 310, 312 - - - Bacon, 7, 29, 61, 105, 124, 143 - - _Barnaby Rudge_, 259, 282 - - ‘Baron of Bradwardine,’ the, 312 - - Bergson, Henri, 173 - - Bernhardi, F. von, 3 - - Bible, The, 143, 186, 272, 273; - in curriculum, 30, 40, 61-65, 160-165, 254; - fine English of, 160, 309; - method of, lesson, 159-169; - and critical teaching, 163 - - Big Mesh, The system of the, 344 - - biology, 221 - - Blake, William, 79 - - Board of Education, 250 - - body, well-being of, 46; - a sound, 189 - - Bompas Smith, Professor, 27 - - Bonnot, 327 - - books, many, xxx, 7, 12, 15, 30, 59, 76, 267, 271, 303; - living, xxx, 303; - worthy, 12, 18, 26, 52, 75, 104, 191, 260, 268; - delight in, 28; - text-books, 50, 53, 105, 256, 263, 271, 275; - difficulty of choosing, 187, 248; - choice of, 248, 272; - P.U.S., tested by examinations, 248; - ‘classes’ and ‘masses’ must read the same, 264; - about books, 341 - - Bosanquet, Bernard, 149 - - Bose, Professor Sir Jagadis Chandra, 95 - - botany, 220, 221 - - brain, adaptation of, to habits, xxx, 101; - thought not a function of, 2, 4, 260; - subject to same conditions as body, 38; - should not know fatigue, 38; - mind takes care of, 330 - - British Association, The, 222, 251 - - British Museum, The, 77, 175, 176, 274 - - Browning, Robert, 100, 133, 215, 331 - - Büchner, 4 - - Burns, John, 300 - - _Bushido_, 133 - - - ‘Caleb Garth,’ 61 - - ‘Caleb Balderstone,’ 314 - - Carlyle, Thomas, 238, 288 - - Catechism, The, 169 - - Cavell, Nurse, 77, 141 - - Character, the one achievement possible, 129; - more important than conduct, 129; - formation of, 264, 278; - magnanimity of, 248 - - Charles IX, 50 - - chemistry, 254 - - _Childe Harold_ (Byron), 186 - - child-garden, 24 - - children, waiting for call of knowledge, xxv; - are born persons, xxix, 13, 18, 29, 36, 80, 238; - have good and evil tendencies, xxix, 47-49, 52, 61, 66, 85, 86, - 88, 89; - must live under natural conditions, xxix, 96-99; - have appetite for knowledge, xxx, 10, 11-13, 14, 18, 29, 44, 53, - 58, 62, 77, 89, 91, 124; - can deal with knowledge, xxx, 10, 14, 18, 40, 72, 109, 117, 154, - 237, 263; - require much and various knowledge, xxx, 11, 12, 14, 19, 25, 72, - 109, 111, 116, 125, 154, 157, 253, 256, 263, 288-290; - and in literary form, xxxi, 13, 17, 18, 29, 30, 51, 92, 109, 154, - 160, 172, 218, 248, 256, 260, 291; - have power of attention, xxxi, 7, 14, 18, 29, 75, 154, 171, 255, - 263, 291; - enormous educability of, xxxi; - must have principles of conduct, xxxi, 62; - must have responsibility of learning, 6, 74, 99; - have powers common to _all_, 8; - backward, 9, 62, 183, 245, 255, 291; - are ignorant, 10; - have imagination, 10, 18, 36, 41, 50; - and judgment, 10, 18; - hindered by apparatus of teacher, 11, 54; - made apathetic by spiritual malnutrition, 11, 54; - must have great thoughts, 12, 40; - must read many books, xxx, 7, 12, 15, 30, 59, 76, 267, 271, 303; - must read to know, 13, 99; - are bored by talk, 15, 19, 41, 44, 52, 58; - intellectual capacity of, belittled, 26, 31, 75, 81, 158, 192, - 238, 246; - are not all alike, 30, 241; - first notions of, 35; - and language, 35; - early thoughts of, 36, 238; - experience what they hear and read, 40; - hearts of, thoroughly furnished, 43, 60; - of the slums, 44, 63, 256, 260, 293; - all, persons of infinite possibilities, 44, 156; - start fair, 47; - muscles and nerves of, 48; - have power to sense meaning, 51, 181; - not intellectual ruminants, 53; - dangers of feeding, morally, 59; - must think fairly, 61; - capacity and needs of, 66, 157; - and the sense of ‘must,’ 73; - offences against, 81; - must be relieved of decisions, 97; - need bracing, not too stimulating, atmosphere, 98; - should not ‘run wild,’ 98; - must form good habits, 100; - grow upon ideas, 109; - should know something of their own capacities, 131, 187, 189; - must follow arguments and detect fallacies, 147; - must know what religion is, 149; - educational rights of, 157, 339; - howlers of _v._ mistakes, 158, 256; - have affinity for God, 158; - able for school education at five, but no conscious mental effort - desirable until six, 159; - examination answers of, 167, 168, 185, 191, 193, 194, 195-209, - 244; - enjoy classical names, 181; - must see life whole, 187; - must learn science of proportion, 187; - chastely taught, watch their thoughts, 188; - do not generalise, 224; - devitalised, 237; - not products of education or environment, 238; - not incomplete beings, but ignorant, 238; - powers of, 9, 238, 255; - shown in verses, 242-243; - offer a resisting medium, 253; - need physical and mechanical training, 255; - beings ‘of large discourse,’ 305; - should be persons of leisure, 305 - - China, schools of, 343 - - Chinese Empire, 179 - - Christ, parables of, 304; - gave profoundest philosophy to the multitude, 332; - does not exist for our uses only, 336; - teaching of, must receive profound attention, 337 - - Christianity, 336 - - Chrysostom, St., Prayer of, 64 - - cinematograph displays, 340 - - Circe, 186, 267 - - _Citizens to Be_, by Miss M. L. V. Hughes, 235 - - citizenship, 185-189, 254, 274; - the inspiration of, 185; - ancillary to history, 185; - problem of good and evil in, 186 - - Cizek, Herr, 216 - - Coleridge, S. T., 35, 56, 105-108, 110, 233, 290, 318, 322 - - Colet, Dean, xxvi, 247 - - Collingwood, Lord, 60 - - Comenius, 8, 20, 291 - - composition, 190-209; - oral, 190, 269; - art of, should not be taught, 190, 192, 269; - not an adjunct of education, 192; - in verse, 193, 242; - definite teaching of, in Forms V and VI, 193, 194; - power of, innate in children, 191; - written, 192; - comes of free and exact use of books, 193; - children’s, 195-209 - - concentration, 8, 15; - innate, 171 - - _Coningsby_, 348 - - conscience, present in infant, 37; - governing power of man, 131 - - _Continuation Schools_, edited by Sir Michael Sadler, 285 - - Continuation Schools, a Liberal Education in, 119, 124, 127, 147; - the scope of, 279-299; - movement and technical education, 279; - not for technical instruction, but for things of the mind, 287 - - Copenhagen, 285 - - Copts, 314 - - Cornwell, Jack, 141 - - correlation, principle of, 276 - - correlation lessons, 114, ff. - - Council Schools, P.U.S. work in, xxv, 77, 81, 181, 182, 195, 241, - 290, 293 - - ‘countenance,’ a manifestation of thought, 301 - - ‘Creakle, Mr.’ 81, 101 - - Curie, Madame, 141 - - curriculum, a full, xxx, 14, 19, 30, 154, 263; - a common, 12, 293; - principles bearing upon the, 13, 31, 156-158; - in P.U.S., 15, 28, 154-234; - in Grammar and Public Schools, 85; - and the formation of habits, 99; - in Elementary Schools, 155; - standard set by examinations, 233; - a complete, suggested by the nature of things, 156 - - - Damien, Father, 60 - - dancing, 234 - - Darwin, 3, 4, 5, 54 - - _David Copperfield_, 81, 111, 238 - - democracy, 312 - - Demos clamours for humanistic education, 299 - - Denmark, education in, 123, 283-287, 291, 306 - - De Quincey, 29, 103, 333 - - Departmental Committee on English, 269 - - desires, which stimulate mind, 11, 88; - cater for spiritual sustenance, 11; - atrophy of, 89; - _v._ other desires, 247; - must be used wisely, 56; - right and wrong, 84 - - Dewey, Professor, 280 - - Dickens, 81, 111 - - discipline, xxix, xxx; - secured by knowledge-hunger, 11; - education a, 99-104 - - discrimination, 259 - - diversion, xxxi - - Divine Spirit, xxxi; - Divine sanctions, 20 - - docility, 68; - universal, 69; - _v._ subservience, 71; - implies equality, 71 - - _Doll’s House, The_ (Ibsen), 327 - - drawing, 217, 329 - - Drighlington Girls’ School, xxv, 236 - - - economics, 73, 313 - - education; - a liberal, xxv, 8, 21, 78, 92, 127, 235, 250, 261, 264, 266, 271, - 294, 296; - gives stability of mind, 248; - makes for sound judgment, 56; - three instruments of, xxix, 94; - and atmosphere, xxix, 94-99; - and discipline of habit, xxix, xxx, 99-104; - is a life, xxix, 104-111; - is the Science of Relations, xxx, 31, 154; - little dependent on heredity and environment, xxxi; - errors in, 2, 5, 24, 26, 38, 41, 44, 53, 58, 59, 75-77, 82-89, 91, - 94-96, 98, 105, 110, 114-122, 129, 155, 178, 190, 237, 246, - 254, 304; - a philosophy of, 2, 18, 67; - and training, 3, 5, 6, 20, 39, 48, 147, 287; - must nourish mind, 6, 72, 105, 111, 253, 255, 260; - discoveries in, 9, 62, 68, 104, 255, 256, 290; - and the Desires, 11, 58, 84-90; - Knowledge the concern of, 2, 93, 266; - is of the spirit, 12, 26, 30, 38, 39, 125; - attention, the prime agent of, 16, 76, 247; - lacks exact application of principles, 19; - “new,” 27; - distinguished from psychology, sociology, pathology, 27; - in want of a unifying theory, 32; - does not produce mind, 36; - and use of leisure, 42, 79, 121; - the work of, 46, 60, 248, 281, 287; - the handmaid of Religion, 46, 79, 248; - business of, always with us, 54; - of the feelings, 59; - of the soul, 63; - drowned by talk, 65; - and capacity of child, 66; - a going forth of the mind, 66, 137; - popular, 76; - a free, 85, 146; - definite progress a condition of, 91; - not mainly gymnastic in function, 108, 236; - in Denmark and Scandinavia, 123, 125, 283-287, 291, 306; - in Germany, 123, 125, 279, 280, 306; - utilitarian, 125, 156, 180, 224, 279-283, 302; - co-existent with moral bankruptcy, 281; - in France, 125; - in Switzerland, 125; - Secondary, 127, 250-278; - less liberty than in Primary, 155; - character, the aim of, 129, 287; - must fortify will, 131; - title deeds of, 156; - beginning of definite, 159; - a science of proportion, 231-233; - a social lever, 245; - solves problems of decent living, 245; - a venture of faith, 245; - part and parcel of Religion, 246; - _v._ Civilisation, 248; - a common, 249, 264, 296; - a democratic, 265; - not for the best children only, 254; - hindered by materialism, 259; - an exclusive, our great achievement, 265; - overlapping in, 265; - a literary, open to all, 268; - humanistic, affects conduct, 293; - an early, from great books, the true foundation of knowledge, 308; - of the race, 324; - new systems of, 325; - result of forty years’, 342; - should be universal boon like air, 343; - as exemplified by two Public School boys, 343-348 - - Education Act, 121, 122 - - Eliot, George, 61 - - efficiency, 125 - - Elementary Schools, 326; - P.N.E.U. propaganda on behalf of, xxvii; - P.U.S. methods in, xxxi, 13, 14, 39, 44, 50, 268; - books in, 53; - concentration schemes in, 115; - A Liberal Education in, 235-249; - gain by no marks, no places, 247 - - _Emile_, by J. J. Rousseau, 338 - - _Encyclopædia Britannica_, 5, 17 - - ‘English,’ 86, 147, 209-211 - - English Literature, 124, 298 - - environment, xxix, 94-99; - educability of children little dependent on, xxxi, 155; - not way to mind, 38; - _v._ atmosphere, 96; - children not products of, 238 - - Erasmus, 187, 340 - - erudition, 310 - - ethics, 14, 254, 274 - - _Ethics of the Dust_, by John Ruskin, 223 - - Eton, 252, 308, 348 - - Eucken, Professor, 249, 296 - - Euclid, 152, 233 - - eugenics, 313 - - eurhythmics, 251, 255 - - examinations, 231, 256, 277, 291; - University entrance, 155, 233; - and scholarships, 155; - P.U.S., 158, 167, 168, 171, 178, 220, 221, 241-243, 262, 270, 272, - 293-296; - should set less exacting standard, 256; - tests which shall safeguard Letters, 312; - papers and children’s answers, 195-209 - - Ezekiel, 55 - - - faculties, 11, 17, 259, 263, 266; - out-of-date, 2, 230, 255; - Büchner on, 4; - none to develop, 255, 276 - - fallacious arguments, 326 - - Fichte, 279, 306 - - Fisher, Mr. H. A. L., 53, 122, 126 - - Fouillée, M., 110 - - Fox, Charles, 29; - on poetry, 317 - - _Four Georges, The_, by Thackeray, 171 - - France, Anatole, 317 - - France, education in, 125 - - Francis, St., 60 - - Franklin, the Hon. Mrs., xxviii - - Frederick the Great, 3 - - French, the teaching of, 211-213 - - French Revolution, The, 4, 92 - - Fuller, Thomas, xxvii - - - Gaddi, Taddeo, 322 - - games, 188; - should be joyous relaxation rather than stern necessity, 267 - - Genesis, 309 - - geography, teaching of, 14, 30, 40, 59, 177, 220, 221, 224-230; - dangers of ‘scientific,’ 41; - suffers from utilitarian spirit, 224; - and travel, 226; - the romance of, 227; - not generalisations, 227; - inferential method of teaching, 227-228; - panoramic method, 227-228; - literary character of, 228 - - geology, teaching of, 221 - - geometry, the teaching of, 233 - - German, the teaching of, 213 - - Germany, moral breakdown of, 3, 123; - influence of Darwin on, 3, 4; - utilitarianism in, 6, 123, 125, 280, 286, 306; - cult of æstheticism in, 95; - philosophers of, 3, 4; - school curriculum in, 6; - efficiency in, 282, 283 - - Gibbon, 124 - - Gladstone, W. E., 281 - - Gloucester teachers’ P.U.S. conference, 183 - - Gloucestershire, 51, 90 - - God, knowledge of, 64, 65, 158-169, 239, 246, 254, 287, 289, 310, - 315; - the principal knowledge, 272, 338 - - ‘Godfrey Bertram,’ 122 - - Goethe, 40, 160-162, 273, 299 - - Gordon, General, 141 - - Gordon Riots, 130 - - Gorky, Maxim, 62 - - Gospels, The, 165, 166, 169 - - grammar, the teaching of, 7, 10, 141, 151, 152, 209-211, 269 - - Greek, 124, 155, 254, 308 - - Greeks and the power of words, 316 - - Gregory, Sir Richard, on science teaching, 222 - - Grundtvig, 125, 283, 284, 291 - - _Guy Mannering_, 122, 331 - - gymnastics, intellectual and physical _v._ knowledge, 236 - - - Habit, xxix, 53, 99-104, 128, 147; - is inevitable, 101; - a bad master, 101; - act repeated becomes, 102; - religious, 103 - - Haeckel, Ernst, 4 - - Hague, The, 285 - - Haldane, Lord, 26 - - Hall, Professor Stanley, 280 - - _Hamlet_, 179, 183 - - handicrafts, xxx, 31, 73, 154, 217, 234, 251, 255, 328 - - _Heart of Midlothian_, The, 331 - - _Henry VIII_, 170, 173 - - Herbart, 112, 113, 114, 117 - - Herbartian doctrine, xxx, 113, 117 - - Herbert, George, 64 - - heredity, educability of children little dependent on, xxxi, 155 - - High School girl, the, 326 - - history, 14, 30, 42, 50, 59, 62, 73, 77, 151, 157, 169-180, 254, - 267; - a vital part of education, 169, 273; - church, 169; - English, 170-175, 176, 177; - French, 175, 176, 177; - ancient, 175, 176, 177, 274; - Indian, 176, 267; - European, 176, 177; - British Empire, 176; - and literature, 176, 177, 180, 184, 269, 274; - and citizenship, 185, 274; - geographical aspects of, 177; - as a background for thought, 178; - time given to, 170; - necessary for a sane life, 178; - gives weight to decision, consideration to action, stability to - conduct, 179; - charts, by Miss Beale, 177 - - _Home Education Series_, 6, 27 - - Homer, 182, 190 - - home work, 9 - - hope, we want, 335 - - Horace, 78, 264 - - horde, spirit of, a dangerous tendency, 300 - - Household, Mr. H. W., 90, 212 - - House of Education, The, 15, 212, 213, 276 - - “howlers,” 158, 256 - - Humanism, 240; - for the people at large, 235 - - humanistic training surest basis for business capacity, 285 - - ‘Humanities,’ The, 14, 157, 235, 239, 260, 297, 305; - in English, 298 - - human nature, prefers natural to spiritual law, 3; - a composite whole, 156; - possibilities of, infinite and various, 156; - an ordered presentation of the powers of, 189; - has not failed, 335 - - Huxley on the teaching of science, 218 - - hygiene, 220 - - - Ideas, xxix, xxx, 290; - mind feeds on, xxx, 10, 20, 25, 39, 40, 105, 109, 110, 117, 256; - informing, xxx, 26, 154; - initial, xxxi; - Platonic, 10, 108; - that influence life, 25; - give birth to acts, 80, 102, 303; - potency of, 105; - rise and progress of, 106, 107; - Coleridge’s ‘captain,’ 110; - behaviour of, 113; - correlation of, 114; - instruct conscience and stimulate will, 130; - choice between, 134; - growth of, 297 - - Ignorance, dangers of, 1, 5, 279, 299, 310, 314; - is not incapacity, 63; - our national stumbling-block, 239; - only one cure for, 239 - - Imagination, 25, 259; - present in children, 11, 18, 36, 41, 50; - present in infant, 37; - may be stored with evil images, 55 - - _Incuria_ of children, 52, 254, 292 - - India, 267 - - influence, 83 - - information _v._ knowledge, 26, 184, 303, 321 - - initiative, 25 - - insincerity an outcome of ignorance, 326 - - integrity, 61 - - intellect not a class prerogative, 12; - enthroned in every child, 50 - - intellectual conversion, xxv, xxvi - - intellectual appetite, 56 - - intelligence not a matter of inheritance and environment, 12 - - introspection, 66 - - irresponsibility characterises our generation, 313 - - Isaiah, 106, 309, 318 - - Italian, teaching of, 213 - - - James, Professor William, 113, 114 - - Japan, 133; - revolution in, 306 - - Jewish nation, history of, 162 - - _Joan and Peter_, by H. G. Wells, 95, 252, 266 - - Johnson, Dr., 143, 160; - on questions, 257 - - Jordan, xxvi - - judgment, power of, 259; - present in children, 9, 18 - - justice, 60-62 - - - Kant, 306 - - Keble, 167 - - Kidd, Benjamin, 69 - - _King Lear_, 45, 242 - - Kipling, Rudyard, 89, 135, 181 - - Kirschensteiner, Dr. and Munich Schools, 280 - - knowledge, call of, xxv; - appetite for, xxx, 10, 11, 14, 18, 20, 29, 44, 53, 57, 77, 89, 90, - 92, 117, 124, 253, 255, 290, 302; - must be vital, xxx, 39, 44, 105, 154; - quantity and variety of, xxx, 11, 14, 19, 116, 123, 154, 157, 253, - 256, 257, 263, 288, 289, 290; - must be literary in form, xxx, 13, 15, 18, 29, 30, 51, 91, 109, - 111, 154, 160, 172, 218, 248, 256, 260, 290; - assimilation of, xxx, 12, 14, 16, 18, 155, 240, 292; - the sole concern of education, 2, 12, 93; - the necessary food of mind, 2, 18, 75, 88, 239, 256, 258; - consecutive, 7, 158, 172, 244, 261, 267; - accurate, 8; - what is? 12, 239, 254, 303; - a basis of common, for all classes, 20, 78, 264, 293, 298, 299; - not sensation, 26; - of good and evil, 46; - love of, sufficient stimulus for work, 58, 79, 98; - of God, 64, 65, 158-169, 239, 246, 254, 272, 287, 289, 310, 315, - 338; - formative influence of, 65; - brings freedom, 71, 73; - depreciation of, 76, 301, 316; - is delectable, 89; - creates bracing atmosphere, 97; - _v._ teaching, 118; - is virtue, 127, 235; - of man, 169-218, 239, 254, 289, 315; - of the Universe, 218-234, 239, 254, 289, 316; - relativity of, and mind, 237, 240, 324; - stops friction, 238; - substitutes for, 302; - ‘The source of pleasure,’ 302; - Matthew Arnold on, 239; - received with attention, and fixed by narration, 259; - not same as academic success, 266; - unifying effect of, 267; - ‘Meet for the people,’ 292; - a distinction between, and scholarship, 305; - ‘Letters,’ the content of, 308; - not a store but a state, 309; - of the Life, the Truth, the Way, 317; - the basis of a nation’s strength, 321; - _v._ information, 303, 321; - mediæval conception of, 321; - all, is sacred, 324; - a great unity, 324; - and ‘learning,’ 325; - exalteth a nation, 342 - - _Kultur_, 286 - - - Lamb, Charles, 16, 258, 260 - - languages, the teaching of, 209-213, 254, 276 - - Latin, the teaching of, 94, 124, 155, 213 - - League of Nations, 169 - - learning, by rote, 257; - and knowledge, 325; - labour of, not decreased by narrowing curriculum, 158 - - Lecky, Mr., on utilitarian theory, 280 - - _Lehrbuch zur Psychologie_, 113 - - Leibnitz, 110, 113 - - Leonardo da Vinci, 54 - - lessons, dull routine, 44 - - ‘Letters,’ knowledge and virtue, 307; - the vehicle of knowledge, 308; - a knowledge of, necessary, 313; - make a universal appeal, 333; - the staple of education, 334 - - _Liberal Education, A: Practice_, by A. C. Drury, 157 - - life, not enough for our living, 335 - - listening, habit of, 244 - - Lister, 19, 318 - - literary form, children must have, xxx, 15, 18, 29, 30, 51, 91, 109, - 111, 154, 160, 172, 218, 248, 256, 260, 290; - children educated out of, 13 - - Literature, the teaching of, 42, 43, 52, 62, 151, 157, 180-185, 254; - natural aptitude for, 91; - illustrates history, 176, 177, 180, 184, 269, 274; - a living power, 185; - and history, sole key to unintelligible world, 338; - reveals deepest things, 338 - - Locke, 4, 156 - - _Logos_, 330 - - Louis XI, 132 - - Louis XIV, 92 - - Louisa, Queen of Prussia, 306 - - Lugard, Lady, 314 - - Lysander, 109 - - - _Macbeth_, 140 - - magnanimity, 89, 248, 268 - - magnetism, personal, 13, 48, 49 - - Magnus, Sir Philip, 280 - - maps, 224 - - Marconi, 236 - - Maria Theresa, 311 - - marks, 7, 11, 28, 52, 247, 302; - unnecessary, 45 - - Marx, Karl, 144 - - Masefield, John, on vitality of mind, 277 - - mathematics, the teaching of, 7, 59, 148, 151, 152, 153, 155, - 230-233, 254, 256, 264, 296; - appeal to mind, 51; - beauty and truth of, 230, 334; - undue importance of, 231; - not a royal road to learning, 231; - to be studied for their own sake, 232; - success should not depend on, 232; - depend upon the teacher, 233; - badly taught, 233 - - matter, not the foundation of all being, 4; - and mind, 5 - - Memmi, Simone, 284, 322, 323 - - Memory, 14, 16; - mind _v._ word, 173, 263; - knowledge, mental not verbal, 258, 303 - - mental food and work not synonymous terms, 281 - - _Method_, Coleridge’s, 106, 107 - - method, special points of P.N.E.U.; - children do the work, 6, 19, 192, 216, 241; - teachers help, 6, 19, 241; - single reading, 6, 15, 171, 241, 258, 261, 263, 267, 291, 293, - 304; - narration, 6, 15, 18, 30, 45, 65, 155, 163, 165, 172, 180, 182, - 190, 191, 211, 241, 261, 272, 276, 291; - no revision, 6, 9, 15, 171, 241, 245, 262; - no special selections, 7, 244; - many books, 7, 12, 15, 30, 59, 76, 241, 267, 268, 271, 303; - children’s delight in books, 7, 19, 30, 45; - attention secured by books, 7, 13, 30, 45, 276; - consecutive knowledge, 7, 158, 172, 244, 261, 267; - takes less time, 9, 245; - no preparation, 9, 158, 245; - children occupied with things as well as books, 31; - short hours, 158; - examinations, 158, 167, 168, 171, 178, 195-209, 241-243, 262, 263, - 270, 272; - children form a good style, 194; - power of dealing with names, 181, 262, 264, 294-296; - suitable for large numbers, 247; - success depends on principles, 270 - - ‘Micawber, Mr.,’ 231 - - ‘Midas,’ 267 - - Milton, 110, 124, 132, 159, 188, 274; - on ideal of education, 249, 268; - _Areopagitica_, 188 - - Mind, habits of, xxix, 53, 100; - feeds on ideas, xxix, 2, 10, 15, 18, 20, 25, 39, 40, 105, 111, - 117, 256, 257; - not a receptacle, xxx, 112; - a spiritual organism, xxx, 24, 38, 117; - has appetite, xxx, 10, 20, 39, 57, 89, 281; - must be fed, xxx, 5, 10, 18, 20, 24, 25, 41, 71, 105, 111, 117, - 154, 236, 239, 246, 259, 263, 281, 288; - can deal with knowledge, xxx, 10, 18, 41, 72, 117; - not made up of faculties, 2, 17; - in education, 2, 6, 253; - thought alone appeals to, 2, 12, 15; - is one, 5, 41; - is spiritual, 5, 38; - action of, stimulated by desires, 11, 13, 88; - nature of, 20; - house of, 24; - must have labour of digestion, 26, 237; - the instrument of education, 36; - spiritual, _v._ physical brain, 38, 100, 260, 330; - amazing potentialities of, 38; - ‘the unconscious,’ 38, 66, 130; - tendency to ignore, 38; - the means of living, 42; - good and evil tendencies of, 46, 49, 52; - not a chartered libertine, 49; - use of term, 66; - always conscious, 66; - heaven of, 71; - not sustained by physical or emotional activity, 72, 289; - must not be intruded upon, 130; - deals with intellectual matter without aids, 172; - potency not property characteristic of, 237; - laws of, 245, 246, 290; - behaviour of, 253; - duly fed, its activities take care of themselves, 289; - vast educability of, 289; - receives knowledge to grow, 237; - must know, 237; - wonder of, 239; - and knowledge, 240, 324; - functions for its own nourishment, 246; - of children not immature, 246; - stability of, 248; - benefits by occasional gymnastics, 255; - a crucible, cannot distil from sawdust, 257; - a deceiver ever, 257; - outer court of, 257; - how, works, 257; - -stuff, 259; - forces which act in education, 259; - we must believe in, 260; - moves altogether when it moves at all, 276; - demands method, 334 - - miracles, 148 - - Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 36 - - Montaigne, on history, 169 - - Moral, impulse, 17; - offences bred in the mind, 188; - training, 58, 59 - - morality, school, 188 - - morals, everyday and economics: citizenship, 185-189 - - _Mornings in Florence_, by John Ruskin, 323 - - Muirhead, Professor, 3 - - Munich, 285, 306; - Schools, 125, 280, 286 - - ‘Murdstone, Mr.,’ 81 - - Music, 329 - - Musical Appreciation, by Mrs. Howard Glover, 217, 218 - - - Napoleon, 5; - a great reader, 305, 306 - - Napoleonic wars, 125, 279, 283 - - Narration, 99, 115, 165, 166, 180, 182, 190, 258-261, 291, 292; - method of, xxx, 6, 15-17, 29, 30, 51, 64-65, 155, 163, 172-173, - 191, 241, 244, 304; - _v._ reproduction, 18, 30, 272; - of slum children, 45, 63; - depends on single reading, 6, 15, 171, 241, 258, 261, 263, 267, - 291, 293, 304; - a preparation for public speaking, 86, 124; - literary expression in, 90; - Dr. Johnson on, 160; - must not be interrupted, 172, 191; - in the teaching of languages, 211-213, 276; - a natural power, 191 - - National Gallery, The, 215 - - natural history, the teaching of, 220 - - natural selection, 4 - - Nature Note Books, 217, 219, 223 - - Nature Study, xxx, 73, 154, 219, 328 - - needlework, 234 - - New Testament, 165, 187; - teaching of, must be grounded on Old, 161 - - Newton, Sir Isaac, 231 - - Nietzsche, 3 - - Nightingale, Florence, 141 - - _Nineteenth Century and After_, 270 - - note-taking, 245, 257 - - - Obedience, natural, necessary and fundamental, xxix, 68-79, 97, 134; - dignified, 70; - willing, 70; - the test of personality, 134 - - obligation, 17 - - obscene passages, 341 - - Old Testament, 160-165, 341; - as a guide to life, 273 - - opinions, _v._ ideas, 110; - of teacher, 288 - - opportunity, doctrine of equal, 92, 179; - universal, a fallacy, 343 - - oral lessons, xxvi, 15, 271 - - order, how to keep, 45 - - _Ourselves, Our Souls and Bodies_, 188, 189 - - - _Pagan, The_, 250 - - ‘Page, Ann,’ 331 - - Paget, Dr. Stephen, on suggestion, 82 - - Paley, 9 - - ‘Paracelsus,’ 331 - - _Parents and Children_, 108 - - Parents’ Associations, xxviii - - Parents’ National Educational Union, xxix, 6, 9, 23, 62, 79, 159, - 171, 217, 253, 268, 270; - mission of, to all classes, xxvii - - P.N.E.U. Philosophy, xxix; - fits all ages, satisfies brilliant children, helps the dull, - secures attention, interest, concentration, 28 - - Parents’ Union School, xxviii, 13, 45, 78, 212, 217, 223, 233, 235, - 254, 269, 275-277, 293; - books in, 271; - education free to Elementary Schools, 296 - - Parthenon Room, 175 - - Pascal, 256 - - Pasteur, 318 - - Paterson, Mr. A., 118, 119, 121 - - patriotism, a sane, 174 - - Paul, St., xxvii, 188, 309 - - Pelmanism, the indictment of, 250, 252 - - ‘Pendennis, Arthur,’ 159 - - People’s High Schools in Denmark, 283-286 - - Person, a child is a, xxix, 13, 18, 29, 36, 44, 238; - chief responsibility of a, to accept ideas, xxxi; - marks of an educated, 1, 100; - the more of a, the better citizen, 3, 76, 147; - the measure of a, 10, 80; - a, built up from within, 23; - a, is a mystery, 238; - a, measured by the wide and familiar use of substantives, 261; - a, brought up first for his own uses, then for society, 329; - a, who ‘lives his life,’ 329; - nobility of a, 334 - - personality, respect due to, xxix, 24, 81-84, 97, 100, 125, 129; - development of, 5, 147; - of teacher, 7, 172; - undue play of, 78, 82, 129; - in narration, 18, 260 - - Perthes, Friedrich, 341 - - ‘Peter Pan,’ 59 - - Pett Ridge, Mr., 119 - - ‘Petulengro, Jasper,’ 224 - - _Peveril of the Peak_, 282 - - philosophy, 43; - a, necessary to life, 334; - a consummate, 337 - - physical training, xxx, 48, 72, 154, 233, 255 - - pictures _v._ descriptions, 340 - - picture study, 214-217, 275 - - Pied Piper, The, 48 - - Piozzi, Mrs., 160 - - platitudes, 326 - - Plato, 25, 27, 59, 148, 187, 337, 340; - on ideas, 10, 105, 108; - on knowledge, 127, 235 - - ‘play way,’ a, 251, 255; - not avenue to mind, 38 - - pleasure, grand elementary principle of, 248 - - Plutarch, 109, 185-187; - on history, 274 - - poetry, 59, 72, 157 - - Poland, 184 - - Prayer Book, The, 169 - - prejudices, 326 - - ‘Prettymans, the Miss,’ 251 - - progress, fetish of, 297 - - Promethean fable, 322 - - Protagoras, 25 - - Prussia, 5, 279, 306 - - pseudo-knowledge, 340 - - psychology, English, 4; - mythology of ‘faculty,’ 4; - said to rest on feeling, 5; - _v._ sociology, allied to pathology, 27; - modern, 66; - little known of, 253 - - Public Schools, 1, 74, 78, 85, 91, 105, 120, 188, 251, 252, 265, - 266, 297, 301, 308-313, 326, 344; - our educational achievement, 308; - ignorance of boys, 309, 310 - - public opinion, 314, 320 - - _Punch_, 34, 95 - - - _questionnaire_, dangers of, 54, 257 - - ‘Quickly, Mrs.,’ 331 - - - R’s, the three, 63 - - _raconteur_, a good, 173 - - reading, a _single_, 6, 15, 171, 241, 258, 261, 263, 267, 291, 293, - 304; - desultory, not education, 13, 189; - in order to know, 14; - and writing, 30, 244; - must be consecutive, 261, 267 - - Reason, 259; the way of the, xxxi; - present in the infant, 37; - must not be deified, 55; - justifies any notion, 55, 143; - confounded with right, 56; - does not begin it, 140; - brings infallible proofs of any idea, 139, 315; - works involuntarily, 142; - is subject to habit, 147; - is fallible, 150, 314; - and rebellion, 314; - cannot take the place of knowledge, 314 - - reflection, 25 - - religion, 14, 40, 43, 46, 64, 73, 79, 239, 289; - teaching of, 159-169; - two aspects of, 160-161; - difficulties in, 162, 164 - - Rembrandt, 63, 215 - - Renaissance, The, xxv, 9, 54; - Italian and French, 311; - Schools, 343 - - Repington, Colonel, 232, 252 - - reproduction, 259 - - ‘Responsions,’ 311 - - retention, 259 - - revision of lessons, 6, 9, 15, 171, 241, 245, 262 - - rewards, 7 - - _Richard III_, 143 - - Richelieu, 90 - - Roberts, Lord, 141 - - Rosetta Stone, 63 - - Rossetti, 340 - - Rousseau, J. J., 325, 338, 339 - - Ruskin, John, 110, 152, 230, 322, 323, 326 - - Russia, 320; - Soviet, 145 - - - St. Cross, 332 - - Salisbury, Lord, 281 - - _Saviour of the World, The_, 167 - - Scandinavia, education in, 123, 125 - - scholarship, an exquisite distinction, 310; - _v._ knowledge, 305 - - schools, not merely a nursery for the formation of character, 264; - find substitutes for knowledge, 266 - - _Schwärmerei_, 49 - - Science, xxx, 14, 31, 40, 42, 51, 59, 154, 157, 239, 256; - teaching of, 218-230, 275; - approached by field-work, with literary comments, 223, 256; - fatal divorce between, and the ‘humanities,’ 223, 318; - must rouse wonder, 224, 317; - the mode of revelation granted to our generation, 318; - waiting for its literature, 318; - of relations, 327; - of the proportion of things, 327 - - Science, Social, 14 - - Scott, Sir Walter, 110, 182, 190, 261 - - Scottish philosophers, 11 - - scrupulosity of to-day, 101 - - Secondary Schools, 127; - a liberal education in, 250-278 - - self-authority, 17, 71, 74, 75, 76 - - self-culture, not an ideal, 133 - - self-direction necessary, 131 - - self-education comes from within, 23; - education must be, 26, 28-32, 38, 77, 99, 240, 241, 289 - - self-expression, 66, 108, 276, 326, 327 - - _Self-Help_, by Dr. Smiles, 248 - - self-knowledge, 131, 137 - - sensory activities, 2, 48 - - Shakespeare, 55, 124, 143, 167, 170, 182, 183, 245, 270, 274, 314, - 341 - - Shaw, Mr. Bernard, 27 - - Sisyphus, 240 - - ‘Skimpole, Harold,’ 231 - - Socialism, 320 - - Socrates, 49, 302, 332; - use of questioning, 17 - - Sophocles, 124 - - soul, well-being of the, 63; - the Holy of Holies, 63; - satisfaction for, 64 - - specialisation, dangers of, 53, 254 - - spelling, 271 - - Spirit, Divine, xxxi; - is the man, 5; - education is of the, 12, 26, 30; - born of spirit, 39; - use of term, 65; - acts upon matter, 100; - is might, reveals itself in spirit, works only in freedom, 125, - 284 - - spontaneity, condition of development, xxxi - - ‘Squeers, Mr.,’ 101 - - stability, mark of educated classes, 179 - - _Statue and the Bust, The_, 133 - - Stein, 279 - - Steinthal, Mrs. Francis, xxv - - stops, use of, 191 - - Stuart educational ideals, 326 - - “Studies serve for delight,” xxvi, 7, 19, 266; - make for personality, 5 - - Suggestion, xxxi, 82, 83; - a grave offence, 129; - weakens moral fibre, 129; - causes involuntary action, 129; - weakens power of choice, 130 - - superman, 3, 4 - - Sweden, 285 - - Switzerland, education in, 125 - - syllabus, points to be considered in a, xxx, 154, 268; - a wide, 256; - the best, 268; - a, must meet demands of mind, 256; - sterile, of schoolboy, 268 - - sympathy of numbers, 247 - - - ‘tales,’ 30, 132, 190 - - teacher, part of, in education, 6, 19, 118, 130, 237, 240, 241, 246, - 260, 261, 304; - personality of, 7, 48, 78, 82, 129, 172; - intellectual apparatus of, 11; - not a mere instrument, 32; - must understand human nature of child, 47; - underrates tastes and abilities of children, 52, 238; - must read aloud with intention, 244; - comes between children and knowledge, 247; - finds education a passion, 251 - - teaching how to learn, a farce, 348 - - Tennyson, 138, 333 - - things, “are in the saddle,” 7, 260; - children occupied with, 31 - - thinking, not doing, a source of character, 278 - - thought, not simply a function of brain, 2, 4, 260; - great, necessary for children, 5, 12, 130; - alone appeals to mind, 12; - begets thought, 12, 303; - action follows on due, 24; - our, not our own, 60, 137; - right, not self-expression, follows upon an idea, 130; - socialistic, fallacies in, 144-147; - sins committed in, 188; - common basis of, 264, 298 - - Thucydides, 124 - - _Timon of Athens_, 44 - - ‘Titanic,’ 335 - - Trades’ Unions, 315; - Guilds, 319 - - Traherne, 34, 36, 37, 40 - - Training, intellectual, 2, 24, 147, 255; - physical, 2, 6, 20, 48, 255; - vocational, 2, 3, 5, 6, 287, 302; - not education, 255 - - Treitschke, 3 - - Trench, 167 - - Trollope, A., 251 - - truth, justice in word, 61 - - Tudor women, 311 - - Tugendbund, 6, 279 - - - Ulysses, 41 - - _Undine_, xxv - - Universities, People’s, 123 - - unrest comes from wrong thinking, 60; - Labour, 92, 179, 286, 297, 300, 319; - Indian, 184 - - - Van Eyck’s, ‘Adoration of the Lamb,’ 322 - - Vasari, 54 - - Vaughan, 35 - - verbal understanding _v._ dealing with books, 172 - - Vienna, Congress of, 170 - - village community life, 286 - - Vittorino, 310 - - Voltaire, 156 - - - _Waverley Novels, The_, 63, 325 - - Wellington, The Duke of, 102, 308 - - Whichcote, xxix, 33 - - Whitby, 223 - - White, Gilbert, 223 - - wilfulness, signs of, 37 - - Will, the way of the, xxxi, 128, 131; - function of, to choose, 128, 129, 133; - action of, is character, 129; - the safeguard of a man, 130; - and danger of suggestion, 130; - education must fortify, 131; - the governing power of man, 131; - fallacies concerning, 132; - nourished upon ideas, 132; - must have objects outside self, 133; - the function of man, 133; - implies understanding, 133; - a free agent, 133; - is supreme, 135; - needs diversion, 136; - free, not free thought, 136, 137; - ordering of, 137; - is the man, 314 - - Witte, Count, 130 - - words, beauty of, 151; - vehicle of truth, 151; - use of, 316 - - Wordsworth, William, 35, 93, 166, 180, 238, 276, 320, 322 - - work, the better man does the better, 282 - - working men and their leisure, 42 - - worship, a sublime ideal, 317 - - Wren, Sir Christopher, 54 - - writing, 30 - - - Yorkshire, Drighlington School, xxv, 236 - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Now ten. - -[2] Now ten. - -[3] Now over 300 in 1924. - -[4] I quote from the article on Psychology in the _Encyclopædia -Britannica_ as being the most likely to exhibit the authoritative -position. - -[5] _The Home Education Series._ - -[6] In connection with the _Parents’ Union School_. - -[7] The small Practising School attached to the House of Education -(ages of scholars from six to eighteen) affords opportunities for -testing the programmes of work sent out term by term, and the -examinations set at the end of each term. The work in each Form is -easily done in the hours of morning-school. - -[8] I again quote from the article on Psychology in the -_Encyclopædia Britannica_. - -[9] See _Some Discussions of the Method_. (P.N.E.U. Office, 1/-). - -[10] _The Home Education Series._ - -[11] _Home Education_, by the Writer. - -[12] See _Some Studies in the Formation of Character_, by the -Writer. - -[13] See _Some Impressions of the Ambleside Method_. (P.N.E.U. -Office, price 9d.) - -[14] See _Ourselves, our Souls and Bodies_. By the Writer. -(P.N.E.U. Office.) - -[15] _Ourselves, our Souls and Bodies._ By the Writer. - -[16] _Parents and Children._ By the Writer. - -[17] See _Some Impressions of the Ambleside Method_. (P.N.E.U. -Office, price 9d.) - -[18] Isaiah xxviii. - -[19] _Parents and Children_, by the Writer. - -[20] _Education from a National Standpoint._ - -[21] _The Herbartian Psychology applied to Education_, by John -Adams. - -[22] _Across the Bridges_, by A. Paterson. - -[23] _Across the Bridges_, by A. Paterson. - -[24] _Memoirs of Count Witte._ - -[25] _Education of the Young._ - -[26] _What Religion Is_, by Bernard Bosanquet, D.C.L. - -[27] All particulars may be had from The Director, Parents’ Union -School, Ambleside. The illustrations in the way of children’s -answers for the various sections of this chapter have been omitted -for want of space, except in the case of a few answers under -Composition. - -[28] Examples of the work of scholars of various ages illustrating -what has been said may be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office. - -[29] This book is now in print again. - -[30] Of the Parents’ Union School. - -[31] Examination papers giving some idea of the scope of the -history studies in the P.U.S. may be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office. - -[32] Examination Papers can be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office. - -[33] Examination Papers can be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office. - -[34] These answers are uncorrected and are taken from Examination -papers not sent back. Most parents and teachers have their papers -returned. - -[35] Examination answers can be seen at the P.N.E.U. Office. - -[36] For details see the Parents’ Union School programmes. - -[37] Specimens of the children’s Examination work can be seen at -the P.N.E.U. Office. - -[38] _The Ambleside Geography_; Book IV, by the Writer. - -[39] _Ambleside Geography_: Book IV. - -[40] _The Ambleside Geography_: Book V, by the Writer. - -[41] For details see the Parents’ Union School programmes. - -[42] _Citizens to Be_, by Miss M. L. V. Hughes. - -[43] cf. “Introduction.” - -[44] pp. 13 to 15. - -[45] The P.U.S. was started in 1890. - -[46] These are omitted for want of space but other sets can be seen -at the Office of the P.N.E.U. - -[47] Chapter X. - -[48] See Chapter X. - -[49] cf. _Continuation Schools_, ed. by Sir Michael Sadler, and -published by the Manchester University, 1908, to which the writer -is greatly indebted. - -[50] Page 106. - -[51] 1890. - -[52] 1913. - -[53] In Elementary and Continuation Schools. - -[54] The Author owes to the Editor of _The Times_ permission to -reprint the chapters under this heading written in 1912; as also -the happy titles of the several chapters and the general title. - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - Footnote [47] is referenced twice from page 275. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, - and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. - - Pg xxii: an entry for ‘INDEX 349’ has been added at the end of - the Table of Contents. - Pg 3: ‘about Nietszche’ replaced by ‘about Nietzsche’. - Pg 17: ‘a congerie of’ replaced by ‘a coterie of’. - Pg 72: ‘Not, again, can we’ replaced by ‘Nor, again, can we’. - Pg 82: ‘the idiosyncracies’ replaced by ‘the idiosyncrasies’. - Pg 89: ‘satiable curtiosity’ replaced by ‘satiable curiosity’. - Pg 139: ‘irrefragible proofs’ replaced by ‘irrefragable proofs’. - Pg 140: ‘no more then they’ replaced by ‘no more than they’. - Pg 168: ‘clothes and ca e’ replaced by ‘clothes and care’. - Pg 181: ‘by naming it D2’ replaced by ‘by naming it K2’. - Pg 197: ‘statemen all’ replaced by ‘statesmen all’. - Pg 200: ‘And ne tles close’ replaced by ‘And nestles close’. - Pg 202: ‘eyes for thoes’ replaced by ‘eyes for those’. - Pg 232: ‘perfer not to have’ replaced by ‘prefer not to have’. - Pg 275: ‘by Velasqeuz which’ replaced by ‘by Velasquez which’. - Pg 334: ‘irrefragibly logical’ replaced ‘irrefragably logical’. - Pg 357: ‘Nietszche, 3’ replaced by ‘Nietzsche, 3’. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF -EDUCATION *** - -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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