^^"V 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 <y , t • « 
 
 
 
 ^ ♦ jAWAi <• ^r. <& * fills ' ^ .^ 
 
 * ,*^ ^^ 
 
 
 
 ,-t°^ 
 

 
 0'«< > * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 'To ♦ « :. o » A^ 
 
 o\ ^T/,*' .0 
 
Brown, (C. J.) rractlcai Writing Portfolio, consisting of the most ap- 
 proved form of Writing- Boole, combined with Penholder and Pen, Pen- 
 wiper, Blotter, and Killed Slope Lines, all iu one book. The exclusive 
 manufacture of this popular writing book has been transferred to me. 
 
 Five numbers, each 25 
 
 Extra paper, pej set of 12 sheets 64 
 
 Copies, per set of 24 for each number 05 
 
 Backliam {Henry B.) Handbook for Youuij Teachers. First Steps. Cloth, 
 
 18ino. pp. 152 7S 
 
 Biiell (C. J.) The t^tcments of Education. Paper, 16mo, pp 25 15 
 
 BuMetin Blank Speller. Designed by Principal H. B. Buckham, Butfalo 
 
 JSTorinal vScliool, Boards, 5?4x T'/zromid corners, pp. 40 1^ 
 
 Speiling Pads, 7U pages, Eacl) 10 
 
 - — Book-Keeping Bhukks. Day-Book, Journal, Ledger, Casli-Book, Sales 
 
 book. Ill sets or singly. Press-board, 7x85/2, pp. 28. Each..,..s 15 
 
 — - Composition Book. Manilla, 7x9, pp. 44 15 
 
 ^ — Class Register. Designed by Edward Smith, Superintendent of Schools, 
 'Syracuse, N. Y. Press-board covers, T/iree Si^es, (a) 6x7, for terms of 
 twenty weeks. (Z>) 5x7, for terms of fourteen weeks. When not otherwise 
 
 specified the smaller size is always senU Pp. 48 .25 
 
 (c) 'Like (b) but ivith one half more (72) pag s 35 
 
 School Ruler, Two Styles (a) Manilla, 12 inch, (b) Cardboard, 6 inch. 
 
 Each 3 cents. Per hundred 1 on 
 
 Bui-cliHi-d (O. R.) Two months in Europe. Paper. 12mo, pp.158 ♦.. 50 
 
 Cheney (F.) A Olobe Manual for Scliools. Boards, Kimo, pp. 95 ^50 
 
 Colored. Crayon, for Blackboard, per box of one dozen, nine colors ... "^ 25 
 Collins (Hen ry.) The International Date Line. Paper, IGino, pp. 15. . . . ... 15 
 
 Common School Thermometer, in box, postpaid... . .i 50 
 
 Constitution "Of the Uuited States and of N. Y. Cloth, I'^mo., pp. 82 25 
 
 Cooke (Sidney G.> Politics and Schools. Pai er, 8vo., pp. 23 25 
 
 Crai.^ (Asa'H.) The Common Schonl^Question Book. Cloth 12ni(), pp. 340 1 50 
 
 Davis (W. W.) Suggesiionsfor Teaching Fractions. Paper, l2mo, pp. 43.. 25 
 Be Graff (E. V.) Practical Phonics. A comprehensive study of Pronun- 
 ciation, forming a complete guide to the study of Elementary soulids of 
 the English Language, and containing 3,000 words of diflicult pronuncia- 
 tion, with diacritical marks according to Webster's Dictionary. Cloth, 
 
 12mo, pp. 108 75 
 
 Pocket Pronunciation Book, containing the 3,000 words of ditHcult pro- 
 nunciation, with d acritical marks according to Webster's Dictionary. 
 Manilla, l6nio, pp. 47 "... 15 
 
 The School-Boom (^uicZe, embodying the instruction given by the author 
 
 at Teachers' Institutes in New York and other States, and especially 
 intended to assist Public School Teachers in the practical work of the 
 school-room. Tenth Edition, with many additions and corrections. > 
 Cloth, 12mo, pp. 449. , 1 50 
 
 The Song- Budget. A collection of Songs and Music for schools and 
 
 educational gathering*.. Paper, suiall 4to, pp. 72. .' 15 
 
 The School-Room Chorus. A collection of 2" ) Songs, suitable for Public 
 
 and Private Schools. Boards, small 4to, pp 147 35 
 
 Dickinson (J. W.) Limits of Oral Teaching. Paper. 8vo, pj). 8 15 
 
 Diplomas, printed to order from any design luniislied. Sj»ecimens sent. 
 
 ' (a) Bond paper, Uk17, f()r2'> 5 00 
 
 •' 50 6.50 
 
 {h) " " i:>;20, " 25 5 50 
 
 " •' " 50. ..y. 8 50 
 
 (c) Parchment. 15.X20, •' 5 , 6(0 
 
 Eacli ailditioual coin^ ., 75 
 
 En>ersou (H. P.) Latin in High Sclmols. Paper, Svo, i)p. 25 
 
 Fai'j»h!»m (Geo. L.) The Senttnce Method ()i leaching iieading, Writing, 
 
 and Spelling. A IVlaiuial for Teachers. Cloib, 12m(>, i>i>. .'".0 50 
 
 Fitch (Josjuia (I.) The Art of Questioning. ZdEddion. Paper. 12jno, pp. iv;. 15 
 
 The Art of Secur'nig Attention. Papt-r. lGm<>. p]). 4'S. ."second edition. 15 
 
 Giffin (Wm. M.) How Not to Teach; or, IJO Things the Tciiclivr should 
 
 isrOT do. Paper, Itimo, pp. 31 :. 15 
 
 Hailmann ( W. N.) Kindergarten Manual. Primary Help» 75 
 
 The New Education. Asummarv of Kindergarten Prlntii)les and 
 
 Methods. Svo, pp. 146. Two series. "Each 2 00 
 
 Heudi-ick (Mary F.) A scries ^f Questions in English and American Litera- 
 
 tur^e, prepared for Clas.s Drill and Private Study. Third Edition Revised - 
 
 Boards, l2nio, pp. 100, interleaved 'Tr. .' 35, 
 
 Hough (F. B.) The Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. Cloth, 16mo, 
 
 pp. 307 ,, 125 
 
THH 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 Principles and Practice of Teaching. 
 
 m FIVE PARTS. 
 
 PART r. ON METHOD AS APPLIED TO EDUCATION.! 
 
 PART II. ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES. 
 
 PART III. ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT METHODS AND 
 
 SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 
 PART IV. ON THE APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO THE 
 
 VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION. 
 PART V. ON SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE. 
 
 By T. TATE, F.R.A.S. 
 
 With an Introduction by Col. Frx\ncis W. Parkkk. 
 
 / » ^ FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THIRD LONDON EDITIOJ^, 
 
 SYRACUSE, N. Y. : 
 
 C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER. 
 
 1884. 
 
LBiOiS 
 
 NOTE BY THE AMERICAN PUBLISHER. 
 
 No English book on education has been oftener called 
 for than this during the past five years; but as the 
 original edition was exhausted and the publishers did 
 not replace it, copies have been wholly unattainable. 
 Accordingly, I have re-printed it at Col. Parker's desire 
 and from a copy lent me by him, following the English 
 edition exactly, even to the paging, but reducing the 
 price to $1.50 per copy. It is not, however, stereotyped 
 and only one thousand copies have been printed. 
 
 Copyright, 1884, by C, W. Bardeen. 
 
PREFACK TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 J venture to present an extract from the Quincy 
 Report of 1878 and '79. "The principles of instruc- 
 tion that I am trying to make the foundation of all the 
 teaching in Quincy were long since discovered and 
 established. With a few exceptions in minor points, 
 all the eminent writers upon philosophical teaching, 
 from Bacon to Spencer, have explained these principles 
 and urged their application in practice. There has been 
 no famous teacher for the last two hundred years who 
 does not owe his fame to the application of them. 
 * * * * It may be asked, ' If these principles are 
 so simple, and supported by such high authority, why 
 are they not well known to the thousands of intelligent 
 teachers in this state?' I will answer indirectly by 
 stating a fact. Until within a short time the best 
 standard works upon education were not to be found 
 on the richly loaded shelves of the book-dealer in our 
 American Athens." 
 
 Happily a change has taken place in the educational 
 world within the last few years. 
 
 ^'I sell twenty-five books on education now to one I 
 sold five years ago," is the report of one of the most 
 prominent booksellers in Boston. 
 
IV PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN J.DITION. 
 
 All the English pedagogical works taken together 
 would make but a comparatively small library, and of 
 this small number very tew indeed pretend to discuss 
 at any length the fundamental princi23les of teaching. 
 
 Methods and details of methods form the stock in 
 trade of most pedagogical writers. These books do 
 very little except to perpetuate a useless unending strife 
 over methods that differ because the motives that 
 determine them differ. The only books that radically 
 help are those v/hich discuss profoundly the principles 
 and ideals of education. 
 
 When I was a young teacher with some aspirations 
 for a situation ^in Boston, that distinguished educator, 
 J. D. Philbrick, then Superintendent of the Boston 
 Schools, told me that there was a Science of Education 
 founded upon mental laws, and that the way to true 
 success in teaching could only be found by a close study 
 of tliat science. n 
 
 I took his excellent advice, obtained a list of the best 
 works on pedagogics and sent to England for them, as 
 they could not be bought in this country. 
 
 At the bead of the list stood Tate's Philosophy of 
 Education. In re-reading the book I recognize the fact 
 that it has given me more substantial aid in teaching 
 than any other English work I ever studied. It may be 
 that there are better books, but just at that time it was 
 ihe book for me. 
 
 Its author was a firm, undaunted believer in the New 
 Education. No one can tell what the so-called New 
 
PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. V 
 
 Education really is from the very fact that many if not 
 most of its principles and resulting methods have yet 
 to be discovered. We stand on the border-land of dis- 
 covery in education. 
 
 If it is impossible to present any adequate idea of 
 the New Education, the position of its disciples may be 
 easily defined. They believe that there is an immense margin 
 between the Jcnoivn and the unlcnoivn in education. The un- 
 believers, on the other hand, hold that, with some possi- 
 ble exceptions, the march of progress in education has 
 closed with them. 
 
 The followers of the New Education count in their 
 ranks every great thinker and writer upon education 
 from Socrates to Horace Mann, " Who point to higher 
 w^orlds and lead the way." Thought that penetrates 
 hidden forces in nature and expresses itself in wood, 
 iron and steel, has within eighty years revolutionized 
 the civilized world ; is it then too much to hope for, 
 that when the same mental energy is turned upon the 
 evolution of thought and thought power, still more 
 wonderful changes will be made ? 
 
 The New Education simply means the thinking, 
 thoughtful teacher who has an ideal founded upon the 
 vast possibilities of human development, an ideal far 
 beyond himself, and outside the reach of methods he 
 now uses. 
 
 The stationary followers of the Old Education have 
 an ideal they can easily reach, and, having done so, the 
 smile of perfect pedantic satisfaction freezes up on 
 
VI PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 their faces, a striking manifestation of the utter com- 
 plaisancy to be found in limited ideals. 
 
 Very few teachers can read this book without receiv- 
 ing fresh inspiration for the highest work ever given by 
 the Creator of the human soul to his creatures ; the 
 work of guiding the child's being towards a realization 
 of the possibilities of growth into goodness and power. 
 
 Francis W. Parker. 
 
 Cook County Normal School^ Feb. 13, 1884. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This work is the result of the labour aud reflection of 
 many years; it, in fact, embodies the experience of my 
 life as a practical educator. It contains an exposition 
 of all the leading principles upon which my other works 
 on education have been written ; and in order to under- 
 stand, fully, tlie drift and purpose of the one, the 
 teacher must study the expositions and principles of 
 the other. Wherever I have adopted the ideas of 
 others, I have always, to the best of my recollection, 
 made a due acknowledgement of the obligation. 
 
 I am not acquainted with any work which really 
 treats of the philosophy of education in connection 
 with the practice of it. Our books on education are 
 either too purely speculative, or too exclusively em- 
 pirical, and, so called, practical. 
 
 ' My most earnest desire is, that this work may be the 
 means of directing the attention of the practical edu- 
 cator to the philosophy of education, and to the 
 development of those systems and methods which are 
 best calculated to establish in our schools a thoroughly 
 sound and enlightened education. 
 
 T. TATE. 
 
ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction - - - - - 1 to 7 
 
 PART I.— ON METHOD AS APPLIED TO 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Methods AND Systems of Instruction. — Definition 
 OP Terms, &c. - - - - - - 8—13 
 
 Different Methods and Systems of Education at pres- 
 ent employed in Elementary Schools. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Importance of Method - - " - - IB— 17 
 
 Method in Education, — in Art,— in Science, — in 
 Poetry, — in Oratory, — in Nature. A distinguished 
 Teacher must have Method. 
 A Glance at the History of Method - • - 17 — 21 
 Socrates, — Euclid, — Bacon, — Newton, — Archimedes. . 
 Primary Education,— Locke, — Rousseau, — Pesta- 
 lozzi, — Lancaster, — Bell,— Government Scheme of 
 Education . 
 Present Condition and Future Progress of Educa- , 
 tion - - - - - ... - 31—31 
 
 Necessity of further Progress. Educators divided into 
 two Classes. The Baconian Philosophy considered 
 in relation to the Progress of Modern Education. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 I'AGK 
 
 Philosophy of Method - • - 31—51 
 
 Education based on an Induction of Facts. The 
 Principles of Method considered subjectively as 
 well as objectively. Difficulties peculiar to the 
 Inquiry. Importance of Definitions. Collection 
 of Facts. To distinguish between Facts and Opin- 
 ions. Comparison and Classification of Facts. 
 Relation of Cause and Effect. General Principles. 
 Evils of implicit Confidence in Method. Experi- 
 ments required to test Systems and Methods. To 
 estimate the Results of Method. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 To ASCERTAIN THE NATURE OF THE BeING TO BE EDU- 
 CATED. General Facts relating to the Devel- 
 opment OF THE Intellectual Faculties - - .53—55 
 
 Primitive Intelligence as shown in Perception and 
 Intuition, considered as the Basis of Develop- 
 ment --.--. - 55—60 
 
 Sensation, Reflection, and Intuition. The infant Soul 
 contains implicitly all the Faculties of the devel- 
 oped Intelligence. 
 
 Classification of the Faculties of the Mind - 60—69 
 Four distinct Stages of Development. Classification 
 of the Faculties of the Mind as a whole. Classifi- 
 cation of the Intellectual Faculties. Explanatory 
 Remarks.— First Stage,— the Perceptive Faculties. 
 — Second Stage, — the Conceptive or Representative 
 Faculties. — Third Stage, — the Cognitive Faculties. 
 — Fourth Stage,— the Cogitative Faculties. 
 
 Essential Points to be considered in relation to 
 Method as applied to Education - - - 70 — 81 
 1. Nature of the Faculties. (1.) The peculiar Func- 
 tion of each Faculty. (2.) Mutual Relation of the 
 Faculties — Relation of Succession — Relation of 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 I'AGK 
 
 Assimilation — Relation of Aggregation. (3.) The 
 Faculties considered with respect to their simulta 
 neous Action and Cultivation. 
 
 •2. The Subjects best adapted for the Cultivation of 
 the different Faculties. 
 
 S. Nature of Motives acting on each class of Facul- 
 ties. 
 
 4. The Habits of Action to be established in relation 
 to each Class of Faculties. 
 
 5. The Methods of Instruction adapted to each Class 
 of Faculties. 
 
 6. Application of Kesults to the different Periods of 
 Education; Five Educational Periods, — Infancy, 
 —Early Childhood,— Childhood, -Early Youth. 
 —Youth. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 General Principles of Teaching, or Elements of 
 
 Method - - - - - -81-131 
 
 We should follow out the Intentions of Nature. 
 Principle of Utility and Development. Principle 
 of Harmonious Development. Instruction should 
 be progressive. Principle of Self-development. 
 We should appeal to the Senses. The Reasoning 
 Faculties should be cultivated on an enlarged 
 Basis. Teaching from the Simple to the Com- 
 plex. Facts taught before Causes, &c. The Con- 
 crete before the Abstract. Constructive Teach- 
 ing. Principles before Rules. Oral and Collective 
 Teaching — Principles of School Classification. 
 Instruction should give Pleasure — to secure the 
 Attention — the Principle of School Routines — 
 First or Preliminary Lessons— The Infant School 
 System — Imposition of Tasks — School Discipline. 
 Thorough Teaching — Reproduction of Lessons — 
 Examples and Applications — Reiterations of Les- 
 sons. Cultivation of Habits. 
 
XU CUISTENTS. 
 
 PART II.— ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE 
 INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I'A«K 
 
 Pkeliminaky Notions - - . . 132—142 
 
 Importance of, Psychological Analysis in relation to 
 Teacbing.V'A Glance at our Childhood and Early 
 Youth, A Cursory View of our Intellectual 
 and Moral Faculties, as regards their Mode of 
 Development. 
 
 CHAPTER 11/ 
 
 Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties. — 
 Cultivation of the Perceptive Faculties ani> 
 OP the Faculties of Primitive Judgment, 
 Conception, Imitation, Abstraction, and Lan- 
 guage ---... 143—151 
 The Senses. Knowledge derived from Experi- 
 ence. The Cultivation of the Senses necessarily 
 includes the cultivation of the Perceptive Fac- 
 ulties. Certain Properties detected by differ- 
 ent Senses. Children should express in Lan- 
 guage the Results of their Observations and 
 Judgments, The Conceptive Faculties should 
 be cultivated with the Perceptive Faculties. 
 Notes of a Lesson for cultivating the Conceptive 
 Faculties. Definition of Terms— of Form, &c., 
 how given. Children should write their ideas 
 in their own Language. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
 tinued.— Cultivation OF THE Faculty op At- 
 tention ----.. 151 — 16T 
 
 Importance of the Habit. Attention should be 
 voluntary. Suggestive Teaching. Causes which 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 VAGK 
 
 tend to destroy the Habit. Ficsb Motives, &c. 
 Mode of treating Boys of different Tempers, 
 Tastes, and Talents,— the Feeble— the Sluggish 
 — the Volatile — the Timid— the Quick. A 
 Digression on Thought, Language, and Genius. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
 tinued.— Cultivation OF Memory and Recol- 
 I.ECTI0N - - - - - - 167—202 
 
 Memory influenced by Attention, Habits, and Asso- 
 ciations. Philosophical Associations. Rules for 
 the Cultivation of Memory, applied to various 
 Subjects of Instruction., in the Course of which 
 the Method of Contrast and Comparison, and 
 that of picturing out Scenes, are fully ex- 
 plained. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
 tinued.— Imagination and Taste - - - 203—207 
 Imagination dependent on Culture. The Picture 
 Style of Teaching. The Imagination cultivated 
 by Poetry, Fables, and Tales. The Sentiment of 
 the Beautiful cultivated by Drawing and Music. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Cultivation of the Intellectual Faculties, con- 
 tinued. — Reason and Judgment; Wit and In- 
 vention - - - - ... 208—231 
 General Principles for the Cultivation of the Rea- 
 soning Powers. Relations of Things and Events, 
 viewed in six Distinct Aspects. How processes 
 of Reasoning should be analyzed. Sources of 
 False Reasoning painted out. Rules for the 
 Conduct of the Understanding. How to foster 
 the Development of the Inventive Powers. 
 
X\y COls'TENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Cultivation of the Moral Faculties 
 
 General Principles. Moral Training based on 
 Religion. The Sentiments of Veneration and 
 Faith. The Benevolent Affections. Habits of 
 Action. Influence of Example. The three 
 Cardinal School Virtues: Truthfulness— Honesty 
 —Humility. Classification of Subjects in rela- 
 tion to the Cultivation of the Intellectual and 
 Moral Faculties. 
 
 PART III.— ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVAN- 
 TAGES OF DIFFERENT METHODS AND SYS- 
 TEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 
 
 Systems OP Instruction .... 250- 
 The Individual and Collective Systems. Home 
 Education. The Pupil-Teacher System. The 
 Mixed System. 
 
 Methods OF Instruction - - - - 254- 
 
 Synthetic and Analytic Methods. Examples of 
 the Synthetic and Analytic Methods of Teaching. 
 Interrogative or Catechetical Method. Principles 
 and Rules common to the two Forms of Interro- 
 gation — Special Rules for ExaminationQuestions 
 — Special Principles and Rules relative to Sug- 
 gestive Interrogation. Examples of good and bad 
 Examination Questions.— Examples of Sugges- 
 tive Interrogations. — The Simultaneous Method 
 — Examples of Simultaneous Teaching after the 
 Catechetical Method— The Elliptical Form of 
 Teaching — Examples. The Constructive Meth- 
 od. The Illustrative Method. The Lecturing 
 Method. Mixed Method. On the Reproduction 
 of Lessons in Writing. On certain Plans or 
 
COJi TENTS. XV 
 
 1'A<;k 
 Artifices for economizing Time, &c. — An Ex- 
 amination Lesson on Spelliog— An Examination 
 Lesson on Arithmetic. Respective Advantages 
 of the three Great Methods of Examination. 
 On the Preparation of Lessons — Notes of a 
 Lesson. On the Periodical Examination of 
 Classes and the Registration of Progress. On the 
 Qualifications of the Schoolmaster in relation to 
 his Professional Duties— The Teacher's Attain-^ 
 ments — The Teacher's Capabilities and Charac- 
 ter — Aptitude for Teaching,, On School Regis- 
 ters for recording the Result of Different 
 Methods of Instruction, and also for testing the 
 Capabilities of Teachers in relation to these 
 Methods. General Conclusions derived from the 
 Writer's Registration of the Results of Methods, 
 &c. 
 
 PART IV.— ON THE APPLICATION OF DIF. 
 FERENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO THE 
 VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ELEMENTARY ED- 
 'UCATION. 
 
 The Scriptures; History; &c. - - - 2S5— 288 
 
 Reading and Spelling; Etymology; Grammar - 288 — 294 
 
 Specimen of a Reading Lesson. The Look and 
 Say Plan — The Phonic Plan. On teaching the 
 Alphabet, &c. Grammar more fully considered 
 — Lessons on Grammar — Lessons on Composition 
 and the Analysis of Sentences. 
 
 Arithmetic -..-.. 294—297 
 
 Lessons on the Addition of Fractions. Lesson on 
 Rule of Three. Mental Arithmetic. 
 
 Geography - - ^- . - - 297—298 
 
XVI OONTKls'TS. 
 
 Drawing ... ... 
 
 General Principles and Rules. Model Drawing— 
 
 Dupuis' System. 
 Writing ..-..- 
 
 Practical Geometry and Mensuration 
 
 Drawing Instruments, &c. Lessons on Geometry 
 
 — Observations relative to Familiar Modes of 
 
 Exposition. 
 Algebra. A Lesson on Equations - - - 313, 
 
 Mechanical and Physical Science. A Lesson on 
 
 Chemistry. , . - - 314- 
 
 Natural History - . - . - 316- 
 
 PART V.-ON SCHOOL ORGANIZATION AND 
 DISCIPLINE. 
 
 School Buildings and Fittings, School Appa- 
 ratus — List of Apparatus for General Use — 
 
 Routines of Lessons. - . - - 320— S'^B 
 
 Classification. The Puph.-Te ackers - - 323—335 
 
 School Discipline , Order, &c. - • - 325—330 
 
THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION; 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF TEACHING, 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As man is not only a physical, but also a thinking and an 
 accountable being, so therefore education, in its compre- 
 hensive sense, may be viewed in three aspects — that is, 
 in relation to our physical, intellectual, and moral nature. 
 I here propose to consider the last two departments of 
 education; to determine, if possible, the best methods 
 whereby our nature may be educated intellectually and 
 morally. The end of all education should be, to promote 
 man's happiness, not only during his present transitory 
 existence, but throughout the eternity which is to follow. 
 The principal means of education in this country are 
 — school instruction,books, public lectures and discourses, 
 and exhibitions of works of science and art. But the effi- 
 ciency of all the j^opular means of education are depen- 
 dent upon, and in fact inseparably connected with, the 
 primary instruction of the schoolroom. The treasures 
 of our literature and science are inaccessible to him who 
 has not been taught the first rudiments of language. 
 Hence it is, that the brilliant productions of the poetic 
 genius, or the gigantic creations of the science of any 
 particular age, afford us no data for estimating the state 
 
2 PHILOSOPHY OF EDLCATIOX. 
 
 ef education among the mass of the people of that age. 
 On this subject John Forster eloquently observes : — 
 "Long after the brilliant show of talent, and the creation 
 of literary supplies for the national use, in the early part 
 of the last century, the deplorable mental condition of 
 the people remained in no very great degree altered. To 
 pass from beholding that bright and sumptuous display 
 in order to see what there was corresponding to it in the 
 subsequent state of the popular cultivation, is like going 
 out from some magnificent apartment, with its lustres, 
 music, refections, and assemblage of elegant personages, 
 to be beset by beggars in the gloom and cold of a winter 
 night." 
 
 The schoolmaster must begin the work of education. 
 The subject of method, therefore, should be treated 
 chiefly in relation to the work of the schoolmaster. 
 
 Education is a Science as well as an Art. 
 
 Practical teachers, as well as the public generally, 
 had, until recently, regarded education more as an art 
 than as a science, consisting merely of a few arbitrary 
 and empirical rules which may be modified or altered 
 to suit the tastes and attainments of the teacher, or to 
 answer the opinions and circumstances of the managers 
 of schools. This unfortunate prejudice has, no doubt, 
 had its origin, to a great extent, in the fact that the 
 greater portion of the teachers were unfit for their office. 
 Few minds were capable of viewing education- apart 
 from its miserable and unworthy representatives, or dis- 
 sociating it from the operation of the schools which came 
 within the sphere of their own immediate observation. 
 
 Twenty years ago, anybody was considered good 
 enough for a schoolmaster. If a tradesman failed in 
 business, he was thought to be learned enough for a 
 schoolmaster; a feeble, sickly youth, who was not con- 
 sidered strong enough to practise any regular trade, was 
 thought to be sufficiently qualified to undertake the 
 duties of school keeping; if a mechanic happened to get 
 a limb fractured he would, as a matter of course, save 
 
EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE, ETC. 3 
 
 himself from starvation by opening a school; when a 
 man who had seen better clays applied to the parish 
 officers for out-door relief, they gravely debated the 
 question, whether it was more expedient to send him to 
 the quarry to break stones, or to confer upon him the 
 office of parish schoolmaster.* Such was the low es- 
 timate formed of the qualifications requisite for a school- 
 master. This state of things, doubtless, tended to re- 
 tard the progress of education both as a science and an 
 art, for the odium attached to the office, as well as the 
 insufficiency of the remuneration, prevented properly 
 qualified persons from undertaking the duties. But 
 within the last fifteen years, a change in public opinion 
 has been gradually taking place: the working and 
 middle-classes have been lead to see the value of a sound 
 elementary education, and thereby to estimate more 
 highly the difficulties and importance of the duties of 
 the common schoolmaster. This salutary change is in 
 a great measure due to the government schemes of edu- 
 cation. I confidently hope that the day is not distant 
 when the force of public opinion will elevate education 
 into the rank of a recognized science. 
 
 Elementary education has two great ends: 1. To de- 
 velop the intellectual and moral faculties; or, in other 
 words, to develop the faculties of the perfect man; 
 2. To communicate to the pupil that sort of knowledge 
 which is most likely to be useful to him in the sphere 
 of life which Providence has assigned him. 
 
 The science of education must be based upon the 
 nature of the being to be educated; that is to say, upon 
 the laws which govern the development of the intellectual 
 and moral faculties. These laws may be determined as 
 well by observation as by psychological analysis. 
 
 Every faculty of our nature has its proper period and 
 peculiar mode of development. 
 
 * In the towns of Newcastle and Gateshead, twenty-five years 
 ago, two schoohnasters had wooden legs,— one had a cork leg, two 
 went upon crutches, two were little better than deformed dwarfs, and 
 not a few were " sticklt ministers " and hroken-down tradesmen. 
 
4 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Now the philosophical educator will always suit his 
 methods of instruction to the age of his pupils, or rather 
 to the state of the intellectual and moral development 
 of the faculties of his pupils; and he will also administer 
 to them that intellectual aliment, both as to kind and 
 degree, which is best calculated to promote the growth 
 of the faculties at their different stages of development. 
 Method, and the principles of method, therefore, neces- 
 sarily become to him distinct and all-important matters 
 of inquiry. 
 
 A good teacher, before laying down any plans for 
 the management of his school, makes himself acquainted 
 with the tempers, habits, capabilities, and attainments of 
 his pupils. He then asks himself the two great ques- 
 tions; — What shall I teach? How shall I teach ? He 
 is well aware that these questions cannot be satisfac- 
 torily answered without a thorough knowledge of the 
 nature of the beings whom he has to teach, as well as a 
 comprehensive acquaintance with the various methods 
 whereby instruction may be communicated. 
 
 All artificial and unnatural methods of instruction, 
 violating the laws of mind, necessarily demand the use 
 of unhealthful stimulants. There is always a want of 
 organization in schools where the plans and methods 
 of the master are framed without any regard to the 
 constitution of the human mind, or the peculiar tempers, 
 tastes, and capabilities of the pupils: such masters al- 
 ways blame their pupils for the failures of their system, 
 but never seem to be aware that the excellence of a 
 system depends upon its adaptation to the intellectual 
 and moral conditions of these pupils. A teacher Avho 
 is ignorant of human nature, is like an engineer who 
 sets to work to erect a bridge before he has made him- 
 self acquainted with the properties of the material em- 
 ployed in the structure; w^hen his work is completed, 
 he finds, perhaps, that the material is ruptured by the 
 pressure, or by the expansion due to heat; it is true, 
 he might console himself with the reflection that his 
 plan would have been excellent if it had not been for 
 the j)eculiar properties of the material. A wise en- 
 
EDUCATION AS A SCIENCE, ETC, 5 
 
 gineer would first make himself acquainted with the 
 nature and properties of his material, and then, knowing 
 the difiiculties which he would have to encounter, he 
 would provide against them accordingly. In like manner 
 the teacher who is thoroughly acquainted with the laws 
 regulating the juvenile mind, suits his methods of in- 
 struction to the soul which he has to rear, and, fuUy 
 forseeing the difficulties which he has to encounter, 
 lays his plans accordingly, — he is quite prepared to 
 supply strength to what may be weak, and to introduce 
 a self-corrective agency to meet any ebullitions of temper 
 or waywardness of disposition. 
 
 Our ignorance of mental philosophy haa hitherto led 
 us into various erroneous methods and systems of edu- 
 cation. The teacher showed an ignorance of the tastes 
 and capabilities of the infant mind, when he overtasked 
 his juvenile pupils with the dull, dry detail of technical 
 learning, in the place of communicating to them that 
 kind of knowledge which is best cahndated to foster the 
 development of their perceptive and observing faculties. 
 
 Teachers, in their ignorance, at one time believed 
 that the first object of primary iiristruction is to cultivate 
 the verbal memory of their pupils, when, in fact, the 
 verbal memory is one of the few faculties of our nature 
 which need no cultivation. This erroneous opinion led 
 to the adoption of the task system. In accordance with 
 this system, little boys had to commit to memory fright- 
 ful columns of spelling, long paragraphs of geography, 
 abstract grammatical definitions, declensions of nouns, 
 and conjugations of verbs. The debasing system of 
 rewards and punishments formed a necessary adjunct to 
 this unnatural system of instruction. 
 
 In this system the cultivation of the reasoning powers 
 was entirely disregarded, and the aids of philosophical 
 memory, or the faculty of association, were never called 
 in requisition. 
 
 The same erroneous opinion of human nature led to 
 the adoption of the rule and rote system of instruction, 
 whereby the pupil had to work out results by formulas 
 and dogmas rather than by the independent and health- 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 ful exercise of his own reasoning powers. For example, 
 in the teaching of arithmetic and practical geometry, 
 the pupil was required to work out his problems by a 
 rule appealing to his memory and simple apprehension, 
 rather than by the exercise of his own reasoning powers. 
 
 These unnatural methods of instruction have given 
 rise to our debasing systems of discipline. Under a 
 proper system of teaching, children rarely require any 
 other motive to attention than the pleasure which the 
 acquisition of knowledge affords them; but what na- 
 tural motive can induce a child to study what is above 
 his capacity, or to commit to memory what he cannot 
 comprehend ? hence the teacher's only resource was to 
 act upon the vanity or upon the fear of his pupils. 
 
 The art of of education consists in the practice of its 
 principles. It stands in the same relation to the science 
 of education, that any other art does to the scientific 
 principles of that art. A man may be thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the prmciples of any particular art, 
 without being an adept in the practice of it; in order 
 to become this, he must practise the art until he has ac- 
 quired the requisite amount of tact and skill. At the 
 same time, it must be observed, that the highest amount 
 of skill can only be obtained by a thorough knowledge 
 of the principles of the art, combined with the constant 
 application of these principles. Thus, for example, a 
 man may be thoroughly acquainted with the principles 
 of architectural construction, and yet he may not be 
 able to frame a door, or to build a shed., In like manner 
 a man may be intimately acquainted with all the leading 
 principles of education, and yet, at the same time, he 
 may not be able to give efficient instruction to a class 
 of little boys. It is a lamentable error to suppose that 
 if a man has knowledge he must necessarily possess the 
 art of communicating that knowledge. In order that a 
 man may become a good teacher, he must not only be 
 thoroughly acquainted with the various branches of 
 elementary education, and intimately acquainted with 
 the great leading scientific principles of education, but 
 he must also acquire that tact and skill in the manage- 
 
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT. 7 
 
 ment of numbers and classes, and that fluency of diction, 
 power of illustration, and facility of availing himself of 
 contingent circumstances, which can only be attained by 
 long practice and patient study. 
 
 The art of education, without a due regard to its 
 science, degenerates into empiricism ; and tbe science, 
 without the practice of the art, becomes little better 
 than a code of barren abstractions without the vital 
 principle of development. 
 
 The philosophy of education should go hand in hand 
 with the practice of it ; — every step of advance taken 
 by the one, should be followed by a corresponding pro- 
 gress of the other : philosophy should suggest plans and 
 theories, art should test them and try them : philosophy 
 should build up a structure of general principles and 
 rules ; art should supply the facts — the materials — by 
 which, and upon which, this structure should be reared. 
 
 Division of the Subject. 
 
 The philosophy of education may be divided into five 
 parts : — 
 
 1. On method, as applied to education. 
 
 2. On the cultivation of the intellectual and moral 
 faculties. 
 
 3. On the comparative advantages of different systems 
 and methods of education. 
 
 4. On the application of different systems and methods 
 to the various branches of elementary education. 
 
 5. On school organization and discipline. 
 
PHILOSOPFIY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Part I. 
 ON METHOD AS APPLIED TO EDUCATIOK 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION.-DEFINITION OF TERMS, ETC. 
 
 Different llethods and Systems of Education at present em- 
 ployed in Elementary Schools. 
 
 By a METHOD of education is meant the peculiar way 
 in which a subject is taught ; and by a system is meant 
 those peculiar arrangements, both as to organization and 
 modes of teaching, whereby instruction generally may 
 be given to the pupils of a school. A system is the de- 
 velopment of a method applied to certain objects. 
 
 A difference of opinion at present exists relative to the 
 use of the the term method as applied to education. Ac- 
 cording to some writers, method simply means the way 
 in which a subject of instruction may be treated; so 
 that there are only two methods of education, namely, 
 Synthesis and Analysis. Such a restrictive use of the 
 term is not only based on a contracted view of the sub- 
 ject, but it does not give the entire conception usually 
 associated with the term. We use the term in a more 
 comprehensive sense : A method of teaching compre- 
 hends, not merely the way in which the subject-matter 
 is treated, but also the means, artifices, forms of expres- 
 sion, &c., that are employed in conveying instruction to 
 a class of children in a common school. 
 
 There are two great methods whereby a subject may 
 be treated, viz., Synthesis and Analysis. By the 
 former method we put the parts of a subject together ; 
 by the latter we take the subject-matter to pieces. The 
 method of synthesis is the method of induction, whereby 
 
SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS. 9 
 
 we ascend step by step from the simple to the complex: 
 — from the particular to the general formula ; the meth- 
 od of analysis is the method of deduction, whereby 
 we descend from the abstract principle to the various 
 particular forms which it comprehends. As both meth- 
 ods are employed in the discovery of truth, so both 
 methods may be used in the exposition of truth. The 
 experimentalist may show the composition of water syn- 
 thetically by holding a tumbler over the flame of a 
 candle (or a flame of hydrogen gas)^ at the same time 
 calling attention to the moisture that is formed on the 
 interior surface of the glass ; or, more exactly, by de- 
 tonating, by means of the electric spark, the proper 
 mixture of hydrogen and oxygen ; in these experiments 
 water is formed by the combination of its elements : — 
 he may also show the composition of water analytically 
 by means ol' the galvanic battery ; in this case the poles 
 of the btittery analyze or decompose the water, that is, 
 reduce it to its simple elements, the hydrogen being at- 
 tracted by the one pole, and the oxygen by the other. 
 We teach arithmetic deductively, or analytically, when 
 we lay down a general rule and require our pupils to 
 work out the particular example by that rule, for in this 
 case we proceed from the general formula to the par- 
 ticular example — from the abstract principle to its spe- 
 cial application. On the contrary, we teach arithmetic 
 inductively, or synthetically, when we proceed at once 
 to work out, step by step, the particular example from 
 certain simple, known elementary principles, without 
 taking any abstract rule for granted : in this case the 
 pupils are led to prove the rule for themselves. 
 
 The method of synthesis is constructive ; by this 
 method the skilful teacher builds up thought upou 
 thought — truth upon truth — until his pupils have, 
 almost insensibly,acquired a vast accumulation of knowl- 
 edge. I have called the method of synthesis a con- 
 structive METHOD, because it is analogous to the way 
 in which mechanical contrivances are completed : thus, 
 the ingenious builder lays stone upon stone, beam upon 
 beam, until he has reared a vast and beautiful structure, 
 
10 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 exciting, it may be, the wonder and admiration of the 
 world : in this way, too, surprising results may be at- 
 tained in education. 
 
 Synthesis may be called a suggestive method of 
 instruction; because.it is progressive, proceeding, step 
 by step, from the known to the unknown, — from the 
 simple to the complex. 
 
 By far the larger number of the great physical laws 
 of nature were discovered by induction, and even many 
 of our leading mathematical theorems and principles 
 were established by the same process. Now if it be true 
 (and we have reason to believe that it is true) that the 
 method of exposition should correspond to the method 
 of discovery, it follows that the method of induction or 
 synthesis is, for the most part, the more eligible for 
 primary instruction. At the same time, it must be 
 observed, that there are certain subjects of knowledge 
 which maybe efficiently taught by the method of analy- 
 sis. But this subject will hereafter receive a more ade- 
 quate consideration. 
 
 The methods of synthesis and analysis may be either 
 DEMONSTRATIVE Or DOGMATIC. When the teacher uses 
 the former method of communicating knowledge, he 
 addresses the observing and reasoning faculties of his 
 pupils, who believe in what is communicated to them 
 because they see it to be true, or because they can prove 
 it to be true. On the contrary, when he uses the latter 
 method, he appeals to the memory and faith of his 
 pupils, who, in this case, believe in what is communi- 
 cated to them simply on the testimony of their teacher 
 — they believe because their teacher says so. 
 
 Demonstrative teaching embraces all those plans and 
 artifices whereby a knowledge of principles may be more 
 or less completely communicated to the pupils : on the 
 other hand, dogmatic teaching gives rules and formula 
 in the place of principles and investigations. 
 
 Besides these general methods of teaching, there 
 are certain modes or artifices which have regard to the 
 peculiar form or way in which the knowledge is com- 
 municated. The INTERROGATIVE METHOD tcachcs by 
 
DIFFEEEXT METHODS AND SYSTEMS. II 
 
 question and answer; it may be used simply for repro- 
 ducing the knowledge which has been already commu- 
 jiicated to the pupil, or it may be used in connection 
 with the principle of suggestion; and then it assumes the 
 form of an important instrument of intellectual culture, 
 which may be called the suggestive method of in- 
 tee rogation. 
 
 The ELLIPTICAL' form of instruction requires the pupils 
 to fill up certain blanks or ellipses, which the teacher 
 intentionally leaves in his discourse. This form of 
 instruction is only a slight modification of the sug- 
 gestive method already mentioned. In both methods 
 the teacher and his pupils carry on a sort of tete a tete 
 lecture. 
 
 In the SIMULTANEOUS form of instruction, the pupils 
 are supposed to give simultaneous responses to the 
 teacher's questions or suggestions. This simple arti- 
 fice has been sometimes confounded with the collective 
 system of instruction, with which it is necessarily asso- 
 ciated. 
 
 The iLLUSTEATivE METHOD cousists in conveying a 
 knowledge of abstruse things, or even ordinary things, 
 by means of illustrations addressed to the senses or to 
 the imagination of the learner. 
 
 The lectueing method consists in giving the lesson 
 in the form of a continuous lecture, all questions on the 
 subject of the lesson being deferred until it is finished^ 
 
 A combination of any of these methods may be called 
 a mixed method of instruction. 
 
 The method generally employed by good elementary 
 teachers, as shall be hereafter shown, is generally a 
 combination of the demonstrative and the synthetic,, 
 while that which is usually adopted by sluggish and 
 careless masters is a combination of the dogmatic and 
 the analytic. 
 
 There are two leading systems of teaching at present 
 in use which have regard to number or organization* 
 the one may be called the collective system of teach- 
 ing, which consists in the teaching of a considerable- 
 number at one time; the other the individual system- 
 
12 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 of teaching, which consists in the teaching of one pupil 
 at a time. 
 
 The PUPIL TEACHER systcm, which has been recently 
 introduced into this country, may be regarded as forming 
 an essential part of the collective system of teaching as 
 it is at present practised in our elementary schools. The 
 pupil teachers are supposed to follow the same plan of 
 teaching as their master, and under his supervision. 
 The MONITORIAL SYSTEM of Lancaster and Bell contains 
 the essential features of the system of pupil teachers; 
 but with this important difference, that whilst the 
 MONITOR is merely a boy selected by the master from 
 the pupils in his school, the pupil teacher is a paid 
 official recognized by her Majesty's Inspectors, and who 
 is time after time examined by them, and receives regular 
 instruction from the master in all the duties of school 
 keeping, with the view of fitting him for the discharge 
 of his immediate duties, and also with the view of pre- 
 paring him for the profession of schoolmaster. 
 
 The SYSTEM OF home instruction consists in as- 
 signing to the pupils certain lessons or exercises to be 
 studied or completed at home. This system may be com- 
 bined with either of the two leading systems just de- 
 scribed. 
 
 The tripartite system, first proposed by Professor 
 Moseley, has received its name from the architectural 
 arrangements of the school. In this system the school- 
 room is divided into three apartments, in one of which 
 the master is supposed to teach all the classes in rotation. 
 The leading object of this plan is to bring all the chil- 
 dren in the school under the direct instruction of the 
 master, and to counteract undue noise. 
 
 A combination of any of these systems may be called 
 s, mixed system of instruction. 
 
 The word method signifies a way of transit, or the 
 way of passing from one thing to another. According 
 to the philosophical acceptation of the term it compre- 
 hends the idea of unity, associated with progression, or 
 a succession of uniform sequences. To arrive at this 
 idea, we must exercise the faculties of abstraction, by 
 
IMFOKTANCE OF METHOD. 1^ 
 
 which we view many thiugs as one; by which we con- 
 template not facts only, but likewise the relations of 
 facts; by which we recognize the law which connects 
 these relations. 
 
 The comparative advantages and defects of the dif- 
 ferent methods and systems of teaching will be hereafter 
 more fully considered. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF METHOD.- HISTORY OF METHOD.— PRESENT CONDITION AND 
 FUTURE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.— PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 
 
 Importance of Method. 
 
 There is method in Education. It is a dangerous error 
 to suppose that any man may teach if he has only the 
 requisite amount of attainments. Can it be possible 
 that the art of training and developing the various 
 faculties, emotions, and principles of an immortal and 
 accountable soul is the only art which we have by in- 
 tuition? Is the destiny of the noblest creation of God, 
 the immaterial, the thinking, the undying principle, 
 fashioned after His own image, to be intrusted to the 
 care of him who has never studied the vast and complex 
 relations of the task which he undertakes, and who, in 
 the impious pride of self-sufficiency, despises the accu- 
 mulated experience of those who have spent their lives 
 in the work of teaching, and have borne uumistakeable 
 testimony to the difficulties which have beset them at 
 every step in the discharge of their sacred duties ? 
 
 There is method in Art: the builder and the ma- 
 chinist, the manufacturer, the sculptor, the painter, all 
 complete their constructions and fabrications on the 
 principles and methods which embody the results of 
 vast experience, and which have been their constant 
 study for the whole period of their lives. There is 
 
14 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. ^ 
 
 method in Science: there was a want of method when 
 the philosophers of antiquity affirmed, that air and water 
 were elementary bodies, that the celestial bodies moved 
 in circles, of which the earth occupied the center, and 
 that water rose in the barrel of the common pump from 
 nature's horror of a vacuum ; and even in more recent 
 times, the same want of method was shown when Des- 
 cartes affirmed that the planetary bodies floated in a 
 whirlpool of ether. 
 
 "Who can estimate the marvelous change that has 
 been effected by the philosophy of method first proposed 
 by Bacon ? Nature, as if at the touch of the enchanter's 
 wand, yielded up her treasures of knowledge; physical 
 tscience, after the death-like slumber of ages, sprung into 
 vigorous existence; and even in our own time, under 
 the guidance of this method, mind has achieved the 
 most despotic dominion over matter; new sciences have 
 been born, far surpassing in utility, beauty, and gran- 
 deur all that had been accumulated throughout the past 
 history of humanity. 
 
 Poetry has its method. So remarkble is this method, 
 that a great poet will by a single word — an idea — open 
 to us a whole series of relations and conditions. In 
 speaking of the style of Shakespeare, Coleridge ob- 
 serves : — " Who, like him, could so methodically suit 
 the very flow and tone of discourse to characters lying 
 so widely apart, in rank and habits and peculiarities, as 
 Holofenies and Queen Katherine, Falstaff and Lear ? 
 When we compare the pure English style of Shakespeare 
 with that of the very best writers of his day, we stand 
 astonished at the method by which he was directed in 
 the choice of those words and idioms, which are as fresh 
 now as in their flrst bloom; nay, which are at the present 
 moment at once more energetic, more expressive, more 
 natural, and more elegant than those of the happiest 
 and most admired Jiving speakers or writers." 
 
 There is method in Oratory. Who has not felt the 
 power of Oratory ? Whence does this power proceed ? 
 An eloquent public speaker must always possess method; 
 he may be without technical learning, and even without 
 
IMPORTANCE OF METHOD. 15 
 
 those refinements of manner and diction which usually 
 constitute a gentleman; he may be without the prestige 
 of rank, or wealth, or party, and even without those 
 conventional literary or scientific titles which are too 
 often accepted as the badges of superior intellect, or as 
 the passports to distinction and power; yet there is 
 something in him which rises superior to all these dis- 
 advantages, — there is method, based upon a knowledge 
 of the tastes and ruling passions of his audience, which 
 charms and captivates them by its beauty, convinces 
 them by its exactness and transparency, and overawes 
 them by its depth and power. Beginning with a simple 
 detail of facts, he generalizes, abstracts, and draws con- 
 clusions; with a constant regard to the final impression 
 which he wishes to produce, he sees from the first what 
 will be the effect of each successive step; all nature is 
 tasked to supply him with illustrations and analogies, — 
 youthful Spring with his freshness and his song, or 
 golden Autumn w^ith her stores of fruit and her sheaves 
 of corn, — lovely Summer with her flowers and her sun- 
 light, or stern Winter with his storms and his shadows, 
 — the air, the earth, the ocean, the dread magnificence 
 of heaven, — all may be invoked to lend power and en- 
 chantment to his discourse; from the world about him 
 he rises to the world of thought — from the visible to the 
 invisible — and there finds new materials for argument 
 and persuasion; having connected argument with argu- 
 ment, and added illustration to illustration, he sums 
 up the accumulated evidence, in order that it may fall 
 with the greatest effect upon the minds of his audience, 
 and that they may be convinced of the truth of the lead- 
 ing conception, the end and aim of his discourse. In all 
 this there is unity with variety, but it is the variety 
 which arises out of unity, — this all-pervading idea 
 constitutes the method. The intellectual faculties 
 which characterize the oratoiy are very nearly allied to 
 those which are requisite for forming the distinguished 
 teacher. 
 
 Everything in nature has its peculiar method of devel- 
 opment; and this development may, in almost every case, 
 
16 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 be aided and improved by the judicious application of 
 the principles of this method. A grain of corn when 
 thrown into the soil will germinate, and grow, and bud, 
 and ripen into seed, without the special care of man; 
 but all these processes Avould be very much aided and 
 improved by the application of the methods which agri- 
 cultural chemistry has discovered. Just so it is with the 
 germ of intelligence — the immatei'ial ])rinciple. It seeks 
 to develop itself — it germinates, grows, and blossoms, 
 and ripens and expands into developed intelligence,with- 
 out the application of any artificial means; but the in- 
 telligence thus developed without the aid of culture, is 
 that of the savage, not that of the perfect man, capable 
 of acting and thinking in accordance with reason, and in 
 conformity with the law of his Creator. 
 
 It is true, that many men are born with a predilection 
 for teaching, and seem to qualify themselves for the dis- 
 charge of its duties with comparatively little study or re- 
 flection. Such teachers are exceptions to the rule; and 
 there can be little doubt, that even they would have been 
 vastly benefited by a study of method as applied to teach- 
 ing. It is said that Pascal was born a Geometer, but it is 
 very questionable whether we should ever have heard his 
 name, had his genius not been cultivated and developed 
 by a systematic course of instruction. So it is with 
 education; the most distinguished teachers are to be 
 found among those who have shown a predilection for 
 the work, and whose minds have been at the same time 
 constantly directed to a study of methods of education. 
 
 Before a man can become a distinguished teacher he 
 must have a method: all that he has seen, or experienced, 
 or read, relative to the nature of the being to be 
 educated, must have assumed the form of a substantial 
 unity — an idea — an all-pervading law which connects 
 relations apparently the most dissimilar, and gives 
 oneness and harmony to the most heterogeneous mass 
 of facts and conditions, — which constitutes his exponent 
 o the past, and the symbol of the calculus which 
 is to enable him to solve every problem which may 
 ar se in the future, — which invokes all his past ex- 
 
HISTORY OF METHOD, 17 
 
 perience, and out of which he must evolve his conduct 
 in the future, — which sheds a light over the path that 
 lies behind hira, and becomes the polar star to guide him 
 in his voyage on the dark and shoreless ocean that lies 
 before him. No language can adequately transmit that 
 idea — that method — to other minds ; for it is in him 
 merely the key-note with which is associated a long train 
 of harmonious combinations and sequences: it exists m 
 him alone, and for him alone^ and before others can 
 stand on the same vantage ground with him, they must 
 give the same patient attention to the philosophy of 
 method, and submit themselves to the same strict pro- 
 cess of self-examination and self-development. 
 
 We repeat that no man ever yet became a great teacher 
 until method had become to him a living and substantial 
 reality. This method may, and no doubt does, assume 
 forms* suited to the intellectual and moral qualities of 
 each individual, even accommodating itself to the idio- 
 syncrasy of each, and the varying external conditions 
 and circumstances of each; but the grand features of 
 this method, like the elements of our physical and moral 
 constitution, will be the same in all. 
 
 A Glance at the History of Method. 
 
 Socrates w\as not a great geometer, but he gave a 
 method of philosophy which determined the character of 
 the schools of antiquity; and the catechetical form in 
 which he gave his instruction has been distinguished by 
 his name. Euclid probably never discovered a single 
 proposition of geometry; but he gave us the idea and 
 form of a synthetic method which has shed an effulgence 
 of light on the path of philosophy,and which will endure 
 as long as there is a human soul to think, a science to be 
 cultivated, or a law of nature to be discovered. Bacon 
 made no discovery in mathematics, nor did he add one 
 fact to our stock of physical knowledge; but he effected 
 a greater purpose — he gave us the method of universal 
 philosophy: what the one did for a single department of 
 abstract science, the other achieved for universal knowl- 
 
18 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 edge. Newton was a great discoverer in every depart- 
 ment of mathematical and physical science; but be also 
 gave us, in his " Principia," the embodiment of a syn- 
 thetic method of teaching mixed mathematics which will 
 probably co-exist with the law of gravitation itself. 
 Archimedes was also a great discoverer, but,in a certain 
 sense, his genius died with him; he did nothing to per- 
 petuate himself, for he had no recognized method, and 
 bequeathed to posterity no creative principle beyond the 
 isolated facts and propositions which he discovered; his 
 mind was essentially individual, and his contempt for 
 concrete science,which his mind was eminently qualified 
 to adorn, caused the secret of his power to die with him. 
 
 But let us consider the history of method more strictly 
 in relation to primary education. 
 
 The ancient classical nations did nothing for primary 
 education; they established splendid schools of philos- 
 ophy for their young men, but left the instruction of 
 their children to slaves, or neglected it altogether; and 
 during the middle ages — the epoch of chivalry — the only 
 school-room was the cell of the monk or the cave of the 
 anchorite. And what was the state of education after 
 the Reformation ? From the undue reverence with 
 which the works of antiquity were regarded, education 
 began with the classics, and for the most part ended 
 with them. Poetry wa? clothed in the garment of 
 heathen mythology, and even our philosophy was more 
 engaged with the history of what was false than with the 
 investigation of what was true. Education became a 
 series of tasks — the memory was enthroned over all the 
 other powers of the mind — reason, invention, and the 
 principle of self -development were disregarded; and 
 under this unnatural and unphilosophical system, a great 
 memory and a great mind became almost synonymous 
 terras. This method was analytic and dogmatic, for its 
 main element consisted in giving a knowledge of rules 
 and words rather than things — of names rather than 
 positive ideas. Although the leading principles of 
 primary education are contained in the great work of 
 the father of inductive philosophy, yet it would appear 
 
HISTORY OF METHOD. 10 
 
 that their importance was neither felt nor acknowledged 
 by his immediate followers. 
 
 Such was the state of education throughout Europe 
 when Locke began to write. This distinguished philos- 
 opher considered that the chief business of primary 
 education is to develop the faculties of the child; that, 
 as the first ideas of children are derived from sensation, 
 so the perceptive faculties should be the first cultivated 
 or developed; and that verbal memory is almost the 
 only intellectual power which does not admit of being 
 improved by education. Locke's method of education 
 was a corollary to bis metaphysical philosophy. It was 
 synthetic and demonstrative — its main element being 
 the development of the intellectual powers and moral 
 feelings through the instrumentality of things or sub- 
 jects which might be known and understood by the 
 child. The method of Locke soon became recognized 
 throughout Europe and America. The author of 
 **Emile,"in France, became its most enlightened and 
 most eloquent expositor: and Pestalozzi, in Germany, 
 carried it into practice, followed it out in all its details, 
 and gave the spiritual essence a substantial form — *'a 
 local habitation and a name." But in the fatherland of 
 the great metaphysician, his method remained for more 
 than a century a dead letter, — and even till very recently 
 the methods which he exposed and denounced held an 
 undisputed dominion in the education of the people in 
 this country. But we have accepted from the hands of 
 the pupil what we would not receive from the hand of 
 the master; and we have unwittingly become the follow- 
 ers of Pestalozzi, when we might have been the disciples 
 of our own immortal Locke. But why speak of the 
 country of Locke ? Great men have no country — they 
 belong to humanity. 
 
 To descend to more matter-of-fact,but not less instruc- 
 tive forms of method: Joseph Lancaster and Dr. Bell 
 contributed to the development of method as applied to 
 primary education, when they established the monitorial 
 system. No doubt it had long been observed, that the 
 older boys might, under certain circumstances, be advan- 
 
20 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 tageously employed to teach the yoiiDger ones; but the 
 idea of organizing such a plan, so as to make it applicable 
 to our common national schools, belongs to these men. 
 The errors and defects of this system are apparent: 
 — its efficiency is subsidiary to, and dependent upon, 
 more comprehensive views of method; it ignores the edu- 
 cation of the master as well as that of the monitors; and 
 necessity rather than choice leads to the adoption of 
 these monitors, whose temporary functions,imposed upon 
 them by their master, are relinquished at a time when 
 their skill is beginning to be useful. Whatever may 
 have been the defects of this system, it contained an idea 
 which obviously suggested the adoption of the appren- 
 ticeship system, or the system of pupil teachers. The 
 monitorial system was a measure of economy, adopted to 
 mitigate an existing evil — to give the best education to 
 the greatest number of children at the least possible cost. 
 At best it could be regarded only as preliminary to some 
 more complete system. Now, while the apprenticeship 
 system embodies this principle of economy, it recognizes 
 at the same time an important principle in the philos- 
 ophy of method, viz., that the art of teaching, like other 
 arts, can only be acquired by practice and an early at- 
 tention to the most approved forms of communicating 
 our ideas to others. In order that a man may become 
 a joiner, or any other kind of mechanic, he is appren- 
 ticed, at an early age, to a man who is master of that 
 particular art; so, in order that a man may become a 
 teacher, he should be apprenticed, at an early age, to a 
 schoolmaster who is thoroughly master of his work. 
 This apprenticeship system, taken in connection with 
 the system of inspection, and the establishment of train- 
 ing colleges for schoolmasters, must be regarded as the 
 greatest measure which has ever been proposed for the 
 education of a people. In these schemes we observe 
 the recognition of the importance of method. Univer- 
 sities may make scholars, divines, and philosophers; but 
 they cannot train schoolmasters. It is the peculiar pro- 
 vince of the professors of our training colleges to effect 
 this, by expounding the principles of education in rela- 
 
ITS PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROGRESS. 21 
 
 tioii to methods of teaching, — by showing the applica- 
 tion of these methods in the actual management of a 
 school, — and by communicating that kind of knowledge 
 which is best calculated to render the teacher useful 
 in his profession. When the Committee of Council on 
 Education published their Minutes of 1846, they vir- 
 tually announced to the world that there was method iic 
 EDUCATION, and that no man could become a truly useful 
 teacher without a knowledge of that method. Acts of 
 Parliament, or legislative engines, cannot of themselves 
 make men virtuous and religious; but it is legitimately 
 within the range of their power to decree that Ignorance, 
 which is the most fruitful source of vice and irrehgion, 
 shall exist no longer. 
 
 This government system of education is not in all 
 respects what the practical educator could wish; but we 
 may hope that experience, aided by a careful induction 
 of facts, will in time correct what is wrong and improve 
 what is defective. 
 
 Jean Paul Rich ter asks — "What have the political 
 vowels of Europe — the English — done for education ?" 
 We answer, almost everything! Our great metaphy- 
 sicians first gaA^e the true philosophy of method; we first 
 adopted the monitorial and infant-school systems; and 
 although we have been slow to combine and improve all 
 that we have discovered, we have at length organized a 
 system of national education w^hich bids fair to become 
 the most efiicient that has ever been proposed. 
 
 Present Condition and Future Progress of 
 Education. 
 
 In taking a view of the state of education in this 
 country, we have much to congratulate ourselves upon. 
 We have been silently progressing; methods of educa- 
 tion have been improving step by step; but, at the same 
 time, we must confess that we have not yet arrived at 
 the ne plus ultra. Still much lies before us to be ef- 
 fected. Many educational prejudices want to be swept 
 away, and many new principles require to be introduced. 
 
22 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Notwithstanding, we ought to feel gratified, and to 
 congratulate ourselves upon what has been done, as it 
 gives us the hope that something more will yet be done. 
 "We live in an age of progress: no branch of human 
 knowledge but is advancing — ay, with an accelerated 
 motion. In our own times new sciences have been 
 created, and new departments of art have been brought 
 to bear on all conditions of society. The mighty power 
 of steam has been developed in our own time. Every- 
 thing around us has been advancing; and education 
 should advance with the advancement of society. 
 
 Educators may be divided into two classes. There is 
 the conservative educator, and there is the educational 
 reformer. The conservative educator, like the con- 
 servative politician, would wish everything to remain 
 as it is and as it has been. The education of fifty years 
 past ought to be the education of the present period. 
 Things have gone on well enough in the past, and 
 why should they not do the same in the future ? Such 
 is the view of these educational conservatives. They 
 may yield a little to the pressure of public oi:>inion; but 
 still the principle remains unchanged in their hearts. 
 They may admit, when they are compelled to express 
 themselves, that the education of the people will not 
 tend to the subversion of government,and in such things 
 as that they will go along with you; but still in their 
 hearts they are conservative in relation to the advance- 
 ment of education. The other class, the educational re- 
 formers, advocate utility and progress. They would 
 not only have us improve our educational methods, but 
 they would have more of the principle of utility intro- 
 duced into our schools. They would not have the boys 
 in our national schools taught things that are merely 
 curious, or things merely to gratify the prejudices of 
 particular individuals; but they would have them taught 
 those things that will bear upon the future pursuits of 
 life. We have not yet attained to that. We still, in 
 many of our schools, go on with the old routine — reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, with the addition, ad libitum, of 
 catechisms and formularies. Day after day the same 
 
THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 23 
 
 dull routine goes on. Oh! how the monotony of the dull 
 routine deadens the faculties of the children,and not only 
 of the children, but of the educator! It is a well-known 
 fact, from the statistics of insanity, that in those coun- 
 tries where the pursuits of men are most monotonous, 
 there we find the greatest prevalence of insanity. It 
 appears, therefore, that it is the monotony of tfie pur- 
 suits that produces the insanity; and we cannot wonder 
 that the intellectual faculties of such schoolmasters 
 should retrograde, instead of advance, nor can we won- 
 der that the children, constituted as they are by their 
 good and great Creator with faculties which lead them 
 to seek after a knowledge of the properties and uses of 
 the various objects in the world around them, should be 
 uninterested in the dull routine in which they are 
 engaged. 
 
 The Baconian Philosophy considered in relation to the Progress 
 of Modern Education. Utility and Progress should charac- 
 terize all our Methods and Systems of Education. 
 
 Bacon was one of the most enlightened educators that 
 ever appeared on*the earth, — for his philosophy was as 
 fully applicable to the advancement of education as to 
 the development of the experimental sciences. 
 
 The spirit of the Baconian philosophy may be charac- 
 terized by two words, — utility and progress. The 
 ancient philosophy was stationary, because it disdained 
 to be useful: It propounded imposing abstract theories 
 which had little or no bearing upon the actual condition 
 of man in society: — It took its aim at the stars, and 
 therefore hit nothing: — It speculated about virtue and 
 happiness, but added nothing to the comforts or enjoy- 
 ments of human existence: — It professed to reform and 
 enlighten the world, but left it as dark and degraded as 
 it ever had been: — It was a sort of intellectual gym- 
 nasium, in which the faculties were exercised; but this 
 intellectual action yielded no work — no fruit — as regards 
 the progress of society; the mind revolved in a circle of 
 speculative theories, the starting point of to-day became 
 
24 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOIS. 
 
 the goal of to-morrow, — there was motion, but no pro- 
 gress. The command given by this philosophy was, 
 "Mark time!" and thus, for two thousand years, the 
 human intellect continued to mark time. The father of 
 the inductive philosophy gave the command, "Advance!" 
 and society, obedient to this command, has multiplied a 
 thousandfold its resources of enjoyment and happiness. 
 This philosophy was practical — it attempted nothing 
 which could not be accomplished, — it aimed at a plain, 
 tangible mark, and hit it. It sought to improve the 
 sciences by advancing the arts. It took the common- 
 sense method of induction, which had from time imme- 
 morial been successfully followed by the artisan, as the 
 great instrument for advancing philosophy. Its object 
 was UTILITY, and its end progress. 
 
 It is not generally known or generally acknowledged 
 that Bacon's jDhilosophy, as an inductive philosophy,was 
 really derived from the workshop. The inductive prin- 
 ciple had been practised for ages by the workman in his 
 various processes of art. This was thought unworthy 
 of attention by the philosopher of the platonic schools ; 
 but Bacon saw that under this inductive principle the 
 arts had advanced, while tfie sciences, tiien so called, 
 had remained stationary ; and his own strong common 
 sense showed him that the principle which advanced the 
 arts might also advance universal science. 
 
 Let us inquire, How does this philosophy apply to 
 modern education ? 
 
 According to the Baconian philosophy, utility and 
 progress should characterize all our methods of educa- 
 tion. To secure progress, we should aim at what is prac- 
 ticable and useful. Until within the last twenty years, 
 the platonic philosophy infested all our systems of edu- 
 cation. The inductive philosophy, which created new 
 sciences, and infused fresh vitality into the old one8,left 
 our educational systems as it found them,all but worth- 
 less as regards the education of the people of a great 
 commercial, scientific, manufacturing, and engineering 
 nation. In our middle and higher class schools, the lan- 
 guages of the ancients, the logic of the ancients, and the 
 
THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 2i 
 
 geometry of the ancients formed tlie great subjects of 
 school; instruction ; whilst practical science, general 
 knowledge, and nearly all those subjects which bear 
 directly upon the interests of man as an active and think- 
 ing agent, were virtually ignored. This system even 
 failed to accomplish the contracted end which it had in 
 view. It professed to exercise and strengthen the intel- 
 lectual faculties ; but the only faculty which it could 
 strengthen, admitting that to be possible, was memory. 
 To remember, recite, and admire what the ancients had 
 done, was the highest end which it proposed. It there- 
 fore produced a race of slavish imitators, and not a race 
 of original, vigorous, and practical thinkers. Facts, and 
 the induction of facts, were deemed unworthy of their 
 platonic philosophy. 
 
 Now Bacon had taught, in his philosophy, that the 
 powers of memory can do little towards the advance- 
 ment of science. He ranks the achievements of memory 
 with the exhibitions of the mountebank: '* The two per- 
 formances are of much the same sort. The one is an 
 abuse of the powers of the body; the other is an abuse 
 of the powers of -the mind. Both may excite our won- 
 der; but neither is entitled to our respect." Locke, the 
 great metaphysician, also advocated the same view at a 
 subsequent period. 
 
 Even geometry w as considered to suffer a degradation 
 whenever its abstract demonstrations were combined 
 with more simple modes of exposition, or whenever it 
 was applied to the business of life, — its essential and 
 eternal truths were vitiated by the association. This 
 opinion obtains very largely amongst a certain class of 
 educators, even at the present day. "Take care; do 
 not simplify your geometry; do not attempt to give 
 your children any common-sense definitions of geo- 
 metrical truths, otherwise you will vitiate the eternal, 
 immutable truths of geometry. You must begin with 
 Euclid, and you must end with Euclid." Men that 
 speak loudly in praise of Bacon as the father of modern 
 philosophy, will never tell you about this, — that 
 he exposed the systems of education which they are 
 
26 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 now employing in the education of the people of this 
 country. 
 
 Now Bacon taught that geometry, as well as all the 
 other branches of mathematics, was valuable as a branch 
 of education only so far as it contributed to supply the 
 wants of society ; and that such practical applications, 
 so far from detracting from the discipline which it gave 
 the mind, in reality made that discipline more forcible 
 and complete. He viewed mathematics as an instrument 
 for the extension of art and science, and considered that 
 it should be studied, not as an end, but as a means to an 
 end, without which the study would be, in a great meas- 
 ure, fruitless. 
 
 In short, like the platonic philosophy, the aim of the 
 education of these schools was to raise man above the 
 influence of vulgar wants. 
 
 The principle of utility and progress would lead us to 
 conclude that the education of the boy should fit and 
 prepare him for discharging the duties of the man. But 
 what did the collegiate-trained, aristocratic teacher care 
 for the duties and interests of the carpenter, the wheel- 
 wright, the engine-builder, or the scientific experiment- 
 alist ? Their pursuits were altogether foreign to his 
 education and association; of their habits of thought he 
 knew nothing, and cared as little ; between him and 
 them there was an impassable gulf; he lived in a quies- 
 cent world of abstractions; they lived in a world of 
 action and progress. How could the one become the 
 educator of the other ? 
 
 These remarks, made in reference to the middle and 
 higher class schools, will apply, with only a slight mod- 
 ification, to the primary schools of the corresponding 
 period. 
 
 Interest quickens man's perceptions and invigorates 
 his intellectual powers. The artisan works out his results 
 chiefly by inductive processes of reasoning, because he 
 finds the highest degree of certainty, and a sufticieni 
 degree of exactness in the method, and performs his 
 inductions well and carefully, for his interest depends 
 Hpon his deductions. Hence it was, that whilst phi- 
 
THE BACONIAN PHILOSOPHY. 27 
 
 lofeophy remained stationary, the arts went on pro* 
 gressing. Bacon observed this, and therefore recom- 
 mended the inductive process for the advancement of 
 philosophy. What the artisans had performed success- 
 fully on a limited scale, he proposed to employ in the 
 advancement of universal science. Thus Bacon's phi- 
 losophy was borrowed from the workshop; and what he did 
 for science, we may now do for education; we must bor- 
 row from the workshop by adopting in our schools, more 
 or less, those processes of reasoning, habits of thought, 
 and peculiar modes of self -instruction, employed by our 
 practical men. 
 
 If the great intellect of Bacon could condescend to 
 borrow from the workshop, why should we be ashamed 
 of borrowing from the same source ? But yet so it is. 
 Talk to some of our professional men — it may be our 
 lawers, or our clergymen — about borrowing ideas, and 
 taking hints from the working man, they would smile at 
 you with contempt, and say, " Can men who have had a 
 college education obtain any information from persons 
 of the lowly class, whose education has been altogether 
 neglected?" Ay, neglected, to be sure; neglected so 
 far as the schools in which these men had been placed 
 in their childhood are considered; but those workmen^ 
 when they left the schools, had to commence a course 
 of self-education; and that self-education has had its 
 results; that self-education makes the English workman 
 what he is, — the pride of his country, the most skilful 
 artisan of the world. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been done for primary 
 education within the last twenty years, we are still very 
 far from having realized the Baconian condition of 
 utility and progress. 
 
 We are still under the dominion of abstract theories 
 of education consecrated by great names,and sanctioned 
 and patronized by great societies. That philosophy is 
 false, and not less hateful than it is false, which arrests 
 the progress of knowledge by extinguishing the spirit of 
 inquiry and destroying freedom of thought and action. 
 The platonic philosophy enslaved the human mind for 
 
28 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 two thousand years, and during that long period it pro- 
 duced no fruit, because it superseded inductive pro- 
 <?esses of inquiry by laying down theoretic dogmas and 
 sublime philosophic fictions. Bacon emancipated the 
 human mind from this degrading and enfeebling slavery. 
 He showed mankind that the inductive method would 
 lead them to new truths, far exceeding in brilliancy and 
 utility anything which the ancient gods of philosophy, 
 whom the people had blindly worshiped, had ever dis- 
 covered. It is not necessary to say how wonderfully 
 this prediction has been fulfilled. Thus our platonic 
 theories of education must one day fall before the induc- 
 tive method of inquiry. 
 
 In moral questions there is, perhaps, no such thing as 
 absolute certainty. A question in education cannot be 
 solved in the same manner as a problem in geometry. 
 Moral evidence has little in common with mathematical 
 evidence; and the inductive method of research is in 
 many respects widely different from the anatytic method, 
 by which we demonstrate abstract truths. In the induc- 
 tive sciences,such as education, we seem only to approx- 
 imate to truth. We can hardly ever say that we have 
 actually arrived at the absolute truth; but we approach 
 nearer and nearer to it, according as we extend our 
 inductive processes. The truth lies in the asymptote of 
 a curve, towards which we are always approaching, but 
 which we may never absolutely reach. At the same 
 time our approximations have alw^ays the stamp of util- 
 ity,for they are practically true; that is, they are true as 
 far as the actual wants of society are concerned. The 
 inductive method never puts a stop to further inquiry; 
 it is itself progressive, and recognizes the principle of 
 progress. It gives no divine revelation; on the contrary, 
 it appeals to reason, and challenges further inquiry. 
 Watt concluded, from his experiments, that the sum of 
 the latent and sensible heat of steam was a constant 
 quantity: this, although not found by subsequent exper- 
 imentalists to be strictly true, was nevertheless a grand 
 approximation to truth, which conducted him to those 
 magnificent inventions which have changed the des- 
 
A PROVINCIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 2^ 
 
 ticies of the world. The same sj^irit should be adopted 
 in relation to the development of our methods of 
 education. 
 
 The inductive method has already done something for 
 the progress of education, but its importance is not yet 
 sufficiently acknowledged or understood. We are still 
 the slaves of conventional forms and prescriptive theo- 
 ries; we are still too much overawed and cowed into ser- 
 vility by high-sounding names, and by the dogmas of 
 self-serving professions and ambitious societies. The pro- 
 gress which we have made should be taken as the guaran- 
 tee of further advancement. The positions we have gained 
 must form the base of operations for still greater achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 When I was a boy, geography was taught by rote; now 
 it is taught much more efficiently by means of maps. 
 Arithmetic was imperfectly taught by rules ; now it is 
 admirably taught by an exposition of principles ; but 
 there are still many important branches of knowledge 
 very imperfectly taught by the rule and rote system. 
 We must not abandon the hope of future progress. Witli 
 respect to iitility, there is much which remains to be ac- 
 complished. We want a greater enlargement of the 
 basis of intellectual and moral development, suited to the 
 advanced state of our arts and sciences. The rich stores 
 of scientific knowledge, which we now possess, should 
 be more thoroughly and systematically taught in our 
 schools, not only as means of intellectual and moral cul- 
 ture, but also on account of their immediate bearing on 
 the business of life. 
 
 Let us enter an elementary school in one of our manu- 
 facturing cities. The master still teaches on the old 
 individual system. There is no blackboard, or any 
 kind of experimental apparatus. There are maps, it is 
 true, hanging on the walls, but they seem to have been 
 little used, for they are covered with dust. The school 
 is not noisy, but there is the constant chatter and titter 
 of idleness and frolic. There is discipline of a certain 
 kind, but it is not moral discipline. The boys are sons 
 of mechanics and factory laborers, and, like their 
 
30 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOI^. 
 
 parents, they will have to enter the workshop or the fac- 
 tory. They are sharp, intelligent-looking boys, and seem 
 capable of learning anything which the schoolmaster 
 might attempt to teach them, or of taking advantage of 
 his occasional fits of listlessness and abstraction; but 
 they are idle, and feel no interest in their tasks. The 
 dull routine of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with 
 catechisms and formularies, goes on day after day. The 
 school is characterized neither by utility nor by progress. 
 The master sits at his desk, apparently in a deep *' brown 
 study ;" let us look over his shoulder and see what he 
 is doing. He is studying the ancient geometry, and on 
 one side of his desk are some books of the ancient clas- 
 sical authors. He is a scholar and a mathematician. 
 What a misdirection of intellect ! What fruit has his 
 knowledge yielded him ? or what advantage has it been 
 to the pupils of his school ? It has been a negation; or 
 rather, it has been worse than a negation. These boys 
 want to be taught in matters relating to the employments 
 which they will soon have to follow. The master is idle, 
 as a teacher, because the boys will not attend to his 
 abstract prelections ; and the boys are idle because the 
 master will not instruct them in those things which form 
 the subjects of their every-day associations. The school- 
 house is surrounded by engines, by factories, by chemical 
 works, and by workshops of all sorts. What a mine of 
 intellectual wealth lies at his very door available for 
 school instruction ! How useful he might become ! He 
 might fill these hives of industry with a far more in- 
 telligent and skilful class of operatives, and thereby not 
 only advance the interests of the operatives themselves, 
 but contribate to the productive resources of his country. 
 Hark ! the steam whistle ! He starts as a man aroused 
 from his slumber. Does that sound awaken some useful 
 trains of association ? The steam-engine, with its huge 
 train of cars, passengers, and merchandise, starts on its 
 winged course. It goes onward and onward, and woe be- 
 tide the thing that obstructs its progress. It rolls from 
 hamlet to hamlet, and from city to city, carrying with it 
 the products of industry and intelligence. Type of the 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 31 
 
 age of progress ! has the shrill blast of thy whistle re- 
 minded the schoolmaster that utility and progress are 
 realities demanding his consideration, and claiming the 
 tribute of his powers ? Poor dreamer ! have you really 
 returned to your problems ? Are you content to remain 
 stationary, whilst everything around you reminds you 
 that utility and progress are the motive principles of the 
 age ; and that beings such as you, with all your classical 
 lore, must be swept away as the surf of the ocean before 
 the advancina: tide of civilization ? 
 
 Philosophy of Method. 
 
 Having arrived at an educational epoch in which the 
 importance of teaching,as well as of the.method of teach- 
 ing, is duly recognized, it becomes a matter of inquiry, 
 How are we to distinguish the true from the false ? 
 Amid such an accumulation of facts, methods, and sys- 
 tems, what are the evils arising out of the abuse of meth- 
 od, and by what principles of philosophy are our sys- 
 tems to be tested and improved ? In short, what are the 
 laws which govern the philosophy of method ? 
 
 Education, like all other sciences, must be based upon 
 a careful induction of facts. All true ideas of method 
 must be derived from a careful study of the nature of 
 the human faculties, as regards the mode as well as the 
 order of their development. It is, therefore, the first 
 business of the science of method to discover the 
 laws and conditions which regulate the development of 
 the mind, — to follow Nature wheresoever she may lead 
 us, and not to lay down preconceived rules for her 
 guidance. Our attempts to teach by abstract notions, 
 formed independently of a careful study of facts, are as 
 ridiculous as the conduct of the savage who sowed gun- 
 powder, instead of trying to make it. It is true, that in 
 the progress of all science there must be an initiative 
 idea, but then this idea must be tested and perfected by 
 an appeal to experience and experiment. When the 
 ancient astronomers affirmed that the orbits of the 
 
32 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 
 
 planets were circular, because the circle was the most 
 perfect iigure,they committed a great error in philosophy, 
 for the true proof of their initiative conception should 
 have been sought for in nature, and not in any abstract 
 principle. So, in like manner, all our theories, or gen- 
 eral principles of teaching should be tested by an appeal 
 to facts of observation and experiment. The relative 
 efficiency of different systems should be determined, 
 by placing them under the same circumstances and rela- 
 tions, and then, by a careful induction of facts, we should 
 establish some general principles of method. The cer- 
 tainty of our conclusions, in such cases, depends upon 
 two circumstances ; — first, on the facilities which we 
 have for tracing eifects to their causes, and conversely 
 for following causes to their legitimate effects, — second, 
 on the faith which we hasre in the constancy and unifor- 
 mity with which the same relations and conditions occur. 
 Thus, for example, the phenomena of the material world 
 are always open to observation and experiment ; and, ^t 
 the same time, the perfect uniformity with which they 
 take place, leads us to speak with confidence of the fu- 
 ture, from what has taken place in the past. A chemist, 
 after having determined the particular action of one sub- 
 stance upon another, from his instinctive belief in the 
 permanence of the laws of nature, at once de^.ides that 
 the same action will always take place under the same 
 circumstances ; but experience alone must lead, him to 
 find out what are the essential circumstances and rela- 
 tions for producing the particular action, and what are 
 merely casual or accidental ; in short, experience, or 
 repeated experiment, must lead him to discover the true 
 relation of uniform sequence — the relation of cause and 
 effect. 
 
 Let us penetrate a little further into the recesses of 
 this subject. Facts are the point of departure of all 
 philosophy; these become matters of consciousness; ob- 
 servation there lays hold of them before committing them 
 to induction, which forces them to yield up the prin- 
 ciples which they contain. The method, of observation 
 and induction was first given by Bacon, but it has be- 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 33 
 
 come the spirit of the age, — tlie spirit of the world of 
 civilization and development. It constitutes the unity of 
 an age characterized by the most striking diversities and 
 antagonisms. Philosophy has its origin in observation 
 and experience only; to be so limited is to be limited to 
 human nature; but what else could we have, or would 
 we have ? The experimental philosophy of Bacon 
 (characterized by observation, experience, and experi- 
 ment), is sufficient for the attainment of all knowledge, 
 and for the completion of every science. It has passed 
 sentence on the ancient systems of philosophy, — it has 
 destroyed all that was merely hypothetical, but it has 
 perpetuated all that was based on observation. A single 
 fact not unfrequently consecrates a mass of errors, and 
 sometimes gives to the wildest theories a certain amount 
 of credit among men. Everything true and permanent 
 in the systems of philosoph}^, scattered throughout the 
 course of time, is the fruit of observation; and every- 
 thing permanently useful in society is the result of the 
 experimental method. To arrive at a permanent system 
 we must not only observe, but we must observe every- 
 thing faithfully, truly, and completely,without prejudice 
 and partiality. We must use only the method of obser- 
 vation, but we must apply it to all facts, wherever they 
 exist; on its impartiality depends its accuracy, and to be 
 impartial it must be universal. Method, as applied to 
 education, is a mixed inquiry, comprehending questions 
 of physics as well as metaphysics ; and a comprehensive 
 method of observation is necessary to establish the de- 
 siderated alliance between the two classes of phenomena, 
 not by the sacrifice of the one to the other, but by the 
 unity of the method employed in ascertaining the law^ 
 connecting the phenomena, which, though different as 
 to kind, are nevertheless coexistent and inseparable as 
 to results. When observation has put us in possession 
 of all the elements of our science, we then proceed with 
 the work of classification, generalization, etc. 
 
 In order to fulfil these conditions, the principles of 
 method, as applied to education, must be considered sub- 
 jectively, as well as objectively ; that is to say, 
 
34 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 
 
 in relation to the me, as well as in relation to the 
 NOT ME. The science of the me is called Psychology ; 
 it gives the history of the soul as derived from con- 
 sciousness and reflection ; it is, therefore, entirely oc- 
 cupied with internal facts and phenomena. The ob- 
 jective is our intellectual principles considered in 
 relation to their external objects Here we must ob- 
 serve how the minds of children develop themselves; 
 and also, how the mind of man, regarded historically, 
 or in connection with the progress of society, has de- 
 veloped itself. 
 
 All questions relating to methods of instruction are 
 contained in the three following : — 
 
 1. What are the characteristics of the actual^ or the 
 developed intelligence ? 
 
 2. What are ihoAV primitive characteristics ? 
 
 3. What are the intermediate conditions, or occasions, 
 connecting the actual with the primitive; or, in other 
 words, how is intelligence developed? 
 
 The first two questions are almost exclusively sub- 
 jective; the last is objective as well as subjective. 
 
 Here we start with the actual state of the faculties, 
 and arrive at their primitive state by following the in- 
 termediate links connecting the one with the other. To 
 determine the actual, is the easiest problem, and its solu- 
 tion is the first step towards the solution of the others. 
 This is the experimental method: we first observe and 
 register all the principles or laws which actually govern 
 the action and development of the faculties; — we admit 
 only those facts and principles which really exist, but 
 of those we reject none; — we ask not why they exist, 
 or for what they exist; it is enough that they do exist, 
 and what is in nature must form an element of science; 
 — nor are we in haste to classify the results, in order to 
 bring out some favorite theory; we are content to 
 wait patiently until their registration is completed, so 
 that their relations may be rendered apparent, and that 
 their theory may gradually unfold itself. 
 
 The philosophy of method, as ajjplied to teaching, 
 is not less difficult than important. The diversity of 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 35 
 
 views which at present obtains in relation to systems of 
 teaching, is a sufficient evidence of the difficulty of the 
 subject, and a sufficient testimony to the want of some 
 recognized principles. 
 
 The following are some of the difficulties peculiar to 
 the inquiry : — 
 
 1. Although the same powers and affections are found 
 in every human being, yet these powers and affections 
 exist in different degrees and states of development in 
 different individuals. Hence it follows, that a system of 
 instruction which is adapted to one class of pupils may 
 not be suitable to another. 
 
 2. Different causes may, and no doubt often do, pro- 
 duce the same or similar effects. This arises from the 
 constitution of the mind itself, for we know that it ad- 
 raits of various modes of development. 
 
 3. Teachers differ much in their capabilities and 
 acquirements; and they rarely restrict themselves to the 
 use of any special system of instruction. 
 
 However, an earnest study of the principles of method 
 will enable us to surmount these obstacles. In con- 
 ducting our inquiries, the following summary of rules 
 and principles, having a special bearing on the subject, 
 should be duly considered. 
 
 Importance of Definitions. 
 
 No science can make a satisfactory progress unless its 
 technical terms are clearly and precisely defined. This 
 is especially true in relation to the science of education. 
 At present we have scarcely any recognized terms in 
 education; we dignify by the name of a system or 
 method some trifling modification of a general principle, 
 and we make use of terms without sufficiently limiting 
 their amount of meaning. Thus we speak of "the ellip- 
 tical method," as if it contained some peculiar principle 
 which was not involved in "the interrogative system " 
 of instruction ; some persons erroneously use the term 
 " simultaneous teaching," to mean the same thing as 
 " collective teaching." As a preliminary step, therefore. 
 
36 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 to the attainment of exact knowledge in the science of 
 method, we should always define the terms which we em- 
 ploy, before proceeding to the detail of facts, or the 
 elucidation of principles. 
 
 Collection of Facts. 
 
 The first step,in the attainment of a knowledge of right 
 methods of teaching, is an extensive acquisition of facts. 
 In recording these facts, all the conditions and collateral 
 circumstances should be carefully noted, for even circum- 
 stances which appear trifling at the time, may really be 
 important links in the chain of sequences. 
 
 Educational facts may be derived from books on 
 mental philosophy, from our own individual experience 
 and observation, as well as from the experience and ob- 
 servation of others. We are not to look to legislators 
 and school managers for the discovery of these facts, nor 
 even should we rely too much upon the hasty impressions 
 of the visitors of schools. It is upon the labors of the 
 practical teacher that we must chiefly depend; it is his 
 business to watch the development of his pupils' faculties 
 as they expand themselves under the various modes of 
 instruction; — it is his business to collect facts, to record 
 observations, and to institute experiments. 
 
 In forming a collection of facts, the following rules 
 must be observed : — 
 
 1. All the facts should be fully ascertained or authen- 
 ticated; and whilst no essential facts connected with the 
 subject should be wanting, all trivial and incidental cir- 
 cumstances should be omitted. 
 
 2. The statement should contain a complete and fair 
 view of ali the facts involved in the inquiry, and none of 
 the facts should be in any way modified to pander to 
 any preconceived theory. 
 
 Teachers should aid each other in the collection of 
 facts, and Government Inspectors should afford them 
 every facility for the attainment of this object. Some 
 facts transmitted to us may appear to be contrary to our 
 individual experience; let us beware how we reject 
 
rHILOSOniY OF METHOD. 37 
 
 tbem ! Our prejudices may be standing in the way of 
 the advancement of the truth. We should test the facts 
 by some new experiment, or we may find some hitherto 
 neglected series of facts in our own experience which 
 may lead us to a right decision. Hitherto, the facts 
 accumulated by teachers have been almost ignored. An 
 inspector enters a school with a stern determination of 
 observing everything for himself, without calling in the 
 aid of the teacher; after spending a few hours in that 
 school, he leaves it with the belief that he has coDected 
 all the facts of its last year's history. Lamentable error! 
 that teacher, if worthy of his office, could have given him 
 the history of the growth and development of every boy's 
 mind and character, with a true account of tlie influ- 
 ences which had been brought to bear upon them. We 
 look to the hearty co-operation of inspectors and teachers 
 for the accumulation of facts. But the inspector must 
 not always appear before the teacher in the stern char- 
 acter of censor and judge; he should also ap]>ear as a " 
 friend and fellow- worker in the great common cause. 
 
 In forming a collection of facts, the following sources 
 of error should be carefully guarded against : — 
 
 1. Receiving facts from persons whom we have reason 
 to suspect of having some interested object to serve in 
 disguising or modifying them. 
 
 2. Receiving important facts from persons in whose 
 judgment and power of observation we have not the 
 fullest confidence. 
 
 3. Receiving partial statements of facts given with 
 the view of supporting some favorite system of educa- 
 tion. 
 
 4. Receiving opinions as facts. In guarding against 
 this fruitful source of erroj*, it is above all things neces- 
 sary that we should 
 
 Distinguish heUveen Facts and Opinions. 
 
 The confounding of facts and opinions should be care- 
 fully guarded against; for we are all too apt to mix up 
 our own impressions and favorite theories with the 
 
38 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 detail of facts, and hence it is often very difficult for us to 
 separate the one from the other. When a teacher states 
 that he has found a certain system of instruction produce 
 the most satisfactory results, he does not restrict himself 
 to a simple statement of facts, for he gives his opinion of 
 the character of the results, whereas he should simply 
 describe what these results were. A teacher gives us 
 an opinion in place of a fact, when he states that he has 
 found the elliptical system of instruction produce such 
 and such results, when a full and simple statement of 
 facts would be, that in the course of teaching on the col- 
 lective system, he had adopted the form of elliptical 
 response. The master of a school teaches, for the most 
 part, after a particular system, and his pupils make pro- 
 gress; this progress is ascribed to the particular system; 
 now the progress of the pupils is a fact, and that the 
 master taught by a particular system may also be a fact; 
 but that this system of instruction was the true cause of 
 the progress is an opinion; for it is giving the relation of 
 cause and effect between two facts; and it is quite possi- 
 ble that some hidden or unobserved influence may have 
 solely, or at least mainly, contributed to the progress of 
 the pupils. The omission of a fact in the chain of sequences 
 is often as injurious to the cause of truth, as a misrepre- 
 sentation of the case. Our statement of facts, therefore, 
 should not only be free from opinions and impressions, 
 but it should at the same time be full and faithful, and 
 not distorted in any way with the view of supporting- 
 some preconceived notions or theories. 
 
 These are some of the rocks on which our method is 
 often wrecked, — it is necessary that we should signalize 
 them. 
 
 Comparison and Classification of Fads. Relation of Cause 
 and Effect. 
 
 In order to arrive at general conclusions, our first 
 step is to arrange the facts according to the points in 
 which they agree; our next step is to strip our groups 
 or collections of facts of all their extraneous circum- 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 
 
 Stances and contincjent conditions; that is to say, by a 
 comparison of our different groups of facts, we must 
 separate those conditions which are essential to the result, 
 or desired effect, from those which are accidental and 
 non-essential. Having arived at a uniform and invari- 
 able series of sequences, our next step in the process is 
 to trace the relation of cause and effect. ^Yhen one 
 event is invariably followed by another evenr^ we speak 
 of the one being the cause, the other the effect. Now to 
 the facts which are so uniformly associated, we have no 
 hesitation in attributing the true relation of cause and ef- 
 fect. Let us take an illustration from Dr. Wells' theory of 
 dew. The facts of this case are these : moisture or dew is 
 always found on the surface of plants in clear, cloudless 
 nights, but little or no moisture is found on the plants in 
 cloudy nights; these results take place for all plants, 
 whatever may be their color, &c., and whatever may be 
 their absolute temperature. Here the incidental or non- 
 essential facts are the color, absolute temperature, &c., 
 of the plants; the essential facts are, that dew is formed 
 on clear nights; and that no dew is formed on cloudy 
 nights; hence the cloudless sky is an essential condition 
 for the formation of dew. 
 
 In education, the tracing of the relation of cause and 
 effect, among a succession of events, is always a matter 
 of difficulty and delicacy, and is often attended with con- 
 siderable liabilities to error. But the difficulty of the 
 task should not deter us from the undertaking. The 
 following sources of fallacy deserve especial notice : — 
 
 1. The cause which we assign may be merely an 
 incidental circumstance, and not essentially connected, 
 as a uniform sequence, with the result. 
 
 This fallacy frequently occurs in matters of education, 
 for how often do we find some trifling mode or manner 
 of teaching — such as the class arrangements, &c.— dig- 
 nified by the name of a system, which is said to work 
 out such and such results! 
 
 2. The events, which we regard as cause and effect, 
 may be closely connected, but not in the relation of 
 
40 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 cause and effect. The true cause may be hidden or 
 overlooked, in our haste or in our fondness for some 
 favorite theory. 
 
 For example, it is a common thing to hear the advo- 
 cates of the individual system of instruction appeal to 
 the fact, that good scholars were formed under that 
 system; wjjijle the truth is, tlie so-called good scholars 
 were made, for the most part, independently of the char- 
 acteristic features of that system, viz, by home instruc- 
 tion, by the time of training, and by the extensive use 
 of class-books. 
 
 It remains yet to be determined w^hat conditions are 
 essential, and what are only accidental, in most of our 
 present system of education. It is to be hoped that 
 some distinguished person amongst Her Majesty's In- 
 spectors, who are in possession of a vast number of facts, 
 will confer this boon on society. " 
 
 General Principles. 
 
 Having traced among our groups of facts the relation 
 of uniform sequence, the next step in our process is to 
 bring a number of them together, and to discover in them 
 some common fact, or element, or general principle. This 
 common element, or geneial principle, becomes a distinct 
 subject of contemplation, and it is taken as characteristic 
 of a whole class. In forming this generalization two 
 things are especially to be observed : 1st, the principle 
 should be a real fact; 2nd, it should be true for all the 
 cases without exception. 
 
 Let us illustrate the two processes of classification and 
 generalization. 
 
 We take a number of bodies differing in their externa 1 
 form and color; one is an iron ore, another a steel bar, 
 another has the shape of a horse-shoe, but they all agree 
 in attracting iron, and they also agree in having iron in 
 their composition, — we classify these boilies, and call 
 them magnets; color, form, <fec.,are accidental properties 
 of the class, and composition and the fact of attracting 
 iron are the essential qualities of the class. But we 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 41 
 
 tiow discover, that if any one of these straight or oblong 
 magnets be freely suspended, one extremity will be al- 
 ways directed towards the north, and the other extremity 
 towards the south; here Ave discover a common or 
 general principle belonging to the whole class — viz., 
 polarity; this is a process oi ^generalization. 
 
 The relations of things form the materials of method; 
 and the general principle connecting these relations con- 
 stitutes the leading element of method as applied to 
 those particular things. 
 
 Having brought together a number of different systems 
 of instruction which are always attended with a common 
 result, we must endeavor to discover some principle 
 which is common to them all, — this common principle 
 will give us the idea of a general method of instruction, 
 which will be operative amid a certain variety of inci- 
 dental conditions. 
 
 As a general principle is nothing more than a con- 
 venient form of expressing a general fact, its legitimate 
 application is limited to the particular cases from which 
 it has been deduced. Hence the error, into which many 
 teachers fall, of pushing certain systems beyond their 
 legitimate sphere of application, 
 
 A general principle, according to the strict acceptation 
 in which we have hitherto taken it, is simply a general 
 fact, but it sometimes assumes the form of a theory or 
 an hypothesis. In an hypothesis, a thing or principle 
 is supposed to exist; but, like a strict general principle, 
 it should adequately explain all the facts which belong 
 to the subject-matter. General facts simply give the 
 relation of law without making any assumptions; hypo- 
 theses express the relation of ascertained facts by the 
 supposed operation of a thing or principle, which may 
 or may not exist; hypotheses, in most cases, only serve 
 the jnirpose of conveniently grouping together an ex- 
 tensive series of facts and phenomena. Thus, for ex- 
 ample, that the planetary bodies attract one another with 
 forces which are directly as their masses, and inversely 
 as the squares of their distances, is a general fact; for 
 the force really exists, and really acts by the law which 
 
42 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 is assigned to it. In Franklin's electrical theory, electric- 
 ity is supposed to be a subtle fluid, which may exist in 
 excess or in deficiency in bodies, thus giving rise to the 
 two kinds of electricity, which, according to this theory, 
 are called positive electricity and negative electricity. 
 The hypothesis, in this case, serves the purpose of con- 
 necting together a large number of facts. Now that 
 there are tAvo kinds of electricity, possessing certain 
 distinctive properties, is a s^eneral fact, but that these 
 properties belong to a single fluid is a conjecture — an 
 hypothesis — which is more or less useful to us according 
 as it more or less completely explains the observed phe- 
 nomena. 
 
 General facts, as well as theories, are sometimes sug- 
 gestive, that is to say, they sometimes lead us to suspect 
 the existence of some new fact or principle; in such 
 cases, however, it is the province of observation and 
 experiment to confirm or overthrow the truth of the 
 conjecture. 
 
 Educational theories should be looked upon with 
 distrust, and if acted upon at all it should be with 
 extreme caution. They should be regarded in no other 
 light than as conv^enient modes of connecting a series of 
 facts, or as suggestive of some course of experimental 
 inquiry. For example, a teacher would run into a mis- 
 chievous error if he were to act upon the phrenological 
 hypothesis, that the faculties and affections of our intel- 
 lectual and moral nature respectively act through and 
 by particular portions or organs of the brain, and that, 
 other things being the same, the development of any 
 particular faculty or function is in proportion to the 
 magnitude of that particular organ, or region of the brain, 
 through which the faculty or function is supposed to act. 
 To those teachers who seem disposed to put faith in this 
 imperfect theory, we should say : — Why act upon any 
 theory, when you can ascertain, with the greatest pre- 
 cision, the true character and capabilities of your pupils 
 by actual observation ? 
 
 There are two extreme views, in relation to general 
 methods of instruction, which are equally unphilosophical. 
 
IHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 43 
 
 and which should be equally avoided. The one is au 
 implicit confidence in method; the other is an utter scep- 
 ticism as regards the utility of any method whatever. 
 
 Evils of Implicit Confidence in Method. 
 
 No system of teaching can be efficient unless the 
 master possess all those qualiti'^s which the system itself 
 presupposes. If a teacher is wanting in any of those 
 essential qualities, it would probably be better for him 
 to modify the system to suit the circuriistances. More- 
 over, the state and condition of the pupils may not cor- 
 respond to that which the system presupposes. The blind, 
 unreasoning attachment of teachers to systems has often 
 brought ridicule upon themselves and discredit upon the 
 systems which they professed to follow. Failures of this 
 kind have, no doubt, often led to the unphiiosophical 
 opinion " that each individual ought to have either his 
 own system or no system at all." * The teacher should, 
 in the fullest sense, be the master and not the slave of 
 the system by which he teaches. The modes in which 
 the faculties of children develop themselves are sufH- 
 ciently various to admit of slight modifications in the 
 systems of instruction, in order to suit the capabilities of 
 the master. We can hardly say of any existing system, 
 that it is the only efficient one; and as more or less im- 
 perfection is to be found in every existing system of 
 education, so it is equally true, that more or less truth 
 may be found in all of them. Until masters are thor- 
 oughly educated for their work, we must hold that the 
 system should be made for the man, and not the man 
 for the system. 
 
 As children love change and novelty, a good teacher 
 will vary his subjects of instruction as well as his 
 methods of instruction accordingly; his judgment must 
 be exercised in selecting those methods which are most 
 suited to the existing conditions of his school. 
 
 Ouaiterly Journal of Education, No. IX. 
 
44 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 No intelligent teacher would ever attempt to cany 
 out to the strict letter any of our existing rules and 
 systems. The following may be taken as a well-estab- 
 lished rule in teaching children some of the simplest 
 elements of knowledge: " Begin from the beginning of 
 the subject, an.l never take a second step till you are 
 sure tbat the first is perfectly acquired." Now, this 
 rule, though true in its spirit and intention, is very far 
 from being strictly true as applied to some subjects. In 
 teaching the alphabet, for example, who would ever 
 think of making a child perfedli/ learn one letter before 
 it is taken to another; or, in teaching arithmetic, of 
 making the child perfectly/ learn the rule of addition be- 
 fore it is taught anything of subtraction ? 
 
 It will be instructive to consider, more in detail, some 
 of the evils resulting from a slavish attachment to 
 systems. 
 
 I. Evils of attaching undue itnportance to the non- 
 essential features of a system. 
 
 II. Evils arising from not giving due attention to the 
 limits of certain modes of instruction. 
 
 III. Evils ansing from the neglect of auxiliary aids. 
 lY.' No system can be efficient wathout intelligence 
 
 and industry on the part of the master, and without he 
 is religiously imbued with a high sense of the dignity 
 and importance of his wOrk. 
 
 I. One teacher cannot give Bible lessons without a 
 gallery, — another cannot teach arithmetic without the 
 Pestalozzian boards, — another defers the teaching of 
 drawing until his committee can afford to purchase 
 Messrs. Parker and Co.'s models,— and so on. To such 
 teachers we would say, beware of an undue attachment 
 to the mere mechanical forms of individual systems. 
 Imbue your minds with the spirit of these systems, and, 
 above all, study the philosophy of their method. If you 
 want a plant to grow, you water the root, not the leaves 
 and branches; so, in like manner, the teacher should go 
 to the root — the fundamental principles of education. 
 
 II. Some modes of instruction, very good as regards 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. , 45 
 
 their legitimate sphere of application, may become use- 
 less, if not ridiculous, when pushed beyond their proper 
 limits. It is desirable that these limits should be duly 
 ascertained and defined, by a strict induction of facts. 
 On the other hand, a method of instruction should not 
 be despised because it is not of universal application. 
 Because the writing system of Mulhauser, for example, 
 should not be found efficient in making finished writers, 
 is no reason why it should not be one of the most eligi- 
 ble modes for teaching the first elements of form to 
 children. In this case, the business of the philosophical 
 inquirer is to determine the extent to which the system 
 should be carried. 
 
 Again, a mode of instruction may be subsidiary to 
 some more general method, with which it is necessarily 
 associated, and to which it may give a higher efficiency. 
 In this case we should determine the relative importance 
 of the subordinate method, and the most favorable 
 conditions for its application. On the other hand, the 
 modes of instruction which aie employed together, 
 should be in harmony with each other, and also in keep- 
 ing with the other recognized principles of method. 
 
 The methods of instruction adapted to the young, 
 may not always be best calculated for the instruction of 
 adults. In this case we should determine the period at 
 which this change of method should be made. An able 
 teacher, who had been successful in teaching arithmetic 
 to boys by the Pestalozzian boards, attempted to teach 
 adults on the same plan; but he failed, and thereby 
 brought himself and his system into unmerited con- 
 tempt. 
 
 III. The teacher should watchfully guard against any 
 undue confidence, not only in his own teaching powers, 
 but also in the system by which he teaches. He should 
 be ever ready to avail himself of all the means within 
 his reach, for giving increased efficiency to his system. 
 Without, for example, in the least undervaluing his sys- 
 tem of collective teaching, he should not overlook the 
 aid which he may occasionally receive from individual 
 instruction; nor should he despise tJie use of Text Booh, 
 
46 . PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 especially when associated with home instruction. The appar- 
 ent discrepaDcies in the results of some of our existing 
 systems are doubtless, to a great extent, due to the 
 want of a proper appreciation of certain subsidiary aids 
 to class instruction. 
 
 IV. Much remains to be eifected by the individual 
 merits of the teacher. Methods of teaching are little 
 better than dead letters in the hands of stupid and indo- 
 lent pedagogues, but they become living, efficient princi- 
 ples in the minds of thinking and active teachers. Sys- 
 tems should be tested by the teacher and modified by 
 him, if found necessary, to suit the various tastes, habits, 
 and future pursuits of the children placed under his care. 
 He must become a moral philosopher, always reflecting 
 and experimenting upon matters of education. The 
 school-room is his laboratory and his studio; the little 
 boys by whom he is surrounded are the subjects of his 
 reflections and experiments, and the great end is their 
 intellectual and moral amelioration. The teacher is a 
 much more elevated being than the mere mechanic. The 
 results of machinery are splendid and overpowering; 
 but then all that is truly great in these results is due to 
 the creative mind that gave the method, — the law, 
 physical or mathematical, or perhaps both physical and 
 mathematical, by which these results are produced. 
 The machine makers, according to our systems in the 
 division of labor, are little better than machines making 
 machines; one forges a bolt, another files it, and an- 
 other puts it in its place; one casts a wheel, another 
 turns it on the lathe, and another superintends the ma- 
 chine that cuts teeth upon its rim; thus each man toils 
 from morning till night, and the labor of one day is the 
 type of the labor of that which succeeds. It is not so 
 with the teacher; creative minds cannot so cut out and 
 divide the labor of instruction, or so lay out the princi- 
 ples and methods of teaching, as to supersede the exer- 
 cise of his reasoning and reflective powers. His work 
 is professional, — it is akin to the medical man's. The 
 teacher is no machine, — his mind is above all rules 
 and superior to all authority in relation to his work. 
 
PHILOSOPHY or METHOD. 47 
 
 Boards of education and visiting committees should not 
 interfere too much with the immediate duties and pecu- 
 liar functions of the schoolmaster. Elevate his social, 
 intellectual, and moral condition, but do not legislate 
 for him with respect to methods of instruction. 
 
 In order that a teacher should be thoroughly devoted 
 to his work, he should be duly sensible of its importance ; 
 — he should believe, that the future character of a 
 country depends upon the education of its children; — 
 he should be fully aware, that, in the soft and virgin 
 soil of their souls, he may j^lant the shoots of poison or 
 sow the seeds of sweet-scented flowers or of life-giving 
 fruit ; — he should realize the momentous thought, that 
 the little prattling, thoughtless children by whom he is 
 surrounded, are to become the men of the approaching 
 age. As a necessary consequence of all this, he should 
 carefully look to the predilections of children; — that 
 child who is amusing himself with drawing triangles and 
 circles may, under proper training, hereafter become 
 another Pascal; — that little dirty urchin who is 
 plucking flowers by the wayside, may become the poet 
 or the orator of his age ; — that thoughtful, feeble body 
 who is watching the effect of the steam, as it blows and 
 puffs from the tea-kettle, may become another Watt, des- 
 tined to multiply the resources of our national wealth 
 and power; — that ruthless little savage, who is leading- 
 mimic battles of the snow storm, may become (unless 
 his evil tendencies are counteracted by education) an- 
 other Napoleon, who may seize with a giant grasp the 
 iron thunderbolt of death, and on the wreck of a people's 
 hopes and happiness build himself up a terrible monu- 
 ent of guilt and greatness. 
 
 The work of the soul-devoted teacher should not 
 cease with the school hours ; — the predilections and 
 spontaneous ebullitions of feeling in children, in their 
 moments of leisure and play, should be carefully watched 
 by him, in order that he may encourage and aid the 
 development of what may be good or useful, and be able 
 to suppress, or direct into a legitimate channel, what may 
 be evil or dangerous. 
 
48 PHlLOSOrHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Under a new and better order of things, an efficient, 
 soul-devoted teacher will become one of the great 
 thinkers of his age. His leisure hours will be given to 
 the study of the philosophy of mind and the principles 
 of method, and his daily labor will consist in the practice 
 of that philosophy and those principles. Child of hope! 
 despair not in the discharge of your arduous duties, and 
 doubt not but that public opinion will award to you that 
 social position to which your talents and usefulness en- 
 title you; — toil on in all faith and humility ! the hour 
 of your emancipation is not distant, — injustice is always 
 followed by a reaction, — and the dark, cheerless period 
 of debasement and uncalled-for self-sacrifice will be fol- 
 lowed by light and gladness, when under the blessing of 
 God you shall possess the means as well as the capabili- 
 ties for adding to our knowledge of the science of meth- 
 od as applied to education. 
 
 Experiments required to test Systems of Education. 
 
 A system of instruction may be formed with a due re- 
 gard to the abstract nature of the being to be educated, 
 but it may not be practicable under the conditions and 
 circumstances of a given school, w^here perhaps large 
 masses of children have to be taught under the super- 
 vision of one master, with limited material aids; hence 
 it is necessary that all systems should be brought to the 
 test of experiment. 
 
 Whilst sound principles of education gain new force 
 by every fresh confirmation of their truth, false theo- 
 ries lose some portion of their hold on the prejudices 
 of men by every new exposure of their fallacy. Some 
 thoroughly digested systems of experiment are yet 
 desiderated in education. The form and object of 
 experiments are directly under our control, and in this 
 respect the results of experiment are more valuable 
 than facts derived from observation and ordinary expe- 
 rience. For this purpose we should like to see some 
 experimental school established under our Government 
 Inspectors, where, for example, any two rival systems of 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 49 
 
 instruction might be placed exactly under the same cir- 
 cumstances with the view of determining their relative 
 efficiency. People generally are slow in adopting what 
 ai-e called improved methods; their prejudices are always 
 in favor of what is old and English, and nothing but an 
 fixperimentum cruets will alter their predilections. Manjr 
 old systems are associated with certain extraneous cir- 
 cumstances which consecrate their errors and give them 
 an apparent truth. Thus, for example, the individual 
 system of teaching, which at present obtains in most of 
 our middle class schools, is so interwoven with the systent 
 of home instruction that we cannot see all the evils of 
 this system so fully as we should do if it were standing 
 on its own merits. It should be stripped of this favor- 
 able association in order to exhibit it in its true aspect. 
 And it may be here worthy of observation, that it would 
 be well for us to ascertain, with some degree of exactness,, 
 how far this home instruction should be employed im 
 connection with the system of collective teaching, which, 
 is at present in operation in our schools for the poor. 
 
 The importance of experimental facts may be illustrat- 
 ed by the history of physical science. Before the time 
 of Galileo it was believed that water rose in the common 
 pump from nature's horror of a vacuum. An experimen- 
 tal fact was wanting to expose the fallacy of this hypo-^ 
 thesis; that fact was supplied to Galileo by the workmen 
 of Tuscany when they found that water would not rise 
 in the barrel of a pump higher than 34 feet. In 
 like manner, we may find that some fortunate experi- 
 ment or fact of observation, may lead to a reversion of 
 some of our existing dogmas in education. In conducting 
 experiments, it may be useful to observe, the truth of a 
 great general system of education may be confirmed in 
 two ways, viz., by altering the conditions under which it 
 is made to act, or by altering the intensity of the element 
 which constitutes its distinguishing feature. When the 
 pupil of Galileo substituted mercury for water, to test 
 the presence of atmospheric pressure, he rightly consid- 
 ered, that if there was a constantly acting law of pres- 
 sure, the column of the one fluid would be to that of the 
 
50 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 other in the inverse ratio of their densities; it is well 
 known that the result of the experiment confirmed the 
 truth of the theory. Not satisfied with this confirmation, 
 Pascal proposed to try the experimentum cruets by vary- 
 ing the intensity of the operating principle, and he there- 
 fore had tlie Torricellian experiment performed upon 
 the top of a mountain, w^here the atmospheric column 
 was diminished; the result of this experiment, it is 
 scarcely necessary to say, fully established the great 
 principle of atmospheric pressure. In like manner, it 
 may not be too presumptuous to suppose, the truth of 
 many of our general theories and systems of instruction 
 may be confirmed or overthrown. 
 
 To EsUtnate the Results of Method. 
 
 Without undervaluing the communication of positive 
 knowledge in the education of children, we should in 
 general attach the greatest importance to that system 
 which tends most to develop and improve their intellec- 
 tual and moral powers. But it is possible that, in our 
 regard for this darling idea, we may overlook the fact 
 that the study of those subjects which are the most use- 
 ful is generally the most instructive. The school of the 
 jDOor shou-ld never become an intellectual gymnasium, 
 Avhere the future destinies of the children are disregarded. 
 Children, in the course of nature, become men and 
 women, and their pursuits and studies in school should 
 prepare them for playing their parts in the great world 
 in which they must move and act. In the education of 
 a young gentleman, it matters little whether his muscles 
 are strengthened by digging in the garden,or by exercises 
 with the parallel bars in the play ground; but with the 
 child of poverty it is very different, — his lot is labor, 
 and labor should form a part of his school training; to 
 an Eton scholar, it may be of little consequence whether 
 he learns land-surveying, or whether his tutors teach 
 him to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics or any other 
 hieroglyphics, provided his intellectual powers are exer- 
 cised and developed; but with the son of the mechanic 
 
PHILOSOPHY OF METHOD. 51 
 
 it is different, — his period of school training being 
 limited, he has no time to spare for learning things which 
 have only a remote bearing on his future employment; 
 to him, the school-room should be, in a certain sense, the 
 vestibule of the workshop. In estimating, therefore, the 
 results of systems in primary schools, a due regard 
 should be paid to this two-fold aspect of education. 
 
 In the education of adults the matter is somewhat 
 different, for in this case the chief end, if not the sole 
 end, of class instruction should, obviously, be the 
 communication of that knowledge which shall be imme- 
 diately and directly beneficial to them in their respective 
 avocations. 
 
 The object of education should be to develop all the 
 faculties of our nature — physical, intellectual, and 
 moral; and that, too, in harmony with one another. A 
 system sometimes tends only to develop one set of facul- 
 ties to the neglecting of all the others. When this is 
 the case, the teacher should adopt some system which 
 shall be. supplemental to the other, so that the two 
 systems, acting in conjunction, shall exercise all the 
 faculties of the pupils. The same observations apply to 
 the subject of study. For example, the study of arith- 
 metic, or geometry, exercises the mind in only one kind 
 of evidence — mathematical evidence; therefore, in this 
 case, the teacher would do well to give, side by side 
 with arithmetic, some easy lessons on physical science, 
 where the mind of the pupil is exercised in moral 
 evidence. 
 
52 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 TO ASCERTAIN THE NATURE OF THE BEING TO BE EDUCATED.— GENERAL 
 FACTS AND PRINCIPLES. — PRIMITIVE INTELLIGENCE THE BASIS OF DEVEL- 
 OPMENT. — CLASSIFICATION OF THE FACULTIES. — ESSENTIAL POINTS CON- 
 SIDERED IN RELATION TO METHOD. 
 
 To Ascertain the Nature of the Being to be 
 Educated. 
 
 As a knowledge of human nature is the true basis of 
 the science of education, it is essential to the discovery 
 of general principles of method, that we should have a 
 complete record of general facts relative to the develop- 
 ment of the intellectual and moral faculties, and that it 
 should be fully ascertained, by actual observations and 
 experiments, what subjects and methods of instruction 
 are best calculated to aid the development of these 
 faculties at the different stages of their growth ; in order 
 to complete the science of education, Ave require some- 
 thing more than a mere knowledge of the general prin- 
 ciples of mental philosophy. Such a course of inquiry 
 would not only contribute to advance the science of 
 education, but it would also give us a more complete 
 view of the natural history of the human mind. 
 
 It has been said that psychological analysis will lead 
 us to a knowledge of the laws regulating the develop- 
 ment of our faculties; but in the inquiry we may be 
 very much aided by observing how humanity, or the 
 mind of society, has developed itself in the different 
 stages of its advancement; that is to say, how the mind 
 of man has discovered truth after truth, and built up 
 science upon science, in attaining our present elevated 
 condition of civilization and intelligence. It is obvious 
 that the mind, considered historically, that is, object- 
 ively, must give us the broad features of the mind 
 
I1STELLECTUA.L DEVELOPMENT. 53 
 
 considered per se, that is, subjectively. Those natural 
 instincts and impulses which evince themselves in the 
 individual mind, must undoubtedly exhibit themselves 
 on a grand scale in the development of the race itself, 
 or the mind of man acting in society. 
 
 We give the following as amongst the most important 
 general facts or laws relating to the development of the 
 faculties. 
 
 General Facts relating to the Development of 
 THE Intellectual Faculties. 
 
 1. The faculties follow a law of progressive develop- 
 ment. 
 
 2. They are cultivated by being properly exercised on 
 appropriate subjects. 
 
 3. They are weakened by being over-tasked, or by 
 being exercised on inappropriate subjects. They admit 
 of a wrong development. 
 
 4. All our knowledge of the material world is derived 
 through the senses. Material objects, and the various 
 phenomena of the external world, are the subjects upon 
 which the faculties first exercise themselves. Material 
 :aids promote the activity of all the faculties. 
 
 5. The natural force of the faculties differs in different 
 individuals. 
 
 6. The voluntary faculties, such as attention, are 
 influenced by motives. Children like to do things in 
 company with one another. With children, the natural 
 and most healthful incentive to attention is the associa- 
 tion of pleasure with instruction; nature has connected 
 a refined intellectual pleasure with the healthful exercise 
 of the faculties; curiosity or the desire of knowledge, 
 and the love of the beautiful and the wonderful, are the 
 great actuating principles of early childhood, and their 
 gratification is always accompanied by pleasurable 
 emotions. Unnatural modes of instruction give rise to 
 harsh and vitiating modes of discipline. 
 
 7. Habits are formed by the repetition of the same actiB. 
 
54 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 The habits of attention and concentration are the great 
 main-springs of education. The habit of directing the 
 undivided or concentrated force of the faculties to a 
 given subject is never fully acquired in early life, — 
 children love change and novelty. 
 
 8. One class of faculties may repose whilst another 
 class of faculties is being exercised. 
 
 9. The faculties are most vigorous when they are 
 exercised voluntarily. The principle of self-dependence 
 is one of the most powerful agents of culture. Children 
 have a natural craving for knowledge as well as for 
 occupation. 
 
 10. The strength of any faculty and the desire for 
 exercising it, are greater according as it has been more 
 or less called into activity. The sooner a faculty is 
 called into healthful action, the greater, other things 
 being the same, will be its strength. The cultivation of 
 the reasoning faculties should not be too long delayed. 
 
 11. The faculties, in the course of their development^ 
 act and re-act upon one another. The complete develop- 
 ment of any faculty depends, more or less, on the devel- 
 opment of some other faculty. 
 
 The mind is really one indivisible substance having 
 different states and modes of action; these states and 
 modes of action being called faculties. 
 
 Some of the faculties are almost simultaneous in their 
 action as well as in their development. 
 
 All the faculties of the mind exist in a greater or less 
 state of activity at every stage of development. 
 
 The mind as a whole admits of cultivation at every 
 stage of development. The moral faculties may be cul- 
 tivated in connection with the intellectual faculties ;^ 
 and so on. 
 
 12. For the purpose of culture, the faculties may be 
 divided into groups or classes. 
 
 13. Our subjects, as well as our methods of instruction, 
 may be varied or modified to suit the different classes of 
 faculties. 
 
 14. Each class of faculties has its characteristic mo- 
 tives of action as well as habits of action. 
 
PKIMITIVE INTELLIGENCE. 56 
 
 15. Each faculty has a primitive state corresponding 
 to its spontaneous development. Primitive judgments 
 form the basis of all our knowledge. 
 
 Certain faculties have also distinct states of develop- 
 ment corresponding to the subjects upon which they are 
 exercised. These states have an important bearing on 
 early education. 
 
 16. All our knowledge is derived from three sources, 
 yiz., Sensation^ Reflection^ and the Primitive Laiva involved 
 in our mental operations. 
 
 Pbimitive Intelligence, as Shown in Peeception 
 AND Intuition, Considered as the Basis of Devel- 
 opment. 
 
 There is a pre-established harmony between external 
 nature and the laws regulating the operations of the 
 mind. Through sensation, or the impressions derived 
 from the senses, the immaterial (the mind) comes into 
 contact with the material, and springs (through its own 
 inherent energies) into all the various forms of developed 
 intelligence. Without sensation, the mind could not 
 germinate; and without the reflex power, which the 
 mind exercises over these sensations, intelligence could 
 not exist; but this is not all, — the awakened intelligence 
 derives fresh vitality from the primitive laws involved in 
 its own operations. Hence our knowledge, the aliment 
 of intellectual life, is derived from the three following 
 sources: Sensation, Reflection, and Intuition, or the 
 Primitive Laws involved in our mental operations. 
 
 The infant soul contains implicitly all the faculties of 
 the developed intelligence; reason is there, with all its 
 essential characteristics, but it is there only in its 
 intuitive form. The mind intuitively comprehends and 
 feels the relations subsisting between itself and the ex- 
 ternal world, without being able at once to give its 
 knowledge anything like a formal or abstract expression. 
 It spontaneously and unconsciously forms primitive 
 judgments or inferences, recognizes the beautiful and 
 
56 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 participates it, and acts under the conviction of certain 
 fundamental principles of belief. All the materials of 
 perfect intelligence exist in these primary or primitive 
 intuitions, but they have to be reduced to definite forms 
 and consistent combinations. 
 
 Nature is truly a revelation. To the human soul 
 nature speaks in an intelligible language,which the brute 
 cannot understand. The brute looks on nature as it 
 looks on a book, — it sees lights and shades, but nothing 
 beyond; on the contrary, the human intelligence at once 
 deciphers the symbolic characters of that book. The 
 validity of our intuitive perceptions must, therefore, be 
 referred to this pre-constructed harmony between the 
 soul and nature. 
 
 Our primitive intuitions comprehend judgments, sen- 
 timents, and fundamental principles of belief. 
 
 Perception is the first stage of intelligence; but per- 
 ception, regarded as a distinct stage of intelligence, 
 involves something more than a summation of sensual 
 impressions. By perception we become immediately 
 conscious of the qualities of material objects. Out of our 
 perceptions arise certain necessary and intuitive judg- 
 ments. We perceive the properties of an object separate- 
 ly as well as in connection with the object considered as 
 :a collective unity, and thus recognize and distinguish 
 objects by their properties; every such cognition, 
 obviously, involves a judgment; in point of fact, a 
 proposition, which, though not expressed, is not the less 
 felt and understood as such. We perceive the physical 
 qualities of an object, but we apprehend something 
 more, — we are conscious that the me^ the percipient, is dis- 
 tinct from, and independent of, the not me, or the thing- 
 perceived. The sentiment of the beautiful is intuitive: 
 we look at a flower; — we perceive that it has a certain 
 shape, size, and color; but we apprehend far more than 
 this, — the perception is associated with pleasurable 
 emotions, and an indefinable sense of the leautifid fills the 
 ^oul. We listen to an exquisite piece of music; — we 
 have a perception of tone and time, but along wdth this 
 we have the perception of harmony. The moral and re- 
 
INTUITIVE PERCEPTIONS. 57 
 
 ligioiis sentiments are intuitive; the virgin simplicity of 
 a child's moral nature is too apparent to require illustra- 
 tion ; education too often blights this original simplicity. 
 Our intuitive sentiments involve some of the deepest 
 thoughts and principles of our existence. 
 
 Our primitive judgments or intuitive perceptions are, 
 of all our forms of intelligence,the most vivid and compre- 
 hensive. They give us all the elements of our subsequent 
 knowledge, not in signs, or abstract representations, but 
 immediately, in our self-consciousness. They are uni- 
 versal and invariable, for they are found as well in the 
 savage as in the civilized man. They are necesi^ary and 
 absolute; for to be different from what they are is im- 
 possible. They are formed spontaneously and intuitively; 
 that is to say, anterior to and irrespective of any re- 
 flective processes; they are unreiiective because they are 
 spontaneous, and spontaneous because they flow directly 
 from the primeval harmony existing between the mate- 
 rial and spiritual worlds. They embody all our experi- 
 ence; that is, experience in its most comprehensive sense. 
 
 Our experience (according to the usual acceptation of 
 the term) comprehends the knowledge derived from 
 sensation and reflection; but does our knowledge stop 
 here? We must be careful that we do not leave out some 
 element of the inquiry, and then repair the mutilation 
 by arbitrary inventions. The fact is, all knowledge hegim 
 with experience, but it does not end with experience. 
 There are certain intuitive principles of belief, as well 
 as certain primitive judgments, such as the relation of 
 cause and effect,which cannot be derived from experience. 
 Let us propose the question: — What is our primitive 
 impression relative to causation? Do we regard it 
 simply as a relation of succession, of antecedent and con- 
 sequent, or something more? Now the relation of 
 succession, which is really derived from experience, is a 
 very different thing from the relation of cause and effect. 
 When we say that fire melts wax, we mean something 
 more than that the phenomenon of fluidity succeeds the 
 phenomenon of the contact of fire; in fact, w^e believe 
 that there is some active principle in the fire which 
 
58 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 produces the fluidity. Again, our acts are not only 
 sequences to the operation of the will, — we regard them 
 (from the primitive laws of our mental operations) as 
 the direct effects of our volitions. Thus, every act of 
 attention is voluntary, but every voluntary act is char- 
 acterized by the circumstance that we consider ourselves 
 as the responsible cause of it. A cause, therefore, is 
 not merely an antecedent to a phenomenon, it is some- 
 thing more; it possesses an active productive power; we 
 cannot escape the conclusion, for it is involved in our 
 mental existence. To adduce any further illustrations 
 of the nature of our fundamental principles of belief is 
 unnecessary; enough has been said to render manifest 
 the general truth, — that they are based on the laws 
 which the Creator has established. 
 
 Every branch of knowledge must pass through the 
 intuitive before it can reach the abstract form; that is^ 
 the form of abstract representation. There is a reality, 
 a depth, an exhaustlessness, in our primitive knowledge, 
 but it is vague and undefined; it must become ohjectijied 
 before it can become definite; it must be fixed in the 
 representative form of language before it can become an 
 element of exact science. 
 
 Such is the primitive intelligence, — the intelligence 
 of perception and intuition. We now enter upon a new 
 and broader platform of development. Hitherto all our 
 cognitions have been immediate ; that is to say, they 
 have flowed directly from the sensations derived from 
 concrete things; now the faculties of memory, con- 
 ception, and representation come into active play, and 
 create a new world of cognitions, at once spiritual and 
 material, — the world of ideas, of signs, and representa- 
 tions. The facts of perception are no longer idealized 
 impressions, existing, as it were, only subjectively, or in 
 our consciousness; they now assume the representative 
 form of language, which is a symbolical representation of 
 thought, whereby we give a sort of independent and 
 external existence to the results of mental operations^ 
 The mind translates all its primitive judgments into 
 language, and the judgments so symbolized are called 
 
LAW OF ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 5^ 
 
 propositions. Primitive propositions (like primitive 
 judgments) express the relations of concrete things. 
 Language expresses our primitive judgments first in 
 the form of primitive propositions; but by the aid of the 
 faculty of abstraction, these judgments are gradually 
 generalized, and then the corresponding propositions 
 become general and abstract. Again, by the faculty of 
 abstraction we separate the elements of a proposition in 
 order to consider them separately; these elements are 
 abstract ideas. Thus, in the development of the under- 
 standing, we begin with judgment; then follow proposi- 
 tions; and last of all we have abstract ideas; judgments 
 are formed by the faculty of judgment, one of the 
 original functions of the mind. 
 
 We have observed that primitive judgments expressed 
 in language are called propositions, or it may be axioms. 
 Now it is important to bear in mind that these abstract 
 representative forms involve nothing more than what i& 
 contained in the primitive forms. When you tell a 
 child (with your *' subject, copula, and predicate ") that 
 "A rose is beautiful," you tell him nothing but what he 
 previously knew and apprehended in the form of a primi- 
 tive judgment; that is what you really do, — you show 
 him how to express his primitive judgments in language, 
 and thereby show him how he may give fixedness and 
 precision to his intuitive cognitions; that is, how he may 
 give to his silent thoughts and emotions "a local habita- 
 tion and a name." 
 
 The law regulating the acquisition of knowledge is this : 
 we cognize the concrete before the abstract, the concrete 
 being the simple, the abstract the difficult. Primitive 
 judgments formed in connection with the sensations de- 
 rived from concrete things, precede abstract representa- 
 tions and processes requiring the exercise of abstract 
 judgment and reason. A child judges of the color of an 
 object before he has formed any abstract idea of color; 
 he judges of the relation of numbers before he has formed 
 any idea of number apart from its concrete representa- 
 tions; he judges of form before he has any cognition of 
 the abstract definitions of form, and so on. Primi- 
 
60 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 tive judgments form the basis of all our koowledge, 
 whether of abstractions or of processes of reasoning. An 
 axiom is an abstract expression of a primitive judgment 
 formed in relation to the perception of actual objects; 
 these judgments exist in the mind and form the subject* 
 of perfect cognition before they are regarded in their 
 axiomatic form. Thus, for example, a child would not 
 understand you, if you were to tell him that two and 
 three make five in consequence of the axiom, that the 
 whole is equal to the sum of its parts; but he would 
 think and reason in accordance with it, if three objects 
 and two objects were placed before him in order that he 
 might ascertain their sum. 
 
 Primary education begins with the culture of our 
 intuitive perceptions; this culture chiefly consists in 
 affording occasions and stimulants for their development, 
 and in fixing them in the mind by means of representa- 
 tive language; this is what we mean by the cultivation 
 of the perceptive faculties. Hence object lessons, picture 
 lessons, etc., constitute the best forms of early culture. 
 
 To enlarge on this subject, at present, is unnecessary; 
 enough has been said to render manifest the general 
 truth, — that the young mind, at every stage of its 
 development, is more or less influenced by the culture of 
 the primitive or perceptive faculties. 
 
 Classification of the Faculties of the Mind. 
 
 The mind has intellect, feeling, and will. We 
 think, we feel, we act, that is to say, we have thoughts 
 and feelings, and we have also the power of controlling 
 our thoughts and feelings. Hence our internal phenom- 
 ena comprehend intellect, feelings or emotions, 
 and WILL. The ideal type of the human soul (the image 
 of God) consists in the full and harmonious development 
 of these three elements; the intellect, in this perfect 
 state of development, is characterized by feeedom of 
 thought; the emotions by benevolence or love; and 
 the will by unrestricted power. Under proper culture 
 :(with the blessing of God), the soul gradually assimilates 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF FACULTIES. 61 
 
 itself to this perfect state of development. It is true, 
 that in the present world we may never reach this ideal 
 istate of development,neverthele^s we may be constantly 
 tending towards it. 
 
 The strength and activity of a faculty depend on the 
 force of the will which animates it; and in like manner^ 
 the character of our emotions is determined by the 
 active force of the will. If we want to ascertain the 
 stage of development of the intellectual and moral fac- 
 ulties, we must look to the state of the will as regards 
 its freedom: this is the true index to all the other ope- 
 rations of the mind. In infancy, when the faculties are 
 feeble, there is little or no voluntary power; the mind 
 is chiefly governed by instincts and intuitions. On the 
 other hand, as we acquire more and more intellectual 
 and moral power, so we gain more and more force of 
 will. Our acts (intellectual as well as moral) are deter- 
 mined by actuating principles; that is to say, by motives, 
 by habits, and by instincts. Our force of will and 
 thought is evidenced by the character of our actuating 
 principles. 
 
 Four Distinct Stages of Development. 
 
 There are four phrases in our language which have 
 reference to four characteristic or distinct stages of 
 mental activity: Ipercei/vethQ thing; I have a conception 
 of the thing; I know or understand the thing; and I can 
 prove the thing. The faculties called into operation in 
 the first act may be named the perceptive faculties; 
 those in the second, the conceptive or representative 
 faculties; in the third, the knowing faculties, or 
 the faculties of the understanding; and in the fourth, 
 the REASONING FACULTIES. Thesc four classes of faculties 
 characterize four distinct stages of intellectual develop- 
 ment. Co-ordinate with these four intellectual stages we 
 have also four distinct stages of development of the emo- 
 tions and will. The first intellectual stage is marked by 
 a maximum of sensibility with a minimum force of will; 
 the second by a diminution of sensibility with an increase 
 
62 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOJf. 
 
 of the force of will ; the third, by a further diminution 
 of sensibility, with a further increase of the force of 
 will; and the fourth by a minimuni of sensibility with a 
 maximum force of will. These four stages, then,respect- 
 ively comprehend the condition of the intellect, the 
 emotions, and the will; that is, of the whole mind. All 
 the functions of the mind, more or less developed, exist 
 in these different stages; at the same time it must be 
 understood that one stage gradually merges into that 
 which succeeds it. These stages of development sepa- 
 rately exist under a condition of transition and assimila- 
 tion. The commencement of each is marked by the 
 birth of anew faculty which had previously existed only 
 in a latent or embryo form. They are distinguished 
 from one another by the peculiar activity of the faculty 
 which characterizes each; and they are mutually con- 
 nected by the necessity of a certain amount of simulta- 
 neous action and development.* 
 
 The classification of the intellectual and moral faculties 
 
 * The following mode of representation may aid the conception 
 in realizing the mutual relations of these stages of development. 
 
 Human intelligence, in its different forms of development, is 
 intermediate between the animal organism, the zero of intelli- 
 gence, and the infinite. Between the zero of intelligence and the 
 infinite there are four ascending stages, respectively continuous, 
 but each joined to the one which succeeds it by an abrupt line of 
 connection indicatmg the explicit development of a new power. 
 At each step of the ascent, we approach the infinite and recede 
 from the zero. At the base of these four ascending stages or plat- 
 forms of development, we place the line which marks the level 
 of the animal organism. Ascending from this base line, we have 
 the first stage of development, which marks the region of intui- 
 tion: somewhat abruptly this stage connects itself wilh the sec- 
 ond stage of development, which marks the region of representa- 
 tion, and so on, until we arrive at the most elevated stage of 
 human development, the region of thought and reflection, which 
 continually approaches the line of infinite elevation without ever 
 reaching it. However high human intelligence may rise in the 
 region of thought, it must always be infinitely removed from the 
 infinite intelligence, the image of God; but the first stage of 
 human intelligence in its descent approaches nearer and nearer, 
 until it is indefinitely near to the zero of intelligence, the animal 
 organism. 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF FACULTIES. 
 
 63 
 
 here proposed, is distinctly exhibited in the following 
 tabular forms. 
 
 I. Classification of the Faculties of the Mind as 
 A Whole. 
 
 Stages of 
 Development. 
 
 The Intellectual Facul- 
 ties. 
 
 The Moral Faculties. 
 
 The Feelings. 
 
 The Will. 
 
 1st Stage. 
 
 1 
 
 The Perceptive 
 Faculties. 
 
 Passive emotions 
 and sentiments. 
 
 Instinct and pas- 
 sions with little 
 voluntary power. 
 
 2cl Stage. 
 
 The Conceptive 
 or Eepresenta- 
 tive faculties. 
 
 Sentiments, active 
 emotions, and af- 
 fections. ' 
 
 Instincts and pas- 
 sions with some 
 voluntary power. 
 
 3d Stage. 
 
 The Knowing fa- 
 culties, or the 
 faculties of the 
 understanding 
 
 Affections more en- 
 larged and active. 
 
 Considerable force 
 of Will. 
 
 4th Stage. 
 
 The Keasoning 
 
 faculties. 
 
 Benevolence or 
 Love. 
 
 Freedom of Will. 
 
 II. Classification of the Intellectual Faculties. 
 
 stages of 
 Development. 
 
 Characteristic Class of 
 Faculties. 
 
 General Character of 
 each Class. 
 
 Individual Faculties in each 
 Class. 
 
 1st Stage. 
 
 The Perceptive 
 faculties. 
 
 Intuitive. 
 
 Sensation.Perception. 
 Attention. Observa- 
 tion. Retention. Pri- 
 mitive judgment or 
 intuitive perception. 
 
 2d Stage. 
 
 The Conceptive 
 or Representa- 
 tive faculties. 
 
 Representative. 
 
 Memory. Imitation. 
 Conception . Imagin- 
 ation. Association. 
 Recollection. Repre- 
 sentation as exhibit- 
 ed in language. Pri- 
 mitive judgment as- 
 sociated with con- 
 ception. 
 
64 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 1 
 
 stages of 1 Characteristic Class of 
 Development. i Faculties. 
 
 Geoeral Character of 
 each Class. 
 
 Individual Faculties in «atli 
 Class. 
 
 3d Stage. 
 
 The Knowing fa- 
 culties, or the 
 faculties of the 
 Understand- 
 ing. 
 
 Cognitive. 
 
 Abstraction. Classifi- 
 cation. Generaliza- 
 tion. Explicit com- 
 parison, composi- 
 tion, and analysis. 
 Judgment, etc. 
 
 4th Stage. 
 
 The Reasoning 
 faculties. 
 
 Cogitative. 
 
 Reason as exercised 
 in: Demonstration; 
 Induction; Explicit 
 Observation, Reflec- 
 tion; Speculative 
 thinking, etc. 
 
 Explanatory Remarks. 
 
 First Stage. — Here the cliaracteristic faculty is per- 
 ception; but all the faculties of intelligence must exist 
 rudimentally or implicitly in this stage of mental phe- 
 nomena. The chief motive principles are instinct and 
 intuition; yet at the same time it must be observed that 
 there cannot be the slightest consciousness of a sensation 
 without an act of attention, that is, without some activity 
 of will. On the whole, our mental phenomena, at this 
 stage, are characterized by sensibility and sentiment,, 
 rather than by thought and reflection. 
 
 Observation is a comj^ound faculty comprehending 
 (more or less according to circumstances) Discernment, 
 Comparison, Composition, and Implicit Abstraction. 
 Observation may be either implicit or explicit; that is, 
 it may be to a great extent an unconscious act of the 
 mind, or it may be in the highest sense a voluntary act, 
 performed from a preconcerted plan and for the attain- 
 ment of a specific and defined object. In the latter sense, 
 observation is decidedly a faculty of reason ; in the former 
 sense it belongs to the perceptive class of faculties. 
 
 Primitive Judgment is the faculty of judgment in its 
 fir st or primitive form, by the exercise of which the 
 ch ild at once cognizes simple truths or intuitive pro- 
 positions. Observation and Primitive Judgment may 
 
KETEJ^TIOJS^. MEMORY. 65 
 
 "be regarded as the nidimental or embryo forms of 
 Keason. 
 
 Retention is tbe primitive or rudimentary form of 
 memory. With a slight effort of will the prominent 
 features of an impression are retained in the mind; this 
 power we have called retention: but after the impression 
 has entirely faded from the mind it is revived or recalled 
 by the power of memory. By attention the mind lays 
 hold of sensational impressions, idealizes them, and 
 fixes them in the soul in the form of primitive knowl- 
 edge. Strictly speaking, we do not retain the sensa- 
 tional impression, but only those prominent portions of 
 it to which the attention has been most powerfully 
 directed, and which the mind has idealized, or made, as 
 it were, part of itself. We look intently at a striking- 
 object, — w^e close our eyes; the image of the object is 
 retained in the mind,not by a conscious effort of will, or 
 by an ordinary act of memory, but by a power some- 
 what resembling it. The products of sensations, consti- 
 tuting the results of experience, soon find a lodgment in 
 our mental treasury, and of their existence the mind be- 
 comes conscious whenever similar sensations are pre- 
 sented. The recurrence of the same sensation gradually 
 gives rise to the power of consciously recalling it. 
 
 In this stage, external phenomena and their relations 
 are viewed, less as subjects of tliought than as objects of 
 imtiment and feeling : the mind, standing, as it were, face 
 to face with the objects of perception,is necessarily more 
 engaged with the contemplation of the objects them- 
 selves than with its own self-consciousness; hence the 
 mind is more sensual than reflective. Now a new class 
 of faculties, memory and conception, are about to play 
 their part in the mental history, and to draw the mind 
 more away from the dominion of mere sensational im- 
 pressions: We now pass from the sphere of perception 
 and intuition to that of conception and representation. 
 
 Second Stage. — Here the first faculty to be considered 
 is MEMORY. We exercise this faculty when we recall 
 ideas or intuitions with the full and distinct consciousness 
 of the connection between the type and the antitype. 
 
66 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Attention, as a decidedly voluntary power,now exercises 
 the most powerful influences in the development of the 
 other faculties. We look intently at an object of beauty; 
 a sensation is produced, the attention is aroused: we 
 look again at the object and examine all its prominent 
 features, as well in their relations to one another as in 
 their relations to the object as a wdiole; we idealize the 
 sensation, that is, we throw it into a form suited to our 
 apprehension : here the mental operations involved in the 
 act of perception enable us readily to recall the image we 
 liave consciously constructed. Strictly speaking,memory 
 IS a repetition of a mental operation accompanied with 
 the consciousness of its prior existence; what we recall 
 is simply the product of the mind's operations. When 
 we remember a thing, we reproduce the mental opera- 
 tions connected with the immediate perception of it. 
 
 The next faculty to be considered is conception. In 
 every act of memory the image which is recalled is 
 always connected, in our consciousness, with the actual 
 impression which had been previously produced by the 
 object: but this image may become so idealized that we 
 at length lose sight of its connection with the original 
 impression; in fact, the idea,apart from the object itself, 
 may become a distinct object of consciousness and con- 
 templation: this mental j^rocess is called conception. 
 The peculiar function of conception is to store the mind 
 with ideas formed out of our immediate perceptions, by 
 aid of attention and memory. This accumulation of ideas 
 tends to elevate the mind more and more above the in- 
 fluence of external impres^ons; to give the mind a more 
 independent existence; to! engage it more in the con- 
 templation of the world of its own creation, — the world 
 of conceptions and inward representations. Imagina- 
 tion is a higher kind of conception; the latter is repro- 
 ductive, the o\\iev productive oi\ creative. Imagination com- 
 bines and modifies our concej^itions of existing things in 
 such a way as to produce a purely ideal or fictitious 
 representation. Conception is something more than 
 memory an the one hand, and something less than imag- 
 ination on the other. 
 
ASSOCIATION. 67 
 
 The faculty of association now gives us a new power 
 over our mental operations, — it gives order and ar- 
 rangement to our ideas and conceptions, and enables us 
 to represent them by signs and symbols. By the faculty 
 of association, certain sounds and written signs become 
 suggestive of, or associated with, certain ideas; the 
 name of a thing, for example, whether spoken or written, 
 becomes associated with the conception or idea of the 
 thing, so that the presence of the one suggests that of 
 the other. But we arrive at this result progressively. 
 The origin of language gives us the origin and natural 
 history of the faculty of representation. Our first out- 
 ward signs of ideas are gestures; a nod is the repre- 
 sentation of an affirmation; a shake of the head, of a 
 negation, and so on. Our natural wants are also indicated 
 by characteristic gestures. Sounds imitative of the 
 peculiar cries of animals are taken as the signs of the 
 idea of those animals. Oar natural expressions of plea- 
 sure, pain, surprise, etc., also readily become the symbols 
 of the mental states which they indicate. Spoken lan- 
 guage naturally comes before written language; a child 
 perceives a particular object; vre point to it and ex- 
 press its name; the process is repeated until at length 
 the idea of the object and the name of it are inseparably 
 associated in the child's mind. A child interprets a 
 life-like picture as we do a book; he reads in that 
 picture the history of the acts, passions, and habits of 
 the creatures represented. Picture writing is the next 
 obvious stage in the representative process, and it is not 
 difficult to conceive how the pictorial process of rep- 
 resentation would gradually merge into a purely 
 symbolic representation. A written language, then, 
 composed of arbitrary symbolic characters, is the highest 
 evidence of the free exercise of the representative fac- 
 ulty. It completely oljectifies our ideas, and gives, as 
 it were, a twofold existence to the products of thought. 
 Words and ideas exercise a reciprocal influence on each 
 other; the visible representation suggests its corre- 
 sponding idea, and the idea suggests its corresponding 
 representation. 
 
68 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 By the faculty of recollection we retain words,and, 
 through them, reproduce the ideas which they sym- 
 bolize. 
 
 Third Stage. — Language not only enables us to ex- 
 press our ideas by signs or words, but it further enables 
 us to express the various relations which these ideas 
 bear to one another, that is to say, it enables us to ex- 
 press our judgments in the form of propositions. This is 
 a step in advance of the foregoing stage of development. 
 Now we have to express our primitive judgments, em- 
 bodying all the results of our experience, in the form of 
 propositions; but, besides this, we have to classify, ex- 
 tend, and generalize these judgments, and to express 
 them in the form of general or abstract propositions. The 
 faculties of abstraction, classification, and generalization, 
 which have been hitherto only incidentally and implicitly 
 exercised, must now be methodically and explicitly 
 brought to bear upon the materials of knowledge. 
 
 There are two kinds of abstraction, viz., mediate and 
 immediate. In mediate abstraction, we compare the 
 qualities of different objects, reject their differences in 
 order to fix upon their resemblances, and from these 
 resemblances we derive a general or abstract idea. In 
 immediate abstraction, we compare the parts or qualities 
 of a single object; eliminating and neglecting the indi- 
 vidual and variable parts, we disengage the general and 
 invariable part, and give it the form of an abstract or 
 general idea. In both cases the end proposed is the 
 derivation of a general idea; this general idea, being 
 fixed and expressed by a term, will be henceforth used 
 as a common sign of a complete class of phenomena. 
 The mind, by fixing its attention on abstract words, or 
 general terms, as the signs of ideas, disengages itself 
 from the minor details involved in the contemplation of 
 the concrete world. 
 
 Having gained a new store of abstract and general 
 terms, we express our judgments in those terms, and 
 thus derive abstract propositions. We compare abstract 
 terms with each other, so as to determine their agree- 
 ment or disagreement; we analy%e propositions express- 
 
INDUCTIVE REASONING. 69 
 
 ing our judgments, and put the elements together in 
 another form better suited to our apprehension. These 
 mental operations indicate that we have passed into a 
 higher region of thought, and that we have arrived at an 
 altitude of development which gives us a wider, a more 
 exact, and a less obstructed range of view than we had 
 iit the anterior period of development. 
 
 Fourth Stage. — Being provided with the great in- 
 strument of thought — ^language — reason now freely 
 expands itself; it wings its ways into every region of 
 inquiry in search of truth; it methodizes all its ma- 
 terials of thought, and proceeds to investigate truth 
 according to certain definite and explicit modes; it lays 
 down certain self-determined principles of action, and 
 suborns to itself all the other operations of the mind; 
 with a penetrating and comprehensive glance, it looks 
 back upon all the processes of thought through which it 
 has passed, and links the past with the present, and the 
 present Avith the future. Reason, in this condition of 
 freedom, is not merely cognitive, it is also cogitative; it 
 not merely seeks knowledge, but it also seeks to discover 
 the sources of knowledge; — it endeavors to penetrate 
 truth to its very centre, — to trace truth in its origin, 
 history, and consequences. 
 
 Inductive reasoning leads us to a knowledge of the 
 general laws of nature; deductive reasoning enables us 
 to tell the antecedents of any given phenomenon, and to 
 foretell its consequents. By abstract or speculative 
 reason we attain a knowledge of universal truths, em- 
 bracing alike the laws which govern the operations of 
 nature, and the operations of thought. Our intelligence 
 is now much higher in the scale of development, than 
 that which we characterized by conception and under- 
 standing; it contains the ideality of the one combined 
 with the exactness of the other; it embodies all the 
 anterior developments in one harmonious, definite unity; 
 — in short, it is complete freedom of thought under the 
 condition of law and responsibility. 
 
70 philosophy of education. 
 
 Essential Points to be consideked in eelation to 
 Method as applied to Education. 
 
 I. The nature of the faculties. 
 
 II. The subjects best adapted for the cultivation of 
 each class of faculties. ^ 
 
 III. The nature of the motives acting on each class of 
 faculties. 
 
 IV. The habits of action to be established in relation 
 to each class of faculties. 
 
 V. The methods of instruction adapted to each class 
 of faculties. 
 
 YI. Application of results to the different periods of 
 education. 
 
 I. Nature of the Faculties. 
 
 The nature of the faculties may be viewed under the 
 following aspects: — 
 
 1. The peculiar function of each faculty. 
 
 2. Mutual relation of the faculties. 
 
 3. Classification of the faculties with respect to their 
 simultaneous cultivation. 
 
 1. The Peculiar Function of each Faculty, 
 
 "What we have further to adduce relative to the nature 
 of each faculty, has a special bearing on method as ap- 
 plied to education. 
 
 It has been observed that reason and other faculties 
 of thought, exist in a rudimentary form at the very earli- 
 est stages of development; but there is a period in our 
 intellectual growth when these faculties attain certain de- 
 finite or explicit stages of development. So far as regards 
 the purpose of elementary education, it may be assumed 
 that each faculty may exist in two distinct states of de- 
 velopment; viz., in its first or simple form of develop- 
 ment, or in its latest or complex form. What, then, are 
 the characteristics of these two states? 
 
 Certain faculties may exist in distinct and determinate 
 states of development, depending for the most part on the 
 
FUNCTIONS OF THE FACULTIES. 71 
 
 nature of the subject of instruction; that is to say, whether the 
 tulject he concrete or abstract. 
 
 In general a faculty will exist either in a simple or in 
 a complex state, according as the subject to which it is 
 directed is concrete or abstract. Thus, we may have 
 either simple conception or abstract conception; simple 
 abstraction or complex abstraction; simple memory or 
 recollection, ideality or imagination; intuitive reasoning 
 or abstract reasoning, and so on. These faculties at the 
 first stage of their development have simple and definite 
 functions, whereas at the latest stage they assume new 
 and more complex functions as we rise higher into the 
 region of intellection. It is true that these two states of 
 development gradually merge into each other, accorditg 
 as we blend the two classes of subjects together. 
 
 Conception. — Our simplest conceptions are formed by the 
 aid of models and pictorial representations; abstract con- 
 eeption is the conception of a thing formed from a verbal 
 description of it. 
 
 Imagination. — This faculty, in its latest state of de- 
 velopment, creates fictitious scenes and events, and in- 
 vests mere abstractions with all the qualities of vital 
 existence. But the ideality peculiar to young children 
 is very little removed from simple conception; with the 
 aid of visible representations they form the idea of absent 
 objects or distant scenes; a stick with a rag tied round 
 it is invested with all the qualities of a living baby; a 
 small picture enables them to realize the idea of an unseen 
 reality; in this case the ideal conception is formed in 
 connection with the concrete representation. 
 
 Abstraction. — A child's first abstractions are derived 
 from a comparative examination of the properties of con- 
 crete things: He forms an abstract idea of number by 
 counting various familiar objects; he forms the abstract 
 conception of a quadrupedby observing the fact that cats, 
 dogs, horses, etc., have a certain quality in common, viz., 
 four legs or four feet. Whereas in some of our higher 
 abstractions the subject undergoes a process of intellec- 
 tion, or intellectual elaboration, before the abfe^tractions 
 are completed. Thus, in order to realize the idea of a 
 
72 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 noun, the child must frequently form a double or complex 
 abstraction; for the name of a thing (e. g. bird) is a noun, 
 not the thing itself; on the other hand, a horse is really a 
 quadruped. 
 
 Some eminent writers on education assert " that the 
 faculty of abstraction is the latest in the development of 
 the human mind." Now this is only true as regards the 
 faculty of complex ahsfraction, for even young children 
 readily exercise the faculty of simple ahstraction. 
 
 Ideas of number, form, magnitude, weight, color, etc., 
 belong to our simple abstractions; ideas connected with 
 our mental operations, the analysis of language, pure 
 science, etc., belong to our complex abstractions. 
 
 Reason.— A child's reasoning chiefly consists in making 
 simple deductions or inferences from palpable facts or 
 from the relations of concrete things; whereas reason,in 
 its highest form of development,investigates the relations 
 of abstract things. Mental arithmetic,taught by objects, 
 calls into activity this early or first form of reason ; phys- 
 sical laws, geometry, etc., taught in the same manner, 
 also exercise this first form of reason. 
 
 The peculiar function of reason is the investigation 
 and recognition of truth; but in every process of 
 reasoning there is always something taken for granted 
 or assumed to be true. The truths assumed may be 
 self-evident axioms, facts derived from observation and 
 experiraent,principles derived from induction, or abstract 
 ^propositions which have been previously established. 
 When a child reasons about familiar things, or familiar 
 phenomena, the axioms forming the basis of his in- 
 ferences are not expressed in an abstract form of 
 language, — they are rather understood from their actual 
 and special relation to the subjects or objects; in fact, 
 his belief in these axioms is of that silent, unconscious, 
 instinctive kind of behef. 
 
 The simplicity or complexity of a process of reasoning 
 depends upon, 1. The nature of the subject; 2. The 
 method; 3. The nature or form of the axiomatic truths 
 or propositions, as the case may be. 
 
 1. The nature of the subject. The subject may be 
 
MUTUAL RELATION OF THE FACULTIES. 73 
 
 either concrete or abstract. In the former case, other 
 things being the same, our reasoning will be simple or 
 intuitive; in the latter case abstract. 
 
 2. The method may be experimental, inductive, ten- 
 tative, or some other method which appeals to the per- 
 ceptive faculties; or it may be abstract, that is, the 
 method may appeal to the reflective faculties, and not to 
 the perceptive faculties. In the former case, other things 
 being in keeping, our reasoning will be simple or intui- 
 tive; in the latter case abstract. 
 
 3. The nature or form of the axiomatic truths or 
 propositions. These may be explained in connection 
 with the particular subject, or they may be expressed in 
 the form of abstract truths. In the former case, other 
 things being in keeping, our reasoning will be simple or 
 intuitive; in the latter case abstract. 
 
 Hence we come to the general conclusion, that our 
 reasoning will be more or less abstract or difficult, 
 according as the faculty of abstraction is more or less 
 exercised in the process. 
 
 That our intellectual faculties may exist in two dis- 
 tinct states of development seems to have been over- 
 looked by teachers, as well as by educational writers: 
 these states, as we have endeavored to show, depend on 
 the nature of the subject to which the faculty is directed; 
 the concrete exercising the simple form of the faculty, 
 and the abstract the complex form of the faculty. The 
 result of this misconception has been that the cultivation 
 of the higher faculties has been too much neglected in 
 our elementary schools. We have no hesitation in say- 
 ing that the higher faculties, in their first or simple 
 forms, may be healthfully exercised at an early age. A 
 child of seven years readily forms simple abstractions, 
 and reasons clearly about concrete things. 
 
 2, Mutual Relation of the Faculties. 
 
 The following points of relation are worthy of consid- 
 eration: — 
 
74 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 1. Relation of succession. 2. Relation of assimilation. 
 3. Relation of aggregation. 
 
 1. Relation of succession. In our various mental pro- 
 cesses there is a natural order of succession as regards 
 the action of the faculties. Thus, sensation is followed 
 by perception; perception and attention are followed by- 
 memory and conception; conception, observation, &c., 
 by abstraction; and so on. This order of succession 
 seems to correspond with the order of development as 
 
 given at p. 63. 
 
 2. Relation of assimilation. All the faculties are at 
 first feeble and circumscribed as to their modes of 
 action, but under proper culture they gradually gain 
 strength and assume new modes of action. This growth 
 and development is in many cases equivalent to the 
 assimilation of one faculty to another. Thus: — attention 
 intensified becomes concetitration, or that faculty whereby 
 w^e direct the undivided force of the faculties to a given 
 subject. OhservaU'on intensified and methodized becomes an 
 important element of inductive reasoning. The con- 
 ception of a thing, from a verbal description, is an ideal 
 operation nearly allied to imagination. The conceptive 
 faculties verge upon the abstract faculties; to form a 
 true and complete conception of a complex object we 
 must examine its parts, compare them with each other, 
 and form a conception of them separately as well as in 
 their relations to the whole. And so on to other fac- 
 ulties. 
 
 3. Relation of aggregation. A complex mental ope- 
 ration may be regarded as an aggregation of certain 
 simple operations. Each class of faculties has a leading- 
 faculty characterizing the group. Perception is the 
 leading or characteristic faculty of the perceptive facul- 
 ties; conception and representation, of the conceptive 
 and representative faculties; the judgment, of the 
 knowing faculties; and reason, of the reasoning facul- 
 ties. Each successive group may be regarded as an 
 aggregation of all the faculties in the groups preceding 
 it, connected with the faculties peculiar to each group. 
 
SIMULTANEOUS ACTION OF THE FACULTIES. 75 
 
 The different stages of a faculty depend on the mode 
 of the aggregation. 
 
 Recollection, or philosoj^hical memory, is simple 
 MEMORY acting in conjunction with the faculty of asso- 
 ciation, and sometimes with that of reason. 
 
 Ideality is the ideal faculty acting in conjunction 
 with the perceptive faculties. Imagination is a more 
 ideal kind of conception. 
 
 Simple abstraction is the abstractive faculty acting 
 in conjunction with the perceptive faculties. Complex 
 ABSTRACTION is the abstractive faculty acting in con- 
 junction with the conceptive faculties or the representa- 
 tive faculties, or with an abstraction previously formed. 
 
 Intuitive reason is the rational faculty acting in 
 conjunction with the perceptive faculties, and it may 
 be with simple abstraction. Abstract reason is the 
 rational faculty acting in conjunction with complex 
 abstraction. 
 
 In order to cultivate any faculty, or class of faculties, 
 we should make ourselves acquainted with the mode of 
 aggregation. 
 
 3. The Faculties considered with respect to their simultaneous^ 
 Action and Cultivation. 
 
 The connection between some of our faculties is so 
 close that we cannot exercise one without exercising 
 another. Thus, perception, as well as conception, is 
 almost always associated with primitive judgment, etc.; 
 the faculty of conception cannot be exercised without 
 memory; the faculties of conception and language are 
 invariably exercised together, — the conception of a 
 thing and the name of the tiling are almost inseparable; 
 the faculties of abstraction and classification depend upon 
 those of conception and comparison ; reason and judgment 
 presuppose the development of observation, conception, 
 comparison, abstraction, and language, and so on. 
 
 As many of our faculties are almost contemporaneous 
 in their action, the cultivation of one class of faculties 
 necessarily involves the cultivation of some other. To 
 
V6 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 cultivate any faculty by itself is scarcely practicable, 
 and, indeed, if it were practicable, it is not desirable. In 
 giving a lesson, the skilful teacher suits his instruction 
 to the cultivation of a series of faculties having a mutual 
 affinity. 
 
 Each class of faculties may be cultivated by itself or 
 in combination with some other; special attention should 
 be given to the leading or characteristic faculty in each 
 class. But certain combinations are more eligible for 
 simultaneous cultivation than others. The conceptive 
 and representative faculties should be cultivated along 
 with the perceptive faculties. Memory depends solely 
 upon the activity of attention. Language, especially 
 technical and abstract terms, should be first taught in 
 connection with the exercise of the perceptive faculties. 
 Abstraction, judgment, and reason, in the early states of 
 their development, should be cultivated in connection 
 with the observing or perceptive faculties. The recol- 
 lective faculty, or simple memory combined with the 
 faculty of association, shouldbe cultivated in connection 
 with the reasoning faculties. And so on to other cases. 
 As a general rule applicable to early training, we should 
 say that the perceptive faculties should form the basis 
 of cultivation for all the other faculties of the mind. 
 
 II. The Subjects best adapted for the Cultivatioj^ 
 
 OF THE DIFFERENT FACULTIES. 
 
 Classification of subjects. — The leading topics of 
 .school instruction may be reduced to five. 
 
 1. The knowledge and application of facts and prin- 
 ciples of direct observation, under which may be in- 
 cluded Object Lessons, Lessons on familiar natural 
 phenomena and natural history. Mental Arithmetic, 
 Drawing, Writing, Speaking, Meaning of terms and 
 phrases, etc. 
 
 These subjects specially cultivate the perceptive facul- 
 ties, and the conceptive and representative faculties, to- 
 gether with simple abstraction and intuitive reason. 
 
 2. The knowledge and application of signs and symbols, 
 
NATURE OF MOTIVES. 77 
 
 to which WG may refer Reading, Orthography, Symbol- 
 ical Arithmetic, etc. 
 
 These subjects chiefly cultivate the representative 
 faculties. 
 
 3. The knowledge of facts generally, which includes 
 Descriptive Geography, Natural History, Narratives^ 
 History (especially of our own country), etc. 
 
 These subjects specially cultivate the knowing facul- 
 ties. 
 
 4. The knowledge of general laws and abstract rela- 
 tions, to which we may refer Natural and Experimental 
 Philosophy, Physical Geography, Arithmetic, Algebra, 
 Geometry, Grammar, etc. These subjects specially cul- 
 tivate the reasoning faculties. 
 
 5. The knowledge which inculcates sentiment and ex- 
 cites reflection, comprehending General Reading, Poetry, 
 Music, Religion, etc. 
 
 These subjects specially cultivate the imagination and 
 all the higher or reflective faculties, together with the 
 moral and religious sentiments. 
 
 in. Natuke of the Motives acting on each Class of 
 Faculties. 
 
 The most important motives of action, so far as relates 
 to intellectual culture, are as follows: — 
 
 1. Curiosity, or the desire for knowledge. 2. Love of 
 the beautiful and the wonderful. 3. The pleasure con- 
 nected with the healthful exercise of the faculties. 4^ 
 The pleasure of success. 6. Sympathy and emulation. 
 6. Desire of approbation. 7. Hope of reward. 8. Fear 
 of punishment. 9. Love of distinction. 10. Love of 
 truth. 11. Sense of duty. 12. The pleasure derived 
 from the possession of knowledge and the consciousness 
 of power. 
 
 The first four motives are specially applicable to the 
 cultivation of all the faculties at their early stages of 
 development; as far as regards the cultivation of the 
 perceptive, conceptive, and representative faculties, 
 scarcely any other motives of action are necessary. But 
 the range of motives must be enlarged wath the growth 
 
18 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 and development of the faculties. The cultivation of 
 the knowing and reasoning faculties frequently requires 
 the aid of almost every legitimate motive. Motives of 
 action should be varied according to the diversities of 
 intellect, character, and subjects of instruction. When 
 one motive loses its power another may be effective. 
 
 IV. The Habits op Action to be established in rela- 
 
 tion TO each Class of Faculties. 
 
 The most important habits of action, so far as relates 
 to intellectual culture, are as follows; — 
 
 1. Continuous attention. 2. Careful observation. 3. 
 Vivacity — Earnestness — Mental activity — Promptitude. 
 4. Docility — Veneration — Obedience — Order — Exact- 
 ness. 5. Self-reliance — Though tfuln ess — Self -culture — 
 Self-examination — Self-control. 6. Concentration — 
 Abstractive attention — Systematic study — Analytic ex- 
 amination — Distributive classification of knowledge — 
 Realization and self-appropriation of knowledge— De- 
 cision of character — Strenuous and laborious application. 
 v. Reflection — Candor — Devotedness in the pursuit of 
 truth — Self-dedication — The philosophic spirit — Correct 
 thinking, speaking, writing, and feeling. 
 
 The first five habits should be specially cultivated in 
 relation to all the faculties at their early stages of de- 
 velopment. These habits, however, have a special rela- 
 tion to the perceptive, imitative, and conceptive facul- 
 ties; but the range of habits must be enlarged with the 
 growth and development of the faculties. The habits 
 included in the 6th group should be established in rela- 
 tion to the exercise of the knowing or understanding 
 faculties; and those included in the Ith group should 
 be established in connection with the cultivation of the 
 reasoning faculties. 
 
 V. The Methods of Instruction adapted to each 
 
 Class of Faculties. 
 
 The general principles of Method, contained in chap. 
 IV. are more or less applicable to the cultivation of all 
 
EDUCATIONAL PERIODS. 79 
 
 the faculties; and Part II. of this work contains specific 
 methods for the cultivation of the different classes of 
 faculties. 
 
 YI. Application of Results to the different 
 Periods of Education. 
 
 Five Educational Periods. 
 
 Our early life may be divided into five periods. 1. 
 Infancy, comprehending about four years. 2. Early 
 childhood, extending from four to about seven years of 
 age. 3. Ohildbood, extending from seven to about ten 
 years of age. 4. Early youth, from ten to about f oufteen 
 years of age. 5. Youth, extending from the age of 
 fourteen to manhood. 
 
 First Period, Infancy. 
 
 The infant has first to acquire the right use of his 
 senses. During the later part of this period the per- 
 ceptive faculties attain a coasiderable degree of vigor 
 and acuteness; and the conceptive and representative 
 faculties, constituting the first evidences of mental exist- 
 ence, also characterize the later part of this period. As 
 the brain, the organ of thought, is in an imperfect state, 
 our instruction should be entirely of a desultory charac- 
 ter; we should wait for the spontaneous development 
 of the faculties. Speaking, singing, and the names of 
 familiar objects constitute the chief subject matters of 
 instruction. 
 
 Second Period, Early CJdldhood. 
 
 This period is marked by a greater activity and pre- 
 cision of the conceptive and representative faculties, as- 
 sociated to some extent with the knowing faculties, and 
 the first glimmerings of reason. The sensibilities of the 
 child are also quickened, and the impressions produced 
 by external objects are deeper and more lasting. Atten- 
 tion, at first spontaneous, now becomes a voluntary facul- 
 ty. At the early part of this period, instruction should 
 be identified with amusement, and all technical learning 
 
go PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 
 
 should be carefully excluded. We should invest our 
 subjects of instruction with some charm calculated to 
 engage the feelings. . During this period the mind should 
 be prepared for commencing the exertions required at 
 the subsequent period. Without being technical or 
 strictly systematic, our subjects of instruction should be 
 comprehensive, the exclusive object of all our instruction 
 being the development of the faculties. Speaking, 
 singing, object lessons, lessons on striking natural phe- 
 nomena, picture lessons, mental arithmetic, and the facts 
 of Scripture (life of Christ, etc.), should form the chief 
 subjects of instruction throughout the whole of this 
 period. At the latter part of this period, wanting, 
 drawing, reading, common arithmetic, and geography 
 should be taught in such a way as to form the basis 
 of future instruction. Intuitive truths, or simple pro- 
 positions, may also be taught as inferences from famil- 
 iar facts. 
 
 : Third Periodt Childhood* 
 
 This period is chiefly marked by the dawn of reason 
 and imagination, and the fuller develoj)ment of the facul- 
 ties of the understanding. During this period, the 
 studies of the preceding period should be extended and 
 associated with easy processes of reasoning and abstrac- 
 tion. The abstract terms and phrases of language, 
 arithmetic, geometry, natural science, and grammar, 
 should be taught in connection with their concrete 
 forms. Lessons on general knowledge should also be 
 given, comprehending simple stories, narratives, histori- 
 cal sketches, and descriptions of natural scenery, in 
 prose as w^ell as in verse. 
 
 Fourth Period, Early Youth. 
 
 Although the perceptive and conceptive faculties still 
 maintain their ascendancy, yet during this period the 
 understanding and reason attain a certain degree of 
 strength. Reason now gives strength and vivacity to 
 
GENERAL PKlNCirLES OF TEACHING. 81 
 
 all the other faculties, and especially to the recollective 
 faculty. As the mind is now capable of more sustained 
 exertion, the habit of intensified attention, or the habit 
 of directing the undivided force of the faculties to a 
 given subject, should form an important object of cul- 
 ture. The subjects of instruction belonging to the fore- 
 going period should be enlarged, and studied more 
 systematically, yet not without a due regard to the 
 imperfect state of the reflective faculties. Language, 
 mathematics, and the physical sciences and useful arts, 
 should be specially studied, not only as means of intel- 
 lectual culture, but also as subjects having a direct 
 bearing on the business of life. 
 
 Fifth Period. Yoiith. ' 
 
 During this period all the faculties of our nature at- 
 tain their full development. Every subject must now 
 be studied in its most technical and systematic form ; that 
 is, supposing the preceding periods have been duly im- 
 proved. Every study must now be pursued with earnest- 
 ness, vigor, and determination; and duties, requiring 
 strenuous and continued labor, should be performed 
 with cheerfulness and exactness for the sake of the end 
 to be attained. Competitive examinations and rewards 
 now become appropriate as well as powerful stimulants 
 to exertion. During this period the subjects of study 
 should have a special bearing on the profession or 
 business for which the youth is being educated. 
 
 CHAP. lY. 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING, OR ELEMENTS OF METHOD. 
 
 Have we arrived at any well recognized general prin- 
 ciples of method as applied to education? If so, what 
 are they? Unfortunately the philosophy of method has 
 never yet been systematically studied by practical 
 teachers, nor have its principles been fairly applied by 
 
82 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 them with the view of determining what are the true 
 general principles or axioms of education. However, a 
 careful induction of recognized psychological facts has 
 led us to regard the following as deserving a place 
 amongst those axioms or general principles. The un- 
 settled state of our knowledge on this subject will form 
 the best apology for the imperfection, or it may be the 
 errors, of the following summary of general principles. 
 It will be observed that many of these principles give 
 different faces or aspects of the same general principle; 
 such aspects are essential to the full development of the 
 subject matter, and give a precision and a distinctiveness 
 to the different modes in which an important general 
 principle may \>e applied. 
 
 I. Our methods of education should act in co-operation with, and 
 should form adjuncts to, the natural order and mode of devel- 
 opment of the physical, intellectual, and moral faculties of thf 
 children ; in short, we must teach children after the way hy 
 ivhich nature intended that they should he taught. 
 
 This must comprehend all other general principles of 
 education. 
 
 The faculties of children develop themselves slowly; 
 one faculty shows itself before another; some are as 
 active, and almost as vigorous, in the child as they are 
 in the full-grown man, — such as perception,simple mem- 
 ory, curiosity, etc.; on the contrary, certain faculties 
 never attain their full development until the child has 
 arrived at the period of maturity, — such as recollection, 
 or philosophical memory, imagination, abstraction, rea- 
 son, etc. 
 
 All the faculties are invigorated by being properly 
 exercised; whereas, on the other hand, they may be en- 
 feebled by being overtasked, or by being exercised on 
 subjects which do not come within their proper sphere. 
 The subjects of instruction, as well as the methods of 
 instruction, should be adapted to the strength of the 
 faculties. 
 
NATURAL DEVELOPMENT OF FACULTIES. 83 
 
 Our business is not to destroy any faculty, but to 
 follow out the intentions of nature in relation to its de- 
 velopment; — our business is not to create any faculty, 
 but to cultivate all the faculties which God has bestowed 
 upon the child, according to the plan or method which 
 He has ordained. 
 
 The cultivation of any faculty should have a relation 
 to the period at which it develops itself; thus, for ex- 
 ample, the faculty of observation is strong in young 
 children, that of abstract reason is weak; hence we should 
 communicate knowledge to young children throuo^h their 
 perceptive faculties, and we should at the same time be 
 careful that we do not overtask the faculty of reason. 
 Certain faculties attain distinct states of development 
 corresponding to the growth of the mind as a whole; ide- 
 ality, simple abstraction, and intuitive reason are devel- 
 oped at an early period; whereas complex abstraction 
 and abstract reason are the latest in the development of 
 the human mind. 
 
 As a first condition of success in teaching, the master 
 should be thoroughly acquainted with the laws regu- 
 lating the development of the faculties of the being to be 
 educated; his work becomes comparatively easy and 
 pleasant when his methods of instruction are framed in 
 accordance with these laws. 
 
 The various faculties require distinct modes of culti- 
 vation; so that what may be requisite for the develop- 
 ment of one, may not be best adapted for the develop- 
 ment of another; one course of study may cultivate the 
 faculty of recollection, another course that of imagina- 
 tion; and so on. In order, therefore, to give a full 
 elucidation of this subject, it is necessary that we should 
 consider the various faculties of our nature in detail, 
 with the view of determining the best modes for their 
 respective cultivation. This we purpose to do in another 
 part of this work. But there are certain general prin- 
 ciples which have respect to the development of the 
 mind as a whole, and these we purpose to consider be- 
 fore giving an account of the cultivation of particular 
 faculties, or particular classes of faculties. 
 
84 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 On the cultivation of peculiar tempers and talents of 
 children, Locke observes: *' We must not hope wholly 
 to change their original tempers, nor make the gay 
 pensive and grave, nor the melancholy sportive without 
 spoiling them. God has stamped certain characters upon 
 men's minds, which, like their shapes, may perhaps be a 
 little mended; but can hardly be totally altered and 
 transformed into the contrary. He, therefore, that is 
 about children, should well study their natures and apti- 
 tudes, and see by often trials, what turn they easily take, 
 and what becomes them; observe what their nat've 
 stock is, how it may be improved, and what it is fit for; 
 he should consider what they want, whether they be ca- 
 pable of having it wrought into them by industry, and 
 incorporated there by practice; and whether it be worth 
 while to endeavor it. For in many cases, ail that we 
 can do, or should aim at, is, to make the best of what 
 nature has given, to prevent the vices and faults to 
 which such a constitution is most inclined, and give it all 
 the advantages it is capable of. Every one's natural 
 genius should be carried as far as it could; but to attempt 
 the putting another upon him, will be but labor in vain; 
 and what is so plastered on, will at best sit but unto- 
 wardly, and have always hanging to it the ungraceful- 
 ness of constraint and affectation." 
 
 II. The chief object of primary educatio7i is to develop all the 
 faculties of our nature, physical, intellectual, and moral. At 
 the same time, the development of the faculties of children 
 ahove a certain age, should have a due regard to their future 
 employment in the present world, as ivell as to their future 
 destiny in the world to come. Instruction should he character- 
 ized by the principle of utility and development. 
 
 The first ten years of a child's life is peculiarly the 
 period of development. During this period the acquisi- 
 tion of knowledge is in itself a very secondary object, — 
 it is a 7neans for securing a great end^ and that end is 
 the development of the faculties. No knowledge, how- 
 
K.VOWLEDGE A MEANS TO AX END. 85 
 
 ever valuable in itself, can compensate for the deadening 
 influence which its acquisition may have had upon the 
 faculties of the child; on the other hand, no knowledge, 
 however trifling in itself, should be despised which en- 
 livens and invigorates these faculties. 
 
 The mind, from its very constitution, seeks to develop 
 itself. A boy is not a mere recipient of knowledge; his 
 faculties are continually developing themselves by exer- 
 cise. Everything in the world around him tends to 
 stimulate this development. His Creator has placed 
 him in this beautiful world, where all its laws and 
 phenomena tend to quicken, develop,and elevate his phys- 
 ical, intellectual, and moral faculties. The creature 
 should surely follow out the intentions of the Creator! 
 
 But educators, in the place of fostering this develop- 
 ment, have too frequently directed their energies to 
 counteract it, — instead of regarding knowledge as a 
 means J they have looked upon it as an end. " Some 
 propose (observes Woodbridge) as the object of all their 
 efforts, to communicate as much positive knowledge as 
 possible; they often produce living encyclopaedias, unfit 
 for useful activity. Oi.hers perceive how little this ac- 
 cumulation of abstract kuow^iedge avails in preparation 
 for active life, and direct their attention almost ex- 
 clusively to matters of a practical nature. On this plan, 
 there is no small danger of producing mere instruments 
 for others — men almost incapable of original thought or 
 independent action." These systems taken separately are 
 obviously imperfect. The faculties, as we have already 
 showni, can always be developed in harmony with the 
 useful nature of the subjects of instruction, for what is 
 most instruetive to the mind of the hoy will generally be 
 found to be the most useful to the man\ so that, in reality, 
 there is not necessarily any antagonism between the prin- 
 ciple of utiiit^r and that of development. Withoui losing 
 sight of the importance of practical knowledge,especially 
 at the later stages of elementary instruction, the truly 
 enlightened educator- will ever regard the development 
 of the faculties as the great end of all his teaching; but 
 from the various useful matters of instruction, he will 
 
86 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 always select that wbich is best calculated to secure this 
 end, and his mode or system of teaching will always have 
 a reference to the same great end. The question with 
 him will not be, — have I conveyed the greatest amonnt 
 of technical knowledge in the least possible time? have 
 I engrafted the ideas of the man upon the mind of the 
 boy? but it will rather be, — have I awakened any ele- 
 ment of intellectual or moral vitality which had hitherto 
 lain dormant? have, I invigorated or purified any faculty 
 which had hitherto existed in a feeble, or in an imperfect 
 state of development? and has all this been attained with 
 a due regard to the future pursuits and destiny of the 
 pupil? 
 
 " England expects every man to do his duty." The 
 schoolmaster has a sacred duty to discharge in relation 
 to his country, — he has to educate his pupils in such a 
 way that they may be fully prepared for carrying out the 
 work which she expects them to perform. England has 
 a great destiny to fulfil! on her empire the sun never 
 sets! she holds under her sway the fairest and richest 
 portions of the globe! and to all of them she has to ex- 
 tend the blessings of her civilization. What our people 
 have done for North America, we have yet to do for 
 South Africa and Asia; the jungle, the lair of the lion 
 and the tiger, has to be converted into corn fields and 
 gardens; our mining appliances have to be transported 
 to the gold fields of Australia; railways, facilitating the 
 transport of material and produce, have to be constructed 
 in all our great colonies; and our various forms of ma- 
 chinery, economizing time and labor, have to be estab- 
 lished wherever nature affords facilities and scope for 
 their application. Now which is the class of men best 
 qualified for carrying out this mighty work? Is it our 
 classical scholars and abstract mathematicians? Surely 
 not; we want men of heads and hands; men of skilled 
 labor, thoroughly conversant with all our practical 
 sciences and arts. Teachers! such is the class of men 
 at present wanted by your country, and the training of 
 such men should form one great object of your school 
 instruction. 
 
DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE HARMONIOUS. 87 
 
 III. But the end of education is not merely to develop the facul- 
 ties of the child, it is also to develop them all in harmony with 
 one another, and with a due regard to their proper order and 
 relative importance. 
 
 Nature, or rather the God of nature, intended that the 
 development of the intellectual and moral faculties should 
 he complete and harmonious, that no faculty should be 
 cultivated at the expense of another, and that every 
 Yicious and morbid tendency should be restrained and 
 corrected. The work of education should be corrective 
 as well as directive. The basis of our instruction, as 
 well as the methods of instruction, should be commen- 
 surate with the complete development of the faculties. 
 
 Every faculty should be cultivated the moment it is 
 capable of healthy action, for the ultimate force of any 
 faculty is dependent upon its early exercise, not less than 
 upon the frequency with which it is exercised. In early 
 youth all the faculties are under our control, and may 
 be readily moulded by education; but at a later period 
 they acquire such a rigidity and set as to resist further 
 change or improvement. 
 
 Whilst all the faculties have each an independent mode 
 of action, and admit of distinct modes of culture, the 
 complete development of one faculty often depends on 
 the exercise of another; for example, the faculty of 
 recollection, which is the most perfect form of memory, 
 depends upon the exercise of the reasoning powers. We 
 should not, therefore, unnecessarily defer the cultivation 
 of the higher faculties. 
 
 In many of our schools, no means are employed for 
 the cultivation of the perceptive and observing faculties, 
 and the reasoning powers are either entirely neglected 
 or cultivated upon too narrow a basis. 
 
 That system of instruction is especially defective 
 which cultivates the intellectual powers and neglects the 
 training of the affections and moral feelings. 
 
 The system, practised in too many of our schools, of 
 cramming boys with a knowledge of particular subjects, 
 is not only erroneous in method, but highly reprehensible 
 
88 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 on the ground of moral principle. One boy is almost 
 exclusively taught drawinof, another mental arithmetic, 
 and so on, with the view of exhibiting, at some public 
 examination, the little intellectual prodigies to an ad- 
 miring crowd of visitors. This one-sided system cannot 
 be too strongly denounced; it is a lie of the most mis- 
 chievous character, — it is deceptive in its aim as well as 
 in its results, — it heartlessly sacrifices the future happi- 
 ness of the child to pander to a morbid taste on the 
 23art of the public for witnessing cases of unhealthful 
 precocity of intellect. The school-room should never 
 become a hot-bed for stimulating the growth and de- 
 velopment of early genius. As all the boys, in each 
 class of a national school, breathe the same air, engage in 
 the same physical exercises, and subsist upon the same 
 kind of diet, so, as a general rule, the same intellectual and 
 moral aliment will be found suitable to the appetites of 
 all,and the same instruments of development will be found 
 adapted to the powers of all. If it be requisite to adopt 
 any exceptional rule to the general form of class instruc- 
 tion, we should say, let the master specially help those 
 that cannot help themselves — let him check the way- 
 ward, and at the same time let him gently lead the 
 feeble nurslings of his flock; let him specially care for 
 the dunces, and leave the geniuses, under certain restric- 
 tion, to care for themselves. That school is not in a 
 healthful condition, where there is a great disparity in 
 the attainments of the pupils, and where there is a want 
 of an harmonious development of all the faculties and 
 susceptibilities of the pupils. At the same time, it must 
 be conceded, that the management of peculiar tempers, 
 dispositions, and tastes must depend upon the individual 
 skill aud judgment of the master. While he adheres to 
 his general plan of class instruction, he will not "permit 
 himself to misapprehend, or to pervert according to his 
 own contracted views, that which the Creator has or- 
 dered in infinite wisdom," — he wall not confound the 
 amiable and good with the mischievous and wicked, — 
 he will not discourage the intelligent and industrious by 
 connectmg them with the ignorant and lazy, and when 
 
INSTRUCTION SHOULD BE PROGRESSIVE. 89 
 
 mere class arrangements fail in giving a proper scope 
 for the exercise of the minds of superior boys, be will 
 assign them some special duties for their self-improve- 
 ment and development. 
 
 IV. In order to promote the harmonious development of 
 the faculties^ instruction should he progressive, — the range of 
 subjects, as ivell as the methods employed in teaching them, 
 should he extended and completed as the faculties of the pupil 
 are expanded and 
 
 According to tliis method, the instruction first given 
 to little children should be as simple as possible. But 
 as their minds become more and more developed, the 
 subject matter of our instruction should be extended and 
 systematized accordingly, and the range of instruction, 
 as well as the manner in which that instruction is carried 
 out, should be duly proportioned to, and commensurate 
 with, the growth of the faculties. It is a false idea to 
 suppose that we can teach children from a perfect text- 
 book on any g'lA^en subject.* It is a lavv of our intel- 
 
 "^ The plan of employing complete text-books has, in my opin- 
 ion, contributed to the formation of more dunces than Nature 
 herself has ever produced. Our so-called perfect text-books rank 
 amongst the greatest evils to be found in our present system of 
 instruction. The very completeness and so called strictl}'' logical 
 arrangement of these books, are the great causes which render them 
 unsuitable for the development of the juvenile mind. The system 
 which these books pursue is not the system which nature lays down 
 for the development of the human faculties; the juvenile mind is, at 
 the very threshold, repulsed by the stately order of their definitions, 
 their axioms, their postulates, and their abstractions. No wonder 
 that such a S3'stem, followed out rigidly, has caused pedagogues 
 and task masters to place the stamp of dunce upon the brow of 
 some of the highest orders of intellect, and to drive such intellects 
 from the close hot- beds of school instruction to seek for that liealth- 
 ful development which is to be found in a free and unrestrained 
 communion with the objects of nature. All unnatural and con- 
 strained systems of education invariably disgust boys of superior 
 minds, and cause them to seek the development of their faculties in 
 the way by which nature intended they should be developed. 
 
90 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 lectual and moral nature that we never arrive at a per- 
 fect knowledge of any subject at once; that can only 
 be attained by mastering the different parts of it little 
 by little, and time after time. The leading or promi- 
 nent points of the various departments of human knowl- 
 edge, must be fully understood by the young mind, 
 before it is capable of entering into the details and sys- 
 tematic combinations forming any complete science. 
 Hence our instruction should not only be progressive, as 
 regards the development of particular departments of 
 knowledge, but should also be progressive as regards 
 the development of the ensemble, or the collection of sub- 
 jects which constitute the matters of instruction. Let us 
 take a few examples. 
 
 In the teaching of grammar, we should not teach from 
 any perfect text-book, such as Murray's or Morell's, but 
 we should first go through a very simple, yet compre- 
 hensive system of grammar, explaining the simplest and 
 most prominent definitions and principles, without fol- 
 lowing them into their minute details. 
 
 In the teaching of practical geometry, we should first 
 give the pupils a simple preliminary course of instruction, 
 selecting the most simple, striking, and useful problems^ 
 aTid arranging them according to the most simple and 
 natural order. 
 
 In the teaching of arithmetic, we should first carry 
 the pupils through a simple and comprehensive course 
 of calculation, embodying all, or nearly all, the funda- 
 mental operations of numbers, before we attempted to 
 carry them through the so-called systematic course of 
 arithmetic, involving long and irksome calculations, 
 intended to give expertntss and skill in the manipulation 
 of numbers, rather than to awaken and invigorate the 
 intellectual faculties. 
 
 In the teaching of familiar sciences, we should 6rst 
 teach just so much of all the useful sciences, without a 
 slavish regard to their technical arrangement, as could 
 be comprehended by the pupils at their particular stage 
 of intellectual development, constantly observing, at the 
 same time, that the subjects of instruction are arranged 
 
SELF-DEVELOPMENT. ^1 
 
 according to their order of simplicity and natural affinity^ 
 rather than according to their order of conventional 
 classification. For example, if we wanted a child to 
 understand two laws or principles, which had some ana- 
 logy with each other, or depended upon some common 
 principle, we should not trouble ourselves with inquiring^ 
 whether the one law belonged to statics, or the other to 
 hydrostatics; it would be enough for our purpose to 
 know that the one would enable us to illustrate the 
 other. And so on to the treatment of other subjects. 
 
 V. Our system of teaching should foster the principle of self-- 
 development and self -instruction. 
 
 Children like to discover things, and to do things, for 
 themselves, and they always attach the highest value to 
 the knowledge which is thus acquired. The suggestive 
 method of instruction is admirably calculated to foster 
 this principle of self-development. A knowledge of the 
 properties of objects, of the elements of number, and of 
 some of the most obvious laws of nature may be readily 
 taught in this way. Jn the course of our instruction we- 
 should regard the little pupil, not as a mere recipient of 
 knowledge, not as a passive machine to be moved at our 
 will, but as a thinking and voluntary agent, capable of 
 collecting ideas, and even of originating them, when the 
 proper materials or subjects of thought are placed before 
 him. But the teacher must not allow his pupils to 
 wander in a wrong direction in search of truth. He 
 must be constantly by their side, to shield them from 
 danger, and to guide them to truth, — to correct their 
 errors, and to confirm their discoveries. In order that 
 this spirit of self-development may be maintained in a 
 condition of vigorous activity, the teacher should never 
 require his pupils to do anything which they are not 
 able to do; and he should never tell them anything 
 which they are capable of finding out for themselves. 
 His teaching should be suggestive. As one of the best 
 means of self-development. 
 
02 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 JFe should foster voluntary efforts. 
 
 The teacher should constantly endeavor to incite chil- 
 dren to voluntary efforts; this is especially applicable to 
 subjects of home instruction. With the generality of 
 children this may be readily effected: instead of saying 
 to a boy — "Come! you must learn your lesson; if you 
 do not I shall tvhip you very severely," — it would be 
 much better to say to him — " You have an interesting 
 lesson to learn to-night; when you have done with your 
 play you will, I am sure, find pleasure in learning it." 
 We should catch children in the proper frame of mind 
 for learning; and if they are not in that frame of mind, 
 when we want to give them instructions, we should 
 endeavor to create it. The usual seasons of amusement 
 should never be selected for graver kinds of instruction; 
 for in order that children may give an earnest attention 
 to any subject, their minds should not be preoccupied 
 with any matter of particular interest. 
 
 We should catch the clue of thought in a child's mind, 
 and then, by following it out, give it the direction which 
 we wish it to take. In short, we must observe, follow, 
 and then lead. By this means, we may acquire an un- 
 limited control over the child's intellectual and moral 
 habits, without exercising any positive constraint on his 
 liberty of action. 
 
 By this method, we not only cultivate the reflective 
 and inventive powers of the child, but we foster the 
 principle of self-dependence, which is so essential to his 
 future success in life. 
 
 Independence of thought is nearly allied to invention; 
 and children are capable of both. Children are more in- 
 ventive at six years of age than they are at ten; and 
 independence of thought, like the first untainted odor of 
 the fresh flow^er, loses its power as the child advances in 
 years. Our present systems of education seem to check 
 the growth of the inventive faculties, by filling the mind 
 with knowledge, rather than attending to the development 
 of original power. We teach too much by authority,and 
 pay too little regard to the independence and unbiased 
 
INSTRUCTIOX APPEALING TO THE SEiSSES. 93 
 
 exercise of the reasoning powers. When we put a question 
 to children, w^e generally let them know, one way or 
 another, what sort of answer we expect from them, and 
 they, as a matter of course, in the place of thinking and 
 judging for themselves on the matter of inquiry, en- 
 deavor to find out what our view of it is, and frame 
 their answer accordingly. Boys thus ape the habits of 
 thought and manners of men so much that they lose the 
 beautiful bloom of eai-ly childhood long before the re- 
 flective period of manhood has commenced. In this way 
 they may acquire knowledge, but it is gained at a fearful 
 cost. Why do we not encourage children to make and 
 invent things ? why do we not give them the means of 
 constructing toys and simple machines, and of making 
 simple experiments for themselves? The answer is ap- 
 parent — we are too desirous of moulding the infant soul 
 after our preconceived ideas. Newton's first invention 
 was a little water mill; and Watt's first steam-engine, 
 at least as far as principle is concerned, was his mother's 
 kettle. Why have we so few thinkers amongst us, and 
 so many great scholars, whose heads are so filled with, 
 the ideas of others, that they have no room for any 
 thoughts of their own ? Because we keep constantly 
 filling the minds of our children with ideas, but rarely 
 seek to develop that power which gives a command over 
 those ideas. 
 
 VI. In early childliood our subjects of mstriiction should appeal 
 to the 
 
 The first object of instruction should be the develop- 
 ment of the perceptive and conceptive faculties; this is 
 best done by a series of graduated lessons on the prop- 
 erties and uses of external objects. These lessons, if 
 properly conducted, open up to the mind of the child 
 the first great sources of knowledge, awaken curiosity, 
 encourage a laudable spirit of inquiry, and cultivate 
 habits of observation and attention. Beginning with 
 the most familiar things, such as the properties and 
 uses of the articles about the house, the teacher advances 
 
94 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 with slow steps, making sure that his pupils comprehend, 
 as far as it is desirable that they should do so, every 
 successive lesson; and as their faculties expand, the 
 teacher takes care that the subject-matters of instruction 
 are enlarged accordingly. 
 
 Before a child can think, he must be supplied with 
 the first elements of thought; the names and properties 
 of external objects constitute these first elements. Ob- 
 jects are distinguished from one another by their prop- 
 erties, and a knowledge of these properties can only 
 be acquired by sensation and perception; in fact, the 
 child must see these properties before he can have any 
 idea or conception of the objects to which they belong. 
 One body is round or square, black or white, hard or soft, 
 transparent or opaque, solid or fluid, etc., according to 
 the impression which the body itself produces upon the 
 senses of the child; hence it follows that the educator 
 should convey a knowledge of the properties of objects, 
 and the names by which they are called, in connection 
 with the actual perception of the objects themselves. 
 The name of a thing, or the name given to the prop- 
 erties of a thing, should never be given apart from the 
 perception of the thing itself. After the thing is with- 
 drawn, the name of it, as well as the conception of it, 
 remains fixed in the mind; the vividness and truth- 
 fulness of the conception formed of a thing being always 
 in proportion to the intensity of the interest which the 
 thing itself excited in the mind. Thus words are always 
 associated with ideas. A child's mental existence almost 
 entirely depends on the exercise of the faculty of con- 
 ception. 
 
 At this early stage of development, the proper intellec- 
 tual aliment is a Tcnowledge of facts, — these facts become 
 the first subjects of reflection, and thus prepare the way 
 for a higher development. As the first step in philosophy 
 is to make a collection of facts, so the first stages of in- 
 struction should be the communication of a knowledge 
 of facts, without any attempts to convey a knowledge of 
 causes, for this should belong to a higher and subsequent 
 period of instruction. Nothing can be more out of place, 
 
COMPARISON^ AND CONTRAST. 95 
 
 or more absurd, than the attempts of authors, as well 
 as of teachers, to explain the causes of familiar phenom- 
 ena to very young children; or to bring down to the 
 level of their capacity, subjects which presuppose the 
 intelligence of riper years. Such instructors fill the 
 head of the pupil with learned words and phrases, which 
 convey no positive idea to him; torture his memory and 
 understanding with a catalogue of frightful names; and 
 render the work of education a painful infliction, in the 
 place of a delightful duty. 
 
 A hnoivledge of the properties of external objects should he 
 taught hy comparison and contrast^ and things that are un- 
 known by those that are known. Thus, for instance, in 
 explaining the property of transparency, we should show 
 that glass is transparent, — that there are other bodies 
 which are also transparent, — that there are some bodies 
 which are only half-transparent or semi-transparent, — 
 and that there is a great number of bodies which are 
 opaque. Here the property is made a subject of 
 comparison and contrast. Again, the picture of a 
 tiger, aided by the resemblance which he has to a cat, 
 will enable us to convey a sufficiently correct concep- 
 tion of this gigantic specimen of the feline race; thus 
 we should say to the child: — A tiger is a great wild, 
 savage cat, which can tear an ox in pieces with its 
 large claws and teeth with as much ease as our house 
 cat can tear a little mouse. In this way we should 
 convey a knowledge of the unknown thing, by means of 
 the qualities of a thing that is known. Commencing 
 with what the child knows, we conduct him by easy 
 gradations to a knowledge of what he does not know. 
 In like manner, the conception which the child forms 
 of his earthly father enables him to form an idea of his 
 heaveiily Father: thus he readily understands what is 
 meant by the language — " Our Father, which art in 
 heaven." 
 
 Pictorial representations aid us in giving vivacity and 
 vigor to the faculty of conception. 
 
 We should lead the child to draw simple inferences 
 from the properties of the objects presented to his senses. 
 
96 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 
 
 Glass scratches copper, — glass is harder than copper. 
 Iron sinks in water, — iron is heavier than water; wood 
 floats on water, — wood is lighter than water: and so on. 
 
 The great end to be attained by object lessons is to 
 Lamiliarize the young niind with the meaning of scientilic 
 terms and facts, so as to facilitate the systematic study 
 of science at a later period. \Y ater floivs from one vessel 
 to another, — water is called ^ fluid. Lead is a solid, but 
 the heat of the fire causes it to melt, — lead is fusible. 
 Water boils in the kettle; the heat makes the water boil; 
 the steam that you see coming out of the mouth of the 
 kettle is water in the form of vapor., — what you see 
 going on is called vaporkation. A little water is spread 
 over a plate; the water gradually disappears; what you 
 see going on is called evaporation : and so on. Theee les- 
 sons should, of course, always be methodical, and suited 
 to the ages and capabilities of the children. Some of 
 the most important properties and definitions of numbers 
 and geometrical figures may be readily taught by means 
 of tangible objects. 
 
 Object lessons, to be instructive and interesting, 
 should always contain something fresh and sparkling. 
 Untortunateiy, teachers are too much in the habit of 
 reiterating again and again the same soit of lessons, 
 containing similar enumerations of properties, &c. Such 
 teachers seem to have no idea that progress should char- 
 acterize all our instruction. In our object lessons we 
 should alw\ays leave something for the conceptive fac- 
 ulty to work out; by this means we give an intellectu- 
 ality and ideality to our lessons; graphic pictures and 
 strikirjg contrasts or analogies interest the feelings, and 
 thereby give depth and vigor to the conceptions; things 
 that are visible are associated with things that are invis- 
 ible; objects that are near with those that are distant; 
 events that are present with those that are past; and the 
 present and the past taken together constitute the clew 
 by which we penetrate the mazes of the future. 
 
 A child must take many things as facts of observation 
 which he may have afterwards to establish by a process 
 of abstract reasoning, or by a process of induction; and 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE IKCiHER FACULTIF.S. 97 
 
 it necessarily follows that many of our first lessons, in 
 certain departments of knowledge, must be imperfect; 
 we must often rest satisfied with giving tangible de- 
 monstrations when logical processes would fail to be 
 understood; and where demonstrations cannot be given, 
 illustrations must supply their place; we must teach 
 particular forms of propositions when the general form 
 lies beyond the intellectual grasp of the child; and 
 many truths, plain and almost tangible in themselves, 
 will be accepted as axioms or as facts, which would not 
 be classed under that category by the learned logician. 
 Simple expositions of familiar and important truths not 
 only exercise and develop the mind, but they are the 
 most efficient means of imparting real, positive knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 Yll. The reasoning and higher faculties should he culti- 
 vated on an enlarged basis of instruction. 
 
 The subject matters of instruction should be commen- 
 surate with the expansive nature of the faculties. Our 
 rich stores of scientific and useful knowledge furnish us 
 with the means of giving a superior kind of culture to 
 the reasoning powers. The present basis of school 
 instruction is not broad enough to afford scope for the 
 full development of the reflective faculties. In addition 
 to the subjects of language and mathematics, some of 
 the most useful and interesting branches of physical 
 science should be more thoroughly and systematically 
 taught in our upper schools, not only as a means of 
 intellectual culture, but also on account of their imme- 
 diate bearing on the business of life. 
 
 Whilst a sufficiently large basis of instruction gives 
 breadth and expansiveness to the reflective powers, a 
 narrow basis tends to give them a set or leaning, which 
 stands in the way of their future development. Now 
 we maintain that these faculties are cultivated only 
 imperfectly by means of classics and mathematics, — 
 they do not properly exercise all the reflective faculties; 
 they are too limited in range, and too abstract and 
 
98 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 scholastic in form; they do not sufficiently bear upon 
 the great purposes of life, or prepare the boy for ful- 
 filling the duties of the man. As all kinds of philo- 
 sophical apparatus can now be purchased at a com- 
 paratively cheap price, it is to be hoped that teachers 
 will suit their instruction to the advanced state of our 
 science and civilization, and that they will no longer 
 restrict their subjects of instruction to that narrow 
 range of knowledge which characterized an age that is 
 past. 
 
 VIII. Indruciion should proceed from the simple to the 
 complex. 
 
 Although this principle of education Is generally 
 known and acknowledged, yet comparatively few teach- 
 ers understand it rightly, or practise it completely. It 
 is by no means uncommon to find teachers practising a 
 dogmatic and technical system of instruction, while at 
 the same time they believe that they are teacihing from 
 the simple to the complex: our dogmatic modes of in- 
 struction are simple enough as regards the work of the 
 master, whilst they are anything but simple when con- 
 sidered in relation to the mental efforts required of the 
 pupil. As this species of self-delusion is so fatal in its 
 consequences, it is important that we should exactly 
 understand what is meant by teaching from the simple 
 to the complex. We teach from the simple to the 
 complex when we explain the various particular forms 
 of a general or abstract princi[)le before we attempt to 
 explain the general principle itself: or when we ex- 
 plain the simpler elements or parts of a subject before 
 we attempt to teach the subject as a whole. In order 
 to keep within the sphere of the child's capabilities, we 
 must advance by slow and sure gradations from the 
 things that are known to the things that are unknown. 
 What the child does know should form a stepping-stone 
 to what he does not know. lu short, we should teach a 
 subject little by little, now a little and then a little. 
 
FROM THE SIMPLE TO THE COMPLEX. 09 
 
 uiitil we liave tangbt tlie whole of it. Let us take a I'tw 
 examples: — 
 
 111 learning to write, the child should learn to make 
 straight Unes before hooks, and letters before words. 
 
 To" prove any general principle of calculation, we 
 should hrst show the principle as applied to a variety of 
 particular examples. 
 
 If we wanted to show the nature of an abstract 
 proposition hi geometry, we should tirst show the prin- 
 ciple as appliecl to some of the most simple and familiar 
 cases. 
 
 To make our pupils accpiainted with a technical or 
 abstract term, we should express the idea intended to 
 be conve}H?d by that term in familiar language,giving at 
 the same time a variety of illustrations of its application. 
 
 And so on to other subjects. 
 
 If a teacher wishes to be really successful with chil- 
 dren, he must become like a little child in thought, 
 feeling, and action; he must, for the time being, cease 
 to be what he is, and become what he was once. 
 Undoubtedly some teachers possess this remarkable 
 power. This power, which seems to be characteristic of 
 superior teachers, is no doubt more a natural than an 
 acquired gift; yet, notwithstanding, it admits of being- 
 strengthened and developed by habit and reflection. 
 The learned tutors of colleges, and the proud men of 
 science laugh to scorn the humble attempts of the true 
 teacher to simplify a process of reasoning, break down 
 the difficulties of a problem, or illustrate the truth of a 
 general law of nature; — too conscious of their own 
 mental power, they seem to have forgotten that they 
 were once children, and that their own abstract con- 
 ceptions have been the result of long and repeated efforts; 
 — they must have the whole of a subject taught, or none 
 of it; — they cannot permit the gigantic proportions of a 
 favorite subject to be reduced, or in any way stripped of 
 their abstract formalities; — their recognized books, like 
 holy writ, must neither have anything added to them, nor 
 anything taken away from them; — they would rather 
 that the doom of stationary ignorance should rest upon 
 
100 I'HiLOSoriiv or education. 
 
 the child of the poor than that he should acquire knowl- 
 edge in any other way than they have prescribed. How 
 long wall authority and conventional observances con- 
 tinue to fetter our school literature, and to cast a dis- 
 astrous shadow over the progress of education? A man 
 may know Greek, without being able to teach grammar; 
 and he may be master of the higher calculus, without 
 being able to give simple expositions of the principles 
 of arithmetic. In fact, a person may be too learned for 
 a teacher for children; for men of profound knowledge 
 usually expect too much of their pupils. It is said that 
 Emmerson, one of the best mathematicians of his age, 
 always complained that its pupils were all incorrigible 
 dunces: the fact is not at all surprising whe^> the dog- 
 matic character of the man's system of teaching is taken 
 into consideration. 
 
 Besides great skill, the teacher must possess many 
 moral qualities, in order to develop and train the 
 faculties of children; he must especially possess great 
 patience, gentleness, forbearance, and faith. On this 
 subject Woodbridge beautifully observes: " The example 
 of our Saviour himself in the education of his disciples, 
 teaches us the importance of applying these principles 
 both to intellectual and moral subjects. How grossly 
 erroneous were their ideas in reference to his character 
 and destination: how childish and unworthy their plans 
 and their contests; and yet with what slowness did He 
 unfold the great truths He came to reveal!— how much 
 did He leave to be learned after his death! — with what 
 gentleness did he tell them, '1 have many things to say 
 unto you, but ye cannot bear them now: ' — with what 
 patience did He bear with their errors, their follies, and 
 their sins! — with what mildness did he generally reprove 
 them! — Let the educator beware that he does not 
 attempt to be wiser than his Master, and teach things 
 which demand efforts for which the infant mind is too 
 feeble." 
 
FACTS AND EXPERIMENTS. 101 
 
 IX. Facts should be taught he/ore causes; and experiments, 
 illustrating general laws or principles of nature^ should 
 be given before the general laivs or principles are ex- 
 pounded. 
 
 In mauy cases, a yonng person can readily understand 
 the nature of a law, if it is presented to his senses in 
 an actual matter-of-fact form, when he would be utterly 
 unable to comprehend ihe technical form in which that 
 law is usually expressed. The particular facts upon 
 which any general law depends, give to that law a local 
 habitation and a familiarized form which enable the 
 young mind to become, as it were, its own interpreter. 
 General forms of expression are often little better than 
 high-sounding terms and empty names, which, if studied 
 apart from the facts which they comprehend, rather 
 mystify and darken the principles involved in them 
 than convey any instructive knowledge to the mind. 
 The true educator will never be hasty in drawing gen- 
 eralizations, or in expounding causes; in some cases he 
 will content himself with giving an exposition of gen- 
 eral facts, well knowing that these facts, if thoroughly 
 understood, will remain in the minds of his pupils like 
 seeds, which time and reflection w^ill aftei'wards cause 
 to vegetate and to grow into the full and developed 
 forms of general principles. At the same time he will 
 constantly bear in mind that his facts should be taught 
 in such a way as to conduct his pupils to a knowdedge 
 of causes and principles; and his experiments should 
 be made so as to lead to a knowledge of j^hysical laws. 
 Let us take a few examples. 
 
 If 1 wanted to teach a child the meaning of the term 
 elasticity. I should show by experiment the form 
 which the property assumes in different familiar sub- 
 stances. 
 
 If I wanted to explain the distinctive properties of 
 different geometrical figures, I should actually draw 
 these figures in a way corresponding to the conditions 
 of the abstract definitions which I should have after- 
 wards to give. 
 
1U2 PHlLOSOniY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 If I wanted to teach the laws of magnetism, T should 
 iirst make the experiments illustrating these laws, and 
 then afterwards lead the pupils to express in their own 
 language the law, or laws, which might be derived from 
 the facts or experiments. 
 
 If I wanted to show the principle of the lev^er, I 
 should divide a thin lath into a certain number of equal 
 parts, and after balancing it on the edge of a book, I 
 should place different weights at the marks made on 
 the lath, so as to balance each other, and then call the 
 pupils' attention to the law upon which the equilibrium 
 depends. 
 
 If I wanted to explain the leading principles of elec- 
 tricity, I should first give a series of experiments, con- 
 ducted with an apparatus formed with the most familiar 
 articles of household use, such as wine-glasses, sealing- 
 wax, tea-trays, brown paper, gutta percha, etc., taking 
 care that the leading facts established by the experiments 
 were fully admitted and understood before I gave my 
 expositions of tlie laws, or it might be of the theories, 
 proposed to explain the operation. 
 
 And so on to other subjects of instruction. 
 
 X. We should (each the concrete lefore the abstract. 
 
 In thi^ method of instruction we employ the qualities 
 and uses of familiar things and objects to elucidate or 
 exphiin the terras, facts, and principles of science and 
 art. In this way we lead the mind of tiie ))upi]s from the 
 perce})tion of the things which are visible and taui^ible, 
 to the conce|)tion of abstract and general principles. 
 According to this principle also, the knowledge of lan- 
 guage ought to precede the knowledge of grammatical 
 rules; and the meaning of alistract propositions ought to 
 be explained in connection with their concrete forms. 
 
 Teachers often deceive themselves when they think a 
 child has followed them in the explanation of an abstract 
 proposition. If they would make the inquiry, they 
 would generally find that the child had seized upon 
 some concrete form of the absti'action,or that he had at- 
 
CONSTRUCTIVE TEACHING. 103 
 
 taclied some whimsical sense to tlie terms employed. At 
 the day-school T was taught that "a verb is a word which 
 signifies to be, to do, or to suffer." I thought that the 
 poor verbs were miserable little things, for all their being 
 and doing ended in suffering. At the Sunday school I had 
 to answer the following question, from the Assembly's 
 shorter catechism: — " Ques. Wherein is the moral law 
 summarily comprehended ? Ans. The moral law is sum- 
 marily comprehended in the Ten Commandments." Now 
 when I answer'^d this question I invariably thought of a 
 small village called Moralaws Avhich had ten remarkable 
 trees growing near it, which I thought were something 
 like the Ten Commandments. 
 
 This method of teaching involves the principle of what 
 is now^ known by the name of the science of familiar 
 things. Let us take a few examples. 
 
 If 1 wanted to explain some general property of num- 
 bers,! should do it by means of counters, or balls,or marks. 
 If I wanted to show the nature of inflammable substances, 
 and the properties of the atmosphere considered in rela- 
 tion to combustion, I should direct the attention of the 
 pupils to the flame of a candle, and show, by various sim- 
 ple experiments, how the vital air maintains the ignition 
 of the tallow, etc. Thus the facts exhibit^^d in a burning 
 candle become, as it were, the hooks upon which we hang 
 our science of combustion. 
 
 iS'o teacher need be at a loss for examples. He may find 
 sermons in stones, valuable lessons in the toys of his 
 pupils, and even a soap bubble mny be made to dis- 
 course most excellent j)hilosophy. 
 
 XI. IVhen 'practicahle^ our teachim/ should he construct )ve. 
 
 By means of this method, as I have before explained, we, 
 as it were, build up, part by part, or piece by piece of the 
 subject matter of instruction, until we arrive at the 
 completion of the whole. 
 
 For example, in explaining the construction of a ma- 
 chine I should not draw the whole machine and then pro- 
 ceed to explain the mode of its action; on the contrary, I 
 
104 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 should explain the action and construction of the dif- 
 ferent parts as I sketched them upon the blackboard, 
 and when I had completed the whole, I should ex- 
 plain the combined action of all the parts. In like manner, 
 in teaching drawing or practical geometry according to 
 the constructive method, I should not draw the whole 
 picture or figure, as the case may be, and then proceed to 
 explain its construction; but I should explain the con- 
 struction of the parts as I sketched them, — giving line 
 upon line, and precept upon precept. In this way the 
 instruction advances, step by step, with the progress of 
 the pictorial representation. We suit the action to the 
 word and the word to the action; the one illustrates the 
 other; the language of the exposition responds to the ac- 
 tion of the teacher and the movements of the pencil : thus 
 the work of instruction advances by easy gradations, until 
 the whole subject is brought before the eye and the mind 
 of the pupil, with all the relations and combinations of its 
 parts. The same thing is observed in the teaching of 
 arithmetic. I write down step after step, or process 
 after process, taking care that each successive step, or 
 process, is thoroughly understood before the succeeding 
 step, or process, is written down. In teaching the science 
 of familiar things, also, I should explain the properties of, 
 and the physical or mechanical laws involved in, the dif- 
 ferent parts or portions of the object or thing forming the 
 subject of the lesson. 
 
 XII. JExpositions of principles applied to particular cases should 
 he given lefore rules. 
 
 Mere rules never reach the depths of the soul, and are 
 therefore forgotten as soon as they are out of use; and 
 what is learnt by rote is little better than so much useless 
 lumber in the mind. Rules, in many cases, are not mere 
 negations, — they become positive evils; they rarely, if 
 ever, aid the development of the mind; in many cases 
 they positively retard it. By rules Ave attain results, with- 
 out the labor of investigation. There is something, 
 soporific in rules, — something which throws an enfeebling 
 
RULES AND PRINCIPLES. 105 
 
 languor over the intellectual powers, — soncething which 
 inflates our vanity, without adding to our self-respect, — 
 something which gives us the pretensions of the empiric, 
 and the knavery of the juggler. We hold that the Eule 
 and Rote system, as it is usually follower!, is intellectually 
 and morally erroneous. 
 
 To the earnest instructors of children we would 
 say: Never teach by rules, when you can teach by 
 principles; never get a child to learn anything by rote, 
 until he understands the subject-matter. When he un- 
 derstands it, then he will readily learn it by heart and 
 not by rote; the subject will have penetrated his soul, — 
 he will love it because it has become a part of himself, — 
 it will be engraven on his mind, as with a pen of iron, and 
 there it will remain, unchanged and unchangeable, for 
 ever. 
 
 Some teachers, in order to gain a reputation with the 
 wonder-loving public, put the language of the philosopher 
 into the mouths of children, — make them recite Euclid 
 with the volubility of parrots, and chatter about climatol- 
 ogy,entomology, and a host of other ologies, — give them 
 rules and technical forms by which they solve problems 
 that demand the powers of a mathematician to investi- 
 gate. Now there is deception in all this, for the pupils 
 are made to appear what they really are not; children in 
 years and powers, they are made to mimic all the gravity 
 and wisdom of the sage; and what makes the deception 
 more deeply culpable, tlie children themselves are made 
 parties to the falsehood. 
 
 This method of teaching from principles is eminently 
 calculated to foster the development of the reflective 
 faculties; — it stands in perfect contrast to rule and rote 
 teaching. The latter is dogmatic,the other is persuasive; 
 the one supposes the pupil to be a passive recipient of 
 knowledge — a mere automaton which acts as it is acted 
 upon ; the other regards the pupil as a reasoning,reflective 
 and voluntary being, capable of working out results by 
 his own independent efl'ort: the one is limited in its ap- 
 plication to the particular subject on which it is given ; 
 the other seeks to develop those faculties in the pupil 
 
106 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 which may enable him to grapple with any subject that 
 may arise, or, in fact, to create for himself the rules and 
 principles which govern the science to which the subject 
 belongs. 
 
 XIII. Instruction should he given to children orally and 
 collectively. 
 
 There is nothing like the living voice, looks, and action 
 of the master, for intensifying the attention and concen- 
 trating the faculties of children. He suits his language 
 and illustrations to the faculties which he wishes to call 
 into activity, and he advances with his subject, step by 
 step, according as his pupils make progress. Teaching 
 of this kind is a lively reality, not a dead letter, like a 
 mere reading lesson. 
 
 Children like to do things in company with one 
 another, — they like to learn together as well as to play 
 together. This sympathy of association gives a cheerful 
 tone to the mind of the instructor as well as to the minds 
 of the instructed, and also calls into play a healthful spirit 
 of emulation. Besides the answers of the most intelli- 
 gent children form one of the best means of instructing 
 the most backward pupils in ihe class. 
 
 The efficiency of collective teaching greatly depends 
 upon the completeness of our classification of the pupils. 
 It is of the highest importance,therefore, that the teacher 
 ashould fully determine the true principles on which his 
 pu[)ils should be arranged in classes. 
 
 The Principle on which Children should he clmsified. 
 
 While the standard of instruction should not be above 
 the capabilities of the pupil, neither should it be below 
 them. We may kill by starving as well as by over- 
 feeding. In like manner, our intellectual and moral 
 aliment may be too weak and simple to supply all the 
 elements of growth and development, or it may be too 
 strong and stimulating for the functions of digestion and 
 assimilation. This nourishment should be apportioned 
 
INSTRlTCTIO>r SHOULD GIVE PLEASURE. 107 
 
 both as to kind and quantity, so as to maintain all the 
 faculties of the child in a healthful and vigorous condi- 
 tion of activity and growth. The classification of the 
 children in a school should have a special regard to this 
 principle: they should be classed, not according to size, 
 age, or attainments; not according to their mechanical 
 dexterity or their progress in the technical forms of par- 
 ticular departments of knowledge; but according to 
 their mental power and their capabilities of improvement 
 and development. A boy, for example, may be an ex- 
 pert calculator, or he may have a good verbal memory; \ 
 yet, notwithstanding, his general mental power, or 
 capacity of development, may be defective: such a boy 
 should be placed in a class correspon«ling to him in gen- 
 eral mental power. AVhonever a boy shows a decided 
 advance beyond the other members of his class, he 
 should be transferred to a higher class; or, if that is not 
 expedient, he should have some special work assigned 
 him; on the contrary, whefi a boy lags behind his fellows, 
 he should either be placed in a lower class or have some 
 individual attention given to him, in order to bring him 
 up to the average standard of caj^abilities. There is no 
 subject of school management which requires more atten- 
 tion and judgment on the part of the teacher than that 
 of classification. We have here endeavored to point out 
 the true principles up(m which it should be based. 
 
 XIY. Instruction should give pleasure to children, mid where 
 this is not the case there is something wrong as regards either 
 the mode of instruction, or the subject-matter selected for 
 instruction. A teacher should govern his pupils hy the prin- 
 ciple of love rather than that of fear. 
 
 The proper exercise of our faculties, whether physical, 
 intellectual, or moral, affords us pleasure. Light is not 
 more pleasant to the eye, or melody to the ear, than 
 truth is to the mind, or healthful exercise to the body. 
 Instruction must afford children pleasure, if it be given 
 in accordance with the general principles which we have 
 endeavored to explain; — not tiiat luxurious pleasure 
 
108 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 which enfeebles their character and renders them unfit 
 for strenuous exertion, but that nobler pleasure which is- 
 concomitant with the healthful exercise of the faculties. 
 One of the first points to be gained in giving instruc- 
 tion is 
 
 To secure the attention of the children. 
 
 If a teacher once acquires this power, his work be- 
 comes easy and agreeable to himself, and instructive and 
 pleasant to his pupils. The great secret in fixing the 
 attention of children is to interest them — to mingle 
 delightful associations with learning, — never to over- 
 strain their faculties, or to fatigue them by keeping 
 them too long directed to one particular subject. It 
 seems to be a law of our nature that when one faculty- 
 is exhausted by exercise, another faculty may be exer- 
 cised without a sense of weariness. Thus, for example, 
 if a boy is tired with reading history, in the course of 
 which a particular class of faculties is exercised, such as 
 memory and reflection, he may, without any sense of 
 weariness, have his attention directed to some facts of 
 experimental philosophy, where another class of facul- 
 ties is called into activity, such as perception and obser- 
 vation. And wherr the mental powers generally are 
 fatigued, then the child will feel the highest enjoyment 
 in exercising his physical powers. 
 
 A good collective lesson should not ^>nly engage the 
 attention by the interest which it awakens, but it should 
 further intensify the attention by stimulating the prim- 
 ciples of emulation and sympathy. The most healthful 
 motives to application are supplied by the peculiar nature 
 and form of our instruction. 
 
 When a boy gets fatigued,or overtasked with any sub- 
 ject,he instinctively seeks for enjoyment in talking or in 
 play ; this want of attention the grave preceptor calls idle- 
 ness and mischief; but the boy is right and the master 
 wrong; the boy is only acting in accordance with the in- 
 tentions of his Creator; while the master is stupidly, ay, 
 and impiously if it were not stupidly, acting contrary to 
 these intentions. If the master would teach in accord- 
 
FRi:NCirLES OF SCHOOL ROUTINE. 109 
 
 ance wilh the general principles which we have endeav- 
 ored to expound, the boy w^ould never play when he 
 should be at work, or allow his mind to wander in search 
 of enjoyment, when a full measure of rational pleasure is 
 afforded him by instruction. 
 
 With children the pleasure derived from instruction 
 should be regarded as the chief actuating motive to at- 
 tention. The too frequent use of such incitements as 
 praise, emulation, rewards,etc., demoralizes the character 
 by bringing the selfish feelings too often into exercise. 
 These motives tend to foster vanity, pride, envy, and 
 other selfish emotions. 
 
 Care should be tnken that tlie attention of the children 
 is not withdrawn from the lessons by any extraneous 
 noise, by the presence of too many visitors, or by any 
 other cause. To secure these conditions, the school- 
 room should be in a quiet spot, and its fittings should be 
 such as to place the teacher in the most favorable posi- 
 tion with respect to his pupils. Sometimes schools are 
 built beneath railways, over livery stables and work- 
 shops, and even underneath burial grounds; how can 
 the founders of such schools expect their master to teach 
 efficiently ? 
 
 These remarkable laws of our physical and moral 
 
 The Principles upo?i ivhich School Routines are lased. 
 
 1. The subjects of the routine should be specially 
 adapted to the capacities of the children in each class. 
 
 2. The whole, or absolute time, devoted to any partic- 
 ular subject should be in proportion to its relative im- 
 portance and its adaptation to the minds of the children 
 m the particular class. 
 
 3. The period given continuously to any subject 
 should be longer or shorter, accordingly as the subject 
 is less or more fatiguing to the minds of the pupils. 
 
 4. The order of succession of the subjects of the 
 routine should have a special regard to the faculties that 
 are brought into activity by those subjects. 
 
110 rHILObOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 No two lessons should come in succession Nvhicli exer- 
 cise the same faculties: thus, for example, it would be 
 erroneous to have a lesson on arithmetic immediately 
 after a lesson on algebra, or a lesson on history after a 
 lesson on the Scriptures. The subjects which follow 
 each other in the order of succession should not only ex- 
 ercise different faculties, but there should be a variety in 
 the form and kind of the exercises themselves: thus, for 
 example, arithmetic may be taught after grammar, or 
 after history; and writing, or reading, or music, may be 
 taught after arithmetic. 
 
 5. In a w^ell organized school, the routines of the re- 
 spective classes will be framed to suit one another, so 
 that the work going on in one class may not interfere 
 or jar with the work going on in the adjacent classes. 
 Thus, while a lesson Avhich is necessarily associated with 
 a certain amount of noise is being given to one class, 
 the adjacent classes should have lessons given to them 
 which are accompanied with coraj^arative silence; for 
 example, while a reading lesson is being given to one 
 class, a writing or a di awing lesson may at the same 
 time be given to the adjacent classes. 
 
 AVith a due attention to these principles in the con- 
 struction of routines, a large school may be maintained 
 in an harmonious condition of activity and progress, 
 without any unnecessary noise or confusion. 
 
 It is desirable that we should here make a few addi- 
 tional observations relative to the subject of 
 
 First or PreUminary Lessons. 
 
 First lessons should embrace the prominent features 
 of the subject without entering into its details, — they 
 should be comprehensive without being profound. 
 Children like to disport themselves in the stream of 
 knowledge, without wishing to be plunged into its 
 depths. The knowledge conveyed to children must at 
 tirst be only superficial; like little butterflies in the sun- 
 shine, they like to taste the sweets of every flower. We 
 assert, in spite of the frown which we imagine to be 
 
PRELrMIXARY LESSONS. Ill 
 
 gathering on the brow of tlie so-cilled methodical 
 teacher, that, with little children, true teaching must 
 BE SUPERFICIAL TEACHING. But it does not follow frOHl 
 this that a true teacher is a superficial teacher; he must 
 have great skill and judgment, united with a comprehen- 
 sive knowledge of the subject-matter of instruction, in 
 order that he may be able to select from the whole mass 
 of knowledge tlie parts whicli are best calculated to 
 interest his pupils, and at the same time to lay the foun- 
 dation of a higher and subsequent course of instruction. 
 
 It is important that we should make a distinction 
 between the method by which the master actually 
 teaches, and the mental process by which he arrives at 
 the principles which should be followed in that method. 
 While he gives a lesson to his pupils by the method of 
 synthesis, the arrangements of the parts, &c., of that 
 lesson must be the result of analysis. 
 
 But in our lirst lessons to little children, there must be 
 a great deal of desultory teaching. Their appetite for 
 new facts or novelties is so great that they cannot 
 dwell long upon each. The world to them is full of 
 wonders, and nothincj gives them more pleasure than to 
 witness these wonders. Their instincts lead them to 
 expect that there is much that is wonderful in the works 
 of nature, as well as of art. Their Creator, as we before 
 observed, has placed them in a world where everything 
 tends to develop and elevate their faculties. There is 
 not a greater harmony subsisting between the mind of 
 the musician and the tones of his instrument than there 
 exists between the soul of the child and the constitution 
 of external nature, — the one has been made for the other. 
 The intelligent instructor will not fail to turn to account 
 this LOVE OF THE w^oNDERFUL. A child looks through 
 a telescope: how wonderful to him is the sight, — he sees 
 the far distant towers and trees as plainly as if they Avere 
 close before him! Do not mar the impressions thus pro- 
 duced upon his mind,by attempting to explain the causes, 
 — let these impressions remain as facts of science, which 
 he will afterwards understand; he knows enough if he 
 is told that a telescope is made of certain round-shaped 
 
112 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 
 
 pieces of glass put into a tube; no disparagement to his 
 intellect, if he does not know anything further about the 
 cause of the effects. A child expects, from the very 
 constitution of his nature, to see many things which he 
 cannot comprehend; but effects and facts he can appre- 
 ciate, and that is enough for him at the first stage of bis 
 instruction. Such facts are seeds which time will cause 
 to germinate and ripen. Show a child the appearance 
 of a drop of stagnant water through a microscope! How 
 wonderful to him is the sight! That little drop is teem- 
 ing with animal life! In like manner, many other won- 
 derful facts in connection with natural and experimental 
 philosophy may be taught to the child. 
 
 Our instructions should often assume the form of nar- 
 ratives; for children feel a peculiar pleasure in hearing 
 stories about animals, or about the lives of little children 
 like themselves, or about the adventures of remarkable 
 men. A well-told story may not only convey much 
 valuable knowledge to a child, but may also inculcate 
 many practical principles of action. 
 
 Religion should be taught, to a great extent, in the 
 same way: Newton, who uncovered his head when the 
 name of God. was uttered, would have taught religion to 
 children without giving expression to a word. Vital 
 religion, says Richter, grows not by the doctrines of 
 the Bible so much as by its narratives; the best Chris- 
 tian doctrine is the life of Christ, and after that the 
 sufferings and deaths of his followers. 
 
 Instruction should, as far as possible, he associated with amuse- 
 ment; in the hands of good teachers, toys, games, and 
 pictures will become important instruments of intellec- 
 tual culture. This subject naturally leads us to say a 
 few words respecting 
 
 The In/ant School System. 
 
 In the Infant school, instrttction should never be sep- 
 arated from amusement and enjoyment. The acquisi- 
 tion of knowledge must be pursued as an amusement, 
 and even the learning to read should have its pleasant 
 
INFANT SCHOOL SYSTEM. 113 
 
 aspociatioiiR. The great object of the infant school teacher 
 should be to cultivate the faculties of the children by 
 gratifying their virtuous instincts. It is, however, much 
 to be regretted that many infant school teachers have 
 attempted to introduce graver subjects of instruction; 
 better let a child of four or five years of age romp and 
 play in the fields, than allow him to be cooped up for 
 the purpose of committing some dull task to memory. 
 
 Children at their games are learning; — they are insensibly 
 becoming acquainted with themselves, with the charac- 
 ters of their playfellows, and with the properties and 
 uses of external things. Children teach one another, 
 not only formally and directly, but also unconsciously 
 and indirectly. One boy shows another boy how to 
 make duck and drake upon the water, — how to fly a 
 kite, — how to construct a sling, or a pop-gun, or a whis- 
 tle, or a variety of other infantine pieces of apparatus. 
 And we consider that one of the most essential, probably 
 one of the most indispensable, fornjs of juvenile instruc- 
 tion is THE BOY TEACHING THE BOY; the gravity of man- 
 hood often breaks the enchantment with which infantine 
 knowledge is invested. 
 
 Our instructions should have a constant regard to- 
 health, physical development, and enjoyment. Children 
 are hsppy little things, — they have no regret for the 
 past, no care for the present, and no fear for the future, — 
 they are in the spring time of their existence ; the present 
 is all enjoyment, and hope sheds an enchanting halo over 
 the days that are to come. Who does not feel sad when 
 he reflects that these joyous days are gone for ever? 
 Look at the early spring birds as they skip and fly from 
 twig to twig, — up higher and higher still among the green 
 branches, — in the fullness of their joy, they chatter to 
 each other and fill the woods with song, — beautiful little 
 creatures! you remind me of happy, playful childhood, — 
 your joys are as brilliant as they are fleeting. Ruthless 
 man! cast no shadow over this sunny period of the 
 children's existence! let them enjoy the bliss of this 
 transient period, as their God has ordained, — let them 
 frisk and play, — they are doing more for themselves than 
 
114 PHILOSOPHY or EDUCATION. 
 
 you can do for them; for wbile they seek their enjoyment 
 as an end^ the Creator has ordained that this desire for 
 enjoyment shall be the means of developini^ their physical, 
 intellectual, and moral faculties: they are thus uncon- 
 sciously working out the end of their creation with far 
 more certainty than if they were fettered by the leading 
 strings of a nursery maid, or placed under the stern 
 supervision of a rigid pedagogue. 
 
 This leads us further to observe that we should en- 
 deavor to 
 
 Avoid, as far as possible, the Imposition of Tasks. 
 
 Nothing should be rendered a task which can be as 
 well or better taught by actual teaching on the part of 
 the master, or which may be acquired by a repetition of 
 voluntary efforts on the part of the pupil. The task 
 SYSTEM invests learning with unpleasant associations, and 
 renders the acquisition of knowledge a painful and soul- 
 debasing infliction, instead of a healthful and invigorat- 
 ing exercise for the faculties. These inflicti<ms are re- 
 membered by us to the latest hour of our existence. On 
 this subject Locke observes: " None of the things they 
 are to learn should ever be made a burden to them, or 
 imposed on them as a task. Whatever is so proposed, 
 presently becomes irksome: the mind takes an aversion 
 to it, though before it were a thing of delight or indif- 
 ference. Let a child be but ordered to wnip his top at a 
 certain time of the day, whether he has or has not a 
 mind to it; let this be but required of him as a task, 
 wherein he must spend so many hours morning and 
 afternoon, and see whether he will not soon be weary 
 of any play at this rate. Is it not so with grown men? 
 "What they do cheerfully of themselves, do they not 
 presently grow sick of, and can no more endure, as soon 
 as they find it is expected of them as a task? Children 
 have as much a mind to show that they are free, that 
 their own good actions come from themselves, that they 
 are absolute and independent as any of the proudest of 
 you grown men, think of them as you please." 
 
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 115 
 
 Let us now consider the subject of 
 
 School Liscipline. 
 
 We have stated, as a corollary to our general axiom, 
 that"^ teacher should govern his pupils by the principle 
 of love rather thin that of fear. 
 
 The great ruling principle in a school should he love. As a 
 first great step to the establishment of discipline, the 
 master should really love his pupils. Love them! Can 
 the genteel, well-dressed teacher love those little rag- 
 ged, vagabond-looking boys, gathered from all the 
 filthy streets and alleys of this crowded city ? Love 
 them! Why not ? The most dirty of them all has an 
 immortal and accountable soul, capable of comprehend- 
 ing the works of his Creator. Love them! The Chris- 
 tian teacher must love them, — Jesus died for them, not 
 less than for the offspring of the rich; and it was re- 
 spectinsf such children that He said, " Suffer little 
 children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of 
 such is the kingdom of heaven." Now, as love always 
 begets love, if the master really loves his pupils, they 
 in return will love him. But if they love their master, 
 they will also endeavor to please him, and to avoid 
 doing anything which is calculated to give him pain. 
 In I his way the master's will becomes the rctle of the 
 school; and as children necessarily imitate those whom 
 they love and respect, the master's character becomes 
 the L4.W of the school. Even some of our domesticated 
 animals are best governed by kindness. In the govero- 
 ment of a school, the greatest of all ends is to lead the 
 children to love what is good and hate what is evil, — to 
 follow virtue and shun vice. 
 
 The principle of love should pervade the whole school, 
 and the teacher should embrace every opportunity for 
 cultivating the benevolent affections of the children by 
 acts of kindness and practical lessons of love. Love, 
 like the light of heaven, irradiates and beautifies what- 
 ever it tcmches; fear, like darkness, invests everything 
 with gloom. Love one another is the precept of the 
 
116 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Great Teacher. Love is the most powerful principle in 
 our nature, — it reipjns in heaven, for God is love, — it 
 would change hell into heaven, and earth into a prime- 
 val paradise. If this principle were fully developed in 
 a school, the child would perform his duty for the love 
 of it, and not from the fear of punishment or the hope 
 of reward. / 
 
 Fear should never he a ruling principle in a school. No 
 school can be in a healthy condition where the children 
 are governed mainly by the fear of punishment. Fear 
 is an enfeebling passion, — it paralyzes the intellect, 
 — it makes boys deceitful, slavish, and hypocritical, — 
 it is the last and lowest moiive which can actuate a 
 human being for good. The prison and the gallows are 
 made to frighten wretches, sunk to the lowest depths 
 of moral degradation, from the commission of ciime. 
 Punishments may check the progress of vice, but they 
 cannot foster the principle of virtue. Capital punish- 
 ments, especially when they are numerous and unmer- 
 ited, betoken a disastrous condition of a state — they are 
 frequently the hideous forerunners of anarchy, or the 
 fearful epilogues of some national tragedy. So, in like 
 manner, the prevalence of punishments, or a slavish 
 dread of the master, in a school, is a sure indication of 
 mismanagement and instability. That unnatural still- 
 ness in a school, which proceeds from fear, is like the 
 deceitful calm which presages the outbreak of the tem- 
 pest; without the warning of a moment, the pent-up 
 passions may burst away the barriers by which they are 
 restrained. 
 
 Many teachers, especially of the old school, have a^ 
 unfortunate love of despotic authority, — their birch is 
 their sceptre, and their antiquated stool is their throne. 
 This mischievous propensity, no doubt, in a great meas- 
 ure proceeds from the circumstance that it is easier to 
 eommand than to persuade^ and that it is less troublesome 
 to maintain order in a school by the terror of the, rod 
 than by the force of reason and moral suasion. But if 
 teachers would give only half the attention to the preven- 
 tion of faults that they at present give to the punishment of 
 
THOROUGH TEACHING INDISPEN-SABLE. 117 
 
 them, the labor of teaching would not only be rendered 
 more pleasant, but also, in the long run, more easy. As 
 pievention is always better than cure, so we should 
 especially look to the causes of disorder, and the best 
 means of avoiding them. The course of a stream u best 
 changed by cutting off the fountain: in like manner the 
 current of disorder is most effectually stayed by drying 
 up its sources. Harsh modes of discipline are necessarily 
 associated with unnatural modes of instruction. 
 
 If kindness, moral suasion, and the inculcation of re- 
 ligious principle fail in reclaiming a boy, then as a last 
 hope the master must of necessity have recourse to pun- 
 ishment; but even in the act of punishment, the master 
 should show that he is actuated by an earnest love for 
 the transgressor. As crimes, in most cases, bring their 
 own punishment, so youthful offenders may be often left 
 to correct themselves, after having suffered the c mse- 
 quences of their faults. The public opinion of a school, 
 when properly developed, is also a great check to the 
 commission of (;rime, as well as an important aid in the 
 cultivation of habits of virtue. 
 
 The formal rules of a school should be few and well 
 chosen, and their observance should always be promptly 
 enforced. A teacher should never magnify a fault into 
 a crime, or allow the punishment to exceed the offence. 
 As the possession of natural gifts does not merit reward, 
 so the want of thetn cannot deserve punishment. Talents 
 should not always be the subject ot commendation, or 
 dullness the object of censure; for a boy may be dull in 
 spite of his application, while another may possess talents 
 without industry. 
 
 XV. Evprif suhject should he taught thoroughly^ at least as far 
 as the nature of the suhject and the capahilities of the pupilt 
 will allow. They should learn nothing which they may have 
 afterwards to unlearn. 
 
 Strictly speaking, this general principle should have 
 formed a corollary to our twelfth axiom; but with the 
 view of guarding against misapprehension, we here give 
 
118 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 it is as a distinct subject of discussion. No principle of 
 education has been more abused than this; its specious 
 name gives currency to a false coinage. 
 
 Periect knowledge is only a relative term, for, abso- 
 lutely considered, we can never know anything perfectly; 
 however, we may aim at perfection, although we may 
 not hope to reach it. By teaching a subject thoroughly, 
 therefore, w^e smiply mean that the information which 
 we communicate to our pupils should be complete and 
 exact, as far as it extends, and that we should not rest 
 satisfied until it is fixed in their minds; at the came 
 time, we should not attempt to push our instruction 
 beyond their capabilities, nor deceive <»urselves with 
 the idea that we have taught anything thoroughly, 
 which hMS been merely learnt by rote. The most im- 
 perfect and fruitless kind of teaching is that where the 
 master attempts to convey a perfect knowledge of all 
 the parts of a -ubject, before the faculties of his pupils 
 are prepared for grasping such an amount of knowledge. 
 A little knowledge, fully understood and thoroughly 
 digested, creates intellectual power. The amount of 
 knowledge fixed in the mind is not of so much account 
 as the ideas which are evolved by the intellectual pro- 
 cess of elaboration. 
 
 To teach a subject thoro uglily, we should tea<h it from 
 fads and prmciples, and not from formulae and rules; 
 the subject should he learnt gradualy, and its varied 
 a^pects should be ailo\Aedto unfdd themselves, as the 
 intellect of the le.irner becomes more and more ripened 
 and developed. If we wish to rear a lofty structure, 
 we should look well tu the foundations, and the super- 
 structure should be built up gradually, and all its parts 
 be allowed to become duly eonsoli<laied by time. We 
 should not aim too much at immediate results, or at- 
 tempt to crowd the labor of years into a single day. 
 If we denjand too much at once of our pupils, we are 
 almopt sure to r* ceive from them much less than we 
 might reasonably claim. Whatever a teacher may re- 
 quire his pupils to do, he should see that the thing is 
 done with a suitable degree of finish and exactness; at 
 
REPRODUCTION OF LESSONS. 119 
 
 the same time, he should bear in mind that the power to 
 do a thing perfectly can only be acquired by repeated 
 efforts. As no man ever yet became learned in any sub- 
 ject by reading one book upon it, so the teacher should 
 Dot expect his pupils to learn any department of a sub- 
 ject th(»roufhly, until he has directed their minds to it 
 again and again, giving them at each recurrence more 
 and njore enlarged view^ of it. Owing to the insepara- 
 ble connection subsisting between the different branches 
 of a subject, our knowledge of it must be comprehen- 
 sive before it can became exact in all its details, — the 
 outline of the subject must be first rough hewn before 
 the delicate touches of finish can be applied to it. Far- 
 aday, it is said, began the study of chemistry by read- 
 ing Blair's catechism; and Newton's first book of 
 mathematics was Barrow's easy course of geometry. 
 
 One of the best means of teaching a subject thor- 
 oughly is the 
 
 Reproduction of Lessons. 
 
 The ideas which we convey to a child are of little 
 importance, compared with the benefits arising from 
 the vigorous exercise of his powers in reproducing, 
 arranging, or combining these ideas. The knowledge 
 which we convey to our pupils is the ore thrown into 
 the crucible; but the knowledge which we draw from 
 them is the gold after it has been elaborated and refined, 
 
 Reading, says Bacon, makes a full man, conversation 
 a ready man, and writing an exact man. In order to 
 give children a readiness of expression, they should be 
 accustomed to relate, in their own language, whatever 
 they may have seen, read, or heard; this will also in- 
 duce habits of attention and reflection, and will show 
 them how the ideas of others may really become their 
 own. This may be made one of our first lessons in 
 language. But one of the highest forms of instruction, 
 in an elementary school, is to require the pupils to re- 
 produce, in writing^ the lessons which may have been 
 read by themselves in a class book, or which may have 
 been given to them orally by the master. This exer- 
 
120 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 cise not only thoroughly fixes the subject in the 
 mind of the pupil, but, if properly carried out, forms, at 
 the same time, one of the best lessons in spelling, pen- 
 manship, and composition. With the view of su-^taining 
 a proper tone of mental activity, dispatch, not less taan 
 accuracy, should be looked to in these exercises. 
 
 In order to teach general principles thoroughly, we 
 should give 
 
 Examples and Applications. 
 
 Children, even at an early age, instinctively ask us — 
 What use is that thing ? Let us see it in nature. Their 
 minds cannot sufficiently grasp a general proposition 
 apart from the things to which it applies. This is 
 especially true in relation to all subjects of calculation 
 and science; here the c! ild readily understands the 
 example or the fact, when he has not the slightest com- 
 prehension of the rule or the law. In morals, too, the 
 child will readily understand the nntuie of stealing 
 from the narrative of some juvenile culprit, while he 
 would be perfectly mystified by some grave and dog- 
 matic disquisition on the principle of honesty. Gener- 
 ally speaking, the most talented boys in a school will 
 not give an earnest attention to a subject until they 
 have been shown its utility, that is, until they have been 
 shown some of its applications; such boys will not take 
 everything on the mere authority of their master, espe- 
 cially if the thing is within the range of their compre- 
 hension, — they must see and understand the matter for 
 themselves. 
 
 Without underratmg or evading the difficulties of the subject^ 
 our explanations should he clear and simple. We should avoid a 
 slavish use of text-books. 
 
 The teaclier should constantly bear in mind that 
 what is perfectly easy to him may be really very dif- 
 ficult to his pupils; so that, after all he may have done 
 to render a subject clear and simple, his pupils may 
 find it difficult enough for their comprehension. It is a 
 mistake, therefore, for a teacher to tell his pupils that 
 he has made a subject perfectly easy,thereby intimating 
 that he neither appreciates their efforts,not expects them 
 
ADVANTAGES OF SIMPLICITY IN TEACHING. 121 
 
 to apply themselves viojorously to the subject. If a 
 teacher cannot give a clear exposition of a subject, he 
 bad better leave the matter in the hands of his pupils; 
 a complex or learned exposition is often productive of 
 irremediable evils. The system of JacoLot, which 
 requires the pupil to learn every subject, as well as 
 every branch of a subjject, thoroughly before he leaves 
 it, has been carried to a ridiculous extreme by many 
 educators. According to them, the easiest way of learn- 
 ing a subject is not the best way; for the main business of 
 education is not so much to infuse knowledge as to 
 develop power. The fallacy of this system is at once 
 shown by the fact that it does not answer the end 
 which it professes to accomplish; for we hold it to be a 
 well established law of our intellectual nature, that the 
 faculties are best cultivated by those exercises which are 
 apportioned to their strength, and not by straining them 
 to their utmost tension. If a subject, or any particular 
 department of a subject, is taught thoroughly, that is, 
 from facts and principles, and not by rote, it is impos- 
 sible to simplify it too much, or to impair its efficiency as 
 an instrument of intellectual culture. The good teacher 
 will constantly endeavor to lead his pupils in the royal 
 ROAD to LEARNING, — that is to Say, he will try to make 
 the road easy and pleasant, — he will cut off its tortuous 
 windings, macadamize it, and remove all unnecessary 
 obstacles, — he will not create difficulties for the mere 
 sake of trying the strength of his pupils, nor tax their 
 endurance for the purpose of inculcating patience and 
 humility. 1 he little, pedantic mind delights itself in tri- 
 fling with difficulties, and in making difficulties of trifles; 
 the superior mind invests every subject with its own 
 comprehensiveness and logical simplicity. A good 
 teacher never darkens counsel by words, or obtrudes the 
 intricacies of a subject for the purpose of exhibiting his 
 own power. 
 
 Why has mathematics hitherto been considered too diffi- 
 cult for ordinary boys to understand? Simply because 
 some Pons Asmorum is thrown in their way at an early- 
 stage of their progress, — because abstract propositions are 
 
122 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 taught apart from their application; and because in place 
 of having to learn the simple fundamental laws of quan- 
 tity , the hoy is required to deal with symbols involved with 
 roots upon roots and operations within operations. You 
 may as well teach boys history from Lingard, grammar 
 from Ilorne Tooke, or drawing from the cartoons of 
 Raphael, as attempt to teach them geometry frona Euclid^ 
 or arithmetic and algebra from some learned work which 
 professes to be at once a class book of the university 
 and a manual of the school-room. 
 
 No man will leach a subject thoroughly if he restricts 
 himself to the use of a particular class book, more espe- 
 cially if it be a so-called perfect class book,for a complete 
 work upon any subject is certainly not the best book to 
 begin with. Alas for education! if ever the examinations 
 of our schools and training colleges should be based upon 
 an invariable order of text-books. Under such an ar- 
 rangement, education woilld become a recognized system 
 of cramming,— a prescribed amount of knowledge 
 would be got up, no matter by what means, provided 
 the end should be attained. We hold that examina- 
 tions should test the development of power, rather than 
 the acquisition of knovvle<lge; but such a plan of exam- 
 ination would ignore this development. The mind filled 
 with knowledge in this way has been compared to a 
 well-filled granary, but bears no resemblance to the 
 fruitful field which multiplies a hundred-fold that which 
 is thrown upon it. 
 
 This overweening attachment to text-books, and to a 
 80-called thorough education, leads to the neglect of gen- 
 eral knowledge as well as of the development of power. 
 Its tendency is to confine general education wnthin very 
 narrow limits, and t(> restrict elementary instruction to 
 the mere rudiments of knowledge.* It gives us the dry 
 bones of the body of education, without the flesh, and the 
 warm blood, and the vital principle — the principle of 
 intellectual and moral life, ot growth and development, 
 Inbtead of cramming his pupils with all the minute 
 
 * In Ibis respect we are certainly much in advance of our 
 American brethren. 
 
SLAVISH USE OF TEXT-BOOKS TO BE AVOIDED. 123 
 
 details of a subject, the truly methodical teacher will 
 rather seek to develop in them a power of working out 
 the details of a subject for themselves; he has a farsub- 
 limer object in view than the slavish adhesion to the cut 
 and dried forms of a textbook; hp may not^ teach any 
 particular science thoroughly in all its technical details, 
 but he seeks to effect a far higher end, to develop in them 
 that power which may, at some future period, not merely 
 enable thtm to know a science, but to create a science. 
 The drudgery connected with the details ol some depart- 
 ments of knowle<lge often exercises an unhealthy influ- 
 ence upon ihe mind; for example, the comiDitting to 
 memory long catalogues of words^ the exact dates ot his- 
 torical events, the lengths and breadths of countries,etc., 
 tends to stultify the intellect of the pupil and to withdraw 
 him from the contemplation of more interesting facts and 
 principles. 
 
 It must, however, be admitted that if a boy is to remain 
 only a short period at school, he had better learn a little 
 well than a great deal badly: the first rudiments of 
 knowledge, comj^rising reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
 should above all things be fairly learnt by him before 
 he leaves school; lor a knowledge of these first rudi- 
 ments becomes to him the great instrument of future 
 development and acquisition. 
 
 On the injudicious use of books, Woodbridge ob- 
 serves; — 
 
 '*lt is of the highest importance to conduct the pupil 
 in such a manner that he will not afterwards be contented 
 without a thorough knowledge of everything within his 
 reach. It is in this view important not to allow him to 
 devote too much of his time to mere reading. It is easy 
 to read and to amuse ourselves in this manner without 
 understanding thoroughly what we read. There is a 
 constant inducement to seek that occupation and interest 
 in running o^er a number of books which should be 
 found in examining deeply every subject which is pie- 
 Bt-nted. Such reading is the most certain means of 
 forming superficial students and superficial thinkers. It 
 produces a disgust for study, and rendtrs the pupil in- 
 
124 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 capable of that continued and fixed attention which is 
 necessary to success in more than one branch of knowl- 
 ed.aje; often in the course of reading the pupil learns 
 superficially those facts which form the most interesting 
 parts of his lessons, his interest in them is destroyed, 
 and he no longer pays the attention necessary to learn 
 the ficts he has anticipated in connection with the prin- 
 ciples they illustrate. If the books are not written in the 
 spirit of thy method adopted by the teacher, as is fre- 
 quently the case, they will produce confusion in his mind 
 and impair his confidence in his guide: Fellenberg there- 
 fore believes that this taste should not be too much 
 encouraged, and thai, in a perfect system of education, 
 there should in fact be little time allowed for reading. 
 There should be such ample provision both for instruc- 
 tion and amusement, adapted to the capacity and taste 
 of the pupil, that it shall be (to a great extent) unneces- 
 sary either for the one or the other." 
 
 One of the most obvious, and probably one of the 
 most simple means of teaching a subject thoroughly, ia 
 the , 
 
 Repetition or Reiteration of Lessons. 
 
 Repetition is sai<l to be the main-spring of instruction; 
 but we have reason to believe tnat the principle has sel- 
 dom been applied, in elementary schools, in its most 
 legitimate and most advantageous form. On this sub- 
 ject Miss Edge worth observes: — 
 
 " Repetition makes all operations easy; even the fa- 
 tigue of thinking diminishes by habit. That we may 
 not} increase the labor of the mind unseasonably, we 
 should watch for the moment when habit has made one 
 lesson easy, and then we may go forward a new step. In 
 teaching the children at the House of Industry at Munich 
 to spin, Count Ramford wisely ordered that they should 
 be made perfect in one motion before any other was 
 shown to them: at first they were allowed only to move 
 the wheel by the treadle with their feet; when, after 
 sufficient oractice, the foot became perfect in its lesson, 
 the hands were set to work, and the children were al- 
 
REPETITION OF LifeSONS. 125 
 
 lowed to begin to spin with coarse materials. It is said 
 these children make remarkably good spinners. Madame 
 de Genlis applied the same principle in teaching Adela to 
 play upon the harp. 
 
 " In the first attempts to learn any new bodily exercise, 
 as fencing or dancing, persons are not certain what 
 muscles tbey must use, and what may be left at rest: 
 they generally employ those of which they have the most 
 ready command,but these may not already be the muscles 
 which are really wanted in the new operation. The 
 simplest thing appears difficult till by practice we have 
 associated the various slight motions which ought to be 
 combined ; we feel that from want of use our motions are 
 not obedient to our wili, and to supply this defect we 
 exert more strength and activity than is requisite. ' It 
 does not require strength; you need not use so much 
 force; you need not take so much pains,' we frequently 
 iay to those who are making the first painful, awkward 
 attempts at some simple operation. Can anything appear 
 more easy than knitting, when we look at the dextrous 
 rapid motions of an experienced practitioner ? But let a 
 gentleman take up a lady's knittina needles,and knitting 
 appears to him, and to all the spectators, one of the most 
 laborious and difficult operations imaginable. A lady 
 who is learning to work with a tambour needle puts her 
 head down close to the tambour frame, the color comes 
 into her face, she strains her eyes, all her faculties are 
 exerted,and perhaps she works at the rate of three links 
 a minute. A week afterwards, probably, practice has 
 made the work perfectly easy; the same lady goes rap- 
 idly on with her work; she can talk and laugh, and 
 perhaps even think, whilst she works; she has now dis- 
 covered that a number of the motions,and a great portion 
 of that action which she thought necessary to this mighty 
 operation, may be advantageously spared. 
 
 " In a similar manner,in the exercise of our minds upon 
 •objects ihat are new to us, we generally exert more 
 effort thanis necessary or serviceable,and we consequently 
 aoon fatigue ourselves without any advantage. Children, 
 to whom many subjects are new, are often fatigued by 
 
126 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 these overstrained and misplaced efforts. In these cir- 
 cumstances a tutor bbould relieve the attention by intro- 
 ducing indifferent subjects of conversation; he can, by 
 showing no anxiety hijnself,eitht'r in his manner or coun- 
 tenance, relieve his pupils from any apprehension of his 
 displeasure, or of his contempt; he can represent that 
 the object before them is not a matter of life and death; 
 that if the child does not succeed in the first trials he will 
 not be disgraced in the opinion of any of his friends; that 
 by perseverance he will certainly conquer the difficulty; 
 that it is of little consequence whether he understand the 
 thinsj in question to-day or to-morrow: these consider- 
 ations will calm the over-atixious pupil's agitation, and 
 "whether he succeed or not, he will not suffer such a 
 degree of pain as to disgast him in his first attempts." 
 
 When a lesson is repeated, it should be done with the 
 view of making the child thoroughly acquainted wdth the 
 subject-matter; but repetitions are given chiefly to load 
 the memory with words, without any regard to the en- 
 lightenment of the reason. If the pupils do not thorough- 
 ly comprehend a lesson which has been given to them, 
 the teacher, in going over it for the second time, should 
 adopt some fresh modes of illustrating or demonstrating, 
 as the case may require, the leading i<leas contained in it. 
 By this means the monot' my of repetition will be avoided, 
 and a new aspect will be given to the subject, which will 
 be highly instructive to their minds. 
 
 JVliss Edge worth then goes on to observe: — 
 " We have said that a preceptor, in his first lessons on 
 any new subject,raust submit to the drudgery of repeating 
 his terms and his reasoning, until these are suflSciently 
 familiar to his pupils. He raust,however,proportiou the 
 number of his repetitions to the temper and habits of his 
 pupils, else he will weary instead of strengthen the at- 
 tention When a thing is clear, let him never try to 
 make it clearer; when a thing is understood, not a word 
 more of exemplification should be added. To mark pre- 
 cisely the moment when the pupil understands what is 
 said, —the moment when he is master of the necessary 
 ideas, and, consequently, the moment when repetition 
 
THE CULTIVATION OF HABITS. 127 
 
 should cease, is, perhaps, the most difficult thing in the 
 art of teaching. The countenance, the eye, the voice 
 and manner of the pupil mark this instant to an ob- 
 servant preceptor; but a preceptor who is absorbed in 
 his own ideas, will never think of looking in his pupil's 
 face; he will go (m with his routine of explanation, 
 whilst his once lively, attentive pupil exhibits opposite 
 to him the picture of stupefied fatigue. Quick, intelligent 
 children, who have frequently found tliat lessons are 
 reiterated by a patient but injudicious tutor,will learn a 
 careless mode of listening at intervals; they will say to 
 themselves, ' Oh, I shall hear this again! ' And it* any 
 stray thought comes across their minds, they will not 
 scruple to amuse themselves, and will afterwar Is ask for 
 a repetition of the words or ideas which they missed 
 during the excursion of fancy. When they hear the 
 warning advertisement of ' certainly for the last time this 
 season,' they will deem it time enough to attend to the 
 performance. To cure them of this presumption in favor 
 of our patience, and of their own superlative quickness, 
 we should press that quickness to its utmost speed. 
 Whenever we call for their attention, let it be on sub- 
 jects highly interesting or amusing, and let us give them 
 but just sufficient time with their fullest exertion to 
 catch our words and id^as. As these quick gentlemen 
 are proud of their rapidity of apprehension, this method 
 will probably succeed; they will dread the disgrace of 
 not understaiding what is said, and they will feel that 
 they cannot understand ualess they exert prompt, vig- 
 orous, and unremitted attention." 
 
 XVI. In all our instruction we should attend to the cultivation 
 of habits. 
 
 Habits, according to the old adage, become a second 
 nature — they rendir labor easy, ami the performance of 
 4luty a pleasure, — they fortify us against the contagion 
 «f bad example, and shield us Irom the force of sudden 
 temptation. Intellectual habits are not less essential to 
 the man than those habits which have a relation to 
 
128 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 conduct: thus, for instance, the habit of working out 
 results from fir^t principles and not by rules, exercises 
 a most salutary influence in the development of the 
 faculties of children. 
 
 Habits of thought, as will as habits of conduct, can 
 be established only by time, repetition, and practice. 
 Useful habits are formed gradually,— a little thing 
 done well leads the way to the performance of a greater; 
 and what appears hard to-day may, by repeated trials, 
 become perfectly easy to-morrow. As right habits can 
 only be formed gradually, we should never exact too 
 much from a child. Habits of attention, reflection, 
 application, industry, virtue, and piety are better in- 
 culcated by example than by precept; for children are 
 peculiarly imitative beings; if the parents of a child, 
 for instance, are always employed, the child cannot lung 
 remain idle, — he will boon acquire the habit of industry; 
 and so on to other cases. "Well-timed practical exam- 
 ples or illustrations will have far more influence in 
 developing the character of children than abstract rules 
 or precepts. And as no proposition should be given 
 without a proof, so no duty should be exacted without 
 a reason. 
 
 "Virtues and vices (says Locke) can by no words be 
 BO plainly set before their understandings as the actions 
 of other men will show them, when you direct their 
 observation and bid them view this or that good or bad 
 quality in their practice. And the beauty and un- 
 comeliness of many things, in good or ill breeding, will 
 be better learnt, and make deeper impressions on them, 
 in tl.e ex'imples of others, than from any rule or instruc- 
 tions that can be given about them. And what ill they 
 either overlook or indulge in themselves, tbey cannot but 
 dislike and be ashamed of when it is set before them in 
 another. 
 
 "And here give me leave to take notice of one thing 
 I think a fault in the ordinary method of education; 
 and that is, the charging of children's memories, upon 
 all occasions, with rules and precepts which they often 
 do not understand, and are constantly as soon forgotten 
 
LOCKE ON METHOD. 129 
 
 as given. If it be some action yoii would have done,or 
 done otherwise, whenever they forget or do it awk- 
 wardly, make them do it over and ever again, till they 
 are perfect: whereby you will get these two advantages. 
 First, to see whether it be an action they can do, or is 
 fit to be expected of them. For sometimes children are 
 bid to do things which upon trial they are found not 
 able to do; and had need to be taught and exercised in 
 before they are required to do them. Secondly, an- 
 other thing got by it will be this, that by repeating the 
 same action, till it be grown habitual in them, the per- 
 formance will not depend on memory, or rejection, the 
 concomitant of prudence and age, and not of childhood: 
 but will be natural in them. Thus, bowing to a gentle- 
 man when he salutes him, and looking in his face when 
 he speaks to him, is by constant use as natural to a 
 well-bred man as breathing; it requires no thought, no 
 reflection. Having this way cured in your child any 
 fault, it is cured forever: and thus, one by one, you 
 may weed them out all, and plant what habits you 
 please. 
 
 "I have seen parents so heap rules on their children 
 that it was impossible for the poor little ones to remem- 
 ber a tenth part of them, much less to observe them. 
 However, they were either by words or blows corrected 
 for the breach of those multiplied and often very imper- 
 tinent precepts. Whence it naturally followed that the 
 children minded not what was said to them; when it was 
 evident to them that no attention they were capable 
 of was sufficient to preserve them from transgression, 
 and ihe rebukes which followed it. 
 
 " Let therefore your rules to your son be as few as 
 possible,and rather fewer than more than seem absolutely 
 necessary. For if you burden him with many rules,one 
 of these two things must necessarily follo\v,that either he 
 must be very often punished, which v^ ill be of ill conse- 
 quence,by making punishment too frequent and familiar; 
 or else you must let the transgressions of some of your 
 rules go unpunished, whereby they will of course grow 
 contemptible, and yoar authority become cheap to him. 
 
130 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Make but few laws, but see tbey be Avell observed, when 
 once made. Few years require but few laws, au(l, as 
 his age increases, when one rule is by practice well es- 
 tablished, you may add another. 
 
 "But pray remember children are not to be taught by 
 rules; which will be always slipping uut of their memo- 
 ries. What you think necessary for them to do, settle 
 in thera by an indispensable practice, as often as the 
 occasion returns; and if it be possible, fnake occasions. 
 This will beget habits in them, which being once estab- 
 lished, operate of themselves, easily and naturally, with- 
 out the assistance of the memory. But here let me give 
 two cautions. 
 
 "1. The one is, that you keep them to the practice of 
 what you would have grow into a habit in them,by kind 
 words and gentle admonitions, rather as minding them 
 of what they forget, than by harsh rebukes and chiding 
 as if they were wilfully guilty. 
 
 *' 2. Another thing you are to take care of is not to 
 endeavor to settle too many habits at once, lest by a 
 variety you confound them, and so perfect none. When 
 constant custom has made any one thing easy and nat- 
 ural to them, and they practise it without reflection, you 
 may then go on to another. 
 
 "This method of teaching children by a repeated 
 practice, and the same action done over and over again, 
 under the eye and direction of the tutor, till they have 
 got the habit of doing it well, and not by relying on 
 rules trusted to their memories, has so many advan- 
 tages, which way soever we consider it, that I cannot 
 but wonder (if ill customs could be wondej-ed at in any- 
 thing) how it could possibly be so much neglected. I 
 shall name one more that comes now in my way. By 
 this method we shall see, whether what is required of 
 him be adapted to his capacity, and any way suited to 
 the child's natural genius a«id constitution: for that too 
 must be considered in a right education." 
 
HABITS OF ATTENTION. 131' 
 
 The habits of attention and concentration are the great main- 
 springs of education. 
 
 As we have already observed,the great secret in secur- 
 ing the attention of children is to interest them; and the 
 habit of attention is cultivated by keeping the faculty in 
 a state of vigorous activity during the whole course of 
 our instruction. The habits of iistlessness and inatten- 
 tion are engendered by injudicious or inappropriate 
 plans of teaching. The habit of directing the undivided 
 force of the faculties to a given subject is the great 
 main-spring of self-education. But this habit, in its 
 fullest vigor, is rarely acquired in early life; notwith- 
 standing, the teacher should be prepared to avail him- 
 self of all the occasions most favorable for its cultiva- 
 tion. The principle of emulation and a judicious system 
 of rewards are two of our most powerful supplemental 
 aids in the cultivation of this habit. 
 
 The hahit of olservation should be speciallg cultivated. 
 
 Object lessons are highly calculated to foster the habit 
 of observation. Children should be accustomed to exam- 
 ine, analyze, and inspect every object of interest around 
 them: the flowers and minerals by the wayside, the ani- 
 mals of the fields, the warblers of the forest, the various 
 household utensils, etc., all present us with excellent 
 subjects for exercising the observing faculties. The 
 habit of observing the structures, nses, and properties 
 of familiar things, prepares the mind for entering upon 
 a higher course of scientific inquiry. 
 
132 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND 
 MORAL FACULTIES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY NOTIONS.— IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN 
 RELATION TO TEACHING, ETC. 
 
 No class of men require a knowledge of intellectual and 
 moral philosophy more than teachers: self-knowledae is 
 valuable to all, but it is especially valuable to thlm. 
 Self-knowledge, in its fullest acceptation, requires that 
 we should know ourselves in relation to the three states 
 of our existence, — the past, the present, and the future: 
 consciousness tells us what we are, remembrance informs 
 us what we have been, and reason, by combining the facts 
 of our past and present existence, enables us to antici- 
 pate what we shall be. But self-knowledge, in this com- 
 prehensive sense, is rarely found amongst teachers: we 
 Beem to regard our minds as little as we do our watches, 
 — we look at the dial plate, but heed not the internal 
 machinery — the springs, the regulators, or the beautiful 
 combinations of wheels within wheels by which the re- 
 sults are produced. A man who is entrusted with the 
 direction of a machine should surely be acquainted with 
 the principles of its construction. Now the teacher has 
 to regulate and develop the faculties of a human soul, 
 — his mind has to act upon another mind so as to give 
 a right tone and direction to its development. Here 
 mind is the agent which acts, and mind is the object 
 acted upon. The teacher should, therefore, study the 
 philosophy of our intellectual and moral nature. 
 
 The most wonderful work of God is the human soul, 
 
CULTIVATION OP THE PACULllES. 133 
 
 for it has been created after His own image; and the 
 laws which govern its action and development demand 
 the most patient study. The highest of all intellectual 
 efforts is that of the mind engaged in the study of itself, 
 — the principle of thought engaged in the investigation 
 of the laws and processes of thought, — the intellectual 
 vision turned inwardly upon itself. Here we must arrest 
 the current of thought, in order to determine the modes 
 and conditions of its action and development. 
 
 The child is the man in embryo: the child has the 
 same faculties as the man, but they are in a different 
 state of development. In order that a man may teach 
 children, he should thoroughly sympathize with them, — 
 he should realize their hj^bits of thought and action, 
 peculiar tastes and modes of self-development; he should 
 frequently, in imagination, conceive himself to be a little 
 child, and recall to himself all that he thought and felt 
 when he was a little child; so that he may be able to 
 tell what effect any particular form of instruction or 
 mode of training will have upon th.em. A teacher, 
 therefore, should not only know himself as he is, but he 
 should also look back to the early history of his own 
 mind, and analyze the facts of this past experience with 
 the view of determining the causes which had been most 
 operative in stimulating the growth and development of 
 his faculties. 
 
 Let us for a moment glance at the panorama of our 
 early years, with the view of realizing our thoughts and 
 feelings relative to the educational influences which 
 were brought to bear upon our own intellectual and 
 moral development. This psychological inquiry will 
 bring home to us the momentous fact that there is not a 
 single act, not a single thought, of our past life, that has 
 not had its influence in fixing our present intellectual 
 and moral condition. What we are is but the last link 
 in a long chain of sequences, extending from childhood 
 to youth, from youth to manhood, from manhood to age; 
 and what WE shall be will only be an extension of the 
 links of this chain of sequences. 
 
134 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 A glance at our childhood and early youth. 
 
 Let us in imagination live our lives over again, with 
 the view of realizing the different stages of our intel- 
 lectual and moral development, and of exposing the 
 errors of certain systems of education. This will not be 
 diflScult if we confine ourselves to a simple statement of 
 facts, without refining too much upon the use of phrases, 
 or mixing up our apprehensions with recondite theories 
 relative to mental phenomena. 
 
 We all remember how, in our early childhood, we 
 loved whatever afforded us pleasure,and hated whatever 
 gave us pain, — how we loved the beautiful and the good^ 
 and dreaded what was ugly and bad, — what horror a 
 butcher or a butcher's shop excited, and how visions of 
 blood and cruelty haunted us in our dreams, — what 
 pleasure we derived from every strange scene and every 
 new toy, — how we dreaded our hard task-masters, and 
 how delighted we were when we were permitted to 
 acquire knowledge in our own way. 
 
 We all remember how in our boyish days we made 
 whistles and pop-guns, suckers and slings, — how in our 
 games we mimicked the ways and doings of man in the 
 great world, — how we loved to wander in the fields 
 and pluck the flowers and listen to nature's wild music, 
 — how we distinguished birds one from another, or 
 different animals one from another, — how we loved 
 to gaze upon the sea and the sky, or to penetrate the 
 depths of the trackless forest, or to climb the rugged 
 cliff, — how the contemplation of nature filled our 
 little souls with ecstacy, and how we wondered if other 
 people felt the same emotions that the words God, 
 Eternity, Immensity, &c., excited in our minds, — how 
 imagination conjured up fictitious scenes, and peopled 
 them with the creations of our own brain, — how we 
 hated the drudgery of tasks, because we could not 
 understand them, and with what pleasure we turned 
 from them to read stories of animals or talcs about 
 children, — how readily we believed in everything that 
 was told us, and how our religion intermingled itself 
 
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. ,135 
 
 with superstitious notions, — how we told ghost stories, 
 in the long winter nights, to our playfellows sitting 
 round the fire, — how we wished that our school days 
 were over, that we might think and lead as our own 
 instincts directed us, without being under the iron rule 
 of hard masters, — with what pleasure we anticipated 
 the approach of holidays and periods of festivities, and 
 Low we looked to the luture, when we should be with- 
 out pain or anxiety, and when we should enjoy the full 
 exercise of our faculties. 
 
 We all remember when our school days were over, 
 and when we fairly commenced the process of self- 
 development — with Avhat avidity we read books that 
 suited our capacities and tastes, and what pleasure the 
 exercise of our intellectual faculties afforded us, — how 
 the dogmas of our school learning were forgotten or 
 disregarded, — how we studied men and thi'jgs for our- 
 eelves, and how our own taculiies and feelings became 
 distinct objects of contemplation, — how our past joys 
 and sorrows, thoughts and emotions, passed in review 
 before us, and how hope and high resolve shed a halo 
 over the future, and urged us on in the career of life. 
 
 And now, when the fairy existence of early youth is 
 past, what remains for our matured age ? The illusions 
 of hope have melted away like the unsubstantial visions 
 of the night, — life has lost its greatest charm, and the 
 Btern realities of existence meet us on every side, — most 
 of the gay friends of our childhood are in the cold 
 grave, and the voices that once charmed us, as with the 
 sweetest melody, are silent and still. What remains for 
 us? Action! usefulness! and the prospect of meeting 
 our lost friends in a better state of existence! 
 
 This review of the facts of our past existence supplies 
 us with valuable suggestions relative to the work of ele- 
 mentary education. 
 
 A cursor^/ view of our intellectual and moral faculties as regards 
 their mode of development, 
 
 Man 'is a thinking and responsible being; hence we 
 
136 PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 
 
 speak of our intellectual and moral nature, — of the 
 powers of intellect, which have respect to knowledge, 
 and of the moral powers, which have respect to conduct. 
 We think, feel, and act; we have thoughts and emo- 
 tions, and we have also the power of controlling our 
 thoughts and emotions. Hence our mental phenomena 
 maybe divided into three class(>s: 1. Simple intellect, 
 comprehendmg those faculties by which we perceive, 
 remember, compare, conceive, imagine, and reason. 2. 
 Emotions, usually called passions or affections; these 
 may be either passive or active; passive emotions simply 
 affect us with pleasure or pain; active emotions affect 
 our conduct, and they may be either right or wrong, 
 virtuous or vicious. 3. Over all these powers and emo- 
 tions is placed the principle of self-control, — the volun- 
 tary principle — the will, which constitutes man a 
 voluntary being, and which, acting in conjunction with 
 REASON and the power of conscience — that inherent 
 instinctive sense of right :ind wrong — also constitutes 
 him a moral anrl responsible agent. 
 
 Let us now endeavor to trace the successive stages of 
 our intellectual and moral development. 
 
 External objects produce impressions upon our senses, 
 which impressions we call sensations ; we become consciom 
 of these sensations, and we perceive the objects which 
 produce them; hence we regard sensation and perception 
 as belonging to the first stage of our mental development. 
 Sensation is the effect which external objects have upon 
 our senses; perception is an act of the mind, and hence 
 we speak of the faculty of perception,* But a sen- 
 
 * Brown aud his followers object to the use of the word faculty 
 or power as applied to these distinct acts of the mind; they coq- 
 siderthat the use of such phrasuolojiy ascribes distinct functions 
 to the mind, somewhat after the manner in which we ascribe dis- 
 tinct senses to the body. Now we take the broad facts of mental 
 phenomena, as they are received and understood by all; and by 
 the word faculty, as here used, we simply mean a certain distinct 
 mental act, or, it may be, a certain distinct state of the mind. 
 Some very substantial reasons must be given in order to change 
 the phraseology of a people. 
 
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT. 13 1 
 
 sation may take place without being followed by its 
 corresponding perception; thus, for example, an object 
 may be placed before our organs of vision without being 
 perceived bv us; in fact we must give our attention to a 
 thing before we can have a full perception of it; hence 
 we recognize the existence of that vohmtary power of 
 the mind which we call the faculty of attention. We 
 remember past impressions and perceptions; hence we 
 are said to possess the faculty of memory. We recall 
 at our will past impressions and scenes, and conceive 
 then to be, as it were, placed before us with all the 
 vividness of the original impressions; hence we are said 
 to possess the faculty of conception. By this faculty 
 we make the idea — the conception — of an object a 
 distinct subject of consciousness and contemplation. 
 We not only remember and conceive, but we also com- 
 pare the impressions of objects, whether present or 
 absent, with each other, and thus distinguish them one 
 from another, or form '.i judgment relative to their respec- 
 tive qualities; hence we are said to possess the facul- 
 ties of COMPARISON and of primitive judgment; these 
 form the first elements of the process of reasoning. 
 Things are perceived by us under certain relations of 
 place, time, &q. ; we recollect them in the same order of 
 place, time, &o. ; hence we are said to possess the fac- 
 ulty of recollection; which is something more than sim- 
 ple memory, for it involves the faculty of association". 
 By the faculty of association certain written signs or 
 sounds become suggestive of, or associated with, certain 
 ideas. The name of a horse, for example, whether writ- 
 ten or spoken, becomes associated with the conception 
 or idea of a horse, so that the presence of the one sug- 
 gests that of the other. The gift of language, or as we 
 might say, the faculty of language, not less than 
 reason or the moral sense, distinguishes man from the 
 lower animals. By means of language, that wonderful 
 symbol of thought, we hold communion with one an- 
 other, — we record the results of our experience — our 
 ideas, — and thus the life of a man, in a certain sense, is 
 not bounded by his own individual term of existence,but 
 
138 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 embraces tile whole period of the past existence of his 
 species. We imiiate the sonnds which we hear, and copy 
 the forms which we see; hence we are said to possess 
 the faculty of imitation. We not only believe in the 
 facts which we derive from perception and observation, 
 but we also readily accept the facts communicated to 
 us by others; hence w^e are said to have an instinctive 
 belief in testimony; hence that ren)arkable aptitude 
 which children show for receiving instruction, nnd the 
 unreasoning trust which they repose in the statements 
 of their parents and teachers. This may be not inap- 
 propriately called the faculty of leaening. 
 
 Let us now trace some of the earliest developments of 
 imagination, abstraction, and reason. 
 
 We marine things to exist, and invest them with 
 various imaginary qualities. With the aid of visible 
 representations, we form an idea of absent objects and 
 things, — a small picture enables us to realize the idea 
 of a mountain stream, or of some beautiful natural 
 scene; hence we are said to possess the faculty of Ide- 
 ality, which is obviously nearly allied to that of imag- 
 ination. 
 
 Me observe the relation between events: — a stroke 
 upon the table, for example, is followed by a sound; the 
 stroke is recognized as the cause, and the sound as the 
 effect; the stroke is repeated, and the same sound is 
 produced, and we instinctively believe that the same 
 efPect will always follow the operation of the same 
 cause. 
 
 We see a series of objects having the same color; — 
 they may be different in form, taste, &c., but they have 
 the same color: — we form a conception of that color, 
 apart from the other properties of the bodies, — that is 
 to say, we form an abstract idea of it. 
 
 We see a lot of balls, — they may be different in 
 color; some may be rough, otheis may be smooth, 
 but they have all the same form — they are all balls; 
 IV e realize a conception of this form apart from the 
 other properties of the bodies. A particular figure 
 formed by three straight lines, and therefore containing 
 
ABSTRACTION AND GENERALIZATION. 139 
 
 three aiifiles, is called a triangle; "^ut we may draw 
 another figure bounded by three straight lines, which 
 fihall differ very much i'rom the first iu the absolute and 
 the relative lengths of the sides; yet still we call this 
 figure a triangle, for it is bounded by three sides and 
 contains three angles: hence we form the abstract idea 
 of a triaiigle, corresponding to the definition which 
 limits or defines this species of form. And so on to 
 other cases of geometrical form and magnitude. In 
 like manner we arrive at a knowledge of the various 
 properties of bodies. 
 
 We see a lot of balls, — we count them by ones 
 — they make up a certain number; but they may be 
 grouped in different ways, and ihe total number will be 
 made up of the number in tlie different groups put to- 
 gether; thus, for example, if there are five balls, we may 
 put them into two groups, one of which shall contain three 
 balls and the other two; then we arrive at the fact that 
 three balls and two balls make five balls; but we maj'^ 
 count, in the same manner, with buttons, or with any 
 other objects; hence we form the abstract conception of 
 numbers and properties of numbers, withoi:t regard 
 to the particular objects which represent them, whether 
 they be balls, or buttons, or cubes, or anything else. 
 The results, thus attained, expressed in language be- 
 come established truths or propositions, and we remem- 
 ber them as such. 
 
 In all these cases we exercise the faculty of abstrac- 
 tion, which at the same time involves those of classifica- 
 tion and generalization. By the faculty of abstraction, 
 therefore, we arrange objects into classes, genera, and 
 gpecies. Thus we observe that some objects have 
 certain common propeities, by which we distinguish 
 them from other objects; hence we classify them and 
 call them by some name indicative of the class: thus 
 we soon distinguish between ahorse and a cow,&c. : hence 
 also we generalize, that is to say, we take a comprehen- 
 sive view of a multifarious collection of facts by select- 
 ing one which is common to them all. 
 
 Co-existent with this stage of intellectual develop- 
 
140 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 ment, certain appetites and passions exhibit themselves. 
 The taste of a sweetmeat affords us pleasure, the 
 taste of a drug is unpleasant; we love and desirh 
 the one, while while we dislike and avoid the other. 
 Some sensations and ideas are accompanied with pain, 
 others with pleasure; we love the person that is kind 
 to us, because his kindness affords us pleasure, and we 
 HATE and FEAR the person that treats us with cruelty, 
 because his cruelty gives us pain. 
 
 The sentiment of taste — tlie sense of the sublime and 
 beautiful — early develops itself. We admire a beau- 
 tiful object, because the sight of it affords us pleasure, — 
 the flowers with their varied forms, and colors and 
 scents, — the green fields and woods, — the bright sun, 
 lighting up the wide earth with life and joy, — the 
 silver moon, as she sheds her soft and balmy light over 
 the slumbering world, — the stars, as they twinkle in 
 the depths of the azure canopy of uight, — all are beau- 
 tiful to us — all are charming to us — because they all 
 awaken within us the sentiments of love and admiration. 
 
 But the contemplation of the sublime, not less than 
 the beautiful, affords us pleasure: the snow-clad moun- 
 tain, — the deep ravine, — the boundless expanse of field 
 and forest, — the vast ocean as it swells and foams 
 and responds to the moaning winds, — the rolling thun- 
 der and the flashing lightning, — all are sublime — all 
 fill our souls with the sentiruents of awe, veneration, 
 and wonder, and impress us with the ideas of vastness, 
 power, immensity, and infinitude. Above all, and over 
 all, we adore and love the great God, who made the 
 world and all its fullness, and enthroned Himself amid 
 its riches and goodness. 
 
 We love knowledge in all its forms, because its 
 acquisition affords us pleasure. Not satisfied with 
 what we already know, we seek to know more; hence 
 that insatiable appetite for knowledge — that ceaseless 
 cuRiosiTv, which is ever craving for knowledge, but is 
 never satisfied, and which forms one of the most re- 
 markable features of the infant mind. We love approba- 
 tion, and the consciousness of mental power affords us 
 
THE MORAL SENSE. 141 
 
 pleasure. We eagerly strive with our corapaiuons in 
 the race of improvement; hence we are said to possess 
 the principle of emulation. 
 
 We also soon distinguish between what is good or 
 bad in conduct: the sense of the beautiful is closely 
 related to,and connected with,the moral sense, or that 
 faculty whereby we distinguish what is good and beau- 
 tiful, and therefore praiseworthy, in our actions, from 
 ■what is bad and displeasing, and therefore blamew orthy. 
 The inherent conviction of our moral responsibility 
 leads us to follow the one and avoid the other. We 
 see that self-indulgence, if carried too far, is injurious 
 to ourselves, and often detrimenlal to the happine.«s 
 of others; we hence recognize two distinct principles, 
 or rather two distinct classes of emotions in our nature, 
 — the one class has been called the selfish emotions, 
 the other the benevolent emotions; the one seeks the 
 gratitication of self, the other seeks to promote the hap- 
 piness of others. The principle of sympathy leads us 
 to adopt the golden rule of conduct, viz., to do unto 
 others as we would that they should do unto us. We 
 PITY those that are in pain or distress, — we sympathize 
 with them, that is, we in a certain sense make tlieir 
 misery our own, and thus we are led to relieve them. 
 But our instincts are not all for good: we suffer inju- 
 ries or injustice from others; those injuries excite within 
 us the emotions of hatred and revenge, and other 
 malevolent passions; but we cannot indulge these 
 passions without causing misery to ourselves as well as 
 to others; hence arises the necessity of self-control. 
 We tell lies — falsehoods — to screen ourselves from 
 the consequences of our follies, or it may be to gratify 
 our vanity; but our conscience raises its voice against 
 the violation of truth. We take the property of 
 others, or seek to indulge ourselves at the expense of 
 others; but the golden rule tells us that theft, injustice, 
 &c., are wrong, and that honesty, justice, &c.,are right. 
 The love of approbation frequently engenders vanity, 
 and the consciousness of power produces pride and 
 CONCEIT. Education stimulates the development ol our 
 
142 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 virtuous emotions, and checks the development of those 
 that are evil. Scripture, the revealed word of God, 
 lends its all-powerful aid to inculcate what is good, and 
 to denounce what is evil. We are there informed that 
 God is holy as well as good, just as well as merciful; as 
 judge of all the earth, therefore. He will punish the 
 wicked and reward the righteous in the world to come. 
 
 Of all our intellectual faculties, imagination, reason, 
 judgment and invention are the latest in attaining their 
 full growth and development. 
 
 Oatx)f our impressions of actual scenes and events,we 
 imagine or, as it were, create fictitious scenes and 
 events, and invest them with all the vividness and 
 warmth of reality; hence we are said to possess the fac- 
 ulty of IMAGINATION. We Separate facis or general 
 principles from each other, and throw them into new 
 combinations with the view of deriving some new result 
 or fact; in this case we are said to exercise the faculty 
 of INVENTION, which is obviously very nearly allied to 
 that of imagination. 
 
 We analyze facts, compare them with each other, 
 observe their relations, and deduce from these relations 
 certain general facts or principles; we compare our 
 mental impressions with external things, draw conclu- 
 sions, and establish certain principles of belief; in all 
 these cases, we are said to exercise the faculty of rea- 
 son, or it may be that of judgment. By reason we 
 investigate truth, and determine the laws of evidence 
 and belief. Ueason is the highest faculty of our nature, 
 and admits of an indefinite degree of cultivation. 
 
 A more exact analysis of the mind, with a classifica- 
 tion of its faculties, is given in Chap. III., Part I.,of this 
 work. 
 
143 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 CULT[VA.TrO>^ OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES.— CULTIVATION OF THE PER- 
 CEPrrVE FA0ULT[E3 AND OF THE FACULTIES OF PRI.VIITIVE JUDGMENT, CON- 
 CEPTION, IMITATION, ABSTRACTION, AND LANGUAGE. 
 
 Our first knowledge of the existence and properties of 
 the material world is derived through our senses; hence 
 it follows that our knowledge of the properties of mate- 
 rial bodies is limited by the number ami acuteness of 
 our senses. It is generally believed that we have five 
 Benses, — sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch; but to 
 these has been added the sense of muscular effort,or the 
 sens3 of resistance to muscular action. 
 
 Some properties are cognizable by one sense only; 
 but in general our knowledge olF the external world is 
 derived frofu the combined action of several senses. 
 Thus color can only be known to us by the sense of 
 sight, sound by the sense of hearing, taste by the sense 
 of taste, cold or heat by the sense of feeling, odor by 
 the sense of smell, and weight or force by the sense of 
 muscular effort; but the properties of form, size, num- 
 ber and texture are cognizable by at least two of our 
 senses, viz., sight and touch; the ideas of number and 
 succession may be conveyed to the mind by any of our 
 senses; thus a succession of sounds, tastes, <fcc., may 
 impress us with the idea of number as perfectly as a 
 series of objects placed before the eye can do. Our 
 impression of solidity, roughness or smoothness, ig 
 derived from touch combined with muscular action. 
 And so on to other cases. 
 
 The first notions derived from our senses, however, 
 seem to be limited and imperfect. Our real knowledge 
 is only acquired by experience, in the course of which 
 the impressions derived from one sense are used to sup- 
 ply the deficiencies and correct the errors of the impres- 
 sions derived from another aense,and by the mind acting 
 upon the impressions derived from all the senses. Thus, 
 
144 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 for example, the primary objects of vision are color and 
 apparent form; but the result of experience, derived 
 from the secse of touch, &c., enables us to judge of 
 distance and magnitude by our vision. It is well known 
 that we have no idea of the distance of an object unless 
 we have some knowledge of its magnitude, and vice 
 versa. In like manner, we have no idea of the intensity 
 of sounds unless we have some knowledge of their dis- 
 tance, end vice versa. Experience also enables us to judge 
 of the distance of an object by the degree of its bright- 
 ness, or by the degree of distinctness of its outline: hence 
 it is that in a picture distant objects are drawn faintly 
 and with an indistinctness in the outline of their minute 
 parts. The apparent form of a body is often very differ- 
 ent from the true idea which we conceive of it; in fact, 
 our conception of an object derived from vision is as 
 much a matter of judgment as of sensation. We avail 
 ourselves of this principle in perspective drawing, where 
 we diminish the size of the lines representing known 
 objects to convey the idea of distance, and fore-shorten 
 the lines which represent the parts of objects seen 
 obliquely. These observations show that we have to 
 learn the right use of our senses. It is the business of 
 the teacher to aid nature in accomplishing this end. 
 
 On the cultivation of the senses, Miss Edgeworth 
 observes: — 
 
 " Kousseau has judiciously advised that the senses of 
 children should be cultivated with the utmost care. In 
 proportion to the distinctness of their perceptions will 
 be the accuracy of their memory, and probably, also, 
 the precision of their judgment. A child who sees 
 imperfectly cannot reason justly about the objects of 
 sight, because he has not sufficient data. A child who 
 does not hear distincth'^ cannot judge well of sounds; 
 and, if we could suppose the sense of touch to be twice 
 as accurate in one child as in another,we might conclude 
 that the judgment of these children must differ in a 
 similar proportion. The defects in organization are not 
 within the power of the preceptor; but we may observe 
 that inattention and want of exercise are frequently 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 145 
 
 the causes of what are mistaken for natural defects; 
 and, on the contrary, increased attention and cultivation 
 Bometimes produce that quickness of eye and ear, and 
 tbat consequent readiness of judgment, which we are 
 apt to attribute to natural superiority of organization 
 or capacity." 
 
 The cultivation of the senses necessarily includes the 
 cultivation of the faculty of perception. This faculty 
 demands the earliest attention and cultivation; its first 
 development is best attained by directing it to the 
 examination of form and number, and afterwards to 
 the various other properties of bodies. A sufficient 
 time should be allowed the child to examine and observe 
 the different parts and peculiarities of- the object at 
 which he looks; and we should not expect him to give 
 his attention to more than one subject at a time. He 
 should be led to compare one object with another, or it 
 may be different parts of the same object with each 
 other. He should be shown how to direct all his senses 
 to an object with the view of determining all its prop- 
 erties. He will, in the course of this examination, fre- 
 quently find that he is able to detect the same property 
 by different senses. Thus, for example, the teacher may 
 Bay to his pupil — What shape has this object (a ball) ? 
 P. It is round. T. How do you know that it is round? 
 P. I see that it is round. T. Is there no other way by 
 which you can know that it is round? You seem to 
 hesitate, — now take it in your hand and run your fingers 
 over its surface. P. ifeel that it is round. T. But your 
 feeling tells of another property which that object has, 
 — what is that property ? F. It feels smooth. T. But 
 there is another way by which you know that it is 
 smooth? P. It looh smooth,— it is glossy or bright. 
 T. True — your experience teaches you that bodies which 
 appear bright or glossy are almost always smooth. 
 Now close your eyes, and take this body in your hands, 
 — can you feel what color it has ? P. 1 cannot feel 
 color. T. Now open your eyes, and tell me what color 
 it has. P. I see that it is red. 
 
 In cultivating the perceptive faculties, the teacher 
 
146 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 sbould frequently require his pupils to judge of the 
 distance of an object from its apparent size, or from its 
 distinctness of outline, and vice versa, or of the distance 
 of a sound from its intensity, or of the distance of a 
 place by the time which it takes them to walk to it. The 
 eye should be exercised in noting the position of objects 
 with respect to each other, and in comparing the mag- 
 nitude of the angles formed by lines and planes. They 
 should be accustomed to use the foot rule in measuring 
 the lengths and breadths of different things, and also 
 their distances from one another, so that they may at 
 once be able to verify their judgments relative to the 
 sizes of different objects. The weights and capacities 
 of bodies should also be made a subject of observation. 
 In order to give an idea of density, or the lightness or 
 heaviness of a substance, the attention of the child 
 should be directed to the size of a pound of tea as com- 
 pared with the size of a pound of sugar,or to the weight 
 of a sovereign as compared with the weight of a shilling. 
 In all these exercises, the child should be required to 
 express in language the results of his observations or 
 judgments; and, whenever it is practicable, he should 
 be required to draw the object or objects to which his 
 attention has been directed; nothing tends to cultivate 
 the eye and the hand so much as drawing. Proceeding 
 in this way, the teacher will combine perception, ob- 
 servation, JUDGMENT, drawing, AND LANGUAGE IN THE 
 SAME EXERCISE. 
 
 The habit of exact perception and observation will be 
 further cultivated by directing the attention of the 
 child to various natural phenomena, such as we have 
 described under our general axioms. It is almost un- 
 necessary to say that music will exercise the same influ- 
 ence in the cultivation of the ear that drawing does in 
 reference to the eye. 
 
 The conceptive faculties should be cultivated at 
 the same time as the perceptive faculties. After the 
 attention of a child has been sufficiently directed to an 
 object, it should be removed from his sight, and then he 
 should be required to describe it in language, or, it may 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE CONCEPTIVB FACULTIES. 147 
 
 be, by drawing a representation of it. In like manner, 
 after certain operations of numbers have been explained 
 to him, by reference to familiar objects, such as balls or 
 strokes, he should be required to perform by the ordinary 
 process of mental calculation, similar operations without 
 the aid of such objects. He should also be required to 
 describe, in his own language,particular scenes and events 
 which he may have recently witnessed. 
 
 A teacher should address his instruction to the eye as 
 well as to the ear. The subject should be illustrated by 
 pictures, drawings, or figures, as the case m^y require, 
 and new phrases or wo'*ds should be written in large char- 
 acters upon the blackboard. In all cases, the concep- 
 tion of any new thing should be aided by words, by 
 symbols, by figurative representations, or by models. 
 
 After all the properties of a body have been examined 
 by the pupils, the names given to these properties should 
 be thoroughly impressed upon their minds. These prop- 
 erties, as we have before remarked, should then be made 
 a subject of comparison or contrast, as the case may be, 
 with the corresponding properties of other bodies; and 
 then the property or properties by which the object on 
 which the lesson is given is distinguished from other 
 bodies should be distinctly pointed out, and the judgments 
 thus formed should be expressed in simple and appro- 
 priate language. The uses to which the body is ap- 
 plied should then be exhibited; and the connection 
 between its distinguishing properties and its uses should 
 be carefully explained and illustrated. 
 
 Children like to dwell in the ideal world, — the world 
 of conceptions. The depth and vividness of their con- 
 cepti«ms are intensified by the emotions elicited by our 
 lessons. The following subjects of instruction are highly 
 calculated to interest the feelings, and to invigorate the 
 conceptive faculty : zo6logy,comprehending a description 
 of the habits of the wild animals of the forest; geogra- 
 phy, comprehending descriptions of strange and distant 
 lands; mental arithmetic, in which the fundamental oper- 
 ations of numbers are conducted without the aid of sym- 
 bolical notation; astronomy, describing the revolutions 
 
148 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 of the vast globes which move through the amplitudes 
 of space; and so on. As an example, let the subject of 
 the lesson be the form and magnitude of tU earth. 
 
 Notes of a Lesson for cuUivatin'g the Faculty of Conception, 
 Age of the pupils alout seven. 
 
 The world is a globe like an orange; the orange is a 
 little globe, but the world is a vast globe many thousands 
 of times larger than the orange. When you look from 
 the top of a high hill, you only see a small portion of the 
 earth's surface; beyond the distant hills ajid trees which 
 bound your view there are hills and trees, and again hills 
 and trees' far, far beyond. Navigators have sailed round 
 the earth. The length of a line going round the earth is 
 about 25,000 miles. You cannot tell what a great dis- 
 tance this is, but 1 shall try to give you some idea of it. 
 You have travelled in a railway train, and you know 
 how fast it moves; well, I once travelled in a fast train 
 from London to York in four hours; now it would take 
 that train constantly going about three weeks to go round 
 the earth. Such is the great size of the earth. But the 
 distance round the earth is almost nothing when com- 
 pared with the celestial spaces. You have seen the even- 
 ing star (Venus) when the sun is sinking in the western 
 sky; — the sun is seen beside the farm-house, and Yenus 
 over the forest, only a few miles from the farm-house; 
 now the real distance between the sun and Venus is up- 
 wards of 60 millions of miles, or more than two thousand 
 times the girt (circumference) of our earth. And so on. 
 
 In this lesson we shall have cultivated other faculties 
 besides that of conception. 
 
 Definitions of terms should be given, as far as prac- 
 ticable, in connection with the things or properties which 
 are designated by these terms. Thus, for example, if we 
 "wish to give a definition of the term elasticity^ we should 
 take a piece of india-rubber and stretch it out before the 
 pupil, saying to him at the same time: Now I am ex- 
 erting a pulling force, so as to stretch this long piece of 
 india-rubber; what do you observe in reference to the 
 
CULTIVATION OP THE CONCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 149 
 
 alteration in its shape ? P. You have stretched it out, 
 — it is longer than it was at first. T. Now I release it, 
 —now the stretching force ceases to act, — what do you 
 now observe ? P. It has returned to its original shape. 
 T. This property is called elasticity, and the india-rubber 
 is said to be elastic. Now tell me, in your own language, 
 what you mean by the property of elasticity. P. That 
 if the body be stretched out, and then let go (released) 
 from the force, it will return to its original shape. T. 
 True; but we may express the same thing thus: elas- 
 ticity is that property whereby a body returns to its 
 original shape after the force which has altered its shape 
 is withdrawn. 
 
 Definitions of form should be given in connection 
 with the actual construction of the figures which we 
 wish to define. As oar geometrical definitions and 
 postulates are based upon experience and observation, 
 one of the first steps in mathematical instruction is to 
 show how geometrical figures may be described in ac- 
 cordance with their definitions, and, at the same time, to 
 aid the mind of the pupil in forming general or abstract 
 conceptions of these figures. The best way of showing 
 the possihility of drawing a perfect figure is actually to 
 draw it, with a greater or less degree of accuracy, ac- 
 cording to the conditions of its abstract definition. Thus, 
 if we wish to give the definition of a circle, we should 
 take a string and describe a circle with it, before the 
 pupil, saying to him at the same time; — The figure 
 bounded by this chalk line is called a circle; the fixed, 
 point about which the string revolves is called the centre 
 of the circle; the length of the string, which constantly 
 remains the same, is the radius; the chalk line itself, 
 which forms the boundary of the figure, is called the 
 circumference; and the line drawn through the centre, 
 meeting the circumference on opposite sides, is called 
 the diameter. Now what have you to say about the dis- 
 tance of the circumference of a circle from its centre ? 
 P. It is always the same. T. In other words, you would 
 «ay that the radii of a circle are all equal to one another. 
 Now although this circle is not so perfect as it is possi- 
 
160 PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 
 
 ble to draw one, yet you can tell me what a perfect cir- 
 cle is. P. A circle is a figure bounded by a line which. 
 is everywhere at the same distance from a point within 
 it called the centre. 
 
 In like manner, the pupil should be led to give in his 
 own language the definitions of the terms radius,diame- 
 ter, circumference, &c. Without materially altering 
 the language employed by the pupil, the teacher may 
 find it desirable to improve or correct it- 
 Above all things, children should be accustomed to 
 write their own ideas in their own language. The 
 writing of the contents of a book is better than the 
 Btudy of a whole commentary upon it; and the writing 
 of the subject-matter of a single page often stimulates 
 the appetite for learning more powerfully than the 
 reading of a whole folio. On this subject Richter ob- 
 serves: " Since writing signifies but the sign of things, 
 and brings us through it to the things themselves, it 
 is a stricter isolator and clearer collector of the ideas 
 than even speech itself. Sound teaches quickly and 
 generally; writing, uninterruptedly and with more 
 accuracy. It is certain that our representation is much 
 more a mental seeing than hearing, and that our meta- 
 phors play far more on an instrument of color than of 
 sound, and therefore writing which lingers under the 
 eyes must assist the formation of ideas to a much greater 
 extent than the rapid flight of sound. The scholar, 
 indeed, carries it so far that when he reflects he 
 really seems to read a printed page, and when he speaks, 
 to give a little declamation out of a quickly and well 
 written pamphlet. Let the boys write out their own 
 thoughts sooner than copy yours,so that they may learn 
 to exchange the heavy-ringing coin of sound into more 
 convenient paper money. And let them be spared the 
 writing-texts of schoolmasters, containing the praises of 
 industry, of writing, of their master, or of some old 
 prince; in short, subjects about which the teacher can 
 produce nothing better than his pupil. Every repre- 
 sentation without some actual object or motive is poison. 
 1 cannot understand schoolmasters! Must the man even 
 
CXJLTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 151 
 
 in childhood preach from the appointed Sunday text, 
 and never choose one for himself from nature's bible? 
 Something similar may be said about the writing of 
 open letters (an unsealed one is almost inevitably half 
 untrue) which the teachers of girls' schools require, in 
 order, say they, to exercise their pupils in epistolary 
 style. A nothing writes to a nothing: the whole affair,, 
 undertaken by the desire of the teacher, not of the heart, 
 is a certificate of the death of thoughts, an announce- 
 ment of the burning of the materials. Happy is it if 
 the commanded volubility of the child, arising from 
 coldness and addressed to emptiness, do not accustom her 
 to insincerity. If letters must be forthcoming, let them 
 be written to some fixed person, about some definite 
 thing. But what need of * so much ado about nothing,* 
 since — not even excepting political or literary news- 
 papers — nothing can be written so easily as letters on 
 any subject when there is a motive for them, and the 
 mind is fully informed of the matter." 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED,— CULTIVATION 
 OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 
 
 In all our exercises of the senses, the faculty of atten- 
 tion should be assiduously cultivated by all the artifices 
 which we may have within our power. The habit of 
 directing the faculties promptly and intensely to what- 
 ever subject comes before them, lays the foundation of 
 the intellectual character. This habit requires careful 
 cultivation: all the pupils should be expected to concen- 
 trate the whole of their powers of observation on the 
 subject brought before them ; imperfect perception should 
 be carefully guarded against, and erroneous conceptions 
 promptly corrected; no subject should be dismissed until 
 
152 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 all its legitimate points of interest have been fairly ex- 
 hausted; and carelessness, lassitude or indifference should 
 never be permitted for one moment to exist. Besides 
 the immediate benefits arising from such a course of ed- 
 ucation, it exerts a most momentous influence on the 
 future characters of the pupils, — it decides in a great 
 measure, as Fellenberg observes, "whether they shall 
 be superficial and desultory throughout life, or whether 
 they shall maintain the contrary habits of application 
 and accuracy with honorable perseverance." So much 
 depends upon the faculty of attention, that its culture 
 should form a leading subject of practical education. 
 
 To cultivate the faculty of attention, the effort on the 
 part of the child must be voluntary. By constraint, you 
 may get a child to learn the task you have assigned him; 
 but by this exercise you do not cultivate his power of 
 attention, — you have only stimulated the child to exer- 
 tion by the fear of punishment, or it may be by the hope 
 of reward. By displaying the wonders of nature or art 
 to a child, you render his attention voluntary, and out 
 of a passive, servile creature, you make an active, self- 
 dependent agent. The best means of cultivating the 
 habit of attention, therefore, is to associate pleasure 
 with the exertions of the pupil, especially the pleasure 
 which flows from success. 
 
 To cultivate the faculty of attention, our teaching 
 should be suggestive; that is to say, we should always 
 leave something for our pupils to work out themselves; 
 we should never do anything for them which they can 
 do for themselves; and whenever we assist them, it 
 should be done in such a way as to lead them as speed- 
 ily as possible to go on without assistance. We should 
 not seek to remove the fair difficulties which lie in 
 a pupil's way, but rather teach him how to surmount 
 them. Never do anything, says Abbott, for a scholar, 
 but teach him to do it for himself. How many cases 
 occur, in tlie schools of this country, where the boy 
 brings his slate to the teacher, saying he cannot do a 
 certain sum! The teacher takes the slate and pencil,— 
 performs the work in silence, — brings out the result, — 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 153 
 
 returns the slate to the haiuls of his pupil, who walks off 
 to his seat, and goes to work on the next example, per- 
 fectly satisfied with the manner in which he is getting 
 on. Such a practice, obviously, cannot conduce to the 
 cultivation of the faculty of attention. 
 
 We weaken the habit of attention by requiring our 
 pupils to study too many thinajs at once, or matters 
 which are above their capacity; by directing their 
 minds too long to any one subject; by urging them up 
 to, or beyond, the point of fatigue; or by repeatinsr too 
 frequently the same exercises without variation. When- 
 ever an exercise becomes too easy or too monotonous for 
 our pupils, it then ceases to engage their attention, and 
 acts injuriously upon their minds by engendering habits 
 of listlessness and indifference. When a child, for exam- 
 ple, writes the whole page of a copy head, we generally 
 find that the last line is the worst written. 
 
 A skilful teacher will sometimes turn to account the 
 incidental circumstances which are calculated to draw 
 off the attention of his pupils from his lesson: a butterfly 
 enters the school-room, — in a moment all eyes are upon 
 it; instead of scolding them for this apparent violation 
 of order, he cheerfully enters into their thoughts and 
 feelings, catches the butterfly, and forthwith gives them 
 a conversational lecture upon their beautiful winged 
 visitor. Faraday never lectures so brilliantly as when 
 he happens to fail in making an experiment. 
 
 When children become wearied out with long or in- 
 tense attention, their enthusiam may often be revived 
 by bringing in some fresh motive for exertion. Darwin 
 thus happily illustrates this principle: — "A little boy, 
 who w^as tired of walking, begged of his papa to carry 
 him. *Here,' says the reverend doctor, * ride upon my 
 gold-headed cane;' and the pleased child, putting it be- 
 tween his legs, galloped away with delight." 
 
 On the cultivation of the habit of attention. Miss 
 Edgeworth observes: "Whatever is connected with pain 
 or pleasure cominands our attentioii: but to make this 
 general observation useful in education, we must examine 
 what degrees of stimulus are necessarv for different 
 
164 PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 
 
 pupils, and in different circumstances. It is not prudent 
 early to use violent or continual stimulus, either of a 
 painful or pleasurable nature, to excite children to ap- 
 plication, because we should by an intemperate use of 
 these Weaken the mind, and because we may with a 
 little patience obtain all we wish without these expedients. 
 Besides these reasons, there is another potent argument 
 against using violent motives to excite attention; such 
 motives frequently disturb and dissipate the very at- 
 tention which they attempt to fix. If a child be 
 threatened with severe punishment, or flattered with the 
 promise of some delicious reward, in order to induce his 
 performance of any particular task, he desires instantly 
 to perform the task; but this desire will not insure his 
 Buccess; unless he has previously acquired the habit of 
 voluntary exertion, he will not be able to turn his mind 
 from his ardent wishes, even to the means of accomplish- 
 ing them. He will be in the situation of Alnaschar, in 
 the Arabian tales, who, whilst he dreamt of his future 
 grandeur, forgot his immediate business. To teach any 
 Dew habit or art, we must not employ any alarming ex- 
 citements; small, certain, regularly-recurring motives, 
 which interest, but which do not distract the mind, are 
 evidently the best. The ancient inhabitants of Minorca 
 "Were said to be the best slingers in the world; when 
 they were children, every morning what they were to eat 
 was slightly fastened to high poles, and they were 
 obliged to throw down their breakfasts with their slings 
 from the places where they were suspended, before they 
 could satisfy their hunger. The motive seems to have 
 been here well proportioned to the effect that was re- 
 quired; it could not be any great misfortune for a boy 
 to go without his breakfast; but as this motive returned 
 every moruing,it became sufficiently serious to the hungry 
 filingers. It is impossible to explain this subject so as 
 to be of use, without descending to minute particulars. 
 When a mother says to her little daughter, as she places 
 on the table before her a bunch of ripe cherries, *Tell 
 ine, my dear, how many cherries are there, and I will 
 give them to you,' — the child's attention is fixed in- 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 155 
 
 stantly; there is a sufficient motive; not a motive which 
 excites any violent passions, but which raises just such a 
 degree of hope as is necessary to produce attention. The 
 little girl, if she knows from experience that her mother's 
 promise will be kept, and that her own patience is likely 
 to succeed, counts the cherries carefully, has her reward, 
 and upon the next similar trial she will from this success 
 be still more disposed to exert her attention. The pleasure 
 of eating cherries, associated with the pleasure of success, 
 will balance the pain of a few moments' prolonged appli- 
 cation, and by degrees the cherries may be withdrawn, 
 and the association of pleasure will remain. Objects or 
 thoughts that have been associated, with pleasure, retain 
 thepower of pleasing; as the needle touched by the load- 
 stone acquires polarity, and retains it long after the load- 
 stone is withdrawn, whenever attention is habitually 
 raised by the power of association, we sliould be careful 
 to withdraw all the excitements that were originally used, 
 because these are now unnecessary; and, as we have for- 
 merly observed, the steady rule with respect to stimulus 
 should be to give the least possible quantity that will 
 produce the effect we want. Success is a great pleasure; 
 as soon as children become sensible to this pleasure, that 
 is to say, w^hen they have tasted it two or three times, 
 they will exert their attention merely with the hope of 
 succeeding. We have seen a little boy of three years old, 
 frowning with attention for several minutes together, 
 ■whilst he was trying to clasp and unclasp a lady's bracelet; 
 his whole soul was intent upon the business, he neither 
 saw nor heard anything else that passed in the room, 
 though several people were talking, and some happened 
 to be looking at him. The pleasure of success, when he- 
 had clasped the bracelet, was quite sufficient; he looked 
 for no praise, though he was perhaps pleased with the 
 sympathy that was shown in his success. Sympathy is 
 a better reward for young children in such circumstances 
 than praise, because it does not excite vanity, and it is 
 connected with benevolent feelings; besides, it is not so 
 violent a stimulus as applause. Instead of increasing 
 excitements to produce attention we may vary them, 
 
156 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 which will have just the same effect. When sympathy 
 fails, try curiosity ; when curiosity fails, try praise; when 
 praise begins to lose its effect,try blame; and when you go 
 back again to sympathy, you will find that, after this in- 
 terval, it will have recovered all its original power. There 
 are some people who have the power of exciting others 
 to great mental exertions, not by the promise of specific 
 rewards, or by the threats of any punishment, but by the 
 ardent ambition wnich they inspire, by the high value 
 which is set upon their love and esteem. When we have 
 formed a high opinion of a friend, his approbation be- 
 comes necessary to our self-complacency, and we think 
 no labor too great to satisfy ^our attachment. Our exer- 
 tions are not fatiguing, because they are associated with 
 all the pleasurable sensations of affection, self-compla- 
 cency, benevolence, and liberty. These feelings in youth 
 produce all the virtuous enthusiasm characteristic of 
 great minds; even childhood is capable of it in some 
 degree, as those parents well know who have ever en- 
 joyeil the attachment of a grateful, affectionate child. 
 Those who neglect to cultivate the affections of their 
 pupils, will never be able to excite them to nolle ends by 
 nohle means. Theirs will be the dominion of fear, from 
 which reason will emancipate herself, and from which 
 pride will more certainly revolt. If Henry the Fourth of 
 France had been reduced like Dionysius, the tyrant of 
 Syracuse, to earn his bread as a schoolmaster, what a 
 different preceptor he would probably have made! Di- 
 onysius must have been hated by his scholars as much 
 as by his subjects; for it is said, that 'he practised upon 
 children that tyranny which he could no longer exercise 
 over men.' The ambassador who found Henry the 
 Fourth playing upon the carpet with his children,would 
 probably have trusted his own children, if he had any,to 
 the care of such an affectionate tutor. Henry the Fourth 
 would have attracted his pupils whilst he instructed them ; 
 they would have exerted themselves because they could 
 not have been happy without his esteem. Henry's 
 courtiers, or rather his friends, for though he was a king 
 he had friends,sometimes expressed surprise at their own 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 157 
 
 disinterestedness: 'This king pays us vith words,' said 
 they, *and yet we are satisfied!' Sully, when he was only 
 Baron de Rosny,and before he had any hopes of being a 
 duke, was once in a passion with the king, his master, 
 and half resolved to leave him; * But I don't know how 
 it was,' said the honest ministei-; ' with all his faults, 
 there is something about Henry w^hich I found I could 
 not leave; and when I met him again, a few words made 
 me forget all my causes of discontent.' Children are 
 more easily rewarded. Whi;n once this generous desire 
 of affection and esteem is raised in the mind, their exer- 
 tions seem to be universal and spontaneous; children are 
 then no longer like machines, which require to be m ound 
 up regularly to perform certain revolutions; they are 
 animated with a living principle, which directs all that 
 it inspires." 
 
 While the teacher endeavors to engage the attention 
 of all his pupils, and equally to ensure the progress of all, 
 he must not expect to find that they will all manifest the 
 same amount of attention, or that they will all make the 
 same progress. " Do not hope," says Abbott, " to make 
 all your pupils alike. Providence has determined that 
 human minds should differ from each other, for the very 
 purpose of giving variety and interest to this busy scene 
 of life. Now if it were possible for a teacher so to plan 
 his operations as to send his pupils forth upon the com- 
 munity, formed on the same model as if they were made 
 by machinery, he would do so much towards spoiling one 
 of the wisest plans which the Almighty has formed for 
 making this world a happy scene. It is impossible, if it 
 • were wise, and it would be foolish if it were possible, to 
 fitiraulate, by artificial means, the rose, in hope of its 
 reaching the size and magnitude of the apple-tree, or to 
 try to cultivate the fig and the orange where wheat only 
 will grow. No; it should be the teacher's main design 
 to shelter bis pupils from every deleterious influence,and 
 to bring everything to bear upon the community of minds 
 before him which will encourage, in each one,the devel- 
 opment of his own native powers. Error on this point 
 is very common. Many teachers, even among those who 
 
158 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 have taken high rank, through the successes with which 
 they have labored in this field, have wasted much time, 
 in attempting to do what can never be done; to form the 
 character of those brought under their influence, after a 
 certain uniform model, which they have conceived as the 
 standard of excellence. Their pupils must write just 
 such a hand, they must compose in just such astyle,they 
 must be similar in sentiment and feeling, and their man- 
 ners must be formed according to a fixed and uniform 
 model; and when, in such a case, a pu])il comes under 
 their charge whom Providence has designed to be en- 
 tirely different from the boau-ideal adopted as the 
 standard, more time and pains and anxious solicitude are 
 wasted in vain attempts to produce the desired conform- 
 ity than half the school requires beside." 
 
 The teacher must suppose human nature to be neither 
 better nor worse than it really is; he must not expect to 
 find the faculty of attention ready formed in the minds of 
 his pupils; on the contrary, he must expect that the cul- 
 tivation of this faculty in his different pupils will demand 
 his constant study, and that unless means are adopted to 
 secure this end all his labor will be utterly lost. Some 
 teachers seem never to make it a part of their calculation 
 that their pupils will be guilty of wilful inattention or 
 do anything wrong, and then, when any misconduct 
 occurs, they are disconcerted and irritated, and look 
 and act as if some unexpected occurrence had broken in 
 upon their plans. A man comes home from school at 
 night perplexed and irritated at the petty acts of mis- 
 conduct and inattention of his pupils. 
 
 " Sir," we might say to him, " what is the matter ? " 
 
 " Why, I have such boys,I can do nothing with them. 
 Were it not for their inattention and want of respect, I 
 might have a very good school." 
 
 " Were it not for the boys! Why, is there any pecul- 
 iar depravity in them which you could not have fore- 
 seen?" 
 
 "N"o; I suppose they are pretty much like all other 
 boys," he replies despairingly; "they are all hair-brained 
 and unmanageable. The plans I have formed for my 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTENTION. 15d 
 
 school would be excellent, if my boys would only behave 
 properly." 
 
 " Excellent plans," might we not reply, " and yet not 
 adapted to the materials upon which they are to oper- 
 ate! No. It is your business to know what sort of 
 beings boys are, and to make your calculation accord- 
 ingly." 
 
 The means which we employ in cultivating the habit 
 of attention, therefore, should have a due regard to the 
 natural differences of temper and talents of our pupils. 
 Inattentive boys may be ranked under five classes, viz.: 
 the feeble^ the sluggish^ the volatile^ the timid, and the 
 quick. An observing teacher soon discovers to which 
 class any particular boy should be referred, and, know- 
 ing the cause of inattention, he is able to apply the 
 proper remedy. 
 
 1. The boy of feeble intellect is inattentive be- 
 cause of his incapacity. He shows a feverish anxiety 
 to understand what is said to him, and, failing to do so, 
 he soon relaxes his attention, and gives up in despair. 
 The boy's dullness should never be a subject of censure, 
 nor should he be stimulated to exertion by the hope of 
 reward. Everything should be made as easy for him 
 as possible; and as weariness is sure to follow any 
 unusual stretch of attention, his lesson should be short 
 as well as easy. Above all things, we should be patient 
 with him, and never taunt him with the trouble which 
 he may give us. By such means, the feeble boy may 
 become as remarkable for his steadiness and persever- 
 ance as he is for his want of intellectual power; such 
 boys not unfrequently become useful men. "If the 
 Creator has so formed the mind of a boy that he must 
 go through life slowly and with difficulty, impeded by 
 obstructions which others do not feel, and depressed by 
 discouragements which others never know, his lot la 
 surely hard enough, without having you to add to the 
 trials and sufferings, which sarcasm and reproach from 
 you can heap upon him. Look over your school-room, 
 therefore, and wherever you find one whom you perceive 
 the Creator to have endued with less intellectual power 
 
160 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 than others, fix your eye upon him with ai) expression 
 of kindness and sympathy." 
 
 r 2. The sluggish, lazy boy is inattentive from a want 
 of all mental activity. He hates learning for the trouble 
 which it gives him, and nothing seems to afford him so 
 much enjoyment as lounging at his ease. Bis intellectual 
 powers may be originally good, but he allows them to 
 rust away lor want of use. Here some powerful stimu- 
 lants are required to arouse him from his mental torpor; 
 every motive to exertion should be tried, until we hit 
 upon the right one. Locke divides sluggish boys into 
 two species: those who are indolent only at their books 
 or lessons; and those who are indolent in everything, 
 even at their play; the mental distemper in the former 
 case seems only local and accidental, whereas in the lat- 
 ter case it is general and constitutional; the one, under 
 proper management, may be readily cured, but the other 
 almost defies the power of remedy. The book-saunterer, 
 as Locke would call him, is generally the leader at all 
 sports and games; and when any daring act of mischief 
 has been done, he is sure to have had a hand in it. 
 Scott and Byron, as boys, belonged to this class, since 
 their want of aptitude for learning was doubtless attrib- 
 utable to the dogmatic system under which they were 
 taught. We should never despair of a boy who exhibits 
 great energy of character at his games; for in a slug- 
 gish mind of this kind we often find the slumbering 
 energies of a higher intellect; like the rough diamond, 
 it must be cut and polished before it can shine with its 
 proper brilliancy and loveliness. The most hopeless 
 dunce is that boy in whom confirmed sluggishness is 
 combined with feebleness of intellect. 
 
 3. The volatile boy is inattentive from his love of 
 novelty. He is continually staring about him, he is the 
 first boy in the class to notice anything unusual, and his 
 exclamation of surprise is generally the key-note of a 
 general outbreak. He is fond of fun, and is a general 
 favorite in the school, for he is neither feared nor en- 
 vied. His disposition to wander from subject to sub- 
 ject prevents him from becoming sufficiently acquainted 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE FACULTY OF ATTEN'TIOX. 161 
 
 Avith any. In order to counteract this tendency, we 
 should endeavor to fix his mind upon some subject for 
 which he has shown something like a predilection, by 
 directing his attention to it again and again until we 
 have succeeded; having once developed the faculty in 
 relation to one subject, it then becomes a comparatively 
 easy task to succeed with other subjects. Examples of 
 application and perseverance should often be held up for 
 his imitation, with a view of giving a proper direction 
 to his ambition and enthusiasm. 
 
 4. The TIMID BOY is inattentive for war.t of a sufficient 
 confidence in his own powers, as well as from a want of 
 that implicit trust which children generally repose in 
 their teachers. The mischievous boys in the school 
 look upon him as fair game to be hunted down. He 
 sconces himself in the most distant nook of the school- 
 room, and looks forth from his retreat upon the maps, 
 the great card containing the routine of lessons, the 
 blackboard with all the mysterious chalk lines upon it, 
 the master with his pointer in his left hand and the 
 chalk in his right, — he looks upon all these, as well as 
 the other school apparatus and appendages, with fear 
 and trembling. Poor child! how can he direct his 
 attention to the lesson that is being given by the master, 
 who probably stands, thundering forth his expositions 
 and demonstrations, as if he were commanding a brigade 
 of artillery. In order to counteract this timidity, he 
 should be treated with gentleness and persuasion; he 
 should be encouraged to apply himself to his work, by 
 being shown that he is quite able to perform it; he 
 should never be pressed for time; he should be shown 
 that patience and earnest attention can do as much, 
 or even more, for him, than quickness of intellect, and 
 that to be slow and sure is more commendable than to be 
 quick and uncertain. Such children are confirmed in 
 their diffidence, when they find that they cannot under- 
 stand or remember one-tenth of the knowledge forced 
 upon them by an injudicious teacher. 
 
 5. The quick, clever boy is inattentive from his 
 extreme mental activity, and from his excess of self-con- 
 
162 PHILOSOPJIY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 fidence. He is a great talker, but a bad listener; he 
 readily attains a superficial knowledge of a subject, but 
 never attempts to penetrate its depths; from the quick- 
 ness of his apprehension, he cannot listen with patient 
 attention to the long sermonizing lessons of a slow 
 teacher, if he is unfortunate enough to have a slow 
 teacher, who methodically doles out his knowledge by the 
 hour; at the close of such a lesson, he rouses himself up, 
 catchesthefew concluding remarks,and upon examination 
 appears to have gained a fair knowledge of the lessons. 
 The powers of such a boy should be fully taxed; and to 
 cure him of his presumption and conceit, he should be 
 occasionally puzzled with questions, not difficult in them- 
 selves, but requiring for their solution those peculiar 
 attainments in which he is most deficient. Such boys 
 rarely, if ever, realize the brilliant expectations of their 
 friends; like the very early spring blossoms, they soon 
 wither and die; whereas true genius is slow in its 
 growth — the noblest trees are latest in bearing fruit, and 
 the largest animals are last in arriving at perfection. 
 Mere talent requires labor for its development, but 
 genius develops itself spontaneously and unobtrusively. 
 6. The boy of genius is not inattentive in the ordinary 
 acceptation of the word; for he is occasionally capable 
 of the highest efforts of attention; he sits in a half 
 dreaming mood,watching for the moment when a subject 
 suited to his peculiar taste shall present itself; to a 
 common observer he appears dull, but it is the dullness 
 which proceeds from inward thought. His absence of 
 mind is often mistaken for stupidity; and his laconic, 
 yet significant, answers to questions, are frequently at- 
 tributed to a want of a logical concatenation of ideas; 
 but to appreciate him, we should consider what he does 
 not say, not less than what he actually does say. He is 
 a quiet, retiring, reflective, strange boy; — nobody can 
 understand him, — he is always doing what he should 
 not do, and rarely does what he is required to do, — be 
 talks when he should be silent, and loses his power of 
 speech when he has to answer a question; nobody can 
 understand him, because nobody will understand him; 
 
CULTIVATIOX OF THE FACULTY OF ATTEXTIOX. 163 
 
 but all at once lie shows a predilection for some par- 
 ticular study, — nature at length asserts her ^prerogative, 
 — his winged spirit bursts the walls of its prison house, 
 and mounts on high into its kindred sphere of thought; 
 now everybody understands him,— everybody knew 
 perfectly well that his wayward acts were aberrations 
 of genius, and that there could be no mistaking the 
 sovereign stamp which nature had impressed upon his 
 brow. Poor boy! if you had fallen in taking your 
 ethereal flight, what scorn, what obloquy would have 
 been yours! 
 
 It becomes the sacred duty, not less than the high 
 privilege, of the schoolmaster of the poor to foster and 
 protect the boy of genius, struggling amid the pressure 
 of indigence and persecution. When his heart is about 
 to sink under the conflict, let him be told of the tri- 
 umphs of those kindred spirits who have gone before 
 him; Thomas Simpson, who studied mathematics at the 
 loom, — Hugh Miller, who mused on geology when he 
 was hewing stones, — Michael Faraday, who made chem- 
 ical experiments when he was a journeyman book- 
 binder, — Ferguson, who watched the stars as he tended 
 his flocks, — Gifford, who studied Latin when he was 
 making shoes, — Peter Nicholson, who wrote his work 
 on carpentry when he was at the bench, — Robert Burns, 
 who carolled his sweetest songs as he followed the 
 plough — Benjamin Franklin, who drew the lightning 
 from the clouds when he kept a prmter's shop. 
 
 What are we to do with a boy of genius ? The fact 
 is, we should rather ask — What should we refrain from 
 doing ? We cannot cultivate his faculty of attention, 
 for in him it grows best spontaneously; is it not better, 
 therefore, to leave him to the bent of his own genius? 
 Laplace would have been as inattentive at an opera as 
 Mozart would have been at a mathematical lecture. 
 
 The faculty of concentration, or continuous attention, 
 which requires careful culture in ordinary minds, seems 
 to spring spontaneously into existence in the mind en- 
 dowed with genius. This spontaneous development of 
 attention may be regarded as one of the surest evidences 
 
164 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 of genius. Great men have always been remarkable for 
 the power of concentrating all the energies of their soul 
 on their favorite subject. Newton attributed his own 
 greatness to the power which he had of "keeping a sub- 
 ject constantly in his mind." The mathematician, 
 absorbed day after day in the investigation of the prop- 
 erties of lines and symbols, gives evidence of this con- 
 tinuous attention. The philosopher, who shuts himself 
 out from the gay world, denies himself the ordinary en- 
 joyments of existence, and curbs the kindly sympathies 
 of his nature, to live in a world of abstractions — the 
 world of his own thoughts — he too gives evidence of 
 this remarkable power. Genius seems to be impelled by 
 an irresistible law to deny itself everything which lies 
 without the sphere of its action, and to live upon the 
 impalpable essences of its own creation. Such men are 
 scarcely to be envied, — they too often become martyrs 
 to their application, or unha])py victims to the intensity 
 of their own power. In concluding these observations, 
 we venture to give 
 
 A short digression on thought , language, and genius. 
 
 Who can measure the pulsations of thought? Even 
 our mightiest thoughts come and go like flashes of the 
 subtile lightning. Languagje retards the passage of 
 thought, as imperfect conductors impede the passage of 
 electricity. Thought is something very different from 
 language, yet we find it difficult to separate the one from 
 the other. We may have an exuberance of language 
 with a poverty of thought; and we may have thoughts 
 which language but poorly conveys. Ordinary thinkers 
 are never at a loss for words; but original thinkers often 
 feel the insufficiency of language — their ideas have to 
 struggle their way into the world of expression. Common- 
 place thoughts are easily expressed, bat language often 
 fails to transmit some of our higher conceptions. There 
 are thoughts to which language never yet gave expression 
 just as there are systems whose light has not yet reached 
 our world. Writings of genius are not so much valued 
 
THOUGHT, LA^sGUAGE, AXD GENIUS. 165 
 
 for the mere knowledge which they contahi, as for the 
 marvellous power which they have in creating thought. 
 Thoughts of genius are always new, — they are always 
 suggestive, — they awaken fresh trains of thought in 
 every mind that seeks to interpret them ; this is no doubt 
 chiefly owing to the inadequacy of the language to give 
 a sufficiently full expression to the vastness or intricacy 
 of the thought, so that there is always something like 
 indefiniteness about the language. The truth is,language 
 cannot comprehend the length and breadth and depth of 
 a great conception; for the language is but the shadow 
 of the substance. Ever since the dawn of creation, the 
 sun has shed his light upon the host of planets which 
 surround him, yet he has lost nothing of his original 
 splendor; so in like manner the glorious productions of 
 creative genius have shed their light, age after age,upon 
 the world, yet they still shine on with undiminished 
 brilliancy and lustre. How exhaustless are the works of 
 genius! that god-like power which creates a world for 
 the study of generations of ordinary men. Newton 
 affirmed that the diamond was inflammable, but four 
 generations had passed away before the conception was 
 confirmed by experiment; and his law of gravitation has 
 not yet attained its fall development. After a lapse of 
 three centuries, the conceptions of Shakspeare have lost 
 nothing of their virgin freshness and bloom. 
 
 Slight circumstances often determine the peculiar 
 bent of genius. The swinging of a chandelier in a ball- 
 room led Galileo lo the invention of the pendulum; the 
 great philosopher heard not the inspiring music,saw not 
 the gay, glittering throng with which he wim surrounded, 
 felt no rapture at the smile of beauty; his attenlion w^as 
 concentrated on the synchronism of the vibrations of the 
 chandelier; thousands had age after age looked upon 
 the same thing, without having caught hold of the grand 
 idea which it was calculated to suggest. While in the 
 act of bathing, Archimedes was led to the conception of 
 specific gravity; his attention was awakened by feeling 
 the buoyancy of his body when submerged in the water. 
 The falling of an apple, it is said, led Newton to the 
 
166 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 discovery of gravitation. Had none before him asked 
 the question — why does the apple fall ? Doubtless 
 many had asked the question, but to them nature had 
 given no satisfactory response, — she had only echoed 
 back the inquiry; but the simple fact became, in the 
 mind of the prince of philosophers, the first link in the 
 chain of induction, which led him to the great principle 
 which animates the material universe. Our greatest 
 philosopher was knighted: does the name of Newton 
 appear less illustrious by being shorn of its title of 
 nobility? Newton might do honor to the title, but it 
 could confer no honor upon him. No public monument 
 has yet been reared to bear testimony to a nation's grat- 
 itude for the achievements of her greatest son: every- 
 where we meet with. statues and towers and triumphal 
 pillars, erected to record the existence of our monarchs, 
 or to commemorate the deeds of our statesmen and 
 warriors; but, as if conscious of the insufficiency of such 
 a tribute, we have reared no monument to him, whose 
 fame is as far above that of kings, or statesmen, or 
 heroes, as heaven is above earth. Foolish conception! 
 raise a monument of stone and mortar to perpetuate the 
 memory of Newton! his monument is the temple of the 
 universe, and his name is written in imperishable char- 
 acters in the great laws which he discovered. The 
 pyramids of Egypt will moulder and decay; empires, 
 which at present rule the world, will one day appear as 
 little specks upon the stream of time; old ocean will 
 charge its channel; but, secure amid the wreck of time, 
 the fame of Newton will be seen towering in growing 
 majesty and grandeur, for the laws which he discovered 
 will have then received a fuller development. The 
 superhuman genius of Newton appeared at its proper 
 epoch, that is, when the laws of gravitation had to be 
 revealed to humanity. No physical law has been dis- 
 covered out of which such vast results have been evolved; 
 indeed, it is difficult to conceive that there actually re- 
 mains to be discovered any law of nature more com- 
 prehensive than that of gravitation, — which enables us 
 at once to look back upon the past history of the solar 
 
CULTIVATION OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 167 
 
 system, and forward to the aspect wliich it will present 
 at any given future period, — which enables us to deter- 
 mine the existence, position and magnitude of planetary 
 bodies which had eluded the searching power of the tel- 
 escope, — which carries our intelligence into those regions 
 of sj)ace where the human eye has not penetrated, 
 or over which the light of our sun has not yet travelled. 
 Upon what apparently trifling circumstances great dis- 
 coveries often depend! Long before- the present seas 
 had rolled, or the present vegetation had covered the 
 earth, a huge monster fortuitously left its footprints 
 upon a plastic strand, which in the lapse of cycles of 
 ages became hardened and covered over with rocks and 
 clays; but the geologist excavates these imprints, and in 
 his hands they become the medals of creation, telling of 
 its vast antiquity, and of the races which had been time 
 after time swept away from the face of the globe before 
 it attained its present condition of perfect maturity. 
 How marvellous are the discoveries of modern philoso- 
 phy! Truly the human race is but in its infancy. 
 
 CHAP. lY. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED.— CULTIVATION 
 OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 
 
 The art of memory, says a distinguished writer, is the 
 art of attention; so that, in fact, the cultivation of 
 memory reduces itself to the cultivation of the habit of 
 attention. If we take care to engage the attention, we 
 may safely leave the memory to take care of itself. 
 
 There is, however, a great difference between simple 
 memory and that modification of it which we call recol- 
 lection. Memory is a receptive faculty, and seems to 
 act, in some measure, independently of the will; it is, 
 perhaps, more subject to physical conditions than any 
 other intellectual faculty, and being considered, in itself, 
 
168 rHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 more a natural than an acquired gift, it almost entirely 
 lies without the sphere of the educator. On the other 
 hand, recollection is to a great extent a voluntary 
 power, which grows with our intellectual growth, and 
 therefore admits of the highest degree of culture. 
 
 The power of remembering facts in the exact order 
 in which they transpired, or of remembering words in 
 the order in which they were spoken or printed, may be 
 called a mere local memory, where no judgment is exer- 
 cised by the individual in the selection or arrangement 
 of the materials; but that kind of memory which is 
 based upon a proper classification of the ideas, and not 
 upon mere local or incidental relations, may be called a 
 philosophical memory — the recoUective faculty in its 
 highest sense; for while it constitutes a distinguishing 
 feature of the truly cultivated mind, it must at the same 
 time be regarded as one of the most important instru- 
 ments in the formation of the intellectual character. 
 Teachers are too apt to os^errate the value of a mere 
 local memory: the truth is, the boy with a ready, par- 
 rot-like memory pleases everybody, whereas the boy 
 who has to cogitate and con over what he wishes to 
 remember, rarely stands high in popular estimation. 
 
 There are great original differences in the power of 
 m^emory amongst boys: some boys have naturally a 
 quick as well as a retentive memory; others readily re- 
 ceive knowledge, but as quickly lose it; indeed, a quick 
 memory is not generally a retentive one, for we find 
 that what we readily learn we easily forget, and what 
 we are at some pains to acquire we never lose. Some 
 schoolmasters consider that the best kind of memory is 
 that which simply retains the greatest number of ideas 
 for the longest time; others, with more discrimination, 
 prefer the recoUective, reflective kind of memory, which 
 selects and ai'ianges the facts and ideas as they are com- 
 mitted to the intellectual treasury for future use. A 
 great verbal or local memory has hitherto been too much 
 regarded as the sign and seal of intellectual superiority. 
 A good memory is what everybody can appreciate^ but 
 the higher powers of intellect cannot be tested by a 
 
CULTIVATION OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 169 
 
 common observer. The leadiuiy educational axiom, with 
 a certain class of teachers, seems to be — exercise the 
 memory, and out of its exercise all the other intellectual 
 faculties will be evolved — give the child the materials 
 of thought, and all the higher functions of thought will 
 develop themselves — fill the memory with ideas, and 
 then reason, judgment and imagination will spring up 
 spontaneously. This is a gross error in education: the 
 memory does not exercise the wonder-working powers 
 which these teachers would assign to it; except, per- 
 haps, in classical learning, a mere verbal memory is not 
 of the greatest importance in the acquisition of knowl- 
 edge, and in reality it is of very little account as regards 
 the development of the other powers of the mind. A 
 great memory is not at all essential to greatness of in- 
 tellect: Newton and Shakspeare were neither remark- 
 able for extraordinary erudition nor for unusual powers 
 of memory. Indeed, men who are prodigies in this re- 
 spect are never otherwise distinguished for intellectual 
 endowments: their minds become so loaded with the 
 ideas of others, as to render them incapable of exercising 
 any independent thought. Memory, to a great man, is 
 an humble confidential servant, — a sort of keeper of the 
 stores, — who is expected to guard and preserve care- 
 fully whatever is committed to his charge, and at the 
 same time to be always ready to bring forward anything 
 at the moment it is wanted. We hold that an unusual 
 manifestation of this power in childhood tends to coun- 
 teract the healthful development of the other intellectual 
 powers. The boy who can readily commit the language 
 of others to memory, is not compelled to exercise his 
 judgment upon the ideas which are intended to be con- 
 veyed to his mind; besides, through a want of discrim- 
 ination on the part of the master, boys with a ready mem- 
 ory almost invariably rise to the highest places in the 
 school, and thus no adequate inducement can be held 
 out to them to cultivate any other faculty; they conse- 
 quently seek distinction by the path which is most acces- 
 sible to them. Teachers are not sufficiently aware of 
 the evils resultino- from a neo-lio-ent disres'ard of the laws 
 
170 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 of our intellectual and moral nature. That boy whose 
 memory is cultivated at the expense of his judgment, 
 cannot become a really useful member of society; his 
 vanity is inflated by unmerited applause, and he is un- 
 consciously led to indulge in dreams of future greatness 
 which will never be realized : on the other hand, the boy 
 with a slow, unostentatious, recollective memory, is 
 slighted and discouraged. A teacher should never com- 
 pliment a boy for having a good natural memory; boys 
 of this kind soon enough gain distinction for themselves, 
 for a good memory is a truly marketable sort of thing, 
 which meets with patronage in all companies and from 
 all classes of society; and it is further important to ob- 
 serve that there is no gift of which a boy more readily 
 becomes unduly and obtrusively vain, than that of mem- 
 ory. The teacher should, on all fitting occasions, give 
 the highest praise to the boy who habitually cultivates 
 the recollective faculty. It is, however, not surprising 
 that classical teachers wshould attach an undue impor- 
 tance to the cultivation of verbal memory. 
 
 Before the discovery of the art of printing, a retentive 
 memory was one of the most essential prerequisites for 
 literary or even for scieniiflc distinction. *' A man who 
 had read a few manuscripts, and could repeat them, was 
 a wonder and a treasure; he could travel from place to 
 place, and live by his learning; he was a circulating 
 library to a nation, and the more books he could carry 
 in his head the better; he was certain of an admiring- 
 audience if he could repeat what Aristotle or Saint 
 Jerome had written; and he had far more encourage- 
 ment to eugrave the words of others in his memory, than 
 to invent or judge for himself." And even within the 
 last fifty years, before Mechanics' Institutions had been 
 established, when books were dear and scarce amongst 
 the middle and lower classes of society, a person with a 
 retentive memory was highly prized and esteemed in 
 company. But now, since knowledge has been diffused 
 over the length and breadth of the land, in the form of 
 cheap and useful books, this species of memory has been 
 very much lowered in value. People now have the 
 
CULTIVATION OF MEMORY AND RECOLLECTION. 171 
 
 power of referring to a book for any particular informa- 
 tion without being reduced to the necessity of consulting 
 a man who may have read the book. We need not now 
 encumber our memory with passages from any author 
 which we may wish to quote; it is only necessary for us 
 to turn to the page of the book itself where the subject 
 is treated. Mere erudition, too, has lost much of its 
 value in the present age of literature. We have grown 
 too wise for our hoary and decrepid tutors — the ancients. 
 We cannot any longer amuse ourselves with the puerili- 
 ties of ancient philosophy, or pay our adorations at the 
 shrine of paganism, with all its miserable ideal creations 
 of gods and goddesses. The world has at least passed the 
 first stage of its infancy, and the dawnings of its ap- 
 proaching youth are already being seen from the tops of 
 the mountains. Positive philosophy in its strictest and 
 most useful sense, and Christian philosophy in its highest 
 and purest sense, have been transfused through the 
 countless channels in which our knowledge at present 
 flows, — from the all-creative minds as a centre to the 
 utmost extremities of the body of society. At the same 
 time, it must be admitted that a good verbal memory, 
 under proper management, and duly subordinate to the 
 higher power, is not without its value in the foimatioR 
 of the intellectual character, nor is its use to be ignored 
 as an instrument in the acquisition of technical knowledge. 
 But we again assert that the main business of the 
 teacher is the cultivation of the faculty of recollection — 
 the philosophical memory — not that of mere local or 
 verbal memory. 
 
 Having pointed out some of the evils which have crept 
 into our present plans of education, relative to the cul- 
 tivation of the memory, we shall now proceed to con- 
 sider the principles upon which memory, in its widest 
 sense, may be strengthened and improved. 
 
 Memory is very much influenced ly attention, and hy our existing 
 intellectual habits. 
 
 We ahvays remember those things best on which we 
 
172 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 iiave bestowed the most earnest attention. All those 
 means, therefore, which we employ for the cultivation of 
 the faculty of attention, will also tend to cultivate that 
 of memory. 
 
 The degree of attention which we bestow on any sub- 
 ject, is a voluntary act, but the peculiar direction which 
 our minds will take depends almost entirely upon our 
 previous intellectual habits and associations. " Of four 
 individuals," says Abercrombie, "who are giving an 
 account of a journey through the same district, one may 
 describe chiefly its agricultural produce; another, its 
 mineralogical character; a third, its picturesque beau- 
 ties; w^hile the fourth may not be able to give an ac- 
 count of anything except the state of the roads and the 
 facilities of travelling. The same facts or objects must 
 have passed before the senses of all the four; but their 
 remembrance of them depends upon the points to which 
 their attention was directed. Besides the manner here 
 alluded to, in which the attention is influenced by pre- 
 vious habits or pursuits, some persons have an active, 
 inquiring state of mind, which keeps the attention fully 
 engaged upon whatever is passing before them; while 
 others give way to a listless, inactive condition, which 
 requires to be strongly excited before the attention is 
 roused to the degree required for remembrance. The 
 former, accordingly, remember a gi'eat deal of all that 
 passes before them, either in reading or observation. 
 The latter are a[)t to say that the}^ are deficient in 
 memory: their deficiency, however, is not in memory, 
 but in attention; and this appears from the fact, that 
 they do not forget anything which deeply engages their 
 feelings, or concerns their interest." 
 
 Our power of memory is limited by our predilections: 
 no person has a memory for every subject of knowledge, 
 because no person possesses a taste and talent for every 
 subject. The mathematician readily remembers his 
 theorems and formulas, whilst he forgets even the name 
 of the existing prime minister. The antiquarian, obliv- 
 ious of the common occurrences of the day, suffers not 
 a single past event which is hallowed by time to escape 
 
MEMORY INFLUENCED BY ASSO( lATIOXS. 1/3 
 
 from his intellectual treasury. The school-boy, who per- 
 fectly remembers the names of flowers, and trees, and 
 birds, and animals, tells his master that he cannot say 
 his task, because he has got a bad memory. The girl, 
 who retains the names of all the articles of fashionable 
 dress, cannot even remember the titles of her father's 
 books. Under proper management, however, the person 
 who can remember things may also be made to remember 
 words. In order to give a child a memory for any par- 
 ticular subject, we should invest it with some charm 
 calculated to interest his feelings. 
 
 Memory is very much infiuenced hj Associations. 
 
 The principle of association performs a most impor- 
 tant part in nearly all our mental operations. By the 
 association of ideas, two or more conceptions, or ideas, 
 which have been contemplated together, or in immediate 
 succession, become so connected or associated in our 
 minds that one of them recurring recalls the others in 
 the same order in which they were at first contemplated. 
 Moreover, a particular idea suggests another idea which 
 has some kind of relation to it; the second idea suggests 
 a third, and so on to any continued series or train of 
 ideas. This train of successive suggestion may go on 
 to such an extent that the last idea, or the one which we 
 stop to contemplate, may have no relation to the one 
 with which we first started, excepting in the chain of 
 association existing in our minds. The particular chain 
 of thoughts which arises in our minds is no doubt much 
 influenced by our intellectual habits, and by associations 
 previously existing in our minds; but there are also cer- 
 tain general principles of relation, whereby one thought 
 suggests another. These principles of association may 
 be referred to three heads: 1. Contiguity in Time and 
 Place; 2. Kesemblance and Contrast; 3. Cause and 
 Effect. 
 
 1. Associations of this kind have a relation to succes- 
 sion of time or place. When a boy commits a column 
 of spelling to memory, he remembers the words in the 
 
1*74 PHILOSOPHY OF EDLCATIOX. 
 
 order of succession, both as to time and place. To im- 
 press the words upon the memory, they must be repeated 
 for a certain number of times in the order in which they 
 are to be remembered. This mode of exercising the 
 memory is excessively irksome, and anything but in- 
 structive. There are, however, some local associations 
 which are highly pleasurable or painful, as the case may 
 be, and which make very deep impressions upon the 
 mind. Thus we associate an idea with the person by 
 whom it was communicated, or with the place where we 
 first formed the conception, and the idea is recalled by 
 us whenever the person or place enters our thoughts. 
 After long years of travel, by land and water, I visit 
 again my native place, — I wander along a river's bank, 
 — I look upon an old beech tree, whose wide-spreading 
 branches afford a cool shade for some children at play, 
 — memory waves her magic wand, recalls the past into 
 existence, and peoples the scene with beings long since 
 dead; — on that flowery bank sit my father and mother, 
 in their holiday attire, — she smiles in his face, as he 
 looks upon their children at play beneath the old beech 
 tree, — I see them too, — I call them by their names, and 
 they answer me; ah! the vision fades, — Stay! dear 
 loved ones, stay! Why will ye fly back to the house of 
 death, and leave me to the desolation of my own thoughts, 
 — to mourn over the memories of the past ? 
 
 " Mark yon old mansion frowning thro' the trees, 
 Whose hollow turret wooes the whistling breeze. 
 That casement, arched with ivy's brownest shade, 
 First to these eyes the light of heaven conveyed. 
 The mouldering gateway strews the grass grown court, 
 Once the gay scene of many a simple sport; 
 When nature pleased, for life itself was new, 
 . And the heart promised what the fancy drew. 
 See, thro' the fractured pediment revealed, 
 Where moss inlays the rudely sculptured shield, 
 The martin's old. hereditary nest; 
 Long may the ruin spare its hallowed guest ! 
 As jars the hinge, what sullen echoes call ! 
 Oh, haste, unfold the hospitable hall I 
 That hall, wliere once, in antiquated state. 
 The chair of justice held the grave debate. 
 
MEMORY IXPLUENCEI) J5Y ASSOCIATIONS. 175 
 
 Now Stained with dews, with cobwebs darkly hung, 
 Oft has its roof with peals of rapture rung; 
 When round yon ample board, in due degree, 
 We sweetened every meal with social glee. 
 The heart's light laugh pursued the circling jest, 
 And all was sunshine in each little breast. 
 
 'Twas here we chased the slipper by the sound, 
 And turned the blindfold hero round and round. 
 
 Ye Household Deities! whose guardian eye 
 Marked each pure thought, ere registered on high. 
 Still, still ye walk the consecrated ground. 
 And breathe the soul of Inspiration round. 
 
 As o'er the dusky furniture I bend, 
 Each chair awakes the feeling of a friend. 
 The storied arras, source of fond delight, 
 AVith old achievement charms the wildered sight; 
 And still, with Heraldry's rich hues imprest, 
 On the dim window glows the pictured crest. 
 The screen unfolds its many-colored chart. 
 The clock still points its moral to the heart. 
 That faithful monitor 'twas heaven to hear. 
 When soft it spoke a promised pleasure near ; 
 And has its sober hand, its simple chime, 
 Forgot to trace the feathered feet of time ? 
 That massive beam with curious carvings wrought, 
 Whence the caged linnet soothed my pensive thought; 
 Those muskets cased with venerable rust ; 
 Those once-loved forms, still breathing thro* their dust, 
 Starting to life — all whisper of the past." 
 
 How true to nature is Byron's picture of the Dying 
 Gladiator ! 
 
 " I see before me the Gladiator lie ; 
 He leans upon his hand, — his manly brow 
 Consents to death, but conquers agony. 
 And his drooped head sinks gradually low. 
 And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow, 
 From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one, 
 Like the first of a thunder-shower ; and now 
 The arena swims around him — he is gone. 
 Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch 
 
 who won. 
 He heard it, but he heeded not — his eyes 
 Were with his heart, and that was far away ; 
 He recked not of the life he lost nor prize. 
 But where his rude hut by the Danube lay, 
 There were his young barbarians all at play, 
 
1*76 PHILOSOrilY OF ED Lr CATION. 
 
 There was their Daciaa mother — he, their sire, 
 Butchered to make a Roman holiday — 
 All this rushed with his blood — shall he expire — 
 x\nd unaveDged? — Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire." 
 
 In cultivating the memory of children, the judicious 
 teacher will not fail to associate important ideas with 
 local scenes and events. 
 
 The order of time and succession is one of the earliest 
 principles of association; but children should be taught 
 how to employ higher principles of association ; badly 
 educated people continue through life to remember 
 things by the mere association of time and place ; ideas 
 which have no real or rational connection with each 
 other remahi in their minds to the end of existence, 
 associated together. One person ties a string about his 
 finger, another makes a knot in his handkerchief, and 
 so on to other artifices, in order to remind them of 
 something which they particularly wish to remember. 
 We scarcely need observe that the memory of such 
 people has not been properly cultivated in childhood. 
 
 2. Associations of resemblance are rarely so vivid as 
 those of contrast; and hence it follows that scenes or 
 events which are in contrast with each other are more 
 likely to be remembered than those which have a re- 
 semblance. Contrast, like light and shadow, makes 
 the objects more prominent; resemblance sometimes 
 proves the greatest stumbling-block to memory. The 
 quiet beauty of the landscape is best remembered when 
 it is associated with the picturesque majesty of the 
 rugged mountain scenery ; the playfulness of childhood 
 most readily suggests to us the gravity of age ; and the 
 happy home of peaceful industry and purity is most 
 readily associated in the mind with the wretched dens 
 of idleness and profligacy. Thus, we remember more 
 by contrast than by resemblance. Men of great moral 
 daring and adventure always have a more vivid recol- 
 lection of the events of their existence, than those who 
 pass their lives in peaceful seclusion. Our past life 
 appears long or short, according to the number of events, 
 or according to the number of ideas, which we remem- 
 
KESEMBLAl^CE AND CONTRAST. 177 
 
 ber: old men wbo remain much at home find so little to 
 remember in the course of a year of their monotonous 
 existence, that a day of their youth really appearsionger 
 to them than a year of their dotage. 
 
 3. Although causes and effects generally stand in the 
 relation of contiguity as to time and place, yet there is 
 something more than mere contiguity in the connection ; 
 for the constancy and dependence of the connection sub- 
 sisting between a cause and its effect give us the idea of 
 a more intimate relation. The minds of children are so 
 constituted that they most readily remember effects in 
 connection with their causes: for example, they readily 
 associate the light of day with the presence of the sun; 
 storms, with winds and clouds; the heat of summer,with 
 the long days of sunshine; the improvement of the mind, 
 with application to study; misery with crime, and hap- 
 piness with virtue; and so on. Associations of this kind 
 are most interesting and instructive; one idea becomes 
 the nucleus of a whole series, and idea becomes so linked 
 with idea that we are enabled to form a continuous chain 
 of them; thus, for example, we readily remember the 
 following chain of associations: rain falls from the 
 clouds, — the clouds are chiefly formed by winds and 
 mountains, — the cold on the tops of the mountains con- 
 denses the moisture in the air, and thus clouds are formed 
 — the cold on the tops of mountains is caused by the 
 thinness of the air, &c., — thin air is colder than dense 
 air, because it has a greater capacity for heat, — and bo 
 on. The phenomena of nature, as well as the results of 
 science and art, will be most easily remembered when 
 they are associated with their causes. A boy who is ac- 
 quainted with the physical geography of England finds 
 no difficulty in remembering the localities of our manu- 
 factures, of our agriculture, or of our shipping trade. In 
 like manner, the great events of history are readily re- 
 membered when they are taught in connection with their 
 causes. And so on to other subjects of elementary in- 
 Btruction, 
 
178 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Philosophical Associations. 
 
 Associations are called philosophical when a fact or an 
 idea is, by a mental process, associated, with some fact or 
 idea previously known, to which it has some relation. 
 The fact or idea thus acquired is said to be put by in its 
 proper place, so that it may be easily recalled to the 
 mind by means of this connection or association. The 
 habit of forming such associations gives rise to what we 
 have called the philosophical memory. One great ob- 
 ject of education, as we have already observed, should be 
 the cultivation of this kind of memory. 
 
 "Lulled iu the countless chambers of the brain, 
 Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain; 
 Awake but one, and lo, what myriads rise ! 
 Each stamps its image as the other flies. 
 Each, as the various avenues of sense 
 Delight or sorrow to the soul dispense. 
 Brightens or fades; yet all, with magic art, 
 Control the latent fibres of the heart." 
 
 These general principles of association naturally sug- 
 gest to us the following practical rules for the cultiva- 
 tion of meraorv. 
 
 Rules foe the Cultivation of Memoby. 
 
 I. The memory of children is cultivated hy leading them to 
 form associations on natural and proper principles. Some of 
 these principles deserve special notice. 
 
 1 . Facts or ideas should he arranged in their order of logical 
 sequence. 
 
 In relating a story, for example, the natural chain of 
 events should not be broken by the introduction of any 
 trifling or extraneous matter, calculated to destroy the 
 unity of the subject. 
 
 2. Classification and generalization are great lielps to the 
 remembrance of facts or ideas. 
 
 Every fresh fact, or idea, should be put by in its 
 proper place in the mind, that is to say, the new fact or 
 
RULES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF MEMORY. l79 
 
 idea should be associated with its proper class of facts 
 pr ideas already existing in the mind. 
 
 A general principle gives the key to the reruembrauce 
 of a whole series of facts or events. Physical facts are 
 best remembered through a knowledge of their general 
 law; effects, through a knowledge of their cause; and 
 results, through a knowledge of the general principles 
 upon which they depend. 
 
 A general formula, in mathematics, enables us to re- 
 member, with the utmost precision, all the particular 
 cases which it comprehends. In the subject of grammar, 
 the general fact that all nouns ending in y, when pre- 
 ceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing 
 the y into ies^ very much aids the memory; and so on to 
 other general principles of language. If a child is told 
 that James II. was cruel, bigoted, and blindly despotic, 
 he has got in his mind a general fact which will assist 
 him in remembering the most remarkable events in this 
 monarch's reign. The best way to make a boy remem- 
 ber the directions in which the constant and periodic 
 winds blow, is by teaching their cause. A knowledge 
 of the general physical properties of a substance affords 
 the greatest aid to the pupil in remembering the vari- 
 ous experimental facts which may be given in relation 
 to it; thus, for example, a knowledge of the general 
 property that acids combine with alkalies enables the 
 pupil to remember the result of any particular combina- 
 tion of these two classes of substances. These illustra- 
 tions might be indefinitely extended. 
 
 Teachers, therefore, should constantly aid their pupils 
 in grouping their ideas under general heads or princi- 
 ples. Even in the common concerns of life this is of 
 great utility. 
 
 "Betty," says a farmer's wife to her servant, " Betty, 
 you must go to market for some things." "Yes, ma'am." 
 "But, oh-deary-me! you have got such a bad memory 
 that if you have only three or four things to do, you are 
 sure to forget one of them. Do try this time to re- 
 member what I want. You have so many good qualities, 
 and you are so tidy and so good-looking, that I really do 
 
180 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 iiot wish to part with you, but your forgetfuluess is 
 insufferable." "Yes, ma'am, — but if my Maker has 
 given me a bad memory, how can I help it ?" ** Listen 
 to me — I want suet and currants for the pudding." 
 " Yes, ma'am, suet and currants for the pudding." 
 "Leeks and barley for the broth; don't forget them." 
 "No, ma'am, leeks and barley for the broth." "A 
 shoulder of mutton, a pound of tea, a pound of coffee, 
 six pounds of sugar; be sure you don't forget the sugar, 
 Betty, for we have not a bit in the house." "No, 
 ma'am, I won't forget the sugar." ''And mind you call 
 at the dressmaker's, and tell her to bring out with her 
 the calico for the lining, some black thread, and a piece 
 of narrow tape," "Yes, ma'am." " Stay, Betty, you'd 
 better tell the grocer to give us a jar of black currant 
 jam." 
 
 During this colloquy the honest farmer had been ap- 
 parently engaged in making entries in his farm-book, 
 but in reality quietly and attentively observing what 
 had been going on. He had his own views about Bet- 
 ty's bad memory; he felt, too, that Betty's confession 
 was no atonement, and most certainly gave no promise 
 of amendment. The fact is, the honest farmer had al- 
 most a father's love for poor Betty. 
 
 " Come here, lass," said he, " come here, and let me 
 see if I cannot get you to mind what you are going for." 
 "Yes, sir." "Now then, tell me what you are going to 
 bring from market." " Well, sir, there is sugar and 
 tea, a shoulder of mutton, coffee, — coffee — let me see — 
 
 and ." "My good girl, that is not the way of doing 
 
 business. You must arrange your articles under dif- 
 ferent heads, as the parson does his sermon, or you will 
 never remember them. Now it appears to me that 
 there are three things to provide for; 1st, Breakfast, 
 2nd, Dinner, 3d, A Dressmaker. 
 
 " 1st. What are you going to get for the breakfast?" 
 "Sugar, tea, and coffee, and jam, — which I shall get at 
 the grocer's.'* 
 
 "2nd. What articles are you to get for the dinner?" 
 " There's the butcher's meat, the broth, and the pud- 
 
UTiLrrr of grouping idEx^s. .181 
 
 ding." "Now, what have you to get for each of them?" 
 "Well, sir, the shoulder of mutton, leeks and barley for 
 the broth, and suet and currants for the pudding." 
 " Very good — where do you get them ? " '* The mutton 
 and suet at the butcher's; the leeks at the gardener's; 
 the barley and currants at the grocer's." " But you had 
 something to get at the grocer's for the breakfast ?" 
 "Yes, sir, I had sugar, tea, coffee, and j^m, to get for 
 the breakfast, and besides 1 have barley and currants to 
 get, — so that — let me see — I have altogether six 
 things to get at the grocer's." "Very good, Betty, — 
 you are getting to understand matters. Now,when you 
 get to the grocer's, fancy one part of his counter your 
 breakfast table, another part of the counter your dinner 
 table, and then run over all the articles and see that you 
 have got them all right." " Oh yes, sir, that is capital; 
 I feel sure that I shall not forget anything to-day." 
 
 " 3rd. The dressmaker. What has she to bring with 
 her to-morrow?" '*The calico, the thread, and the 
 tape." " Now gOjj^Betty, and remember that I feel much 
 interested in your success." 
 
 " Well, Betty," says her mistress, " you have got back." 
 "Yes, ma'am." " But have you brought all the things 
 
 right ? — let me see, — sugar, tea, coffee, barley, ; 
 
 well-a-day! if you have not brought everything right 
 this time." " Betty," says her master, " I am glad to see 
 that you are an apt scholar; and I do believe that if 
 you would always try to disentangle things, in the way 
 we have done to-day, you might, by and by, rival the 
 schoolmaster for memory, and the people say that he can 
 repeat the catechism backwards." " Yes, sir; I am cer- 
 tainly much obliged to you, and 1 shall alsvays try to 
 follow out what you have shown me to-day." "Remem- 
 ber also never to blame your Maker for faults which are 
 due to your own negligence: be good, and endeavor in 
 all things to improve the talents that He has given you, 
 and I should not be at all surprised if you render your- 
 self fit for becoming a farmer's wife." 
 
 3. Reasoning is one of tlie best helps to memory. 
 
 Results should be, as far as possible, associated with 
 
182 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 the processes of reasoning by which they are derived. 
 This IS especially applicable to all mathematical subjects. 
 Many students find a greater difficulty in remembering 
 results than in remembering the steps of reasoning by 
 which these results are established. Such persons will 
 say to you, — *' I do not remember the formula exactly, 
 but I remember the way in which it is got, and that to 
 me is far more valuable." 
 
 One of the greatest drudgeries, in the form of tasks, 
 is committing arithmetical tables to memory. But even 
 here, if the memory is aided by reasoning, the drudgery 
 of the task is very much lessened. Thus, for instance, 
 in learning the multiplication table, the child should be 
 shown how to derive the successive results of the table, 
 after the manner described in Tate's Principles of Arith- 
 metic. 
 
 The ideas^ rather than the words, of an author, should 
 be remembered. The passage which we wish to remem- 
 ber should be analyzed, and the essential ideas separated 
 from the non-essential. In order to show that ideas, 
 not words, are the great things to be remembered, the 
 teacher should explain to his pupils how the same ideas 
 may be expressed in different forms of language. Prob- 
 lems in arithmetic afford excellent illustrations of this: 
 let us suppose the following question to be proposed by 
 a master to his pupils: — 
 
 Question. A draper paid eight pounds ten shillings 
 for six pieces of fine linen, containing eighty yards; how 
 much should he pay for twenty-five yjnds of the same 
 kind of linen ? 
 
 Or thus in other words: — 
 
 Question. IIovv much should a draper ]>ay for twenty- 
 five yards of fine linen, allowing that he had paid eight 
 pounds ten shillings for eighty yards of it? 
 
 "Plere," (we may suppose the master to say to his 
 pupils), *' we must first writedown an abstract of the 
 data, or things given, necessary for solving the question, 
 or, in other words, we must separate the essential data 
 from the non-essential. Now the nun)ber of pieces is 
 not necessary for the solution of the question, because the 
 
KKSEMBLANCK AND CON illAS'J . I 8.S 
 
 ineasure of the whole is given, and the cost required is 
 for a certain number of yards, without any regard to the 
 number of pieces. Tlie essential data of the question are 
 as follows: — 
 
 "The cost of 80 yards is 8^. and 10«. ; the cost of 25 yards 
 is required. Having made this abstract of the question, 
 we may now go on with the solution," &e. 
 
 4. Associations of resemblance and contrast are great helps to 
 the memory. 
 
 This princi|)le of association may be used witli ad- 
 vantage in almost every branch of instruct ion. In geog- 
 raphy, the pupil should contrast different regions of 
 the globe with each other, or, it may be, trace their 
 various ])rominent points of resemblance as to form, 
 climate, population, <fec. The same course should be 
 pursued in history, divinity, arithmetic, chemistry, and 
 other branches of natural philosophy, &c. The teacher 
 should classify, for the use of his pupils, the subjects 
 which are most eligible for being viewed in contrast or 
 resemblance, as the case may be. The following brief 
 forms of classification will sufficiently indicate the nature 
 of the method i)roposed. 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Subjects of contrast. The old world and the new 
 world;* the two hemispheres;* the frigid and torrid 
 zones— climate, vegetable productions, &c. ; Russia and 
 Switzerland; Spain and England; the Andes and the 
 Cheviots; the Amazon and the Thames; London and 
 Paris;* Lancashire and Devonshire; eastern and 
 western coasts of continents; temperature of the land 
 and temperature of the ocean; inundations ol" Siberian 
 rivers with inundations of tropical rivers; the Hindoos 
 and the Russians; the Llanos of South America in the 
 dry and the wet season; the climate of New South 
 Wales with the climate of Canada; the rains of the 
 
 * The subjects marked thus are eligible for comparison as well as 
 contrast. 
 
184 niiLOSOPUY OF education. 
 
 torrid with those of the teinperatezone; tbe^ Esquimaux 
 witk the Patagonians; Quito with the Steppes of 
 Astrakhan in Southern Russia; the Highlands and 
 Lowlands of Scotland; the Valley of the Mississippi 
 with the Desert of Sahara; the rivers of eastern with 
 the rivers of western America; Cornwall and the district 
 around the Wash; &c. 
 
 Subjects of resemblance mid comparison. Spain and 
 Italy; France and England; the Thames and the Seine; 
 Manchester and Lyons; Paris and Edinburgh; Glasgow 
 and Manchester; Edinburgh and Dublin; Great Britain 
 and Vancouver Island; Great Britain and New Zea- 
 land;* the Islands of Ceylon and Madagascar; the 
 gold fields of Australia with those of California; the 
 water-shed between the basins of Hudson's Bay and the 
 Gulf of Mexico with the water-shed between the basins 
 of the Baltic and the Black and Caspian Seas; the 
 Isthmus of Suez with the Isthmus of Panama ; Milford 
 Haven and the Moray Firth; the Vale of Exe and the 
 Vale of Eden; the Paris basin with the London basin; 
 the coast of Norfolk with the opposite coast of Holland; 
 Hull and Liverpool as seaports; the exports of Russia 
 with the exports of Canada; the currents of the South 
 Atlantic with those of the North Atlantic; &C. 
 
 History. 
 
 Subjects of contrast. /Xlfred the Great and Charles 
 II.; Cromwell and Chailes 1.; Mary and Victoria; 
 Elizabeth and Mary of Scotland; Ilenry VIII. and 
 John ; the 14th century and the 19th; Cranmer and 
 John Knox; Jeffries and ILile; Watt and Napoleon; 
 
 Subjects of resemblance. William I. and Edward I. 
 Charles I. and James H. ; Henry HI. and Edward III. 
 Cromwell and Napoleon; Marlborough and Wellington 
 Richard I. and Edw^ard VI.; William III. and Richard 
 III.; Wolsey and Thomas a Becket; Bacon and New- 
 ton; Blake and Nelson; Captain Cook and Columbus; 
 
KKSEMIJLANCE AND CONTRAST. 185 
 
 The Scriptures. 
 
 Subjects of contrast. Adam and Christ; Cain and 
 Abel; Esau and Jacob; David and Solomon; Joshua 
 and Samuel; Paul and John; Paul and Balaam; Mat- 
 thew and Luke; Enoch and Judas Iscariot; Joseph and 
 Moses; Samson and Gideon;* Judaism and Christian- 
 ity;* &G. 
 
 Subjects of resemblance. Moses and Christ;* Samson 
 and David; Noah and Lot; Elijah and Elisha; Paul's 
 conversion given in Acts, 9th chap., and in Acts, 26th 
 chap.; Death of Christ as given by the four Evangel- 
 ists; &c. 
 
 Mathematical Geography and Astronomy. 
 
 Subjects of contrast. Surface of the earth and a known 
 portion of it; latitude and longitude; summer and win- 
 ter; Jupiter and the Earth; the sun and the planets; 
 distance of Neptune and the distance of the moon; dis- 
 tance of Neptune and the distance of the nearest fixed 
 stars; the sun and the moon; &c. 
 
 Subjects of comparison. Comparative magnitudes of the 
 planets; approximate numbers representing the relative 
 distances of the planets from the sun; &c. 
 
 Properties of Bodies. 
 
 Properties in contrast. Long and short, round and an- 
 gular, &c. ; hard and soft; fluid and solid; transparent 
 and opaque; elastic and non-elastic; black and white; 
 nutritive .and poisonous; &c. 
 
 Properties in resemblance or comparison. Kesetnblances of 
 form; degrees of hardness or softness; more or less 
 transparent; resemblances of color; more or less (elastic; 
 more or less nutritive; &c. 
 
 Experimental Science. 
 
 Subjects of contrast. Acids and alkalies; oxygen and 
 hydrogen,* &c.; north and south poles of a magnet;* 
 
1S6 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 positive and negative electricit}- ;* reflection and refrac- 
 tion; conduction and radiation; <fec. 
 
 Subjects of resemllance. Chlorine and sulphur;* nitro- 
 gen and carbonic acid;* light and heat; ebullition 
 and evaporation; dew and fog; electricity and mag- 
 netism; &c. 
 
 Arithmetic and Mathematics. 
 
 In no subject is the memory more aided by resem- 
 blances and contrasts than in that of mathematics. 
 Subtraction is the reverse of addition; division is the 
 reverse of multiplication; and the processes of llule of 
 Three may be regarded as combinations of the four ele- 
 mentary operations of numbers. The analogies of the 
 cylinder, cone, and sphere, are too obvious to escape 
 notice: the pupil who has been shown how to derive the 
 surface of the sphere from that of the cylinder will 
 never forget those rules of mensuration treating of these 
 three solids. 
 
 The Alphabet. 
 
 The dissimilar letters of the alphabet should be taught 
 to children before those that are similar; for, as we have 
 already shown, resemblances, in such cases, confound 
 the memory of children. The child should be taught 
 the Egyptian characters first, on account of their being 
 the most simple form of the letters; and the master 
 should draw them on a bold scale with chalk upon the 
 blackboard, while he is giving his lesson. 
 
 In order to interest the children, and help, them to 
 form familiar associations, graphic names may be given 
 to the different letters, descriptive of their peculiar 
 forms. Thus, Q may be called the round Qj D ^^^^^ 
 the round O; S '"^ pot-hook; J a walking-stick; \J a 
 horse-shoe; g crooky-back; V ''^ fool's cap upside down; 
 A a fool's cap with a bar through it; | a blind stroke; 
 H two blind strokes with a bar between them; &c. 
 
 While comparing the forms of different letters with 
 each other, the teacher will very much aid the memory 
 
RESEMBLA^^CE AND CONTRAST. 187 
 
 of the children by showing thena how one letter may be 
 converted into another; thus, P is readily converted 
 into B> or into P; C ^^^^ ^" 0> ^^^ t^^^" O i^^o Q; 
 I into L, or into T"; | into F> ^^^^ ^^^^'^^ F '"^^^ E; ^"<^ 
 so on. 
 
 The Spelling and Meaning of Words. 
 
 The spelling of words together which have nearly the 
 same sound, but are differently spelt, such as of and ofi) 
 were and where, &c., is a bad plan, on account of the re- 
 semblance of the words; and the method of teaching 
 spelling by columns of words alphabetically arranged is 
 equally objectionable. The niceties of spelling and 
 meaning should belong to a higher stage of instruction. 
 Words in contrast having the same radical part are 
 easily remembered; thus we have 
 
 Words in contrast. Agree and disagree; join and dis- 
 join; temperate and intemperate; humanity and inhu- 
 manity; thankful and unthankful; kindness and un- 
 kindness; &c. 
 
 The following illustrations of the method of instruc- 
 tion here proposed will no doubt be acceptable to many 
 of our readers. 
 
 Illustrations. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
 1. The Old and New World. 
 
 The Old World. The New \Vorld. 
 
 History ancient. History modern. 
 
 The principal mass of the Old The New World extends from 
 
 AVorld, Asia and Europe, extends North to South, over two-tifths of 
 
 from East to West, over one-half of the circumference of the globe. 
 the circumference of the globe. 
 
 The mountain ranges run from The mountain ranges run from 
 
 East to West. North to South. 
 
 Asia — Europe — lies within the America comprehends all cli- 
 
 torrid, north temperate, and north matic zones, and hence presents a 
 
 frigid zones. greater variety of phenomena. 
 
 Mountain ranges somewhat cen- The mountain range extends like 
 
 tral. a bantf along the western border. 
 
 Rivers of Europe small. Great water basins. Rivers and 
 
 Lakes very large. 
 
188 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Traversed by different mountain 
 chains. 
 
 Vast table lands or plateaus. The 
 mountains and plateaus of Asia 
 cover flve-sevenths of its surface. 
 
 Volcanoes on the Continent. 
 
 Coast-line of Europe very much 
 indented. 
 
 &c 
 
 Inhabitants white, dark, black. 
 
 Animals. Lion, Tiger, Leopard, 
 Elephant, Giraffe, Cow, Crocodile, 
 Nightingale, &c. 
 
 One mountain chain, the Andes 
 and Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Vast plains which form two- 
 thirds ol its surface. 
 
 Great volcanoes on the Islands. 
 
 Coast-line not so much indented 
 as Europe, but more indented than 
 Asia or Africa. 
 
 Native inhabitants chiefly red 
 men. 
 
 Animals. American Lion, Jaguar, 
 Panther, Grizzly Bear, Buffalo, Al- 
 ligator, Mocking Bird, &c. 
 
 Rescmhlances. 
 
 l>and in two great masses,Europe 
 and Africa in the West, and Asia 
 in the East. 
 
 Isthmus of Suez connects Africa 
 with Europe and Asia. 
 
 The coast-line of Europe is more 
 broken or indented than that of 
 Asia, and still more than that of 
 Africa. 
 
 Europe better adapted for human 
 societies than Asia or Africa. 
 
 Europe 1 mile of coast to 150 of 
 surface; Africa 1 mile of coast to 
 620 of surface ; Asia 1 mile of coast 
 to 460 of surface. 
 
 The direction of the land corre- 
 sponds with the general direction 
 of tlie mountain masses. 
 
 The southern extremity termi- 
 nates in a point directed towards 
 the Southern Ocean, while they go 
 widening towards the North. 
 
 The penins\ilas have nearly all 
 the same direction. 
 
 The highest mountain in the 
 Himalaya is a little more than 5 
 miles above the level of the sea. 
 
 Land in two great masses. North 
 and South America. 
 
 Isthmus of Panama connects 
 North with South America. 
 
 The coast-line of North America 
 is more broken or indented than 
 that of South America. 
 
 North America better adapted 
 for human societies than South 
 America. 
 
 North America 1 mile of coast to 
 230 of surface; South America 1 
 mile of coast to 380 of surface. 
 
 The same as in the Old World. 
 
 The same as in the Old World. 
 
 The same as in the Old World. 
 
 The highest mountain in the An- 
 des is nearly .t miles above the level 
 of the sea. 
 
 EUKOPB AND Asia. 
 Con(rast'<. 
 
 Europe. 
 In the highest condition of civili- 
 zation and progress. 
 
 Religion chiefly Christianity, 
 
 Asia. 
 
 The cradle of civilization, but 
 now chiefly sunk in ignorance and 
 superstition. 
 
 Religion chiefly Mahometanlsm 
 and idol-worship. 
 
GEOGRAPUICAL CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
 
 189 
 
 Contour most varied, but its pe- 
 ninsulas are not large. Indenta- 
 tions in all parts, by the ocean and 
 by Inland seas; thereby enjoys 1 
 mile of coast for every 150 square 
 miles of surface. 
 
 The inland seas, and the ocean 
 lying between the indentations, 
 form nearly one-half of its surface. 
 
 Open to inland navigation. 
 Lies between the other portions 
 of the Old World and America. 
 Best adapted for human societies. 
 
 Its physical features are highly 
 diversified. 
 
 Broken in relief by mountains 
 and valleys. The highest moun- 
 tains do not exceed 3 miles in 
 height. Extensive plains fresh 
 with vegetation. 
 
 Its numerous peninsulas form 
 
 bout one-third of its surface. 
 
 Like a perfect tree, with numer- 
 ous spreading branches, clothed 
 with luxuriant foliage. 
 
 Rivers numerous, but not large. 
 
 Climate chiefly temperate. Winds 
 and rains variable. 
 
 All the vegetables essential to 
 life grow in almost every portion. 
 
 Wild animals are not numerous. 
 
 Domesticated animals very nu- 
 merous. 
 
 Neither flowers nor birds have 
 much variety or brilliancy of color; 
 but the flowers refresh us with 
 their scent, and the birds delight 
 us with their song. 
 
 Rich in minerals. 
 
 Contour more uniform. Has vast 
 peninsulas on its eastern and 
 southern coasts, but the indenta- 
 tions of the coast-line are not so 
 numerous; it in consequence only 
 possesses 1 mile of coast for every 
 460 square miles of surface. 
 
 In spite of the depth of the inden- 
 tations, there remains a great pre- 
 ponderating mass of unbroken land 
 towards the centre. 
 
 Open only at its margins. 
 
 Farthest removed from the New 
 World. 
 
 Vast portions scarcely accessible 
 to commerce. 
 
 • All its physical features are on a 
 gigantic scale. 
 
 Great mountains nearly double 
 the height of those in Europe. 
 Vast plateaus and deserts. 
 
 Its vast peninsulas only form 
 one-fifth of its surface. 
 
 Like a vast trunk, with a few 
 large branches, with a scanty foli- 
 age. 
 
 Rivers large, but not numerous. 
 
 Burning heats in its equatorial 
 
 {)ortions, and extremes of cold in 
 ts northern regions. Subject to 
 tropical winds and rains. 
 
 Exuberant vegetation in its trop- 
 ical portions, and sterility in the 
 frozen tracts of Siberia. 
 
 Wild animals exceedingly nu- 
 merous. 
 
 Domesticated animals not nu- 
 merous. 
 
 In the tropical regIons,the flowers 
 and birds have the most brilliant 
 colors; but the flowers have little 
 scent, and the birds have no song. 
 
 Poor in minerals. 
 
 3. England and Spain. 
 Contrasts, 
 
 England. Spain. 
 
 Forms the greater portion of an Forms the chief portion of a 
 i Aland. peninsula. 
 
190 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 For the most part level, yet 
 beautifully diversined with hills, 
 valleys, and plains. 
 
 The elevation of the highest 
 mountain, Scaw Fell, in Cumber- 
 land, is only a little more than half 
 a mile. 
 
 The rivers are numerous, and 
 many of them are navigable for a 
 considerable distance into the in- 
 terior. 
 
 The climate is damp and change- 
 able. 
 
 Grows .all kinds of grain, &c., but 
 the climate is too cold for the vine. 
 
 Kich in coal, and also in iron, 
 copper, and lead ores. 
 
 The religion is Protestantism. 
 
 Has advanced very rapidly since 
 the Reformation. 
 
 The population of the capital is 
 upwards of four millions. 
 
 The work-shop of the world. A 
 land of steam-engines, railways, 
 and manufactures. 
 
 The greatest country in the 
 world. 
 
 Possesses the most perfect polit- 
 ical institutions. 
 
 The people are pious, industri- 
 ous, generous, and brave. 
 
 Its colonies flourish in every part 
 of the globe. 
 
 Stands foremost in the ranks of 
 modern science and art. 
 
 Famed for her philosophers, 
 poets, statesmen, and heroes. 
 
 The greatest maritime power in 
 the world's history. 
 
 Mountainous ; a considerable por- 
 tion forms a plateau. 
 
 The elevation of the highest 
 point of the Pyrenees is about 2V4 
 miles. 
 
 The rivers are not numerous, and 
 none of them can be said to be 
 navigable. 
 
 The climate is generally warm 
 and salubrious. 
 
 Fine agricultural country. Grows 
 grapes and oranges. 
 
 No coal. 
 
 The religion is Romanism. 
 
 Has retrograded since the period 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 The population of Madrid, the 
 capital, is only one eleventh that 
 of London. 
 
 Cannot supply its own people 
 with manufactured goods. 
 
 One of the most contemptible 
 states in civilized Europe. 
 
 A prey to civil discords ; — no 
 protection to life or property. 
 
 The people are bigoted, indolent, 
 treacherous, and base. 
 
 Its colonies are dismembered and 
 enfeebled. 
 
 Has done nothing to advance 
 humanity. 
 
 Possesses no name associated 
 with greatness. 
 
 Her ships are barely sufficient for 
 her own limited commerce. 
 
 HISTORICAL CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
 1. Alfred the Great and Charles II. 
 
 Contrads. 
 
 Alfred the Great. 
 The glory of his country. Amid 
 dangers and toil, devoted himself 
 to his country. 
 
 The savior of his country. 
 Established just and merciful 
 laws. 
 
 Charles II. 
 
 A disgrace to humanity. After 
 much bloodshed, he became king, 
 and then devoted his country to 
 himself. 
 
 Sold his country to France. 
 
 Violated the rights and privileges 
 of his people. 
 
SCRIPTURE CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
 
 191 
 
 A true patriot. Laid the founda- 
 tion of the future greatness of his 
 country. Said that "The English 
 ought to be as free as their own 
 thoughts." 
 
 Rewarded his friends and concil- 
 iated his enemies. Temperate, 
 frugal, studious, prudent and pious. 
 Burnt the cakes when thinking of 
 his country. Divided his time. 
 Converted his enemies to Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 Beloved and revered during his 
 life, and almost idolized after his 
 death. 
 
 Cared only for having the name 
 and privilege of a king. Content If 
 the nation would only last his time. 
 
 Ungrateful to his friends, and 
 heedless of his enemies. Sensual, 
 extravagant, idle, thoughtless and 
 profuse. 
 
 Hated and despised during his 
 life, and at his death the dogs were 
 permitted to lick his blood. 
 
 2. Mary and Victoria. 
 
 Gontrasts. 
 
 Mary. 
 
 Despotic and cruel. Bigoted and 
 Intolerant. Morose and miserable. 
 A blind Romanist. 
 Died childless. 
 
 A friend of ignorance and super- 
 stition. 
 
 Lived in an age of darkness and 
 Ignorance. 
 
 An age of thumbscrews, racks, 
 and other instruments of torture. 
 
 Victoria. 
 
 Liberal and benevolent. Pious 
 and tolerant. Cheerful and happy. 
 
 An enlightened Protestant. 
 
 Lives the mother of a large fam- 
 ily. 
 
 A promoter of education and re- 
 ligion. 
 
 Lives in an age of knowledge and 
 progress. 
 
 An age of science, of steam en- 
 gines, and of all the arts which add 
 to human happiness. 
 
 SCRIPTURE CONTRASTS AND RESEMBLANCES. 
 1. Cain and Abel. 
 
 Contrasts. 
 
 Cain. 
 
 Cain was the first born. A tiller 
 of the ground. 
 
 Was wicked. 
 
 Offered to God the fruit of the 
 ground. 
 
 His offerings were not accepted 
 by God. 
 
 Slew his brother. 
 
 The first murderer. Branded 
 with God's curse. 
 Cain became a vagabond. 
 
 Cain had children. 
 
 Abel. 
 
 Abel was the first that died. A 
 keeper of sheep. 
 
 Was righteous. 
 
 Offered to God the firstlings of 
 his flocks. 
 
 His offerings were accepted by 
 God. 
 
 The voice of his blood cried unto 
 the Lord from the ground. 
 
 Enjoyed God's favor. 
 
 Abel died in the hope of salva- 
 tion. 
 Abel died childless. 
 
192 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 2. MOSKS AND CHKIST. 
 
 Resemhlances. 
 
 Moses. 
 
 Delivered the Israelites from the 
 bondage of the Egyptians. 
 
 The founder of the ceremonial 
 dispensation. The founder of Ju- 
 daism. 
 
 Delivered to man the ten com- 
 mandments. 
 
 Led the Israelites through the 
 wilderness. 
 
 Moses lifted up the brazen ser- 
 pent In the wilderness, so that 
 those who looked upon it might be 
 healed of the bites of the fiery ser- 
 pents. 
 
 Moses conducted the Israelites 
 towards the land of Canaan, the 
 promised land flowing with milk 
 and honey. 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Delivered us from the bondage of 
 sin. 
 
 The founder of the New Testa- 
 ment dispensation. The founder of 
 Christianity. 
 
 Gave to man the law of faith. 
 
 Said to His followers, •• Lo, I am 
 with you, even unto the end of the 
 world." 
 
 Christ ottered up Himself upon 
 the cross as a sacrifice for the sins 
 of man, so that those who look upon 
 Him may be healed of the leprosy 
 of sin and corruption. 
 
 Christ leads His people to the 
 heavenly Canaan. 
 
 3. Adam axd Chrk 
 
 Contrasts. 
 
 Adam. 
 Adam was created. 
 
 Through Adam we lost a terres- 
 trial paradise. 
 Adam broke the law. 
 
 By Adam's sin, death came into 
 the world— death temporal as well 
 as spiritual. 
 
 In Adam all die. 
 
 Through Adam sin came into the 
 world. 
 
 Through Adam man was ren- 
 dered liable to God's wrath and 
 curse. 
 
 Through Adam we are the ser- 
 vants of the devil. 
 
 Through Adam disease and pain 
 entered the world. 
 
 Adam, as the first man, is our 
 natural lather. 
 Adam's death was not propitia- 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Christ, as the Son of God, existed 
 from all Eternity, and was the Cre- 
 ator of all things. 
 
 Through Christ we shall gain a 
 celestial paradise. 
 
 Christ fulfilled the law and made 
 it honorable. 
 
 By the death of Christ, we shall 
 be restored to life. 
 
 In Christ all shall be made alive. 
 
 Through Christ we shall be 
 clothed with righteousness. 
 
 Through Christ man is restored 
 to God's favor. 
 
 Through Christ we become the 
 servants of God. 
 
 Through His stripes we are 
 healed. He has a fellow-feeling in 
 all our pains, and pleads our cause 
 at God's right hand. 
 
 Christ Is the spiritual father of all 
 those who trust in Him. 
 
 Christ's death was an atonement 
 
80BIPTUKK KESKMBLANCE8 AND OOJ^TUA8T8. 193 
 
 tory, forhe suffered death on ac- for the sinsof theworld.forHehad 
 count of his own sin. no sin, neither was guile found in 
 
 His mouth. 
 Through Adam we are called Through Christ salvation comes 
 
 upon to fuUill the works c»f the law. by faith and not by works. 
 
 5. To improve the memory we should associate important 
 ideas with thing s^ scenes y and events. JJ'^e should give graphic 
 pictures of important scenes and events. 
 
 Maps, useful and scientific pictures, scripture texts, 
 iind important school rules, should be hung in the school- 
 room. These objects, being kept before the eye,suggest 
 important trains of association. After a time such things, 
 no doubt, fail to arrest the attention; but, in order to 
 avoid this consequence,they should be removed at stated 
 periods, and fresh ones put in their place, or they may 
 simply be taken away for a time and then replaced. The 
 teacher will at once see the value of having such rules 
 as the following hung up in the school-room : — 1. A suit- 
 able place for everything, and everything in its place; 
 2. A proper time for everything, and everything in its 
 time; 3. A distinct name for everything,and everything 
 called by its name; 4. A certain use for everything, and 
 everything put to its use; 5. Try to improve at school 
 every day; 6. Guard against vulgar language; V. Pray 
 daily to God, and praise His holy name. The rules put 
 up by the master should always have a relation to the 
 existing circumstances: thus, for example, during the 
 fruit season the following would be liighly appropriate 
 — " Never eat sour or unripe fruit." 
 
 Teachers cannot be too strongly impressed with the 
 fact that our school-day associations exist in the mind 
 to the latest period of our existence. 
 
 " The School's lone porch, with reverend mosses grey, 
 Just tells the pensive pilgrim where it lay. 
 Mute is the bell that rung at peep of dawn. 
 Quickening my truant feet across the lawn ; 
 Unheard the shout that rent the noontide air. 
 When the slow dial gave a pause to care. 
 Up springs, at every step, to claim a tear. 
 Some little friendship formed and cherished here ; 
 And not the lightest leaf, but trembling teems 
 With golden visions and romantic dreams ! " 
 
194 PHILOSOPHr OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Geography should be taught in coimectioii with history. 
 No teacher should give a lesson on the geography of a 
 country without associating the leading geographical 
 facts with the most remarkable events ot its history, or 
 with its existing resources of trade and wealth. He should 
 also introduce historical and picturesque descriptions of 
 the great cities of the country of which he treats. Great 
 cities constitute the identity of a people: — their past 
 history is sculptured on their monuments, churches, and 
 public buildings; — their existing industry, and real 
 sources of wealth and power, are exhibited in their ma- 
 chinery, their factories, their shipping, and their market- 
 places or thoroughfares, where the products of nature 
 and art are bought and sold; — their intellectual, moral 
 and political tendencies may be seen in the tastes, habits, 
 and pursuits of the people that crowd their public ren- 
 dezvous; for the ceaseless struggles of opinions,passions, 
 and interests which here manifest themselves, may be 
 regarded as the throbbings of the great heart of society, 
 which extend themselves,as certainly as by the action of 
 an hydraulic law, to the utmost extremities of the living 
 mass. 
 
 The events of scripture history should be taught in 
 connection with the map of Palestine. In like manner, 
 history should be taught in connection with geography. 
 Local associations give vividness and power to the re- 
 membrance of events. 
 
 " And hence the charm historic scenes impart: 
 Hence Tiber awes, and Avon melts the heart." 
 
 A man w^ho has looked upon the field of Bannockburn, 
 where the devoted bands of Scottish patriots withstood 
 the onslaught of the mighty host of their oppressor, will 
 never forget the historical events connected with the 
 battle. " That man," says Johnson, " is little to be envied, 
 whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of 
 Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among 
 the ruins of lona." Who can look on the statue of Henri 
 IV., standing on Pont-Neuf, which crosses the Seine in 
 
GEOGEAFHY SHOULD BE ILLUSTKATED BY HISTORY. 195 
 
 the heart of Paris,witbout having the remarkable events 
 of this chivalrous monarch's life more deeply impressed 
 upon his memory ? The birth-places or the sepulchres 
 of great men form some of our most remarkable links of 
 association. 
 
 '* 'Twas ever thus. As now at Virgil's tomb 
 We bless the shade and bid the verdure bloom ; 
 So Tully paused, amid the wrecks of Time, 
 On the rude stone to trace the truth sublime, 
 When at his feet, in honored dust disclosed, 
 The immortal Sage of Syracuse reposed." 
 
 Fiduring out scenes. Children are passionately fond 
 of picturesjwhether real or imaginary, whether addressed 
 to the outward or to the inward sense of vision. This 
 passion constitutes one of the most unconquerable in- 
 stincts of our nature: but why should we wish to con- 
 quer it? none but antiquated governesses or old maiden 
 ladies would do such violence to our happy nature. 
 
 **'Twas here, at eve, we formed our fairy ring; 
 And Fancy fluttered on her wildest wing. 
 Giants and genii chained each wondering ear; 
 And orphan sorrows drew the ready tear. 
 Oft with the babes we wandered in the wood, 
 Or viewed the forest feats of Robin Hood: 
 Oft fancy-led, at midnight's fearful hour, 
 With startling step we scaled the lonely tower, 
 O'er infant innocence to hang and weep, 
 Murdered by ruffian hands, when smiling in its sleep." 
 
 The gallery lessons given to children should contain 
 pictures addressed to the imagination. This mode of 
 instruction not only secures their attention by gratifying 
 their intellectual instincts, but also supplies their recol- 
 lective faculty with appropriate links of association. The 
 picturing style of teaching gives life and vivacity to a 
 class; whereas the dull, dry, sermonizing style of giving 
 a lesson is better than any soporific to be found in the 
 Pharmacopoeia. The tick-tick of the clock in our room 
 is rarely heard: so it is with the repetition of certain 
 set forms of words: the sounds grow familiar to our 
 
196 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 ears; and the ideas, however sacred, like an oft-told 
 tale, cease to make any impression on our minds. 
 
 This is especially the case with respect to scripture 
 reading. The plan of picturing out the scenes and 
 events connected with a passage of scripture that may 
 have been read, is eminently calculated to produce the 
 most vivid and lasting impressions on the minds of 
 children. 
 
 In order to illustrate this plan of teaching, let us sup- 
 pose the first three verses of the sixth chapter of St, 
 John to have been read by the master to his pupils. 
 How few of the children would trouble themselves at all 
 about the familiar sounds that had fallen upon their 
 ears! and of the few who had given their attention to 
 the matter, how many of them could form any clear 
 conception of the ideas intended to be conveyed ? A 
 skilful teacher, it is true, might, by the usual method of 
 interrogation, succeed in making the children compre- 
 hend the subject-matter of the verses; but how long 
 would they retain the ideas thus conveyed to them? 
 how many of them would be able to answer the questions 
 that might be put to them by the master on the fol- 
 lowing day ? 
 
 But now suppose that the master could, by some 
 magic power, show to his pupils the real scene which 
 these verses describe.* Suppose he could go back 
 through the eighteen hundred years which have elapsed 
 since these events occurred, and taking his pupils to 
 some elevation in the romantic scenery of Palestine, 
 from which they might overlook the country of Galilee, 
 show them all that this chapter describes. 
 
 " Do you see," be might say, " that wide sea which 
 spreads out beneath us, and occupies the whole extent 
 of the valley? That is the sea of Tiberias; it is also 
 called the sea of Galilee. All this country which spreads 
 around it is Galilee. Those distant mountains are in 
 
 * This picture is mainly taken from Abbott's " Young Chris- 
 tian. " 
 
PICTURING OUT SCENES. 197 
 
 Galilee, and that beautiful wood which skirts the shore 
 is a Galilean forest." 
 
 " Why is it called the sea of Tiberias ? " a child might 
 ask. 
 
 " Do you see at the foot of that hill, on the opposite 
 shore of the lake, a small town ? It extends along the 
 margin of the water for a considerable distance. That 
 is Tiberias, and the lake sometimes takes the name of 
 that town. 
 
 "But look! Do you see that small boat coming 
 round a point of land which juts out beautifully from 
 this side of the lake ? It is slowly making its way across 
 the water; we can almost hear the splashing of the oars. 
 It contains the Savior and some of His disciples. They 
 are steering towards Tiberias: now they approach the 
 shore; they stop at the landing, and the Savior, followed 
 by His disciples, walks up the shore. 
 
 " Some sick person is brought to the Savior to be 
 healed. Another and another is brought. A crowd 
 collects around Him. He retreats slowly up the rising 
 ground, and, after a little time. He take His place upon 
 an elevated spot,where He can overlook and address the 
 throng." 
 
 If teachers could accustom themselves to the habit of 
 drawing pictures like this, how strong and how lasting 
 would be the impression made on the minds of their pupils! 
 Years, and perhaps the whole of life itself, would not 
 obliterate the impression. Even this faint description, 
 though it brings nothing new to the mind, will make a 
 much stronger and more lasting impression than merely 
 reading the narration would do. And what is the 
 reason ? Why, it is only because we have endeavored 
 to lead you to picture this scene to your minds, to con- 
 ceive of it strongly and clearly. Now any teacher can 
 do this for himself,in regard to any passage of scripture. 
 It is not necessary that we should go on and delineate in 
 this manner the whole of the account. Each teacher 
 can, if he will task his imagination, picture for himself 
 the scenes which the Bible describes. And if he does 
 
198 PHILOSOPHY OP EDrCATION. 
 
 bring his intellect and his powers of conception to the 
 work, and read not merely to repeat formally and coldly 
 sounds already familiar, but to bring vivid and clear 
 conceptions to his mind of all which is represented there, 
 he will be interested himself and will also interest his 
 pupils. He will find new and striking scenes con- 
 tinually coming up to view, and will be surprised at the 
 novelty and interest which this simple and easy effort 
 will throw over those very portions of the Bible with 
 which the ear has become most completely familiar. 
 
 6. Frivolous, unnatural^ or unpleasant associations should he 
 avoided. Fear enfeebles the memory , and terror paralyzes it. 
 
 Our associations should always be in keeping with the 
 dignity of the subject. The unnatural and trifling modea 
 of association adopted by the advocates of systems of 
 MNEMONICS, are unworthy the notice of intellectual 
 teachers of youth. If any artificial system of memory 
 is necessary, it should be constructed on the principle of 
 the chemical nomenclature, which is really one of the 
 best systems of memoria technica that ever has been 
 invented. 
 
 The plan of giving tasks as punishments cannot be too 
 strongly deprecated: it invests learning with painful 
 associations, and most effectually engenders a sullen and 
 wilful habit of inattention. 
 
 Fear enfeebles the memory, by producing tremor and 
 nervous debility. How can a boy exercise his memory 
 when the terrors of tbe rod are placed before him ? 
 How can the intellectual faculties exercise themselves 
 freely or vigorously when the soul is manacled ? When 
 the axe of the executioner is about to fall upon the 
 doomed wretch, can you expect him to admire the sur- 
 rounding scenery, or to observe the various passions 
 pictured on the faces of the eager crowd ? 
 
 " Come here, you dunce," says the pedagogue to his 
 task-ridden pupil — "Come here, — well now, what 
 dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief ? " 
 To which the boy with trembling and hesitation answers 
 
ENFEEBLING INTLUENCE OP FEAR. 199 
 
 —"First I learn ." "Well, what do you learn?" 
 
 To which the boy, rendered stupid by fear, replies— = 
 "Please, sir, I don't know." " You saucy blockhead — - 
 there, take that, and that, — now you stand there, and 
 never move from the spot until you have committed the 
 whole of the question, word for word, to memory. In an 
 instant give over crying, or 1 shall give you something 
 to cry for, — what are you sobbing for?" "Please, sir, 
 — I cannot — help — it." "You cannot help — saucy 
 again — I'll make you help it, — there — there — and 
 there — now you will remember that the rod bites, if 
 you cannot remember your task." True, the boy will 
 probably remember to the day of his death that he wa» 
 cruelly thrashed because he could not repeat the answer 
 to the question on the Articles of Belief. 
 
 A wise teacher, in the place of thrashing his dull 
 pupil, would assist him in completing his task, by first 
 impressing the ideas contained in it on his memory. Af- 
 ter having read the answer twice or thrice over, he 
 might proceed as follows: "The answer to this question 
 contains three parts. The first relates to God the Father; 
 the second to God the Son; and the third to God the 
 Holy Ghost. Let us now break down the ideas con- 
 tained in the first part. In whom have we to believe ? " 
 " In God the Father." " What is God here said to be ?" 
 " He is said to be the Father." " What have you to do 
 in reference to God the Father ?" " I have to believe in 
 Him." " What did God the Father do for you ?" "He 
 made me." " What did He make besides ?" " He made 
 all the world." 
 
 Proceeding in this way, the judicious teacher might 
 analyze the whole of the answer; after this is done, the 
 pupil would probably find little difficulty in committing 
 it to memory. 
 
 7. The memory should he cultivated in relation to common 
 things and everyday events. 
 
 The most ordinary and trifling occurrences may be 
 made a source of intellectual improvement: as the habits 
 of animals, or the manners of a people; the construction 
 
200 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 of articles of furniture and clothing; the structure of a 
 feather, a leaf, or a flower; the mode of building houses, 
 or the making of a pin; and so on. 
 
 The difference of information found amongst men 
 does not depend so much upon the number of sights 
 which they have witnessed, as upon the the remembrance 
 of the ideas which those sights are calculated to sug- 
 gest. Mr. S. never goes on a journey, no matter how 
 short, without being able to amuse his family by relating 
 to them some incident, or to describe to them something 
 new. "I don't know how it is," says Mr. B., w^ho had 
 travelled over the world for the mere sake of locomo- 
 tion, " that my friend Mr. S. finds so much to talk 
 about. He cannot go a journey of a dozen miles without 
 having had adventures enough to serve a man for a life- 
 time; for my part, I have visited most of the great cities 
 in the world, but I can hardly get people to listen to my 
 stories." The fact is, Mr. S. was an observing man, and 
 never allowed an opportunity to slip without storing his 
 memory with useful facts; with him every new event 
 became the nucleus of a new series of thoughts. 
 
 8. Imtruction sliould he given on a regular and connected 
 
 Every lesson should have its proper time assigned to 
 it, and it should always be given at that time. A sub- 
 ject should never be taught by fits and starts; for noth- 
 ing so much enfeebles the recollection as su<lden leaps 
 from one branch of knowledge to another. When the 
 foundations of one science are fairly laid, then another 
 one may be commenced; but a schoolmaster, like the 
 blacksmith, should never have too many irons in the 
 fire. " Nothing," says Abercrombie, "appears to con- 
 tribute more to progress in any intellectual pursuit than 
 the practice of keeping one subject habitually before the 
 mind, and of daily contributing something tow^ards the 
 prosecution of it." Important subjects of knowledge, 
 having thus had time for their roots to spread them- 
 selves in the soil, become, as it were, incorporated with 
 the mind itself. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF REGULA.E INSTfiUCTION. 201 
 
 II. The memory is strengthened hy all those exercises which 
 tend to cultivate the habit of attention. 
 
 We have already explained some of the most impor- 
 tant artifices which may be employed in the cultivation 
 of the habit of attention; the following, however, de- 
 serve especial notice in relation to the faculty of recol- 
 lection. 
 
 1. Interrogate your pupils upon tchat they may have read. 
 
 2. Get your pupils to put questions to each other at the end of 
 a lesson ; and also to talk together^ after school hourSj about the 
 subjects of the day''s instruction. 
 
 3. The pupils should writer in their own language, 
 what is most important for them to remember. 
 
 These notes should be neatly and methodically writ- 
 ten — they should not be mere extracts from books, or 
 verbatim reports of lessons. 
 
 4. Make your pupils familiar with important principles and 
 results. 
 
 It is not sufficient for your pupils simply to remember 
 important principles and results, — they should remember 
 them perfectly, that is, in such a way that it would be 
 impossible ever to forget them, 
 
 "James," a teacher might say to his pupil, "have you 
 learnt the fourth line of your multiplication table yet ?** 
 "Yes, sir, — I said it to you yesterday." "It is true, 
 ray boy, you said it, but it was done with some hesita- 
 tion. You must learn it so thoroughly that nothing caQ 
 put you out when you are called upon to repeat it. Now 
 you go on with the fourth line, while I repeat the fifth, 
 and we shall see whether you put me out, or I put you 
 out." 
 
 As a matter of course, James is put out; whereupon 
 the teacher might go on to say, — "Now I have pnt you 
 out." " Well, sir, but I could have said it correctly if 
 you *had not jarred with me." " Exactly so. But do 
 you think that I could put you out in repeating the 
 alphabet ? — Let us try." 
 
 " Here, you see, I cannot put you out, because you 
 
202 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 have learnt the alphabet perfectly. Now it is equally 
 important that you should learn the multiplication table 
 perfectly." 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED.- ON 'J HE CUL- 
 TIVATION OF IMAGINATION AND TASTE. 
 
 Theee is no faculty of the mind which requires more 
 careful culture than that of imagination. When prop- 
 erly regulated and directed, it may be made to contrib- 
 ute to the development of all that is noble and estima- 
 ble in our nature. It forms an essential element of 
 inventive genius. By imagination we are enabled, as 
 it were, to place ourselves in the situation of others, and 
 to sympathize with them in their distress, or to partici- 
 pate in their sorrows. A man deficient in imagination, 
 however estimable he may be in his general conduct, is 
 usually unsocial, illiberal, and selfish. On the other 
 hand, a person with a wild, misguided imagination, oc- 
 cupies his mind in the pursuit of idle dreams and delu- 
 sions, to the neglect of all those pursuits which are cal- 
 culated to ennoble a rational being. The imagination 
 should always be kept under the control of reason, and 
 it should never be allowed to wander too long at discre- 
 tion amid beautiful and fallacious scenes, so as to 
 impair the judgment. The unrestrained indulgence of 
 imagination often exercises an enfeebling influence over 
 the other powers of the intellect: but a properly regu- 
 lated imagination gives strength to all the other facul- 
 ties, and adds a charm to existence. 
 
 " His the city's pomp: 
 The rural honors his. Whate'er adorns 
 The princely dome, the column, or the arch, 
 The breathing marbles, or the sculptured gold. 
 Beyond the proud possessor's narrow claim, 
 His tuneful breast enjoys. For him, the Spring 
 
CtTLTIVATION OF IMAGINATION AND TASTE. 203 
 
 Distils her dews, and from the silken gem 
 Its lucid leaves unfolds: for him, the hand 
 Of Autumn tinges every fertile branch 
 With blooming gold, and blushes like the morn. 
 Each passing hour sheds tribute from her wings; 
 And still new beauties meet his lonely walk, 
 And loves unfelt attract him. Not a breeze 
 Flies o'er the meadow — not a cloud imbibes 
 The setting Sun's effulgence — not a strain 
 From all the tenants of the warbling shade 
 Ascends, but whence his bosom can partake 
 Fresh pleasure, unreproved." 
 
 To cultivate the imagination, we should exercise it on 
 legitimate objects, and this should be done in harmony 
 with the development of the other powers of the mind. 
 The imagination is exercised — (1) by fictitious narra- 
 tives; (2) by compositions of the poet and the orator, 
 addressed to the passions; (3) by sallies of wit and hu- 
 mor; (4) by works of art addressed to the sense of the 
 beautiful. 
 
 The man who excels in all, or any, of these produc- 
 tion of imagination, is said to have an inventive genius; 
 but it is obvious that this must depend quite as much 
 upon the strength of the faculty of reason as upon that 
 of imagination. Geometers and scientific discoverers 
 are often much indebted to the fertility of their imag- 
 ination. Persons of extraordinary power of imagination 
 are not unfrequently deficient in judgment. Why? 
 Certainly not from any want of harmony between these 
 faculties, but rather from the want of a proper educa- 
 tion; for a man of philosophic intellect must have a 
 Tigorous imagination : the genius of the poet and that 
 of the mathematician are more nearly allied than people 
 generally suppose. 
 
 I. The picturing style of teaching (described in relation to 
 the cultivation of memory) is one of the lest means of devel- 
 oping the imagination of children. 
 
 Very few of our works of imagination are simple 
 enough for the comprehension of a child, — the sen- 
 
204: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 tences in them are too long and involved, and the figures 
 and analogical phrases are too far beyond the range of 
 his experience. We cannot expect authors (who gener- 
 ally care more for their own fame than for the improve- 
 ment of their readers) to put in print all the little and 
 apparently trifling things which they would say to a 
 child. An experienced teacher, on the other hand, nat- 
 urally clothes his ideas in short, pithy sentences, and 
 draws his illustrations and figures of speech from the 
 things with which his pupils are most familiar: he will 
 frequently analyze the figures or analogies which he 
 employs, so as to render their appositeness more vivid 
 and apparent, and to show the difference between a 
 metaphor and an analogical phrase; and above all things, 
 he will constantly endeavor to inspire his pupils with a 
 love of nature, and to kindle within them the sentiment 
 of beauty. When he has occasion to call the attention 
 of his pupils to the aspect of the morning sky, he speaks 
 of the " blushing morn," or, it may be, " the rosy 
 morn"; if anything comes suddenly into his mind, it 
 " flashes " upon him; if he draws a picture of an exten- 
 sive forest, he speaks of "the trackless woods"; if he 
 makes a comparison between imagination and reason, he 
 speaks of fancy's flash and reason's ray. He speaks of 
 reason as the rudder of the soul, which guides us through 
 the stormy sea of life; of hope as the anchor of the soul; 
 of religion as the great pillar of the state; of remorse as 
 the never-dying worm which gnaws the vitals of its vic- 
 tim; of crime as a loathsome monster, and virtue as a 
 lovely angel clothed in light; of the darkness of ignorance, 
 and the light of knowledge; of old age as the autumn of 
 life, when all that is lovely withers and decays; of the 
 whisper of the breeze, and the roar of the tempest. 
 
 II. The imagination of children is cultivated hy simple 
 pieces of poetry^ or hy prose compositions of taste and feel- 
 ing. 
 
 Simple good poetry delights the ear of children, at the 
 same time that it elevates their characters; and even the 
 
CULTIVATION OF IMAGINATION^ AND TASTK. 205 
 
 harmony of elegant prose, il' not beyond their compre- 
 hension, will melt their tender souls. The best books 
 for children are those which contain simple phrases of 
 beauty, which turn on figures that depend on points of 
 harmony or analogy between the physical and the moral 
 world. " Pilgrim's Progress " is one of the best books 
 for children of ten or twelve years of age. Children 
 should never be allowed to read poetry which they 
 cannot understand, far less to commit it to memory. 
 How matter-of-fact a poetical conception becomes after 
 it has been profaned, day after day, by senseless repe- 
 titions! How many of our intellectual pleasures have 
 been marred, by our having had the language of poetry 
 impressed upon our memories at a time when we could 
 not realize its import! Rhetorical readings, in schools, 
 are something like the exbibitions of the common phan- 
 tasmagoria — things to laugh at. Teachers commit a 
 gross mistake w^hen they attempt to bring the higher 
 faculty of imagination too soon into play; just in the 
 same way as many persons lose at chess by moving their 
 queen too early in the 'game. Every faculty must be 
 fully developed before the infant soul can spread its 
 wings and fly towards the higher heaven of poetry. 
 True poetry is the holy of holies of the intellectual tab- 
 ernacle, into which no one should enter until all his 
 faculties are matured and consecrated. 
 
 III. Fables and simple tales are amongst the best means of 
 cultivating the imagination of children. 
 
 Children must romance, whether we permit them or 
 not, — it is one of the most uncontrollable laws of human 
 nature. Good fables and tales always contain instruc- 
 tion, — they turn facts into poetry, and instruct the 
 reason through the imagination. Some little stories 
 contain, in an unobtrusive form, more practical wisdom 
 than many learned homilies. Who would wish to 
 forget the story about the fox and the grapes; or the 
 dog and the shadow; or the shepherd boy and the wolf; 
 or the dog in the manger; or the cock and the diamond; 
 
206 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 or the lion aud the mouse; and so on ? Nothing affords 
 children a more sparkling entertainment, than to tisten 
 to the parley between the lion and the ass, or between 
 the fox and the crow; while each of them adheres to 
 its character with dramatic strictness, each, at the same 
 time, personates some moral quality. The perception 
 of this analogy leads, in the most pleasurable manner, 
 to the cultivation of abstraction and reason. 
 
 What child does not read the Arabian Nights' Enter- 
 tainments with the most lively emotions? Children 
 like to transport themselves, on the wings of imagination, 
 from the cold and sober realities of our northern clime 
 to the warm and romantic scenes of oriental climes, 
 with their glitering caverns and golden palaces, their 
 genii and their wonderful lamps and rings, their 
 brilliant skies and gorgeous flowers. 
 
 " Let Fiction come, upon her vagrant wings 
 Wafting ten thousand colors through the air, 
 While, by the glances of her magic eye, 
 She bends and shifts at will, through countless forms. 
 Her wild creation." 
 
 Good tales contain nothing really deceptive; for a 
 child, with a properly regulated mind, knows perfectly 
 well when he passes the boundary line which separates 
 the region of fiction from that of facts. The very worst 
 tales are those which adhere too rigidly to every-day 
 scenes and events, and inculcate religion and morality 
 with all the mock solemnity of a theological primer. 
 Those very pious, truthful, sermonizing tales (such as 
 Peter Parley's) outrage the patience of children, and 
 really defeat the end which they have in view. How 
 can the soul of a child approach its God, clothed in 
 the garb of fiction! 
 
 None of our modern novels are sufficiently adapted to 
 the juvenile mind; they are too long; their stories, for 
 the most part, are neither simple enough, nor romantic 
 enough; and besides, they generally pre-suppose a 
 knowledge of human nature and character which boys 
 below fourteen years of age cannot possibly possess. 
 
CULTIVATION OF IMAGINATION AND TASTE. 207: 
 
 We should like to see a few novelettes written after the 
 fashion of Waverly, or The Last of the Mohicans, but 
 rendered somewhat more infantine in the characters 
 described. 
 
 No tale should do any unnecessary violence to the 
 feelings and sympathies of children: if the story tells of 
 hideous wild beasts in pursuit of some innocent little child, 
 they should always at last meet with a proper punish- 
 ment: or if it describes dismal dungeons or deep caverns, 
 some way out of them should always be found, leading 
 to celestial scenes of loveliness and enjoyment; or if it 
 relates the adventures, by sea and land, of some tameless 
 being, he should always at last find a quiet and happy 
 home. We do not appear to have made any advance in 
 this kind of literature, at least for the last quarter of a 
 century. Hans Andersen's fairy stories of the Flying 
 Trunk, the Wild Swans, &c., are very much inferior to 
 our old oriental tales: what modern story of adventures 
 can be placed by the side of our old and dear friend, 
 Robinson Crusoe ? 
 
 IV. The sentiment of the heautiful, in children^ should be cul- 
 tivated hy drawing and music. 
 
 Children should be taught drawing and music, almost 
 as soon as they can speak. They should be early led to 
 copy the most beautiful forms, and to sing the sweetest 
 songs. Whatever is insipid, or deformed, should never 
 be placed before them for imitation. The sentiment of 
 taste should be constantly cultivated, by directing their 
 attention to whatever is captivating in nature, or 
 beautiful in art. The cultivation of taste not only affords 
 us a refined source of pleasure, but also, somehow or 
 other, gives force and acuteness to the moral sense. 
 
208 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAP. YI. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, CONTINUED-ON THE CULTIVA- 
 TION OF REASON AND JUDGMENT. 
 
 Reasoi^ is that raeutal faculty whereby we ditstinguish 
 truth from falsehood. When we duly exercise this 
 faculty, we compare facts with facts, and events with 
 events, and from their relations and bearings we deduce 
 certain conclusions. We say that a man possesses a 
 sound judgment, when he judges correctly of the relations 
 of facts, events, or circumstances, and gives to each its 
 due amount of influence in the conclusions, or deductions, 
 which he makes. Reason is, in a certain sense, opposed 
 to imagination, inasmuch as it deals solely with facts and 
 realities. Reason is distinguished from simple memory, 
 by which facts or events are merely connected by the 
 laws of association, without any regard to their natural 
 or philosophical relation. Reason, in a well regulated 
 mind, holds the mastery of all the other faculties: it 
 gives strength and precision to every one of them, and 
 harmonizes and regulates their operations as a whole; 
 as we have already shown, it especially improves the 
 memory, and checks any unhealthful exuberance of im- 
 agination. No faculty in our nature is more susceptible 
 of cultivation than reason; and the neglect of its 
 cultivation is attended with the greatest possible evils, 
 as well to the individual as to society at large. No 
 doubt there are original differences in the power of 
 reason, but we have no hesitation in stating that the 
 chief source of the differences in this power found 
 amongst men is to be traced to culture and discipline. 
 When we neglect the cultivation of the reason of young 
 persons, their minds become engrossed by trifles, or 
 carried away by the wild freaks of imagination; and the 
 most sacred and momentous opinions are either treated 
 with unbecoming levity and indifference, or accepted 
 
CULTIVATION OF REASON. 209 
 
 without tiioni^lit or reflection. Such persons readily be- 
 come the victims of sophistry, or the willing slaves of 
 superstition and bigotry. They have not the power, 
 because the habit has not been cultivated, of giving a 
 full and candid examination of all the facts which ought 
 to influence their opinions in any subject of inquiry. 
 Such persons never pursue truth for its own sake, — 
 they do not know what it is to yield their minds to the 
 force of truth; and, as a necessary consequence, their 
 opinions are formed from prejudice or passion. 
 
 Reason is, of course, aided by other mental faculties, 
 such as memory, attention, conception, and abstraction, 
 but especially by attention and conception. These two 
 faculties, as we have already shown, are strictly voluntary 
 faculties, and therefore may be greatly strengthened and 
 developed by exercise and habit. A vivid conception of 
 all the parts of a subject of investigation, is the first 
 great step gained in the process of inquiry. 
 
 It has not been considered necessary, in what follows, 
 to make any distinction between an act of judgment and 
 an act of reason. Our higher kinds of judgment seem 
 to involve all the essential elements of a process of rea- 
 soning. 
 
 The following general rules may be laid down for cul- 
 tivating the reasoning powers of children. 
 
 I. The minds of children should he first exercised in easy 
 processes of reasoning^ adapted to their state of mtellecttcal 
 development. Their reason should be first exercised in the dis- 
 cernment of the relations, connections, tendencies and analogies of 
 familiar facts. 
 
 Until a child has some knowledge of facts and effects, 
 he cannot inquire into principles or causes. Our first 
 steps in the process of reasoning are observation and 
 comparison, then follow deduction and generalization. 
 A child is capable of forming conclusions long before he 
 can put his reasoning into language. The teacher should 
 be in no haste to break the spell of this silent — this 
 truly ideal — process of reasoning; it is better that 
 
210 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 ideas — conceptions — judgments — should precede lan- 
 guage, for the formality of language too often casts a 
 blighting shadow over what might otherwise have been 
 a glowing vital conception. But this solitary commun- 
 ion of a child with nature cannot always go on; it is 
 proper that the child should be for a time cast upon the 
 bosom of nature; but after the nursling has attained a 
 certain stage of spontaneous development, it is necessary 
 that he should be able to express his ideas in language, 
 in order that he may profit from the results of the ex- 
 perience of others. Hence it follows that the vocab- 
 ulary of children should be gradually enlarged with 
 the enlargement of their ideas or real knowledge. Words 
 become a hindrance to reasoning, when the vocabulary 
 of the child exceeds his ideas. This we cannot help 
 regarding as one of the greatest evils in our present 
 systems of education; and we are sorry to observe that 
 men high in authority have recently given, indirectly at 
 least, their countenance to the evil, by exacting a knowl- 
 edge of the letter, rather than the spirit, of certain sub- 
 jects of instruction, — such as religion, geometry, arith- 
 metic, and algebra. 
 
 The reason of children is frequently misled by the 
 erroneous use of words. We should constantly encour- 
 age them to explain their views and opinions, in order 
 that we may rectify their errors. Some people do not 
 care what absurdities they utter in reasoning with chil- 
 dren; they do not hesitate to talk to them about things 
 which are far above their comprehension, and they have 
 always a ready explanation to give of matters involving 
 the greatest mystery. Such tutors fill the young mind 
 with errors and prejudices, which years of training may 
 fail to eradicate; for it is often more difficult for us to 
 unlearn what is false than it is to learn what is true. To 
 judge whether a subject of reasoning is within the com- 
 prehension of a child, we should consider whether the 
 facts or events upon which it is based are within the 
 range of his experience. 
 
 Reasoning must not be rendered a task, or conducted 
 in so formal ^ manner as to weary the mind of the pupil; 
 
FIRST EXEIICISE OF THE KEASONING FACULTY. 211 
 
 the exercise of his reason must be spontaneous. We 
 should give him the facts and materials for reasoning, 
 rather than make a direct demand upon his reason. A 
 desultory style of presenting those facts will best secure 
 our purpose; for it is a law of the human mind that 
 while we can achieve but little in the higher processes of 
 reasoning without the strictest observance of order, — in 
 the first steps of reasoning, on the contrary, we seem to 
 derive the most healthful excitement from the very ab- 
 sence of order. Every experienced teacher knows this 
 to be true, and unconciously acts upon this conviction. 
 The reasonins: powers of a child are exercised whenever 
 we put the question why, or receive the answer because. 
 The higher principles of a science should never be 
 taught before the pupil has been made acquainted with 
 the relations and analogies of the most familiar facts. 
 But many teachers, for the sake of following what they 
 conceive to be a logical order, or, it may be, the arrange- 
 ment given in their text-books, reverse the natural 
 order, and teach the most abstract and least attractive 
 things first. 
 
 Mathematical subjects afford one of the best exercises 
 for the reasoning powers. Mathematical reasoning is 
 simple, and free from all uncertainty; this depends 
 chiefly upon the following circumstances. 
 
 1. Nothing is taken for granted or on mere authority; 
 for its principles or reasoning are axioms of self-evident 
 truths. 
 
 2. Its proper objects are the relations of numbers, 
 lines and spaces, things which are cognizable by our 
 senses, and which can be defined and measured with a 
 precision of which the objects of no other kinds of rea- 
 soning are susceptible. 
 
 The earliest conceptions of a child relate to form and 
 number, and they are the first which their minds are 
 capable of viewing abstractedly: hence, the elements of 
 arithmetic, algebra and geometry should be amongst 
 the very earliest subjects of study, for the purpose of 
 developing the reasoning powers. Mathematics, how- 
 ever, like other first subjects of study, should be taught 
 
212 PUlLOSOrHV OF EDUCATION. 
 
 progressively, avoiding as much as possible the formal- 
 ities of tedmical demonstration; and principles should 
 always be taught in connection with their applications. 
 
 It is a gross error to suppose that a pupil will have 
 the power of applying abstract principles, merely be- 
 cause he is able to demonstrate the truth of these prin- 
 ciples. A knowledge of Euclid is one thing, and the 
 employment of geometrical theorems in the business of 
 life is another. The bringing of familiar facts and 
 abstract principles into apposition is not only attractive 
 to the young mind, but also exercises the reasoning 
 powers in a way which no other subject can do. Who 
 does not remember the pleasure that he felt when he 
 saw the doctrine of similar triangles applied to the find- 
 ing: of the height of a tower bv means of the shadow of 
 a stick ? 
 
 Although the mathematical sciences may form one of 
 the best initiatory trainings of the reasoning powers, 
 yet it is comparatively inefficient in giving that higher 
 finish and development to the powers of reason. It only 
 exercises the mind in appreciating one kind of evidence, 
 — namely, mathematical evidence. Some other subject, 
 therefore, should be adopted for the purpose of develop- 
 ing the reasoning powers of children in relation to moral 
 evidence. 
 
 These branciies of knowledge* may give a false direc- 
 tion to the mind, if they are not taught with caution, 
 and in connection with moral science. The certainty and 
 peculiar nature of mathematical science often inspire 
 the disposition to demand the same kind of demonstra- 
 tion in other points. The wonderful extent to which we 
 can trace and imitate the operations of nature, tempts 
 us to rest on second causes, and forget that Power which 
 is necessary to establish and maintain the laws which we 
 only discover. For this purpose, these studies should not 
 only be conducted in a religious spirit, but should be 
 accompanied and alternated with those which will give 
 another direction to the mind. A pupil thus learns much 
 
 *Woodbridge. 
 
MATHEMATICAL AND MORAL EVIDENCE. 213 
 
 of the nature of moral evidence, and moral relations, and 
 is accustomed to employ these, as well as mathematical 
 demonstration, as a part of his series of thought, and as 
 a sufficient ground for his conclusions. 
 
 On this subject Abercrombie observes: "Notwith- 
 standing the high degree of precision which thus dis- 
 tinguishes mathematical reasoning, the study of mathe- 
 matics does not, as is commonly supposed, necessarily 
 lead to precision in other species of reasoning, and still 
 less to correct investigation in physical or mental science. 
 The explanation that is given of this fact seems to be 
 satisfactory. The mathematician argues certain conclu- 
 sions from certain relations of quantity and space, which 
 are ascertained with absolute precision; and these prem- 
 ises are so clear, and so free from all extraneous matter, 
 that their truth is obvious, or is ascertained without dif- 
 ficulty. By being conversant with truths of this nature, 
 he does not learn that kind of caution and severe exam- 
 ination which are required in other sciences for enabling 
 us to judge whether the statements on which we proceed 
 are true, and whether they include the whole truth 
 which ought to enter into the investigation. He thus 
 acquires a habit of too great facility in the admission of 
 data or premises, which is the part of every investiga- 
 tion which the physical or mental inquirer scrutinizes 
 with the most anxious care, — and too great confidence 
 in the mere force of reasoning, without adequate atten- 
 tion to the previous processes of investigation on which 
 all reasoning must be founded. It has been, accord- 
 ingly, remarked by Mr. Stewart, and other accurate ob- 
 servers of intellectual character, that mathematicians are 
 apt to be credulous, in regard both to opinions and to 
 matters of testimony; while, on the other hand, persons 
 who are chiefly conversant with uncertain sciences ac- 
 quire a kind of scepticism in regard to statements, \\ hich 
 is apt to lead them into the opposite error." 
 
 1'lie physical and mathematical sciences are full of 
 simple facts nnd principles which are highly calculated 
 to cultivate the reasoning powers of children. History, 
 too, if properly taught, may be made a great instrument 
 
214 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 in the cultivation of their reasoning powers: not that 
 history which merely relates the dull, dry detail of events 
 in their chronological order, and gives more prominence 
 to the installation of a monarch than to the discovery of 
 a physical law, or to the advent of a groat man whose 
 soul is destined to rule the world of philosophy: not that 
 history which perseveringly follows the blood-stained 
 foot-prints of warriors or the chicanery of crafty, little- 
 souled statesmen, or the various ramifications of the 
 petty schemes of ambitious autocrats, who fret their day 
 upon the stage of existence, then die, and leave no sign 
 behind them: not that history, in short, which ignores 
 the philosophy of history; — but that history which gives 
 the record of really great events, which follows the de- 
 velopment of society, marks the relations of events to 
 each other, and resolves them into epochs. The child 
 will thus be taught to study the nature of moral rela- 
 tions and moral evidence. In the same manner we 
 should like to see language and literature taught. 
 
 In all these subjects, the teacher should lead his pupils 
 to distinguish between the relations of facts and events 
 which are merely incidental, and those that are fixed and 
 uniform.* From the relations of familiar facts and events, 
 
 * Twenty years ago, when amateur teachers were few, the 
 writer of this" work gave lessons on the science of common things 
 (or what he called " science at home ") to an evening class of 
 boys, varying from twelve to fifteen years of age. 
 
 These lessons were illustrated by simple and striking experi- 
 ments, made with apparatus constructed, for the most part, out of 
 the ordinary articles of household use. The subjects selected 
 for instruction were not only useful in themselves, having a rela- 
 tion to the occupations of life, but also so simple as to be within 
 the comprehension of his young pupils. Recondite facts of 
 science, however useful in their remote applications, were gener- 
 ally avoided when they did not admit of graphic or experimental 
 illustrations. 
 
 The following is a list of the subjects on which these familiar 
 lectures were given: — 
 
 What is the best kind of gravel for making a path? The prop- 
 erties of the lever, shown by a rod balanced upon the edge of a 
 hook. The best way of making a fire. How a candle burns, and 
 why you should not take the snuff off too close. Why the smoke 
 
" SCIENCE AT HOME." 215 
 
 he will frequently rise to the illustration of general prin- 
 ciples; at other times, he will descend from the general 
 principles to the familiar facts or events which illustrate 
 them. But before children are taught any systematic 
 course of study, they should be lead to reason and to 
 
 rises in the chimney; and how a smoking chimney may be, to a 
 certain extent, cured. To explain the use and construction of a 
 wheel-barrow. How breathing and flame vitiate the air; and how 
 pure air should be supplied to apartments. Bad smells are not 
 only disagreeable, but they carry with them the seeds of disease 
 and death; how bad smells may be prevented: importance of 
 cleanliness; of drainage; and of good dwelling houses. How to 
 sink a well. How to make a pump. How to economize labor. 
 How to economize food, and to preserve common articles of use. 
 How to preserve health: you should live upon plain, wholesome 
 food; you should perform some physical labor; your clothes 
 should be adapted to the season, and to the state of the weather. 
 Where the water of the river Ouse comes from, and where it runs 
 to. And so on. 
 
 These lessons on common things were productive of the most 
 satisfactory results. The boys were so interested in the lessons 
 that they would at any time leave their games to attend the class. 
 Many of the parents did not, at first, quite understand what their 
 children had to do with science; but when they found that the 
 teacher had been explaining how to make a fire, how to prevent 
 the chimney from smoking. &c., they became as much interested 
 in the lessons as their children — and thus the parents speedily be- 
 came powerful auxiliaries in carrying on the work of education. 
 It is true that some parents stood out for a long time against the 
 new-fangled system. — they merely wanted their boys taught read- 
 ing, writing and accounts. Indeed, a mother thrashed her son for 
 asserting that the teacher had shown him how the earth turned 
 round every twenty four hours. "Hold your tongue, sirrah! 
 don't tell me such lies," said this prejudiced mother; "master 
 could never put such a falsehood into your head. Has not the 
 stack-yard stood at the back of our house ever since 1 was a child, 
 a girl, and a married woman, and does it not stand there still?" 
 But this argument did not carry conviction to the boy's mind, and 
 as a last resource he was thrashed for his obstinacy. 
 
 Noble lords, and learned doctors, and newspaper editors, have 
 lately discovered the importance of teaching the science of com- 
 mon things in our schools. And some of them, no doubt, will 
 have their names emblazoned in our blue books as the great 
 renovators of popular education. 
 
216 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 exercise their judgment upon common things, facts, and 
 events. 
 
 *' Thus the men 
 Whom nature's works can charm, with God himself 
 Hold converse; ^row familiar, day by day, 
 With his conceptions; act upon his plan; 
 And form to his the relish of their souls." 
 
 The relations of things and events may be viewed in 
 six distinct aspects, viz., relations of character, of 
 degree, of cause and effect, of connection and composi- 
 tion, of analogy, and of law. We shall give a few exam- 
 ples of these different kinds of relation, wnth the view of 
 illustratinor what is here meant. 
 
 (1) Relations of character. 
 
 All animals with four feet are called quadrupeds: 
 then a cow must be a quadruped. A fowl is not a 
 quadruped — why ? All hot-blooded animals breathe 
 air: then ahorse must be a hot-blooded animal. Trans- 
 parent bodies can be seen through: then water is a 
 transparent body, because I can see objects through a 
 glass of water. Acids are sour to the taste, and change 
 vegetable blue colors to red: then vinegar must be an 
 acid, for I am sure it tastes sour enough, and the drop 
 which Jane let fall on her blue apron has made it red. 
 All quadrilateral figures have four sides: then a sheet 
 of foolscap paper has the form of a quadrilateral figure. 
 Heavy substances sink in water: then chalk must be a 
 heavy substance. Inflammable bodies burn: then coal 
 must be an inflammable body. The particles of a fluid 
 body readily move amongst themselves: then mercury 
 iniist be a fluid body. Metals have a peculiar lustre, 
 called the metallic lustre, like gold and silver: then 
 copper and lead must be metals. Artificial substances 
 are made by man: then woolen cloth must be an arti- 
 ficial substance. A natural substance is produced by 
 nature, without the aid of art: then wool is a natural 
 
RELATIONS OF TUINGS AND EVEN^TH. 217 
 
 substance. Bodies, like the air, which support flame 
 are called supporters of combustion: then chlorine must 
 be a supporter of combustion, for a candle burns in this 
 gas. 
 
 (2) Relations of degree and proportion. 
 
 John's shoe is too small for Henry's foot; then the 
 child will readily make the deduction — Henry's foot 
 must be larger than John's. Our dog is larger than the 
 cat: then a hole through which the dog can just go must 
 be larger than a hole which the cat can just go throuajb. 
 I cannot reach to the top of the door: then the door i?* 
 higher than I am. 
 
 I can lift the chair, but 1 cannot lift the table: then 
 the table is heavier than the chair. James can push the 
 table along the floor, but he cannot carry it: then it is 
 easier, that is, it requires less force, to push the sofa 
 along the floor than to carry it. I cannot lift that stone, 
 but I can easily overturn it: then it requires less force 
 to overturn a heavy body, like the stone, than it does to 
 raise it up or lift it. 
 
 Thomas takes an hour to walk from Charing Cross to 
 Chelsea, whereas I can walk over the distance in three- 
 quarters of an hour: therefore I walk faster than 
 Thomas. 
 
 Yesterday tlie water in the kettle took three-quarters 
 of an hour to boil, but to-day it has only taken half an 
 hour: then it follows that the fire is hotter to-day than 
 it was yesterday. The sun is longer above the horizon 
 in summer than he is during the winter: hence the sum- 
 mer is hotter than the wintei'. Water never freezes at 
 Bermuda : then the climate of Berranda must be warmer 
 than that of England. 
 
 A body of a red color can be seen at a greater dis- 
 tance than a body of a blue color: then red must be a 
 brighter color than blue. 
 
 The shadow of that tree is longer than the shadow of 
 that house: then the tree must be higher than the house. 
 
218 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 A pound weight of bread is larger in bulk than a 
 pound weight of lead: then lead must be a heavier sub- 
 stance than bread. Bread floats on water, but cheese 
 ginks in it: then cheese must be a heavier substance, 
 bulk for bulk, than bread. 
 
 Smoke rises in the air, but silk paper falls: then smoke 
 must be a lighter substance than silk paper. 
 
 (3) Relations of cause and effect. 
 
 A kettle on the fire will never burn so long as there is 
 water in it; then the boiling water, or steam, must carry 
 off the heat. It is warmer during the day when the 
 sun shines than it is during the night: then the sun must 
 be the source of heat. A crow on the top of St. Paul's 
 Cathedral does not look larger than a sparrow: then the 
 height of St. Paul's must be very great. "When the fire 
 burns briskly, light pieces of paper are carried up the 
 chimney: then there must be a current of air rushing up 
 the chimney. When sealing-wax, glass or brown paper 
 is rubbed with a dry piece of flannel, electricity is pro- 
 duced: then friction generates electricity. Snow flakes 
 fall in the air, soap-bubbles rise in the air*: then i^now 
 must be a heavier substance than air, and soap-bubbles 
 must be lighter than air. 
 
 The soap-bubble is a heavy fluid inflated with hot air: 
 then this hot air must be the thing that makes the soap- 
 bubble lighter than the surrounding air. After a little 
 time the soap-bubble bursts; does it burst inwards or 
 outwards ? Inwards — why ? The soap-bubble moves 
 from the shade to the sunshine, — it bursts, — why ? In- 
 wards or outwards ? Outwards — why ? The soap bub- 
 ble is globular in its shape — why ? 
 
 In order to roast a joint of meat, it is made to turn 
 before the fire — why V The meat is turned round in order 
 that every part of it may be properly roasted. A register 
 stove throws out more heat than a common fireplace — 
 why ? Because the register stove reflects the heat of the 
 fire, or, in other w^ords, it throws the heat of the fire into 
 
RELATIONS OF CAUSE AND EFP'ECT. 219 
 
 the room. Woolen clothes keep our bodies warm in 
 cold weather — why ? Because woollen clothes prevent 
 the heat from passing out of the body, or, in other 
 words, we may say woollen is a bad conductor of heat. 
 Nature has clothed the lower animals either with wool, 
 hair or feathers— why ? Nature has done for them what 
 the reason of man enables him to do for himself. In 
 igniting a fire, we put shavings and wood at the bottom 
 of the fireplace, and the coals above them — why ? Pru- 
 dent people take their principal meal about the middle 
 of the day — why ? Men work during the day, and sleep 
 during the night — why ? When the sky is cloudy, we 
 are likely to have rain, but when the sky is clear, we 
 never have rain — why ? Ice feels cold, boiling water 
 feels hot — why ? Because the ice is colder than our 
 bodies, and the boiling water is warmer. The iron part 
 of a spade feels colder than the wooden part— why? 
 Because the iron conducts, or conveys, the heat from our 
 bodies more rapidly than the wood. The handle of a 
 coffee-pot is usually made of wood — why ? Deal floors 
 are warmer than brick floors — why ? In frosty wreath er, 
 the water from the clouds falls in the form of snow or 
 hail — why ? With us the north w^ind is usually colder 
 than the south wind — why? At noon-day, when the 
 sun shines, our shadows fall towards the north — why ? 
 The snow falls upon the mountain tops more than it does 
 in the valleys or plains — why ? - The west wind with us 
 is usually accompanied with rain — why ? Because the 
 west wind passes over the Atlantic Ocean, and therefore 
 comes to us charged with moisture. The east wind is 
 dry and parching — why? Thunder storms generally 
 take place at the close of summer — why ? 
 
 (4) Relations of connection and composition. 
 
 The earth on which we live is globular: then naviga- 
 tors should be able to sail round it. When a body can 
 be seen a long way off, it must be very large; then 
 Windsor Castle must be very large, for it can be Feen 
 
220 THILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 from Richmond Hill! — then the moon must be very 
 large, for we know that she is far, far above the clouds, 
 A square whose side is two feet may be divided into 
 four small squares one foot in the side: then a square 
 which is two feet in the side must be four times the size 
 of a square which is one foot in the side. When hydro- 
 gen gas burns in oxygen, water is formed; then water 
 must be composed of hydrogen and oxygen. When 
 phosphorus is burnt in oxygen, a white substance is 
 formed, called phosphoric acid: then phosphoric acid must 
 be composed of phosphorus and oxygen. When sul- 
 phuric acid is poured upon chalk, carbonic acid gas is 
 given off: then chalk must contain carbonic acid. When 
 red lead, or oxide of lead, is heated, oxygen gas is given 
 off, and metallic lead is left behind: then red lead must 
 be composed of lead and oxygen. Drunkards always 
 shorten their days: then a drunkard must be guilty of 
 self-murder, or suicide. 
 
 (5) Relations of analogy. 
 
 A piece of cork rises in water in the same way as a 
 balloon rises in the air, or as smoke rises in the air: as 
 the cork is lighter than the water, so the balloon is 
 lighter than the air, bulk for bulk. When a piece of 
 lump sugar is placed in a spoonful of water, the water 
 rises up the pores of the sugar, in the same way as water 
 rises up the pores of a sponge, or as water rises up a 
 fine tube, or between two plates of glass, placed near to 
 each other. Water will dissolve sugar, in the same way 
 as water will dissolve salt, or as spiiits of wine will dis- 
 solve camphor. If a st)ap-bubble be twirled round just 
 before it is thrown from the bowl of the pipe, it will 
 revolve and become flattened at its poles by its rotation 
 on its axis: when a mop is twirled round, it assumes 
 a somewhat flattened shape, in the same way as the 
 whirling motion of the earth has caused its equatorial 
 parts to swell out. The steam from boiling water, by its 
 elastic force, sometimes raises the lid of the kettle, in 
 
KELATIOJsS OF ANALOGY. 221 
 
 the same way as the steam of a steam engine raises the 
 piston or plug in the cylinder. A watch has had a 
 maker; in like manner the world has had a Creator. As 
 a magnet attracts iron, so somewhat in the same 
 manner the sun attracts the planets in the solar system. 
 As the contrary poles of a magnet attract each other, so 
 bodies electrified in contrary ways attract each other; 
 and as like poles of a magnet rej^el each other, so bodies 
 electrified in the same way repel each other. As bodies 
 in front of a fire become warmer than those at the sides, 
 so in like manner places at the equator more directly 
 under the sun's heat, become warmer than those places 
 towards the poles,where the sun's heat glances obliquely 
 upon them. 
 
 What qualities have sealing-wax, sulj^hur, and pitch in 
 common ? They are all inflammable, fusible, brittle when 
 cold, but adhesive when nielted, and generate the same 
 kind of electricity by friction. What qualities and 
 points of structure have carnivorous animals in common? 
 An iron hoop is elastic, — name some other bodies analo- 
 gous to the hoop in this respect. A bullet is a sphere, — 
 name some other bodies that are spherical. What prop- 
 erties have all bodies in common ? Weight, &c. 
 
 When a child learns, for the first time, some new prop- 
 erty of a thing with which he is quite familiar, he is 
 taken by that sort of surprise which affords him the 
 highest pleasure, and which forms one of the most 
 powerful incentives to intellectual activity. Thus, for 
 example, a boy readily admits that the air is a transpar- 
 ent fluid; but when he is shown that it has weight, like 
 lead, or any other material substance, he is taken by 
 surprise — a surprise which is nearly allied to doubt — 
 and he is thereby prepared to give an earnest attention 
 to any experiments we may make upon the subject. 
 
 (6) Relations of laiv depending on inductive reasoning. 
 
 When iron is heated, its bulk is increased; — when 
 water is heated, its bulk is also increased; — and the 
 
222 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 same holds true with respect to any other substance 
 which has been tried: then one general law of heat is 
 that it expands all bodies. Sound travels over eleven 
 hundred feet in one second; twice eleven hundred in 
 two seconds; thrice eleven hundred feet in three seconds; 
 and so on: then, sound travels at a uniform rate. 
 
 Misery, disease, and death always follow drunkenness, 
 dissipation, and all such crimes; then vice and misery 
 are inseparably connected. Liars and thieves are never 
 trusted; a truthful and honest person is always es- 
 teemed: then honesty must be the best policy. 
 
 A body, let fall from a tower, falls sixteen feet in one 
 second, four times sixteen feet in two seconds, nine times 
 sixteen feet in three seconds, and so on: then the spaces 
 passed over by falling bodies increase as the squares 
 of the times. 
 
 A ball struck along a floor moves in a straight line; 
 the harder the blow the further the ball moves; then 
 something must cause the ball to stop — what is it? Is 
 it the roughness of the floor (the friction of the floor),or 
 the blowing of the air ? If the floor were smoother would 
 the ball move further ? Would the ball stop if there were 
 nothing tending to destroy its motion ? Let us try, — has 
 anybody tried this ? Yes, my child, we may suppose a 
 teacher to say, this has been tried, and it is found that 
 the more we remove the resistances of fiiction and the 
 air, the farther and farther the ball will move: then, if 
 these resistances could be removed altogether, what 
 should we expect? Why, that the ball would never stop, 
 that is to say, it would move on and on, in a straight 
 line for ever, if it did not meet with any external force 
 or resistance to stop it. 
 
 (7) Relations of law depending on deductive reasoning. 
 
 The force of gravity decreases as the squares of the 
 distances: then a body will be lighter at the top of a 
 mountain than it is at the sea shore: then a pendulum, 
 will vibrate slower at the top of a mountain, than it will 
 
RELATIONS OF LAW. 223' 
 
 do at tbe sea shore. The atmospbere is au elastic fluid: 
 then the air at the top of a mountain is not so dense as 
 it is on the plain. The temperature at wiiich water boils 
 increases with the pressure upon it: then water will 
 boil at the top of a mountain at a less degree of heat than 
 it would do at tbe sea shore. Rough bodies radiate, or 
 throw out, heat more rapidly than smooth, polished 
 bodies: then^ other things being the same, hot water in 
 the kettle will become cold sooner than if it were in a 
 polished metal tea-pot. The force of the wind makes a 
 kite fly: then a kite must fly best in windy weather. 
 When a flame is applied to a mixture of street gas and 
 atmospheric air, it explodes: a lighted candle should 
 never be taken into a room where there is an escape of 
 gas. The pressure of water is in proportion to its depth : 
 then the strength of embankments should be in pro- 
 portion to the depth of the fluid which they have to 
 sustain: then, the strength of beer barrels should be in 
 proportion to their depth. The intensity of light de- 
 creases as the squares of the distances increase: then 
 the light of a candle at twenty feet distance will be one- 
 fourth of what it is at ten feet. 
 
 The height to which water may be raised, by the com- 
 mon pump, is in proportion to the pressure of the sur- 
 rounding air: then the common pump will raise water 
 to a greater height on the plain than it will do on the top 
 of a mountain. The resistance of fluids to a moving body 
 is in proportion to the squares of their velocities: then 
 there must be considerable loss of power when railway 
 carriages move with great velocities. The resistance 
 which friction presents to a moving body is the same for 
 all velocities: then, so far as friction is concerned, there 
 is no loss of power in moving railway carriages at a high 
 speed. 
 
224 riJiLOsoriiv of kducatiox, 
 
 II. After the reasoning powers have been exercised in the man- 
 ner Just descrihed, the process of reasoning should he analyzed ; 
 and this should he done in connection with simple examples. 
 
 It should be «howu that every process of reasonmg 
 consists of two parts — the premises and the conclusion 
 — the thing or things which we take for granted, or 
 assume to be true; and the proposition which we have 
 to establish. 
 
 The premises consist of, (1) First or intuitive truths; 
 (2) Propositions and principles, eitlier taken for granted, 
 or which have already been proved; (3) Certain facts, 
 or relations of facts, which we believe to be authentic, 
 and to which our assumed principles are to be in some 
 manner applied. 
 
 The conclusion is deduced from the application of the 
 assumed principles to the facts. Here we have not only 
 to assure ourselves of the correctness of the principles 
 assumed, and of the authenticity of the facts,but also to 
 determine whether the principles are legitimately appli- 
 cable to the facts; for the principles may be correct,and 
 the facts may be authentic,and yet the reasoning may be 
 false, from the want of a true connection between the 
 principles and the facts. 
 
 We examine the truth or falsehood of a process of 
 reasoning or argument by the method of the ancient syl- 
 logism. Formallogicisof very little use in the discovery 
 of truth, or even in the first stages of school instruction; 
 yet a knowledge of the syllogism will freqently enable 
 a young man to detect the sophistry of an argument, 
 which might otherwise confound his judgment. -An 
 intelligent boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age may 
 readily understand the nature of a syllogism. 
 
 If I simply say that "the greatest philosophers are 
 mortal, for they are but men," 1 reason, — I employ the 
 elements of a syllogism: thus we have, — 
 
 First, 1 employ the general fact, — that all men are 
 mortal. 
 
SYLLOGISTIC REASONING. 225 
 
 Secoud, the special fact, coming under the general 
 class of facts referred to this proposition, — that philoso* 
 phers are men. 
 
 Third, the inference or deduction from this connec- 
 tion, — that philosophers are mortal. 
 
 The first is called the major proposition, the second the 
 minor proposition, and the third, the conclusion, or new 
 proposition. Thus, the foregoing reasoning may be put 
 in the form of a syllogism: — 
 
 Major Propositiou, All men are mortal, 
 3Iinor Proposition, Philosopliers are men ; 
 
 Conclusion, Therefore, philosophers are mortal. 
 
 In order that our conclusions may be valid, it is neces- 
 sary that the major and minor propositions should not 
 only be separately true, but the minor proposition must 
 belong to the class of facts included in the major prop- 
 osition. 
 
 Exercise your pupils in putting simple processes of 
 reasoning (such as those given under the head of rela- 
 tions in the foregoing article) into the form of a syl- 
 logism. Require them to name the propositions or 
 principles taken for granted (are they intuitive, or have 
 they been proved ?) — the facts alleged to be true (upon 
 what evidence do they rest?) — the major and minor prop- 
 ositions (is the former true without exception? does 
 the latter come under the former?) and so on. 
 
 Give instances of false reasoning, and call upon your 
 pupils to detect them. Let us give a few examples. 
 
 Uxample 1. Point out the error in the follo\ying pro- 
 cess of reasoning: 
 
 The diagonals of all parallelograms bisect each other, 
 
 Trapezoids are parallelograms ; 
 
 Therefore the diagonals of trapezoids bisect each other, 
 
 Atiswer, Here the major proposition is true; but the 
 minor proposition is not true, that is to say, it is not one 
 of the class of facts comprehended by the major; there- 
 fore the conclusion is false. 
 
226 THILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Example 2. Point out the error in the following pro- 
 
 cess of reasoning: 
 
 All created beings are mortal, 
 Angels are created beings ; 
 Therefore angels are mortal. 
 
 Answer. Here the minor proposition is true, but the 
 major is not true, for we have no ground for such a 
 belief. 
 
 Example 3. Where is the error in the following reason- 
 ing? 
 
 All human beings are mortal, 
 Angels are not hmnan beings; 
 Therefore angels are immortal. 
 
 Answer. Here, although the conclusion is true, the 
 reasoning is false: for since the converse of a proposi- 
 tion is not always true, we are not entitled to infer that 
 because human beings are mortal, therefore angels, 
 which are not human beings, are not mortal. 
 
 IH. Some of the most common sources of false reasoning 
 should he pointed out. 
 
 1. The admission of alleged facts without a due ex- 
 amination. 
 
 James, we may suppose a master to say to his pupil, 
 how do you explain the fact that a steel needle will 
 float upon water ? 
 
 I don't know, sir; for steel being heavier than water, 
 I should have thought that the needle would sink in 
 water. In short, sir, 1 question the truth of the alleged 
 experiment. 
 
 Master, That is just what I should have expected 
 from you (we may suppose the master to say). You 
 were quite right to examine the trulh of an alleged fact, 
 especially when it appears to interfere with your pre- 
 vious experience, or at variance with certain general 
 principles which you know to be true. At the same 
 
SOURCES OF FALSE REASONING. 227 
 
 time I shall make the experiment, which establishes the 
 fact, and you will then see, upon further reflection, that 
 the phenomenon is due to the operation of a certain prin- 
 ciple, which counteracts the tendency which the needle 
 has to sink in the fluid. Illustrations of this kind may 
 be readily extended by the teacher. 
 
 2. Mistaking incidental connections for those that are 
 uniform and constant, or confounding accidental coinci- 
 dence with causation. 
 
 Black ribbon being rubbed w^ith the hand becomes 
 electrified. A child, upon observing the experiment, 
 may naturally enough conclude that the color of the 
 ribbon is essential to the result, unless he is shown, by 
 further experiments, that the effect is independent of 
 the color, and that the essential or permanent conditions 
 are that the substance should be silk, and that it should 
 be perfectly dry. 
 
 "This spring, little James was looking at a man who 
 was mowing the grass before the door. It had been 
 raining, and when the sun shone the vapor began to 
 rise from the grass. 'Does the man mowing make the 
 smoke rise from the grass?' said the little boy. He was 
 not laughed at for this simple question. The man's 
 mowing immediately preceded the rising of the vapor; 
 the child had never observed a man mowing before, and 
 it was absolutely impossible that he could tell what 
 effects might be produced by it; he very naturally imag- 
 ined, that the event which immediately preceded the 
 rising of the vapor was the cause of its rise; the sun 
 was at a distance; the scythe was near the grass. The 
 little boy showed by the tone of his inquiry that he was in 
 a philosophic state of doubt; had he been ridiculed for his 
 questions, had he been told that he talked nonsense, he 
 would not upon another occasion have told his thoughts, 
 and he certainly could not have improved in reasoning.' 
 
 The best way to improve the judgment of children, 
 with respect to the interpretation of natural phenomena 
 is to extend their knowledge, and to lead them to make 
 experiments, so that, by the repetition of such experi 
 ments, they may discover what circumstances are essen 
 
228 riilLOSOPIIY UF EDUCATION. 
 
 tial to the production of any given effects, and wluit are 
 merely accidental or accessory. 
 
 3. Assuming the converse of a proposition to be true. 
 In mathematics nearly all the converse of propositions 
 
 are true; but in general physics and the business of 
 life, this is far from being the case. Thus, while all 
 gaseous bodies are elastic, all elastic bodies are not 
 gaseous. All horses are quadrupeds; but all quad- 
 rupeds are not horses. Angels are immortal; but all 
 immortal beings are not angels. Magnets attract iron 
 filings; but all bodies which attract iron filings are not 
 magnets, for any electrified body will attract iron filings; 
 and so on to numberless instances. 
 
 4. Confounding a mere ilhistration, or an analogy, 
 with a demonstration. 
 
 The relation of the times and spaces of a falling body 
 is commonly illustrated by the division of a triangle into 
 a series of little triangles, &c. ; but something more is 
 required to raise the character of this illustration to the 
 dignity of a demonstration. 
 
 The whirling of a stone is often used to illustrate the 
 law of centrifugal and centripetal forces; but this 
 scarcely advances us a single step in the demonstration 
 of the great law which regulates the planetary motions. 
 Illustrations are exceedingly valuable in their place; but 
 the pupil should never be allowed to regard an illustra- 
 tion, or analogy, as a ground for dispensing with a full 
 demonstration. He should be led to regard illustrations 
 and analogies as preliminary steps to demonstration. 
 
 5. In attaching erroneous or ambiguous meanings to 
 terms; or in using terms in different senses in the course 
 of an argument. 
 
 Much false philosophy is based upon the ambiguities 
 of language. 
 
 Teachers should carefully rectify the verbal errors of 
 children. 
 
 "Turkey is an unhealthy countrj^," said a friend of 
 mine one day to his pupils, "but this is owing more to 
 the want of precaution on the part of the people, than to 
 the badness of the climate." The boys did not appear 
 
RULES FOR THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH. 229 
 
 fully to understand what was said to them. "Pre- 
 caution," said my friend, " that is a hard word for you to 
 comprehend, — what boy will tell me the meaning of this 
 word?" The boys hesitated — they first stared at their 
 master, and then at each other, but gave no further sign 
 of intelligence, — the case was desperate, — they had got 
 a tickler. My friend then, with the view of ascertaining 
 the full amount of their ignorance, said: — "Now tell 
 me whether precaution is exported or imported." The 
 bait took, for the head boy of the class at once shouted 
 out — " Exported, sir!" — and, as a matter of course, the 
 answer went around the class. 
 
 6. When we assume, in a disguised form, the principle 
 which is to be proved. 
 
 This is commonly called begging the question. 
 
 Or when we take for granted any principle which 
 requires proof. 
 
 In proving, for example, that the angles at the base of 
 an isosceles triangle are equal to each other,if we assume 
 that the angles on the other side of the base are equal to 
 each other, we should take for granted a proposition 
 which is almost equivalent to the one which is required 
 to be proved. 
 
 IV. Some general rules should he occasionally given to chil- 
 dren for the conduct of their understanding in the pursuit of 
 truth. 
 
 The following are a few examples of this kind:— 
 Before commencing any inquiry, strip your mind of all 
 prepossessions,prejudices, or hastily formed opinions,and 
 yield yourself freely and dispassionately to the force of 
 truth. Earnestly seek the truth. Never argue in sup- 
 port of opinions which you do not believe; for the 
 habit of false reasoning distorts and warps the soul, and 
 tends to confound all distinction of right and wrong : 
 let the love of truth be your ruling principle. Remem- 
 ber, that you are responsible, as well for your opinions 
 and judgments, as for your actions and conduct. 
 
230 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 " Majestic truth; and where Truth deigns to come, 
 Her sister Liberty will not be far." 
 
 Weigh well the validity of your arguments, or,it may 
 be, the accuracy of your processes of irivestigatioD. 
 Never form hasty conclusions; always ask yourself, before 
 you have come to a final decision, — Is there no other 
 view of the case which is as feasible as the one which I 
 have taken ? 
 
 See that your axioms, or first truths, may be fairly 
 ranked as such. You may explain first truths, but you 
 cannot prove them. 
 
 Be watchful relative to the authenticity of facts. In 
 the formation of your opinions, and in the regulation of 
 your conduct, give a due weight to nil the facts which 
 ought to influence your decision. 
 
 Take care that your assumption, or it may be your de- 
 finition, does not include the truth of the proposition 
 which is to be proved. Remember that the converse of 
 an established proposition may not be true. 
 
 Clearly distmguish between an illustration of a truth 
 and a demonstration of it. Bear in mind that facts may 
 either illustrate the truth of a principle, or they may 
 prove the truth of it. In reasoning from analogy,inquire 
 whether there exist any points of difference between the 
 analogous cases, which may make the principle of rea- 
 soning inapplicable. 
 
 ox THE CULTIVATION OF WIT A>fD INVENTION. 
 
 Wit is only a peculiar form of reason: wit is reason 
 exercised in search of grotesque resemblances between 
 things apparently dissimilar. The decisions of judgment, 
 which is another form of reason, are slow — those of wit 
 are rapid; but the heavy thunder clouds of judgment 
 not unfrequently burst forth in the lightning flashes of 
 wit. The passage from the settled gravity of philosophy 
 to the electric gaiety of wit, is easy and not unnatural. 
 Great philosophers have generally beeh remarkable for 
 their wit. The earliest shoots of intellectual growth are 
 witty. It would be well, if the teacher would try to en- 
 
CULTIVATION OF WIT AND INVENTION. 231 
 
 liven tbe dull routine of school duties by occasional sal- 
 lies of wit and humor. His example would soon be fol- 
 lowed by his pupils, for nothing glances from mind to 
 mind more rapidly than the flashes of wit; such intel- 
 lectual efforts are singularly procreative — one witty idea 
 soon doubles and triples itself. Wit and humor, like 
 gleams of sunshine, shed gladness and joy over a class of 
 children. The great object of Divine benevolence, says 
 the venerable Dwight, is the happiness of His creatures; 
 and he who promotes the happiness of a little child for 
 half an hour, is a fellow-worker with God. 
 
 Invention, considered with respect to reason, consists 
 in finding out new relations, or in discovering new truths 
 from these new relations, and in putting these relations 
 in such an order or form as to show how new truths 
 arise out of them. 
 
 If schoolmasters would endeavor to foster the devel- 
 opment of the inventive powers of their pupils, we might 
 have fewer learned, unproductive drones, but most cer- 
 tainly we should have more inventors. We have known 
 boys to make pulleys and other kinds of wheel machines, 
 electrical machines and other sorts of experimental 
 apparatus. Boys soon acquire such a passion for con- 
 struction and invention that they would rather spend 
 their market half-pence in tbe purchase of the materials 
 for construction than in sweetmeats. 
 
 In order to cultivate the inventive powers of childreUj 
 the teacher, after having supplied them with facts, 
 might occasionally throw out suggestions like the fol- 
 lowing: Could you make anything of paper to illustrate 
 the construction of the smoke-jack, or the wind-mill, 
 &c.? Can you make a cone, &c., out of card-paper ? In 
 how many different ways could you divide the ground 
 floor of a house into three equal apartments? How 
 would you join three pieces of wood together so as to 
 make a model of the principal rafters of the roof of a 
 bouse ? What would be an improvement to the common 
 snuffers, &c., &g.? Elow would you join, without glue^ 
 in the simplest manner, two pieces of wood so as to 
 form a X square ? And so on. 
 
232 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE MORAL FACULTIES. 
 
 Man was originally created after the image of his Crea- 
 tor, in knowledge and holiness: this was absolutely- 
 necessary, in order that the creature should become the 
 worshipper of the Creator; for we can only have a 
 knowledge of God by the contemplation of His own 
 image as it is reflected from our souls. The fall of man 
 has neither eradicated any principle from his soul, nor im- 
 planted any new one. This disastrous moral catastrophe 
 has destroyed the balance of the various moral and in- 
 tellectual faculties by giving a preponderence to what 
 we call the malevolent and animal propensities over the 
 intellectual and moral ones. One great object of teach- 
 ing should be to restore, under the blessing of God, the 
 various faculties of our nature to their first condition of 
 purity and harmonious action, by stimulating the intel- 
 lectual and benevolent affections, by curbing the undue 
 activity of the selfish and animal propensities, and by 
 directing them to their original ends and objects. There 
 is no princi[)le in our nature which, under the blessing 
 of God, may not be directed to what is good. In like 
 manner, the fall of man has neitlier eradicated any law 
 or principal in physical nature, nor given birth to any 
 new or supplemental principle: it merely destroyed the 
 balance ot the various laws operating in nature, by 
 giving an undue preponderance to the operation of cer- 
 tain destructive or rather corrective agencies. The storm 
 and the whirlwind, which at present frequently spread 
 havoc and desolation over the earth, and the noisome 
 weeds, which frequently infest the soil, become evils 
 only from their undue preponderance. But the provi- 
 dence of God, co-operating with the labor of man, which 
 can make the wilderness to blossom as the rose, which 
 can make the dark and howling regions of the earth be- 
 come radiant with joy and gladness, can also illuminate 
 and purge those dark and foul recesses in the human 
 
CULTIVATION OF THE MORAL FACULTIES. 233 
 
 soul, which have become the seat of gloomy and demoni- 
 acal passions. The same beneficial influence, cooperating 
 with the better nature of humanity, which can convert 
 whatever is apparently evil in the external world into 
 its original usefulness, can also divert the current of our 
 evil tendencies into a right channel. The passions of 
 suspicion, anger, hatred, and revenge, which arm the 
 midnight assassin with the dagger or the poison cup, may 
 be legitimately directed to the detection of error, to the 
 denunciation of vice, or to the punishment of crime. 
 ** Woe unto you," says He who had no guile, "Scribes 
 and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited 
 sepulchres, which indeed appear beautifully outward,but 
 are within full of dead men's bones, and of all un- 
 cleanness." The love of self, which, in the form of 
 selfishness, is really the most fruitful source of the moral 
 evils which at present exist in the world, may become 
 the mainspring of religion; — '* Why will ye die! O 
 house of Israel." Pride, or the consciousness of power, 
 which often leads us to despise what is humble and to 
 oppress what is weak, may shield us from the meanness 
 of falsehood, or raise us above the contamination of 
 folly. Rashness and temerity, which often result in 
 misery to ourselves, and in discomfort to our friends, 
 may assume the form of that high-toned moral courage 
 which is one of the most essential elements of true 
 greatness. Ambition, combined with inflexible purpose, 
 which like a giant in its strength tramples upon whatever 
 stands in its path, and ruthlessly sacrifices all that is 
 great or holy at its shyine, may lead us to glory in what 
 is good, and to esteem it a greater honor to be a door- 
 keeper in the house of God than to be a dweller in the 
 tents of sin. The love of approbation, which in its 
 vitiated form manifests itself in a vain and heartless 
 display of our own powers, may, under proper guidance, 
 stimulate us to merit the approbation of the good and 
 great, and above all to seek the approbation of God and 
 our own conscience. The man whose soul has been ex- 
 panded by philosophy and sublimated by virtue and re- 
 ligion, possesses the same faculties as the being whose 
 
234 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 soul has been cramped and enervated by ignorance, and 
 corrupted and debased by crime. What a contrast 
 between two things possessing the same elements! the 
 one is like the sparkling and indestructible diamond, 
 radiant with all the hues of heaven's own light; the 
 other is like the churcoal, black, crumbling, shapeless, 
 and worthless. The great business of education, there- 
 fore, is not to eradicate any principle of our nature, but 
 'to direct all our faculties towards their proper objects — 
 to foster what is good and to check the development of 
 what may tend to evil. 
 
 All the moral faculties, without exception, should be 
 trained from the earliest infancy; for they manifest 
 themselves at a much earlier period than the higher 
 faculties of intellect. '' Train a child," says the inspired 
 writer, *'in the way in which he should go, and wiien he 
 is old he will not depart from it." Tlie moral training 
 of a child is, of course, best conducted by his parents, 
 and especially by his mother. Home is the proper sphere 
 of moral training; the earthly parent possesses, in this 
 respect, the delegated authority of the heavenly Parent; 
 and any system of school education which seeks to 
 ignore this heaven-stamped authority, must be bad, 
 not only in its principle, but also inexpedient and er- 
 roneous in its practice. But do parents undertake this 
 sacred duty ? or are they always willing to perform it 
 in an efficient manner? If parents do not (and we fear 
 that many of them in the present state of society fall far 
 short in this respect), is the teacher qualified, or is he 
 authorized, to undertake the sacred function ? The 
 question is difficult to answer when put in this com. 
 prehensive form. At least, however, we may safely say 
 that he may fairly endeavor, to the best of liis abiiitieai 
 and opportunities, to educate the child placed under his 
 care in those grand and essential truths of morality and 
 religion which are recognized by tlie great body of the 
 people in this country. But the teacher should always 
 endeavor to enlist the co-operation of the parents, in 
 training the moral faculties of their children. There are 
 few parents so far sunk in ignorance and crime, as to 
 
MORAL TRAINING. 235 
 
 remain callously indifferent to the remonstrance of a 
 teacher relative to the future well-being of their own 
 children. What parents would desire that their own 
 moral degradation should be perpetuated in their 
 children ? The instinctive and disinterested love of the 
 parent consecrates every moral lesson which he may 
 give to his offspring. No school teacher can possibly 
 place himself in the same attitude in relation to his pupil. 
 " There is a love of offspring," says the eloquent author 
 of the Natural History of Enthusiasm, "that knows no 
 restrictive reasons; that extends to any length of 
 personal suffering or toil; a feeling of absolute self-re- 
 nunciation, whenever the interests of children involve a 
 compromise of the comforts or tastes of the parent. 
 There is a love of children in which self-love is drowned; 
 a love, which when combined with intelligence and 
 firmness, sees through, and casts aside, every pretext of 
 personal gratification, and which steadily pursues the 
 highest and most remote welfare of its object, with the 
 determination at once of an animal instinct,and of a well- 
 considered, rational purpose. There is a species of love 
 not liable to be worn by time, or slackened, as, from 
 year to year, children become less and less dependent 
 upon parental care; — it is a feeling which possesses the 
 energy of the most vehement passions, along with the 
 calmness and appliancy of the gentlest affections; a 
 feeling purged, as completely as any human sentiment 
 can be, of the grossness of the earth: and which seems to 
 have been conferred upon human nature as a sample of 
 emotions proper to a higher sphere." 
 
 The moral and religious training of children would be 
 greatly advanced if our clergy would frequently address 
 parents from the pulpit, on the best methods of con- 
 ducting home education; and also if the teacher, along 
 with the clergyman, would frequently visit the parents 
 of his pupils, with the view of showing them how to 
 proceed with the training of their children at home. 
 
 I. All moral training should he based upon religion. 
 
 A vaunt, that heartless secular system of training which 
 
236 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 would inculcate moral precepts apart from the sublime 
 and soul-inspiring doctrines of revelation! Begone, with 
 your tape-line and scissors, we do not want morality 
 doled out to us by the measure! Begone, thou sneering 
 spirit of skepticism, with all your fine-spun moral theories 
 of expediency, brought forward to supplant the sublime 
 doctrine of salvation by faith; you cannot disguise your 
 cloven foot! Begone from the land of honest old 
 England — Christian England; destroy not the quiet 
 happiness which reigns in her hearths and homes! Back 
 to skeptical France, if you please; if not there,then back 
 to your native hell, and leave God-fearing teachers to 
 do God's work! 
 
 Away with those false metaphysics which would per- 
 suade us that the idea of God is too subtle for the mind 
 of a child. Its heartless propounders, no doubt, gauge 
 the capabilities of the virgin soul of the child by theu* 
 own narrow, sin-scorched natures. A more expansive 
 and practical philosophy tells us that there is no con- 
 ception which more easily assimilates itself to the infant 
 soul, than the idea of the Creator. The idea of God is 
 directly manifested to us through His Spirit. The Spirit 
 of God, where is it ? where is it not ? It prevades all 
 matter and all space; but it specially manifests itself in 
 the sanctified human soul,in the form of the third person 
 of the glorious Trinity; and we are told, by Christ, that 
 the kingdom of heaven will be especially composed of 
 little children. 
 
 II. The teacher should^ above all things^ cultivate the sentiments 
 of veneration and faith. 
 
 Children instinctively venerate what is great and holy; 
 and that teacher is guilty of the 2;Tossest impiety, who 
 does not foster and develop, on all fitting occasions, the 
 devotional affections of his pupils. There is scarcely any 
 subject of instruction without having its religious bearing. 
 Besides the direct and and positive religious instruction, 
 osually given in our schools, the good teacher will avail 
 himself of every incidental opportunity for inculcating 
 moral and religious duties. The wisdom and goodness 
 
VENKKATIO^' AND FAITH. 237 
 
 of God, as manifested in tlie works of His bauds, afford 
 one of the best means for cultivating tbe devotional senti- 
 ments of children; — the adaptation of the structure of 
 animals to their instinct, and to their habits of life, — 
 the relations of the great physical laws to each other,and 
 to the essential purposes of vegetable and animal life, — 
 the intimate connection between the laws of the physical 
 and moral world, — all these, and many other evidences 
 of divine wisdom and goodness, are highly calculated to 
 foster and develop the devotional sentiments of children. 
 
 The love and fear of God should be made the main- 
 spring of all their actions. Children should be taught to 
 do good, because it pleases their Father which is in 
 heaven, and to avoid what is evil, because it offends Ilim. 
 There is no sure anchor for the human soul but that 
 infantine faith in the love and goodness of God, which 
 exhibits itself in the following forms: faith in God's 
 providence; — faith in His promises, as revealed in His 
 holy word; — faith in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation; 
 — faith in the moral government of God, and that, under 
 this government, society is advancing towards the mil- 
 lenium period, when humanity will have achieved for it- 
 self that intellectual and moral emancipation from the 
 thraldom of ignorance, and from the slavery of sin, 
 which prophets have foretold, and of which inspired 
 poets have sung. 
 
 Teachers! instruct your children how to pray. Won- 
 derful arrangement of divine mercy! the tones of that 
 feeble child's voice ascend from earth to heaven, and 
 rising far beyond the visible universe, they reverberate 
 through the mansions of the blessed and reach the ear 
 of Divinity; and God, well pleased with that little child, 
 deigns to answer the prayer! That prayer descends to 
 the lowest depths of hell, and makes the damned to 
 gnash their teeth. Teachers ! a poor, guilty child of earth 
 tells you to teach your children to pray; but the admo- 
 nition should not come with less force on account of the 
 unworthiness of the being that gives it, inasmuch as 
 you may regard it, should you think proper, as the trib- 
 ute which an unauthorized layman pays to religion. 
 
238 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 III. Teachers should constantly cultivate the benevolent affec- 
 tions of children. 
 
 The exercise of tbe benevolent affections affords us one 
 of the purest and highest sources of pleasure. Children 
 should be shown that it is their interest, as well as their 
 duty to love one another, — to be kind, forbearing, and 
 forgiving in their tempers, — and to be ever seeking to 
 promote the comfort and happiness of their companions in 
 preference to their own gratification. Tell them that 
 when we pray to God (in our Lord's prayer) to forgive 
 us our trespasseSjthat same prayer bases the petition on 
 the assumed fact that we forgive them that trespass 
 against us. But goodness of heart should not only pro- 
 ceed from virtuous impulse, — it should also be sanctified 
 by proper motives: children should be taught to love 
 one another, because love is the fulfilling of the law, — 
 because God is love — because He has manifested His 
 love in their creation, in their preservation, and in their 
 redemption. 
 
 The school-room should he a happy place. That school 
 is little better than a pandemonium, where the boys are 
 allowed to quarrel and fight with one another. Malice, 
 cruelty, and all vindictiveness of character, are a perpet- 
 ual source of misery to their possessor, as well as to all 
 with whom he comes in contact: on the contrary, gen- 
 tleness, forbearance, and mercy, diffuse joy and glad- 
 ness throughout the whole school. 
 
 " Tbe quality of mercy is not strained; 
 It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed; 
 It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes! 
 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes 
 The throned monarch belter than his crown. 
 His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
 The attribute to awe and majesty, ' 
 
 Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. 
 But mercy is above this sceptered sway, 
 It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
 It is an attribute to God Himself; 
 And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 
 When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 
 
THE BENEVOLENT AFFECTIONS. 239 
 
 Though justice be thy plea, consider this — 
 That in tbe course of justice, none of us 
 Should see salvation! We do pray for mercy; 
 And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
 The deeds of mercy." 
 
 Good-natured children are always cheerful and'happy, 
 and they become a source of happiness to all their com- 
 panions; but ill-natured, spiteful children become the 
 plague-spots of a school, — they make everybody about 
 them miserable. A happy, cheerful disposition is not 
 only salutary as regards its moral influence, but it is also 
 one of the most indispensable conditions of intellectual 
 progress. 
 
 IV. The benevolent affectiom, as well as all the other moral 
 faculties^ should he cultivated so as to become habits of action. 
 
 We have already explained the importance of estab- 
 lishing right habits of thought as well as virtuous habits 
 of action; we have here only further to reiterate that, 
 in order to establish habits of virtue and religion, the 
 teacher should constantly enforce the performance of all 
 important duties at their proper time and in their fitting 
 place; for it should always be borne in mind that the 
 neglecting to perform any duty at the time assigned 
 for it, tends to weaken the habit which we wish to es- 
 tablish. 
 
 V. The teacher must educate the moral faculties of his pupils 
 by his example as well as by his precepts. 
 
 Example bears the same relation to moral science that 
 experiment does to physical science: you cannot thor- 
 oughly teach abstract principles without giving them a 
 tangible form, — "a local habitation and a name." A 
 teacher's life and conversation should, in all respects, 
 become the living form and embodiment of his precepts. 
 
 But the discrepancy between our precepts and practice 
 has assumed the form of a common adage, "Do as I say, 
 and not as 1 do." The teacher, of all men in society, 
 should be the most watchful. He necessarily impresses 
 
240 riiiLOSOPiiY OF eduuatiox. 
 
 the leading features of liis owu moral character upon hLs 
 pupils. What an awful responsibility this involves! 
 What a moral power he wields for good or for evil ! 
 Each grain of truth or falsehood which he sows in the 
 field of his labor will multiply itself indefinitely through- 
 out eternity. 
 
 No motion or <lynamical action can be lost in the 
 physical world; so in like manner, in moral dynamics, 
 the results of our actions will flow on through indefinite 
 ages: what finite mind can investigate that moral for- 
 mula which shall express the remote bearings of a single 
 example of vicious conduct! Every moral precept given 
 by a teacher to his class, and every act performed by 
 him before his class, will live long after he is dead, and 
 will perpetuate itself a thousand-fold in distant ages. 
 
 How awful is the responsibility of the teacher! Every 
 wrong word uttered by him, and every improper act 
 done by him, will, as regards its remote consequences, 
 be recorded again and again in the doom-book of Irod, 
 there to stand as damning blots against him till the 
 great day of reckoning! 
 
 The thistledown from a single thistle,if left unchecked, 
 will soon spread the weed over a whole district. A 
 single plague-spot is sufficient to give rise to the con- 
 tagion which may depopulate a city. In like manner, 
 one symptom of moral corruption in the personal char- 
 acter of a teacher may be the cause of a moral contagion 
 which shall spread far and wide, and influence the des- 
 tinies of future ages. 
 
 The teacher should beware of 'acquiring any habits 
 calculated to provoke censorious remarks. Children are 
 keenly alive to any defects or imperfections in their 
 teacher. It is almost impossible for any teacher to ap- 
 pear what he really is not, before his pupils; his weak- 
 nesses are sure to become a matter of ridicule, and his 
 faults a subject of censure; and it would be w^ell if the 
 evil stopped here; but it does not, for children insensibly, 
 and even in spite of their better feelings, imitate the 
 manners and conduct of their superiors in knowledge 
 and station: to laugh at folly does not shield us from its 
 
INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE. 2 41 
 
 attack, and to aiiimaclvert upon what is vicious is no 
 guarantee that we are raised above its contamination. 
 We have sometimes heard conversations like the fol- 
 lowing going on amongst school-boys: — 
 
 "I say, Tom, what a fine white choker teacher has 
 got." 
 
 ''Do you think that he washed his face this morning?" 
 
 "To be sure he did, but he has stuffed his nose into 
 his snuff-box." 
 
 "Don't you think, Jim, that you covdd give the lesson 
 as well as master, if you had that book of his ? " 
 
 "How slow master speaks." "Hold your tongue, 
 man; don't you sec that he is thinking what he'll say 
 next ? " 
 
 " I do believe that master was a drinking last night, 
 for he's half asleep while he's a talking." " How very- 
 polite. Why don't you return the nod of the gentle- 
 man ? " 
 
 "Do you think he could do that sura without the key, 
 which he always peeps into when he's puzzled ?" 
 
 " Don't you think that master would give a better 
 lesson without that bit of paper, which he's always a 
 looking at ? " 
 
 "I wonder where he copied his notes from." "Do you 
 see that there little book that is lying on his desk? Well, 
 he took them from that, for I saw him while Ave were 
 saying our tables." 
 
 "I don't care about being late for school; — teacher is 
 often late himself." 
 
 " What a raging passion master sometimes puts him- 
 self in ; I wonder if he w^ould like to be struck with a 
 stick as he sometimes strikes me." 
 
 " How awfully long teacher makes the prayers. Do 
 you think that he could pray without the book ?" "I 
 don't understand the prayers: they seem to be written 
 for men and women, and not for little boys like us."^ 
 
 "Teacher never called once upon me, for all the time 
 I was ill." 
 
 " Do you know where teacher goes to of a night ? 
 
242 THiLOSOPHY of education. 
 
 He goes to the cricketer's suppers; I saw him once my- 
 self coming out of the ' White Hart ' late of a night." 
 
 Our moral duties may be classed under three heads, 
 viz.: (1) our duty to ourselves; (2) our duty to our 
 neighbor; and (3) our duty to our God. To treat this 
 subject adequately, or to give all the rules and maxims 
 by wliich our moral faculties may be cultivated, in rela- 
 tion to these duties, would more properly belong to a 
 treatise on ethics, rather than to a work on school edu- 
 cation. There are, however, three cardinal school virtues 
 which demand the special attention of every school- 
 master: these cardinal school virtues are (1) Truthful- 
 ness; (2) Honesty; and (3) Humility. 
 
 ON THE CULTIVATION OF TEUTHFULNESS. 
 
 Truthfulness is said, by Professor Moseley, to be the 
 great central pillar of the school-room. All cases of 
 falsehood and deceit should be promptly denounced, and 
 even the slightest evidence of prevarication, cunning, or 
 hypocrisy, should be unmasked and exposed to reproba- 
 tion. The concealment of truth is, in many cases, as 
 great a crime as a direct falsehood. Boys too readily 
 fall into a habit of adhering to the truth as regards the 
 letter, but violate it as regards the spirit and intention. 
 In such cases, the teacher should carefully explain to 
 his pupils the true character of a lie; — that they tell a lie 
 whenever they say anything, or do anything, with the 
 intention of deceiving others. Mr. A. entered his school 
 one day, and found what appeared to him to be a piece 
 of cotton rag pinned to the coat-tail of one of the boys, 
 but which was, in reality, a piece of flannel. " Who 
 pinned that bit of rag to this boy's coat-tail ? " said he 
 to his class; but no boy had moral courage enough to 
 answer him. He looked round his class, and observed the 
 evidences of guilt in the countenance of little Tommy 
 Teaser, who was always the ringleader in all sorts of spite- 
 ful pranks. " Now, Tommy," said Mr. A., " tell me the 
 truth ; did you pin that cotton rng to this boy's coat-tail?" 
 
THE CULTIVATION OF TRUTHFULNESS. 243 
 
 *' Please, sir," answered Tommy, "I did not pin any 
 cotton rag to his coat-tail." Mr. A. was not satisfied — 
 he felt confident that the boy had told a falsehood; but 
 being always very careful in makinsj any direct charge 
 of falsehood without a full evidence of the fact, he pa- 
 tiently and cautiously made further inquiries. " Please, 
 sir, at length said a little boy, "it is a bit of flannel, not 
 a bit of cotton rag." "Oh, that is it," said Mr. A., "and 
 Tommy Teaser tried to deceive me by apparently ad- 
 hering to the letter of the fact, while he lied in spirit and 
 intention. Now, my boys, he has not only practised a 
 piece of deception upon me, but he has also lied to him- 
 self by attempting to silence his own conscience. Do 
 always remember, my children, that you tell a lie when 
 you say or do anything with the intention to deceive 
 others. I propose, as a punishment for this great crime, 
 that Tommy Teaser shall not be allowed to enter the 
 play-ground for the next two days. Do you not con- 
 sider that this punishment is only fit and proper?" 
 " Yes, sir," was the response of the class. 
 
 We should endeavor to keep, as far as possible, all 
 temptations to lying and deceit out of a child's way. 
 The fear of punishment, the love of gain and the love 
 of approbation are the great causes of lying in the 
 school-room. Whenever temptations to lying are una- 
 ^voidably incurred, the teacher should be more than usu- 
 ally careful and watchful. When a boy, for example, is 
 suspected of having committed a fault, it may not be 
 wise to ask him the direct question, — "Did you do this ?" 
 for in such case a great majority of timid boys would 
 most certainly tell a falsehood in order to shield them- 
 selves from punishment: lying is most frequently a 
 cowardly act. Again, in the conducting of school exam- 
 inations, great care and delicacy should be observed to 
 PREVENT the boys from practising any deceit: here the 
 love of approbation is the chief temptation to the prac- 
 tice of falsehood or deceit, as the case may be. The 
 teacher should frequently illustrate the evil consequences 
 of lying, by stories and anecdotes: the fable of the 
 " Shepherd Boy and the Wolf" is an excellent example. 
 
244 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 The teacher should in all things be an example to his 
 pupils in honesty and truthfulness. He should especially 
 guard against disingenuous concealnoent of his own ig- 
 norance, or that ridiculous pretension to universal knowl- 
 edge which too often leads him to mystify what he can- 
 not explain. The best apology for ignorance is the 
 acknowledgment of it; and the highest practical lesson 
 of truthfulness is the candid confession of error. Noth- 
 ing can be more beautiful than that reciprocal confidence 
 and trust which subsist between the honest teacher and 
 his truth-loving j^upils. But if one link in the chain of 
 confidence be broken, the whole is destroyed. '* When 
 once a child detects you in equivocation," observes Miss 
 Edge worth, "you lose his confidence; his incredulity 
 will then be as extravagant as his former belief was 
 gratuitous. It is in vain to expect, by the most eloquent 
 manifestoes, or by the most secret leagues offensive and 
 defensive, to conceal your real views, sentiments and 
 actions from children. Their interest keeps their atten- 
 tion continually awake; not a word, not a look, in which 
 they are concerned, escapes them; they see, hear and 
 combine with sagacious rapidity: if falsehood be in the 
 wind, detection hunts her to discovery. Honesty is the 
 best policy, must be the maxim in education, as well as 
 in all the other affairs of life." 
 
 It is almost impossible to conquer the hateful habit of. 
 lying and prevarication after they have been confirmed 
 by long practice. So remarkable is the habit amongst a 
 large body of the laboring population in this country, 
 that they really feel a pleasure in deceiving people, and 
 regard a well-told falsehood as. the very highest evi- 
 dence of superior intellect. 
 
 The following graphic description of the character of 
 the Irish laborer may be regarded as the type of cun- 
 ning and deceit which exists amongst the uneducated 
 classes of all countries: — 
 
 *' All who are governed by any species of fear are dis- 
 posed to equivocation. Amongst the lower class of Irish 
 laborers and under-tenants, a class of people who are 
 much oppressed, you can scarcely meet with any man 
 
THE CULTIVATION OF TRUTHFULNESS. 245 
 
 who will give you a direct answer to the most indifferent 
 question; their whole ingenuity, and they have a great 
 deal of ingenuity, is upon the qui vtve with you the 
 instant you begin to speak: they either pretend not to 
 hear, that they may gain time to think, whilst you re- 
 peat your question, or they reply to you with a fresh 
 question to draw out your remote meaning; for they, 
 judging by their own habits, always think you have a 
 remote meaning, and they never can believe that your 
 words have no intention to ensnare; simplicity puzzles 
 them much more than wit. For instance, if you were to 
 ask the most direct and harmless question, as, *Did it 
 rain yesterday ?' The first answer would probably be, 
 * Is it yesterday you mean ? ' ' Yes, yesterday! ' * No, 
 please your honor, I wasn't at the bog at all yesterday, 
 — wasn't I after setting my potatoes ? ' ' My good 
 friend, I don't know what you mean about the bog; I 
 only asked you whether it rained yesterday?' * Please 
 your honor, I couldn't get a car and horse any way, 
 to draw home my little straw, or I'd have the house 
 thatched long ago.' ' Cannot you give me a plain answer 
 to this plain question — Did it rain yesterday?' 'Oh 
 sure, I wouldn't go tell your honor a lie about the mat- 
 ter. Sorrah much it rained yesterday after twelve 
 o'clock, barring a few showers.' 
 
 " Oppression and terror necessarily produce meanness 
 and deceit in all climates, and in all ages; and wherever 
 fear is the governing motive of education, we must 
 expect to find in children a propensity to dissimulation, 
 if not confirmed habits of falsehood. Look at the true- 
 born Briton under the government of a tyrannical peda- 
 gogue, and listen to the language of inhorn truth; in 
 the whining tone, in the pitiful evasions, in the stubborn 
 falsehoods which you hear from the school-boy, can you 
 discover any of the innate dignity of soul which is the 
 boasted national characteristic? Look again; look at 
 the same boy, in the company of those who inspire no 
 terror; in the company of his school-fellows, of his 
 friends, of his parents; would you know him to be the 
 same being? His countenance is open, his attitude 
 
246 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 erect, his voice firm, liis language free and fluent, his 
 thoughts are upon his lips,he speaks truth without effort, 
 without fear. Where individuals are oppressed,or where 
 they believe that they are oppressed,they combine against 
 their oppressors, and oppose cunning and falsehood to 
 power and force; they think themselves released from 
 the compact of truth with their masters, and bind them- 
 selves in a strict league with each other; thus school-boys 
 hold no faith with their schoolmasters, though they 
 would think it shameful to be dishonorable amongst one 
 another." 
 
 ox THE CULTIVATION OF HONEST V. 
 
 Picking and stealing is peculiarly the besetting sin of 
 the children of the poor. When a boy has once acquired 
 this odious habit, it is almost impossible to cure him of 
 it. The slightest evidences of dishonesty should be 
 promptly checked. The teacher should frequently show, 
 by examples, how petty acts of pilfering lead to the 
 gallows. He should promptly and carefully check all 
 the incipient forms of dishonesty, such as the improper 
 use of the property of others; the disposition to defraud 
 others of their just claim; and so on. While the 
 teacher should never allow his boys to think that he 
 suspects them capable of dishonesty, at the same time 
 he should not throw temptation unnecessarily in their 
 way. The adage, " suspect a man, and you make him a 
 rogue — trust him, and you make him honest," should be 
 acted upon with caution/' The temptations to dishonesty 
 in the school-room chiefly originate in an undue love of 
 property; in the love of luxuries; in the w^ant of the 
 necessaries of existence; and in malevolence of dis- 
 position. In trying to keep children honest,the teacher 
 should look well to the motives which may be operating 
 to lead them into the commission of crime, and they 
 should be dealt with accordingly. 
 
 HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE. 
 
 The virtues of humility and docility form the brightest 
 and most lovely ornaments in the infant character. 
 
HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE. 247 
 
 They not only tend to promote the order and discipline 
 of a school, but they, at the same time, induce that happy 
 condition of mind which is most favorable for the 
 acquisition of knowledge. On the contrary, super- 
 ciliousness and conceit are not only the most prolific 
 sources of disorder and disorganization in a school, but 
 they, at the same time, not unfrequently entail upon their 
 possessors the irremediable doom of stationary ignorance. 
 Conceit is the most enfeebling of all our passions, and 
 little hope can be entertained of that boy's future career 
 in life, who indulges himself with the fallacious idea 
 that he has arrived at the ne plus ultra of knowledge. 
 
 I. In order to foster a spirit of humilitij, the teacher 
 should show his pupils some of the mighty results which 
 men of science have achieved; he should show what 
 iusci'utable mysteries there are still in nature, which have 
 hitherto baffled the comprehension of the greatest in- 
 tellects; he should show them that the greatest philoso- 
 phers have always been the most remarkable for humil- 
 ity of character — Newton, for example, who compared 
 himself to a little child picking up pebbles upon the sea- 
 shore; he should tell them of the humility of Jesus, 
 who left his seat on the throne of the universe to take 
 upon himself our nature, and closed a life of sorrow by 
 a death of agony, that he might restore a guilty world 
 to the favor of its offended God. 
 
 II. If the habit of obedience he properly cultivated, the child 
 will promptly and cheerfully perform all the exercises and dis- 
 charge all duties assigned to him hy his teacher. A due atten- 
 tion to home exercises, a punctual attendance at school, 
 and a prompt attention to all the class arrangements, 
 should be constantly and strictly enforced by the 
 teacher. Children should never be allowed to follow 
 their own whims in preference to the commands of their 
 master, nor should they be permitted to depart from the 
 general rules of the school under any specious pretence, 
 without the direct sanction of their master. The spoilt 
 child is always seeking to escape from control; and the 
 teacher should be very careful how he allows himself to 
 
248 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOIS". 
 
 be swayed by the caprices of the little tyrant. The lit- 
 tle world of the school-room may be regarded as a type 
 of the great world, where there must be a supreme 
 ruler and a proper subordination of one authority to 
 another, and where the duty of all is obedience to the 
 claims of the ruler. Taking this aspect of the matter, 
 a properly organized school, therefore, may tend to fos- 
 ter that spirit of obedience and contentment which is so 
 intimately connected with national peace, order, and 
 prosperity. If children have not been vitiated by bad 
 examples or by improper training, they will have an in- 
 stinctive faith in the judgment and good intentions of 
 their teacher; and, as a necessary consequence, they 
 will eagerly receive his instructions, and implicitly obey 
 his commands. But if the teacher once deceives them 
 by practising upon their credulity, or if he once treats 
 them with harshness or injustice, then his power over 
 them is lost forever. Thus, the disobedience of children 
 is often the result of the improper management of the 
 teacher. No good teacher will require his pupils to per- 
 form any important duty without showing them the 
 reasonableness of that duty; at the same time, it must 
 be observed that the highest evidence of docility of 
 character is manifested where the pupils promptly and 
 implicitly obey the commands of their master. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION IN PvELA- 
 TION TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND 
 MORAL FACULTIES. 
 
 Religion constitutes the great fundamental basis 
 upon which all the intellectual and moral faculties 
 should be cultivated. 
 
 Writing and Drawing cultivate the perceptive and 
 imitative faculties, and, if properly taught, tend espe- 
 cially to cultivate the taste and foster a love of the 
 beautiful. 
 
 Mental Arithmetic cultivates the memory and the 
 powers of conception and reasoning. It also especially 
 fosters the habit of promptitude, presence of mind, and 
 mental activity. 
 
SUBJECTS OF INSTRUCTION. 249 
 
 Arithmetic cultivates the reasoning powers, and in- 
 duces habits of exactness and order. 
 
 Grammar specially cultivates the memory and the 
 conceptive faculties. 
 
 Mathematics and Natural Philosophy cultivate the 
 reasoning powers chiefly in relation to the acquisition 
 of necessary truths; they also cultivate habits of 
 abstraction. 
 
 The Physical Sciences exercise the observing and 
 perceptive faculties, cultivate all the reasoning powers 
 in the highest degree, and lead us to appreciate the 
 force of moral evidence. If properly taught, they also 
 foster the sentiment of devotion. 
 
 Poetry and Works of Fiction specially cultivate the 
 imagination, the taste, and the moral feelings. 
 
 Biography, History, and Narratives specially 
 awaken the faculty of attention, and cultivate the mem- 
 ory. They also exercise the moral affections, and lead 
 to the formation of habits of reflection and self-inquiry. 
 
 Music cultivates the taste, and refines and elevates the 
 moral feelings. 
 
 Intellectual and Moral Philosophy cultivate all 
 the higher faculties of our nature, and induce habits of 
 abstraction and self-examination. 
 
260 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Part III. 
 
 ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF DIFFERENT 
 METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 
 
 The systems of instruction, at present in use, are — the 
 individual system; the collective system ; the monitorial, 
 or pupil-teacher system; and the system of home instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 These systems may be carried out on any of the plans 
 or methods of giving instruction which we have de- 
 scribed. The most important of these methods are as 
 follows; the synthetic and analytic methods, which may 
 be either demonstrative or dogmatic; the interrogative, 
 or catechetical method; the simultaneous method, which 
 maybe employed in the ordinary form of questioning, or 
 in connection with the elliptical method; the lecturing 
 method. 
 
 SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTION. 
 
 I. The Individual and Collective Method. 
 
 The individual system may be used with advantage in 
 small schools, especially if it be occasionally associated, 
 with collective teaching, and in constant co-operation 
 with the system of home instruction. By the individual 
 system of teaching, the master is more fully able to adapt 
 his instruction to the peculiar capabilities of his pupils; 
 at the same time, it is not so much calculated to engage 
 their sympathies, or to arouse the principle of emulation, 
 as collective teaching. Individual teaching may be 
 conducted after any of the leading methods or forms of 
 communicating know^ledge; that is to say, it may be 
 either synthetic or analytic, demonstrative or dogmatic, 
 lecturing or catechetical, <fec. If the upper classes of a 
 school are well supplied with good text-books,individual 
 instruction becomes very effective, when it is associated 
 
SYSTEMS OF INSTEUCTION. 251 
 
 with self-instruction. In this case, the master has merely 
 to give an occasional glance at the work of each pupil, 
 atid to give him, time after time, such hints as may be 
 required to stimulate him in proceeding with his work. 
 Individual instruction, as it is practised in most of our 
 Scottish schools, is merely supplemental to the system of 
 home education. Here the parents are the real instruc- 
 tors, and the master merely directs, controls or tests the 
 progress of his pupils, Avho are to get up their lessons, 
 tasks, &c., under the parental authority. 
 
 But, whatever may be the advantages of individual 
 instruction, it is utterly impracticable, as a general sys- 
 tem, in the common schools of this country. An easy 
 process of arithmetic will show that a master of a school 
 containing one hundred and twenty children could not 
 give more than five minutes' individual attention to each 
 boy in the course of a day! So that, after all, we have 
 not to consider the abstract question, — whether the indi- 
 vidual or the collective system is the best; but which of 
 the two systems, under existing circumstances, is best 
 calculated to give the greatest amount or insteuc- 
 
 TION TO THE greatest NUMBER IN A LIMITED TIME. A 
 
 modern teacher shows his tact and skill by multiplying 
 and subdividing his power, and by acting on numbers at 
 once. The great point to be considered, in the manage- 
 ment of a large school, is, not how you may rapidly ad- 
 vance a few scholars, but how you should classify, 
 arrange and instruct a large number of boys, differing in 
 age, knowledge, and capacity, so as to give the greatest 
 amount of instruction to them, as a whole. A master 
 who is skilful in the management of tiumhers and who 
 has practised the collective system, may teach a hundred 
 boys at one time, on certain subjects, adapted for gallery 
 lessons, as efficiently as he could teach one boy: and with 
 a proper arrangement of classes, and a large blackboard, 
 he could give more efficient instruction to a class of 
 twenty or thirty boys, on almost any subject of educa- 
 tion, than he could give in the same time to a single pu- 
 pil. A good teacher always seeks to employ his energies 
 to the greatest advantage: he rarely, if ever, wastes his 
 
252 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Strength upon one or two boys; what he does for the 
 benefit of one boy, he does in such a way as to conduce 
 to the benefit of his whole class. While he teaches l^is 
 own class, he, at the same time, directs the movements of 
 half a dozen contiguous classes, placed under the man- 
 agement of his monitors or pupil-teachers. The motive 
 power of tbe master is everywhere performing available 
 work: amid the wear and tear of his various avocations, 
 he economizes the expenditure of his labor, by constantly 
 keeping in view the principle of acting with the greatest 
 efficiency on the greatest possible number. Like the 
 machine which drives a hundred spindles, weaves cloth, 
 blows furnaces, &c., he never departs from the great end 
 of his labor, or for one moment relaxes his directing 
 and all-controlling power. But all this requires great 
 skill, energy, decision and conscientious perseverance. 
 The modern schoolmaster holds no sinecure's place. 
 
 The collective system of teaching should never be em- 
 ployed in schools where the pupils are not properly 
 classified. The pupils to wiiom a collective lesson is 
 given, should be nearly about the same stage of mental 
 culture. 
 
 II. Home Education. 
 
 We have already shown that the master of a family is 
 God's vicegerent in relation to the education of all the 
 members of his household; and that every good teacher 
 will act in co-operation with a proper system of home in- 
 struction. The school subjects most eligible for home 
 study are — religious knowledge, writing, drawing, arith- 
 metic, grammar, geography, and reading lessons. Those 
 subjects are best adapted for home exercises which admit 
 of being exactly defined, and of being readily tested: 
 boys work the most industriously when they can see the 
 results of their labor. Hence it is that drawing and 
 arithmetic are the best of all subjects for home study. 
 Drawing cards should be given to the pupils to be copied 
 at home; and exercises on arithmetic, grammar, geog- 
 raphy, &G.y should be given them out of text-books, 
 which they should be allowed to take home with them. 
 
SYSTEMS OF INSTRUCTIOX. 253 
 
 The master sbould always have a certain time set apart 
 for reviewing and correcting these home exercises: with 
 a proper system of management, a few minutes every 
 morning would suffice; and occasional hints should be, 
 time after time, given to the parents, relative to their 
 duties in carrying out the system of home instruction. 
 Such a course would not be without its influence on the 
 character of the parents themselves. 
 
 We suggest the following, as a routine of home les- 
 sons, for the upper classes in an elementary school : 
 
 Monday Evening . . . Drawing and Practical Ge- 
 ometry. 
 
 Tuesday " ... Definitions of Grammar, 
 
 Grammatical Exercises, 
 and Map-Drawing. 
 
 Wednesday " ... Arithmetic, or Algebra, and 
 
 Tables. 
 
 Thursday " ... Texts of Scripture and 
 
 Writing. 
 
 Friday " ... Arithmetic, Drawing, and 
 
 Reading Lessons. 
 
 III. The Pupil-teacher System. 
 
 We regard the puj^il-teacher system as one of the 
 greatest improvements which have taken place in modern 
 education. No school, whatever may be its character, 
 should be without 23upil-teachers. The advantages of the 
 system are tw^o-f old: (1) It constitutes the best nursery 
 for schoolmasters. (2) It forms the great element of 
 the order and organization of a large school, and gives 
 power and efficiency to the whole system of instruction. 
 
 The pupil-teachers should be adequately paid, and the 
 master should always set apart a certain time for their 
 special instruction, not only in the ordinary subjects of 
 technical learning, but also on the subject of method as 
 applied to education. The master should register the 
 progress which they make in the different subjects of in- 
 struction, and he should especially note down the manner 
 
254 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 in which they teach their classes, in order that he may 
 be able to correct their faults, and to stimulate and im- 
 prove their teaching powers. The master should always 
 base his opinion of the teaching power of pupil-teachers 
 upon the results of their teaching, and not upon any 
 preconceived theory. The master should keep a regis- 
 ter for recording these results. This registration of 
 the results of different methods of teaching will not only 
 advance his own knowledge of method, but will also 
 form the proper basis of his criticisms upon the lessons 
 given by his pupil-teachers. 
 
 The j)upi]-teachers should prepare all their lessons, 
 and the master should inspect their notes, before the 
 lessons are given to the children. 
 
 ly. The Mixed System. 
 
 Our best schools are conducted on a mixed system of 
 instruction, comprehending all the leading features of 
 the particular systems just described. The peculiar 
 combination of the systems must always be determined 
 by the nature of the school and the peculiar circum- 
 stances connected with it. In very large primary schools 
 where the pupils can never reach a high standard of 
 technical attainment, the system of instruction must 
 necessarily consist almost exclusively of a combination 
 of the collective and pupil-teacher systems; but in a 
 small school, or where the school is provided with a 
 good staff of pupil-teachers or assistant masters, the in- 
 dividual and home systems of instruction should have a 
 greater degree of prominence given to them. The indi- 
 vidual and home systems should, if possible, be frequent- 
 ly emj)loyed in the instruction of the advanced classes. 
 
 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 
 I. Synthetic and AnxIlytic Methods. 
 
 As a general rule, the synthetic method is best adapted 
 for elementary instruction. In order to employ this 
 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 255 
 
 method with efficiency, the teacher should first analyze 
 the subject which he is about to teach, that is to say, he 
 should separate it, or subdivide it into its elements or 
 parts, and then he should put these elements or parts 
 together, in such a manner as to conduct the minds of 
 his pupils, step by step, to the general principles which 
 he wishes to inculcate or establish. After the teacher 
 has given a synthetic development of a subject, he may 
 frequently show, with advantage, how the same subject 
 may be treated analytically. Demonstrative geometry 
 affords us some of the best ilhistrations of these two 
 methods of teaching. 
 
 The analytic method of teaching is best used in connec- 
 tion with text-books and reading-books. After the pupils 
 have read a certain portion of a book, the teacher may 
 proceed to analyze the subject-matter, by the usual 
 method of interrogation. At the same time we cannot 
 help observing that a really good master will never allow 
 himself to be fettered with text-books, however good 
 they may be in themselves. A crutch is only useful to 
 the lame and halting; so, in like manner, a text-book is 
 only useful to him who is too feeble to depend upon his 
 own resources. 
 
 These methods may be frequently used, with advan- 
 tage, in combination with each other. The most general 
 rules of education have their exceptions, and, therefore, 
 no teaclier should blindly adhere to any general rule. 
 
 EXAMPLES OF THE SYNTHETIC AND ANALYTIC METHODS 
 OF TEACHING. 
 
 Let US suppose, for example, that the teacher wishes 
 to explain to his pupils the law of descending bodies; 
 then he would proceed in the following manner: — (1) 
 By the synthetic method. If a stone be let fall from the 
 top of a high tower, you will find that it will move more 
 and more rapidly as it falls. During the first second of 
 its descent it will fall through the space of sixteen feet. 
 At the end of the second second of its descent it will 
 have fallen tlirough four times sixteen feet; here the 
 
256 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 time is two seconds, and the number of feet is found by 
 squaring the 2, and multiplying by 16; that is, the space, 
 in feet, is equal to 2^ x 16. At the end of the third 
 second of its descent it will have fallen through nine 
 times sixteen feet; here the time is three seconds, and 
 the number of feet is found by squaring the 3 and multi- 
 plying by 16, that is, the space in feet is equal to 3- x 16. 
 And so on to any number of seconds. You see, then, 
 that the number of feet passed over by a falling body in 
 any given number of seconds is found by squaring the 
 number of seconds and multiplying that result by 16; 
 thus,the number of feet passed over by a falling body in 
 three seconds is equal to nine times sixteen feet, or one 
 hundred and forty-four feet. (2) By the analytic method. 
 The space passed over by a falling body increases with 
 the square of the time; that is to say, the space in feet is 
 equal to the square of the number of seconds of the body's 
 fall multiplied by 16. Thus, in two seconds the num'ber 
 of feet through which the body will fall is equal to 2 
 squared multiplied by 16, or 64 feet; and so on to any 
 other number of seconds. 
 
 Generally speaking, the analytic form is more concii^e 
 than the synthetic. 
 
 II. Interrogative ok Catechetical Method. 
 
 The interrogative or catechetical method of teaching 
 may be used for two distinct purposes: (1) For the pur- 
 pose of examination, or for simply testing the progress of 
 the pupils. (2) For the purpose of conveying instruction : 
 when interrogation is employed in this form, we have 
 called it the method of suggestive interrogation. This 
 method may be used either for individual teaching or for 
 collective teaching: the observations which we have to 
 give on this method are especialh' applied to the latter. 
 
 The rules to be observed in using the method of inter- 
 rogation in these two forms, are, in some respects, very 
 different. But the following rules are common to both 
 forms : 
 
TWO FORMS OF I2sTEIlK0GAII0X. 257 
 
 PRIKCirLES AXD RuLES COMMON TO THE TWO FORMS 
 
 OF Interrogation. 
 
 1. Tlie answers may be simultaneous or individual, 
 according to circumstances; but tbe teacber sbould al- 
 ways tell his pupils when be requires tbem to answer 
 simultaneously, or wben individually. Wben individual 
 answers are required, all tbe pupils who are prepared to 
 answer tbe question sbould bold up their bands; and 
 then tbe master sbould name tbe boy wbombe wishes to 
 give the answer; if tbe boy's answer be incorrect, tben 
 tbe master must call upon another boy; and so on. 
 
 2. Tbe language used by tbe teacber sbould be as 
 simple and concise as possible. Every question put by 
 tbe teacber sbould admit of a definite answer. The 
 questions should be adapted to tbe capabilities of tbe 
 pupils, both as to tbe matter and language. If a ques- 
 tion is not at once understood by tbe pupils, tben tbe 
 master must change the form of language, or be must 
 subdivide the question until be is understood. Long- 
 answers sbould never be exj^ected from young children; 
 on the other band, the more advanced boys sbould be 
 accustomed to express their ideas in good language. 
 Tbe teacber should not be satisfied with indefinite or 
 incomplete answers. 
 
 3. Never put questions which simply require a Yes, or 
 J^'o, for an answer. 
 
 4. The questions should be given in sucb an order as 
 to form a systematic and progressive development of 
 tbe subject. Rambling questions sbould never be put 
 imtil the whole subject has been gone over. 
 
 5. Random answering should always be checked; at 
 tbe same time, a due amount of quickness in answering 
 should be cultivated. 
 
 6. Children sbould be accustomed to answer questions 
 in tbeir own language. 
 
 7. Tbe subject-matter of a question sbould be some- 
 times varied in form, so as to require a different form of 
 lauguage in tbe answer. As tbe same facts may be viewed 
 in different aspects and relations, tbe teacber sbould vary 
 
258 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 the form of his questions so as to embrace these different 
 aspects or relations; and he should always put those 
 questions first which take in the most striking or im- 
 portant of these facts or relations. 
 
 8. The pupils should be sometimes called upon to 
 question each other. 
 
 9. The teacher should express his approbation when a 
 good answer has been given to a question of more than 
 ordinary difficulty. 
 
 10. The eye of the teacher should be constantly upon 
 all the pupils in his class, and whenever he detects the 
 slightest symptoms of inattention on the part of any of 
 them, he should at once put a question to the individual 
 on the matter that had just been explained. 
 
 11. Questions should be put at the three following 
 stages of instruction: — (1) at the commencement of the lesson, 
 in order to determine the knowledge of the class on the 
 subject upon which the lesson is to be given, to excite 
 the curiosity of the pupils, and to enable the teacher to 
 adapt his instruction to their knowledge and capabilities; 
 (2) during the lesson, in order to secure the attention of 
 the pupils, and to make them more thoroughly acquainted 
 with the subject of the lesson; (3) after the lesson, in order 
 to give a general view of the whole subject, and to 
 make the pupils fully master of it. 
 
 Special Rules for Examination Questions. 
 
 1. The questions should be restricted to the subject of 
 examination. The questions should form a strict anal- 
 ysis of the subject-matter. 
 
 2. The question should not contain any hint or clue to 
 the answer. 
 
 3. Simultaneous answers should never be taken as 
 decided tests of progress. 
 
 4. Not the slightest assistance should be given to the 
 pupil in framing his answer. 
 
 5. In order to give the pupils a requisite amount of 
 confidence, the questions should be short and easy at first, 
 and then, as the examination advances, they should be 
 
SUGGESTIVE IXTEEROGATIOX. 259 
 
 gradually increased in difficulty. Herein lies the secret 
 tact of a first-rate examiner. 
 
 Special Principles and Rules relative to Sug- 
 gestive Intekkogation. 
 
 1. The questions and observations of the master, and 
 the answers given by the pupils, should together form a 
 sort of conversational lecture. In order to sustain the 
 continuity of the lecture, the gradations or steps should 
 be easy and natural. The teacher should endeavor to 
 make the pupils take an equal share of the lecture. 
 Every question, taken in connection with the explanatory 
 remarks which may accompany it, should lead to, or sug- 
 gest, the answer. The teacher should tell his pupils so 
 much of a thing, and leave them to find out the remain- 
 der. The question and its answer should, be logically 
 connected with each other: (1) the question may contain 
 the premises — the answer, the conclusion; (2) the 
 question may contain the facts — the answer, the general- 
 ization or deduction; (3) the question may contain the 
 ideas — the answer, those ideas differently arranged or 
 exj^ressed in another form of language. 
 
 2. The teacher should frequently preface his questions 
 with an exposition of facts and principles; but the ques- 
 tions themselves should always be so framed as to re- 
 produce the facts and principles in the pupil's own 
 language. 
 
 3. The method of suggestive interrogation being es- 
 sentially synthetic, the system of questions should pro- 
 ceed according to a systematic and progressive order of 
 development; that is to say, facts should precede general 
 principles, expositions should go before abstract rules, 
 the concrete should lead to the knowledge of the ab- 
 stract, the simple to the complex, the familiar to the un- 
 known, and so on. 
 
 4. The teacher should never pass over a question until 
 it has been fully answered. If one boy does not answer 
 it, then it should be put to another boy, and so on; and 
 if the pupils fail in giving a satisfactory answer, then the 
 
260 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 teacher should go over all the previous steps agaiu,adding 
 some fresh explanations, so as to lead them to the proper 
 answer. The teacher should never directly tell them the 
 answer; he should rather show them how to find it out. 
 If the answer given by the pupils is incomplete or in any 
 way defective, and yet as good as the teacher might rea- 
 sonably expect from them, then he should supply them 
 with the complete answer, taking care not to alter the 
 language of the puj^ils, excepting wher^ it is absolutely 
 necessary. 
 
 5. The questions requiring simultaneous answers 
 should be few and exceedingly simple. 
 
 6. The teacher should put the most difficult questions 
 to the more advanced boys in the class; and thus make 
 them become instructors of those who have made less 
 progress. 
 
 Examples of Good and Bad Examination Questions. 
 
 Suppose the pupils of the class to have read the last 
 seven verses of the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, and that the master proceeds to give the fol- 
 lowing examination questions: 
 
 Questions. 
 
 1. Where was Peter when the first damsel spoke to 
 him ? 
 
 2. What did she say to him ? 
 
 3. What was his answer to her ? 
 
 4. Did he deny Jesus before all the people ? 
 
 5. Where was Peter when the second damsel spoke to 
 him? 
 
 6. Did he deny Jesus again ? 
 
 7. How did he deny Jesus tlie second time ? 
 
 8. Who next charged Peter ? 
 
 9. What reason did they give him for believing that 
 he was one of the followers of Christ ? 
 
 10. How did Peter answer them ? 
 
 11. What took place immediately after Peter had 
 denied his Lord for the third time ? 
 
 12. Of what did the crowins: of the cock remind Peter ? 
 
EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 261 
 
 13. Why did Peter deny our Lord ? 
 
 14. What sin did Peter commit, and what aggravated 
 this sin ? 
 
 15. What did Peter do when he remembered the 
 words of J esus ? 
 
 16. What caused him to weep bitterly ? 
 
 17. Good people are very sorrowful when they find 
 that they have been lead into sin. What made Peter 
 so sorrowful ? 
 
 RemarJcs on the Questions. 
 
 Nos. 4 and 6 are bad questions, for they simply require 
 yes or no for the answer. No. 10 is not a good question, 
 for it is not exact enough, and the proper answer to it is 
 too long. Nos. 13 and 16 would require some explana- 
 tions to be given by the teacher. No. 14 should be given 
 in two distinct questions. No 17 is rather too suggestive 
 for an examination question. 
 
 No. 4. should be put in the following form: — Before 
 whom did Peter this time deny Jesus ? And No. 6 
 would be better put as follows: — What did Peter say to 
 the maid? No. 13 might be preceded by a question 
 something like the following: — What would they have 
 done to Peter if they had known that he was a follower 
 of Jesus ? And No. 16 might be preceded by the ques- 
 tion: — What reminded Peter of the falsehood he had 
 told ? How should people feel when they find that they 
 have committed a great sin ? or, What do people do 
 when they feel very sorrowful ? What made Peter so 
 very sorrowful ? 
 
 Questions on any given portion of the Scriptures may 
 be put in a great variety. of forms, more or less eligible: 
 thus the text upon which Question 15 is given may be 
 broken into the following forms of questions: — When 
 did Peter go out ? What did he do after he went out? 
 What were the words of Jesus which Peter remembered? 
 How many times did Peter deny his Lord before the 
 cock crew ? And so on. 
 
262 philosopht of education. 
 
 Examples of Suggestive Interrogations. 
 
 No. 1. — On Peter^s Denial of our Lord. 
 
 Supi30sing the same portion of Scripture to liave been 
 read, then the following suggestive questions may be 
 given: — 
 
 1. While Peter sat without in the palace of the high 
 priest, a damsel came unto him. (l) Who came unto 
 Peter ? (2) Where was Peter when the damsel came to 
 him? And so on. 
 
 2. This damsel had no good intentions towards Peter. 
 She wanted him to he condemned, and put to death with 
 Jesus. What did she say to Peter ? 
 
 3. Peter had not the boldness to tell the truth. He 
 was afraid to die for his Lord. What answer did he 
 give to the damsel ? 
 
 4. Wishing, perhaps, to escape further notice, he went 
 out into the porch, but here he met with another tormen- 
 tor, for another maid saw him, and said to the people 
 that thronged the porch of the temple. This fellow was 
 also with Jesus of Nazareth. (1) To whom did she say 
 this? (2) Where was Peter when this second charge 
 was made ? (3) What low name did she call Peter? 
 
 5. Peter got more alarmed. He lost all command of 
 himself, and added sin unto sin, — he not only again 
 denied his Lord, but denied him with an oath.^ and spoke 
 slightingly of him. (1) In what manner did Peter this 
 time deny Jesus ? (2) What words did he use in refer- 
 ring to.Jesus ? (3) What sin did Peter here commit, 
 besides falsehood ? 
 
 And so on throughout the remaining verses. 
 
 No. 2. — On the Diurnal Motion of the Earth, 
 
 Suppose the pupils to have read some single book on 
 this subject (see Tate's Astronomy, page 13); then the 
 teacher might question them in the following man- 
 ner: — 
 
 Teacher. If I hold an orana^e before a candle at 
 
EXAMPLES OF SUGGESTIVE INTERROGATION. 263 
 
 night (this should actually be done), how much of the 
 surface of the orange will be enlightened ? 
 
 Teacher. How much of the surface will be in the 
 shade ? 
 
 T. Now, if I turn the orange around, the parts in the 
 shade will be brought within the light. After I have 
 turned the orange completely around, how much of its 
 surface will have been brought within the light of the 
 candle? 
 
 T. How much of the earth's surface does the sun 
 enlighten at one time ? 
 
 T. By what means is every part of the earth's sur- 
 face brought within the light and heat of the sun ? 
 
 P. The earth is made to turn around upon its axis 
 in the course of every day. 
 
 T. (Turning a globe around.) Now where is the axis 
 in this revolving globe ? Is there a real axis, or only an 
 imaginary one? 
 
 P. The axis is only imaginary, and it is tlie line 
 about which the globe appears to turn. 
 
 T. What have you now to say respecting the axis of 
 the earth ? 
 
 P. That it is the line about which the eaith appears 
 to turn. 
 
 T. What are the j^oles upon the earth ? 
 
 P. The two points where this imaginary axis meets 
 the earth's surface. 
 
 T. On what point is my finger now placed ? 
 
 P. On the North Pole. 
 
 T. (Tracing the equator with bis pointer.) What is 
 this line called, and how is it placed with respect to the 
 poles ? 
 
 P. It is called the equator and lies at the same dis- 
 tance from either of the poles. 
 
 T. How does the equator divide the globe ? 
 
 P". Into two equal parts. One is called the northern 
 hemisphere, and the other the southern hemisphere. 
 
 T. Upon what hemisphere is my hand now placed ? 
 
 P. The northern hemisphere. 
 
264 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 T, Is there any other way in which the changes of 
 day and night might be produced? 
 
 P. Yes; the sun might turn around the earth in the 
 coarse of a day. 
 
 T. If a poor woman wanted to roast a joint of mutton 
 before the fire, what would she do in order to have 
 every part equally roasted ? 
 
 jP. She would tie a piece of string to the mutton, and 
 make it spin around before the fire. 
 
 T. Is there any other way in which this might be 
 done ? Now think. 
 
 P. The fire might be made to turn around the meat. 
 
 T. But which of these methods is the better? 
 
 P. The first method, certainly; because it must be 
 far less trouble to make the meat turn around before the 
 fire, than to make a machine for turning the fire around 
 the meat. 
 
 T. What would you say if a man proposed to do this? 
 
 F. That, although he might show some ingenuity, yet 
 he would be a very foolish person. 
 
 T, Now it is equally ridiculous to suppose that the 
 sun turns around the earth. It is too monstrous for us 
 to conceive it possible, that Almighty God, who is the 
 fountain of all wisdom and goodness, could effect any of 
 His purposes by the agency of means which it would 
 appear unsuitable, even on the part of his creatures, to 
 employ. 
 
 III. The Simultaneous Method. 
 
 In this method, all the pupils in the class are allowed 
 to speak at once. Here, in order to secure a uniformity 
 in the responses, the questions put to the class should be 
 very short and simple. One great object to be served 
 by this form of teaching is to give vitality and a tone of 
 sympathy to the class. It also economizes the time of 
 the master, by enabling him to direct his energies to 
 large numbers at once. Its great defect is that it 
 creates noise and confusion in the school, and thereby 
 interferes with the instruction that may be going on in 
 
THE SIMULTANEOUS METHOD. 265 
 
 the other classes. It is best practised, as a means of 
 iastruction, in connection with the elliptical method of 
 teaching, and when gallery lessons are given to four or 
 more classes combined. 
 
 The teacher must guard against the following evils 
 connected with the practice of this method: — 
 
 1. Some eager, vain boys will answer before the 
 others. 
 
 2. Some boys will defer their answer until they catch 
 the answer of the leading boys in the class. 
 
 3. Some boys will remain silent. 
 
 4. There will sometimes be a confusion in the answers, 
 especially when the answers are too long. 
 
 By a little tact on the part of the teacher, all these 
 evils may be guarded against. 
 
 This method may be advantageously used in the 
 examination of large classes, when it is requisite that the 
 examiner shall economize his time. We shall after- 
 wards have occasion to notice this form of its applica- 
 tion. 
 
 The plan of answering questions simultaneously is 
 also an excellent way of fixing simple and important 
 facts in the memory. The name of a great man, for 
 example, is recited aloud by all the boys of a class, they 
 then spell the name aloud, and lastly the master writes 
 it upon the blackboard. Thus all their senses are brought 
 to bear on the thing to be remembered, — how can they 
 ever forget it ? 
 
 There are few subjects which may not be taught with 
 tolerable efficiency, in the largest schools, by a well- 
 organized method of simultaneous answering. 
 
 The best course for a teacher to follow is to vary his 
 methods of instruction. After teaching for a sufficient 
 length of time by the method of suggestive interroga- 
 tion, he should indulge his pupils with a few simultane- 
 ous answers; and then he may close his lesson with cat- 
 echising two or three boys singly before the whole class, 
 so that all the boys, if they are disposed to listen, may 
 derive some benefit from the individual instruction. 
 
266 thilosophy of education. 
 
 Example of Simultaneous Teaching after the 
 Catechetical Method. 
 
 Subject of the lesson — Peter's denial of our Lord, 
 Matthew, chap, xxvi., verse 69. 
 
 Teacher. Who came to Peter as he sat without in the 
 palace ? Pupils. A damsel. T. With whom did she say 
 Peter was ? P. With Jesus. T. Jesus is said to be of 
 a certain place — what place did the damsel name? 
 P. Galilee. T. Where is Galilee ? P. In Palestine. 
 T. Point your fingers to it on the map. And so on. 
 
 The Elliptical Poem of Teaching. 
 
 The advantages of the elliptical form of teaching are 
 as' follows: — 
 
 1. The ellipsis does not break upon the continuity of 
 the lesson or narrative. 
 
 2. It is generally more concise than the usual forms of 
 question and answer. 
 
 3. It gives a variety of form to the lesson, and to a 
 certain extent relieves that censorious-like character of 
 catechetical lessons. 
 
 4. It engages the sympathies of the cliildren, and more 
 completely gives to the lesson the character of a common 
 lecture, in which the pupils take a part. 
 
 The following principles and rules should be observed 
 in practising this method of instruction: — 
 
 1. The word or words to be supplied by the pupils 
 should be short and easy. At the same time, the word 
 to be supplied should awaken some intelligence on the 
 part of the pupils. 
 
 2. Ellipses should be associated with direct questions. 
 
 3. The word or words to be supplied should not be 
 doubtful or ambiguous. Take the following examples: — 
 
 (1). In comparing 6 and 9, some teachers would say, 
 " 9 is greater than — ." Here the word to be supplied 
 might be any number less than nine; and besides, 
 the boys would most likely say six without ever 
 thinking about the matter. In this case, it would be 
 
ELLIPTICAL FORM OF TEACHING. 267 
 
 better to ask the questioD, '* Whether is 6 or 9 the 
 greater?" 
 
 4. The ellipses should be single words or simple 
 phrases. 
 
 ■ 5. Arithmetic, and other subjects of this kind, should 
 be rarely taught by the elliptical method. 
 
 6. As a general rule, an ellipsis should be equivalent 
 to a good question. (See the rules given in relation to 
 the suggestive method of interrogation.) Take the 
 following examples : — 
 
 [The words intended to be supplied by the pupils, are 
 printed in Italics.] 
 
 (1) "The color of common ink is Hack.'''' Here this 
 is equivalent to the question — " What is the color of 
 common ink ? " 
 
 (2) " Ink is llachP Here the word to be supplied by 
 the pupil is doubtful, for it might be red^ or liquid^ or 
 any other property of the ink. 
 
 (3) " When the flame of a candle is applied to hydro- 
 gen gas, it will lurny Here this is equivalent to the 
 question — " What will take place when the flame of a 
 candle is applied to hydrogen gas?" "It will burn." 
 Now, in the place of lurn, some boys might say, ignite ; 
 but this variation in the form of the response would 
 be rather an advantage than otherwise, provided the 
 teacher embraces the opportunity of explaining to his 
 pupils how different words may be properly employed 
 to express the same idea or thing. 
 
 Examples of the Elliptical Method of Teaching. 
 
 Subject of the lesson — Peter's denial of our Lord. 
 Matthew, chap, xxvi., verse 69. "Now, Peter sat with- 
 out in the palace : and a damsel came unto him^ saying, 
 Thou also wast with Jems of Galilee. But Peter, being 
 afraid to tell the truth, denied before them «//, saying, 
 I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone 
 out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto 
 the people collected in the porch. This fellow was also 
 with Jesus of Nazareth. And Peter, still more afraid, 
 
268 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 again denied with an oath^ I do not know the »2«w," that 
 is, he wickedly pretended not to know Jesus. And so 
 on. 
 
 IV. The Constructive Method. 
 
 This is perhaps the best form of the synthetic method 
 of teaching : its fundamental idea is that of progressive 
 development ; it, in fact, embodies the essential features 
 of all our most approved modes of primary instruction. 
 The first elements of Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, 
 Mechanism, Geography, and Grammar may be efficiently 
 taught by this method. 
 
 V. Illustrative Method. 
 
 By this method, we convey instruction to the minds of 
 children by means of pictorial representations, diagrams, 
 models, and experimental illustrations, addressed to the 
 senses, or by pictures addressed to the imagination. 
 
 Pictures may be either descriptive or historical, that 
 is, they may depict objects, animals, persons, &c., or they 
 may represent scenes and events. A child reads a 
 picture as we do a book. Good pictures of animals not 
 only give the shape, color, and relative size of the 
 animals, but they also represent the peculiar habits of 
 the animals. A good picture of a tiger, for example, 
 shows a child, at a glance, what are its structure and 
 habits, — how it lives, on what it lives, and in what 
 region of the earth it lives. The child reads the history 
 of great events in a good picture, — the grand features 
 of the events, the scenes amid which they transpired, 
 the characters of the different actors, and so on, all 
 readily fix themselves in the child's mind. Picture les- 
 sons constitute one of our most important means of 
 primary education. On the subject of pictures, as ad- 
 dressed to the imagination, see pages 147 and 195. 
 
 In teaching (such subjects as geography and mecha- 
 nism), models, and other material aids of instruction, 
 are most invaluable. 
 
 Experimental illustrations give the matter-of-fact form 
 of abstract laws and principles. 
 
THE LECTUKING AND THE MIXED METHODS. 269 
 
 VI. The LECTUKix<i Method. 
 
 Strictly speaking, a contiDuous style of lecturing is 
 not teaching. But when lecturing is accompanied with, 
 or followed by,a close course of questioning, it becomes 
 an efficient form of instruction, as applied to adults or to 
 an educated class of boys. Simple conversational lectures 
 on the science of common and useful things, illustrated 
 by easy and familiar experiments, have contributed 
 very much to raise the standard of intelligence in our 
 elementary schools. The experimental apparatus em- 
 ployed in these lectures should be of the most simple 
 kind, and, for the most part, constructed out of the 
 common articles of household use. Expensive instru- 
 ments should never be placed in the hands of ordinary 
 teachers, for the skill requisite for using an instrument 
 is, generally speaking, in proportion to the delicacy of 
 its construction. It is not desirable, nor would it be ex- 
 pedient, if even it were desirable, that teachers should 
 become finished manipulators: the great facts and laws 
 of physical science may always be demonstrated to 
 children by the aid of apparatus which is within the 
 reach of almost every respectable householder. 
 
 VII. Mixed Method. 
 
 In order to sustain the interest of ohildren, the 
 teacher should vary his methods of instruction. The 
 very best methods, when uniformly followed for any 
 length of time, become dull and monotnous, and, as a 
 necessary consequence, the pupils cease to feel any 
 interest in the lesson. Variety in method, as well as 
 variety in the subject-matter, should form an essential 
 feature in all school instruction. When the pupils get 
 tired with questions, the master must try ellipses; and 
 when they get tired with ellipses, he must have recourse 
 to pictorial representations, or experimental illustrations, 
 accompanied with a sort of tete-a-tete lecture: after 
 having changed the methods, in this manner, he may 
 return to his first method, for it will then have re- 
 
270 PHILOSOrHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 gained its original freshness. The intelligent teacher 
 should modify, arrange, 'and combine his methods so as 
 to form a harmonious whole suited to the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances of his school. 
 
 On this subject, the author of "The Educator's 
 Instruments" observes: — "The evidencing of truth to 
 children lays a heavy and continuous tax upon the 
 teacher's inventive faculties; for the same lesson, in- 
 volving precisely similar principles, however oft re- 
 peated, needs the dress of new language, must come 
 with new illustration evoked by the various indications 
 of the taught; and as nothing so tends to clarify and 
 intensify one's views as looking at them through varied 
 and harmonizing media, so nothing will lead to such 
 just and clear apprehension as placing the same truth 
 repeatedly before the young, in language and with 
 ilhistration as if spontaneously called forth at the 
 moment." 
 
 VIII. Ox THE Repeoduction of Lessons in Writing. 
 
 The advanced boys in a school should be frequently 
 required to reproduce the lessons given to them by 
 the master. This plan gives efficiency to all the methods 
 of instruction ordinarily used in our schools; it forms 
 an almost necessary adjunct to the method of lecturing. 
 We have already fully explained the advantages to be 
 derived from this exercise (see page 119); it is, there- 
 fore, only necessary in this place that we should make a 
 few remarks respecting the duties of the master, in rela- 
 tion to these written exercises, and point out certain 
 artifices whereby the amount of his labor may be 
 lessened, without materially infringing upon the effi- 
 ciency of the plan. 
 
 After the time alloted to the reproduction of the 
 lesson has expired, the master should first ascertain the 
 number of boys that have completed the exercise. He 
 should then call upon about half a dozen of these boys 
 taken at random, to give their exercises. Tie then 
 assumes that these exercises may be taken as average 
 
PLANS FUR ECONOMIZING TIME. 271 
 
 specimens of the work of the class, and that the errors 
 found in them will give him a tolerably good idea of the 
 errors contained in all of the others. He rapidly corrects 
 the errors and notes down the imperfections in these 
 specimens. He then writes the corrected j^assages on the 
 blackboard, and explains to the whole class the nature 
 of the errors and blunders which have been committed. 
 We shall now consider, more fully, some of those 
 artifices which tend to economize the time and labor of 
 the master. 
 
 IX. Ox CERTAIN Plans or Artifices for Economizing 
 THE Time of the Master in the Exa3iination of 
 Classes, or, it may be, in extending and thoroughly 
 grounding the Knowledge which the Pupils may 
 have acquired. 
 
 These plans or artifices should, of course, be altered 
 or modified to suit the peculiar tastes and capabilities of 
 the master. The following examples are given as 
 illustrations of the main features which ought to char- 
 acterize all such plans or artifices; these main features 
 are: 
 
 (1) The master should act upon the whole of the 
 pupils of his class, at once, rather than on individuals. 
 
 (2) He should get all of his pupils to act perfectly in 
 concert, or exactly together. 
 
 1. An Examination Lesson on Spelling. 
 
 After requesting, in a cheerful tone of voice, all the 
 boys in the class to prepare their slates and pencils for 
 writing down the words which he is about to give them, 
 he recites the words slowly and distinctly. As he dic- 
 tates, word after word, the pupils write them on their 
 slates, in the same order. When the words have been 
 all written, he calls upon the whole class to spell the 
 words simultaneously, exactly as they are written on 
 their slates, leaving a moment's pause between every 
 two consecutive word to allow those who are wrong 
 an opportunity of placing a mark at each mis-spelt 
 
272 PHILOSOPHY of education. 
 
 word. The teacher then requests the boys to count the 
 number of their errors, aud to report the same to him 
 He next gives a rapid glance at tlie slates, to see that all 
 is right, looking with more care at the slates of those 
 boys in whose honesty he has not the fullest trust. 
 The master will now be able to register the average 
 attainments of the class. But, if instruction be spe- 
 cially his object, he will write upon the blackboard all 
 those words which have been mis-spelled, giving, at the 
 same time, such remarks as lie may deem necessary, 
 relative to the rules of spelling, or the quality of the 
 writing. 
 
 2. An Examination Lesson on Arithmetic. 
 
 The teacher or examiner recites, in a distinct tone of 
 voice, the arithmetical problem which he requires the 
 class to solve. After a sufficient time has been allowed 
 them for working out the question, he calls upon those 
 boys who have finished to hold up their hands, or, it 
 may be, to stand. He then says — "Let all those boys 
 hold up their hands, who have the following answer"; 
 he then reads out the answer, and at once sees the 
 number of boys who have done the question correctly. 
 He then desires the boys who have not worked the 
 question correctly, to mark the erroneous figures in their 
 answers. A rapid glance at a few slates will generally 
 be sufficient to act as a check upon any unfair dealing 
 on the part of the boys. In some cases, it may be ad- 
 visable to inspect the slates of those boys who had not 
 finished the question. But the teacher should be careful 
 how he gives any countenance to idleness, or how he 
 wastes his energies on individuals. If instruction be a 
 special object, the problem should be done upon the 
 blackboard, accompanied with an exposition of prin- 
 ciples, &c. The teacher should frequently call upon the 
 more advanced boys to give this exposition. 
 
 Respective Advantages of the three great Methods of Exam- 
 ination. 
 
 There are three great methods of examination, viz.: 
 
PRErARATION OF I>KSS0X8. 27o 
 
 the simultaneous, tlie indivRlu.-il, aii<l the method of 
 written answers. 
 
 1. T]i£ simultaneous method of examination awakens a gen- 
 eral interest, and takes up little time; but we cannot 
 easily arrive at a correct estimate of the attainments of 
 the class by the exclusive use of this method. 
 
 2. The individual method of examination is more rigid and 
 more to be relied on than the simultaneous method; but 
 it takes up more time, and leaves the great body of the 
 class comparatively unemployed while each individual 
 is being examined. 
 
 3. The method of written answers is the most exact and 
 searching of all the methods, while, at the same time, it 
 keeps all tlie pupils engaged; but it is long and tedious 
 as regards both the writing of the papers and the inspec- 
 tion of them. 
 
 A judicious examiner will not fail to avail himself of 
 all the advantages arising out of the use of the three 
 Tnethods. 
 
 X. Ox THE PRErARATION OF LeSSOXS. 
 
 No teacher should give a lesson until he has made 
 himself thoroughly master of the subject. He should 
 also fix in his own mind how he should treat it, both as 
 to arrangement and method. He should, generally, 
 draw out a sketch of the lesson in the form of notes, but 
 he should never refer to these notes while he is giving 
 the lesson; he ought rather to have these notes fixed in 
 his mind before he begins the lesson. His notes should 
 be concise and methodical; they should form leading 
 points in the lesson, with which he should associate the 
 leading train of ideas which are to constitute the real 
 knowledge to be given to the pupils. He should not 
 confine himself to any set form of language; and his 
 questions, as a general rule, should be framed at the 
 time of asking them, No teacher should become a slave 
 to books or notes while he is giving a lesson; books and 
 notes should be the passive tools of the master — not he 
 the subservient slave of them. 
 
274 PHTLOSOPHAT OF KDUCATION. 
 
 The master should carefully revise the notes of his 
 pupil-teachers; and lie should never allow the pupil- 
 teachers to give a lesson without they are fully prepared 
 to give it with efficiency. lie should always place be- 
 fore them a high standard of teaching power. Every 
 pupil-teacher should be provided with a book for enter- 
 ing dosvn his notes of lessons. 
 
 The form of the notes of lessons must necessarily vary 
 with the nature of the subject, and the age of the boys 
 to whom the lesson is to* be given. But there are, no 
 doubt, certain general principles of arrangement which 
 are common to all subjects. The following are the notes 
 of a lesson on ink, supposed to be given to the upper 
 class: — 
 
 Notes of a Lesson. 
 
 Subject — Common Ink. 
 
 ProperUe!i:—^A{\mil, black, aad slightly adhesive, 
 
 JL^«i<?. — Used for writing on white paper. The use depends upon 
 tlie properties — why liquid — why black — why slightly ad- 
 hesive? What do we write upon the blackboard with? — Why 
 we cannot write upon white paper with white chalk, &c, 
 
 JIo)r made. — Experiment. To a solution of sulphate of iron 
 (green copperas) add a solution of nut galls — a black precipi- 
 tate is formed. The addition of some gum helps to keep this 
 black substance from falling to the bottom, and also to make 
 the ink adhere to the paper. 
 
 IIow to take ink stmns out. — Experiment. To the black liquid 
 formed in the last experiment, add a few drops of oxalic acid. 
 The color is at once destroyed. 
 
 Words to be explained, and their meanings illustroted, — Adhesive, 
 —mention some things that are adhesive. — Sulphate of iron, 
 — what it is like — what it is composed of — where it is found 
 — and what it is used for. Nut galls, — what are their prop- 
 erties — where are they got? Precipitate — its meaning. Ox- 
 alic acid — what it is, &c., — found in plants, &c. 
 
 When a teacher is about to give a lesson on any pro- 
 posed subject, his first inquiry should be, "Am I suffi- 
 ciently acquainted with the subject ?" Ilis next inquiry 
 should be, " Ho^v should I treat the subject ?" If he is 
 not sufficiently acquainted with the subject, he should 
 at once study it, and seek information upon it. If he 
 
C^TALIFICATIONS OF THE SCUOOLMASTKli. 275 
 
 iloes not know how to treat the subject, he shouhl at once 
 fieek information from those who are properly qualified 
 to give it. 
 
 When the subject of the lesson requires experiments or 
 practical illustrations, he should not spare a little trouble 
 or expense to render himself fully qualified for the per- 
 formance of his work. Experimental illustrations should 
 be repeated, again and again, until he finds that he can 
 perform them with perfect certainty and success. 
 
 XI. Ox THE Periodical Examination of Classes and 
 
 THE Registration of Progress. 
 
 The whole school should be examined at stated inter- 
 vals, w^ith the view of registering the progress of the 
 pupils,and also for the purpose of remodelling the classes. 
 These intervals will of course vary according to the cir- 
 cumstances and peculiar relations of the school, but the 
 interval should, in no case, exceed a quarter of a year. 
 Whatever may be the period fixed for these general ex- 
 aminations, it should be strictly adhered to, and the ex- 
 aminations and registrations should be thoroughly carried 
 out. When any boy is found qualified to enter a higher 
 class, or, on the other hand, when any boy has not kept 
 pace with the progress of his class, no feelings of delicacy 
 should prevent the master from making the necessary 
 transfer. We shall afterwards have occasion to treat of 
 the diflierent forms of school registers. 
 
 XII. On the Qualifications of the Schoolmaster in 
 
 relation to his Professional Dutii.s. 
 
 The qualifications of the schoolmaster may be viewed 
 in the three following aspects: — with respect to his 
 attainments; to his capabilities; and to his character. 
 
 The Teacher's Attainments, considered in 
 relation to his Office. 
 
 The following attainments may be considered essen- 
 tial to his success as a teacher, whatever may be the 
 nature or peculiar character of the school. 
 
276 ruTLosorHY of edccatiox. 
 
 1. He slioiild be tliorouolily acquainted with the fol- 
 lowing subjects: — The leading doctrines and narratives 
 of Scripture ; mental and common arithmetic; reading, 
 wriling, and spelling; English history; and the princi- 
 ples of teachnig. 
 
 2. He should have a fair knowledge of the following* 
 subjects: — Drawing, mensuration, and practical geom- 
 etry; geography and astronomy; elementary grammar, 
 composition, and general history; elementary algebra, 
 to the end of quadratic equations, together with a little 
 demonstrative geometry; industrial mechanics, and some 
 simple course of experimental i)hiloscphy. 
 
 ,/ It is highly desirable that his mind should be well 
 stored with general knowledge, that he should have a 
 ready command of language, and that he should be able 
 to express his ideas wnth fluency, clearness, and pre- 
 cision, upon any subject w^ithin the range of his knowl- 
 edge. Profound attainments in any technical subject 
 of knowledge are scarcely of any value to him as an 
 elementary teacher. His knowledge should be varied, 
 rather than profound. An acquaintance with Latin or 
 (irreek,or the higher branches of mathematics and natural 
 philosophy, would rather interfere with his usefulness as 
 an elementary teacher. At the same time, it is necessaiy 
 to bear in mind that a schoolmaster should knoAv a good 
 deal more than he has to teach. AVhatever he has to 
 teach, he should know thoroughly, at least as far as he 
 may have to teach it. Thus, to teach little boys drawing, 
 it is not necessary that he should become an artist; to 
 teach English, that he should know French; to teach 
 simple equations, that he should know surds; or to teach 
 some of the most important principles of geometry, that 
 lie should know the fifth book of Euclid. 
 
 All that technical knowledge which leads the mind of 
 the teacher aw'ay from the subjects of elementary edu- 
 cation tends most undoubtedly to compromise his useful- j 
 ness as an elementary teacher.x It is true, people talk J 
 much about the discipline which such subjects giv^e to 
 his mind, as if the knowledge which is essential to bis 
 duties as a teacher, did not sufficiently exerci8e,discip]ine^ 
 
QUALIFri^'ATIOXS OF THE SCHOOLMASTER. 277 
 
 and task his intellectual energies. Would it not be better 
 to raise our standard of his know]edge in physical science, 
 and in the principles and art of education, than to exact 
 from him such an amount of knowledge in those technical 
 subjects of learning which have no direct bearing upon 
 the duties of his profession? But we suppose that in- 
 spectors of schools and masters of training institutions 
 will always regard their own course of collegiate edu- 
 cation as the proper type of the system which should be 
 pursued in the training of schoolmasters.* 
 
 The Teacher's Culpabilities and Character consid- 
 ered IN relation to his Office. 
 
 A teacher should be a pious, conscientious mau; his 
 talents should be, at least, respectable; and he should 
 have a decided predilection and aptitude for teaching. Ife 
 is only requisite that we should make some observations 
 relative to the qualification which we have called aptitude 
 for teaching. 
 
 Aptitude for Teaching, 
 
 The most essential of all qualifications for teaching is 
 that peculiar faculty which we call, for the w^ant of a 
 better name, aptitude for teaching. Aptitude for teach- 
 ing! what is it? There is no mistaking it, when we see it. 
 Everybody recognizes it, when it is presented to his 
 notice. Is it a quality of the head or the heart, or does 
 it belong to both? Is it a natural or an acquired gift? Is 
 it an instinct, or a habit acquired by efforts, repeated from 
 the earliest dawn of reason? Does it grow spontaneously 
 by imperceptible gradations of- development, or is it a 
 faculty dependent u[)on the growth of certain intellectual 
 and moral powers? 
 
 We witness certain teaching effects, and too readily 
 rest satisfied with attributing them to what we call 
 aptitude for teaching, as if it were some original and 
 mysterious faculty, without at all seeking to discover the 
 
 *Her Majesty's Inspectors now give examination papers on meth- 
 Q'\ in connection with all the leading subjects of primary educa- 
 tion. 
 
278 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 chain of circumstances, and the qualities of mind and 
 character which have contributed to form this aptitude. 
 But we cannot allow the subject to remain in this unphi- 
 losophical condition of mysticism. Tlie aptitude for 
 teaching must undoubtedly be a qualification resulting 
 from the development of certain intellectual and moral 
 faculties of our nature. Let us endeavor to analyze this 
 remarkable qualification, that is to say, let us endeavor 
 to discover those qualities, intellectual and moral, wnth 
 which it is invariably associated, or, rather, with which it 
 is connected by the constant relation of cause and eii'ect. 
 It will be instructive, not only to ascertain what such 
 a man -mvst be, but also what he may not be. 
 
 1. TFhat a man having an aptitude for teaching may not he. 
 (1.) He may not be a man of great technical attain- 
 ments. (2.) He may not be a man of comprehensive 
 mind, or possessing gi-eat reasoning powders. ('3.) lie 
 may not be a man of robust frame. 
 
 2. What a man having a great aptitude for teaching m list he, 
 (1.) He must have a love for children, and a knowledge 
 of their tastes, habits and capabilities. (2.) He must 
 be a man of a kind and benevolent disposition. (.'3.) He 
 must love knowledge and feel a pleasure in communi- 
 cating it. (4.) He must be a man of fervid imagination, 
 and of great enthusiasm, decision, and force of character. 
 (5.) He must be a man of respectable general attain- 
 ments. (6.) He must have considerable fuiency of 
 speech, and poweis of ilhistration and exposition. (7.) 
 He must have faith in the efficacy of instruction, as a 
 means of ameliorating the condition of society. (8.) He 
 must be a man of quick and observing habits, and must 
 be in the constant habit of reflecting and reasoning upon 
 the various methods by which kuoMlcdge may be coni- 
 municated to children. 
 
 Now as all those ([ualities, essential to great aptitude 
 for teaching, admit of cultivation, it necessarily follows^ 
 that the aptitude for teaching also admits of cultivation 
 in the same degree. This aptitude for teaching, there- 
 fore, is no more instinctive or innate than any of the intel- 
 lectual or moral faculties of our nature can be said to be., 
 
SCHOOL REGISTEKS. 279 
 
 XIII. Ox School Registers for recording the 
 Results of different Systems or Methods of In- 
 struction, AND also for testing THE CAPABILITIES OF 
 
 Teachers in relation to these Methods. 
 
 These registers sl)oiild be regularly and faithfully tilled 
 up by the head schoolmaster, who is supposed to be ac- 
 quainted with all the circumstances and facts necessary 
 for doing so, and who is supposed to test the results of 
 the various lessons given by the pupil-teacher or by the 
 assistant teacher, as the case may be. The teacher who 
 gives the lesson is supposed to adhere strictly to some 
 definite method or combination of methods throughout 
 the lesson, whether it be given accordiugto the interrog- 
 ative method, or any other particular method, or accord- 
 ing to a combination of two or more methods. 
 
 No doubt all intelligent teachers have, more or less, 
 formed certain general views, based on their experience, 
 respecting the relative merits of different methods of edu- 
 cation. But these views are too frequently based upon a 
 few incidental facts, and are very rarely the result of a 
 cautious, candid, and systematic induction of facts whicli 
 have been carefully observed and faithfully recorded, and 
 w'hich are so comprehensive and determinate as to em- 
 brace all the circumstances which may in any way affect 
 the question. 
 
 The relative merit of any two methods will, in gen- 
 eral, be tested by the ju'ogressof the same class of pupils 
 wdien taught by the different methods, under the same 
 circumstances. But as the efficiency of a particular 
 method may depend not only upon the age, character, aud 
 attainments of the pupils, but also upon the peculiar 
 adaptation of the method itself to the mind and capabili- 
 ties of ti]e teacher, it is necessary that these conditions 
 should be fully recorded in the register. If sufficient 
 data of this kind were collected, we should then be able to 
 arrive at the follovviug generalizations with considei'able 
 certaint)^: — 
 
 1. Under a certain range of capabilities of the teacher, 
 and under a certain average condition of intelligence on 
 
280 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 the part of tlie pupils, what metliod, or combination of 
 methods is best adapted for teaching certain given sub- 
 jects. 
 
 2. WljJit method, or combination of methods, is best 
 adapted, under ordinary circumstances, to a teacher of 
 given qualifications and capabilities. 
 
 3. What method, or combination of metliods, is most 
 suitable, under ordinary circumstances, for the instruc- 
 tion of boys of a given age, character and attainments. 
 
 4. What qualifications and capabilities are best calcu- 
 lated to form a good teacher. 
 
 The following are some of the systems and methods 
 most eligible for being tested in this w^ay: — 
 
 1. The comparative advantages of the individual and 
 collective methods of teaching. To w^hat extent should 
 individual instruction be carried, when combined with 
 the method of collective teaching? and in what subjects 
 may the respective methods be most efficiently em- 
 ployed? 
 
 2. The comparative advantages of the synthetic and 
 analytic methods, applied to the teaching of different 
 subjects. 
 
 :3. The method of suggestive interrogation compared 
 w^ith the dogmatic method, or with the purely elliptical 
 form of giving collective lessons. 
 
 4. The familiar style ol" lecturing, on the best recog- 
 nized form, compared with the plan of using reading- 
 books or text-books. Or the comparative efficiency of 
 a system which a<lopts certain advantages belonging to 
 each. 
 
 5. The advantages arising from home instruction, 
 when associated with ceitain forms of teaching. 
 
 G. Comparison of different modes of teaching children 
 to read, or to write, or to spell. 
 
 I have used this plan of registration in connection with 
 the model lessons which I have had occasion to superin- 
 tend; and it has led me to several important generalizations 
 relative to methods of instruction, to their adaptation to 
 the mind§ of different masters, and to their suitableness to 
 
IIEGJSTRATIO^' OF RESULTS. 281 
 
 different classes of pupils; and also with respect to those 
 qualifications, <fec., on the part of the master, which are 
 most likely to form the superior teacher. It is not im- 
 probable that some of these generalizations may not 
 have been based upon a sufficient number of facts, or 
 that they may not have embraced some hidden circum- 
 stances which mi^ht vitiate the deductions. Be this as 
 it may, they constitute the chief results of the experi- 
 ence of my life as a practical educator. ; 
 
 General Conclusions derived from the Writer's 
 
 Registration of the Results of Methods, &c. 
 
 1. Relative to Systems of Teaching. 
 
 1. Comparatively few men teach well upon the ellip- 
 tical plan of giving lessons. The efficiency of this plan 
 is much increased by being associated with direct inter- 
 rogation. Bible lessons are peculiarly adapted to the 
 elliptical form of teaching. 
 
 2. It is much more easy to lecture than it is to teach. 
 Lecturing, especially in an elementary school, should 
 always be accompanied with a close system of question- 
 ing. 
 
 '?). Collective teaching is most efficient when it is fol- 
 lowed by individual instruction — by individual examina- 
 tion — or by the reproduction of the subject-matter of 
 the lesson in writing by the pupils. 
 
 4. Oral instruction, given in the form of fanjiliar lec- 
 tures by a superior teacher, is in general a much more 
 efficient mode of instruction than the plan of teaching 
 from reading-books or text-books, even when accompa- 
 nied with an analysis of tlie subject-matter which has' 
 been read by the class. 
 
 5. Suggestive modes of interrogation should never be 
 employed as tests of progress. The questions which we 
 use for the purpose should not contain the slightest clue 
 to the answer. 
 
 6. As a general rule, having some important excep- 
 tions, the progress of the })upils is in proportion to the 
 apparent amount of attention which they give to the 
 lesson or lessons. 
 
282 I'HILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 2. Relatm to the Qualifications of the Master. 
 
 1. Teachers of limited capacity, or whose conimaiul of 
 language is limited, invariably teach best with text- 
 books, or by the individual system of instruction. 
 
 2. Men of fervid imaginations, having a great com- 
 mand of language and enthusiasm of character, almost 
 invariably become superior teachers. 
 
 .3. Decision of character almost invariably forms an 
 element in the qualifications of a superior teacher. 
 
 4. Men who are deficient in general knowledge and in 
 enthusiasm of character, are generally bad teachers, even 
 though they may possess great technical acquirements, 
 
 5. All earnest man, imbued with the love of children, 
 is rarely a bad teacher. 
 
 6. The love of teaching is generally associated witli 
 the capability for it; but the converse does not so fre- 
 quently hold true. 
 
 7. A man of superior teaching power teaches well by 
 any rational method. But he will always teach best by 
 that method which is suited to his peculiar capabilities. 
 
 8. Men generally teach badly when they attempt to 
 teach too much, or when they do not duly pre})are their 
 lessons. 
 
 9. Presence of mind, and that self-confidence wdjich is 
 based on self-knowledge, are essential elements in a good 
 teacher's character. 
 
 10. Success in teaching is more dependent upon the 
 capabilities of the master for teaching, than upon his 
 technical ac(piirements. Teaching-power is not always 
 associated with superior talents or great acquirements. 
 
 11. A teacher must practise a new method until he is 
 fully master of it, before he can come to any conclusion 
 as to its efficiency. Teachers are too prone to attribute 
 their failures to the method they employ, rather than to 
 the improper Avay in which they use it. 
 
 12. The best methods aj-e the worst instruujents which 
 can be put into the hands of incompetent teachers. The 
 best and most intellectual methods require a corres})ond- 
 ing skill on the part of the teacher, to use them with 
 efficiency. 
 
KK(iISTRATIO]S OF JIKSULTS. 283 
 
 3. Relative to the Pupils. 
 
 1. The more exciting modes of instru(*-tioii are best 
 suited to phlegmatic children, or to tlie children of the 
 poor. Children of precocious minds do not require 
 exciting modes of teaching. 
 
 2. Collective teaching associated with individual 
 questioning, etc., should invariably be used in teaching 
 boys from six to twelve years of age. ^ihe advanced 
 boys should have a larger amount of individual teaching. 
 
 3. Evening exercises, when the parents are able and 
 willing to co-operate with the teacher, add greatly to the 
 efficiency of school instruction. 
 
 4. Children, in manufacturing and mechanical dis- 
 tricts, evince considerable a[)titu<le for acquiring a 
 knowledge of geometry, mechanism, and construction. 
 Indeed, as a general rule, the predilections of children 
 have a leaning towards the pursuits of their parents. 
 School routines should always have a due regard to the 
 taste's, wants, and capabilities of the pupils. 
 
 Forms of Entry in the Register. 
 Where there are a great many entries to be made in 
 the columns of a school register, it becomes desirable 
 that we should have some concise and graphic mode of 
 symbolizing the results which are to be recorded. The 
 symbol which I have adopted to express any word, is 
 simply the first letter of the vvord, and, where ambiguity 
 may arise, the first two or the first three letters of the 
 word. The numerals, 1, 2, 3, are used to express the 
 amount of any qualification, or the extent to which any 
 plan or method may be carried. These numerals, aftixed 
 to any symbol expressing a particular qualification, indi- 
 cate the amount or degree of that qualification, that is 
 to say, whether it is moderate, fair, or excellent. Teach- 
 ers, of course, will modify or extend these symbols to 
 suit their convenience, or they may perhaps find it most 
 convenient to adhere to the ordinary form of registra- 
 tion. These symbols, it will readily be understood, do 
 not form an essential feature of the proposed plan of 
 registration. 
 
■J. 
 
 •A 
 
 14 
 
 Incidental 
 Remiirlib. 
 
 No.inClass, 18. 
 
 No.in Class, 24. 
 
 A little Appa^ 
 
 ratus useful. 
 
 M 11 
 
 Black Board 
 
 Slates. 
 
 Household 
 
 Articles. 
 
 12 
 
 School Ar.l.i- 
 
 Gallery 
 with Desks. 
 
 Gallery 
 with Desks. 
 
 2 
 
 S 
 
 D 
 
 [7 J9|)un b8»jS 
 
 c:i cq s : i 
 
 s ii 
 
 « so 3 :: s 
 
 » If 
 
 Chiefly Agri- 
 cultural. 
 Tradesmen, 
 Intelligeut. 
 
 : !ii 
 
 »H « :::::: 
 
 9S«aaAV 
 
 >. >. = 3 3 
 O C-4 
 
 
 6 
 
 Time of Lesson 
 or Ltsssons. 
 
 .• II 
 15 
 
 
 •lJU95B.ts 
 
 LO^q? 0} noi?«(a4 ff^ m s 3 s 
 U! lUMB «!H 
 
 « 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 
 -« 
 gg 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 CO -uosssT 1 C, „• - ^ - 
 am .|o joal'qns ! ^ ^ - - - 
 
 
 4 
 ^ 1 
 
 Pi-i -• fti - = 3 i 
 
 
 JO 9Ul«M 
 
 «: «■ . = . 
 
 o 2 sic* 
 
 ^ 3 (^ eS 
 
 ^ '.|T 
 
 - tH be 
 
 H '. = - 
 1.1 r: 
 
 S ^ £ ^ S 
 
 2 I h4 I g 
 
 f a .2 s § 
 -'.if ? ^ 
 
 -< S I. oj 3 
 ■&- i^-^^ ^ 
 
 — ^ " h o) — ' ii 
 
 fc I - « » ^ 
 
 o _; G ?3 a ^ 
 
 ^•~,- ;j s a;. *< 
 
 2 -^ u 7 be 
 
 « ^•- b£ I u 
 
 .-rJ ?J Ol O 
 
 * — be 5 I 
 
 :- « C ^" I. 
 c c "J - >> 
 - . ^ =^ -r 
 
 c ^ o t^ .tr 
 
 
 
 c » o 
 
 53 t^S 
 
 ss^ 
 
 rt c a 
 
 
 -2 *'l^' 
 
 ■ a 
 
 ^ii 
 
 -.2 « 
 I 
 
 16 
 
 a, 
 
 - OT3_ 
 
 a-^ ail 
 
 O (K ° t. O ^ 
 
 illllil 
 
 ■'^^ 
 
 cj <» feu's 2 
 '5.5 bsTs • 
 
 « 2-o§|S3 
 
 
 
 BO, 
 
 ?|5 
 
 " -^ rt - 
 
 5 g 
 
 2-S-l 5 2.5 2.^15 
 
 a '^ ~ 
 
 J i^:^ 
 
 
 S«.5 
 
 5S).2 ill 
 
28/ 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 ON THE APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT SYSTExMS AND 
 METHODS TO THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ELE- 
 MENTARY EDUCATION 
 
 The SoRirxuRES; IIihtoky; etc. 
 
 Bible lessons should always be given, in an elementary 
 school, on the collective system of teaching. The follow- 
 ing rules may be advantageously observed in giving 
 these lessons. 
 
 1. The passages on which the lesson is given should be 
 read by the class. In the course of the reading, the 
 meaning of the words should be familiarly explained to 
 the children, and the general purport of the lesson should 
 be constantly kept before them. 
 
 2. The teacher should picture out the subject-matter of 
 the lesson, after the manner described in connection with 
 the cultivation of memory (see p. 195). This will, gener- 
 ally, be best done by the method of ellipses, occasion- 
 ally varied by individual or collective interrogation. 
 
 3. The subject should be elucidated by the method of 
 contrasts and resemblances (explained in connection with 
 the cultivation of the memory, see p. 187). 
 
 4. The progress of the class should be tested by the 
 individual method of instruction. 
 
 5. The duties to be learned from the lesson should be 
 fully explained. This will generally be most efficiently 
 carried out by the method of suggestive interrogation, 
 or by the method of ellipses. 
 
 6. Notes of the lesson should be written, with con- 
 ciseness and distinctness, upon the blackboai-d. 
 
 Sketch of a Bihle Lesson. — Subject: Trial of Abraham's 
 faith. Genesis, chap, xxii., verses 1 to 13. Mixed 
 method: interrogative, elliptical, illnstrative, &q. 
 
 1. The reading lesson. Words and phrases to be ex- 
 
280 PIIILOSurHi' OF KDLCATIOX. 
 
 ])l;ilne(l in tlie coarse of the reiiding: —The bind of 
 3Ioriah, biirnt-offeriiig, worship, ttc. 
 
 2. The picture. [The v/orcls to be supplied l)y the 
 pupils are printed in italics.] 
 
 Abraham was a very good man, and had great faith oi; 
 trust in his God: Abraham had one smi, called Isaac, one 
 darling boy, that he loved more than anything in the 
 tvorld: Abraham was very happy with his son Isaac : * 
 God was about to put Abraham's faith and obedience to 
 a very great trial: Let us see how God tried Abraham's 
 faith and obedience. God told Abraham to take his son 
 Isaac to a mountain a great way off, and offer him there 
 for a hurnt-offering. Oh ! what a trial for Abraham's 
 obedience this was, to slay his only son as he did lambs 
 and calves and rams, upon tlie altar as a hurnt-offering. 
 But Abraham loved and feared God so much that he 
 never doubted for one moment that whatever God com- 
 manded him ^o<fo would be for his good^ — he did not 
 even ask why he should slay his son, because he was sure 
 that God had a good reason for what he required him to 
 do. Abraham then got up early in the morning, and 
 saddled his ass, and took two of the young men with him, 
 and Isaac his son, and cut some wood for a burnt-offering, 
 and started off towards the place Vs\\^yq God had told him 
 to go. After they had travelled for three days and three 
 nights,they at last came in sight of the mountain: Abra- 
 ham lifted up his eyes and saw the jt?/a<?^ afar o/. And 
 he told his young men to stop and take care of the ass, 
 while he and his son went up the mountain. Behold 
 Abi'aham and his son, as they climb the mountain; — 
 Isaac carries the heavy burthen of wood for the hirnt- 
 offering, and Abraham carries tlie fire to kindle the 
 wood, and in his hand is the terrible knife with which he 
 is to slay his only son as an offering to the Lord; — how 
 sorrowful Abraham looks, — God has commanded him to 
 offer his son as a burnt-offering. Isaac seems at a loss 
 
 * If the pupils do not fill the ellipses, the teacher should ask the 
 question : 
 
 " Wliat was the name of Abraham's son ? " 
 
ArPLICATIOX OF SYSTEMS AND MKTIIODS. 287 
 
 to know wliat \\\s father is about to do with liim. When 
 they came to the place which God had told Abraham of, 
 Abraham laid tlie wood in order, and bound his son and 
 hxid him upon the altar. His hand is stretched forth, — 
 4ind he is about to phmg-e the knife into his son, but the 
 iingel of the Lord arrested tlie stroke, saying to Abraham 
 out of heaven, — " Now I know that thou fearest God, see- 
 ing that thou hast not withlield thy son, thine only son^ 
 from me." 
 
 3. Contrasts and Resemblances. — Contrast Abraham's 
 character with that of Bahiam or with that of Jonah. 
 Compare Abraliam's readiness to sacrifice his only son 
 at the command of God, with the great sacrifice which 
 Christ offered up, upon the cross, for the sins of the 
 world. 
 
 4. Examination. To what land did God command 
 Abraham to go to offer up his son ? How was Isaac to 
 be offered? Kor how many days did they travel before 
 they came in sight of the mountain? Who went with 
 Abraham to the place of sacrifice? What did he say 
 to the young men before he left them ? &c., <fec. 
 
 5. Duties to he leariied from the lesson. When we are sore 
 beset with trials, what should we always do ? How- 
 ever hard our lot in this world may be, our duty is 
 simply to obey God, who always knows what is best for 
 us. If we simply follow the commands of God, however 
 strange they may appear to our corrupt nature, He will 
 find a way of escape for us. God often tries our faith 
 as he did Abraham's of old, by requiring us to perform 
 painful duties, but we, like him, should obey God, and 
 leave the results in His hands, knowing that all thinys 
 will at last work out for the yood of them that fear 
 Him, 
 
 6. Notes written on the hlackhoard. God's command to 
 Abraham, — given to try his faith; his journey to Mo- 
 riah; — Abraham and his son went alone to the place of 
 sacrifice; — the angel of the Lord prevented Abraham 
 from slaying his son; &c. 
 
288 niiLOSoriiY of kducation. 
 
 History axd Sub-tkcts of Gexeral Ekadix(i. 
 
 History, aiul other subjects of general read hi g, should 
 "be taught by the same method as that which we have 
 just described in relation to the teaching of the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 Reading and Speelixg; Etymology; Grammaii, 
 
 These subjects should be taught, in our elementary 
 schools, upon the collective system of instruction. 
 While one boy reads or spells, the other boys must 
 listen. Important passages should be read simultane-. 
 ously by the class, and sometimes words should be spelt, 
 letter after letter, in the same manner. In the course of 
 the reading, the master wil) frequently have occasion to 
 correct the pronunciation, indistinct utterance, the ac- 
 cent and the intonations of pupils. Whenever he does 
 so, he should always endeavor to put his reasons into 
 the form of a general rule. Above all things, the pupils 
 should be taught to read with intelligence. 
 
 Very young children should be taught to read from 
 large class-cards, having pictures of the leading subjects 
 of each lesson. The look mid say plan of teaching to read 
 is certainly the best, especially when it is combined 
 with some of the most striking principles of the phonic 
 method. In like manner, the best plan for teaching- 
 children to spell is to get them to write out the lessons 
 which they Have read; the eye, in my opinion, is a bet- 
 ter guide to correct spelling than the ear. The lessons 
 for teaching little children to read should contain fre- 
 quent repetitions of the same word in each lesson. T^t 
 us take an example: 
 
 Specimen of a Heading Zesson/or Little Children, 
 
 Tom is a good boy. A good boy does what he is told. 
 I told Tom to be good. John is a bad boy. A bad boy 
 does not do what he is told. And so on. 
 
 When the child is able to read words of three letters, 
 he should then be taught to read words of four or more 
 
THE PHONIC SYSTEM. 289 
 
 letters; and after words of one syllable he sliould be 
 taught to read words of two syllables; and so on. 
 
 In the course of these reading lessons, the intelligent 
 teacher wjill not fail occasionally to avail himself of some 
 of the most prominent principles of the phonic system of 
 reading. Certain combinations of letters almost invariably 
 represent certain elementary sounds; as, for example, — 
 the sound of ad, in bad, lad, sad, mad, &c.; the sound of 
 ay in bay, lay, say, may, &c. ; the sound of un in bun, 
 sun, &c.; the sound of sh in shut, shark, shave, shall, &c.; 
 the sound of ch in child, chide, chick, &c.; and so on. 
 
 The ordinary box of reading letters should be used in 
 showing the child how the elementary sounds go to form 
 the sound of the word. Thus in showing the sound of 
 the word shave^ the teacher first gives the sound of the 
 letters «/*, next that of ave, and then putting the letters 
 together he gives the compound sound shave. 
 
 To follow out the phonic system of reading, in all its 
 details, is neither practicable nor desirable. The fact is, 
 this system requires the pupils to make analyses of 
 sounds, whicb we ourselves never do in the practice of 
 reading. The rules of pronunciation in our language 
 are so very complicated, that it seems to be almost ridic- 
 ulous to attempt to teach reading on a strictly phonic 
 plan. By the practice of re.ading, on the hoh and say 
 system (aided by occasional hints relative to the elemen- 
 tary sounds of the most common combinations of letters), 
 the child gradually and insensibly acquires the pronun- 
 ciation of words. On the teaching of the alphabet, see 
 page 186. 
 
 The etymology of technical words and philosophical 
 terms (particularly those that are derived from the Greek 
 and Latin) should be given in connection with reading 
 lessons. But the teacher should bear in mind that the 
 derivation of a technical term does not supersede the 
 necessity of giving the full meaning of the term, as it is 
 used in our language; the^chief purpose which etymology 
 serves, in the elementary school, is to aid the pupils in 
 remembering the signification of technical terms. Im- 
 portant woi-cls and phrases, which occur in the lesson, 
 
290 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 should be written, in large characters, upon the black- 
 board, with their meanings and derivations. 
 
 Grammar should also be taught in connection with the 
 reading lessons. But besides such desultory exercises on 
 Grammar, the definitions and principles should be syste- 
 matically taught by collective lessons, and by simple text- 
 books upon the subject. 
 
 Grammar more fully considered. 
 
 Grammar may be taught by a constructive method, or 
 by a method of progressive development. A first course 
 of instruction should comprehend all the simple parts of 
 speech without their inflections, &c.; the particular and 
 most familiar form of each definition should be explained 
 before the general or most abstract form; and where the 
 definition contains a comprehensive statement, it should 
 be broken down into its component parts, and after each 
 part has been successively explained, their relative con- 
 nection, or dependence, should he distinctly pointed out. 
 A second course of grammar should comprehend the in- 
 flections of words; and a third course that of the analysis 
 of sentences and the rules of syntax and composition. 
 These rules should be based on the analysis of sentences; 
 for by so doing we follow one of our most certain general 
 principles of method, viz., that of teaching the concrete 
 before the abstract. We have too much parsing in our 
 schools, and too little of the practice of composition. 
 Teachers should get their pupils to construct sentences 
 as early as possible; for it should be borne in mind that 
 parsing is only a means for the attainment of an end, 
 that is, to enable the pupils to write and speak with 
 accuracy and facility. All our exercises in composition 
 should have some actual object, they should express 
 familiar ideas, or describe things and events which 
 actually exist; see page 149. The old plan of teaching 
 syntax (that is, by giving bad English to correct under 
 each rule) has not yet been superseded. In grammar, 
 as in many things else, we seem to know what is right 
 by seeing what is wrong; and we are the better able 
 
ENGLISH GRAMMAE. 291 
 
 to follow what is right, by constantly endeavoring to 
 avoid what is wrong, 
 
 A lesson on Grammar. Subject — The noun. Mixed 
 method, interrogation, ellipses, &c. 
 
 Now, my children, I am going to show you what a 
 noun is. Listen! 
 
 A NOUN is the name of an object or thing; as, book, 
 apple, table, &c. 
 
 Hat is the name of a thmj, — what kind of word is hat? 
 Write the following sentence on your slates: "Pears 
 and apples grow on trees." Now put a line ^below all 
 those words which are nouns. 
 
 A NOUN is the name of an animal; as, dog, cat, horse, 
 &c. 
 
 Cow is the name of an animal; therefore, the word 
 cow is a noun. And so on to other examples. 
 
 A NOUN is the name of a person; as, John, Thomas, 
 Milton, &c. 
 
 Andrew is the name of a person; therefore, the word 
 Andrew is a noun. And so on to other examples. 
 
 A NOUN is the name of a place; as, London, York, 
 Leeds, &c. 
 
 Hounslow is the name of a, place; therefore, the word 
 Hounslow is a noun. 
 
 A NOUN is the name of anything which we can speak 
 of as existing; as, chair, whiteness, darkness, &c. 
 
 I can speak of table as a thin^ which exists; therefore, 
 the word table is a noun. I can speak of the soul as 
 existing; therefore, the v/ord soul is a tioun. And so 
 on. 
 
 Now let us collect together all that has been said 
 about a noun. 
 
 A NOUN is the name of an object, an animal, a 
 
 PERSON, A PLACE, OR ANYTHING WE CAN SPEAK OF AS 
 EXISTING. 
 
 Give me as many words as you can think of, which 
 are nouns. 
 
 Why is the word book a noun? Why is the word 
 HEAVEN a noun ? And so on. Put a mark beneath all 
 
292 PHIT.OSOrHY OF KDUCATION. 
 
 the nouns in the following sentences: — Thomas has got 
 a dog. London is a large city, &c. 
 
 A lesson on Grammar. Subject — The adjective. Mixed 
 method. 
 
 An ADJECTIVE is a word which points out the qua.lity 
 of a noun; as, large, good, black, &c. 
 
 I have a sharp knife. Now what word here points 
 out the quality of the knife ? Sharp, then, is an adjec- 
 tive, for it points out or expresses the quality of the 
 knife. 
 
 He gave me some apples Now all the words 
 
 which I put before the word apples to make sense are 
 adjectives, — find out as many of them as you can. Small^ 
 large^ round, ripe, unripe, sour, red, sweet, &c. 
 
 An ADJECTIVE LIMITS the meaning of a noun; this, 
 many, fourth. And so on. 
 
 Now let us collect together all that has been said 
 about an adjective. 
 
 An A.DJECTIVE IS A WOKD WHllCH POINTS OUT THE 
 QUALITY OF A NOUN, OR LIMITS ITS MEANING. 
 
 Put a mark beneath all the adjectives in the following 
 sentences: — 
 
 A horse is a noble animal. The cow gives fine milk. 
 
 Why is the word the an adjective ? Why is the word 
 nolle an adjective? And so on to other examples. 
 
 Lessons on composition and the analysis of sentences. 
 
 1. To enlarge the subject. Simple sentence, — " The 
 dog is ill."* 
 
 What is the subject of this sentence ? What is the 
 predicate? 
 
 Now I shall enlarge the subject of this sentence, that 
 is to say, I shall add something which shall tell us all 
 about the dog. 
 
 " The dog is ill." 
 
 1. The large dog is ill. 
 
 2. The dog, Fompey, is ill. 
 
 3. The carrier'* 8 dog is ill. 
 
 *nexe we suppose this to he really a fact. 
 
ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 293 
 
 4. The dog of four years old is ill. 
 
 5. The dog, being very fat, is ill. 
 
 And putting all these enlargements of the subject in 
 one sentence, we have: — 
 
 The carrier' % large dog, Fompey, of four years old, being 
 very fat, is ill. 
 
 What purpose is served by these enlargements of the 
 subject? What do they tell us? First, that the dog is 
 large; second, that his name is Pompey; third, that he 
 belongs to the carrier; fourth, that he is four years old; 
 and fifth, that he is very fat. What kind of word have 
 I used to enlarge the subject in No. 1? The adjective 
 laraje. And so on to the others. 
 
 Enlarge the subject of the following sentence; first, 
 by an adjective; second, by a noun in apposition; and 
 soon: "The boy reads." 
 
 2. To extend the predicate. Simple sentence, — 
 "The boy reads." 
 
 The predicate may be extended in the follovring dif- 
 ferent ways: — 
 
 "The boy reads." 
 
 1. The boy reads fluently. 
 
 2. The boy reads for information. 
 (b) The boy reads at home. 
 
 3. The boy reads every day. 
 
 4. The boy reads standing. 
 
 In (1) the predicate is extended by an adverb \ in (2) 
 by a preposition or by a prepositional phrase; in (3) by 
 a noun in the objective case; in (4) by a participle used 
 adverbially. 
 
 In (1) and (4) we use an adjunct of manner; in (2) 
 an adjunct of cause; in (b) an adjunct of place', in (3) an 
 adjunct of time. 
 
 Show the different w^ays in which the predicate in the 
 following sentence may be extended: "The boy runs." 
 
 Point out the subject, predicate, and object of the 
 following sentence: "-4 bad boy, called Thomson, hurt 
 little William very severely.^' What words enlarge the 
 
294 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 subject? What word qualifies the subject? Wh at words 
 extend the predicate ? 
 
 Observation. — Proceeding in this way, the pupil will 
 be taught the art of composition. But in ail this there 
 ig comparatively little knowledge of parsing required. 
 
 Arithmetic. 
 
 All the junior classes, in an elementary school, should be 
 taught arithmetic on the collective system. The syn- 
 thetic method of demonstration, first explained, at least 
 in this country, in the writer's treatise on the Principles of 
 Arithmetic, is certainly the best adapted for elementary 
 instruction. The suggestive method of interrogation is 
 most generally applicable to the teaching of demonstra- 
 tive arithmetic. 
 
 In teaching common or slate arithmetic, the follow- 
 ing general rules should be observed : — 
 
 1. All the demonstrations should he given distinctly 
 upon the blackboard. 
 
 2. The essential data of the question (not the whole 
 question) should be written, in a proper order, on the 
 blackboard, especially when the question contains three 
 or more data. 
 
 3. The teacher should fully explain every step of the 
 process as he writes it down. It is a bad plan to work 
 out the whole question, and then to proceed with the 
 explanation. 
 
 4. The pupils should take a part in the investigation. 
 The master should require them, time after time, to tell 
 him what quantities he must write down at the different 
 Bteps of the investigation. 
 
 Let us take a few examples of this method of teaching 
 arithmetic. 
 
 1, Lesson on the Addition of Fractions. 
 
 Let it be required to add one-half and three-fourths 
 togetiier. 
 
 Here, before we can add these fractions together, we 
 must bring them to the same part of unity, or, to speak 
 
ARITHMETIC. 2.95 
 
 more simply, we must bring them to bits of the same 
 size. Let us suppose that we have to find how much the 
 half of a loaf added to the three-quarters of a loaf will 
 make. What do I take as the unit here? (Ans. A loaf.) 
 Now, how do we get the half of a loaf? (Ans. By- 
 cutting it into two equal parts.) How do we get the 
 tbree-fourths of the loaf? (Ans. By cutting the loaf 
 into four equal parts, and taking three of them.) Now, 
 how should you put the half bits into quarter bits ? 
 (Ans. By cutting each half into two equal bits, for then 
 we should have the whole loaf cut into four equal bits.) 
 Very well. Now, how many fourths v\;^i]l there be in 
 one half ? (Ans. Two fourths.) So that you have to put 
 together, or add, two fourths and three fourths. What 
 will they make ? (Ans. Five fourths.) But I want you 
 to give me the sura in mixed numbers. How many 
 ■whole loaves would you have in five quarter loaves ? 
 (Ans. One, and a quarter more.) That is to say, the sura 
 of one half and three quarters will be equal to one and a 
 quarter. 
 
 I am going to show you how to do this question ia 
 another way. 
 
 Let a stick or a line (A B) be divided on the upper 
 side into two equal parts, and the bottom side into four 
 equal parts. What will each of the upper parts be 
 called? What will each of the bottom parts be called? 
 Look at the figure, and tell me how many fourths there 
 are in each half. And so on, as before. 
 
 The teacher should also do the pame thing by the di- 
 vision of a space. 
 
 2. A Lesson on Rule of Three. 
 
 Let it be required to find the cost of 9 books, when 
 the cost of a dozen is 8«. \d. 
 
 Let us first write the essential data of the question on 
 the blackboard. 
 
290 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION.. 
 
 DATA. 
 
 Cost of 12 is 8^. Id. ; the cost of 9 is required. 
 
 SOLUTION TO BE WRITTEN ON THE BLACKBOARD. 
 
 Cost 12 books = 88. Id. 
 . '. Cost 86 books = 3 times 8s. l(i. = 24^. dd. 
 
 Odd •-}// 
 . -.Cost 9 books = one fourth part of 2is. M. = :1Z^^_ = 6^. O^d. 
 
 4 
 
 After tbe teacher has written down the language, "Cost 
 12 books =j" he asks the class, "What shall I put this 
 equal to ? " After he has received the answer, he fills 
 it in, and then asks, "Why is it equal to 8«. 1<?. ?" 
 "How many books have we to find the cost of?" 
 " Now if we can get the cost of 36 books,we may readily 
 get the cost of 9, as you will see, when we proceed with 
 the solution." After writing down, "Cost 36 books =," 
 he asks, " Will the cost of 36 books be more or less than 
 the cost of 12 books?" "Why?" "You are quite 
 right; three times the number of books will cost three 
 times as much." " Now having got the cost of 36 
 books, how are we to get the cost of 9 ? " " Exactly so; 
 one-fourth the number will of course cost one-fourth the 
 price." And so on. 
 
 The more advanced boys should be sometimes called 
 upon to give a demonstration on the blackboard. 
 
 Mental Arithmetic. 
 
 This subject should be taught on the collective system, 
 in connection with the method of interrogation. The 
 boys prepared with an answer to the question proposed 
 by the master, should hold up their hands, and the master 
 must then call upon some boy to give the answer; and so 
 OH to the other artifices described in connection with the 
 subject of collective teaching. Young children should be 
 practised for some time in mental calculation, before 
 ihey are taught anything relative to the symbols and 
 notation of numbers. Strokes, counters, balls,&c., should 
 be taken as the representatives of numbers, and all the 
 
aKOGKAPHY. 297 
 
 leading properties and operations of arithmetic should 
 be demonstrated by the use of these objects, before any 
 technical modes of calculation are attempted. All the 
 processes should be thoroughly demonstrative, and no 
 rules should be laid down independently of the investi- 
 gations. All tricks and clap-traps of mental calculation 
 should be conscientiously avoided. The boy called upon 
 to give the answer should give the process of investi- 
 gation. 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Geography may be thoroughly taught, to large classes, 
 on the collective system. The method of suggestive in- 
 terrogation, followed by, or accompanied with, cate- 
 chetical examination, seems well adapted for teaching 
 this subject to all classes in an elementary school. No 
 branch of geography should be taught without the aid 
 of a map. Every collective lesson on geography should 
 be given in connection with a large map, which should be 
 suspended directly before the class. When any country, 
 or city, or river, or mountain, is spoken of, its place upon 
 the map should l)e pointed out, and its relative bear- 
 ings, boundaries or extent should be fully explained. 
 Physical geography and history should always be taught 
 in connection with descriptive geography. (See p. 194.) 
 
 If a teacher can sketch well, he should draw his own 
 maps upon the blackboard. First, tracing the outline 
 of the country, he mentions the various kingdoms or seas 
 whose boundaries his chalk is tracing; second, with a 
 few jottings of his chalk he marks out the principal 
 moimtain ranges, forming the great ridges or apexes of 
 the water-sheds; third, he traces the rivers winding 
 their way from their mountain source or sources to the 
 great reservoirs of the waters of the globe. He pauses 
 for a moment to review his work, — he has sketched out 
 the works of nature as the hand of the Creator has left 
 them; now he has to begin to sketch the works of art 
 and civilization — he has to people the wilderness, and to 
 trace the progressive steps of civilization; upon the banks 
 of the tidal rivers, he marks the site of the great mer- 
 
298 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 caLtile cities; on the shores of the mcuntain streams he 
 plants the names of the oldest industrial cities; on the 
 coal fields he places those mighty manufacturing cities 
 which have almost sprung into existence since the dis- 
 covery of the steam-engine — that mightiest monarch of 
 civilization and power, which seems to control the des- 
 tinies of the world; last of all, he marks the sites of those 
 large towns which form the market places of the rural 
 population. We said that the work was progressive, — 
 every fresh touch of the chalk is associated with some 
 new idea, and every fresh idea has its appropriate associ- 
 ation with some line or mark upon the board ; — the sketch 
 goes on, — it hecoraes more and more finished; — the 
 fekeleton becomes lined with sinews, then clothed with 
 flesh and blood; — every fresh step towards completion 
 excites new interest in the minds cf the boys, — they 
 wonder how a few jottings can call up the idea of a 
 mountain range, or how a winding line can call up the 
 idea of the course of the sparkling river, or how the lit- 
 tle mark put for the mountain city should awaken, in 
 their imaginations, the sound of the flip flap, flap flip, of 
 watei- mills, and the busy hum of industry; they wonder, 
 but they know not that the visible picture which their 
 master has drawn, with his chalk, would be dull and 
 lifeless without the living moral picture with which it is 
 associated. Such a lesson is complete in its parts and 
 perfect as a whole. It is a complete exemplification of 
 what has been called the constructive method of teaching. 
 Map-drawing is an excellent means of teaching geog- 
 raphy. This exercise, «s we before observed, should be 
 Bet apart for home lessons. 
 
 Drawing. 
 
 Collective teaching, combined with the system of home 
 studies, is best adapted for giving lessons on this im- 
 portant branch of school education. As this truly 
 useful branch of knowledge does not appear to have re- 
 ceived that amount of attention, in our schools generally, 
 which its utility demands, we shall enter more fully into 
 
DEAWING. 299 
 
 the details of the method by which it should be taught 
 in our elementary schools. 
 
 1 The teacher should j^rst explain the elements of form. 
 
 Drawing, like all other branches of instruction, has its 
 simple elementary principles; these principles should be 
 learnt by the pupil before he can be expected to make 
 any satisfactory progress. 
 
 All drawing must be based upon a knowledge of the 
 elements of form. Before a boy can draw a line correctly 
 he should know something about the nature of that line.. 
 
 All forms, whether in nature or art, may be reduced 
 to a few geometrical elements. 
 
 Straight lines should be copied of various lengths 
 and positions, and next in order should follow the various 
 geometrical figures formed by straight lines. 
 
 The CIRCLE is the simplest and most perfect of all 
 CURVED lines; it, in fact, forms the standard by which 
 we judge of the relative degree of curvature of the 
 various portions of any other curved line. To draw a 
 circle by the hand requires some skill; and the acquisi- 
 tion is well deserving the trouble. Curves of contrary 
 flexure, that is, curves which are convex at one part and 
 concave at another, have been called the lines of beauty. 
 Examples relating to the circle, with various curved 
 figures more or less depending upon it, should be given 
 to the pupils. 
 
 These elements of form constitute the alphabet of 
 DRAWING. Ko satisfactory progress can be made in 
 drawinguntii the pupilhas become thoroughly acquainted 
 with these forms. You may as well attempt to teach a 
 boy to read before he is acquainted with his alphabet, as 
 give him an axe, or any such object, to draw before he 
 is made acquainted with the different kinds of lines found 
 in its outline. 
 
 In this way drawing is made a useful instrument of a 
 higher kind of instruction ; for the pupil is insensibly, 
 and at the same time pleasantly, made acquainted with 
 the names and properties of geometrical figures. Why 
 should the boy who is supposed to be skilful enough %o 
 
300 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 draw a chair or a lookinor-glass, remain ignorant of the 
 names of the geometrical elements of form? A child of 
 five years of age readily learns the names and understands 
 the construction of the most useful geometrical figures; 
 and not only so, but he really feels a pleasure in learning 
 them. Now the best way of learning the names and 
 definitions of geometrical figures is actually to draw them. 
 Children feel as much pleasure in drawing beautiful geo- 
 metrical forms, as they do in imitating the drawings of 
 natural objects, more especially if they are taught to 
 draw these geometrical forms by method. 
 
 The teaching of the first facts of sjeometry ought to be 
 considered as one of the most important ends which is to 
 be attained by an elementary course of drawing lessons. 
 It is not practicable, and, indeed, it is not desirable if it 
 Mere practicable, to teach drawing without embracing a 
 certain amount of geometrical knowledge. 
 
 The pleasure of success is the best incentive to the 
 pupil in learning to draw; but if the exercises are too 
 difficult for him, he will give up in despair, believing 
 that he has no genius for drawing. A teacher gives a 
 boy as a first lesson, a drawing of an Ass to copy; — 
 the boy labors earnestly at his task, for he really would 
 like to draw a donkey, but notwithstanding his repeated 
 efforts, he cannot decidedly say whether his drawing is 
 more like a horse than it is like a donkey. That "boy 
 should first learn the alphabet of drawing — the leading 
 elements of forms— before he attempts to copy such 
 difficult pictures. 
 
 2. The teacher should explain the various Urns of construction 
 necessary for drawing a figure. 
 
 In these lines of construclion we bring principles to 
 aid the eye and the hand. The facility and accuracy 
 with which an artist will copy any drawing depends not 
 more upon his skilful command of the pencil, than upon 
 the method which he adopts, unconsciously it may be, in 
 determining the leading points of the outline of the 
 <lrawing. The figure or model to be drawn should be 
 
inixwiSG. 301 
 
 firist examined as a whole, and then the leading points as 
 well as the general outline of the drawing should be laid 
 down, before any of the minute or subordinate parts are 
 attempted. All beautiful figures have symmetry; and, 
 therefore, in constructing such figures, there may always 
 be found some geometrical forms which will aid us in 
 the construction. The habit of constructing figures in 
 this way, besides serving the end for which it is directly 
 intended, tends very much to improve the observing and 
 reasoning powers of the pupil ; it insensibly and gradually 
 instils into the young mind a knowledge of geometrical 
 principles, and lays the foundation of a more demonstra- 
 tive course of geometry. Let us take a few illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 A pupil having to draw an octagon for the first time 
 would scarcely know how to begin it; but a glance at the 
 teacher's lines of construction should give him the idea 
 of a method which will enable him to draw the figure 
 with facility and precision. 
 
 Fewpersons, even amongst artists, can draw a perfect 
 ellipse by the hand; but by attending to a few simple 
 principles of construction it becomes easy even to a pupil. 
 
 All points and lines of construction should be drawn 
 faintly, in order that they may be readily erased, and 
 that they may be readily distinguished from the real lines 
 of the drawing. For various illustrations of the methods 
 of construction, the reader may consult the writer's work 
 on Drawing. 
 
 3. The teacher should explain the manner of using the pencil or 
 crayon. 
 
 The drawing pencil, or crayon, as the case may be, 
 should be held in the same manner as the common 
 writing pen. In order to give freedom of motion to the 
 hand, the pupil should be accustomed to hold the pencil 
 loosely, with the first two fingers and the thumb at some 
 distance from the point. Every line should be seen as it 
 is being drawn, and, in order to secure this, all lines 
 should be drawn from left to right, and from the top to 
 the bottom of the paper. As a general rule, lines should 
 
302 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 "be first sketched out faintly, and then any inaccuracies 
 can be corrected as the line is being finished off. The 
 beginning and the end of a line should be fixed before the 
 pupil commences to draw it. Certain intermediate points 
 should also be fixed before the whole line is attempted to 
 be drawn. Great precision cannot be expected from 
 young persons at first, nor should they be required to 
 dwell too long upon any particular drawing at this early 
 stage of their instruction; the patience of a child should 
 never be worn out by a fastidious regard to what ia 
 called accuracy of finish. The fact is, there is a want 
 of flexibility in the muscles of the hand of young chil- 
 dren, w^hich time and nature only can fully remedy. 
 
 4. Proper drawing instruments and materials should he provided 
 
 for the pupils. 
 
 The pupils should be provided with slates, drawing- 
 books, or drawing-paper. If slates are used, the pupil 
 should draw with a long, soft slate-pencil. Black-lead 
 pencils, as well as common slate-pencils, if used in 
 drawing, should be well-pointed and of sufficient length 
 to be used with freedom. If crayons are adopted, they 
 should be of different degrees of hardness, and fixed in 
 a port-crayon, one at each end. Some teachers may 
 prefer pen-and-ink drawings; this mode of drawing is 
 exceedingly useful and convenient for schools; in this 
 case, the drawings may be first traced with black-lead 
 pencil, and then afterwards completed with the pen and 
 ink. Each pupil should be provided with a copy of 
 some drawing exercises*, so that he may, at certain 
 periods, go on with his work w^ithout the constant su- 
 pervision of the master. 
 
 5. The pupils should then draw the outlines of familiar objects. 
 After the pupil has been made acquainted with the 
 
 * See Tate's ** Drawing-Book for Little Boys and Girls," con- 
 taining upwards of one hundred and thirty drawing exercises. 
 Price Is. 6d. Longman & Co. 
 
DRAWING. 305 
 
 leading elements of form, he will find much interest 
 in tracing the outlines of familiar objects. Outline 
 drawings, it will be observed, are not really representa- 
 tions of the objects, for they want the touches of light 
 and shade, as well as some other artistic artifices, re- 
 quisite for forming a true picture. Notwithstanding 
 this, the drawings are sufficiently like the objects which 
 they are intended to represent, so as to interest the 
 child in the resemblance. The pupil should first copy 
 from the drawing of the object, and then he should have 
 the object itself placed directly before him to be drawn 
 in outline. The master should carefully explain to his 
 pupils the different geometrical forms to which the 
 various parts of the outline drawing may be referred. 
 
 6. The teacher should explain the method of drawing a figure on 
 the blackboard. 
 
 The teacher should construct the figure (which his 
 pupils are about to draw) on the blackboard, on an 
 ENLARGED SCALE. All the lines of construction should 
 be explained by him as he draws them, and all the pupils 
 should go along with him, drawing line after line as 
 their master proceeds with his exposition. After such 
 explanations, the master may leave his pupils for a time 
 to copy the drawing from their sheets with more care 
 and exactness. The impetus wdtich the master thus 
 gives to his class will be sufficient to render it self-acting 
 for [the time which he may require to bestow on the 
 other classes in the school. 
 
 When a model is to be drawn, it should be placed 
 before the pupils in a position similiar to that in which it 
 is given in the drawing copy: the master should then 
 show the pupils how and why he draws the different lines 
 in his representation. 
 
 There are a few important points upon which children 
 require to be especially guided. In drawing vertical 
 lines, they are very liable to make the lines lean in the 
 same direction as the lines of ordinary writing. 
 Children should constantly have their attention directed 
 to the proportion of the parts of a figure; as, for ex- 
 
304 reiLOSopiiY oy kdi: cation. 
 
 ample, a line in a drawing may be exactly the same 
 length as another line, or it may be twice or thrice the 
 length. The position of lines should be carefully noted; 
 as, for example, one line may be perpendicular to another 
 line; or a line may be drawn exactly between the vertical 
 and the hoiizontal; or a line may rise to the left of the 
 horizontal; and so on. They are very apt to draw a 
 line before its exact position has been realized in their 
 own minds. Children, if left to themselves, will often 
 begin with some unimportant detail, and thus go on 
 drawing without method; here the master should show 
 the child what lines to begin with, how to get a good 
 general outline, and then how the minute parts should be 
 finished off. 
 
 7. The teacher should cai'efulli/ inspect the ivorh done hy 
 
 the pupih. ^ 
 
 While the pupils are at work, the master should move 
 rapidly amongst them, giving hints to some, correcting 
 the errors of others, and in all cases showing them how 
 they should do it, rather than actually doing it for them. 
 A few minutes at the close of each lesson should be 
 devoted to the examination of the slates or books of the 
 pupils. The drawings done at home should also be 
 carefully examined by the master. 
 
 8. The master should give his pupih drawing copies for 
 
 home exercises. 
 
 Our present systems of elementary education seem to 
 make too little provision for home instruction. Drawing 
 at home is admirably adapted for supplying the place of 
 evening tasks, which were once given in the form of 
 columns of spelling, or paragraphs of geography. Draw- 
 ing is rather an amusement than a task, and children 
 need very little persuasion to induce them to devote some 
 portion of their leisure time to this delightful study. In 
 home studies especially, childi'en like to show some 
 evidence of their application, with the view of com- 
 paring the work of one week with that of another. 
 
DRAWING. 305 
 
 Exercises on drawiDg, as we have already observed, are 
 well calculated to effect this end. 
 
 9. The more advanced pupils should draw the figures upon an 
 
 enlarged scale. 
 
 Young persons can draw small figures much more easily 
 than they can draw large ones. Their eye more readily 
 catches tlie proportions of small figures than of large 
 ones; and their hand is better able to draw short lines 
 than long ones. Children have a more perfect perception 
 of an object of moderate size than they have of a large 
 object; the eye takes in all the parts of the object more 
 readily in the former case than in the latter case, and 
 thus a more perfect picture is formed upon the retina. 
 Hence it is in accordance with nature that a young per- 
 son should first copy moderate-sized drawings before he 
 attempts to draw upon a large scale. But after he has 
 drawn the figures upon a small scale, he should then 
 draw them upon a scale of twice, thrice, or even four 
 times the size. The drawdng of figures on a large scale 
 gives freedom and power to the hand, and precision to 
 the judgment. But, besides this, the drawing of figures 
 on different scales forms one of the most useful lessons 
 in practical mathematics. If a child is required to draw 
 a figure on double the scale of any given figure, he sees 
 that if he takes the base of his drawing double the 
 length of the base of the original figure, then all the 
 parts of his figure will be respectively double the corre- 
 sponding parts of the original figure; and so on to other 
 cases: in this way he will draw a figure of the same 
 form as the original, the only difference between the 
 two figures being that one is draw-n upon a larger scale 
 than the other. 
 
 10. After drawing from, copy^ the pupils should draw from 
 
 familiar objects. 
 
 Copying is the first step in drawing. It is one of the 
 easiest acts of imitation. When a pupil makes a copy 
 of a drawing, he merely transfers the lines on one sheet 
 
S06 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 of paper to anotlier; but in this exercise of the faculty 
 of imitation, some reasoning and judgment are involved, 
 especially if the pupil is called upon to use certain arti- 
 fices of construction. To give a representation of a 
 natural object, just as it appears to us, is much more 
 difficult than to make a copy of a drawing already made 
 of the object. The lines which we draw in this case are 
 not the exact counterparts of the corresponding lines in 
 the object, but merely representations of them, drawn so 
 as to convey to the organs of perception an impression 
 of the object. In order to understand how this eifect is 
 produced, we must be acquainted with the law^s of vision, 
 with the effects of light and shade, and with certain 
 principles of perspective relating to the foreshortening 
 of lines, &c. In a course of elementary instruction in 
 drawing, therefore, the pupil should first exercise his eye 
 and hand in the copying oi certain geometrical forms and 
 simple drawings of natural objects, before he commences 
 drawing from actual objects. It is, moreover, necessary 
 that the pupil should first copy the drawing of a natural 
 object, before he proceeds to give a representation of it 
 as it w^ould appear to him when placed before him. 
 While the pupil is thus acquiring steadiness of hand and 
 accuracy of eye, he is at the same time gradually becom- 
 ing acquainted with the art of perspective, or the true 
 mode of representing solid figures on a flat surface. In 
 order that the drawing may be of service to the pupil, 
 the object should be placed before him nearly in the 
 same position as that in which it is represented in the 
 drawing. A further change of view will sufficiently task 
 the skill of the pupil. The master should be at some 
 pains to show the coincidence of the lines of the represen- 
 tation with the actual appearance. He should show them, 
 for example, why all the vertical lines in the object are 
 also draw^n vertical in the picture; why certain horizontal 
 lines in the object are drawn rising or falling, as the case 
 may be, from the horizontal line in the picture; why cer- 
 tain lines in the object are drawn much shorter in the 
 picture than they really are in the object; and so on,as ex- 
 plained in the wa-iter's work on •' Drawing for Schools." 
 
DRAWING. 307 
 
 The best stand for tbe drawing models is a common 
 table. They may be raised, if necessary, by placing 
 them on a box or any rectangular object. 
 
 11. Advantages of small drawings for children. 
 
 Some teachers suspend large drawings before their class 
 to be copied. This plan is in many respects highly eligible 
 for simultaneous instruction when the pupils can be 
 placed directly in front of the drawing; but wheii this 
 cannot be done, the figure will appear foreshortened and 
 distorted to those pupils on each side of it. It should 
 also be observed, that drawing from a large figure is not 
 strictly an act of imitation, for the copy made by the pupil 
 is what the figure would appear to be, supposing it placed 
 at the same distance from the eye as the copy. Besides, 
 these very large figures are not adapted for home in- 
 struction. Now, when each pupil is provided with a 
 drawing, he is able to place it directly before him at the 
 same distance from his eye as the copy which he is about 
 to make; hence he finds it more easy to copy a small 
 drawing so placed than to copy a large drawing suspended 
 at a distance from his eye. But the greatest, advantage 
 of small dra wrings is that they may be taken home by the 
 pupils, and copied in their leisure hours. 
 
 Chalk drawings, executed however roughly by 
 THE master on THE BLACKBOARD, are really much more 
 efficient means of instruction than the suspending of large 
 drawing sheets before the class. 
 
 12. The pupils should he taught to draw from Models, after 
 the Method of Bupuis. 
 
 A boy may be able to make excellent copies of draw- 
 ings or pictures, without being able to give anything like 
 a tolerable representation of the simplest natural object; 
 this requires distinct cultivation. Model drawing is the 
 best way of teaching beginners to draw from nature. 
 
 The following are some of the advantages of teaching 
 drawing from models: — 
 
 (1.) Natural objects are generally too difficult for the 
 
308 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 learuer to begin with; whereas tlie models can be con- 
 structed according to a progressive order of difficulty. 
 
 (2.) The models are always under our control; they 
 may be readily placed at any distance from the pupil, or 
 in any desirable position. 
 
 (3.) They maybe made to represent various geometrical 
 forms, and owing to this nniformity of shape, the draw- 
 ings taken from one set of models may be compared with 
 those taken from another set. 
 
 (4.) The models may be used in combination with one 
 another, and thus the different parts of a complex figure 
 may be first drawn separately before they are drawn in 
 combination. 
 
 (5.) The system of model drawling is especially calcu- 
 lated 10 exercise and develop the powers of observation 
 and comparison, and forms the best introduction to a 
 system of mathematical perspective. 
 
 The models, w^hich the pupils are required to draw, 
 are made of wood or some other light material; and they 
 are placed in a proper position before the pupil, in order 
 to be drawn by him, on paper, or on a common slate. He 
 is taught certain easy processes, by which he is enabled 
 to find out the apparent size and shape of the various 
 parts of the model, so as to give its true representation 
 on paper. 
 
 The method of drawing from models was invented by 
 M. Dupuis. Its grand feature consists in making per- 
 spective drawing a matter of observation on the part of 
 the pupil, rather than a subject of mathematical reason- 
 ing. The principles, practice, and advantages of the 
 method are fully explained in the author's work on 
 "Drawing for Schools." 
 
 Weiting. 
 
 This branch of education may be thoroughly taught, 
 in a common school, on the collective system. In con- 
 ducting such lessons as writing, it is desirable that the 
 master should exercise his classes, in all their movements, 
 in habits of military precision and promptitude. In order 
 
WRITING. — GEOMETRY. 309 
 
 to follow out the collective system in relation to this 
 subject, the writing to be copied should be written by the 
 master on the blackboard, or large sheets containing 
 copies should be suspended before the class. After 
 the copy books and pens have been distributed, the master 
 gives the order, — ''open copybooks;" then all the pupils 
 in the class must obey the order at the same moment: 
 the master may next say, — "take up pens;" then all the 
 pupils must in like manner, promptly and exactly obey 
 the order: he may next say, — "prepare to write;" every 
 boy, in this case, must place his copy book and his own 
 body in the proper position for writing, this position 
 having been previously explained by the master; he may 
 now say, — "begin writing;" and all the class commence 
 their work at the same moment. Similiar orders may be 
 given when the pupils have finished the first line. The 
 master must then rapidly inspect the copy books, giving 
 a hint to each pupil as he passes him, and afterwards he 
 will make some more enlarged remarks upon the writing, 
 addressed to the whole class, as itgenerally happens that 
 the faults of one boy are common to the whole class. 
 We do not mean to say that an intelligent teacher will 
 slavishly follow this plan, or indeed any other plan that 
 might be proposed — at the same time it should be ob- 
 served, that the plan here given must contain the leading 
 elements of every efficient plan which might be devised. 
 Every teacher will, of course, adapt the details of a plan 
 to suit his peculiar tastes and habits of thought. 
 
 Mulhauser's method of writing seems to be well 
 adapted for giving the first elementary lessons in writing; 
 but the method should not be carried beyond its legiti- 
 mate limits. In order to give a finish to writing, no 
 method should supersede that of carefully prepared copy- 
 heads, such as those given by Butterwortb, Foster, Story, 
 and others. 
 
 Practical Geometry and Mensuration. 
 The pupils should be taught these subjects after the 
 collective system of teaching, followed up by individual 
 exercises. Each pupil in the class should be provided 
 
310 
 
 riiiLosoPHY OF education;. 
 
 with a pair of compasses, a ruler, and if possible a scale, 
 having a diagonal scale of equal parts on one side, and a 
 protractor on the other, and a little triangular square (see 
 the author's GeouQetry and Mensuration). The master 
 should be provided with a large pair of wooden compasses, 
 having a chalk holder at the extremity of one of its legs; 
 a long ruler; a large wooden protractor, which need not 
 be very exactly made, and a large X square. He should 
 construct his iigures without the aid of any other instru- 
 ments. 
 
 The master should draw the geometrical problem on 
 the blackboard on a large scale, taking care to excite the 
 attention of the pupils in the class, time after time, by 
 putting various suggestive questions to them, such as we 
 have given in connection with the teaching of drawing, 
 &c. 
 
 Familiar and common-sense expositions (without as- 
 piring to strictness of demonstration) should be given 
 relative to the methods of construction. In the same 
 manner, the leading problems of mensuration should be 
 taught. 
 
 A lesson on Geometry. Subject — A perpendicular, a 
 right angle. IllHstrative method. From the concrete 
 to the abstract. 
 
 When a man stands upright, he stands perpendicular 
 to the floor. The floor of this room is level or hori- 
 zontal; the wall of the room is vertical^ and stands per- 
 
 HOIUZONTAL, HJSK. 
 
 pendicular to the level /loor. The surface of still water 
 is level or horizontal; a plummet lines hangs vertically; 
 
GEOMETRY AND MENSURATION. 
 
 311 
 
 the plummet line is perpend icular to the surface of the 
 water. It will be seen that the plummet line neither 
 inclines to the one side nor to the other, that is to say, 
 the openings or angles which it forms with the hori- 
 zontal line^ on each side, are equal to each other. 
 
 Is the line o d perpendicular to a b ? To which side 
 does it incline ? On which side does it form the greater 
 angle or opening ? To which side does c e incline ? 
 On which side does ce make the greater angle? 
 Whether does c d or c e approach nearer to the perpen- 
 dicular position ? To which side does the line o f incline? 
 To neither the one side nor the other. Then the angles 
 on each side are e>iual to each other, and they are called 
 right angles. 
 
 A lesson on Practical Geometry. Subject — To erect a 
 perpendicular. Mixed method. Illustrative, construc- 
 tive, &c. 
 
 I want to show you how to draw one line perpen- 
 dicular to another. From the given point, or mark, d, 
 in the straight line a b, I want to erect a perpendicular, 
 that is, a line which will neither incline to the one side 
 nor to the other. 
 
 On each side of d, I take d f, of the same length as d 
 E. (The teacher is supposed to construct the figure as 
 
 he describes it.) I open the legs of my compasses so 
 that the opening between the points shall be greater 
 than D e or D f; I place one point of my compasses on 
 
312 ' PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 the mark ov point e, and sweep a portion of a circle; I 
 now place tbe point of the compasses on the mark or point 
 F, and sweep a portion of another circle, cutting the 
 former in o. point which we shall call c; I join d and c, 
 and the line d c will be perpendicular to the line a b. 
 
 I shall now explain to you why this mode of construC' 
 tion causes c d to be perpendicular to ab. 
 
 There are two things in the construction which cause 
 the line d c to be perpendicular to a b: First, d e is 
 of the same length as d f; second, the two circles were 
 swept with the same radius or opening of the compasses. 
 These two things cause the point c to lie directly over, 
 ov perpendicularly oxQY thQ point D. If the second radius 
 or opening of the compasses be taken less than the first 
 
 opening (here the teacher must describe the figure), 
 how will the line c d be inclined ? It will be inclined 
 towards the side f. Why ? For the point where the 
 two circles cut each other must lie nearer to p than to e. 
 But when the openings of the compasses are the same, 
 the point wliere the circles cut each other lies neither more 
 towards f than towards e, and therefore the line d c is 
 equally inclined to a b, that is to say, d c is perpendicular 
 
 to A B. 
 
 Observations . Although this may not be what is 
 called a logical demonstration, yet it most certainly 
 gives the pupil a sufficient reason for concluding that 
 the line c d is perpendicular to a b. It is further 
 worthy of observation, that sucli familiar expositions 
 prepare the mind of the pupil for following more strictly 
 logical demonstrations. I am well aware that some 
 persons are disposed to say that the shortest course is 
 to carry the pupil through Euclid's Elements ; but, after 
 
ALGEBRA. 813 
 
 the experience of a quarter of a century as a mathe- 
 matical lecturer, I have no hesitation in saying that it is 
 quite impracticable to teach young persons the elements 
 of Euclid until they have gone over some initiatory course 
 of demonstrative geometry, by which the mind of the 
 pupil is led to pass from the concrete to the abstract. It 
 is true that this initiatory process of demonstration is 
 always lengthy ; but it acts like a mechanical power^ for 
 what we lose in time we gain in force. 
 
 Algebra. 
 
 This subject should be taught by a demonstrative 
 method, — proceeding from the concrete to the abstract. 
 The leading simple elementary operations of quantities 
 should be first taught in connection with the solution of 
 problems. 
 
 A lesson on Algebra. Subject — Equations, &c. 
 
 ProUem. A man bought a cow and a horse for 28?.; 
 now the horse cost twice as much as the cow and 4tl. 
 more : what did he pay for the cow ? 
 
 Here the problem tells us that the value of the cow 
 and the horse equals twenty-eight pounds. I may thea 
 write this down in the form of an equation, thus — 
 
 one cow -\- one horse = 28^. 
 
 Now I must put the horse into cows. What does the 
 question tell us about the value of the horse ? That a 
 horse is worth two cows and 4/. more. Then I may 
 write down- 
 one horse — 2 cows -{- 41. 
 
 We shall now write down, or substitute^ this value of 
 the horse in the first equation; thus, 
 
 one cow + 3 cows -\- U. — 28^. 
 
 What have I here substituted for one horse ? 
 Putting the cows together, we have, 
 
 3 cows + U. - 28^. 
 
 If I take away the 4Z. from the left side of this oqua- 
 
314 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 tion, what must I take away from the other side to keep 
 up the equality ? Let us do this, — then, 
 
 3 cows = 24:1., 
 . •. one cow = i of 24,1. = 8^. 
 
 that is to say, the value of the cow is 8/. 
 
 Or thus, more symholically. Proceeding as before, we 
 Lave, 
 
 one cow + one horse = 2QI. 
 
 Let us, for the sake of convenience, put x for the value 
 of the cow in pounds, that is, let 
 
 one cow = x, 
 but one horse = 2 cows -f 4?., 
 . •. one horse = 2x-\- 4J,. 
 
 Why do I put 2x for the value of " 2 cows"? Be- 
 cause X pounds is the value of one cow, and therefore 2 x 
 pounds will be the value of two cows. 
 
 Now let us put these values for the cow and the horse 
 in our first equation. First writing x for the cow and 2 x 
 4" 4/. for the horse, we get, 
 
 xJ^2x-{-4:l. =2Sl., 
 .'. 3 0^4-4;. =28Z. 
 
 What have I done here ? Exactly, an x added to 2 a: 
 will make 3 x, in the same manner as one cow added to 
 two cows will make three cows. 
 
 In order to leave nothing but ^'s on the left side of 
 this equation, what must I do ? 
 
 .'. 3a; = 24?., 
 
 .-. x = ^otm. =si., 
 
 that is to say, the value of the cow is 8^. 
 
 Mechanical and Physical Science. 
 
 All our instructions in these sciences should be based 
 on observation and experiment. The methods of inter- 
 rogation and ellipses are best adapted for giving familiar 
 lectures on these subjects. 
 
 A lesson on Chemistry. Subject — To distinguish iron 
 
CHEMISTRY. 315 
 
 from copper. Mixed method. Expeiimeiital, interrog- 
 ative, elliptical, &c. 
 
 Properties derived from observation. What are 
 the names of these metals ? The one is called iron^ the 
 other copper. The color of the copper is reddish-yellow , 
 that of the iron dark grey. They have some properties 
 in common. They both have a peculiar glitter or lustre, 
 called the melallio lustre^ or the lustre common to all 
 metals. Polished wood has a lustre, but it is not the 
 metallic lustre. I can readily scratch the copper with my 
 knife, but I cannot so easily scratch the iron; what 
 inference do you draw from this ? Copper is softer than 
 iron. They may be both hammered out, — they are both 
 malleable. It takes a very intense heat to melt them, — 
 they are not easily melted or fused. They are both drawn 
 out into wires, — they are both ductile. 
 
 Uses. Name the uses of iron. Xame the uses of 
 copper. On what properties do these uses depend ? 
 
 Ores of iron and copper. This is a specimen of 
 iron ore, that of copper ore; the one is called iron pyrites, 
 the other copper pyrites; the one is called sulphuret of 
 iron, being composed of sulphur and iron, the other is 
 called sulphuret of copper, being composed of sulphur 
 and copper. Compare their colors! The copper ore has 
 the deeper yellow color. I can scratch the copper ore 
 with my knife, but I cannot scratch the iron ore, — the 
 copper ore is softer than the iron ore. 
 
 Chemical properties or tests. Here is a solution 
 of sulphate of copper. What is its color? what i« its 
 composition? Here is a solution of iron. What is its 
 color, &c.? 
 
 Here are two glasses,— to the first I add a little of 
 the solution of the sulphate of iron, and to the other a 
 little of the sulphate of copper. To these I add a few 
 drops of the tincture of nut galls, — the first becomes 
 llach, — the second is slightly discolored. 
 
 Here are two glasses' containing pure water,— to the 
 first I add a few drops of sulphate of iron, and to the 
 second a few drops of sulphate of copper. To these I first 
 add a drop of ammonia, — a light precipitate is formed 
 
316 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 in both glasses. What are these precipitates? Now 
 80 far we have not arrived at any decided test as to 
 the nature of the two substances; but I now add to 
 each a larger quantity of ammonia, —in the first glass 
 the precipitate is redissohed^ and a beautiful deep him 
 color is formed, — in the second glass the precipitate 
 remains unchanged. And so on. 
 
 Natueal History.* 
 
 Natural History, as a branch of Education, has been 
 almost entirely neglected in our Schools, although it 
 treats of objects with which we come daily and hourly 
 into contact, throughout the whole course of our lives. 
 Much time is devoted to subjects which have but a remote 
 and indirect bearing on the pupil's future career: yet 
 how few there are who come out of the Elementary, or 
 even Grammar School, with the knowledge of the name 
 and history of the little plant which grows at the side of 
 the jDlay-ground, or of the rock which appears in the 
 iieis^hboring valley. 
 
 For the neglect of Natural History in our Schools, 
 Training Colleges are not a little to blame, for they have 
 rarely given it an adequate place in their curriculum; 
 and the consequence has been that few teachers have ac- 
 quired a knowledge of the subject, or become imbued 
 with a love of Natural History pursuits. The techni- 
 calities of the science have proved a stumbhng block to 
 many, who have not enjoyed the advantages of special 
 collegiate instruction. But an intelligent teacher need 
 not be scared away by such difficulties, for they may be 
 as easily surmounted as the preliminary obstacles which 
 bar the entrance into mathematics or classics. Indeed, 
 we know no class of men for whom Natural History 
 studies are more fitted than for teachers. Most of them 
 have sufficient leisure for these pursuits, which have this 
 peculiar advantage, that while they improve the mind 
 they give health to the body. What more benefical to 
 
 *Coinrauaicated by the author's brother, Mr, Geo. Tate, F. G. S. 
 
:natural histoky. 317 
 
 the teacher, than to escape from the crowded school- 
 room, and to wander over green fields and wild moors, 
 through shady forests, or along the solitary shore, and to 
 examine, as he passes, the lovely flower, blushing beneath 
 the hedge; the rock forming the picturesque cliff; the 
 insects flitting in the air; or the finny tribes sporting in 
 the waters! 
 
 The introduction of Natural History as a promiuent 
 subject of school instruction would, we are persuaded, 
 not only impart valuable knowledge, but also improve 
 the taste of the pupils, and furnish them with healthful 
 sources of enjoyment. It would be an efficient means of 
 mental training, well suited to children; for it would 
 teach how to observe, to note qualities and forms, to mark 
 agreements and differences, and how to describe natural 
 objects in precise and distinctive language. The higher 
 faculties of the mind are also called into exercise, in dis- 
 covering the relations which the varied productions of 
 nature have to each other, and in grouping and classify- 
 ing them according to these relations. 
 
 There is probably no occupation which might not be 
 more or less benefitted by a knowledge of ISl atural History ; 
 it has a direct bearing on medicine, agriculture, garden- 
 ing, mining, and, indeed, most mechanical employments; 
 but to the emigrant — and in these days many of our 
 fellow-countrymen seek in distant colonies a more prof- 
 itable field of labor than they can find in their native 
 land — it is of incalculable value. Through ignorance of 
 minerals, quantities of Iron Pyrites, which have the 
 yellow, glittering aspect of the noble metal, but which 
 are comparatively worthless, have been sent from dis- 
 tant lands to England, under the belief that they con- 
 tained gold. Not long ago, a California adventurer 
 picked up a bright transparent crystal, which he imag- 
 ined was a diamond, and for which he refused 200/.; he 
 brought it to England, and learned that it was worth- 
 less. A little knowledge of Mineralogy, which might 
 have been given in an Elementary School, would have 
 taught him that this crystal, which he prized so highly, 
 was only a six-sided prism of quartz, and that it could 
 
S18 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 not be a diamond, since tliis valnable gem never assumes 
 that form. 
 
 It is no slight recommendation of Natural History, 
 that the materials for its study are inexhaustible, and 
 that they lie in every man's path. Hence it is, that he 
 who has received elementary instruction in this depart- 
 ment of science is ever brought into connection with the 
 beautiful, the wonderful and the perfect; he can inter- 
 rogate Nature, and understand her responses; he is sur- 
 rounded with familiar friends — though solitary, he is 
 never alone — rocks, plants and animals are to him min- 
 istering spirits, full of hidden meanings, and ready to 
 contribute to his improvement and happiness. 
 
 To children, Natural History can be most efficiently 
 taught out of doors. Here, if anywhere, pleasure may 
 be combined with instruction. For this purpose, rambles 
 should be taken into the country pretty frequently, 
 when the weather is favorable. Let Botany, for exam- 
 ple, be the subject studied: the teacher should visit with 
 his pupils some pleasant spot where the wild flowers 
 grow in profusion; the pupils should gather these plants, 
 and the teacher, seated, it may be, on a grassy hillock, 
 or on a jutting rock, should, making use of the materials 
 collected, explain their character, structure and relations. 
 Nor will the intelligent teacher neglect to link with 
 direct instruction the legends and the historical or re- 
 markable events of the district, so as to invest the nat- 
 ural objects with local associations, giving a deeper in- 
 terest to his subject. The rector of an academy in Scot- 
 land, who is an accomplished Entomologist, acts the 
 peripatetic philosopher with his pupils, and from his 
 school several good naturalists have a:one forth; and we 
 read, not long ago, an account of a National School in 
 the south of England, where the children had made no 
 inconsiderable progress in Botany. We are persuaded 
 that Natural History could be taught to children even 
 from an early age, without materially interfering with 
 the time devoted to other branches; and we may here- 
 after enter into more practical details on the subject. 
 In the meantime, we would ask any intelligent teacher 
 
NATURAL HISTORY. 319 
 
 — would not the adoption of some such plan as we pro- 
 pose have a healthful influence both on himself and his 
 pupils ? Would it not relieve the tedium of the ordi- 
 nary school routine, carried out as it is for the most part 
 in confined apartments; and while opening out new 
 sources of instruction and enjoyment, would it not lay 
 the foundation of much future happiness ? Let him 
 fairly attempt to work out our suggestion, and we are 
 sure of a satisfactory result. 
 
320 rmLOSOPHY of edlcatio^'. 
 
 Fart V. 
 ON SCITCOL 0EGAN3ZAT10N AND DISCIPLINE. 
 
 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. 
 
 School orgaDizatioii has respect to all those mechanical 
 arrangcmentg, appliances, and artifices, whereby the 
 "business of instruction may be facilitated and promoted. 
 The following subjects deserve especial attention: — 
 
 L ScHOOL-nriLDiKGS ai^d Fiitixgs. 
 
 The best form of a schoolroom is that of an oblong. It 
 should be fitted up with parallel rows of desks, in the 
 form of a galler}^, for the different classes; and. a raised 
 platform should be erected at one end, from which the 
 master can overlook the whole school. The desks should 
 be arranged into five or six divisions, to suit the number 
 of classes in the school. The room should contain at 
 least Y square feet of area for each pupil to be accom- 
 modated; and the space of 18 inches should be allowed, 
 for each boy on the forms. The class divisions should 
 be about 9 feet in length, and may contain from three to 
 five rows of parallel desks. Every good school should 
 have a separate room called a class-room^ fitted up with 
 a gallery having parallel desks, for the purpose of 
 enabling the master to give instruction to his pupil- 
 teachers, and occasional special lessons or lectures to the 
 advanced pupils of the school. This class-room should 
 be fitted up with an open fire-place, a large black-board, 
 a lecture table, and a case for holding experimental and 
 other kinds of school apparatus. 
 
 The schoolroom should be well warmed and thoroughly 
 
SCIIOOL-BUILDINGS ANI> FITTINGS. 321 
 
 ventilated. The most economical and efficient means of 
 warming and ventilating schoolrooms, are those stoves 
 which attain both of these objects at the same time. 
 There have been some excellent stoves of this kind in- 
 troduced into some of our large workshops, but we are 
 not aware that they have as yet been sufficiently em- 
 ploy; ed in our schools. 
 
 Some schoolrooms are divided into three equal portions, 
 the iirst containing space for the children to stand in 
 semicircular drafts; the second, seats with desks for 
 writing; and the third, a gallery for simultaneous in- 
 struction. But it appears to us that this triple division 
 interferes very much with the order, quiet, and discipline 
 of the school. A eeries of parallel desks, arranged in 
 the gallery form, and subdivided for the accommodation 
 of the different classes, under proper management, not 
 only answers all the ^^s^V^J/^ purposes of this triple di- 
 vision, but also secures the uniform and continuous action 
 of all the classes, without any of that noise and confusion 
 necessarily attendant upon the changes of position, &c., 
 connected with the standing drafts. 
 
 The schoolroom should be constructed so as to deaden, 
 as much as possible, the echo of the teachers' or the 
 children's voices; and the school should be in a quiet, 
 cheerful, and healthy neighborhood. The ground 
 should be thoroughly drained, and complete water closets 
 should be provided for the use of the children. A i^Iay- 
 ground should be attached to the schools, where the 
 children may amuse themselves with games and gymnastic 
 exercises, at the times set apart for that purpose; and 
 where also the boys should be daily exercised at drill. 
 
 'J'he best plans of schools have been given by Sir 
 James Kay Shuttleworth, in the Minutes of Council for 
 the years 1839, 1840, 1844, and 1847-8. Professor 
 Moseley's tripartite plan is admirably adapted to the 
 higher class of elementary schools. 
 
322 PHILOSOi'HV OF J^DL'OATIOIS. ,f - 1' 
 
 II. School Avpahatus. 
 
 The Black-Boaed should be supported on an easel in 
 front of the class. It should be gufficientl}^ large, with a 
 smooth black surface capable of receiving chalk marka. 
 All diagrams and expositions should be distinctly 
 sketched upon the blackboard with prepared chalk. The 
 teacher should be provided with a pointer, and a duster, 
 which should be in a damp state when used for rubbing 
 out the chalk marks. 
 
 The Text-Books, Maps, Diagrams, Models, AHiy 
 PiCTOEiAL Illustrations, should be in keeping witli 
 the master's peculiar system of instruction. 
 
 The School Library should contain books suited to 
 the attainments, capabilities, and future pursuits of the 
 pupils in the school. 
 
 The Experimental Apparatus sliould, at first, be of 
 the most simple and inexpensive description. It is better 
 'that a master should learn to use a little apparatus with 
 smartness and precision, than to be constantly handling 
 a great deal with awkwardness and indecision. It is 
 important to bear in mind, that reading alone will not 
 give a man the powder of manipulation. Let the teacher 
 begin with the simplest possible apparatus, and then go 
 on progressively until he is able to manipulate with 
 perfect instruments. 
 
 Ztst of apparatus for general use. 
 
 Map of the Vv^orld, of Europe, of England, of Palestine , 
 of the British Colonies, and a raised physical map of 
 England. 
 
 A terrestrial globe, blackboards for all the classes in 
 the school, slate pencils, black-lead pencils, pen -holders, 
 pencil-holders, earthenware inkwells, strings for slates, 
 prepared chalk, admission-book, class register books, 
 attendance and absence register, routines of lessons, 
 visitor's book, &c. 
 
classification. 323 
 
 Routines of Lessons, oe Time Tables. 
 
 Each class should have a separate routine of lessons, 
 adapted to the attainments and capabilities of the pupils 
 composing it. These routines should be suspended before 
 their respective classes, and the teacher should enter the 
 routine of his class in the fly-leaves left at the beginning 
 of his class register. The routines should be framed not 
 only vrith regard to the attainments of the respective 
 classes, but should also have a due regard to the harmoni- 
 ous operation of the vrhole school, and the proper alter- 
 nation of subjects, according to the principles which we 
 have explained in relation to school routines (see p. 109). 
 
 Classification. 
 
 Without classification, the collective system of instruc- 
 tion would be worse than useless. The first business of 
 the schoolmaster, therefore, is to throw his pupils into 
 classes, where the boys in each class shall have the same, 
 or as nearly as possible the same, attainments and capa- 
 bilities. The number of classes, in a school, -must de- 
 pend upon its size, as well as upon the differences of age 
 and attainments of the pupils. A very minute division 
 is neither desirable nor practicable. It is not at all 
 requisite, to secure efiicient instruction, that all the pu- 
 pils in a class should have exactly the same attainments; 
 for a good teacher can always adapt his instruction to 
 suit boys whose attainments do not differ widely from 
 each other. As a general rule, a large school may con- 
 tain about eight classes, and a school of an average size 
 about five. The pupils in each class should continue 
 there for every subject of study until promoted to the 
 next class. Under a proper system of management, the 
 subdivision of classes into drafts, for the purpose of at- 
 taining a more perfect classification, is rarely necessary, 
 and, in my opinion, should only be resorted to in special 
 cases. 
 
 Basis of classification. The proper basis of classifi- 
 cation, as we have already explained (see p. 106), should 
 
324 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 be the mental power and capabilities of tbe pupils. The 
 following method of classification is simple, practicable, 
 and sufficiently exact for all ordinary cases: — 
 
 First, arrange the pupils into three great divisions; 
 second, subdivide each division into two or more classes. 
 Thus, in a school of 120 boys, we should have, on an 
 average, 40 boys in each division, and 20 boys in each 
 class. 
 
 Tests on qualifications fok the thkee divisions. 
 Heading and general intelligence may be taken as the 
 best tests for fixing the division to w^hicb any child may 
 belong. Reading v^^ords of one or two syllables may be 
 taken as the qualification for the third or lowest division; 
 reading words of two and three syllables, or reading 
 simple sentences with intelligence, as the qualification 
 for the second division; and reading words of four or 
 any higher number of syllables, or reading the higher 
 class books with tolerable intelligence, as the qualifica- 
 tion for the first or highest division. 
 
 Tests or qualifications for the classes. In this 
 case arithmetic forms the best basis of classification. 
 Here a knowledge of principles, not less than mechanical 
 dexterity, should enter into our estimate of qualifications. 
 
 If the third division contains two classes, the lower class 
 may contain those children that have not commenced 
 slate arithmetic, or who have only commenced the sub- 
 ject of mental calculation; the higher class may contain 
 those children who have commenced slate arithmetic, or 
 who have made some progress in mental arithmetic. 
 
 If tbe second division contains two classes, tbe lower 
 class may contain those children that have not com- 
 pleted the four elementary rules; the higher class those 
 that have commenced the subject of reduction. 
 
 If thejirst division contains two classes, the lower class 
 may contain those boys who are capable of working 
 questions in the rule of three, without the use of frac- 
 tions; and the higher class those that are capable of 
 understanding fractions and arithmetical problems gen- 
 erally. 
 
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 325 
 
 The PuriL-TEACHEEs. 
 
 The pupil-teachers should always be selected for their 
 general intelligence, good conduct, and aptitude for 
 teaching. The number of pupil-teachers must, of course, 
 ilepend upon the size of the school; for a school of 120 
 boys, there should be at least four pupil-teachers. It is 
 also desirable that there should be a class of assistant 
 pupil-teachers, who maybe considered in a state of pro- 
 bation, or preparation, for the office of pupil-teacher. 
 These assistant pupil-teachers may have a draft of a 
 class given to them, for teaching certain subjects which 
 may require a greater subdivision of labor. The master 
 should constantly bear in mind that the organization 
 and efficiency of his school greatly depend upon the 
 training of his pupil-teachers. 
 
 SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 
 
 School discipline includes all those means and appli- 
 ances whereby the order and healthful action of a school 
 are maintained and promoted. 
 
 I. Oedee, &c. 
 
 Under this head may be classed, obedience, punctu- 
 ality, silence, cleanliness, politeness, and general good 
 conduct. It is quite unnecessary to explain in detail 
 how these matters of discij^line should be carried out in 
 a school. The following general principles are well 
 deserving the teacher's notice. 
 
 1. The teacher should endeavor to establish a principle of 
 limited self-government in his school. This will occasionally 
 relieve him of some of his most onerous duties; but 
 even this is the least important end which will be 
 gained by such a plan. The great end to be attained 
 by it, is to interest the pupils in the management, and 
 proper discipline of the school, — to identify them, as it 
 were, with the good name of the school, to have it said 
 that the order of the school is mainly due to their own 
 good sense and self-government. 
 
32(5 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 One of the most obvious plans for carrying out this 
 plan, is for the teacher to delegate (under supervision) 
 his authority, in relation to order, &c., to his pupil- 
 teachers. But the principle should not stop here: he 
 should endeavor to enlist the co-operation of all the ad- 
 vanced pupils, and to govern the whole school by its 
 public opinion. The following story given by Jacob 
 Abbott, about a hat peg, affords us a graphic illustration 
 of the principle which we should wish to see carried 
 out. We do not suppose ,that a hat peg would ever be 
 the occasion of a dispute, in any English school, but this 
 does not affect the principle intended to be illustrated. 
 
 The preceptor of an academy was sitting at his desk, 
 at the close of the school, while the pupils were putting 
 up their books and leaving tlie room, when a boy came 
 in with angry looks, and, with his hat in his hand 
 bruised and dusty, advanced to the master's desk, and 
 complained that one of his companions had thrown down 
 his hat upon the floor, and had almost spoilt it. 
 
 The teacher looked calmly at the mischief, and then 
 asked how it happened. 
 
 *' I don't know, sir; I hung it upon my nail, and he 
 pulled it down." 
 
 " I wish you would ask liira to come here," said the 
 teacher; " ask him pleasantly." 
 
 The accused soon came in, and the two boys stood 
 together before the master. 
 
 " There seems to be some difHculty between you two 
 boys, about a nail to hang your hat upon. I suppose 
 each of you think it is your own nail." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said both the beys. 
 
 ** It will be more convenient for me to talk with you 
 about it to-morrow, than to night, if you are willing to 
 wait. Besides, we can examine it more calmly then. 
 But if we put it off till then, you must not talk about it 
 in the meantime, blaming one another, and keeping up 
 the irritation that you feel. Are you both willing to 
 leave it just where it is, till to-morrow, and try to forget 
 all about it till then ? T expect I shall find you both 
 
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 327' 
 
 The boys reluctantly consented. The next day the 
 master heard the case and settled it, so far as it related 
 to the boys. It was easily settled in the morning, 
 for they had had time to get calm, and were, after sleep- 
 ing away their anger, rather ashamed of the Avhole 
 affair, and very desirous to have it forgotten. 
 
 That day, when the hour for transaction of business 
 came, the teacher stated to the school that it was neces- 
 sary to take some measures to provide each boy with a 
 nail for his hat. In order to show that it was necessary, 
 he related the circumstances of the quarrel which had 
 occurred the day before. He did this, not with such an 
 air and manner as to convey the impression that his 
 object was to find fault witli the boys, or to expose their 
 misconduct, but to show the necessity of doing some- 
 thing to remedy the evil which had been the cause of 
 so unpleasant an occurrence. Still, though he said 
 nothing in the way of reproach or reprehension, and did 
 not name the boys, but merely gave a cool and impartial 
 narrative of the facts, — the effect, very evidently, w^as to 
 bring such quarrels into discredit. A calm review of 
 misconduct, after the excitement has gone by, will do 
 more to bring it into disgrace, than the most violent in- 
 vectives and reproaches, directed against individuals 
 guilty of it. 
 
 " Now, boys," continued the master, "will you assist 
 me in making arrangements to prevent the recurrence 
 of all temptations of this kind hereafter? It is plain that 
 every boy ought to have a nail appropriated expressly 
 to his use. The first thing to be done is to^ ascertain 
 whether there are enough for all. I should like, there- 
 fore, to have two committees appointed, — one to count 
 and report the number of nails in the entry, and also 
 how much room there are for more. The other is to as- 
 certain the number of scholars in school. They can 
 count all who are here, and, by observing the vacant 
 desks, they can ascertain the number absent. When 
 this investi oration is made, I will tell you what to do 
 next." 
 
 The boys seemed pleased with the plan, and the com- 
 
328 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 mittees were appointed, two mera'bers on each. The 
 master took care to give the qiiarrellers some share in 
 the work, apparently forgetting, from this time, the un- 
 pleasant occurrence which had brought up the subject. 
 
 When the boys came to tell bim their results, he 
 asked them to make a little memorandum, in writing, 
 as he might forget before the time came for reading 
 them. They brought him presently a rough scrap of 
 paper, with the figures marked upon it. He told them 
 he should forget w4jich was the number of the nails, 
 and which the number of the scholars unless they wrote 
 it down. 
 
 *' It is the custom among men," said he, " to make out 
 their report, in such a case, fully so that it w^ould explain 
 itself; and I should like you, if you are willing, to make 
 out yours a little more distinctly." 
 
 Accordingly, after a little additional explanation, the 
 boys made another attempt, and presently returned, with 
 something like the following: 
 
 '' The commiitee for counting the naiU report as follows: 
 
 '* Nuniber of nails • - 35. 
 *' Boom for - - - 15." 
 
 The other report was very similar, though somewhat 
 rudely written and expressed, and both were satisfactory 
 to the preceptor, as he plainly showed by the manner in 
 which he received them. 
 
 I need not finish the description of this case, by nar- 
 rating, particularly, the reading of the reports, the ap- 
 pointment of a committee to assign the nails, and to 
 paste up the names of the scholars, one to each. The 
 work, in such a case, might be done in recesses, and out 
 of school hours, and though, at first, the teacher will 
 find that it is as much trouble to accomplish business in 
 this way as it would be to attend to it directly himself, 
 yet, after a very little experience, he will find that his 
 pupils will acquire dexterity and readiness, and will be 
 able to render him very material assistance in the accom- 
 plishment of his plans. 
 
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 329 
 
 2. As far as possible^ the discipline of the school should he 
 maintained uithoui the aid of direct punishments; and its health- 
 ful tone and action should be rarely promoted hy the application 
 of such powerful stimulants as rewards or flattering commenda- 
 tions. 
 
 We have already explained pretty fully our views rel- 
 ative to the subject of rewards and punishments (see 
 p. 115, &c.). We have therefore only further to add that 
 when the teacher really finds it necessary that he should 
 have recourse to punishments, in order to maintain the 
 discipline of his school, he should act upon some grad- 
 uated system of secondary punishments, before he 
 inflicts the severest of them. Sometimes a look, from 
 the teacher, will be sufficient to make a boy sensible of 
 his fault; a reproof may supersede the necessity of any 
 further punishment; the withdrawal of some privilege 
 may do more in correcting a boy of his error, than the 
 use of the rod; and the moderate infliction of some cor- 
 poral punishment may be more eflicacious in counteract- 
 ing crime, than a higher degree of degrading torture. 
 
 Whenever rewards are bestowed on boys of a superior 
 mei-it and character, they should be given as mementoes 
 of good conduct, and not as possessing any value apart 
 from the object for which they are given. 
 
 3. Brill exercises are highly calculated to promote the order 
 and healthful action of a school. 
 
 Besides the usual drill exercises in the play-ground, the 
 teacher should frequently relieve the monotony of his 
 lessons, by requiring his pupils, time after time, to go 
 through certain simple gymnastic movements, such as, 
 " arms folded," " hands on desks," " stand," " sit," ^'hands 
 up," " down," "shoulders up," -'right hand up," "left 
 up," "turn," "front," &c. 
 
 Before a teacher commences a lesson, he should drill 
 the children into good order; amongst other things they 
 should be commanded to sit upright, or to sit exactly in 
 front of their desks, or to place their feet in a proper 
 
330 PHttOSGPHY OF EDUCATION, 
 
 jJOsitioD, or to sit at proper distances from each other, 
 or to place their books or slates properly — and so od. 
 
 They should be marched in and out of their classes in 
 regular military order. Every gymnastic movement 
 should be performed simultaneously, and with smartness 
 ana precision. All this tends very much to foster habit* 
 of order and prompt obedience. 
 
 THE END. 
 
THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLIC \T10^??. 
 
 ALDEN'S POLITICAL ECOJ^OMY.-First 
 Principles of Political Economy, By Joseph Al- 
 den, D. D., LL. D., Principal of the State for- 
 mal School at Albany, E". Y., and author of 
 " Science of Government," etc., etc. 153 pages. 
 16mo., bevelled cloth. 75 cents. 
 
 Valuable, not ouly with regard to its subject-matter, 
 but for the way it teaches students how to deal with all 
 subjects of that nature. — Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour. 
 It teaches young men and young women to reason in poli- 
 tics, and tJiat is one of the principal things wanted in this 
 country. It is clear, well arranged, and the best treatise 
 for the purpose I have ever seen. — Andrew D. White, LL. 
 D.y Minister to Germany. No one but a political partisan, 
 or a demagogue, can find fault with any of Mr. Alden's 
 Btatements, while the clearness with which every subject is 
 expressed, and the precision and correctness of the illustra- 
 tions with which he makes his meaning plain, are worthy 
 of the highest praise.— iV<?i^ York Herald. It is the best in- 
 troduction to political economy for beginners in primary 
 schools that we have seen, and its universal adoption as a 
 part of the causo of elementary study could not fail to re- 
 sult in ultimate wide-spread benefit. — Popular Science 
 Montldy. The best attempt we have yet seen to put Politi- 
 cal Economy into a form suitable for use in schools. — Ed- 
 ucational News, Scotland. 
 
 BAEDEEN^S COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 
 
 — Comnioij Scliool Law, a digest of the provis- 
 ions of Statute and Common Law as to the relar 
 tions of the Teacher to the pnpil, the parent, and 
 
 C. W. BARDEEN, PUBLISHER, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
 
THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLIC ATIOKS, 
 
 the district, with four hundred references to le- 
 gal decisions in twenty-one different States ; to 
 which are added fourteen hundi-ed questions 
 given at the first seven Xew York examinations 
 for State Certificates. By C. W, Bardeen, editor 
 of The School Bulletin. Fourth edition en- 
 tirely re-written. 203 pages, 16ino., bevelled 
 cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 President White, of Cornell, says: "Not only every 
 teaclier in the State, but every member of the Legislature, 
 and every Supervisor and School-Commissioner should 
 have one. " JSarnes' Educational Monthly remarks : ' * This 
 unpretending volume contains more matter than many of 
 four times its size. It should bo in the hands of every 
 teacher in the United States." The London Schoolmaster, 
 (England), says: "It would seem that a similar work, 
 treating of the legal rights, duties, and status of English 
 schoolmasters, is much needed." 
 
 BAEDEEN'S KODEEICK HUME.— Eod- 
 erick Hume, the Story of a KeV York Teacher. 
 By C. W. Bardeen. 295 pages. 16mo., bevelled 
 cloth, red edges. $1.25. 
 
 The book is vivacious, and the author knows the ground 
 he describes. — The Nation. I can certify that it is true to 
 life. I have had experience in country and village schools, 
 as well as in the schools of the cities. The picture is true 
 for all of X\\Qm.Supt. A. J. RicJwff. Roderick Hume 
 took possession of me, and the book was finished at one 
 sitting, that reached beyond the smallest hour. I have 
 joined in the crowd in your triumphal procession. The 
 
 C. W. BARDEEN. PUBLISHER, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
 
THE SCHOOL BULLETIN PUBLICATIONS, 
 
 characters are as vividly painted as any in Dickens, and 
 the moral is something that cannot he dodged. — Prof. £Jdr- 
 toard North, llamUton College. I began your story yester- 
 day, after dinner. I was obliged to lay it aside in the 
 afternoon and go to my office, but took it up again in the 
 evening. WJien I finished it, I found it was past mid- 
 night. Comment as to its being an interesting story is un- 
 necessary. Congratulations: you have made a hit. — Supt. 
 A. McMillan., Uiica. We welcome this bright, witty, 
 vividly told storj--, which is not only interesting reading 
 but contains many a profitable hint and suggestion. — Iowa 
 Normid Monthly. Roderick Hume belongs to the same 
 category with Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year," and 
 lieade's "Very Hard Cash," as a book wherein a depart- 
 ment of the public economy is shown up with all its faults, 
 and in a form that must attract even the idle reader. — Syra- 
 cuse Etening Herald. Decidedly fresh, original and 
 breezy. — Buffalo Express. Short, spicy, pithy. — Utica Re- 
 publican. The story of Roderick Hume, the blight, intel- 
 ligent, brave and upright teacher, is a study worthy of 
 contemplation.— 2>f>?/ Whig. The mistake of the book is 
 in being too matter of fact. It stirs up nests that are still 
 occupied hy hornets. — Christian Advocate. Its flashes of wit 
 will amply repay the investment. — The Teacher. The 
 author has written with a strong hand, and in a style viva- 
 cious and unique. — Northern Christian Advocate. To the 
 overworked and harrassed teacher we would say, get the 
 book, read it, laugh and be comforted. — Wisconsin Journal 
 of Education. It is unique, truthful and Instructive. — 
 Barnes' Educational Monthly. One need not be a teacher, 
 nor a book-agent, nor a school ofiicer, to appreciate the 
 abundant merits of this story. — Potsdam Courier. It is 
 admirable, full of wise and pithy sayings, and in parts 
 brimming over with good-natured satire. — Utica Herald, 
 
 . C. W. BATIDEEN, PUBLISHEK, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
 
TBfi SCHOOL BUI^LETIN PUBUOATIONS. 
 
 oFme Series of Question Books. 
 
 vltH rail Answers, ITotes, aperies, Zto., I7 A. F. Southwici 
 
 Common School Series. 
 
 t. Physiology. 
 
 4, Theory and Practice. 
 
 C. U.S. FHstorj' and ClvU Govt. 
 10s. Algebra. 
 
 IJ. American Literature. 
 1*. Grammar. 
 
 15. Orthography and Etymology. 
 ^ Arithmetic, 
 
 19. Physical and FoUtlcal Geog. 
 2Q. Beading and Punctuation. 
 
 Advanced Series. 
 
 1. Physics. 
 
 2. General Literature. 
 
 6. General History. 
 
 7. Astronomy. 
 
 8. ]\Iythology. 
 
 9. PJietoric. 
 H. Botany. 
 12. Zoology. 
 
 16. Chemistry. 
 
 17. Geology. 
 
 PRICE TEN CENT S EACH- 
 
 ■ni** tiunieriHe s&!e of the Regents' Questions In Arithmetic, 
 G«?ogrM>hv. (Grammar, and HpelJinghas led to frequent inquiry for 
 simiTar .iJestious in aclvanccd subjects. To meet this demand, wo 
 hHT** ha»t prepared this series of Question Books, which, com- 
 pareu with the many books of the sort already published, pre* 
 Beats liie ioilovving advantages: 
 
 1. liooN OMY.— The teacher need purchase books onlv on the sub- 
 jects upon vvhlch special help is needed. Frequently a .11.50 book 
 is bought for the sake of a few questions in a single study. Here, 
 the studies may be taken up one at a time, a special advantage in 
 New York, since applications for State Certificates may now pre- 
 sent themselves for examination in only part of the subjects, and re- 
 ceive partial certificates to be exchanged for full certificates when 
 all tfi€ hranches have^l)een passed. The same plan is very gener- 
 ally pursued by county superintendents and commissioners who 
 are eiicouraging their teachers to prepare themselves for higher 
 certificates. 
 
 2. Thokoughness.— Each subject occupies from 32 to 40 pages. 
 carefully compiled, and referring to the leading text-books. The 
 ((uestions in large type compare In number with those given in 
 other Question i3ooks, while besides these there are many notes, 
 queries, and practical hints, that fill the learner's mind xvith sug- 
 gestions to further investigation and personal thought upon tJie sub- 
 ject. In this particular these Question Books escape the severe 
 ci-iticism that has been passed upon the mere Cramming-Books. 
 
 3. Utility.— The Dime Question Books are printed in three 
 sizes of tj'pe, carefully distinguishing which is most essential 
 that the teacher who has but little time, may concentrate it upon 
 the salient points, and afterward fill in the interesting but less im- 
 portant matter at leisure. The handsome page and the clear 
 lype add much to the attractiveness of the series. 
 
 The Entire Series is nowready. Each sent Post-paid for 10 cts. 
 Each Series of Ten in one book, cloth bound, ^1.50. 
 
 Address C. W. BAKDEEN, Publisher, Syracuse, N, Y. 
 
What is Said of the I>iiiie Question IJooks. 
 
 From John Kennedv, State Conductor of hmiilv'o'. New 
 York, and author or " Tlic Philosophy of Schunl Discipline," • Ths 
 Sch()t,l and the Family.'^ etc. : 
 
 Schenectady, N. Y., October 3, 1882. 
 C U' . Bardeen, Esq. : 
 
 My Dear Sir— I wish to thank you for copies of SouTinvif k'9 
 Di3tE QUJ5STI0X Books. I have examined tlieni with pleasure. 
 A Question book can be so easily made a bad thing, and the tinan- 
 cia! temptation to making bad question books is so great tliat I 
 aiu really delighted to find a good question book. 
 
 The bad question book fosters cram ; the good one suggests 
 study. Mr. Southwick's system is good. It is Imppy and nour- 
 ishing. I hope you may sell a million of them. 
 
 Yours truly, John Kenkkdv. 
 
 WHAT THB BEST SCHOOL JOURNALS SAY. 
 
 ** Valuable little booksforschooluse."— JVcwi;nfifJa7uf J<>,7,?7i£il 
 «/ Education. 
 
 "Books that teachers will need and will buy."— P?a«.'fiml 
 Tt<uher, Chicago. 
 
 "Jhe subject-matter is sufQcient to enable any candidate to 
 pass a favorable examination."— The Teacher, Philadelphia. 
 
 ♦• Wo have looked them over several times without getting any 
 llffl'.t on the puzzle Low such little books contrive to hold so 
 mncb."— Iowa School Journal. 
 
 •• The plan is to systematize and render easier the plan of ask- 
 ing questions on these general subjects, and-ihe author has ad- 
 mirably succeeded. Teachers will find them valuable aid,s."— 
 Indianapolis Journal. 
 
 " No teacher or student will fail to receive many times their 
 money's worth."— Cowman ScTiool Visitor. 
 
 *' The persons are few who may not be aided by these little 
 totnmefi."— School Newx. 
 
 " FuU answers are furnished, with notes and queries, and the 
 aeries is well calculated to be helpful to the teacher."— Por«<i»(J 
 Transcript 
 
 "They are epitomes of knowledge and convenience, serving 
 poplls as well as instructors."— Boston Commonwealth. 
 
 ** In these days of written ordeals for aspiring teachers, and 
 of competitive Civil Service examinations, anything which is con- 
 ducive to the * cramming process ' is eagerly sought. Hence, there 
 has arisen a demand for comprehensive summaries and for series 
 
of questions aimlogous to those usually given. General informfti* 
 tion on any subject of Importance Is desirable; yet the sort of 
 ftudy indicated above has atendency to cheap, superficial, patch- 
 work cidUire. The AUTHOltOFTHE ABOVE SERIES HAS, HOW- 
 KYEK, DISl'LAYED KAKE ABILITY AS A QUESTIONEK. . Nor doCS 
 
 be Stop with questions ; many of them are answered clearly and 
 fully. There are notes, references, bits of curious information, 
 and scores of short, sharp, unanswered queries well adapted to 
 stimulate research on the part of the student. Nothing profound 
 is attempted; our author comes directly to the point."— 2'/i« 
 Student. 
 
 " The immense sale of the Kegents' Questions in Arithmetic, 
 Geography, Grammar and Spelling has led to frequent inquiry for 
 similar questions in advanced subjects. To meet this demand, tho 
 publisher has had prepared a series of Question Books, of which 
 these four are among the earliest issues. Mr Southwick, a grad- 
 uate of a New England college and a teacher of long experience, 
 possesses, like the late W. D. Henkle, of Ohio, a rare faculty for 
 asking questions, and a still rarer faculty for answering them. 
 Nothing could be more different than these volumes from the dry, 
 categorical catalogue prepared by the man who wants to make out 
 sixty questions on a subject, and keeps counting them up on hl» 
 fingers to see how soon he can get through. Mr. Southwick is full 
 of his subject— enthusiastic, wary, everywhere stimulating. II» 
 selects the most essential points, asks his questions simply, an- 
 swers them clearly and fully: but he is not satislled with this. 
 Every page brims with notes— now a bit of Information, now a 
 good-natured satire, now a score of short, sharp questions, that 
 irresistibly set one to thinking. It there is really an Art of Quea- 
 tJoning, Mr. Southwick Is master of it. We know of no other 
 question-books so entertaining to the general reader. The old 
 fisherman complained of the stories In Webster's Dictionary that 
 they were * unco' short.' In these books there is brevity, but the 
 author's warm individuality breathes through the Isolated ques- 
 tions and maKes them an organized whole, sure of and worthy ai 
 thoughtful attention. "~iVorl?i«»7» Indiana Hct^iool Journal. 
 
-\ 
 
doose (J aines H.) SLudves in Articulation: a study and drill-book in alpha- 
 betic elements of the English language. Uh thousand. Cloth, 16mo, pp.70. , -50 
 
 On the Province of Methods of Teaching. A professional study. With • 
 
 an introduction by Prof. Charles W. Bennett, D.D. Cloth, 16mo, pp. 376. 1 00 
 
 Pestalozzian Series of , Arithmetics. First Year Arithmetic, Teacher's.' 
 
 Manual and First-Year Text-Book for pupils in the first grade, first year, ^ 
 
 of public schools. Based upon Pestalozzi's method of teaching elenien- ^ 
 
 tary number. Boards, l6mo, pp. 217 50 
 
 . PupiVs Edition. Boards, l6ino, pp. 15d 35 
 
 Hughes (James L.) Mistakes in Teaching. Ainerxcan Edition. With 
 
 Contents and Index. Cloth, Ifinio. pp. 135 t 50 
 
 Huntington (Kt. Rev. F. D.) Unconscious Tuitior}. Third Edition. Paper, ' ' 
 
 16mo, pp. 45 13 
 
 Hutton (ti. H.) A Manual of Mensuration, for use in Common Schools and 
 
 Academies. Boards. 12irio, j^n. 100 '. 5^1 
 
 Jackson (E. P.) Class-Record Cards. 90 white and 10 eolore^J cards 50 
 
 Joiinsun'8 Chart of Astronomy. On blue enamelled cloth, 40x413 inches J 50 
 
 Kt'iler (C.) Monthlu Report Cards. 2?iix4 inches. Per hundred; 100 
 
 Ken M«cly (John.) The Philosophy of Scliool Discipline. Paper, 16mo, -pp. 23 15 
 
 Lawrence (E. C.) Recreations in Ancient Fields. Cloth. 12mo, pp. 200 1 00 
 
 l.ocke (John.) Some r/ioug/its concerning Edncati.-'. Paperr24mo, pp. 192. 25 
 Miips for the Wall. New York Stote," revise I to the pre^ient tune, colored 
 
 uy counties and towns. 2V2x3 feet, mounted on cloth 2 00 
 
 THE SAME, 68x74 inches, cloth, the finest State map ever issued.,... ....1^ 00 
 
 United States, 3^4x5 feet, with map of the world on back. pa|)er 2 00 
 
 Johnston's National Maps, 42x50 inches, clotli, colored on copper. 
 
 1. Hemispheres 5 00 
 
 2. The World, Mercator's Projection n 5 00 
 
 3. The United States, Mexico, and Canada 5 o;) 
 
 4. Europe 5 00 
 
 5. South America 5 0i» 
 
 6. Asia 5 wo 
 
 7. Africa : 5 00 
 
 The Set, Seven Maps 3o ( t) 
 
 The Same, 27x33 inches, each ...,...;. 8 ^i^- 
 
 Per set, seven maps 45 on 
 
 BISECTED MAPS. United States sawn into States '. ' 75 
 
 Also, New York State sawn into C<>*inties ..^ 75 
 
 Marenholz-Buelow (B's.) The School Work- shop. Paper, 16mo, pp. 27 . . . 15 
 
 meiklejohn (J, M. D.) Tlie New Education. 16mo, pp. 35 -15 
 
 Miller (Warner.) Education as a Dcp't of Govermnent. Paper,8vo, itp. 12. 15 
 
 Milton (John). A Small Tractate of Education. Paper, 16mo, pp. 2:i v. 25 
 
 Murray (David.) The Use and Ahnset f Exam inathons. Paper, 8vo, pp. 19. 25 
 New York State E.camination Questions, Being the questions given at all the 
 
 Examinations for State Certificates from the hegininng to the present 
 time, embracing 4500 questions in Reading, Writing, Drawing, Arithnre- 
 tic. Geography, Grammar, United States History, General History, 
 Algebra, Geometry. Book-Keeping, Composition, Rhetoric, Literature, 
 Civil Government, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, Geology, Mineralogy, 
 Physics, Methods, School Economv, School Law, together with Latin, 
 as an optional in the place of Geometry. Tlexible Clotn, l6mo, pp. 15u; ^ 25 
 Northam (Henry C.) Civil Government for Common Schools. Cloth, 16mo. 
 
 pp. 185 75 
 
 Fixing the Facts of American HistomiJ- Cloth, 12ino, pp, 3'JO. 75 
 
 Northrop (B. G.) High Schools. Paper, 8vo, pp. 26. 25 
 
 Northrup -(A. J.) Camps and Tramps in the Adirondacks. 16mo, pp. 302. 
 
 Paper, 50 cents; in Cloth 1 25 
 
 Number Lessons. After the Grube Method. On heavy card-board, 7x11.. 10 
 
 One Hundred Choice Selections. Paper, r2mo, pp. 192. Each 30 
 
 Practical Work in the School Room, by three New York teachers. Part - 
 
 J. The Human Body. Cloth, 12mo, pp. 139.. ...... ^. 75 
 
 Payne (Joseph.) Lectwm. on the^Art of B^umtior^yKm. other lectures and 
 
 •essays. Svo, pp. 38t.f». IS.--.-|l-A--l-^ v .v ^^ 
 
 Payne (W. H.) A Shm^Hist'mM of JEliJbJWn. "*erfl|: a reprint of the 
 
 article Education fronT the Dtir edition of the Encyclopaedia Brit annica.. 
 
 With an introduction, bibliography, notes, and references. Cloth, 16mo, 
 
 pp. 105 ■■• V ^° 
 
 Periodicals The School Bulletin and New York State Educational Jourrjal. 
 
 Establislied 1874. Monthly. 16 pp., 10x14. Per year ....100 
 
 - — Bound Vols. I-IX. Cl«th; 200 pp., each 2 00 
 
 The School Room. A Monthly Journal of Practical Help- to Ycung 
 
 Teachers. 16pp., 7x11. Per year .> 50 
 
%.*^ «'^'' \/ yM^' \.^^ '^ 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 ^^'%/^^P'/ .^'^'^"^ ^.Y/M\W .^^^ 
 
 5.^r ^ ^ 
 
 i^*^ 
 
 ^^ NOV 83 
 
 HSl^ N. MANCHESTER, 
 
 ^"'^^^ 
 
 ,4<