B
BUHR
3 9015 University of 2
00331 034 Michigan – -
!
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ما
1
.
1
SI QUAERIS.PENINSULAM AMOENAME
1837
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
E.PLURIBUS-UMUMEME
tučio
CIRCUMSPICE
ARTES
SCIENTIA
!
U/US.
LUDUSIAS SUUDULU....TUWW.U.V.30.).-
Irr.
1
.
LB
675.
.073
17
EDUCATION:
ITS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE.
18660
EDUCATION
ITS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
AS DEVELOPED BY
GEORGE COMBE
AUTHOR OF THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN."
PEME
University
HAICHIGAN
COLLATED AND EDITED
BY WILLIAM JOLLY
H.M. INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS.
London :
MACMILLAN AND CO.
CO.
1879.
The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved.
q
PREFACE.
GEORGE COMBE was one of the most enlightened and enthusi-
astic Educationists this country has produced. His views and
labours, however, are little known to the present generation,
and not least to the class for whom he did such eminent
service. The story of his noble life has only been recently
told; his educational opinions were chiefly conveyed in an
evanescent form, necessary from the polemics of the time,
and through a new and despised philosophy; and his works
on education have been little accessible even to students of the
subject. They deserve to be known, studied, and reduced to
practice, and the present work is the first attempt to exhibit
his contributions to education in a collective and systematic
form. It has been deemed better, instead of merely reprint-
ing the numerous pamphlets as they appeared, to classify the
whole of the educational utterances scattered throughout his
extensive works; so as to present as complete an exposition
of his views on the wide educational field traversed by him as
the materials would permit.
The chief work of the Editor, in addition to the selection
and classification, for which he alone is responsible, has been
to supply all notes required for the understanding of what
was so much a part of the educational struggles of the day ;
to explain the continual references to a special technical
philosophy; and to exhibit George Combe's connection with
the various movements that characterised the educational
revival, which began with the present century, and in which
he took a most prominent part. The Editor has also attempted
vi
Preface.
to estimate the character and value of his efforts in relation
to the education of the time, and his general position as an
educational philosopher and reformer. He has also endea-
voured to increase the usefulness of the book, by making it
more or less a work of reference on the topics treated of by
George Combe, which will be found to include almost all the
questions now happily claiming professional and public atten-
tion; by bringing down the account of these to the present
day, by giving full references to other workers and books on
the same subjects, by providing running marginal contents
throughout, by supplying explanations and illustrations of
the text in the Appendix and elsewhere, and by adding an
analytical Index, which, it is hoped, will be found of advan-
tage in a work including so wide a field and so much detail.
The Editor will be greatly obliged to readers for suggestions,
and for the correction of errors unavoidable in a volume of
such extent and variety.
He begs here publicly to convey his best acknowledgments
to the many gentlemen, too numerous to mention-friends of
education and of George Combe—who have so cordially and
kindly assisted him in the preparation of the work,
This preparation, first prompted by gratitude for good re-
ceived and a wish to enable others more easily to participate
in the same, though very laborious, has been rewarded with
the highest pleasure, insight, and impulse.
The book is sent forth to the world, with full confidence, as
one of the best contributions ever made to the great cause of
Education, certain ultimately, if not immediately, to take an
eminent place in educational literature, and to do the highest
service in what is of paramount importance to national and
universal well-being--the Education of our Children.
INVERNESS, January 1879.
+
CONTENTS,
PAGE
V
XV
XV
.
XXV
.
xxxy
.
+
PREFACE,
INTRODUCTION: By the Editor,
GEORGE COMBE AS AN EDUCATIONIST,
I. GEORGE COMBE'S EDUCATIONAL LABOURS,
xvii
I. His efforts in favour of education,
xvii
II. His writings connected with education,
II. GEORGE COMBE'S VIEWS ON EDUCATION,
xxxi
I. What education is,
xxxi
II. The nature and importance of Training,
xxxii
III. The nature and aims of Instruction,
IV. The subjects recommended. by George Combe for
Schools,
xxxviii
A. Those that give a knowledge of man's Constitu-
tion,
xxxyiii
B. Those that give a knowledge of man's External
Relations,
xxxix
V. Other educational topics discussed by George Combe, xliii
1. The education of Women,
xliii
2. The want of Time,
xliv
3. Who should be educated in a Commonwealth ? : xliv
4. Free education,
xly
5. By what Agencies should National education be
carried on ?
xlv
6. The Professional training and social status of the
Teacher,
xlv
VI. George Combe's use of Phrenology in education, xlvii
III. GEORGE COMBE'S RELATION TO THE EDUCATION OF HIS TIME, li
I. The state of education at the end of last century,
li
II. The educational revival at the beginning of the pre-
sent century, and George Combe's part in it, liv
1. The extension of the Means of education,
lv
2. The improvement of the Process of education, lvi
3. The improvement and extension of the Range of
the subjects of instruction,
lviii
4. The need of Professional training for teachers, lix
.
1
viii
Contents.
PAGE
lxiy
III.--- continued.
5. The relation of the Churches to Religious
instruction and to education generally,
6. The part played by Government in these educa-
tional struggles,
IV. GEORGE COMBE'S POSITION AS AN EDUCATIONIST,
Summary estimate of his educational place,
George Combe's Motto, &c.,
lxyi
lxix
Lxxiv
lxxvii
.
PART FIRST.
WHAT IS EDUCATION ?
ITS NEED AND NATURE,
1
3
12
Chap. I. The need of education inherent in man's Constitution,
Chap. II. The nature and objects of education,
1. Education includes both Training and Instruc-
tion,
2. Definitions of education viewed as Training,
3. Definitions of education viewed as Training and
Instruction,
12
16
19
PART SECOND.
WHAT SUBJECTS SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS ?
THE ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION AND TRAINING,
23
25
25
38
46
Chap. I. An outline of the subjects that should be taught,
1. The principles that should regulate the selec-
tion of subjects,
2. A general view of the subjects necessary for.
Real education,
3. The special branches that should be taught,
4. Female education : what şubjects should be
taught to women,
Opinions in favour of these views,
Writers and works on Female education,
Chap. II. A comparison between Linguistic, especially Classical,
and Real education,
The results of their study contrasted, .
History of the Anti-classical Contest of the
present century,
56
64
67
69
79
86
1 The portions contributed by the Editor are printed in italics in the Contents.
Contents.
ix
PAGE
93
94
102
108
119
123
123
149
Chap. II.--continued.
Works on the relation between Linguistic and
Real education,
Chap. III. On Instruction in Man's Physical constitution :
Physiology and its applications,
Summary of earlier efforts to introduce Physiology
and its applications into Schools in Britain
and America,
Chap. IV. On Instruction in Man's Mental constitution,
On Mental Science in schools,
Chap. V. On the Training of the Moral and Religious faculties
through Science, or the order of God's Secular
Providence,"
1. The principles of God's Moral Government of
the world: with a History of George Combe's
search after these,
2. The training of the Religious faculties by
means of Science, or this Moral Govern-
ment,
3. The detriment done to Religion and Science
by their divorce,
On the Sacredness of Science,
Chap. VI. On Instruction in Social and Political Science,
1. The need of instruction in the machinery and
objects of life,
2. The need of this instruction for the exercise of
Political functions,
On giving this instruction in schools,
Text books on the subject,
Chap. VII. EFFORTS IN BRITAIN AT PROVIDING THE BROADER
EDUCATION HERE ADVOCATED, WITH WHICH GEORGE
COMBE WAS CONNECTED. By the Editor,
1. The Secular School in Edinburgh, founded by
George Combe,
2. The Secular School in Leith,
3. The Secular Associations and Schools in Glasgow,
4. The National Hall School of William Lovett,
5. The Birkbeck Schools in London,
6. The Manchester Secular School Movement,
(a.) Efforts to secure National education,
(6.) Schools on the Secular platform,
7. Mr Bastard's School at Blandford, Dorset,
8. Other schools giving a Broader education,
9. The Characteristics of the Secular schools.
158
167
170
170
187
193
197
201
201
218
219
224 -
230
237
237
241
247
249
252
O
X
Contents.
PART THIRD.
HOW SHOULD EDUCATION BE CONDUCTED ?
PAGE
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF
TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION,
261
263
263
269
276
286
289
296
304
312
Chap. I. The General Principles of education,
1. The general objects of education in relation to
the faculties,
2. The Brain as the organ of mind,
3. Education should be regulated according to
natural endowment,
4. The order of development of the faculties,
5. The faculties act only on their own objects,
6. The faculties will act; and this according to
their strength and activity,
7. The faculties can be trained only by the direct
exercise of each, according to the laws of its
constitution,
8. The whole of the faculties should be trained to
act harmoniously, according to their functions
and natural rank,
9. How to stimulate the faculties and strengthen
their activity,
(1.) By presenting their own objects,
(2.) By direct imitation,
(3.) By sympathetic action,
(4.) By exciting their Natural Language,
(5.) By internal causes,
10. How to repress over-active faculties,
11. The influence of the Temperaments in education,
Chap. II. Physical Education,
1. The dependence of the mental on the physical
in human nature,
2. General observations on Physical education,
3. Notes on Physical education, with special re-
ference to women,
4. On teaching Anatomy and Physiology,
What Physical education includes,
Works on the subject,
Chap. III. Moral Education,
1.. On the general principles of Moral Training,
2. On the training of special Moral faculties,
3. On the use and abuse of Emulation in education,
Works on Emulation and Rewards in Schools,
326
326
327
328
331
335
339
341
344
.
344
347
358
362
363
364
367
367
379
386
392
Contents.
xi
PAGE
392
405
406
412
424
424
437
Chap. III.—continued.
4. On the principles of Discipline in education,
Works on the subject,
5. On Moral Training in school viewed as a pre-
paration for social life, .
6. On Science as a means of Moral Training,
Chap. IV.. Intellectual Education,
1. On the training of the Observing faculties,
2. On the training of the Reflecting faculties,
3. On Language, and the relation between words,
things, and ideas; and their proper teaching, .
4. On Memory and its training,
5. On the natural order of ideas and subjects,
Works on the Principles of education,
Chap. V. Examples of Teaching certain subjects,
1. Lesson on Physiology,
2. Lessons on Social Science,
3. Lesson of Physiology and Social Science com-
bined,
4. Lessons on Phrenology,
443
463
468
470
474
474
475
478
485
PART FOURTH.
WHO SHOULD BE EDUCATED ?
THE UNIVERSAL EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE,
489
491
501
508
Chap. I. The right of the Labouring Classes as human beings
to be educated,
Chap. II. The Personal advantages of education to the Labour-
ing Classes,
Chap. III. The Social advantages of Universal Popular Educa-
tion, .
Chap. IV. The Political need of Universal Popular Education,
1. This proved in reference to Great Britain,
2. This illustrated by reference to the United
States,
Chap. V. Answers to Objections to Universal Popular Educa-
tion,
1. From its effects on the Individual,
2. On Social and Political grounds,
513
513
518
u
0
523
523
531
xii
Contents.
PART FIFT H.
HOW SHOULD THE EDUCATION OF THE COUNTRY
BE CARRIED ON?
PAGE
539
541
541
546
551
559
559
565
576
581
585
NATIONAL EDUCATION UNDER GOVERNMENT-
UNSECTARIAN, SECULAR, AND FREE,
Chap I. By what agencies should National Education be
carried on?
1. Should it be carried on by the Churches ?
2. Should it be carried on by Voluntary efforts ?
3. 'It should be carried on by Government,
Chap. II. The relation to Religion of a National System of
Education under Government,
1. The relations between Religion and Theology
—the “ Religious difficulty,"
2. Theology should not be taught in National
schools,
3. By what means should Religion be taught ?
4. The advantages of the exclusion of Theology
from a National System of Education,
Ambiguous terms in this discussion discrimi-
nated,
Chap. III. By what machinery should National Education under
Government be carried on?
George Combe's action in favour of National Secular
Education; and the history of the struggle at that
time,
1. Schemes of National Education under Govern-
ment opposed by George Combe,
2. The Government System advocated by him,
Chap. IV. Examples, in other countries, of National Unsectarian
Education under Government,
1. History of the struggle regarding Secular edu-
cation in Ireland,
2. The educational system of the United States,
(1.) History of the State Schools of Massa-
chusetts,
(2.) Opposition to the Religious teaching in
these schools,
3. The Prussian system of National Education,
4. National Education in Switzerland,
586
586
587
590
597
597
607
607
615
622
624
Contents.
xiii
PART SIXT H.
WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD TEACHER?
PAGE
629
631
638
638
THE CHARACTER, TRAINING, AND POSITION
OF THE TEACHER,
Chap. I. On the Personal qualifications of a good teacher,
Chap. II. On the Professional training of the teacher,
1. Common Sensenot a sufficient guide in education,
2. The need of teachers being instructed in Man's
Constitution,
3. Phrenology specially recommended for teachers,
Phrenology recommended by others,
4. On subjects which should form part of the equip-
ment of the teacher, .
5. On the necessity of Training Colleges for teachers,
The foundation of these in Britain and America, .
Works on the Training of the teacher,
Chap. III. On the Social Status of the teacher,
640
644
645
.
646
649
649
653
655
APPENDIX.
657
657
660
671
671
677
680
No. I. The Faculties of the Human Mind according to Phrenology,
1. Outline of the Phrenological faculties, with their
uses and abuses, by George Combe,
2. Popular explanation and defence of the Phreno-
logical faculties, by James Simpson,
No. II. On the cultivation of the Religious faculties through
Secular subjects,
1. Dr Andrew Combe's views,
2. Mr Benjamin Templar's views,
No. III. The Principles of Education illustrated, .
1. Extracts from the Reports of the Edinburgh
Secular School, by W. Mattieu Williams,
Head Master,
I. Moral education,
1. A school conducted without corporal
punishment,
2. Its general Moral training and in-
struction,
II. Intellectual education,
III. The teaching of Science,
2. On Laura Bridgman-deaf, dumb, blind, and
without smell—and the mode of teaching her,
680
680
0
680
694
696
704
710
xiv
Contents.
PAGE
1
718
719
719
No. IV. On the term “Secular” as applied to the schools of
George Combe and his friends,
No. V. On National Unsectarian Secular education,
1. Plan for the establishment of a general system
of Secular education in Lancashire, in 1847,
2. Extracts from Memorial on National education
by the Glasgow Public School Association,
3. Last views of Dr Chalmers on National Secular
education and its relation to Religion,
No. VI. List of Medical men who signed the Opinion on the
importance of Physiology in Common Schools,
in 1853,
729
732
734
ERRATA.
Page 16, 18th line from top, insertſ at beginning of line.
17, 1st line from top, delete [ at beginning of line.
212, 2nd line of notes, for “ chap. iii.” read “chap. iv.”
last line of notes, for ditto. read ditto.
289, for head title, read “ The Order of Development of the Faculties.”
401, last line of side contents for “of” read "and.”
423, last line of notes for 5121” read “123."
470, 4th line from foot, for “Smidt's” read "Schmidt's."
472, 10th line from foot, for "Erziehungs-und” read “ Erziehungs- und.”
6th line from foot, for ditto read ditto.
6th line from foot, for “Encylopädie” read “Encyclopädie.
613, 2nd last line of 1st note, for “Encyclopædia” read “ Cyclopædia.”
635, last line of notes, for "4" reac "p. xx.”
646, 6th line from top, for “4” read “ VI. p.
xlvii.”
» 650, 1st line of notes, for "p. 4" read “
p. lxii."
INTRODUCTION.
GEORGE COMBE AS AN EDUCATIONIST.
GEORGE COMBE Phrenologist and author of the “ Consti-
tution of Man," is better known than George Combe
Educationist. To have written a philosophical work which
has achieved a circulation of above 100,000 in Britain and -
more in America and the colonies, and has been translated
into most European languages, and to have placed his name
worthily beside those of the anatomists and philosophers Gall
and Spurzheim, were distinction sufficient to have eclipsed
any other. But light eclipsed is not extinguished. Great as
has been George Combe's influence as a thinker and philoso-
pher, his services to education have scarcely been less notable,
and will be of enduring value. He exercised great influence
on the education of his time, and he is certain to exercise more
on that of the future, in enlightening, broadening and raising
it, for his views are still far in advance of the age: and it may
be predicted with certainty, that George Combe will yet take a
high position, not only as a pioneer, but as a permanent power
in education ; from the excellence of his ideas, their scientific
basis, their clear and philosophic exposition, and their important
practical bearing on the progress of mankind. This is a strong
position to claim for a man whose name is seldom mentioned
in the abundant talk on education at the present time, but it
would seem to be the simple truth, which this re-issue of his
contributions to education will, it is hoped, go far to main-
tain, and which the future will certainly endorse.
7
xvi
George Combe an Enthusiast in Education.
George Combe's great aim was to benefit his fellow men
individually and socially. To this high end, he devoted a long
life, with remarkable purity of motive, singleness of purpose,
and calm but deep enthusiasm. Towards this, all his studies
and labours by pen and voice were unremittingly directed ;
and, though he met with the opposition and misrepresentation
which the reformer much before his age always meets, he has
already had an influence and done an amount of good which
have fallen to the fate of few.
Like all great students of human nature and human well-
being, from Socrates downwards, George Combe realised, as few
have done more intelligently and earnestly, that, in any attempt
to raise the race, the largest factor is education ; that, to im-
prove the people, we should begin with the children ; and that
in education, Science and Philosophy exercise their highest and
wisest functions. Into education, therefore, he threw himself
with all the ardour of a strong nature. With him more, perhaps,
than with most students of the Philosophy of Mind, education
was ever present to his thoughts as the best practical applica-
tion of its principles. From early life, he was a diligent
worker in the subject. It was an all-pervading element in
everything he wrote and did, and it was his constant aim to
reduce his philosophy to practice, and to help in framing a
w system of Educational Science based on the Science of Mind.
Not only did he write specially on the subject, lecture on it
in this country and America, organise meetings and societies
to help it, and start schools to carry out his views, but all
his books have continual reference to it, whether these are on
biography, travel, Phrenology, morals, insanity, politics, or
criminal law. Indeed, as he says himself, all his philosophical
works are educational, and his greatest work, the “Constitu-
tion of Man," he regarded“ as an introduction to an essay on
education,”1
1 Constitution of Man, 9th edit. p. 307.
I.
GEORGE COMBE'S EDUCATIONAL LABOURS.
I. HIS EFFORTS IN FAVOUR OF EDUCATION,
George Combe was born in Edinburgh in 1788, and died in
1858, after a studious and active life of seventy years. The
natural bent of his mind, and the defects he perceived in his
own home and school training (though he received as good an
education as was then to be had in Scotland, in a virtuous
home, and at the High School and University of Edinburgh),
early turned his attention to education and the means of
improving it. He always showed a decided leaning towards
mental studies, but it was not till he came under the influ-
ence of Spurzheim, whom he at first strongly opposed, when
that distinguished German visited Edinburgh in 1816, that
the one work of his life was found in the study of Mental
Science as based on Physiology, and of the practical appli- 6
cations of the philosophy thus created. Three years after this
meeting, he published his “Essays on Phrenology;" three
years later, his greater work in two volumes, “A System of
Phrenology;" and six years thereafter, in 1828, “The Consti-
tution of Man." He early began the study of education as
exhibited in the light of the new philosophy he had adopted.
In his first work, the "Essays on Phrenology," published in 1819,
he has a section of considerable length on education, as an im-
portant subject “on which Phrenology was peculiarly fitted to
throw a powerful light," containing sound and well digested
views, of which his after studies were largely the expansion.
His “System of Phrenology," published in 1822, is full of
admirable educational matter. From 1820, when the Edin-
burgh Phrenological Society was founded by him, and especi-
xviii George Combe's Writings on Education.
1
ally after 1823, when the Phrenological Journal was established,
his educational labours were unremitting, by writing, speech,
and action.
In 1836, he became a candidate, along with Sir William
v Hamilton and Isaac Taylor, for the chair of Logic and Meta-
physics in the University of Edinburgh, and then presented as
remarkable addresses and testimonials: as certainly ever were
submitted to an elective body, in this case, the Town Council.
He was, of course, defeated by Sir William, and thus lost the
opportunity of becoming a teacher by profession, though he
was offered, the following year, a professorship in the United
States. It would be useless though interesting to conjecture
what new influences on British and American thought might
have been wielded by the philospher, as academic instructor
in the new philosophy.
At the close of that year, he retired from business as Writer
to the Signet in Edinburgh, which profession he had success-
fully followed since 1812, and his subsequent leisure enabled
him to devote more time to his favourite intellectual and social
pursuits.
He visited America in 1838, on a tour of investigation into
the condition of the great Republic, in which his previous
studies and natural tendencies had largely interested him.
There he lectured on education as well as Phrenology, in many
of the most important cities. These lectures were at once
published, and exercised a great influence in that country.
In 1840, he returned to Scotland, and issued soon after an
admirable account of his visit, in three volumes, full of wise
observation and excellent counsel on education and other
subjects. He spent a considerable portion of his later years
on the Continent, chiefly for the sake of his health, but also
for the purpose of investigating the social and educational
1 These were afterwards published in a volume of 167 pages, on account of
their bearing on Phrenology and its progress, George Combe resting his claims
entirely on that science. See them reviewed in the Phrenological Journal,
vol. x. p. 102; also a second address to the patrons, and an account of the
election, p. 218.
2 In the University of Michigan. See his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon,
vol. ii. p. 9, (London: Macmillan & Co., 1878).
His Early Efforts for Education.
xix
1
systems there and extending his philosophy. In this way, he
visited Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy, and issued
the results of his inquiries in various forms.
From the commencement of the Phrenological Journal, of
which he was one of the proprietors and at times editor, he
wrote constantly on the many applications of Phrenology to
which he turned his attention, education forming one of the
chief. At various dates, from 1833 to 1857, he issued many
pamphlets on different parts of this subject, suggested by his
own studies and the progress of events. He also edited or pre-
faced several works written by others, chiefly Americans, which
he was the means of introducing into this country, all for the
same end, the improvement of education. In 1850, he wrote
the life of his brother, Dr Andrew Combe, the eminent physician
and phrenologist, whose educational works had also been numer-
ous, and are still of high value. This biography contains
interesting details of the state of education during the early
years of his brother and himself and at the time when it was
written, and practical suggestions in regard to it by both
brothers. From an early period, he contributed a series of
articles on education to the Scotsman, to which journal he
wrote on the subject to the last. Many of these have been
recovered and appear in the present work.
But George Combe's labours in the cause of education were
not confined to pen and speech; he engaged in a series of
active efforts to promote its extension and progress. He was
one of the chief opponents of the over-study of languages,
especially classics, in education, a leader in the anti-classical
contest carried on at the beginning of the century, and an
active pioneer of Real education in our schools. He entered
warmly into all endeavours to improve the High School of
Edinburgh, where he had himself been taught, and when the
L
1 Dr Andrew Combe is the author of “The Principles of Physiology applied
to the Preservation of Health, and to the Improvement of Physical and Mental
Education”; “A Treatise on the Physiological and Moral Management of
Infancy”; and “The Physiology of Digestion,” &c. (Maclachlan and Stewart,
Edinburgh). He was one of the first to expound Physiology and the Laws of
Health in their relation to education, and to 'urge their systematic teaching in
schools. See his “Life and Correspondence," by George Combe.
XX
His general Educational Labours.
1
present High School buildings were founded in 1825, he
specially wrote and moved with the view of broadening its
curriculum, though then with but little success.
He was a most earnest worker in the establishment of Infant
Schools throughout this country and America, when these schools
first sprang into existence. Along with other educationists, he
induced the celebrated Wilderspin to visit Edinburgh in 1829,
and was one of the original founders of the Edinburgh Model
Infant School Society and of the Infant School founded that
year as the result of this visit; the example of Edinburgh being
followed by other towns in the east and north of Scotland,
and Infant Schools successively established in Aberdeen,
Dundee, Kinghorn, Dunfermline, Portobello, Inverness, and
- Dingwall, after visits by Wilderspin: while Stow's efforts in
Glasgow led to the foundation of similar schools on his own
system, in the west. George Combe, on all occasions, earnestly
r recommended Wilderspin's principles and methods, and did
a great deal to spread these in this country and America.
About 1830, he commenced active lecturing, in various
parts of the country, on education as illumined by Phreno-
logy. These lectures were largely attended, and did a great
amount of good in drawing attention to the principles and
methods of education, and in enlightening the public mind
in regard to it. For this purpose, he visited, amongst other
places, Newcastle, in 1833 and 1835; Glasgow, in 1836;
Aberdeen, Manchester, and Liverpool, in 1837; Bath, Bir-
mingham, and Manchester, in 1838; and other large towns in
the United Kingdom. The greater part of these lectures, now
published for the first time, is incorporated in the present work.
In 1832, his lectures on Phrenology and other subjects
1 See an account of this anti-classical agitation, and George Combe's part in
it, p. 86.
2 This Society was one of the earlier educational societies, the foundation of
which was a special feature of the time, and which did a vast amount of good.
The Society and its School flourished for many years ; and they not only did
very good work, but the School became a kind of model school for the training
of Infant School teachers. Good and interesting reports were published by
the Society, some of which will be found in the Appendix to James Simpson's
Philosophy of Education.” See also some details regarding it, in " Infant
Education” (W. & R. Chambers).
His Efforts for “Secular" Education.
xxi
led to the formation of “The Edinburgh Association for
Providing Instruction in Useful and Entertaining Science,"
called successively “The Philosophical Association,” and “ The
Philosophical Institution," which is still in existence and is
now so well known in Edinburgh. This was one of the first
societies to popularise Science, by providing regular series of
lectures on various sciences for the general public, at a time
when such lectures were greatly unknown; and George Combe
was one of its most earnest supporters. In connection with it,
he delivered lectures on Phrenology, and on Moral Philo-
sophy;1 and in 1833, three lectures on Education, which were
largely attended and excited great interest throughout the
country. These were reprinted in Chambers's Journal and
thus gained wide publicity; they were also published separately
under the title of "Lectures on Popular Education: its Objects
and Principles."2 In order to assist in the diffusion of a
species of knowledge which he considered of the greatest
importance to human well-being, and which he desired to
be taught in all schools, he took great interest, along with
James Simpson and others, in “The Edinburgh Society for
diffusing Moral and Economical Knowledge," founded in 1835.3
George Combe was the most active and most powerful
advocate that Scotland has seen of the “ Secular” system of -
education, which holds that Theology should not be taught
in schools, but by each church to its own adherents, and that
all other subjects, known as “secular"--which, however,
according to George Combe and his friends, included the
training of the Religious and Moral powers-should be taught
in schools. In order to advance these views, he published a
pamphlet, in 1847, on “The Relation between Religion and
i The latter are published as his work on “Moral Philosophy.”
2 See No. 1, p. 10, regarding these Lectures.
3 See Simpson's “Philosophy of Education,” Appendix No. VII. Mr James
Simpson, Advocate, of Edinburgh, was a great friend of George Combe, and co-
worker with him in many of his efforts for the good of mankind ; and one of
the most enlightened and advanced educationists of the time, whose labours
for education were very great and should be better known. Numerous refer-
ences to him occur in this work, and a long extract from him is given in
Appendix No. I., p. 660. See Index regarding him.
xxii
He establishes a Secular School.
Science,"1 and in 1848, another on “What should Secular
Education Embrace?” These at once roused the greatest
interest, if not excitement and opposition-a third edition of
the latter being speedily called for.
In November 1848, while the great French Revolution was
rousing Europe to new intellectual and social activity, in
conjunction with Mr Simpson and other friends, he issued the
prospectus of a new school, called a “Secular School,"2 in
which the principles he had so long advocated of a broader and
truer education than was common, apart from theological in-
struction, were to be carried out. A public meeting was called
in Edinburgh, at which the nature of the instruction and
training proposed to be given there was explained by him,
and the future teacher introduced. The school was opened
on the 4th of December 1848, and was known as “ Williams'
Secular School," from its head master, Mr W. Mattieu Williams.3
It was carried on temporarily in Infirmary Street, and latterly
in Surgeons' Square, Edinburgh. In addition to“ the three R’s,"
the following subjects were taught in this school-grammar,
composition, geography, history, book-keeping, drawing, vocal
music, sewing; the elements of algebra, geometry, Natural
History, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Moral Science, Social
Economy, Physiology, and Phrenology; the materials and pro-
cesses of the arts and manufactures; and the characteristics
and beauties of architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, and
natural scenery, “ as a means of awakening in the children a
love of the beautiful.” Although doctrinal teaching was
excluded, the Moral and Religious faculties were carefully in
trained in connection with the subjects taught, and this
training formed a special feature. The school was expressly
1 Afterwards expanded into a large volume, under the title, “ On the Relation
between Science and Religion,” and published in 1857.
2 See p. 201 for a fuller account of this school.
3 Afterwards author of “ Through Norway with a Knapsack," and " Through
Norway with Ladies” (Stanford, London), and other works; an excellent
and enthusiastic teacher, with advanced views on education, as abundantly
proved by his admirable Reports of the above school, extracts from which
are given in the Appendix, as showing the practical working out of many of
George Combe's educational principles.
The History of the Secular School.
xxiii
founded on the model of the first Birkbeck school, established
five months before, in the London Mechanics' Institution, at
the suggestion and with the help of William Ellis, the
munificent and enlightened founder of the other Birkbeck
schools, whose ideas on educational subjects largely coincided
with George Combe's, and who contributed liberally to the
Williams School during its continuance. George Combe taught
Phrenology and Physiology there. Annual examinations were
carefully conducted by him and others, of which detailed
reports appeared in the Scotsman, and five annual reports by
Mr Williams were published, containing most suggestive hints
on education. The school existed for six years, till 1854,
when the death of Mr Simpson, the declining health of its
founder, and the loss of the head-master, who obtained a better
appointment elsewhere,2 caused it to be given up. Similar
schools, also known as “Secular Schools," were established in
different towns in Scotland and England, and were very suc-
cessful. These schools are interesting as giving practical
embodiment to the principles advocated by George Combe,
which will be found in detail in this work. They are also
important as showing that his views were not theoretical and
Utopian, but eminently practical and useful. The closing of
the Williams School was due entirely to external causes
relating to the promoters, and not in any degree to the
internal instruction and management, which seem throughout
to have been of an unusually high order. During its existence,
the school was a decided success.
The question of National Education began, about this time,
earnestly to engage public attention, and George Combe and
his friends took a prominent part in endeavouring to secure a
1 Author of a remarkable series of educational and social works (enumerated
p. 236), and one of the most enlightened educationists and educational
pioneers in the country, who has spent very large sums in endeavouring
to improve education, and whose works should be universally studied and put
into practice. See p. 230, for a sketch of his labours.
2 He became Lecturer on Chemistry and Experimental Physics at the Bir-
mingham and Midland Institute. He still (1878) lives, in London, teaching,
lecturing, and writing.
3 See an account of these schools, p. 201 ; and of their characteristics, p. 252.
xxiv
1
Agitation for National Education.
1
system based on Non-sectarian principles, and conducted by
Government. To promote these views, he published a pamphlet
in 1846, which speedily ran through five editions, “ Remarks
on National Education, being an Inquiry into the Right and
Duty of Government to Educate the People.” From this
time, the advocates of “Secular” education began to move
more energetically and publicly in favour of their views, by
meetings and publications. In 1851, they initiated a very
vigorous agitation all over the country. A large public meet-
ing was held in Edinburgh that year, at which these subjects
were explained and advocated by George Combe and Mr
Simpson, and favourable resolutions unanimously carried.
Similar meetings were afterwards addressed by them, and
similar resolutions adopted, in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Paisley,
Manchester, and again in Edinburgh, and elsewhere. Reports
of these meetings appeared in the papers of the day, and
were published as pamphlets, which were extensively circu-
lated. In pursuance of the same object, George Combe
delivered a lecture, the same year, on “The Comparative
Influence of the Natural Sciences and the Shorter Catechism
on the Civilization of Scotland,” which roused great opposition
and called forth numerous replies. Meetings were held, at the
same time, by other advocates of these views in different parts
of the country, and the cause of National Unsectarian educa-
tion under Government made rapid progress.
George Combe's last public speech was made in behalf of
education, at an enthusiastic demonstration of the National
Public School Association, in Manchester, in December 1851,
when Cobden and Milner Gibson also spoke; an occasion
which inspired the old man with the brightest hopes of ulti-
mate, if not speedy, victory.2
Towards the end of his life, his health became more or
less very infirm. But, although unable to maintain his
more active exertions in connection with education, he con-
tinued writing on the subject up to the year of his death.
1
1
See a history of the Secular Education movement, p. 201, et seq., and p.
586; also in George Combe's “Life,'' by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii.
2 See his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii.
" p. 296.
His Last Educational labours.
XXV
1
In 1857, he published a pamphlet on “The Teaching of
Physiology in Schools,” and his important work on “The
Relation between Science and Religion," which is largely edu-
cational, and which is reckoned by some to be his greatest book.
Shortly before his death, in 1858, he wrote two vigorous
leaders for the Scotsman, on Irish Education, and on the need
of giving instruction in schools on the Principles of Trade,
which show, at the advanced age of seventy, an undimmed
strength of intellect, and the same keen interest in a subject
which he considered of vital importance to human wellbeing.
II. HIS WRITINGS CONNECTED WITH EDUCATION.
The following is a list of the various works in which George
Combe has treated of educational subjects, with the dates of
their publication. All educational matter contained in these
which has been deemed of more than temporary value, has been
incorporated in the present issue.
I. WORKS WHOLLY EDUCATIONAL, AND MORE OR LESS FULLY
REPRODUCED HERE.
1. “ Lectures on Popular Education, its Objects and Principles,"
delivered at the Edinburgh Philosophical Association in April and
November 1833. 1st edition in 1833 ; 2d edition in 1837; 3d edition
in 1848. These include three lectures,—the 1st, On the General Subject
of Education ; the 2d, On the Education of the Working Classes ; and
the 3d, On Female Education.
2. Three Lectures on Education, delivered in America in 1838-40
and appended to the issue of his American Lectures on Phrenology,
edited by Dr Andrew Boardman ; originally published in New York, and
reprinted by Maclachan and Stewart, Edinburgh, in 1839, but now long
out of print. The first lecture is on Physical Education; the second, on
Training; the third, on the Application of Phrenology to the Condition
of the United States.
3. An Address, delivered at the Anniversary Celebration of the Birth
1 In a letter to Mr Templar (see p. 241), in 1858, George Combe says, regard-
ing this work, “I consider it the most original, and, in its distant results, the
most important of all my productions ; but this may be like a parent's love of
his youngest child, because it is my last."
2 See pp. 603-7, for the former, and pp. 184-6, for the latter.
xxvi His Works that are Wholly Educational.
of Spurzheim and the Organization of the Boston Phrenological
Society," on Dec. 31, 1839; published by the Society, and reprinted in
the Edinburgh Phrenological Journal of July 1842.
4. An Article on "Education in America," in the Edinburgh Review
of July 1841.
5. “Notes on National Education and the Common Schools of
Massachusetts," originally appearing as leaders in the Scotsman, and
afterwards reprinted, in 1845.
6. “Remarks on National Education, being an Inquiry into the Right
and Duty of Government to Educate the People," first published in 1847;
fifth edition, in 1848.
7. “What should Secular Education Embrace ?" first published in
January 1848, a 3rd edition being required by May,
8. “Report of the Proceedings at a Meeting of the Working Classes
of Edinburgh, on National Education, held in the Waterloo Rooms there
on the 21st of January 1851,” Reprinted from the Scotsman, in 1851.
9. Report of a similar Meeting in Glasgow, held in the City Hall,
on 18th April 1851. Reprinted from the North British Daily Mail.
10. Report of a similar Meeting, held in the Mechanics' Hall, Aberdeen,
on 25th April 1851. Reprinted from the Aberdeen Herald.
11. Report of a similar Meeting, held in Paisley, on 29th Sept. 1851.
Reprinted from the North British Daily Mail.
12.“ On the Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and the
Shorter Catechism on the Civilization of Scotland," a lecture delivered in
Edinburgh, in November 1851, and published that year.
13. “Secular Instruction or Extension of Church Endowments ?"
Letter to His Grace the Duke of Argyle, in reply to the Duke's speech, in
January 1852, on the Church of Scotland's Endowment Scheme. It
appeared originally in the Scotsman, in January 1852, and was reprinted
that year as a pamphlet.
14. Article on “Secular Education,” in the Westminster Review of July
1852.
15. “On teaching Physiology and its applications in Common
Schools," published in 1857.
16. Preface to “ Thoughts on Physical Education and the true mode of
improving the condition of Man," by Charles Caldwell, M.D., Kentucky;
issued in America, in 1834; in this country, in 1836.
17. Numerous articles, reviews, and communications in the Phreno-
logical Journal, from its commencement in 1823 to its close in 1847 ;
published in 20 vols.
18. Leaders, letters, &c., which appeared in the Scotsman at various
dates, up to 1858 ; also reports of his speeches, &c.
19. MSS. of Lectures on Education, delivered at different times, in
various parts of this country and America, now published for the first
time.
His Works that are Partly Educational. xxvii
II. WORKS PARTLY EDUCATIONAL, AND EXTRACTED FROM.
1. “Essays on Phrenology," one vol., published in 1819, containing
a special section on Education.
2. “A System of Phrenology,” two vols., first published in 1824; 5th
edition revised, in 1853.
3. The Constitution of Man considered in relation to External
Objects,” first edition in 1828, 9th edition, edited by Robert Cox and
Sir James Coxe, in 1875.
4. Moral Philosophy, or the Duties of Man," in Lectures delivered
at the Edinburgh Philosophical Association, in 1835-6. Issued in 1840 ;
3d edition in 1846 and 1859.
5. “ Lectures on Phrenology," delivered in America, in 1838-40, edited
by Dr Andrew Boardman, in 1839. See No 2, in first list.
6. “Notes on the United States of America," 3 vols., published 1841.
7. “The Life and Correspondence of Andrew Combe, M.D," one vol.,
published 1850.
8. “ On the Relation between Science and Religion," one vol., dedicated
in 1857 to Dr Charles Mackay ; originally published in 1847 as a small
pamphlet ; 5th edition, edited by Robert and James Coxe, in 1872.1
9. “ The Life of George Combe," by Charles Gibbon, recently issued,
1878, (London: Macmillan & Co.).
It is remarkable, considering his long study and intimate
knowledge of the subject and his enthusiasm in regard to it,
that George Combe did not write a formal systematic treatise
on Education. This is greatly to be regretted, and its want is
a loss to educational science and practice. He undoubtedly
took a most active part in the educational problems of the
day, and spoke and published his views in ways which did
excellent service at the time, and which are of more than tem-
porary value ; but he never expressed his ideas in one great
work, embodying the philosophical principles of education, as
Spurzheim, his friend and master, James Simpson, Karl
Schmidt, and others have done--all basing their views, like
himself, on Phrenology. Still, though he never accomplished
1 All the foregoing works by George Combe were published by Maclachlan
and Stewart, South Bridge, Edinburgh, from whom copies of all that are in
print may still be obtained. Quotations from these works, in the present re-
issue, are always made from the last edition, unless otherwise mentioned.
See Spurzheim's “View of the Elementary Principles of Education, founded
on the Study of the Nature of Man"; Simpson's “Philosophy of Education,”
2d edition (Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh), an excellent work, now
unfortunately out of print, but abundantly deserving republication at the
present revival in education ; Schmidt's numerous pædagogical works, espe-
2
xxviii
His Educational works Inaccessible.
this important service to education, his works on the subject
are numerous, and, when collected and arranged, form a con-
tribution to Educational Science of large extent and of the
greatest value. His special utterances on education were
made as occasion called them forth, in the shape of lectures,
pamphlets, articles, speeches, and letters, many of these
passing through several editions. The loss of such fleeting
publications, even when written by the best writers on the
most important subjects, is merely a matter of time; and
George Combe's have been no exception to the rule. Several of
them are still issued and may be had from the same publishers,
but many of them, including some of his larger works, are now
quite out of print and have been recovered with great diffi-
culty. It is believed that most that he ever wrote on Educa-
tion is included in this work, with the exception of some
articles in journals and newspapers, which cannot now be
identified with certainty. The loss of these may be con-
sidered a small one, but it will be regretted by all who know
George Combe's works, his careful study of all he ever wrote,
and his clear exposition of the principles on which his opinions
were based, in even the most evanescent of his productions.
It has been thought better, for many reasons, not simply
to reprint the scattered writings as they were published,
but to classify them according to the subjects, excluding
all merely temporary and unimportant portions, and the
repetitions which periodical literature always produces in
even the most rigorous writers, and incorporating all matter
bearing on education contained in his larger works. In this
way, an attempt has been made to present a systematic exposi-
tion of George Combe's views of educational principles and
practice, in the absence of such by himself. It is hoped that
thus more justice will have been done to his labours as an
Educationist, and a more complete and useful contribution to
the Science and Practice of Education produced.
cially his "Geschichte der Pädagogik” (1862, 4 vols.), translated in Barnard's
American Journal of Education. See p. 470, for other educational works on a
phrenological basis.
1 Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh.
Reasons for their Re-issue.
xxix
Several considerations suggested the present collective issue
of these educational works. Until now, as already said, most
of them have only existed in scattered and fleeting forms, and
many of them, being out of print, are very difficult to obtain,
and in a few years would be altogether lost. There were also
the educational materials embodied in his larger works, which
in that shape were greatly lost to education, not being acces-
sible, in any practical form, for general or professional use.
But chief of all was their great worth as contributions to
educational science, practice, and history; and it was the con-
viction of the great excellence of the ideas they contain, and
their permanent value to education, that first suggested to the
present editor the desirableness of their collective re-issue.
They were, in fact, too good to be allowed to perish, or to
remain in an inaccessible or scattered form. It was also felt
that it would be only simple justice to their author, to show
the part he had taken in educational reform and progress in
this country and America; and that, in addition to the good
they were calculated to accomplish, they would furnish valu-
able materials for a necessary and important chapter in the
educational history of our country. The idea of this re-issue
was warmly taken up by the Combe Trustees, and the editor
was employed to carry it out.
The publication of these contributions to education at the
present time seems also opportune and important. They will
be found not only to contain excellent educational matter,
but to embody views still much in advance of our own day.
It will also be seen that George Combe has treated, in his own
clear, philosophical, and exhaustive way, most of the topics
that have been and are still discussed, in connection with
recent Education Acts and Codes and the great social and
practical questions opened up by their means. His ideas on
important controverted subjects in the practical conduct of
1 These consist of certain gentlemen who have the management of funds
left by George Combe, for the publication of his works and the advancement of
his views. The late Sir James Coxe, his nephew, chairman of the Trustees
until his recent death, took the greatest interest in the present work. See
note, p. 452. Dr Arthur Mitchell, Commissioner of Lunacy, Edinburgh, is
now chairman.
XXX
The Present time Favourable for re-issue.
education, which are now so earnestly engaging public atten-
tion, will be found to be as much, if not more, needed at this
period of our history than when they were originally published;
and they ought to have no small influence in settling the
public mind in regard to them, on a firm, fair, and philo-
sophical basis.
The present is also a much more favourable time, than when
George Combe lived, for the reception of his ideas on education,
especially those on strongly debated but vital points. When
they were first broached, the country in general had extremely
little knowledge of education, and was still less disposed to
receive with calmness the solutions of certain educational
questions advocated by him. His views were then largely
misunderstood and met with strenuous opposition, while he
himself was subjected to misrepresentation, if not to obloquy.
On most of the controversial points in question, his ideas
were not only novel, but they were ignorantly thought to
be opposed to religious truth and even to social order; and
the country had not been prepared to accept them. But
educational and social principles are now much more widely
diffused, a more liberal spirit pervades all classes, and opinions
once fiercely attacked, or wrathfully or suspiciously regarded,
now obtain a fairer hearing; and George Combe's ideas will
no doubt be better received and do more good now, than when
first promulgated, during a period educationally backward and
less tolerant than the present.
11.
GEORGE COMBE'S VIEWS ON EDUCATION.
It will be well briefly to scan the educational principles advo-
cated by George Combe, and embodied in the present work.
I. WHAT EDUCATION IS:
Education, to be worthy of the name, and to accomplish
the great end which it should seek, ought to include two
things—the development of the individual, and his preparation
for the duties of life. It may be defined from either or
both of these points of view, but the educational process to be
complete must perform both functions. Of these, development
is the higher, and should be its chief, aim.
The central thought in George Combe's views of education
is the HEALTHY AND HARMONIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDI- -
VIDUAL. He gives various definitions of education, according
to the elements included in it; but the idea of DEVELOPMENT IS,
in his view, its highest function, on the fulfilment of which the
happiness and usefulness of the man and the progress of the
race depend, and by which the character of the process
ought to be judged. Its object should, therefore, be “to
train the bodily and mental powers of man, so as to bring them
into harmony with the best state of health and activity, main-
tain them in that condition, and direct them all to their proper
objects;" or, as he elsewhere puts it, “to train, by means of
exercises, the whole systems composing the human being to the
best condition for exercising their functions."
But in order to fit a human being for the performance of the
various duties of life, personal, domestic, social, professional,
political, and religious; he must also receive some knowledge of
what these duties are, of the best means of performing them,
с
xxxii Education includes Training and Instruction.
and of the fields of their exercise--in other words, he must
receive INSTRUCTION. As our author says, “One great object
of education is the attainment of knowledge itself.”
These two distinct but co-ordinate functions of education
have not been sufficiently perceived and acted on in general
practice. Training has been too often omitted, while Instruc-
tion has been more or less supposed to include all. Much of
the confusion of idea and of the prevalent differences of
opinion in regard to what education is, has arisen from the
want of a clear understanding of the nature and aims of
these two functions. But education, while distinguishing
between them, should equally include both; and, in a true
system, they should be so adjusted as mutually to assist
each other, the instruction given affording the best means of
training the faculties, and the training of the faculties im-
proving and deepening the instruction.
On the co-ordinate working of these two elements in the
educative process, George Combe lays the greatest stress.
Hence he defines education, in full, as “the process of acquir-
ing that knowledge of our Creator, of ourselves, and of external
nature, and the formation of those habits of religious, moral,
and intellectual enterprise and activity, which are indispen-
sable to the evolution of all our faculties, and to the per-
formance of our parts with intelligence and success." In
the usual manner in which education is carried on, he finds
that Training, though the more important of the two, has been
very greatly neglected, and the work confined almost entirely
to Instruction. Moreover, in the matter of Instruction, he
discovers very grave errors, both of defect and excess. He,
therefore, takes great pains clearly to distinguish between
these two educational aims, lays down, with great care, the
principles on which both should be founded and conducted,
and suggests the best means of doing so.
II. THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING.
The principles on which TRAINING should be based and carried
out are indicated by the very idea of Training, as the process,
The Nature and Importance of Training. xxxiii
in reference to education,“ of strengthening and enlivening, by
means of exercise, all the faculties of mind and body compos-
ing the human being, to the best condition for exercising their
functions on their proper objects.” To train, therefore, means,
in mind as well as in body, simply to exercise the faculties
according to the laws of their activity, in order to quicken the
slow, strengthen the feeble, repress the over-active, and direct the
whole to their proper functions and objects. “A proper system
of education,” says our philosopher, “must exercise each faculty
of body and mind, and bring all into equilibrium."
It is at once evident, as a necessary preliminary condition
of skilful training, that the trainer or educator should know
what the different faculties are, and the laws of their activity.
Hence the urgent need that all teachers should study the
Mental and Moral Sciences, which give this knowledge of
the faculties. George Combe found this knowledge in Phren-
ology, and he constantly brings to bear on education, with the
best results, his exhaustive knowledge of this subject. But
wherever found, a careful and intimate study of Mental and
Moral Science should, beyond question, form one of the most
important parts of the preparation of a teacher for his duties.
The field of training is as broad as human nature, for it
should embrace every faculty-physical, intellectual,æsthetical,
moral, and religious. George Combe has treated this subject
with a fulness worthy of the importance he attached to it. In
Part Third will be found a body of principles and suggestions
in regard to Training which are amongst the most valuable
portic of his educational works, inasmuch as these are the
results of a rare knowledge of human nature in all its depart-
ments. They form one of the few scientific contributions to
education that have yet appeared. In these are carefully
expounded the laws that regulate the action of the faculties,
as bearing on general educational practice, and as applied to the
more specific fields of physical, moral, religious, and intellec-
tual, education.
Conversant as his official duties make him with school work,
the editor is convinced that the one great need of all our
educational practice is to have it redeemed from its too pre-
1
r
xxxiv Education illuminated only by Principles.
valent mechanical level, and illuminated by principles—by a
deeper and more scientific knowledge of the nature and laws
of man's constitution; so as to lift it from the dominion of
rote, error, and other evils which ignorance of these life-giving
truths necessarily produces, and place it on the high plat-
form which it ought to occupy as the vitally interesting and
all-important process of developing the human being, with his
manifold powers and wonderful possibilities for good or evil.
In dealing with the mind, the teacher ought at least to have
as full an acquaintance with its faculties and the laws of
their action, as a musician with the keys of his instrument, or
a surgeon with the tissues of the body. When he exercises
the intellect or appeals to the feelings, he ought to know pre-
cisely and intelligently the special faculties he should employ,
and how best to use them for a definite end in view, intellectual
or moral. Never should a teacher act blindly or doubtfully
in mental, any more than a surgeon in bodily, operations; for
ignorance here is fraught with momentous consequences, which,
though not so patent as in surgical blundering, are none the less
serious and lasting. Most earnestly, therefore, would be recom-
mend this portion of the present work to all teachers and to all
interested and who is not ?—in the improvement of education
and the wise development of our children, as of the greatest
value for this high end. If reduced to practice, the principles
herein contained would inspire all our teaching with new life
and beauty, and help to produce an educational regeneration in
the country. Every man who has engaged in teaching has
felt the painful tendency of the daily routine of school to kill
even the liveliest enthusiasm, and replace it with a dead
performance of official duty. Nothing can destroy this down-
ward tendency in even the best of teachers, and constantly
revivify the work, but an ever-present consciousness of the
true and inspiring nature of the process through which the
child is passing ; and nothing can preserve this conscious-
ness but an ever-growing knowledge of the powers and laws of
1 “The spirit of education, watching over the whole, is nothing more than
an endeavour to liberate, by means of a freeman, the ideal human being which
lies concealed in every child.”—Preface to Richter's “Levana.”
What constitutes Instruction?
XXXV
the human constitution-a Science broader and more difficult
than the highest and hardest of the Physical Sciences, and
therefore demanding, but abundantly rewarding, the most de-
voted life-long study.
III. THE NATURE AND AIMS OF INSTRUCTION.
The subject of INSTRUCTION is also one of great importance,
and to it George Combe devotes much attention, on account of
the errors prevalent in regard to it. In determining what
Instruction should be given, there are two leading inquiries-
1st, What constitutes Instruction ? and 2d, What are the best
means of imparting it? The second question is answered
at once by the principles of Training just spoken of; for
whatever is taught, should be taught according to the laws of
the human constitution. The principles of Training therefore
regulate the manner of instructing; and we should so conduct
our Instruction as that it shall become the best means of carry-
ing on the other and higher function of education, that of the
training or development of the child.
The inquiry as to What constitutes Instruction, and wha
subjects should be taught in the ever extending field of
knowledge, is a wide and important one. It is answered by
George Combe with great breadth of view, and with invincible
logic. It is at once evident, as a guiding principle of selec-
tion, that Education should communicate such knowledge,
and such amount of it, as will enable a man intelligently and
successfully to perform the various duties of life, personal and
relative, and, at the same time, give the best training to all his
faculties. He therefore holds that, properly conducted, “In-
struction should consist in becoming acquainted, first with
ourselves, and then with the world without, with which we
are in relationship; and with the mode of so adapting our
conduct to external circumstances as to produce the greatest
amount of happiness to ourselves and benefit to others."
An important distinction in regard to knowledge, on which
George Combe places great weight, is its division, as related to
education, into the two great classes of Instrumental knowledge,
xxxvi
Instrumental and Positive Knowledge.
and Positive knowledge; Instrumental knowledge being a
mere means to the gaining of Positive knowledge.
In the class of Instrumental subjects of instruction, he
places reading, all languages, writing, arithmetic, algebra,
and pure mathematics. In the class of subjects of Positive
knowledge, he includes everything that gives us a know-
ledge of ourselves and the world around us, and, therefore,
all the Sciences—physical, intellectual, moral, social, political,
and religious—which give a positive knowledge of man's consti-
tution, the universe in which he lives, and the duties he has
to perform.
He is as fully alive as any one to the importance of the
Instrumental subjects as tools for other work, and the high
service they may be made to render in Training, by the exer-
cise of the faculties to which they appeal. But viewed as
subjects of Instruction, as portions of knowledge, he considers
that they are merely means to a higher end, the attainment of
what he reckons Real or Positive knowledge ; they are merely
the keys of knowledge, not knowledge itself. In the matter of
Instruction, he holds that the one great object of education
should be the attainment of a Positive knowledge of man and
his surroundings.
Education, as conducted in George Combe's time, he tells
us, was confined almost exclusively to these Instrumental sub-
jects. The school polished the key, but did not unlock the
cabinet of knowledge to the scholar. It spent most of the
precious years of youth on certain barren subjects, which were
supposed to constitute the all in all of education, such as the
teaching of languages, especially classics, to the exclusion of
more important matters,--the knowledge of human nature,
human duty, and the world in which we live, as interpreted by
the sciences. He earnestly urged that much less time should
be wasted on these merely Instrumental subjects, and much
more devoted to the acquisition of Real knowledge ; and there
is no doubt that one aim of the Science of Education should
be, carefully to adjust the balance between these two classes
of subjects during school life. The same defects are still
far too true of our own time, though we have made great
The Principle of Selection of Subjects. xxxvii
progress since these strictures were written. The distinction
between the two classes of subjects is as important now as it
was then, and requires to be as earnestly pressed on our notice,
especially with the present growing over-tendency to judge of
education solely by examination tests, and therefore largely
by cram, chiefly applied to Instrumental subjects.?
In order to decide which of the numerous branches of Posi-
tive knowledge should be taught in school, George Combe lays
down what he considers the principles that ought to guide us in
our choice. The central idea should be, to enable a child to
know and understand himself, and all his relations. The child
enters the world, an intelligent and emotional unit, amidst a
wonderful and complex system of things and beings, among
which he must shape a course marked out for him by the
unchanging laws which regulate the system. It seems only
wise and right, therefore, that he should know himself, the
system and its laws, and the part he should play in this
system and amidst these laws. This leading principle in
regard to the knowledge that the child ought to possess, would
seem axiomatic; yet it will be found most revolutionary, as
respects our scholastic practice. But though simple, it is all
regulating and all embracing, and it will guide us clearly in
the choice of the subjects that ought to be taught. Led by it,
we should teach the child to know his own constitution, and to
realise his relations to the system of nature and of man; and
we should instruct him in all the duties incumbent on him
arising from these relations—physical, intellectual, moral and
religious, personal, social, and political. As George Combe
says, we must teach a child what it is, where it is, what it b
ought to do, and how it ought to do it, in order best to
fulfil the object of its existence.” “In whatever sphere of
life we move," as he tells us, “we are encompassed by the
elements of nature, which minister to our health and en-
joyment, or to our detriment and discomfort, according as
we use them wisely or the reverse, according as we adapt our
conduct to their real qualities or run counter to their influ-
I see an account of the anti-classical contest at the beginning of this century,
p. 86; and George Combe's views on the subject, p. 69,
xxxviii Knowledge of Man's Constitution necessary.
ence. We are surrounded by human beings, and are influenced
by the great tide of human affairs; and without a knowledge
of external nature and of the nature of man, his history, laws,
and institutions, we shall be no more capable of acting well
and wisely our parts through life, than is the mariner of steer-
ing successfully without helm, compass or chart, through the
ocean.” 1
IV. THE SUBJECTS RECOMMENDED BY GEORGE COMBE
FOR SCHOOLS.
The different subjects which George Combe would have
taught, in accordance with these principles, are discussed in Part
Second, as well as the extent to which they ought to be or can
be taught in school, during the limited time at command. The
programme there sketched out is broad and liberal, and, how-
ever much it may differ from the course pursued in our schools,
it is simply a detailed expression of his guiding principle, of
furnishing a child for his life work and enabling him to fulfil
efficiently and happily the objects of his existence.
Of subjects which are still frequently omitted in our educa-
tional practice, on which great weight is here laid, and which
from their importance deserve special mention, there are the
following :
A. THOSE SUBJECTS WHICH GIVE A KNOWLEDGE OF MAN'S
CONSTITUTION.
1. The Subjects which treat of Man's Bodily Constitution.
Anatomy and Physiology. Thanks to George Combe and other
enlightened workers in this field, Physiology has come to be
more recognised than when he advocated it, and is now one of
the subjects for which Government grants are given. A
1 “The ultimate end of education is not a perfection in the accomplishments
of the school, but fitness for life.”—Pestalozzi, in his 21st letter to J. P. Greaves,
published, in 1827, as " Letters on Early Education.”
Among the first to recommend the subject for schools were George and
Andrew Combe. Among the earliest to teach it were William Lovett, the
eminent Chartist (who also wrote the first text-book on it for schools), George
Combe, Mr Mattieu Williams, and Professor Hodgson of Edinburgh. (See p.
102, for details as to the history of this subject in schools.)
2
ㄴ
​7
Knowledge of Relations to Nature necessary. xxxix
broader system of Physical Training, and instruction in the
practical Principles of Health still require to be recognised in
our schools. There are hopeful signs that Physical Education,
in its fullest scientific acceptation, will ere long be part of
the curriculum of all our schools,
2. The Subjects which treat of Man's Mental Constitution.---
For these, George Combe pleads earnestly and convincingly. It
would seem an essential part of education, to know the highest
element of our nature, the mind. Yet this field remains almost
if altogether untouched in our schools. Of course, the in-
struction given should be suited to youthful capacity, like
all instruction; but it can be so adapted, in spite of its
seeming difficulty (and it is only seeming), and can be made
simple, interesting, and practical. Our philosopher taught
this subject for years in the Williams School, as Phrenology;
and therefore, in urging its general teaching, he speaks from
his own experience as to its simplicity and interest. The
special mental system taught will, of course, be decided on
by the teacher, but the things taught, under whatever names,
should be the real facts and laws of human nature.
B. THOSE SUBJECTS WHICH GIVE A KNOWLEDGE OF MAN's
EXTERNAL RELATIONS.
1. The Subjects which treat of his Relations to External
Nature. These subjects include the various Physical Sciences,
many of which are now introduced into our schools. One of
these subjects, for which George Combe pleads with special
earnestness, still waits for recognition,—the Relation of ex-
ternal objects to man's constitution, with the Principles on
which the Moral Government of the World is carried on; in
other words, man's moral relations to his surroundings. These
he has developed chiefly in his Constitution of Man. They
can be simply taught to children, when they reach the age
of reflection; he taught the subject himself in the Williams
School, to pupils from ten years and upwards. The moral
i See Scientific Physical Education explained, p. 363.
2 See details of what he would have taught, p. 108, and examples of his
teaching, p. 485.
3 An edition of “The Constitution of Man," for the use of schools and
xl
Knowledge of Life Relations necessary.
1
and religious relations of Natural Science to man have been
very greatly neglected by both scientific men'and theologians,
to the injury equally of Science, Morals, and Religion ; and
the teaching of these relations in our schools would do much
to destroy the unnatural divorce existing between these great
systems of truth.
2. The Subjects which treat of his Relations to his Fellowmen.
-It would seem only natural and reasonable, before a child
enters on practical life, to furnish him with a chart or plan of
life; to give him correct views of the principles, machinery,
and objects of the wide social world before him; and to train
him to act habitually in view of these, in his daily conduct.
(1.) The child should, therefore, be taught the Principles of
Morals, which regulate his intercourse with his fellowmen,
and the various duties arising therefrom. These are simple
and practical, and quite within his capacity, and, by illustra-
tion and otherwise, can be rendered eminently interesting and
valuable.
(2.) The child should be taught “ Sound views of his real
situation as a member of the Social Body.” He ought, therefore,
to be instructed in the principles of Social Science, which are
easily within his grasp when properly treated. These were
taught in the Edinburgh and other Secular schools. They have
always formed the special feature of the Birkbeck Schools,
having been introduced there by William Ellis since their
foundation in 1848, though taught by him in schools since
1846.
(3.) But the child becomes also a member of the Body Politic,
and he has certain duties to perform in this relationship. Ho
should, therefore, be taught the principles that regulate these, -
in other words, Political Science. The relations of education
to political action are dwelt on by George Combe at great
length, and with clear demonstration of their importance, and
of the need of havivg our people instructed in the principles of
families, was published in this country, in 1838 (Maclachlan & Stewart, Edin-
burgh); and another in New York, in 1855. These are good and simple, and
easily taught.
1 See George Combe's views on this subject, in chap. v. p. 123.
Religious Education in Schools.
xli
Political Science. This subject, as a part of Social Science,
also forms a regular branch of instruction in the Birkbeck
Schools.
3. The Subjects which treat of Man's Religious Duties.-One
strong point in George Combe's views of education, as already
said, was the rigid exclusion of all dogmatic teaching in Theo-
logy from schools. This teaching he considered it to be the
duty, not of government or of schools, but of the churches to
undertake; which the churches would undertake, if they truly
realised their own interests and the importance of the work.
As a supporter of the “Secular” platform in education, he has
explained his position on this subject, and fortified it with a
clearness and cogency which have been surpassed by no advo-
cate of this view.”
But, while thus demanding the separation of Doctrinal
teaching from school studies, he is equally strenuous in main-
taining the need of Religious education, as an essential part
of the school course. He urges the careful training of the
Religious faculties in schools, by their constant exercise during
all other lessons, especially the teaching of science; and no
defender of Religion in schools pleads more earnestly for
Religious training, as thus conducted, than this man, who
has been so unjustly branded as its enemy. The difference
lies only in his excluding Doctrinal matters, referring to the
other world, with which the State, he holds, has nothing to
do, and on which there exists so much strong difference of
opinion, from places of instruction where the children of
parents of every variety of religious conviction attend. In
thus advocating a broad and constant Religious training as
a vital part of school work, he was only carrying out the
central principle of education, the training of all the faculties
of a child. As is said in the first Report of the Williams
School, “ this course by no means excludes the training of the
Religious Sentiments; for reverence for the Supreme Being and
obedience to His will may be efficiently taught by presenting
to the minds of children the evidences of His existence, power,
1 His ideas on the subject will be found, chap. vi. p. 170.
2 See chap. ii. p. 558.
xlii
George Combe's special Views on this.
and beneficence, the laws which He has instituted as they are
embodied in His works of creation, and the temporal conse-
quences of obeying or infringing them. As these points admit
of inductive philosophical demonstration, comparatively few
differences of opinion exist in regard to them, while they form
a basis on which further Religious knowledge, imparted by its
more appropriate teachers, may advantageously be founded."
George Combe thus differs from many, if not most, of the
advocates of the Separate system, who would exclude all
Religious training from schools, a position no one would
have more regretted or opposed than he. As he says him-
self, “ True Religion would harmonise with, hallow, vivify,
and render practical a scheme of education founded on the
principles revealed to man in the order of God's secular Pro-
vidence."1 His treatment of this delicate question of Religious
education, his clear distinctions between things that are
often confounded in the controversy, his defence of religious
training as based on human nature and God's works, and his
admirable vindication of scientific teaching against the charge
of godlessness, should commend themselves to all parties,
whatever their opinions.
The kind of Religious training thus urged by George Combe
was a special feature in the Williams School and others on
the same model; and it has always been carefully carried out
in the Birkbeck Schools, where it forms what their founder
truly designates “ The Religion of Common Life.
2
"73
The foregoing is the outline of Instruction sketched by
George Combe. He is careful not to dogmatise as to the
specific subjects that ought to be included in the school
curriculum. All he aims at is "to unfold principles and views
which may form the ground-work, and serve as guides to the
practical evolution, of a sound system of education.” He would
1 Preface to 3d edition (1848) of “Lectures on Popular Education.”
2 See chap. v. p. 123, for his ideas on the Religious training that should be
carried out in National Schools ; and p. 576, for the means by which Religion
should be taught.
3 See “The Religion of Common Life,” by William Ellis (Smith, Elder,
and Co., London), a book which should be in the hands of every teacher.
His General Outline of Instruction.
xliii
leave details to educationists and teachers, but he stands fast
by the principles and the consequent outline.
In brief, what is maintained is this :--A child is a being
possessing a certain physical and mental constitution. He
enters the present system of things and beings, which forms
part of the universal whole. As a child, he holds certain
relations to his home circle, and by and by, as a man, will enter
into other relations-domestic, social, political, moral, and reli-
gious. His true education ought to make him acquainted with
his own constitution-physical and mental and with the laws
that govern it; it ought to train and develop that constitution
to as healthy and perfect a condition as possible; and it ought
to teach him to know, and train him to perform, as efficiently
and happily to himself and others as may be, the duties arising
out of each of the various relations in which he is and will be
placed, as regards himself, and society where he must play his
part. In a word, his education should give him the requisite
training, and that amount and kind of knowledge, which will
prepare him to perform the duties arising from all the relations
in which he stands to God, the universe, himself, and others.
The outline of a Real education should embrace Instruction
and Training in all these relations. If this outline is sound,
it becomes a most practical and pressing question, in what
elements our present educational systems are deficient, and
how best to improve them in the light of these principles.
V. OTHER EDUCATIONAL TOPICS DISCUSSED BY
GEORGE COMBE.
1. In connection with the subjects that should be taught,
George Combe has also treated another matter of great
moment, which is now securing increased attention—The L
Education of Women. As might be expected from one who
rests his educational system on the structure and laws of the
human constitution, he advocates for women the broadest
education suited to their nature; inasmuch as they are human
beings equally with men, possessing a similar constitution
and similar faculties, which require as careful and universal
xliv
Female Education-Want of Time.
1
cultivation as those of men. His treatment of this subject
will be found as good and fresh as if written yesterday.
It is discussed with his accustomed breadth and soundness
of view, and with convincing argument. At the same time,
he recommends an education for women so far special, as their
constitution is feminine and their duties are peculiar, in order
to prepare them for “the great secular business of female
life." His observations on this subject should command the
special attention of all interested in one of the greatest
factors in the elevation and culture of the race, the education
of its mothers and nurses.
2. As might be expected, George Combe replies to the
common objection to the introduction of new subjects of study,
for it was made then as well as now—The Want of Time.
His answer, of course, is that, if there are certain necessary
elements in man's education, arising from his constitution and
relations, time must be found for these; and we must so arrange
our course of study as to include all essential subjects, while
curtailing the less important, throwing out others not required,
however sanctioned and glorified by time and tradition, and
making way for the judicious treatment of those wrongly
neglected. To this objection of the want of time for these
necessary subjects, he devotes little attention, indignation
against its irrelevancy, in such an important inquiry, taking
the place of discussion. “Is life then so brief,” he asks," and
are our hours so urgently occupied by higher and more important
duties, that we cannot afford these pittances of time to learn
the laws that regulate our existence?” And he further dis-
misses the subject by acutely pointing out the practical fact,
that “these laws, when neglected, punish so severely, that the
offender loses more time in undergoing his chastisement than
would have been requisite to obey them.”
3. His discussion of the question as to who should be
educated in a Commonwealth, is full and most satisfactory.
He advocates Universal Popular Education, and, according to
his wont, takes his position on the firmest philosophical
grounds. Going to the root of the matter, he founds the
1 It is contained in Part Second, p. 56.
National Free Education under Government. xlv
1
demand for the education of the Labouring classes, on their
natural right, as human beings, to be educated. He advocates
it on the additional pleas, of education being the only means
of raising their condition, of the social advantages of their
being educated, and of its need for the exercise of political
functions, especially with an extending, and much more with
universal, suffrage. He also answers conclusively the various
objections to Popular Education made then, and not unfre-
quently heard even now.
4. George Combe was one of the earliest advocates of a
Free Education, that is education without fees, supported by
taxation alone, which, being thus supported and being universal,
would be neither eleemosynary nor pauperising. Free educa-
tion follows at once from the educational functions which he
holds that the State should discharge towards the people.
5. He also discusses the great question, which now vexes
certain parts of the country and sections of the community
-By What Agencies should National Education be carried on?
To this subject, he devotes great attention, and he treats it in
such a way and on such grounds as ought to be of eminent
service in helping to settle the question. He holds that the
education of a country should be carried on by the State. His
discussion of the rights and duties of Government in regard to
the education of the people, is one of the most exhaustive
and conclusive expositions of the whole subject that has ever
been written. As usual, he bases his treatment on the broadest
philosophical premises, beginning with the origin of society
and of government, and with the true nature of the rights
of individuals, and of restrictions on individual liberty. He
applies his conclusions to education with remarkable cogency
and felicity, demonstrates the Right and Duty of Government
to conduct it on behalf of the people, and concludes equally
against the voluntary and the ecclesiastical conduct of National
Education.
6. Finally, George Combe discusses another subject which
has of late been gaining the larger attention which its import-
ance to education demands—The Professional Training and
the Social Position of the Teacher.
xlvi The Training and Status of the Teacher.
As an immediate corollary from the high idea he enter-
tains of what education is and of the manner in which it
should be conducted, as being a process based on the scientific
knowledge and the scientific training of the whole constitution
of man; it follows that the person who is to carry on this most
responsible and most difficult process, should receive special
and most careful training for his work. He points out, with
indignant scorn, that the much-vaunted Common Sense of
mankind, so often lauded by the opponents of professional
training for the teacher, is altogether insufficient for this duty;
and that the sailor or the blacksmith would scout the very
idea of common sense being sufficient to steer a ship or make
a horse-shoe. He asks, as has happily been often asked
of late, if “training the human mind demands less scien-
tific skill and experience than shoeing horses?" From the
character of the work of education, he points out the urgent
need of having the teacher carefully instructed in a scientific
knowledge of man's whole constitution, by a thorough course
of Physiology, Mental and Moral Science, and their applica-
tions to the training of the young, and to the specific subjects
of study in school and college. But so directly does this
necessity flow from the real nature of education, truly com-
prehended, that he does not dwell at great length on the need
of a thorough professional training for the teacher. And
to every one who realises what education truly is, what it
includes, and what its aim should be, the same conclusion
will follow as directly, in regard to the paramount need of
special professional training for those who are to conduct that
delicate work; and it will be pleaded for with an earnestness
equal to the clearness of vision on the true function of educa-
tion, as that of the wise development of the whole of human
nature, and on its bearing on human wellbeing.
George Combe also demonstrates the wisdom of raising
the social status of the teacher, basing his appeal on true
self-interest and patriotism. He conclusively argues that “if
the man who takes care of our bodies is considered equal with
the best of us, surely the man who takes care of the mind-
trains and instructs it-should not be considered below
George Combe's use of Phrenology in Education. xlvii
our companionship! So to consider him is a relic of bar-
barism.” At the same time, with equal discernment and truth,
he points out that the only means by which this desirable
appreciation of teachers can be obtained is, by teachers taking
steps to educate themselves for their important duties, like
other professions, by the best scientific professional culture.
VI. GEORGE COMBE'S USE OF PHRENOLOGY IN EDUCATION.
One subject requires a few remarks, to remove possible pre-
judice, and to allow this work a fair opportunity of doing the
good it is calculated to do—The relation of George Combe's
Phrenological ideas to his views on Education. In the first
place, it should be remembered that it was through Phreno-
logy, as he repeatedly and gratefully declares, that he gained
all his insight into human nature, and into the principles and
practice of education; and, therefore, if his educational ideas
are sound and good, instead of taking offence at his Phrenology,
we ought rather to feel thankful that this science has fur-
nished him with these ideas, and, through him, ourselves. At
the worst, we should only feel surprise that so much good has
come out of “Nazareth," and, like the guileless man of old,
come and see.”
It will be found, however, that the use of phrenological
terms in his treatment of education is more sparing than
might have been expected from one so enthusiastic in its
promulgation and so accustomed to its technicalities. Seldom
does it prevent a reader from understanding his meaning.
It should be remembered, that the facts of human nature are
facts, in whatever phraseology they may be expressed, whether
of the orthodox Metaphysical school, or of the Phrenological, or
the Physiological schools; and that the faculties spoken of in
Phrenology are now generally acknowledged to be faculties or
powers of the human mind, whether it be agreed or denied
that these faculties are localised in certain organs situated in
different parts of the brain. So that, as our author says,
“the practical value of the views here propounded does not
depend on Phrenology. The latter, as the Science of Mind, is
d
xlviii
His views Independent of Phrenology.
itself valuable only in so far as it is a just exposition of what
exists in human nature. We are physical, organic, and moral
beings, subjected to natural laws, whether the connection of
different mental qualities with particular portions of the brain,
as taught by Phrenology, be admitted or denied. Under the
impulse of passion, or by the direction of intellect, men will
hope, fear, wonder, perceive, and act, whether the degree in
which they habitually do so be ascertainable by the means
which it points out or not. In so far, therefore, as this work
treats of the known qualities of man, it may be instructive
even to those who reject Phrenology as unfounded; while it
can prove useful to none, if the doctrines which it unfolds
shall be found not to be in accordance with the principles
of human nature, by whatever system these may be ex-
pounded. The importance of Phrenology, however, must not
be overlooked. If the brain is the organ of the mind, and if
the vigour of its different faculties depends on the size and
condition of special cerebral parts, then those who ignore
these facts close their understandings against knowledge of the
organic conditions which determine the varieties of natural
dispositions and talents, and also the means by which God
conducts the moral government of the world.” i
At the same time, what George Combe remarks, in regard to
the initiated and uninitiated, in reviewing Spurzheim's work
on Education, must be true of this as of all sciences :-—“As
ben Phrenology constitutes the basis on which the fabric is reared,
so an intimate acquaintance with its doctrines is necessary to
the perception of the full value, and to the adequate practical
application of the precepts which it inculcates. Though much
of the important and interesting information contained in it is
perfectly accessible to the common sense and good feeling of
every reader, the unphrenological will fail to perceive the links
which connect the different parts of the chain, and will thus
see each observation as an isolated fact, and not in its true
and most valuable light,” 2
· From the preface to "The Constitution of Man."
2 From review of Spurzheim on “ The Elementary Principles of Education,”
in the Phrenological Journal, vol, i. (1823–24), p. 579.
Its Services to Mental Science and Education. xlix
The Physiological basis of mental phenomena, and the doc-
trine that the physical organism is, at least, the only medium
by which mind can express itself in action, become more and
more recognised and acted on in the study of Mental and
Moral Science. It begins also to be more generally admitted,
that Phrenology is founded on a large body of observations and
experiments, that it was investigated with an admirable spirit
of calm and careful induction by its first promulgators, and
that it has unconsciously but powerfully leavened our views of
Mental Philosophy and human nature, and forced on us, in
spite of opposition, a large amount of its special nomenclature.
Many, who are not prepared to accept the localisation of the
faculties, are yet disposed to agree with Archbishop Whately's1
estimate of Phrenology, as furnishing an analysis of the mental
faculties and a terminology “far more logical, accurate, and
convenient, than those of Locke, Stewart, and other writers of
their schools." It is also conceded, even by its opponents,
that to this science is due the honour of initiating the only
true scientific method of investigating mental phenomena, in
and through its physiological relations. There is no doubt
that it has done eminent service in contributing to the wonder-
ful modern advance of Educational Science and Practice, by
leading to a scientific recognition of the integral unity of the
whole nature of man, and the need of its universal develop-
ment as the true function of Education, and by elucidating
more fully and clearly the means and processes by which this
can be achieved, and the laws which regulate the faculties. It
has thus come about, that Phrenology has ceased to meet with
the fierce opposition and theological denunciation it first en-
countered, and the use of its nomenclature will not deter any
sensible man from perusing any work, and from taking from
it the good it may be calculated to give him.
George Combe himself was frequently remonstrated with,
even by his friends, for using Phrenology so much in his
1 Whately became a phrenologist, and told George Combe that “he had
no more doubt of its truth than of the sun being in the south at noonday."
(Letter of George Combe to Mr James M'Clelland, Glasgow, of 7th September
1846). See George Combe's “Life,” for his intimacy with Whately.
1
His Defence of its Use in Education.
lectures on education, and was advised to abandon it in defer-
ence to prejudice. His own answer to these suggestions is
sufficiently to the point : “ The remark," he says, “was
occasionally made to me by persons who had heard my
lectures on Education, without having attended those on
Phrepology, that the views presented were so sound and
luminous that I should have done much more good if I had
omitted Phrenology, and delivered them simply as founded on
common sense. This, said they, would have saved the lectures
from the prejudices which exist in so many minds against
Phrenology, and which render them suspicious of every
doctrine and practice springing out of it. My answers were,
First, That a knowledge of the influence of the organs on the
power of manifesting the mental faculties, is a fundamental
requisite to the right understanding of the subject of educa-
tion. Secondly, That to have withheld this important know-
ledge, because it was unpopular, would have been improper
and uncandid. By following such a course, I should also have
been extending the impression already produced by too many
disingenuous phrenologists, that the science is worthless, and
that the soundest views of education may be obtained without
its aid, which I know not to be the case. Thirdly, That such
conduct would have been unjust and injurious towards the
founders and defenders of Phrenology. It would have been
appropriating to myself the fruits, and leaving to them not
only the toil but the obloquy of having raised them. Fourthly,
That lectures on education founded on Phrenology make a
deeper and more permanent impression on the understanding
than if based on mere Common Sense, and can be more cer-
tainly and successfully carried into practice.” 1
1
America, vol. iii. pp. 175-6.
III.
GEORGE COMBE'S RELATIONS TO THE EDUCATION
OF HIS TIME.
LET us now endeavour to ascertain more fully George
Combe's relation to the education of his own time, and to
estimate, in some degree, the services he has rendered to edu-
cation in the past, and the influence his views are calculated
to exercise in the future.
1. THE STATE OF EDUCATION AT THE END OF LAST CENTURY.
1
Education at the end of last century was in a very back-
ward condition throughout the British Isles. In Scotland, the
advanced parochial school system instituted by Knox was in-
tended by him to be much broader than it ever became.
How-
ever efficient in its earlier days, this system had ceased to be
suitable for after times, and had greatly become stagnant and
inelastic in spirit and practice, after the two hundred years
of its existence. It had become inadequate for the increasing
population of the country, and insufficient for its growing in-
tellectual and social life, and, like all old and conservative
institutions, it resisted every suggestion of improvement. It
was hide-bound by tradition in discipline, subjects, and teach-
ing. It had even then ceased to provide sufficient accommoda-
tion for many country parishes, and neglected almost entirely
the crowded masses in the rapidly advancing centres of trade
and industry. The subjects taught were much the same as in
the sixteenth century, when the system was founded, and had
not expanded with growing intellectual and social needs. They
consisted, for the most part, of the mere elements of instruction,
which alone the many were taught, only the few who showed
any intellectual power being instructed in higher subjects that
lii
State of Education at End of Last Century.
prepared for a University; while the general work of the school
was largely sacrificed to this small minority, by whose success
the character of the school was popularly estimated. The edu-
cational process was, in general, wooden and mechanical, such a
thing as a Science of Education not being dreamt of. Memory
was the omnipotent instrument of the intellectual instruction
given, while physical, moral, and aesthetic training was un-
known, because not recognised as a function of the school.
True, Religious instruction was supposed to be amply secured
by the daily Bible lesson and the immaculate repetition of the
universal Catechism; but “Bible training," as begun by Stow,
and the intelligent and emotional treatment of religious truth
in school had not yet been conceived. The grand function of
education, as the process of developing the whole faculties of
the child and helping him towards the harmonious perfection of
his nature, was little realised as an educational aim. As little
was that of preparing him, by a full course of training and
instruction, for the work of after life. Hence any extension of
the number of subjects taught, in the ever-widening range of
the modern scholastic curriculum, was not entertained, much
less discussed ; and science, in even its most popular forms,
was seldom or never heard of within school walls. The school-
rooms were generally miserable in size, furniture, and physical
requirements, and modern school supply would have been con-
sidered then, as it is in some quarters even now, absurdly
extravagant. The school books were dry, hard and uninterest-
ing, the Catechism and Proverbs being the simple food on
which our youthful forefathers were mainly fed.
The need of any special professional training of the teacher
in the principles and practice of his work bad scarcely yet been
imagined, nor had the possibility of damage to the complex
and tender structure of the youthful organism, through want
of professional aptitude, been perceived. The difficult pro-
blem of efficient and educative discipline had been little
mooted, and the potent ferula was the synonym and type of
the teacher's work, bearing universal sway; and any suggestion
of ruling without it would have been scouted as a dream of
Utopia or the Fortunate Isles.
State of Education at End of Last Century. liji
Education was then entirely in the hands of the clergy, who
no doubt acted up to the best of their lights, and had done
eminent service to the instruction of the country in the past,
but who rigorously opposed all change, as a reflection on the
sanctity of “ use and wont" and the wisdom of Knox. These
good men were naturally suspicious of all innovations that might
in
any way pluck the power gathered for generations out of
their hands. It had not yet dawned on the national mind,
that it was any part of the duty of Government to educate the
people, and that the power to hang, as Macaulay puts it, im-
plies the power to prevent hanging, by education and other
means. Thirty years of this century had gone, before Govern-
ment granted any allowance to improve even the miserable
school premises ; forty years before, they appointed a Com-
mittee to help the education of the country; and it took
seventy years before an Elementary Education Act was passed
by Parliament. Not one of the numerous educational socie-
ties and committees, which have done such admirable service to
education, existed in the year 1800, or for several years after.
The foregoing is a simple statement of our educational
position at the end of the eighteenth century. Ample testi-
mony to its truth is borne by a host of writers and by the
records of the time, and, not least, by George Combe, who
laments the loss and pain of the school experiences through
which he was obliged to pass. True, the old parochial system,
under the scholarly and hardworking men who carried it on,
had done good work in its time, better than had been done in
most European countries; and, for what it then did, it deserves
and should receive the fullest recognition. It was a system
very well adapted for the period during which it had existed,
but it had been, for a considerable time, insufficient for growing
needs and enlarging intellectual and social life. There is no
doubt that the end of last century was a time of singular
apathy in the educational world, and, what was worse, of perfect
1 The first Government Grant was made in 1833 of £20,000, to assist in
building schools; the Committee of Council on Education was appointed in
1839; the first Act for National Education in England was passed in 1870 ;
the first Act for Scotland in 1872.
liv
The Educational Revival of This Century.
contentment with the state of things. Hence every foot of
advancement had to be fought for. All suggestions of improve-
ment were indignantly and almost fiercely resisted. Ideas in
education which are now the common property of the people,
and which would seem to be axiomatic and universal, were
then quite unknown even to the educated, and their intro-
duction into school was vehemently opposed. In a word, the
field traversed was narrow, the process mechanical, and the
instruction verbal; the masses of our cities were unreached
by the schoolmaster; a lethargic complacency with things as
they were, characterised the conductors of education; and a
grim opposition to change pervaded the country. The only
energy exhibited showed itself in opposition to reform.
II. THE EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
PRESENT CENTURY, AND GEORGE COMBE'S PART IN IT.
But the darkest hour only ushers in the dawn, in human as
in physical things. The beginning of this century witnessed
the rise of a spirit of educational enlightenment and progress,
which has issued in a true educational reformation, and which
will yet achieve mightier things in the years to come. An
outburst of educational talent then occurred, rivalling the
literary and scientific genius which has shed such a glory
on the nineteenth century. That period was brightened by
the labours of many remarkable pioneers in education, both
at home and abroad. With Pestalozzi at work at Neuhof,
Fellenberg at Hofwyl, Froebel in Germany, Bell at Madras,
Lancaster in the Borough Road, Birkbeck at Glasgow,
at Lanark, Wilderspin in Quaker's Lane, and Brougham in
Parliament, the sleep of the past was broken, and an undying
impulse given to education in various directions, which will
expand with the years.
Certain well-marked features characterised this educational
regeneration, of which it will be well briefly to speak, as in all
these George Combe took a more or less active part. This
will enable us also to estimate more truly the nature and
extent of his work and influence.
The Means of education Extend. ly
1. The extension of the means of education, so as to include
the whole population of the country, occupied much attention.
One of the most interesting and pleasing movements in
this direction was the attemptso well begun by Raikes
and Pounds in England and Stow in Scotland—at reaching
the lower masses of our larger towns, by the foundation of
Ragged and Infant Sunday Schools, in the great cities; and
by Week-day and Infant Schools for the people, through
the remarkable enthusiasm of Bell, Lancaster, Wilderspin, and
others. The need, also, of extending the educational ma-
chinery, so as to include the whole country and thus make
education truly national, began early to secure active effort
and to be agitated by individuals and societies, by men out-
side and inside Parliament, till it issued in the discussion of
a succession of Education Bills, which culminated in the Acts
of 1870 and 1872. This question of National Education, more
particularly in its phase of the education of the Labouring
classes, was long debated and engaged the best efforts of emi-
nent men. It met with strange opposition, however, in quarters
that should have been more enlightened. At first strongly
opposed by the Churches in both countries, the movement
at length gained their ardent support, from motives of self-
protection as well as from more enligbtened views. By means
pre-eminently of the British and Foreign, and the National
Societies in England, the Education Committees in Scotland,
and other powerful agencies, the Churches in both countries
gave remarkable aid to the cause of National Education.
In this work of advocating the title of every man and
woman to be educated and of helping towards its attainment,
George Combe took a very active part. As already said, no
one has more incontrovertibly proved the right of the whole
people to be educated, on philosophical, social, and other
grounds. No one has more clearly perceived the need of
universal education, for every reason of individual, social, and
political well-being and progress; and few have more con-
vincingly and earnestly pleaded in its favour, both in this
country and America. And his advocacy was carried on at a
time when the battle for National Education with prejudice
lvi
The Process of education Improves.
and tradition required to be fought against odds, and was
fought by few. The greater part of this pleading was done
when the subject was yet comparatively new to the country,
and was only beginning to receive a feeble recognition in
Parliament and in the press.
2. The all-important question of How to improve the Pro-
cess of education, happily began to receive the attention of a
few earnest and advanced thinkers, early in the century. The
enthusiast of Yverdun, by his writings and labours, chiefly
lighted the torch, which was kept burning by other distin-
guished workers, and has steadily increased in brightness.
This part of the history of education is one of its most
interesting and instructive portions, and embraces the enlight-
ened and philanthropic labours of a host of eminent men,
whose names will ever deserve honourable mention,-Pesta-
lozzi, Fellenberg, Edgeworth, Lancaster, Bell, Owen, Wil-
derspin, Spurzheim, Wood, Stow, Birkbeck, Mayo, Pillans,
Simpson, Mann, Ellis, Shuttleworth, Wyse, Arnold, Alcott,
Woodbridge, Froebel, Richter, Barnard, Abbot, Hodgson,
Spencer, Bain, Carpenter, Payne, and many more, who have ad-
vanced education in English-speaking countries; and Jacotot,
Raumer, Diesterweg, Herbart, Beneke, Wehrli, Girard, Schmidt,
and other remarkable men, who have contributed to a similar
educational reformation on the Continent, but whose works
are still very little known in England." All these have
1 It has been a very great loss to English education that the writings of so
many eminent foreign educators have been almost unknown in this country.
Our neglect of Continental education has been remarkable. The Kindergarten
of Fröbel, who began his educational labours in 1816, was only introduced into
England in 1851 by the Ronges ; Richter's “Levana," though written in
1806, was translated only in 1848 ; Jacotot, born 1770 and died 1840, was
scarcely known till Professor Payne introduced him to his countrymen, in 1867 ;
while of the great works of the others mentioned above, and of Francke,
Basedow and the Philanthropin, Hecker, Gesner, &c., of the eighteenth century,
no translation has yet appeared in Britain ; though many of their contribu-
tions are now accessible through the enlightened labours of Dr Henry Barnard,
of America, in the American Journal of Education and elsewhere. Happily
for the country, the works and labours of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Fellenberg,
and Spurzheim were early known in English, the last having written his work
on Education in our language.
George Combe's Efforts in this direction.
lvii
laboured in different parts of the field and for different
objects, too long to enumerate; and their ideas and efforts
form a splendid chapter in European education. They have
contributed extensive and most valuable materials towards
educational history, philosophy, and practice, which have
already done excellent service in helping to create the
Science and Art of Education, based on the philosophy of
human nature and human needs.
Among these reformers, George Combe takes no mean place.
Many of the ideas thrown out by these students of educa-
tion were merely the result of the hard-won experience of
themselves and others, or of their natural insight into the
problems presented. However valuable as contributions to
educational progress, they were in most cases, like Pestalozzi's,
more or less empirical and lacking in scientific form and
value, though full of genuine perception of the nature of the
subject. Few of them studied the subject in a philosophic
spirit, and sought to place the principles and practice of edu-
cation on a strict scientfic basis. In the more exact and
scientific investigation into the problems of education, it is not
too much to say that few have surpassed George Combe. His
philosophical studies and natural endowments urged him to
this special work, and supplied him with facts and principles,
which he at all times sought to apply to education, and to
make as practical and efficient as possible when thus applied.
The result is that, though he has written no formal treatise
on the subject, and was not, except in an amateur way, a prac-
tical teacher himself, yet he has left behind him a body of
principles and practice, of great and permanent value, which
must place him high amongst the scientific students of
educational problems and the founders of the Science of
Education. And the distinguishing merits of his views are
their far-reaching nature, their pregnancy as principles, their
philosophic basis, and their singularly clear and practical
exposition.
The time at which he advanced these principles and
brought the science he knew so well to bear on educational
questions, should also be remembered. In the very first
lviii
His Work as a Scientific Educationist.
of his published works, the “Essays on Phrenology,” in
1819, he has a special section on education, as interpreted
by the new philosophy. In 1822, in his larger treatise, the
“System of Phrenology;" in numerous articles in the Phreno-
logical Journal, from its commencement, in 1823; in 1828,
in the “ Constitution of Man;" and throughout all his sub-
sequent works, the principles of Mental Science are constantly
brought to bear on the same subject. Before 1819, in this
educational reformation, there had appeared in English, Rous-
seau's “ Emile,” in 1762 ; Kames' “Hints on Education," and
Vicesimus Knox's “Liberal Education," in 1781 ; Bell's “Ex-
periments in Education,” in 1797, followed by his other works;
Edgeworths' “Practical Education,” in 1798; Lancaster's “Trac-
tate," in 1803, and his “Improvements in Education," in 1806
-none of which are scientific in spirit or treatment, however
valuable, suggestive, and advanced. One of the first scientific
studies of education in English was Spurzheim's “Principles of
Education, not published till 1821, to which George Combe
confesses abundant obligations. George Combe was thus
writing on the Science of Education in the early part of
the century, when very few were engaged in that work;
and there is no doubt that he was one of the earliest of
the few investigators into the subject who, like Spurzheim,
Spencer, Carpenter, Bain, and others, have endeavoured to
render it truly philosophical, by basing it on the Science
of Mind in connection with its Physiological relations.
3. The need of improving and extending the range of the
1
“Emile ou de l'Education” was first published, in French, at Amsterdam,
in 1762 ; in English, in London, in the same year, in 4 vols., as “Emilius
and Sophia, or a New System of Education ;” again in London in 1763, and
in Edinburgh in 1773 and 1783. Pestalozzi's “Leonard and Gertrude,”
though published in 1781, was not translated till 1825 (London, 2 vols.) ; his
excellent “ Letters on Early Education,” addressed in 1818–19 to J. P. Greaves,
were translated in 1827, the year of his death ; and his valuable work, “How
Gertrude teaches her Children,” after 1830. Pestalozzi's system was first made
known in England, in May 1826, by the Rev. Charles Mayo, in a lecture before
the Royal Institution. Richter's “Levana," as already noted, written in 1806,
was not translated till 1848; Simpson's “Philosophy of Education” and
Stow's “Moral Training" appeared in 1834.
The Range of instruction Widens.
lix
Subjects of Instruction began to claim attention, the more the
true nature and aims of education were perceived. The meagre
list of subjects taught in our common schools at the beginning
of the century is surprising in the light of present practice, being
confined to reading, repetition, spelling, writing, and arithmetic;
dictation was unknown, and grammar, composition, geography,
and history were not thought of for the common people; while
the instruction of the more advanced was confined exclusively
to Latin and other subjects required for the University. Not
one of the attractive fields in the wide range of Science was
opened in Common schools till far on in the century. Even
in the Madras and Lancaster schools, the teaching to poor
men's children of subjects now universal was at first specially
deprecated, though, in these schools, more of them were
gradually introduced.
Here George Combe did important service. He gave the
question special study, and treated it to a great extent ex-
haustively, from the importance he attached to the training
of all the faculties, by means of the subjects adapted for this
end. This will appear from the short statement already given
of his views, but still more from their details in this work.
He has sketched the field in the broadest fashion, based on a
study of the whole facts of the problem, internal and exter-
nal, and has laid down a very complete outline of the whole
course of school instruction. His discussion of the relations
of Linguistic to Real education, in the contest waged in regard
to them early in the century, is valuable, and contributed, in
no small degree, to the present more adequate and advanc-
ing notions of the relative importance of these two fields of
education. His whole views in regard to the school curri-
culum deserve special attention at this period of controversy
regarding the subjects of study, and particularly the principles
on which his scheme is founded.?
Several subjects which he pleaded for, and in which he was
one of the earliest workers, such as Physiology, are now
taught in our schools, and receive Government grants; but in
1 See his views on this subject, chap. ii. p. 69. .
2 See these stated in Part II. p. 25.
lx
Popular Lectures on Science established.
others, he is still in advance of general educational practice.
In connection with certain of these, he occupies as yet, along
with a few educationists, a unique position, viz., those by
which a child is instructed in his own mental constitution,
and in the principles of moral, social, and political life; that
is, in the elements of Mental and Moral Philosophy, and
Social, Economical, and Political Science. In advocating
these as necessary subjects in a full course of school instruc-
tion, he has been ably supported by William Ellis, in the
Birkbeck Schools, in which they form a regular and essen-
tial part of the instruction given, except Mental Science and
the Relation of man's nature to the universe of which he forms
a part, as already explained, which yet wait for recognition
in our schools. 1
Another excellent sphere of labour in providing broader
instruction for the people, in which this friend of man was
one of the earliest workers, was the diffusion of useful know-
ledge,” by means of popular lectures on scientific subjects.
One of the first attempts at giving such lectures was made
by Dr John Anderson, the founder of Anderson's College,
in Glasgow, who, when appointed to the Chair of Natural
Philosophy in Glasgow University, delivered a bi-weekly
course to classes of working men, until his death in 1796.
The first session, under Dr Garnett, of Anderson's College,
founded in 1796, was attended by about a thousand of both
In the same year, Dr Thomas Beddoes, the celebrated
physician, and son-in-law of Edgeworth, began the system of
true popular science lectures to audiences of both sexes in
Bristol, by a course of Physiology. In 1800, that remarkable
man, Dr Birkbeck, the successor of Dr Garnett, inaugurated a
most successful course of popular lectures to the mechanics of
Glasgow, on “ the mechanical properties of solid and fluid
bodies," Twenty-one years, however, elapsed before the idea
was adopted by any other town, when Edinburgh led the
way by founding, in 1821, “The Edinburgh School of Arts," "
“to supply instruction in the various branches of science
which are of practical application to mechanics in their
1 See an account of the Birkbeck Schools and their course of study, p. 230.
sexes,
+
Professional Training of Teachers begins.
lxi
several trades.” This was followed by the establishment,
chiefly through Dr Birkbeck's efforts and influence, of “The
Glasgow Mechanics' Institute,” in 1823, the first of the kind
in Britain ; of “The London Mechanics' Institution," in 1824;
and of similar institutions throughout the country, which rose
with remarkable rapidity up to 1830.
These efforts were directed mainly to the instruction of the
men of the labouring classes, but George Combe was the first
to revive, in 1832, Dr Beddoes' practice of giving public
lectures to mixed popular audiences, by courses on Phrenology,
Morals, and Education, which gave rise, as already told, to the
“ Edinburgh Philosophical Institution” and “The Edinburgh
Society for the Diffusion of Moral and Economical Know-
ledge." These lectures, as he informs us, were at first treated
with ridicule, and were objected to as “improper and danger-
! But they speedily led to “ numerous successful courses
of lectures in different parts of the country,” till now they form
one of the healthiest educational features of the age. George
Combe's influence in these efforts at popular instruction is
thus alluded to in the Fourth Report of the Directors of the
" Philosophical Association”:-“It is not doubted that the in-
terest and discussion which have been excited by Mr Combe's
talented lectures on Education, will be influential in bringing
about the time when instruction in Natural Science will be
everywhere considered an indispensable branch of elementary
education.'
ous
971
4. The need of professional training for teachers began
early to be perceived in these attempts at educational reform.
At the commencement of the century, the teachers of com-
mon schools were trained in the schools of Lancaster and Bell,
fifty teachers having been prepared by Lancaster before 1810;
this work becoming latterly fuller and more systematic, when
these schools were managed by the British and Foreign Society,
and the National Society. One of the first attempts at preparing
teachers was made in Scotland, in Wood's Edinburgh Sessional
School, established in 1813. This work was regularly carried
1 See Simpson's “ Philosophy of Education,” Appendix No. IV.
lxii
Earlier Labourers in this field.
on there some years after its foundation, till it was trans-
formed, in 1838, into “The General Assembly's Normal and
Sessional School” in Market Street, Edinburgh. Almost from
the beginning of his labours, from 1828, Stow invited teachers
to witness his system. He gradually gave them more syste-
matic instruction in its principles and in those of general
education, and was one of the most earnest workers in this
field, till he finally succeeded in founding, in 1838, the first
Normal College in Scotland, if not in Britain ; having trained,
before this date, above a hundred teachers, who did immense
good in disseminating his principles both at home and abroad.
In the Edinburgh Model Infant School, opened in 1829, of which
George Combe was one of the founders and promoters, teachers
were regularly prepared for Infant schools throughout the
country. High praise is also due to Professor Pillans, of Edin-
burgh University, whose articles, in 1828, on the training of the
teacher? did great service in drawing attention to the subject,
and no doubt hastened the establishment of Normal Schools;
but his higher idea of having this training carried on in the
Universities, amidst the elements of broader culture and along-
side of other professions, had to wait much longer for recog-
nition, and only began to be possible with the recent founda-
ation of the Bell Chairs of Education in Edinburgh and St
Andrews.3 In 1836, the Home and Colonial School Society
commenced the training of Infant school teachers, under the
admirable superintendence of Dr. and Miss Mayo. The
subject was agitated in Parliament from an early date
by Brougham and others, but it was not till 1836 that
any grant was allowed for the building of Normal Colleges.
From that date, these institutions rose with surprising
on
1 See “Memoir of David Stow," by the Rev. William Fraser, p. 130 (Lon-
don: James Nisbet & Co.).
2 In the second of two letters to T. F. Kennedy, Esq., M.P., The
Principles of Elementary Teaching," written in 1827, and published in 1828 ;
now included in his “Contributions to the Cause of Education ” (London :)
Longmans, 1856); and in an article in the Edinburgh Review, in No. 120, 1834,
“Seminaries for Teachers," also included in the same work.
3 See the same training of teachers in Universities recommended at an early
date by Mr Cunningham, the first Principal of Stow's Normal School, p. 649.
on
George Combe on the Training of Teachers. lxiii
rapidity, so that at this time, within forty years, forty-seven
such colleges exist in England and Scotland alone, founded,
with Government assistance, by different religious bodies for
the training chiefly of their own teachers. No unsectarian
Normal School has yet been established in Britain.
In this excellent field of educational work, George Combe
took an early and active part, being amongst the first clearly
to perceive the paramount necessity for. such training as a
vital element in any educational advance. On all occasions,
he pointed out, with earnestness and enlightened insight, the
need and nature of such professional preparation for the work
of education. His perception of this necessity and of the
character of the training required was unusually clear and
advanced for the time, and he advocated a broader and more
scientific course for teachers than has yet been adopted, ,
especially as regards their careful study of the whole con-
stitution of man and the laws of his nature, physical, intellec-
tual, moral, aesthetical, and spiritual; and the best means of
bringing these to bear on the development of the human
being during his education. There is no doubt that, till this
study forms one of the most prominent and extensive parts of
the training of teachers, that training will remain unsound
and imperfect at its very root; and the theory and practice
of education imparted cannot be other than largely empirical,
mechanical and unscientific. George Combe's advanced
views on this head were due to his clear and philosophic
perception of the real nature of the process and end of educa-
tion, and his profound knowledge of man’s constitution. He
was one of the earliest to advocate and welcome the estab-
lishment of Normal Schools in Britain. He was also one of
the first to urge their erection in America, in 1838; the first w
Normal School founded there being that of Lexington, in
Massachusetts, in 1839. In his "Notes on the United States, "
issued in 1841, he published a full account, with plans, of
Stow's Normal College, and was no doubt largely instru-
mental in leading to the foundation and development of
such institutions in the United States, afterwards so ably
carried out by the great educationist, Horace Mann.
1 See notes on the establishment of Seminaries for Teachers, pp. 649 and 653.
1
1
е e
$
Ixiy
Relation of the Churches to Education.
5. Religious Instruction, and the relation of the Churches to
education generally were, from the first, vexed and vexing
questions. The churches had for generations conducted the
education of the country, and it was natural that they should
not, without a struggle, part with their power, and with a work
which they deemed, from its nature and its relations to religion,
peculiarly their own. They fought long and hard, and when
at last roused from the lethargy of the past, they accom-
plished a wonderful amount of good in extending and improv-
ing education throughout the land. The motives for these
abundant labours may not have been at all times the most
disinterested, but good work was done. The churches were
long much too strong for the friends of a non-ecclesiastical
system under Government control to make much progress,
but the national party has now succeeded in securing a
National system, more or less complete, throughout the
British Islands. In this contest, George Combe was the
most prominent and powerful of the combatants, declaring
equally against voluntary and church conduct of education.
The deeper question as to Religious Instruction in schools
roused more opposition and acrimony than that of a National
versus a Church system of education. As advocates of the
separation of doctrinal teaching from national schools, the so-
called “Secular” party have always been strongly opposed in
this country, and subjected to much misrepresentation and
even social persecution, as enemies alike of God, religion,
and mankind. Still it has gradually grown in strength and
influence, and has embraced men both inside and outside the
churches, including in Scotland no less a churchman than Dr
Chalmers. Their idea has been, as already said, that Theo-
logy should be taught by the churches, each body making
arrangements for the Theological instruction of its own adher-
ents, and that other subjects alone should be taught in
schools.
In Britain, George Combe was the chief advocate of these
unpopular views regarding State and Religious Education,
with the notable and essential difference, already pointed out,
that he deemed all-important the careful cultivation, in school,
1 See Dr Chalmers' latest views on this subject in Appendix No. VI., p. 732.
Struggle for Non-Sectårian education.
lxv
of the Moral and Religious faculties, through the usual studies,
especially through science, “the secular order of God's pro-
vidence,” and contact with nature. From an early period, he
advocated these views in his works, and in newspaper leaders,
letters, and speeches. The establishment of the secular edu-
cational system of Ireland, in 1831 and subsequent years, was
watched by him with the greatest interest and is frequently
referred to in his writings. In 1838, he continued his advo-
cacy in America, and had the satisfaction of seeing instituted
in Massachussets, chiefly through the efforts of Horace Mann,
a non-sectarian system, which he frequently described and
held up for imitation in this country. Visiting various
European countries, he examined and described their edu-
cational systems for the same end. His efforts to promote
these views at home by pamphlets and otherwise, by the
opening of the Williams Secular School, the first school of the
kind in Scotland, and by the agitation, begun in 1850, have
already been told
The progress of these views led to the formation of the
Glasgow Sunday Educational Association in 1849, for teach-
ing “secular” subjects to the poorest and most neglected ;
and of the Glasgow Secular School Society, which established
the Glasgow Secular Schools in 1849, and carried on one of
them for twenty-two years, till the Act of 1872 rendered its
existence, in the opinion of its supporters, no longer necessary;
and to the foundation of similar schools in other towns in
Scotland and England. George Combe also took great interest
in the Secular Education movement in England, chiefly in the
National Public School Association of Manchester, originally
founded in 1847, which established the Manchester Model
Secular School. He also visited and described, at different
times, the Birkbeck and other schools in which this non-
sectarian programme was carried out.
During his whole life, he was unwearied in his sympathies
and efforts in promoting what he considered the only fair and
efficient solution of the great question of “ Religious” edu-
cation, and, no doubt, did more than any other man to lead
to the ultimate partial adoption of these views in the present
Ixvi George Combe on Non-Sectarian education.
Education Acts and their conscience clauses, a success, which,
though incomplete, would have surprised him, so much more
rapid has it been than he anticipated.
In all these labours, George Combe and his friends en-
countered the strongest opposition, and had to bear much
abuse and misrepresentation. The controversy was stormy,
if not violent, and special letters, speeches, and books were
written against them. These attacks, and the bad odour of
his position, were borne by him with philosophic calmness,
and evoked from him no recrimination, not even strong words,
beyond a firm correction of error and a fuller discussion and
explanation of the ideas of his party, in different forms, but
chiefly in his larger work on “The Relation between Science
and Religion,” published in 1857.
It is only justice to George Combe, moreover, to bear in
mind his special views, as already explained, in regard to the
function of the school in the culture of the Moral and
Religious faculties. No misrepresentation could be farther
from the truth than that he was not a religious man, for no
part of his nature was stronger than his religious and moral
faculties, which gave him, in this direction, a calm but undying
enthusiasm ; and there never has lived a more earnest advocate
of Religious and Moral training, as one of the most important
elements in the education and progress of mankind.?
1
6. The part played by Government in these educational
struggles is important and interesting. The controversy as to
the relation that the Government of a country should bear to
the education of the people was protracted and vehement,
fiercely contested on both sides, the opponents of Government
interference being long too powerful for the advocates of the
right and duty of Government to educate the people. From
the earliest attempt to rouse Government interest and obtain
inquiry into popular education, in 1816, when Brougham
succeeded in getting a committee appointed “to inquire into
1 See p. 586, for an account of the struggle.
2 See chap. vii. p. 201, for some account of the “Secular School” move-
ment, originated by George Combe, and the agitation for National Unsectarian
Education of that time.
Action of Government in Education.
lxvii
the educational condition of London, Westminster, and South-
wark,” the first of a long series of parliamentary movements,
the story is one of alternate defeat and success. Another
Committee followed in 1818," on the education of the lower
orders generally,” the Charity Commissioners in 1819, and
Brougham's first Education Bill in 1820. The establishment
of the National System of Ireland, in 1831, was the first prac-
tical assertion of Government right to educate the people. The
first parliamentary vote for assisting in building schools was
passed in 1834. In 1839, the Committee of Council on Edu-
cation was appointed, with Kay-Shuttleworth as its efficient
secretary, and its celebrated Minutes for Annual Grants were
issued in 1846. Bill after bill for education was thrown out.
by the House—Sir James Graham's Factory Bill in 1843,
Pakington's, Russell's, and Cobden's Bills in 1856, and Marl-
borough's in 1868,—till a great though still incomplete victory
was secured in the passing of the English Elementary Educa-
tion Act in 1870, and the Scotch in 1872.
In this struggle, the combatants on both sides were many
and strong, and George Combe was one of the earliest and
ablest. His discussion of the relations of Government to
the education of the people has never been surpassed for
clearness and conclusiveness. He was indefatigable in this
work, and his assistance in any effort to secure the recogni-
tion of the duty of Government to educate the people was
ever ready and valuable. Before going to America, in 1838,
he advocated these views, and his appeals on this head to the
American people were powerful and eloquent. In 1841, after
his return, he had the distinguished foresight to sketch out, in
the Edinburgh Review, in July of that year, the machinery by
which State education should be conducted, and the lines on
which subsequent legislation has greatly gone. He was the
1
Especially in his pamphlet, “Remarks on National Education, being an
Inquiry into the Right and Duty of Government to Educate the People,
issued in 1846, of which five editions were required by 1848. See Part
See Part Fifth,
chap. i. p. 541, for George Combe's views on the subject.
2 Contained chiefly in his “Notes on the United States,” published in 1841.
See p. 518, et seq. for some of these appeals.
3 In an article on “ Education in America." See p. 586, on this point; and
p. 607 et seq. for the greater part of the article itself.
lxviii George Combe on a National System.
moving spirit in the great agitation which was carried on after
this time in favour of National Unsectarian Secular Educa-
tion under Government control ; and this it became one of
the great aims of the rest of his life to endeavour to achieve.1
His pen was ever busy in this cause. He was intimately
conversant with all the actors and agencies in favour of these
views, both public and private, both inside and outside of
Parliament; and his wise counsels and untiring efforts were
enthusiastically devoted, amidst opposition and odium, to the
advancement of these all-important social problems.
The
meetings which he so eloquently addressed, in 1851, in
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Paisley, Manchester, and
elsewhere, and his admirable discussion of the whole sub-
ject in the Westminster Review, in 1852, when he was above
sixty years of age, are proofs of his continued enthusiasm
in the great questions involved in National Education, and
his dissatisfaction with the partial solutions then in progress.
His views on the subject were and still are in advance of
British practice on several points—as in regard to Free
schools supported only by rates, universal compulsory edu-
cation, and the total exclusion of doctrinal teaching from
Public schools. There is no doubt that to George Combe
personally, the country is more indebted than to any other
single individual for the development of National Education
as now greatly accomplished, and for the prevalence of broader
views regarding the function of Government in the education
of the people.
See Part First, II. supra, for an enumeration of the pamphlets he issued,
and the speeches he made, at this time.
2 Article on “Secular Education," in the number for July 1852. See P.
587
IV.
GEORGE COMBE'S POSITION AS AN EDUCATIONIST.
The foregoing résumé of his views and efforts is sufficient
to show, that George Combe was no ordinary worker in the
educational field. His ideas on education are unusually broad,
philosophical, and suggestive ; and they are expressed, as the
late Professor Nichol says, with “exquisite clearness.” His
educational studies were pursued in a true spirit of scientific
inquiry. His conclusions are the outcome of a rare acquaint-
ance with man's whole constitution; and they form, altogether,
a contribution to educational science and practice, of genuine
insight into the problems, excellent practical suggestion, and
unusual breadth and value. His labours in this field were
abundant, various, and unwearied, inspired by a true enthu-
siasm of humanity; and they were carried on during the whole
of a long life, amidst great misunderstanding and obloquy.
Yet eminent as were his services to education, George Combe
has received scanty honour in the educational world, and his
name is seldom mentioned as amongst its friends, even with
the present growing interest in that subject. He has achieved
great fame and notoriety in other spheres of labour, but in
education, in which he so richly deserves it for good work
accomplished, little or none. Why is this? Chiefly because
1 In an appreciative account of George Combe's life, in the “Imperia] Dic-
tionary of Universal Biography," published by William Mackenzie, London.
2 A striking proof of the neglect of George Combe's services to Education is
the fact that in Kiddle and Schem's “ Cyclopædia of Education,” just published
(New York, 1877 : E. Steiger ; London : Sampson Low & Co.)—a valuable work,
the first of its kind in English, which embraces the history, theory, practice,
and administration of Education, and the biography of educators, all over the
world-George Combe has no place as an educationist! But this is scarcely
surprising, when he is not even mentioned as a phrenologist, in the chapter on
even that subject ! In such a comprehensive work, of some 900 closely
printed octavo pages, this singular neglect is inexcusable.
lxx
His Educational Labours little known.
his services are greatly unknown. They could hardly have
been otherwise to the present generation. His educational
writings appeared mostly in an evanescent shape, in which
they could scarcely live beyond his more immediate contem-
poraries. They have hitherto been little accessible, and they
have never been presented till now in a collected form, so as
to be seen in their full extent and value. As he wrote no
special treatise on the subject, his name has not become
associated with a known educational work, as Rousseau's with
Emile, Pestalozzi's with Leonard and Gertrude, Richter's with
Levana. Then the story of his life has only just appeared. Thus
his abundant labours in educational and social progress are
little known. His unpopular views have, no doubt, to some
extent, prevented full justice being done to him ; while his
fame or notoriety in other walks may also have overshadowed
his deserts in this one, eminent as they have been.
But his influence on the education of his own time, through
his frequent writings and unremitting labours in the cause,
was undoubtedly very great. George Combe was the true
champion of certain higher ideas, when a champion was most
needed. Even in his own lifetime, he saw many of these
ideas, long fought for, incorporated with the educational sys-
tems of the day. Had he survived twenty years longer, he
would have seen some of his most cherished thoughts, once
most fiercely opposed, become greatly triumphant, and this
with a rapidity that would have surprised himself. As he
says, he “ did not expect to see these principles generally
reduced to practice in this age.” His views
His views “embraced cen-
turies of time;” and “ seeing the slow progress of the human
race in the past, he did not anticipate miracles in the future,"
though he had faith in the truth and vitality of these prin-
ciples to “vindicate their own might.” Had he lived till now,
he would have witnessed, in Scotland, the establishment of
a National System of Education; universal School Boards, in
whose hands, and not in Church or voluntary agencies, the
1 “The Life of George Combe," by Charles Gibbon, in two volumes
(London: Macmillan & Co., 1878); ably written, and important alike to the
educationist, the philosopher, the reformer, and the philanthropist, and to
all interested in human progress and in the growth of human well-being.
His Educational Views largely embraced.
lxxi
management of National Education is placed; universal com-
pulsion; the supreme conduct of National education vested in
the State; the payment of Government grants for a wide range
of Scientific instruction in our Common schools; the forma-
tion of a special department of Government to foster Science
and Art; the gradual elaboration, on a scientific basis,
of the Science of Education, and wonderful improvement in
its spirit and practice ; the development of the individual
beginning to be more recognised as the higher function of the
school; intelligence more cultivated there, and its cultivation
encouraged by special grants; a rapidly increasing recogni-
tion of the need of professional training for the teacher;
this training also initiated as a part of the work of the
Universities, and increasing efforts made to have such an
academical function universal; and the schools of his friend
Mr Ellis, in which are embodied the greater part of his own
ideas, still eminently successful. All these and other principles
which he maintained with earnest life-long struggle, amidst
opposition now scarcely credible, have been acknowledged
as true and good, and their adoption is matter of fact. Not
that George Combe was, or claimed in the remotest degree to
be, their only champion or their only martyr, for happily he
was but one of a small bright band that so laboured and
suffered; but, beyond question, he was one of the most
enlightened and most indefatigable, in his own sphere and
for some of the most unpopular of the new ideas, and he
endured more than most in their promulgation and defence.
Even in labours and aims in which he stood very much
alone, the country has made surprising advance, and not least
in that which gained him most odium, the so-called "Secular”
platform. The present conscience clause, and the non-recog-
nition and non-inspection by Government of “Religious"
teaching, though not all he would have thought desirable,
are undoubtedly the beginning of final victory for Separatist
views. In this matter, however, it was unfortunate that the
1
George Combe, for the Williams School, and the promoters of the Glasgow
and Manchester Secular Schools, made application to participate in Govern-
ment grants, like other schools, which was refused because the Bible was
not taught there, though Religious training received special attention.
lxxii
True Character of the Secular Schools.
title “ Secular” was adopted, as expressing the aim of what
was a much greater endeavour. From various causes, the word
soon became very obnoxious to the country in general, having
gained a wider polemical and anti-theological application than
it had when first used by George Combe, in a purely educa-
tional sense.
The name denoted to him and to his friends
much more than it did, and still does, even to the advocates
of “secular" education in schools; embracing every subject,
Religious training included, which related to the present
“secular" world. In addition to its theological obnoxious-
ness, it also did great injustice to what was much higher and
broader, by putting forward a minor peculiarity of these schools
as the only distinction between them and others,—the real
truth being, that they embraced a wider scheme of training and
instruction than any other, nothing less than the outline of
education sketched by George Combe. In now judging of
what he and his friends intended in their schools, the mere
“secular” peculiarity should be put aside as a smaller matter,
in an educational point of view, and the broad education
sought to be given there should receive the attention it un-
doubtedly deserves. It was a pity and a loss that, from various
external causes, these schools were given up; for their scheme
was broader and better than any Code will yet be for many a
day. It is good, however, that so much of George Combe's
outline is still embodied in the Birkbeck Schools, which stand
greatly alone in this respect, and give the broadest training
and preparation of children in the work and objects of life
now existing; and it is devoutly to be wished, that they will
be centres whence a truer and more adequate and practical
education will pervade the country and regulate the cur-
riculum of our schools.1 Had religious polemics not been
roused by the brand of "secularism” written on the very
pediment of the schools of George Combe and his friends,
much more good might have been achieved by them in this
direction.?
In America, George Combe's influence has been greater
1 See p. 230 and p. 252, for the history and characteristics of these schools.
2 See p. 257, and letter from Mr W. Mattieu Williams, in the Appendix,
P. 718, on the word “Secular.”
His Influence on Future education.
lxxiii
and wider than at home, because, in a new country, his
views had to encounter less existing tradition and prejudice.
His enlightened advocacy of a better education, and of the
technical training of teachers there, had great influence in
improving education generally, and of leading to the establish-
ment of Normal Schools. There happily, too, his ideas and
spirit were continued, and issued in greater things, in what
was truly an educational reformation, through the admirable
efforts of his friend, Horace Mann, one of the greatest edu-
cationists of his time.1 These two eminent men became
acquainted in America, and remained ever afterwards in
terms of the closest friendship and esteem, Mr Mann fre-
quently acknowledging his obligations to George Combe in
the most generous manner.2
George Combe's influence on education in the future ought
to be, and no doubt will be, greater than it has been in the
past, especially now that his extensive and admirable con-
tributions to that subject are accessible in a systematic form.
The ideas here embodied should be welcomed by all students
of education, as throwing the clearest light on most of the
field. Many of these are yet so far before present know-
ledge and practice, and are so sound and philosophical
in themselves, that they should lead to future advance, and
point out the path to be pursued. They are also the more
1 His Life and Works, edited by Mrs Mann, are most valuable contributions
to education, embodying, as they do, his excellent labours, speeches and
reports on the subject. His well-known Educational Tour in Europe, the best
edition of which is edited by Professor Hodgson, first published in 1846,
should be in the hands of every teacher ; a new edition should be issued.
2 In bis Life, p. 47, the following tribute occurs :-- “Mr Mann looked on v
his acquaintance with Mr Combe and his works as an important epoch in his
life. That wise philosopher cleared away for ever the rubbish of false doctrine
which had sometimes impeded its action, and presented a Philosophy of Mind
that commended itself to his judgment; and get there was not a servile sur-
render to his views; for although he considered Mr Combe his master in reason-
ing powers, he did not follow him to all his conclusions.” Mr Mann himself,
writing to George Combe, says, “There is no man of whom I think so often ;
there is no man of whom I write so often; there is no man who has done me
so much good as you have. I see many of the most valuable truths as I never
should have seen them but for you, and all truths better than I should other-
wise have done.” (Life, p. 518).
lxxiv He was in his right Place, at the right Time.
valuable, that they form one of the few treatments of the
subject resting on a scientific basis and conducted in a
scientific manner—on the study of the whole physical and
mental constitution of man; and they should thus furnish ex-
cellent materials towards constructing the future Science and
Art of Education, which are still only in their infancy.
In fine and by way of summary estimate of his educational
position, George Combe has, beyond all question, done excel-
lent service to education by pen, voice, and action in the past,
and he will exert a wider and deeper influence in the years to
come. He was the right man, in the right place, and at the
right time. It may seem that, had he appeared a little later,
his success might have been greater, as his views would have
encountered less opposition than they did at a time so educa-
tionally blind and so theologically rigid. We are apt so to
reason regarding strong men who have had largely to create
and to educate their own audience, which could not have
existed afterwards, had it not been prepared by themselves
to accept views so obnoxious to their contemporaries. George
Combe was in his true place in the van of educational reforń,
as in other fields bearing on the progress of thought and
well-being. He had the real spirit of a pioneer, the stuff
that makes the champion of new ideas, possessing the fearless
courage of his opinions - opinions never uttered till fully
conquered by himself — filled with deathless enthusiasm,
generously tolerant of difference of opinion, grandly forbear-
ing under even merciless attack, sustained by calm philo-
sophy born of invincible faith in the might of truth, and
inspired with a genuine, all-embracing philanthropy. His
1 In a speech made in New York, in March 1840, speaking of the opposition
he had encountered, George Combe said : “Many were the shafts of ridicule
that were hurled against me, and bitter the taunts poured forth by a hostile
press; but they never penetrated to my soul, disturbed my peace, or impeded iny
prosperity. I mention this, not in the spirit of vain-glory, but to confirm the
young in the assurance that the path of truth and independence may be safely
trodden, even against a world in arms, if courage and perseverance be added to
prudence in the advance."
His Ultimate position as Educationist.
lxxv
range of mental development may be considered as not so
wide as that of some less eminent men, but, within that
range and on his own ground, George Combe was peerless.
His influence as a scientific educationist, helping to system-
atise educational facts and principles and to place these on
a philosophic basis of pure induction, that of the study of the
human constitution in its broad integrity, is still almost
entirely a thing of the future. His life and work were too
polemical, the strife was too keen, to allow his calmer and
deeper suggestions to be seen and felt. The philosopher was
hidden in the combatant, and his best thoughts on human
well-being were conveyed through a suspected and misre-
presented philosophy. Not being accessible in any proper
form for general use, his educational works have had too
little opportunity of doing the good they are fitted to do;
while the prevalent mistaken notions of the man and his
opinions have no doubt farther obscured their merit.
Nor have educationists themselves been hitherto sufficiently
enlightened, or sufficiently studious and scientific to look deeply
into the philosophy of their own work. The growth of educa-
tion has been too rapid, the issues at stake too controversial, to
permit adequate attention to be paid to the higher elements of
the subject. But a calmer time is beginning to dawn on the
educational world, better adapted for the elaboration of the
Science and Art of its own work on a true basis of scientific
investigation and scientific method; and more valuable and
more abundant materials now exist for this purpose than at
any former period. And there are most hopeful signs that these
are beginning to receive the more earnest attention which their
vital bearing on future educational progress demands. When the
materials for this great task, contributed by a long succession of
eminent workers in this important field of inquiry, from Plato to
Payne, are gathered up, George Combe's studies and exertions
will be found to have been of sterling worth. And when the
true history of education—a subject that concerns mankind
as well as the teacher comes to be written, he will receive
his well-earned place beside the greater reformers of educa-
tion, and a special position among the smaller band of its
lxxvi His Ultimate position as Educationist.
scientific students. The present issue of his works is an
attempt to do George Combe more justice in this less known
but most honourable field of his many labours; and, through
their means, to contribute towards the final solution of im-
portant educational questions, and the development of the
Educational Science of the future, so inseparably bound up
with human happiness and human progress.
Res non Verba Quæso.
George Combe's Motto.
We must teach the child WHAT IT IS, WHERE IT IS,
WHAT IT OUGHT TO DO, and How IT SHOULD DO IT,
in order best to fulfil the objects of its existence.
George Combe.
Je vous prêche un art difficile ; c'est de gouverner
sans préceptes, et de tout faire en ne faisant rien.
Rousseau
PART FIRST.
WHAT IS EDUCATION ?
ITS NEED AND NATURE.
PART FIRST.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEED OF EDUCATION INHERENT IN MAN'S CONSTITUTION,
LET us contemplate Man, and his adaptation to the external creation. Man and his
varied faculties.
The world was inhabited by living beings, and death and reproduc-
tion prevailed before Man appeared. The order of creation seems
not to have been changed at his introduction, but he appears to
have been adapted to it. He received an organized structure, and
animal instincts. He took his station among, yet at the head of,
the beings that existed at his creation. Man is, to a certain extent,
on a level with the lower animals in his structure, powers, feelings,
and desires, and is adapted to a world in which death reigns, and
generation succeeds generation. This fact, although so trite and
obvious as to appear scarcely worthy of being noticed, is of import-
ance in treating education ; because the human being, in so far as
he resembles the inferior creatures, is capable of enjoying a life like
theirs; he has pleasure in eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercising
his limbs; and one of the greatest obstacles to his improvement is,
that many of the race are contented with these enjoyments, and
consider it painful to be compelled to seek higher sources of gratifi-
cation. But to man's animal nature have been added, by a bountiful
Creator, moral sentiments and a vastly superior endowment of the
reflecting faculties, which not only place him above all other
creatures on earth, but constitute him a different being from any of
them, a rational and accountable creature. These faculties are his His higher fac-
highest and his best gifts, and the sources of his purest and intensest
ulties require
training.
pleasures. They lead him directly to those important objects of his
existence,-obedience to God, and love to his fellow-men. But this
peculiarity attends them, that while his animal faculties, which are
necessary for his preservation, act powerfully of themselves, his
moral and rational faculties require to be cultivated, exercised, and
4
What is Education ?
ture.
0
instructed, before they will yield their full harvest of enjoyment.
In regard to them, Education becomes of paramount importance.
Man's relations The Creator has so arranged the external world as to hold forth
to external pa-
great inducements to man to cultivate his higher powers, nay, almost
to constrain him to do so. The philosophic mind, in surveying the
world as prepared for the reception of the human race, perceives in
external nature a vast assemblage of stupendous powers, too great
for the feeble hand of man entirely to control, but kindly subjected,
within certain limits, to the influence of his will. Man is introduced
on earth apparently helpless and unprovided for as a homeless
stranger; but the soil on which he treads is endowed with a thousand
capabilities of production, which require only to be elicited by his
intelligence to make it yield him the richest returns. The impetuous
torrent rolls its waters to the main ; but as it dashes over the
mountain cliff, the human hand is capable of withdrawing it from
its course, and rendering its powers subservient to his will. Ocean
extends over half the globe her liquid plain, in which no path
appears, and the rude winds oft lift her waters to the sky; but,
there the skill of man may launch the strong-knit bark, spread forth
the canvas to the gale, and make the trackless deep a highway
His rational fac- through the world. In such a state of things, knowledge is truly
his power over power; and it is obviously the interest of human beings to become
acquainted with the constitution and relations of every object
around them, that they may discover its capabilities of ministering
to their own advantage. Farther, where these physical energies are
too great to be controlled, man has received intelligence by which
he may observe their course, and accommodate his conduct to their
influence. This capacity of adaptation is a valuable substitute for
the power of regulating them by his will. Man cannot arrest the
sun in its course, so as to avert the wintry storms, and cause per-
petual spring to bloom around him; but, by the proper exercise of
his intelligence and corporal energies
, he is able to foresee the
approach of bleak skies and rude winds, and to place himself in
safety from their injurious effects. These powers of controlling
nature, and of accommodating his conduct to its course, are the
direct results of his rational faculties; and in proportion to their
cultivation is his sway extended. Man, while ignorant, is in a
helpless condition. But let him put forth his proper human
capacities, and he will then find himself invested with the power to
rear, to build, to fabricate, and to store up provisions; and, by avail-
ing himself of these resources, and accommodating his conduct to
ulties increase
nature.
Its Need Inherent in Man's Constitution.
5
late tliese.
the course of nature's laws, he will be able to smile in safety beside
the cheerful hearth, when the elements maintain their fiercest war
abroad.
Again : We are surrounded by countless beings, inferior and His relations
equal to ourselves, whose qualities yield us happiness, or bring upon knowledge nec:
to other beings;
us bitter evil, according as we affect them agreeably or disagreeably essary to regu-
by our conduct. To draw forth their excellencies, and cause them
to diffuse joy around us—to avoid touching the harsher springs of
their constitution, and exciting painful discord-it is necessary that
we should know their nature, and act with a habitual regard to the
relations established by the Creator between them and ourselves.
Man, ignorant and uncivilized, is prone to become ferocious, Education nec-
sensual, and superstitious. The external world affords some enjoy-terpret the ex-
ments to his animal feelings, but it often confounds his moral and ternal world ;
intellectual faculties. Nature exhibits to his mind a mighty chaos
of events, and a dread display of power. The chain of causation
appears too intricate to be unravelled, and the power too stupendous
to be controlled. Order and beauty, indeed, occasionally gleam
forth to his eye from detached portions of creation, and seem to
promise happiness and joy; but more frequently, clouds and dark-
ness brood over the scene, and disappoint his fondest expectations.
Evil seems so mixed up with good, that he regards it either as a direct
product or an inseparable accompaniment of nature's arrangements.
Nature is rarely contemplated with a clear perception of its adapta-
tion to the purpose of promoting the enjoyment of man, or with a
well founded confidence in the wisdom and benevolence of its
Author. Man, when civilized and illuminated by knowledge, on
the other hand, discovers in the objects and occurrences around him
a scheme beautifully arranged for the gratification of his whole
powers, animal, moral, and intellectual; he recognizes in himself the
intelligent and accountable subject of an all-bountiful Creator, and
in joy and gladness desires to study the Creator's works, to ascertain
their laws, and to yield to them a steady and a willing obedience.
Without undervaluing the pleasures of his animal nature, he tastes And to the en-
the higher, more refined, and more enduring delights of his moral joyment of this
.
and intellectual capacities. He then calls aloud for Education as
indispensable to the full enjoyment of his rational powers.
If this representation of the condition of the human being on
earth be correct, we perceive clearly the unspeakable advantage of
applying our minds to gain knowledge, and of regulating our conduct
according to rules drawn from acquired information. Our constitu-
6
What is Education?
tion and our position equally imply, that the grand object of our
existence is, not to remain contented with the pleasures of mere.
animal life, but to take the dignified and far more delightful station
of moral, religious, and rational occupants of this lower world.
The kind of Education, then, means the process of acquiring that knowledge of
education he
requires.
our Creator, of ourselves, and of external nature, and the formation
of those habits of religious, moral, and intellectual enterprise and
activity, which are indispensable to the evolution of all our faculties,
and to the performance of our parts, with intelligence and success, in
such a scene as I have described.
These views may appear to many persons to be so clearly founded
in reason, as to require neither proof nor illustration; but there are
others who are little familiar with such contemplations, and to whom
a few elucidations may be useful. As the latter are precisely those
whom I desire to benefit, I solicit permission to enter into a few
details, even at the risk of appearing tedious to the more enlightened
among my hearers.
Man's consti- To understand correctly the constitution of the human mind, and
tution com-
its need of instruction, it is useful to compare it with that of the
pared with that
of the lower inferior animals. The lower creatures are destined to act chiefly
animals:
from instinct; and instinct is a tendency to act in a certain way,
planted in the animal by the Creator, without its knowing the
ultimate design, or the nature of the means by which its aim is to
be accomplished. A bee, for example, constructs its cell in con-
formity with the most rigid principles of mathematical science,
according to which it is necessary that the fabric should possess a
particular form, and be joined to other cells at a particular angle, in
preference to all others, in order to give it the greatest capacity and
strength, with the least possible expenditure of material. The
In what he is in- creature has no knowledge of the principles of mathematics such as
ferior to them;
man possesses ; but it acts in accordance with them, by an impulse
obviously planted in it by the Author of its being. Man is not
directed by unerring impulses like this. Before he could construct
a similar fabric with success, it would be necessary for him, by
means of observation and experiment, to become acquainted with
the nature of the materials to be employed, and to form a clear con-
ception of the mode of adapting them to the accomplishment of
his design. A mother, among the inferior animals, is impelled by
pure instinct to administer to her offspring that kind of protection,
food, and training, which its nature and circumstances require; and
so admirably does she fulfil this duty even at the first call, that
Its Need Inherent in Man's Constitution.
7
human sagacity could not improve, or rather could not at all equal,
her treatment. These animals proceed without consciousness of the
wisdom displayed in their actions; they do not act from knowledge
and design. Wherever design appears, there must be intelligence;
yet the wisdom resides not in the animals, but in their Author. The
Creator, therefore, in constituting the bee, possessed perfect know-
ledge of the external circumstances in which he was about to place
it, and of its relations, when so placed, to all other creatures and
objects; and conferred on it powers or instincts of action adapted to
secure its preservation and enjoyment. Hence, when enlightened
men contemplate the habits and powers of animals, and compare
them with their condition, they perceive wisdom and benevolence
conspicuously displayed by the Creator. Man also has received
instincts which resemble those of the lower animals, such as the
love of sex, of offspring, of society, and of praise, the instinct of
resentment, and many others; by the exercise of which, as I have
said, he may maintain his purely animal existence, with very little
aid from education.
But he is distinguished from the inferior creatures. 1st, By the Inwhat he is su-
perior to them.
possession of moral sentiments—such as the love of justice, of piety,
of universal happiness; and, 2dly, By great superiority in the reflect-
ing faculties, fitted to acquire knowledge of the qualities and modes
of action of external objects, and of their effects. These two classes
of faculties render man a different being from the inferior creatures.
The function of reason being to acquire knowledge of qualities and
modes of action and effects, Man is not prompted to follow the most
beneficial mode of promoting his own happiness in the direct and
unreflecting manner in which the inferior creatures are led to that
end. The human female, for example, because she possesses the
innate love of offspring, will feel as lively joy at the birth of a child
and as warm an attachment towards it, and will as ardently desire
its welfare, as the most devoted among the inferior creatures. But,
devoid of all instruction and experience, she will not administer
towards it the same perfect treatment, with reference to its wants, as
the mother in the lower scale; and for this reason, that, in the
animal, the instinct is directed to its proper mode of gratification by
the Author of Nature : He prompts her to do exactly what His Reason neces-
wisdom knows to be necessary; whereas, in the human being, the sary for
propensity is left to the guidance of reason. Woman is commanded
to exert her intellect in studying the physical and mental constitution
of herself and her offspring, in order that she may rear it with
his
8
What is Education ?
success while it needs her assistance; and if she shall neglect to
perform this duty, she and it may suffer evil in being exposed to
the unfavourable influence of external objects and beings, to the
action of which, in her state of ignorance, she does not know how
to adapt her conduct.
Human feel- Many persons are not aware that human feelings are more blind
ings are blind
and require en-
than those of the lower animals, and that they lead to worse results
lightenment. when not directed by reason. They imagine that if they possess a
feeling strongly, such as the love of offspring, or the love of God,
they cannot err in the mode of grátifying it; consequently, they
act with all the energy of impulse, and all the blindness of infatua-
tion. A mighty change will be effected in human conduct when
the people at large become acquainted with the indispensable
necessity of knowledge and reflection to the proper direction of their
feelings, and with the fact that knowledge is the grand element
without which reason cannot be sufficiently exerted.
Man, therefore, being an improvable being, has been furnished
with reason, and been left to discover, by the exercise of it, his own
nature, the nature of external objects, and the relations between
himself and them, and to adapt the one to the other in this temporal
sphere for his own advantage. When he shall do so, and fulfil
also his moral and religious duties, he will assume his proper station
as a rational being. The only limit to this proposition is, that each
of his faculties, bodily and mental, and every external object, have
received a definite constitution, and are regulated by precise laws, so
that limits have been set to human aberration, and also to human
attainments; but, within these limits, a wide scope for producing
happiness, by harmonious and wise adaptations, or misery, by dis-
cordant and foolish combinations, exists.
Man has a ca-
I do not predicate what degree of perfection man is capable of
pacity of in attaining on earth by these means. Looking at the condition of the
provement.
inferior animals, I should not expect optimism, because disease and
death are incident to them all; but, on dispassionately comparing
the enjoyments of the inferior creatures, in relation to their natures,
with the past and present enjoyments of the human race, in relation
to their superior capacities, I fear that man does not surpass them to
the extent which he ought to do, if he made a proper use of the
means fairly in his power of promoting his own happiness. Com-
paring the civilized Christian inhabitants of modern Europe, with
the ignorant, ferocious, filthy, and helpless savages of New South
Wales, we perceive a vast advance; but I do not believe that the
Its Need Inherent in Man's Constitution.
9
limits of attainable perfection have yet been reached even by the
best of Europe's sons. All, therefore, that I venture to hope for is,
that man, by the proper employment of the means presented to him,
may arrive at last at a condition of enjoyment of his mortal exist-
ence, as great, in relation to his rational nature, as that of the lower
animals is in relation to their more limited natures. This is no
more than saying, that the Creator has made man as perfect as a
reasonable being, as He has made the lower animals as instinctive
creatures.
If, then, man, by his constitution, be an intelligent, moral, Education is
religious, and, therefore, an inprovable being, but born without necessary for
his improve-
knowledge, he must be instructed, and trained to act in harmony ment and de-
with the order of nature, of which he forms a part, as the first stage velopment.
in his progress towards enjoyment. In other words, HE MUST BE
EDUCATED.
0
1
There is a legitimate sphere of action for every function of the
body and every faculty of the mind; and it is only the abuses of
these, through ignorance and unfavourable influences, that constitute
error and crime, and lead to misery. There was in man, therefore,
from the first, and there is now in him, a capacity for education,
by the development and right direction of his natural gifts; and
both his own constitution and that of the external world are arranged
with reference to that development, to render him prosperous and
happy in proportion as he pursues it in a right direction, or miserable
if he neglects it, or pursues it in a wrong way.”
What is the Use of Education? It is often difficult to give a satis- Reasons for
the different
factory answer, not because education is of no use but because views of edu-
utility itself is viewed so differently by different individuals, that it cation gener-
ally enter-
is impossible to show that education is calculated to realize the pre- tained.
cise advantage which each aspires to attain. Besides, education is
calculated to correct so many errors in practice, and to supply so
many deficiencies in human institutions, 'that volumes would be
necessary to render its real importance thoroughly conspicuous.
Instead of obtaining from education a correct view of the nature of
man, and of the objects and duties of life, each individual has been
left to form, upon these points, theories for himself, derived from the
1 Lectures on Popular Education, p. 4.
2 Remarks on National Education, p. 29.
IO
What is Education ?
impressions made upon his own mind by the particular circumstances
in which he has been placed. This has arisen from the want of a
practical philosophy of mind. No reasonable person assumes him-
self to know the sciences of Astronomy, Chemistry, or Physiology,
without study and an appeal to nature; yet, in the department of
Mind, the practice is different. Almost every one has a set of
Each man has notions of his own, which, in his mind, hold the place of a system
his own philos- of the philosophy of man; and, although he may not have method-
ised his ideas, or even acknowledged them to himself as a theory,
yet, to him, they constitute a standard by which he practically
judges of all questions in morals, politics, and religion. He ad-
vocates whatever views coincide with them, and condemns all that
differ from them, with as little hesitation as a professed theorist
himself, and also without trying his own principles by any natural
standard. In short, the great mass even of educated men, in judg-
ing of questions relating to morals, politics, and social institutions,
proceed too much on first, or even on accidental, impressions.
Hence, public measures, whether relating to education, religion,
trade, manufactures, provision for the poor, criminal law, or to any
other of the interests of society, instead of being treated as branches
of one general system of economy, and adjusted on scientific prin-
ciples, each in harmony with the others, are too often supported or
opposed on narrow and empirical grounds,-and discussions regard-
ing them occasionally call forth displays of ignorance, prejudice,
and intolerance, calculated greatly to obstruct the progress of im-
The need of a provement. Indeed, general agreement on questions of which the
standard of first principles must be found in the constitution of human nature
philosophy.
will be impossible, even among sensible and virtuous men, so long
as no standard of mental philosophy is admitted to guide individual
feelings and perceptions. Hence, when a young man, educated as
a merchant, asks the use of any thing, the answer which will most
thoroughly interest him, will be one showing how much wealth may
be acquired by it. The sincerely religious will acknowledge that to
be most useful which tends most directly to salvation; while the
votaries of fashion will admit the utility of such pursuits only as are
recognized by the refined but frivolous and generally ill-informed
circle, which to them constitutes the highest tribunal of taste. To
expound to such persons principles affecting the general interests
of society, and to talk to them of schemes for promoting the happi-
ness of human beings, in their various conditions of husbands and
wives, parents and children, masters and servants, teachers and
Its Need Inherent in Man's Constitution.
II
pupils, governors and subjects, appears like indulging a warm
imagination in fanciful harangues. They are of opinion that the
experience of six thousand years is sufficient to show that man is
not destined in this life to be different from what he has always
been and now is; and that any measures pretending greatly to
improve his condition, however desirable, are not at all to be
believed in by sensible and practical people. This state of things
could not exist if education were founded on a true system of human
nature, and an exposition of its relations to the external world.
1
in the educa-
Next to the duty of providing for the physical health and enjoy-The responsi-
ment of their children, parents are bound to train and educate them þility of parents
properly, so as to fit them for the discharge of the duties of life. tion of their
The grounds of this obligation are obvious. The human body and
children.
mind consist of a large assemblage of organs and faculties, each
possessing native energy and an extensive sphere of action, and
capable of being used or abused, according as it is directed. The
extensive range of these powers, a prime element in the dignity of
man, renders education exceedingly important. As parents are the
authors and guardians of beings thus endowed, it is clearly their
duty to train their faculties, and to direct them to their proper
objects. “To send an uneducated child into the world,” says Paley,
“is little better than to turn out a mad dog or a wild beast into
the streets,"2
1 Lectures on Popular Education, p. 1.
2 Moral Philosophy, Lect. vi.
CHAPTER II.
THE NATURE AND OBJECTS OF EDUCATION.
1. EDUCATION INCLUDES BOTH TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION.
Training and in- UNDER the general term Education, two very different processes are
necessary in frequently confounded-namely, training and instruction. Train-
education; ing, in reference to education, means strengthening and enlivening,
by means of exercise, the mental functions; while instruction refers
to the communication of knowledge."
This world appears to me to be a vast theatre constituted for
exertion, in which enjoyment is the natural consequence of industry,
morality, and intelligence; and suffering that of ignorance, vice, and
sloth. The constitution of the world, physical and moral, that of
the human mind and body, as well as the relations between them,
are fixed and determinate; and man becomes prosperous and happy
in proportion to the degree in which his social institutions and per-
sonal conduct harmonize with these unchangeable elements of nature.
Each individual of the race is born ignorant of everything; but
capacities are bestowed on him to learn all that is essential to his
welfare. The mighty machinery of nature, physical and moral, is
constantly revolving within him in his own mind and body), and
around him; and he cannot by possibility avoid experiencing its
influence. To be prosperous, he must adjust his conduct and posi-
And for pros- tion to its action, and he cannot do so unless he know it; learn,
perity and hap- therefore, he must, or suffer. Education means teaching the indi-
piness.
vidual what it concerns him to know relative to his own constitution,
and that of the moral and physical world in which he is destined to
live and act; and it includes training him to habits of action suit-
able to that destination.”
1 Preface to Caldwell's “ Thoughts on Physical Education”; (Edinburgh,
Maclachlan and Stewart.)
2 Remarks on National Education, p. 1.
Its Nature and Objects.
13
Education can alter the structure neither of the physical world,
nor of our own organization. The utmost that it can do for us is
to make us acquainted with that structure, with our own organiza-
tion in relation to it, and how we should conduct ourselves, so as to
secure that amount of well-being which, as far as our knowledge
tells us, is attainable ; training us at the same time to the habits
leading to that conduct which knowledge has recommended for
adoption.
1
Whatever knowledge we acquire must not be allowed to terminate We should
train to do more
as mere barren intellectual conceptions, freezing in the brain, and than to know.
fostering only self-esteem, without vivifying the moral sentiments or
subduing the propensities; it must be connected with life to be
rendered the force of all the faculties, and then education will
produce its full effects.”
In framing books for schools, it would be well to ask themselves,
“What does this book teach the people to do ?” It is good to know,
but it is better still to act."
The importance of teaching knowledge is evident; but the neces- The necessity
sity for training is less understood. It arises from the dependence of training lies
in man's con-
of the mind in this world, on physical organization for its powers stitution.
of acting. The brain is the material instrument by means of which
the mind acts, and it consists of a variety of parts, each connected
with a special mental power. It is subject to the same organic laws
as the other parts of the body. If we should confine a man for the
first twenty years of his life to a dungeon, without exercise and
employment, we should find, on bringing him into the active world
of light and life, that he could not see distinctly, could not judge
correctly of the distance of objects by their sounds, could not walk
steadily, and scarcely could make any exertion with his arms and
hands. The cause of his defects would be found in the circum-
stance; that his organic structure had been left feeble and un-
developed through want of exercise ; and that his various senses
and muscles (which, although distinct in themselves, are all framed
to co-operate and assist in prosecuting general aims) had never been
Speech at a meeting of the Working Classes in Paisley, Sept. 29, 1851 ;
from North British Daily Mail.
2 From MSS.
3 Notes on America, vol. iii. p. 100.
1
14
What is Education ?
accustomed to act in combination. Such a being, therefore, when
first introduced into active life, would be helpless, bewildered, and
unhappy.
The effects of The uneducated and untrained peasant is in a similar condition
the want of
Training:
in regard to his mental organs. Not only is he ignorant, but his
(1.). On the mental organs are dull, feeble, and incapable of continued exertion ;
intellectual fa-
culties;
and he, therefore, cannot think continuously, or act perseveringly.
We may give him instruction, but it does not penetrate into his
inactive brain, and it is not reproductive of thought and action.
have occasionally hired into my service individuals who have not
learned to read and write, and the effects were most conspicuous.
The ears heard, and the eyes saw, and the understanding appeared to
comprehend; but I soon discovered that the comprehension was
imperfect and inexact, that the retention was momentary, and the
power of reproduction, combination, and modification, almost nil.
I lately conversed with an engineer and machine-maker who employs
120 workmen, and he told me that he had repeatedly taken into his
workshop uneducated and untrained labourers with a view to teach-
ing them some simple processes in his trade, but had found that the
lesson of yesterday was not retained in the mind till to-day; that
no spontaneous suggestion presented itself, even when circumstances
rendered it evident to a trained understanding; and that their
labour, in consequence, was without value in any department of
skilled art. Their muscles had been trained to act, almost without
the direction of their brains; and beyond labour which muscles
could execute independently of intelligence, they were powerless.
(2.) On the This is the intellectual condition of uneducated man. But the
moral faculties; intellect constitutes only a small, although an important portion of
the mind: Man is endowed, besides, with moral sentiments and
animal propensities, depending, like his intellect, on cerebral organs
for their powers of manifestation. Each organ is more or less
capable of action in proportion to its size, temperament, and the
training which it has received. In a rude and uncultivated con-
dition of the intellect, the moral sentiments are left without stimulus
and direction. These sentiments produce the emotions of benevo-
lence and veneration, and the love of justice. Prosperous external
circumstances, generally speaking, are favourable to their develop-
A man steeped in poverty and oppressed by want, finds his
selfish faculties excited, and lacks not only moral stimulus, but
physical means for practising the benevolent virtues. One buried
in ignorance cannot exercise a well-directed and enlightened venera-
Its Nature and Objects.
15
tion; and one in whom all the higher and disinterested powers
of the mind are dormant, cannot be expected to comprehend the
dictates of truth, or to practise the principles of justice.
But the third class of faculties, the animal propensities, are not (3.) On the ani-
mal propensi-
equally quiescent in the uneducated individual ; because, on their ties.
prompt action, the preservation of life and the supply of our bodily
wants have been made by nature immediately to depend. The
external objects which act as their stimulants everywhere abound.
The struggle for food, raiment, and shelter, in which the unedu-
cated man is, in the general ease, constantly engaged, calls forth his
Combativeness and Destructiveness, his cunning and his obstinacy,
into abiding activity; it trains them to vigour, and renders them
prompt to action.
Such, then, is the uneducated man, in his general condition.
I speak, of course, of average individuals, for there are persons born
in all ranks of life whose inherent superiority of mind enables them
triumphantly to surmount every adventitious obstacle to their
development and elevation. These, however, are few in number;
and as nature has rendered them in a great measure independent
of social aid, they do not form the objects of our present con-
sideration.
to consist.
Let us inquire What constitutes Instruction; the necessity for it Instruction ; in
what it ought
is obvious. We must recollect that the propensities and sentiments
are all blind. Philoprogenitiveness gives love of children, but it
does not tell what is the best way of managing them. Veneration
gives us a tendency to revere, but it does not inform us what are
the true objects of respect or worship; but man is sent into this
world with a combination of faculties admirably fitting him to attain
this knowledge. An uninstructed man is one in whom all the
faculties work at random. Instruction consists in becoming ac-
quainted, first with ourselves, and then with the world without,
with which we are in relationship, and with the mode of so adapt-
ing our conduct to external circumstances as to produce the greatest
amount of enjoyment to ourselves and benefit to others.?
Instruction means presenting, to the mental faculties which God
has made, the objects, the real things, in creation which He has
1 Remarks on National Education, p. 3.
2 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 342.
16
What is Education?
adapted to them. This instruction is not intended to supersede
moral and religious training, but to supplement it, and render it
effective. Indeed, it is not so much the mere details of chemistry,
of natural philosophy, or of any other science that I value, as the
strengthening of the intellect and the enlargement of the under-
standing which follows from these studies, and which enable the
educated man to carry out his moral, intellectual, and religious con-
victions into action,
1
Education
ought to im.
part Real
knowledge.
One great object of education is the attainment of knowledge itself.
If the season for obtaining real knowledge be dedicated to the
study of languages, the individual will enter on active life in a state
of qualification for practical business similar to that of a man for
the practice of architecture who should have completed only his
studies in drawing. He will be deficient in many acquirements
that would be substantially useful for the preservation of health and
the successful conducting of affairs.?
2. DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATION, VIEWED AS TRAINING.
itions.
The principle When George Combe defines education solely as Training, which,
of George
Combe's defin. as a philosopher, he inclines to do, he really includes Instruction in
the definition, Training is the process by which all the faculties
are to be educated. These faculties can be truly educated only by
exercising them on their proper objects, that is, the objects on which
they naturally act, and by which they are stimulated into activity.
The observing or knowing faculties can only act when their ap-
propriate objects are presented, that is, when knowledge or things are
supplied to them ; in other words, these faculties must receive
Instruction. Training, therefore, embraces and defines all educa-
tion, and, philosophically considered, it is the only true way of
conducting it; Education and Training ought to be synonymous
terms. On the other hand, Instruction refers only to a few of the
faculties, and to a lesser function of these faculties, the supplying of
them with food, which food can be properly supplied and assimilated
only when administered according to the principles of Training.
1 Speech at Glasgow, in 1851, on National Education ; from North British
Daily Mail.
2 Lectures on Popular Education, p. 29.
Education viewed as Training.
17
[Hence George Combe prefers to give an absolute definition of
education from the point of view of Training. But, in deference to
common usage and from the separate importance of Instruction,
and in order to discriminate between things too frequently con-
founded, to the detriment of education, he also defines the process
from the points of view of both Training and Instruction, and care-
fully discriminates between the two, while showing their mutual
important relations. See this subject more fully worked out in
Part THBD.-Edit.]
The object of education is to attain to happiness. This can be Education
attained only when all the faculties of body and mind are applied all the facul-
in their due spheres of action, and exercised in just proportion to ties.
each other.
1
The object of education is to modify the innate powers, and to
regulate their manifestations; to restrain such of them as may be
too energetic; and to call forth into greater activity those which may
be naturally languid.
2
The object of education is to train, by means of exercises, the
whole systems composing the human being to the best condition for
exercising their functions. The reward of such an education is the
pleasure of body and mind. A proper system of education must
exercise each faculty of body and mind, to bring all into equilibrium.
3
The object of education ought to be, to regulate the manifesta-
tions of all the faculties by the dictates of those peculiar to man;
and, for this purpose, to subdue the activity of the propensities
common to man with the lower animals, and exalt the activity of the
faculties peculiar to man, or those which produce the moral sentiments
and understanding.
The Objects of Education are :-Ist, To train the bodily and
1 From MSS.
Essays on Phrenology, 1819, p. 308.
3 From MSS.
Essays on Phrenology, 1819, p. 308.
2
4
B
85 --
18
What is Education ?
mental powers of man, so as to bring them into the best state of
health and activity, and to maintain them in that condition. 2d,
the faculties. To direct them all to their proper objects. On the fulfilment of
these conditions, usefulness and happiness chiefly depend.
Education
should train
and direct all
1
The objects of education, using the word in its widest and most
legitimate sense, are :
1st. To increase the energy and activity of those faculties of
mind and body which are naturally too weak;
2nd. To repress the inordinate action of those which are naturally
too strong; and
3rd. To give, to the combined operation of the whole, such a
direction as shall most certainly and effectually increase the happi-
ness and extend the sphere of usefulness of the individual.?
The objects of education are :
1st. To quicken faculties too slow;
2nd. To strengthen faculties too feeble;
3rd. To repress faculties too active;
4th. To direct the whole to their proper objects.3
Is it not the object of every sensible parent, in educating his
child, to develop his natural feelings and intellectual faculties into
full vigour and activity, to direct them to their proper objects, and
to restrain them when they act too vehemently, and to excite them
when too sluggish !-in short, to bring forth a healthy, vigorous,
harmonious action, which, by insuring the proper discharge of our
duties to God and man, shall shed a daily beauty over life ; and also,
through compliance with the laws of Providence, shall lead to health,
prosperity, holiness, and happiness? This is the just and rational
aim of education.
4
i From the prospectus of a course of seven lectures on Education, delivered
at Newcastle, in October 1835.
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. for 1823–24, p. 578.
3 From MSS.
4 Speech on National Education in Aberdeen, 25th April 1851 ; from the
Aberdeen Herald.
Education viewed as Training and Instruction. 19
The objects of education are to cultivate the faculties of the Education
higher sentiments, and the knowing and reflecting faculties into and direct all
permanent energy and activity, and to repress the energy of the the faculties.
faculties common to man and animals, so as to place them under the
guidance of the faculties proper to man. The morality of the indi-
vidual will be in proportion to the predominance of the faculties of
the higher sentiments over the lower propensities; and his genius will
be in proportion to the energy of the knowing and reflecting faculties.
1
The phrenologist, having discovered the talents and dispositions
of his children, endeavours to curb the passions that are too powerful,
to foster the principles that are too weak, to direct each faculty to
its proper objects; and, above all, to inculcate practically the
doctrine, that intelligence and virtue, love to God, shown in obedience
to his laws, and charity to man, are the poblest attributes of
humanity. This is phrenological education.”
3. DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATION, VIEWED AS TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION. Education
should train
The process of education consists in training faculties, and com- the faculties,
and impart
municating knowledge.3
knowledge.
An education based on a true philosophy of mind would fill the
mind with knowledge, produce harmony in the action of the
faculties, and furnish to each the gratification which it naturally
desires, tending at once to usefulness and pleasure.
Education should embrace instruction in the qualities, modes of
action, relations, and purposes of the things and beings by means of
which the government of the world is maintained; and also training
2
Essays on Phrenology, 1819, p. 331.
2 Letter to Editor of Edinburgh Weekly Journal, 30th May, 1829, “ On the
prejudices of the great in Science and Philosophy against Phrenology ;" issued as
a pamphlet the same year, and printed in the Phrenological Journal, vol. vi.
for 1829–30, p. 14.
3 Moral Philosophy, Lect. vii.
4 From MSS.
1
20
What is Education ?
Education
should train
the faculties
and give
knowledge.
of the whole faculties, animal, moral, and intellectual, to action in
conformity with the order of Providence."
}
The object of education is to communicate knowledge to the
intellectual powers, to give grateful exercise to the sentiments, and
to regulate and direct the propensities.?
Education is intended to enlighten the intellect, to train it and
the moral sentiments to vigour, and to repress the too great activity
of the selfish feelings.
The object of education is to communicate knowledge, by which
the sphere of the mind's action may be enlarged ; to train each
individual to self-control and the love of good; and to enable him,
by these means combined, to pursue successfully his own welfare.*
We nust teach the child WHAT
IT IS, WHERE IT IS, WHAT IT
OUGHT TO DO, and HOW IT SHOULD DO IT, in order best to fulfil the
objects of its existence. That such instruction and a corresponding
training are commanded by the Divine Ruler, appears to be indis-
putable, because He has so framed the organism of man and its
relations, that well-being and moral advancement can be reached
only by complying with the conditions which Physiology makes
known.
The objects of education are: to strengthen the faculties that are
too weak, to restrain those which are too vigorous, to store the
intellect with moral, religious, scientific, and general knowledge, and
to direct all to their proper objects. In cultivating the intellect, we
1 What should Secular Education embrace ? p. 31.
2 From MSS.
3 Constitution of Man, 9th edit. p. 299.
4 America, vol. iii. p. 254.
5 This has been attempted by Mr William Ellis, in his work, entitled
What am I? Where am I? What ought I to do ?” &c.; London : Smith,
Elder, & Co. (G.C.)
6 Science and Religion, 5th edit. p. 144.
Education viewed as Training and Instruction. 21
education.
should bear in view that external nature is as directly adapted to the means of
our different intellectual powers as light is to the eye; and that the
Education exist
in nature and
whole economy of our constitution is arranged on the principle that society.
we shall study the qualities and relations of external objects, apply
them to our use, and also adapt our conduct to their operation.
The three great means of education are domestic training, public
schools, and literature or books. The first will be improved by
instructing parents; the second, by the diffusion of knowledge
among the people at large; while the third is now—through the
efforts of those philanthropists who have given birth to really cheap
moral and scientific literature-placed within the reach of every
class of the community.
Europe is only waking out of the slumbers of the dark ages; she Europe begins
to appreciate
is beginning to discover that she is ignorant, and to desire instruction.
The sun of knowledge, however, is still below the horizon to vast
multitudes of our British population; but they are startled by a
bright effulgence darting from a radiant sky, and they now know
that that light is the dawn of a glorious day, which will tend to
terminate their troubled dreams of ignorance and folly. Let us
help to arouse them ; let us lead them to pay their morning orisons
in the great temple of universal truth. When they shall have
entered into that temple, let us introduce them to Nature and to
Nature's God; and let us hasten the hour when the whole human
race shall join together to celebrate His power, wisdom, and good-
ness, in strains which will never cease till creation pass away ; for
we know that the sun of knowledge (unlike the orb of day), when
once risen, will never set, but will continue to emit brighter and
brighter rays, till time shall be no more. In eternity alone, can we
conceive the wonders of creation to be completely unfolded, and the
mind of man to be satiated with the fulness of information.
1
to national
I desire to see, in this country, a moral and intellectual machin- Education is
ery put into vigorous action, calculated to teach the young the indispensable
legitimate spheres in which all their faculties should act, and to happiness.
train them to impose that restraint upom themselves, to practise that
self-denial and that self-direction which are indispensable to happi-
ness and prosperity. I desire to see public opinion, which is here
your great restraining power, composed, not of the sum of the ruling
1 Moral Philosophy, Lect. vii.
22
What is Education?
Education is prejudices, passions, or interests of the day, but of the concentrated
indispensable
to national
wisdom and virtue of millions of trained and enlightened minds.
happiness. Such a public opinion I should regard as the best and safest of all
governing powers. An ignorant public opinion is, to the wise and
good, a revolting tyranny. In this country, you have chosen public
opinion for your chief regulating influence, and it is impossible for
you to substitute for it any other. You have established universal
suffrage, placed supreme authority in the hands of your majorities,
and no human means, short of military conquest, can deprive that
majority of its sway. You have, therefore, only one mode of action
left to reach the goal of national happiness : enlighten your people,
teach them whatever is necessary for them, in order to guide their
faculties aright,--train them to self control-train them, in youth, to
bend all the inferior feelings under the yoke of morality, religion,
and reason.
In short, Educate them—and educate them well."
{
1
America, vol. iii. p. 404.
[The foregoing definitions of education, gathered from various
parts of George Combe's writings, are given as different and admir-
able expressions for the same process. They are interesting and
valuable as showing in how many ways, that are more or less com-
plete, the same truth may be presented. —Edit.]
PART SECOND.
WHAT SUBJECTS SHOULD BE TAUGHT
IN OUR SCHOOLS ?
THE ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION AND TRAINING.
PART SECOND.
CHAPTER I.
AN OUTLINE OF THE SUBJECTS THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT.
1. THE PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD REGULATE THE SELECTION OF
SUBJECTS.
between means
The question naturally presents itself—What constitutes a good The distinction
education? The answer will be found by attending to the distinc-and end in edu-
tion between means and an end. If an architect be employed to cation.
build a house, he first prepares a plan, and then calls in the aid of
practical workmen, to combine his materials into the proposed erec-
tion. The plan is merely a means toward the end. To be able to
produce a plan, characterised at once by taste, elegance, and com-
modious arrangement, the architect must have studied mathematics
and drawing. He might invent a design by means of his intellectual
faculties, but without some knowledge of mathematics and drawing
he could not reduce it into a practical form. The plan itself, how-
ever, is still only a methodised outline of the proposed object.
Materials must be acquired and combined, in conformity with the
design, before a house can be called into existence.
Now, drawing and mathematics are admirable attainments viewed Subjects that
as means towards accomplishing useful or pleasing ends; but if they knowledge.
produce nothing but themselves; or if they produce only plans, pleas-
ing to the fancy, but not applicable to purposes of utility, they must
be viewed as mere ingenious recreations or elegant accomplishments.
What mathematics, drawing, and plans are to practical house-build-
ing, languages, writing, and arithmetic, are to practical business.
They are means of acquiring and communicating knowledge.
Moreover, knowledge itself, like the plan, is only a means of attain-
ing useful and pleasing ends. Indeed, I might go farther, and say
are means to
26 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
The effects of
exclusive at-
tention
to
these.
that drawing and mathematics delineate forms and deal with pro-
portions; whereas language, apart from its applications, is a collection
of mere unmeaning arbitrary sounds.
To limit the education of an individual who is destined to act the
part of a husband, father, and member of society, to reading, writing,
accounts, and the dead languages, would be similar to arresting the
education of an architect at drawing, mathematics, and designing,
without teaching him the kinds, strength, durability, cost, and modes
of arrangement of the materials necessary for building. A person
who could draw a plan of a handsome cottage, might be incapable of
rearing a fabric corresponding to it, if he were defective in all the
practical skill, knowledge, and experience, which are indispensable to
convert the design into an actual house. For a similar reason, a man
may be a distinguished scholar in Greek and Latin, without being
thereby rendered a practical man of business, if he be not instructed
in the knowledge of affairs. As, however, the architect must begin
by learning to draw, so the practical member of society should com-
mence his education by studying the means of acquiring practical
knowledge ; and I proceed to inquire what these means are.
The English language, writing, and arithmetic, then, are important
means of acquiring and communicating knowledge. They should be
sedulously taught, and by the most approved methods. Algebra and
pure mathematics also belong to the class of means. The former
embraces only numbers and their relations ; the latter, space and its
proportions. The most profound knowledge of these subjects, how-
ever, is compatible with extensive ignorance concerning every object,
topic, and relation, that does not essentially imply exact proportions
of number and space. All languages, likewise, belong to the class
of means. In preferring one to another, we should be guided by the
principle of utility ;—that language in which most knowledge is
contained is most useful for this reason, French, German, and
Italian, appear to me to be more valuable acquirements than Greek
and Latin."
One great object of education is the attainment of knowledge itself.
If the season for obtaining Real knowledge be dedicated to the study
T'he subjects
that are In-
strumental.
1 Knowledge is divisible into Instrumental and Positive knowledge. I.
Instrumental Knowledge : Reading, all languages, writing, arithmetic, mathe-
matics, algebra. These are only instrumental ; they are the keys of knowledge.
Society polishes the key but does not unlock the cabinet. II. Positive Know-
ledge : All other subjects that treat of natural objects and their relations. -
From MSS. of George Combe.
The Principles that should Regulate the Selection. 27
of languages, the individual will enter on active life in a state of The ignorance
qualification for practical business, similar to that of a man for the one-sided edu-
practice of architecture, who should have completed only his studies cation.
in drawing. He will be deficient in many acquirements that would
be substantially useful for the preservation of health, and the suc-
cessful conducting of affairs. He will know nothing about the
structure of his own body, and very little about the causes which
support it in health, or subject it to disease: he will be very imper-
fectly informed concerning the constitution of his own mind, and the
relations established between himself and other beings : he will not
be instructed in any science ; know nothing of the principles of trade;
be profoundly ignorant of the laws of his country, which he will be
called on to obey or even to administer; in short, he will be sent into
society with little other preparation than a stock of prejudices gathered
from the nursery, and of vague imaginations about the greatness of
Greece and Rome, the beauties of classical literature, and the vast
superiority of learned pedantry over practical sense.
To discover the evils that arise from this misdirection of education, Evils arising
we have only to advert to the numerous cases of individuals who sap sidedness.
their constitutions, and die in youth or middle age, not from the fury
of ungovernable passions which knowledge could not subdue, but
from sheer ignorance of the physical conditions necessary to health ;-
or to the ruined fortunes and broken hearts also referrible to the
ignorance of individuals, of their own incapacity for the business in
which they have embarked,—of the characters of those with whom
they have connected themselves,---of the natural laws which govern
production, or of the civil laws which regulate the transactions of men
in particular states :-and to ask, how many of these calamities might
have been avoided by instruction, and by proper discipline of the
mind in the fields of observation and reflection ?
To understand what constitutes useful and practical knowledge, What is useful
you are requested to bear in mind the principles,—that every knowledge
inanimate object and every living being have received a definite con-
stitution from the Creator, in virtue of which each stands in one or
other of two relations towards man :-either its natural qualities are
such as he may bend to the purposes of his own enjoyment, or they
are too gigantic to be subjected to his control, and he must accommo-
date his conduct to their sway.
Water may be pointed to as an example of the first class : Man,
as I formerly observed, may turn the roaring torrent from its course,
ere it dashes over the mountain-cliff, and conduct it, as his humble
28 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
know the
powers of
nature.
We ought to slave, to his mill, where it may be made to grind his cora, weave his
cloth, forge his iron, or spin his thread, according to the direction
given to it by his skill; or he may inclose water in strong metallic
boilers, convert it into steam, and employ its powers to propel his
ship, in the face of the stormy winds and waves, to any wished-for
haven ; or he may, by the same means, almost fly along fields and
meadows on the smooth lines of his artificial railway. But before he
can command these high enjoyments, how minute and accurate must
be his study of water and the changes which it may be made to un-
dergo, and the latent powers which it may be forced to develop! How
deeply skilled must he become in mechanical philosophy and its
applications! And how complicated and admirable must be his com-
binations of nature's rude materials !
Wind affords an instance of the powers which man cannot control,
but to which he may accommodate his conduct. He cannot guide
the air as he does the stream; but he may give to his mill-house a
revolving top, so that let the wind blow from what point it listeth,
his sails shall spread their bosoms directly to the breeze. He cannot
bid the air measure its motions to suit his objects, according as he
wishes to saw the slender pine, or to crush into dust a mass of flint;
but he may spread his canvas to the gale in proportion to the power
required, so that the wind, if impetuous, shall press a contracted
surface, and, if gently blowing, shall be caught by a broad expanded
sail. Man has no power over the direction of the wind on
the ocean; but by the skilful adaptation of the helm, masts, and sails,
he
may steer to his destined haven. How much of observation, how
much of skilful combination, and how much of practical adaptation
of the powers which man can wield, to those which defy his control,
must be put forth before these glorious triumphs of his ingenuity can
be accomplished !
What we ought
These illustrations are of general application. In common life we
conduct of life, may never need to forge, to weave, to steer, or to spin ; but we must
all prosecute some vocation of usefulness and duty, otherwise we exist
in vain. In whatever sphere of life we move, we are encompassed
by the elements of nature, which minister to our health and enjoy-
ment, or to our detriment and discomfort, according as we use them
wisely or the reverse, according as we adapt our conduct to their real
qualities or run counter to their influence.
We are surrounded by
human beings, and are influenced by the great tides of public affairs;
and without knowledge of external nature, and of the nature of man,
his history, laws, and institutions, we shall be no more capable of
The Principles that should Regulate the Selection. 29
acting well and wisely our parts through life, than is the mariner of
steering successfully without helm, compass, or chart, through the
ocean.
1
stitutes a
cation of the
What constitutes a thorough education of the people? It is of What con-
great importance to attain clear ideas on this subject. In an article
thorough
in the North British Review on the Political Economy of the Bible, 2 education of
the people?
Dr Chalmers laid it down as his opinion that sound religious in-
struction, the arts of reading and writing and arithmetic, combined
with the knowledge of a trade, are the grand staples of education for
the working classes. He said that God's providence, without their
knowing how, would, out of these elements, bring forth individual
happiness and national prosperity. And almost the whole education
provided in times past, or even now 'contemplated, for the people is
confined to these branches. But is this a complete view of the
education needed by the people? Does it comprise all the instruc-
tion given by the higher and middle classes to their own children?
Notoriously it does not.
This world is a grand assemblage of beings and materials, every The Real edu-
one of which is endowed with active qualities, capable of producing workman.
important effects, and man's nature, bodily and mental, is adapted to
them. In our climate, the earth produces spontaneously little beyond
trees, shrubs, and grass. Wild animals may live on these, and man
may hunt and live on them; but men living by the chase
and clothed in the skins of wild beasts, are savages. Before we can
reap wheat, oats, barley, beans, potatoes, turnips, and fruits from the
ground, we must invent machines for ploughing, harrowing, thrashing,
and winnowing; we must tame and train horses, and we must labour
with them in the fields. But mere labour is not enough. Wemust learn
to drain, to manure, to make proper rotations of crops; we must ob-
serve nature diligently and minutely; we must reflect on her modes
of action, and, with patience and perseverance, adapt our conduct to
her constitution : in other words, we must follow out the mode of
cultivation which a sound judgment, enlightened by experience, dis-
covers to be calculated to yield the largest return.
Now, how far does the common course of education go towards
A
1 Remarks on National Education, pp. 28–31.
2 See North British Review, Vol. ii., for 1845. Dr Chalmers subsequently
broadened his views of popular education, and recommended science for
schools. See Appendix, for an expression of some of these.
30 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
The need of
tion to raise
The education enabling the peasant's son to do this? It suffices to enable the plough-
he receives at
present.
man to become the fellow labourer and the guide of his horse ; but it
leaves his mental faculties not only uninstructed in regard to all the
other items of knowledge here alluded to, but indisposed to acquire
them. It sends him forth with an empty mind, and a feeble brain ;
while the higher education of the superior classes confers on them
more knowledge, and, what is of still greater importance to their future
advancement, gives strength to their intellects and firm resolve to
their moral emotions, which fit them for studying and complying
with the natural conditions of well-being, in the sphere into which
their destinies may afterwards lead them. It is impossible while the
ploughman stands only a little higher in intelligence than his horse,
and himself needs the combining and directing power of a more en-
lightened mind to guide him in his duties, that he can share equally
in the profits of the farm with that superior individual. Similar
remarks apply to all other trades and occupations.
You who are engaged in manufactures requiring skill and know-
Real educa-
ledge, know well how much more valuable labour becomes, when
the people.
combined with vigorous and enlightened intellect, and pure moral
resolve. Now, will reform of Parliament and universal suffrage
give you strength of intellect, skill, knowledge, and morality, with-
out any education, training, or effort of your own ? If not, how can
it raise you in the scale of social enjoyment, if it leave you intellectu-
ally ignorant and morally weak ? Impossible. The Great God of
heaven and earth has pronounced the decree that the world is, by
Him, given to the intelligent, the moral, the industrious, and the
economical; and that toil, poverty, and privation are assigned to
all who neglect to cultivate and apply the noble mental powers with
which He has endowed them. And who shall reverse or evade
the fiat of Omnipotence? Look at France : her people lately enjoyed
universal suffrage; but they were ignorant ; and the legislature which
they chose could not reverse the decrees of God, and render ignorant
and untrained men in a day, or a year, prosperous and wealthy. By
all means, let us extend the suffrage and improve our laws, and
let justice be done to all. But let no man deceive you, that it is
possible by Acts of Parliament to banish poverty, privation, disease,
and early death, while the causes of them remain; and the causes
of these evils lie, not entirely, but to a great extent, in the state of
our own minds and bodies. The political economist who counsels
you to practice industry and economy, advises well; but all
enlightened men of this class are the grand advocates also of a
The Principles that should Regulate the Selection. 31
thorough education, to enable you to profit by these virtues, when
you have acquired them
You will understand that, by Secular instruction, I mean something Subjects that
much beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, and the catechism. Read are the means
of knowledge.
ing, writing, and arithmetic are merely the means of acquiring know-
ledge; and one of the great causes why the schooling that has been
given to the people has been so unproductive of improvement in their
condition, is that it has consisted chiefly of words and not of things;
and words disjoined from things, are mere empty sounds. They bear
the same relation to practical knowledge, that the name, John Thom-
son, bears to the living man, John Thomson himself. Nobody could
say that he knew John Thomson, and could judge whether he would
make a good master, a good servant, a good husband, a good father,
or a useful citizen, if he had merely heard or read the letters of his
name, and been taught how to pronounce them. We must see John
Thomson, converse with him, inquire about his talents, dispositions,
training, age, and health, before we can judge what he is fit for. If
a teacher should order his scholars to learn the Glasgow Directory by
heart, do you think that after they had done so, they would know
all the citizens personally, and by head-mark? No. The children
would be miserably tired of their unprofitable learning, and forget
the names in a few months after leaving school. Now, the reading
taught in most of our schools for the people bears too close a
resemblance to this style of instruction, and there is no wonder that
they forget it, and find little or no pleasure in reading in after life.
By Secular instruction, I mean introducing you to John Thomson What Real
himself, and making you thoroughly acquainted with all his qualities, knowledge is.
habits, and attainments. This world is not only a book of revelation
in which God has inscribed the records of His wisdom and His power,
for us to read and admire, but it is a vast assemblage of materials
and forces, presented by Him to us as manifestations of His benevo-
lence, that we may apply them and enjoy. Words are the mere
names which we give to these divine gifts.
Secular instruction, then, means presenting, to the mental faculties
which God has made, the objects, the real things in creation, which
he has adapted to them. The science of Chemistry, for example,
unfolds the minute structure of bodies, the modes of action of their
elements, and the laws which regulate their forces. It enables the
farmer to understand better the composition and qualities of his soil,
of his manure, of moisture, and the peculiar element which each kind
of grain chiefly abstracts from the ground. A farmer who has been
32 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
science.
The study of taught this knowledge at school will be enabled to raise better and
things and
larger crops from the same soil and materials, by wise combinations,
than if he acted by mere rule of thumb. Chemistry instructs the
blacksmith in the qualities of iron, the carpenter in the nature of the
wood, the dyer in the composition and laws of colours, the baker in
the nature of flour and yeast; and it may help to convert every one
of the operatives in these trades, from a mere routine machine, into a
clear-headed administrator of portions of God's creation for beneficiai
ends. Time forbids my detailing the kinds of knowledge which
Natural History, Natural Philosophy, and Anatomy, and Physiology
communicate; suffice it to say that every one of them unfolds a great
branch of natural objects and forces, obviously destined for the use of
man, and actually soliciting the application of his intelligence, to
enable him to convert them into means of increasing his enjoy-
ments.
The training of This instruction is not intended to supersede moral and religious
the faculties. training, but to supplement it and render it effective. Indeed, it is
not so much the mere knowledge of the details of Chemistry, of
Natural Philosophy, or of any other science that I value, as the
strengthening of the intellect, and the enlargement of the under-
standing, which follow from these studies, and which enable the
educated man to carry out his moral, intellectual, and religious con-
victions into action. In this latter power, the working classes are
greatly deficient; and a course of instruction limited to reading,
writing, arithmetic, and the catechism is calculated to keep them in
that condition, to the end of time. It omits all just and comprehen-
sive views of the forces and laws of God's external creation, through
the instrumentality of which His providence in this world is con-
ducted.
Ignorance pre- One baneful consequence of the omission of natural science from
education is, that the working man, in his sufferings, is unable to
discriminate to what extent these arise from breach of the laws of
God, and to what extent from the laws of man. In bad health, ho
cannot discern how much of his affliction arises from his own
unwitting infringement of physiological laws, instituted by the
Creator for his welfare, and how much from the faults of his
employer, in not attending to these laws in the construction and
arrangement of his workshop. In his poverty, he does not inquire,
how far his hard lot is owing to his parents having neglected his
education and left him mentally ignorant and feeble, and how far
to unjust and oppressive taxation. In short, this defective educa-
of evils.
The Principles that should Regulate the Selection. 33
tion, by leaving him uninstructed in the things and the forces which
cause his well-being or his suffering, leaves him indisposed to turn
his attention to the causes of his evils (be they in himself, in
government, or in social institutions), and incapable of desiring and
steadily pursuing the natural, and, therefore, the effectual means of
escaping from them.
Conceive, for a moment, what a change would be operated on the The effects of
moral and intellectual condition of the working classes if, for a few
true education
on the working
generations, they received such an education as this! They would classes.
become superior in intelligence and in mental resources of all kinds,
to the best educated classes of our present communities. And do
you believe, that working men thus instructed and trained would
continue in the state of poverty, privation, toil, and suffering which
now unhappily characterises so many of them! No; they would,
by a moral necessity, rise in the social scale, and would reap a larger
share of the bounties of God's Providence, because they would then
possess the qualities by which, according to the laws of that Pro-
vidence, those bounties may be acquired.
1
On
ac-
What kind and degree of knowledge has society a right to insist The knowledge
on its members acquiring? The individual has a right to the most society should
perfect freedom of thought and action in regard to every thing which members
does not directly or indirectly affect the welfare of other men. To
quiring
come at once to the grand point of controversy on the subject of
national education-society has a right to insist that he shall be
instructed and trained in whatever is necessary to fit him for the
discharge of his duties, as a member of the community in which he
lives; but, in all beyond this, the individual has a right to un-
bounded liberty of self-determination as to what he shall learn and
what he shall not learn. He has no right to continue filthy in his
habits; because this may induce disease and infect his neighbours.
He has no right to continue grossly ignorant; because in this state
of mind he is unfit to regulate his passions, to act with a rational
regard to his own and the public welfare in the circumstances in
which he is placed, and also to apply his natural powers in that
kind of labour by which alone he can subsist in a society composed
of intelligent and skilful men, on whom he has no right to throw the
burden of his incapacity. But he has a perfect title to decline to
Speech at meeting in Glasgow, in 1851, on National Education, from North
British Daily Mail.
1
34 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
should be
study poetry, or rhetoric, or painting, or sculpture, if these be dis-
tasteful to him; because his remaining ignorant of these accomplish-
ments can carry no direct harm to his fellow-citizens. In the former
category—that of things which he is bound to learn, because his
ignorance of them is injurious to society-I place a knowledge of
moral duties; and, in the latter, I rank those religious doctrines the
foundations of which rest exclusively on supernatural communications.
What Relig- I recognise explicitly the importance of religion to the welfare of
ious education
society and to that of the individual. Active religious feelings dis-
given.
pose a man to venerate and submit himself to those moral and
physical laws instituted by the Creator, on which his own happiness
and that of society depend. They prompt him also to adoration and
gratitude, emotions highly influential in the right ordering of human
conduct. But under the head of what is generally called religion,
are included doctrines and precepts which God has already forced on
qur acceptance by the clear order of nature in this world, and other
doctrines of which the human understanding, unenlightened by
revelation, is incapable of gaining a competent knowledge. In
regard to the former, nature and Scripture coincide, and speak one
and the same language; whereas nature is silent, or so obscure as not
ta be practical, in regard to the latter. It appears to me, that
Government, as a secular institution, has a right to insist that its
subjects shall be instructed in every species of knowledge, and
trained to every mode of action, which directly affect the welfare of
society, and which are prescribed as a duty, equally by Scripture and
by the natural laws of the body, of the mind, and of the external
creation.
The universal
The laws of health, industry, and morality, are thus enacted by
ity ought to the Creator, and are universally prevalent. In Christian Europe, in
be taught. Mahomedan Asia, and in Pagan Africa, the individual who neglects
cleanliness, who lives in bad air, and indulges in vicious habits, ruins
his health, whereby he may become a focus of infection, and
incapacitate himself for the discharge of his social duties; he who is
ignorant and reckless of the moral law becomes a scourge and affliction
to his fellow-men ; and he whose intelligence is so limited that he is
incapable of acting successfully a part in the social evolutions amidst
which he lives, is in constant danger of becoming a burden on their
industry, and of throwing on them the evil consequences which God
has attached to his ignorance and incapacity.1
laws of moral-
1 Remarks on National Education, p. 10.
The Principles that should Regulate the Selection. 35
should feed
all faculties.
mental powers.
We should study with the view of applying the knowledge so Education
acquired to the advantage of ourselves and our fellow-men. In short,
whatever knowledge we acquire must not be allowed to terminate, as
it has hitherto done, as mere barren intellectual conceptions, freezing
in the brain, and fostering only self-esteem, without vivifying the
moral sentiments or subduing the propensities. It must be connected
with life, and be rendered the food of all the faculties; and then
education will produce its full effects. The change which this kind
of education would produce would probably be great.
At present, uneducated men and women are tolerably happy while The defects of
gaiety of youth, the excitements of fashionable society, the business In producing
of trade, or the duties of a family, give some employment to their mental unrest ;
But even in this most favourable condition, they
are, in a great degree, strangers to the pure and refined enjoyment
which attends the exercise of intellect and sentiment. Amidst all
the bustle of life, there is felt to be a want, and on the cessation of
excitement, the mind does not look back with satisfaction to its past
labours as altogether pleasing and satisfactory. Now, this dissatisfied
feeling is the craving of the sentiments for enjoyment; it is the
result of the avocations in which we have been engaged having
afforded no pleasure to them ; and while the course of life continues
the same, the same vanity and vexation of spirit must necessarily be
felt.
Look, again, at the conversation which usually takes place at our As seen in con-
social parties, in the present state of education. It not unfrequently
happens that, in a whole evening, neither a conception nor a sentiment
has been uttered that we can recal on subsequent reflection, or that
affords us a moment's future pleasure. Secretiveness has kept under
not only improper manifestations, but every generous feeling and in-
teresting idea, for fear of the individual being remarked as particular,
pedantic, conceited, affected, or some other fear; and the only
faculties manifested have been Love of Approbation, in unmeaning
civilities, and the Knowing faculties, in trifling stories and chit-chat.
All this arises from the absence of knowledge of the human faculties.
But suppose the course of education now recommended to be The effects of
followed. In the first place, the knowledge of the physical world toue actiune of
affords food for the intellect and strengthens its powers; an acquaint-
ance with the philosophy of mind makes us know not only ourselves
but each other. It withdraws the veil which at present operates like
a barrier of ice between man and man; it brings into our view all
the admirable faculties which nature has bestowed, and teaches us
versation.
36 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
their uses and how to shun their misapplication. It gives the reins
to Adhesiveness, Benevolence, Veneration, Ideality, and Intellect,
and sets Justice high over all ; while it restrains the lower powers.
But this is not all. When the intellect and moral sentiments are
supplied with proper objects on which to exertº their powers, the
pleasures of sense, and the gratifications of vanity and paltry ambi-
tion, sink into natural insignificance ; they cease to be vehemently
desired, and then precepts against them become availing. We have
provided other enjoyments, and it is not painful to leave these off.
Education has Five hundred years ago, when our rude forefathers hunted and
improved our
national life. fought and plundered each other's possessions, for their serious
employment, and dosed in listless idleness and ate and drank, for their
pastimes,-in short, when they manifested the lowest of the pro-
pensities and felt no pleasure in the exercise of sentiment and
intellect,—they disregarded all precepts recommending morality and
enforcing religion, and they would have treated with scorn the
prophecy, that a day would come when no combat would
be fought within the whole confines of Britain, and when cattle
might pasture on the hill and corn grow in the fields, with no pro-
tectors but the law and the sentiment of justice, in the great body of
the people, which gives law its function and authority. But we have
lived to see these manners obsolete ; and how has the change been
produced ? The art of printing has provided food and employment
for higher faculties, and the pleasures of these are preferred to the
enjoyments of the lower feelings. But still we are only half-way
advanced in the scale; we have got past Combativeness and Destruc-
tiveness, and robbery and murder, but we are still only in the sphere
of Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation.
Power, wealth, consequence, are now the leading motives.
What still re- Let, however, the course of education which I have recommended be
followed, and these will sink into secondary objects, and higher
gard to it.
delights be pursued. You will observe, that I do not here indulge in
utopian dreams of a change in the constitution of the human mind, or
of external nature. These, in this system, all remain the same; but
the mental powers are directed to their legitimate objects, and brought
into harmony with external nature. Accordingly, I do not anticipate
the day when wealth will be neglected and power despised. On the
contrary, as our countrymen are now as brave, when just occasion
calls them to the field, as the turbulent sons of the mountain and
glen who fought in the feuds of our ancestors, so our enlightened
successors will be as industrious and as attentive to secure their just
mains to be
done in re-
The Principles that should Regulate the Selection. 37
course as it is.
cation would
personal rights as we; but they will view these and employ these as
means only of attaining to higher pleasures, instead of stopping
short, as we now do, with the barren possession.
This leads me to observe, that the highest human enjoyment is in Social inter-
social intercourse. Our faculties are made with a reference to society,
and the presence of our fellow-men is necessary to their full enjoy-
ment. But, while the mind is uninstructed and the sentiments
undirected, this intercourse is necessarily limited, and the pleasures
which it affords meagre. No common principles of thinking are
possessed, by which knowledge may be tried and opinions brought to
a test; ' no medium is known for reconciling opposing sentiments,
and few precise ideas or much useful information is brought to bear
upon our present social enjoyment.
If, on the other hand, such instruction as I have recommended were How true edu-
generally diffused, individuals would meet with common principles, raise it.
with minds teeming with ideas, and sentiments glowing with emotion,
Every individual would be a cultivator of music, of painting, of poetry,
of literature, of science, or of some useful branch of information; all
would possess common objects, in the improvement and expansion of
the intellectual faculties, and the gratification of the moral feelings;
they would possess common principles, in the philosophy of external
nature and of the human mind; they would, to a great extent, possess
a common language, for, where the ends coincide, the names of the
different means are speedily communicated : in short, each could
bring his share of entertainment and instruction to the common
banquet. Social meetings would then be sought, as the great means
at once of enjoyment and of improvement; they would invigorate
the mind, while they relieved it, by repose from the toils of ordinary
labour. Hours of leisure would not be hours of hurtful dissipation
or listless idleness, but intelligence, virtue, and religion would march
hand in hand ; and after a day was spent, it would be found to have
furnished some gratification for all the faculties, and the inanity and
malignity which now disturb society would necessarily disappear.
In short, an education based on a true philosophy of mind would The general re-
fill the mind with knowledge, produce harmony in the action of the sults of a true
education.
faculties, and furnish to each the gratification which it naturally
desires, leading at once to usefulness and pleasure.?
1 From DISS.
38 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
2. A GENERAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECTS NECESSARY FOR REAL
EDUCATION,
Real know-
Our schools, generally speaking, have been founded by men of
ledge should
be giren.
letters, and teach words. We must reform our schools, and enable
them to teach practical knowledge ; and we must send all our
children to school, to be instructed and trained. It is clear, that the
ignorant and destitute cannot pay teachers to give this kind of
education to their children. Generation after generation, they come
forward as paupers and criminals, to lie as burdens on the industrious ;
and unless those who are superior to themselves make an adequate
moral effort to instruct and train them, the evil will never diminish.
The elements I propose, therefore, to erect schools to teach the children of all
of this know- classes who choose to attend them, free of expense, the structure
ledge.
and functions of their own bodies, the structure and laws of physical
nature, and the relation of man to these objects and laws; the facts
of social economy; and, above all, the laws of morality and religion,
and the indispensable necessity of our observing them, in order to
attain prosperity; and we must train our children to act on this
knowledge. These measures will not banish all vice and want, for
in many individuals these spring from organic defects, but they will
diminish them; and this must precede all other plans and appliances
for human improvement, unless we can work miracles. 1
The conditions
As a general proposition, it may be truly asserted that God gives
of man's hap-
piness.
to each individual born into this world only a body, a mind, and a
field in which to apply them. All besides must be acquired by our
own skill and industry. If some individuals are born to the in-
heritance of riches, they form no exception to the foregoing proposi-
tion, because some ancestors or predecessors of these favoured men
must, by skill and labour, have acquired the wealth which thus
descends to them. The body is an assemblage of organs, producing
physical force; the mind is a collection of faculties, conferring on us
animal, moral, and intellectual power; while the world is a vast
arena, admirably adapted for the application of these endowments.
Under such an arrangement, the share of the world's enjoyments
offered by the Creator to each individual, will obviously bear reference
to the skill and assiduity with which he applies his physical strength
and mental intelligence to the task set before him.
1 From speech to Working Classes, delivered at Paisley Sept. 29, 1851 ;
from North British Daily Mail.
A General View of the Necessary Subjects. 39
tion does not
From our existing schemes of education having been devised by Present educa-
men learned in the Greek and Latin languages, in an age when fulfil these.
extremely little of physical and animated nature was known, words,
languages, and grammar then constituted the staples of instruction,
and continue so to the present day, although the state of things has
greatly changed. Look at our seminaries and parish schools all
over the kingdom, and inquire what, as a general rule, is taught?
Reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and, in some, a little
algebra and mathematics, and the catechism. But in not one of
these branches of knowledge is there one iota of causation; and yet
on our knowledge and judicious application of causes, depends our
well-being or misery in this life.
The grand reform, therefore, now needed in education is, to The education
teach-
necessary to
fulfil them,
Firstly: Things that exist,
Secondly: Their modes of action.
Thirdly: The nature of man.
Fourthly : How the operations of the elements of nature are
adapted to the human mind and body, and how they give rise to
most of the pleasures and pains of life.
Lastly : In every step of this instruction, we should direct the
emotional faculties of Wonder,' Reverence, Benevolence, Conscien-
tiousness, and the Love of the Beautiful, to God, as the author of
all; and train these faculties practically to the faith that, in conform-
ing to His laws, we are paying Him the highest homage that can be
offered by a rational being to its Creator, and at the same time,
expanding, elevating, and improving our own minds.
This view of education has been repeated so frequently that I The void in the
should apologize for re-stating it here; but I ask, Where is it to be education of
the people
found practically applied ? Go into the schools for the working-
classes all over Scotland, and ask what is taught. Only bear in
mind, while you are receiving the answer, that an external world
exists ; that it is an assemblage of constantly active beings, animate
and inanimate; and that God made and adapted it to man: and
then judge how much of this knowledge is taught to the young.
If you will only do this, your own minds will open to the per-
ception of a gigantic void in the elementary instruction of the
people.
1
2 From Lecture “ On the Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and
the Shorter Catechism on the Civilization of Scotland," delivered 25th Nov.
1851, in Edinburgh.
40 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
The teaching 1 In my lecture, I said : “Look at our seminaries and parish schools
of subjects of all over the kingdom, and inquire What, as a general rule, is taught?
neglected in Reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and in some places a little
our schools ; algebra and mathematics, and the catechism.
But in not one of
these is there one iota of causation ; and yet in our knowledge and
judicious application of causes depends our well-being or misery in
this life.” Your Grace is reported to have remarked on this passage :
He
says there is not a particle of causation' in the school instruc-
tion. Now, those who live in glass houses, it is an old proverb,
ought not to throw stones; and those who charge us with a want of
reasoning ought to be very sure that their own is extremely correct.”
Allow me to observe that here Your Grace obviously considers
“ causation” and “ reasoning” to be one and the same thing ; for I
never said that no " reasoning ” is taught in the schools, although I
certainly affirmed that there was no causation. I beg permission
to refer Your Grace to “ Johnson's Dictionary,” for the meaning of
these two words. The definition of " causation” is “the act or power
of causing ; " that of "reasoning” is “ argument."
argument.” If Your Grace
will keep this distinction in view, you will find that though there is
abundance of “argument ” or “reasoning” in reading, writing,
arithmetic, geography, algebra, mathematics, and the catechism (the
subjects taught in our common schools), there is literally no causa-
that is to say, in none of these do we find expounded any
active physical or physiological force operating, independently of the
human will, and which will benefit us if wisely applied, and injure
us if ignored or unskilfully handled.
But necessary The proposition in my lecture was, that the whole of external
for happiness, nature is an assemblage of objects exercising such forces; that they
were instituted by God, and bear definite relations to the human
and body; and that without studying, or acting in accordance
with, their modes of action, we cannot take our stations in this world
as its rational administrators, avoid evil, and command the enjoyment
placed by Providence within the reach of our understandings, when
enlightened in regard to His ways and trained to obey His will.
tion;
The aims of One great use of knowledge is the preservation of health. This,
true education
and the requi- although too much overlooked in many of the established systems of
site subjects :
1 From letter, in the Scotsman of 21st January 1852, to the Duke of Argyle,
who made a strong speech regarding George Combe's views contained in the
lecture of which the foregoing is an extract, at a meeting of the Church of
Scotland's Endowment Scheme, the same month.
A General View of the Necessary Subjects.
41
health;
cise of the men-
education, is of paramount importance. Life depends on it, and ( 1.) The pres-
also the power of exercising with effect all the mental functions. ervation of
There are two modes of instructing an individual in the preservation
of health : the one by informing him, as a matter of fact, concerning
the conditions on which it depends, and admonishing him, by way
of precept, to observe them; the other, by expounding to his intellect By teaching
Anatomy and
the constitution of his bodily frame, and teaching him the uses of its
Physiology.
various parts, the abuses of them, the relations established between
them and external objects, such as food, air, water, heat, and cold,
and the consequences of observance or neglect of these relations.
The former method addresses the memory chiefly; the latter, the
judgment. The former comes home to the mind, enforced only by
the authority of the teacher; the latter is felt to be an exposition of
the system of nature, and deeply interests at once the intellect and
affections. The former affords rules for particular cases; the latter,
general principles, which the mind can apply in all emergencies.
The instruction here recommended implies an exposition of the prin-
ciples of Anatomy and Physiology.
Another use of knowledge is to enable us to exercise the mental ( 2.) The exer-
faculties themselves, so as to render them vivacious and vigorous, tal faculties ;
and thereby to promote our usefulness and enjoyment.
The wonderful effect of a change from inactivity to bustle and
employment, is well known in ordinary life, and is explicable only
on the principle of strengthening the organs by a due amount of
exercise. In nine cases out of ten, a visit to a watering-place, or a
journey through an interesting country, restores health móre by
giving excitement to the mind than by means of the water swallowed,
or the locomotion endured. And it is well known that, under
strong excitement, weak and delicate persons will not only exert
double muscular force, but even prove superior to the effects of
miasma and contagion, to which, when unexcited, they would have
been the first victims. In the army also, it is proverbial, that the
time of fatigue and danger is not the time of disease. It is in the
inactive and listless months of a campaign, that crowds of patients
pass to the hospitals. In the former cases, it is active exercise, giving
strength to the mind, and, through it, healthy vigour to the body,
which produces the effect.
Now, instruction in natural science connects our sympathies with By teaching
real existences and living beings, furnishes our understandings with natural science.
positive and precise ideas, and brings home to our minds an irresist-
ible conviction of our being placed in the midst of agents, physical,
42 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
animal, moral, and intellectual, to whose qualities we must adapt our
conduct, if we desire to enjoy life. It furnishes us with the means,
not only of planning useful occupations, but of executing our
designs; and in such courses of action, there is the highest enjoy-
ment.
( 3.) The per- A third use of knowledge is to qualify us to perform our duties,
formance of all
our duties. physical, moral and religious, in the best manner, and to reap the
fullest enjoyment which Providence allots to those who best fulfil
the objects of their existence, and yield the most perfect obedience
to the Divine laws. A knowledge of the qualities, relations, and
modes of action of inorganic objects and organic beings, is a know-
ledge of the order of God's secular Providence in the government of
the world ; and if this conclusion be sound, it follows that it is only
by diligent study of the order of nature that we shall learn how to
accommodate our conduct to the Divine laws, which regulate prosperity
and adversity, health and disease, life and death, in the present state
of existence.
1
pation.
Many faculties The institutions and manners of society indicate the state of mind
still remain un-
trained in the of the influential classes at the time when they prevail
. The trial
and burning of old women as witches point out clearly the pre-
dominance of Destructiveness and Wonder over Intellect and
Benevolence, in those who were guilty of such cruel absurdities.
The practices of wager of battle, and ordeal by fire and water,
indicate great activity of Combativeness, Destructiveness, and
Veneration in those who permitted them, combined with lamentable
ignorance of the natural constitution of the world. In like manner,
the enormous sums willingly expended in war, and the small sums
grudgingly paid for public improvements,--the intense energy dis-
played in the pursuit of wealth, and the general apathy evinced in
the search after kņowledge and virtue,—unequivocally proclaim
activity of Combativeness, Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self-
Esteem, and Love of Approbation, with comparatively moderate
vivacity of Benevolence and Conscientiousness, in the present genera-
tion.
The education Before, therefore, the practices of mankind can be altered, the
required to
state of their minds must be changed. It is an error to impose on
a people institutions greatly in advance of their mental condition.
The rational method is, first to instruct the intellect, then to interest
1 Lectures on Popular Education, p. 44.
train them.
A General View of the Necessary Subjects.
43
the sentiments, and, last of all, to form arrangements in harmony
with these faculties, and resting on them as their basis. These
principles, if founded in nature, may be expected to lead to consider-
able changes in many of the customs and pursuits of society; but,
to accomplish this effect, they must first be ascertained to be true
e;
next they must be sedulously taught; and only thereafter can they
be practically applied. It appears to me that a long series of years
will probably elapse before even nations now regarded as civilised
will model their institutions and manners in harmony with the
natural laws.
The first step should be to teach these laws to the young. Their The first step
minds, not being occupied by prejudice, will recognise them as con- Natural Laws.
genial to their constitution; the first generation that shall embrace
them from infancy will proceed to modify the institutions of society
into accordance with their dictates ; and in the course of ages, they
may at length be found to be practically useful. A perception of
the importance of the natural laws will lead to their observance, and
this will be attended by an increase of physical prosperity, a higher
morality, and, in process of time, an improved development of brain,
increasing the desire and capacity for further progress. All true
theories have ultimately been adopted, and influenced practice; and
I see no reason to fear that the present, if true, will prove an excep-
tion. The failure of all previous systems is the natural consequence
of their having been unfounded; if this resemble them, it deserves,
and assuredly will meet, a similar fate.
The present work“ may be regarded as, in one sense, an introduc- This the basis
tion to an essay on education. If the views unfolded in it are in
ledge and true
general sound, it will follow that education has scarcely yet com-education.
menced. If the Creator has bestowed on the body, on the mind,
and on external nature, determinate constitutions, and has arranged
them to act on each other, and to produce happiness or misery to
Man according to certain definite principles; and if this action goes
on invariably, inflexibly, and irresistibly, whether men attend to it
or not: it is obvious that the very basis of useful knowledge must
consist in an acquaintance with these natural arrangements; and
that education will be valuable in the exact degree in which it com.
municates such information, and trains the faculties to act upon it.
Reading, writing, and arithmetic, which make up the instruction
generally enjoyed by the lower orders, are merely means of acquiring
of useful know-
1 Developed in “The Constitution of Man.”
The Constitution of Man."
44 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
This the best
means of hu-
knowledge, but do not constitute it. Greek, Latin, and mathematics,
which are added in the education of the middle and upper classes,
are still only means of obtaining information. Hence, with the
exception of the few who pursue physical science, society dedicates
very little attention to the study of the natural laws. And even
those who do study science, disconnect it from the moral and
religious sentiments, and thus allow more than half of its beneficial
influence on human conduct to be lost. I
In attempting to give effect to the views now discussed, I respect-
man improve fully recommend that each individual, according as he becomes
acquainted with the natural laws, should obey them, and com-
municate his experience of their operations to others; avoiding, at
the same time, the subversion, by violence, of established institu-
tions, and all outrages on public sentiment by intemperate discus-
sions. The doctrines here unfolded, if true, authorise us to predict
that the most successful method of ameliorating the condition of
mankind will be that which appeals most directly to their moral
sentiments and intellect; and I may add, from experience and
observation, that, in proportion as any one becomes acquainted with
the real constitution of the human mind, will his conviction of the
efficacy of this method increase. 2
ment.
The elements Knowledge of man himself, his mental endowments, his history,
of general edu-
cation,
and his institutions, belongs to the class of useful information. А.
useful education should embrace instruction in mental philosophy,
geography, civil history, political economy, and religion.
The fine arts;
A genius or taste for poetry, music, painting, sculpture, or languages,
is bestowed by nature on particular individuals, and these branches of
knowledge should be taught to those who have an aptitude for them.
They are of much value as means of elevating and refining human
nature; but, unless there be in the mind a decided talent for them,
they should not be made the great objects of education, or the busi-
ness of life.
And classics ;
I request you particularly to observe that I do not denounce the
ancient languages and classical literature on their own account, or
desire to see them cast into utter oblivion. I admit them to be refined
studies, and think that there are individuals who, having a natural
turn for them, learn them easily, and enjoy them much. They ought,
1 See this latter thought more fully worked out in Part Second, Chap. v.
2 - Constitution of Man,” 9th edition, pp. 306–8.
A General View of the Necessary Subjects.
45
cation,
therefore, to be cultivated by all such persons. My objection is solely Their true
to the practice of rendering them the main substance of the education place in edu-
bestowed on young men who have no taste or talent for them, and
whose pursuits in life will not render a knowledge of them a valuable
acquisition. The fine arts, also, should be taught as enjoyments, and
a relish for them encouraged ; but, in common minds, a considerable
amount of moral and intellectual cultivation must precede their due
appreciation. Farther, as long as the present institutions of society
exist, some knowledge of Greek and Latin is indispensable to young
men who mean to pursue medicine or law as a profession. Of course,
Greek must be studied by divines.?
It appears to me, that the elementary principles of all the natural The mental in-
sciences, when contemplated in their primitive forms by superior fluence of an
minds, are simple, and that they constitute the native food of the in- natural truth.
tellect. I include in these sciences the knowledge of man's physical,
moral, and intellectual nature, and the relations subsisting between
them and external objects and beings. One advantage of communi-
cating instruction in these truths to youth is, that it furnishes them
with a solid basis on which to found their judgments. Under the
old system, there was much of confìicting opinion; authority stood
against authority, and in the phases of human life, chiefly intricacy
and inscrutable evolutions were presented. The causes of good and
evil did not appear, and the consequences of actions were scarcely
traceable. A people invested with political power, whose education
leaves them in such a condition, must, to a great extent, be exposed
to the seduction of their passions, to be misled by imperfect views of
their own interests, and even to the delusions of an excited imagina-
tion, leading them into wild speculations and impracticable adven-
tures. An education in natural truth has the tendency to steady
the whole mind, and to place passion, imagination, and ambition,
under the guidance of reason,
Addressing the Americans, George Combe says : In your country, The natural
above all others, your school education should teach your youth the
truths that
should be
specific knowledge of the constitution and powers of physical nature, taught.
and the means by which they may be applied to the promotion of
human happiness ; of the constitution of the body, and the laws of
1
1 Lectures on Popular Education, p. 40.
2 Notes on America, vol. iii. p. 99.
46 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
The natural
truths that
should be
taught.
health ; of the constitution of the mind, and the means by which we
may be best trained to the discharge of our duties in the private,
domestic, and social circles; of the laws by which wealth is created
and distributed; and of the influence of morals and legislation on
the welfare of the individual and society. As you do not wait until
your voters, who wield the destinies of your country-wḥo make
peace and war--who make and unmake bạnks-who make and un-
make tariffs, affecting industry to the core
and who make and un-
make even your schools, calleges, and churches, -I say, as you do
not wait until age has given them wisdom and experience, but place
the helm, at once, in their hands, and allow them to act, while they
are still full of young blood and all the energy, confidence, and rash-
ness that attend it, you are called on, by every consideration,
to perfect your schools, so as to communicate to them the dictates of
a wisdom which cannot be dispensed with, and which will not other-
wise be attained.”
The practical
What, then, is the abject of secular instruction?
aims of true
To render the husbandman more skilful, by instructing him in the
education and
the instruction nature of soils, the relations to these of particular manures, and the
necessary.
best modes of working his land; to render the mechanic more
expert in conducting his trade, by instructing him how the elements
of nature, on which he operates, act and react, so as to enable him to
avoid processes to which nature is opposed, and to follow those in
which she will assist his efforts; to render the mother more capable
of rearing her child, by instructing her in its constitution, and the
effects of air, light, food, heat, cold, and other external influences on
its health ; to enable every man, by an instructed intellect, and culti-
vated moral and religious feelings, to become a more kind, intelli-
gent, prudent, exemplary husband, parent, friend, and neighbour.2
3. THE SPECIAL BRANCHES THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT.
How, then, are the great mass of mankind to be educated, and in
what studies ? Let us look to the faculties they possess, and keep in
view that our object is, to communicate knowledge to their intellectual
powers, grateful exercise to their sentiments, and to regulate and
direct the propensities.
i Notes on America, vol. iii. pp. 408–9.
2 Speech on National Education, 25th April 1851, at Aberdeen, from the
Aberdeen Herald.
The Special Branches of Instruction.
47
ments
In ordinary minds, the Knowing and Reflecting organs are fairly The INSTRUC-
developed, and the organs of Benevolence, Veneration, Hope, and Tron required :
Justice also are, in general, amply bestowed . The organs most fre-
quently found deficient are the ornamental powers, Ideality, Wit,
Imitation, Tune, and Constructiveness.
Now, music and drawing, which form such laborious departments Accomplish-
of female education, are addressed almost exclusively to Time, Tune,
Constructiveness, Ideality, and Imitation. Setting the highest value
upon these accomplishments which they merit, and I do not at all
under-estimate them, I observe that there are still higher objects to
be attained by education, viz., to communicate ideas or knowledge that
may be practically useful To this end, the knowledge of language, Languages
written and spoken, must be possessed, as the vehicle of communica-
tion; and this is the sole end of learning languages,
In the next place, we must study, as I have said, natural objects 'The nature and
laws of mate-
and their relations. The advantages of doing so will be best un- rial objects;
derstood by an example. In order to enjoy life, it is necessary to
have sound health, and an active, well-regulated mind. To enjoy
health, which is the fundamental requisite of happiness, we must
observe the conditions which the Creator has appointed as necessary
to this result. The human body, for example, is itself a com-
bination of matter, and a most intricate machine: it requires
food, air, exercise, for its healthy action; and it is liable to be
injured by external influences, nat only in the shape of violence,
but by changes in the atmosphere, by particles of matter so minute
as not readily to catch the eye, and by neglect of exercise and diet.
According to the present mode of education, treatises are written
and precepts delivered desiring the physical conditions to be
observed, and pointing out, in glowing colours, the evils of neglecting
and the benefits of observing them. But these precepts do not
communicate to the understanding how the result takes place; they
are addressed, in short, blindly to Cautiousness, Hope, or Veneration,
or some sentiment, but not to both the understanding and the senti-
ments; and, before knowledge becomes practical, it must excite
hoth. To reach the understanding, therefore, we must communicate
elementary knowledge to the Knowing faculties, and draw conclusions
to satisfy the Reflecting powers. Hence, we should teach the general
nature and laws of the material objects which exist around us, and
1 The unphrenological reader might consult, with advantage, the list of
phrenological organs and their functions, given in the Appendix, to fully
understand and appreciate this passage.
48 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
Man's physical of their mode of action. This comprehends Natural History,
constitution, Chemistry, and Natural Philosophy.
;
Next, we should communicate a knowledge of the structure of the
human body, and of the uses and modes of action of its different
organs which conduce to health. Lastly, the relation between the
physical objects of external nature and the human frame should be
explained, and the way in which the one affects the other pointed
out. 1
To attain these ends, it would not be necessary to teach these
sciences in all the details in which they are communicated to pro-
fessional students. The elementary principles of them, elucidated
by apposite examples, and directed always to practical application,
would suffice.
His moral and I have supposed the young instructed in the physical constitution
intellectual
constitution ;
of external nature and of the human frame, and in their mutual
relations. The next object is, to instruct them in the constitution of
the moral and intellectual world, and this also is of vast importance.
A certain portion of our enjoyment comes from the influence of
external physical objects. But think, for a moment, how much is
derived from the influence of the moral and intellectual beings
around us, and how much happiness or misery we may cause to
others. This happiness depends on agreeable affections of the various
mental faculties, and on their regulation and exercise. The Philos-
ophy of Mind, as the means by which we are to know others and
ourselves, and to direct our faculties to proper objects, ought to be
the next branch of juvenile education.
The Principles The applications of Phrenology, as the Philosophy of Mind,
of Morals and branch out into the foundations of Natural Religion; into the
Æsthetics;
Theory of Morals; into the Duties of Life, so as to obtain the highest
gratification of the faculties and to avoid abuses of them; into the
principles of Taste and Criticism; and into the philosophy of the
Fine Arts. In short, it contains the elementary principles on which
all sciences connected with human feelings and enjoyments must
necessarily rest.
His religious In a philosophical education, religion must, of necessity, find a
place, because Veneration is implanted in the mind, and the Divine
Being is its highest and most legitimate object. Religion, in short,
is the pouring forth of the emotions, Wonder, Veneration, Hope, and
Conscientiousness, in admiration and gratitude for everything that
1 This is explained and developed in George Combe's work, “ The Constitu-
tion of Man considered in relation to external objects.”
education.
The Special Branches of Instruction.
49
is excellent bestowed upon man, and it is as necessary to the enjoy-His religious
education.
ment of the higher sentiments, as knowledge is to the gratification of
the intellectual faculties. It is of the greatest utility, also, as an aid
in directing and controlling the whole propensities and sentiments.
Suppose that an individual has so little of Causality as not to be
able to perceive forcibly the advantage of obeying the moral laws, or
so weak a sentiment of Conscientiousness as not to feel strongly the
obligation of doing so; if he has a powerful Veneration, he may
be induced to yield obedience, from the sentiment of awe and respect
to God, because He has commanded it. According to the system
which I now recommend, Veneration would be supported in habitual
activity in the affairs of life, for the mind would be continually
impressed with the perception, that everything external, and also every
internal faculty and emotion, have been created by a Superior Intel-
ligence, and adapted to each other; and that our business is to dis-
cover the laws of their adaptation, and our duty to obey them; that
our reward is happiness, and our punishment suffering, according as
we observe or neglect them. In short, we would feel Providence
operating around as in every event and occurrence, soliciting us to
virtue and enjoyment; admonishing us, by gentle inflictions of
uneasiness, that we are deviating when we quit the right path; and
overtaking us with serious calamity, only when we have widely erred.
Add to all this intellectual instruction, a regular training of the The TRAINING
propensities, by exercising each on its appropriate objects,— by required.
making the child practice Benevolence to cultivate that sentiment,
practice Devotion to cultivate Veneration, practice Justice to
cultivate Conscientiousness; and then his education will be complete.
Now, all this course of education may be apprehended by ordinary The effects of
knowing and reflecting faculties and average sentiments; and if you of study
and
imagine young men and women entering into life with this elementary training.
knowledge, and these principles of thinking and acting, how different
would their course be from that of the present generation! Most of
our present systems of education are felt to be practically useless.
It is a very old truth that men on leaving school have their education
to begin anew; they have learnt nothing which is of service in the
affairs of life, beyond reading, writing, and accounts as the instruments
of business and of acquiring knowledge. They have no definite views
of the nature of man, and of human institutions,--no general
principles by which to regulate their conduct,-and are left to grope to
right and left, as their propensities and sentiments impel them, till,
when about to leave the world, they begin to see, with the eyes of
D
50 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools?
)
tions.
experience, the faults they have committed, and the course they
ought to have pursued.
The results of this mode of instruction would be very different
from that of the common methods of education. In the first place,
the knowing and reflecting faculties would be stimulated and gratified
in receiving the knowledge, and the mind would be furnished with a
vast store of ideas on which these powers might be exercised in future
life; and, gecondly, it would be infinitely easier to obey the laws of
nature, after understanding them, than to do so in blind compliance
with precepts, when the reasons for obedience are not understood.
This will be clear by another example.
This illustrated The higher classes of society, who are above the necessity of
in regard to
nervous affec- personal labour, are frequently tormented with what are called
nervous affections. Suppose, then, that, on the present system
of education, you are told that the way to avoid this evil, is
to exercise the mind and the body. This is quite true ;
but
the communication comes to you like an oracular annunciation. It
addresses Individuality alone as a matter of fact, and you take no steps
to exercise either mind or body. On the new system, you would be
instructed, in the first place, in the nature of the nerves and brain, and
be familiarised with the causes which preserve them in health, and
those which lead them into disease. You would be informed, for in-
stance, that every mental faculty is connected with an organ in the
brain ; that when the organ is healthy the mental power acts with
vivacity and pleasure ; that when it is diseased it originates painful
sentiments, and every mental effort is attended with uneasiness;
that the brain, as part of the body, is nourished by the blood; and
that the quality of the blood depends on the perfection of digestion,
and digestion on the proper regulation of food, air, and exercise ;
and hence that nervous affections are just diseases of the organs of
the mind; that the cares, depressions, anxieties, forebodings, listless-
ness, and countless miseries of the nervous patient, all proceed from
imperfect action in the brain; and that this disorder cannot be
removed, except by removing the causes which produced it, or, in
other words, by taking air and exercise, and by regulating food and
sleep. Employment to the mind again favours recovery—and why?
- because it exercises those mental organs, and promotes their health,
the want of which exercise was the great cause of their disease.
Imagine a young lady instructed in science of this kind as a
matter of common education, and taught from infancy to act on its
principles, how many more motives would she possess to follow a
The Special Branches of Instruction.
51
course of living calculated to keep off nervous attacks, than under the The motives
present system, when nobody imagines they have anything to do with true education.
the physical institutions of the Creator, when it is a general notion
that the mind is not connected with or affected by matter at all, and
when some even imagine that diseases are sent by Providence, without
the least relation to the conduct of individuals in averting or indu-
cing them! The view of Providence which the new system would
present would be very different. It would represent the external
world and the human constitution fitted to each other by the most
exquisite wisdom, so as to produce health and enjoyment to man,
provided he chose to conform to the laws which the Creator had
established to regulate the physical and mental powers. By obeying
these, we have the positive assurance of reward, in the joyous
exercise of our faculties ; by disregarding them, we induce suffering,
and receive the just punishment of our disobedience and neglect; and,
in either case, we look to the Creator as the fountain of everything
that is excellent, and as the benignant author of all our enjoyments,
while we impute, to our own ignorance and wilful neglect, the evils
and sufferings that overtake us.
1
struction,
If there be any degree of truth in the views now propounded, the The general
question, “ What should secular education embrace ?” may be easily the education
answered. It should embrace Instruction in the qualities, modes of required.
action, relations, and purposes of the things and beings by means of
which the government of the world is maintained ; and also Training
of the whole faculties, animal, moral, and intellectual, to action in
conformity with the order of Providence.
The particular branches of instruction should be the following : The particular
READING and WRITING, as the means of acquiring, recording, and branches of in-
communicating knowledge.
ARITHMETIC, ALGEBRA, and GEOMETRY, as instruments of numeration
and calculation.
GEOGRAPHY: The object of this science is to describe the natural
and artificial boundaries of the different countries of the world, and
their sub-divisions; also to enumerate the towns, rivers, lakes, &c.,
which they contain. With these should be combined a description
of the inhabitants, institutions, soil, climate, and produce of each
country, and the relations of these to the objects and beings of other
countries. Simple descriptive geography addresses chiefly the intel-
i From MSS.
52 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
The particular lectual faculties of Form, Size, and Locality. When enriched by the
struction, and additions now mentioned, the science would interest the feelings and
the purpose excite the reflecting powers.
and manner of
tbeir teaching NATURAL HISTORY embraces the description of all the objects of the
mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. In teaching it, the young
should be trained to accurate observation of objects, and of their
qualities, relations, and modes of action.
CHEMISTRY: This science expounds the minute composition of
natural objects, and the proportions and laws of combination of their
parts, with their modes of action. It affords striking examples of
design, order, and invariable sequence, in the constitution and modes
of action of material objects; and may be used to demonstrate to the
young, that the material world is actually and practically governed
by Divine wisdom.
ANATOMY and PAYSIOLOGY : These sciences unfold the structure,
functions, relations, and laws of the different parts of which organized
bodies are composed. When to these elements of instruction is
added information concerning the external circumstances, and also
the modes and degrees of action of the organs which produce health
and disease, and the certain connection between infringements of
these conditions and pain and suffering, and eventually premature
death, the pupil may be led to comprehend that his health and life
are, within certain limits, committed to his own discretion, and that
the Divine power is constantly operating, in and through his organs,
for his advantage and enjoyment, while he acts in conformity with
the laws of his constitution.
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY treats of the qualities, relations, and modes
and laws of action of bodies, apart from their chemical and vital
phenomena. Like Chemistry and Physiology, it addresses in an
especial manner the reflecting intellect of man, and is calculated to
expand his mental powers. By increasing his knowledge of the
scheme of creation, it puts it in his power, to a certain extenty to co-
operate in the plans of Providence for his own improvement.
THE PHILOSOPHY of MIND: The objects of this science are the
external senses, and the internal faculties of emotion, observation,
and reflection. It can be studied successfully only by means of
reflection on consciousness, and observation of the organs of the
several faculties, and the influence of their size, age, health, disease,
and training, on the mental manifestations. The mind of man, in
so far as he is concerned, forms the centre to which the objects of all
the other sciences are related; and his deepest interest is involved in
The Special Branches of Instruction.
53
knowing accurately what these relations are, and how he may regulate the particular
branches of in-
his conduct in conformity with them.
struction, and
LITERATURE, POETRY, PAINTING, SCULPTURE, and all the useful the purpose
and manner of
and ornamental arts, find their principles in the constitution of the their teaching.
human faculties, and their relations to the objects of external nature,
and cannot be thoroughly and scientifically understood until these
are comprehended.
NATURAL RELIGION belongs to Secular education, and should aim
at teaching the young to comprehend, that the whole objects and
phenomena treated of in the sciences are the institutions of God;
that the relations of the human mind and body towards them are
fixed and unalterable; that the whole are, to a certain extent,
cognisable by the human faculties; and that we are bound by duty
to God, as well by a regard to our own welfare, reverently and dili-
gently to study these, and to regulate our own conduct in conformity
to their modes of action. Above all, the pupil should be trained
habitually to act on the knowledge thus communicated to him.
I do not mean that all the arts and sciences should be taught to the extent to
every child, in the manner and to the extent in which they are now
which these
subjects should
expounded in our universities and higher seminaries of education, be taught.
All I here propose is to unfold principles and views which may form
the groundwork, and serve as guides to the practical evolution of a
sound system of secular education. The details will be best reached
after we have agreed upon the outline. If every teacher will view
himself as commissioned to communicate to his pupils practical in-
struction concerning the order of God's secular Providence, and the
means? by which it is administered, and to train them to act in
accordance with it the things necessary to be taught, as well as the
best mode of teaching them, will speedily be discerned.
If the reader will visit our common schools, and estimate the
things at present taught and the modes of teaching, with this idea in
his mind as his standard, he will speedily be able to judge to what
degree they are fulfilling the object of training the young to act in
accordance with the order of God's secular Providence. Even our
George Combe views the various sciences, physical, mental, moral, and
social, as revealing, in the laws they discover, not only God's moral govern-
ment of the world, but the very and only methods or means by which it is
carried on, acting in accordance with which is necessary to happiness. Hence
the importance he put on instruction in the subjects which give this knowledge,
in order to fit men to act in conformity with this moral government, by obeying
these laws in all departments. See his ideas on this subject explained more
fully in Part Second, chap. v.; and in his “Science and Religion."
1
54 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools?
In secular in-
The defects of churches may be submitted to the same test with advantage ; for they
education in also profess to show the way in which man should walk on earth, as
principles : well as to point out the gate that leads to heaven. Their secular
instruction, therefore, must be perfect or imperfect, in proportion to
its success in expounding the means by which we may discover and
fulfil the requirements of God's natural laws.
The arts of reading and writing have hitherto been considered the
struction;
chief elements of secular education for the people; while Bible-
precepts and catechisms have been viewed as constituting religious
instruction. But, if the principles now expounded be correct, the
imperfections of this curriculum will be obvious. Reading implies
merely the knowledge of the written or printed artificial signs or
words, by means of which any nation or tribe express their thoughts;
and writing is the forming of these signs ourselves. The signs do
not convey their own meaning; they are merely sounds and forms;
and we must be instructed in their meaning before we can derive any
substantial benefit from them. Instruction in the objects, qualities,
relations, and modes of action of the beings and things which the
words are employed to designate, should, therefore, go hand in hand
with the teaching of words themselves.
In religious in- In regard to religious instruction, again, the Bible constitutes the
struction;
only directory recognised in Protestant countries concerning the mode
of securing everlasting happiness. The object of the school for
religion, therefore, may be held to be to unfold the means by which
eternal interests may be best secured, and to train the young to
practise them. Although the Bible contains, as subservient to this
end, numerous valuable precepts for regulating secular conduct, yet,
not being intended to supersede the use of observation and reflection,
it embodies no complete exposition of the special natural agencies by
means of which the order of God's secular Providence is now executed
and maintained. Moreover, it does not expound the arrangements
in nature by which even its own precepts in regard to the duties
and interests of this life are enforced and rendered practical.
The amount of Hence secular instruction, such as is now recommended, is neces-
it necessary in
sary to render practical the moral precepts even of the Bible itself.
Every precept of the Bible, therefore, which has a counterpart in
nature, and which is supported and enforced by the order of God's
natural Providence, may legitimately be introduced into secular
schools. It is impossible, however, to draw a precise line of demarca-
tion between secular and religious education, because, in point of fact,
when we instruct children in the order of nature, and train them to
schools.
The Effects of the Education Advocated.
55
broader educila
reverence it, we teach them religion as well as science. Those doc-
trines only which rest exclusively on the authority of supernatural
revelation seem to belong peculiarly to the school for religious
teaching
It appears to me that it would be difficult to exaggerate the Effects of the
beneficial effects that might eventually be elicited from a scheme of tion advocated.
secular education founded on these principles. The young-trained
to direct their observing faculties to the study of the things and beings
which exist, as instruction addressed to them by God, and their
reflecting faculties to the study of the causes of natural phenomena ;
and taught, moreover, to comprehend, that, to the action of these
causes, certain consequences have been attached by Divine intel-
ligence, which, at every moment, affect their own condition, and
which they can neither alter nor evade, but to which they may, or
may not, as they choose, accommodate their conduct—the
young,
I
say, thus instructed and trained, might, perhaps, at last be enabled
to comprehend that they are actually placed under a real and
practical Divine government on earth, and they might be led to feel
some disposition to act in harmony with its laws.
1
The proposal that men in general should be taught Natural Philo. The physical
sophy, Anatomy, Physiology, Political Economy, and the other sciences can be
sciences that expound the natural laws, has been sneered at as generally
taught.
ridiculous. But I would ask, In what occupations are human beings
so urgently engaged that they have no leisure to bestow on the study
of the Creator's laws, from the influence of which they cannot
escape? The delivery of a course of lectures on Natural Philosophy
would occupy sixty or seventy hours; a course on Anatomy and
Physiology, the same; and a pretty full course on Phrenology could
be delivered in forty hours! These, once or twice repeated, would
serve to initiate the student in the sciences in question, so that he
could afterwards advance in them by the aid of observation and
books. Is life, then, so brief, and are our hours so urgently occupied
by higher and more important duties, that we cannot afford these
pittances of time to learn the laws that regulate our existence ? No!
The only difficulty lies in exciting the desire for knowledge ; for when
that is attained, time will not be wanting.
No idea can be more preposterous, than that human beings have no
time to study and obey the natural laws. These laws, when neglected,
1 What should Secular Education embrace ? pp. 31-34.
56 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools?
Time should punish so severely that the offender loses more time in undergoing his
teaching them. chastisement than would be requisite to obey them. A gentleman
extensively engaged in business, whose nervous and digestive systems
were impaired by neglect of the organic laws, was desired to walk in
the open air at least one hour a day; to repose from all exertion,
bodily and mental, for an hour after breakfast, and another hour after
dinner (because the brain cannot expend its energy to good purpose
in thinking and in aiding digestion at the same time); and to practise
moderation in diet. This last injunction he regularly observed, but
he laughed at the idea of his having three hours a-day to spare for
attention to his health. The reply was, that the organic laws admit
of no exception, and that he must either obey them or suffer the con-
sequences; but that the time lost in enduring the punishment would
be double or treble that requisite for obedience ; and, accordingly,
the fact was so. Instead of keeping an appointment, it was usual
for him to send a note, perhaps at two o'clock in the afternoon, in
these terms : “I was so distressed with headache last night, that I
never closed my eyes ; and to-day I am still incapable of being out
of bed." On other occasions, he was out of bed, but apologised for
incapacity to attend to business, on account of an intolerable pain in
the region of the stomach. In short, if the hours lost in these pain-
ful sufferings had been added together, and distributed over the days
when he was able for duty, they would have far outnumbered those
which would have sufficed for obedience to the organic laws—and
with this difference in the results : by neglecting them; he lost both
his hours and his enjoyment; whereas, by obedience, he would have
secured aptitude for business, and a pleasing consciousness of
existence.
4. FEMALE EDUCATION : WHAT SUBJECTS SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO
WOMEN.
The importance Especially would I press upon your attention the importance of
tion of woman. educating women, not merely in embroidery and music, but in a know-
ledge of things, especially in a knowledge of the Human Constitution.
Every man must acknowledge that Woman operates on human char-
acter in the most powerful manner. She works on soil highly
susceptible of impressions. To send her out into society to be a wife
and mother without one philosophical idea, appears to me utterly
i Constitution of Man, 9th edit., p. 193-94.
The Subjects that should be Taught to Women. 57
barbarous and absurd. Irrational as has been the education of boys
the education of young ladies has been, and is, much more so.
2
I regard the great secular business of female life to be the produ-( 1.) She should
be prepared for
cing, nurture, and rearing of children ; the due management her maternal
of domestic affairs; and the cultivation of those graces, virtues, and and domestic
affections which shed happiness on the family circle. These occupa-
tions are equally important to women as professions are to men; and
under a proper system of education, women should be taught every
species of knowledge, and instructed in every accomplishment, which
may directly contribute to the proper discharge of their duties. At
the earliest dawn of intellect and feeling, the little girl manifests the
tendency of her nature towards maternity. The doll is then the
most absorbing object of interest that can be offered to her attentions.
In maturer years, the mimic infant is laid aside, but the feelings
which found delightful expression in the caresses bestowed on it are
not extinct. The nature of the woman is the same as that of the
girl; the conventional fashions of society may induce her to draw
veil over her affections; but they glow internally, and it will be
among her strongest desires to give them scope in an honourable and
useful field. If this be woman's nature, her education should bear
direct reference to the cultivation of it; in short, next to religion, the
maternal and domestic duties should be regarded as the leading
objects of her existence, and her training should proceed in harmony
with this great end. High physical, moral, and intellectual qualities,
are necessary for the due fulfilment of these purposes. Indeed, no
occupations allotted to man afford a higher field for the exercise of
the best elements of mind than those here assigned to woman.
The physical quality of highest importance in a woman, viewed as ( 2.) The im-
a mother, is health. The human body is composed of a variety of health and phy-
organs, each endowed with a particular function ; and health is the sical education.
1
Napoleon said one day to Madame Campan, “The old systems of educa-
tion seem to be worth nothing. What is there wanting, in order to train up
young people properly in France ?” “Mothers !” replied Madame Canipan.
This word struck the Emperor. “Well,” said he, therein lies at once a
complete system of education. It must be your endeavour, Madame, to form
mothers who will know how to educate their children !” Rousseau put the
vital importance of female education in his famous sentence in the Emile,
“Men will be always what women please; if you wish men to be great and
good, teach women what greatness and goodness are."
2 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 368.
58 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools?
(2.) The in- result of the normal action of the whole in harmonious combination.
of
health and phy: Every organ is disposed, other circumstances being equal, to act with
sical education. a degree of energy in proportion to its size ; and as disease is the
consequence either of under-action or of over-action, their proportions
to each other in size are points of fundamental importance in regard
to health. The handsomest figure is one in which the abdomen,
chest, and head, are all well developed ; because, on the first depends
digestion, on the second, respiration, and on the third, mental energy.
The limbs will rarely be found deficient when the size and propor-
tions of those regions are favourable. By the appointment of a wise
Providence, a human figure of the finest proportions for symmetry
and beauty, is, cæteris paribus, the most favourably constituted for
healthy action. If the carriage of the body be erect, and the motions
easy and graceful, these are indications that the bones are solid and
the muscles energetic,—that the blood is well nourished and well
oxygenised, and that it circulates freely. If the countenance beam
with intelligence and goodness, this is an indication that the moral
and intellectual regions of the brain predominate in size, and are
active. Such an individual is, by birth and constitution, one of
nature's nobility. A woman thus endowed, whose intellect was also
instructed to such an extent that she could maintain her high quali-
ties unimpaired through life, would, as a mother, be a treasure of the
highest value.
(3.) She should For many years, the lives of children depend almost exclusively on
be trained how the care of the mother. Young women, therefore, should be taught
to manage chil-
not only how to regulate their own habits, so that they may preserve
their health and vigour, but also how to treat children, both as
physical and mental beings. This information would be attended
with great advantages, whether they subsequently discharged maternal
duties or not. The very study of the structure, functions, and proper
treatment of children, with the view of exercising the kindly affec-
tions towards them, would be delightful in itself; and the young
students, if they did not become mothers, would at least be sisters,
aunts, or friends, and could never want opportunities to practise their
knowledge. Information of this description is not neglected by
women with impunity. It appears by the London bills of mortality
that between a fourth and fifth of all the children baptized die within
the first two years. There is no example among the more perfect of
the lower animals of such a vast mortality of the young, where
external violence is withheld ; so that woman, with reason, and
morality, and religion as her gifts, makes a poor figure in her maternal
dren.
The Subjects that should be Taught to Women. 59
character, contrasted with the inferior creatures, acting under the
guidance of instinct alone. Much of this mortality, arises from im-
perfect health in the parents, so that the children are born with feeble
constitutions; but much is also directly owing to injudicious treat-
ment after birth.
One important branch of female instruction, therefore, ought to be ( 4.) She should
the treatment of children as physical beings. Lectures should be in-tomy and Phys-
stituted to communicate this information, and the basis of it ought iology.
to be Anatomy and Physiology. The minutia of these sciences
need not to be treated of, but the leading organs and their uses, on
which health and mental activity depend, should be explained. The
human figure may also be advantageously studied in statuary and
painting, not only as an interesting object of taste, but as a source of
useful practical information. A mother whose eye was familiar with
the proportions of the vital organs most conducive to health, would
watch with increased attention and intelligence the progress of the
nutrition of her children, and their habits and postures. The tumes-
cent abdomen, the flat and narrow chest, the slender limbs, the large
head, and the curving legs and spine, would become perceptible to
her practised eye, months before they would arrest the attention
of an uninstructed and unreflecting woman ; and on these months,
when disease was still only in its incipient stage, might depend the
life of her cherished offspring
It is a great error to suppose that these studies are necessarily These studies
not indelicate.
shocking and indelicate. They are so only in the eyes of ignorance
and prejudice. Indelicate descriptions of abuses of the bodily func-
tions are highly objectionable; and the enemies of knowledge have
represented this to be the instruction which I recommend. Nothing
can be more unlike it. The Creator has constituted every organ of the
body, and, in studying its structure and uses, we are contemplating
his workmanship. There is no inherent indelicacy in the human figure.
It is the temple of the mind, and its Author has impressed on it a
1
George Combe tells us that when he began, in 1832, to give lectures on
various subjects to mixed audiences, though not on Physiology, and to recom-
mend the practice in his lectures, “it was objected to as improper and
dangerous !” (Preface to 2d edit. of “Popular Education.") The teaching of
Physiology to women was then specially assailed on the same grounds. So
recently as 1864, when Mr T. Horlock Bastard founded the Milldown
School at Blandford, Dorset, and for years after, he says that the teaching of
this subject to the boys and girls there was regarded as “indelicate and
objectionable.” (See Part Second, chap. vii., 7.) The same objection has been
heard since then.
60 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools?
essary,
from
beauty of form and an elegance of proportion that render it capable
of exciting the most pure and refined impressions in cultivated and
virtuous minds. Where indelicacy is felt, its source must be looked
for not in the object, but in licentious feelings, or in a perverted
and neglected education in the spectator. That individual who is
able to associate only impure ideas with the most exquisite specimens
of the fine arts, resembles a man in whom the aspect of a rich and
beautiful domain should excite only feelings of envy, cupidity, and
discontent. To call the human figure indelicate, is to libel Eternal
Wisdom
They are nec- The Creator has taught the inferior creatures to rear their young
the human successfully by instinct ; but he has not conferred this guide on the
constitution.
human mother. One of two conclusions, therefore, appears to follow.
He has intended either that she should use her faculties of observa-
tion and reflection, in acquiring all the knowledge requisite for the
proper treatment of offspring, or that she should recklessly allow a
large proportion of them to perish. One or other of these conclusions
is really inevitable ; because, as He has denied her instinct, and as
she cannot obtain knowledge to supply its place without application
of her intellect to the study of the laws of nature,—which instinct
prompts the lower creatures to obey without knowing them, the
Creator must have intended either that she should study these laws,
or give up her offspring in vast numbers to destruction. The latter
result actually happens, to the enormous extent just mentioned ; and,
if it be the necessary consequence of the Creator's gift of reason, in
place of instinct, to woman, I submit to condemnation ; but if it be
the natural effect of her not having employed that reason in a proper
direction, I say that He has commanded her to study His works.
If this conclusion be just, we may rest assured that she may safely,
and in perfect consistency with feminine delicacy, study the Creator's
designs, power, and goodness, in the structure, functions, and adapta-
tions of the human body; and that she will not find her higher
faculties outraged, but exalted and refined, by the knowledge which
will thus be revealed. 1
The extent and It has been said, that it is better to call in the aid of a physician
purpose
their study.
than to study medicine for one's self. But I do not propose that
of
1 The public has strikingly responded to the views stated in the text; as is
evinced by the extensive sales of the works by Dr A. Combe, “On the Physical
and Moral Management of Infancy,” and “Physiology applied to Health and
Education," and of similar works by other authors.-(G. C.) The subject has
made much more gratifying progress since George Combe's time.
The Subjects that should be Taught to Women. 61
young persons in general should study medicine. My recommenda-
tion is simply, that they should be taught the structure and functions
of the body with a view to preserving their health, to fit them to
judge when it is proper that medical advice should be obtained, and
to enable them to act like rational patients in the hands of a skilful
physician, when they are so unfortunate as to fall into disease.
Every medical practitioner of a humane and honest mind, laments
the unnecessary suffering and expense to which he sees his patients
exposed through lack of this information.2
It may be imagined that rules for the preservation of health may The necessity
be taught without Anatomy being studied. But all such instruction forno Anatomy
being
is empirical The authority of any rule of health is the fact that
Nature is constituted in such and such a manner, and will act in her
own way whether attended to or not-for good if obeyed, and for
evil if opposed. This authority is rarely comprehended without
instruction concerning the foundation on which it rests.
The rule,
otherwise, resides in the memory rather than in the understanding ;
and the possessor has no power of modifying her conduct, and
adapting it judiciously to new circumstances. She knows the rule
only, and is at a loss, whenever any exception or new combination
not included in it presents itself. The Professor of Scots Law most
acutely and judiciously directed his students, when reading about the
law of title-deeds, to take the parchments themselves into their
hands, and to look at them, assuring them that familiarity with
their mere physical appearance would aid the memory and judgment
in becoming acquainted with the doctrines relative to their effects.
Philosophy and experience equally confirm the soundness of this
observation; and it applies, in an especial manner, to rules relative
to health. When a good description of the respiratory organs,
illustrated by prepared specimens or good drawings, has been given
to a young woman, she understands much better, feels more deeply,
and remembers much longer and more clearly, the dangerous con-
sequences of exposing the throat and breast to a stream of cold air or
to a sudden change of temperature, than when she has only heard or
read precepts to avoid these and similar practical errors.
Another leading branch of female education should be, that kind (5.) She should
of knowledge which will fit a woman to direct successfully the moral be trained to
and intellectual culture of her children. This embraces a vast field ture of her chil-
of useful and interesting information. If we should ask any mother,
1 See some admirable observations on this subject in Dr Andrew Combe's
works, above mentioned.
dren,
62 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools.
ulties recom-
niended.
who has not studied mental philosophy, to write out a catalogue of
the desires, emotions, and intellectual powers, which she conceives
her children to be endowed with ; to describe the particular objects
of each faculty, its proper sphere of action, the abuses into which it
is most prone to fall, and also the best method of directing each to
its legitimate objects, within its just sphere, so as best to avoid
hurtful aberrations,—we know well that she could not execute such
a task. I entreat any lady, who has a family and who has derived
no aid from mental philosophy, to make the experiment for her own
satisfaction. She will discover, in her own mind, a vast field of
ignorance, of which, before making trial, she could not have conjec-
tured the extent.
The study of
The earnest study of Phrenology, or, in other words, of the
the mental fac- primitive faculties and their scope of action, should form an indis-
pensable step in practical education. There are few mothers who do
not sometimes discover wayward feelings, particular biases, or alarm-
ing tendencies breaking out in their children, in some instances when
they least expect them; and I appeal to their own consciousness,
whether they have not, in alarm and bewilderment, wondered what
these could be, and lamented their own inability to comprehend or to
guide them. Mothers who have experienced this darkness, and have
subsequently studied Phrenology, have appreciated the value and
importance of the light which it has shed on their practical duties.
While this edition is in the press, a talented mother of a talented son
writes to me thus: “There has ever been, during the past years
since my son's babyhood, a shadow in my mind that something more
tungible than what is usually thought sufficient to guide young men,
ought to exist somewhere, although I was ignorant equally of what
that was, and where and to whom I should apply to obtain it. The
works on Phrenology and its applications are fast investing my
shadow with a body.”
It is necessary
I am not pleading the cause of Phrenology, for the sake of making
for training the proselytes. My proposition is general, that a mother cannot train
faculties without knowing their nature, objects, and spheres of
activity; and if any woman can find practical information on these
points without the aid of Phrenology, I earnestly recommend her to
seek it out and apply it. To Phrenology, I owe the views of human
nature and its capabilities which have most benefited and delighted
1 See this subject of the importance of the study of Mental Philosophy
to Mothers, in home education, treated of more fully in Part Second,
chap. iv.
The Subjects that should be taught to Women. 63
my own mind; but I am far from pressing it on others, who prefer
to consider the mind as if it had no known connection with organiza-
tion. If nature has connected it with organs, such individuals will
meet with their reward in disappointment.
Let us now suppose a mother to be instructed concerning the (6.) She should
physical constitution and mental faculties of her children; she will ural Sciences.
study the Nat-
find it expedient next to become acquainted with the objects in the
external world to which these faculties are related. We are told
that it is a “delightful task to rear the tender thought, and teach
the young idea how to shoot.” The power of doing so seems to
imply some knowledge in the teacher of the direction in which the
.mind will tend to shoot, and of the objects which it will desire to
reach ; in other words, such acquaintance with the external world as
will enable the mother to excite the moral sentiments and intellect
of the child, and operate on the happiness of the future man or
woman. In female training, the communication of this knowledge
is too much neglected. It implies the study of the elements of
Chemistry, Natural History, and Natural Philosophy, as well as
familiar acquaintance with the social institutions of our own country,
and the civil history of nations. If an ill-informed mother have an
acute and clever child, how is she puzzled by its questions ! And if
she possess any natural sensibility, how keenly does she feel and
regret her own ignorance, when it forces her to evade, instead of
furnishing rational and instructive answers to, its ingenious and
interesting inquiries! I' earnestly recommend to such mothers to
attend, as speedily as possible, lectures on science when within their
reach; for no kind of information so much delights an inquisitive
child as that which unfolds the course of nature.
The mother has it in her power to exert a great and permanent The import-
influence on the character of her children; she makes the deepest in
training
impressions, and supplies the earliest ideas that enter their minds ; her children.
and it is of the utmost importance to society at large, that she should
be well qualified for so momentous a duty. Children who are not
gifted with originating powers, which is the case with nineteen out
of every twenty, reflect slavishly, when they grow up, the impressions
and ideas which their mothers, nurses, companions, teachers, and
books have infused into their minds; and of these the authority of
the mother is not the least. “It was said by one of the most
extraordinary of men, Napoleon, who was himself, as he avowed,
principally indebted to maternal culture for the unexampled elevation
to which he subsequently rose, that the future good or bad conduct
ance of these
1
64 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools?
of refined ac-
of a child depends entirely on the mother." I Let women remember,
therefore, that they may sow the seeds of superstition, prejudice,
error, and baneful prepossessions; or of piety, universal charity,
sound sense, philosophical perception, and true knowledge, according
to the state of their own attainments; and let them also ponder well
the fact, that the more thoroughly destitute they are of sound
information, and of rational views of mind and its objects, the less
they are aware of their own deficiencies, and of the evils which their
ignorance is inflicting on another generation.
(7.) The value In addition to the branches of solid instruction before mentioned,
complishments. women should be taught such elegant and refined accomplishments
as they individually are capable of learning. These throw over the
domestic circle a charm which cannot be too highly prized. What
I condemn is, the teaching of music, drawing, and conventional
manners, to the exclusion of all other kinds of knowledge. An
enlightened, refined, and elegant woman is the most lovely and
perfect of animated beings; and no philosopher, in recommending
useful instruction, would desire to see abated, by one iota, the graces
which adorn the female character.
These views may appear to be so consonant with reason, that they
views of female support themselves; but as I am addressing a popular assembly, I
solicit permission to strengthen them by the opinions of three con-
temporary authors.
The evils attendant on the imperfect education of females belong-
ing to the upper ranks are forcibly expounded in a late number of
(1.) The For-the Foreign Quarterly Review (No. xxiii. p. 127). "Nothing," says
eign Quarterly
the reviewer, “is more remarkable in the present age of mental
excitement, than the care with which, by most of the prevalent
customs and a system of fashionable education, the minds of the
generality of females are consigned to inactivity and utter uncom-
panionable insipidity. Whilst the expression of almost every
elevated feeling is repressed as inconsistent with refinement, every
artificial want, every habit of selfish gratification, is as much as
possible indulged. Active exercise in the open air, cheerful country
walks, a joyful participation of the hearty pleasures of any society,
in which every movement is not taught by the posture-master, or
Authorities in
favour of these
education:
Review,
1 Moore's notices of the Life of Byron, 12mo, vol. ii. p. 35. Napoleon's pro-
position is too general. The father's qualities influence the child; but those
of the mother do so still more powerfully.—(G. C.)
2 From Review of “Histoire Philosophique de l'Hypochondrie et de l'Hysterie,”
by C. Frederic Dubois ; in 1833, when the above lecture was delivered.
Opinions on Female Education.
65
conversation conducted according to the rules laid down in books The Foreign
professing to teach female duty and behaviour ;-all this would be Quarterly on
female educa-
inconsistent with the general aim of all classes to imitate the tion.
manners and habits of the highest. All kinds of reading, except of
works the most frivolous, is considered ungenteel, or at least
singular; and any display of deep and unsophisticated sentiment
excites universal pity. The beauties of nature, the triumphs of
science, the miracles of art, excite no more than a languid expression
of wonder. To apply the mind to read or understand such things,
would destroy the apathetic elegance which those desire to preserve
who still believe knowledge to be a very good thing for persons who
live by it. With as much care as the natural proportions of the
female figure are destroyed by stays made upon abstract principles,
is the mind cribbed and cabined by custom and fashion. Then,
universal ambition leads to universal difficulties as to fortune; and
the only serious duty as to daughters is, to obtain an advantageous
settlement, which, whether gained or missed, is too often thus the
cause of cureless discontent, injured health, and all the nervous
maladies incidental to an ill-managed mind and infirm body.”
“The system by which young ladies are taught to move their
limbs according to the rules of art, to come into a room with studied
diffidence, and to step into a carriage with measured action and pre-
meditated grace, are calculated only to keep the degrading idea
perpetually present that they are preparing for the great market of
the world. Real elegance of demeanour springs from the mind :
fashionable schools do but teach its imitation, whilst their rules
forbid to be ingenuous. Philosophers never conceived the idea of so
perfect a vacuum as is found to exist in the minds of young women
who are supposed to have finished their education in such establish-
ments. If they marry husbands as uninformed as themselves, they
fall into habits of indolent insignificance, without much pain : if they
marry persons more accomplished, they can retain no hold of their
affections. Hence many matrimonial miseries, in the midst of which
the wife finds it a consolation to be always complaining of her
health and ruined nerves.”—(Ib., pp. 128–9.)
“Knowledge," says Mrs John Sandford, “ should be appreciated (2.) Mrs John
by women for its own sake, and not merely as a distinction. The
superiority of cultivated women is in every thing very apparent.
They have been accustomed to think and to discriminate, and their
opinion is not a mere momentary impulse. Their sphere, too, is
enlarged; they are not so much actuated by selfish feelings, or so
Sandford.
E
66 What Subjects should be Taught in our Schools ?
171
America.
liable to receive partial, and consequently erroneous, impressions.
What an easy dupe to empiricism or design is a half-educated woman!
With sufficient acquirements to be vain, and sufficient sensibility to
be soon imposed on, she may be easily seduced from principles which
she has received only on the authority of others, and which she is
therefore ill-prepared to defend.”—“Disorder is the accident, not the
consequence, of talent; and as it is the more conspicuous, so it is the
less excused, when accompanied with mental superiority.'
(3.) Mrs Emma I conclude this branch of the subject with the following just and
Willard, of
eloquent observations of an American authoress, Mrs Emma Willard."
It forms part of an admirable address which she presented, in 1819,
to the Legislature of New York, proposing a Plan for Improving
Female Education; and which address led to the formation of an ex-
tensive establishment at Troy, of which she was long the head.
“ Not only,” says she, “ has there been a want of system concerning
female education, but much of what has been done has proceeded
upon mistaken principles. One of these is, that without a regard to
the different periods of life, proportionate to their importance, the
education of females has been too exclusively directed to fit them for
displaying to advantage the charms of youth and beauty. Though
it may be proper to adorn this period of life, yet it is incomparably
more important to prepare for the serious duties of maturer years.
Though well to decorate the blossom, it is far better to prepare for
the harvest. In the vegetable creation, nature seems but to sport
when she embellishes the flower, while all her serious cares are directed
to perfect the fruit.
“ Another error is, that it has been made the first object in educat-
ing our sex, to prepare them to please the other. But reason and
religion teach that we too are primary existences; that it is for us to
1 From “Woman in her Social and Domestic Character” (London 1831), by
Mrs John Sandford, wife of the late Rev. John Sandford, B.D., Archdeacon
of Coventry.
2 Mrs Emma Willard was a distinguished American educator, born in Con-
necticut in 1787 and dying so recently as 1870. She was a born teacher, and,
during a long life, devoted her great talents to its improvement, especially
in regard to Female Education, of which she had advanced views, and was
long the solitary advocate. She is best known for her great school for girls at
Troy, near New York, in which she exemplified, with eminent success, the
principles she so eloquently pleaded for. She worked actively in the cause of
education in many ways, and did very much to improve its principles and prac-
tice in America and elsewhere; she is the author of several class-books on Gen-
graphy, History, and Morals, and of “A Plan for Improving Female Education,'
published in 1819, reviewed and extracted from in Phren. Journal, vol. viii.
Opinions on Female Education.
67
Female educa-
move, in the orbit of our duty, around the Holy Centre of Perfection, Mrs Willard on
the companions, not the satellites of men; else, instead of shedding tion.
around us an influence that may help to keep them in their proper
course, we must accompany them in their wildest deviations.
“I would not be understood to insinuate (continues Mrs Willard),
that we are not, in particular situations, to yield obedience to the
other sex.
Submission and obedience belong to every thing in the
universe, except the Great Master of the whole. Nor is it a degrad-
ing peculiarity to our sex to be under human authority. Whenever
one class of human beings derives from another the benefits of support
and protection, they must pay its equivalent, obedience. Thus, while
we receive these benefits from our parents, we are all, without dis-
tinction of sex, under their authority; when we receive them from
the government of our country, we must obey our rulers; and when
our sex take the obligations of marriage, and receive support and pro-
tection from the other, it is reasonable that we too should yield obe-
dience. Yet is neither the child, nor the subject, nor the wife, under
human authority, but in subservience to the Divine. Our highest
responsibility is to God, and our highest interest to please him; there-
fore, to secure this interest our education should be directed.
“ Neither would I be understood to mean, that our sex should
not seek to make themselves agreeable to the other. The error com-
plained of is, that the taste of men, whatever it might happen to be,
has been made a standard for the formation of the female character.
In whatever we do, it is of the utmost importance that the rule by
which we work be perfect ; for, if otherwise, what is it but to err
upon principle ? A system of education which leads one class of
human beings to consider the approbation of another as their highest
object, teaches that the rule of their conduct should be the will of
beings imperfect and erring like themselves, rather than the will of
God, which is the only standard of perfection."
[Before George Combe's time, Female Education had been com-
plained of by Erasmus, and been treated of expressly by Fénélon,
in his “Traité de l'education des filles" (1687); by Rousseau, in
“Emile,” &c., at the end of the last century; by Dr Erasmus Dar-
Popular Education, pp. 58–60 (1833). The most of the above on Female
Education had previously appeared in a review by George Combe of Mrs Sand-
ford's work, in the Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. (1831-2), though afterwards
included in his public lectures before the Edinburgh Philosophical Association,
in 1833.
1
t
68
Opinions on Female Education.
Writers and
win, in " A Plan for the Conduct of Female Education in Boarding
male education. Schools,” in which he recommends Natural History and the Arts and
Sciences; by the Edgeworths, in "Practical Education " (1798); by
Hannah More, in “Strictures on the Modern System of Female
Education;" and by Jean Paul Richter, in a special chapter of
his “Levana” (1806), though this great work was not translated
into English till recently. At the time when George Combe agi-
tated the subject, from 1820 (the above was mostly written in 1832)
it began to gain increased attention, chiefly, however, in America,
through Mrs Willard's efforts and her book already mentioned, in
1819; and by G. B. Emerson “On the Education of Females
(1831). But George Combe gave the fullest exposition of a course
of Female Education, which still remains a guide ; his exposition of
the course of study in this chapter was also delivered to ladies. Since
then, the education of women has made wonderful advance, and has
issued in the present active efforts to make it broader and more worthy
of its importance to the race, and to base it on their constitution as
human beings, more than on mere sex and social conventionalities. It
has received greater attention in America than in Britain, though here
it has received much. Amongst many works on the subject may be
mentioned, Aimé Martin's “ Education of Mothers,” translated, in
1842, by Dr Edwin Lee (London, W. J. Adams), Emily Shirreffºs
“Intellectual Education, and its influence on the character and
happiness of Women” (London, Parker & Son, 1858), Emily Davies
“ Higher Education of Women” (London, 1867), Markby's “Prac-
tical Essays on Education” (London, 1868), Barnard's “Studies
and Conduct" (Hartford, U.S., 1873), Anna C. Brackett's “Educa-
tion of American Girls" (New York, 1874).
The question of the physical ability of women to undergo hard
study like men, or in competition with them, has caused much dis-
cussion; the chief exponent of the negative being Dr E. H. Clarke in
his “ Sex in Education" (Boston, U.S., Osgood & Co., 1873), who has
been abundantly replied to in America by Miss Brackett in the work
mentioned above, Caroline Dall in “The Other Side," Mrs E. B.
Duffey in "No Sex in Education," &c.; and by others in this country.
The subject has branched out also into other important questions,
as those of the “Co-education of the Sexes ” in school and college,
the eligibility of women for the learned professions, notably the
medical, their fitness for teaching, &c.2--Edit.]
1 See Female Education in the “Cyclopædia of Education” (New York,
E. Steiger; London, Sampson, Low & Co., 1877), a very valuable work, and the
first of its kind in English.
CHAPTER II.
A COMPARISON BÈTWEEN LINGUISTIC, ESPECIALLY CLASSICAL,
AND REAL EDUCATION.
A YOUNG man is believed by many to have received a good Instrumental
knowledge.
education when he has been taught reading, writing, arithmetic,
Latin, and a smattering of Greek. Let us endeavour to estimate the
true value of these attainments. They appear to be considerable,
and I am far from undervaluing them. They are the instruments,
by the diligent use of which much useful and practical knowledge of
nature and her laws may be attained ; but in themselves they do not
constitute such knowledge. A few observations will suffice to
elucidate this proposition.
In regard to language in general, and what are termed “the The relation be-
learned languages ” in particular, I remark, that we may have an and ideas.
extensive knowledge of objects that exist, and their relations, with
only few words by which to express our notions of them. Thus, a
self-taught artizan may advance far into the principles and practice
of his art, before he has read books and become acquainted with the
terms generally used to designate the objects and processes with
which he familiarly deals. Such a man would have more ideas than
words; and this would be a great evil, for he could not communicate
his knowledge, or receive instruction from books. Other individuals,
however, may have more words than ideas, which also would be
inconvenient; for they would have the means of communicating
knowledge but lack knowledge to communicate ; they would be great
scholars, but could teach mankind no practical art or science.
Words are merely arbitrary signs for expressing feelings and ideas.1
It is desirable to possess an ample store of useful information, and
1 The question of the relation between words and ideas is, of course, a very
old one, and has been very largely and keenly discussed. See George Combe's
ideas on it, more fully given in Part Third, chap. iv., and still more fully in
his “System of Phrenology,” fifth edition, vol. ii., p. 124. See also the above
and following passages criticised by Professor Hodgson, in the Westminster
Review for October 1853. The general question is treated in all works on
Logic and Mental Philosophy.
To
Linguistic and Real Education Compared,
Practical and
an equally extensive stock of words; but it is better to have ten
linguistic
knowledge
ideas, and only ten words to express them, although all the words
compared. should belong to one language, than to have only one idea, and ten
words in as many different languages for communicating it. For
example, a monk, who has only seen a horse passing by the window
of his cell, may know that this animal is named in Greek, inTOS ;
in Latin, equus ; in English, a horse ; in French, cheval ; in
Italian, cavallo ; in German, pferd ; and, by some persons, he may
be supposed to be highly learned. He is indeed considerably
learned, but unfortunately not on the subject of the horse itself, but
only on the names by which it is designated in different countries.
His stock of real knowledge would be only that which he had picked
up by looking at the creature through the window, and would not
be in the slightest degree increased by the acquirement of these six
words to express the name of the animal. His original notion of a
horse, whatever it was, would continue unextended by all these
additions to his knowledge of its names. The person of a man is
neither stronger, taller, nor more graceful, because he possesses six
suits of clothes, than it would be if he had only one; and so it is
with the mind. A youth, trained in a stable-yard, whose attention
had been directed to the various qualities of a good hackney, hunter,
or race-horse, would be far superior, as a practical judge of horses, to
the monk, although he knew the name of the animal only in his
mother tongue. He would excel him in selecting, employing,
managing, and rearing horses. He would possess ideas about the
animal itself-would know what points were good and what bad
about it; how it would work in different situations; how it would
thrive on particular kinds of food; and in what manner it should
habitually be treated, so as to obtain the most complete development
of its natural powers. This is practical knowledge : acquaintance
with words is learning.
Language more Hitherto education has been conducted too much on the principle
taught than
things.
of looking at the world only from the window of the school-room and
the college, and teaching the names of beings and things in a variety
of languages, to the neglect of the study of the beings and things
themselves ; whereas man, as a creature destined for action, fitted to
control nature to some extent, and, where this is beyond his power,
left to accommodate his conduct to its course, requires positive
knowledge of things that exist, of their qualities, modes of action,
and laws, and has little use for words whieh go beyond his stock of
ideas and emotions.
The Old Value of the Classics.
71
Latin lan-
guages:
Language, however, is not to be depreciated or despised. Man is The function
obviously formed to live in society; his happiness is increased by
of language.
co-operation and interchange of thought and emotion with his
fellows; and language, oral and written, is his natural medium of
communication. It is of great importance, therefore, to every
individual, to possess words sufficient to express all his ideas and
emotions, and such expertness in using them, in speech and writing,
as may enable him readily and successfully to convey to other minds
the precise impressions existing in his own.
Keeping in view, therefore, that language is of importance as a The Greek and
means of communicating what we know and feel, we may proceed
to inquire into the value of Greek and Latin as elements of educa-
tion. The history of their introduction into schools, and of the cir-
cumstances which led to their past high estimation, merits our
attention.
The Greeks and Romans were the earliest nations in Europe who Their ancient
attained to civilization ; in other words, they were the first who so
value and their
overthrow;
far cultivated their mental faculties as to acquire numerous and
tolerably precise ideas of government, laws, morals, intellectual
philosophy, and the fine arts. In consequence of their minds
possessing ideas, their languages contained terms to express them.
In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Roman empire was overrun by
ignorant barbarians from the north of Europe, whose mental
powers, not having been cultivated, had not formed the conceptions
now alluded to, and whose languages, in consequence, were as
barren as their thoughts. A long night of darkness prevailed over
Europe, until, at length, civilization again dawned where it had last
set, in Italy. The cities of that country, situated under a genial
climate and surrounded by a fertile soil, had, as early as the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, made considerable progress in arts and
manufactures ; they accumulated wealth, which produced leisure and
a desire for refined enjoyment, whence a taste for literature gradually
rose.
value at the
The manuscripts of Greece and Rome had long slumbered in the Their new
cells of monastic institutions. Many of them had been erased to
Revival of
give place to monkish legends ; but now they were ardently dis- Letters.
interred. When recovered and understood, they were found to
convey more sublime and elegant poetry,--more refined yet nervous
eloquence,--more brilliant, pointed, and ingenious wit-with pro-
founder and juster views on the subjects of law, criticism, and
philosophy,--than had been known since the subversion of civiliza-
72
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
tion; and all these treasures, too, embodied in languages so rich,
discriminative, and refined, that Europe, in addition to this accession
of knowledge, was at once furnished with exquisite vehicles of
thought, without the labour of invention.
The original In these circumstances, Greek and Latin naturally became objects
meaning of
"learned man.
» of intense interest and study with all men who aspired to superior
intelligence. There was great good sense in this direction of their
mental energies ; because, at that time, and in their situation, these
languages really unlocked to them the richest intellectual stores
existing in the world, and put them in possession also of media for
communicating their thoughts, greatly surpassing, in refinement,
copiousness, and power, any that they could have obtained by their
own invention, or found in the literature of their native countries.
For these reasons, colleges, schools, bursaries, and other institu-
tions, were established, for teaching and cultivating the Greek and
Latin languages, and they obtained the appellation of “humane
literature," LITERÆ HUMANIORES ; eminence in them became the
passport to fame; and a person intimately conversant with them was
dignified with the title of “a learned man."
The growth of In the course of time, however, the nations of Europe, aided by
modern litera- the invention of printing, and latterly, by stupendous discoveries in
science and the arts, as well as by the wide diffusion of Christianity
among the people, far outstripped the Greeks and Romans in their
most useful attainments. The Italians, French, English, and
Germans made gigantic strides in knowledge, morality, and religion ;
and their languages, by a law of the human constitution, kept pace
with their emotions and ideas. England could long ago boast of a
Bacon, a SHAKSPEARE, a MILTON, a NEWTON, and a LOCKE; and
she is now able to exhibit an additional list of names, so splendid
and extensive as almost to defy repetition, of men who have
embodied in her language thoughts and inventions so profound,
admirable, and useful, that the philosophy, the science, and the arts
of the ancient world sink into comparative insignificance before
them.
Tlie classics This change of circumstances has altered the relative value of
Greek and Latin to the English student. There is now no know-
less valuable.
ledge relating to the physical and moral worlds contained in these
languages, which does not exist clearly expressed in English; and
there is no mode of feeling or of thought subservient to the practical
purposes of life, that may not be as forcibly and elegantly clothed
in our native language as in them.
in them. Human institutions and
have become
The Modern Value of the Classics.
73
schools and
practices, however, often long survive the occasions which gave rise
to them; and from five to seven of the best years of our lives are
still dedicated to the study of the learned languages, as if all their
original importance remained.
At the time when public schools, such as the High School of our early
Edinburgh and the grammar-schools of the different burghs of the classics.
Scotland, were instituted, no science existed that could benefit the
people. The subjects taught in these seminaries, therefore, were
nearly co-extensive with those expounded in the universities. In
the primary schools, the pupils were taught the elements of Greek
and Latin ; and in the colleges, the same studies were prosecuted to
the highest point which the time and capacity of the scholar enabled
him to reach. In the progress of years, however, arts and sciences
have been discovered. In Scotland, the universities have to some
extent kept pace with the growing knowledge of the age. In them,
lectures are now delivered on the physical sciences, and on most of
the branches of medicine. In short, the knowledge of Nature in all
her departments is now taught, Greek and Latin constituting only
departments of the general system of instruction.
If our primary schools had kept pace with this improvement, all the neglect of
would have been well. If we had followed the spirit of practical fedge in mod-
wisdom manifested by our ancestors, and extended our elementary ern schools.
instruction in proportion to the enlargement of our university educa-
tion, the knowledge of the people would have been far superior to
what it actually is. But, by a strange anomaly, our primary schools
have, till within these few years, been allowed to stand still, while
the universities have advanced. These schools have continued to
teach little else than English, Greek, and Latin ; and the con-
sequences have been baneful.
The great mass of the people of the
middle and lower ranks, having been taught exclusively at these and
the parish schools, have been led to believe languages to be practical
knowledge; and they have been defrauded of the opportunity of
acquiring elementary instruction in the arts, sciences, and other
departments of useful knowledge. They have wasted in studying-
or in attempting to study-Greek and Latin, the only time which
their pressing occupations left at their command for obtaining
information. They have been sent into the world, too, ignorant of
the stores of moral and intellectual instruction presented by the works
of the Creator.
The higher orders, again, after having spent from five to seven
years in what they were led to believe were preparatory studies, have
74
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
The effects of
The neglect of entered the universities, and found themselves obliged to commence
practical know-
ledgeinschools.
with the very rudiments of the sciences.
In the great public institutions for the maintenance and education
of destitute children, the system of teaching chiefly languages ex-
hibited its fruits in a very tangible form. While children living in
the houses of their parents learned something of real life by inter-
course with society, perusing newspapers, and observing passing
occurrences, those shut up within the walls of public institutions,
and excluded from these sources of information, presented at the end
of their education a lamentable spectacle of ignorance. I have been
informed, by men engaged in practical business who have received
apprentices from such institutions, that the boys, on their entrance
into active life, appeared as if they had just dropped from the moon.
Everything was strange to them; and very little of what had been
previously taught to them was applicable, in their new condition, to
useful purposes. What I contend for is, that common sense should
be employed in selecting studies for the primary schools as well as in
the universities; and that, in these seminaries, the elements of useful
knowledge, in addition to languages, should be taught.
In surveying, then, the practice of confining education in primary
too exclusive schools chiefly to languages, we observe that the following
language: consequences ensue:
(1.) The intel-
First, The intellectual faculties desire knowledge as their natural
lectual facul, food, and it is only after a considerable stock of ideas has been
acquired, and many emotions experienced, that the value of words,
as a means of expressing them, can be appreciated. By the common
selection of studies, however, little knowledge of things is com-
municated, and children are compelled to proceed at once to learn
difficult, copious, and obsolete languages—to burden their memories
with words corresponding to which they have no ideas. This course
of study being an outrage upon Nature, tedium, disgust, and
suffering, invade the youthful mind. As a means of conquering
aversion, severe discipline used to be, and occasionally still is,
resorted to. This, being felt to be unjust, rouses the lower feelings
and debases the higher sentiments, while the intellect is starved
1 The reference is chiefly to the “Hospitals” for children, which form such
a feature of Edinburgh education, and of its buildings. See abundant evidence
to the truth of the opinion in the text, regarding the effects of their training as
it was, and of the system generally, in the First and Second Reports of the
Commissioners on the Endowed Schools and Hospitals (Scotland) for 1873–74.
Great reforms have lately been effected, chiefly through the enlightened efforts
of the Merchant Company of Edinburgh.
attention to
ties are starved.
The Effects of Exclusive Attention to Classics. 75
and impaired by dealing habitually with sounds to which no clear
conceptions are attached.
Secondly, Under this system, children make no substantial progress (2.) The prac-
in any useful acquirement. Nine out of ten of them drawl away the tical work of
life is not pre-
years of their allotted penance, and within a brief space after its close, pared for.
forget much of what they had learned with so much labour and pain;
and even the tenth, who, from a higher natural talent for languages,
perhaps distinguished himself at school, does not, on entering the
counting-room or workshop, always find himself as superior to his
competitors in practical business as in classical attainments.
If the individual select commerce or manufactures for his occupa-
tion for life, the time devoted to the dead languages is, to some extent,
misapplied. Nine-tenths of the children educated in a commercial
town do not follow professions for which Greek and Latin are indis-
pensable; and hence the time and money expended, by at least this
proportion of pupils, might have been better employed. The habits
of mental activity and application which they acquire in contending
with the difficulties of these languages, constitute the most valuable
results of their instruction. To them the languages themselves are
of comparative little utility. Professor Christison, when examined
some years ago before the Royal Commission which visited the
University of Edinburgh, stated, that at the High School he had
been dux of the Greek Class, and at the College had gained a prize
for skill in that language, and was naturally fond of it ; but that,
from the time when he began to study medicine, he found his atten-
tion so fully occupied by substantial science, that he had scarcely
opened a Greek book : while he had been obliged to study French
and German for the sake of the medical information to which they
were the means of access. 3
Thirdly, The season for obtaining real knowledge being dedicated (3.) Personal
and relative
to the study of language, the individual enters on life deficient in
many acquirements that would be more substantially useful. He unknown.
duties are all
1 See remarks on intellectual and moral teaching in Part Third, chap. iv.
George Combe often speaks, even bitterly, of his school experiences.
This Commission was appointed about 1820. The evidence, though printed,
was not published for several years.
3 In a letter to George Combe in 1833, published in the pamphlet from which
the aboye is taken, Professor Christison emphasises the above opinions, and
says that if any other language but Latin were to be required, he should
infinitely prefer placing French, and even German too, in the Statuta for the
degree of M.D. He is also sure that these opinions coincide with those enter-
"tained by most qualified judges whom he had conversed with on the subject.
76
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
1
The relation of
Classics to a
knows nothing about the structure of his own body, and very little
about the causes which support it in health, or subject it to dis-
ease; he is very imperfectly informed concerning the constitution of
his own mind, and the relations established between himself and
other beings; he is not instructed in any science; knows nothing of
the principles of trade; and is profoundly ignorant of the laws of
his country, which he is called on to obey.
It is an error to suppose that Greek and Latin are indispensably
knowledge of necessary to enable a boy to understand his own language. This
English.
must be the case only where no adequate pains have been bestowed
by teachers to convey fully the meaning of English expressions. All
words are mere arbitrary sounds; and, in itself, a sound invented by
an Englishman is as capable of being rendered intelligible by proper
definition, as one first suggested by a Greek or Roman. A great pro-
portion of the words which compose the English language are derived
from the Saxon; yet few persons think a knowledge of that language
necessary for the due understanding of their native tongue. The
grand requisites to the right use of speech are two-clear notions
and accurate definitions of the words employed to express them. The
former will be best attained by studying things and their relations,
and the latter by a careful exposition of our mother-tongue, by
teachers who know scientifically both the things signified and the
genius of the language. The derivation of words is not always an
index to their true signification ; artery means literally air-vessel, yet
it circulates blood ; Physiology is derived from dvors, nature, and
doyos, discourse, yet in English it is used to designate only the
doctrine of animal and vegetable functions. In teaching etymology,
therefore, we must often guard the student against the errors into
which it would lead him ; so that the difficulty of his understanding
his native tongue is, to that extent, increased by his Greek and Latin
studies.
Various obvious reasons exist why so little of English is under-
imperfect
knowledge of
stood by those who learn it and no other language or science at
English. school. Owing to the deficiency of their own education, teachers
themselves, in general, do not possess distinct knowledge of the
things signified by the sounds which they communicate; and, from
not understanding the ideas, they have it not in their power to
define words accurately. Hence they cannot, and do not, bring
together before the minds of their pupils, clear conceptions of the
things signified, and of the signs, without the combination of which
the right use of speech is impracticable. Further, schoolmasters, in
Causes of the
The Relation of Classics to English.
77
calities.
general, communicate only the sounds of words, and the abstract
rules of grammar; but this is not teaching a language. Teaching a
language implies unfolding its structure, idiom, and powers--a task
which requires extensive information and much reflection.
A professor of English, therefore, would be more useful to nine
out of ten of the pupils of any academy for the education of the
industrious classes, than professors of Greek and Latin; and it should
be only after English had been taught in this way, or, by some other
method, adapted to the human understanding, and without success,
that the conclusion should be drawn that it cannot be understood
sufficiently for all useful and ornamental purposes, without a
previous knowledge of Greek and Latin.
The extensive study of Greek and Latin by learned men, has led Classics not
to the practice of compounding many new words out of Greek roots ; understand sci-
and as Chemistry, Geology, and other branches of Natural History, entific techni-
are advancing with cheering rapidity, multitudes of purely Greek
words are added to our language every year, and the uninitiated
suffer great inconvenience from not understanding them. This evil,
I believe, is to a great extent unavoidable. The things described are
new in science, and new names are needed by which to designate
them. Uninstructed readers are unacquainted with the objects, as
well as with their names. If the objects were studied, which can be
done only by observation, no difficulty would be found in compre-
hending the words, although they be derived from Greek and Latin
roots. It would be extremely difficult to give to English terms that
scientific precision which is attainable by using names compounded
of Greek and Latin roots. Explanatory dictionaries, however, of
words, common and scientific, borrowed from these languages, have
been published; so that no one is compelled to study ancient tongues
for six or seven years, for the sake of understanding the derivations
of a few hundreds of scientific terms.
It has often been observed that the Greeks themselves studied no Another lang-
language except their own, and yet attained to exquisite delicacy and uage not nec-
essary to know
dexterity in the use of it; and why may not the English rival them one's own.
in this exploit? The objection, that Greek is a primitive, and
English a derivative tongue, is met by the answer, that every word
is merely a sound indicative of an idea or an emotion ; and that it
makes no difference in the possibility of comprehending the meaning
of it, whether the sound was invented by the English themselves, or
borrowed by them from the Greeks or Romans. In learning the
meaning of Greek words, the student must connect the thing
1
78
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
1
signified directly with the expression, because he has no etymology
to render the Greek intelligible. But if he can comprehend Greek,
by merely connecting the idea with the word, why may he not learn
to understand English by a similar process ?
Great men It may be added, that some of the most eminent of our English
ignorant of
authors, such as Shakespeare, Cobbett, Burns, and a whole host of
classics.
female writers, had little or no acquaintance with the dead
languages ; and that there are not wanting instances of learned
critics, like Bentley, whose classical knowledge did not enable them
to express themselves, in their native tongue, with tolerable correct-
ness, gracefulness, and ease.
Opinions of We have the testimony of several of the greatest masters in
great writers English literature against the existing practice.
on the subject.
“It is deplorable," says Cowley in his Essays, “to consider the
loss which children make of their time at most schools, employing,
or rather casting away, six or seven years in the learning of words
only, and that very imperfectly."
Locke, in his “ Treatise on Education,” asks : “Would not a
Chinese, who took notice of our way of breeding, be apt to imagine
1 “It would not be difficult to show that, of the most illustrious discoverers,
inventors, and improvers in science and the arts, a large majority have been
ignorant of Greek and Latin. The following are a few out of many that might
be named: Franklin (he was one year at Latin], Rittenhouse, Watt, Arkwright,
Hutton, Hubbart, Brindley, Bramah, Leslie, Stevenson, Perkins, and Fulton.
To these dozens of others might be added, among them, Buffon, Davy, Cuvier.”
"Some of the most distinguished orators of modern times have had but a small
acquaintance with Greek and Latin. Among the former may be mentioned
Chatham, Erskine, and Hamilton; Henry, Whitfield, and two or three Americans
now living. Respecting authors, the same is true. Shakspeare was a stranger
to the ancient languages, and Moliére, Fielding, and Cuvier were in the same
condition. So was Franklin, whose style is a model of simplicity, perspicuity,
and chasteness; and so was Washington, who wrote with uncommon elegance
and power. Humphrey Davy, an excellent writer, and the ablest chemist of
his day, had no classical learning. That the style of English authors is far
from being perfect in proportion to their knowledge of the dead languages
appears from numerous instances. Sir Walter Scott and Sir James Mackintosh
were greatly inferior in classical scholarship to many we could name, who could
scarcely write grammatical English. Of Jeffrey, Bulwer, Cowper, and Irwin,
the same is true. Few men wrote English better, or expressed themselves
more vigorously than William Cobett, who was totally unversed in Greek and
Latin. The same was true of Thomas Paine, and some of the most correct and
most fascinating writers were females, who were also strangers to the ancient
classics.”—From “Thoughts on the Study of the Greek and Latin Languages,”
by Dr Caldwell of America, reprinted in this country with his “Physical
Education,” edited by Robert Cox, with preface by George Combe.
Opinions regarding the Classics.
79
that all our young gentlemen were designed to be teachers and
professors of the dead languages of foreign countries, and not to be
men of business in their own?"
Gibbon the historian remarks, that " a finished scholar may emerge
from the head of Westminster or Eton, in total ignorance of the
business and conversation of English gentlemen in the latter end of
the eighteenth century."
Mr Moore, who cites these authorities in his notices of the “ Life
of Lord Byron,”ı adds, that that gifted poet was a miserable Greek
and Latin scholar while he attended Harrow School; that he hated
the task of learning these languages; and that he acquired his
astonishing copiousness, flexibility, and beauty of style, by extensive
miscellaneous reading in his native tongue.
Milton says, “Though a linguist should pride himself to have all
the tongues that Babel cleft this world into, yet, if he have not
studied the solid things in them, as well as the words and lexicons,
he were nothing so much to be esteemed a learned man as any
yeoman or tradesman competently wise in his mother dialect only."2
And Dr. Adam Smith observes, that "it seldom happens that a
man, in any part of his life, derives any conveniency or advantage
from some of the most laborious and troublesome parts of his
education."
Education, then, consisting chiefly of languages, leaves the mind The results o
of the pupil ignorant of things, ignorant of men, and ignorant of the
linguistic and
constitution of the social system in which he is destined to move. compared :
He is trained in abstractions, and among shadows; and when he (1.) As to the
knowledge im-
enters practical life, he finds that his real education is only at its
parted;
commencement.
Education consisting of a knowledge of philosophy and science,
on the contrary, produces an early and a deep conviction that man is
made for action ; that he is placed among agents, which he must
direct, or to which he must accommodate his conduct; that every-
thing in the world is regulated by laws instituted by the Creator;
that all objects which exist, animate and inanimate, have received
definite qualities and constitutions, and that good arises from their
proper, and evil from their improper, application. This education
makes known what these qualities are. It invigorates the under-
standing, and gives boldness and independence to the sentiments.
real instruction
i Vol. i. p. 89, 90. Murray, 1832.
2 Tract to Hartlib.
3 Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 1.
80
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
tellectual dis-
The practical effect of the two modes of instruction must be
widely different.
( 2.) As to in- I have heard the practice of teaching the ancient languages as the
pline; chief branches of education defended on the ground, that the
difficulties which the study of them presents afford an admirable
means of training the intellectual faculties to contend with obstacles,
and that discipline more than knowledge constitutes the practical
value of education. In answer to this argument I observe, that the
Creator, in bestowing on us faculties fitted to become acquainted
with external nature, and in rendering us happy or miserable in
proportion to the extent to which we place ourselves in accordance
with his laws, must certainly have adapted these objects to our
mental constitution, in such a manner that the study of them, while
it carries positive advantages in its train, should also beneficially
exercise the faculties themselves, by means of which it is conducted.
Accordingly, it appears to me that the power of observation, on the
strength and acuteness of which the talent for practical business
greatly depends, will be better disciplined by studying the forms,
colours, magnitudes, and arrangements, of the different parts of
minerals, earths, metals, salts, plants, and animals, than by learning
merely the distinctions between modes, tenses, genders, and cases, in
two or three obsolete languages; and that the reflecting faculties will.
be better trained to vigour, by investigating the active phenomena
presented by the objects comprehended in the sciences of Chemistry,
Natural Philosophy, and Physiology, than by contending with the
subtleties of Greek and Roman authors. In the one case, the
faculties are employed directly on the objects suited to them in
creation ; in the other, they are occupied with artificial inventions in
one particular department of intellect alone. In the one case, every
item of knowledge gained possesses intrinsic value ; in the other, the
ideas acquired are of slender utility, beyond the discipline which the
study of them affords. The study of nature, then, calls into
existence a much greater amount of thought than does the study of
languages.
(3.) As the It has been said also in defence of Greek and Latin as the sub-
bases of further
knowledge;
stance of education, that these languages become the basis on which
a vast fabric of useful knowledge may be reared. The pupils, we
are told, are instructed in the geography and history, and in the
animal and mineral productions, of the countries in which the events
recorded in the ancient classics occurred. This, however, is an
acknowledgment that these branches of information are valuable in
The Effects of their Study Contrasted.
81
mere
2
themselves; and then the only remaining question is, whether natural
science, history, and geography will be best taught as
appendages to Greek and Roman literature; or whether they be not
entitled to take the lead, on account of their own inherent excellence,
and of their superior adaptation to gratify and improve the mental
faculties. Those who maintain that they are not, give the preference
to the artificial and abstract products of the human intellect in ages
when science was scarcely known, over the ever-enduring and perfect
works of the Creator, as strengthening studies for the youthful mind!
Again, it is argued by some person, that in studying science, we ( 4.) As to
acquire a knowledge only of the names of alkalies, acids, earths, salts, training the
memory and
minerals, plants, and animals, which, after all, is an exercise of mere observation ;
verbal memory-a species of parrot-practice calculated to puff up the
youthful mind with conceit, and is in itself far less useful than a
real acquaintance with the principles of universal grammar, and with
the literature of two of the greatest nations of antiquity. The
fundamental proposition in this argument is at variance with fact.
In a proper course of instruction in science, the pupil is never taught
the name of any object until he shall have been made acquainted
with the object itself.
And, in regard to strengthening the judgment, it appears to me (5.) As to
that an individual who is trained to habits of accurate observation, the judgment;
strengthening
who learns early, that the objects of creation are agents acting and
re-acting on each other and on himself ; that they operate according
to regular laws; and that man may control, direct, and apply some
of them by his own energy and skill, while, to the influence of
others, he must accommodate his conduct ;-is much better pre-
pared to enter life, with a vigorous and disciplined understanding
than one who has spent five, six, or seven years chiefly in studying
the abstractions and conquering the difficulties of the Greek and
Roman classics.
It is no doubt useful to train the youthful mind to contend with (6.) As to sur-
and surmount difficulties ; but these are presented in abundance, and mounting diffi-
in the most beneficial form, in the study of nature.
In exercising
the eyes, we would not teach a child to squint, because this is more
difficult than looking straight; and in exercising the legs, we would
not direct the pupil to walk chiefly on his tiptoes, because this
demands greater vigour in the muscles than walking on the full sole
of the foot: get it would be equally rational to do so, as to select the
intricacies of Greek and Latin grammar as mental exercises on
account of the difficulties which they present to the understanding.
F
82
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
No man seriously engaged in the study of science ever found his
path too flowery, or the obstacles to his progress too few. Yet the
difficulties which he encounters are stimulating, because the scheme
of creation is adapted to the constitution of his understanding. He
feels so greatly benefited and so highly delighted with whatever
knowledge he has gained, that the labour of adding to his stores,
although severe, is pleasant. He is cheered also by the consciousness
that his powers of investigation increase in proportion to his attain-
ments and perseverance.
(7.) As to pre- The greatest evils attending a purely classical education appear to
paring for ac-
me to be the ignorance in which it leaves the pupil of the objects,
agents, and relations existing in nature and social life, and the extent
to which, in consequence, his mind is exposed to the influence of
prejudice and superstition. A thorough education in natural know-
ledge, on the other hand, enlarges, invigorates, and humanizes the
whole mental powers, wherever they possess native aptitude for im-
provement.
tual life.
1
Remarks on
Dr Caldwell's
opinions.
In a preface to Dr Caldwell's “ Thoughts on the Study of the
Greek and Latin Languages,” George Combe says:
66 Dr Caldwell
discusses the subject in a masterly style. The grand question is,
whether the works of nature, proceeding directly from the Creator,
and adapted by Him to the human faculties; or two dead languages,
Greek and Latin, artificial inventions at the first, and long disused
by all living nations, form the better objects for stimulating,
strengthening, and enlightening the intellectual powers, and for
humanizing the feelings of the young. Dr Caldwell takes the side
of Nature and defends her claims with much eloquence, energy,
and learning. He does not, however, absolutely exclude Greek and
Latin from the list of profitable studies ; his whole aim is to destroy
that absurd and superstitious reverence for these languages which
substitutes them for science, and wastes the precious years of youth
in acquiring a knowledge of mere words and abstractions in prosody
and grammar, instead of becoming acquainted with creation. To
those individuals who have a taste for languages, and have leisure
to em brace them in their studies, no object probably can be more
interesting and attractive than Greek and Roman literature to this
1 Lectures on Popular Education, p. 10; and “ Observations on Education”
(in Phrenological Journal, vol. iv. for 1826–7, p. 407), which were submitted
to the Town Council of Edinburgh, in prospect of the building of the present
High School, founded in 1825, and opened in 1829.
The Effects of their Study Contrasted.
83
class of students Dr Caldwell proposes to leave all their enjoyments
unimpaired. "I
civilisation of
or
I ask, Whether has our civilisation been most indebted to the The effects on
diffusion, by means of the printing press among all classes of the
linguistic and
people, of discoveries in natural science and their applications in art, of real studies
compared
or of theology and metaphysics, and of Greek and Latin, their
congeners?
Theology and metaphysics have stood nearly still during the rapid
advance of natural science, and I should be glad to be instructed in
examples of their applications to the arts and conveniences of life,
on which our temporal well-being depends. Do not suppose that I
call in question the importance of theology in reference to things
spiritual, or of metaphysics, Greek, and Latin as exercises for the
understanding of scholars and of men of leisure and refinement.
Let us grant this in the most extensive terms that their votaries
could desire ; but let us not, by this concession, be led away from the
practical question before us, namely, whether physical science and
its applications to the arts—in other words, a knowledge of God's
works and of the laws of their action and their relation to man,
languages and theology are the things most needed (if the one must
exclude the other) in our primary schools, as means by which
the working classes may be raised from their present state of abase-
ment, and be enabled to play that part in private and social
life which becomes them as moral, religious and intellectual
beings. Has it not been the development of man's mental faculties
and their application to the physical creation, continued through
successive ages, that has been the chief cause of our past civilisation ?
And how have these mental faculties been thus enlarged and
invigorated ? By man's studying the qualities of the external world,
by judging of the capabilities of material objects, and by applying
them to use.
This remark is so trite that I am almost ashamed to make it, but the function of
it is of fundamental importance towards the right understanding of language in re-
.
the subject of education. It embraces the axiom that “Knowledge
is power,” and gives it a practical direction. This axiom has been
repeated almost usque ad nauseum, and is constantly in the mouths
1 See Caldwell's “ Thoughts on Physical Education, and on the Study of
Greek and Latin,” &c., edited by Robert Cox, with preface by George Combo
(Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh), published in this country in 1836.
84
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
of many excellent persons who obstruct instead of forwarding the
progress of civilisation. Is knowledge of the Gaelic language
power? Yes, it is power to read, speak, and write Gaelic, and this
may be very useful to a traveller who, on a dark night, has lost his
way among the wilds of Glengarry, and comes to a lonely cottage in
which no other tongue is spoken. But is it useful towards building
a house, towards making a coat, or ploughing a field ?1 Certainly
not, because many of the Highlanders who speak it can do none of
these things. For these purposes, it is of small utility. Will a
knowledge of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, or Cherokee
enable you to construct a power-loom, to form a railroad, to paint a
picture, or to model a statue ? No; millions of the people who
spoke these languages could not boast of such attainments.
The knowledge This is not the kind of knowledge, therefore, by means of which
necessary for
the descendants of the ancient Britons converted the forests in which
progress in
civilisation. they roamed into the teaming fields and the life-pervaded cities
which we behold. It was knowledge of the existence and qualities
of iron, of stone, timber, lime, clay and coal; of corn, edible roots,
and cattle-in short, of the mineral, vegetable, and animal produc-
tions of the earth—that gave them the power which has produced this
mighty metamorphosis. It was by dealing with these realities, by
putting forth their ingenuity in applying them, by practising
patience and industry in this task, that their mental faculties grew,
not only in acquired knowledge, but in vigour and activity. Their
brains became larger. In proportion as their knowledge increased,
their language was augmented by the addition of words to express
their new ideas and emotions.
A knowledge of But it is an unphilosophical error to imagine that a knowledge of
words does not words is equivalent to, or necessarily implies, or even necessarily leads
imply that of
things. to, a knowledge of things. For half a century, the Scottish High-
landers were taught to read English, without being taught what the
English words meant in Gaelic. The clergy apparently assumed
that words conveyed their own meaning, and it was left to the late
Sir George S. Mackenzie, about twenty-five years ago, to demon-
1 That is, of course, knowledge of the language per se, and simply as a
language.
Sir George S. Mackenzie of Coull, near Strathpeffer, Ross, the first Presi-
dent of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society, a frequent contributor to the
Phrenological Journal, and an extensive author on Phrenology. George Combe
and he were intimate, and it was during a visit to Coull that George Combe
witnessed the above, to which he refers more than once.
The Effects of their Study Contrasted.
85
.
strate to them the fact that words are mere sounds, meaning nothing
while unconnected with knowledge of the things they were invented
to express. At a public examination, he showed the assembled
wisdom of a Highland parish, that the children did not understand
one word of the English which they had so fluently read, for
the simple reason that they had never been taught what the words
meant in Gaelic.
Greek and Latin, like all other languages, are, in this respect, no The good effects
better substitutes for the knowledge of things than Gaelic. They of the study of
are elegant studies, tending to exercise and improve the gift
of expression and literary taste, and they are useful in strengthening
the intellectual faculties, and affording high gratification to those
capable of appreciating their numberless beauties; they also in past
times served, and do still in some measure continue to serve, as the
means of recording and diffusing the knowledge which man has
attained.
But to our knowledge of nature, and her powers and adaptations, in These com-
addition to the use of language, must be ascribed the real develop-Chose from the
ment of our mental energies, and our progress in civilisation. And study of things.
not only so, but in reference to educational utility, I think you will
find, that instruction in the natural sciences and their applications to
practical purposes tends still more strongly than classical studies do
to strengthen and expand the intellect, and elevate and refine the
moral sentiments, with this great additional advantage, that it
is directly calculated to promote the well-being of the individual and
of society.
Let me, however, not be misunderstood. Language also is indis- Language the
pensable to human advancement; but a rich vocabulary is not the ledge, not the
cause, but the effect of extensive knowledge in the people who have cause.
formed it. In communicating our acquirements to the young, we
must necessarily impart to them a knowledge of the words by which
they are expressed.
effect of know-
1
1
1
the classics.
The study of Greek and Latin, instead of commencing at seven or The proper age
for teaching
eight, might be postponed till eleven or twelve years of age. From
the higher development of the intellectual faculties at eleven or twelve,
as much progress would be made in these languages in two or three
years at that age, as in five or six commencing at the age of seven;
| Lecture “On the Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and the
Shorter Catechism,” delivered in 1851.
86
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
The studies
proper for
early years.
so that, even with these languages in view, no time would be lost.
Many pupils whose professions cannot be determined at seven or eight,
and who, under the present system, begin the study of the dead
languages at these ages, merely to prepare for contingencies, would
avoid them altogether, by being fixed determinately at eleven or twelve
on a pursuit that did not require them."
The intermediate years between seven and eleven or twelve might
be employed in studying geography, drawing, natural history, bio-
graphy, the history of foreign countries, with their productions,
natural and artificial, their trade, moneys, mode of transacting busi-
less, &c.; and even a considerable portion of the elements of physical
science might be made intelligible in the later years of the above
period. This kind of instruction would forcibly exercise and excite
the observing and reflecting faculties of children, and train their minds,
just as gymnastic evolutions do their bodies, for higher exertions of
activity and energy in after life. Under the present system, all
children who ultimately abandon the learned professions, find them-
selves cheated, as it were, out of the intermediate years of their lives
between seven and twelve, and discover, when too late, that in-
struction in words is not knowledge, and that they have endured
suffering in pursuing a phantom, while they might have enjoyed
pleasure in attaining a substance.2
[Since the beginning of the present century, the study of Classics
has gradually but certainly declined in this country, as well as else-
This is an important question, claiming greater attention than it has yet
received. See the same idea of postponing the teaching of the classics well
advocated by Professor Hodgson, in the Westminster Review for October 1853,
and other authorities there quoted; also James Simpson's Philosophy of
Education.” The great classic, George Long, is also of opinion that the study.
of the ancient language is generally commenced too soon, (“On the Study of
the Latin and Greek Languages, 1830). The subject was recently brought
before the Endowed School Commissioners for Scotland, in 1873, by Professor
Hodgson. See his evidence on this point, in their First Report, p. 76, in which
he says, “I was in the High School when I was seven years old, and I was
thoroughly proficient in the Latin grammar,—that is to say, I could repeat it by
rote without understanding it, -by the time I was eight; but I have mourned
bitterly over that ever since, and I should like to save my countrymen from a
repetition of the same fate.”
2 “Observations on Education,” Phrenological Journal, vol. iv. p. 407, (for
1826–7), written on the erection of the present High School of Edinburgh.
The Anti-classical Contest of the Present Century. 87
where. Various causes have contributed to this, of which these are The decline of
notably apparent,—the growth of modern thought and scientific dis-beginning of
covery, these languages long ceasing to be required as mediums of the century.
communication between the learned and for the acquisition of know-
ledge, the development of the mother tongue as a literary instru-
ment, the growth of the native literature the rise and rapid progress
of the newspaper press, the impetus given to the acquisition of use-
ful and scientific knowledge by the wonderful advances in scientific
discovery and the needs of modern life, the popularising of science
in various ways, and, not least, the imperfect teaching of the classics
at the time when the agitation against them began. In addition to
these causes, the educational regeneration which dawned with the
century was no doubt a direct and powerful means of directing
attention to this scholastic subject, as to all others. All these and
other causes combined gave rise to eager questioning in regard to the
utility of these ancient tongues, their usurpation of the greater part,
and, in some cases, of the whole field of liberal education, and the
manner of their teaching. This was no doubt increased by Mr Edge-
worth's attack on the abuse of classical learning, in his work on
“Professional Education," in 1809, and Sydney Smith's sparkling
review of it,i in the same year, which brought the subject prom-
inently before the country. After that time, discussion on it
rapidly increased, both for and against the classics, and it was evident
that the absolute rule of these ancient tongues in schools was gone for
ever, and that their true subordinate position, in an educational course
for our children, was being gradually and more clearly recognised.
Between 1820 and 1830, George Combe and his friends did a great George Combe's
deal to promote the modern view, by pointing out and explaining the part in the
.
nature and place of linguistic studies, on rational grounds based on
the philosophy of mind, and by advocating Real education, which is,
as George Combe puts it, the “knowledge of things and relations,"2
22
1 In the Edinburgh Review, of 1809, under the title of “Too much Latin
and Greek,” in which he compliments Mr Edgeworth for “the courage with
which he had combated the excessive abuse of classical learning.
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. iv., 1826-7, p. 407. The subject was well
discussed by Dr Poole in his “Essay on Education," based on Phrenology,
originally contributed to the Encyclopaedia Edinensis in 1819, and published
separately in 1825; by Dr Spurzheim in his “View of the Elementary
Principles of Education,” published in 1821; and by many other writers in the
Phrenological Journal, in which it formed one of the chief subjects, such as
George and Andrew Combe, James Simpson, Sir G. $. Mackenzie, and many
more.
88
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
of the Edin-
1
The contro-
versy ncreases.
The foundation as contra-distinguished from words. In order to prevent the grow-
burghAcademy ing decline of classical learning in Edinburgh, an effort to erect
and the present a new classical school, begun by Henry Cockburn and Leonard
High School.
Horner, resulted in the founding of the “Edinburgh Academy,"
which was opened with great eclat, by Sir Walter Scott, in 1824.
In January 1825, the foundation of the present High School was
laid in place of the old school in Infirmary Street, and a committee
of the Town Council was appointed to see certain schools, to
enquire as to the best principles on which it should be conducted,
visiting, amongst others, the well-known Wood's Sessional School,
of which they gave, in 1827, an "able and interesting report.” On
this report, George Combe wrote certain “Observations” as to the
true principles on which an academy should be founded and taught,
in May 1827, which appeared in the Phrenological Journal that
year, and of which the foregoing chapter is, in great part, a reproduc-
tion. These observations combined his views of classical v. real
education, and a pretty full exposition of the course of instruction
he advocated, which appears in Part Second of this work. The
High School was opened in June 1829, but the curriculum does not
seem to have been greatly affected by George Combe's suggestions.
At the end of 1828, a series of articles appeared in the Scotsman,
written by the editor, Charles Maclaren, containing “Suggestions
for the Improvement of Popular Education," with views almost
coincident with those of George Combe, temperately, fully, and
practically discussed, which still kept the subject before the public
mind.
The classical war was waged yet more fiercely between 1830 and
1840, when George Combe delivered and published his lectures on
education before the Philosophical Association of Edinburgh, and
elsewhere, in 1833, as told in the Introduction; and James Simpson
advocated the same views, in lectures all over the country, and in his
“Philosophy of Education,” issued in 1834. The other side of the
1 See Lord Cockburn's “Memorials of his Times,” p. 414.
2 The article is called “Observations on Education, submitted to a Com-
mittee of the Town Council of
appointed to collect information
preparatory to the erection of a New Academy.' The most of the article was
afterwards incorporated into his course of three lectures on Education before the
Edinburgh Philosophical Association in 1833, which were afterwards published
as a pamphlet under the title of “Popular Education," and from which the
foregoing chapter is chiefly reprinted.
3 Contained in his “Select Writings,” edited by Robert Cox and Professor
Nicol, Vol. I. (Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, 1869.)
The Anti-classical Contest of the Present Century. 89
question was as warmly espoused by many speakers and writers,
frequently with little else than natural indignation against the
benighted innovators, but not seldom in temperate, well-put argu-
ment, as by Professor Pillans, who published three lectures on the
subject in 1836. The contest was exceedingly keen, if not more.
As Andrew Combe says, the High School and the Academy at that
time “ devoted their whole time to droning over Latin and Greek.
The public demanded an addition of useful knowledge, and a restric-
tion of the time dedicated to classics, particularly for the hundreds
destined for commerce and trade, and not for professions. In the
Phrenological Journal and in my brother's lectures, we loudly called
for reform. They resisted all change.”
In order to prove the possibility and wisdom of combining classics The teaching of
modern sub-
with modern subjects, as French, German, history, drawing, natural jects begins ;
history, and chemistry, a new school was opened, called the “Hill Street and its effects.
Academy," and afterwards the “Edinburgh Institution,” under the
care of a very able man, the Rev. Robert Cunningham.3 “This school
succeeded from the first,” says Dr Combe," and with two hours a day
devoted to Latin and Greek, sent out equally good classical scholars
as its rivals, and with more vigorous minds, from their expansion on
other subjects. The High School fell from 750 to less than 400, and
the Academy in rather less proportion. The masters raged against
my brother and the phrenological crew, and declared the public under
a delusion.” The same took place in Glasgow High School. The
1 On “ The Relative Importance of Classical Training in the Education of
Youth,” first delivered in the Humanity Class room, in Edinburgh University,
in 1835 ; contained in his “ Contributions to Education” (Longmans).
2 See “ Life of Andrew Combe," p. 325.
3 He had formerly been Governor of George Watson's Hospital, Edinburgh.
He was obliged, on account of ill health, induced by over-exertion, to leave
Edinburgh, when he devoted himself to the study of education, especially the
Normal School system, in Prussia, France, and Switzerland, and travelled in
the United States for the same purpose, where he was appointed Professor of
Modern Languages in Lafayette College, Pennsylvania. He remained there
two years, and, being disappointed in the results of his educational advocacy,
returned to Scotland, where he became the able Rector of Mr Stow's Normal
School, then recently built. He would seem to have been altogether an accom-
plished man, and an advanced educationist. For some account of him, see
George Combe’s “ America,” vol. iii. pp. 106 and 433, and “Memoir of David
Stow,” by the Rev. Wm. Fraser (Nisbet, London.) The Edinburgh Institution
still flourishes in Queen Street, under Dr Ferguson. See remarks on its founda-
tion and purpose, in the First Report of the Endowed Schools Commission for
Scotland (1873), p. 171.
90 Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
2
A new anti-
classical era
easy to them."
Universities also felt a similar result of the anti-classical feeling of
the time.
Lord Cock- Lord Cockburn bears witness to the same effect, noting, in 1834,
burn's opinions that “the tide was setting strongly against classical education,” and
that making other subjects subordinate to Latin and Greek was
enough to sink” the High School and the Academy. “Mean-
while," he says, “other establishments, both public and private, are
springing up, which, as yet, have in general succeeded, chiefly, as it
appears to me, because they disdain these two languages (which was
not the case in all, as we have seen], and profess to teach what they
call useful knowledge, which means modern languages, chemistry,
civil and natural history, physiology, astronomy, navigation, and, in
Edinburgh, phrenology. All this, and everything else, is not only
capable, it seems, of being taught to children, but it is peculiarly
Absurd,” he continues, “as all this is, it will pro-
begun.
bably go on, and I should not wonder if, amidst other eras, we are
on the verge of one which will consist in making the languages of
Greece and Rome not the staple of our schools." Though ardently
pro-classical, as was natural in the founder of the Academy, he
admits that “there is some reason for it. They have been our
staple too exclusively. There is no answer to the question put by
those who ask, why all boys should be obliged to spend several
years in attempting to learn two dead languages, for which they
have no practical use ? And this pith of their case has been
gradually receiving strength from other circumstances. People will
never long sustain the restraint of a foreign language, without neces-
sity." This is beautifully candid and far-seeing. Lord Cockburn
also, with clear perception, notes one great cause of the decline of
classics. “Pedagogues, instead of keeping them by connecting them
with things of practical usefulness, testified their allegiance to the
cause of their own importance, by a more rigid exclusion of all
modern abominations. The dead languages being thus separated
from practical education, in rolled the tide of popular knowledge.
The old schools, and what was less improvable, the old schoolmasters,
could not educate the people in what they wanted.” As Lord
Cockburn rightly concludes," the result of all this was that the old
spell, which made the classics and learning synonymous, was
1 A well-informed friend writes :—“It was said to me by the late Professor
Cruickshank of Marischal College, Aberdeen, that the agitation against Classical
Learning in the Thirties was the immediate cause of the low wave of attend-
ance in all the Universities for a number of years."
1
Recent Improvements in School Studies.
9I
in the studies
broken,"l once and for ever. A great improvement then took place
in consequence, in the classical schools all over the country, especially
in Scotland, both in their curriculum of studies and the manner of
teaching As George Combe, writing in 1850, says:
“ The High School is improved. Its radical defect, however, is Improvements
its want of a sound and self-consistent organism of some kind or
of the High
other. It was originally a Latin Grammar School, and in com-School.
pliance with the demands of the age, other subjects have been added
--not interwoven into the system, but superadded, like patches on.
an old garment. Thus the study of Greek, arithmetic, mathematics,
writing, German, French, and physical science, and the practice of
gymnastics have been introduced?; but instead of being arranged as
integral parts of the system of instruction, the prosecution or omis-
sion of each is left to the discretion of the pupils or their parents,
who, in many instances, are ill-qualified to judge of the importance
of the different elements of education.
“A thorough reform of the system seems hopeless, until a great
advance shall have been made in public intelligence on the subject
of education; meantime, such improvements have been introduced,
under the direction of Dr Schmitz, as the existing arrangements will
allow, Latin and Greek are still the principal subjects of instruc-
tion ; but they are taught not so much with a view to form critical
scholars, as to train the young men to habits of correct and inde-
pendent thinking. The pupils are encouraged, not to take anything
cognizable of observation and reason on trust, but to inquire into
every subject, and, without looking to the right or to the left, to
adhere to that which recommends itself to their minds as good, right,
or true.
Dr Schmitz has introduced into his own classes the study
of the historical development, and of the philosophical principles
Journal of Henry Cockburn, vol. i., p. 69.
2 The High School of Edinburgh seems to have been more backward in in-
troducing modern subjects than most of the Scotch grammar schools, the
lesser schools throughout the country going far in advance of the greater in
this respect. Geography was first taught about 1715 ; Greek was opposed in
1772, even by Robertson the historian, though taught in Aberdeen before
1553 ; French in 1834 ; German in 1845; and an English master was not
appointed till 1866. English has been taught in the Glasgow and Aberdeen
Grammar schools only since 1834. See Steven's “ History of the High School
of Edinburgh,” of which a short résumé is given in the “Report of the Com-
missioners on the High and Middle Class Schools in Scotland,” 1868. See
also Grant's “ History of the Burgh and Parish Schools of Scotland” for very
interesting details regarding the progress of school studies.
92
Linguistic and Real Education Compared.
its reform.
riculum of
studies.
and laws of the English language, accompanied by practical exercises
and essays on this important subject.
The defects in “The patrons have likewise introduced the study of the elements
of science; but instead of incorporating it as an essential part of the
curriculum of the school, and appointing a competent master to
teach it, they have engaged two unconnected lecturers, one of whom
lectures only for an hour in the week. This is a very imperfect
arrangement, for the time devoted to science is too limited; and,
moreover, lectures, even accompanied by examinations, are not the
mode of instruction suited to young minds. The teacher should
come down to the capacity of his pupils, and put himself in as close
a contact as possible with their faculties. This can be accomplished,
only by his resorting to the most familiar expositions of the truths
he desires to communicate, and, as it were, entering into familiar
conversation with them."
Its present cur- George Combe gives high and well-merited praise to Dr Schmitz
for his efforts to broaden and improve the instruction in the
High School, by seeking to secure "a curriculum calculated to place
it in harmony with the real wants of the age. Since that time,
High School has gone still further in the line of progress, and
under the present distinguished rector, Dr Donaldson, who was
appointed in 1865, and his able coadjutors, it is in rapport with the
time, combining, as it does, classical and modern or commercial sides,
with a wide range of general and scientific teaching. It would no
doubt have gratified George Combe, after all his efforts to improve
the school in which he was himself taught, to have read the follow-
ing extract from the report of the Town Council of 1866, in view
of his failure with that of 1827, of the principles laid down for the
management of the school —“Every department of knowledge fitted
for training the mind should be used in the school for that purpose,
and, therefore, the natural sciences should be employed to educate.
In harmony with this principle, botany, zoology, natural philosophy,
chemistry, and physiology will be made auxiliary to forming the mind.
The utmost care will be taken to prevent these classes from falling
into mere general knowledge classes. They will be used to bring
out those powers of the mind, such as observation and reasoning, by
induction, which the natural sciences are best calculated to foster.” 3
A similar advance has taken place all over Scotland in the spirit
and practice of education in the older classical schools, and more or
1 Life of Andrew Combe, p. 327. 2 Ibid., p. 329.
3 See Report of Commissioners for 1868, vol. ii., p. 206.
Recent Improvements in School Studies.
93
]
less in all schools. Much still, however, remains to be done in The present
state of the
Scotland, but more in England, for in both “ the ancient spirit is
question.
not dead." This has been abundantly proved by the recent utter-
ances at the meeting of the Social Science Association in Aberdeen,
and in not a few School Boards and scholastic associations, on the
very problems that engaged attention at the beginning of the century:
as to the relation between the teaching of words and things, and
between classics, mathematics, and science, the educative value of
each, and the proportionate attention that should be given to them;
and, in regard to language itself, the relative utility and training
power of the ancient languages, as compared with the modern, and
especially, in general and professional education, with English.
These questions still wait final adjustment. Happily, however, we
now possess much more abundant and valuable materials than before,
for coming to a wise and just conclusion; and it is earnestly to be
hoped that the conclusion arrived at will be one based on the true
philosophy of education, which, while preparing our children by a
wise utilitarianism for the efficient discharge of all the duties of
life in every sphere, shall secure a broad and generous culture of all
their faculties. - Edit.]
1 In September 1877.
2 For discussions on both sides of this subject, in addition to those already
mentioned, see, amongst a host of works :-"Essays on a Liberal Education,
edited by Rev. F. W. Farrar (Macmillan and Co.); “Education,” by Herbert
Spencer (Williams and Norgate); “ Thoughts on the study of the Greek and
Latin Languages, by Dr Charles Caldwell of America, included in the volume
called “Thoughts on Physical Education,” edited by Robert Cox, with preface
by George Combe (Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh); “Contributions to
the Cause of Education,” by Professor Pillans, criticised by Professar Hodgson,
in “Classical Instruction, its Use and Abuse,” in the Westminster Review for
October 1853;
“ Classical Instruction; Why? When? For Whom?” by Pro-
fessor Hodgson, Educational Times for Jupe 1866; “Modern Culture, its
True Aims and Requirements,” edited by Dr Youmans (Macmillan and Co.);
Marcel's “ Language as a means of Mental Culture” (2 vols., London 1853);
“Oxford Reform and Oxford Professors,” by Professor Vaughan (1854); J. W..
Donaldson's “ Classical Scholarship and Classical Learning” (1856); Rev. R. H.
Quick’s “Essays on Educational Reformers” (Longmans, 1848). See Henry
Barnard's “Studies and Conduct” (Hartford, U.S., 1873), in which are given,
in full, the opinions of Byron, Chatham, Donaldson, De Quincey, Froude,
Gladstone, Herschel, Hodgson, Locke, Lowe, Macaulay, Martineau, Mill,
Milton, Niebuhr, Southey, Temple, Tyndall, Vaughan, Whewell. See also
the “Cyclopædia of Education” on Classical Studies (s. v.), by Kiddle and
Schem (New York: E. Steiger ; London : Sampson, Low & Co.).
CHAPTER III
ON INSTRUCTION IN MAN'S PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION:
PHYSIOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS.
Man ought to The object of education is to attain to happiness.
know himself;
This can be attained only when all the faculties of body and mind
are applied in their due spheres of action, and exercised in just pro-
portion to each other.
To discover what arrangements require to be made, and what pur-
suits to be followed, to arrive at this due exercise of the different
powers of man, we must become acquainted with man himself, with
the elements of which he is composed, with their uses; and their
relations to each other and external nature. Reading and writing
are the means of acquiring knowledge and recording it.
As to his bodily The next step ought to be, to communicate a knowledge of the
structure and
functions.
structure and functions of the body. Children delight in this, and
take up the ideas very rapidly.
The leading idea to be kept in view is to teach their practical ap-
plication. The opposite error is, to avoid rendering the subjects
taught objects of mere wonder and curiosity. The intellect is exer-
cised by the knowledge; but the sentiments must be excited, to
produce pleasure and practical conduct. The description of the lungs
and their curious structure, the vast extent of surface presented by
the cells which contain air and by the vessels which contain blood,
the necessity of these to life, and so on, will interest Wonder and
Ideality. The reference of the whole to God will excite Veneration. .
Other details interest Benevolence, Cautiousness for self-preservation,
and gratify also Self-Esteem, for they give a consciousness of
increased power to avoid evil and do good, resulting directly from
knowledge.
This knowledge would delight children from this entertainment.
It would send them into society with a vast store of principles, the
operation of which would be continually forced upon their attention
by the occurrences of life; it would prevent the formation of a host
of prejudices; and create a rational perception of the principles on
The Kind of instruction Recommended.
95
which the Creator permits health and disease, and give love for His
character and reliance on His laws. It would keep before the mind
the necessity of attending to the physical condition of man, as a
means of arriving at his moral improvement.
1
school instruc-
In one respect, Physiology may be said to be a science only in its Physiology as
infancy, and in another, to be already so far advanced as to be a branch o
capable of valuable practical applications. This apparent paradox tion.
admits of an easy solution.
The most learned physiologists are still in a state of profound
ignorance concerning the intimate processes carried on in the tissues
of the human body, which produce the phenomena of life. This
knowledge, nevertheless, is indispensable to raise Medicine to the
dignity of an exact science; and, as it has not yet been attained,
some persons represent the healing art as one of a purely empirical
character; and Physiology, on which it professes to be founded, as
at present a chaos of conjectures.
But, on the other hand, it is undeniable that much is known
concerning the structure, functions, and conditions of health of the
vital organs, as well as concerning many of the causes of their
abnormal action; and on this knowledge, medical practitioners found
a treatment of disease that is at once rational and beneficial. But
the same knowledge is available for the preservation of health, and
for the advancement of social well-being in other departments of life,
and, on this account, it may be made an important branch of instruc-
tion in Common schools.
A few elucidations will suffice to show the manner in which it has
been successfully taught in some seminaries, to children and young
persons, of ten years of age and upwards, and also the applications to
practical conduct of which it is susceptible.
To prevent misapprehension, I beg to state that I do not recom- To be taught,
mend Physiology to be taught in Common schools in the form of not by lectures,
but lessons.
lectures, but in that of lessons, in which the children themselves
shall take a part, and in which there shall be a constant interchange
of remarks, question, answer, and inference, between the pupils and
their instructor. Moreover, in these lessons, no attempt should be
made to teach the science or practice of Medicine.
In an ordinary Medical education, instruction is given in the
following branches :-
1 From MSS.
96
Instruction in Man's Physical Constitution.
1
What is not to 1st, Anatomy, or the structure of the human body. The teaching
be taught.
under this head embraces descriptions of every bone, muscle, nerve,
and viscus in the body, with their attachments and connections, so
minute that the student may know how to discover their position,
and how to recognise abnormal changes in them in living subjects,
with a view to medical treatment, or, if necessary, to operate on
them.
I do not recommend teaching at all approaching to this in detail,
nor with a view to these objects.
2dly, Physiology, or a scientific description of the functions of
every cell, tissue, bone, nerve, muscle, and viscus in the system,
according to the profoundest views of the most recent investigators.
I do not recommend teaching Physiology in this manner.
3dly, Pathology, or the diseased structure of every cell, tissue,
bone, and viscus of the body.
I do not recommend this instruction to be given.
4thly, The Practice of Physic, or the application of all the fore-
going branches of knowledge to the diagnosis and cure of disease,
This is not recommended to be introduced.
This statement of negatives is made because medical men in
general, to whom the directors of schools naturally look for advice,
have these modes of instruction in their minds (few of them having
seen any other in operation) when they deliver opinions on the
propriety of introducing Physiology into schools.
The kind of The kind of instruction recommended, and which has already been
instruction
recommended. successfully taught in some seminaries, may now be mentioned. The
plan of it is this :- A description of the various organs of the human
body on which health and life depend, is given in simple and
popular language, but scientifically correct, so as to avoid sowing
error in the mind of the pupils; the use or function of the part is
described in the same manner, the exposition being plain and
popular in language, but in principle sound and scientific, challeng-
ing the criticism of the highest medical investigators. The influence
of the different organs on each other is then explained; and the
knowledge thus communicated, of the structure, functions, and
relations, is applied to elucidate the natural conditions, on which the
healthy and unhealthy action of each vital organ depends : in other
words, the causes of good or bad health, and the means that should
be used in our daily habits to secure the one and avoid the other
The practical application of this knowledge lies, in a greater or less
degree, within the power of every intelligent person, and much,
The Manner of its Teaching.
97
grams and
and pre-
disease and suffering in ordinary life may be avoided, and much
substantial enjoyment gained, by acting on it.
The instruction concerning the use of each organ is founded on its The use of dia-
structure and its relations to the other organs; and the structure is parations.
described in words, and, as far as possible, illustrated by preparations
and by diagrams. It is generally acknowledged, that not children
only, but adults also, more easily and distinctly comprehend and
longer remember an object, after having seen it, and heard it at the
same time clearly described, than by merely reading about it. Now,
the object in introducing the human skeleton and diagrams of the
muscles, lungs, heart, and blood-vessels, and other vital organs, into
schools, and giving viva voce descriptions of them, is to do effectually
what a book is capable of accomplishing only imperfectly-namely,
to convey to the pupils correct ideas of the structure, so extensive as
to serve as a solid basis for understanding the uses or functions of
the parts, and the influence of the vital organs on each other and on
the whole corporeal system; in other words, to understand the
natural conditions on which health depends, and the causes which
produce disease.
The use or function is far better understood when founded on a We should ex-
demonstration of the structure, than when communicated merely by Laws of
pound the
verbal description as a general and unsupported fact. Actual know-Health.
ledge of the structure and functions renders the relations of the vital
organs to each other intelligible, and their reciprocal influence highly
interesting. For example, it enables us to comprehend the influence
of the digestive organs on the power and activity of the muscles,
lungs, and brain; the influence of the brain over the heart, the lungs,
and the stomach ; the influence of the circulating fluids in forming,
supporting, and repairing the waste of all the organs; and so forth.
And, as already remarked, this knowledge of the structure, functions,
and relations of the vital organs all combined, lays the foundation
for a clear exposition of the Laws of Health, by teaching which, we
point out the course of action which every individual should habi-
tually observe, in order to promote his usefulness and prolong his
enjoyment of life.
The sexual organs and functions are omitted in the lessons and What should
diagrams, and it is not found that this omission materially affects be omitted in
the practical value of the instruction given; for these being organs tion.
of reproduction, their functions do not directly involve the life of
the individual, as those of the vital organs, such as the heart, lungs,
stomach, brain, and intestines do. Moreover, the same laws of
this instruc-
a
98
Instruction in Man's Physical Constitution.
statistics :
health which govern the vital organs hold good in the case of the
organs of reproduction, and, in so far, the instruction given is
indirectly applicable to them.
As already observed, the instruction given is sound and scientific
in its basis and character, although limited in extent and popular
in expression.
This is the kind of instruction which has been introduced with
advantage into several schools and a few reasons may be offered
why it should be generally adopted.
The need for The deaths that occur throughout England and Wales, and also
such teaching
proved by the
the causes of them, and the ages of those who die, are reported to
the Registrar-General, and by him classified and reduced tables,
(1.) Of the
Registrar-
which, accompanied by his commentaries, are annually presented
to Parliament and published. Soon after this regulation was
introduced, it was discovered that there were great differences in the
rates of mortality in different districts. The excess of death in
some localities amounting to 10, 20, 30, and even 40 per cent.
over the number of deaths in other situations, among the same
number of people, of the same ages, attracted attention; the causes
of the excess were investigated, and found, in many instances, to be
avoidable or removable, by application of the natural means of health.
A Sanitary Commission was appointed by Parliamenta to apply
(2.) Of the these means, which consist of draining, removing nuisances, ven-
Sanitary Com-
tilating houses, supplying warmth, inducing habits of cleanliness
and temperance, and so forth, among the people. This Commission
General.
muissions.
1 See end of this chapter for an enumeration of the efforts at introducing
Physiology into Schools. Before the date of the publication of this paper, in
1857, the subject had been taught in Lovett's National Hall School in Holborn,
since 1848 ; the Williams School in Edinburgh, since 1848 ; the Birkbeck
Schools, since 1850; the Glasgow Secular Schools, since 1850; Watson's Institu-
tion, Edinburgh, in 1854; Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh, by Dr Hodgson, in
1855; in Edinburgh High School, by the same, in 1856; and by George Combe,
in lessons given in Edinburgh in 1848–9 and 1854, and at Charlton Marshal,
in Dorset, and Holywood, near Belfast, in 1857.
3 A Commission was appointed, after the passing of the Poor Law Act, in
1834, which reported “ On the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population
of Great Britain” in 1842. A Health of Towns Commission reported twice,
in 1844 and 1845; and a Metropolitan Sanitary Commission, in 1847 and 1848.
The Public Health and the Nuisances Acts were passed in 1848. The chief
mover in this important subject was Edwin Chadwick, the veteran sanitarian
and educationist. In 1858, a Public Health Department was established in
the Privy Council, and yearly reports have been issued. See the subject of
Sanitary Science very well treated in Chambers' Encyclopædia, Supplement,
Dnivortsovo
WICHIGANS
Recommendations of its Teaching in Schools. 99
made extensive investigations, and published valuable reports,
which were printed by Parliament for general instruction. The
burden of these reports, year after year, was that their best efforts
were obstructed, and often rendered nugatory, by the prevalent
ignorance, among all classes, of the natural conditions of health,
in consequence of which, the advantages of the sanitary measures
recommended were neither understood nor appreciated ; and even
where there was a desire among the people to carry them into effect,
their ignorance acted as a formidable obstacle to their doing so.
The Government were informed that the best method of removing Government
therefore urged
this obstruction was, if possible, to instruct the people generally in
to promote it.
the natural conditions of health and disease, by teaching them so
much of the structure of their own bodies as might enable them to
understand the functions of the vital organs, and the influence of
damp, dirt, foul air, miasma, intemperance, and other causes, which
obviously produced the excess of disease and death. Moreover, the
Government were convinced of the great importance of intro-
ducing Physiology into juvenile schools, and had even taken steps
to do so; when, with a view to strengthen their hands, and those of
every one interested in improving the sanitary state of the people,
the following document was drawn up, and subscribed by sixty-five Distinguished
of the leading physicians and surgeons of London, including the medical opinion
principal teachers of Anatomy and Physiology, and the Practice of
Medicine and Surgery, in the metropolis, and also all the medical
officers of the Royal Household.
We
“Medical Opinion on the importance of teaching Physiology
and the Laws of Health in Common Schools.
“Our opinion having been requested as to the advantage of making
the Elements of Human Physiology, or a general Knowledge of the
Laws of Health, a part of the education of youth, we, the undersigned,
have no hesitation in giving it strongly in the affirmative.
are satisfied that much of the sickness from which the working-classes
at present suffer might be avoided; and we know that the best-directed
efforts to benefit them by medical treatment are often greatly
impeded, and sometimes entirely frustrated, by their ignorance and
their neglect of the conditions upon which health necessarily
depends. We are therefore of opinion that it would greatly tend
to prevent sickness, and to promote soundness of body and mind,
were the elements of Physiology, in its application to the preservation
of health, made a part of general education; and we are convinced
IOO
Instruction in Man's Physical Constitution.
that such instruction may be rendered most interesting to the young,
and may be communicated to them with the utmost facility and pro-
priety, in the ordinary schools, by properly-instructed school-masters.”I
“LONDON, March 1853."
Recommended The original opinion was deposited in the hands of Government,
y the British and a large impression of it was printed and circulated. The
Government gave effect to it,” by ordering the preparation of an
elementary work on Physiology applied to health, and suitable
diagrams to illustrate it, for the use of schools 3 and by instituting
examinations in Physiology, and making a certificate of ability to
teach it a title to an increased allowance of pay.
And by the The same evils had been felt in the United States of North
Massachusetts
Legislature.
America, and the Legislature of Massachusetts resorted to similar
means of removing them, as appears from the following extract from
the General Laws relating to Public Instruction, passed by the
Legislature of Massachusetts. Chapter 229 is entitled “ An Act
requiring Physiology and Hygiene to be taught in the Public
Schools;" and it ordains as follows :-
“Sect. 1. Physiology and Hygiene shall hereafter be taught in
all the public schools of this commonwealth, in all cases in which
the School Committee shall deem it expedient.
“Sect. 2. All schools' teachers shall hereafter be examined in
their knowledge of the elementary principles of Physiology and
Hygiene, and their ability to give instructions in the same.
“ Sect. 3. This Act shall take effect on and after the 1st day of
October 1851. (April 24, 1850.)”
1 This document was framed by George Combe himself. At the opening of
Milldown School, at Blandford, in Dorset, founded by T. H. Bastard, Esq.,
(see Part Second, chap. vii.) Sir James Clark, M.D., said regarding it,
that“ it was signed by every man of eminence in London of the medical
profession, with the exception of two gentlemen, who had not given a thought
to the matter. It was the copy of a very valuable and important document,
published by Mr Combe, and deposited in the office of the Privy Council,
where it still remained.” (See The Blandford Express for 21st Oct. 1864).
See Appendix for the list of the distinguished names that were attached to it.
2 Physiology was included under Natural History, by the Science and Art
Department, since its formation in 1853; but it was not specially distin-
guished in their syllabus for a separate Grant, till 1861.
By the publication of Marshall's Physiological Diagrams, which are still
issued. There are now, however, other very good diagrams frared for school
use, such as those of Keith Johnston.
3
The Beneficial Effects of such Instruction.
ΙΟΙ
Instruction in Physiology and the Laws of Health is highly The beneficial
effects of such
beneficial to the children, in reference not only to their future social instruction :
character, but also to their welfare as individuals. It tends to (1.) On human
well-being;
give them intelligent notions of the means by which disease may be
avoided, and health promoted in their own persons; and thereby
renders doubly efficacious rules given to them by their teachers
regarding their personal habits of cleanliness, temperance, and
exercise; the avoidance of foul air, damp clothes, ill-aired rooms,
and so forth. It comes home to their minds as having a solid basis
in nature, instead of resting solely on the authority of the teacher.
After they understand the natural, and therefore inevitable,
consequences of neglecting or infringing the conditions of health,
the pupils will become aware that such conduct may bring suffering
and premature death upon them, although they may elude the
vigilance of their masters, or defy the admonitions of their friends.
Moreover, it will enlighten them in the management of their own
offspring, should they live to become parents, and will add to their
intelligence and usefulness in following medical advice, in cases of
domestic sickness or of general visitations of epidemic disease.
These lessons are beneficial also as a means of training the mental (2.) On mental
faculties of the pupils. They teach them to observe accurately training.
things that exist-to study their modes of action to comprehend
their relations and effects, and to draw from them practical con-
clusions directly involving their own well-being. All the information
recommended to be given will be real; and as it will have direct
application to the pupils themselves, it will naturally interest them,
as well as instruct and discipline their understanding.
1 “On Teaching Physiology and its Applications in Common Schools,” pp. 1-7.
The pamphlet from which the above is extracted contained a paper prepared
for the first meeting of the Social Science Association, held at Birmingham, in
1857. It gives a remarkable and surprising proof of the opposition encountered
by George Combe in the prosecution of his educational and other labours, that
even so recently as this date, the year before his death, the opposition to his
views, on such an important non-religious subject, was so decided at this
meeting that, though the paper was put on the programme of the Education
Section, the reading of it had to be stopped! The paper had been entrusted
to his friend, Mr T. Horlock Bastard, of Charlton Marshall, Dorset, George
Combe being prevented, by infirm health, from being present himself, and
“Mr Bastard was compelled to sit down without accomplishing the reading,”
on the plea, amongst others, that Physiology had nothing to do with Edu-
cation !
Household Words for December 12, 1857, commenting on the foregoing
paper, and on Dr Roth's advocacy of Ling's System, after narrating, with
102
Instruction in Man's Physical Constitution.
SUMMARY OF EARLIER EFFORTS TO INTRODUCE PHYSIOLOGY AND
ITS APPLICATIONS INTO SCHOOLS, IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA.
[The following is a résumé of the earlier attempts to write on
Physiology for popular use and to introduce the study of the subject,
and of Hygiene and Physical Education generally, into schools in
this country and America. It shows the active part taken by
George Combe and his friends in first introducing it to public
notice, and carrying the agitation to practical issue in having it
recognised as a subject for school instruction :-
Recommenda- 1819. George Combe recommends the subject in his “Essays on
tions of it,
Phrenology,” and continues henceforth to do so at all times, by
early in the
century.
lectures and publications.
Dr Richard Poole speaks of its importance in education in his
“Essay on Education," an able, advanced, and comprehensive
treatise, founded on Phrenology, in the Encyclopædia Edinensis.
1821. Spurzheim treats the subject largely, in his “ View of the Elemen-
tary Principles of Education."
1822. George Combe's “System of Phrenology” published.
1823. The Edinburgh Phrenological Journal begun, in which the sub-
ject is advocated from the first, in numerous articles.
1824. George Combe recommencis it in a Review of Spurzheim's “ Prin-
ciples of Education,” in the Phrenological Journal.
1825. Dr Poole's “Essay on Education," published in a volume.
1827. George Combe advocates it in his “Suggestions” in regard to
Edinburgh High School (see foregoing Chapter).
Pestalozzi recommends Physical Education in “ Letters on Early
Education," now translated, though written in 1818–19.
1828. “ The Constitution of Man," where it is advocated, first issued.
Charles Maclaren, editor of the Scotsman, and friend of George
Combe, recommends its teaching, in a series of five articles in
that paper, containing Suggestions for the improvement of
Education; reprinted in his “ Select Works," vol. ii.
astonishment, the treatment the paper had received at the Association, says :-
“ It is a pressing want of civilisation that a correct knowledge of the leading
truths of Physiology should be communicated in all schools. We are disposed
to second heartily all Mr Combe's suggestions. He does not want children to
be taught as if they were in training for the medical profession. His desire is
that they should know enough to understand clearly how our bodies are
affected by our daily habits, what is apt to produce healthy or unhealthy
action in each vital organ-how to economise the force of the machine they are
for ever working, and to hinder it, under all sorts of social accidents, from
getting out of gear.” This article is one of the earliest in a popular journal, in
favour of the subject.
See additional remarks on the subject in Part Second, chap. i.; and on the
manner of its teaching in Part Third, chap. ii. and v.
The Progress of this Instruction in Schools.
103
1831-1833. George Combe lectures on it, and recommends'it for schools,
in different towns in Scotland and England.
James Simpson lectures on Education, including Physical, in
different parts of the country.
1832. George Combe recommends it for Women, in a review of Mrs
Sandford's “Woman in her Social and Domestic Character” in
the Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. (1831-2).
Dr Brigham publishes a volume at Hartford, U.S., “On the Works begin
Influence of Mental Cultivation on Health," founded on
to appear on
the subject.
Phrenology.
Dr Barlow advocates it in the “Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine.”
1833. George Combe gives lectures before the Edinburgh Philosophi-
cal Association, published as “ Lectures on Popular Education.”
1834. Dr Andrew Combe publishes “The Principles of Physiology
applied to the Preservation of Health, and to the Improvement
of Physical and Mental Education,” based on Phrenology.
James Simpson's “Philosophy of Education” is published, in
which it is recommended.
Dr Charles Caldwell issues, at Boston, U.S., " Thoughts on Physi-
cal Education," based on Phrenology.
Dr Southwood Smith publishes his “ Philosophy of Health.”
1835. Physiology taught in the Rev. J. C. Bruce's Academy, Newcastle;
visited by George Combe, and described in Phrenol. Journal,
vol. ix., p. 545.
1836. Dr Caldwell's work reprinted in this country, edited by Robert
Cox, with preface by George Combe.
Dr Brigham's work re-edited and published in this country, by
Dr Robert Macnish, the distinguished phrenologist, and author
of the “ Philosophy of Sleep," &c.
Charles Bray, Coventry, lectures to the working classes on “The
Education of the Body," and publishes the lecture under this
title; new edition in 1847.
1 In addition to the two works mentioned in the text, which complement
each other, Charles Bray is the author of “The Philosophy of Necessity, or
Natural Law, as applicable to Moral, Mental, and Social Science,
1966 Anthro-
pology, or the Science of Man” (Longmans), and other philosophical works.
He was for a long time proprietor of the Coventry Herold. He has been an
ardent phrenologist, a great friend of George Combe and James Simpson, and,
throughout a long life, an enlightened and active educationist. He worked
strenuously for National Secular Education, holding meetings in its favour,
when it was misunderstood and misrepresented. He helped to bring Wilderspin
to Coventry, and to establish Infant Schools there; and was one of the most
active, at an early date, in forwarding measures to raise the working classes
by numerous measures of social reform. Mrs Bray is the author of “Physi-
ology for Schools” (Longmans), “Our Duty to Animals” (Partridge, London),
and other educational works; delightfully written for children.
104
Instruction in Man's Physical Constitution.
creases.
Interest in the 1837. Horace Mann advocates the subject in America, in a lecture on
subject in-
“The Means and Objects of Education," then published.
Dr Hodgson recommends it in a lecture on Education, delivered
in Edinburgh before “ The Association of the Working Classes
for their Social, Intellectual, and Moral Improvement," and
published by request that year.
1837–40. William Lovett, the eminent Chartist, recommends it in various
addresses to the working classes in this country.
1838. George Combe lectures specially on it in America.
Horace Mann advocates it in the prospectus to the Common
School Journal of Massachusetts, of which he was editor.
Dr Samuel Smiles (afterwards the distinguished author of "Self
Help," &c.), publishes “Physical Education, or the Nature and
Management of Children.”
Dr William King advocates the subject, in a paper in the second
publication of the Central Society of Education, of which
Brougham and Wyse were leaders.
Charles Bray publishes “ The Education of the Feelings," in which
it is recommended.
1839. George Combe's American lectures, with chapter on Physical
Education, published in America, edited by Dr Boardman, and
republished in this country, in the same year.
1840. Dr Andrew Combe issues his “ Treatise on the Physiological and
Moral Management of Infancy."
1842. Horace Mann again advocates the subject at great length, in his
Report for this year, as Secretary to the Massachusetts Board of
Education, in which he writes a dissertation on it.
Aimé Martin's “ Education of Mothers” is translated by Dr Edwin
Lee, in which Physical Education is advocated, as also in addi-
tional chapters by the translator.
1847. Dr J. P. Nichol, Professor of Astronomy in Glasgow, issues a
translation of “The Education of the People," by J. Willm of
Strasburg, in which the subject is recommended; but much
more strongly by Prof. Nichol, in an excellent preliminary
dissertation,
Physiology is 1848. William Lovett, the Chartist, is the first to teach Physiology in a Com-
first taught in
mon school in this country, in the National Hall School (founded
schools in
Britain.
by him in 1842), illustrated by diagrams made by himself.1
The subject is first taught in Scotland, in the Williams School,
Edinburgh, by George Combe, but chiefly by Mr Mattieu
Williams, the teacher; and it is advocated in the yearly reports
till 1854, when the school was given up.
1849. George Combe visits the National Hall School in Holborn, and
sees William Lovett teach Physiology.1
1 See Part Second, chap. vii.
The Progress of this Instruction in Schools. 105
1
tion is first
1850. William Lovett introduces and teaches it in the Birkbeck Schools,
in which it has ever since remained a special subject.
The teaching of Physiology and Hygiene in Common Schools is Its teaching
made law in
made law in Massachusetts. (See Present chapter ante.)
America.
Life of Dr Andrew Combe, issued by George Combe, where it is
largely recommended.
Glasgow Secular School, in St Andrew's Square, opened, in which
the subject is regularly taught till the school is given up in 1856.1
1851. George Combe tries unsuccessfully to get Physiology introduced
into John Watson's Institution, Edinburgh.
William Lovett publishes "Elementary Anatomy and Physiology,
for Schools and Private Instruction," with coloured plates, the
first practical text book for use in schools.1
The Oddfellows' Secular School, in Manchester, founded, in
which the subject is regularly taught.
Dr Roth 2 is the first to advocate Scientific Physical Education in Scientific Phys-
ical Educa-
this country, and publishes the first edition of “Exercises and
Movements, according to Ling's System."
advocated.
1852. Leith Secular School opened, in which the subject is taught.
Dr Carpenter publishes his “Principles of Human Physiology,"
with “ Outline of Psychology," afterwards enlarged, in 1874,
into the “ Principles of Mental Physiology."
1853. The Memorial on the subject, quoted above, signed by 65 eminent
physicians, is presented to Government.
The Science and Art Department fosters it, and prepares diagrams Physiology
fostered by
for its teaching. (Vide supra).
the British
Glasgow Secular School, in Carlton Place, opened, in which it is Government.
regularly taught till its close in 1872.1
Salford Mechanics’ Institution School opened, in which it is taught.
Dr Roth lectures on “Scientific Physical Education " at Redhill
Literary Institution.
1854. George Combe gets the teaching of Physiology introduced into
John Watson's Institution, Edinburgh, of which he is one of
the Directors, and Chairman of a Committee on the School
curriculum; and gives lessons there on the subject himself.
1
1 See Part Second, chap. vii.
2 Dr Matthias Roth, of Wimpole Street, London, is the well-known advocate
of the Movement Cure. He has devoted himself, with great enthusiasm and
unflagging activity, to the cause of Rational Gymnastics and Hygiene, and to
their universal teaching in schools, for thirty years; was the first to introduce
the systems of Ling and Rothstein into Britain; has published many works on
these subjects (Ballière & Co., London); and has thus helped to inaugurate a
new era in this country, in regard to Physical Education, in seeking to make
it scientific and complete. See the idea and working out of Ling's System in
Dr Roth's works; and also in “ Physical Education and Hygiene in Schools,"
by the Editor (London, Kempster & Co.).
106 Instruction in Man's Physical Constitution.
?
The subject
rapidly begins
to be more
strongly
recoinmended.
1854. Manchester Model Secular School opened, in which it is taught. I
Huxley advocates the subject in his Address, at St Martin's Hall,
on the Educational “ Value of the Natural History Sciences.” 1
Dr Roth publishes a letter to Lord Granville, President of the
Council, on The Importance of Rational Gymnastics as a
Branch of National Education," and has an interview on the
subject with Mr Lingen, then Secretary on Education.
Dr Paget lectures “On the importance of the study of Physiology"
as a branch of education for all classes, before the Royal Institu-
tion of Great Britain.2
Dr Henry W. Acland, of Oxford, recommends Physiology and
Hygiene for schools, in his “ Memoir on the Cholera at Oxford.”
1855. Prince Albert recommends the subject, in a speech at Birming-
ham.
Dr Hodgson teaches it in Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh, to a large
number of teachers and pupils, and uses Lovett's diagrams. 3
Dr Roth reads a paper on the subject, at the British Association
Meeting at Glasgow.
1856. Dr Hodgson gives a course of lessons on it in Edinburgh High
School; and later in many other schools in Edinburgh, London, &c.
The Rev. Dr Robert Lee, of New Greyfriars, Edinburgh, recom-
mends it as Somatology, in the concluding Address at the Edin-
burgh Philosophical Institution, on National Education.
Dr Acland publishes Health, Work, and Play," a reprint of part
of his work on the Cholera of 1854.
1857. George Combe publishes his larger work, “ The Relation between
Science and Religion," in which the subject is again strongly.
advocated.
George Combe gives lessons on it at the Labourers' Club,
founded by T. Horlock Bastard, Esq., at Charlton, Dorset (See
Part Second, chap. vii., and report of this lesson, Part Third,
chap. ii.) and at Holywood, Belfast.
George Combe sends the paper on its Teaching in Schools, quoted
above, to the first meeting of the Social Science Association,
at Birmingham, which is refused to be read. He afterwards
publishes it as a pamphlet in the same year.
Manchester Mechanics’ Institution School opened, in which it is
taught. (See Part Second, chap. vii.).
1 Published as a pamphlet that year, and now included in his Lay Sermons.
2 It is now published in “Modern Culture," edited by Dr Youmans (Mac-
millan), with a large number of admirable papers on broader education, by
some of our most eminent men.
3 In the article in Household Words, Dec. 1857, it is said :- “These lectures
marked quite an era in the spread of physiological knowledge.” Next to
George Combe, Dr Hodgson has done more for Physiology in schools than any
one else, by his able and indefatigable teaching and recommending of it.
The Progress of this Instruction in Schools. 107
A
Dr Roth originates the Ladies' Sanitary Association; he lectures
also to Schoolmasters on Scientific Physical Education.
Physiology is taught in the Grammar School at Magdalen College,
Oxford.
Dr Acland publishes “ Note on Teaching Physiology in the Higher
Schools” (Parker, Oxford), giving a report of the examination
of this school on the subject, and suggestions on its teaching.
Household Words advocates the subject in an article on Dec. 12.
1858. George Combe dies.
1858-9. Dr Hodgson gives courses on it to working men and others, in
various places.
1859. Herbert Spencer publishes his article on Physical Education, in
the British Quarterly, since incorporated in his “ Education."
1860. Mrs Charles Bray publishes her “Physiology for Schools.”
Dr Hodgson publishes two lectures on “ Health and Wealth
educationally considered."
1861. Physiology is specifically named in the list of the Science and Art Physiology
finally recog-
Department for which grants are offered.
nised by Gov.
Physiology is recommended for schools in the Report of the Educa- ernment.
tional Commissioners published this year.
Professor Laycock, of Edinburgh University, recommends it in
The Scientific Place and Principles of Medical Psychology.”
1862. Dr Roth is awarded a Medal for his works, models, &c., on Physical
Education, at the International Exhibition in London; and
again at the Paris Exhibition in 1867.
1864. Milldown School, at Blandford, Dorset, is founded by T. Horlock
Bastard, Esq., in which Physiology is made a necessary subject..
(See details, Part Second, chap. vii.)
From about this time Physiology, and, in some measure, Hygiene
and Physical Education, become more generally appreciated and
introduced into schools, good text books are increasingly pub-
lished, and these subjects make remarkable progress as a part
of education. At length, in
1871. Physiology is included and paid for by Government, as a Specific It receives
Subject, in our Common Schools, under the English Code, grants in com-
carrying out the Elementary Education Act of 1870.
1872. The same takes place in Scotland, after the passing of the Educa-
tion (Scotland) Act.--Edit.']
1 The above is an attempt to enumerate the earlier efforts at introducing
Physiology and Physical Education into schools. It is as full as the materials
at command could make it. The Editor will be greatly obliged for additional
notes on the early teaching of these subjects.
CHAPTER IV.
ON INSTRUCTION IN MAN'S MENTAL CONSTITUTION.
The need of
such instruc-
tion,
This can be
taught early
and easily.
It is essential that children should comprehend the mental constitu-
tion of man as early as possible, because, while ignorant of it, it is
impossible to carry home to their minds a rational conviction of the
utility of the course of study, which we desire them to pursue, and to
cause them to form any sensible conception of the ends and objects
of their existence. Immediate gratification is their only desire.
Children begin very early to think and feel, and one reason why
the notion is common that their minds are not prepared to receive
this, that, and the other kind of instruction, is that the information
for which they manifest no inclination is not natural and not useful.
By information not natural, I mean instruction in subjects which
owe their initerest and importance to temporary fashions of society,
and which are not inherent in the constitution of the human mind,
-dead languages, for example ; and by information not useful, I
mean details such as those of Grecian or Roman history, if taught
before the child has received any elementary ideas of human nature
or of civil institutions, and the interests which arise out of them.
But I can answer from observation, that children very early are
capable of comprehending the functions of the different Phrenologi-
cal faculties, their uses and abuses, and the kind of characters formed
by their combinations. They early apply these principles to
themselves and their associates, and learn to observe the differences
of character and to be guided by this knowledge.
After having imparted to a child a knowledge of its own bodilý
and mental condition, we have laid a foundation for further education.
The child will readily understand the advantage of forming a plan of
life,—that is, of following the dictates of certain faculties in preference
to others as the guiding authorities. Suppose, for example, that a
child possesses an active temperament, good intellect, average moral
sentiments, and large Love of Approbation, which is a very common
combination, the strongest feeling, at the dawn of reason, or manhood,
will be ambition to obtain a settlement in the world ; and how
It would fur-
nish a plan of
life;
The Advantages of such Instruction.
109
different will be the notions formed of gaining this end, according to
the enlightenment of the intellect on the points now under discus-
sion.
In a state of ignorance, the plan of life will, in all probability, And of the true
embrace projects systematically arranged for the acquisition of wealth pursuit of hap-
and power alone, and all other attainments will be classed in the
second order, to be pursued if opportunity offer and inclination
prompt. When enlightened, the individual would perceive these to
be merely the means of attaining happiness, and he would recognise
happiness itself as consisting in health of body and habitual exercise
of the higher faculties of mind ; in short, the object of his life would
be to obtain gratification to intellect and moral sentiment, instead of
regarding this as a mere by-end, not essential either to happiness or
prosperity.
1
By teaching children the elements of their own minds, we would What prin-
make them comprehend-
ciples should
be taught.
1st. That the propensities and sentiments are blind impulses and
emotions, and require direction from intellect.
2d. That intellect is a combination of powers fitted for acquiring
knowledge, but that it must be exercised before knowledge can be
gained.
3d. That the power of all the faculties is increased by exercise, and
hence that if they do not exercise the organs of observation and
reflection, they will not possess knowledge to illuminate the feelings
nor strength or vigour to control them.”
* This society may prepare the public for teaching Phrenology, as The kind of in-
struction re-
the Philosophy of Mind, in schools. I can conceive it possible for it
commended.
to establish a school in which Pharenology should be taught, in its
full length and breadth, to the pupils, as one branch of their educa-
tion. For example, I would propose to teach them, by the aid of
drawings and preparations, the general anatomy of the brain and
nervous system ; of the heart, lungs, and blood vessels; and of the
stomach and other digestive organs. By this instruction, I would
1 From MSS.
2 From MSS.
3 From an Address delivered at the Anniversary Celebration of the Birth of
Dr Spurzheim, and the Organization of the Boston Phrenological Society (U.S.),
on December 31, 1839, and published by the Society as a pamphlet. Printed
in the Phrenological Journal for 1842, vol. xv. p. 193.
110 Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
The good effects endeavour to give them clear ideas of the connection between the
of such instruc- mind and the body, and of our dependence for health, vigour, and
enjoyment on the condition of the organic system. I would next.
introduce them to a knowledge of the situations and functions of the
different mental organs, and their spheres of activity, with the uses
and abuses of each. Some of the advantages which I should expect
to follow from this instruction would be these :
(1.) It enables The children would become intelligent co-operators with their
operate in their parents and teachers in their own education. At present, great
own education. anxiety is expressed by many persons to know the faculties of their
children, that they may train them; but it occurs to few that the
most efficient co-operators in this training will be the children them-
selves, when they know their own constitution. I am not a father,
but I have considerable experience in training the children of a
relative, who lost her husband when a numerous family were young ;
and some of my most intimate friends have been phrenologists, and
have trained their children, as I did those of my relative, by instruct-
ing them in the details of Phrenology from their early years, and teach-
ing them to think and act on the principles which it embodies. We
cannot boast of having overcome every evil tendency in our young
charges, or supplied every deficiency. My experience leads me to con-
fess, that the highest and best gift which a child can inherit is a well-
formed and well-constituted brain. Where a peculiar combination
exists, I know of no method by which its effects can be removed ; and
if a feeble or diseased organization be inherited by the child, I have dis-
covered no means by which its mental manifestations can be rendered
equal to those of a brain enjoying native health and vigour. I dis-
avow, therefore, all pretensions to the power of perfecting, by means
of Phrenology, every individual child; but there are degrees of com-
parison : there may be good, better, best, as well as bad, worse,
worst. Need I assure the members of this society, that by teaching
to children the functions of the different organs, and the uses and
abuses of the different faculties, the good have been rendered strik-
ingly better, and the worst have become less bad. Whenever the
organization has been of a high order,—that is, where the quality of
the brain was good, and the moral and intellectual organs pre-
dominated, the results have been truly admirable. A few brief
remarks will suffice to explain the operation of this kind of instruction.
The organs exist and perform their functions in children, as they
do in adults. The feelings are first developed ; they are strong, they
are blind, and they sometimes conflict. Phrenology enables the
The Advantages of such Instruction.
III
the nature and
child to understand the nature, objects, uses, and relative authority (2.) It gives a
of each. It introduces light and order where darkness and chaos knowledge of
formerly reigned. I can well recollect the painful conflicts which I action of the
faculties.
experienced in my own childhood, and the difficulty which I felt in
determining which feeling was right. For example, having a large
Self-Esteem and tolerably good Combativeness and Destructiveness,
I was easily offended, and often burned to gratify my feelings of
revenge ; but Benevolence and Conscientiousness would whisper that
this was wrong. I felt instinctively the opposition between these
feelings, but knew not their relative values. I sometimes thought
that submission to aggression and forgiveness of injuries were
cowardice, and indicated a want of manly spirit; and if the better
principles actually prevailed, I rarely enjoyed the satisfaction of the
conscious triumph of virtue. Again, having Love of Approbation
equally large with Self-Esteem, I felt, in my childhood, these two
emotions constantly conflicting. Love of Approbation prompted me
to acts of vain-glory and boasting, of which Self-Esteem and the moral
sentiments were soon heartily ashamed. I resolved to correct this
fault, and put on a dogged indifference to the opinion of others, which
was to me equally unnatural and unsatisfactory, and in itself unami-
able. I could not adjust the balance between the two faculties.
Nay, not only did this conflict annoy me in childhood, but it
persecuted me far on in life, and I was constantly liable to run into
an excess of complaisance, to give way to an undignified desire to
cultivate favour by compliances, or to fall back on Self-Esteem, and
set opinion at defiance. Phrenology conferred on me the first
internal peace of mind that I experienced ; and although I am still
conscious of defects in external manners, arising from these dis-
advantages of youthful training, I now know, at least, what are the
character and value of the different emotions that visit me. I could
give many other examples, but these will suffice to render my pro-
position intelligible, that a knowledge of the faculties may be
rendered of the highest utility to children themselves.?
1 See, in the Phrenological Journal, vol. vi. p. 238, a very interesting account
of a mother's experiences in teaching Phrenology to her children, her plans to
render it practical in their education and life, and her use of a “Daily Record
of Duties, Organic, Moral, Religious, and Intellectual,” which James Simpson
says was used in many families throughout the country (“Philosophy of
Education, 2d edit. p. 114). See the practical application of Phrenology in
Education, in “Phrenology in the Family; or the Utility of Phrenology in
Early Domestic Education,” by the Rev. Joseph A. Warne, of Brooklyn, near
Boston, U.S. (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart); and in Charles Bray's
I I2
Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
(3.) It strength- Let us suppose that the child whom we are training possesses the
ens the action most favourable combination of faculties and organs, viz., full animal
of the superior
faculties. and large moral and intellectual organs. He will still be conscious of
conflicting emotions. The propensities will give desires, perhaps
those of sex, or that of property, or those of vanity and ambition, at
moments when the sentiments are off their guard, and the intellect
treacherous; and evil may be committed, which conscience may
subsequently punish, but which might, as it appears to me, have
been more successfully resisted, if the young offender had early been
made acquainted with the nature of the enemies within him. Not
only so, but a knowledge of the functions and spheres of action of
the superior faculties is highly conducive to the formation of a bold,
intrepid, and lofty moral character.
This illustrated In discussing this subject with a friend in Scotland, who is now a
by youthful ex. well informed phrenologist, he favoured me with the following
remarks :—"I am able,” said he,“ to recollect occasions in my boy-
hood, when my own instinctive faculties rebelled against certain
political maxims, practices in trade, and religious opinions, which I
heard inculcated or defended by persons to whom I looked up with
respect, as wiser and more virtuous than myself. Inward emotions,
nevertheless, condemned them, and I ascribed this state of mind to
self-conceit, to imperfect knowledge or want of experience, and tried
to bend my judgment to their standards. I have lived,” he con-
tinued, “ to be convinced that the emotion of the child, in several of
these instances, evolved the sounder morality; and as a man I have
defended, with deliberate conviction, the positions which first dawned
on my mind as instinctive impressions in childhood. But at that
age and long after, I suspected them to be wrong, because they were
at variance with general opinion; and I had no standard by which to
measure them and the current maxims of the world. In other
instances," added he, “I have discovered that my first emotions
were egregiously wrong. I may mention one as an illustration.
My first impressions in regard to the treatment of criminals were all
severe, and even sanguinary. It appeared to me that the most
effectual method of stopping highway robbery would be, for every
traveller to carry pistols and blow out the brains of the robber,
instead of giving him his purse. As a boy, I resolved to follow this
practice when I became a man. I rejoiced in criminal executions,
read accounts of them with great interest, and had strong desires to
excellent “ Education of the Feelings ” (Longmans), 3d edit. with Phreno-
logical nomenclature, 4th edit. without it.
The Advantages of such Instruction.
IT 3
go to see them; but when I did so, I always felt ashamed and This illus-
repented. My school companions used to debate, with varying youthful
talent, the propriety of executions, and of their going to witness experiences
them, and I was confounded by the conflicting feelings and argu-
ments which I heard them express. I can now refer the severity of
my own instincts to the combined powers of Destructiveness,
Conscientiousness, and Firmness, acting in ignorance of the natural
dispositions of criminals, and of the temptations to which they are
exposed; while I can trace the cruel views of some, and the
benignant and forgiving spirit which characterized others of my
companions, to peculiarities in their own organization, all acting, like
mine, in blindness and ignorance. Nor were these merely youthful
errors, which subsequent knowledge of the world was destined to
correct. On the contrary, they were the germs and buds of the
dispositions of the future men. Some of my schoolfellows were
speedily transferred to commands, as young officers, in the army
or navyIn these situations, they gave effect, so far as their
limited power permitted, to the maxims which their instinctive
impulses or their associations in life had previously evolved.
Others entered the profession of the law, became eminent as poli-
tical partisans, and continue, to this day, to display the char-
acter which dawned in the play-ground of the school.” So far my
friend.
I may be in error, but on reflecting on the scenes here described - Which show
and many of us may be able to recall similar experiences—I cannot
escape from the conclusion, that these youths would have been greatly
assisted in their endeavours to reach true and humane principles of
judgment and action, if they had been instructed in the existence,
functions, and spheres of activity of their various faculties, and in
the effect, on their judgment and feelings, of their own peculiar com-
binations of them. I may add, that I have not traced this con-
founding of right and wrong in judgment in my young relatives, who
have been trained in a knowledge of Phrenology. They have, like
other children, yielded occasionally to the impulses of the inferior
feelings, but they saw clearly, both that they were wrong, and
wherein they were in fault ; and I found that Phrenology afforded a
science and language of analysis between them and me, wbich
enabled us speedily to come to a clear understanding respecting the
merits or demerits of any particular line of conduct which they had
pursued. I believe that I address more than one member of this
society who have already used Phrenology in the way I am now
the need of this
instruction.
A
H
114 Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
recommending, in the instruction of the young, and who have seen
the advantages which I have described to result from it.
(4) It proves,
Again, in the instruction of youth, parents and teachers draw
and gives faith
in, the
ultimate information from two great sources—the Bible and works of profane
victory of the history; but how dissimilar are the maxims which flow from these
superior facul.
ties in the two fountains into the minds of children! In the New Testament,
world :
the benignant spirit of Christianity beams forth in all the soft
radiance and enlivening freshness of a lovely vernal morn, filling the
young soul with truthfulness, beneficence, and joy. It raises it above
the earth, and trains it to cherish a glorious affection for all that is
In the scenes pure, holy, and exalted. Reading profane history, on the other
of History;
hand, is like looking through a long vista on which the dark tempest
of human passion sheds flickering and deadly gleams of light, reveal-
ing at intervals every form of misery, ignorance, and crime. Here
and there, in the long reach of vision, a glow of sunshine penetrates
through the deep obscurity, and bodies forth a few breathing forms
of lofty intelligence and stately virtue. They stand, majestic and
serene, amidst the clouds and whirlwinds which rage around them;
and, inspired with a wisdom greatly in advance of their age, they
look forward, with solemn steadfastness and the bright prophetic
eye of faith, to the dawn of happier days than those which they
were permitted to see. Such were Socrates and Plato, Melancthon
and Locke, and the noble reformers of every age. But few and far
between do these visions of light and beauty appear in the pages of
this world's history. In general, it records the victor's triumph and
the captive's anguish ; fields torn up by the ploughshare of destruc-
tion, and hearths laid desolate; the widow's lamentation and the
infant's shriek; the deadly havoc of pestilence and famine, causing
that cup of misery to run over, which man's malignant ire had
wanted power, but not the will, to fill to its very brim. How can
the Christian virtues be cultivated in the soul by the contemplation
of such scenes, exhibited on the great stage of the world since time
began! We observe also, that, for the most part, history is written
in the very spirit in which the deeds which it records were done.
The vivid imagination and the eloquent pen of genius catch their
inspiration from the propensities; and the ruthless conqueror stands
before us, as a being of gigantic power, commanding our awe at
least, often enlisting our sympathies, and serving as a strong excite-
ment to the youthful mind to go and do likewise.
Again, in the study of Greek and Roman literature, what motley
groups of gods and goddesses, of monsters and of miscreants, are
The Advantages of such Instruction.
115
of ancient
literature.
evil results of
introduced to the youthful mind, emblazoned with the splendours of And the study
poetry, painting, and sculpture! Their thoughts, words, and actions,
as presented in the classic page, stand too often in contradiction to
the doctrines and precepts of Christianity.
I ask, how is the youthful mind to escape unscathed from the The general
contamination of such ideas, administered to it during its most these ideas.
active period of assimilation and growth? It does not escape
unharmed. History shows that too generally Christianity has
yielded, and that the maxims of the world have prevailed. In
point of fact, at this moment, the minds even of the most civilised
nations are animated much more by the selfish and barbarous spirit
of history than by that of Christianity. The former comes forth into
day, while the latter is seen too often retiring into the closet and the
sanctuary. How few minds, even in this free country, have full
confidence in the practical power of human virtue! I hear around
me conservative alarnis expressed, by the good, the wise, and the
patriotic, lest the founders of your government should too early have
placed an unlimited reliance on man's moral nature, when they
instituted universal suffrage. How many schemes of enlightened
beneficence and practical improvement are checked in the bud, or
shrivelled up into feeble and inefficient forms, chiefly from want of
faith in their supporters, in the power of right to commend itself to
the acceptance of the people! And whence have arisen this paralysis
of virtue, and this despondency in her cause! From the deadly
fountain of history, unpurified by an analytic philosophy, uncon-
sciously to ourselves, we form the conviction that the future will
resemble the past. The past is dark and desolate ; and those men,
therefore, are regarded as visionary dreamers, who, notwithstanding
all the tempests of the long and dreary night which history records,
see the morning star of happiness arisen, and who still place an
unshaken reliance on man's capacity for improvement.
How, then, may a generation be trained which shall believe in By what means
the adaptation of man's nature to the Christian morality; which these evils way
be preventeil.
shall read the history of the past without having its faith in human
virtue blighted, its sensibilities to the true, the refined, and the holy
deadened, and its hope in the future blasted and cut off ! With all
deference to the judgment of this assembly, I answer : By teaching
to the young Phrenology. Give them an early, and it will be an
abiding conviction, that certain faculties exist and are the fountains
of all human action. Lead them to trace the spheres of activity of
these, and to distinguish between their uses and abuses. Open up
116
Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
's
to their perception the superior authority and governing power of
the moral and religious sentiments, and render them familiar with
the objects of intellect; teach them that it is given to enable us to
acquire knowledge of all that God has instituted which it behoves
us to know, that we may apply our faculties aright; finally, train
them to the habit of tracing misery to departures from the proper
uses of the faculties, and enjoyment to their uses, and you may then
present the pages of history to their consideration, not only without
danger, but with direct advantage.
The true inter- They will then read in them the records of the animal propensities
pretation of
History. struggling to reach happiness unguided by the moral sentiments;
labouring to establish empires founded on force, fraud, violence, and
injustice; but constantly failing in their schemes, and producing
only wretchedness and disappointment. Youthful minds thus
enlightened will strip the conqueror of his halo of glory, and see in
him the propensities, combined with mighty intellect, devastating the
mansions of the peaceful and the good, and immolating hundreds
of thousands of his fellowmen, to gratify his own selfishness and
ambition. They could not love or admire such a being.
They will discover in the existence and functions of the moral
sentiments, that man is really adapted to Christianity; and that the
dismal past is not the anticipated record of the future; but that,
by the steady cultivation of his various powers, and their direction
according to the laws of the Creator, man may realize all that his
warmest advocates anticipate, in virtue, intelligence, and enjoyment.
Possessed of a firm conviction of the existence and power of
man's moral nature, they will gird up their loins in virtue's cause,
and advance with a steady and undaunted step in the grand career
of social improvement, unmoved by opposition, undismayed by
obstacles.
(5.) It in- In this country, many excellent men fear the power of the dema-
power to an- gogue to mislead the people. I should like to see the most splendid
alyse actions orator that ever bent a people to his will, address an assemblage of
and arguments.
men who had been instructed in Phrenology from their youth, who
had been trained to analyse every thought, word, and action,
quickly as it was uttered, before whose mental wisdom the
boundaries of good and evil had been made to stand forth, as clear
and well defined as the rocks which just greeted the eyes of the
Pilgrim Fathers, when they reached this land of their hopes and
fears. I should rejoice to witness the attempts of Demosthenes
himself to instigate such an assembly to deeds of outrage and
creases the
The Advantages of such Instruction.
117
injustice, to persuade them that individual and national grandeur
could be best achieved by triumphant propensities and virtues
prostrate,-in short, that the remedy for all social evils was to
plunder the rich, to degrade the refined and intelligent, and to
enthrone confident ignorance and rude propensity in high places of
authority and power. The orator would be committed to a lunatic
asylum by a unanimous vote of the people, whose reason he had
thus insulted, and whose moral emotions he had outraged. It is
true, that no candidate for popular favour would venture even now
to present such naked propositions of injustice to the people, but
many daily offer to their acceptance injurious schemes thin clothed
with sophistry and gilded by passion
In proportion to the power which you conferred upon your The importance
people of sifting moral and political propositions, and resolving and political
them into their elements, will be their dexterity in stripping off the life.
ornamental finery from the sophist's speech, and in resisting the
appeals to their passions. Your institutions call on your people to
act on questions of great moment, and often of much difficulty.
They need an instrument of moral analysis, at once simple and
comprehensive, to enable them to do so with intelligence and
success. Such an instrument is Phrenology.
If you wish, therefore, to deprive the demagogue of every
possibility of success, teach you?' young generation a sound Philos-
ophy of Mind ; you will find that it is also the handmaid of a
pure and practical Religion?
of this in social
strate :
Phrenology, if taught as an elementary branch of education, The teaching of
would undoubtedly remedy some of the evils prevalent in society. would demon-
It would demonstrate to the senses and understanding of men-
First. The intimate connection between sensation and bodily (1.) The laws
of Health.
health ; and if this were rendered palpable to every capacity, men
could not resist modifying their institutions and habits of life, so as
to secure more of health and enjoyment from this source than at
present. It would be felt as altogether inconsistent with the
indubitable rights of human beings, to subject the lower classes to
that degradation of their rational nature which is inseparable from
excessive labour and absence of moral and intellectual stimulus;
and it would no longer be reckoned a degradation, on the part of the
intelligent and refined, to submit regularly to that degree of muscular
exertion which the Creator has rendered indispensable to health.
Phrenological Journal, for 1842, vol. xv. p. 193.
1
118 Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
.
( 2.) The na- Secondly. The fact that man is a rational and social being would
tion or the rada: be practically acted upon. If this truth and its consequences were
tal faculties. understood by the mass of society, it would be seen that, until
social institutions, and the leading aim of daily pursuits, shall bear
reference to the gratification of the moral and intellectual powers,
happiness cannot be obtained ; and, if this law of the human con-
stitution were generally understood and recognized, improvement
would assuredly follow.
In no country have human pursuits been regulated on this
principle; Britain is widely departing from it, in her excessive
exertions to acquire wealth. It ought never to be forgotten, that
hitherto the most enlightened men have never known human nature
as an object of science; they have known it only through their
individual feeling and experience, and been extremely ignorant of
the influence of organization on its exercise and enjoyments, while
the great mass of mankind, rich and poor, in every country, have
never given it, and its wants and capabilities, one moment's con-
sideration. The aim of life of most individuals has been determined
exclusively by the pursuits and manners existing around them; they
have viewed only that portion of the world and human nature which
lay nearest to themselves, and which was calculated to influence
their private pursuits; and remained unconcerned about, and
totally ignorant of, every institution and interest which existed
beyond this limited sphere.
How it does Phrenology, when taught to youth, will instruct them concerning
the nature of man, as it exists in the race, and as modified in
individuals; it will prove to them the relative importance of the
different faculties, enable them to form a just estimate of the relation
of every pursuit and institution — first, to these faculties, and
secondly, to the general promotion of human enjoyment; it will
demonstrate that the law of man's nature being that of a social
being, individuals cannot be happy by confining their attention to
their private interests, but must exert themselves to establish institu-
tions and pursuits formed with a due regard to the gratification of
the highest elements of mind, otherwise that all will suffer.
(3.) The prin- Thirdly. Phrenology, by unfolding the functions and sphere of
ciples of judg- activity of the primitive faculties, will enable individuals to perceive
that the Creator has really intended that man should enjoy existence
as a rational being; and, by the same means, it will afford them
ultimate principles by which to judge of the truth of all doctrines,
and the utility of all institutions, and to choose those which are best
suited to the development of their rational nature.
this.
ment.
The Advantages of such Instruction.
119
gress.
Fourthly. It will show that, to a vast extent, the mental qualities (4.) The laws
of human pro-
of individuals may be improved by attending to the laws of
Physiology, in the formation of marriages, and in the rearing of
offspring. And,
Fifthly. That bodily disease, and consequent misery, may be ( 5.) The true
means of less-
greatly diminished by the same means. After an individual is
ening disease
instructed in the fundamental principles of Physiology, and the most and misery.
common laws of the transmission of bodily qualities, it is astonishing
to what extent it becomes possible to trace the great calamities of
life to ill-advised unions. Two individuals of consumptive families
marry, and the children languish till the dawn of manhood, and
die; two individuals belonging to families subject to fever and
inflammation marry, and the children are carried off by acute
diseases; two individuals of highly nervous temperaments marry,
and the children die of convulsions, water in the head (from over-
excitement of the brain), or other diseases, clearly referrible to the
excessive exaltation of the nervous system; or one party, possessing
a favourably developed brain, marries one in whom the animal
organs predominate, and some of the children inherit the inferior
qualities, and bring sorrow and disgrace on their parents, and misery
on themselves. Education is so defective, and human nature so
little studied, that thousands of individuals, who are convinced of
the truth of these remarks generally, and who desire to act on them,
find it impossible to obtain the instruction necessary to enable them
to do so.
This state of education will appear intolerable when
Phrenology is more widely diffused.
Persons who have never become acquainted with the springs of These opinions
human nature, and have no knowledge of their constitution and
mode of operation, conceive us writing mere fancies in delivering
these opinions. But wherever there is inherent penetration, mind is
perceived to have fixed qualities, and powerfully operating energies,
as well as matter; and confidence is felt that it may be improved
and directed. Let us not despair, therefore, of the fortunes of man.?
are facts not
fancies.
[There can be no doubt of the importance of teaching the nature
and functions of the mental faculties. If it is wise and good to
teach the organs and functions of their physical constitution to
children, as is now generally recognised, it is surely equally neces-
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. vi. (1829–30), p. 624.
I 20
Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
1
ance of Mental
struction.
The import- sary to explain their Mental constitution to them. The only ques-
Philosophy as
tion in regard to the subject would seem to be, the possibility
a branch of in-of making it simple enough to be intelligible to children, as
Physiology and other sciences can be made. On this point I have
personally no doubt, when it is properly taught; and, when we
become wiser and more skilled in developing the faculties of our
children, and in preparing them for the work of life, I am sure that
Mental Philosophy will form part of Common School instruction.
Of course, when taught, the matter of the instruction given will
depend on the system adopted by the teacher; but of the desir-
ability of such teaching, based on a sound philosophy, and adapted
to the youthful mind, there ought to be little difference of opinion.
This was George Combe's decided conviction, pleaded for, as we
have seen, with all his usual earnestness and practical sagacity.
With him, of course, Mental Philosophy was Phrenology, and when
putting into practice his own convictions of the need of its being
taught to children, he could teach no other. He, therefore, taught
it in the Williams School, Edinburgh; and he bears abundant tes-
timony to the ease and pleasantness with which the instruction
could be given, and the lively interest it excited, as well as the
practical power the young pupils gained over the problems it
included. It is to be noted, that this instruction was given to chil-
dren at an early age, from ten to twelve and upwards. Evidence
of this, and examples of the kind of instruction given, will be found
in the Appendix, and elsewhere in this work.
George Combe's Like most things that George Combe did, his labours in this
teaching of
field of instruction were, naturally enough, misunderstood and written
Phrenology
misunderstood, against, even by those agreeing with him on other unpopular points,
as on Secular Education. The Williams School was looked upon
as a propaganda for Phrenology, which, of course, it was not, the
aim of the school being simply to embody the general principles of
training and instruction advocated by George Combe, of which
Mental Philosophy was only one. Had the other subjects been
subordinated to this one, there might have been ground for the
accusation. In November 1849, the year after the school was
opened, a letter appeared in the Scotsman, giving expression to this
opinion, written by “A Secular Educationist," a man now eminent in
the literary world, and animadverting very strongly on the teaching of
Phrenology in that school. To this George Combe replied, with a
quiet but forcible statement of his position. Regarding his teach-
ing of Phrenology there, he says :--
George Combe's teaching of the Subject.
I 21
“If, without offence, I may be allowed to speak of Phrenology, I His defence of
its teaching
should say that those who have most extensively studied this sub-
ject, perceive that men are idiots when their brains are below a
certain size; that, cæteris paribus, they are predisposed to animal
passions when the base of their brain predominates, to moral
emotions when the coronal region is largely developed, and to
intellectual pursuits when the anterior lobe is large; and, moreover,
that particular animal passions, moral emotions, and intellectual
faculties, are strong or weak in proportion as particular portions of
the brain are large or small. These facts, if true, cannot be unim-
portant; and no one can know whether they are true or false with-
out qualifying himself to observe, and practising extensive observa-
tions. It is the conviction of the truth, and the experience during
thirty years of active life, of their practical importance, that has
induced me to teach them in Mr Williams' school. But it would be
pure absurdity to suppose, as your correspondent says some persons
may probably do, that because such are my individual opinions,
all the advocates of Secular Education must necessarily mean by that
phrase, schools in which Phrenology is taught. On the contrary,
that expression really indicates only the exclusion of dogmatic
religious instruction ; the choice of secular subjects being left to
those who shall, by law, be entrusted with the management of the
schools. Every consistent phrenologist who is convinced of the
importance. of the functions of the brain, will naturally desire to
see them taught as a branch of Common education, just as he desires
to see the functions of the lungs, and those of the digestive viscera
explained ; but he will not be so narrow-minded as to oppose the
introduction of all other branches of secular knowledge into schools,
because his fellow-citizens are not yet prepared to admit Phrenology.
For my own part, so thoroughly am I convinced that Phrenology,
because it is true and important, will follow in due course of time,
that I shall support schools in which any portion of secular know-
ledge is communicated, and regard that portion as a public boon.”
After George Combe ceased to teach the subject, on account of Schools in
which Phren-
failing health, Mr Williams carried it on with equal pleasure and
ology was
success, till the school was given up. Phrenology was also taught taught.
in the Leith Secular School, and in the Glasgow High School,2
but not elsewhere, as far as I can ascertain. It was, however,
introduced and taught in many American schools. Dr Samuel
1 From letter to the Scotsman of 24th Nov. 1849.
2 See Part Second, chap. vii.
I 22
Instruction in Man's Mental Constitution.
Howe, head of “the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum
for the Blind ” from 1832, and the celebrated teacher of the remark-
able child, Laura Bridgman, (see Appendix), thus speaks : “Before
I knew Phrenology, I was groping my way in the dark, as blind as
my pupils; I derived very little satisfaction from my labours, and
fear that I gave but little to others. Our upper classes are all
instructed in the general principles of intellectual philosophy, and
we explain to them both the old and the new systems; but I never
knew one of them who did not prefer the latter, while I have known
many who have taken a deep interest in the philosophy of Phren-
ology, and heard them avow that they were made happier and better,
by understanding its principles.” 1
I have been unable to learn that Mental Philosophy, under any
neglected in system, is being anywhere taught in the schools of this country. I
have known and seen Logic taught to young pupils (and good
text-books have been framed for its teaching 3), but not the Science
of Mind, with an exposition of the various faculties, functions, and
laws of the Mind. This is undoubtedly a want, which the future,
more or less distant, will see supplied.-Edit.]
Mental Phil-
scliools.
1 “ America," vol. iii. p. 186. Dr Howe was justly considered one of the best
teachers in America, as proved by his wonderful success with Laura Bridgman
and his conduct of his Institution. He was also the inventor of an alphabet
for the blind, and one of the founders of the Massachusetts “School for the
Idiotic and Feeble-minded.” See an interesting account of his Blind Institu-
tion, in George Combe's “ America,” vol. iii. p. 184. He died in 1876.
2 In Mrs Willard's system of Female Education, carried on in her great
Institution at Troy (see p. 66), Mental Philosophy, as expounded by Dugald
Stewart, formed one of the branches of study, a wonderful advance for the
time, (her book on Female Education was published in 1819, and her great
school at Troy opened in 1821). This was the first school in which Mental
Philosophy was made a branch of Education. See Phrenol. Journal, vol viii.
(1832-34), p. 45, for a review of her system, which well deserves the attention
of all Educators.
3 As Whately's “Easy Lessons on Reasoning,” which is included in the
list of the Commissioners on Education in Ireland ; and other works.
1
CHAPTER V.
ON THE TRAINING OF THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS FACULTIES
THROUGH SCIENCE, OR “THE ORDER OF GOD'S SECULAR
PROVIDENCE."
1. THE PRINCIPLES OF GOD'S MORAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD :
WITH A HISTORY OF GEORGE COMBE'S SEARCH AFTER THESE.
vernment of
necessary
The question which at present engages so much public attention, Instruction in
the Moral go-
viz., What should Secular Education embrace ? appears to me to
depend for its solution on the answers to some previous questions, the world
viz., Does God really govern the world ? Is the mode in which he
governs it discoverable? If it be scrutable and intelligible, is it
adapted to the nature of man? If man be capable of acting in
harmony with it, what will be the consequences of his neglecting to
make himself acquainted with it, and to adapt his conduct to its
laws ?
It will not generally be disputed, 1st, that Secular education
should include an exposition of everything which is necessary to be
known to enable us to act in harmony with the order of God's
secular providence, if such an order exist,---be discoverable,—and
be designedly adapted to the human faculties; and 2dly, that it
should embrace also such a training of all our powers, physical and
mental, as may be necessary to establish in us the disposition to
act habitually in harmony with that order.
In the early part of the seventeenth century, religious men Early ideas of
this moral gove
believed that the government of the world was then administered
ernment.
by special acts of Divine interference in the affairs of man, in the
manner described in the books of the Old and New Testaments.
If this opinion was well founded, and if the same system of govern-
ment is continued in the present day, then instruction in the principles
and mode of action of that government should constitute the sub-
stance of secular as well as of religious instruction ; because such
knowledge alone would reveal to man the influences by which his
condition on earth is determined, and enable him to adapt his con-
I 24 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
1
duct to their agency. The curriculum of study in most of our
schools and universities was instituted by men who believed not
only that this system of government prevailed in their own day,
but that it would continually exist; and this opinion influences
the judgment of the great majority of religious persons to the
present hour.
These not coun- This belief is neither countenanced by science nor warranted by
tenanced by
science or ex. experience, as applicable to the times in which we live ; but,
perience. on the contrary, the world is now governed by natural laws
designedly adapted by the Divine Ruler to the human mind and
body, and calculated to serve as guides to human conduct. If the
scheme of government by special interpositions of Divine power be
not now in force, and if human affairs be ruled by God's providence
operating through the medium of the constitution and relations of
natural objects and beings, then a knowledge of these things and
beings, and of their modes of action, will be a key to the knowledge
of the order of God's providence in the secular government of the
world, and will constitute valuable instruction for the young. It .
will unfold to their understandings and their consciences the
temporal duties which God requires them to discharge, and the
mode in which they may most effectually discharge them; and it
will enable them to comprehend the rewards and punishments by
means of which He enforces obedience to his requirements in this
life.
The proposed As few persons doubt that God actually governs the world, we
problem stated.
may assume this point to be conceded, and proceed to inquire,
whether the mode in which his government is maintained be dis-
coverable by human reason. I beg to remind the reader that, if
this world be not now governed by acts of special interposition of
Divine power, and if it be not governed by natural laws cognizable
by the human understanding and adapted to the nature of man, it
must necessarily be a theatre of anarchy, and consequently of
atheism; in other words, a world without the practical manifestation
of a God. If, on the other hand, such laws exist (as science pro-
claims), they must be of Divine institution, and worthy of our
most serious consideration,
Are these Accordingly, the profoundest thinkers generally admit that this
discoverable? world is governed by natural laws"; and hence the chief practical
questions that remain to be solved are these :- Can human intelli-
1 I was indebted to Dr Spurzheim's work on the Natural Laws of Man, for
my first appreciation of the importance of these laws.-(G. C.)
moral laws
Early Notions of God's Moral Government.
I 25
gence discover the means by which God governs the world? And,
if it can do so, is it able to modify the action of those means, or to
adapt human conduct to their influence? These topics, accordingly,
shall form the first subjects of the present inquiry.
In introducing them to the reader, perhaps I may be excused for George Combe's
stating the circumstances which first awakened in my own mind early history in
that deep interest in the subject which has induced me so often to laws :-
address the public in relation to it.
By pursuing this course, I shall be under the necessity of intro-
ducing a portion of my individual history-a perilous thing for a
living author to do, and one which naturally exposes him to the
imputation of vanity and egotism: but, as a counterbalance to this
disadvantage, the development of the origin and progress of a
writer's convictions may probably, with some readers, invest the
abstract questions of which he treats with a greater living interest,
while it will afford facilities to all for deciding, whether he is
labouring under an idiosyncrasy of perception and judgment, or is
advocating, however inadequately and imperfectly, really interesting
and important truths.
Fortified by these considerations, and soliciting the indulgence In the nursery;
of the reader, I beg to mention, that an event so common and Hou does God
reward?
trivial as almost to appear ludicrous when introduced into a grave
discourse, but which is real,-led, by insensible degrees, to the con-
victions which I am now endeavouring to diffuse.
When a child of six or seven years of age, some benevolent friend
bestowed on me a lump of sugar-candy. The nursery-maid desired
me to give a share of it to my younger brothers and sisters, and I
presented it to her to be disposed of as she recommended. She gave
each of them a portion, and when she returned the remainder to me,
she said, “That's a good boy-God will reward you for this." These
words were uttered by her as a mere form of pious speech, proper to
be addressed to a child; but they conveyed to my mind an idea ;-
they suggested intelligibly and practically, for the first time, the
conception of a Divine reward for a kind action; and I instantly
put the question to her, “ How will God reward me?” “He will
send you everything that is good.” “What do you mean by
'good'—Will he send me more sugar-candy ?”
“ Yes-certainly
he will, if you are a good boy." “ Will he make this piece of
sugar-candy grow bigger ?” “Yes--God always rewards those who
are kind-hearted.” I could not rest contented with words, but at
once proceeded to the verification of the assurance by experiment
I 26 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
At school: How
and observation. I forthwith examined minutely all the edges of
the remaining portion of sugar-candy, took an account of its dimen-
sions, and then, wrapping it carefully in paper, put it into a drawer,
and waited with anxiety for its increase. I left it in the drawer all
night, and next morning examined it with eager curiosity. I could
discover no trace of alteration in its size, either of increase or
decrease.
I was greatly disappointed ; my faith in the reward of
virtue by the Ruler of the world received its first shock, and I
feared that God did not govern the world in the manner which the
nursery-maid had represented.
Several years afterwards, I read in the “Grammatical Exercises,”
does God gov-
ern the worid ? an early class-book then used in the High School of Edinburgh, these
words : “ Deus gubernat mundum,” “God governs the world.”
“Mundus gubernatur a Deo," “ The world is governed by God.”
These sentences were introduced into the book, as exercises in Latin
grammar; and our teacher, the late Mr Luke Fraser, dealt with them
merely as such, without entering into any consideration of the ideas
embodied in them. This must have occurred about the year 1798,
when I was ten years of age; and the words “Deus gubernat
mundum--Mundus gubernatur a Deo," made an indelible impression,
and continued for years and years to haunt my imagination. As a
child, I assumed the fact itself to be an indubitable truth, but felt
a restless curiosity to discover how God exercised his jurisdiction.
In political go- In the course of time, I read in the Edinburgh Advertiser, the
vernment, how?
newspaper taken in by my father, that Napoleon Bonaparte (insti-
gated and assisted, as I used to hear, by the devil) governed France,
and governed it very wickedly; and that King George III., Mr Pitt,
and Lord Melville, governed Great Britain and Ireland-not very
successfully either, for I read of rebellion, and murders, and burn-
ings, and executions in Ireland ; while, in Scotland, my father com-
plained of enormous Excise duties, which threatened to involve him
in ruin. I saw that my father ruled in his trade, and my mother
in her household affairs, both pretty well on the whole ; but with
such evident marks of shortcoming and imperfection, that it was
impossible to trace God's superintendence or direction in their
administration.
In school dis- In the class in the High School of which I was a member, Mr
cipline, how ? Luke Fraser seemed to me to reign supreme; and as I felt his
government to be harsh, and often unjust, I could not recognise
God in it either. Under his tuition, and that of Dr Adam, the
Rector of the High School, and of Dr John Hill, the Professor of
George Combe's Pursuit of the Principles. 127
found to the in-
Latin in the University of Edinburgh, I became acquainted with In college
studies, how ?
the literature, the mythology, and the history of Greece and Rome;
but in these no traces of the Divine government of the world were
discernible.
These were the only governments of which I then had experience, No answer yet
or about which I could obtain any information, and in none of
quiry.
them could I discover satisfactory evidence of God's interference in
the affairs of men. On the contrary, it appeared to me, that one
and all of the historical personages now named did just what they
pleased, and that God took no account of their actions in this world,
however He might deal with them in the next. They all seem to
acknowledge in words that God governs the world; but, neverthe-
less, they appeared to me to act as if they were themselves indepen-
dent and irresponsible governors, consulting only their own notions
of what was right or wrong, and often pursuing what they con-
sidered to be their own interests, irrespective of God's assertech
supremacy in human affairs. Most of them professed to believe in
their accountability in the next world ; but this belief seemed to
me like a rope of sand in binding their consciences. They rarely
hesitated to encounter all the dangers of that judgment, when their
wordly interests or passions strongly solicited them to a course of
action condemned by their professed creeds.
From infancy, I attended regularly an evangelical church, was His Religious
early instructed in the Bible, and in the Shorter and Larger Cate-education, as
answering
chisms, and the Confession of Faith of the General Assembly of
Divines at Westminster, and read orthodox sermons and treatises by
various distinguished authors. In the Old Testament, I read narra-
tives of God's government of the Jewish nation, by the exercise of
special acts of supernatural power, and understood this as a clear and
satisfactory exposition of Divine government. In the New Testa-
ment, also, certain special acts of Divine interference with the affairs
of men were recorded, which likewise gave me great satisfaction, as
evidences that God governs the world; but I never could apply
these examples to practical purposes.
I learned, in some way, which I do not now recollect, that during
many ages after the close of the Scripture records, the Roman
Catholic priesthood had asserted that such acts of special super-
natural administration continued, and that they themselves were the
appointed instruments through whose medium it pleased God thus
to manifest his power. But I never saw instances of this kind of
government in my own sphere of life. In the course of time, I read
128 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
tion to it.
The claims of arguments and criticisms which carried with them an irresistible
the Churches
give no answer.
conviction that these pretensions of the Roman Catholic priesthood
had been pious frauds practised on an ignorant and superstitious
people. Here, then, was another shock to my belief that God
governs the world; and the difficulty was increased by an obscure
impression, that notwithstanding this denial by the Protestant
divines of the continuance of a special supernatural Providence
acting through the Roman Catholic priesthood, they and their
followers seemed to admit something very similar in their own
favour. As, however, I could not discover by observation satis-
factory evidence of special acts of Divine interference in human
affairs, taking place in consequence of their solicitations, any more
than in consequence of those of the Roman Catholic priesthood, I
arrived at the conclusion that all special acts of Divine administration
had ceased with the Scripture times; and thus I was again sent
adrift into the great ocean of doubt, and no longer saw traces of the
manner in which God governs the world in our day, whatever He
might have done in the days of the Jewish nation.
His Theological As I advanced in understanding, my theological studies rather
studies, in rela-
increased than diminished these perplexities. I read that “not a
sparrow falls to the ground without our heavenly Father," and that
“the very hairs of our heads are numbered,” which seemed to
indicate a very intimate and minute government of the world. But,
simultaneously with this information, I was taught that God forgives
those who offend against his laws, if they have faith in Jesus Christ
and repent; and that He often leaves the wicked to run the course
of their sins in this world without punishing them, reserving his
retribution for the day of judgment. This seemed to me to imply,
that God really does not govern the world in any intelligible or
practical sense, but merely takes note of men's actions, and com-
mences his actual and efficient government only after the resurrection
from the dead.
Natural Theo- On the other hand, when still a youth, I read “Ray on the
logy proves the Wisdom of God in Creation,” and subsequently “Paley's Natural
fact, but not
Theology," and these works confirmed my faith that God does
govern the world; although, owing to my ignorance of science, they
rather conveyed an impression of the fact, than enabled me to perceive
the mode in which He does so. As, however, I never saw any
person acting on that faith, it maintained itself in my mind chiefly
as an impression; and not only without proof, but often against
apparent evidence to the contrary. My course of inquiry, therefore,
the mode.
George Combe's Pursuit of the Principles. 129
was still onward ; and with a view to obtaining a solution of the
problem, I studied a variety of work on moral and metaphysical
subjects; but from none of them did I receive any satisfaction.
In point of fact, I reached to man's estate with a firm faith that God
governs the world, but utterly baffled in all my attempts to discover
how this government is effected.
This feeling of disappointment became more intense, in proportion His Scientific
as a succession of studies presented to my mind clear and thoroughly lation to it.
studies, in re-
convincing evidence, that, in certain departments of nature, God does
unquestionably govern the world. When, for example, I com-
prehended the laws of the solar system, as elucidated by Copernicus,
Galileo, Newton, and Laplace, and perceived the most perfect
adaptation, harmony, and regularity pervading the evolutions of the
planets and their satellites, the conviction that God governs in that
system was at once irresistible, complete, and delightful. But the
planets were far away, and I longed to discover the same order and
harmony on earth ; but in vain.
My next study was Anatomy and Physiology. From this source, Anatomy, &c.,
new light broke in upon my mind. When I saw and understood the
shed some light.
mechanisms for the circulation of the blood, the nutrition of the
body, the motions of the limbs, and the execution of the functions
of vision, hearing, and smelling, again the conviction became intense
that, in the constitution of the human body. also, God's agency is
clearly discernible : But then came the puzzling question,–
Why, if
such be the case, does God abandon this mechanism, after He has so
exquisitely made it? That he does forego all subsequent care of it,
then appeared to me only too obvious ; for around me I saw disease,
and pain, and death, and multitudinous evils, all arising from this
mechanism becoming impaired in its structure or disordered in it
functions.
Nevertheless, some facts transpired which seemed in contradiction Surgery sheds
to this supposed abandonment of the machine by its Author. I was
told, for example, that every tissue of the body had received a con-
servative, and also a reparative power; that, in virtue of the former,
it resists, up to certain limits, external injurious influences; and that,
when those limits have been passed and the structure has actually
been invaded, a process of reparation commences, the natural issue
of which is restoration of the injured part. The granulation of flesh
wounds, and the re-integration of broken bones, afford familiar
examples of this process. In these instances, the wisdom, goodness,
and power of God appeared actually woven into the texture of our
more.
!
I
130 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
frames. His government of our corporeal structure seemed so com-
plete, that every muscular fibre, and every filament of nerve, obeyed
his mandate throughout our lives; and not only, when in health,
performed precisely the function which He had assigned to it, but,
in disease, brought into active play powers which He had provided
for the emergency, and which, although incomprehensible to human
intelligence, entered on their protective and recuperative functions
at the very moment when their agency was wanted.
Clear, however, as this example of Divine government appeared
to be, I found no application made of it beyond the domains of
surgery. No practical inference was deduced from it, to regulate
human conduct in the ordinary circumstances of life. When I left
the medical school, all traces of the government of God in the world
were lost, and my feeling of disappointment returned.
Chemistry adds Chemistry was the next science which engaged my attention, and
largely to it.
it presented extraordinary illustrations of Divine government in the
qualities and relations of matter. In the revelations made by this
science, I discovered powers conferred on matter capable of producing
the most stupendous results, yet all regulated in their action with a
degree of precision that admitted even of mathematical and arith-
metical measurement. In their reciprocal relations, I perceived an
extent, variety, and wisdom of adaptation that captivated the under-
standing, and roused the most vivid emotions, as if of a present
Deity. It is difficult to describe the effeot which the first scientific
demonstration of the chemical law in virtue of which water, when
in the act of freezing, loses a portion of its specific gravity, and, in
its form of ice, floats on the surface of the pool, produced on my
intellect and moral sentiments. The adaptation of this quality to
the preservation of the beings which inhabit the water, and to the
due limitation of the influence of frost on the physical creation-
the efficacy, simplicity, and unerring certainty of the means, con-
trasted with the vastness of the end accomplished—appeared
irresistibly to proclaim the all-pervading God. Yet, when I left the
chemical laboratory and returned into the world of business, these
delicious visions fled, and I could no longer trace the Divine govern-
ment in the affairs of men.
In this condition of mind, I continued for several years, and
tion begins to recollect meeting with only two works which approached to the
dawn also, in
Commerce ; solution of any portion of the enigma which puzzled my under-
standing These were Smith's “Wealth of Nations,” and
“Malthus on Population.” The first appeared to me to de-
The true solus
J
George Combe's Pursuit of the Principles.
131
monstrate that God actually governs in the relations of commerce ; The true solu-
tion begins to
that He has established certain natural laws which regulate
dawn also, in
the interests of men in the exchange of commodities and labour; Commerce';
and that those laws are in harmony with the dictates of our moral
and intellectual faculties, and wisely related to the natural pro-.
ductions of the different soils and climates of the earth.
But in my early days, I found the truth and utility of Smith's
doctrine to be stoutly denied by Parliamentary leaders and practical
merchants; in short, by everybody, except a small number of thinking
but uninfluential men. With this exception, our rulers, merchants,
manufacturers, and even our divines, concurred in treating Dr Smith's
alleged discovery, that the relations of commerce are governed by
natural laws instituted by God, as an idle dream ; they pursued
measures directly opposed to the principles which he taught as
characterising that government, and they confidently expected to
reap a higher prosperity, from following the dictates of their own
sagacity, than from obedience to that wisdom which Smith repre-
sented as Divine. I perceived, indeed, that they were constantly
disappointed in their expectations, and that the more they opposed
the free intercourse of nations, the more their commercial prosperity
was impeded; but all influential men thought otherwise, and these
lessons led ortly to new experiments on their own principles-still
avoiding most scrupulously every approach to the views advocated
by Dr Smith.
I first read the work of Mr Malthus, in 1805, and he appeared to And in regard
me to prove, that God reigned, through the medium of fixed natural to the laws of
Population.
laws, in another department of human affairs-namely, in that of
population. The facts adduced by Malthus demonstrated to my
mind, that the Creator has bestowed on mankind a power of increas-
ing their numbers much beyond the ratio of the diminution that, in
favourable circumstances, will be caused by death; and, con-
sequently, that they must either, by ever-extending cultivation of
the soil, increase their means of subsistence in proportion to
their numbers, or expose themselves to the evil of having these
restricted by disease and famine, to the amount which the actual
production of food will maintain. These propositions, like the
doctrines of Adam Smith, met with general rejection ; and their
author, far from being honoured as a successful expounder of a
portion of God's method of governing the world, was assailed with
unmitigated abuse, and his views were strenuously resisted in
practice. Nevertheless, I saw clearly, as time wheeled its ceaseless
132 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
course, that the results of human conduct corresponded with Mr
Malthus's annunciations; and that his opponents, who governed the
United Kingdom according to their own maxims, were never able
to screen the inconsiderate poor, who reared families without securing
for them adequate means of subsistence, from the evils which he had
pointed out as inseparably connected with their erroneous principles
of action.
Bishop Butler Bishop Butler also threw a flash of light across the dark horizon ;
throws a flash
of light.
but it was only a flash. He announced clearly the great principle
of a moral government of the world by natural laws; but he threw
little light on the means by which it is accomplished. In conse-
quence of his not understanding the means, his views in regard to the
Divine government of the world, although in the main sound, are
not practical. He was compelled to resort to the world to come, in
order to find compensation for what appeared to him to be imperfec-
tions in the moral government of this world, in some instances in
which a more minute knowledge of the mode of God's present
administration would have convinced him, that the apparent imper-
fection is removable on earth.
The principle During the continuance of these perplexities, this consideration
now arrived at.
presented itself to my mind,—that, in every department of nature,
the evidences of Divine government, of the MODE in which it is
administered, and of the laws by which it is maintained, become
more and more clear and comprehensible, in proportion to the exact-
ness of our knowledge of the objects through the instrumentality of
which it is accomplished. Wherever we are altogether ignorant of
the causes of phenomena, or where our knowledge of them is vague
and general, confusion seems to reign ; while intimate knowledge
uniformly reveals order and harmony,--in other words, action
characterised by the regularity of law. Moreover, I observed that,
in the physical creation, order is maintained and an efficient govern-
ment realised, by the endowment of every object with certain definite
forces, which it displays with undeviating regularity, so long as its
circumstances continue the same; and by the adjustment of the
action of each of these forces to that of all the others with which
it is connected. The balanced centripetal and centrifugal forces of
the planets, for instance, produce their revolutions round the sun,
and, at the same time, preserve them in their places. These endow-
ments and adjustments of material substances forcibly convey to the
human mind the impression of government and order, instituted and
maintained by a Being superior to man.
George Combe's Pursuit of the Principles.
133
answer.
The following questions next presented themselves for solution - The questions
still requiring
Why should the traces of Divine administration become obscure in
the Moral department of creation? Why should we be so deeply in
the dark concerning the laws according to which life, health, talents,
dispositions, and individual and social happiness, are dispensed to
man? It appeared to me that these questions might best be answered
by asking others. Do we know intimately the causes which produce
health and disease? These must regulate the endurance of life. Do
we know the causes which give rise to the different dispositions and
capacities of men ! These must be eminently influential in deter-
mining their individual lots. Do we know the precise social effects
which these dispositions and capacities are fitted to produce, when
permitted, in the case of each person, to act blindly, to act under
false or imperfect information, or to act under a clear and correct
knowledge of the real nature and relations of things ? On the extent
of this knowledge, will depend our capacity to discern the causes of
social happiness or misery. Do we know whether these causes and
effects, whatever they may be, are subject, to any extent, to human
control ? And if so, how we may control them? If they are not
subject to man's jurisdiction, do we know whether he has it in his
power to modify, in any degree, his own conduct, in relation to
their agency, so as to diminish the evil or increase the good which
they are calculated to produce ?
To nearly all of these questions only a negative answer could be the reason of
given ; and I suspected that, in this ignorance, lay the grand obstacle no answer.
to the discovery of the mode in which God governs the organic and
moral departments of creation : but time rolled on, and no new light
appeared.
Hitherto, probably, I have succeeded in carrying the mind of the
reader along with me; for many persons may have experienced
doubts and difficulties similar to those now described : but, from this
point forward, I fear that greater differences may arise between him
The facts on which the view to be now stated is founded
have not hitherto been generally investigated with that seriousness
and patience which are indispensable to their successful study; and
hence their reality, and the importance of the lessons which they
teach, are not appreciated. Nevertheless, long-continued and dis-
passionate observation having convinced me of their truth, and of
the inestimable value of the consequences which flow from them, I
proceed to describe, in a few words, the means by which these clouds
of darkness were at length partially dispelled from my mind, and
and me.
134 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
the moral horizon of the world, in some degree, cleared up to my
mental vision.
A new princi- In the course of time, I became aware of the importance, in rela-
ple discovered. tion to this question, of certain facts which were previously generally
known, but from which no practical conclusions had been drawn in
regard to the mode in which God governs the world. These were,
that the Creator has conferred on man a system of organs of respira-
tion; a heart and blood-vessels; a stomach and other organs of
nutrition, and so forth; that to each of these He has given a
definite constitution; that He has appointed definite relations
between each of them and all the others, and between each of them
and the objects of external nature ; that life and health accompany
the normal and harmonious action of the whole ; and that disease,
pain, and premature death, are the consequences of their dispropor-
tionate and abnormal action. Moreover, I saw that God had given
to man faculties which enable him to observe, understand, and act
according to the laws which regulate the functions of those
organs.
From that time, the idea began to dawn on my mind that the
the principles study of the structure, functions, relations, and laws of these vital
sought. parts, is the true mode of investigating the principles according to
which God dispenses life, health, disease, and death in this world ; in
other words, the mode in which He governs this department of crea-
tion. In maturing this idea, my late brother, Dr A. Combe, was
my constant coadjutor and guide.
It is unnecessary to carry the history of these personal difficulties
farther. Let us now endeavour to bring this idea itself to the test
of observation and reason. With this view, we may select the
endurance of life as the subject of our consideration.
This proved by That the endurance of life is governed by regularly operating laws,
the statistics of
Mortality.
becomes obvious from the records of mortality. The records of
burials kept in the different countries of Europe present striking
examples of uniformity in the number of deaths that occur at the
same ages in different years. So constant are these results, while the
circumstances of any country continue the same, that it is possible
to predict, with nearly absolute certainty, that in England and
Wales, of 1000 persons between the ages of 20 and 30, living on the
The true mode
1
1 See very interesting and instructive details of the studies of the two
brothers in this direction, in George Combe's admirable "Life and Correspond-
ence of Dr Andrew Combe" (Edinburgh : Maclachlan and Stewart), than which
no better book could be put into the hands of young men and women.
George Combe's Pursuit of the Principles. 135
first day of January in any one year, ten will die before the first
day of January in the next year."
Uniformity in the numbers of events bespeaks uniformity in the The problem
stated:
causes which produce them; and uniformity in causes and effects
Is the system
constitutes the fundamental idea of government by natural laws. one of Fatal-
If, then, these deaths do not occur arbitrarily or fortuitously, but ism?
result from regularly operating causes, the following questions
present themselves for solution :- Are these causes discoverable by
human intelligence? If they are so, can that intelligence modify
them ? If not, can an individual adapt his own conduct to their
operation so as to influence their effects ļ These questions are
important equally in a religious and a practical point of view. If
the causes are constant and inscrutable, and their effects irresistible,
it follows that, in regard to death, we are subject to a sublime and
mysterious fatalism ; in short, that the Mahometan doctrine on this
subject is true. If, on the 1st day of January in any one year, a
thousand youths, in the vigorous period of life, know, with nearly
positive certainty, that ere the clock strikes twelve on the night of
the 31st of December, ten of their number will be lifeless corpses ;
and if, nevertheless, not one of them be able to discover who are to
be the victims, or to employ any precautions to avert the blow from
himself,—what is this but being subject to a real fatalism ?
If, on the other hand, the causes are discoverable, and if the in- Or of regular
dividuals subject to their influence possess also the power of modify-
Causation ?
ing them, or of accommodating their own conduct to their action,
and of thereby changing their influence on their own condition for
good or evil, the Divine government will present a widely different
aspect. Instead of a system of mysterious fatalism, it will be one of
causation, regular in its action, scrutable in its principles, designedly
adapted to the physical, moral, and intellectual nature of man, and
as such presented to him for the cognizance of his intelligence, the
1 I have selected the example of deaths from ages between 20 and 30, be-
cause, as will afterwards be shown, during this interval the conditions of life
seem to be to a great extent under human control. In later periods, from 70
to 80, or 80 to 90, they are not so. The human frame then obeys the law of
its constitution, it decays and dies ; but it does so under no inscrutable law.
The causes of its decay are palpable, and the effects are obviously designed.
The individual who suffers has then no duty but submission to the will of the
Being who conferred life on him at first as a gratuitous boon, and who is en-
titled to withdraw it, when the objects for which it was given have been ac-
complished.-(G. C.) The average of deaths between 20 and 30, in England
and Wales, in 1853, was about 7.4 in 1000. George Combe wrote in 1848.
136 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
Let us
respect of his moral feelings, and the practical guidance of his con-
duct. In discovering the causes of the ten deaths and their modes
of operation, we shall acquire a knowledge of the principles on which
God administers life and death to men at the age between 20 and 30.
We shall obtain a glimpse of the order of God's secular providence
in this department of his kingdom. If this view be erroneous,
there appears to be no alternative to the conclusion that, in regard to
life and death, we are the subjects of a fatal despotism.
inquire, then, whether the causes be scrutable, and whether human
power is capable of modifying their influence.
The Senses gov-
If we desire to know by what laws God governs the sense of hear-
erned by regu- ing,—that is to say, under what conditions He bestows this boon
upon us, and continues it with us,—we shall best succeed by study-
ing the structure and modes of action of the ear, and examining its
relations to the air, to the constitution of sonorous bodies, to the
brain, and also to the digestive, respiratory, and circulating systems
of the body, on the action of which the sense of hearing indirectly
depends. It is no abuse of language to say that, in studying those
details, we should be studying the conditions under which, within
certain limits, we may retain, forfeit, improve, or impair the sense of
hearing, pretty much at our discretion. In the structure, the func-
tions, and the relations of the ear, we should discern the manifesta-
tions of God's power and goodness, and a clear exposition of the
principles on which He administers this sense. In the means by
which we are permitted, within certain limits, to destroy or to
preserve, to impair or to invigorate our hearing, we should discover
the evidence of His government not being a despotism or a fatalism,
but a system of regular causation adapted to our constitution and
condition, and presented to us for the investigation of our intelligence,
and the guidance of our conduct. In the constitution of the sense
and the appointment of its relations, which man cannot alter, God's
sovereignty is made apparent. By connecting certain beneficial con-
sequences with the actions done in accordance with that constitution
and those relations, and certain painful consequences with actions
done in discordance with them, which consequences also man cannot
alter, the Divine Ruler preserves His own sway over the sense and
over all who possess it; while by endowing man with intellect
capable of discovering that constitution and its relations, with
religious emotions enabling him to respect it, and with power within
certain limits to act in accordance or discordance with it, and thereby
to command the favourable or the adverse results at his own pleasure,
Man's Physical Constitution Regulated by Law. 137
human freedom is established and guaranteed ; and man appears as a
moral, religious, and intelligent being, studying the will of his Creator
in His works, worshipping Him by conforming to His laws, and
reaping the rich rewards of enjoyment destined to him as the con-
sequences of his fulfilling the objects of his being. By those means
the Divine government is maintained simultaneously with man's
freedom
The same propositions may be predicated in regard to all the
senses.
of the whole
The question next occurs, Does this mode of government stop with the same true
the senses ? It appears to me not to do so, but to extend to every
body.
organ of the human frame. As already observed, God has bestowed
on man lungs, and other organs of respiration ; a heart, and other
organs of circulation; a stomach, and other organs of nutrition ; a
brain and nervous system, which are the organs of thought, sensation,
and will : to each of these He has given a definite constitution, and
he has appointed definite relations between each of them and all the
others, and between each of them and the objects of external nature.
These constitutions and relations have been established with design,
viz., the design of conferring on man life and health, until he shall
reach the age of threescore years and ten. They have been framed
and appointed by Divine wisdom and intelligence ; and every part of
them operates with undeviating regularity. Life and health, then,
are the result of the normal and harmonious action of the whole of
them ; disease, pain, and premature death are the consequences of
their disproportionate and abnormal action.
Now, no reasonable doubt can be entertained, that man has received
from his Creator faculties of observation and reflection, which, when
assiduously employed, render him capable, to a constantly increasing
extent, of observing, understanding, and acting in conformity with
the constitution, functions, and relations of these organs, and thereby
securing the enjoyment of life and health ; but, if he choose, he may
neglect them, and suffer pain, disease, and premature death. Hence
it seems to follow, that God has revealed to man the laws according
to which He dispenses life and health ; and actually invited him to
take a moral and intelligent part in acting out the scheme of His
providence for his own advantage.
The practical conclusion which I draw from these considerations is, The same rea-
that an intelligent individual who should know the structure, and soning applied
to Mortality.
functions, and laws of health of the vital organs of the human body,
--the quality (i.e., whether strong or weak, sound or diseased) of the
:
138 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
constitution which each of the thousand persons had inherited from
his progenitors, and the moral and physical influences to which
cach should be subjected, could predict with a great approximation
to accuracy, which of the thousand would die within the year. If
this view be correct, the ten deaths in the thousand, which, in the
present circumstances of social life, appear like the result of a fatal
fiat, would become merely the exponent of the number of individuals
in whose persons the conditions of health and life had de facto been
so far infringed as to produce the result under consideration; with-
out necessarily implying either that these conditions are in themselves
inscrutable, or that the course of action which violates them is
unavoidable. The sway of fatalism would disappear, and in its place
a government calculated to serve as a guide to the conduct of moral
and intelligent beings would be revealed ;-a government of which
causation, regular in its action, certain in its effects, and scrutable in
its forms, would constitute the foundation.
Mortality regu-
Moreover, it would follow from this view, that in the administra-
lated by Causa- tion of God's secular providence in consigning ten individuals out of
the thousand to the grave, and leaving nine hundred and ninety
alive, as little of favouritism as of fatalism is to be discovered. The
only sentence which each individual would find recorded regarding
himself would be, that he must either obey the conditions of health,
or suffer the consequences of infringing them.
It may be objected, that it is impossible for any one individual to
acquire all the requisite information ; but this objection is foreign to
the question. The real point at issue is, whether, if our instruction
were directed by a just appreciation of these principles, it would be
possible for an intelligent person between 20 and 30 years of age, to
acquire from his parents, his teachers, his medical advisers, books,
and his own observation and experience, a knowledge of the condi-
tions of life and health in relation to himself ? and whether, if
instructed in them, and trained from infancy to venerate and observe
them as Divine institutions, and supported in doing so by social
manners and public opinion, he could then, in an adequate degree,
comply with the conditions, and escape from the supposed fatal list ?
I can perceive no reason for answering in the negative. If, in the
first hundred years after the members of any community began to
act on those principles, one individual in the thousand could escape
from the list, and reduce the mortality to nine, the principle would
be established ; and the question in subsequent centuries would be
only how far this knowledge and obedience could be carried.
Life and Death Regulated by Law.
139
In point of fact, the records of mortality prove that the view now The statistics
stated correctly represents the principle on which the continuance of of Mortality
prove the prin-
life is administered by the Divine Ruler of the world. When read ciple correct:
in connection with history, these records show that if the intelli- (3.) As to the
general death-
gence, morality, industry, cleanliness, and orderly habits of a com-rate;
munity be improved, the result will be an increase in the duration
of life in that people. Thus, in 1786, the yearly rate of mortality
for the whole of England and Wales was 1 in 42: or, in other
words, 1 out of every 42 of the whole inhabitants died annually. In
the Seventh Annual Report (p. 19) of the Registrar-General, it is
stated that the rate of mortality for the whole of England, on an
average of 7 years, ending in 1844, was 1 in 46. Allowing for
some errors in the earlier reports and tables, the substantial fact
remains incontestible, that the average duration of human life to
each individual is increasing in England and Wales, and from the
causes here assigned.
Moreover, Professor Simpson, in a recent pamphlet on the value
and necessity of the statistical method of inquiry as applied to
various questions in operative surgery, presents direct evidence in
support of the proposition which I am now maintaining.
The following table, he says, calculated from the bills of (2.) As to the
mortality of London, demonstrates statistically, that, in consequence bed;
deaths in child-
of improvements in the practice of midwifery (and I should say
also, in consequence of the improved habits and condition, of the
people), the number of deaths in childbed in that city in the 19th
century was less by one-half than that which occurred in the 17th
century. The table is the following -
Average number of Mothers dying in childbed in London
from 1660 to 1820.
YEARS,
PROPORTION OF MOTHERS LOST.
For 20 years ending in......1680......1 in every 44 delivered.
For 20 years ending in......1700. .1
56
For 20 years ending in......1720......1
For 20 years ending in......1740.....
71
For 20 years ending in......1760.....
77
For 20 years ending in......1780......
..1
For 20 years ending in......1800.
110
For 20 years ending in... ..1820......1
107
It is probable that, in the earlier years included in this table, the
records were more imperfect than they were in the later years, and
1 In 1853, the rate of mortality for England and Wales was 1.28 per cent., or
1 in 79.
69
...
1
1
...
82
.1
140 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
that the difference of the mortality is in consequence exaggerated ;
but, again, making every reasonable allowance for errors and
omissions, the grand result is still the same, a diminution of deaths
from a more rigid conformity to the conditions according to which
the Ruler of the world dispenses the boon of life.
(3.) As to dif- Further,--the records of mortality, when arranged according to
ferent social the different classes of society, and different localities of the same
classes ;
country, indicate the soundness of the same principle. The follow-
ing results are presented by a report of the mortality in Edinburgh
and Leith for the year 1846 :
The mean age at death of the 1st class, composed of gentry
and professional men, was
43} years..
The mean age at death of the 2d class, composed of mer-
chants, master-tradesmen, clerks, &c., was
361 years.
The mean age at death of the 3d class, composed of artizans,
labourers, servants, &c., was
It is a reasonable inference from, although not necessarily implied
in, this table, that the 3d class furnished a larger proportion of the
ten deaths in the thousand persons between the ages of 20 and 30
than the 2d, and this class a larger proportion of them than the 1st ;
and, as God is no respecter of artificial rank, that the differences in
the proportions were the result of the individuals of the 1st and 2d
classes having fulfilled more perfectly than those in the 3d, the con-
ditions on which He proffers to continue with them His boon of
27+ years.
life.
( 4.) As to dif- Again, Mr Chadwick testifies that “while one child out of every
f'erent districts. ten dies within the year at Tiverton—and one-tenth is the average
of the county-one in five dies at Exeter," in consequence of
deficient sewerage and improper habits in the people. The reports
of the Registrar-General of England afford overwhelming evidence
of a similar kind. The same conclusion follows from these facts-
that life is administered according to regular laws, which the inhabi-
tants of some localities obey to a greater extent than those of
others :-in other words, that a knowledge of the causes which
favour the endurance of life, and of those which produce disease and
death, is an acquaintance with the order of God's providence in this
grand department of the government of the world. And if this be
the case, can we doubt that the relations of cause and effect, in
1 See striking corroborative statistics on Mortality, in Chambers' Encyclo-
pædia, under Vital Statistics, Mortality, and Sanitary Science.
The Moral World Regulated by Law.
141
,
virtue of which life is preserved, and death ensues, were rendered
by God cognisable by the human understanding, with the design of
serving as guides to human conduct?
The suggestion here presents itself, that as an intimate know- The same prin-
ledge of the structure, functions, and laws of the vital organs of the fiple applied to
body, is apparently the true key to the right understanding of the world.
order of God's secular Providence in dispensing health and life, and
disease and death, to individuals,—it is possible that, in like
manner, an intimate acquaintance with the functions, relations, and
laws of the faculties of the mind, may open the path to the discovery
of the mode in which the Divine government of the moral world is
conducted.
By the Moral government of the world, is meant the control and The Moral gov-
direction maintained by the Divine Ruler over human actions, by world defined.
means of which He leads individuals and the race to fulfil the objects
for which He instituted them. The problem is to discover the
manner in which this government is accomplished.
Our ancestors in the 17th century believed this government to be Not by super-
conducted by special acts of supernatural interference, on the part of natural inter-
God, with human affairs. Science has banished this idea, and has
substituted in its place the notion, that the moral world also is
governed by natural laws; but it has made small
but it has made small progress in unfold-
ing what these laws are, and how they operate. The consequence is,
that, at this moment, even enlightened men have no systematic or
self-consistent notions concerning the mode in which the Divine
government of the moral world is conducted. They acknowledge in
words, that there is a Divine government in the moral as well as in
the physical world, and that it is by natural laws; but here they have
stopped, and most of them are silent concerning the mode of that
government. In consequence of the exclusion, effected by science,
of the notion that special acts of Divine interference now take place
in human affairs, the religious teaching founded on that principle has
become effete. It has not been formally given up, but it is no longer
of practical efficacy. Hence, we are, at this moment, really a people
without any acknowledged, self-consistent, satisfactory, or practical
notions concerning the moral government of the world ; in other
words, concerning the order of God's providence in governing the
actions of men, and educing from them the results which He
designed.
How is this deficiency to be supplied ? Apparently in the same
142 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
The need of a manner in which we have supplied our other defects of knowledge of
Science of Mind the order of God's providence in the physical and organic kingdoms.
to prove this
government. Do we know intimately the machinery by means of which the govern-
ment of the moral world is maintained and conducted ? The answer
must be in the negative. Have we any Science of Mind resembling
in precision, minuteness, and certainty, the sciences of astronomy and
chemistry ? Monsieur De Bonald, in words quoted by Mr Dugald
Stewart, answers the question. “ Diversity of doctrine," says he,
“ has increased from age to age with the number of masters, and with
the progress of knowledge ; and Europe, which at present possesses
libraries filled with philosophical works, and which reckons up almost
as many philosophers as writers ; poor in the midst of so much wealth,
and uncertain, with the aid of all its guides, which road it should
follow ;-Europe, the centre and focus of all the lights of the world,
has yet its philosophy only in expectation."
If the Science of Mind be as indispensable to our understanding
the manner in which the Divine government of the moral world is
conducted, as is the science of matter to our comprehending the order
of that government in the physical world, and if Monsieur De Bonald's
description of the condition of Mental Science be correct, there is no
cause for surprise at the darkness which envelopes us in regard to the
government of the moral world.
The reasons of
It is too certain that Monsieur De Bonald is in the right. For,
ignorance in re- although man has received a material body, has been placed in a
gard to it.
material world, been subjected during his whole life to material
influences, and can act on the external world only through the
instrumentality of material organs: nevertheless, in the most esteemed
treatises on the Philosophy of Mind, moral and intellectual faculties
are described without mention of special organs, or of the influence
of these in modifying the manifestations of the faculties; and without
taking notice of the relation of each faculty and organ to the other
faculties and organs, or to external objects. Here, then, a dark abyss
of ignorance, apparently impassible, breaks off all practical knowledge
of the connection of the body with the mind, and of the organs by
1 De Bonald, born in 1753, died in 1840 ; a philosophical and political
writer, author of Recherches Philosophiques sur les Premiers Objets des Con-
naissances Morales, Theorie de Pouvoir Politique et Religieux, &c.
2 Stewart's Preliminary Dissertation to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. i.,
p. 230.-(G. C.)
Man's Mental Constitution Regulated by Law. 143
in the relation
means of which the mind acts, and is acted upon, by the external
moral and physical creation. And if our knowledge of the order
of God's providence can increase only with our knowledge of the
means or instruments through which He administers it, are we to
sit quietly down, and allow this state of ignorance to continue for
ever?
The cause why it has continued so long appears to me to be The secret lies
obvious enough. In a state of health, most men have no conscious-
between Mind
ness of the existence and interposition of material organs in thinking, and its physical
organs.
They are conscious of thoughts and feelings, but not of organs; and
people have been taught to ascribe all the phenomena of consciousness
to mind alone. Consequently, they are offended with those who
refer such phenomena in any degree to the influence of organs.
Nevertheless, facts which are revealed by the most ordinary observa-
tion, show that our mental manifestations are influenced, at every
moment of our lives, by the condition of the organs. The question
then occurs, may not the key to a knowledge of the manner in which
God governs the world of mind be found in the study of these
organs, and their laws and relations ? One point seems to be clear
enough : namely, that if God has instituted mental organs, nd
ordained their functions, their constitution and laws must be adapted
to the constitution and laws of all the other departments of creation ;
and that, therefore, a correct knowledge of the relations of the world
of mind to the world of matter, must be unattainable while we remain
in ignorance of the mental organs.
A knowledge of these organs, therefore, and their relations
and laws, appears calculated at last to form a bridge across the
abyss of ignorance which has hitherto concealed from our view the
manner in which the Divine government of the moral world is con-
ducted.
Let us inquire, then, whether the system of Divine government This proved by
before described stops with the inorganic and organic departments crime:
the statistics of
of creation, or whether it extends into the domain of mind. One
(1.) In France;
of the most striking anomalies in the moral government of the world
consists in the wide-spreading magnitude and frequency of crime.
Is it possible to discover whence it arises ? Is it a direct result
of the institutions of the Creator, or does it spring from abuses
of faculties that are in themselves good ? Statistical inquiries
into human conduct present the same striking indications of uni-
formity in results as do those into the endurance of life. Mons.
144 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
Quetelet furnishes us with the following table relative to crime in
France :
Accused of Crime.
YEARS.
Accused and
brought per-
sonally be-
fore the
Tribunals.
Con-
demned.
Number
of Inha-
bitants
for each
person
accused.
Number
con-
demned
out of
each 100
accused.
Propor-
tion
between
these
classes.
Against
the
person.
Against
property.
1826
6988
4348
4457
62
1907
5081
2.7
1827
6929
4236
4593
61
1911
5018
2.6
1828
7396
4551
4307
61
1844
5552
3.0
1829
7373
4475
4321
61
1791
5582
3.1
Total , 28,686
17,610
4463
61
7453
21,233
“Thus," says Mons. Quetelet, "although we do not yet possess the
statistical returns for 1830, it is highly probable that we shall find,
for that year also, 1 person accused out of every 4463 inhabitants,
and 61 condemned out of each 100 accused. The probability
becomes less for 1831, and less for the succeeding years. We are in
the same condition for estimating, by the results of the past, the facts
which we shall see realised in the future. This possibility of assign-
ing beforehand the number of the accused and condemned which
should occur in a country, is calculated to lead to serious reflections
since it involves the fate of several thousands of human beings, who
are impelled, as it were, by an irresistible necessity, to the bars of
the tribunals, and towards the sentences of condemnation which
there await them. These conclusions flow directly from the principle,
already so often stated in this work, that effects are in proportion to
their causes, and that the effects remain the same if the causes which
have produced them do not vary.º2
The same uniformity is observable in Great Britain. A return to
the House of Commons, dated 22d May 1846, shows the number of
persons committed to prison for each of seventeen different denomina-
tions of offences, including robbery, housebreaking, arson, forgery,
rape, and so forth, for two different periods of five years, each, one
while the offences were capital, and one after they had ceased to be
so punished. The result is the following:
1 Sur L'Homme, &c., tome ii., p. 168.-G. C.) This great work, trans-
lated by Dr Robert Knox of Edinburgh, has been published in a cheap form
by W. & R. Chambers, under the title of “A Treatise on Man, and the
Development of his Faculties," by M. A. Quetelet, with a special preface by
the author.
(2.) In Great
Britain
Man's Mental Constitution Regulated by Law. 145
o
Number of persons committed for the foregoing crimes, during the
five years immediately preceding the abolition of the punishment
of death,
7276
Number of ditto, during the five years immediately succeed-
ing the abolition of the punishment of death,
7120
The first aspect of these facts suggests the idea that fatalism is the Do these facts
principle of government in the moral world also : and the questions prove fatalism?
must again be solved—Whether the causes which produce these con-
stant results are scrutable by man ļ and if so, whether he is capable
of modifying them; if not, whether he is capable of adapting his
conduct to their action in such a manner as beneficially to vary their
results ? It is remarkable that, in all ages, lawgivers have acted on
the principle that human volitions are absolutely free; for they have
directly forbidden certain actions, and enacted punishments against
those who committed them, without making any inquiry into the
power of their subjects to obey the law. Even in modern times, and
in the face of statistical returns such as those now quoted, showing a
constant succession of crimes only partially influenced in amount by
the punishments inflicted, and proclaiming, with trumpet tongue, the
existence of causes lying deeper than mere punishments can reach,
the rulers of nations proceed in their course of assuming absolute
freedom. They proclaim the law, and inflict punishment for
disobedience, irrespective of the mental condition and physical cir-
cumstances of their subjects. They have partially succeeded in
checking crime, but they must confess also to much failure and dis-
appointment. What, however, is the sound conclusion to be drawn
from the facts before us !
The regularity observable in the numbers of criminals indicates the They prove
existence of regularly operating causes of crime. The first step in regularly oper-
the investigation, therefore, must be to discover these. Several
causes are generally recognised by reflecting men, such as, want of
education, bad example, destitution, and so forth. These, however,
do not serve to account satisfactorily for the phenomena ; for out of
a thousand persons all equally deficient in education, equally exposed
to bad example, and equally destitute, only a definite and constant
number (say ten) will become criminals, in any one year in which the
external circumstances of all continue unchanged. This fact shows
that the primitive causes of crime, be they what they may, affect
some and not other individuals : and until we discover what these
are, we shall never understand whether crime is a direct or a.
contingent result of the Divine institutions ; nor whether human in-
telligence is capable of modifying these institutions so as to diminish
.
K
146 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
ment of the
world.
laws.
or remove it. Moreover, until we make this discovery, these causes,
although removable, must and will produce unvarying and constant
results, as if they were the mere instruments of an overwhelming
fatalism.
The solution in- The solution of this problem extends far beyond the department of
volves the whole
question of the mere criminal legislation. It involves the whole question of God's
Moral govern- government of the Moral world ; of man's freedom, and of the nature
of his responsibility in this world. If the common assumption, that
the will of man is absolutely free, were founded in fact, then God
could exercise no direct control over the moral world ; for the control
of a superior necessarily implies limitation of freedom in the servient
agent. If, on the other hand, He exercises an inscrutable and
irresistible sway, dooming thousands to commit crime, and to become
the victims of the tribunals erected and administered by their more
favoured brethren, every notion of a moral government of the world
must be abandoned. On such a supposition, man could enjoy no
freedom, and his only duty would be that of submission in despair.
Mind works I have already hinted at the causes why this branch of knowledge
only through
physical organs
is involved in such apparently hopeless obscurity. The means by
and by natural which the Creator conducts the moral administration of the world
have been unknown, and hence His scheme of government could
not be comprehended. If there be any part of the human system
by means of which all the desires, emotions, and intellectual powers
of man act, and are acted upon by external objects and beings : it
appears to follow, that by studying its constitution, functions, laws,
and relations, in the same spirit and manner as we do those of the
ear, or the eyes, or the lungs, and with analogous objects in view, we
may be able to discover the mode in which it has pleased God to
govern the world of mind; and that then also we may be in a con-
dition to judge whether the causes of moral actions in general are
subjected to any natural laws, and whether the moral being himself
can exercise any control over those laws, or modify their results by
accommodating his conduct to their sway. If there be organs sub-
ject to natural laws, which subserve the action of all the mental
powers of man, the Divine government may have its foundation in,
and maintain its authority by means of, those organs and their rela-
tions; just as that government is maintained over health and life,
through the medium of the laws to which the vital organs have been
subjected. If man be capable of discovering those organs, of
modifying them, or of accommodating his conduct to their action so
as to vary their results; then will he, within certain limits, be a free
Man's Mental Constitution Regulated by Law. 147
and intelligent agent; and his responsibility will be established by
the fact, that over the constitution, relations, and laws of the organs
and faculties themselves, and the consequences of good and evil
attached to the use and abuse of them, he will have no command;
while, by choosing between obedience and disobedience, he will
enjoy that kind of freedom which consists in selecting results.
The constitution of the human mind appears to be adapted to such The Mental
a system of things as is here supposed. Man has received animal constitution is
adapted to the
propensities and moral sentiments, every one of which has a external world.
legitimate sphere of action, accompanied by enjoyment; while each
may be misapplied, and thereby become an instrument of suffering.
He has received also intellectual faculties enabling him to observe
the qualities of things that exist, and reflecting faculties that enable
him to perceive causation. These endowments would be absolutely
unsuited to a sphere of being in which there was no fixed order of
cause and effect. They presuppose regular causation; and in
bestowing them, the Creator has obviously invited us to study the
means by which He executes His secular providence and to
accommodate our conduct to its laws. In submitting these means
to our cognisance, He presents to us a practical revelation of the
course of conduct which He desires us to pursue, in order to work
out our own enjoyment in this world. Is it not true, therefore, that
in the endowment of objects and beings with specific qualities and
modes of action, which we cannot alter, God maintains his
supremacy; while, in enabling us to discover these, and to modify
our conduct in relation to them, He bestows on us all the freedom
compatible with our subjection to the government of a superior
Being?
It is of no consequence to the validity of this argument, in what Mind subject to
part of the body the organs of the mind are situated. Their mere
organic laws.
existence warrants the inference, that they serve as the media
through which God maintains His government in the moral world
The reader, therefore, may, if he please, reject Phrenology as an idle
dream, if he only admit that, in this life, the mind is not a dis-
embodied spirit, but acts, and is acted upon, through the instru-
mentality of organs, the condition of which affects its powers of
manifestation.
Let us assume, then, but only for the sake of illustration, that the
brain is the instrument by means of which the mental faculties act,
and are acted upon by the external world, and let us try to solve the
problem of the moral government of the world by means of this
148 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
mental as of
How the moral hypothesis. Suppose that each primitive animal desire, moral
and intellectual
worlds are sub- emotion, and intellectual faculty is connected with a certain portion
ject to natural of the brain ; and that (age, exercise, health, constitution, and all
law.
other things being the same) each organ acts with a degree of energy
corresponding to its size. Suppose farther, that in ten individuals
out of a thousand, the size of the animal organs in relation to the
moral and intellectual is plus, and that, in the other 990, the balance
of size is equal between these different groups of organs, or that it
predominates in favour of the moral and intellectual, --we can easily
comprehend that, in social circumstances in which stimulants are
applied to all the faculties, the animal desires may be prone to attain
a criminal ascendency in the ten individuals in whom their organs
are in excess ; in other words, that these may be the ten offenders in
the thousand.
The same prin- If all the organs, wherever situated, were instituted' by God; if
ciple true of
the connection between their size, health, and other conditions, and
physical laws. the energy of their action—and also the subordination in authority
of the animal to the moral, -were established by Him; if certain
spheres of action were assigned by Him to each of them, and certain
consequences attached to under-action, moderate action, and over-
action, also to action in accordance with the constitution of
external objects and beings—and other consequences to action in dis-
cordance with that constitution; then it appears to me that a know
ledge of these particulars will, to a certain extent, constitute
information concerning the means by which God administers the
moral and intellectual government of man.
If, farther, we assume that man, without being able to alter the
man's freedom fundamental constitution and relations of any one of these organs,
under these
has, nevertheless, received faculties which enable him to observe and
comprehend them, and to modify his conduct in relation to the con-
sequences of their action, we should again have an example of
human freedom existing within prescribed limits, combined with
stable, regular, undeniable Divine government. Suppose, for
example, an individual to exist, in whom the size of the animal
organs so far predominated over that of the moral and intellectual
organs, that, in ordinary circumstances, he could not avoid yielding
to external temptation to vicious indulgences; still, if either he, or
the society among whom he lived, possessed the knowledge of the
cause of his proclivity to fall into crime, he himself, by changing his
circumstances, or they, by doing so for him, might avert the crime,
by withdrawing him from the temptation.
The nature of
laws.
The Whole Creation Regulated by Law.
149
According to this view, the tables of crime adduced by Mons. The principle
Quetelet and others, would indicate only the number of individuals applied to the
whose mental organization is so deficient, or so unfavourably Moral offences
balanced, that they are unable to resist the external temptations to
crime to which they are exposed; but would not warrant the con-
clusion, that the better constituted members of society, if they knew
the peculiarities of that organization, and used all the means which
that knowledge would place in their power to rescue the individuals
from temptation, might not diminish the number of offenders and
offences to an extent as yet unascertained.
The limits of a pamphlet do not allow me to enter on the con-
sideration of acts of mere vice, imprudence, or folly; or to show
their causes, and the nature of the consequences by which they are
followed. This has, to some extent, been attempted in my other
works; and I can now only remark, that the principles here
expounded apply to them all.
These illustrations are introduced merely to call attention to the The conclus
proposition, that if there be now no special interpositions of Divine
power in human affairs, it appears to follow, that the Divine Ruler
must either govern through the constitution and laws which He has
bestowed on the inorganic, organic, and moral elements of creation,
or (in so far as man can perceive) not govern at all. Moreover,
there appears to be no road open by which human intelligence can
discover the principles according to which the Divine government
proceeds, in administering the details of secular life, and can learn
to act in accordance with them, except that furnished by the study
of the instruments through which it is accomplished.”
arrived at.
2. THE TRAINING OF THE RELIGIOUS FACULTIES BY MEANS OF SCIENCE,
OR THIS MORAL GOVERNMENT.
If the main idea here insisted on be sound, it will present Secular The application
education in a new light. Instruction concerning the qualities, ples to educa-
modes of action, and relations of sublunary things and beings, instead tion.
of being godless, will prove to be an exposition of the means by
which God's secular providence is administered.
1 See especially his “Constitution of Man," “Moral Philosophy,” and
Thoughts on Capital Punishment.”
? What should Secular Education embrace ? pp. 1-26.
3 “There obtains a certain close affinity between a taste for Science and a
taste for Sacredness."--Dr Chalmers in “Christian and Civil Economy of
Large Towns,” vol. iii.
150 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
The next question, however, is, Will this knowledge be of itself
sufficient to induce and to enable the young to regulate their conduct
in accordance with the natural laws ? Certainly not. The follow-
ing desiderata will still need to be supplied.
Knowledge directly addresses the intellect alone; but the intellect
is more the regulator than the source of active power. The latter
comes chiefly from the propensities and sentiments. We must
therefore train all the propensities and sentiments, under the direc-
tion of the intellect to act in harmony with the secular arrange-
ments of God's providence.
The training of The sentiment of Veneration, for example, must be trained to
Veneration:
respect, to hallow, and to obey, the laws prescribed for human con-
duct in the constitution of nature. This sentiment is distinct from
the intellect, and may be led to regard almost any object as sacred.
In ancient Egypt, it was trained to venerate reptiles ; in ancient
Greece and Rome, to reverence images as gods; in modern Roman
Catholic Rome, to invest with sanctity the Pope; in Presbyterian
Scotland, to venerate the Bible, and the clergy who expound it;
but in no country with which I am acquainted, has it been trained
to regard as sacred the order of God's Secular Providence revealed
in nature.
The liability of this sentiment to take almost any direction
invest anything given to it in youth, appears to me to explain the widely dif-
character; ferent responses which the religious consciences of men differently
educated give to the same question. The Roman Catholic religious
conscience regards it as sinful to eat flesh on Fridays; while the
Protestant religious conscience considers this observance to be
superstitious. In Scotland, the Protestant religious conscience con-
siders it sinful to engage in any amusement or recreation on Sunday
afternoon; while on the continent of Europe, the religious conscience,
both Protestant and Catholic, generally views recreation on the
Sunday evening as perfectly permissible.
And should be The inference which I draw from these and similar well-known
God's Secular acts is—that it is possible to invest almost any object or observance
Government with a religious character, provided the sentiment of Veneration be
as Sacred.
trained in childhood and youth to reverence it, and be supported
through life by the sympathy of public opinion in its favour.
If this conclusion be sound, and if the secular arrangements by
which God exercises His sovereignty in this world be worthy of
the respect of His rational creatures, then it would be a legitimate
See additional observations on this important point, in Part Third, chap. iii.
Which may
trained to view
The Nature of Religious Training by Science. 151
tion ;
and useful practice to present these arrangements to the young as
objects of regard. When they had been trained to respect them,
perhaps the knowledge thus hallowed might exercise some influence
over their practical conduct.
There are other two sentiments belonging to the higher class of The same train-
faculties which strongly influence conduct, namely, Hope, and ing should be
Admiration of the wonderful, the great, and the good. These are and Admira-
the fountains of trust, expectation, faith, and joy in believing.
Experience proves that they are distinct from the intellect, and
that, by early training, they may be directed to very different
classes of objects and observances. I should propose, therefore, to
present the order of God's secular providence, as revealed in nature,
to these sentiments also, as objects worthy of regard, and should
train them to see God himself revealed in His works. A child thus
reared might, perhaps, when he grew up to man's estate, consider
himself as exercising faith, trust, and confidence in God himself,
when he yielded obedience to his laws; and he might be led even
to believe that God would render the order of His providence
conducive to good, however darkly and imperfectly this tendency
might be discerned in some of its parts, by those of His crea-
tures, who continued to be the ignorant slaves of prejudice and
passion.
It is impossible in a pamphlet to enter into a full exposition of And to all the
faculties.
this subject.2 Suffice it to observe, that all the faculties should be
trained in youth to respect and obey God's natural laws; and that
I venture to hope for practical results only after this has been
accomplished. The reader is requested to aim at grasping the general
idea which is here expounded, irrespective of the completeness or
perfect accuracy of all the details.
It will be objected, perhaps, by some individuals, that such a
training of the moral and religious sentiments would be a complete
desecration of them; that it would bind the free and immortal
spirit in the trammels of material laws; render its actions and
aspirations ever subservient to low calculations of secular good and
1 The latter is known phrenologically, in George Combe's system, as
Wonder. “Veneration, Hope, and Wonder combined, give the tendency to
religion ; their abuses produce superstition."-Introd. to "America,” vol. i.
2 See this subject of the Sacredness of Nature, or the Order of God's Secular
Providence, and the training of the young to regard it as Sacred, treated of in
full in George Combe's “Seience and Religion," 5th edition, (Edinburgh :
Maclachlan & Stewart.)
152 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
secration of
This is no de- evil; and, in short, put an end to spiritual life, and all those
the Religious
inward communings of the soul with God, which constitute the
entiments. grand sources of the enjoyment and consolation afforded by
religion.
The answer to this objection is easily given. The education and
training now proposed would leave every man free to follow the
bent of his own inclinations, in regard to the whole spiritual kingdom
and its interests and objects. The only effect of it would be, to
place the religious emotions, and all the other faculties, under the
restraints of God's natural laws, when they acted in sublunary
scenes and dealt with temporal duties.
All the facul- Farther, the religious sentiments are not singular in being foun-
ties are under tains of inward light. Every faculty has its inward lights as well
natural law;
as they. An individual, for example, who has an active tempera-
ment and large organs of Acquisitiveness, is inspired by brilliant
aspirations after unbounded wealth, and pictures to himself unlimited
happiness in its attainment. But the modes of producing and attain-
ing riches are really regulated by natural laws; and these will, in
point of fact, determine his failure or success, whether he believes in
their influence or not. To follow the inward lights of his Acquisi-
tiveness, therefore, irrespective of these laws, is not to enjoy a
rational freedom, but to yield to the blind impulses of an inferior
propensity.
Including the Similar remarks apply to the inspirations of the religious emotions.
religious emo- While their action is confined to the interests of eternity and the
spiritual kingdom, the laws of that kingdom are their proper guides ;
but when they issue forth into the sphere of temporal objects, they
come under the jurisdiction of the laws of God's secular providence,
as certainly as the animal.propensities themselves. They can accom-
plish no terrestrial good, except by conforming to these laws; while
they must produce unequivocal evil whenever they transgress them.
This view of the strict subjection of man to the order of God's
secular providence is offensive to many religious persons; but it is
so, in my opinion, only because, owing to the imperfections of their
education, they either do not know the laws of that order, or have
not been trained to reverence them as sacred.
When the structure and functions of the eye are studied in relation
to the qualities and laws of light, an exquisite adaptation of the
sense to external luminous bodies is discernible. The same obser-
vation applies to the ear and sonorous bodies ; to the lungs and the
respirable gases; in short, to every organ and function of the body,
tions.
How Science may be made Religious.
153
.
with which we are sufficiently acquainted. No human sagacity, How scientific
however, can yet predict the precise use of the spleen, and, in con-comes relig-
sequence, its adaptation to its objects is a mystery. It appears as ious.
an unmeaning mass, amidst objects resplendent with design.' Similar
remarks apply to the brain. To many who have studied the functions
of its different parts, there appears the same admirable adaptation of
them to the external world, and to the order of providence embodied
in the constitution of that world, as is recognised in the case of the
organs before named.
We discover organs and faculties of observa-
tion directly related to the qualities of external objects and beings;
organs and faculties related to their phenomena ; organs and faculties
related to their agencies, and the consequences which they produce;
and organs and faculties related to the interests of man as an in-
dividual, and as a social, a moral, and a religious being. On con-
templating these endowments and relations, and the order of God's
providence administered through them, the intelligent mind thrills
with vivid emotions of love, gratitude, and admiration of their great
Author. A " present Deity” is felt to be no longer a figure of speech,
or a flight of poetry, but a positive and operating reality. We not
only feel that we “live, and move, and have our being” in God,
but become acquainted with the means through which His power,
wisdom, and goodness affect us, and discover that we are invited, as
His moral and intelligent creatures, to co-operate in the fulfilment
of His designs. The beautiful exclamations of King David, “If I
climb up into heaven, Thou art there ; if I go down to hell, Thou art
there also : if I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the
uttermost parts of the sea; even there also shall Thy hand lead me,
,
and Thy right hand shall hold me," become positive scientific truths;
and man takes his true station as the interpreter and the administrator
of nature under the guidance of nature's God.
In the days of Lord Bacon, philosophers speculated and reasoned The existing
concerning the constitution of nature, without sufficiently observing Science and
its qualities and phenomena. He recommended to them to observe Religion.
first, and to reason afterwards; and so thoroughly has this counsel
been followed, that, in modern times, scientific reputations are built
up almost exclusively on observations. Science has, perhaps, to too
great an extent, fallen into the hands of men in whom the observing
1 More is knowu regarding the spleen since George Combe wrote in 1848.
From certain chemical inquiries, it is now regarded as a storehouse of nutri-
tive inaterial, which may be drawn upon according to the requirements of
the system.”
154 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
organs predominate over the reflecting; and it is now rather an
exception than a rule, to see practical conclusions regarding what
men should do or abstain from doing, drawn from even the most
elaborate expositions of natural science. There is a gulf between
science and daily life, and another between science and religion ;
and the schoolmaster, who, under an enlarged and enlightened view
of the order of God's providence, should be the expositor of that
order to the young, pursues his daily routine in comparative
ignorance of his high vocation, and is humbly estimated and poorly
requited by a society nearly as ignorant as himself.
There should To those who are not acquainted with the functions of the different
be no such gulf. parts of the brain and their relations, this organ, like the spleen,
still appears a mere unmeaning mass of matter lodged in the interior
of the skull, and these views of its importance may seem to be a
hallucination or a dream. But, as already observed, if they acknow-
ledge the existence of mental organs at all, instituted by God, the
conclusion appears to follow that those, wherever situated, are the
direct instruments by means of which He exercises His secular
dominion in the world of mind ; and I hope therefore to be par-
doned for the earnestness of this appeal in favour of the study of
their functions.
towards the
The Religious The religious sentiments are inherent in, and important elements
faculties may of, the human mind.
of, the human mind. They act with great energy, and lead to
stupendous consequences of good or evil, according as they are well
natural laws.
or ill directed. It appears to me that they may with great advan-
tage be directed towards the support and enforcement of God's laws
written in the book of creation, as well as of those written in the
Bible. This opinion is entitled to the greater weight, when it is
considered that no law is laid down to man in the Bible for his
guidance in temporal affairs which is not also inscribed in the book
of nature; and that, in point of fact, it is the support which the
scriptural precept receives from the agency of nature that renders it
practical. The Scripture, for example, commands temperance in
all things; and it can be demonstrated that, according to the laws
of organization, intemperance in food injures the health ; intem-
perance in drinking incapacitates the mind; intemperance in am-
bition blinds the understanding and leads to ruin; intemperance in
study exhausts the brain and deranges the mental functions; and
1 “Secular Education," p. 27-31, written in 1848.
Scripture must be Supported by Nature.
1
155
i
so forth. In my work on "The Constitution of Man," I have given
illustrations of this doctrine ; and in my Lectures on
- Moral
Philosophy," I have endeavonred to shew that the Ten Command-
ments are as clearly inscribed in the natural constitution of man, as
they were on the tables of stone delivered to Moses ; and these are
only examples which might be multiplied to the full extent of
scripture teaching relative to temporal affairs.
The principle now stated, that Scripture precepts regarding tem-Scripture is,
poral duties cannot become practical unless supported by the order supported by
of nature, deserves consideration. It goes deep into the merits of nature :
Secular and Religious education. Suppose, for example, that the
order of nature had connected health, mental energy, and temporal
prosperity, with intemperance, and that the scriptural injunction
“Be temperate in all things” had rested solely on the authority of
Scripture, and its only sanction had been the announcement of
eternal punishment as the future consequence of disregarding it,-
what chance would the cause of temperance have had for success in
this world ? Obviously, very little. This conclusion is supported
by the fact, that the plainest precepts of the Bible continue to this
day to be utterly disregarded in practice by individuals and nations
who believe unhesitatingly in their Divine authority, but whose
understandings have not yet discovered that they are supported also
by the order of nature.
The precept, for example, "Love thy neighbour as thyself,” — Illustrated by
“all men are thy neighbours, "--directly involves the principles the principles
;
of free-trade; but its practical application in this form was resisted,
and continues to be resisted, by individuals and nations who
admit its Divine authority, but do not yet perceive how this
application of it can be rendered compatible with their temporal
welfare.
League "2 succeeded in having it carried into
practical effect, only by convincing the English people that the
order of nature was such that they might safely obey the precept,
not only without temporal injury to themselves, but with positive
1 See this proved more or less in works on Social Science, but especially in
George Combe's “Moral Philosophy,” and William Ellis's works on Social
Science, enumerated Part Second, chap. vii. 4.
2 The memorable Anti-Corn-Law League, constituted on the 20th March
1839, for abolishing the restrictive and obnoxious Corn Laws—a great organisa-
tion for educating the country in the principles of Social Science, and in the
truth that our duties to ourselves involve our duties to others which issued
in the abolition of the Corn Laws and the establishment of Free Trade, in 1846.
George Combe wrote in 1846, just after the passing of the Act.
The "
156 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
sense.
advantage. Then, and not till then, they yielded obedience to what
the Scripture had commanded them to do for eighteen hundred
years, but commanded them in vain.
And resistance As a contrast, I may notice the scriptural precepts, “I say unto
to injury.
you,
that
ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy
right check, turn to him the other also ; and if any man will sue
thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also," (Matthew, v. 39, 40.) The constitution of the human mind
does not sanction these precepts when understood in their literal
Nature has bestowed on us a love of life, and a sentiment
of self-respect, which render injuries and insults disagreeable; she
has added sentiments of Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscien-
tiousness, which proclaim that the infliction of injury and insult is
wrong; but, as she foresaw that some men might disregard these
moral restraining powers and become aggressive, she added Combative
and Destructive propensities to the mind, one of the legitimate uses
of which is to repel, by force, unjust attacks on our persons and
our rights. The law of nature, therefore, is, that injury and insult
must be restrained, -by moral influence if possible, but if not, by
physical force; and, accordingly, the words of Scripture have been
practically thus interpreted, and those sects who have endeavoured
to act on their literal meaning have not succeeded in commending
their principles of non-resistance to general acceptation.
If the constitution and arrangements of nature in which our secular
should
be duties are inscribed, and by means of which they are enforced,
trained to re-
gard
were presented to the understandings of the young as Divine
Natural Laws
as Divine In. institutions, and if their sentiments of Wonder, Veneration, and
stitutions. Conscientiousness, were trained to admire, reverence, and obey them,
these duties would, in their minds, become principles of religion, as
well as of morality and prudence. Their practical efficacy would be
increased by the combined forces of the understanding, of the moral
sentiments, of the religious sentiments, and of the selfish principles
of our nature, all co-operating ; for, when all these were satisfied
in regard to their Divine authority and practical utility, they would
naturally unite towards their enforcement. No doctrines or precepts,
relative to secular duties, that rest upon and are addressed to the
religious sentiments exclusively, or even chiefly, can operate with
an equally powerful and beneficial effect. If they do not satisfy
the understanding, or the moral feelings, or the selfish elements
of the mind, they lose in practical efficacy, in proportion to the
faculties which they leave uninterested. The Christian religion
The young
these
Man's Condition Improvable only by Natural Law. 157
abounds in precepts which rest on all these foundations, and hence
its practical power. The superstitions of the ancient world, and of
modern heathenism (however deeply they may excite and interest
the religious sentiments of their votaries), fail to satisfy the under-
standing and the moral sentiments, and to promote the temporal
happiness of those who believe them; and hence their practical
inefficacy for good. They are disowned by nature, and cannot yield
the fruits of purity, prosperity, and peace.
So far, therefore, from the Divine laws in regard to secular rights
and duties having their only foundation in Scripture, the proposition
should be modified to the effect, that they have a foundation also
in nature, and that it is their conformity to, and enforcement by,
the order of nature, which renders them practical ; and this seems
to authorise the conclusion, that the State has a right to teach to all
its subjects the order of nature on which human happiness depends,
and by which the practical doctrines of Scripture are supported
and enforced. 1
I
cern,
I ask, does a knowledge of the constitution and laws of nature Religion can
bear any logical or rational relation to the end we aim at accomplish- man's condi-
ing--the improvement, physical and mental, personal and social, of tion unless by
Natural Law,
the people? I maintain that it does; nay, I go farther, and venture
to affirm that this knowledge is the way appointed by God to accom-
plish the purpose in question, and that without it, religion never can
become practically and extensively efficient in improving man's con-
dition on earth. I limit myself to earth, because, with the efficacy
of the various creeds of Christendom as means of spiritual advance-
ment in relation to a future state of existence, I have here no con-
I treat them all with respect, and leave every sincere
inquirer to form his own conclusions concerning their merits. But
I repeat, that, in reference to personal and social improvement,
religion severed from the laws of nature stands in the same predica-
ment as pure mathematics do when they are unapplied to practical
objects. Ask the profoundest mathematician who had never
studied navigation, or served on board a ship, to steer a vessel to
China, and his mathematics would be perfectly inadequate to
enable him to execute the task. To that abstract science, he must
add a practical knowledge of ships, and the mode of applying
mathematics to direct their course at sea. Ask a pure mathe-
1 National Education, p. 11–13.
158 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
matician to construct a railroad or a steam-driven spinning-mill, and
he would be equally helpless; because his science needs to be
embodied in practical forms, before it can become useful. In like
manner, religion, which in itself is a sentiment or emotion, must
condescend to borrow aid from nature, before it can accomplish
any practical earthly purpose whatever. All personal and social
improvement has been made by the Ruler of this world to depend on
physical and physiological conditions. Health and life depend on
them, wealth and destitution depend on them, mental vigour, even the
ability to pray, depend on them; for, when the brain is incapable
of action, the religious emotions vanish. I repeat, therefore, that
before religion can do anything practical towards the temporal
improvement of man, its teachers must study and inculcate obedience
to the laws of nature.
This recognised This fact is recognised by the common sense of mankind, although
by the common with the Church its recognition is infidelity. The ancients illus-
trated it in a fable. A waggoner, whose vehicle had stuck in a rut,
prayed to Hercules to lift it out. Hercules answered, “Put your
shoulder to the wheel.” Another example was given lately by a
speaker at a temperance meeting. “A ship," said he was in
danger in a storm, and the captain, addressing his crew, said “Let
us fall on our knees, and pray !” By all means," answered one of
the sailors, “let us pray; but, with your leave, captain, while we
pray, let us pump.” This reasonable request was granted, and the
ship was saved. Every one will form his own opinion to what
extent the pumping gave efficacy to the prayer.
race,
>>
2
3. THE DETRIMENT DONE TO RELIGION AND SCIENCE BY THEIR
DIVORCE.
This has caused
The opinion that religion and morality are revealed only in the
(1:) The neglect Bible, and that science is "godless," * has led to great practical evils.
religious men. Not only has the religious world too much neglected the teaching of
i George Combe had the strongest reasons, when he wrote, for saying this,
because his assertion of these truths, now so generally recognised, was then
abundantly denounced as “infidelity"; and the lecture from which this is
extracted was one of his replies to such a charge.
2 Lecture on the “Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and the
Shorter Catechism on the Civilisation of Scotland,” delivered in 1851.
3 This was, in George Combe's time, a common opinion and accusation, now
greatly, but not wholly, a thing of the past.
The Divorce between Science and Religion.
159
science as the basis of conduct, but the men of science have too
much overlooked the religious element with which all science is
imbued. One hears in many pulpits God's terrestrial creation,
including man Himself as he naturally exists, decried and degraded ;
while, in the halls of science, we may study for years, without hearing
God referred to as the fountain of the truths expounded, or any
practical inferences drawn regarding what they teach concerning
His will. Many divines are either too intent upon the truths of
Scripture to study and appreciate Nature and her record, or they
are jealous of her. There are, indeed, enlightened exceptions to
the truth of this remark, but I speak of the general character of
pulpit teaching
The man of science, on the other hand, although not ignorant (2.) The neglect
that he is expounding the s doings of the Lord,” is yet too of Religion by
.
little alive to the practical nature of the truths which he unfolds,
as guides to human conduct; and he is also afraid of trenching
on the domain of the divine, and perhaps of teaching some-
thing which the latter might regard as not altogether doctrinally
sound. He will thrill our highest faculties by his descriptions
of the stupendous magnitude of creation, and demonstrate to us one
God, and one law, ruling in every sphere. After having stretched
our imaginations to their utmost limits, and deeply excited our
Wonder and Veneration by these solemn gigantic truths, he will
direct our attention to the smallest insect, and shew us the same
power, wisdom, and skill employed in combining and regulating
the minutest atoms of matter to constitute a living and a sentient
being. Our souls expand and glow under such contemplations.
But here the man of science too generally leaves us. He either does
not perceive, or is afraid to announce, how the truths of science bear
a direct relation to the human mind and body, and prescribe certain
courses of practical action or restraint.
Every function of the body and every faculty of the mind has The Natural
probably received from the Creator a sphere of action, as certainly
once Science,
defined and as wisely appointed as is the orbit of every planet. Religion, and
Each is liable to aberrations by the disturbing influence of the other practical wis-
powers; but limits are prescribed to its deviations, and counteracting
forces are instituted to draw it back into its normal course. Sound
expositions of these laws of mind and body constitute at once
science, religion, and practical wisdom; yet how rarely are the
teachings of science thus applied ! Scientific discoveries are employed
with promptitude and vigour to increase wealth, to improve the arts
Laws are at
160 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
rento
of destruction, and to augment our sources of recreation and amuse-
ment (all proper, in due season and proportion); but they are too
much shut out from the school and the pulpit, as rules for human
conduct, and themes for human devotion.
The discord- It is true that in interpreting the Book of Nature, as in construing
ances in these the Bible, many difficulties will present themselves that are inexplic-
able in the present state of our knowledge. They perplex our
moral sentiments, and confound our understandings. But we should
not, on this account, reject or undervalue such truths as are clearly
revealed in either record. The same Divine Intelligence which
appointed the order of nature, constituted the human faculties : and
as we meet with no discordant design in those departments of the
universe with which we are sufficiently acquainted, we may fairly
believe that, in the scheme of creation itself, there is no real
incongruity; and that the apparent instances of it which we perceive,
will diminish in proportion to the advance of our information. At
one time, the aberrations of the planets from their orbits were
considered to be incompatible with the permanence of their revolu-
tions, and the solar system was supposed to contain within itself the
elements of its own destruction; but advancing science has
demonstrated, that these aberrations themselves are exemplifications
and fulfilments of the laws which regulate the normal movements
of the spheres. A profounder conviction, therefore, of harmony,
in the design and revolutions of the heavenly bodies, has taken the
place of the doubts previously raised by imperfect knowledge. If
men could be induced to regard the mundane creation in this
disposition of mind, science would no longer be called “godless."
If they would believe that when God instituted the external world,
and the human mind and body, He adapted the one to the other,
with the same consistency of design and transcendency of wisdom
which we discern in his arrangements of the planetary system, we
should consider the Book of Nature as replete with instruction, in
regard to the objects and employment of all our faculties; and we
should call that instruction religious.
(3.) University
It is this unfortunate blindness to the essentially religious and
Religious
moral character of science and its applications, and the fear of infidel
consequences, that prompt the Church so doggedly to keep watch
over the gates of the universities, and to refuse admission to every
man as a teacher who does not swear to his belief in all her doctrines,
not only regarding man's conduct in this life, but in reference to
eternity. Nevertheless, the law of faith and practice is written in
Tests.
The Effects of this Divorce.
16I
Sense of men
tenets.
the constitution of Nature, which men may partially, but can never The Common
wholly, overlook. Being woven into the texture of their existence, not based on
it forces itself upon their attention, and exacts their obedience. In religious
the ordinary affairs of life, Jew and Gentile, High Churchman
and Low Churchman, Believer and Infidel, act upon the same
principles of prudence and morals; they view any practical measure
as good or bad, according to its influence on their temporal happiness,
irrespective of its relations to the different religious creeds which they
severally embrace. They act on what is called the principles of
common sense”: the familiar name given to the practical judgments
which we form from all that we know regarding nature, animate
and inanimate, and the course of providence by which this world is
governed. This knowledge, traced to its principles and systematized,
is science; and as mankind, both in their individual and social
capacities, practise upon it, without reference to its relations to their
religious opinions regarding eternity, it is to be regretted that certain
religious sects oppose that systematic teaching of it which would
render it much more efficacious for good, unless it be accompanied
by their religious tenets which have no natural connection with it.
They have succeeded in impressing the public mind with the belief
that this science, on which, when unsystematized, they themselves
and every one else act, under the name of the “ dictates of common
sense," has no solid basis except that which their religious tenets
lend to it: whereas it derives its whole efficacy for good from its
foundations being laid in nature ; and it is in virtue of the power
which it thence derives, that it controls and gives consistency to
human actions amidst the wildest conflicts of religious creeds.
I solicit the attention of the reader to those views, because the (4.) The non-
present practice is replete with grave injuries to society. The notion Literature and
that morality and religion rest exclusively on the Bible as their Laws:
basis, has produced something like a divorce, not only between
religion and science, but between religion and literature, religion
and legislation, religion and history, religion and the drama ; and
left religion in a kind of ideal desert, from which she ever and anon
issues to disturb the march of human affairs. Generally speaking,
a foreigner might peruse the works of many of our standard authors,
study our statute-book, and read our plays without discovering that
we possessed any religion at all ; except when he met with enact-
ments and controversies directly relating to the church and the
dissenters. He could find no consistent religious principle pervading,
animating, blending with, and hallowing, these productions of the
L
162 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
human mind. This could scarcely have happened if the constitution
of nature and its relations, of which these works are meant to be
expositions or applications, had been taught to the nation as of
Its origin; Divine origin and enactment. But it is easily accounted for, when
we attend to the fact that, a few centuries ago, the knowledge of
nature and its laws was even more imperfectly developed than it
now is; that, at that time, classical literature, and theology, relating
greatly to a future state of existence, and resting for its evidence not
on nature but on acts of supernatural power setting aside its
established laws, constituted the chief learning of Europe, and took
possession of schools, universities, and the public mind; and that
this literature and theology have retained their sway over these
institutions and society ever since—without cordially inquiring into
the moral and religious claims and character of science ; without
modifying their own tenets into accordance with her increasing
lights; without throwing over her the mantle of their refinement
and sanctity, for her encouragement and protection ; but, on the
contrary, too frequently vilifying, opposing, and paralyzing her by
every means in their power.
Its results. The result could not be other than that which we see : Science
“godless," although emanating from and teaching most eloquently
and impressively the “wisdom of God ;” and Religion by far too
powerless in the secular affairs of the earth, because not acknowledg-
ing this world's constitution in its own basis, but substituting in
its place doctrines and tenets, the grand object of which is to pro-
pitiate an interest in eternity. Religious persons, distressed by the
godless" character of our periodical and other literature, have
established rival works, in which they endeavour to blend their
doctrinal tenets with secular affairs, but they do not succeed. In
point of fact, they place doctrinal disquisitions in juxtaposition
with secular knowledge, without uniting them; and for the simple
reason, that, as taught, they are incompatible. The sectarian world,
especially the Calvinistic sects, must view nature in a light widely
different from that in which they now regard it, before they shall be
capable of blending religion and mundane interests harmoniously
together
(5.) The non-re-
Another evil attending the prevailing views on this subject, is the
of
scientific and very inadequate appreciation entertained by the scientific and
literary men. literary classes, of the strength and importance of the religious senti-
ments. Debarred by the present state of theology from combining
these emotions with their own studies and teaching, they overlook
66
The Power of the Religious Faculties.
163
them altogether, and leave them to be wielded as active powers at
discretion by the church and the religious sects, without troubling
themselves about the uses which are made of them, except when
they are directed against science and theinselves. The consequence
is, that theology reaps small benefit from science; and that its
stupendous powers are not unfrequently wielded as engines of per-
sonal or sectarian aggrandisement, by men who retard, instead of
advancing, the temporal welfare of mankind. By their blind
dereliction of the God of nature and his teaching, they occasion
vast waste of mind and physical resources, in so far as regards the
reclamation of this world. The men of science see this, yet stand Its effect on
their influence.
by, timid and inactive. They feel a want of social importance and
consideration for themselves and their pursuits; yet so dark are
their perceptions of their own splendid position, that instead of going
forth in the full confidence and panoply of natural truth, to proclaim
the sway of the great God of nature in every department of human
affairs, to teach his wisdom, and to instruct men in his ways, they
felicitate themselves on the visit of a prince to one of their scientific
meetings, as a certain means of commanding that public homage
which they are conscious that they have never yet secured by their
own influence over the public mind.
They must seek for consideration through other means. The The immense
moral and religious sentiments are the grand levers of civilized power of the
society. He who commands them is irresistible ; and until Science sentiments.
shall discover her own character and vocation,—that she is the
messenger of God, speaking directly to these sentiments in strains
calculated to thrill and rouse them to the most energetic action-
she will never wield her proper influence over society, for the pro-
motion of their moral, religious, and physical welfare. Never, until
she does so, will she take that place in social esteem and veneration
which, as the fountain of Divine wisdom, she is entitled to possess.
Let the scientific world consider the gigantic power of the religious
sentiments in sustaining a vast priesthood, under every form of
obloquy and depression, and amidst the most appalling poverty, in
Ireland ; in rearing the fabrics of the dissenting churches in England
and Scotland, and supporting a clergy to preach in them; in main-
taining numerous schools for education in their own tenets; in rear-
ing colleges, and endowing professorships; in distributing Bibles in
every land, and in every language ; and in sending missionaries to
preach in every country of the globe--and they will obtain a
glimpse of a truth which it concerns them to appreciate and apply.
164 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
I honour the men who have made these glorious efforts, and who
also, under the guidance of their common sense, have diffused a vast
amount of secular knowledge through all ranks of society. Their
aim has been pure and elevated, and their
means holy, although,
through the prejudices of their education, they have too much
neglected to study nature in a right spirit. They have accomplished
these mighty ends by wielding the religious sentiments, as their
lever; yet these emotions, when systematically dissevered from
science, cannot have achieved their mightiest conquests over human
folly, ignorance, and suffering.
These ought What influence, therefore, might not the men of science wield,
to be swayed and what benefits might they not confer on mankind, if they
by Science.
only knew their own position as the expounders and interpreters
of the language which creation is ever addressing to these
emotions! If they saw that every word which they utter in
correct interpretation of nature's constitution and course of action,
carries the efficacy of Divine truth along with it, for the advance-
ment of human happiness, how poor would appear the condescend-
ing notice of a prince, as a means of recommending them to
public consideration ! But have they not done injustice to the
prince ? Did he not come among them merely to pay his respectful
homage to the truths of nature, and without an idea of gracing
science by his presence, or of elevating its professors to a more
dignified position in the public estimation by his courtesies?
Rather let us believe that Prince Albert came to The British
Association, as the enlightened admirer of the Creator's wisdom
revealed in scientific truth, and esteemed himself honoured by being
admitted into the temple of Nature's God, and into the society of
the interpreters of His will,
Fewer difficul. It may be objected, that should men of science endeavour to repre-
ties in teaching sent nature as the workmanship of God, and to enlist the moral and
Revealed reli religious sentiments (Benevolence and Conscientiousness, Wonder,
gion.
Hope, and Veneration), by giving a living soul and a practical
efficacy to their teaching, they might in one year be under the
necessity of recalling as human error, views and principles which, in
the previous season, they had taught as Divine truths, and that this
would desecrate religion and degrade science. I reply, that pene-
trating, well-informed, and conscientious men, in interpreting the
Book of Nature, would advance as Divine truths only such facts and
principles as appeared to them to be fully ascertained ; and that, in
interpreting the Scriptures, no other or better security against
Theology Adverse to Nature must fall.
165
66
erroneous and presumptuous teaching can be found. When we
contrast the conflicting views of Scriptural doctrines which are
every day emanating from the press and the pulpit, it is certain
that many professors of Christianity are teaching, as Divine truths,
views which are merely the emanations of their own misguided
judgments. But this is an evil inseparable from humanity. In the
case of teaching science as divine truth, there would be this advan-
tage, that no sect or college could claim a vested right or prescriptive
privilege of interpretation, and that religious teaching would advance
pari passu with scientific research and discovery. Besides, errors
would in time be detected and exposed by their consequences.
Difficulties may long embarrass us in natural as well as in revealed The truths of
Natural Relig.
religion ; but, as a general principle, it may be stated, that in natural ion can be di
religion every doctrine that is sound leads directly or indirectly to rectly tested.
beneficial temporal results, and every error to evil consequences.
There is a test, therefore, in this world, by which to try our interpre-
tations of the Divine will in natural affairs; and this is a great
safeguard against continuing in error. In religious teaching concern-
ing the life to come, no such test exists. When one sect denounces
the doctrines of another as soul-destroying errors," we cannot call
in experience to settle their merits until it be too late. From the
other world there is no return; and instead, therefore, of God's
sacred name and authority being more liable to be abused in teaching
natural than revealed religion, the case is the reverse. In inculcating
the latter, human presumption, ignorance, and folly have a wider
range of action than in teaching the former. The Roman Catholics
and Protestants, on account of some trivial differences, respectively
reject each other's version of the Bible as spurious; but Nature
speaks one language to all !
Another reason why these views may merit some consideration is, Theology ad-
that the Theology which is based exclusively on Scripture and verse to Nature
rejects the alliance of Nature, is actually falling before the progress is falling be-
fore Science.
of science. I have travelled in the United States of North America,
in Germany, and Italy, and held converse with men of cultivated
minds in these countries, as well as in the three divisions of the
United Kingdom; and I venture to say, that the Theology which
condemns Nature and rejects her alliance, however vigorous, power-
ful, and triumphant it may appear externally, is in the course of its
decline and fall, as no longer suited to an enlightened age. In
Germany, the country in which the Reformation originated and
from which it spread, and which has, since that epoch, cultivated
166 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
The progress
of broader
theology in
Britain.
Theology in all its principles and aspects, with the deepest research
and most unwearied assiduity,-evangelical religion, as it is under-
stood in this country, has already fallen, and is no longer the faith
of the majority of the people. This decline has taken place, not
through reckless profanity, as in the case of the French Revolution,
but in consequence of long-continued investigation and discussion.
This fact is known to, and its significance is appreciated by, large
numbers of influential men in the higher, middle, and lower ranks
of British society. The masters of the prevalent Theology probably
know or suspect this to be the case, but do not correctly estimate
the nature and magnitude of the forces which oppose them. Far
from receiving cordial support and encouragement from statesmen, ..
men of the world, the press, and men of science, they often meet
with cold indifference, plausible apologies, or direct opposition; but
many of them mistake the cause of this untoward state of things.
Is it not that science and reason have produced in the minds of
these classes a silent conviction, that the Theology in question is not
a practical system in this world's affair? It is something which
often embarrasses and obstructs the movements of society even to-
wards secular good. It is a machinery that is out of order, and can-
not be made to work to the advantage of all. Nay, the clergy of
various sects are themselves men; their faculties too have been
adapted to nature's laws and constitution; and when light is abroad,
they cannot remain in darkness. The press is daily giving indica-
tions that a change is proceeding even in their views; and it is
probable that, in a few years hence, only a bold and good spirit will
be wanting to shake the theological fabric in this country to the
ground, as has already been done in Germany,--and then it will
become the duty of enlightened men to reconcile the religion and
morality of nature with that of Scripture, to the infinite advantage
of both and of the people. I cordially subscribe to the proposition,
that “the Gates of Hell,” or error, will never prevail against the
Church; but the “Gates of Heaven,” or bigher and purer, more
practical and more universal views of Divine truth, will prevail
against all sects and churches which set themselves in opposition to
1 Immense progress in broader thought has taken place since George Combe
wrote the above in 1846. In this subject George Combe took special interest,
and contributed largely to its literature; indeed, all his works are on the side of
broader thought. Amongst others, he wrote a series of articles to the Scotsman
in 1844-5 on “The New Reformation in Germany,” published in 1845 as a
pamphlet.
The Importance of such Religious Training. 167
the mighty march of man towards the fulfilment of his moral and
social destinies.
1
[This subject of the Sacredness of Science and the training of The position of
Religious train-
the moral and religious faculties by means of it, is one on which
ing in educa-
George Combe places the highest importance, and to which he con- tion.
stantly recurs. Science being, with him, an investigation into the
means by which God conducts the government of the universe, it
has religious relations to man, and is truly divine. George Combe
is earnest and eloquent on the loss to human experience and happi-
ness, and to religion, science, literature, law, and indeed to man
in all his relations to his surroundings, of the prevalent divorce
between Science and Religion. His advocacy of the training of the
religious faculties, primarily of children, and also of men and
women, as an essential element in true education, distinguishes
him from many advocates of Secular Education. His claim
for such instruction in all schools follows from his view of the
nature and aim of education, as training the whole faculties of
man; and his position in regard to it is therefore strictly logical.
Additional arguments on it will be found in Part Fifth, chap.
ii. By his advocacy, George Combe would redeem back into
the sphere of Religion the all-important, wide, and ever-widening
domain of Science, and would make it not only one of the best
trainers of the observing and reflecting, but of the aesthetic, moral,
and religious faculties. His contention is an important one in
education, and should help greatly towards a final adjustment of the
problem of Real education in this department. The training of the
moral and religious sentiments is a necessary function of a true
system of education, and a place must be found for it there.
The conception of the sacredness of Natural Law, though fre-George Combe's
quently treated of by George Combe from his first utterances on
advocacy of it.
Philosophy, was more fully worked out in his pamphlet “On the
Relation between Science and Religion," published in 1847, “which
attracted considerable attention." It was finally and fully developed
by him in his larger work under the same title, published in 1857.
The interesting and instructive history of his search after the prin-
ciples of the Moral Government of the world, already given in this
chapter, is also contained, in fuller detail in some parts, in the Intro-
duction to the last-mentioned work. As told by himself, the
1 National Education, pp. 19-28.
168 Moral and Religious Training through Science.
The first pro-
idea was worked out in conjunction with his brother, Dr Andrew
Combe, who earnestly embodies it in his different works, especially
in his first, the “Principles of Physiology," published in 1834.
Leigh Hunt, who does not seem to have known George Combe's
pounding of
the idea of the contributions to the subject, writes in 1853 of this work of Dr
Sacredness of Combe's, and after speaking of the "preposterous distinction between
Science.
the laws of God and those of Nature," says: “When Dr Andrew
Combe proclaimed their identity, and showed that a violation of
the laws of health of the human organisation was an offence against
the Divine Maker of those laws, his announcement had the effect of
a revelation! And, generally speaking, it was one,-a divine reve-
lation; and this, too, of a nature which all the world has desired,
namely, one which carried its evidence in palpabilities all round
about us, in ourselves, in others, in their faces, their minds, their
sufferings, mental and physical, in the commonest headache after
intemperance, the commonest repletion at a clergy or a city feast,'
the commonest foolish indulgence of a child. Also in the whole
round of science and its discoveries. A law in astronomy or elec-
tricity, announced by a Herschel or a Faraday, is a law made by the
Maker of the stars. The ship or the telegraph cannot violate it,
but it goes wrong. A law announced by the physician or the
physiologist is equally a law of the same Maker. It cannot be
violated, but the offender is admonished by the consequences.
know its relation to the Creator is to have a new light opened upon
us in things divine as well as human; and this, indeed, is to bring
religion to bear upon daily life, and to show a faith, an evangel, in
which all can agree.
The need of its In science, available for such training, George Combe, as we have
recognition in
seen, includes not only the Physical, but the Mental, Moral, Social,
Education.
and Political sciences, as all equally investigating the Moral Govern-
ment of the world.
The training of the religious faculties through science, is a most
important element in education, and it has not received the atten-
tion it deserves. It is equally real and necessary, whatever
doctrinal or religious opinions are entertained, whether orthodox,
broad, non-theistic, or atheistic; for there exist no higher or more
admirable instruments for training the moral and religious faculties
—which are inherent in human nature, and must be trained to
I See Leigh Hunt's "The Religion of the Heart," originally published by
John Chapman, London, and recently re-issued by Trübner, London (First
edit., p. 195).
11
The Importance of such Religious Training. 169
right ends, if they are not to run loose into superstition and worse-
than the Cosmos and its wonderful phenomena and wonderful laws.
For fuller information as to the nature of the religious training
recommended by George Combe, and the manner of its teaching,
see Part Second, chap. vii. ; Part Third, chap. iii.; and the Appen-
dix. - Edit.]
CHAPTER V I.
ON INSTRUCTION IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.
1. THE NEED OF INSTRUCTION IN THE MACHINERY AND OBJECTS OF
LIFE,
The ignorance It is of much importance to children to give them correct views of
regard to the the real principles, machinery, and objects of life, and to train them
objects of life. to act systematically in relation to them, in their habitual conduct.
What should we think of a merchant who should embark himself,
bis wife, family, and fortune on board of a ship, take the command
of it himself, and set sail on a voyage of adventure, without know-
ledge of navigation, without charts, and without having any particu-
lar port of destination in view ? We should consider him as a
lunatic. And yet many men are launched forth on the sea of active
life, as ill provided with knowledge and objects as the individual here
imagined. Suppose, however, our adventurous navigator to use the
precaution of placing himself under convoy, to attach himself to a
fleet, to sail when they sailed, and to stop when they stopped ; we
should still lament his ignorance, and reckon the probabilities great
of his running foul of his companions in the voyage, foundering in
a storm, being wrecked on shoals or sunken rocks, or making an un-
productive speculation, even if he safely attained a trading port.
This simile appears to me to be scarcely an exaggeration of the con-
dition in which young men in general embark in the business of the
world. The great mass of society is the fleet to which they attach
themselves; it is moving onwards, and they move with it; sometimes
it is favoured with prosperity, sometimes overtaken by adversity, and
they passively undergo its various fates; sometimes they make ship-
wreck of themselves by running foul of their neighbours' interests,
or by deviating from the course, and encountering hazards peculiarly
their own; but in all they do, and in all they suffer, they obey an
impulse from without, and rarely pursue any definite object except
the acquisition of wealth, and they follow even it without a
systematic plan. If you consider that this moving mass called
The Prevalent Ignorance of the Objects of Life. 171
society is only a vast assemblage of individuals, nearly all equally
ignorant, and that the impulses which they obey are merely the
desires of the most energetic minds, pursuing, often blindly, their
individual advantage, you cannot be surprised at the strange
gyrations which society has so often exhibited. In rude ages, the
leaders and the people loved “the pride, pomp, and circumstance of
glorious war," they moved to the sound of the trumpet, and rejoiced
in the clang of arms. In our day, the leaders steer to wealth and
fame, and the mags toils after them as best it may. In one year, a
In one year, a Its disastrous
effects.
cotton mania seizes the leaders, and vast portions of the people are
infected with the disease. In another year, a mania for joint-stock
companies attacks them, and their followers again catch the infection.
In a third year, a fever for railroads seizes on them, and all rush into
speculations in stock. In these varying aspects of social movements,
we discover nothing like a well-considered scheme of action, adopted
from knowledge, and pursued to its results. The leaders and the
multitude appear equally to be moved by impulses which control
and correct each other by collision and concussion, but, in each of
which, thousands of individuals are crushed to death, although the
mass escapes and continues to move forward in that course which
corresponds to the direction of the last force which was applied to it.
It appears to me that, by correct and enlarged knowledge of human These remov-
nature and of the external world, the young might be furnished with instruction in
a chart and plan of life suited to their wants, desires, and capacities Social Science.
as rational beings. If they should subsequently become leaders, this
would enable them to steer the social course with greater precision
and advantage than has been done in bygone times; or, if they re-
mained humble members of the body-politic, to shape their individual
courses, so as, in some degree, to avoid the collisions and concussions
which reckless ardour, in alliance with ignorance, is ever encountering.
A young man, if properly instructed, should commence active life
with a clear perception of the natural laws by which social interests,
and particularly those of the profession which he adopts, are
governed; the results to which the various courses of action sub-
mitted to his choice are calculated to lead; and the steps by which
these results are in general evolved. This advantage, however, is
rarely possessed, and the young are left to grope their way, or to
join the convoy and sail with the fleet, as they best are able.
Under the present system of impulsive and imitative action, one
or other of two errors generally infects the youthful mind. If the
parents of a family have long struggled with pecuniary difficulties
172 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
ence to
easiness in
business.
Errors arising and the depression of poverty, but ultimately, after much exertion
of this, in refer- and painful self-denial, have attained to easy circumstances,—they
teach their children almost to worship wealth ; and, at the same time,
(1) The over-
eager pursuit fill their minds with vivid ideas of laborious exertions, sacrifices,
of wealth.
difficulties, cares, and troubles, as almost the only occurrences of life.
They represent expense and enjoyment as closely allied with sin ;
and young persons thus trained, if they possess well-constituted brains,
often become rich, but rarely reap any reasonable satisfaction from
their earthly existence. They plod, and toil, and save, and invest; they
are often religious, on the principle of laying up treasures in heaven;
but cultivate neither their moral nor their intellectual faculties; and,
at the close of life, complain that all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
(2) Over- The second error is diametrically the opposite of this one.
Parents of easy, careless dispositions, who have either inherited
wealth, or been successful in business without much exertion,
generally teach their children the art of enjoying life without that
of acquiring the means of doing so; and such children enter into
trade or engage in professions under the settled conviction (not con-
veyed by their parents, perhaps, in direct terms, but insensibly
instilled into their minds by example), that the paths of life are all
level, clear, and smooth; that they need only to put the machinery
of business into motion; and that, thereafter, all will go smoothly
forward, affording them funds and leisure for enjoyment, with little
anxiety, and very moderate exertion. Young persons thus in-
structed, if they do not possess uncommonly large organs of Cautious-
ness and Conscientiousness, go gaily on in active life for a brief space
of time, and then become the victims of a false system and of inex-
perience. They are ruined, and suffer countless privations. The
errors of both these modes of training the young should be avoided.
Hence the need After health, education, and virtuous habits, the best provision
of sound views that a parent can make for his son, is to furnish him with sound
of the Social
views of his real situation as a member of the social body. The
Creator having destined man to live in society, the social world is so
arranged that an individual, illuminated by a knowledge of the laws
which regulate social prosperity, by dedicating himself to a useful
pursuit, and fulfilling ably the duties connected with it, will meet
with very nearly as certain a reward, in the means of subsistence and
enjoyment, as if he raised his food directly from the soil. Astonish-
ing stability and regularity are discoverable in the social world, when
its constitution and laws of action are understood. If legislators
would cease to protect what they call national, but which are really
laws;
The Prevalent Ignorance of the Objects of Life. 173
class interests, and would leave the business world free to its spon-And of teach-
taneous movements, enforcing by law only the observance of justice, youngese to the
- the labourer, artisan, manufacturer, and professional practitioner
would find the demands for their labour, goods, or other contributions
to the social welfare to follow with so much constancy and regularity
that, with ability, attention, and morality on the part of each, they
would very rarely indeed be left unprovided for. It is of great im-
portance to press home this truth on the minds of the young, and to
open their understandings to a perception of the causes which operate
in producing this result, that they may enter into active life with a
just reliance on the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, in providing
the means of subsistence and enjoyment for all who discharge their
social duties; and yet with a feeling of the necessity of knowledge,
and of the practice of that moral discipline which enforces activity
and good conduct at every step, as the natural and indispensable
conditions of success."
and its conse-
Man is a compound being, consisting of body and mind. These The prevalent
are so intimately connected, that the over-excitement of the mind ignorance of
wastes and wears out the body; while the neglect of exercising it tution and the
objects of life;
leaves the vital powers languid and imperfect in their action. Ex-
cessive bodily labour deadens the mind, and renders it incapable of quences :
thinking and feeling; while inactivity of body induces a feeble and
irritablemental condition, incompatible with usefulness and enjoyment.
Now, have the members of civilized society generally studied
their own bodily and mental constitution, with their mutual in-
fluence, and framed their public institutions and domestic habits
with a view to allow to individuals in general that just proportion
of bodily and mental exercise, in the forms which are indispensable
to the complete enjoyment of their existence? The answer must be,
that they, in general, know extremely little about their own bodily
and mental constitutions, and that, among many classes, it is held
disgusting to study the one, and ridiculous to know any thing about
the other. Hence their constitutions and habits have not been
adopted with designed reference to the elementary qualities and real
wants of human nature; they have grown up by chance, and present
a mass of incoherent inconsistencies.
1 Moral Philosophy, Lecture vii.
2 When George Combe began about 1830 to lecture on Physiology, the sub-
ject was objected to as “ improper,'' “indelicate," &c.! The above was written
in 1830.
174 Instruction in Social and Political Science,
(1.) In the It is scarcely necessary to offer proof of this proposition, but a few
Lower Orders
illustrations may be mentioned. The lower orders are at this
moment extremely ignorant of natural knowledge; severe labour,
with inadequate recompence, is entailed on them by their condition;
and their circumstances render them incapable of that high degree
of exercise of the moral and intellectual powers which is essential to
the happiness of rational beings. In consequence, they are, to a
great extent, the victims of animal propensities, and are visited by
suffering in every form. Individuals belonging to this class are
launched into life without any moral chart of the world or definite
object in view. They have no notion of adapting their habits and
mode of life to their nature as rational beings. Their ambition, if
we may read their feelings in their actions, is to obtain, as early as
possible, sufficient wages to enable them to marry. They rear
children, but are in a great degree incapable of instructing them in
every thing that they should learn; because, Ist, An individual of
this class has little leisure, from excessive labour, to bestow on their
mental cultivation ; 2ndly, His labour renders his mental faculties
incapable of acting with effect, during that portion of time which is
left to him; and 3rdly, He is destitute of knowledge wherewithal to
instruct them, owing to the deficiency of his own education. Now,
the lower orders constitute nine-tenths of the whole population, even
in the most civilised countries of Europe. While they remain ignorant
and irrational, their condition must affect the welfare of the whole
community; and we humbly think, that as the Creator has bestowed
on them reasoning and moral powers, and on this account denied
them instinctive guidance, they stand in great need of a Philosophy
of Mind which should make them acquainted with these gifts, and
open their eyes to the imperative obligation which the posses-
sion of them imposes, to cultivate their higher faculties, and to
become capable of directing their conduct by their dictates.
The great dif- A great difficulty presents itself in regard to this class. They are
ficulty in rais-
so low in civilisation that they cannot be trusted with leisure and
ing them.
property at the same time; for they possess few mental resources
to preserve them from vicious employment of their vacant hours,
and confer on them a relish for refined enjoyments. At the same
time, while they are exposed to severe labour and doomed to poverty,
it is nearly impossible to communicate to them mental cultivation,
so as to induce them to act rationally, because, in that condition,
they have neither capacity nor desire to receive it.
The remedy appears to be to teach them, while at school, before
The Prevalent Ignorance of the Objects of Life. 175
aims of life.
entering on daily toil, as much of their own nature, of the aim of The only re-
life, and of their duties, as possible; so as to send them into the instruction at
medy is real
sphere of active exertion, possessed of some precise notions of what school in the
a rational being ought to know, and how he ought to act, to frame
the plan of his life in harmony with his nature, and thus promote
his own happiness. We respectfully maintain that acquaintance
with Phrenology and its applications, which even young persons can
comprehend, would be of the highest value with this object in view.?
The evils in the institutions and pursuits of society are not (2.) In the
Middle ranks
fanciful, nor are they inseparable from human nature. A few
examples will show that they result from ignorance. We lately put
the question to an excellent young man about to embark for India,
what views he entertained of life, and the objects of his own
existence. The question was new to him. He had been well
educated, in the common acceptation of the words, but he had never
conceived that life had any higher aim than to acquire a fortune,
marry, rear a family, live in a fine house, drink expensive wines,
die, and go to heaven. There was no provision in this life for
enjoyment from the higher faculties of his nature. He was not aware
that these had any other functions to perform than to regulate his
conduct in the pursuit of the gratification of his inferior feelings.
This is the condition of mind in which almost all young men of the
upper and middle classes of society enter into active life, and
nothing can be well conceived more disadvantageous to their success
and happiness. Those who are religiously educated are not more
fortunate : because no sect in religion has yet addressed itself to the
duty of teaching, in a rational manner, the nature of man, the
nature of the different professions in life, and of the institutions of
society, and the relation of all these to the moral and religious
faculties of the mind; without understanding which, no person
entering upon active life can see his way clearly, or entertain con-
sistent and elevated views of duty, and the true sources of enjoyment.
This deficiency in knowledge is also remarkably exemplified in (8.) In the
young men born to large fortunes, who have succeeded in minority
Upper ranks.
to their paternal estates, and, on attaining twenty-one years of age,
have been left to pursue their own happiness in their own way.
Rational views of themselves, and of human nature, and the institu-
tions of society, would be invaluable to such individuals ; but they
have no adequate means of obtaining them. A story reached us of
i Phrenological Journal (for 1829–30), vol, vi. p. 324.
176 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
a young gentleman belonging to this class, not destitute of talents
and good feeling, who emerged out of the hands of his instructors
in such a hopeful condition that he devoted himself to horses and
hounds, as usual ; next, to coach-driving; he then married, and his
post-connubial amusement was forming a float in the midst of a
pond, placing cats upon it, and sending dogs to swim in and worry
them. In a speech which the young Duke of Buccleuch? recently
made at Dumfries, he stated that his guardians had taught him that
the great duty imposed on him by his large fortune was to do good..
This was an excellent lesson; but did they tell him how he could best
accomplish good? If his Grace were questioned on this point, we doubt
much whether his intellectual perceptions of good, and the manner
of pursuing it, would equal the fervency of his desires to attain it.
Higher aims in We take the liberty to state that, in our opinion, time dedicated
life for such.
to horses and hounds, beyond what is necessary for health, is not
good, either to himself or his country; that the pursuit of political
influence, with a view to support the existing imperfections in
Church and State, is not good; that idleness or frivolous occupa-
tions are not good ; and that all external pomp, circumstance, and
equipage, which are calculated to remove him from a knowledge of,
and sympathy with, the general mass of cultivated society, are not
good. On the other hand, it would be highly beneficial if he would
set the example of pursuing knowledge and applying it to useful
purposes, so as to prove that he values the higher qualities of mind
more than physical possessions; if he would patronise enlightened
opinions ; establish and support infant schools all over his estates;
promote the formation of a college in his native country for educating
the middle classes of society in general knowledge, applicable to
practical purposes; endeavour to reform public institutions and the
laws, so as to bring them as much as possible into harmony with the
moral and intellectual faculties of man: in short, if he would view
his wealth as a vast means for gratifying his Intellect, Benevolence,
Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Ideality; and seek his supreme
happiness in pursuits emanating from these faculties-he would do
good effectually, and reap the highest reward, in the intense enjoy-
ment of his rational nature. We cannot see a reason why, when a
duke shall be born in whom the moral and intellectual org
large and the temperament is active, and whose education shall be
1 The present fifth Duke of Buccleuch (1878), who was born in 1806, and at-
tained his majorityin 1828, when he took his seat in the House of Lords, and began
public life. The above was written in 1830 (Phronological Journal, vol. vi. p. 627).
are
Higher Aims for our Nobility.
177
conducted on the principles unfolded by Phrenology, such a course
of conduct should not be realised. It will then be acknowledged
that the waste of life, fortune, and happiness by the affluent, which
characterises the present, as it has marked the past ages of the world,
was owing in no small degree to ignorance of human nature, its
wants and capacities.
In the higher ranks of life, family and ancestry are considered of The real char-
great importance ; nevertheless, daily instances occur of individuals acter of pride
of ancestry.
sacrificing their prejudices on this head to wealth ; and of aristo-
cratical blood allying itself with mechanics or merchants, sprung
from the lower walks of life, and ennobled only by wealth accumu-
lated in these employments. The pride of ancestry arises from Self-
esteem and Veneration, and has a legitimate as well as an illegitimate
direction. In most of the countries of Europe, the founder of each
great family was some feudal chieftain, of warlike and predatory
habits, who, if he had done the same deeds in modern times, would
have been designated as a robber and manslayer. On the principle
that qualities of mind and body are transmitted by descent, it can
be no honour to a mind which esteems its rational powers as the
noblest, to derive its existence from such a source. The pride in
such ancestry, which still exists, shows latent barbarism in the
hearts of our nobility. Time and better education will render them
ashamed of such progenitors.
The real source of family pride ought to be that of a sound bodily Truly noble
ancestors.
constitution, and a moral and intellectual development of brain,
transmitted through many generations. It would be a real and
positive advantage to obtain a husband or wife out of a family which
had been distinguished for centuries for health and longevity, for
handsome forms, agreeable features, kind, pious, and honourable
dispositions, and great intellectual acumen. These qualities would
render the domestic circle cheerful, animated, affectionate, and full
of serene intelligence; they would command the world's respect
and love, and ensure success in every enterprise, so far as human
virtue and sagacity could go.
The admiration of ancestry, and the tendency to set a value on The foundation
it, arise from instinctive feelings, and are given for the best of pur-cestral pride.
poses; but the latter form of its gratification appears to us to be
clearly that which alone satisfies man's rational faculties, and which,
when enlightened, he will undoubtedly alone desire. The devices to
found gratification of this feeling on entails and transmission of
hereditary titles of nobility, without regard to the laws implanted
and aiin of an-
M
178 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
in the human constitution, lead to lamentable failures and miserable
results. No attention being given to transmit sound bodies and
well-constituted brains along with territory and titles, we see great
landholders, whose acres have descended through centuries, wander-
ing in beggary over Europe, while their rents are seized by creditors,
who have supplied them with money squandered by them in sensual
debauchery and in utter profligacy; earls and noble lords appear in
a state of idiocy; and, in short, titles of nobility are found com-
bined with incapacity and immorality of every form which the human
imagination can conceive.
We repeat, that although individuals should fear and wish to
Human Nature
the only cure
avoid these calamities, instruction in human nature is so deficient
for these evils. that it is almost impossible to be certain of doing so.1
Instruction in
The world is In cases of conflict among the faculties, the world is arranged on
based on the
supremacy of
the principle of the supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect,
the Moral Law. observance of the moral law is attended with external advantages,
and infringement of it with evil consequences; and from this con-
stitution arises the natural punishment of immoral conduct.2
This shown Let us trace the advantages of obedience.—In the domestic circle,
(1.) In domes- if we preserve habitually Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Veneration,
and Intellect supreme, it is undeniable that we shall rouse the moral
and intellectual faculties of children, servants, and assistants to love
us, and to yield us willing obedience and aid. Our commands will
be reasonable and mild, and the commerce between us will be that
of love.
(2.) In society; With regard to our equals in society, in what high estimation
do we not hold a friend in whom we trace the supremacy of the
moral sentiments; what love, confidence, and delight do we not
repose in him! To a merchant, physician, lawyer, magistrate, or a
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. vi. p. 626. .
2 George Combe demonstrates this great truth in his “ Constitution of Man,"
published in 1828. He had already treated the subject, in a paper on The
Natural Supremacy of the Moral Sentiments," read before the Edinburgh Phreno-
logical Society, on March 30, 1826, afterwards published in the Phrenological
Journal, No. XI. vol. iii. for 1825–6. On this subject, Mr James Simpson
remarks: * This sublime truth had not escaped observation. Bishop Butler
felt it as an impression on his virtuous mind, but failed to establish its univer-
sality on demonstrable evidence. The name of George Combe must be associated
with the demonstrated and complete system" ("Philosophy of Education," by
James Simpson, 2nd edit. p. 88.)
Moral Law rules the World.
179
ness.
person in any public employment, how invaluable is the habitual
supremacy of these sentiments !
The Creator has bestowed talents in different degrees on different (3.) In busi-
individuals, and also limited their powers ; consequently, by confin-
ing their attention to one department of labour, they execute it better
an arrangement which amounts to a direct institution of separate
trades and professions. Under the natural laws, then, the manu-
facturer may pursue his calling with the approbation of all the moral
sentiments, for he is dedicating his talents to supplying the wants of
his fellow-men; and how much more successful will he be, if his
every proceeding be accompanied by the desire to act benevolently
and honestly towards those who are to consume and pay for the pro-
ducts of his labour ! he cannot gratify his acquisitiveness half so suc-
cessfully by any other method. The same remark applies to the
merchant, the lawyer, and the physician. The lawyer and the
physician who consult, as a paramount object, the interests of their
clients and patients, obtain not only the direct reward of gratifying
their own moral faculties, which is no slight enjoyment, but also high
respect and a well-founded reputation, combined with increasing
emolument, not grudgingly paid, but willingly offered by persons
who feel the worth of the services bestowed.
Three conditions are required by the moral and intellectual laws, The industrial
which must all be observed to ensure their rewards. 1st, The depart- moral and
ment of industry selected must be really useful to human beings— intellectual
benevolence demands this; 2d, The amount of labour bestowed must
bear a just proportion to the demand for the commodity produced-
intellect requires this; and, 3d, In our social connections, we must
scrupulously attend to the fact, that different individuals possess
different developments of brain, and, in consequence, different natural
talents and dispositions, and we must rely on each only to the
extent warranted by his natural endowments.
If, then, a man has received at birth a sound organic constitution
and favourably developed brain, and if he lives in accordance with
the physical, the organic, the moral, and the intellectual laws, it
appears to me that, in the constitution of the world, he has received
from the Creator an assurance of provision for his animal wants, and
of high enjoyment from the legitimate exercise of his various mental
powers.
I have already observed, that before we can obey the Creator's in-
stitutions, we must know them; that the sciences which teach the
physical laws are Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, while the
conditions of
rewards.
180 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
need of instruc-
The
consequent organic laws belong to the department of Anatomy and Physiology :
tion in these and I now add, that it is the business of the Political Economist to
principles. unfold the kinds of industry that are really necessary to the welfare
of mankind, and the extent of labour that will meet with a just
reward. The leading object of Political Economy is to increase enjoy-
ment, by directing the application of industry. To attain this end,
however, it is obviously necessary that the nature of Man, the con-
stitution of the physical world, and the relations between these,
should be known. Hitherto, the knowledge of the former of these
elementary parts has been deficient; and in consequence, the labours
of political economists have been productive of little practical advan-
tage, in comparison with what they may yield when founded on
more perfect basis.
The defective The masters in Economical Science have not taught that the
exposition of
Social Science,
world is arranged in accordance with the harmonious activity of
and its conse- all our faculties, the moral sentiments and intellect, in cases of
quence in so-
ciety.
conflict, holding the supremacy ; that, consequently, to render
Man happy, his leading pursuits must be such as will exercise and
gratify all his powers; and that his life will necessarily be miser-
able, if devoted exclusively to the production of wealth. They
have proceeded on the notion that the accumulation of wealth is the
summum bonum. But all history testifies that national happiness
does not invariably increase in proportion to national riches; and
until they shall teach that intelligence and morality are the founda-
tion of all lasting prosperity, they will not interest the great body of
mankind, nor give a practical direction to their efforts. Further, in
deducing the practical consequences of the infringement of economi-
cal laws, they often omit to give due prominence to the mitigating
influence of the moral laws. They show, for example, that the Irish
peasantry, by multiplying their numbers beyond the extent of their
capital and of profitable fields of labour, exposed themselves and
their offspring to the horrors of destitution. This fact is undeniably
true; but they omit to add, that it was the duty of the enlightened
and wealthy members of society to mitigate the severity of that
destitution, by assisting the sufferers, while they enforced on them
stricter obedience in future to the natural law. Indeed, society
suffers a double disadvantage from the present severance between
moral and economical science. Benevolent men relieve the destitute,
but rarely think of removing the causes of destitution; while the
poor, uninstructed regarding the connection between their own con-
duct and their misery, rely more and more on charitable relief, and
The Defective Exposition of Social Science. 181
seldom endeavour to abandon the course of action which has led to
their degradation.
If the views contained in the present treatisel are sound, it will
become a leading object with future masters in Economic Science, to
teach that Man, in his whole conduct, must conform to the natural
laws, as the only means of saving himself from ceaseless evil. 1
If I be correct in the opinion that the happiness of each individual It is too much
devoted to the
is inseparably connected with that of the society in which he lives,
question of
and that the law that we must love our neighbour as ourselves, really Wealth.
means, in its extensive sense, that individual enjoyment can arise
only from improved social habits and institutions,-then I shall not
be thought to be guilty of extravagance when I remark that, in
times past, this view has rarely, to any practical end, been pressed
on the attention of society. Within the last fifty or sixty years,
Political Economy has been discussed on philosophical principles;
but the leading aim of the economists has been to demonstrate the
most effectual means of increasing wealth. The very title of the
first valuable work on the subject, in this country, is “The Wealth
of Nations,” by Dr Adam Smith. The principles which he
expounded, it is true, are in many respects coincident with those
which I am now advocating ; and no one can value his labours, and
those of his successors, such as Ricardo, M‘Culloch, and their
followers, more highly than I do: yet it is unquestionable, that the
great aim of all these writers has been to clear away the rubbish that
impeded the play of our selfish faculties, and to teach the advantage
of repealing all laws that impede a man in following his own bent,
in search of his own happiness in his own way, restrained only by
the obligation that he shall not directly injure or obstruct the
prosperity of his neighbour.
In the infancy of civilization, the exposition of the natural It should teach
laws by which wealth is created and diffused is most valuable, that harmonise
and these writers are worthy of all consideration as being the whole na-
useful in their day. But society must advance in its course.
It has augmented its wealth, while many persons doubt whether the
increase of happiness has, in all ranks, kept pace with that of its
riches. What seems now to be wanted is, the application of principles
in harmony with our whole nature, physical, animal, moral, and
intellectual, calculated to lead to the gratification of all our powers.
i Constitution of Man, 9th edit. p. 190.
ture.
182 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
We need to be enlightened regarding the constituent elements of our
own happiness, and to pursue it, in combination, in a right direction.
The gigantic efforts of Britain in war afford an example of the
prodigious power, in the form of violence, which we are capable of
wielding; and if our forefathers had dedicated, to the physical and
mental improvement of the people, the same ardour of mind and the
same amount of treasure which they squandered in battles, between
the years 1700 and 1815, what a different result would, at this day,
have crowned their labours ! If they had bestowed honours on the
benefactors of the race, as they have done on its destroyers, how
different would have been the direction of ambition !
The need of The next requisite for improving our social condition, is the
after-school
instruction command of time for the discharge of our social duties. One day in
in these
the week is set apart for teaching and practising our religious duties ;
principles.
but, in that day, little instruction is communicated by our public and
authorized teachers touching the affairs of this world, and the laws
by which the happiness of our social state may be best promoted.
The other six days of the week are devoted to the advancement of
our individual interests in the pursuit of wealth, or, as the Scripture
designates it, to the collection of the meat which perisheth.' In
the existing arrangements of society, our social duties do not appear
to be generally recognised as incumbent on us. There are few
seminaries for making us acquainted with them, and no time is
allotted for the practice of them. Those unofficial individuals who
discharge public duties, must either sacrifice to them the time which
their competitors are devoting to their private interests, or overtask
their minds and bodies by labouring when nature demands repose.
This instruction With all deference to existing opinions, I should humbly propose
would lead to that a specific portion of time should be set apart for teaching in
public assemblies, and discharging practically our social duties, and
that all private business should then be suspended. If half a day
in the week were devoted to this purpose, some of the following
consequences might be expected to ensue :-
(1.) A belief In the first place, the great importance of social institutions
in the import- and habits to individual happiness would be brought home to
ance of social
institutions;
all. It would be half a day dedicated to the consideration of the
means by which we might practically love our neighbours as our-
selves. A public recognition of the principle, as one capable of
1 George Combe's “Constitution of Man,” “Moral Philosophy,” and other
works, and William Ellis's works are special contributions to this broader
view of Social Science. See remarks on this view, at the end of this chapter.
The Effects of Such Instruction.
183
of social ques-
being carried into effect, would, in itself, bend many minds towards
realizing it.
Secondly, such an arrangement would enable, and also excite, the (2.) The study
people at large to turn their attention seriously to moral and social
tions;
considerations, in which their true interests are so deeply involved,
instead of considering it meritorious and advantageous to neglect
them; and it would tend to remove a dense mass of ignorance and
prejudice which offers a powerful obstacle to all improvement. If I
be correct in thinking, that individual men cannot realize the Christian
precepts in their actions, while living in a society whose ruling
motives are opposed to them, it is obvious that the rectification of
our social habits is an indispensable prelude to the introduction of
practical Christianity; and how can these be rectified unless by
instructing the people in the means of improving them! Thus the
religious community are deeply interested in promoting the plan, of
reformation now proposed.
Thirdly, the dedication of a specific portion of time to our social (3.) Good men
taking part in
duties, would leave leisure for truly virtuous and enlightened men public busin
to transact public business, without exposing themselves to be ruined ness.
by their competitors in the race of private interest. Under the
present system, the selfish are enriching themselves, while the
patriotic are impoverishing their families by discharging their public
duties. But as individual morality and happiness never can be
securely and permanently maintained without social improvement,
it follows that some adequate means must be used to communicate
to men in general a correct and elevated view of their own nature,
position, interests, and duties, as rational beings, with a view to
induce them to improve their social habits and institutions, as a
necessary preliminary to their individual well-being. In the “Con-
stitution of Man," I have endeavoured to show that the power of
abridging labour by mechanical inventions appears to have been
bestowed on man, to afford him leisure for cultivating his moral and
intellectual powers; and if this idea be correct, there can be no
natural obstacle to the dedication of sufficient time to the duties in
question.
Perhaps the notion will present itself to many persons, that The early
if the industrious classes were congregated to receive instruction Social prin-
in this manner, the result would be the formation of innumerable ciples would
prevent abuses.
clubs and debating societies, in which vivacious but ignorant men
would imbue the weaker brethren with discontent, and lead them
into mischievous errors. This would probably happen, if a sudden
184 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
The want of this
fairs.
adoption of the plan took place, without previous preparation. At
present, ignorance of sound social principles is so prevalent, that such
unions might be abused; but a young and rising generation may be
prepared, by training and education, for comprehending and perform-
ing their social duties, and then leisure for the practice of them
would lead only to good.
Not only has no sufficient instruction in social duties been provided
instruction de-
stroys interest for the people, but the opinion has been very generally adopted that
in public af- they have no such duties to discharge, except to pay taxes, and to
bear arms in the militia ; and that they go out of their sphere when
they turn their attention to public affairs. This appears to me to be
an erroneous assumption; because the industrious classes are, if
pos-
sible, more directly and seriously affected by the good or bad manage-
ment of public interests than the rich, in whose hands alone it has
been imagined that the discharge of social duties should be placed.
The operative tradesman and small shopkeeper absolutely rise and
fall with every wave of public prosperity or adversity; whereas the
landed proprietor and the great capitalist are able to weather many a
social storm, with scarcely a perceptible abridgment of their enjoy-
ments.
After the people at large are enlightened, and thoroughly imbued
equalise the en- with the love of justice and of the happiness of their neighbours,
joyments of all. another social duty will be, to carry into practice as far as possible,
and by every moral means, the equalisation of the enjoyment of all
--not by pulling the fortunate and accomplished down, but by
elevating the condition of the inferior orders. With this view, all
privileges and artificial ranks which obstruct the general welfare
should be abolished; not violently but gradually; and, if possible,
by inducing their possessors to give them up, as injurious to the
public and not beneficial to themselves. ?
This instruc-
tion would
of Trade.
The prevalent The ignorance of the first Principles of Trade displayed by most of
ignorance of the persons whose transactions are brought to light by judicial in-
vestigations, is lamentable. The possession of capital is indispensable
to success in manufacturing and trading, and capital may be obtained
by inheritance, by saving, or in loan. In this last case, it is neces-
sary to safe trading, that uncontrolled possession of the capital
1 Moral Philosophy, chap. xi. See an article by George Combe on the
subject of the last sentence, called “ Parliamentary Reform; or, The Effects
of the Enlightenment of the People on the Titles and Possessions of the
Aristocracy,” in the Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. (for 1831-2) p. 587.
Results of Ignorance of the Principles of Trade. 185
borrowed should be secured for a period of years. On the other form
of trading, viz., the credit system in which large capitalists sell
goods to persons who do not pay the price in money, but grant bills
for it, payable in three, four, or six months after date, while the
holder of capital in permanent loan is in equally favourable circum-
stances with persons who trade on their own capital, abating only
the interest, the condition of those who buy on credit is far more
perilous. In the histories given by most of the bankrupts concern-
ing the capital they commanded at starting in trade, and the manner
in which they conducted their operations, there appears almost an
unconscious ignorance, that the creation and distribution of wealth
are governed by any natural principles whatever.
If our readers will analyse the history of their transactions, given General causes
of bankruptcy.
by the bankrupts whose examinations are recorded in the press, they
will discover that, in nine instances out of every ten, trade was com-
menced and carried on by them in one or other of these or similar
ruinous ways; and we ask what is the remedy for these great social
evils? To punish the offenders as criminals would in many instances
be harsh, because they have acted just as multitudes of other persons
are doing, and they meant no harm. To find a remedy in an Act of
Parliament would be difficult; because the evil may be traced to a
variety of causes needing to be brought under influences far more
potent than those of the legislator. In some instances, it may be
ascribed to ignorance of the natural laws which regulate the produc-
tion and distribution of wealth ; in others, to mental confusion and
want of real capacity for business ; in others, to deficient moral
honesty; in others, to a sanguine disposition, seeing everything
future in golden colours, or to a lymphatic constitution which allows
things to take their own course, uncontrolled by attention and judg-
ment. The evils produced by these defects are aggravated by the
absence of an enlightened moral public opinion condemning their
results, and also by the silence of the schoolmaster, the professor, the
public press (with some highly meritorious exceptions), and the
pulpit, concerning the physical, intellectual, moral, and religious con-
ditions on which success in trade depends.
The conclusion, then, at which we arrive is, that these deficiencies Remedies for
must be supplied as far as possible by improvements in our education these :
and training, before the sufferings under which so many hearts are
now aching will be seriously diminished. In particular, we must
have a far higher standard of morality infused into commercial
pursuits. Buying should be invested with a sense of moral, as well
186 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
The pre-
in the Natural
(1.) Training to as legal, obligation to pay. Trade should be viewed as dealing with
higher commer-
cial morality.
other men's substance, in which just and prudent management
should be viewed as a matter of conscience. The person who
becomes bankrupt should feel that he has shown himself deficient in
some quality or condition that was necessary to enable him to
cope with the difficulties of his position ; and society, while
forgiving, should not approve of his shortcomings.
valent maxim of “Heads I win; tails you lose,” which seems
actually adopted as a practical rule by some traders, should be
severely rebuked.
(2.) Instruction But, above all, instruction in the Natural Laws of Wealth should be
Lawsof Wealth. given in our schools. Scotland, bent on a high religious education, is
falling behind England in this respect. In London, there are at least
a dozen of schools in which the practical principles of Social Economy
are systematically taught to children of the lower and middle classes ;
among these, the School of London University College, and the
Peckham Birkbeck School, conducted by Mr Shields, are pre-
eminently successful. The Dean of Hereford also has introduced
the same kind of instruction into his schools); and the work edited
by him on “The Phenomena of Industrial Life” has gone through
an edition of 5000 copies, in three or four years. The works of Mr
William Ellis, one of which, “Religion in Common Life," we
recently commended to public attention, have also greatly promoted
the study in the south.*
Let it not, therefore, be said that Scotland, in addition to being
the most religious and most drunken nation in Europe, is also the
most keenly bent on the acquisition of wealth, and, at the same time,
the least guided by intellectual and moral principle in her means of
pursuing it. This last charge is not warranted by facts; but it has
acquired a degree of plausibility by the malpractices daily disclosed
in our Bankrupt Courts, and for which it becomes us to find a check
and a remedy.
1 The King's Somborne Schools.
2 “ Lessons on the Phenomena of Industrial Life, and the Conditions of
Industrial Success," edited by the Rev. Rich. Dawes (Groombridge & Sons).
3 See an account of the above and similar schools in Part Second, chap. vii.
4 See an enumeration of Mr Ellis's works in Part Second, chap. vii. 4.
5 From the Scotsman of April 6th 1858, being part of one of two leaders,
written during the last year of George Combe's life, showing, at the age of 70
years, unabated intellectual vigour, and the same healthy and philosophical
interest in the progress and extension of Education. The other article will be
found, Part Fifth, chap. iii,
5
The Political Power of the Masses.
187
2. THE NEED OF THIS INSTRUCTION FOR THE EXERCISE OF POLITICAL
FUNCTIONS.
The institutions and actual condition of the people of the United The great poli-
tical power of
States exbibit, at present, a heterogeneous aspect to a reflecting mind. the masses.
The institutions are democratic in a high degree, for, with a few
exceptions, political power is placed in the hands of every man
above twenty-one years of age, except he be absolutely insane, a
pauper, or a convicted felon, without regard to his wealth, character,
or mental attainments. This is not merely a theoretical arrangement
on paper, but a practically working system. In point of fact, the
masses make and unmake the laws, and every interest of the State
is placed at their discretion. One ignorant man is not a fit ruler for
a great nation; nor are ten ignorant men, or a thousand, or ten
millions of ignorant men, more fit to wield successfully the destinies
of a great people than one. Numbers do not increase their
knowledge, while they add to their confidence and power. More-
over, numbers increase their capacity for evil, and diminish it for
good, because they keep each others' ignorance and presumption in
countenance. The people become formidable, also, in the fierceness
and energy of their passions, in proportion to their numbers, when
one common impulse moves them.
These points are so plain, that it is almost unnecessary to state Their educa-
them. Nevertheless, I daily meet with excellent persons who tion requires to
seem not to perceive their consequences. Education, history, and and improved.
habit, and, above all, the daily example of Europe, have filled their
minds with the idea of a labouring class, for whom instruction in
reading, writing, and arithmetic, with moral and religious training,
is all that is necessary, and a dominant class whose education
should be more extensive, to fit them for higher duties ; overlooking
the palpable fact, that in Europe the better educated class rules the
less instructed, while in the United States the more ignorant governs
the more enlightened. I have seen men of sense and understand-
ing regard my views as obviously utopian and absurd, when I
ventured to express the opinion that both the quantity and quality
of instruction communicated in the common schools of the United
States, and even in Boston, is fitted much more for a government
like that of Austria, than for that of the United States ! The
? From 1838 to 1840, when George Combe visited America,
188 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
.
men.
Austrian Government does not object to its subjects being taught
reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography, because these are only
the elements of knowledge, and do not necessarily imply any practical
results in action.
The peculiar
The democratic institutions of the United States are only now begin-
need of this in ning to develop themselves. The generation of 1775 was trained
under a monarchy, and they had the feelings and habits of English-
When their independence was achieved, their mental condition
was not instantly changed. Their deference for rank and for judicial
and legislative authority, continued nearly unimpaired; George
Washington took the place of George III., and the public authoritie
elected by themselves came as objects of respect, in place of those
named by the English governors. The leading men of each State
suggested or proposed candidates for public offices, and the people,
as a general rule, adopted them. In this state of things, the best
educated class continued to rule. But the condition of affairs is
now changed. Thegeneration trained to obedience under monarchical
institutions is extinct; a race occupies the field which has been reared
under the full influence of democracy. The people worship them-
selves, as the fountains equally of wisdom and of power. They bend
all institutions in subserviency to their own views and feelings. They
are no longer led by, but they often dictate to, the wealthy and
highly educated. Their own education, however, remains essentially
unchanged: reading, writing, and arithmetic are its staples, as in the
days of yore! This is an error of the most portentous magnitude,
and it is astonishing how so many persons remain blind to it. There
are still living a few remnants of the old Federalists, who desire to
see the people happy and contented as labourers, but who are as
averse to their thorough education as an English tory would be in
similar circumstances. These worthy men forget that their dreams
of popular felicity combined with ignorance can never be realised in
this country, for the people have obtained power, and they love
to wield it.
Where it should The education provided for them, therefore, in their common
be the most in-schools, should be the most instructive and practical that human
practical pos- wisdom can devise; for here the masses need every possible light to
sible;
enable them to discern their true interests in the management of the
State. Their governors and legislators are their deputies, and must
obey them. Men of great minds may no doubt lead the masses,
although ignorant, to good ; but in proportion to that ignorance is
the risk that bad men of powerful talents will lead them to evil. It
Its Importance for Political Action.
189
is gratifying, however, to perceive that a large number of enlightened
individuals are deeply imbued with these convictions, and are labour-
ing to render them general. Still they have a mighty task to accom-
plish, before they prevail in reducing them to practice.
1
In the United States, you need not only education, but an education To guard
that shall communicate to youth the knowledge, maxims, and experi- against ignor-
;
ence of age. Here you commit political power to the hands of nearly
every man who has attained majority. Your population doubles
every twenty-three or twenty-five years. The actual majority of
your voters is probably under thirty-five or thirty-six years of age.
There is no other country in the world which is ruled by men so
young and so inexperienced. I was told before I came here, that
the Americans are the most excitable nation on the globe; that you
take fire in a moment, and instantly rush to action, whether it be in
speculation, in legitimate enterprise, in war, or in political change;
and since my stay among you, I have beard the deep-toned war-cry
uttered with a force and unanimity which is full of fearful omen.?
And the cause of this may be discerned. The mind, till thirty-five,
acts more under the impulse of the feelings than under the guidance
of intellect. By the very laws of our nature, Combativeness,
Destructiveness, Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, and Acquisitive-
ness, are then more energetic than they are at fifty or sixty; and at
that period also experience is most deficient. Life has not been long
enough to enable us to accumulate wisdom, to detect the illusions of
passion or of vain glory,—to supply the deficiencies and correct the
errors of an imperfect education,3
In the election which took place in November 1839, the question to decide and
vote in great
of the currency was actually brought to the polls in the State of New
questions.
York. The mottoes were-banks and paper currency on the one
side-hard specie and sub-treasury laws on the other. These are
questions on which Dr Adam Smith, Ricardo, M'Culloch, and the
profoundest political economists, have differed in opinion. Does
1 America, vol. i., pp. 161-4.
2 This refers to the dispute with England, in 1839, regarding the Maine
boundary, which then roused a strong war feeling in América, fanned by Clay
and Webster. (See George Combe's “ America,” vol. ii. p. 116, vol. iii. p.
48, &c.)
3 America, vol. iii. pp. 407-8.
190 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
your education enable your people to understand them, and decide
on them? No! Yet your people act whether they understand them
or not. They vote the supporters of paper into power; and paper
flourishes. · If evil ensue, they vote the advocates of specie into
power; and paper and credit go to the wall. They try the experi-
ment. But what an awful experiment ! How many thousands of
individuals and families are ruined by the violence of every change !?
law on
Educated and
uneducated
citizens com
pared.
A well instructed citizen will consider the influence of
any
the general welfare before he consents to its enactment, and a well
trained citizen will not only obey that law when enacted, but lend
his whole moral and physical energies, if necessary, to enforce its
observance by all, until repealed by constitutional authority. An ill
instructed citizen will clamour for the enactment of any law which
promises to relieve him from an individual inconvenience, or to con-
fer on him an individual advantage, without much consideration con-
cerning its general effects; and an ill trained citizen will seek to sub-
ject the magistrates, judges, and the law to his own control, that he
may bend them in subserviency to his interest, his ambition, or his
inclinations, from day to day, as these arise and take different direc-
tions. The ill trained citizen takes counsel of his self-will; and
self-will, uninstructed and untrained to the guidance of moral prin-
ciple, leads to destruction.2
The submission To gain popularity, the public mind must be addressed on its most
of candidates to accessible side. The great majority of American voters are young,
ignorant preju-
dices. ardent, impulsive, active, and practical, but deficient in profound and
comprehensive views, and also in the capacity of pursuing a distant
good through temporary obstacles and difficulties. Their education,
in relation to their powers and duties, is very defective. To gain
the favour of a people in this condition of mind, actual fitness for
office, with honesty and independence in the discharge of public
duty, do not of themselves suffice. The candidate must render him-
self acceptable to the electors individually; he must address their
1 America, vol. iii. p. 409. George Combe wrote specially on the Cur-
rency, and, although only in a pamphlet, gives, according to Professor Nichol
of Glasgow, “the whole principles of the subject.' (See Life of George
Combe, in the "Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography”: London;
William Mackenzie.)
2 America, vol. iii. p. 253.
The Effects of Ignorance on Political Affairs. 191
for
predominant feelings, enter into their leading aversions and predilec-
tions, and attach himself warmly to the party or cause which he
knows them to regard with the highest favour. He may vouch for
his own fitness for office, and his own certificate will often be
received, provided, in other respects, his conduct and principles are
approved of. If he egregiously fail in the discharge of his public
duties, he will be turned out of office at the end of the term for
which he was appointed; but the most conscientious and skilful ex-
ecution of his duties will not, in general, secure the endurance of his
tenure, if he publicly advocate unpopular opinions, although
altogether unconnected with his station, or if he belong to a party
which has lost public favour and been displaced from power.
The best remedy that can be proposed for the evils now described, The education
required
appears to me to consist in a higher education and a better training political func-
of the electors: If they were thoroughly instructed in youth, con-
tions.
cerning the laws which regulate the prosperity of nations; in the
qualities of the human mind; and in the indispensable necessity of
judgment and integrity in public officers to the right management of
their affairs,—higher qualities would be required in their public men
in order to gain their favour, and useful and faithful public servants
would be retained in possession of their offices, out of respect to their
fitness alone. The idea that it is possible to educate and train a
people to act in this manner is regarded by many persons as altogether
visionary and utopian; but to deny this is to maintain that man is
not a rational being. A certain advance in the knowledge of his own
faculties and of the external world, and of their adaptations to each
other, was necessary before the development of his rational nature
could fairly commence, and this knowledge has not yet been generally
communicated to the young, nor have they been trained in accordance
with it. That, in their actual condition, their actions and judgments
should partake of the character of impulse and direct perception, is
inevitable ; but their capacity to advance to a higher state of
civilization is not by this circumstance necessarily excluded.
The danger which besets an individual in his private capacity in The danger of
consequence of openly advocating unpopular opinions, may be
advocating re-
best elucidated by referring to special instances. If any citizen uneducated.
propose improvements in education for which the public mind
is not prepared, those individuals whose interests or whose pride
would suffer, or whose habits of thinking and acting would be invaded
by the change, naturally oppose them. The common schools are
placed under the management of directors and inspectors chosen by
forins with the
192 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
1
the people, and the reformers must obtain these offices before they
can give effect to their benevolent designs. But the people, being
ignorant of the nature and utility of the proposed changes, are easily
operated upon by the insinuations, misrepresentations, and declama-
tions of the hostile parties, who are scattered everywhere among them,
and who by these means experience little difficulty in rendering the
reformers unpopular, and thus preventing their election. The gentle-
men who told me that the proposal to invite Wilderspin to the United
States, would retard, instead of forwarding, the desired improvements
in training, were sound in their judgment; because the prejudices of
the people against foreigners, and their dislikes to innovation in their
school systems, would, while they were ignorant of the nature of the
proposed improvement, have ensured the exclusion of its projectors
from office, and placed its opponents in power over the schools.
This remedied The remedy for this evil is gradually to open up the subject to the
only by rational
education.
public mind in lectures and through the press : or to carry the scheme
into execution in some private seminary, and then show it to the
people in action. After they comprehend its advantages, they will
adopt it. And accordingly, the project of improvement by training
is not abandoned by those who perceive its value; but they are pro-
ceeding prudently to prepare the people to receive and sanction it.
So far from this condition of things being an unmitigated evil, it is
attended with many benefits. It leads moral reformers to consider
their measures thoroughly, and by anticipating opposition, to detect
the weak points of their schemes. It also imposes on them the
necessity of addressing the reason and moral sentiments of the people,
and of thus aiding in cultivating their rational nature ; and, in my
opinion, the ultimate test of the merits of all institutions, is the
degree in which they promote the accomplishment of this end.
1
Education
should train
ties;
One defect in the American institutions and social training at
the higher present appears to me to be, that they do not sufficiently cultivate
social facul. habits of deference, prudence, and self-restraint. They powerfully
call forth all the faculties that subserve the interests and ambition
of the individual; but they leave the higher social qualities
imperfectly exercised and ill-directed. There is no training of
Veneration, except in religious tuition, which is too often confined to
vague moral instruction, and to the points of faith regarded as
essential to salvation. Making allowance for individual exceptions,
1 America, vol. iii. p. 284.
Education should Train the Social Faculties. 193
it may be stated, that an American young man, in emerging from
school, has scarcely formed a conception that he is subject to any
natural laws, which he must obey in every step of his progress in
life, or suffer. He has not been taught the laws of health, the laws
by which the production and distribution of wealth are regulated,
or the laws which determine the progress of society; nor is he trained
to subject his own inclinations and will to those or any similar laws,
as indispensable to his well-being and success. On the contrary, he
comes forth a free-born, self-willed, sanguine, confident citizen, of
what he considers to be the greatest, the best, and the wisest nation
on earth, and he commences his career in life, guided chiefly by the
inspirations of his own good pleasure. He votes and acts on the
destinies of his country in the same condition of mind. In Britain,
we cannot boast of much superiority in practical education, but our
young men are not ushered into life so early; they are trained, by
the institutions and circumstances by which they are surrounded, to
a greater exercise of prudence and self-restraint, and few of them
wield political power.
All our functions and faculties, bodily and mental, are regulated and produce
by the Creator according to fixed laws ; within certain limits, they tellect and
disciplined in
produce enjoyment, and beyond these, misery. By teaching children feelings.
this view of their own constitution, and also rendering them familiar
with the physical, organic, and moral laws instituted by the Creator,
and by training them to obey them, that reckless self-confident spirit
which now animates many of them in the United States, would be
supplanted by a disciplined understanding and regulated affections.
Their institutions render them indisposed to reverence man, or human
wisdom ; but still they may venerate God, and practically fulfil
his laws. Indeed this species of moral and intellectual discipline
appears to me to be indispensable to the permanence and success of
a democracy. If the Americans do not adopt it, and rely on it as
their sheet anchor, no other means which ordinary sagacity can
discover, will lead them safely through the perils that will rise thicker
and thicker in their path, in proportion as their population becomes
more dense. 1
[Of the value of instruction and training, as thus advocated
by George Combe, in the “Principles of Social and Political
I“ America," vol. i. p. 235. How true the foregoing strictures on American
Education and its relation to social and political life are of our own in Great
Britain, and how wise and good the remedies advocated !
N
194 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
The subject Science,” or “the Science of Human Well-being," as it is well
should be
taught in all designated by Mr William Ellis, its founder, there can be no doubt
schools.
in the mind of any one that has looked into its nature and aims,
and has reflected on the evils which ignorance of these principles
has entailed and is entailing on our people. As William Lovett
truly says, “It is to be greatly regretted that this important subject
is not yet generally taught; and until it is made a necessary part of
education, I fear society will have to pay the penalty of this neglect,
in the social wrecks so many of our people become. For, being
turned out of their schools without any notion of the conditions to
be fulfilled for securing well-being, nor any knowledge of the duties
they owe to society, social or political, we need not wonder at the
ignorant blunders so many of them make."1 The right place to
begin such teaching is in our schools, while the mind is susceptible
and thirsting, and habits of thought and action are being formed,
and while there is an opportunity--the only one possible to the mass
of our population--of being introduced to such regulating principles
of daily life. “ If it is in and through the mind we must operate,”
says Professor Hodgson, recommending the subject, "we must do so
at that time of life when the operation is at once easiest and most
effective, in order that error and evil may be, as far as possible, pre-
vented, not their consequences bunglingly repaired ; in order that
not only evil may be prevented, but that good may be ensured, by
the early inculcation of sound principles, and the early formation of
habits therewith according. The habits must rest on the foundation
of principles; and these, to deserve the name, and to have any
influence in act, must be thoroughly comprehended, digested, and
assimilated—made into the likeness, and fashioned into the very
substance of the mind. So that, in entering upon busy life, the
youth shall not be left to scramble through error and disaster, for
the costly and tardy wisdom of experience, but shall understand, and
be able and ready to adapt himself to, the system of things in which
he is to take his place, and through which he has to work his way to
personal independence and social usefulness.” 2
It can be made That the subject can be taught to young children with great ease
simple and in- and simplicity, and with the highest interest, has been abundantly
teresting.
proved in the experience of all who have tried it, and in the schools
1 “Life and Struggles of William Lovett,” p. 361 (Trübner & Co., London).
2 Two lectures on the “Conditions of Health and Wealth Educationally
Considered” (Lecture Second); originally published in 1860, and about to be
republished, as they eminently deserve to be.
It should be Taught to Teachers.
195
971
where it has formed a regular branch of education, an account of
which will be found in the following chapter. To Mr William Ellis
is due the merit, not only of introducing the subject into our com-
mon schools, but of so broadening it as to make it truly “the Science
of Human Well-being," and of simplifying what was previously a
dry and abstruse subject, and rendering it easily understood by
children.
An important step towards the introduction of the subject into It should form
schools would be the thorough training of our teachers in its prin- paratory course
part of the pre-
ciples, as a part of their preparatory course, principles which “ought of teachers.
to be," as the Dean of Hereford remarks, “familiar as household
words' to all teachers of youth, who should have the power of
making such knowledge equally familiar to their scholars, about to
pass from under their training and teaching to participate in the
actual business of industrial life.” The subject was recommended
for teachers, in the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire
into the State of Popular Education in England, in 1861. Speaking
of the syllabus of the Training Colleges then existing, they say-
“We feel bound to state that the omission of one subject from the
syllabus, and from the examination papers, has left in our minds a
painful impression. Next to religion, the knowledge most import-
ant to a labouring man (why confine the remark to the labouring
man? ] is that of the causes which regulate the amount of his wages,
the hours of his work, the regularity of his employment, and the
prices of what he consumes. The want of such knowledge leads
him constantly into error and violence, destructive to himself and to
his family, oppressive to his fellow workmen, ruinous to his em-
ployers, and mischievous to society. If some of the time now
devoted to the geography of Palestine, the succession of the kings
of Israel, the Wars of the Roses, or the heresies of the early Church,
were given to Political Economy, much valuable instruction might
be acquired, and little that is worth having would be lost.” And
they recommend “that certain alterations be made in the present
syllabus of studies, and, in particular, that more attention be given
to Political Economy and other subjects of practical utility,” specially
mentioning the principles of Physiology. It is gratifying to find It is represen-
hat the subject has since then been introduced, to some extent, into
Colleges.
the course for teachers at the Normal Training Colleges, which
includes, in the second year's syllabus for male teachers, “ Ele-
i Preface to “ Phenomena of Industrial Life,” by Dean Dawes.
Report of the Commissioners for 1861, pp. 127 and 546.
ted in Norial
2
1
196 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
mentary Questions on Political Economy ”; although it is only
slightly represented in the syllabus for females, under the important
subject of Domestic Economy, as “Household Expenses and Invest-
ment of Money.” It is sincerely to be hoped that a fuller course, as
exhibited in the works of Mr William Ellis, will be adopted for all
teachers; and that the subject will be introduced and fostered in all
our schools, at least as one of the “Specific Subjects,” like other
branches of science for which grants are paid by Government. As
will be seen in the next chapter, the want of this encouragement,
under both the Education and the Science and Art Departments,
and the pressure laid on other subjects, have crushed Social Science
out of schools where formerly it was regularly taught.
Early advocates The subject was earnestly advocated from an early period by
of the subject :
In Scotland;
George Combe, who not only wrote on it himself, especially in
his “Moral Philosophy,” but, on every occasion, recommended
its exposition and teaching as exhibited in the writings of Mr
Ellis, and introduced it into his own school in Edinburgh. It
was also recommended in the pages of the Phrenological Journal,
during its existence from 1823 to 1847; and by Mr Charles Maclaren,
editor of the Scotsman, in a series of articles, being “Suggestions for
the Improvement of Education," in 1828 and 1829, and in certain
Advices to the Labouring Classes, in 1830. In 1835, George Combe's
lectures and works, and the efforts of Mr James Simpson, gave rise
to the “Edinburgh Society for the Diffusion of Moral and Economical
Knowledge,” which arranged courses of popular lectures on Educa-
tion, Physiology, Social Economy, and other subjects.
In England. Mr Ellis began the teaching of the subject in schools in 1846,
and instituted it as a special and important part of the work of
the Birkbeck Schools, when founded in 1848, in which it con-
tinues to hold the same rank, and to be successfully taught. It
also formed a special branch of instruction in all the Secular
schools, as will be seen in the next chapter. William Lovett
frequently and earnestly recommended its study to the working
men of Britain, in schools and elsewhere, as one of the best means
of raising their condition ; and he published, in the Beehive, in
1868, a series of articles on it, called “ The A B C of Social
Science in Twenty Lessons," which, as he acknowledges, "had their
origin in the teachings and writings" of William Ellis. The subject
has also been well advocated by Mr Benjamin Templar, once Head-
I Now republished in his “Select Writings,” edited by Cox and Nicol
(Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas).
}
Early Advocates of the Subject.
197
master of the Manchester Secular Free School, where it formed a
prominent subject; and by the late Mr Shields of the Peckham Birk-
beck Schools, both of whom have written text-books on it—Mr
Templar, in particular, being a vigorous pleader for its universal
teaching, before the Social Science Association, and through the
press. One of the most powerful and enthusiastic advocates for
its study, in both schools and universities, has been Dr Hodgson
of Edinburgh, the first Professor of the subject in Scotland, who has
spoken and written on it in every variety of form, for more than
Since its introduction into schools by its earlier
students, the subject has made great progress, and has engaged the
attention of some of the best minds, not only in developing its
principles, but in adapting these for general instruction.2
forty years.
There now exist many good works on the subject, for general Text-books on
the subject :
students, and for teachers and scholars, of which the following may
be mentioned :-
1. For a general exposition of the nature and aims of Social and
Political Science-
William Ellis's works generally; especially his “Education as a On its nature
and aims;
means of Preventing Destitution : with exemplifications from the
teaching of the Conditions of Well-being and the Principles and
applications of Economical Science at the Birkbeck Schools”
(London: Smith, Elder, & Co.), which contains a chapter on “ The
Conditions of Well-being as taught in the Birkbeck Schools, and as
they ought to be taught everywhere,” and another on “Reasons for
insisting that Instruction in Economical Science shall no longer be
excluded from our schools."
Professor Hodgson's “Two Lectures on the Conditions of Health
and Wealth Educationally considered,” delivered in 1859, and
about to be republished ; and a lecture by him “On the Importance
of the Study of Economic Science," delivered in the Royal Institu-
tion of Great Britain in 1854, and now included in “Modern
Culture," edited by Dr Youmans (London, Macmillan & Co.)
The article “Social Economy," by Dr R. M. Leverson, in Kiddle
1 See the account of the Manchester Free Secular Schools (No. 6) in next
chapter.
2 See some good remarks by Herbert Spencer on the “Science of Society” as a
branch of popular education, in his work on Education (Williams & Norgate),
p. 23, &c.; and by Scott Russell in his “Systematic Technical Education for
the English People" (London : Bradbury, Evans, & Co.), in various parts.
198 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
"I
For general
students ;
and Schem's “Cyclopædia of Education ” (New York, E. Steiger;
London, Sampson Low & Co.)
Herbert Spencer “On Political Education," in his “Essays
Scientific, Political, and Speculative,” 2d series ; also included in
“Modern Culture."
2. Text-books on the subject for general students and for teachers-
William Ellis's works :-“Progressive Lessons in Social Science,
second edition, fcap. 8vo, ls. 6d. ; “ Introduction to the Study of
the Social Sciences," fcap. 8vo, 2s.; "A Layman's Contribution to
the Knowledge and Practice of Religion in Common Life; being
the Substance of a Course of Conversational Lessons introductory to
the Study of Moral Philosophy, post 8vo, 78. 6d. ; “ What am I?
Where am I? What ought I to do? How am I to become quali-
fied and disposed to do what I ought ?" fcap. 8vo, 1s. (London,
Smith, Elder, & Co., 15 Waterloo Place).
George Combe's “ Moral Philosophy" (Maclachlan & Stewart).
Dean Dawes's “Lessons on the Phenomena of Industrial Life, and
the Conditions of Industrial Success," 3d edition (London, Groom-
bridge & Sons).
Mrs Marcet's “John Hopkin's Notions on Political Economy,"
2d edit. (London, 1833).
Miss Martineau's “ Illustrations of Political Economy," a series of
popular tales.
Henry Fawcett's “Manual of Political Economy," 4th edition
(London, Macmillan & Co.)
Whately's "Introduction to Political Economy.'
John Macdonald's “Survey of Political Economy" (Edinburgh,
Edmonston & Douglas).
The greater works of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, &c.
3. Text-books for scholars and young students.
William Ellis's “Outlines of Social Economy," 3d edit. (London,
Smith, Elder, & Co.)
Benjamin Templar's “Reading Lessons on Social Economy"
(London, Jarrold), which George Combe considered “a valuable
contribution to education; sound, clear, and practical, and such as
an average teacher could easily use"; and which he specially praises
for its simplicity.
i Mr Ellis writes to the editor that this work “ gives the best idea he can.
give, with the pen, of his course of thought and teaching."
2 Letter to the author, of 2d May 1858.
For young
students.
2
Text-books on the Science.
199
"Helps for the Young in their Efforts at Self-Guidance," edited
by the Rev. W. Jowitt (London, Longmans).
“Lessons in Social Economy" (which are simple and practical),
by the late Mr W. A. Shields, of the Peckham Birkbeck Schools,
in the Advanced Reading-Book of Constable's Educational Series
(Edinburgh, Thomas Laurie).
Mrs Fawcett's “Political Economy for Beginners,” and “Tales in
Political Economy" (London, Macmillan & Co.)
Dr A. H. Dick's “ Outlines of Political Economy” (William
Collins, Sons, & Co.)
Professor W. S. Jevon's “Primer of Political Economy” (London,
Macmillan).
Dr R. M. Leverson's “Common Sense; or, First Steps in Political
Economy” (New York, 1876).
J. J. Champlin's "Lessons on Political Economy" (New York).
It is devoutly to be wished that teachers will take up the subject The action of
teachers in re-
with the earnestness which its bearing on the happiness and pro- gard to it.
gress of the country should inspire. A very praiseworthy effort
at doing this was made in 1859, by the formation of “The School-
masters' Social Science Association,” the objects of which were-
“the study of Social Science and how to teach it, as a means of
raising the intellectual and professional status of teachers, of render-
ing them more efficient in the teaching and the training of the young,
and thereby of more beneficially influencing society; and the study
of kindred subjects bearing upon the improvement of the teacher's
Art, in connection with the Laws of the Well-being of Society, such
as Physiology and Health." The patrons of the Association were
Lord Ashburton, Sir James Clarke, William Ellis, Dr Hodgson, and
others; the committee included some of the best teachers in the
country; and the opening meeting was presided over by Lord
Brougham.
In teaching the subject in schools, the special form of it, as recom- The special
mended by George Combe in the present chapter, and as expounded form of the
subject re-
in the works of William Ellis, is the one that should receive the commended.
1 The prospectus of this Association is contained in the Appendix to Pro-
fessor Hodgson's “ Two Lectures on the Conditions of Health and Wealth,
Educationally considered.” It is to be regretted that, from various causes,
this excellent effort to interest teachers in this subject has been given up for
some time.
It is to be hoped that a similar movement will be more suc-
cessful.
200 Instruction in Social and Political Science.
attention of teachers, and be introduced into schools?—which
correlates and brings to bear on Social and Political Science, the
whole of the mental faculties, the sympathetic as well as the self-
regarding, “a correlation first illustrated by the teachings of William
Ellis, which has been more or less successfully followed up by his
disciples ; so that, to-day, the science, when properly taught, instead
of warping the minds of its students into a one-sided egoism, develops
a largeness of views, a generosity of sentiment, and a soundness of
judgment, perhaps unattainable through any other study.” 2
The manner of The manner of its teaching should receive special care, as on its
its teaching
character depends the success of the subject, as the admirable educa-
tional instrument it may be made. It should be based and con-
ducted throughout on facts within the experience of the pupils, and
be taught on the true principle of all teaching, by continual
reference to the concrete, in the manner of object lessons. The
form of teaching is well indicated in Mr Ellis's works, and in Mr
Templar's. “Socratic questioning” should also be largely employed. 3
-Edit.]
1 The works of Benjamin Templar, W. A. Shields, Dean Dawes, Rev. W.
Jowitt, and Dr Leverson, already mentioned, are founded on and embody
William Ellis's principles.
2 Dr R. M. Leverson, in Kiddle and Schem's “Cyclopedia of Education"
(New York, E. Steiger ; London, Sampson, Low, & Co.), p. 784.
3 This is explained in next chapter, p. 237. See also some good remarks
on its teaching, by Dr Leverson, in the Cyclopedia article mentioned above.
CHAPTER VII.
EFFORTS, IN BRITAIN, AT PROVIDING THE BROADER EDUCA-
TION HERE ADVOCATED, WITH WHICH GEORGE COMBE WAS
CONNECTED.
By the Editor.
EFFORTS have been made, in different parts of the country, to pro- Efforts at secu.
vide a broader education than common, to secure a truly National
ring a broader
education.
Unsectarian system, and to exemplify the kind of school machinery
and school work by which the education of the country should
be carried out, on the “ Secular” school basis. These form an
interesting and important chapter in the history of education in this
country, and one that has had a strong influence on educational
progress, in leading to the present broader solutions of educational
questions, in Parliament and in the country. With most of these
efforts George Combe was more or less intimately connected, and in
some of them he was a prime actor. It will be well, therefore, to
give a short account of them, in order not only to help to complete
the story of his work in Education, but to illustrate his broad
principles in actual practice in school.
of the Edin-
1. THE SECULAR SCHOOL IN EDINBURGH, FOUNDED BY GEORGE COMBE.
As already told in the Introduction, in conjunction with his friend The founding
Mr Janies Simpson, Advocate, and others, at the end of 1848, hurgh Secular
George Combe determined to found a school in Edinburgh, for School.
teaching the broader scheme of education he had so long advocated,
on the model of the first Birkbeck School, founded five months
before, in connection with the London Mechanics' Institution. The
following is the prospectus, written by George Combe and freely
circulated, regarding the proposed school :-
Prospectus of a School for the Secular Education of Boys. Its Prospectus:
“Promoters : George Combe, 45 Melville Street; James Simpson,
33 Northumberland Street.
“The year 1848 will long be memorable in history for the revolu-
tions by which the Continent of Europe has been agitated, and from
which the British Islands have, although not without alarm, escaped.
202
Efforts to Provide Broader Education.
The causes
of this.
The state of Ancient dynasties and governments have been overthrown by the
society in
1848.
efforts of armed citizens of the middle and lower classes of society,
whose object has been to found new political institutions, more con-
ducive, in their opinion, to individual happiness and social prosperity,
than those which they have destroyed. But hitherto their efforts
have not been crowned with success. Wreck of property, derange-
ment of trade, loss of employment to the operative classes, general
suffering in the present time, and fear of evil for the future, are the
chief consequences hitherto produced by these convulsions.
“ Among other causes of this unfavourable condition of European
society may be reckoned the imperfect education of the great body
of the people. In many countries, their instruction has been greatly
neglected, and even in those in which the best efforts have been
made to teach them, the knowledge imparted has rarely embraced an
exposition of the natural laws by which individual and social well-
being is determined. Moreover, they have not been trained to sub-
mit, in their practical conduct, to the requirements of these laws, as
necessary conditions of prosperity.
The subjects
Believing that the general instruction and training of the young are
proposed for
the best remedies that can be applied to existing evils, and the surest
the new school.
protection against future misfortunes, it is proposed to establish a
SCHOOL for Boys in Edinburgh, in which the following subjects will
be taught, in the expectation that, if it prove successful, it will lead
to the institution of other similar Seminaries; namely
"English Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, History, Book-
keeping, and the Elements of Mathematics and the Physical
Sciences.
“A Knowledge of the Natural Sources of Wealth, and of the
Natural Laws which govern its production and distribution, as
unfolded in the science of Political Economy.
“ A Knowledge of the Constitution of the Human Body and Mind
and of their relations to external objects, and the Natural Laws
by which their functions are regulated, as these are unfolded
in the sciences of Physiology and Phrenology.
“The practical applications of these branches of knowledge to the
conduct of individuals will be taught, with a view to enable the
young to comprehend the manner in which the laws of God's provi-
dence determine their health and sickness; their individual and
domestic happiness; their social condition; their success or failure
in business; and the physical, moral, and economical condition of
their offspring. From this knowledge will be deduced also conclu-
The Prospectus of the Edinburgh School.
203
sions concerning their temporal rights and duties as individuals and
members of society.
“Particular attention will be paid to Moral Training, based on the The moral
training aimed
principle, that the mere teaching of moral precepts is not sufficient,
at there.
but that the young must be trained to carry them out in practice.
“One great object of the teaching in these Schools will be to con-
vey to the minds of the young a perception of their actually living
under a scheme of Divine Government which favours temperance,
industry, intelligence, morality, and religion, in this world; and to
train them to refer, in their judgments of men and things, and in
their own actions, to the laws by which this government is main-
tained and enforced.
“The School-Hours will be from Nine in the Morning till Three in
the Afternoon (Saturday excepted), with the usual interval at Twelve
o'clock.
Note in Explanation of the Foregoing Prospectus. --The progress The prevalent
of National Education is at present obstructed, and effort is paralysed, education.
because no general agreement has been reached as to the things that
should be taught in schools for the people. Some individuals con-
sider Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, with Moral and Religious
Instruction, to constitute a sufficient education for the labouring
classes. Others regard instruction in the Natural Sciences, in addi-
tion to these branches, to be necessary for their proper cultivation.
Some, who concur in this opinion, nevertheless view Religion as the
only sound basis of all education, and desire to teach the catechism
of their own church, as well as the sciences of nature. Others, again,
regard Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, the Physical Sciences, and also
Religion and Morality, to have a basis in the constitution of the
human faculties and of physical nature, and think that these may be
usefully taught as Secular education, irrespective of catechisms, leav-
ing Dogmatic Religion to be instilled by the parents and clergymen of
the pupils.
“These differences of opinion appear in the highest quarters, and it The views of
is not to be wondered at that humbler men are perplexed.
Chalmers and
Whately com-
ample, the late Dr Chalmers? and Archbishop Whately appear to be pared.
at variance on what must necessarily be a first and fixed principle,
lying at the bottom of all sound action on the subject of education,
viz., whether it is necessary to teach the people a knowledge of the
laws of nature, under the idea that these determine their physical,
economical, and physiological condition; or if it be sufficient to teach
1 Dr Chalmers died in May 1847, the year before the above was written.
For ex-
204
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
“Religious”
and Secular
Education
compared.
them Religion and Morality. In an article in the third number of the
North British Review, on the ‘Political Economy of the Bible,' Dr
Chalmers seems to lay down the doctrine that it is not necessary to
teach the laws of Political Economy to the people, but only the
morality and religion of the Bible, and that public prosperity will
result from the sum of private duties duly discharged, in virtue of the
governing laws of Providence. Archbishop Whately, on the other
hand, in his address, delivered on the 19th of June 1848, to the
Statistical Society of Dublin, states that, in his opinion, it is a mis-
take to suppose that even sound religion and the purest morals
would secure a people from destructive revolutions, if they possessed
not a competent knowledge of those circumstances on which the
welfare of empires depended.' 'It was not religion or morality that
would teach them whether certain things were possible. If they
were possible, they ought to be accomplished. If impossible, Political
Economy (and other sciences) would show that they were so.'
“These two opinions represent the two bases on which most of the
advocates of Religious education and of Secular education take their
stand. If any one will visit our parish or other schools which are
under the chief guidance of the clergy of any denomination, or of
religious societies, they will find that the instruction communicated in
them consists mainly of reading, writing, arithmetic, the religious
catechism of the sect, and general moral and religious instruction,
drawn from it and the Bible; but omitting, to a great extent, the
doctrine of Physical, Physiological, and Economical causation, on the
right understanding of which,-in addition to Morality and Religion,
-according to the Archbishop, the prosperity or adversity of the
individual in this life really depends. These schools are constituted
on Dr Chalmers's principle, that if individuals discharge their moral
and religious duties aright, God's Providence will evolve prosperity,
without their knowing how. The advocates of Secular education, on
the other hand, maintain that it is a part of God's Providence to con-
nect suffering and enjoyment with certain natural causes which He
has instituted and adapted to the nature of man; that the systematic
exposition of these causes and their effects is not contained in the
Bible and catechism ; that, nevertheless, an adequate knowledge of
these causes and their effects is necessary before temporal prosperity
1 Dr Chalmers broadened his views of National Education, after writing this
article in 1845, and recommended a Secular system and Science. See Appendix
for an expression of them.
2 See George Combe's ideas as to Causation explained, p. 40.
The Prospectus of the Edinburgh School.
205
view incom-
can be reached, and before even moral and religious duty, in relation
to the affairs of this world, can be fully understood; and that,
therefore, any religious teaching which omits science is incomplete
for secular purposes. Nay more, that as these natural causes of
prosperity and adversity have been instituted by God, it is actually
a part of moral and religious duty to study them, and to act in con-
formity with them; and that all existing schools, in which this
teaching is omitted, are really, so far, deficient in communicating
moral and religious instruction.
“Dr Chalmers's view appears to us to be not so much erroneous as Dr Chalmers's
incomplete. God's Providence is moral, and, as a general rule,
plete.
prosperity is attached to moral, and adversity to immoral conduct;
but the defect of Dr Chalmers's theory lies in this that the
elements and conditions of man's well-being in this world are not ex-
clusively moral ; and, in this respect, there is a great distinction
between temporal and eternal happiness. The elements and condi-
tions of the latter are wholly moral and religious ; and the Bible is,
therefore, in regard to them, generally viewed as the only and all-
sufficient guide; but not so with respect to man's temporal interests.
These depend on physical, on physiological, and on economical causes,
as well as on moral and religious causes; and, in many instances,
an individual is not in a condition to judge soundly regarding what
is his duty, if he be ignorant of the first, second, and third of these
departments of causation.
* For example The Bible explicitly declares that he that Man's secular
If the
happiness
provideth not for his own is worse than an infidel.'
dependent on
individual who reads this injunction be a farmer, he may deduce secular causes.
from it the inference that he is required by Scripture to manage
his land in the best manner, that he may draw from it as large
a provision as possible for his family; but the Bible tells him
nothing concerning the most advantageous method of draining,
manuring, labouring, and cropping his fields. Science, however,
which means knowledge of God's natural laws and works, will teach
him this; and, therefore, before he shall be able competently to
fulfil this item of his moral and religious duty, he must study Agri-
culture, as well as Religion and Morality. Again-'providing for his
own' implies, that he shall rear his children in the best possible
health ; but the Bible does not fully instruct him concerning the in-
fluence of improper diet and clothing, of ill-aired and crowded rooms,
of unhealthy localities, of too much study, and other physical
and moral influences on the health of his offspring. Physiological
206
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
ance of this
Man's secular science, however, would communicate to him this information, and,
happiness de
pendent on
therefore, a knowledge of it also is necessary to him before he can
secular causes. successfully fulfil this scriptural precept. Farther, in order to be able
to study either Religion or Science with intelligence, and to practise
with advantage the rules of conduct which they dictate, the intel-
lectual faculties must be cultivated and trained to observe, to reason,
and to act. But the Bible does not contain an exposition of the art
of teaching and training the mental powers. Science, however, does
so; and again it appears that in order to cultivate even the religious,
moral, and intellectual faculties of children, and to train them to
proper action, it is necessary to go beyond the precincts of the Bible.
This is no disparagement to the Bible, because apparently it was not
designed to absolve man from the duty of studying the Divine will,
expressed in the constitution of nature, and presented to him for his
investigation and guidance. On the contrary, one of the offices of
Religion and Morality, in so far as this world is concerned, appears to
be to enforce the study of nature and obedience to her precepts as a
duty, in order that we may fulfil the Divine will in regard to our
sublunary existence.
The import-
"We solicit attention to these considerations, because, until the
points involved in them be decided by public opinion one way or the
principle in
Education. other, no progress can be made in this momentous question. If Dr
Chalmers's view be both sound and complete, the advocates of Secular
education should succumb; but if Archbishop Whately's principle
be sound, then the adherents of Dogmatic Religious education may be
expected to yield something to the claims of the people for a more
extended instruction than in reading, writing, arithmetic, the Bible,
and the catechism. If the Archbishop be in the right, we are
defrauding the labouring classes of an important benefit of reason,
by withholding from them an adequate knowledge of the causes of
their temporal suffering or well-being; and it is unseemly to make
zeal for our peculiar interpretations of Scripture an obstacle in the
way of communicating this information, seeing that these interpreta-
tions have no necessary connection with the constitution of nature,
and do not embrace the whole counsel of God.'
This broader “In London, the experiment of teaching the children of the working
Eclucation
classes the elements of Political Economy and Physiology, in addition
already begun.
to reading, writing, and arithmetic, and omitting Dogmatic Religion,
has been tried with success ;7 and an additional school embracing
1 This refers to Lovett's National Hall School, described in this chapter,
No. 4, In 1848 these three schools were opened in this order : Lovett's, on
Meeting regarding the Edinburgh School.
207
these branches of instruction has recently been instituted, under the
patronage of the Earl of Radnor, in connection with the London
Mechanics’ Institution : It is named the Birkbeck School.”
“The promoters of the school described in the foregoing Prospectus
desire to ascertain, whether or not parents belonging to the working
classes of Edinburgh appreciate the advantages of a more extensive
education for their children, than they have at present the opportunity
of obtaining; and, with this view, the school before mentioned will
be opened."
A preliminary meeting was held on the 27th of November 1848, A preliminary
at which George Combe entered at considerable length into the regarding the
meeting called
nature of Education generally, and of the special course that was to school.
be adopted in the new school. The following is the report of the
meeting, as given in the Scotsman of 2d December :-
“A meeting of such of the working classes as take an interest in
Secular education, was held in the Freemasons' Hall, Niddry Street,
on Monday evening, the 27th November. The meeting was called
at the instance of Mr George Combe and Mr James Simpson, and
the call was most heartily responded to, the room being crowded by
a most respectable assemblage of the working classes.
“Mr Combe stated that the object of the meeting was to consider Its oject
stated.
the subject of Secular education. It was not intended as a meeting
for discussion, or to put any resolution, or to pledge them to anything;
but his design was to present to them the project of a school for the
education of boys, on an improved plan, which it was intended to
open in Infirmary Street, in the course of next week. In explaining
the views which he held on education, they were not to understand
that he was asking their concurrence in any particular views which
he might state. He allowed every man to judge for himself. All
that he proposed doing was to submit certain propositions, which he
left to their own disposal. If they thought them useful, he claimed
If they dissented from them, he submitted to their
right of private judgment, and did not find fault with them for not
following him. Before explaining the nature of the school which
it was intended to institute, he proposed to make a few remarks on
the subject of education itself.
their support.
.
Feb. 28th ; the first Birkbeck School, mentioned above, on July 17th ; George
Combe's, on Dec. 4th. Lovett had opened a Secular Sunday-school in 1843.
i The Earl of Radnor was then Patron of the Mechanics’ Institution.
2 See an account of this school, in this chapter, p. 231.
208
Efforts to Provide Broader Education.
Secular and
“Education was generally divided into Secular and Spiritual; and in
Spiritual Edu.
cation defined. their day, they had had an extraordinary amount of discussion on the
merits of Secular education, and whether there should be an education
given to children apart from Religious instruction. As he should use
the word “Secular' on the present occasion, it would mean instruction
concerning the things of this world; and it was intended to stand in
opposition to Spiritual instruction, rather than Religious instruction,
for Religious instruction might embrace the things of this world.
Secular education, then, referred to the things connected with this
life, and Spiritual instruction referred to the interests of eternity.
They would understand that his present observations referred to the
things of this world and to its interests.
Man's need of “The first question which he wished to submit to their consideration
Education.
was this—What need had men of education at all? It might appear
to many to be unnecessary to enter on this subject, but doing so
would enable him the better to introduce the views on which this
school was to be founded. Some of them were aware that, since he
had last the honour of addressing a public audience in Edinburgh,
he had made a visit to the United States, and had lectured to numer-
ous audiences in that part of the world. About eighteen months
ago, he received a letter from a person in Lowell, in Massachusetts,
where there were a great many cotton and spinning mills, as in
Glasgow and Manchester. This individual put the question to him :
As you have taken a great interest in the welfare of all classes, can
you tell me how we, the working men of Lowell, are to be delivered
from the iron hoof of capital; for we find ourselves here in the midst
of great mill-owners, who are dividing yearly 15 and 20 per cent.
from the profits of our earnings, while we have only a bare sub-
sistence for our labour?' He sent an answer, and the first point
which he endeavoured to explain was, what constituted capital.
Capital, he understood, consisted of everything that was useful to
man, produced by human skill and labour. He did not count water
capital in a country like this where we had a superabundance of it,
except when it was brought into our houses, where it became the
representative of capital, in so far as the pipes and conduits that
brought it in were capital.
This illustrated “In illustrating the advantages of capital, he instanced the cases of
in regard to
two men who should proceed to the United States, for the
capital;
of
purpose
reclaiming part of the large tracts of country there that were not yet
1 He went to America in 1838 and returned in 1840. He had been much on
the Continent since returning. See George Combe's Life by Charles Gibbon.
Meeting regarding the Edinburgh School.
209
possessed by man—the one having capital in his axes and saws to
cut down the trees, in food to support him, in harrows and ploughs
to till the ground, and in other instruments by which he could render
the soil productive, and his own life comfortable; and the other
having nothing but muscular strength, a willing heart, and a desire
to reclaim the wilderness. The question, then, came to be how these
two men, the one with capital and the other with none, were to be
brought to an equality in their acquisitions of profit from the soil ?
He knew no means except the simple process of robbery. But if they
proceeded on that principle, the next new comer would just rob the
two that had been before him; so that, by-and-by, the capital would
disappear, and they would all be left in the lurch together.
“He would now proceed a step further, and they would see the The conditions
bearing of this It appeared to him, that the bountiful Creator had is placed in the
presented them with a soil capable of cultivation, with minerals below world.
the ground and timber growing above it, and with a great number of
elements which might all be converted into instruments for their en-
joyment; and He had also given his creatures vigorous bodily powers
to turn these gifts to account, as well as intellectual powers to bend
the elements to their will. If man, then, would do his duty, he
would find the practice of it agreeable; and the reward would be
great and rich, and such as would bring satisfaction to his faculties.
If this was a correct view of the state of this world, the only way
by which working men could deliver themselves from the 'iron hoof
of capital' was to qualify themselves to acquire capital for their own
use; for it was capital that made capital. This brought him a little
nearer the point. What was it that constituted the extraordinary
differences that they saw between different classes of the community,
in all the civilised countries of the world? He had, as he had already
remarked, visited the United States of America; he had been for
two years resident in Germany; he had travelled through Italy from
Naples to the Alps; and he had seen a considerable part of France :
and, in all these countries, the condition of the people was the same.
They had rich and poor; men ill to do, and men well to do. But
what was particularly striking was, that, although the United States
of America presented all the elements necessary to human enjoyment,
which most people conceived were wantingin thiscountry, viz., universal
suffrage, a fine climate, and an unbounded territory, not one-fourth
peopled; still there also working classes complained of being crushed
down by the 'iron hoof of capital,' and that they had nothing but a
bare subsistence for their labour. Let them investigate the causes of this.
0
210
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Education
necessary to
use these.
What consti.
tutes Real
Education.
“He did not believe that God Almighty acted as a partial Father.
He did equal justice to all, and the inequality lay in the differences
which they themselves made. He ascribed the success of the
middle classes in acquiring capital to the extraordinary amount of
cultivation they bestowed on the minds of their children, which
produced a mental capacity to deal with this world's causation, and
to accumulate wealth. As the world is full of springs of activity,
and everything proceeds from causation, it requires acute human
observation to understand the causes, and to extract the benefits they
are calculated to yield. He saw, then, one class of the community
bestowing the utmost pains to drill the minds of their children, so as
to enable them to cultivate the natural elements presented to them
by Providence; while he saw, on the other hand, the labouring class,
in a great many instances from necessity, but, to speak the plain
truth, in not a few cases from sloth, stupidity, and recklessness,
stinting their children of that education and preparation necessary
to cope with the difficulties of this world. It was education alone,
he contended, that would enable the working classes to raise them-
selves to that position of wealth, influence, and respectability which
he had no doubt they were destined to occupy.
“This being the case, the next question was, What constituted
Education ? Education had hitherto been supposed to consist in
learning reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and other similar
branches; but these were the mere instruments or means by which
the knowledge of the world was to be acquired. It appeared to him
that education would never be adequate to man's wants until it aimed
at teaching him the qualities of the natural elements which Provi-
dence presented to him; how he might deal with them so as to extract
the greatest amount of benefit from them; and the relationship
between them and his own constitution. This was what he called
education. Hitherto, in most of the schools, reading and writing
had constituted the chief education of children. But to learn to read
was merely acquiring the means of ascertaining what books contained.
The mere art of reading did not give us information, and would not
unfold the powers of nature, unless we were taught them specially.
Reading, however, was indispensable to enable us to search the
records of human knowledge, and was therefore the first element of
human education; but the extent of the knowledge it will convey
will depend on the books read. The schools we have hitherto had
have been confined too much to the acquiring of the means for gain-
ing knowledge. It appeared to him that the first step in education
Meeting regarding the Edinburgh School.
2II
was, to add a knowledge of the elements of nature; a knowledge of
the causes which produce good and evil in this life, and which make
us feel that we have acted wisely or unwisely.
“The school which it was proposed to establish was to be founded
on these principles.
“Mr Combe then gave an example of the method of instruction it The instruction
was proposed to follow, in the case of a boy who was intended for the proposed in the
trade of a shoemaker; and showed the manner in which the principles
of Political Economy, as affecting his trade, might be brought to
bear
upon his mind. He then, at some length, demonstrated the
value and importance of introducing Physiology and Phrenology as
branches of education. With such a course of instruction, the child
would go forth from school, understanding what he was, and where
he was, possessing a degree of intelligence that could otherwise be
acquired only after many years' experience in the world.
“ Mr Combe then remarked that it was to be a school for Secular in- The relation of
struction alone, and that they were to teach no Dogmatical Religion in the school to
He was gratified extremely by their approbation of this announce-
ment. They would observe, from what he had said, that they meant to
teach reverence for the Supreme Being. They meant to teach most
sedulously the great, and important, and all-pervading principle that
He made the world and made man, and adapted the one to the other;
that He intended mankind to do their duty; and that nineteen-
twentieths of their sufferings and sorrows arose from their own
failures, in not acting in accordance with His laws. That was the
kind of Religion which belonged to a Secular school. He conceived
that every man had a right to judge for himself, in forming his
opinions on religious subjects, however widely these might differ from
his own.
He did not profess himself to be a sectarian, like the
Pharisee, who went into the temple to pray, and who thanked God
that he was not like other men; but he professed himself on this
subject to be like the Publican, who said, “Lord, be merciful to me,
a sinner. It was every man's duty, to train up his children accord-
ing to his own convictions of religious truth. The moment they
yielded the right to every man to teach his own children, that very
moment they surrendered the right to force their own religion on the
consciences of their neighbours.
“They had suffered in this country, to an enormous extent, from the And to Secta-
contentions of sects, in proof of which Mr Combe referred particu- rian Theology.
larly to the state of Ireland. He passed a high eulogium on the
National School system of that country, and expressed his satisfaction
212
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
iż had
that, notwithstanding all the opposition which it had met with,
continued to progress; so that, at the present moment, there were
more children at the National Schools than had ever been at aly
former period. As regarded the school which they were about to
institute, they had come to the determination to leave the Saturdays
and Sundays for the teaching of religion, by the pastors and parents
of the children themselves. Such schools were common in the
United States, in Holland, and also in Ireland; and last, and most
important of all, several influential gentlemen in Lancashire, copying
the American system, had brought a great scheme of Secular education
before the public in that county, and intended to apply for a bill to
authorise the community to tax itself for the support of these
schools, which were to be under the management of those who paid
the taxes. 2
How the school “The Edinburgh school would be opened in the Trades' Hall,
wasted. be sup- Infirmary Street, and the fee would be fourpence per week, for
ported
each boy above six years of age, to whom it would be at first
confined ; but the founders were decidedly of opinion that if
the experiment proved successful, the two sexes should afterwards
be trained together. He begged to say that Mr Simpson and
himself were not alone; and that the idea of the school had
originated from Mr William Ellis of London, manager of the
Indemnity Marine Insurance Company, who had practically tested
the system in the metropolis, and who had placed at his disposal
a sum of £100 to assist in the establishment of the school.3 This
amount had been supplemented by subscriptions from other parties;
and it was worthy of remark, that some of these had come from
Ireland. He concluded by expressing a hope, that the school which
they were about to institute would be the nieans of introducing an
improved system of education into Scotland, of which she might one
day be proud.
“Mr Simpson then shortly addressed the meeting. He said it gave
him great pleasure and satisfaction, to hear the principles to which he
1 See a history and account of the Irish system of Education, by George
Combe, in Part Fifth, chap. iii.
2 An account of the Lancashire movement, begun in 1847, is contained
in this chapter, p. 237.
3 Mr Ellis retired from that office in January 1877, but remains a Director of
the company. He contributed liberally to the school during its existence.
4 This refers to the establishment of a National System of Education in
Ireland in 1831 and 1833, in which George Combe took very great interest, and
of which he frequently wrote. See Part Fifth, chap. iii.
The Edinburgh Secular School.
213
had given utterance about fifteen years ago, in this city, so much
better expounded and enforced that evening, by his friend Mr Combe.
6 Mr Combe said that Mr Ellis bad not only most liberally con- The new
tributed to the school, but he had also supplied them with a most introduced.
able teacher, in the person of Mr W. Mattieu Williams, whom he
had now the honour of introducing to the meeting.
“Mr Williams made a few remarks, in the course of which he
stated that his design would be, not so much to communicate a
knowledge of words, as to communicate a knowledge of ideas, to the
boys that might be entrusted to his care. He bespoke their
indulgence for a week or two after the commencement of the school,
but, after that period, he hoped to have matters in such a state as
would exhibit in a favourable light, to all who visited the school,
the system of education which he intended to pursue.
"
The school was opened, for boys only, on the 4th of December, in The objects
temporary premises, No. 6 Infirmary Street. As was said in the aimed at in
first Report of the school, “it was instituted for the purpose of afford-
ing to the children of the working classes of Edinburgh a useful
Secular education. It aimed at training children to virtue and use-
fulness, by instructing them in the constitution of the things and
beings which exist, their relations, and the consequences of their
various modes of action; and, by accustoming the animal propensities
and moral and religious sentiments to act in harmony with the
intellectual faculties, in obeying, throughout life, the law of God
inscribed in the records of creation. The object of the school thus
included the training of all the faculties--animal, moral, religious,
and intellectual; but, in order to avoid the difficulties arising from
differences of opinion among the various sects on points of religious
doctrine, the department of Dogmatic Spiritual instruction was not
undertaken, the teaching being confined to matters purely Secular, or
relating to this world and its duties only.” “ The average attend-
ance during the first month was 32; and the numbers continued
steadily increasing until the last month of the session (July 1849),
when they reached 60.”]
The subjects taught have already been enumerated. Monitors were
employed by the teacher, the number under each never exceeding
twelve. “The lessons read were made subservient to the systematic
1 These quotations are from the Annual Reports of the school, additional
extracts from which will be found in the Appendix, giving in fuller detail the
working of the school.
214
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
of the teach.
The character courses of instruction on the moral and physical sciences, natural
ing.
history"
, geography, &c.” “With the exception of the arithmetical
tables, no lessons were set to the children to learn by rote.”
“Wherever the subject permitted, objects and diagrams were exhibited,
and the teacher found that the rapidity, accuracy, and stability of
the progress of the pupils, in any branch of knowledge, was almost
measured by the number of such illustrations that had been presented
to them." “Wherever inferences or theories were involved, they
were submitted to severe examination—the teacher suggesting
difficulties and apparent objections, and requiring the pupils to do the
same. In general, his object was to lead, rather than carry them
through a subject, by supplying, or, if possible, drawing from them-
selves, such suggestions and facts as might draw their minds to in-
vestigate and find their own conclusions, rather than to remain mere
passive and submissive recipients of the statements of the teacher.”
Instruction in “Object lessons were given daily to the younger children, so as to
science, given afford general and rudimentary ideas on various branches of know-
ledge, and on the meaning and application of the ordinary words
and scientific terms which the sensible properties of the objects
illustrate, in order to prepare the children for those systematic courses
of instruction in the sciences, which constituted the chief business of
the advanced classes. They were also made introductory to
Physiological and Moral science.”
“Rudimentary ideas of their own
mental faculties were afforded by leading them to inquire how they
knew that an object was brown, or hard, &c.; and thus the organs and
functions of the senses and perceptive faculties were made familiar
to them, and the subject of Mental Philosophy and the relations of
their faculties to the external world was opened, to be afterwards
more fully unfolded in the advanced classes for Phrenology."
Knowledge of Physiology was taught, illustrated by a human skeleton, by casts
of the muscular system, and by diagrams; and the structure, modes
of action, laws of health, and uses and abuses of the bodily and
imparted.
mental organs explained. Social Economy was a regular branch of
instruction, by which "the natural laws which govern the production
of wealth, the manner in which it has been and may be distributed,
and the foundation of differences of rank, of civil laws and govern-
ment, and of the general duties and arrangements of social life, were
taught.” Physical training was also attended to, though the want
of a proper playground interfered with this. “ The introduction of
1 See remarks on this, the Socratic, method of questioning, in this chapter,
man's constitu.
tion and the
social world
p. 237.
The Edinburgh Secular School.
215
tended to.
Phrenology, because of the prejudices cherished against it, was con-
sidered by many as an experiment of questionable prudence, but ex-
perience proved its wisdom and great utility. Without instructing
children in their own bodily and mental constitutions, it is impossible
to convey to them clear, useful, and practical notions of their own
relations to the other objects and beings of creation ; and the children
took a deep interest in this instruction.”
“Moral training was always maintained as the paramount object Moral training
of the school.”
“ The moral training was not confined to the specially at-
mere teaching of the principles of morality; but every effort was
made to exercise and develop the moral powers of the children,
by maintaining them in active operation in all the proceedings
of the school. Moral delinquencies were tried by a jury of the
children, the teacher acting as judge.” “The teachers endeavoured
to give a moral tone to the whole proceedings of the school, by
explaining to them the moral grounds upon which the school dis-
cipline was founded, and freely permitting their own conduct to be
questioned—making the government of the school as constitutional
as possible, and altogether based upon reason and the moral senti-
ments; always avoiding the position of irresponsible despotism, which
is assumed by some schoolmasters, and viewed by many parents as
essential to school discipline." At first, the teacher adopted the com-
mon method of corporal punishment, but was soon able to dispense with
it altogether,-a very rare thing at that period, and still very rare.
The first examination of the school was held four months after its The early suc-
opening, on the 4th of April 1849, before the parents and friends of cess of the
the children and the promoters of the school, to report progress and
explain the system of tuition pursued. According to the Scotsman,
“ the examination gave the greatest satisfaction to the numerous
audience, and served to prove that the experiment had been eminently
successful.”
In September 1849, the school was re-opened for both boys and
girls in more commodious premises, at No. 1 Surgeon Square, and a
female teacher was engaged. By the middle of October, the pupils
numbered 160, about a third of whom were girls. By-and-by, two
pupil teachers were also employed.
The character and aim of the school, especially as excluding
Theology, gave rise, of course, to much criticism and even strong op-
position, the school being nicknamed "the infidel school," and the
1 See interesting details on this point, and on the general discipline of the
school, in the Appendix, in the extracts from the Reports.
I
school.
216
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
/
was mis-
The use of the
lar."
The criticism system denounced as Godless." The name
" Secular
it received.
understood and misrepresented. Even friends of " Secular" education
objected to the name as applied to this school, on account (as a corre-
spondent in the Scotsman of November 21, 1849, put it) of“ a branch
taught in it, which if it be not what Dr Muir or Dr Candlish, Bishop
Terrot or Bishop Gillies would count religion, yet looks very like as
if it partook of the religion of Bishop Combe and Dean Williams"-
Phrenology! George Combe defended the use of the name as applied
to the school, in a letter to the Scotsman, replying to this one.
“The word "Secular' is used as signifying things belonging to this
name "Secu-
world, in contradistinction to Spiritual,' or things belonging to a
future life. All kinds of Secular knowledge cannot be taught in any
common seminary, and hence the phrase " Secular school' is used to
indicate the fact that Dogmatic Religious instruction is excluded, and
that the things taught relate to this world; but not that Phrenology
or any other particular branch of natural knowledge is necessarily
inculcated in the institution. In regard to Mr Williams' school being
properly named, I may observe that the question, whether Phrenology
is a Secular or a Spiritual subject is easily settled. It is neither more
nor less than the Physiology of the Brain. If, as your correspondent
assumes, Phrenology is untrue, the uses of the particular parts of the
brain are unknown; if it be true, these are known in so far as its
truth extends. But, on either supposition, the subject is still the
brain and its uses. Now, the brain is an object existing in this world,
and its functions are performed in this life, and hence the doctrine of
its uses is a Secular subject; and Mr Williams' seminary is therefore
properly named a 'Secular school.''
The relation of In one of the prospectuses of the school, it is explained that "the
the school to
Theology.
promoters and friends of the school by no means advocated the ex-
clusion of the doctrinal portion of Religious education, but simply that
it should be taught separately, either by the parents or in schools in-
stituted for the purpose, under the superintendence of the clergy of
each denomination." They also pointed out that, "in this respect,
the school was in the same position as the High School and University
of Edinburgh, and most of the public seminaries for the upper classes
both in Edinburgh and throughout the United Kingdom, which were
really 'Secular' schools, though the word "Secular' was not
formally appended to their titles.”
After the school had been conducted for some years, George Combe
bore the following testimony to the successful teaching of the
elementary principles of science to young children.
The Edinburgh Secular School.
217
“It has been found practicable to teach the elements of the Natural The success of
its special
Sciences to the children, without straining their faculties, or having features.
recourse to emulation, rewards, or punishments to stimulate them to
exertion. The adaptation of this knowledge to the human faculties
has rendered the communication of it to the mind, as acceptable as
the supply of food to the body. The lessons on science have been
followed with eagerness by the pupils, recommended solely by the
inherent interest of the subjects and their applications to the promo-
tion of human welfare. The influence of this instruction in waken-
ing up an observing, reflecting, and self-controlling habit of mind, is
one of its leading characteristics. The children learn that they exist
in the midst of ever-active forces, physical and moral, with which
determinate consequences have been connected by the Author of
Nature; and they have been enabled to discern that a large extent
of human suffering arises from ignorance of the agency of these forces,
or from reckless or wilful encounters with them; and also that the
improvement in their own condition, attainable by steady compliance
with the natural conditions of happiness, is so great, that it is calcul-
ated to afford them every encouragement to acquire the knowledge,
and submit to the self-restraint, which are indispensable to that
compliance. In the lessons on Social Economy, Physiology, and
Phrenology, these conditions are systematically taught. The pro-
moters have, from the first establishment of the school, advocated
the great practical importance of teaching Physiology, and its
applications to Health, to the children of the working classes; and
experience has shown that the young receive such instruction with
intelligence and avidity."
The school existed for six years, till 1854. Yearly examinations Its general
were held, and fully reported in the Scotsman. Reports were also efficiency.
published every year, written by Mr Williams, and six in all thus
appeared. These are admirable, being full of excellent educational
matter, and would well repay republication entire. In the Appendix
will be found certain extracts bearing on special features of the school
and the mode of its working, interesting and valuable in themselves,
and as showing the practical application of George Combe's principles.
The promoters of the school and the Scotsman reported every year in
1
1 F the Fourth Annual Report of the School, in 1853.
2 Some of these were held in the Waterloo Rooms, Edinburgh, to allow larger
numbers to witness the work of the school, and roused great interest.
3 They may be seen in a volume in the Phrenological Museum, and in the
Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.
218
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
the most favourable terms of its increasing efficiency; and there is no
doubt that, while it lasted, the school was most successful. The
average attendance was over 150. The school was frequently visited
by many persons interested in education, and by teachers who wished
to become acquainted with the system. It was supported entirely
by the subscriptions of friends and the fees of the children.
Application was made to the Privy Council, in 1854, to participate
in Government grants, like other schools; but this was refused, on
account of “Religious" instruction not being given.
Reasons for its Mr Simpson's death in September 1853, Mr Combe's infirm health,
being given up. Mr Williams' removal to Birmingham, and the difficulty of obtaining
a proper teacher, rendered it advisable to give up the school at the
close of the session in 1854, when the annual examination took
place, and gave high satisfaction to the parents of the children and a
large number of visitors." George Combe, to the end of his life,
cherished the idea of re-opening the school, but never succeeded in
finding a suitable teacher.2
2. THE SECULAR SCHOOLS IN LEITH.
A Secular In 1852, four years after the opening of the Williams school, steps
School estab-
lished in Leith. were taken to found a school in Leith on the same principles as the
Edinburgh school, and for the teaching of the same subjects
. Mr
Williams writes that “the school was first suggested by a working
man whose son had died from the effects of a brutal flogging at one
of the common schools." A circular was issued in November, declar-
ing that “a portion of the working classes of Leith, desirous of
establishing a school upon more useful principles than those at present
in existence, held a meeting and appointed a committee to carry into
operation the above object. It is proposed, therefore, to frame it on
the model of Williams' Secular School in Edinburgh, which has proved
so eminently successful. In the system of teaching, care shall be
taken, not so much to cram the memory, as to communicate and elicit
ideas from surrounding objects, thus giving the education a practical
tendency, which must prove highly useful to the pupils in after life.”
It is added that “the system has given the highest satisfaction to all
who have taken an interest in it," and they announce that the school
will be called the “ Leith Secular School.”
1 Mr Williams became Lecturer on Chemistry and Experimental Physics at
the Birmingham and Midland Institute, Birmingham.
2 Additional details regarding the school will be found in the “ Life of George
Combe,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. pp. 247, et seq. and 362.
The Leith Secular Schools.
219
George Combe and Mr Simpson, whose help was solicited, took an Its history and
active part in founding and organizing the school, and Mr Williams success.
gave a course of lectures to add to the funds. Mr James Hay? of
Leith granted a schoolroom free of rent, in the premises of the
Edinburgh Roperie Company, in Bath Street; and he and others
assisted the committee of working men “with subscriptions in aid of
large contributions made by themselves for the purchase of the
necessary furniture, books, and apparatus.” They engaged as head
teacher Mr William Ellis, who had studied for some months under
Mr Williams, and, as assistant, James Lambert, one of Mr Williams
pupil teachers, in addition to a young woman who taught the girls
sewing. The school was opened on the 7th of March 1853, and,
before the end of the month, had 140 pupils in attendance, and could
receive no more, as the schoolroom was inconveniently crowded. It
was managed by a committee chiefly of working men, and, under
their auspices, was successfully conducted for five years.
In 1858 Mr Hay adopted the school as his own, with Mr Ellis as It becomes
head-master, bearing all charges to the last. He intended it primarily nics School."
for his own workers, though others were allowed to attend. On
account, no doubt, of the misunderstanding of the name, the school
was then called “Hay's Mechanics' School." Notwithstanding
much opposition, as Mr Hay says, “with the assistance of good and
efficient masters, the school turned out a great success.”
frequently visited by George Combe and other friends of broader
education, all of whom continued to be interested in its success.
It was examined yearly, and obtained very favourable reports. It was
carried on till some five years ago, when the Scotch Education Act
passed in 1872, by which many of the points contended for by the
promoters of these schools were secured for National education. The
schoolroom is now used as a reading-room for the workers in the
Roperie. It has been impossible to obtain further details regarding
the working and history of these schools, on account of the destruction
by fire of all the relative papers.
It was
3. THE SECULAR ASSOCIATIONS AND SCHOOLS IN GLASGOW.
The educational writings and efforts of George Combe, especially
his pamphlet, “What should Secular Education Embrace ?" published
1 Mr Hay has long been the senior partner in the Roperie Company, and an
influential citizen of Leith. He was very intimate with the Combes. He still
lives in Leith (1878).
220
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Efforts for
Secular Edu-
cation in
Glasgow.
in 1848, originated a most active and long-continued movement on
the “Secular” platform in Glasgow. The chief co-operators in this
endeavour were Mr James M'Clelland, Mr Richard S. Cunliff, and
Dr J. P. Nichol, professor of Astronomy in Glasgow University,
besides other advanced educationists.
Educational
(1.) The Secular Sunday-schools.
The “Sunday The first public effort made was the formation of the “Glasgow
Association.” Sunday Educational Association," in 1849, though the work began
in 1848. Its object was to establish Sunday-schools, in which
should be imparted "the ordinary elements of instruction, such as
reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography, to destitute and
neglected orphans, to children whose parents are unable to pay for
their education, or are indifferent to whether they receive any, to such
as are sent early to work, and who, from exhaustion of body, if
taught at all must, be taught on Sunday,-in short, to the poorest,
the most ignorant, the most helpless class of children ; to place
within their reach the means of knowledge, to train them up to
habits of cleanliness and sobriety, and to instil into their minds such
precepts of morality as are calculated to make them honest and
virtuous.” The Association earnestly deprecated any idea of rivalry
with any other society or Sunday-school: "they wished to introduce
1 Mr M‘Clelland was long a very intimate friend and correspondent of George
Combe's, and a most enlightened and indefatigable educationist, proving his in-
terest in education by the ungrudging labours of a lifetime, and by large expendi-
ture for its furtherance. He was chairman of both the Glasgow Secular School
Societies during their whole existence, and one of the most earnest promoters
of the Secular School movement. He has also been a very active member
and regular attender of the Social Science Association since its foundation in
1857, especially in the Education Department, the chair of which he occupied,
during most of the time, at the last meeting in Aberdeen, 1857. Mr M‘Clelland
now lives chiefly at Pembridge Square, Bayswater, London, to which he
removed some years ago.
2 Now President of Anderson's College, Glasgow, a true and earnest educa-
tionist, having the courage of his convictions in an unpopular cause.
3 Professor Nichol is well known as the distinguished and eloquent author
of " The Architecture of the Heavens,” and other popular scientific works.
He was one of the earliest and most enlightened of our Scotch educationists,
lecturing, writing, and organising regarding education with unremitting
energy. In 1847 he translated the “Education of the People,” by J. Willm
of Strasburg, a practical treatise on the means of extending its sphere and
improving its character (first published in 1843), with an admirable Introduc-
tion on education, by the translator. He wrote also numerous lectures and
pamphlets on the same subject.
The Glasgow Secular Schools.
221
school estab-
lished.
92
a new kind of Sunday-schools, altogether for those who must either
be educated in the way contemplated, or not at all.”
The idea of such a Sunday-school was first started in 1848, by a The origin of
the idea.
few earnest young men, in “an upper room” in Glasgow, in which
at first they disinterestedly laboured. They afterwards opened a
school in St Andrew Square, in which they taught, till ejected from
the premises by the opponents of such a novel, unsectarian idea.
They, however, succeeded in obtaining other premises in the same
Square, and persevered in their good work. The opposition they en-
countered finally led them to solicit the assistance of like-minded men,
willing and able to support them, and the result was the formation
of the above Association, in 1849, which paid the past and bore
all future expenses.
The Association succeeded ultimately in establishing four schools The Sunday-
in different neglected parts of the city, with an average attendance
at each of from 100 to 150, taught free by a large number of
enthusiastic teachers. These schools did a great amount of good
among the lower portions of society, and the yearly reports are most
interesting and instructive. The Association continued its admirable
labours for four years. The teachers published, in 1852, a very good
collection of “Moral and Social Songs for the use of Secular Schools,
the first of its kind, and deserving republication. Their work
encountered the greatest opposition, evinced by ejection from the
premises and misrepresentation of their opinions and objects.
(2.) The St Andrew Square Secular School.
Another association was formed in 1850, with Mr M‘Clelland as The "Secular
School So.
president and Mr Cunliff as vice-president, for conducting Day
ciety.”
schools on the same principles as those of George Combe and his
friends, called the “
Glasgow Secular School Society.”
In the premises in St Andrew Square, they opened the first Day The first Secu-
Secular School, in October 1850, under Mr Robert Brown, afterwards
resident surgeon in Barnhill Poorhouse. In 1851, he was succeeded
by the two brothers, William and Thomas Bennett, who conducted
the school under the auspices of the Society till August 1853, when a
proposal to remove to other premises caused a separation between them
1 Of these there survive the Rev. William Bennett, now minister of the
Unitarian Church, Paisley ; Mr Thomas Bennett, now editor of the Dumbarton
Herald, author of " A Plea for Secular Education” (Trübner & Co.), in which
the position of the party is fully and ably put, and a picturesque account given
of the above schools; and Mr John Neilson, builder, Glasgow.
2 Published by the late John Robertson, 21 Maxwell Street, Glasgow.
lar School.
222
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
and the Society. The Bennetts successfully conducted the St Andrew
Square School, till December 1856, with the co-operation of another
committee of friends interested in their work, though their relations
with the first committee continued, to the last, to be quite cordial.
The subjects The school embodied the same general features as the Edinburgh
and character
of the teaching
and other Secular schools. It consisted of three divisions, the lowest
being under a female teacher, the higher under the two brothers.
The curriculum included a thorough course of English commercial
education ; object lessons, in the lower divisions, as a simple and
gradual “introduction to the sciences ;” Physiology and Social
Economy, which received special attention as so directly related to
uman well-being; Phrenology and the “ Natural Laws," which
were begun under Mr Brown, the first teacher; Geology and other
sciences, to extend their knowledge and to cultivate a taste for
scientific studies; singing, sewing, &c. The pupils were allowed
an interval of five minutes at the end of every hour, a practice which
should be universal for the sake of its physical, and moral and intel-
lectual invigoration. On Saturdays, they were taken out into the
country, and to museums, manufactories, &c., for various educational
ends. Moral education received prominent attention, through regular
instruction in morals and manners, by means of lessons on their duties
to their parents, to their neighbours, and on truthfulness, honesty,
kindness, &c., and by careful training at all times and by all subjects.
The school was attended by the children of parents of all churches
and sects, and of different social grades, and it had an average attend-
ance of 150, as many as the rooms could accommodate. During
its existence it was remarkably successful."
(3.) The Carlton Place Secular School.
The second In 1853, the Glasgow Secular School Society opened another
Secular School.
school in Carlton Place, under the able management of Mr John
Mayer, and Mr James N. M‘Lean who had been trained in the St
Andrew Square School, Mr Mayer having latterly sole charge,
with assistants male and female. The average attendance in this
school was from 100 to 200 pupils of both sexes, and its success was
marked, notwithstanding the antagonism displayed towards it in
many powerful quarters. It was supported entirely by the voluntary
contributions of a few earnest friends, and the small fees of the
1 Further interesting details in regard to its working and the effects of its
training are given in Mr Bennett's “Plea.” Annual Reports were also published.
2 Mr M'Clelland and Mr Cunliff bore the chief part of the expense.
The Glasgow Secular School Movement.
223
children, the annual expenditure being about £120. An effort, made
in 1853, to participate in Government grants was unsuccessful.
The subjects taught were almost identical with those of the The subjects
Williams School, all theological instruction being excluded, and
taught.
scientific subjects forming a prominent part of the work including
Physiology and Social Science from the first, and, ultimately, syste-
matic Chemistry, for which good grants were obtained from the
Science and Art Department. The school was carried on for twenty
years, until the passing of the Scotch Education Act in 1872, when
the promoters thought that most of what they had so long contended
for had been gained and was embodied in the Scotch Code.
Interesting and valuable reports were issued yearly; and a history The success of
its special
of the school, after thirteen years of successful teaching, was
features.
read by the Head-master, Mr Mayer, at the meeting of the Social
Science Association in Manchester, in 1866. In a note to this
paper, Mr Mayer says that the school “is silently exerting no
mean amount of influence by its example; and its success
most indisputably establishes the fact, frequently denied, namely,
that a really Secular system of education can exist which is
thoroughly and practically religious." The school would seem to
have been most efficient. In an excellent pamphlet on
Results of an Inquiry into the State of Schools and Education in
Glasgow," by Robert Somers, published in 1857 (R. Griffin & Co.,
London and Glasgow), which originally appeared as a series of papers
in the North British Daily Mail of that year, it is specially reported
on in the highest terms, and its peculiar features mentioned. “Pro-
minence is given to Physiology, Social Economy, Mechanics, and
other Sciences." After describing lessons witnessed on Physiology
and Political Economy, and praising the manner of teaching, the
author concludes : “Such completeness of arrangement and such
extension and breadth of study as are apparent in these and other
instances are rather an exception, of course, than the rule in the
common schools of Glasgow.”
- The
(4.) Other Efforts in favour of National Unsectarian Education.
The Society was very active in other directions, in advocating Efforts for
National Unsectarian education, conducted on a broader basis of in-
struction and training. An influential private meeting was held in
1850 for advocating these views, and a petition was shortly after-
Unsectarian
Education,
1 Published in the Transactions of the Association for that year.
224
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
wards drawn up, signed by 1300 persons, and presented to Parlia-
ment by Lord Melgund, in April 1850. A meeting of delegates from
workshops and factories took place in February 1851, at which the
programme of the Secular School Society of Glasgow and the
National Public School Association of Manchester was adopted, and
arrangements made for a public meeting of the working classes. This
took place in April, in the City Hall, George Combel and James
Simpson being the chief speakers, when a motion embodying the
same views was unanimously carried.
"The Glasgow Another association was also formed to promote these objects,
Public School
Association." called the “Glasgow Public School Association,” which addressed an
able “Memorial on behalf of a National System of Education," on
the “ Secular” platform, to Earl Granville, then President of the
Council, in February 1854. It was signed by five of the chief pro-
moters of the Secular school, John Tennant of St Rollox being
president, Professor Nichol, vice-president, James M-Clelland, con-
vener, R. S. Cunliff, treasurer, and George Smith, secretary. This
was a remarkably well-written document, putting the aims of the
“ Secular” education party very clearly and fully.
In all these movements in the West of Scotland, George Combe
took the greatest interest and played an active part, especially through
his friend Mr M'Clelland, by whom he was kept in full knowledge
of all that was being done.
2
4. THE NATIONAL HALL SCHOOL OF WILLIAM LOVETT,
Lovett's efforts One of the most interesting educational efforts ever made in this
in favour of
National Edu- country was that of the remarkable man, William Lovett, the
cation. Chartist. Opposed altogether to the physical force party in Chartism
of Fergus O'Connor and his friends, Lovett represented the moral force
Chartists, who, while seeking political privileges for the people, en-
deavoured to render them worthy of possessing them, by raising them
physically, mentally, and morally by means of education. In 1837, he
issued an eloquent and powerful Address to the Working Classes on
the subject, in which he advocated the appointment by Parliament
of a Committee of Public Instruction, and the establishment, all over
the country, of normal, infant, preparatory, high, and finishing schools
or colleges, with evening schools for later education. After his
release from Warwick Jail in 1840, where he had been imprisoned
for the prominent part he took in regard to "the People's Charter,"
1 His speech there is incorporated, in great part, elsewhere in this volume.
2 It was almost entirely written by Professor Nichol.
William Lovett's Secular Schools.
225
Its pro-
he issued a similar Address on Education " to the Reformers of the
United Kingdom.” In this document, in addition to the foregoing
educational machinery, he recommended the foundation of " Public
Halls or Schools for the People,” in all parts of the country, to be used
for schools, lectures, discussions, and entertainments, with play and
pleasure grounds, baths, museums, laboratories, and workshops, as
well as agricultural and industrial schools; and the offering of
premiums for essays on education. He also showed how, in a short
time, all this could be achieved by the people themselves, by each
man contributing only one shilling a quarter.
“This proposal," says Lovett, in a letter to George Combe, in the reception
October 1848," " while it was warmly greeted by the press, and these met.
received the commendations of intelligent men among all parties,
was met with falsehood, intolerance, and bitterest rancour, by the
most prominent organ of Chartism, the Northern Star.
prietor and editor jointly denounced it as a plan intended to destroy
Fergus O'Connor's political supremacy, and subvert one which he
had previously concocted. Education was ridiculed, knowledge was
sneered at, facts perverted, truth suppressed, and the lowest passions
and prejudices of the multitude were appealed to, to obtain a clamor-
ous verdict against us.
“In this state of political feeling, it was deemed desirable to try what the foundation
good could be locally effected. A large chapel being to be let about of the una;
that period, we took it on a lease of 21 years; and receiving subscrip-
tions from some liberal friends, we were enabled to fit it up as a hall.
It was opened in July 1842, under the title of the National Hall”;
since which period it has been occupied as a lecture and concert rooni,
and place of meeting. It may be necessary to state, that two of our
fundamental rules are opposed to the introduction of intoxicating
drinks, and to its being used for purposes of controversial theology.
A Sunday-school, on a small scale, was established soon after its
Hall."
2 The name,
1 George Combe sent Lovett the prospectus of the Secular School in Edin-
burgh about to be opened, asking information regarding Lovett's own schools.
This Lovett gave in a long and excellent letter, dated October 22, 1848, which
is too long to quote in full, but of which the above is an extract.
“National Hall," was given to the school in connection with
the proposal in Lovett's address of 1840, referred to above. This one in
Holborn was intended to be the first of the kind, to show the sort of insti-
tution recommended, and the manner of working it. It was capable of accom
modating 2000 persons, and, besides the school, was devoted to public meetings,
lectures, concerts, and classes of different kinds, and had a coffee-room and
library
P
226
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
with it.
Schools opened opening?; but owing to the great expense incurred in the fitting up
in connection
of the Hall, and a consequent debt of about £300, we were unable,
till recently, to establish what we all desired, a Day School for
children. A kind friend, however, came to our aid, one whose heart
warmly sympathises with the millions, and whose head is ever active
in promoting plans for their welfare. He generously offered us
assistance in establishing a Day School for Boys, under my superin-
tendence, which offer was gratefully accepted. The school was
accordingly fitted up, desks provided, a master engaged, and the school
opened in February last. We opened with nearly 100 pupils, and
now we have a daily attendance of about 200. Their ages are from
The objects of six to fourteen, perhaps the majority being from eight to eleven. It
the Day School is opened to the public generally, and we have the children of Jews,
Unitarians, and Christians of various sects, as well as those of no
sect at all,—no questions being asked, nor opinions taught, calculated
to give offence to any. But our objects, terms, and course of instruc-
tion, may be best gleaned from our prospectus. It states that,—'In
directing public attention to this school, the conductors are hopeful
of receiving encouragement and support from all classes, and more
especially from the friends of education, as their chief object in form-
ing it is to provide for the children of the Middle and Working
Classes a sound, secular, useful, and moral education, such as is
best calculated to prepare them for the practical business of life, to
cause them to understand and perform their duties as members of
society, and to enable them to diffuse the greatest amount of happi-
ness among their fellow-men.'
Its relations to “You will perceive," he continues, “that our school is purely
Religion.
Secular : not that we undervalue Religious instruction; but as the
attempt to introduce any particular form or creed, or religious teaching,
would naturally call forth distrust among those parents whose feelings
were opposed, or whose own peculiar views were rejected, we deem it
wise to exclude from education all such questions of dispute. If the
great precept of 'Love one another,' be made the basis of educational
discipline, and if the moral and intellectual virtues be developed in
the minds of the children, we think parents will perceive, that more
genuine Christian charity is likely to result, than if they were drilled
1 The Sunday-school was similar to the one carried on in Glasgow, already
described. “Free admission," says Lovett,“ was given to all who came cleanly
in clothing and person ; the education given being reading, writing, arithmetic,
grammar, and geography, with such other kinds of information as was in our
power to bestow.” It existed four years, and was taught by Lovett and some
of his friends.
William Lovett's Secular Schools.
227
in the constant reading of what they could scarcely comprehend,
or by repeating precepts by rote, without their importance being
exemplified by practice. We think that, when abundant time can be
found for imparting Religious instruction beyond that dedicated to
the school, and when so many religious instructors of all denomina.
tions are willing to impart their peculiar views, it would seem more
in accordance with the teachings of Christ to remove all sources of
contention, and endeavour to dwell in peace and union, which are the
great essentials of religion, than, by our selfish desires and sectarian
jealousies, suffer ignorance, vice, and disunion to prevail.”
The school was opened at first for boys; but soon after for girls, The subjects
under a male and a female teacher.
taught in it.
The subjects taught were almost
the same as those afterwards taught in the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Secular schools, including, of course, Physiology and Social Science,
with the facts of trades and manufactures, and Natural History and
other sciences, Drawing, and Vocal Music. In the school, Lovett
himself taught Physiology, being the first to teach this subject in
any common school in Britain ; Social Science was taught in it by
William Ellis, who was the first to teach the subject in schools.
Lovett gives a graphic account? of his efforts first to master
Physiology himself, and thereafter to render it simple enough
for children. By help of a set of diagrams, prepared by himself,
“having formed a class of boys and another of girls,” he tells
us, “I commenced my teaching, and was gratified, as I proceeded,
to find that even the youngest in the class took an interest in the
lessons, and very readily mastered the rather difficult names of the
bones, muscles, &c. When I had taken my young ones through
their first course, I was greatly encouraged to persevere in my work
by Mr George Combe of Edinburgh, who, on hearing me give a lesson
to my class of girls, was pleased to make some very complimentary
observations respecting their knowledge of the subject.” Of this
visit, George Combe gives the following account, in a letter to the
Scotsman of 17th November, 1849 :
« « The National Hall School,' No. 242 Holborn, owes its origin Its work de-
to Mr William Lovett, the celebrated Chartist, and other individuals. George Combe
.
Its object is to give a useful Secular education to the children of the
working classes, leaving Religion to be taught by the parents and
1 In his autobiography, called “The Life and Struggles of William Lovett,
in his pursuit of Bread, Knowledge, and Freedom” (Trübner & Co.), published
in 1876, a remarkable and inspiring book, full of noble thought and noble
action.
228
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Its work de pastors of the children. It was opened on the 28th February 1848,
scribed by
George Combe. and, at the time of my visit, was attended by 180 boys and 70 girls,
under the charge of Mr John Harris and Miss E. Sunter. In this
school, reading, writing, arithmetic, algebra, mechanics, and the several
branches of science are taught. I heard, for example, Mr William
Ellis give a lesson on Social Economy to a numerous class of boys
and girls.
“ This was only one of a series of such lessons, and the readiness,
clearness, and pertinency with which the children answered questions,
suowed that their knowledge was lodged, not in their memories
merely, but in their understandings.
“I heard also Mr Lovett give a lesson with admirable precision to
a class of girls on Anatomy and Physiology. They were taught, by
the aid of large, well executed drawings, the structure of the human
body, and they showed a ready knowledge of the bones, the superfi-
cial muscles, and the circulating, respiratory, and digestive organs,
with their uses. When these girls become wives and mothers, we
may hope that this instruction will enable them better than sheer
ignorance of such subjects would do, to understand and obey the
laws of health, on which their own lives and those of their children
will greatly depend.
Lovett's posi-
“ It is pleasing to observe Mr Lovett's present position and occu-
pation. He continues to be as sincere a Chartist as ever (and he
suffered for his opinions), but he has generally differed from the
bulk of the Chartists regarding the best mode of securing the legal
enactment of the People's Charter; and also regarding the necessity
of their making active exertions to prepare themselves and their
brethren for the proper exercise of the franchise, when they shall
obtain it. He has the superintendence of the Hall and schools, and
devotes the chief portion of his time to these objects, sometimes
teaching, sometimes making school apparatus, and generally attending
to whatever is taking place in the Hall. He is an amateur in teach-
ing Physiology, but be executes his task well.
“ This is the true method of promoting the extension of the
political franchise to the working classes. If a generation taught
and trained in schools like these were fairly come to maturity, they
might be safely trusted with political power.”
He teaches Shortly after this, at the suggestion of Mr Ellis and three of the
the Birger eine masters of the Birkbeck Schools, Lovett taught elementary Anatomy
Schools. and Physiology in these schools, and thus was the means of introduc-
ing these subjects there, where they have formed a special feature
tion and
labours.
William Lovett's Educational Labours.
229
labours.
ever since. He also opened a class, at the National Hall, for in-
structing the teachers and assistants of these schools in these subjects,
in order to qualify them to teach them themselves. In 1851, he
published the first text-book for schools written on these subjects,
called “ Elementary Anatomy and Physiology for Schools and
Private Instruction,” which then received high praise from various
journals, including the Lancet.
In the same year, after his second teacher left, being unable He conducts
his own school
to obtain another, he undertook the teaching of the school
himself.
himself, with the help of an assistant. He conducted it with the
greatest enthusiasm and success for six years, notwithstanding much
annoyance and increasingly weak health, till the premises were taken
from him in 1857, and the school was dispersed. After trying, in
vain, for four years, to secure another place, he had finally to abandon
the work so dear to him, and to sell the furniture.
After giving up the National Hall School, Lovett continued to His after
educational
teach Anatomy and Physiology and other subjects in the Birkbeck and
other schools in London, for many years. He framed also text-books
for schools-one on “Social and Political Morality,” which was
greatly appreciated when it appeared; others on Astronomy, Zoology,
and Geology, for none of which publishers could be got; and “The
A B C of Social Science in twenty lessons, addressed to the Working
Classes, by a Working Man," which appeared in weekly lessons in
the Beehive, edited by George Potter.
The spirit and practice of William Lovett's admirable labours for
education are well expressed in the following appeal to his “working-
class brethren"1 :
“ Again, I would beseech you to secure a proper education for The nature of
your children. The education you should aim at is not merely the
old routine of reading, writing, and arithmetic, or such mere
technical knowledge as shall enable your children to become more
efficient tools of production ; but such as shall serve to prepare
them to stand on a footing of equality with others; and possessed
of such knowledge and such moral training as shall fit them for a
life of industry and usefulness, so as to be a blessing to themselves
and their country. To this end, they must not only be able to read
and write and cipher, but to acquire some knowledge of their own
nature ; of the world they inhabit ; of the existences they are
surrounded by ; a knowiedge of the conditions of social and
political life, and rules of conduct on which their well-being chiefly
i See his Autobiography, p. 425, et seq.
his educationa
views.
230
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
depends ; together with the outlines and rudiments of science,
which form the foundation of those arts and manufactures that
contribute to the prosperity and happiness of our country. In the
pursuit of those attainments, there should be little difference made
between boys and girls, seeing that women are destined to have the
first and chief hand in moulding the minds and characters of our
people ; excepting that girls should be taught at school to make
and mend their own clothing and to cook their own food-qualifica-
tions of the first importance to promote the well-being of a family.”
It is remarkable what a unity of aim and practice pervades all these
pioneers of broader education.
Lovett a pion- William Lovett has the rare merit of being one of the first to
eer of broader
education.
perceive the defects of our education, and to suggest and to help
practically to work out the only remedy, in the broader, truer, and
more real education advocated by him and his co-workers in the
same field. The year 1848, so memorable for the great French
Revolution, saw also the foundation of the schools of Lovett, Ellis,
and Combe. Of these, Lovett's has the priority in time, if not in
intention, the National Hall School being opened on the 28th of
February, the first Birkbeck School on the 17th of July, and the
Williams School on the 4th of December.
This remarkable man, little known and less understood, but one of
whom the country ought to be proud, died in 1877, in the seventy-
seventh year of his age, encouraged and tended to the last by his
noble-hearted wife.
5. THE BIRKBECK SCHOOLS IN LONDON.
William Ellis's Mr William Ellis, the founder of these schools, being the son of a
Sociál Science. merchant, a merchant himself in early life, and manager of the Indem-
nity Marine Assurance Company, to which he was appointed at the
early age of twenty-eight, and having daily experience in commercial
affairs, had his attention early directed to the subjects of wages, panics,
strikes, currency, banking, and similar problems of commercial and
social life. Endowed with a spirit of philosophical inquiry, he early
began the earnest study of their causes, and of the principles of Social
and Political Science, being further incited to these inquiries by asso-
ciation with Thomas Tooke, James Mill, and their highly intellectual
circle. After so far mastering the subject, he felt, like others, that
no good would be done to the labouring classes, whose evils
he wished to alleviate, unless the universal ignorance on the principles
at the basis of all commercial and social phenomena were removed, by
Tvirtinya
MICHIGAN
The Birkbeck Schools in London.
231
teach it in
having the principles taught to them simply and clearly; in short,
these hitherto abstruse and inaccessible truths must be popularised.
Like a true educator, he saw that the right field to labour in was the
school, where the child was being instructed and trained. He there-
fore began, in 1846, to give simple lessons on the subject in the He begins to
British School in Cole Harbour Lane, Camberwell, in his own neigh-schools.
bourhood, taught by a superior man, Mr Holmes, who afterwards
also assisted Mr Lovett in his efforts in favour of Physiology, and
employed him in his own school.? Mr Ellis was more than surprised
at his success, and at the ease with which the subject was understood
and appreciated by children ; and, from that time till now, he has
devoted himself to teaching and writing on Social Science, for schools
and for popular study and practice. He next gave lessons, as already
told, in Lovett's school, in 1848, and soon after published his first
text book on the subject, “ Progressive Lessons in Social Science.”
In 1848, an effort was made to establish a school in connection The first Birk-
beck School
with the London Mechanics' Institution, the second institution of the
founded.
kind in Britain, founded by Dr Birkbeck, in 1824, and presided over
by him till his death in 1841; the Glasgow Mechanics’ Institution,
established in 1823, mainly through Dr Birkbeck's influence, being
the first. An active mover in this matter was Mr Williams, afterwards
of the Secular School in Edinburgh, who was then Hon. Secretary of
the School Committee. Mr Ellis entered into the movement, and,
chiefly by his liberality and assistance, a school was founded in the
premises of the Institution, in Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, Holborn, which was designated the Birkbeck School, in
honour of the distinguished founder of Mechanics' Institutions, and
which was the first of the name. It was opened for boys, on the
17th of July 1848, under the able superintendence of Mr John
Rüntz, whose brother, Mr James Rüntz, is Head-master of the
Kingsland Birkbeck School.2
The original prospectus of the school was of the same high
type as those already quoted, and the course of study was similar.
In addition to the usual branches, and the elements of mathe-
1 As George Combe says in his letter to the Scotsman, of November 17,
1849, “ To Mr Holmes' enlightened liberality in allowing this experiment to
be tried, no small portion of the subsequent success of the plan is to be
ascribed.” Mr Holmes died some time ago.
2 Mr John Rüntz had the honour of proposing the name of these schools,
and was also superintendent of them for many years.
Most of the head-
masters of the Birkbeck Schools received their special training from him, at
the central schools, Southampton Buildings, Holborn.
232
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
visits the
The Education matics, mechanics, and the physical sciences, “the children
given there.
were to be made acquainted with the laws of their own or-
ganisation, in order that they might understand how much their
health, general energy, physical happiness, and length of life
are dependent on their own conduct; also with the laws of Social
Economy, that they might properly understand their own position in
society, and their duties towards it.' The system of education adopted
is that which modern science and experience have shown to be most
in accordance with the constitution of the human mind, and best
calculated to strengthen, develop, and rightly direct all its faculties,
by presenting to them the objects naturally adapted to call them into
varied and healthy activity. The moral training is based on the
principle that the moral feelings, like the physical and intellectual
powers, can only be strengthened by actual exercise; that the mere
teaching of moral precepts is not sufficient, since they are but intel-
lectual truths for the guidance of the feelings, and their acquisition an
intellectual operation-they must be carried into practice.” The
school was “purely Secular.”
George Combe George Combe visited the school shortly after its opening, and
school.
wrote the following account of it, in the letter to the Scotsman of
17th November 1849, already quoted:"I next visited the Birkbeck
School, connected with the Mechanics Institution, Southampton
Buildings. Its constitution and objects are similar to those
of the National Hall School, and its success. has been highly
encouraging. It was opened on the 17th of July 1848, and,
on the day on which I entered it, there were 280 boys in attend-
It is very ably conducted by Mr J. Rüntz, and several
assistant teachers and monitors. Here also I heard Mr Ellis give a
highly interesting lesson on Social Economy to a class of boys; and,
on another occasion, I heard one of the monitors, Thomas Selby, a
boy of twelve years of age, give a lesson on the same subject, to a
large class of his school-fellows, in a style of distinct efficiency which
surprised me, much as I had anticipated from what I saw of Mr
Ellis's teaching. The conclusion which I drew was, that the great
principles of Social Economy are so directly referrible to facts with
which even children of twelve and fourteen years of age are con-
versant, that they may be taught to individuals of that age with
both pleasure and advantage, provided the teacher himself thoroughly
comprehend them, and be capable of furnishing ready and familiar
illustrations.
“ The limits of this communication forbid me from entering into
ance,
.
The Birkbeck Schools in London.
233
Birkbeck
details concerning the other branches taught and the mode of teach-
ing in these schools; suffice it to say that the subjects are practically
useful, and the teaching is of a high order, displaying energy of
mind and extensive knowledge in every department. The best
evidence that can be adduced in support of this statement is the
success which has attended these seminaries, and their multiplication
in the metropolis."
This school was carried on for twenty-five years, till it was given
up in 1873, and, during the greater part of this time, it was used as
a kind of training school for the teachers of similar schools.
After the foundation of the first Birkbeck School, Mr Ellis set The earlier
himself to found other schools on the same principles, which
Schools, now
though established solely by his own munificent liberality, he discontinued.
called Birkbeck Schools, magnanimously subordinating himself in all
these endeavours. George Combe tells us that, at the time of his
visit, there had been founded, in less than a year after the first, the
following schools :-
“ (1.) A school in John Street, Tottenham Court Road, having a
daily attendance of 118 boys. It was opened on the 23d of
September 1848, and is conducted by Mr Alfred Brooks, who, for a
short time, was an assistant in the National Hall School.
“ (2.) The Finsbury Birkbeck School, situated near the Taber-
nacle Chapel, City Road. It was opened on the 16th of August 1849,
and is conducted by Mr Thomas Cave, formerly an assistant in the
National Hall School, and for a short time at the Birkbeck
School
“(3.) Another branch of the Birkbeck School was opened on the
1st of October curt., in the Lower Road, Islington, by Mr Wells, a
young man who was brought up in Mr Holmes's school, at Camber-
well, and who has been an assistant in the Holborn School from its
commencement."
Another was subsequently founded at Vincent Square, West-
minster, also for boys.
All the foregoing schools have since been discontinued, either The Birkbeck
having been given up, or having their places supplied by the other Schools now
existing.
schools since opened.
There now exist (1878) the following Birkbeck Schools, in or
near London, all founded and maintained by Mr Ellis :-
(1.) The Cambridge Road Birkbecke Schools, in Cambridge Road,
Bethnal Green, founded in January 1851, for boys; head-master,
Mr Robert W. Pike; with 140 boys and 80 girls now on the registers.
234
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
The subjects
still taught
there.
(2.) The Peckham Birkbeck Schools, in Willow Brook Road, near
Hill Street, Peckham, founded in 1852, for boys, girls, and infants ;
head-master, till recently, Mr W. A. Shields, now Mr George Bond ;
with an average attendance of some 400.
(3.) The Kingsland Birkbeck Schools, in Robinson's Row, Kings-
land, founded in 1852, for boys, girls, and infants : superintendent,
Mr John Rüntz; head-master, Mr James Rüntz; with 340 boys, 152
girls, and 70 infants on the registers.
(4.) The Gospel Oak Schools, the only schools not named Birkbeck,
in Allcroft Road, Kentish Town, founded in October 1862; rebuilt
in 1864 on a different site, the original premises being required by
the Midland Railway Company; for boys, girls, and infants ;
head-master, Mr Edward Teather; with 428 pupils on the
registers.
The subjects still taught are much the same as in the first Birk-
beck School. Besides the common subjects in the infant and higher
schools, Social Science and Physiology form regular and prominent
studies; the classics are not taught, except Latin to those wishing
it; the elements of the physical sciences, vocal music, and drawing
(in most of the schools, under the Science and Art Department) are
regularly taught, as well as French, German, the piano, and dancing,
to the pupils who want them; industrial work and Domestic
Economy to the girls ; and physical exercises and drill, in well-
equipped gymnasiums.
In each school, there is a full, and, in some, a very large staff of
male and female teachers, sometimes numbering a dozen or more, as in
the Kingsland School. The schools furnish so-called “middle class
education, being chiefly attended by the children of the higher class
artisans and shopkeepers, and the like, though the children of poorer
parents largely attend, an effort being made by many parents to send
their children to these schools in order to finish their education. The
fees have been raised from the original 6d. a week, or 6s. a quarter,
to from 12s. to 21s., according to the subjects taken. The schools
are almost, if not altogether, self-supporting, any deficiency being
made up from an endowment fund established by Mr Ellis. The
How the
schools are
carried on.
1 Mr Shields has just died, in February 1878, at Bournemouth,—a very great
loss to education. By all that knew him and saw him at work, he was acknow-
ledged to be a teacher of rare skill and success, and an unusually enlightened
educationist. George Combe frequently speaks of him in very high terms. He
was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic of the workers on the Secular
School platform, and was eminent in promoting its educational reforms.
The Teaching in the Birkbeck Schools.
235
school-rooms are spacious, well lighted and ventilated, and abund-
antly furnished with all modern requisites.
The subject on which most stress is laid, according to the wishes The import-
and aims of their founder, is Social Science, or “the Conditions of ance laid on
Social Science
Human Well-being ; so that,” according to the prospectus of one of there.
the schools, “ the children may not go forth to take their part in
the work of the world utterly ignorant of any safe guides of con-
duct; this teaching including, among other things, the knowledge of
the laws relating to the production and distribution of wealth, the
means by which wealth is made to accumulate, the advantage of
division of labour and interchange, the laws which regulate wages
and profits, the causes of variations in values and prices, the nature
of the means adopted to facilitate interchange, but, above all, the
courses of conduct which ought to and must be followed, in order to
secure future happiness and well-being."l Science classes are also
held in the evening, for those who have left school, in connection
with the Science and Art Department, at which there are taught
Physical Geography, Electricity and Magnetism, and Practical Che-
mistry, for which there are complete laboratories.
The learning of rote lessons is discouraged and subordinated to The principles
the training of the faculties, by objects and ideas themselves, and on which they
.
by the exercise of the mental powers on the subjects taught. No
prizes are given, the spirit of rivalry, with its attendant evils, being
altogether discouraged, and a love of knowledge and progress
actively fostered for their own sakes. Moral training receives
very great attention, according to the ideas of Mr Ellis as
taught in his special subject, and corporal punishment is unknown.
Monitors are employed in certain classes, after careful selection
and preparation by the head-master, and they conduct their work
under his eye and active superintendence.
The schools are as successful as ever, so far as the teaching is Their success.
concerned ; but the attendance at some of them has decreased since
the erection of the Board schools, where the fee is lower, and where
better education is now to be had, than was possible in common
schools when the Birkbeck Schools were first instituted. The
attendance, however, is still large, as will be seen from the numbers
given above.
During his whole life, Mr Ellis has continued to study his
favourite subject, to teach it in schools, and to embody the results
1 Prospectus of the Kingsland Birkbeck School.
236
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
1
1
of his study and experience in several works, published from time to
time, a list of which is given below.
William Ellis's Such is a brief outline of Mr Ellis's labours for education and the
services to edu-improvement of mankind. As truly said by William Lovett, "few
persons have done more for promoting a sound useful education
among our people than this clear-headed, kind-hearted man. To
him is due the high honour of first introducing the important
subject of Social Science or Human Well-being into our common
schools, and in simplifying what at one time was considered a very
abstruse subject, so that children can very readily comprehend it.”
Mr Ellis has virtually created a new science by his works and
teaching, his scheme not being mere dry, hard Social or Political
Science, but a union of their principles with those of Morals and
Religion, and a successful concentration and cultivation of the
intellectual, moral, and religious faculties, by means of the great
problems of social life.
His Educa- 1 Progressive Lessons in Social Science. Second edition. Fcap. 8vo. Is. 6d.
tional writings.
Outlines of Social Economy. Third edition. Enlarged fcap. 8vo. Is. 6d.
Introduction to the Study of the Social Sciences. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. .
Outlines of the History and Formation of the Understanding. Fcap. 8vo. 2s.
Philo-Socrates. A Series of Papers, wherein subjects are investigated which,
there is reason to believe, would have interested Socrates, and in a manner that
he would not disapprove, were he among us now, gifted with the knowledge
and familiar with the habits and doings of our times. Complete in Four
Volumes. Post 8vo. 2s. 6d. each. Vol. I. Among the Boys. Vol. II. Among
the Teachers. Vol. III. Among the Boys. Vol. IV. Among the Hindoos.
What Stops the Way? or, Our Two Great Difficulties. With some Hints
concerning the Way. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d.
A Layman's Contribution to the Knowledge and Practice of Religion in
Common Life ; being the Substance of a Course of Conversational Lessons
introductory to the Study of Moral Philosophy. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d.
Thoughts on the Future of the Human Race. Post 8vo. 58.
Education as a Means of Preventing Destitution. Post 8vo. 4s.
What am I? Where am I? What ought I to do? How am I to become
qualified and disposed to do what I ought? Fcap. 8vo. Is.
Where must we look for the further Prevention of Crime ?
8vo. 1s.
Reminiscences and Reflections of an Old Operative. 3d.
London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 15 Waterloo Place,
Also other works either wholly written by Mr Ellis, or for which the materials
were supplied by him, as : “Lessons on the Phenomena of Industrial Life and
the Conditions of Industrial Success," edited by Richard Dawes, M.A., Dean
of Hereford (Groombridge & Sons); “Helps to the Young," edited by the Rev.
Wm. Jowitt (Longmans). George Combe enumerated Mr Ellis's works, with
high praise, in several of his pamphlets.
2 See especially his " Progressive Lessons” and “The Religion of Common
Life.”
William Ellis's Educational Labours.
237
» ments in its
Mr Ellis has also the merit of introducing a new style of teaching His improve-
into school work, which he calls “the Socratic method of teaching.
method.
This is greatly cultivated in these schools, and was much used and
recommended by George Combe. According to this method, the
children themselves take part in the conduct of the lessons, by asking
questions of the teacher, as well as answering them; so that there
is a constant reciprocal communication between master and pupils
during the lesson, by means of question and answer, suggesting diffi-
culties, asking and giving information on special points, and criti-
cising solutions offered, thus continually exercising the observing,
reflecting, and higher faculties on the subject under consideration.
This method deserves the careful attention of all educators, and
should be practised in all schools.
Mr Ellis's enlightened and self-ignoring philanthropy is above His philan-
praise. He has not only spent thousands of pounds on the Birk, thropy.
beck Schools, but has liberally assisted many others; while he has
been ever ready, with silent unobtrusiveness, to succour the needy,
many of whom have been social pariahs on account of their
opinions. He is now in his 79th year, and recently has been with
reluctance obliged to discontinue his life-long educational labours.”
It only remains to add, that George Combe and Mr Ellis were
intimate friends for many years, encouraging and assisting each other
in their unpopular but admirable endeavours for human well-being.
6. THE MANCHESTER SECULAR SCHOOL MOVEMENT.
(a.) Efforts made to secure National Education.
The year after the publication of the celebrated Minutes of 1846 of Efforts in Man-
the Committee of Council on Education, several earnest public-spirited chester in fa-
men in Manchester, much interested in education, which was then Education.
beginning to draw increased attention throughout the country, and
dissatisfied on several points with the measures adopted by
Government, determined to make a local effort to demonstrate
what a truly National System of Education ought to be, and to ini-
tiate a movement to show how it might be worked out in
Lancashire. In July 1847, they issued "A Plan for the Esta-
1 A warm and well-merited tribute is paid to Mr Ellis hy Lovett, in his
Autobiography, p. 360 et al.
2 Additional information may be had regarding Mr Ellis and the Birkbeck
Schools in Knight's “ English Encyclopædia,” and in “The Schools for the
People,” by George C. T. Bartley (Bell and Daldy).
3 The original committee that started this movement consisted of the
238
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Plan for Secu.
"1
The Lancashire blishment of a General System of Secular Education in the County
lar Education. of Lancaster, addressed to the people of Lancashire. This
document was elaborate, high-toned, and advanced. It developed a
Scheme of Education by Public Schools, for the whole people, and
not for the lower classes only, by means of a general Act for the
appointment of school committees all over the country, according to
the population; the establishment of common, infant, evening, and
industrial schools, to which all children were to have the right of
free admission, the expenses to be provided by equal taxation; the
training of teachers in Normal schools, and their careful examination
and certification, before being allowed to take charge of a school;
the education to be altogether “secular” and undenominational, a
selection from Scripture, determined by the committees, being
allowed, if thought good; all ministers of religion to be excluded
from being salaried officers.
* The Lanca- At a meeting held in the Manchester Mechanics’ Institution, in
shire Public
School Asso August 1847, an association was founded, called “The Lancashire
ciation.” Public School Association for Promoting the Establishment of a
General System of Secular Education in the County of Lancaster.”
At this meeting, the above prospectus was adopted, as expressing the
principles of the Association, with a view to its being introduced to
Parliament as a bill, the motion being seconded by Mr Cobden, M.P.
The committee included men of all varieties of theological and political
opinion, and several clergymen since more widely known.” The Asso-
ciation set itself to agitate the subject, gather statistics, form an
educational library, organise local committees in the chief places of
the county, and hold regular meetings for reading and discussing
papers on educational subjects. The first public meeting was
3
1
following, who first met in the vestry of Lloyd Street Chapel:-Thomas Bal-
lantyne, Jacob Bright, W. B. (now Professor) Hodgson, Alexander Ireland (of
the Manchester Examiner), Samuel Lucas, and the Rev. W. M‘Kerrow.
1 Drawn up by Mr Sainuel Lucas, brother-in-law of the Right Honourable
John Bright, Esq., M.P.; and correspondent of George Combe's. In this pro-
gramme, Mr Lucas “took as his guide Combe's exposition of Horace Mann's
System (in America), in the Edinburgh Review for July 1841.” See “Life of
George Combe,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 238. In 1853, Mr Bright also
boldly advocated Secular Education.-Ibid. vol. ii. 319.
Such as the Rev. Samuel Davidson, D.D., the great Biblical scholar ; the
Rev. Dr Beard.
3 In 1850, a collection of these papers was published, called “National Edu-
cation not necessarily Governmental, Sectarian, or Irreligious,"containing very
good utterances on various aspects of the question.
The Manchester Secular School Movement. 239
held in January 1848, when a form of petition to Parliament was
agreed on, which was signed by 11,000 persons in Lancashire.
In 1850, a series of able counter lectures was delivered, in opposi- It becomes
"the National
tion to a National System, since published and known as the Crosby
Association."
Hall Lectures, of which movement Edward Baines, M.P., and the
Rev. Hugh Stowell were amongst the leaders. The Lancashire
Association carried on the agitation with such activity, and
evoked so much public sympathy in favour of their views that,
in the same year, they held a great public meeting, at which
Mr Cobden and Mr W. E. Forster took an active part. The
Association then broadened its name and basis, and consti-
tuted itself " the National Public School Association,” os to
promote the establishment, by law, in England and Wales, of a
system of Free Schools, which, supported by local rates and
managed by local committees, specially elected by the ratepayers,
should impart Secular instruction only, leaving to parents, guar-
dians, and religious teachers, the inculcation of doctrinal religion, to
afford opportunities for which the schools shall be closed at stated
times in each week.” The Association now enlarged its sphere of
action, and organised above a hundred meetings in the chief towns
of England, from Newcastle to Brighton.
In 1851, another committee, called “The Manchester and Salford A counter de-
nominational
Committee on Education,” was formed, composed chiefly of church-
men, to advocate denominational education. Each of the com- formed.
mittees prepared a bill for Parliament in 1852-3, the Secular bill
being introduced by Mr Milner Gibson, the Denominational by Mr
Joseph Brotherton. Both bills were remitted to the same committee
of the House, and a large number of persons were examined in regard
to them. The committee sat two sessions, and simply reported the
evidence taken. So that Manchester was " the cradle and the
nursery of two distinct schemes for State Education.'
In 1851, George Combe and James Simpson attended a great
public meeting in the Corn Exchange, Manchester, and gave
addresses in favour of a National Secular System. The meetings
held by George Combe and his friends throughout Scotland, in
the same year, were intended to agitate in favour of the same Na-
1
association
1
Organised chiefly by Dr John Watts, of Manchester, one of the most
active labourers in this cause.
2 Dr Hodgson (who took a very active part in the agitation), in an able lec-
ture On the Characteristics of the two Schemes for Public Instruction,”
delivered in the Town Hall, Manchester, in August 1851.
240
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
cates the
National
Association
George advo- tional movement, and to support the principles of the Manchester
Association, which were unanimously adopted. At the meeting
held in Glasgow that year, after recounting the denominational
programme.
efforts made in Scotland for National Education, George Combe thus
spoke : “In England, a better scheme has been devised. There, a
society of enlightened and philanthropic men has laboured for
several years to introduce a system of Free schools for Secular educa-
tion into that country. It now comprises men of high character and
station, many of whose names are known to you, and, to their
honour be it mentioned, also several ministers of the evangelical
churches. After having agitated for several years for a bill for the
county of Lancaster alone, they have recently been led to render
their association national. They invited Scotland to join; but our
countrymen, too intently engaged in the conflicts which I have
described, declined to accept their invitation. I am authorised to
say, however, that they will hail our accession, at any hour, with
joy, and they invite us to unite our voices to theirs in demanding,
from Parliament, a measure that shall impart Secular education to
the people, free from all denominational control, leaving to parents
and pastors the duty of weaving their own woof of faith into each
child's mind, according to their own convictions of truth and the
right way to salvation."1 He concluded by moving :-“That the
meeting approve of the basis of the Association for National Public
School Education in England and Wales," } which was unanimously
carried, as elsewhere.
The opposition
The labours of the Manchester National Association were, of
course, strongly opposed, and the usual epithets employed regarding
them, such as “godless," and the like; but they met with great and
growing sympathy.
The Secular The first efforts at embodying these views as to National Education
Schools esta- in a practical form in schools were, the opening of a Secular School
in Manchester by “the Order of National Independent Odd-
fellows,” in February 1851, founded on the principles of George
Combe's Edinburgh School, and the Birkbeck Schools in London ;
the establishment of the Salford Mechanics' Institution Day School,
in November 1853, on the same principles; and the projecting in
1853, and opening in 1854, of the Manchester Model Secular
School, “ to test the principles of the National Association, and to
be, as far as possible, a model of the schools they sought to establish
over the country.”
1 From the North British Daily Mail, of Glasgow.
encountered.
Manchester
The Manchester Secular School Movement. 241
efforts there.
The National Public School Association practically ceased to Subsequent
educational
exist after the presentation of their bill to Parliament in 1852–3.
Shortly afterwards, a compromise committee was formed, which also
dissolved before long, from the nature of its component elements.
About 1862, the “Manchester Education Aid Society" was founded,
mainly by the efforts of the late Mr Edward Brotherton, a Man-
chester merchant, to pay the fees of the children of poor parents,
irrespectively of the sects to which they belonged. This society
published reports, and a paper on its behalf was read at the meeting
of the Social Science Congress in Manchester, in 1866. This led to
the formation of an "Education Bill Committee," which prepared
the draft of the bill introduced into Parliament by Mr Bruce, now
Lord Aberdare, in 1867. This was amended and re-introduced in
1868, but it was finally dropped to make room for the English Educa-
tion Act of 1870. Manchester has thus taken a most active and
honourable part in the progress of National Education in Britain.”
(6.) Schools established on the Secular School Platform.
1.--The Free Secular School, founded by certain members of the
National Public School Association.
In order to exemplify and test the principles of the National The Manches-
Association, a school was projected in 1853, and opened in 1854, Secular School
under the auspices and management of most of the earnest educa- founded.
tionists connected with the Association. It was organised by Mr
Benjamin Templar,“ who conducted it with eminent success for ten
years.
It received the name of the “ Manchester Model Secular
1 Drawn up by Dr John Watts.
2 See additional details regarding the Manchester movement, and George
Combe's connection with it, in Life of George Combe, vol. ii.
3 The committee was large and influential, including such men as Richard
Cobden, M.P.; Thomas Bazley, M.P.; Sir John Potter, M.P.; Rev. Dr Beard,
Rev. Dr M‘Kerrow, Dr W. B. Hodgson, Dr John Watts, &c.
4 Mr Templar is an enthusiastic educationist, and has acted as a kind of
“Free Lance” in the exposition and defence of the unpopular principles of
“Secular” Education, as truly understood, with its broad training and instruc-
tion, including moral and religious, on George Combe's platform. His writings
on the subject are numerous and admirable, and include—“Questions for
School Boards," with the experience of the Manchester Free School on com-
pulsory education, free schools, moral and religious instruction, &c. (Simpkin,
Marshall, & Co.); “The Religion of Secular Schools,” read at the Social
Science Association at Bradford in 1859; “The Religious Difficulty in Educa-
tion,” which George Combe considered “the best solution he had seen”;
Q
242
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
School,” because it was intended by its promoters to be a model or
example of the kind of school which they thought should be
universal, and by which the education of the country should be
carried out. In accordance with the principles of the Association, the
school provided education which was Free and Secular. The school
being free, it had to be supported by voļuntary subscriptions; but it
was not intended thereby to be an example of voluntary schools, but of
truly National schools,-free, because "supported by local rates, instead
The subjects of by voluntary contributions and school pence." The curriculum
taught there.
was similar to that of the other “Secular” schools throughout the
country, embracing Physiology, Social Economy, and a broad range
of elementary Physical Science, which were regular branches of in-
struction, pursued from early years. Very great stress was laid on
the Moral and Religious training of the children, by means of
systematic lessons on moral principles and practice, and by lessons
on science; and this seems to have been singularly well carried out,
and a strong feature of the school, Mr Templar gives some admir-
able examples of this moral and religious training, in several of his
works, extracts from which are given in the Appendix,
In the direct Moral lessons, in which our duties to others were
lessons given.
traversed, the aim was to show that moral duties were “not merely
abstract, arbitrary, unreasoning commands, but had their reason in
the nature of things, and commended themselves to our judgment.”
The lessons on Social Economy were found to be an “admirable
means of educating the religious sentiments, as well as the thinking
powers," demonstrating, “ not only the reality of God's government
in the affairs of man, but the wisdom and beneficence of that
government.” Mr Templar expresses his conviction, founded on
long experience, when he says: “It was impossible for one to witness
the pleasure with which the children hailed the return of the Moral
and Religious lessons—their profound silence, their keen interest in
all that was said, and their desire for more—without feeling that
these lessons were producing deep religious impressions, elevated
affections, and higher moral aspirations.”
The Moral
2
“Moral and Religious Lessons for Schools,” &c. He is also the author of
Reading Lessons on Social Economy";' “ The Importance of Teaching Social
Economy in Elementary Schools,” read at the Social Science Association at
Liverpool in 1858; “The Graduated School Arithmetic,” &c.
1 See “Questions for School Boards,” “Ten Years' Experience of the Man-
chester Free School,” and “ The Religious Difficulty,” by Mr Templar.
2 From “Questions for School Boards."
The Manchester Secular Schools.
243
the school.
"The Man-
From newspaper and other reports, the school would seem to have The success of
been most successful, in respect of numbers, regularity, and efficiency.
The percentage of attendance during the first ten years of its exist-
ence was unusually high, being 93 per cent., which is far above the
general average of the country ; although it consisted of the lowest
class of the city, with free instruction, and no compulsion, the
attraction being the school itself. The school was attended by
children of all religious denominations, including Roman Catholics
and Jews, and applications for admission were far greater than the
accommodation allowed, 1
The school had to be maintained by the contributions of its sup- It becomes
porters, of whom Mr William Ellis and Mr Martin Schunck of Man-
chester Free
chester are especially mentioned by the committee for their liberality. School.”
This became a very heavy burden when continued for many years.
In 1856, the committee presented a memorial to the Committee of
Council on Education, soliciting inspection and aid by grants, and a
second memorial in 1861,- both without success, because the Bible
was not used in the school." The committee were in consequence
compelled, in 1861, to change their programme in this one point,
and to allow the Bible to be read, but without note or comment; and
a selection of passages from Scripture was prepared by Mr Templar,
care being taken that they were the same, verbatim, in the Pro-
testant and Catholic versions. This concession they made “under
strong protest, as a matter of hard necessity, not because they had
changed their opinion as to what public schools ought to be, and
eventually must be,"3 The name of the school had accordingly to
be changed also, and it was henceforth known as “The Manchester
Free School.” The school, however, continued to be conducted,
under Mr Templar, as hitherto. It now passed under Government
inspection and received grants; and it obtained, and still continues
to obtain, very high reports. Mr Templar taught the school for
three years under its new name, up to 1864, when he retired, to
1 For very interesting accounts of the school, see Mr Templar's “Ten
Years' Experience of the Manchester Free School” (Manchester : John
Heywood), read at the Social Science Association in Manchester in October
1866, and published, in part, in their Transactions; and “Questions for School
Boards” (London : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.)
2 Mr Templar read a paper at the Social Science Association meeting at
Bradford in 1859, “On the Religion of Secular Schools, and their claim to
Government Aid,” on the ground, which he abundantly proves, that the
instruction was “not only religious, but religious instruction of a high order."
3 See the Sixth Annual Report of the school.
24+
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
1
1
connection
with it.
carry on a private middle-class school first in Manchester, and
latterly at Southport.
GeorgeCombe's George Combe never visited this school, but he was in corre-
spondence with Mr Templar on the special educational features
they both laboured to foster. He took great interest in the
works written by Mr Templar on these subjects, and got the
Henderson Trustees in Edinburgh 2 to issue an edition of “The
Religious Difficulty.” Mr Templar abundantly acknowledges his
obligations to George Combe and Mr Ellis for his insight into
education and for higher influence.
Its present
He was succeeded by an assistant, who still conducts the school
condition.
with great success, as proved by the Government reports, the
passes being characterised by the inspector as “extraordinarily
high.” It continues to be managed by the same committee, of
which the Mayor is an ex officio member, and which contributes
the necessary funds, assisted by a legacy left to the school by
a clergyman,3 and it still remains a Free school for the children
of the needy poor. On account of the great attention that
requires to be paid to Standard work, to secure a high pass, much
less time unfortunately can be devoted to those subjects which, under
Mr Templar, formed a distinguishing feature of the school. The
teaching of the Physical and Economic Sciences is now greatly
given up—a matter for the deepest regret, after its success in the past
history of the school
IL Schools Independent of the Manchester Public School
Association.
The Oddfel. (1.) The National Independent Oddfellows' Secular School. This
lows' Secular school was established some years before Mr Templar's, in February
School in
Manchester. 1851, the year of the greatest agitation on National Education, by
the above ancient Order, with the aid of Mr Ellis.
It was
organised and taught for a year by Mr Shields, late of the Birk-
beck Schools at Peckham, It was then conducted by Mr John
The Holly Bank School,” Oxford Road, Birkdale, Southport, still con-
ducted by Mr Templar, F.R.A.S. (1878).
2 W. R. Henderson, Esq., of Eildon Hall and Warriston, an advocate of
Phrenology, and friend of George and Andrew Combe, bequeathed all his
property to Trustees to further Phrenology, specially naming a cheap edition
of the Constitution of Man" as one of their first efforts. See an account of
the Henderson Bequest, in the “Life of George Combe," by Charles Gibbon,
vol. i. p. 255.
3 The Rev. Mr Thorn of Liverpool.
1
The Manchester Secular Schools.
245
Angell,. now Science Master in the Manchester Grammar School, Its principles:
who had learned the Secular School system under Mr Williams in
Edinburgh, and who left that city to take charge of this school, in
June 1852. According to Mr Angell's prospectus, the school was
founded “ to afford a sound practical English education, of a higher
character than that which was at that time within the reach of the
working classes,” and “ was conducted in the same manner and on
the same principles as the Williams Secular School, Edinburgh,
and the Birkbeck Schools, London.” - The course of education was
purely Secular, it being the opinion of the directors that the teach-
ing of Religion does not come within the legitimate domain of the
ordinary teacher, but is a responsibility resting upon the parent and
the clergyman, and one which can be duly and properly performed
by them only."
The subjects taught were the same as in the Williams and Its teaching
other schools already described, including, in addition to the and discipline.
common subjects, lessons on objects, Algebrà, Geometry, Men-
suration, Mechanics, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry ; and
“the Laws of Health, and the principles of Social and Political
Economy, in order that the children might understand høw much
their health, longevity, and general happiness are dependent upon
themselves, and that they might also the more fully comprehend their
position in society, and their duties towards it.” “Thë especial
object of the teaching was the training and development of the
mind, rather than the tasking of the memory.” The school was
organised and conducted on a selection from the monitorial system
of Bell and Lancaster, the collective system of Stow, and the
arrangements incident to the object-lesson system of Pestalozzi.”
“Particular attention was paid to Moral training, which was based
1 Mr Angell was early imbued with George Combe's principles, of which he
became a strong advocate, going to Edinburgh to make better and more
practical acquaintance with their working out. He had previously come
under the influence of Mr William Ellis, as teacher of Chemistry in the
London Mechanics’ Institution, when the first Birkbeck School was founded.
He was one of the earlier teachers to introduce science into common schools,
and to teach it to young children, and has done much to extend its teaching in
and around Manchester. He is the author of a capital paper on "Science
Teaching,” read before the College of Preceptors in December 1873, in which
the true mode of science teaching is most clearly laid down and illustrateci
(London : C. F. Hodgson & Sons), also printed in the Educational Times of
March 1874; “ Animal Physiology,” in Buckmaster's Series ;
" Animal
Physiology,” and Magnetism and Electricity,” in Collins' Elementary
Science Series, &c.
246
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Its history.
on the principle that the moral feelings, in common with the
physical and intellectual powers, can only be strengthened by actual
exercise.”
It was originally opened for boys only; but, in 1853, for girls
also, under the care of Miss Barron, from the Glasgow Secular
School, the girls being taught the same subjects as the boys, with
the addition of Industrial Work. Mr Angell was Head-master
of the school for more than a year, till he removed to Salford, to
open the school there; after which it continued to exist for some
time, till compelled to be closed on account of debt.
The Salford
Mechanics
Institution
School.
(2.) The Salford Mechanics Institution School.—This school
was opened by Mr Angell in 1853, in the Institution, Great
George Street, Salford. It was established, according to the
prospectus, on the principles of the Edinburgh and Birkbeck
Schools, to afford a "more thoroughly useful and practical education"
than was common. The same subjects were taught as in the last
school, the system aiming at being "essentially character-forming in
its results, and included Chemistry, Physiology, and Social Eco-
nomy, because of their immediate bearing upon the happiness and
well-being of society.” As in that school, it was originally
limited to boys, but girls were soon admitted, being taught by
Miss Barron, from the Oddfellows' School. There were also even.
ing classes in connection with it, at which a broad range of
subjects was taught, embracing also Latin, French, German, several
Natural Sciences, Physiology, Social Economy, and Mental Science,
on which discussions were conducted. It was superintended by Mr
Angell for four years, until 1857. The school is still very well
taught, as an elementary school under Government inspection, and
receives high reports. The special features of the school as con-
ducted by Mr Angell ceased, however, to be maintained after he left it.
The Manches-
ter Mechanics
Institution
School.
(3.) The Manchester Mechanics' Institution School.---This was
opened in September 1857, under Mr Argell as head-master, with
a large staff of teachers. The course of instruction was similar
to that of the Salford School, including the sanie wide range of sub-
jects, with the Physical and Social Sciences. It was founded on
the same principles as the former schools established by Mr Angell,
though no reference was made, as in the other cases, to the schools
on which it was modelled, the Edinburgh School having ceased to
exist three years before. Evening classes were also conducted by Mr
The Manchester Secular Schools.
247
state.
Angell, in which the same subjects were taught as in the Salford
school. Both the day and evening schools were very successful.
In 1868, they were visited by the French Education Commissioners,
appointed to report on the state of education in Britain. They
spent two days in the schools, and their Report contains a high
eulogium on the school and on the head-master; they describe, in some
detail, a lesson on Chemistry given by him in the evening classes, and
one on Common Things in the day school, the manner of the teach-
ing striking them as novel, “the object being not so much to teach,
as to inspire or develop a taste for science:" After twelve years'
successful work in the school, which was conducted as a Com-
mercial and Scientific School," Mr Angell gave up congiection with it
in 1869, when he became Science Master in the Manchester Grammar
School, where he now is.
The school continues to be successfully conducted, but many of Its present
its original features have ceased to characterise it, such as the teach-
ing of Social Economy entirely, Physiology to the younger children
and the whole school, and the special training of the religious and
moral faculties through science, as advocated by George Combe,
which Mr Angell sought constantly to carry out. It is now simply
a very good middle-class school, in which pupils are educated for
commercial life, and in which they are prepared for the Cambridge
Local Examinations, and in the subjects of the Science and Art
Department-Physiology, Physiography, Chemistry, and Botaný
being selected. A ladies' school has always been connected with
the Institution, and was in existence before the boys' school.
The schools connected with the Salford and the Manchester These schools
Mechanics' Institutions were not “ Secular" in name, the obnoxious
title being avoided, though they were “Secular" in reality, the
Scriptures not being read, and no doctrinal teaching being given.
None of the foregoing schools were in connection with the Man-
chester Public School Association, being originated and supported
by the societies to which they were attached. They derived much
encouragement and help, however, from the active public efforts
of that Association.
all Secular.
7. MR BASTARD'S SCHỜOL, AT BLANDFORD, DORSET.
One of George Combe's intimate friends was Thomas Horlock
Bastard, Esq., of Charlton Marshall, near Blandford, in Dorset,
1 From the Manchester Examiner of March 19, 1868.
248
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Mr Bastard
founds a
Labourers'
Club.
who entered warmly into his views, and set himself to carry them
into practice, and who still survives in his 83d year. Mr Bastard's
first educational effort was the establishment of a Labourers' Club,
one of the first in the country, which was opened in October
1855, under the presidency of Mr Ellis, and is still flourishing.
Women are eligible as members, and, at this date, about
one-third are women. “Both sexes,” Mr Bastard writes, “may
be seen of an evening reading, draught-playing, &c., at the same
table, and twenty years' experience has shown the presence of the
female to be attended with good effects, and with no cause whatever
for objecting to their membership.” The founder says that although
not so successful as he had hoped, it is quite as successful as, with
a due estimate of the intelligence existing amongst labourers, could
be expected ; and that " what we have to depend on for civilising
and elevating the tone of the mass of the people is education, not
only for imparting sound knowledge, but for the moral training of
the feelings, habits, and tastes, and in the well-regulated club-house
for both sexes we have, to a considerable extent, a place for such
education.". It was in this Club-house, in 1857, that George Combe,
then on a visit to his friend, gave the lesson on Physiology to the
labourers and their children, already referred to, p. 106, which will
be found in Part Third, chap. v.
In 1861, Mr Bastard issued the prospectus of a middle-class
Secular school.
school, to be established in the town of Blandford, executed a
deed for its endowment in 1862, and erected the school, called the
Milldown School, which, with an adjacent fountain for public
use, was opened in October 1864, under the auspices of the late
Sir James Clark and others. It was established on the basis
of the Birkbeck Schools, and was intended for the children of
pareuts of moderate means, both boys and girls, an innovation
The special
that raised objection ! It is made a special condition that,
subjects
whatever subjects are taught, Physiology, in connection with
taught.
the Laws of Health, shall be a prominent branch of educa-
tion in the school. And it is recommended—without its being
made an absolute condition—that Economic Science, in illustration
of the laws of industry and wealth, shall be another branch of
education, and that the practice of needlework, housework, and
gardening shall be systematically pursued, with the declared design
1 An interesting account of this Club is given in an article on “ Labourers'
Clubs and Women Members,” by Mr Bastard, in the Englishwoman's Review
for July 1874.
He founds a
Mr Bastard's School at Blandford.
249
of teaching the dignity of labour, encouraging healthful exercise,
imparting general skill and handiness in the everyday needs of life,
and practically training to self-help;" the donor trusting that the
last part of this instruction clause “will receive marked attention
from the managers and teachers, and that labour and work of all
kinds will be set before the children in a true light, as estimable
in themselves, and as the source and means whereby self-help or
independence is attained.” The children of all denominations are
admissible; no religious creed is taught, the Bible only being read
without comment; and, to secure its being quite unsectarian, no
minister of religion is eligible for a trustee. It is wisely provided,
also, that the rules as to the instruction given will be subject to
revision every ten years, so as, from time to time, to keep the
school and its teaching in accordance with the progress of the
age.”
The innovations made on common practice in the teaching caused Its success.
opposition, but the school took, and though the numbers went down
when under an incompetent teacher, under the present master.
appointed in 1871, it is now quite full, having over forty in attend-
ance, and is, it seems, successfully conducted.
Mr Bastard had the highest respect for George Combe and his Mr Bastard's
relations with
brother Andrew, and says that "all he has done in the way of the Combes.
education has certainly emanated from what he has learnt from their
works, especially from the Constitution of Man' and Science and
Religion of the former, and Physiology applied to Health and
Education of the latter; and also from the works and schools of
his friend Mr William Ellis.” Conspicuously on the fountain
above alluded to as adjoining the school, is placed a tablet, stating
that it is dedicated “to the memory of his esteemed friends, George
Combe and Andrew Combe, M.D., and of their zealous efforts to
diffuse knowledge of the human constitution and of the laws of
nature as conducive to the preservation of health and the advance-
ment of morality.” It is not a little remarkable, that the only
monument yet erected in this country to the memory of George
Combe, should exist away down in a remote town in the south of
England !
8. OTHER SCHOOLS GIVING A BROAD EDUCATION.
The foregoing schools are described, as coming within the scope
of this work, because George Combe was more or less connected with
their establishment and progress. Besides these, there have been and
250
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Other schools still are other schools in different parts of the country in which the
giving broader
education : same principles, in whole or in part, have been carried out. The
following are mentioned and recommended by George Combe and
his friends :-
At King's The schools of the Rev. Richard Dawes, the Dean of Hereford, at
Somborne ;
King's Somborne, deserve special mention, and George Combe
frequently refers to them with high commendation. In these a
similar broad curriculum was taught, including Physical Science,
Physiology, and Social Science, and in this respect they long stood
almost, if not altogether, alone, as being established by a churchman
and connected with the church.1
In Belfast; At an early date, a broader course of studies was introduced into
the Belfast Academy, of which the Rev. Dr R. J. Bryce was
Principal. In 1828, the teaching of Natural Science, including
Geology, Mineralogy, Zoology, and afterwards Natural Philosophy,
was begun by his brother, the late Dr James Bryce, Mathematical
Master in the High School there.?
Near Birming- In 1829, the teaching of Physical Science was also introduced
into the once famous Hazelwood School, near Birmingham, and the
branch establishment of Bruce Castle, at Tottenham, near London, in
courses of Natural Philosophy and Natural History; and an endea-
vour was made by public lecture on the subject, in 1830, to extend
their teaching in schools generally. These schools were notable in
many respects, not only in regard to the kinds and methods of in-
struction given, but in regard to their discipline, which was regulated
bam;
1 See" An Account of King's Somborne School," extracted from the Rev.
Moseley's Report to the Committee of Council; also Dean Dawes's “ Hints
on an Improved and Self-paying System of Education,” both published by
Groombridge & Sons. He is the author of several educational works, and
also edited one of Mr Ellis's books, “Lessons on the Phenomena of Industrial
Life and the Conditions of Industrial Success” (Groombridge).
2 See an account of these attempts at broader education under the Rev. Dr
Bryce, and an interesting letter by him in regard to them, in the Phrenological
Journal, vol. vii. (for 1831–2), p. 355. The Rev. Dr Bryce also did early
eminent service to education, giving a course of fifty lectures on it, in Belfast,
Dublin, and London, from 1826, and did much to draw public attention to it as
a science. When lately a candidate for the Bell Chair of Education in Edin-
burgh, he republished three of these lectures, under the title of “ Lectures on
Early Education” (Belfast: Alexander Mayne). Dr James Bryce was the
well-known geologist, who perished recently on the shores of Loch Ness,
while in the pursuit of his favourite science. He as also a devoted
educationist.
Other Schools giving Broader Education.
251
by an elaborate “Code of Laws” of a remarkable type, chiefly ad-
ministered by the pupils."
The establishment of the Edinburgh Institution, under the Rev. In Edinburgh ;
Robert Cunningham, for a broader education than the linguistic
instruction prevalent at the beginning of the century, has already
been noticed.
In 1835, George Combe visited an Academy in Percy Street, In Newcastle ;
Newcastle, conducted, since 1830, by the Rev. J. C. Bruce, which
had been instituted by his father, and was far in advance of its day.
“It was conducted,” says George Combe, "on the modern principle
of teaching both languages and useful knowledge ; of exciting in
the pupils an interest in and love for their studies; of relieving
attention by regular changes in the subjects pursued ; and, above all, of
bringing a great amount of adult mind to bear upon the minds of the
young, there being eight assistants employed in teaching about 120
pupils.” The object of the school was “to cultivate all the facul.
ties” by a broad range of intellectual studies and physical training.
The subjects included Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Chemistry,
Geology, Mental and Animal Physiology, Gymnastics, &c. The
work of the school successfully embodied many principles of true
education 3
A broad curriculum of studies, much in advance of the time, was In Glasgow;
carried out in the “Glasgow Western Academy,” founded, in 1842,
for the middle and upper classes, in the West End of Glasgow.
The programme of instruction and the views of the teachers were
superior, and included careful moral and physical education, and
a wider and more educative intellectual training than was then at
all common, with lessons on science and an attempt to make educa-
tion “a preparation for after life.” The school existed for several
years, and did very good work in its time, but it met with opposi-
tion on account of its unusually liberal spirit, and had finally to be
1 This scientific course is explained and recommended in an article on the
"Utility of Early Elementary Instruction in the Natural Sciences,” in the
Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. (for 1831-2), p. 537, reviewing the above
lecture by Mr Brayley, the Science Teacher in the Hazelwood School. The
“Code of Laws” was published in London in 1827, edited by the Principals of
the school, Rowland and Frederick Hill. An account of the school was pub-
lished in 1822, and a second edition in 1825, called “Plans for the Government
and Liberal Instruction of Boys in large numbers” (London: C. Knight).
2 In Part Second, p. 89.
3 An account of the school is given in the Phrenologicdl Journal, vol. ix.
(1834–6), p. 545.
252
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
1
given up. It had several eminent teachers. Among these were
the late Dr Middleton, one of Her Majesty's Senior Inspectors of
Schools in Scotland, and Dr C. W. Connon, author of one of the
best of our English grammars and other works. The prospectuses
and reports were pervaded with broad and enlightened views.
Of schools now existing which carry out much of the programme
of the Birkbeck Schools, there may be mentioned, the Rev. William
Rogers' Schools in Golden Lane and Charter-house, London, the
City of London Middle-Class School, and the International College,
London.
In London.
9. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECULAR SCHOOLS.
:
The character- From the foregoing account, it will be seen that these schools have
istics of the
Secular
certain characteristics in common, which distinguish them from the
Schools : schools of the time, and also place them greatly in advance of
present general educational practice. Of these, the following may
be noted :-
They excluded (1.) Their attitude towards Religion.—This, in the eyes of the
Dogmatic
Theology.
general public, was their most notable, most offensive, and, in fact,
their only peculiarity. They rigorously excluded all Dogmatic
Theology on the pleas of justice to all sects in attendance, of its be-
longing to the clergy as a vital part of their work, too important to be
delegated to others, and of the work of the National School, as carried
on by the State, being rightly confined to “secular" matters alone,
the after-world being beyond their sphere. The schools had no
antagonism to Theology, but, firmly and on conviction, kept it out of
the common school, though, in many cases, offering the premises for
its teaching at other times, and also advocating the establishment of
theological schools where required.
They oulti- At the same time, while excluding Theology, they as earnestly
vated the
Religious
and carefully set themselves to train the moral and religious facul-
ties, as being two of the most important sections of human nature,
and as such requiring training in schools, which should educate
1 Mr James M'Clelland was one of the chief promoters of the school, and
spent liberally in its support. It is spoken of with commendation by Mr
Robert Cox, editor of the Phrenological Journal (vol. xvi. p. 19), of which
George Combe was theu proprietor.
2 See an excellent expression of the aims of general education, and of
this special institution, by the English Master, Mr George Greig, given at a
rublic meeting in Glasgow in explanation of the aims of the school, in the
Phronological Journal, vol. xvi: (for 1843), p. 19.
faculties.
Characteristics of the Secular Schools.
253
the whole of the faculties, if education is to aim at completeness.
This training in these schools would seem to have been remarkably
good, thorough, and high-toned—far better than was then or
is now common in schools, under the name of Religious Know-
ledge. Further explanations and illustrations of its nature and
purpose will be found in Part Third, chap. iii., and in the
Appendix.
(2.) The Broad Education they gave.—This was their greatest They prepared
honour, and distinguishing peculiarity. It was an attempt to culti-for the work
vate all the faculties, and to impart such a full range of instruction
as would prepare children for after life; as in George Combe's
scheme, their central principle was, while exercising as wide a range
of faculty as possible, to train for the work of actual life. In this
respect, they were far in advance of the time when they began their
work, and also of present practice, in many respects. The attention
they gave to the Physical sciences, and especially to Physiology and
Social Science, as the God-appointed and only means by which a
man can know himself and his surroundings in nature and society,
and the practical and simple way in which these subjects were im-
parted, generally deemed so abstruse, stamped these schools at once
as unique and advanced.
It should be understood that the teaching of these subjects The subjects
was not confined to the older classes, but was given to the taught in them.
younger children also. They were essential portions of the work
of the school from the first, being begun by means of object
lessons systematically arranged, so as to develop into their more
formal and technical teaching in the higher classes. George
Combe's school in Edinburgh, however, stood almost alone in
including systematic instruction in Mental Philosophy or Phrenology,
on which he rightly placed great weight, as in many respects the
most important, seeing that it explained the highest part of man's
nature, Phrenology was also introduced into the High School of
Glasgow in 1842, and taught to a large number of the older pupils
by the English Master, Mr D'Orsey ;? it was also taught in the Leith
School, and in the St Andrew Square School in Glasgow; but
the editor is unable to say anything of the nature and success
of the instruction in these places. Mental Philosophy, as Phren-
ology, seems to have been taken up in the evening school of the
The Rev. A. J. D. D’Orsey, B.D., once well known as a phrenologist, and
teacher of English, now Lecturer at King's College, London.
254
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
character of
Manchester Mechanics' Institution while under Mr Angell, and the
Mechanics' Institution evening classes in London,—these classes,
however, being for grown pupils, whereas the subject was taught
in the Edinburgh School to young children.
They intro- (3.) Their position in regard to the Teaching of Science in Schools.
duced Science
into schools.
These schools were amongst the first to perceive the need of
systematic scientific instruction, and to make its teaching a part
of common school work, and this not merely as optional or super-
added subjects, but as essential parts of their curriculum of studies.
In this respect, they were pioneers of the present advanced views and
practice in regard to Science teaching. George Combe in particular,
and his fellow-workers, had the chief honour in inaugurating this excel-
lent feature of modern education, and of initiating the agitation in
its favour, which has since then been carried on by Spencer, Huxley,
and other expounders of broader scientific education in school. Its
present more successful advocacy is but the outcome of their earlier
pleading and practice, at a time when the ideas were new and when
opposition was stronger and more active than now.
The special But these schools were in advance of present general opinion and
their Science practice in several points : not only in the extent of their scientific
teaching range, including as it did the Social, Moral, and Mental sciences, and
Natural Theology; but in making science an integral part of the
instruction from the first, in teaching it to children at an earlier age
than is yet recognised as possible, in basing the need of this earlier in-
struction on its special adaptation for training the budding faculties,
and in their principle of selection of subjects—that of enabling our
future men and women intelligently to know themselves and their
surroundings, in nature and social life. Hence the different view
they took of the sciences which ought to be taught, and the manner
of their teaching, from that of many eminent scientists now living,
and of the British Association, in its report on the “Best Method of
Extending Scientific Education in Schools.” However good and ad-
vanced this Report, for which all educationists should be profoundly
thankful, it is yet defective in many respects; as in regard to the
subjects it recommends, and those it omits, the manner in which
they should be taught, and the age at which they should be begun.
Physiology is assigned a low place, as merely informational and less
educative, the very reverse being the case; the Social, Moral, and
Mental sciences are ignored altogether; the teaching of science is
greatly relegated to the later years of school life, instead of being
made an admirable training medium from the first; while, on other
Characteristics of the Secular Schools.
255
tion of the
common.
points, its recommendations contrast strongly with the practice of
the Secular schools.1
Much still remains to be learned, regarding the scientific teaching The influence
of science, from the principles and practice of George Combe and his have on this
friends, and from the Secular schools, before it will be possible for teaching.
science to take the position it ought to occupy in education from the
earliest years, and truly develop in our children what should be one
of the chief aims of its teaching in schools, a "scientific habit of
thought” on all subjects.
(4.) Their Advance in applying the Principles and Practice of Their applica-
Education. This is specially noteworthy, and is amply apparent from principles of
the slight details already given, but will be seen much more clearly, education.
in Part Third and in the Appendix. The more their system is looked
into, the more will it be seen that these schools successfully
practised more of the principles of Real education than was or is
The central idea of making the training of the faculties
the main work of education; the lessening of appeal to mere memory;
the teaching of things rather than words; the smaller amount of task
work exacted; the less frequent use of text-books, and, instead of this,
exercising the faculties directly on the things taught; the general
absence of cram; the wide range of faculties trained by the broad
field of study; their aim at fostering a “scientific habit of mind” from
the first these are special and admirable features, in which they
were in advance of their own time, and which should still entitle
them to act as models to others.
(5.) Their superior Discipline and hiyh Tonę,—These deserve their superior
discipline and
special commendation. Their yearly reports, the opinions of all
who visited them, whether favourable or not to their “secular
element, and the newspaper accounts of their examinations, all
prove this beyond doubt. Their endeavour to train all the facul-
ties harmoniously, and to appeal, in all subjects and lessons, to the
moral and religious faculties, as well as the special lessons on the
Principles of Right Living and Human Well-being, could not but
produce an elevated tone and sweet atmosphere. The whole work,
moreover, was coloured and peryaded by the thought, that all the
1 See this ably argued and illustrated hy My Angell, and the whole subject
very well traversed, in his paper on “Science Teaching,” already referred
to, in which he criticises the above report. See also an excellent paper by
the late Professor Payne, “ The True Foundation of Science-Teaching” (Henry
S. King & Co., London).
2 Some of these features are well put in Mr Angell's “Science Teaching,”
which is largely an expression of George Combe's principles.
tone.
256
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
subjects taught were expositions of God's Moral Government of the
World, which would help to cast a halo of sacredness over the school
work and the after life of the children.
Their practice Specially noteworthy in their discipline, was the total or almost
as to corporal total absence of corporal punishment.
punishment;
This was abolished alto-
gether in the Williams School and in the Birkbeck Schools, of
which very interesting details will be found in the Appendix. Mr
Templar worked very much without it in the Manchester Model
School, but was not able to dispense with it entirely, on account
of the large numbers in attendance, and from the children being
from the lowest parts of the city. Grave moral delinquency was
never punished corporally by him, but “ by earnest remonstrance
with the boy in private, and letting him feel he had to re-make his
character, and that confidence could be regained only by continued
well-doing.” 1
And emulation, Other excellent features were, the little use of emulation and
prize-giving, and the discouragement of the common over-appeal to
the Love of Approbation in the child, on which George Combe had
very decided and advanced notions, as will be seen in Part Third,
chap. üi.
They subordi. (6.) Their aiming at Real Education as contrasted with Linguistic.
nated linguistic
-This was one of George Combe's strong points, and it was one of
the features of these schools. It was the outcome of the attempt to
train the faculties, by exercise on their proper objects themselves,
which are furnished by the sciences of the human and physical
worlds. It was also intended as a protest against the over-attention
to word-teaching and languages, especially classics, which had too long
ruled in all schools, elementary and higher. Language was looked
upon by them, as an instrument for obtaining and using the knowledge
of real things, and, when taught, was taught with this view. No
classics were introduced into these schools, except Latin in some of
them to those that wished it. The selection of the modern languages
taught was determined by their utility; and these included French,
and also German in some of the schools. These schools were among
the first systematically to subordinate linguistic and foster Real educa-
tion, and practically to embody the modern views on these subjects
which increasingly prevail
.
They included (7.) They included all classes of the population, except the highest,
most social
which is the last, as a rule, to be reached hy any reforms in tradi-
tional practice. The Manchester Model School and Lovett's School
1 Letter to the editor.
instruction.
ranks.
Characteristics of the Secular Schools.
257
to National
Education.
to Government.
were intended for even the lowest strata of society; the Edinburgh,
Leith, Glasgow, and Oddfellows' Schools, for a higher artisan class;
and the Manchester Mechanics' Institution, Mr Bastard's, and the
Birkbeck Schools, for a higher class still, the well-to-do middle
and the upper. They have, therefore, exemplified the broader educa-
tion they offered, in most sections of the community.
(8.) They were intended to be Models of what a National System of their relations
Education ought to be, and of what their promoters hoped it would
become—non-sectarian, non-theological, but moral and religious,
national and universal, because including the whole population, sup-
ported by rates and free, and broadly preparative for domestic, social,
professional, and political life. Though necessarily supported, in the
circumstances, by voluntary subscriptions, they were intended to be
examples of free—that is, rate-supported—schools ; the Glasgow,
Manchester, Edinburgh, and Lovett's schools being so expressed,
and so intended; the Birkbeck and Mr. Bastard's schools being
less overtly, but really, in the same class.
(9.) They were refused participation in Government Grants. This Their relations
was unavoidable from the character of the Acts distributing these
grants, and the limited powers of the Committee of Council, who
had no option in the matter, the reading of Scripture being specially
prescribed as a condition of these grants. This caused great annoy-
ance, and gave rise frequently to hard speech against the Committee.
It was legitimate to criticise the Government which passed such
narrow measures for the disposal of public moneys for education,
but not the powerless administrators of the Acts. The endeavour
to obtain a change in the conditions was the only right course of
action. Though they were long unsuccessful, their principles are
now largely recognised and acted on in the Education Bills of 1870
and 1872. Government aid, however, has never been asked for the
Birkbeck Schools.
(10.) The title “Secular" was unfortunate in all respects, and was Their title as
- Secular."
no doubt the chief cause of their unpopularity, and of the misrepre-
sentation and abuse the schools and their supporters encountered.
As has been already explained, when originally used by George
Combe, who introduced the name in its application to education,
it signified much more than “secular” as distinguished from
ecclesiastical or theological, and denoted all education that belonged
to and prepared a child for this seculum, this age, or world, or
system of things, as contrasted with the future world and its rela-
tions: it simply meant this world education, as contra-distinguished
R
258
Efforts to provide Broader Education.
Their relation
un-
was
from other-world education. It was, therefore, intended to charac-
terise the education of the man and citizen, which it was held to be
the duty of the “secular" Government to provide, not his education
as preparing for a future state, which the Churches should under-
take.
Of course, this position, though broad and logical, could scarcely
to the Secu- be popular, from the opinions then prevalent on education and
religion, and from the fact that all education had so long been con-
ducted by, and was supposed to belong solely to, the Churches, by
which the spiritual and secular had always been united. Unfor-
tunately, in addition to these elements of unpopularity, shortly after
the term had been used by these schools, the same designation was
adopted by the anti-theological party now known, and not inap-
propriately, as "Secularists,” with pronounced polemical, rational-
istic, and destructive aims. Both in the popular and clerical mind,
therefore, which took no pains to make nice though important
distinctions, these schools became associated with this most unpopular
party; and, notwithstanding abundant explanations, remained so
The title an un- to the end, and were condemned accordingly. This
This was
happy one.
avoidable, but unfortunate and unjust; and abundant use
made of the confusion of name and aim between a broad educational
movement and a religious sect. But the name once used, could not,
without further misunderstanding, be abandoned, and was not given
up by those who adopted it till compelled by Government regula-
tions to do so, as in the case of the Manchester Free School. The
title was, nevertheless, a very unhappy one, because it characterised,
as already said, an excellent educational endeavour solely by a minor
peculiarity. Mr Lovett, Mr Ellis, Mr Bastard, and others wisely
avoided the obnoxious “nickname," as they felt it to be; though
even the name Birkbeck” caused antagonism to these schools ou
account of the broad views of the excellent Dr Birkbeck !
(11.) From the foregoing slight sketch of these schools—for with
founded and
the abundant materials at command, it is but slight-it must be
evident, that the men who organised and supported them were
enlightened, earnest, and advanced educationists.
It is equally
certain that the men who carried on the schools, the teachers them-
selves, were, without exception, men of no common type. Of this,
the fact that they were so far before their time in their views of
* See some extracts on the subject, and a special letter from My Williarus in
regard to it, in the Appendix. Mr Cobden proposed to call the “Secular"
education party "Separatists,” but the term did not get into general use.
The men who
conducted
them.
}
Characteristics of the Secular Schools.
259
1
education, and successfully carried on their work amidst unpopu-
larity, misrepresentation, and social disabilities, is sufficient proof.
But they have also shown their talents in their admirable elucida-
tions and defences of their work in their reports and in other
publications, which are of real value. Nothing has struck the
editor more, in obtaining the information required for this chapter,
than the superior endowment, the broad, clear, and well-digested
views, and the high and earnest tone of the teachers who were
employed in these schools. “Indeed," as George Combe says,
speaking of the teachers of these Secular Schools, “we consider it a
sacred duty of the press to do justice to the merits of the able,
energetic, well-instructed, and laborious men who have dedicated
their lives to the introduction of a superior system of education for
the people. They are benefactors of their country.
The wonderful influence of George Combe is abundantly apparent The chief
in this field of labour, as in others. He and Mr Ellis, and, in great this field.
workers in
part, Mr James Simpson, were the leaveners and master-spirits of the
movement-George Combe and Mr Simpson actively and publicly,
Mr Ellis unobtrusively, but not the less really; while all the others did
admirably. Without exception, those who have engaged in the work,
especially the teachers, confess with reverence and gratitude their
obligations to George Combe and his books—especially his “ Con-
stitution of Man"-as the source of both new inspiration and clear
light, to impel and guide them to work for the advancement of man-
kind; and those who have had the privilege of coming into contact
with Mr Ellis bear equal testimony to his remarkable influence over
them for good.”
1 Article on “Secular Education,” in the Westminster Review, for July 1852.
2 In a discriminating and finely-written dedication of his valuable book
on the “Education of Girls and the Employment of Women (London,
Trübner, 1869), Professor Hodgson says, amongst other things, that William
Ellis “has long and effectively vindicated, in all teaching of both sexes and of
every rank, its true place for Economics as a branch of Moral Science, needful
and fit to guide conduct, to train character, and to shape condition, as well as
to develop intelligence ;” and that to him “very many (the author being one)
owe much for great personal kindness, but, above all, for a higher, wider,
clearer, more definite, practical, consistent, and inspiriting view of education,
as it ought to be, and will be.”
PART THIRD.
HOW SHOULD EDUCATION BE
CONDUCTED ?
THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF TRAINING
AND INSTRUCTION.
PART THIRD.
CHAPTER I.
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION.1
1. THE GENERAL OBJECTS OF EDUCATION IN RELATION TO
THE FACULTIES.
The human faculties consist of Animal Propensities, Moral Senti-The mental
faculties need
ments, and Intellectual Powers. They have a natural tendency to
cultivation,
activity, greater or less in proportion to the size of their organs, guidance ;
and, being active, each serves to suggest certain desires, emotions, or
intellectual conceptions to the mind. The organs of the Propen-
sities, namely, Amativeness, Combativeness, Destructiveness, Se-
cretiveness, &c., are the largest; those of the Moral Sentiments, the next
in size ; and the Intellectual organs, the smallest. Farther, the Pro-
pensities and Sentiments are mere blind impulses, which lead to
happiness and virtue when well directed, and to misery and vice
when misapplied. Thus, Combativeness and Destructiveness, when
directed by Benevolence and Justice, give boldness, enterprise, and
energy to the character, and fit a man for becoming the terror of
the wicked and the foe of the oppressor; when left unguided, they
may lead to furious contention, indiscriminate outrage, cruelty, and
murder. In like manner, the Moral Sentiments require direction.
Benevolence, unenlightened by intellect, may lead to hurtful profu-
sion; Veneration, unguided by reflection, may degenerate into
superstition; and, lastly, the Intellectual powers, having the smallest
organs, possess the least natural energy, and require not only the
most assiduous cultivation to give them activity, but, being in their
own nature mere general capacities of observation and reflection,
In order to understand more clearly the principles expounded in this part,
it will be well for the unphrenological reader to consult the explanation of the
Phrençlogical faculties contained in the first part of the Appendix.
1
264
The General Principles of Education.
And know-
ledge.
The state of
an untrained
mind.
demand a vast store of knowledge as materials for their exercise.
The organ of Language, for example, requires not only to be vigo-
rously exercised to produce facility in writing or speaking; but, as
the mind is not informed by instinct of the meaning of words,
labour and attention must be bestowed to acquire a knowledge of
terms, as materials on which the faculty of Language may exercise
its powers. In short, nature, by means of this organ, gives the
mind a capacity to learn words, and after they are learned, to use
them; but she does not inspire us with a knowledge of their signi-
fication, in the same way as she implants in the bee an instinctive
tendency to resort to particular flowers that contain honey. By
means of the organ of Causality, she enables the mind to reason,
and to anticipate results ; but this also is a mere general power,
and requires, for its successful exercise, an extensive observation of
occurrences and their effects; it does not instinctively anticipate the
future, but, after the mind has discovered, by observation, that fire
communicated to gunpowder produces explosion, it gives the feeling
that the same train of occurrences will happen again, and enables
the individual to regulate his conduct in the knowledge of this
result.
An uneducated mind is one in which Animal impulses run riot-
strong, vivacious, and undirected; in which Moral Sentiments some-
times shed the benign influence of their proper nature, but oftener
suggest wild wanderings by their misdirected energy; and in which
the Intellectual powers are obtuse through want of exercise, and
inefficient in consequence of the absence of knowledge. This is
a correct picture of a mind entirely in a state of nature. In
civilised society, some extent of education is forced upon every
individual by the intelligence and example of others; but in pro-
portion to the scantiness of his cultivation, is his approach to the
condition now described.
An educated mind presents a different picture. Happiness
results from the legitimate use of all the mental faculties; and the
constitutions of the moral and physical worlds, when thoroughly
understood, are so admirably adapted to each other, that full scope
is afforded in nature for the legitimate gratification of every faculty
of the human mind. The first effect of education, then, is to pre-
sent the intellectual faculties with materials on which they may act,
-that is, persons who have received stores of hereditary informa-
tion and acquired additional ideas by experience, communicate to
the young mind a knowledge of the objects and creatures which
Education
should give
knowledge;
Objects of Education in relation to the Faculties. 265
exist, and which are the sources of good and evil to mankind. This Exercise the
Intellectual
knowledge constitutes the materials on which the faculties of the
faculties;
young may act. Thus, the primitive colours and their combinations
being exhibited, the mind, by means of the organ of colouring,
derives pleasure from contemplating them, and desires to apply
them in producing new combinations. A description of particular
kinds of industry, or of certain international laws, or of cer-
tain domestic institutions being communicated, the mind, by
means of the organ of Causality, takes delight in knowing
these, in tracing the good or evil produced by them, and it
anticipates the result of new combinations.
The Intellect, thus provided with knowledge, and strengthened by And guide the
exercise, is in a condition to discover what form of indulgence is fitted Propensities
to afford the highest and most lasting gratification to the Propen-ments.
sities and Sentiments, and it guides and directs them accordingly.
Thus the propensities of Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and,
Adhesiveness have large organs, and, at an early period of life, act
with intense vivacity. The individual whose mind is unenlightened
by knowledge, whose Intellect is unexercised and unaccustomed to
control or guide his desires, and whose Moral Sentiments are not
directed to practical objects, will yield to the first impulse, and
either resort to the haunts of vice, or marry, regardless of the
future and all its consequences. Another individual whose mind
has been instructed in the nature of his own physical and mental
constitution, trained to perceive distant consequences and to regu-
late his Propensities with a view to the future, and whose Moral
Sentiments have been accustomed to act in concert with, and to
support by their dictates the conclusions of, his Intellect, will have
a vivid perception of degradation, disease and misery, as the result
of illicit indulgence; and of poverty, anxiety, and depression, as
the consequence of injudicious marriage; and will be fitted, if not
in every case to resist effectually, at least to withstand, a far higher
degree of temptation than the other.
Not only so, but there is a prodigious difference between the The pleasures
actual pleasures enjoyed by the educated and uneducated. The
arising from
direct gratification of the lower Propensities is short-lived, coarse, tion.
and unsatisfactory; and when the impulse of excitement is over,
the Moral Sentiments enter into activity and condemn the conduct,
so that no agreeable emotion arises from reflection on the past.
The indulgence of these, on the other hand, under the guidance of
the Moral Sentiments, is pleasing at the time, and not painful on
Real Educa-
266
The General Principles of Education.
i
The pleasures retrospection; while the direct exercise of the higher Sentiments
arising from
Real Educa-
themselves and Intellect affords the highest present delight, and the
tion.
most lasting satisfaction in futurity. The practice of Benevo-
lence in the daily duties of life, in avoiding all occasions of giving
pain to others, and manifesting a warm and sincere regard for their
happiness in the little offices of kindness for which the private
circle affords so delightful a theatre—the exercise of Conscientious-
ness, in curbing our humours and desires, so as not to overstep the
boundaries of justice, and permitting and encouraging every indul-
gence and gratification consistent with duty to those who are
dependent on or connected with us the practice of Veneration, in
piety towards God, and in habitual deference and respect to our
fellow-men, bearing with their weaknesses, and avoiding irritating
and humiliating conduct towards them--the exercise of Ideality, in
appreciating and luxuriating amidst the beauties of nature and of art;
and the exercise of Individuality, in becoming acquainted with the
countless objects which exist around us, and their various proper-
ties—of Reflection, in tracing their wondrous combinations-of
the minor Knowing organs which are conversant with forms, colours,
numbers, music, and their countless products the delight, we say,
which the educated mind is capable of extracting from the legiti-
mate exercise of all these admirable faculties, leaves the uncultivated
mind immeasurably behind in the very article of pleasure, even
supposing enjoyment to be the sole object of human existence.
Let us never hear, then, of a state of ignorance being one of
innocence, of purity, or of happiness; or of education unfitting in-
dividuals for the practical duties of life.?
faculties.
The aims of The objects of education, using the word in its widest and most
Education in legitimate sense, are-
regard to the
1st, To increase the energy and activity of those faculties of the
mind and body which are naturally too weak;
2d, To repress the inordinate action of those which are naturally
too strong;
And, 3d, To give to the combined operation of the whole such a
direction as shall most certainly and effectually increase the happi-
ness and extend the sphere of usefulness of the individual.
To attain these ends, our efforts must be conducted in strict
1 Phren. Journal, vol. ii. (for 1824-5), p. 432. Of course, in the last
sentence, George Combe means, as he elsewhere explains, Real Education.
Objects of Education in relation to the Faculties. 267
obedience to the laws which nature has established for the regula- Hence the
need of know-
tions of the functions of both mind and body. It is, therefore, ing these and
particularly necessary that we should be previously in possession of their laws.
a true theory of the human mind, capable of unfolding to us not
only the number and functions of the primitive mental faculties
themselves, but also the organic conditions which conduce to their
greater or less degree of energy,—the laws which regulate their
activity,--and the effects produced upon the general character by
their different proportional combinations. Accordingly, the want
of such a theory of mind is the true reason why the most profound
writers on education are still so much occupied in discussing con-
tested points of very secondary importance, instead of starting, as is
recommended by Mr Stewart, from undeniable first principles,
obtained from “a previous examination of those faculties and prin-
ciples of the mind, which it is the great object of education to
improve”;? and we are therefore disposed to regard it as in itself no
small proof of the truth and value of the Phrenological philosophy,
that it already affords a sure, stable, and consistent basis for the
erection of an improved system of education, and that it supplies
the desiderata above stated.”
After having discovered the particular dispositions which are the principles
remarkable either for strength or deficiency in the child, our next by which they
may be culti-
object ought to be to cultivate them, that is, to repress the manifes-vated.
tations of those which are too energetic, and to increase the activity
of those which are too feeble. As education is at present conducted,
the Feelings are not systematically cultivated at all. No system of
philosophy has hitherto taught that Feelings depend upon faculties;
that the power of experiencing them is different in different indivi-
duals; and that that power may be increased in those in whom it is
weak, by cultivating the faculties which produce them, in the same
manner as the power of reasoning may be increased, by cultivating
the faculties of the understanding. Hence it has never formed
regular part of any plan of education to increase the power of feeling
benevolence, of feeling justice, or of feeling veneration, by the special
exercise of the faculties upon which those Sentiments depend. Nor
has any plan been laid down for cultivating the minds of individuals
according to the peculiarities of their natural constitutions. Indeed,
1
Dugald Stewart's Philosophical Essays, first published in 1810.
2 Phren. Journal, vol. i. (for 1823–4), p. 578.
268
The General Principles of Education.
no such plan could be devised, for we have hitherto possessed no
philosophic means of discovering what the peculiarities of individual
constitutions are. The only cultivation which the Sentiments re-
ceive, according to the present system, is from the casual influence
of example. This mode of cultivation is, no doubt, good in itself,
and, as experience shows, highly beneficial ; but it is best suited to
the case of individuals who are prone to virtue from innate disposi-
tions, for we generally perceive the more intractable to be very little
benefited by it.
1
of the faculties.
Happiness at To render man happy, his body must be maintained in a state of
tainable only constant health. The nervous system, including the brain, is the
by the harmo
nious activity fountain of all enjoyment in sensation and emotion, and it is most
intimately connected with respiration and digestion. When all
external stimulus is withdrawn, and the individual is thrown back
entirely on his own sensations, he will experience a pleasing con-
sciousness of existence, when in perfect health. If he does not do
so, if any sensations of weakness, listlessness, irritation, anxiety, or
unhappiness be experienced, the corporeal frame is not in its best
condition; it is not in that state which the Creator, in endowing it
with the susceptibility of happiness, intended it to be, and, by
bestowing reason on man, commanded it to be maintained. To secure
health, the individual must exert his muscular frame for several hours
every day in the open air, or at least exposed to a free circulation of
air; he must observe the rules of cleanliness and temperance;
he
must exercise his moral and intellectual faculties several hours every
day, on pursuits congenial to their nature; and he must sleep in well-
aired apartments, and neither for too long nor too short a time.
How the con- The institutions and manners of society at present render it
happiness are
absolutely impossible to fulfil these laws of our nature. Mechanics
are compelled to labour with their muscles beyond what is serviceable
to their moral and intellectual enjoyment; men in the middle ranks
of life are confined within shops, counting-houses, or writing-
chambers, so as to be denied muscular exertion adequate to main-
tain perfect health, and their pursuits have reference so exclusively
to objects connected with the gratification of the inferior feelings,
that no adequate stimulus or cultivation is afforded to their moral
and intellectual powers; while ladies generally, and men in the
higher ranks of society in particular, are rendered miserable through
1 " Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 137.
ditions of
violated.
Objects of Education in relation to the Faculties, 269
want of objects of interest calculated to excite them to that degree
of bodily and mental exertion without which the nervous system
becomes a mass of disease, and the fountain of inexpressible suffer-
ing. The males of the higher class, who seek to relieve themselves
from this inanity and its consequent miseries, betake themselves to
fox-hunting, horse-racing, prize-fighting, cigar-smoking, drinking, and
seduction; in short, through want of objects and pursuits calculated
to gratify their rational nature, they abandon themselves to the in-
dulgence of their animal propensities, and corporeal appetites,
except a few, whose superior faculties carry them to literature, the
improvement of their estates, the fine arts, or politics, as occupations.
It has been further asked, by way of objection,
6. Does Mr Education di-
rects but can-
Combe deny that the boy whom he rejected might have had
not eradicate
a good character, notwithstanding the indications of his original the faculties.
Propensities? If he denies this, he denies a proposition which
he himself has always stated, and from which he derives the
practical value of Phrenology, namely, that the original Propensities
can be corrected, and even cradicated, by education, and other
means.” I have not stated that the “ original Propensities can be
eradicated by education and other means." What I have said is
this,—that all the faculties may be directed to proper objects, and
when so directed, their action will become good. But to guide
strong animal Propensities to virtue, there must be a directing
power. If the individual possess vigorous moral and intellectual
organs, he will be a law and a guide unto himself. If, however,
these be deficient, which was the case in the boy alluded to, then I
certainly maintain that strong animal feelings will not guide them-
selves to virtue. In this case, the directing power must be supplied
from without
2. THE BRAIN AS THE ORGAN OF MIND.
The brain is the organ of the mind, and it must be exercised The brain is
developed only
itself in its own functions, in order to promote its favourable
by exercising
development. You would naturally exercise the muscles in walk- it';
ing, running, or handling objects, in order to increase the vigour of
the legs and arms. You must exercise the brain in feeling and
in thinking, in order to give it the same advantages, viewed as the
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. vi. (for 1829-30), p. 623.
2 “System of Phrenology," vol. ii. 324-5.
270
The General Principles of Education.
organ of the mind, which you give to the muscles of the legs in
walking
In proportion The first condition of healthy exercise is, that it bear a due pro-
to its strength. portion to the strength of the organ. If you force a young child,
whose bones and muscles are soft and slender, to stand or walk to
an extent beyond what these organs can successfully bear, you will
inflict misery on the infant and lasting deformity; you will bend its
bones into unseemly curves, and render its muscles for ever feeble.
In like manner, if you over-task the mind of a child, in mental
emotion and intellectual exertion, you may permanently damage its
brain. If you neglect to exercise the faculties to due activity, you
may leave it feeble and imperfectly developed.
Suppose you have a child with a large anterior lobe and nervous
temperament, you will need to prevent him injuring his brain by
over-exertion; if of a lymphatic temperament, you will require to
rouse him by judicious stimulus and exercise; if of a sanguine
temperament, he must have more muscular action. I
.
The conditions
What does the proposition that the brain is the organ of the
of its right ex- mind imply? Let us take the case of the eye, as somewhat
analogous. If the eye be the organ of vision, it will be conceded,
first, that sight cannot be enjoyed without its instrumentality;
secondly, that every act of vision must be accompanied by a cor-
responding state of the organ, and, vice versa, that every change of
condition in the organ must influence sight; and, thirdly, that the
perfection of vision will be in relation to the perfection of the organ.
In like manner, if the brain be the organ of the mind, it will follow
that the mind does not act in this life independently of its organ,
and, hence, that every emotion and judgment of which we are con-
scious is the result of the mind and its organ acting together;
secondly, that every mental affection must be accompanied by a
corresponding state of the organ, and, vice versa, every state of the
organ must be attended by a certain condition of the mind; and,
thirdly, that the perfection of the manifestations of the mind will
bear a relation to the perfection of its organ.
These propositions appear to be incontrovertible, and to follow as
of studying the
Physiology of necessary consequences from the simple fact that the mind acts by
means of organs. But if they be well founded, how important a study
does that of the organs of the mind become? It is the study of the
1 From MSS.
Hence the need
Mind.
The Brain as the Organ of Mind.
271
mind itself, in the only condition in which it is known to us; and
the very fact that, in past ages, the mind has been studied without
reference to organisation, accounts for the melancholy truth, that,
independently of Phrenology, no Mental Philosophy suited to
practical purposes exists.
The brain grows till twenty-two or twenty-three in almost all, and the physical
till twenty-eight or thirty in many individuals. It is therefore incom- healthy growth
plete both in constitution and size at birth, and only gradually gains of brain.
solidity, magnitude, and vigour.
In infancy and youth, the habits of the child should bear reference
to the state of his brain. Consider the brain as a growing organ.
Viewing it as an important part of the body, you must treat it in
the same manner as you would any other organ which you desire
to bring to maturity and perfection. One-eighth of the whole blood
of the body passes through it. The blood is the grand element of
nutrition, and the stimulant to activity to all the organs. To be
capable of nourishing the brain, it must be well oxygenated, and
well nourished itself,--that is to say, the respiratory and digestive
organs of the child must be preserved in high health. To aerate
the blood, the child must live and sleep in a large well-ventilated
apartment. It must also be induced to exercise its muscles. To
preserve digestion entire, it must be kept clean in the skin, be exer-
cised, live in good air, and have a proper quantity of sleep and food.
If these things are done the physical conditions for healthy growth
of the brain, viewed simply as an organ, are realised.
2
From the fact of the brain being the organ of mind flow many The effects of
important results. One of these is, that being weak and immature in
over-exercising
the brain.
childhood, like the legs and arms, it cannot bear much exercise ; that
it strengthens with age; and that the exercise or labour should be pro-
portioned to the strength. You cannot impose excessive labour on the
brain, any more than on the rest of the body, without doing injury.
Hence the great folly of that constant mental application which it
has been, and still is, to a great degree, the endeavour of parents
and teachers to keep up. In Scotland, at the public schools, we
used to be in attendance seven hours a-day-from nine to one, and
two to five; and the result was this : for an hour in the morning,
we were able to attend assiduously to our lessons, but then the brain
1 “System of Phrenology," vol. i. 23-4.
2 From MSS.
272
The General Principles of Education.
cise;
became exhausted and the scholars restless; they were poking each
other with their fingers, pinching each other, flirting peas, and
scratching the desks. Some became noisy, some listless. Then
came the birch, for the purpose of infusing new stimulus into
an exhausted brain. The scholars were rendered miserable, and
induced to look on the school with disgust; and the teacher was
thus harassed and discouraged."
Examples of Now, when the effect of these things is better understood, many
its wise exer- of the schools of Edinburgh have reduced the time of tuition to four
hours a-day—two hours at a time; and it is acknowledged that more
Greek and Latin is learnt in that time than previously in seven hours.
The scholars attend the school with pleasure, and the teacher passes
his time with satisfaction. Nay, one teacher 2 has reduced the time
of attending to Greek and Latin to two hours a-day, and still chal-
lenges comparison with the rest of the schools. Mr Fisher, a gen-
tleman who takes scholars of from five to eight, has found the greatest
advantage in the changes which he has introduced. Instead of
keeping them constantly at work by rewards and force, for three or
four hours in succession, he takes this plan: For the first hour, he can
obtain their attention without any difficulty. At the end of that
time, he sends them out to run round St Andrew Square for a
quarter of an hour. When they are playing, he keeps the windows
open, and thus ventilates the room. In this way, the children learn
more, and enjoy such pleasure that their parents complain that they
would rather be at school than at home; the teacher's task, too, has
become an agreeable instead of a painful one.
Of its unwise I have been to your public schools, and would advise you to go
exercise.
and judge, for yourselves, how far the laws of Physiology are observed.
The children go in at nine and come out at three, having all the time
but half-an-hour's intermission. Mature as our brains are, we take
care to impose less on them than on the weak brains of the young.
If I should lecture to you six hours together, you would say, “God
preserve us !"4
1 Painful but interesting details regarding the above system, still far from
obsolete, are given by George Combe in his Autobiography, in the first volume
of his “Life” by Charles Gibbon, p. 23, et seq.
2 Mr Robert Cunningham, afterwards rector of the Glasgow Established
Church Normal School. See a short account of him, at p. 89. A statement
of his system of teaching is given by himself, in a letter to James Simpson, in
Simpson's "Philosophy of Education," Appendix No. II.
3 He once taught in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh.
4 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 334-5.
The Brain as the Organ of Mind.
273
studies.
By teaching habitually one thing or one set of ideas, say reading The need of
alternating
or arithmetic, a teacher will weary out that power, and leave the
others idle. He should alternate the studies. A horse is refreshed
by a hill, because, in descending it, different muscles are employed,
and those that pulled up are rested.
The young system cannot bear long action. The brain is soft
and not fully developed, and must not belong tasked. There
should, therefore, be an alternation of muscular exercise and mental
effort. The whole organs of the body demand exercise as well as
the brain, and it is only by such alternation that this can be done.
This alternation does not distract the attention. Constant
ends in wearing out any power, produces disgust, and may end in
mania. Elihu Burritt,1 a blacksmith in New England, learned
Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Celtic, and
Hebrew during his apprenticeship. He kept a journal of the
application of his time, and he proceeds in this order of study on
four successive days :—Hebrew, Celtic, forging; Hebrew, Celtics
forging ; Hebrew, Celtic, French, stars, forging; Hebrew, Celtic,
French, stars, forging. The forging relieved his organs of language,
and saved his life.”
If the brain be employed too energetically, then is there a sense The results of
of discomfort and anxiety ; we are, perhaps, troubled with headache, brain action.
the stomach loses its tone, the mind itself becomes affected, and the
whole system diseased. I have often met with Americans seeking
health in Europe, and have generally found that, led on by the spirit
of competition, their brains have been kept constantly burning with
excitement, till their bodies have become diseased, their nervous system
has lost its energy, and death seemed to be tapping them on the
shoulder. They have been forced to give up business entirely, and
try the effects of a voyage and continental travels. Here the
nervous system, though gently excited by new objects, is allowed
comparative repose. The exercise is gentle, but not too great; being
much in the open air, the blood is well oxygenated, and not being
1 This distinguished linguist and philanthropist, known as “the learned
blacksmith,” the advocate of “The Universal Brotherhood of Nations,” and
“ The Ocean Penny Postage,” and other philanthropic schemes, was born at New
Britain, Connecticut, in 1811. He is the author of many works, the inost
popular being two of his earliest, “Sparks from the Anvil,” and “Voice from
He has frequently visited Europe, and been welcomed in Britain
and France,
2 From MSS.
the Forge.
S
274
The General Principles of Education.
ence.
pressed for time, digestion is allowed to go on in a proper manner. In
short, health is broken by violating the laws on which it depends,
and restored by their observance.
Personal ex-
I speak the more energetically, because I speak from sad experi-
perience given.
When young, I hardly knew that I had a brain or a stomach,
much less the laws which govern their mode of activity, and, for
three or four years, used to study from six in the morning till ten at
night. But I dearly paid for my imprudence. I greatly injured
my digestive functions, weakened my nervous system, suffered great
misery, and became almost incapable of thought. I am now giving
you information which, if I had possessed at fifteen years of age,
would have saved much suffering and feebleness during seven years
of the best part of my life, for which nothing could ever com-
pensate.
1
The effects of
too intense
cerebral acti.
vity.
It is a law of the physical organs that, if they be kept in exces-
sive activity, that activity will not at once subside ; blood continues
to rush into them, and the nervous excitement to glow. This is
true of the organs of the brain. Such as have been over-exercised
will, after the rest have gone to sleep, keep dreaming and dreaming
on the subject of the day, as though they could not find repose.
On
the other hand, when not sufficiently exercised, the cerebral organs
seem during sleep to take on spontaneous activity, and to disport
themselves. Dreams are generally the result either of the con-
tinued activity of those organs which have been over-excited, or the
spontaneous activity of those which have been unemployed. When
the functions have been equally and sufficiently exercised, but not
overtasked, undisturbed and perfect repose is generally the result.
Absolute wakefulness is often occasioned by too intense cerebral
activity. This is illustrated by the following incident :- The Rev.
Mr Bedford, of Bath, told me that, before he knew Phrenology, it
was his practice to set apart one day a week in his school for the
recitation of all the Greek grammar which the boys under his charge
had previously learned, and to stimulate them to the utmost. The
morning after one recitation-day, he was told that a boy was feverish
and unfit to rise. He went to inquire the cause. Oh, sir,” said the
boy, “I could not sleep all night for the Greek grammar.” “ But
why,” said Mr Bedford, “ did you not blow out the candle and shut
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, pp. 320–21. See details of the
system pursued in his early education, in the “Life of George Combe”
by
Charles Gibbon, vol. i. chaps. i., ii., and iii.
The Brain as the Organ of Mind.
275
your eyes ?” “I did, sir,” said the boy, “but for all that I saw the
counterpane and walls and everything, covered with Greek grammar
all the night.” Here you see Language and Form excited to an
extent which should never be allowed in education.
Mr G., architect in Bath, presented plans for the new House of
Commons, as a competitor. Four hundred apartments needed to be
provided for. The mental labour to arrange these in suitable
relations to the windows in the external elevations, to convenience
within, and to the stairs and passages, was immense. On going to
bed, he continued to go up stairs and down stairs, and along pas-
sages, and into rooms innumerable, so that his night's fatigue
became almost as great as his day's labour.'
The children attending this public school meet at 9 A.M., and School practice
estimated by
continue in school till 12. They are then sent into the play-ground these prin-
for half an hour, and eat their dinner. They next resume their ciples.
lessons till 3. They practise various manual exercises and evolu-
tions calculated to circulate the blood and relieve attention; but
still, this long period of continuous exertion is too great a draft on
their attention. In my lectures, I endeavoured to convince my
audience that man thinks by his brain, as he walks by his muscles ;
and that, as they would not impose a walk of six hours, with a rest
of only half an hour, on young children, it is equally unwise to
demand from their immature and still feeble brains that amount of
exertion. The evil is both felt and acknowledged, but the reason
assigned for the rule is, that if the children are once allowed to leave
the school, many of them do not return till the next day; the distance
to which they go, their own habits of self-will and self-indulgence,
and the aversion of the parents to enforce discipline, combine to
render it impossible for the teachers to secure regular attendance.
This is a serious evil, and is one form in which the spirit of inde-
pendence shows itself disadvantageously even at this early period of
life.3
I delivered a lecture 4 to the assistant school teachers and other
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 286.
2 Houston Street Public School, New York, which George Combe visited
when in America in 1838–40, and of which he gives an account in his work on
" America,” vol. i. p. 233.
3“ America," vol. i. p. 237.
4 In Boston, U.S., in November 1839.
276
The General Principles of Education.
The practical persons interested in education, and had a large audience. The
application of subject of the lecture was the question, Does the mind manifest a
ciples. plurality of faculties, differing from each other in functions and
relative strength; or is there only one general power, equally sus-
ceptible of all emotions, and equally applicable to all pursuits? I
pointed out the great difference that would ensue in practical
teaching, according as the one or other theory was embraced. After
the lecture, the teacher of a distinguished private seminary men-
tioned to me that, in consequence of the views which he had derived
from my lectures on Phrenology last year, he had ventilated his
school, alternated the studies, and increased the intervals of relaxa-
tion, and had found the health of himself and his scholars improved,
their powers of application increased, and greater enjoyment im-
parted to them all.
3. EDUCATION SHOULD BE REGULATED ACCORDING TO NATURAL
ENDOWMENT.
Education is
Men have observed, that the faculties are developed in succession ;
limited by the that the child is not in possession of the powers of the full-grown
strength of the
faculties. man; and that hence a boy may be dull at ten, who may turn out
a genius at twenty years of age, when his powers are fully unfolded
by time. But they do not imagine that every boy may be made a
genius by “habits of study or of business”; nor do they believe
that, after the faculties are fully developed, any individual may, if
he chooses, become great in a department of philosophy or science
for which he had previously no natural capacity. They have ob-
served that cultivation strengthens powers in themselves vigorous;
but they have not found that education can render eminently
energetic dispositions or capacities which Nature has created feeble.
They would laugh at any one who should attempt to convert an
idiot into a profound philosopher. On the other hand, they have
remarked that, where nature has bestowed a powerful disposition or
capacity of a particular kind, it holds the predominant sway in the
character during life, notwithstanding every effort to eradicate or
or subdue it. They have noticed, too, that where nature has con-
ferred, in an eminent degree, the faculties which constitute genius,
the individual manifests his native superiority in spite of great
1 " America," rol. iii. p. 169.
See George Combe's views of what constitutes Genius, in an essay on the
subject, in his “Essays on Phrenology,” p. 343.
2
Natural Endowment should Regulate Education. 277
obstacles arising from circumstances or situation. The lives of poets,
painters, and artists, in every age, bear witness to the truth of this
observation."
We ought to receive as axioms in education, that the predom- Education can
inating dispositions manifested in childhood are innate ; that their only regulate
the faculties.
existence will be permanent; and that it is our duty only to regulate
them, and not to be offended at their existence.
On these principles, we ought to endeavour, if possible, to guide Illustrations of
this regulation
children by the law of kindness. If a child possess, from nature,
a great endowment of Self-esteem and Firmness, he will be natur-
ally self-willed and obstinate in his dispositions. Such a child
ought never to be punished for possessing the feelings; for, as
they are part of himself, they will appear to him natural and
proper; and he will only rebel the more, the more we outrage
them, by indulging in anger against himself. We ought, there-
fore, to check the manifestations of these feelings by firmness on
our part, guided by affection; and, as soon as reflection begins to
dawn, we ought to explain to him his natural proneness to them,
and show that the feelings are in themselves excellent, if well
directed; that he is an object of our warmest affection, but that
we are determined to repress all irregular manifestations of them.
Until the Reflecting powers are in some degree capable of acting, these
explanations will not be understood; and, till then, the feelings ought
to be repressed by a firm though affectionate resistance to their
manifestations, on the part of the parent, but never by wrath. But,
when the child begins to reflect, such explanations will have more
effect than is generally believed.2 If, again, a child possess powerful
faculties of Conscientiousness, Cautiousness, and Love of Approbation,
he will be naturally prone to timidity and bashfulness. The treat-
ment proper for such an individual is not to scold and ridicule him
for becoming timid; for this only produces pain, and increases the
evil: but to inspire him with confidence, by kindness and affability.
If another child possess powerful faculties of Self-esteem and Love
of Approbation, he will be prone to magnify himself, and to assume
airs of importance, which to others may appear ridiculous. The
2
1 “System of Phrenology,” vol. i. p. 105. .
George Combe had a decided conviction, based on his own experience and
observation, of the value and influence of such explanations to the young. See
p. 110, et seq.
278
The General Principles of Education.
proper treatment for him is to direct these feelings to proper objects;
to make him ambitious of virtue and magnanimous conduct.
Adam Smith's I am happy to be able to adduce the authority of so accurate an
opinion ad-
duced.
observer of human nature as Dr Adam Smith, in support of these
views. He clearly points out the propriety of considering the
faculties as innate, and of endeavouring only to direct, and not to
eradicate them. He
He says, “The great secret of education is to direct
vanity” (and, he might have added, every feeling)“ to proper objects.
Never suffer your son to value himself upon trivial accomplishments.
But do not always discourage his pretensions to those that are of real
importance. He would not pretend to them, if he did not earnestly
desire to possess them. Encourage this desire; afford him every
means to facilitate the acquisition; and do not take too much offence,
although he should sometimes assume the air of having attained it
a little before the time."
1
The activity of Phrenology teaches that the power of manifesting the faculties
depends on the depends on the state of the organisation. No fact is more undeni-
organisation. able, than that great differences exist in the power of different in-
dividuals to manifest their faculties. In early infancy, the power
of manifestation is very imperfectly possessed ; and, by some indivi-
duals, that power is never fully possessed at all. Such individuals
are idiots, partial or total. The power of manifesting the mind
varies also in health and sickness, in middle life and in old age.
Now, the cause of these differences can be explained only by one or
two theories. Either the Creator makes the immaterial mind itself
to differ in its powers in different individuals, and at different
periods of life: or the immaterial principle is the same in all indivi-
duals, and in every situation; but its powers of manifesting itself in
the external world are different, in consequence of the organisation,
by the instrumentality of which it acts, being different in develop-
ment and activity.
Analogy, and a fair induction from the phenomena falling under
our observation, lead us to conclude that these differences depend
upon organisation. It is not to be presumed, without evidence,
that the Creator has endowed the immaterial and immortal principle
of one man with powers and capacities which he has denied to an-
other, or that the mind itself varies in its powers with the state of
Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 317. See Adam Smith's “Theory of
Moral Sentiments,” Part 6, s. 3.
1 66
Natural Endowment should Regulate Education. 279
inental mani.
festation de
ences in the
organs.
health and the age of the body; while it consists with every day's Differences in
experience, that differences of organic constitution are the result of
natural endowment and of physical events. Nature, for example, pend on differ-
gives to one individual a power of voluntary motion far exceeding
that which she confers upon another. She makes one blind, another
deaf, and denies to a third the power of speech. It is proved by
this system that, in the same way, she denies to one individual the
development and activity of brain which she confers upon another;
and it is observed, that hence the power of manifesting the mind ex-
ternally is different in proportion.
In this way, also, does it alone appear possible to account for
the transmission of mental peculiarities from parents to children.
“There is, too,” says Dugald Stewart, “a certain hereditary
character (whether resulting from physical constitution, or caught
from imitation and the influence of situation), which appears remark-
ably in particular families. One race, for a succession of generations,
is distinguished by a genius for the abstract sciences; while it is
deficient in vivacity, in imagination, and in taste. Another is no
less distinguished for wit, and gaiety, and fancy, while it appears
incapable of patient attention, or of profound research.” 1
The first circumstance which Phrenology points out as deserving Educability
of attention in attempting the cultivation of the mental powers the original
dependent on
is, that the capacity for improvement of each of the internal facul-constitution of
the faculties;
ties, like that of each of the external senses, is exactly proportioned
to, and is limited by, the degree of development and healthy condi-
tion of its own organ; and that the result of education is merely an
increased facility of operation in that organ, and not a change in the
mind itself, independent of the organisation, as is generally sup-
posed. Whence phrenologists contend, that just as we habitu-
ally regard the power of vision, and the degree of improvement of
which it is susceptible, as in exact relation to the native constitu-
tion of the eye; and the superior quickness of sight, consequent
upon its judicious exercise, as always referable to a change pro-
duced, not in the unembodied principle of mind, but in the organ
of vision itself: so we ought to regard each and all of the internal
faculties, for example, the Reasoning power, or the faculties of Tune
or of Language, and the degree of improvement of which they are
susceptible, as in exact relation to the natural constitution of their
1 “Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 309.
280
The General Principles of Education.
Which must be
exercised in
accordance
with this.
respective cerebral organs; and the superior aptitude for deep think-
ing, for Music, or for Language, consequent upon their exercise, as
the result of a change in the state of these organs, and not in the
immaterial principle alone; and hence that we should, in every
instance, adapt our means to the kind of faculties and organisation
possessed ; and that, as we cannot bend the mental character to suit
any circumstances, we should therefore adapt the profession and
circumstances to the character and dispositions of the individual, in
so far as conduces to happiness and utility.
Hence, also, the absurdity of seeking for laws of mind as distinct
and separate from the laws which regulate the union and the mutual
influence of mind and body; since, so long as life remains, not a
moment passes over our heads which is not pregnant with proof of
their inseparable connection: and hence it is the very basis of our
success, Ist, That we must employ each primitive mental faculty
which we wish to cultivate directly upon its own objects, and not
trust to its improvement following that of a faculty altogether dif-
ferent; and, 2dly, That we must proportion the degree of exercise
of each to the original constitution of its own organ.
1
Each faculty Who that is not blinded by the mysticism of metaphysical philo-
manifests itself
according to its sophy can doubt, that the habits of the musician depend radically
own strength. on a power or faculty which nature has implanted in him, which
gives the desire and the power to make music? And what un-
happy girl, who, without possessing any appreciable faculty of Tune,
is doomed to strike the keys of a pianoforte, does not feel by expe-
rience that musical habits cannot be acquired where the natural
power is wanting. Who that knows anything of science, or the
arts, or of life, does not know that the enthusiasm of the philoso-
pher, of the mechanic, of the poet, or their “habits of study,” if
that phrase pleases best, are founded on the antecedent possession
of specific natural faculties, which give the power and the desire to
perform the various acts which they respectively delight in; and
that, unless these faculties be given powerfully by nature, no habits
of association or of study can be formed, which will confer excellence
in their several pursuits ??
As some faculties are possessed in greater proportion than others,
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823-4), p. 583.
2 “Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 352.
Natural Endowment should Regulate Education. 281
and as the most powerful are always the most capable of exercise, The degree of
exercise regu-
we must proportion the degree of exercise of each to its original lated by the
constitution, so as neither to weaken it by too little action, nor to state of each
faculty.
exhaust it by too much. In weak, delicate subjects, and at periods
of growth, the faculties should be left a good deal to themselves,
and more attention be paid to the general health and consolidation
of the system. Precocious talent is frequently, from neglect of this,
very soon exhausted. No general rule can be laid down, but the
same principle applies as in the exercise of weak muscles, stomach,
eyes, or any other part. In order to employ all the faculties to the
best advantage, it thus becomes extremely desirable to know before-
hand the proportions in which they are respectively possessed ; so
that no time nor labour need be lost in attempting to force those
which nature has given in sparing quantity, nor mischief produced
by the over-exercise, or complete neglect, of others in which she has
been more liberal.
Phrenology puts the means of obtaining this knowledge com- The differences
in the faculties
pletely in our power, and it is our own fault if we do not make use
should guide
of it. And, as we would never dream of giving a blind man the our expecta-
education of a painter, or a deaf man that of a musician, so Phreno-ability.
logy teaches us not to expect philosophic profundity from a person
to whom nature has denied a large endowment of Causality, and
therefore not to attempt to educate him for a profession in which
great reasoning power is essential for success. It also teaches us not
to set down as a fool or a dunce the boy whose depth of mind, de-
pending on great Comparison and Causality, is merely hidden by the
difficulty which, owing to small Language, he feels in clothing his
ideas with words ; for, where the reflecting power is present, it will
in after life place its possessor far above his more superficial com-
panion who excelled him at school, merely from having a much
greater endowment of Language and Individuality. Phrenology
thus enables us to avoid the mischief so often resulting from mis-
directed talents, and to select, with discrimination, the sphere in
which each is fitted to move. 1
tions as to
It is from the difference in the original strength of the natural And our treat-
dispositions, that the same treatment produces different and even
ment of the
child.
opposite effects upon different persons. Thus, an individual with
small Conscientiousness and Benevolence, and large Acquisitiveness,
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823–4), p. 585.
282
The General Principles of Education.
Self-esteem and Combativeness, will become worse under misfortune
or injustice, and will think of revenge and of making others as
miserable as himself, where another, with a different combination,
would submit with serenity and resignation. But the fact that such
a difference of result does take place, only shows more forcibly the
necessity of knowing the functions and laws of the primitive
faculties. 1
Exc nihilo nihil fit—nature must give ability before it can be
unfolded.
Great talents need no patrons: they unfold themselves and
open the way to distinction, not only unaided, but in opposition to
the most momentous obstacles.”
These prin-
The subject of this letter,, when a child, was remarkable for an
ciples illus-
trated by a
active spirit, combined with much good nature, and the purest sim-
special case. plicity, amounting even to bluntness of manner. When sent to
school to learn to read, he made the least possible progress, and
afterwards, when an attempt was made to teach him Latin, he stood
absolutely still. His father and mother were almost in despair, and
feared that he would turn out a blockhead, fit for the mortar-tub, or
the pick and shovel, bat destitute of capacity for any liberal pur-
suit. As a last effort, they sent him to board with a celebrated
teacher in the country, in the hopes that the discipline of his
seminary might rouse his latent faculties, if, in fact, he possessed
any. Here, however, his progress was as little flattering as before.
He was made the fag of boys older and stouter than himself, or
even, I suspect, of some of his own age, and, as for learning, he could
not be brought to comprehend a single rule of Latin, and scarcely
was able to master three sentences of French; in geography and
arithmetic, he was very little more successful.
The treatment In this state of matters, Dr Spurzheim arrived in this country, and
necessitated by
a gentleman who attended his lectures imagined that the case might
originalendow-
not be so hopeless as was conceived. He examined the boy's head,
and declared that the mystery was cleared up.
He found the organ
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823–4), p. 588.
26 America," vol. i. P.
325-6.
3 Dr Richard Poole, author of “Essays on Education,” already mentioned,
p. 102, then editor of the Phrenological Journal, in which this case is given,
appends a note--"We are able to certify that this is a real case.”
ment.
Natural Endowment should Regulate Education. 283
of Language very decidedly deficient, and the knowing organs
in general not large, while the reflecting organs were far above an
average in point of size for that period of life. Combativeness he
found rather small, while Cautiousness, Conscientiousness, Self-
esteem, Love of Approbation, Firmness, Adhesiveness, Benevolence,
and Ideality were all amply developed, and Destructiveness was not
deficient. Tune also was large. He pointed out that the boy's
proneness to active sports indicated a healthy condition of the brain;
that his softness of disposition arose from deficient Combativeness,
joined with large Conscientiousness, Cautiousness, Benevolence, and
Love of Approbation; that his inaptitude for languages was owing
to the small development of the organ connected with this faculty ;
and that his general dụlness arose from the knowing or perceptive
organs being, on the whole, but moderate in size, while those of
reflection, which were decidedly large, did not come into full
activity till a later period of life, and did not, till then, meet with
studies and pursuits suited to their gratification. He advised, there-
fore, that the youth should be taken from school, and sent for three
or four years to learn the trade to which it was intended to bring
him up; and that, thereafter_namely, at the age of seventeen or
eighteen-his education should be begun anew.
This accordingly was done, and with the happiest effects. When he The happy re-
had passed the age of puberty, his manner greatly changed. Instead
sults arising
therefrom.
of being the raw, blunt, timid boy, he acquired a sedate, shrewd,
and intellectual expression of countenance, and, although extremely
bashful and embarrassed in company, it was easy to perceive that
thought was now active, and that the previous vacuity of mind,
which had alarmed his relations, had entirely disappeared. His
studies were now directed entirely according to his development.
He was absolved at once from all drudgery with Greek and Latin,
but told that, as he was destined to move in the rank of a merchant
and manufacturer, it was indispensable that he should be master of
his own language, and even know a little French. He, therefore, at
seventeen, set about learning English grammar, and having now the
aid of his reflecting powers, he apprehended, as intellectual percep-
tions, what as a child he was utterly incapable, owing to his deficient
organ of Language, of learning by rote. He studied French at the
same time, and profited, in his apprehension of the English construc-
tion, by the stronger illustrations of concord and government which
that language affords. He soon succeeded so completely as to write
a correct and precise English style, and he could also read a French
284
The General Principles of Education.
author with facility. His other studies were geography, algebra, and
mathematics, and in these also he now took pleasure, and stated dis-
tinctly that he saw the principle and application of them, and
obtained from thein food for reflection. His next course was Chem-
istry, Natural History, Natural Philosophy, and Anatomy, and the
pleasure with which he followed the lectures on these branches of
knowledge was intense, and his improvement proportionally great.1
ment.
The effects of Dr Spurzheimº goes a step farther back than most other writers on
parentage ony education; and taking observation for his guide, and finding the men-
tal qualities and capacities of the progeny to be intimately connected
with and dependent upon the bodily constitution inherited from the
parent, and believing that education ought to be an imitation of nature's
own laws, and not an invention of ours, he strenuously insists that we
ought to begin at the root; and that, after having ascertained, by care-
ful observation, what qualities of mind and body in the parents are most
likely to secure for their offspring the most favourable moral, intellec-
tual, and corporeal constitution, we ought to seek for and combine these
qualities, or the nearest approximation to them which can be found.
Nor is this a matter of little moment; for the more we examine
nature, the more we shall be convinced that education operates
invariably in subjection to the laws of organisation, and that it is
impossible to improve the mind beyond the limits imposed upon it
by its connection with its material organ, or even to alter materially
such lineaments of the character as are strongly drawn by the hand
of nature. It is at once an illustration of and in obedience to this
law, that we find great intellectual power and favourable moral disposi-
tions as invariably connected with a large, healthy, well-developed
brain; and feeble intellect and moral deficiency as invariably the
attendants of a small or very defective brain; and different or oppo-
site dispositions and talents as invariably accompanied with very
different states or configurations of brain, as if mind were merely a
function of matter. Hence, as the brain is a component part of the
animal system, and is subject to all the laws of living organised
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (for 1823–24), p. 505. At the same place,
see a letter by the subject of the above notice, containing reflections on his own
faculties and their action, and expressing his obligations to Phrenology,
2 In his great work, “A View of the Elementary Principles of Education,
founded on the Study of the Nature of Man," published in 1821—a book that
should be studied by every one interested in education. The above is from a
review of it.
Natural Endowment should Regulate Education. 285
matter, its peculiarities, and the mental qualities consequent upon
them, are transmitted from parents to children with as much
certainty, because in obedience to the same laws, as features, noses,
forms, or diseases.
It has, indeed, been long known as an abstract fact in the natural Its importance
to human pro-
history of man and animals, that the qualities of the mind as well as
gress :
of the body descend from generation to generation; that children of
weak and nervous parents are themselves delicate, easily agitated,
and subject to convulsions; that the idiots, or Cretins of Switzer-
land, produce a race inferior to themselves; that the children of
insane parents are generally, sooner or later, afflicted with the same
disease; and that those of healthy, robust, and long-lived ancestors
are in general distinguished for similar qualities. But, either from
ignorance of the principle according to which it happens, and which
demonstrates that it will happen again, or from an absurd fear of
degradation, by admitting his own subjection to the laws which
God has set over animal nature, man has not chosen to act upon it In regulating
;
in improving his own species, but has married and given in marriage marriage ;
as if all the qualities of mind and body were directly under his own
control; and, when overtaken by the consequences of his own neglect,
and when vice, imbecility and disease usurp in his offspring the
place of that virtue, talent, and vigour which he in vain expected
to arise from good education alone, he looks upon himself as a hap-
less and devoted victim, who had no share in the production of his
own misery, and whose only duty is to submit to the painful
dispensations of a Superior Power, without making an effort to
decipher and profit by the lessons which these inflictions are meant
to convey. The laws of nature are ever the same; and, in the days
of Moses, we find them giving rise to restrictions on the marriage of
blood relations, for the very reason that they are either unfruitful or
productive of degenerate offspring. If a knowledge of the operation
of these laws were deeply impressed upon the mind of our youth,
it is scarcely conceivable that we should so often have to lament the
extinction of whole families by consumption, the quickly-spreading
miseries of insanity and imbecility, and the innumerable ills attend-
ing weak and infirm health. The chapter on this subject is one of
the most valuable in Dr Spurzheim's book, and to it we must refer
the reader for further details. It is written with perfect good taste,
delicacy, and propriety.
We shall only add, that among other important requisites in
parents, Dr Spurzheim mentions a sound constitution, untainted
286
The General Principles of Education.
a sound consti-
tution.
And producing with any hereditary disease, and a sound, active, and well-balanced
mind, indicated by a large and well-proportioned brain, and that these
qualities should be chosen, in preference, in families where they have
been the accompaniment of generations; as, where a good individual
appears in a bad or indifferent race, the chance of the re-appearance
in the offspring of the indifferent qualities of the stock is very great.
Hence the importance attached to pedigree is, in reality, founded on
a law of nature; and hence, also, the value attached to it in the
case of the lower animals, where each parent has been selected for
his peculiar excellencies. In man, it is by no means so sure an
index of the possession of the virtues of the original stock, as the
choice of partners is scarcely attended to.
1
4. THE ORDER OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE FACULTIES.
The import- As some faculties arrive at maturity at a much earlier period than
ance of know-
ing the order of others, it is extremely advantageous to know the general order of
development. their successive development; because, by attempting to force into
activity those faculties the organs of which are not yet fully
developed, and by neglecting those which are, our labour is not only
entirely lost, but positive mischief produced.?
The order in
which the
faculties are
developed.
What is the order observed by the faculties in the course of their
successive development?
The faculties which produce the PROPENSITIES and SENTIMENTS
are earliest manifested in the order of Nature, and therefore a child
is susceptible of moral education, before he is susceptible, in an equal
degree, of intellectual education.
The other faculties susceptible of education at an early period of
life are the KNOWING FACULTIES. The functions of these faculties
are to become acquainted with objects and their qualities, but not to
reason. Most of these faculties may be manifested in the first stages
of childhood; but the REFLECTING FACULTIES, or those which trace
abstract relations and consequences, cannot, in general, be so, till a
much later period of life. The REFLECTING FACULTIES are the last
manifested in the order of time. The brain in the upper part of the
forehead, which is the organ of these faculties, is not fully developed
in some individuals till the age of twenty, twenty-three, or twenty-
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823-4), p. 579.
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823–4), p. 537.
The Order of Development of the Faculties. 287
four. In others, however, the development is complete at an earlier
period of life, but rarely, in any one, before fourteen or fifteen.
At this latter period, also, the full development of the cerebellum,
on which the AMATIVE PROPENSITY depends, takes place. Until,
therefore, the organs both of this propensity and of the reflecting
faculties are fully developed, we cannot, with sufficient certainty, pre-
dicate what the natural dispositions and capacities of any individual
will be. No doubt, if an individual is able to manifest powerfully the
faculties of Veneration or Tune when a child, we may safely predicate
that he will possess the power of manifesting these faculties during
life; but, if the Reflecting faculties and Amative Propensity, when
they come to be developed, prove eminently energetic, the individua
may then experience greater pleasure in obscenity than in veneration,
or in philosophical discussion rather than in music, although his
natural capacity for veneration and music remain the same.
such cases, the individual may exhibit the most absurd inconsistency
of conduct,—may be at one time a saint, and at another a sinner,—at
one time a philosopher, and at another a musicante,--and all with
equal sincerity.
Or, in
Dr Spurzheim3 thinks, from observation, that the organs of In-The develop-
dividuality are perhaps the earliest of the Intellectual order. Those faculties ac
of Form, Comparison, and Language, also appear early in life; and cording to
Spurzheim.
those of Size, Colour, Locality, Tune, Number, and Order, appear
successively. Among the Propensities and Sentiments, he thinks
Amativeness and Veneration are the latest. Hence, everything con-
nected with observation, facts, history, geography, and general
information, are best adapted to the youthful, and reasoning and
deep reflection to the mature mind. Almost all the Sentiments
come into action at a very early age, and hence they ought to be
carefully cultivated from the very beginning,-according to the
law of exercising each faculty upon its own objects. And,
as artificial signs or language cannot be understood until the
feelings or ideas which they represent are felt by the individual,
we should be very careful to use such only as can be completely
1 This is the doctrine of Phrenology, on which see George Combe's “System
of Phrenology,” vol. i. p. 583, and the references there ; also, “The Func-
tions of the Cerebellum,” by Gall, Vimont, and Broussais, translated by
George Combe (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart).
Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 314, 328, &c.
3 In his “View of the Elementary Principles of Education."
2 66
288
The General Principles of Education.
understood, as otherwise we run much danger of cultivating the
single faculty of Language, when we believe we are cultivating all
powers of the intellect. What signs could convey to the mind of
one who had never felt them, the sensations expressed by the words
Hunger, Thirst, Cold, Heat, Anger, or Benevolence ? ?
The order of Looking at the order in which the organs of the faculties
training con-
sequent on this are developed, and at the changes in the condition of the brain
development. by which the exercise of mental energy is affected, we per-
ceive that, prior to eighteen, the organs of the Propensities,
Sentiments, and Perceptive or Knowing powers, such as Indi-
viduality, Language, Locality, Form, Number, and Tune, are in
the highest state of maturity; and that it is not till twenty or
upwards, that the Reflecting organs have attained their full size ;
and, farther, that it is not till after majority, that the constitu-
tion of the brain has been perfected, so as to render it capable
of the most powerful manifestations. Following the order of
nature, therefore, we would teach children morality and virtuous
conduct, and also initiate them in all the varieties of simple know-
ledge, before the age of fourteen; we would send them to learn a
trade, from fourteen to eighteen; and, from eighteen to twenty-two,
we would combine attendance on classes of Philosophy with the
practice of the duties of their profession. The details of business
do not require a greater portion of understanding than is possessed
from fourteen to eighteen, while the higher branches of Moral and
Physical Science require a mature intellect and some experimental
knowledge of the relations of society, to enable the mind to enter
upon them with delight, and draw practical benefit from their study.
The relations Farther, one great cause of the education that is at present bestowed
of business and being practically lost, is the entire separation of learning from busi-
The boy is a scholar, till he goes to the shop or counting-
house; and, when he goes there, he is a merchant or trader, and lays
aside all his literature, science, and school acquirements, as obsolete
exercises of boyhood. He never thinks of study as a relaxation
from business, or as an agreeable recreation for leisure hours; and,
until this habit shall be attained, education will not have triumphed.
The great object ought to be, to keep the Intellect and higher Senti-
ments of the industrious classes habitually awake, and to give them
an interest in every thing that is calculated to support the activity
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823–4), p. 587.
ness.
Natural Endowment should Regulate Education. 289
.
of those powers, and afford them gratification; and this will never
be accomplished, till they are trained to look on themselves, not only
as individuals pursuing exclusive and personal objects, but as citizens
of the world, interested in the great principles which regulate the
happiness or misery of the species. They must be taught to pass from
the counting-house to classes of Philosophy, and from the halls of
Science to the warehouse, as transitions natural, useful, and becom-
ing; and to regard personal industry and elevated reflection as fitted
each to confer grace, dignity, and usefulness on the other. There is
no degradation in labour; and the highest intelligence is not in-
compatible with the most animated exertions in the duties of life.
A conviction of the truth of this observation cannot be too widely
diffused among the inhabitants of Britain, for its practical applica-
tion would constitute their glory and their strength."
5. THE FACULTIES ACT ONLY IN RELATION TO THEIR OWN OBJECTS.
The great importance of understanding whether the brain be a The brain a
single organ or a congeries of organs cannot be too clearly set forth. congeries of
If the mind be a simple organ, then mental exercise, of whatever faculties ;
kind, should be beneficial to its whole powers. If it be a congeries,
we have to attend to the particular exercise of each. Suppose a
trumpet be improved by practising on it, every note would be im-
proved by improving the tone of one ; but, if the instrument were a
pianoforte, in which each note depends on a separate chord, it would
be absurd to hope for the improvement of all the chords by improv-
ing a few merely. Some might produce the correct notes when
struck, while others might produce nothing but discords; and
others, being broken, might emit no sound at all.a
According to Phrenology, the power of feeling desires and Each possess-
emotions, and the power of forming ideas, depend on the faculties ; specific func-
and each faculty, in virtue of its constitution, gives the power of tion.
feeling emotions of a certain kind, and it owes its functions neither
to the human will nor to any fortuitous circumstances, but to nature
alone. Hence, powerful faculties confer the capacity of feeling
strongly, and of thinking deeply. The mind does not manifest one
faculty alone, equally capable of feeling in every way, and of form-
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (for 1824-5), p. 442.
2 “American Lectures,” edited by Boardman, p. 333.
T
.
290
The General Principles of Education.
ing ideas of every kind; but it manifests several faculties, each
independent and distinct in its functions.
1
Individual de- Each faculty has its specific functions from nature, and he is a
velopment
regulated by genius whose Knowing and Reflecting faculties perform their functions
the faculties with eminent effect. Hence the greatest genius is substantially the
possessed.
same being as the dullest mortal; he has only the same faculties in
a higher degree of perfection. Hence, too, an individual may be, in
one respect, a great genius, and, in another respect, very deficient in
natural ability The individual who has the faculty of Tune
eminently powerful may be a genius in music, and in nothing else.
He who has the faculty of Language eminently bestowed may be a
super-eminent linguist, and excel in no other accomplishment. He
who has the faculty of Constructiveness and Form eminently power-
ful may be an eminent mechanician, and excel in no other art. He
who has the faculties of Comparison and Causality powerful may be
a profound philosopher, and no poet. And he who is highly gifted
with Ideality may have the rapturous inspirations of the poet,
without possessing the deep-penetrating and logical powers of the
philosopher.
2
Each faculty It is a very common mistake in our schools, and in the received
requires spe- systems of education, to suppose that, by cultivating one faculty,
cific training.
we necessarily exercise the others; that, by studying languages or
Mathematics, for instance, we necessarily cultivate the Reasoning
powers, or that, by cultivating the latter, we necessarily improve
the Moral Sentiments. Phrenology puts an end to this delusion, by
wing, that each faculty depends for its power of acting upon
the state of its own organ; and that thus whole pages may be
learned by rote, in virtue of the activity of the organ and faculty of
Language alone, without exciting in any degree those of Causality
or Comparison, upon which reflection depends. It shows that
Mathematics, being à science of relative properties and numbers,
exercises almost exclusively the organs and faculties of Locality,
Form, Size, Individuality, Comparison, and Number, while it
leaves Causality almost inactive. It shows that the memory of
facts and details depends on a good endowment of Individuality,
1 66
Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 349.
2 “Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 350.
The Faculties act only on Their Own Objects. 291
and, consequently, that the mere acquisition of knowledge does
not exercise the Reasoning powers or Moral Sentiments. It shows
that the latter, as well as the Intellect, depend upon particular
organs; that each, in order to be cultivated, must be excited
directly by its own object; and, in short, that it would be as philo-
sophical to attempt to educate sight by listening to the sounds of a
violin, or hearing by reading a treatise on Acoustics, or touch by
smelling a nosegay, as to attempt to improve the Reasoning powers
by learning a collection of words, or the Moral Sentiments by objects
exclusively addressed to the Intellect.
Hence, when we wish to cultivate the Reasoning powers, let us Illustrations of
this specific
employ them directly in tracing the relation of cause and effect, and
training
in the discovery of general principles. When we mean to cultivate
the Knowing faculties, let us exercise Number, for example, in
the study of arithmetic and algebra ; Language, in the acquisition
of the dead and living languages, and in the structure of their
sentences; Locality and Individuality, in the study of geography
and the natural history of different countries of the world. And
again, when we intend to cultivate the Moral sentiments, let us
exercise Conscientiousness in the habitual practice and example of
even-handed justice, instead of thinking to enforce it by precepts
adapted to the organs of intellect alone ; let us excite the activity of
Benevolence in our children, by practising it towards others, rather
than by bare words, with which our conduct is at variance; and let
us not complain of a want of respect in our children, depending on
inactive Veneration, when we ourselves habitually treat others as if
it were a sin to be respectful. In short, let us always exercise
directly the faculty we wish to cultivate, for it is only by so doing,
that we shall at all succeed.?
become active
Each faculty may be roused into activity by the presentment of the faculties
its appropriate objects. Thus, Benevolence is roused by a scene of
only by their
distress ; Philoprogenitiveness, by the sight of children; Ideality, own objects.
by whatever is beautiful. When we become acquainted with this
law, we obtain to a great extent the mastery over the activity of the
faculties. But the Propensities and Sentiments may, in the next
place, be roused by words which convey such ideas as stimulate
them to activity. Thus, the description of a beautiful scene may
produce activity in Ideality. This last is, however, the least effec-
Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823-4), p. 584.
1
292
The General Principles of Education.
The effects of
their over-
stimulus.
tive stimulus. To present a scene of distress appeals much more
powerfully to Benevolence than to describe one. Suppose a ship-
wreck be vividly described, it may greatly excite the feelings; but if a
shipwreck be witnessed, there can be no doubt of its exciting them
ten times more.
Sometimes the excitement produced by a powerful external
stimulus is such as to disorder the faculties. A gentleman was
sailing in his own small pleasure yacht down the Clyde, when
a sudden flaw of wind came from a gap in the mountains and upset
the vessel in which he was, throwing it on its beam-ends. He and
his companions held on, in the expectation of assistance, but in
half ar hour another flaw came and righted the vessel. They were
all saved, and immediately sailed to Belfast to attend a regatta. He
said that, while in the water, he was not conscious of great perturba-
tion or excitement; the blue and seemingly unfathomable Clyde lay
beneath and around them, smooth and calm. On his return,
however, he applied to Dr Combe on account of a singular malady.
Since the accident in the Clyde, he had been subject to sudden fits
of fear and apprehension, to starting and perturbation, without any
adequate external cause, which was doubtless a diseased condition
of the organ of Cautiousness. He was under treatment six or eight
months before he got rid of the affection.
Their agreeable “It seems,” says David Hume, unaccountable pleasure which
exercise always the spectators of a well-written tragedy receive from sorrow, terror,
anxiety, and other passions that are in themselves disagreeable and
uneasy. The more they are touched and affected, the more are they
delighted with the spectacle. The whole art of the poet is
employed in rousing and supporting the compassion and indignation,
the anxiety and resentment, of his audience. They are pleased in
proportion as they are affected, and never are so happy as when they
employ tears, sobs, and cries to give vent to their sorrow, and relieve
their hearts, swollen with the tenderest sympathy and compassion."
This enigma is explained by the remarks before made on the
activity of the respective faculties, occasioned by the presentation
of the appropriate objects. All happiness consists in the agreeable
excitement of our faculties, and activity is the very essence of grati-
fication. Now, on the stage, the words and natural language of
emotion are so well imitated as to arouse the feelings with much
more energy than words alone could do. In the play of “Pizarro,"
for instance, when the child is introduced, its aspect and situation
1 Hume's Essays, Part First, Essay xxii., Of Tragedy.
"1
The Faculties act only on Their Own Objects. 293
excite Philoprogenitiveness; its danger arouses Cautiousness, produc-
ing fear for its safety. When Rollo saves it, Philoprogenitiveness is
delighted, and Benevolence gratified.
In New England, I visited a common school, the head-master of These princi-
which told me, that he devoted one half of his whole hours of teach-ples applied to
ing to arithmetic and mathematics, because he had discovered that
pupils who excelled in those branches soon became proficients in
every other, such as grammar, geography, and repetitions. No
phrenologist could have held such views, because he must have
known that arithmetic and mathematics depend on different organs
from those which take cognizance of language, grammar, and general
reasoning. I observed that the organs on which arithmetic and
mathematics depend predominated over the other intellectual organs
in this person's own head, in consequence of which he could teach
these branches with more ease and success, and his common sense
led him to conclude that all his pupils were similarly constituted to
himself. When teachers rely solely on common sense » and their
own experience, they act merely on the suggestions of their strongest
Propensities, Sentiments, and Intellectual faculties, whatever these
may be, without reference to the differences which exist between
their minds and those of their pupils.?
>
Other conditions being equal, the human faculties act with a The faculties
degree of energy corresponding to the size of their organs; and the that are natur-
organs of the animal Propensities are generally large. They are, are artificially
cultivated.
therefore, naturally powerful; and not only so, but the circumstances
of life present to them constant and powerful excitements. They
are thus trained from infancy by our position and the influence of
surrounding objects to activity, without the need of artificial cul-
ture. This is well ordered by the Creator, because the activity of
the Propensities is necessary to our subsistence, preservation, and
defence, as individuals and as domestic beings. But the Moral and
Intellectual organs, in most individuals, when combined, although
equal or superior in size to those of the Propensities, stand more in
need of artificial cultivation. Their function is to control and direct
the animal feelings and desires, and they need to be instructed and
strengthened themselves to fit them to accomplish this duty.
3“ American Lectures,” edited by Boardnan, p. 278.
2 “ America,” vol. iii. p. 176–7.
294
The General Principles of Education.
faculties.
The training of Instruction should be communicated by directly addressing and
the Intellectual
faculties;
exercising the Intellectual faculties, and training them to deal with
their own objects. Children should be taught to examine every
object minutely, and to mark its hardness or softness, its solidity,
its form, size, weight, colour, the number of its parts, its place of
growth or production, its liability to suffer change from the influence
of other objects, and its powers of producing changes in them.
They should be taught to try experiments and note the consequences,
and be trained to perceive and comprehend that life is a series of
processes, each of which has an inevitable consequence of good or
evil attached to it, which they cannot alter or evade, but to which
they may, within certain limits, accommodate their own conduct and
position. This would constitute training of the Intellectual faculties.
Of the Moral The Moral and Religious faculties, also, are best trained by pre-
and Religious
senting to them their natural objects, and engaging them in active
emotion. When a child is led to relieve suffering, to do a kind or
courteous action, its Benevolence is brought into activity. When it
is engaged in contemplation of God's power, wisdom, and goodness,
and taught to yield obedience to His will, and to obey His laws, its
Veneration is cultivated. When it is called on to scrutinise and try
its own actions and those of others by the standard of justice, and to
pronounce a sentence of approval or condemnation, its Conscientious-
ness is strengthened. When beautiful objects and dulcet sounds
are presented, and the child is taught to reproduce the like, its
faculties of Ideality, Time, and Tune are trained, and so forth. It is
only by a thorough enlightenment of the Intellect, and a practical
training of the Moral and Religious Sentiments that these faculties
can be enabled steadily and in all emergencies to control and direct
the animal Propensities.
It is in society that the objects and excitements necessary for
training the Moral and Religious faculties are chiefly found. We
cannot be benevolent unless there be animated beings to benefit by
our kindness; nor meritoriously just, unless in presence of individuals
whose rights conflict with our own desires. The playground and
the domestic social circles, therefore, are the spheres in which our
Moral and Religious principles should be reduced to practice; and it
is only by the constant exercise of them there, that they can be
trained and invigorated to accomplish the objects for which they
were bestowed.?
On 15th May, 1839, I was introduced to James J. Mapes, Esq., a
1 “Popular Education,” pp. 43–4.
The Faculties act only on Their Own Objects: 295
scientific gentleman, residing in 461 Broadway, New York. His These princi-
daughter fell from a window, when she was about four years of age ; by a special
ples illustrated
her head struck against the iron bar which extended from the case.
railing to the wall, and the skull was extensively fractured, but
without rupturing the pia mater, or doing any serious injury to the
brain. She was attended by Dr Mott; a part of the skull was
removed from the superior-posterior portion of the head, the integu-
ments were drawn over the wound, and the child recovered. The
part of the skull removed was that which covers the organs of Self-
esteem and Love of Approbation. She did not wear any plate
over the wound; but the hair over it, like that on the other parts of
the head, was fine, and was kept short.
When I saw the child, she was eight years of age, healthy and
intelligent; and no external trace of the injury was visible to the
eye. The form of her head was that of a superior female child : it
was long, and moderately broad at the base ; Secretiveness, Love of
Approbation, Self-esteem, Cautiousness, and Firmness, were all large;
Benevolence and Veneration were well developed, and the anterior
lobe was large. I saw the pieces of skull which had been removed.
They might be three and a half by three inches in superficial extent.
The skull had not been replaced. On applying my hand, I felt the
brain rising and falling with the respiration, and distinctly ascer-
tained that the organs of Self-esteem and Love of Approbation were
denuded of the skull; also a small part of Conscientiousness, and
the posterior margin of Firmness. Her father mentioned that,
before the accident, he considered her rather dull; but her mother
(whom also I had the pleasure of seeing) did not concur in this
opinion; both, however, agreed that, since her recovery, she had been
acute, and fully equal to children of her own age in point of ability.
With the permission of her father and mother, I kept my hand
for some minutes gently pressing on the external integuments over The cerebral
the site of the injury, and distinctly felt a considerable movement, peals to differ-
a swelling up and pulsation, in the organs of Self-esteem; and the ent faculties.
same movements, but in a less degree, in those of Love of Approba-
tion. When I began to talk to the child, she was shy and bashful,
and at first would scarcely speak. The vivid movements in Self-
1 I consider the swelling up and pulsation to have arisen from an increased
flow of blood into the convolutions, as the accompaniment of their increased
activity.-(G. C.)
2 Bashfulness is the result of the fear of not acquitting one's self to advan-
tage, and of thereby compromising one's personal dignity.-G. C.)
296
The General Principles of Education.
The cerebral esteem indicated that, amidst her extreme bashfulness, this organ
effects of ap-
was active. As I continued to converse with her, and succeeded in
peals to differ-
ent faculties. putting her at ease, the movements in Self-esteem decreased, while
those in Love of Approbation continued. I spoke to her about her
lessons and attainments, not in flattering terms, but with the design
of exciting Self-esteen, and the movements increased. Again I
soothed her, and they diminished. This was repeated, and the same
results ensued. Her father gave her several questions in mental arith-
metic to solve; she was puzzled, and made an intellectual effort, and
the peculiar movements in the organs of Self-esteem and Love of
Approbation ceased ; only a gentle and equal pulsation was felt. She
solved the question, and we praised her : the peculiar movements of
Self-esteem and Love of Approbation returned and increased. This
experiment was repeated at least four times, with the same results.
I took out a piece of paper and began to write down notes, in pencil,
of what had occurred. She looked at my writing; and as all atten-
tion was now withdrawn from herself, and her mind was occupied
intellectually in observing what I was doing, I placed my hand on the
integuments, and only the gentle and regular pulsations of the arterial
system were perceptible.
This case is replete with instruction in practical education. It
tends, so far as one example can go, to prove that, by exercising the
Intellectual faculties, we do not necessarily excite the Feelings; and
also that each Feeling must be addressed by objects related to itself,
before it can be called into action.1
6. THE FACULTIES WILL ACT; AND THIS ACCORDING TO THEIR STRENGTH
AND ACTIVITY.
Strong facul.
ties should be
directed.
We ought never to treat a child with severity, because he is prone
to indulge the particular faculties which nature has made most
powerful in his mind. Our first care ought to be, to discover what
powers are particularly energetic in his constitution; and our second,
to learn how to direct them. The existence of a powerful innate
faculty is discovered, not only by perceiving the organ large, but by
studying the actions of the individual.
If the faculty be powerful, it will manifest itself in actions. The
child who has a strong faculty for Music, will make music of his own
16 Phrenology," vol. i. p. 365-7. See also an account of the case, by
George Combe, in “ America," vol. ï. 279.
Some years ago, a similar case was reported by Mr John Grattan, of Belfast,
in the Phrenological Journal, vol. ix. p. 473, and vol. x. p. 11.-G. C.)
The Faculties will act.
*297
accord. The child who has a strong faculty of Form, will draw from They must
a spontaneous impulse. The child who has a strong faculty of manifest them-
Benevolence, will show it by the humaneness of his disposition, his
aversion to cruelty, and his readiness to bestow. The child who has
a strong faculty of Acquisitiveness, will show it by the selfishness of
his disposition, by his propensity to acquire, and by never giving.
The child who has a strong faculty of Destructiveness, will show it
by his propensity to break and destroy ; and if Benevolence be
weak, by his disposition to be cruel, and by his delight in torment-
ing and killing animals. The child who has a strong faculty of the
Love of Approbation, will show it by his propensity to boasting,
and by his sense of shame. The child who has a strong faculty of
Cautiousness, will show it by his proneness to the emotion of fear.
The individual who has the Reflecting faculties strong, will show
them by the consecutiveness of his discourse, the depth of his pene-
tration, and the scope of his invention."
one.
When the faculties are powerfully active by natural energy, the The effects of
conceptions are both rapid and strong; when they are naturally their strength.
weak and languid, the conceptions are slow, laborious, and feeble.
Some men talk of “the fatigue, exercise, and anxiety of mind
which an author has to endure," and say that they appear greater
than those which attend military stations.”? But this is the case only
when a man becomes an author, whom nature never destined for
When the faculties are languid and feeble, we cannot by an
effort of the will rouse them to form rapid and forcible conceptions,
or to feel powerful emotions. We may tug at the chain of associa-
tion, but brilliant conceptions will not appear, because such con-
ceptions cannot be formed by misty and expiring faculties. But, as
the faculties owe their constitution to nature, and as they perform
their functions in consequence of their constitution, they will, when
naturally powerful, produce powerful thoughts, with as little pain to
the possessor as will be felt by the high spirited race-horse when he
gallops over the plain. Instead of mental exertion being to such
men a pain, it is their delight. Ask any man who ever invented in the ease and
the arts and sciences, and he will tell you that the act of invention pleasure of
was the most delightful of his life; he will tell you that he was able powerful
to invent only when the strong impulse came from within, only
faculties.
1 66
Essays on Phrenology” (1819), p. 316.
2 Duncan" On Genius,” published in 1814, chap. x. p. 129.
298
The General Principles of Education.
when his faculties answered to the summons of his will; that,
although there were long periods when the god of inspiration seemed
to have forsaken him, yet, when “ the great burst of inspiration
came," the ideas poured like a torrent upon his mind, and no plea-
sure equalled that of giving scope to his mental powers, when thus
spontaneously energetic. The works of Shakespeare, Scott, Byron,
and such mighty men, show that the efforts which produced them
were made with the ease of might, not with the toil of impotency.
1:
How the facul.
If, in each of two individuals, the organs of Propensity, Sentiment,
ties are trained and Intellect are equally balanced, the general conduct of one may
by their sur-
roundings; be vicious, and that of another moral and religious. In such a case,
it will be found that the circumstances of the former have been well
calculated to rouse and invigorate the animal Propensities, and allow
the moral Sentiments to lie dormant, while the circumstances of the
other have been directly the reverse.
The native power may be
equal in the Propensities and Sentiments; but the circumstances
have given an acquired ascendency to the class of feelings most
strenuously cultivated
By education. Suppose that two individuals possess an organisation exactly
similar, but that one is highly educated, and the other left entirely
to the impulses of nature; the former will manifest his faculties with
higher energy than the latter; and hence it is argued that size is not,
in all cases, a measure of power. Here, however, the requisite of
cæteris paribus does not hold. An important condition is altered,
and the phrenologist uniformly allows for the effects of education,
before drawing positive conclusions. It may be supposed that, if
exercise thus increases power, it is impossible to draw the line of
distinction between energy derived from this cause, and that which
proceeds from size of the organs; and that hence the real effects of
size can never be determined.
The answer to this objection is, that education may cause
organs is the
limit of power
the faculties to manifest themselves with the highest degree
and develop- of energy which the size of the organs will permit, but that size
fixes a limit which education cannot surpass. Dennis, we may
presume, received some improvement from education, but it did
not render him equal to Pope, much less to Shakespeare or Milton;
therefore, if we take two individuals whose brains are equally healthy,
1 “Essays on Phrenology" (1819), p. 354.
? See “Transactions of the Edinburgh Phrenol. Soc.” p. 308.—(G. C.)
The size of the
ment.
The Faculties will act.
299
but whose organs differ in size, and educate them alike, the advan-
tages in power and attainment will be greater, in proportion to the
size, in him who has the larger brain. Thus the objection ends in
this,—that if we compare brains in opposite conditions, we may be
led into error—which is granted ; but this is not in opposition to
the doctrine that, cæteris paribus, power is in proportion to size.
Finally, extreme deficiency in size produces incapacity for educa-
tion, as in idiots; while extreme development, if healthy, as in
Shakespeare, Franklin, Burns, Ferguson, and Mozart, anticipates its
effects in so far that the individuals educate themselves.
In saying, then, that, cæteris paribus, size is a measure of power,
phrenologists demand no concessions which are not made to physio-
logists in general, among whom, in this as in other instances, they
rank themselves.
There is a great distinction between power and activity of mind ; Mental power,
and it is important to keep this difference in view. Power, strictly action, and
speaking, is the capability of thinking, feeling, or perceiving, how-tinguished.
ever small in amount that capability may be; and, in this case, it is
synonymous with faculty. Action is the exercise of power ; while
activity denotes the quicloness, great or small, with which the action
is performed, and also the degree of proneness to act. This distinc-
tion between power, action, and activity of the mental faculties is
widely recognised by describers of human nature.
“Nature," says
Lord Bacon, “ will be buried a great time, and yet revive upon the
occasion or temptation; like as it was with Æsop's damsel, turned
from a cat to a woman, who sat demurely at the board's end till a
mouse ran before her.” In short, it is plain that we may have the
capability of feeling an emotion—as anger, fear, or pity—and that yet
this power may be inactive, insomuch that, at any particular time,
these emotions may be totally absent from the mind; and it is no
less plain, that we may have the capability of seeing, tasting, calculat-
ing, reasoning, and composing music without actually performing these
operations. It is equally easy to distinguish activity from action and
power. When power is exercised, the action may be performed with
very different degrees of rapidity. Two individuals may each be
solving a problem in arithmetic, but one may do so with far greater
quickness than the other; in other words, his faculty of Number may
act more rapidly. He who solves abstruse problems slowly, mani-
fests much power with little activity; while he who can quickly
solve easy problems, and them alone, has much activity with little
power. The calculator who works difficult problems with great
300
The General Principles of Education.
speed, manifests in a high degree both power and activity of the
faculty of Number.
Strength and In physics, strength is quite distinguishable from quickness.
quickness illus-
trated.
The balance-wheel of a watch moves with much rapidity, but so
slight is its impetus that a Hair would suffice to stop it; the beam
of a steam-engine progresses slowly and massively through space,
but its energy is prodigiously great. In muscular action, these
qualities are recognised, with equal facility, as different. The
greyhound bounds over hill and dale with animated agility ; but
a slight obstacle would counterbalance his momentum, and arrest his
progress. The elephant, on the other hand, rolls slowly and heavily
along; but the impetus of his motion would sweep away an impedi-
ment sufficient to resist fifty greyhounds at the summit of their
speed.
Mental energy
In mental manifestations (considered apart from organisation),
and vivacity
the distinction between energy and vivacity is equally palpable.
distinguished.
On the stage, Mrs Siddons and Mr John Kemble were remarkable
for the solemn deliberation of their manner, both in declamation
and action, and yet they were splendidly gifted with energy. They
carried captive at once the sympathies and the understanding of
the audience, and made every man feel his faculties expanding, and
his whole mind becoming greater, under the influence of their power.
Other performers, again, are remarkable for agility of action and
elocution, who, nevertheless, are felt to be feeble and ineffective in
rousing an audience to emotion. Vivacity is their distinguishing
attribute, with an absence of vigour. At the bar, in the pulpit, and
in the senate, the same distinction prevails. Many members of the
learned professions display great fluency of elocution and felicity of
illustration, surprising us with the quickness of their parts, who,
nevertheless, are felt to be neither impressive nor profound. They
exhibit acuteness without depth, and ingenuity without comprehen-
siveness of understanding. This also proceeds from vivacity with
little energy. There are other public speakers, again, who open
heavily in debate—their faculties acting slowly, but deeply, like
the first heave of a mountain-wave. Their words fall like minute-
guns upon the ear, and, to the superficial,they appear about to terminate
ere they have begun their efforts. But even their first accent is one
of power—it rouses and arrests attention; their very pauses are
expressive, and indicate gathering energy to be embodied in the
sentence that is to come. When fairly animated, they are impetuous
as the torrent, brilliant as the lightning's beam, and overwhelm and,
The Faculties will act.
301
take possession of feebler minds, impressing them irresistibly with
a feeling of gigantic power. The distinction between vivacity and
energy is well illustrated by Cowper, in one of his letters. "The
mind and body,” says he, "have in this respect a striking resemblance
to each other. In childhood, they are both nimble, but not strong ;
they can skip and frisk about with wonderful agility, but hard
labour spoils them both. In maturer years, they become less active
but more vigorous, more capable of fixed application, and can make
themselves sport with that which, a little earlier, would have affected
them with intolerable fatigue.”
As a general rule, the largest organs in each head have naturally Causes that
influence the
the greatest, and the smallest the least, tendency to act, and to per-activity of the
form their functions with rapidity. The Temperaments also indicate faculties.
the amount of this tendency. The Nervous is the most vivacious,
next the Sanguine, then the Bilious, while the Lymphatic is charac-
terised by proneness to inaction. In a Lymphatic brain, great size
may be present, and few manifestations occur through sluggishness;
but, if a strong external stimulus be presented, energy often appears.
If the brain be very small, no degree of stimulus, either external or
internal, will cause great power to be manifested.
A certain combination of organs-namely, Combativeness, De-
structiveness, Hope, Firmness, Acquisitiveness, and Love of Appro-
bation, all large—is favourable to general vivacity of mind ; and
another combination -- namely, Combativeness, Destructiveness,
Hope, Firmness, and Acquisitiveness, small or moderate, with
Veneration and Benevolence large--is frequently attended with
sluggishness of the mental character; but the activity of the whole
brain is constitutionally greater in some individuals than in others.
It may even happen that, in the same individual, one organ is
naturally more active than another, without reference to size ; just
as the optic nerve is sometimes more irritable than the auditory :
but this is by no means a common occurrence. Exercise greatly
increases activity as well as power, and hence arise the benefits of
education.
The doctrine that size is a measure of power, is not to be held as Power not the
implying that much power is the only, or even the most valuable most valuable
.
quality, which a mind, in all circumstances, can possess. To drag
artillery over a mountain, or a ponderous waggon through the streets
of London, we would prefer an elephant, or a horse of great size and
muscular power; while, for graceful motion, agility and nimbleness,
we would select an Arabian palfrey. In like manner, to lead men
302
The General Principles of Education.
most valuable
Power not the in gigantic and difficult enterprises-to command by native great-
mental quality. ness, in perilous times, when law is trampled under foot-to call
forth the energies of a people, and direct them against a tyrant at
home, or an alliance of tyrants abroad-to stamp the impress of a
single mind upon a nation--to infuse strength into thoughts, and
depth into feelings, which shall command the homage of enlightened
men in every age-in short, to be a Bruce, Bonaparte, Luther,
Knox, Demosthenes, Shakespeare, Milton, or Cromwell—a large
brain is indispensably requisite. But to display skill, enterprise,
and fidelity in the various professions of civil life—to cultivate,
with success, the less arduous branches of Philosophy--to excel in
acuteness, taste, and felicity of expression—to acquire extensive
erudition and refined manners--a brain of a moderate size is perhaps
more suitable than one that is very large ; for, wherever the energy
is intense, it is rare that delicacy, refinement, and taste are present
in an equal degree. Individuals possessing moderate-sized brains
easily find their proper sphere, and enjoy in it scope for all their
abilities. In ordinary circumstances, they distinguish themselves;
but they sink when difficulties accumulate around them. Persons
with large brains, on the other hand, do not readily attain their
appropriate place : common occurrences do not rouse or call them
forth; and, while unknown, they are not trusted with great under-
takings. Often, therefore, such men pine and die in obscurity.
When, however, they attain their proper element, they are conscious
of greatness, and glory in the expansion of their powers. Their
mental energies rise in proportion to the obstacles to be surmounted,
and blaze forth in all the magnificence of self-sustaining energetic
genius, on occasions when feebler minds would sink in despair.
1
A large brain The men who are able, without feeling encumbered, to attend to
necessary
for their private duties, and, at the same time, carry a load of public
great power.
business on their minds, owe this quality to great size in the brain,
with an active temperament, and large knowing organs. Those who,
having small brains, find their whole powers absorbed and exhausted
by their particular occupations, wonder at such men, and cannot
comprehend either their motives or the means by which they accom-
plish so much. It is power which distinguishes them ; so that duties
which to others would prove oppressive, press lightly on them, or
afford them only amusement.
1
'System of Phrenology," vol. i. pp. 164–71.
The Faculties will act.
303
Mr Joseph Hume, M.P., is a striking illustration of this Examples of
doctrine. He possesses moderate organs of Causality, little Wit, In great men;
less Ideality, and no greater endowment of Language; yet even
his opponents allow him to manifest great force of character,
with a power of application and perseverance which to ordi-
nary minds is incomprehensible. If we look at the large brain
indicated in his cast, and attend to the combination of organs
which
it displays, we shall perceive the source of his weight. Dr Spurz-
heim also showed great force of character, and his brain was large.
This quality in him was the source of the intense and long-enduring
interest which he created and supported in the minds of those who
came in contact with him. He was calm, mild, and unobtrusive,
yet there was a degree of depth and power about him, which made
lasting impressions on those who listened to his public discourses, or
conversed with him in private.
In examining the heads of criminals in jail, I have found the In criminals ;
most daring, desperate, and energetic to possess large brains. When
great size and an unfavourable combination occur together, the
officers of justice are reduced to despair in attempting to correct the
offender. They feel a strength of character which they cannot sub-
due, and an evil bent which they cannot direct. The result generally
is a report from the police that the individual is incorrigible; his
first serious offence is prosecuted to extremity, and he is transported
or hanged, for the sake of protecting society from farther mischief.
In professional pursuits, also, the men who are indisputably para- In common
mount to their fellows, not merely in cleverness, but in depth and life;
force of character, have large heads; and this holds, not only in the
learned professions, but in mercantile avocations. I have observed
that individuals who, born in indigence, have acquired wealth by
conducting great and extensive establishments, have uniformly
brains above an average size ; and that mercantile travellers who
succeed in procuring orders and pushing a trade amidst a keen and
arduous competition, are distinguished by the same quality. Such
men make an impression, and act with a confidence of power, which
gives effect to all they say or do. In a school, if the children care
nothing for the master, and treat him with disrespect, and if he fail,
after using every severity, to maintain discipline and subordination,
he will be found to have a small brain. In the domestic circle, if
the mistress of a family, while in good health, is easily overcome,
annoyed and oppressed with the cares and duties of her household,
the origin of the evil will be found in too small a head.
304
The General Principles of Education,
In the church.
In the church, the effects of size are equally conspicuous. A
preacher with a large brain, the Moral and Intellectual regions pre-
dominating, is felt by his flock to possess weight, and they submit
willingly to be led and taught by him, while they treat with indif-
ference the feebleness that accompanies a little head. If, as occa-
sionally happens, a preacher possess an excellent combination, that
is, the organs of the Sentiments and Intellect large in proportion to
those of the animal Propensities, he may be acute, amiable, sensible,
and interesting ; but, if the general size of his brain be under an
average, he will not be impressive and commanding.
1
Causes whici, The chief circumstances which influence the activity of the facul-
influence men- ties may be comprised under four heads-
tal activity.
1. Original Constitution;
2. Physical Education;
3. The mode in which each faculty is exercised ;
4. Their mutual influence in exciting or repressing each other.?
7. THE FACULTIES CAN BE TRAINED ONLY BY THE DIRECT EXERCISE
OF EACH, ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF ITS CONSTITUTION.
Exercise neces- If the savage desires to increase the powers of hearing of his son,
sary for each
to train him to detect the approach of an enemy while distant, does
faculty.
he merely talk to him about listening? No; he places him with his
ear to the ground, and bids him try to discover and distinguish the
minutest vibrations of the earth, and to judge by them of the
number and direction of the footsteps which occasion them. To
train his sight, he employs him in observing minutely the most dis-
objects. To exercise his powers of walking, running, and
leaping, he exercises his muscles in performing feats of agility.
In training the higher faculties of the mind, we must imitate the
savage in educating the senses. We must exercise them on their
appropriate objects. What are these objects ? Here the most
stupendous view of God's wisdom and goodness breaks upon our
understanding, and captivates our imagination. He has made eyes
to see, and created a sun as the illuminating orb to render our eyes
useful. He has given us ears, and established vibrations in elastic
bodies to suit the structure of our ears. But he has done greatly more.
1 “System of Phrenology," vol. ii. p. 286.
? Phronological Journal, vol. i. (1823-4), p. 579.
The Faculties Trained only by Exercising each. 305
:
He has created an external world adapted in the most admirable
manner to the human faculties, and placed it at our disposal, as a
theatre of exertion, and a storehouse of materials for our use. I
exercise.
Practice has an astonishing effect in giving acuteness to the per- The astonish-
ception of differences in the appearance of objects. A schoolboy or
ing effects of
labourer will confound manuscripts of different aspects, while an
experienced copyist finds no difficulty in ascribing each of a hundred
pages, written by as many individuals, to its appropriate penman.
When there is a question of forgery in a court of law, the judge
remits to an engraver to report whether or not the signature is
genuine, because it is known that the familiarity of engravers with
the minute forms of written characters enables them to discriminate
points of identity and difference which would escape the notice of
ordinary observers. How frequently, moreover, do strangers mis-
take one member of a family for another, although the real diffe-
rence of features is so obvious to the remaining brothers and sisters
that they are puzzled to discover any resemblance whatever! How
easily does the experienced physician distinguish two diseases, by
the similarity of whose symptoms a novice would be at once misled !
And with what facility' does a skilful painter discriminate a copy
from an original! It was only after a continued and attentive study
of Raphael's pictures that Sir Joshua Reynolds was able to perceive
their excellencies. “Nor does painting,” he adds, “in this respect
differ from other arts. A just poetical taste, and the acquisition of
a nice discriminative musical ear, are equally the work of time. Even
the eye, however perfect in itself, is often unable to distinguish
between the brilliancy of two diamonds; the experienced jeweller
will be amazed at this blindness, though his own powers of
discrimination were acquired by slow and scarcely perceptible
degrees.” 2
There is a vast difference between Instruction and Training, and Instructing
education should embrace both. Instruction means communicating the faculties
knowledge, while Training implies the repetition of certain modes of distinguished.
action in the mind and body until they have become habits.
It is a
law of our constitution that any organ, when accustomed to repeat fre-
1 From Speech at Paisley, to Working Classes, Sept. 29, 1851 ; from North
British Daily Mail.
'System of Phrenology," vol. i. p. 155.
266
U
306
The General Principles of Education.
quently its action, acquires additional strength and facility in doing
so, and the force and advantages of habit arise from this law. If we
merely tell a pupil how to point his toes and place his feet, and what
series of movements to execute, this is instructing him in dancing ;
but it is not training him to the practice of the art. To accomplish
the latter object, we must teach him actively to dance; and the more
frequently we cause him to repeat certain movements, short of occa-
sioning fatigue, the more expert will he become in performing them.
In like manner, mere information concerning natural objects, their
agencies, and relations, is instruction ; while accustoming children to
observe, to discriminate, to arrange, to operate, and to reason for
themselves, is training their understandings.
Teaching a child to repeat the precepts and doctrines of the New
Testament is instructing him in religion and morality; but he is not
trained to religion and morality, until he shall have been accustomed
to practise these precepts in his daily conduct. The Scripture says,
66 Train
up
a child in the way in which he should go, and when he is
old he will not depart from it;” but it does not promise the same
result from merely instructing him. In this respect, Scripture and
nature completely agree."
This illustra-
ted:
In Religious
education;
Suppose a lady be told that, to produce certain notes, she
must strike such and such keys. You might continue the instruc-
tion for years without enabling her to play a tune, if she did not
practise-if her fingers were not trained. So you might instruct a
child in the precepts of the New Testament, but if he be not trained
to religion and morality, if he be not accustomed to practise these
precepts, instruction will be of little use. We must not be content
with telling; we must act, and induce him to act. In receiving, the
mind is passive ; in training, it is active—and there is a vast differ-
ence between these two states.
We may take a very common illustration of the effects of Train-
ing. Suppose a child to live in a community where Combativeness,
Destructiveness, and Self-esteem are particularly active. He will be
the object of their manifestations. Resentment will be excited, and
in him the same faculties be roused. Hence will result coarse, cold,
harsh, and vulgar manners. On the contrary, if a child be educated
in a family where every human being is treated with respect—where
Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Love of Approba-
1 “Popular Education,” p. 41.
In Home edu-
cation;
The Faculties Trained only by Exercising each. 307
tion are all active—wherever he goes, he will at once be recognised
as a well-bred gentleman and practical christian.
One object in education is to diminish the activity of some of the In regulating
the Propensi-
Propensities, as pride, acquisitiveness, and quarrelsomeness. Now, ties;
a very common method is to tell the child to do so and so, and, if it
refuse or neglect, to discharge upon it a storm of words or blows. The
child is overcome by superior brute force, but injured in the process.
The true plan is to allay the excitement of the Propensities, and to
excite the Moral Sentiments by mildness but firmness. Force
addresses itself to fear alone ; Benevolence, Conscientiousness, and
Veneration are not at all exercised. Follow the child into its room,
and there see the effect of such discipline. Has it compunctious
visitings? Is it grieving over its faults ? No, it is burning with
rage and the desire of revenge ; it longs to be a man, that it may
escape from what it considers tyranny. People often forget, in the
business of education, the gigantic 'power of man's moral nature,
before which the Propensities power and quail."
If you want to train Philoprogenitiveness, or the love of children, In training
what is the only rational course? Not to tell a girl to love children ; Philoprogeni-
that would fall inefficaciously on the mind. No; present a child to
her attention; let ber be induced to nurse it, to watch over it, to
play with it. This causes a rush of blood to the organ, which
stimulates it, improves its tone, and favours its growth. Laura
Bridgman, who was deaf, dumb, and blind, had her Philoprogeni-
tiveness trained by means of a doll. You might as well expect to
increase the power, activity, or size of a muscle by instructing a
youth that exercise is a duty, without taking care that he puts his
muscles into activity, as expect the improvement of a cerebral
organ under like circumstances. The foregoing remarks are not
theoretical but practical, and founded on observation.?
Every voluntary action is a manifestation of some one or more These princi-
faculties of the mind. Habit is defined to be "
a power in a man ples illustrated
by Habit:
of doing anything, acquired by frequently doing it.” Now, before it
can be done at all, the organ on which it depends must be possessed;
and the larger the organ, cæteris paribus, the greater will be the
facility with which the individual will do the thing at first, and
learn to repeat it afterwards. George Bidder, for example, the
1 “American Lectures,” edited by Boardman, p. 338.
2 « American Lectures,” edited by Boardman, p. 340; and MSS.
;
308
The General Principles of Education.
-
These princi. celebrated mental calculator, acquired the habit of solving, in an
ples illustrated
by Habit. incredibly short time, without the aid of notation, extensive and
intricate arithmetical problems. Before he could begin to do such
a thing, the organ of Number was indispensable. Possessing it
largely, he made great and rapid acquisitions of power in calcula-
tion, and, at seven years of age, established the habit which seemed
so surprising. Other individuals are to be found endowed with a
small organ of Number, who, although forced by circumstances to
practise the use of figures, never succeed in acquiring a habit of
solving, with facility and success, even the simplest arithmetical
questions. This illustration may be applied to painting, poetry,
music, and mathematics. Before the habit of practising these
branches of art and science can be acquired, the organs on which
the talents depend must be largely possessed; and being so, the
habits result spontaneously from exercising the organs. As quarrel-
ling and fighting are manifestations of Combativeness and Destruc-
tiveness, a boy will the more readily acquire the habit of acting in
this manner, the larger these organs are in his brain, and the less
controlled by others. If these organs be small, or if the higher
organs decidedly predominate, the boy will be naturally indisposed
to quarrelling, and will acquire the habit of it with great difficulty,
wherever he may be placed. He may repel unjust aggressions made
upon him, but he will not be the promoter of mischief, or a leader
in the broils of his companions. Many boys can never acquire the
habit of quarrelling, even though urged to it by circumstances.?
Exercise strengthens the organs, and causes them to act with
by exercise;
greater facility, and, in this way, the real effects of habit, which are
important, may be accounted for; but the organ must possess con-
siderable natural power and activity, to render it susceptible of the
exercise by which habit is formed. The practice of debate by
barristers gives them great facility in delivering extemporaneous
harangues, compared with that enjoyed by persons whose avocations
never lead them to make speeches; and this facility may be said to
be acquired by the habit of speaking: but it will always bear a pro-
portion to the original endowment of the faculties; and we shall
find that, while habit gives to one individual great fluency and
copiousness of diction, it often leaves another in much poverty of
speech and embarrassment of utterance. The powers of both will
be greatly superior to what they would have been without the prac-
1 See these views illustrated in the case of John Linn, Phrenological Journal,
vol x. p. 207.-(G. C.).
Habit as
influenced
The Faculties Trained only by Exercising each. 309
tion.
tice of speaking; but disparity in eloquence will continue to charac-
terise them, owing to differences in their original constitution.
The metaphysicians attribute many important mental phenomena By organisa-
to the effects of habit, and yet they altogether neglect the influence
of organisation on the mind. According to our views, it is the organ
which acquires strength, activity, and superior facility in performing
its functions, by being properly exercised, just as the fingers of the
musician acquire facility of motion, by the practice of playing. The
effects of habit in giving readiness and ease are thus accounted for
in a manner that is at least intelligible and supported by analogy.
The metaphysicians, on the other hand, must imagine that it is the
immaterial principle itself which is improved by exercise, and gains
strength by habit,-a notion which is altogether inconceivable, and
in opposition to the attributes of a purely spiritual being. Farther,
Phrenology teaches that the mental organs are distinct, and that it
is quite possible to exercise one organ, and leave another unemployed.
This doctrine explains why, by practising music, we do not acquire
the habit of speaking or writing with facility; and why, by study-
ing Mathematics, we do not acquire the habit of reasoning deeply in
Moral or Political Science. Those physiologists, however, who hold
the brain to be a single organ, and every part of it to be engaged in
every act of the mind, ought to show how it happens, that exercising
it in one way does not improve it in all; or, to use an illustration
applied by Dr Johnson to genius, why the man whơ is able to walk
east can possibly fail in the power of wålking west. If the organs
by means of which he walks east be different from those by which
he walks west, no difficulty will occur; but if they be the same, some
portion of ingenuity on the part of the disciples of the old school
will be necessary to account for the supposed deficiency.
1
It is an important question whether the size of the organs may be the conditions
increased by exercise, and diminished by inactivity. The following of the develop;
ment of the
considerations may serve to guide us in forming an opinion on this faculties:
subject :
First, It is a general law in Physiology that any part of the body, (1.) Natural
when called into vivid activity not transgressing the bounds of endowment ;
health, attracts towards itself an increased supply of arterial blood
1 “System of Phrenology,” vol. ii. 274–7, where the Phrenological view of
Habit is fully explained. See the usual text-books on Mental Philosophy, for
the common view ; also a very good chapter on the subject in Dr Carpenter's
"Mental Physiology," chap. viii. (London : Keegan Paul & Co.)
310
The General Principles of Education.
!
and of nervous influence. The effect of these is to increase its tone
and also its size. But there are limits to these effects. The black-
smith's arm does not, by exercise, continue to grow indefinitely. It
attains a limit which it never passes. To the growth of all our
organs, nature appears to fix boundaries which they cannot exceed,
except by diseased action. A man of a naturally slender frame may
be rendered larger and more robust by exercise than he would have
been without it; but he cannot be augmented into an equality in
dimensions and strength with a man who was naturally large and
strong, and whose qualities have been fostered and developed by
equally judicious treatment. The same rule holds in regard to the
brain. In every individual, nature appears to have set limits to
the size of every organ, within which limits judicious exercise will
add to its bulk and power. But I have not observed that when, in
any individual, the brain, or any single organ, is naturally small,
exercise can render it equal in magnitude to another brain or organ
naturally large, and treated in the same way.
(2.) Exercise Secondly, It is a general law of animal nature that an organ, if
necessary ;
not duly exercised, attracts a small supply of arterial blood and ner-
vous influence towards it, and; in consequence, it either does not fully
develop itself, or it diminishes in size and tone, and its functional
power decreases in proportion. This rule applies in regard to every
organ of the brain.
(3.) The limits Thirdly, The cerebral organs increase spontaneously in size,
in
of growth.
most individuals up to twenty-one or twenty-two, in many to
twenty-eight, and, according to Dr Gall, in some instances up even
to forty years of age. I have seen organs manifestly increase
between twenty and twenty-eight, without any special effort being
made to develop them, by exercising the faculties; and the mental
powers evolved themselves, un called for, in correspondence with the
increase of size in the organs. In observing cases of increase of
growth, accompanied by exercise, within these ages, it is difficult to
determine how far the growth is the spontaneous act of nature, and
how far exercise has caused it. That exercise favoured it, and that
inaction might have retarded or perhaps prevented it, is highly prob-
able—nay, almost certain; but I have not seen facts sufficient to
warrant me to affirm that, in every case, every organ may be fostered
into large or even into average dimensions by exercise, although it be
naturally smail. On the contrary, I know facts that show that
nature sets limits to organs (in some instances very narrow limits)
which cannot be surpassed.
The Faculties Trained only by Exercising each. 31 1
fied.
My own organ of Number is very defective in size. I exer- This exempli-
cised it regularly, and up to the limits of its powers, during
forty years, commencing when I was eight years of age, and
it has never grown, nor has the function increased in power.
I never could, and cannot now, add, divide, multiply, or sub-
tract numbers, with even average accuracy and facility.” I had
a sister who, during seven years in youth, exercised her organ of
Tune, which was naturally small, with the most exemplary assiduity
and perseverance, believing that nothing is denied to well-directed
industry, but it never grew, and she could not, at the end of that
time, play even common airs on the pianoforte with facility or
expression. She had good organs of Language, Individuality, and
Reflection, and she acquired the French and Italian languages, and
a correct and copious English style, within a shorter time, and with
one-tenth part of the labour. Both in her and me, the temperament
was nervous-bilious. I could cite many other examples. The
Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots; and
my present impression is, that human efforts can develop the brain
only up to certain definite limits established, in the case of every
individual, by nature:?
The principle is universal, and admits of no exception, that want The pleasure
of power and activity in any faculty is accompanied by deprivation ulty dependent
of the pleasures attendant on its vivacious exercise. He who is on its own
activity.
so deficient in the organ of Tune that he cannot distinguish melody,
is cut off from a source of gratification enjoyéd by those who possess
that organ in a state of vigour and high cultivation ; and the same
principle holds good in the case of every organ and faculty. Critrinals
and profligates of every description, therefore, from the very consti-
tution of their nature, are excluded from great enjoyments attendant
on virtue; and this is the first natural punishment to which they
are inevitably liable. Persons, also, who are ignorant of the consti-
tution of their owń minds, and the relations of them to external
objects, not only suffer niany direct evils on this accouřit, but,
through the consequent inactivity of their faculties, áre, besides,
deprived of many exalted enjoyments. The works of cfeation and
the character of the Deity are the legitimate objects of contemplation
1 See additional details as to George Combe’s want of Number, in Part Third,
chap. iv. 1.
“System of Phrenology," vol. ii. 291-3.
2 66
312
The General Principles of Education.
to our highest powers; and he who is blind to their qualities loses
much of the benefit of his moral and intellectual nature. If there
be any one to whom these gratifications are unknown, or appear
trivial, either he must, to a considerable degree, be still under the
dominion of the animal Propensities, or his views of the Creator's
character and institutions must be at variance with the natural
dictates of the Moral Sentiments and Intellect. The custom of
teaching children to regard with high admiration the literature and
history of the Greeks and Romans, stained with outrages condemned
by the superior faculties of man, has probably diverted their minds
from the study of the Creator and His works, and had a pernicious
effect on the views subsequently entertained by them of this world
and its capabilities. If the achievements of barbarous men engage
that attention which might be more profitably bestowed on the
glorious works of God, we need not be surprised that no satisfaction
to the Moral Sentiments is experienced, while such a course of educa-
tion is pursued."
8. THE WHOLE OF THE FACULTIES SHOULD BE TRAINED TO ACT HAR-
MONIOUSLY, ACCORDING TO THEIR FUNCTIONS AND NATURAL
RANK
The more Happiness consists in the activity of our faculties, and the greater
faculties exer-
cised, the
the number of them called into action, the higher rises our enjoy-
higher the
ment. Any object that should delight the eye would be agreeable
pleasure.
but an assemblage of objects that should simultaneously gratify the
eye, the ear, the palate, and the senses of touch and smell, would be
universally regarded as yielding a still larger measure of gratifica-
tion; and so with the internal faculties of the mind.
The conditions There are three conditions, however, under which this activity must
of their co-
exist to render it productive of the greatest amount of happiness-
activity;
First, It must never exceed the limits of health ;
Second, The subordination of the inferior to the superior
faculties established by nature must be preserved; and,
Third, The action of the different faculties must be harmonious.
The highest enjoyment, therefore, is produced by the virtuous
activity of all the faculties.
1 " Constitution of Man," p. 190.
the present work, p. 114.
See remarks on the same subject, in
2 - America," vol. iii. p. 380.
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action. 313
Education operates in giving direction to the faculties
And of their
harmonious
1st, By enlightening the understanding.
development.
2d, By establishing combinations in activity. In warlike ages,
Self-esteem and Love of Approbation are trained to act with Com-
bativeness and Destructiveness, and then glory is desired ; in com-
mercial ages, with Acquisitiveness, and then wealth is desired; in
aristocratical circles, with ill-directed Veneration and Ideality, and
then high rank, titles, and splendour are desired. To arrive at the
truly Christian character, we must carry them a step higher, and
establish a combination between them and Intellect, Veneration,
Benevolence, and Conscientiousness.
3d, In order to direct the faculties, words are not sufficient; there
is a necessity for the knowledge of things.
4th, In order to direct the faculties, gite the child a general view
of life; keep his corporeal organs healthy; gratify all the mental
faculties within their legitimate sphere of indulgence, the moral and
intellectual holding the supremacy.
A knowledge of the corporeal
organs, of the mental faculties and their spheres of action, and of
external objects is indispensable to this.?
One great object of education should be to train certain organs Their co-activ-
which conduce to a common end, in such a way as to establish ity explained.
among them a community of activity. Thus, to give the talent for
music, Tune, Time, Weight, Ideality, and Imitation should be
trained to work together. They may be all large, yet, without
training, the efforts to make music will be imperfect. Suppose one
of you who had never attempted to speak in public, should rise to
address this audience from the place where I now stand: he would
make a confused and incoherent speech, even if Language, Indi-
viduality, Eventuality, Comparison, and Causality were large, be-
cause they would not act simultaneously. But let him practice, let
him train those organs to combined activitý, ånd he will become an
eloquent speaker. So, in playing upon the pianoforte or harp, the
muscles at first will not act well; but, by practice, their activity
becomes almost wonderful. Training makes the distinction between
men on being introduced into a drawing-room. The most intellec-
tual and amiable may feel very much embarrassed and distressed on
seeing so many dressed people; but, if he repeat his visits, he may
i From MSS.
314
The General Principles of Education.
become the pride and ornament of a society of which, at first, he
seemed a hopeless member.
1
Intellect
necessary.
The co-opera-
A leading aim in education is to direct all the faculties to proper
tion of the
Feelings and objects. The preliminary step to this end is to bring the Feelings
and Intellect into mutual and habitual co-operation. You will un-
derstand what I mean by a very simple elucidation. Suppose that,
without assigning any good reason, I were at this moment to propose
to adjourn the next lecture to six o'clock in the evening, or some
very inconvenient hour, and were to put the question to you in this
manner, Let those who object, hold up their hands; there would
be many who had the strongest objections who would not hold up
their hands. But; nevertheless, they would go away discontented,
and speak in no very measured terms of the impropriety of the pro-
posal. Now, this conduct is characteristic of the Sentiments and
Intellect not acting in co-operation. A mind properly trained ought
to have definite principles of action, of generosity, of justice,
of selfishness-no matter, for the illustration, which. On the
proposal being made, the Intellect should at once be directed to
the Sentiments. Shall I consent, through Benevolence? Shall I re-
sist, through Conscientiousness, being otherwise engaged? Or shall I
resist, through a justifiable Self-esteem, not being able to attend at the
hour proposed, and not wishing to lose a lecture? Then instantly,
the Intellect ought to direct Firmness and Combativeness to raise
the hand. The mind then acts from principle, and feels satisfied
on subsequent reflection.
The want of But mark the present state of matters. Habitual actions are
co-opera-
tion illustrated, not performed on any principle; and very little co-operation
exists between the Sentiments and Intellect. The proposal is
made-Benevolence prompts to agree; Self-esteem, in the form
of personal convenience, prompts not to agree; Love of Appro-
bation and Cautiousness produce the fear of being thought unac-
commodating; Secretiveness produces a closeness of mind that is
afraid to speak out, and Combativeness and Firmness are never
called on to act at all. The individual, under this conflict of
feeling, sits still, feels an internal agitation, does not raise his hand,
yet does not keep it down on principle; and the proposal is carried,
just because nobody's mind is made up on it, and every one goes
away discontented with himself and with the adjournment. Very
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 341.
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action. 315
few blame themselves for the result, but they are very eloquent in
vituperation of the proposal itself, and him who made it.
I select this example for the sake of illustration merely, but you The effects of
must all have felt how often the counterpart occurs in real life.
co-operation
explained.
Persons come to you and solicit; you do not like to deny, and yet
you do not accede with cordial satisfaction. Now, this is just the
result of the Propensities, Sentiments, and Intellect not acting
together,—of your having no satisfactory knowledge of yourselves or
of others. Phrenology aids astonishingly in overcoming this painful
condition. If one makes a proposal, the practical phrenologist re-
cognises, with almost intuitive rapidity; what faculty in him dictates it.
If it springs from Benevolence, Conscientiousness, or any legitimate
motive, he appeals to his own Benevolence, Conscientiousness, and
Intellect, and decides at once whether he can comply. If he cannot,
and if he knows that Conscientiousness is strong in him who solicits,
that person will not be offended by a refusal founded on legitimate
reasons; and he has no hesitation in refusing, explaining at the same
time the real cause why he declines. If the proposal is founded
on mere unwarrantable selfishness, then the phrenologist knows
that it is mere weakness to yield to so low an impulse; he refuses
at once, because Conscientiousness and Benevolence and Intellect
all proclaim, that unprincipled and interested persons ought not to
be permitted to avail themselves of our feelings to make unjustifiable
exactions. In how many instances, however, does Love of Appro-
bation prevent us from saying Nay, when every other sentiment of
the mind rebels against saying Yes !
An excellent friend of mind, who has strongly felt the pain A good rule
to supply its
of rejecting improper solicitations, adopts an excellent plan in
his own practice, in consideration of the same weakness in
others. When about to ask any of his friends to join iri an
undertaking, or to lend their aid to any particular object,
he prefaces his communication by saying "Now, I come to
make a request, but I do not wish your answer just now.
I call only to give you the explanations. Consider what I shall
say, and to-morrow drop me a note of your resolution. Now, mind,
I do not wish you to tell me at present what you think of it." He
then states what he wishes done, and goes away. The effect of this
is that the Intellect gets time to act on the proposal, undisturbed by
Cautiousness, Love of Approbation, &c.; and the individual, if he
wishes to decline, in the course of twenty-four hours, musters courage
to put on paper some sort of excuse which he could never have
wapt.
316
The General Principles of Education.
This want
taken ad-
vantage of.
The effects of
this want:
In infant
training;
uttered with his lips. Whereas, if he approves, he does so deliber-
ately and heartily, and has no subsequent repentance. This ought
always to be the rule in matters of importance; but, at present, it
would be requisite, even in very trival affairs, and will continue to
be so, till the faculties be properly disciplined and enlightened.
This weakness is taken advantage of by designing persons.
I
have occasionally heard it said, “ Propose such a thing, and they
will not like to refuse it. You may carry your point in this way,
when
you would never get them to give an explicit consent.” This
is unjust, and I should like to see society so trained that they would
decide on principle, and act fearlessly on the decision, without hesi-
tation.
The principle here noticed might be illustrated by an indefinite
number of examples. How often does a child ask some indulgence
which Intellect and Conscientiousness intimate to be improper; and
yet, by his importunity, by his addressing forcibly Philoprogenitive-
ness, how often does he prevail ! Or suppose that some project to
be attended with expense is suggested, and that Intellect and the
Moral Sentiments clearly intimate that it is not proper to be followed
out, but that Love of Approbation or Self-esteem desire it vehe-
mently for their gratification ; how frequently will these lower Feel-
ings fairly carry off the țictory, and determine the conduct !
One of the worst effects of teaching children words and precepts,
instead of giving them ideas and training them to act, has been a
kind of habitual disseveration of the Intellect from the Sentiments
and Propensities. At school, for example, we were all taught to read
about a great many objects and places and events, of which no
rational conception was furnished to us; and we were taught pre-
cepts which we never saw exemplified in practice. We were told to
be meek, and merciful, and pious, and were treated harshly and im-
periously, and without deference or respect to our feelings. The
consequence has been the establishment of a habit of hearing words
or reading words, as mere sounds, as if they had no reference to
practice whatever. We hear sermons, lectures, and speeches, and
read books, and how little do they stir up the Propensities and
Sentiments so as to lead us to action! Nay, this has generated the
habit also of preaching, and lecturing, and writing books, without
due reference to practice; for it is undeniable that often these are
vague, general, and inconclusive, leaving no distinct or intelligible
perception in the understanding, and having no reference to the
affairs of life.
In school
studies;
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action. 317
Another evil of this method is that it weakens the Intellect, and In social life.
benumbs the Sentiments. Persons who sit and listen to discus-
sions as mere sounds imbibe confused ideas, and are sadly deficient
in the philosophic principles of religion, morality, and reason ;
and, in consequence, are incapable, not only of aiding with effective
advice in any affair of importance, but of taking an interest in the
discussion of its nature, principles, or results. They arrive at a
kind of mechanical habit of acting on a compound of impressions,
consisting of prejudices, errors, good feelings, and sound ideas,
strangely confused and mingled together : and they are insusceptible
of improvement, after this condition is attained ; for, being unaccus-
tomed to deal with principles, they have no criterion of their own
on which they can rely to distinguish right from wrong, and think
their only safety is in following out a course to which they have got
accustomed, and the effects of which they have experienced.
The practice of treating words as mere signs would reduce language The mode of
to its proper level. Distinct conceptions alone of objects, relations, producing this
and feelings which exist, and of principles founded in reason, would in teaching.
be communicated as knowledge. In every thing that was taught,
also, reference would constantly be had to the Propensities and Senti-
ments, or, in other words, our knowledge would have practical
utility as its object. The faculties, by this course of training, would
be preserved in habitual vivacity, and accustomed to act and react
on each other in harmony, and, to a good old age, the capacity for
improvement would be preserved.
This principle of establishing combinations in activity among the
faculties may be further illustrated. Suppose, for example, that an
individual possesses the organs of Language, Individuality, Com-
parison, and Causality, all fairly developed : here are all the elements
of a public speaker. But, if they have never been accustomed to
act simultaneously, to co-operate and assist each other, and the in-
dividual rises up for the first time to speak in public, although
Causality may act, Language probably is inactive, and he has ideas,
but no words; or if Language is excited, Individuality is in fault,
and the facts cannot be commanded. If the organs have been
trained to act together, then language, facts, and reason present
themselves, blended in due proportions, and an elegant action is
produced.
Education is of great service in producing this harmonious action.
1
1 From MSS.
318
The General Principles of Education.
The co-opera-
tion of the
intellectual
and moral
faculties.
As no part of the system should be cultivated at the expense of
the rest, nor the mind at the expense of the bodily health; so neither
should the intellect be cultivated at the expense of the moral. Each
should be duly exercised, and made to harmonise as much as pos-
sible with the other; and, with this view, we ought carefully to dis-
tinguish between the nature of the faculties and their particular
applications. Thus, one manner of satisfying an inclination may be
innocent in itself, but, if granted to a faculty already too active, it
becomes blamable. Thus, praise is in itself a very good thing, but
if we remark a child who possesses the faculty of Love of Approba-
tion in an uncommon degree, let us beware of flattering and praising
him for the beauty of his face, his voice, or his figure. By doing so,
we prepare future misery for him. We complain of a child who is
passionate, and yet we are foolish enough to encourage him to vent
his anger upon a chair or a stone.?
How faculties
excite each
other to co-
operate.
Dr Spurzheim," in the 4th chapter, treats of the mutual
influence of the faculties in exciting each other to activity. Thus,
from the influence of Philoprogenitiveness upon Combativeness,
females defend their young with more energy and resolution than
anything else; and thus Acquisitiveness often calls Cautiousness
and Secretiveness into action to gain its object. Thus also Love
of Approbation excites the Intellectual faculties, as is daily seen in
schools and in society. The Intellectual faculties also excite and
assist each other. Thus, a person with moderate Language and
large Locality, in trying to commit to memory, will often succeed by
mentally dividing the page into compartments, and fixing a few lines
in each. It thus becomes an object of some consequence to ascer-
tain the mental constitution of the individual, because, as the
faculties most largely possessed always tend to act along with each
other, one may be used, when necessary, as a means of exciting
another. This knowledge lies at the bottom of the doctrine of
motives: for one will exert himself for praise, which another despises ;
a second will act from the hope of gratifying his large Acquisi-
tiveness; a third, from an innate sense of duty; and a fourth, from
excessive constitutional activity making rest painful to him. The
insight into human nature which Phrenology bestows upon its dis-
1
Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823-4), p. 588.
2 In his “ View of the Elementary Principles of Education," of which this
is part of a review.
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action. 319
ciples thus supplies them with an engine of immense power, in the
education and management of youth.1
Every individual above idiocy possesses all the organs; but they How the facul-
are combined in different degrees of relative size in different persons, influence each
and the manifestations of each organ are modified, in some degree, by other.
the influence of those with which it is combined. The effect of com-
bination, however, is not to change the functions of any organ, but
only to modify the manner in which it is manifested, or the acts in
which it seeks gratification. If, for example, the organ of Tune
be equally large in two individuals,--but if, in one of them, the
organs of the animal Propensities predominate, he may manifest it in
producing bacchanalian songs; while, if in the other the organs of the
Moral Sentiments predominate, he may employ it in composing
sacred melodies. In both instances, Tune produces music, the only
effect of the combination being to alter its direction. This illustra-
tion is applicable to all the faculties; and shows that, although the
functions of some parts of the brain are still unascertained, the
discovery of them cannot alter the functions of those already
known."
Where several organs are pre-eminently large in the same indi-Strong facul-
vidual, they have a natural tendency to combine in activity, and to ties tend to
co-operate.
prompt him to a line of conduct calculated to gratify them all.
Where, however, all or the greater part of the organs are possessed
in nearly equal proportions, important practical effects may be pro-
duced, by establishing combinations in activity among particular
organs or groups of organs. For example, if Individuality, Eventu-
ality, Comparison, Causality, Language, and Concentrativeness be
all large; they will naturally tend to act together, and the result of
their combined activity will be a talent for public speaking or
literary composition. If Language be small, it will be extremely
difficult to establish such a combination in activity, and this talent
will not readily be evolved. But if two individuals possess this
group of organs of equal and of average size, and if we train one of
them to the bar, and the other to a mechanical employment; the
result will be an acquired facility in writing and debate in the
1 Phrenological Journal, vol i. (1823-4), p. 589.
2 “System of Phrenology," vol. ii. pp. 295–6.
320
The General Principles of Education.
.
former, which will be wanting in the latter. In the one, these
organs will have been trained to act together, and to co-operate in
producing the effect described; whereas, in the other, a different
combination in activity may have been established among the
intellectual organs, giving pre-eminence to a different talent.
But they must On the same principle, if a person having a favourable endow-
be exercised in ment of the organs of Propensity, Sentiment, and Intellect, were
introduced, for the first time, into higher society than that to which
he had been accustomed, he might lose for a moment the command
of his faculties, and exhibit awkwardness and embarrassment. This
would arise from irregular and inharmonious action in the different
organs : Veneration, powerfully excited, would prompt him to mani-
fest profound respect; Love of Approbation would inspire him
with a desire to acquit himself to advantage; Cautiousness would
produce alarm, lest he should fail in accomplishing this end; Self-
Esteem would feel compromised by the consciousness of embarrass-
ment stealing on the mind; and the Intellect, distracted by these
conflicting emotions, might be unable to regulate the conduct with
propriety. On the other hand, when fainiliarised with the situa-
tion, the Sentiments would subside into a state of less energetic and
more harmonious action; the Intellect, assuming the supremacy,
would regulate and direct the Feelings; and then the individual
might become a pattern of refined manners and the ornament of
the circle in which he had at first made an awkward début.
The importance It is in virtue of this principle that education produces its most
cinte in prednica. important effects. If, for instance, we select two individuals, in
each of whom all the organs are developed in an average degree, and
educate one of them among persons of sordid and mercenary dis-
positions - Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem would in him be
cultivated into a high degree of activity, and self-interest and
personal aggrandisement would be viewed as the great objects of his
life. If Love of Approbation were trained into combined activity
with these faculties, he would desire distinction in wealth or power;
if Veneration were trained to act in concert with them, it would
take the direction of admiring the rich and great ; and Conscientious-
ness, not being predominantly vigorous, would only intimate that
such pursuits were unworthy, without possessing the power by itself
of overcoming or controlling the whole combination against it. If
the other individual, possessing the same development, were trained
in the society of moral and religious persons, in whose habitual con-
duct the practice of benevolence and justice towards men, and of
tion.
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action, 32 1
reverence of God, was regarded as the leading object of human
existence,—the Love of Approbation, acting with this combination,
would desire esteem for honourable and virtuous actions; and wealth.
would be viewed as the means of procuring gratification to these
higher powers, but not as itself an object of paramount importance.
And the practical conduct of the two individuals might be very
different, in consequence of this difference of training, although
their
organs were equal in size.
The change of character exhibited by some individuals appears to It explains
be referable to new combinations in activity. It occurs generally in
cases of change
of character.
men in whom the organs of both the Propensities and Sentiments
are large. In youth, the Propensities take the lead, and Intellect,
acting in combination with them, produces sensual and immoral con-
duct. At a more advanced age, when the Propensities have become
less energetic, the individual may be placed in circumstances which
powerfully excite his Sentiments. The Intellect will then act in
combination with them, new interests will be felt, and higher views
of duty and enjoyment arise. Life may thenceforward be regulated
by reason and moral feeling, sensual gratifications may be shunned
and resisted, and the individual may appear like a different being.
Religious impressions are frequently the causes which give com-
mencement to this reformation; and this is natural, because reli-
gion addresses the most powerful motives to the higher faculties. I
have observed, however, that individuals in whom the organs of the
Moral and Intellectual faculties decidedly predominate, do not
exhibit this change, because at no period of their life have they been
strikingly vicious. Neither do men in whom these organs are very
deficient, and the organs of the Propensities very large, permanently
undergo it; because their minds are like the stony ground men-
tioned in Scripture, on which the good seed fell, but on which it
could not take root, owing to the want of soil.
The principle now under discussion is not inconsistent with the It consists
with the influ.
influence of size, because it is only in individuals in whom the organs ence of size
are nearly on an equality in point of size, that great effects can be in organs.
produced by combinations in activity. In such cases, the phrenolo-
gist, in estimating the effects of size, always inquires into the educa-
tion bestowed.?
As it is desirable, in every system of education, to leave none of
1“ System of Phrenology," vol. ii. p. 311.
х
322
The General Principles of Education.
is best which
trains most
faculties.
That education the faculties inactive, so that system is to be preferred which is
calculated to exercise the greatest number of them. And, in this
respect, the Lancasterian, or Mutual Instruction system,' undoubtedly
excels, as it brings into action many of the higher Sentiments, as
well as the Intellectual powers, which either slumbered or became
absolutely vitiated under the old practice. It excites a greater
degree of attention in the pupil, by addressing itself directly to
Individuality, Comparison, &c., at the same time as to Language.
And, by making the pupils teach each other and judge of each
other's conduct, it calls into direct action the faculties of Conscien-
tiousness, Benevolence, and Veneration, and gives the most virtuous
direction to those of Self-esteem and Love of Approbation, so often
perverted to the production of envy, jealousy, and pride. It thus
encourages the timid, and morally represses the overbearing and selfish,
and produces that rational feeling of superiority founded on superior
conduct. The emulation which it excites is of a far more generous
kind than that of the old school. In the one, the child is led to
conceive himself as one of many, and an equal among equals; in the
other, as concentrated in self, and in opposition to both master and
scholars.
2
The effects of
untrained fac-
ulties :
In the la.
bourer;
A course of phrenological lectures would necessarily contain an
exposition of the nature of the human mind, calculated to strike
the lower orders with instant and irresistible conviction of the
superiority of educated over uneducated men. In revealing to
i This is the system of Mutual Instruction by means of the pupils themselves,
introduced and developed by Bell and Lancaster at the beginning of the cen-
tury, variously known as the Monitorial, Mutual Instruction, and Lancasterian
system. Both its recommendations and defects have since then been more
fully elucidated. It has had a great influence on modern education, and, in
this country, has issued in the present Pupil Teacher system. See an account
and criticism of it in Gill's “Systems of Education” (London : Longmans);
Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclopædia of Education,” s.V., Monitorial System, &c.;
and Dr Donaldson's “ Lectures on Education” (Edinburgh: A. & C. Black): it is
described also in Leitch's “Practical Educationists” (Glasgow : MacLehose).
George Combe's criticism was written in 1824, shortly after its introduction,
when it was an immense improvement on the past, and when it was achieving
remarkable results.
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. i. (1823–4), p. 587. See an able analysis, by
James Simpson, of the mental faculties exercised and trained by Wilderspin's
Infant System, in an article, “The Phrenological Analysis of Infant Educa-
tion on Mr Wilderspin's System,” in the Phrenological Journal, vol. vi.
(1829-30), p. 418. George Combe everywhere recommended Wilderspin's
system for its admirable training power.
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action. 323
them the various Propensities, Sentiments, and Intellectual powers
with which the Creator has endowed them, the effects of their com-
binations in different degrees of relative strength, their uses and
abuses, such lectures would present them with a powerful picture of
the real condition of an untutored mind. This would show that
the uninstructed labourer is not a pure and virtuous character
because he is ignorant; that he is ignorant of good, but not of
that his animal Propensities inspire his mind with an instinc-
tive relish for vicious pleasures ; that he is a creature of impulse,
seeking his whole happiness from the enjoyment of the moment,
and incapable of acting habitually on the dictates of reason and his
true interest ; and that he must cultivate his higher Sentiments and
Intellect, and act in conformity to the laws of the moral and physi-
cal world, under pain of ceaseless evil, as the natural and unavoid-
able consequence of opposition to the institutions of the Creator. "
evil;
man;
Let us try to comprehend the condition of a rich citizen un- In the unen-
lightened rich
enlightened by education. Wealth conduces directly to the gratifica-
tion of only two faculties—Acquisitiveness and Self-esteem; indirectly,
it furnishes the means of enjoyment to all the other powers.
The
lower Propensities are naturally energetic, and, in ordinary men,
require no cultivation to stimulate them to activity. But not so
with the Intellectual faculties and higher Sentiments. These re-
quire training and culture to make them yield their fruits; but then
their products, compared with those of the Propensities, are like
nectar contrasted with muddy water.
The rich citizen, then, with a plum in his pocket, and no educa-
tion in his head, is in possession of the means of gratification for
his Acquisitiveness and Self-esteem. He may hug his purse, and
dote upon its ample contents; he may defy the world, and look
down with contempt on all who have fewer pounds than himself.
Further, he has the means of procuring all manner of animal enjoy-
ment, and, added to this, every sort of finery in house, equipage,
and dress, that may excite the admiration of vulgar minds, and
thereby gratify his Love of Approbation. He has also the faculties
fitted to enjoy all these pleasures; and, to this extent, we allow him
full gratification. But as money cannot confer an exercised Intellect
and refined Sentiments, he is excluded from all the higher enjoy-
ments of our nature. He may purchase books, but he is incapable
of reading them with relish; he may expend thousands on pictures
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (for 1824-5), p. 446.
324
The General Principles of Education.
In the inter-
course of the
uneducated.
or statuary, but he can extract no delight from their beauties; he
may fill his apartnients with the finest instruments and the most
admirable compositions in music, but he cannot command his soul
to thrill at their sounds; he may aspire to the society of the en-
lightened, whose conversation soothes and purifies the feelings
while it stimulates and enlivens the understanding, but he has
neither ideas nor sentiments in common with them.
Two uneducated men of different occupations, and living in
distant parts of the country, when they meet, have no subject of
conversation in which both can feel an interest, and can extract no
pleasure from each other's society. The knowledge of each is con-
fined to the character of his neighbours, and the practice of his own
trade; and he is dead to every feeling and idea that, by dealing
with the great and permanent interests of mankind, is calculated to
rouse the Sentiments and elevate the Understanding. The unedu-
cated man, in short, must live and die in the society of those who
talk of stock, and trade, and prices, and farms, and profits, and eating
and drinking, and dress, and everything that is corporeal; and
although all these, as ministering servants to the gratification of the
higher powers, are excellent in themselves, yet, when they constitute
the alpha and omega of life, the sum and substance to which all our
thoughts and aspirations are dedicated and confined, they are felt to
be poor and paltry, just because they yield no satisfaction to the
Moral and Intellectual faculties. 1
faculties :
culture of
Effects of the On what does Judgment depend ? On a favourable develop-
harmonious
training of the ment of all the faculties. When a man possesses such a combination,
each faculty throws in its own suggestion, and there is that harmon-
(1.) In the
ious balance of activity by which all the faculties are brought to
Judgment;
perform their functions in the best manner. If any one be very
small, there will be a defect in the Judgment in regard to feelings
and things to which it is related. If any be excessively large, there
will be exaggerated emotion or perception in that department. A
man in whom all are favourably developed, acts under the control of
the Moral sentiments and Intellect, but he has the well-spring of all
the faculties to a proper degree.
Sound Judgment is feeling rightly and perceiving correctly. The
Reflective faculties are the judges, but they depend on the other
faculties for correct data. Hence a man may have a high develop-
Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (for 1824-5), p. 436.
Faculties should be trained to Harmonious action. 325
ment of the Reflecting organs, and yet, in a certain sense, be a man
of bad Judgment. We have an instance of this in Lord Bacon.?
Common Sense is said to be the rarest of all sense. This is true; (2.) Of Com-
and the reason is, that for one man who has a good balance of the
mon Sense;
cerebral regions, the Moral Sentiments predominating, ten have a
large development of particular groups of organs.
We have men of
high intellectual powers who are lacking in sound Judgment--of high
genius, who are practical fools. I have often heard it discussed in
my own country, and sometimes in America, whether Washington
was really a great man, seeing that he did not, in any particular direc-
tion, show very extraordinary power. Now, I have long been accus- Illustrated by
tomed to adduce him as an illustration of that harmonious development Washington ;
which gives sound Judgment, sagacity, and practical good sense. In
what I now say, I appeal not to your national pride, as I have said
the same things in my own country for years. Washington was one
of the greatest men that ever lived. His temperament seems to
have been sanguine-bilious; his head large and well-balanced in
every part-the Moral Sentiments and Intellect reigning supreme.
He had a constancy which no difficulties could overcome-an
honesty of purpose and ardour of patriotism which no temptation
could swerve nor opposition subdue. He always regarded his
country before himself. In him there was no quality of mind
deficient-no quality in excess; no false lights, and no deficient
lights. He therefore gave to everything, its due weight, and no
He was dignified, courteous, and just; brave, cautious,
politic ; quick to perceive, and prompt to judge; always acting at
the right time, and in the right manner. Those who say that
Washington was not a great man, can merely mean that he dis-
played no one quality in excess—that he played off no corusca-
tions; but he had that sterling worth—that daily beauty in the life
—that force of character—that grandeur and elevation of the whole
man, which render him far more great and estimable, in my opinion,
than the poet, the painter, or the orator.?
Good Taste, too, results from equable development. It is, in fact,
i See George Combe's ideas on Judgment, in his “System of Phrenology,” vol.
ii. p. 173, &c.; also a good chapter on the subject, in its common acceptation,
in Currie's “Common School Education” (Edinburgh : T. Laurie); and a
lecture “On the Education of the Judgment,” by Faraday, in “Modern
Culture,” edited by Dr Youmans (London: Macmillan).
2 See a good chapter on Judgment itself, and as exercised in “Common
Sense,” in Dr Carpenter's “Mental Physiology,” pp. 261 and 471 (London:
Keegan Paul & Co.)
more.
326
The General Principles of Education.
Taste.
(3.) Of Good sound Judgment in matters which do not rise to the importance of
morals. Bad Taste arises from the excessive manifestations of one
or more faculties. Thus the scene in “Don Juan,” in which Juan and
his companions are represented as devouring his tutor, is a predomin-
ating and disgusting manifestation of Destructiveness, and is conse-
quently execrable in point of taste,
1
9. HOW TO STIMULATE THE FACULTIES, AND STRENGTHEN THEIR
ACTIVITY
their own
(1.) By Presenting Their Own objects.
Faculties are To quicken faculties too slow, we must stimulate them. The
stimulated by stimulus to a mental organ is either direct or indirect.
objects.
1. It is direct, by presenting its objects. Danger excites Cautious-
ness; praise, Love of Approbation; objects happy or unhappy,
Benevolence; objects or conduct calculated to cause respect, excite
Veneration. Our external circumstances educate us through life.
If we are in the society of self-esteeming, combative, and destructive
men, these organs are excited in ourselves. If we live in society
dedicated to war or gain, the corresponding organs assume the
ascendency in us. Polished or genteel society is that in which the
moral Sentiments and Intellect are predominantly active.
If you wish, therefore, to call forth any organs into power and
activity, present their natural objects. Exercise Benevolence, in
doing good; Veneration, in devotion, &c. In intellectual educa-
tion, present the objects to the organs, as Form, Colour, &c.
They should To contribute to continued application, relieve the organs by
be relieved,
and everkeerd alternating the studies—as natural history relieves Language; clap-
in groups. ping hands, singing, &c., relieve the intellectual organs.
To aid intellectual efforts, employ as many organs as possible.
If I wish to lift a weight, and employ one finger, my power is
limited to its strength. If one organ only, as Language, is em-
ployed, the power is correspondingly limited. Therefore, call in
the aid of Form, Colour, &c.; as, in Mathematics, diagrams assist.
2. The indirect stimulus to an organ is by words.?
The Intellectual faculties may be excited by the presentation of
external objects fitted to call them into action. When excited by
1 « American Lectures,” edited by Boardman, pp. 290-1. See George Combe's
views on Taste more fully, in his “System of Phrenology,” vol. ii. p. 277.
2 From MSS.
How to Stimulate and Strengthen the Faculties. 327
excitation of
the presentation of external objects, the objects are PERCEIVED, and The external
this act is called PERCEPTION. Perception is a mental state con- the Intellec-
sequent on impressions made on the nerves of the senses, and com- tụal faculties.
municated by them to the organs of the Knowing and Reflecting
faculties. A low degree of development of these organs is sufficient
to enable them to perceive the objects which make the impres-
sions; and each organ serves to perceive the objects related to itself.
If no idea is formed when the object is presented, the individual is
destitute of the power of manifesting the faculty.
Thus, when
tones are produced, he who cannot perceive the melody of them, is
incapable of manifesting the faculty of Tune. When a coloured
object is presented, the individual who cannot perceive, so as to
distinguish the tints, is destitute of the faculty of Colouring; and
so forth. Thus Perception is a mode of action of the faculties
which form ideas; but it is not an independent primitive faculty.
This doctrine is not theoretical, but is clearly indicated by facts.”
If the presentation of the object of a faculty rouse it into instant The import-
action, ---as suffering, Benevolence-or danger, Cautiousness,—this ance of this
becomes a highly important principle in the education of children. Education.
If, in our intercourse with them, we assume the natural language of
Destructiveness and Self-esteem, we shall cultivate these faculties in
their minds by exciting the organs; if we manifest Benevolence and
Veneration in their presence, we shall excite the same faculties in
them; if we discourse constantly about money, the desire of in-
creasing it, and the fear of losing it, we shall stimulate the organs of
Acquisitiveness and Self-esteem in them, and increase the power of
these Propensities.
(2.) By direct Imitation.
Imitation gives the power of assuming those gestures which are The effects of
expressive of the thoughts and feelings of the mind, and hence is Imitation on
the faculties.
requisite to the accomplished orator. In private life, some individuals
accompany their speech with the most forcible and animated expres-
sions of countenance,--the nascent thought bcams from the eye,
1 See a note on this subject by Dr H. C. Watson [a distinguished phrenologist,
and, for a time, editor of the Phrenological Journal] in Phrenological Journal,
vol. X. p. 497 . I have partially adopted Mr Watson's ideas there ex-
pressed. — (G.C.)
“System of Phrenology,” vol. ii. p. 197. This is the Phrenological doctrine
of Perception. See it worked out, in George Combe's “System of Phrenology,"
in the chapter on Modes of Action of the Faculties, vol. ii. p. 183 and p. 197.
System of Phrenology," vol. ii. p. 190.
2 66
328
The General Principles of Education.
1
and plays upon the features, before it is uttered in words. This is
produced by much Imitation and Ideality. In children, Imitation
is more active than in adults. Young persons are very apt to copy
the behaviour of those with whom they associate; and hence the
necessity of setting a good example before them, even from the
earliest years. “Children," says Locke, “ (nay men, too) do most
from example; we are all a sort of chameleons, that still take a
tincture from things near us.
(3.) By Sympathetic Action.
The nature of SYMPATHY? may be defined to be a fellow-feeling in one per-
Sympathy :
son, with emotions experienced by another. By attending to the
laws which regulate the activity of the mental faculties, we shall
discover the true nature of this affection, and the circumstances
most favourable to its occurrence.
(1.) Caused by Every internal faculty, like each of the external senses, is most
exciting ob-
powerfully and most agreeably roused to activity by the direct pre-
jects;
sentment of its own objects. Cautiousness, for instance, by the
aspect of danger; Benevolence, by that of suffering; and so on.
Hence, if two individuals of nearly similar constitutions of mind be
exposed to the operation of the same external causes, the same
faculties being called into activity in both, will give rise to similar
emotions; and they may then be said to sympathise with each other.
This is one kind of sympathy, but it is not the state of mind to which
that term is most correctly applied.
(2.) By the Na. The next source of stimulus to the faculties is that afforded by
tural Language Natural Language. When any faculty is predominantly active, it
gives a peculiar expression to the features, and certain determinate
attitudes to the body, the import of which is intuitively understood
by all who possess the same faculty even in a moderate degree. Thus,
Self-esteem being predominantly active, communicates to the body a
cold, formal, erect, and haughty air. This air is recognised intui-
tively by the spectator as indicating excessive pride in the individual
who exhibits it; and it is called the Natural Language of Self-esteem.
Now, by a law of our constitution, the Natural Language of any active
faculty invariably excites the same faculty to action, and, consequently,
gives rise to the same emotions in the minds of those who witness
it. The forbidding strut of great Self-esteem, for instance, in a person
1 Locke's Thoughts concerning Education, s. 67. “System of Phrenology,”
vol. i. p. 517.
2 I am indebted to the kindness of Dr Andrew Combe for the following
observations on Sympathy.-(G. C.)
of the faculties.
How to Stimulate and Strengthen the Faculties. 329
whom we never saw before, addresses itself directly to our Self-
esteem; we instinctively draw up, and feel moved to support our
own consequence by a coldness proportioned to his. In like manner,
when we meet for the first time with a person whose countenance
and gestures express kindness, candour, and open-hearted friendship,
which are the Natural Language of active Benevolence, Conscientious-
ness, and Adhesiveness, the same emotions are excited in ourselves,
and we instinctively return his advances with a kindness correspond-
ing to his own. Or let us imagine that we hurry to meet a friend,
whom we expect to find all happiness and gaiety, and that, instead
of this, seriousness, anxiety, and grief are depicted on his counten-
ance, and indicated by his gestures; these, being the Natural Lan-
guage of Cautiousness and other faculties painfully affected, will
call up a corresponding affection of the same faculties in our minds,
and, without knowing what has distressed him, our features and
attitudes will at once assume an expression consonant with his own.
It is to thiş involuntary and almost unconscious communication of
feelings and emotions from the mind of one individual to that of
another, through the medium of Natural Language, that the term
Sympathy is most properly applied.
An excellent illustration of this kind of Sympathy is to be found This illustra-
in the effects of a panic, or excessively excited Cautiousness in one
By panics ;
individual exciting the same feeling in all who behold it. The very
sight of a panic-stricken person, when we do not know the cause
which has given rise to the alarm, excites a general uneasiness about
our own safety; and if a great number of persons together, and at
the same instant, perceive the terrified expression, it instantly rouses
the faculty of Cautiousness to its highest pitch of activity in all of
them, and produces the most intense feelings of dread and alarm.
Such are the causes and origin of panics in battles and in mobs;
and hence the electric rapidity with which passions of every kind
pervade and agitate the minds of assembled multitudes.
Another and very familiar example of this kind of Sympathy By its effects
in a city.
may be seen in a crowded city. Let any one in passing along Lon-
don Bridge, for instance, stop short, and turn up his face, with his
mouth half open, as if stupified with wonder and amazement; and
immediately the same expression, being the Natural Language of
Individuality and Wonder, will be transferred to the countenances of
nine-tenths of the passengers—not one of whom, of course, will be
able to assign any direct cause for the emotion with which his mind
will be filled. As the Propensities and Sentiments employ the Intel-
ted :
330
The General Principles of Education.
differences in
lect to minister to their gratification, if the wag happen to say that
it is something vastly surprising in the heavens which attracts his
gaze, the majority of the curious in wonders will soon, by a stretch
of intellectual conception, come to perceive something where nothing
actually exists.
It explains the True Sympathy, then, arises from the Natural Language of any
Sympathy.
active feeling in one individual exciting the same feeling in another,
antecedently to any knowledge of what excited it in the person
principally concerned"; and, therefore, as the stimulus of Natural
Language is secondary or inferior in power to that derived from the
direct presentment of the objects of any faculty, it is easy to explain
why the person who feels sympathetically feels less deeply than the
person with whom he sympathises. The same principle explains,
also, why all men do not sympathise in the same degree, and why,
in some cases, the spectator does not sympathise at all. If the objects
presented be such as to afford a direct stimulus to a different faculty
in us, from that exhibited in activity by another, it follows that, in
virtue of the stronger influence of the direct excitement, "the parti-
cular faculty which it addresses will be roused into higher activity
than the one which has only the less powerful stimulus of Natural
Language, and thus a totally dissimilar emotion will be experienced.
For example, let us suppose that a man with a good endowment of
Combativeness and Destructiveness is attacked on the highway; the
menacing looks and gestures (the Natural Language of these faculties)
displayed by the aggressor instantly rouse them into energetic action
in the defender, and force is repelled by force. But suppose that
the attack is made upon a woman, or an individual in whom Com-
bativeness is only moderate, and in whom Cautiousness predominates,
the attack then becomes a direct stimulus to Cautiousness, which,
being excited, produces fear; and the direct stimulus of Cautious-
ness overpowering the indirect stimulus of Combativeness, submis-
sion or flight is resorted to, rather than defence.
If
you will read the section on Sympathy, in the second volume
System of Phrenology,” you will see the cause of the likes
and dislikes of children and adults.2
of my
i See the full treatment of this important subject, in George Combe's “Ele-
ments of Phrenology," vol. ii. p. 265, et seq., which is full of practical
application to conduct and to education.
2 In letter, to an educational friend, of 12th August 1852.
How to Stimulate and Strengthen the Faculties. 331
the faculties
(4.) By Exciting the Natural Language of the faculties.
Every Propensity and Sentiment of the mind, when predom-The Natural
inantly active, produce a peculiar tone in the voice, expression in
Language of
the eye and countenance, and also a peculiar attitude and gait. explained.
This is the Natural Language by which its activity is made known,
and, when strongly marked, it is recognised and understood in all
ages and countries. Lavater's system of Physiognomy was founded
on this fact in nature; but it was imperfect, because he did not
know the primitive faculties which the various expressions noted by
him indicated; and he also introduced, as signs of mental character,
the hard parts of the face, which do not owe their forms to the state
of the brain. Pbrenology reveals the functions of the primitive
faculties, and enables us to connect peculiar expressions of voice,
countenance, and gait, with the active condition of particular powers,
and also of particular groups of them, and thus renders Physiognomy,
or Natural Language, a branch of the Philosophy of Mind.
1
is
the child of
One branch of Phrenology offers great assistance in Training, which, The effects on
the child of our
to the uninitiated and the mere readers of phrenological books, actually
using it.
appears ludicrous when first mentioned. I allude to the Natural
Language of the faculties. The maxim is very ancient—“Si vis me
flere, dolendum est primum ipsi tibi ; ? if you wish to excite to weep,
begin by weeping yourself. If you wish to train any faculty in a child,
exhibit the activity of it in your own countenance, tones of voice, ges-
tures, and language, and you will rouse it into action in him. The
formation of habits, by a repetition of action, is the aim of Training.
I go farther still. Teach the child to exhibit the Natural The effects on
Language of the faculty, and the very act of doing so will call
his using it.
up the emotion. If you find a child cross and ill-humoured, and
you induce him to utter some kind speech to one of his com-
panions, expressive of Benevolence, and to suit the action to the
word—to smile and look benignant, and to use soft and tender tones
—you will find that his crossness cannot co-exist with this effort, if
successful. It arouses Benevolence, and he becomes, for the moment,
what he seems. If the action be often repeated, the emotion will
become permanent. The phrenological explanation is simple, The
Natural Language is to the faculties what sound is to the ear: it rouses
them into action. The idea of teaching children to act the Natural
Language of the faculties which we wish to cultivate, may appear, as
1 “ America," vol. iii. p. 93.
2 Horace, De arte poetica, 102.
332
The General Principles of Education.
I have said, ludicrous to many persons : but the Creator has given
us a capacity for acting--a faculty which enables us to call up the
natural expressions of emotions when we want them—it is Imita-
tion; and why should this power, divine in itself, be applied only
to buffoonery or mischief ? Most parents repress the talent of Imita-
tion in children, because it is often so misapplied as to create ene-
mies. I propose to direct it to its legitimate uses.
Its influence on This idea is not entirely theoretical. I have known several emi-
the disagree-
able Feelings;
nent and philosophical actors, and they have assured me that they
become, for the time being, the character which they represent. The
late Mrs Siddons was mentally Lady Macbeth, from the moment
when she stepped into her carriage at her own door, till the curtain
fell at her last scene and she had resumed her private dress. She
did not approve of any person intruding on her feelings and atten-
tion during the progress of the play, even between the acts.
One effect of the constant practice of players in calling up and
exhibiting the Natural Language of the Feelings, is to render some
faculties habitually prone to action in themselves in private life.
The great tragedian who may be said to wield a magician's power
over the Propensities and Sentiments of his audience, by means of
Natural Language, suffers in his own mind many tragic feelings, from
the trained activity of his organs. Many are irritable, in consequence
of the trained action of Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Self-
esteem, the stock elements of heroic and tragic characters. They
are often melancholy and desponding, from the trained action of
Cautiousness, which furnishes the perturbed and distracted counten-
ance, the horror-stricken look, the shriek of despair, and sometimes
the madness that petrify us when represented on the stage. The
higher Sentiments and Intellect of the actor may govern his deport-
ment in public so that his general acquaintances may not observe these
effects, but the close spectator recognises them, and the actor con-
fesses and laments them to his bosom friend.
On the higher
The converse effects may be seen in persons whose vocation calls
Sentiments; on them to put forth the Natural Language of the higher Sentiments.
Who does not recollect the benignity, the heavenly purity, and the soft
and soothing tones of the voice of the Rev. Dr Tuckerman of this
city ?2 These radiant beams of Christian emotion are the Natural
George Combe married Cecilia Siddons, a daughter of the great actress,
Mrs Sarah Siddons, and thus had special opportunities of knowing the great
actors, with some of whom he was intimate, such as Fanny Kemble. See the
Life of George Combe” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 283, &c.
2 Boston, U.S.
1
1
How to Stimulate and Strengthen the Faculties. 333
Language of Benevolence, Veneration, and Hope, which he is constantly
calling into play, in ministering as a home missionary to the poor, the
wretched, and the depraved. Has any one observed a similar ex-
pression of benevolence and radiant joy in the countenance of Dr
Woodward," the superintendent of the Worcester Hospital for the
Insane? It is the Language of those sentiments of tender sympathy
and cheering hope, which he is habitually pouring into minds
diseased, and which are the best antidotes to their afflictions.
Another example may be mentioned. The Rev. Mr Gallaudet,2 On irritation
and the lower
of Hartford, was for many years head Instructor of the deaf and
passions;
dumb, in the Institution near that city. He informed me that, how-
ever much annoyed in his own temper, however peevish and even
irritable he might be; the moment he began to instruct his pupils by
the Natural Language of the higher Sentiments, which was the only
medium whereby he could cultivate these feelings in them, his evil
genius fled, and the spirit of peace and good-will reappeared in his
bosom. He added that he had often subdued the worst passions in
his deaf and dumb pupils solely by radiating on them the Natural
Language of Benevolence, expressed in compassion and regret. He
has stifled rage also, and brought forth the beauty of kindly affec-
tion, by insisting on the refractory pupil exhibiting the Natural Lan-
guage of virtuous feeling. He is so impressed with the importance
of Natural Language as a means of training the Feelings, that he has
strongly recommended it in his writings.
Again, Dr Woodward told me, when I visited the Worcester On the insane;
Hospital on 20th December 1839, that he finds the activity of the
diseased faculties in his patients much increased by the presence or
even insignia of their objects. If a quarrelsome man find a feather
and stick it in his hat, he instantly erects his head and becomes a
soldier; and his diseased propensity rages more fiercely. Dr Wood-
Superintendent and physician to the Lunatic Asylum, Worcester, Massa-
chusetts. See an account of him and his institution in George Combe's
America,” vol. i. p. 53; and vol. iii. p. 214.
2 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, born in Philadelphia in 1787, died in 1851.
Though trained for the ministry, he devoted himself to Education, especially
to that of deaf-mutes. He studied the subject under Abbé Sicard, in France,
and elsewhere, and then founded the first institution in Anierica for their
instruction, at Hartford, in 1816, called the American Asylum for the Educa-
tion of the Deaf and Dumb, which he superintended till 1830. He is the
author of many educational works. He was a remarkable man. George
Combe visited him when in America, as also the Hartford Institution. See an
account of him in “America,” vol. iii. p. 92, et seq.; also in Kiddle & Schem's
“Cyclopædia of Education."
1
334
The General Principles of Education.
as
faculties.
ward coaxes him to yield up the feather, and to lay aside his military
air, saying to him, “ We are all civilians here;" and his pugnacity is
mitigated. If a female patient who fancies herself a queen get a shawl
or other means of making a robe, with a little finery and embroidery,
she puts it on and constantly struts and sidles about with majestic airs,
and her disease is aggravated. He persuades her to part with it,
we are all republicans here, and queens might not be properly
respected;" and the intensity of the diseased feeling gradually abates.
On defective If any of the lower feelings be defective, the same means may be
used to cultivate them. If a child be too timid, put a feather in
his hat and make him a soldier, or place him in the attitude of Com-
bativeness, and teach him to box with gloves; and this organ will
become more active. If another be too humble and want self-
reliance, make him march and strut with the air of Self-esteem and
Firmness; and you will improve his confidence in himself. .
Its action to be One precaution must, however, be added, in recommending Natural
distinguished
from that of Language as a means of Training. Some children possess, in a high
Imitation. degree, the combination of faculties which constitutes the profes-
sional actor, the chief of which are Secretiveness and Imitation, and
they have a natural talent for acting. They will, therefore, favour
you with the Natural Language of the various organs which they
enjoy adequately developed, and be essentially acting all the time.
If one of them have strong Propensities, and be deficient in Con-
scientiousness, he may “smile and smile and be a villain.” He may
deceive you; but if he be a villain, he was one before the training
which I recommend was administered, and, in my opinion, that
training will do more to render him sincere, by giving his higher
powers the ascendency, than could be accomplished by any other
method.1
Natural Lan.
guage may be
taught to
children.
The Rev. Mr Gallaudet, without the aid of Phrenology, but from
extensive practical observation and experience, has been led to the
conclusion that these Natural Signs may be taught with manifest advan-
tage to children in general, as a branch of education. In the American
Literary and Theological Review, No. ii., for June 1834, he pub-
lished an article entitled “On the Language of Signs” as "auxiliary
to the Christian Missionary.” “It is quite practicable,” says he,
" to convey by the countenance, signs, and gestures, the import not
1 From "Address to the Boston Phrenological Society, in Dec. 1839.” Re-
published in Phrenological Journal, vol. xv. (1842), p. 206.
How to Stimulate and Strengthen the Faculties. 335
only of all the terms employed to denote the various objects of Examples of
its teaching
nature and art, and the multifarious business and concerns of com-
mon life, but also those relating to the process of abstraction and
generalisation, to the passions and emotions of the heart, and to the
powers and faculties of the understanding; or, in other words, the
language of the countenance, signs, and gestures, is an accurate, sig-
nificant, and copious medium of thought. Instances have occurred,
in the instruction of the deaf and dumb, in which, in the space of
two years, 5000 words have been taught to several intelligent
pupils, who were previously entirely ignorant of them and of all
language, excepting that of their own natural signs; together with a
command of written language, which would place them on an
equality, with regard to the expression of their ideas, with the
most intelligent persons among those heathen nations who have
nothing but an oral language.
"]
Mr Gallaudet considers that it would essentially benefit children How to use it
in Education.
to teach them the Natural Language of the faculties at the time when
they learn to read. The meaning of many words, particularly those
which signify emotions, could be conveyed to them more effectually
by this medium than by any other. In exhibiting the Natural
Language of any faculty, the faculty itself is called into action, and
teaching the Natural Language will thus become an important auxi-
liary in training children to virtue. He has the testimony of his
own experience, in favour of this view. In showing to his deaf and
dumb pupils the Natural Language of Benevolence, Veneration, and
the other higher Sentiments, he was conscious that these faculties
became more active and were cultivated in himself. In his pupils,
the effect was equally decisive. When they were out of humour,
the bland look of Benevolence, and the resigned expression of
Veneration, if perseveringly exhibited to them, rarely failed to re-
store their equanimity and cheerfulness.
I owe to Mr Gallaudet the first clear view of the importance of
Natural Language in common education.?
(5.) By Internal Causes.
The faculties of the Propensities and Sentiments cannot be excited
to activity directly, by a mere act of the Will. We cannot conjure
America," vol. iii. p. 934. See remarkable instances of the power of com-
munication by signs, as given by Mr Gallaudet, in “ America,” vol. iii. p. 121.
America," vol. iii. p. 97.
336
The General Principles of Education.
The spontane- up the emotions of fear, compassion, and veneration, by merely
the Feelings. willing to experience them. The Feelings may, however, be brought
into activity from internal causes : some feel an internal prompting
to fight or oppose ; some, to pursue wealth ; some are passionately
fond of the constructive arts--without knowing whence, how or why
these feelings came. They spring from the spontaneous activity of
the organs by which they are severally manifested, and each organ
has a tendency to activity in proportion, cæteris paribus, to its
size. From this activity arises the subject of continual thought.
One in whom Love of Approbation and Self-esteem are large, will
be fired with ambition, and love to be clothed with authority. I
saw a child yesterday, eight years of age, in whom Love of Appro-
bation, Imitation, Individuality, and Eventuality are large; and
already the chief desire he has is to see his name in print. Insanity
is the result of this spontaneous action, when excessive and not con-
trollable by the will. Sometimes one organ is morbidly active,
while the others are sane; there have been instances of people
requesting to be bound, that they might be prevented from giving
way to their strong desire to commit manslaughter. In such cases,
to convince the Intellect is useless : the aberration depends on
cerebral disease, and you might as well attempt to talk gout out of
the toe, as to talk disease out of the brain.
1
The influence
The Propensities and Sentiments may be excited to action,
of the Will on or repressed, indirectly, by an effort of the Will. Thus, if the
Knowing faculties, which form ideas, be employed to conceive
internally objects fitted by nature to excite the Propensities and
Sentiments, the latter will start into action in the same manner,
though not with so much intensity, as if their appropriate
objects were externally present. For example, if we conceive
inwardly an object in distress, and Benevolence be powerful,
compassion will be felt, and tears will sometimes flow from the
emotion produced. If we wish to repress the activity of Ideality,
we cannot do so by merely willing that the Sentiment be quiet; but
if we conceive objects fitted to excite Veneration, Cautiousness,
Self-esteem, or Benevolence, the organs of these feelings will then
be excited, and Ideality will sink into inactivity. The vivacity of
the feeling, in such cases, will be in proportion to the strength of
the conception and the energy of the Propensities and Sentiments.
If the organ of any Propensity or Sentiment enter into vigorous
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 277.
How to Stimulate and Strengthen the Faculties. 337
on the Intel-
lect.
action from internal causes, it will prompt the Intellectual faculties of the Feelings
to form conceptions fitted to gratify it; or, in other words, the
habitual subjects of thought will be determined by the organs which
are predominantly active from internal excitement. If the cerebel-
lum be permanently active, the individual will be prone to collect
pictures, books, and anecdotes fitted to gratify the feeling ; his
mind will be much occupied with such ideas, and they will afford
him delight. If, in another irdividual, Constructiveness, Ideality,
Imitation, and the Knowing organs, be internally active, he will
desire to see pictures, busts, and works of art, in which skill, beauty,
and expression are combined; or he will take pleasure in inventing
and constructing them. He will know much about such objects,
and be fond of possessing them, and of talking about them. If, in
another individual, Acquisitiveness be internally activo, he will feel
a great and natural interest in all matters connected with wealth,
and be inspired with an eager curiosity to know the profits of
different branches of trade, and the property possessed by different
individuals. If Benevolence be internally active, the mind will
run habitually on schemes of philanthropy, such as those of Howard,
Mr Owen,' or Mrs Fry. In these cases, the liking for the object or
pursuit will depend upon the particular Propensities or Sentiments
which are active; the Intellectual faculties serving merely as the
ministering instruments of their gratification. If the pursuit be purely
intellectual, such as the study of mathematics or algebra, the liking
will arise from the activity of the Intellectual faculties themselves.
These principles enable us to explain the great variety of tastes and
dispositions among mankind; for in notwoindividuals are all the organs
to be found combined in the same relative proportions, and hence every
one is inspired with likings in some degree peculiar to himself,
The Intellectual faculties may become active from excitement of The spontan-
eous activity of
the organs by internal causes, and then the kinds of ideas which
the Intellect.
they are fitted to form are presented involuntarily to the mind. The
musician feels the notes flowing on him uncalled for. A man in
1 Robert Owen, the great social theorist, philanthropist, and educationist,
the founder of New Lanark and other communistic gatherings in this country
and America, and founder, at New Lanark, of the first Infant School. He
was born in 1771, and died in 1858, the same year as George Combe. See
criticism of his system by George Combe in the Phrenological Journal, vol. i.
(for 1823–4), pp. 218 and 463.
System of Phrenology, vol, ii. p. 191.
2
Y
338
The General Principles of Education.
i
whom Number is powerful and active, calculates by a natural im-
pulse. He in whom Form is vigorous, conceives figures by natural
inspiration. He in whom Causality is powerful and active, reasons
while he thinks, without an effort. He in whom Wit is energetic,
feels witty conceptions flowing into his mind spontaneously, and
even at times when he would wish them not to be present."
The effects of When any of the Knowing or Reflecting faculties is internally
this activity
when morbid. active, it conceives ideas of the objects to which it is related. Thus
Locality, Colouring, and Size being active, we are able, with our
eyes closed, to conceive a landscape in all its details of hill and dale,
sunshine and shade.
If this internal action become morbid, through disease of the
organs, then ideas become fixed, and remain involuntarily in
the mind; and, if this be long continued, it constitutes in-
sanity. Many persons have experienced, when in the dark, vivid
impressions of figures of every variety of colour and form passing
before the mind, sometimes invested with alarming brilliancy and
vivacity. I conclude that this arises from internal excitement of
the organs situated at the superciliary ridge, namely, Form, Locality,
Colouring, and others. This affection is, in most instances, only
momentary; but suppose that it were to become fixed and continu-
ous, then the mind would be haunted by permanent and vivid con-
ceptions of fantastic beings, invested with more than the forms and
hues of reality. This would be insanity: not a morbid feeling, such
as melancholy, or fury, or religious joy, but an intellectual delusion;
every sentiment might be sound, yet this aberration of intellect
might remain fixed, and immovable by the will. If we suppose
this disease to take place in several Knowing organs, leaving the
organs of Reflection entire, it is quite possible to imagine the individual
may have false perceptions on some points, and not only be sane on
all others, but be able, by means of the faculties that remain un-
affected, to distinguish the erroneous impressions.
Such cases
actually occur.
This explains The phenomena of apparitions, or spectral illusions, may be
spectral illu- accounted for by the principles now explained. If several organs
become active through internal excitement, they produce involuntary
conceptions in outward subjects, invested with all the attributes of
form, colour, and size, which usually distinguish reality. Many in-
sions.
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 197.
How to Repress Over-active Faculties.
339
teresting examples of this affection are given in The Phrenological
Journal.
1
10. HOW TO REPRESS OVER-ACTIVE FACULTIES.
To repress faculties too active, leave the organs inactive; avoid To repress the
faculties :
causes that stimulate.
2
We have not the power of preventing our feelings, but we have (1.) Leave them
the power of controlling them. They start into involuntary activity;
inactive.
it is for the Moral Sentiments to supply the curb. In most, the
strength of their impulses needs to be lessened; and, recollect that
every day in which the Moral Sentiments are trained, the activity of
the Propensities are diminished; just as, by using the right arm
exclusively, we would diminish the power of the left.
3
be eradicated.
1
Let us consider the extent of our power to modify the manifesta- They cannot
tions of the faculties. As Phrenology teaches that the faculties are
innate, and that each has received a determinate constitution from
nature, it follows according to it that we cannot change the nature
of any individual, and that all we can do is only to regulate the
activity of the several faculties in their own outward manifestations.
We have already discussed the best modes of increasing the
activity of these faculties; and, in doing so, we have anticipated, in
some degree, the discussion of the extent of our powers of modifica-
tion. Great as these powers undoubtedly are, it must not be con-
cealed that all our exertions to cultivate the Moral and Intellectual
powers, and to restrain the Propensities in their external manifesta-
tions, by example, by precept, and by active employment, may
sometimes turn out unavailing; and that some individuals will
prove ultimately vicious, after every endeavour, conscientiously
and intelligently applied, to reclaim them. Phrenology not only
admits this fact, but explains the causes of it, and affords us great
assistance in applying every possible remedy to the evil. Strong
propensity to vice arises from great natural endowment of the
1 Vol i. p. 541; ii. 111, 293, 362; v. 210, 319, 430; vi. 260, 615; vii. 9,
162; x. 47, 217.—(G. C.) The above is from the same journal, vol. ii. p. 201,
where the subject is fully discussed.
2 From MSS.
3 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 341.
340
The General Principles of Education.
faculties common to man with the lower animals, joined with a
weak endowment of the faculties peculiar to man.
(2.) Govern the After we have discovered, therefore, which of the lower Pro-
lower by the
pensities are inordinate in their activity, which we easily do
higher :
Through by observing the actions of the individual, the next thing to
pleasure
be done is to discover whether the different higher faculties,
such as those which give the Love of Approbation, the senti-
ment of Conscientiousness, the sentiment of Veneration, or of
Benevolence, possess considerable or moderate natural power. If
they do, we must then be most sedulous in cultivating them by
extraordinary efforts, so as to find in them the means of controlling
the lower Propensities, which are naturally too energetic. We must
endeavour to increase, by all practical means, the activity and the
sensibility of these higher faculties, so as, if possible, to render the
pleasure resulting from their activity equal or superior to the plea-
sure attending the indulgence of others. If we can succeed in these
endeavours, we gain the victory to the cause of morality by the
most amiable means. If we cannot do so, we must try a remedy of
another description.
Through pain. The pleasure attending the indulgence of a strong Propensity is
the true motive which incites us to indulge in it. If we can set up
rivals in the higher Sentiments to this pleasure, we succeed in re-
straining the Propensity. If we cannot balance pleasure with plea-
sure, we must endeavour to diminish the one pleasure by connecting
it with pain, and this will increase the relative power of the other.
For example: if an individual naturally prefers the pleasure of steal-
ing, of fighting, or of blaspheming, to the pleasure of practising Con-
scientiousness, Benevolence, and Veneration, notwithstanding all our
exertions to diminish the quantum of the one and increase the quan-
tum of the other; we must then endeavour to diminish the pleasure of
stealing, or fighting, or blaspheming, by making suffering follow
closely upon it,-in short, by inflicting punishment. There is a
faculty of the mind which feels the emotion of fear, Cautiousness,
as well as faculties which produce propensities to inferior actions ;
and this faculty, if addressed and roused into action, may, as well as
those of a higher order, operate as a check upon these lower faculties.
If the faculty which feels the emotion of fear be strong and active
in any individual, we may, in his case, predict that punishment
will prevent immoral manifestations of his inferior Propensities. 2
1
Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 338.
The Influence of the Temperaments.
341
11. THE INFLUENCE OF THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION,
ments
ous and studi-
In educating children, it is of the utmost importance to take into The Tempera-
consideration the influence of Temperament.
If the Nervous Temperament predominate, the child is delighted (1.) The Nerv-
to learn. He will be constantly at his books. He is intelligent, ous.
and shows such an intensity of feeling that he twines himself round
the affections of his parents, who are in raptures at his astonishing
progress, and urge him on his career, ignorant of the almost inevit-
able result. The nervous energies being drawn to the brain, the
digestive system suffers most materially; and while, by his prema-
ture development, he stands conspicuously above children of his own
age, the blaze of excitement in which he is kept, by continued think-
ing and feeling, soon undermines his health, and, if not arrested,
throws him into a premature grave. In such cases, add not to, but
keep down the excitement. See that such children take much
exercise in the open air; urge them to lay down, rather than take
up a book. To do otherwise is to break the law of nature, or of
nature's God; and long life is promised, not to those who break,
but to those who obey His law. And the promise is fulfilled.
That life is long and happy which is spent in obeying the laws
which are made manifest by observing and reasoning upon the
nature of man and external things.
When the lungs predominate in a child, and the Sanguine Tem- (2.) The San-
perament, there is fondness for exercise; the food is heartily eaten; active.
the sleep is sound. Suppose a child of this Temperament to be sent
to school, after a sound sleep and comfortable breakfast. For a time,
he may be still; but, in a while, the craving for muscular exercise
will be too strong; he may be pent up, but he cannot be kept quiet.
He begins to be fidgety; may receive blows for it, but still he fidgets;
the blows may be repeated, but without effect; he continues fidget-
ing, poking with his elbows, throwing peas, striking his neighbours
with his feet, and trying in every way to expend this energy.
Such children are generally said to be very clever, but to have no
liking for books. The usual plan has been to scold such children
well; and if not quieted by this, as is very unlikely, the scolding is
followed by a flogging, which is generally as inefficacious. The
object should be to remove the causes of the evil. Let us attend to
nature ; give such children an opportunity of expending their mus-
cular energy, and then they will be delighted with mental activity.
342
The General Principles of Education.
Dr Howe of Boston related to me an anecdote which finely illus.
trates this position. He had a boy who was the most mischievous he
ever met with. He broke the benches and boxes, wrenched the doors
off their hinges, played all sorts of pranks, and could not be controlled.
Dr Howe thought of dismissing him, but, knowing there must be a
cause for this disposition, he reflected upon the subject, and hit
upon an admirable remedy. This was to send him into the cellar
every morning, to saw and split wood for three hours together.
The boy was delighted, and had soon sawn and split all the wood
up. He was then set to running, leaping, climbing poles, and de-
sporting himself in a variety of ways. Thus he got rid of the exces-
sive muscular energy, and afterwards proceeded with his studies in
a proper manner; the doors and benches were perfectly safe.
Dr Howe found that so long as a legitimate and adequate vent
for his excessive muscular energy was provided, he conducted him-
self with propriety, and was capable of mental application.2
(3.) The Fibrous The Fibrous (generally, but improperly, termed the Bilious)
and enduring. Temperament is distinguished by black hair, dark skin, moderate
fulness, and much firmness of flesh, with harshly expressed outline
of the person. It gives energy and a power of continuing long in
action to the bodily organs, which extends to the brain. The effects
of it are great powers of sustained action, mental or corporeal, cor-
responding to the quality expressed by the word "bottom” when
applied to horses.
3
(4.) The Lym-
phatic and
slow.
Some children are of the Lymphatic Temperament; these are
slow to learn and indisposed to activity. The remedial plan has
been to flog them continually. A much better is to study their
constitution, and regulate our treatment accordingly; to give such
children a moderate supply of nutritious diet-animal rather than
vegetable—and let them have plenty of muscular exercise in the
open air. By these means, you diminish the Lymphatic, and increase
the Sanguine and Nervous elements of the constitution.
4
1 Dr Samuel Howe, teacher of Laura Bridgman ; already noticed p. 122.
% This story is also told in America, vol. i. p. 217.
3 Phrenology applied to Painting and Sculpture. See America, vol. i. p.
128, where some practical discriminations of the Temperaments are given.
4 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 335. See an exposition
of the Temperaments, in George Combe's System of Phrenology, vol. i.
The Influence of the Temperaments.
343
The different Temperaments are rarely found pure. The common
mixtures are the Sanguine-lymphatic, the Nervous-lymphatic, and
the Nervous-bilious,
'1
ment of the
I call your attention particularly to the fact, that, in all countries, The Manage-
the method used to correct the defects of organisation and Tempera- Temperaments.
ment has been to flog and shame the child that needed improvement
--one of the most gross instances of the application of brute force
for the accomplishment of that in which attention to the laws of the
constitution can alone be successful. It follows, from what I have
said, that no rule can be laid down applicable to all cases. Specific
differences must be closely attended to in the business of education.2
pp. 49, 61, &c.; and in “The Scientific Basis of Education,” by John Hecker,
Inspector of Schools, New York (New York : published by the author, 56
Rutgers Street, 1868), a work which contains valuable practical hints on
Education, and in which the Temperaments are made its basis.
1 Phrenology applied to Painting and Sculpture.
2 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 337.
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
1. THE DEPENDENCE OF THE MENTAL ON THE PHYSICAL,
IN HUMAN NATURE.
The Physical The physique must precede the morale in the order of nature.
We
Mental in na- must be well lodged, clothed, nourished, and altogether physically
comfortable before we can bend our minds successfully to refine-
ment, philosophy, and the investigation of abstract science.
ture.
The Physical Dr Caldwell's work2 is limited to Training; and it is important to
conditions the keep this fact steadily in view, that his reasoning may not be mis-
apprehended. He regards education as a scheme of action by which
any living being may be improved, and, by perseverance, raised to the
highest perfection of which it is susceptible. The organised system
of man constitutes the machinery by means of which the mind
operates during life. Every one, says he admits that the legs and
arms may be strengthened, and rendered more agile, by means of
judicious exercise; and most persons acknowledge that the external
senses also may be improved by similar means; the savage, whose
ear is cultivated as the means of his safety, hears sounds that are
inaudible to a civilized European. But the effect produced in these
instances results entirely from an improvement in the conditions of
the organs. The same may be affirmed, with equal safety, respecting
the higher mental operations. In performing these, the mind acts
by means of the brain, as certainly as it does by the eye in seeing,
and by the muscles in dancing or fencing. When any form of
memory or the power of reasoning is exercised by judicious training,
the mind itself is not changed. The improvement in this, as in the
preceding cases, is confined to the organs by the aid of which the
1 America, vol. ii. p. 198.
Thoughts on Physical Education, and the True Mode of Improving the
Condition of Man,” by Charles Caldwell, M.D., with a recommendatory pre-
face by George Combe (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart). It was origin-
ally published in Boston, U.S., in 1834, and acquired great popularity.
Dependence of the Mental on the Physical. 345
mind remembers and reasons. Physical education, therefore, lies at
the foundation of all successful training, both bodily and mental.
Dr Caldwell remarks, that the more philosophical and useful What Physi-
manner of viewing Physical education would be, to regard it as a truly means.
process for training the different parts of our corporeal system to
their highest state of attainable perfection, each according to its own
constitution and functions. The skin, for example, must be treated
by one mode of discipline, the stomach by another, and the lungs by
a third. And, in like manner, if the Feelings common to man and
the lower animals are connected with one department of the brain,
the Moral Sentiments with another, and the Intellectual Powers with
a third : it is necessary to train each of these separately, by means
adapted to the nature of the function, and to the object which we
have in view, whether this be to repress or exalt its energy; and
we shall err and suffer disappointment, if we attempt to educate the
whole mind by one process, by whatever name we may designate
it. - The condition of the morals of every individual,” says he,
depends on the condition of the moral organs of the brain, the con-
dition of his intellectual on that of his intellectual organs, and the
condition of his physical powers on that of the remaining portion of
his body,"—including the skin, digestive viscera, lungs, heart,
muscles, and the organs of secretion and absorption. All these
parts, he observes, are so mutually dependent, that no one of them
can be materially injured or benefited alone.
If the digestive,
respiratory, and circulatory systems, or either of them, are seriously
deranged, the brain suffers for want of a sufficient supply of blood,
to nourish, vivify, and strengthen it. If the brain itself is materially
deranged, it is incompetent to furnish, in due quantity and of sound
quality, the nervous influence of which the other parts of the sys-
tem constantly stand in need, and therefore they suffer in turn.
Hence,” he adds, “Moral and Intellectual education, which consists The relations
of Physical to
in amending the condition of the brain, and Physical education, Mental edu
which is the improvement of the other parts of the body, are indis- cation.
pensable to the perfection of each other, and, of course, to that of
the whole system. Physical education is, to the other two, what
the root, trunk, and branches of a tree are to its leaves, blossoms,
and fruit; it is the source and sine qua non of their existence.
Injure or improve it, and you produce on them a kindred effect.
Hence, Physical education is far more important than is commonly
imagined. Without a due regard to it, by which I mean a stricter
and more judicious attention than is paid to it at present, man can
6C
346
Physical Education.
not attain the perfection of his nature. Ancient Greece might be
cited in confirmation of this. May history and other forms of record
be credited, the people of that country were, as a nation, physically
and intellectually the most perfect of the human race; and there is
reason to believe that their unrivalled attention to Physical educa-
tion was highly influential in producing the result.” 1
Hence the
importance
of Physical
education.
Mental ex-
ertion as in-
fluenced by
the nervous
system;
As the power of manifesting the faculties depends on the state of
the organs, it is of importance to remark that we are able to exercise
a considerable influence on the organisation of the body by Physical
education. Parents, therefore, ought to be aware that the power of
the child, in future life, to manifest the faculties of the mind will
often depend, in a considerable degree, on the mode in which his
Physical education is conducted.
Too great sensibility of the nervous system is unfavourable to
mental exertion, but too great muscular power is also averse to it. The
great object of parents, therefore, ought to be to fit their children for
the scenes in life in which they intend them to act. If the
individual be destined to a learned profession or literary pur-
suits, his Physical education ought to be conducted in such a way as
to give him due muscular power, but not to render him too athletic.
If, on the other hand, he is destined for labour, his constitution can-
not be rendered too robust.
The sensibility of the nervous system will be powerfully affected
by diet and exercise. Too little attention is paid to adapting the
diet of children to their constitutions. The impression is too preva-
lent that food to be wholesome for children must be vegetable or
succulent. To many constitutions, no doubt, such kinds of food are
best adapted; but where the digestive organs are weak, vegetable
diet should be sparingly given, and animal food without sauce
or high seasoning more generally administered.
Exercise in the open air is favourable to all children, if not carried
to excess, but if indulged to a great extent, and till too advanced a
period of youth, the individual becomes in a great measure in-
capable of exerting the mental faculties. Exercise in the open air,
and amidst new and varied objects, is unfavourable to reflection, and
to those labours which require a concentration of the powers of
As influenced
by physical
exercise,
1 From the preface to the above edition of Dr Caldwell's “Thoughts on
Physical Education,” 26th May 1836.
Dependence of the Mental on the Physical. 347
the mind. It gives a greater tendency to exert the Sentiments than
the Reasoning faculties.
An augmentation of the tone of the muscles diminishes nervous
mobility. When, therefore, weakness of mental functions is owing
to too great mobility of the organic system, exercise is beneficial,
because it contributes to give stability and energy.
Repose has a contrary effect. Those who live a sedentary life
think and feel more than the active, unless their sedentary habits are
carried so far as to produce diseases of the organization, and then
the manifestations of the mind are less active.
2
structure of
2. GENERAL NOTES ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION,
The subject of Physical education is exceedingly extensive. My
intention is to bring before my non-medical hearers such an account
of the human frame as will enable them to appreciate the influence
of physical condition on the mind.
You see here the human skeleton.' This represents the bones, The general
which form the support to the soft parts, and afford protection to
the body.
many important organs. Attached to the bones are the muscles,
which are fleshy bundles or cords, by the contraction of which the
erect attitude is preserved, and motion produced. This drawing
represents the brain and spinal marrow, from which nerves proceed
and ramify, the brain being contained in the skull, and the spinal
marrow in the backbone. Nerves proceed from the circumference of
the body to these parts, conveying sensation from them to all parts
of the body, producing motion. The skin covers the body and
serves to allow an extensive expansion of the nerves of sensation,
which renders us sensible to heat, cold, pain, and other feelings, from
external causes. There are also innumerable little holes in it, through
which the waste matter of the body escapes by perspiration.
All parts of the body are in a continual state of decay, which the conditions
of its healthy
occasions of course the necessity of renovation, for if particles of growth.
the body are continually passing away, others must be continually
supplied. Now this new matter is supplied by the blood, a fluid which
círculates through every part, and from which are deposited, in a
way of which we have no conception, particles of just the kind
necessary to the respective parts requiring them; to muscle it sup-
1 Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 311.
2 The following notes are chiefly from George Combe’s Lectures on Education
given in America, in 1838–40.
348
Physical Education.
The instinct-
ive preserva-
tion of health
in the lower
animals.
plies muscle, to bone it supplies bone, to nerve it supplies nerve,
and to brain it supplies brain Health is the sound condition, com-
plete and equal play, of all the various systems of the body. It is
attended by a feeling of satisfaction which seem diffused throughout
every part. A friend of mine truly and beautifully said, "I never
think myself in health, unless I can go out of a summer's morning,
and standing upright, with my eyes fixed on space and my mind
unoccupied, feel that life itself is a blessing, and thank God that I am
a living man.” Disease is the unsound state, or discordant play, of any
of these systems, and may be either structural or functional. If an
arrow should be shot into the eye, the consequent disease would be
structural. Functional disease is that in which derangement of
structure is not visible, but in which the function is performed too
feebly or with morbid energy. Suppose we look at the sun for a
while, the function of the eye is disordered; if we turn the eye
from it to some other object, we may still appear to see the sun
where there is in fact nothing but a wall. This is functional
disease; and, generally speaking, repose alone is sufficient to restore
healthy action when over-exertion has ceased.
Health being the foundation of all happiness, its preservation is
of the utmost importance; and, to preserve it, we must know those
laws on the observance of which it depends. So far as the lower
animals are concerned, these are observed instinctively. Muscular
exercise is secured by the enjoyment which is evidently attached to
it; thus you see a horse in a rich pasture galloping and gambolling.
In many animals, it is secured by its necessity in obtaining food.
Pure air they have from living in the open air. Cleanliness they
all attend to, and thus keep their pores open; you see the cat
assiduously cleaning herself; the birds cleansing their feathers by
the stream. Even the pig forms no exception; I have been told by
many farmers that, when allowed straw, it always keeps its sty clean
and comfortable. Animals observe these laws without knowing why;
they are impelled to do so by the Creator, operating through their
constitution.
To man is given reason—the power of observation and adaptation.
He must study his own constitution and that of the external world,
and observe the relationship which God has established between
them, in order that he may know the laws of health, and conform
to them. That there is great occasion for such knowledge and such
observance, is evident from the records of mortality. According
to the Westminster returns, from one-fourth to one-fifth of all that
The need of
man study.
ing his con-
stitution.
General Observations in regard to it.
349
are born there die before arriving at two years of age. Now, of such
mortality, there is no example in the animal kingdom; and for this
no other reason can be adduced, than that by man the laws of health
are neglected or outraged, while by the brutes they are instinctively
observed. How great an amount of human misery arises from this
premature mortality! Hardly one of these children dies, without
lacerating a mother's affections and blasting a father's hopes.
The food which we eat has to undergo a variety of processes The process
of digestion ;
before it can be assimilated to the body, or be made to form a part
of its substance. In the first place, it is taken into the mouth, where
it is ground by the teeth or masticated. During this process, it is
mixed with the saliva, after which it is swallowed, passing from the
mouth through a tube into the stomach. This last organ lies in the
upper part of the abdomen. It is shaped like a bag-pipe, and has
two orifices; by one it receives the meat coming through the
food-pipe to the stomach, and by the other, called the pylorus, the
food passes into the intestine called the duodenum. The stomach
is amply supplied with blood vessels and nerves, the latter being
more numerous here than in any other part of the body, and
derived from many different sources ;
for which reason, it sym-
pathises with almost every other part, and may be considered as a
kind of common organic centre. The food undergoes in the stomach
such a process as changes it to a greyish fluid called chyme, which,
when properly digested, presents itself at the lower extremity of the
stomach, and passes through the pylorus into the duodenum. But
mark this—around the pyloric orifice, there is a band of muscular
fibres, which, when contracted, keep it closed, and which have to
relax in order that the chyme may pass through. Now, if the food
which presents itself is not properly digested, these circular fibres
will not relax, but the food is sent back to be digested still more.
It may again and again be presented, and again and again sent back;
but as this, if carried too far, might cause serious injury, the fibres
at length give way, and the undigested food is allowed to pass.
When the chyme has arrived at the duodenum, it is mixed with And assini-
two fluids, one from the liver called bile, the other from the pancreas
called pancreatic juice; and it is turned, by their action, into a milk-
white fluid called chyle. The intestines, like the stomach, have
three coats, but the inner or mucous coat is in folds, to give a greater
extent of surface. On this an innumerable quantity of small vessels
open their mouths, and draw in that part of the food which is fitted
to nourish the body; these are called lacteals. They terminate in
lation,
350
Physical Education.
The import-
ance of nu-
tritious diet.
one common tube called the thoracic duct, which passes up the
posterior part of the chest and empties its contents into a vessel
called the subclavian vein. The fresh nourishing matter, thus carried
with the blood to the heart, is sent to the lungs, to be subjected to
the vivifying influence of the air.
Fluids taken into the stomach do not go through the same process,
but are absorbed, and taken immediately into the blood, whence they
soon reappear in the kidneys, and are thrown out of the body.
I lately visited the Coloured Asylum in this city,' which is in many
respects a creditable institution, and there became acquainted with a
fact which well illustrates the importance of diet in the training of
children. Acting under the influence of some teacher who had been
lecturing in this city, the managers of the institution had confined
the children to an exclusively vegetable diet, with the expectation of
improving their morals. Now, children should have diet—not exces-
sive, but sufficient, solid and nutritious. If you give an exclusively
vegetable diet, you do, indeed, render the blood less nutritive and
stimulant, and thus weaken the Propensities; but as the same blood
nourishes also the Moral Sentiments and Intellectual faculties, they
are weakened in proportion, and the tone of the whole body is lowered;
so that nothing is gained in point of morality, and much is lost in
health and vigour. This was soon discovered. In the Asylum, the
effect of this exclusively vegetable diet, manifested itself by means of
scrofula and general debility. It was laid aside, and under the
influence of a more generous diet the children soon began to recover.
An adequate supply of good and sufficient food is absolutely neces-
sary to health.
Early personal My mother had been taught that oatmeal porridge and butter-
experiences milk were the best food for children for breakfast. The butter-
told.
milk was bought in large quantities from dairymen's carts in the
street. Frequently it was not fresh when bought, and it daily became
more acid when kept. To my delicate stomach, it tasted often like
vinegar, and I revolted at the porridge. In my mother's eyes, this
was fastidious delicacy of taste, and she ordered the porridge to be
kept for my dinner. I received a penny to buy a roll for mid-day
sustenance. At that time, the quartern loaf ranged from a shilling
i New York, visited in 1838–40. See an account of this Asylum and visit,
in America, vol. ii. p. 253.
2 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, pp. 315–16.
General Observations in regard to it.
351
to twenty pence in price, and the penny roll was a small morsel for
a young, hungry, growing boy. On going out, however, I bought
the roll at the first shop-there was one close to my father's gate.
I ate it dry, and had no more food till half-past two, when I came
home to dinner. My mother was not so severe as she had threatened
to be, for she gave me a dinner that I could eat; but she never
failed to have the porridge served in the morning. In all this she
was actuated by a sense of duty alone, for she was ever aiming at
our welfare. Ignorance was the rock on which her kindest endea-
vours were wrecked, and she was not to be blamed for not knowing
what nobody else in her rank, or, so far as I have yet discovered,
in any other rank of life then knew.l
air.
Another essential condition of health is, that the lungs be always The import-
supplied with fresh air. These are two bodies, one on each side of ance of pure
the thorax, composed of a light spongy substance, and filled with
innumerable air cells, which are said to present an extent of surface
equal to twenty thousand square inches. The heart throws the blood
into the lungs, and, when we breathe, the air passes into themn; so
that the blood is on one side of the thin membrane of which the cells
are composed, and the air on the other. Through this membrane, the
changes which occur in the blood take place. The common air con-
sists of three distinct gases in combination; in one hundred parts of
which, seventy-seven are nitrogen, twenty-two oxygen, and one
carbonic acid gas. Now, the breath expired is found to differ from
the air taken into the lungs, and the blood sent from the lungs is
found to differ materially from the blood which was sent to them.
Of the air, the oxygen is diminished and the carbonic acid increased;
oxygen is therefore considered as the supporter of life. The blood
which arrives at the lungs is of a dark purple hue, and is unfit to
support life; that which passes from them is of a bright scarlet hue,
and is fitted for the body's nourishment. If the air be not pure, the
venous dark blood does not undergo the necessary change, but is sent
back, of a dark hue, to all parts, and of course to the brain, which,
therefore, is not sufficiently nourished and stimulated ; great dulness
and drowsiness ensue, followed, if continued, by diseased action.
To afford sufficient quantity of fresh air in churches, schools, and
lecture rooms, is therefore very desirable. If they are not well
1 From George Combe's Autobiography, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon,
vol. i. p. 24.
352
Physical Education.
ventilated, the brain is oppressed, and cannot of course act with
clearness and energy.
1
Instances of
its want.
The importance of pure air is a subject which, until late years,
hardly entered into the heart of man to conceive. In the Scotch
churches, for instance, it is the practice to go in at eleven o'clock,
remain till near one, and go again at two. Now the practice formerly
was to close the door as soon as the people came out, in order to keep
in the heat. They thus retained the air, vitiated by being breathed in
the morning. The people went home, loaded their stomachs, and
returned to church. Here, then, the laws of health were clearly
violated; first, in breathing bad air, and next, by engaging in serious
mental occupation with loaded stomachs. The consequence was, that
nature was too strong for the minister, and many of the congregation
slept. This annoyed him very much, and many is the sermon which
I have heard preached against the sin of sleeping in church. The
consciences of the congregation troubled them a good deal, no doubt,
but there was no reformation. Now the laws of health are better
understood; the moment the congregation pass out of the church,
the windows are thrown open, even in the depth of winter, so as to
allow a change of air. Instead of eating a hearty dinner, people
generally content themselves with a light lunch, deferring dinner till
after the second service. By thus conforming with the laws of
health, the drowsiness of the Scottish congregations has passed away,
and, with it, the occasion for sermons on the sin of sleepiness.
The laws of health, as regards ventilation, were still more outraged
in our schools. In the winter season, we were kept in for hours, with
the windows closed tightly, and so vitiated did the air become that,
to a stranger entering from the street, it seemed almost poisonous.
In proportion to the length of time we remained in, the air became
vitiated more and more, and the blood worse and worse aerated,
losing thus its healthy stimulating properties. This rendered us dull
and inattentive; but, in proportion as mental energy decreased, the
birching increased, the master attempting to compensate for the
stimulus of good blood by the stimulus of pain. The school was
thus rendered a place of torture and terror. We have reformed
matters in our own country considerably; but here, on visiting the
public schools, I find you have much yet to do. You have no
adequate provision for a supply of fresh warm air. Recollect, the
air must be warmed before being let into the room. If you attempt to
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, pp. 310-18.
The need of
thorough
ventilation.
General Observations in regard to it.
353
ensue.
ventilate by throwing open the windows, you have the children near The need of
thorough
crying out that they are catching cold, and indeed much injury must
ventilation,
. Should there be now listening to me any member of the
civic corporation, I would recommend this subject to his especial
attention. He could not be inore worthily employed than in effecting
a reform. I know it is difficult to effect changes involving expense.
The common cry of demagogues is economy, economy. They are
for retrenching everything, and allowing money for nothing, hoping
thus to gain favour with the people. Economy is a very good
thing—no one can be a greater advocate of it than myself; but
the economy which I recommend would extend to the health of the
rising generation, and a small outlay for the attainment of this
great end would never be regretted by a wise and philanthropic
community
1
Having observed the unwholesome condition of the class-rooms,
court-rooms, and other places of public resort in Boston, from want of
ventilation, I called the attention of the audience strongly to the
dependence of the mental faculties on the condition of the brain, for
their power of action; to the dependence of the brain, for its vital
properties, on the condition of the blood; and to the dependence of
the blood on the condition of the digestive and respiratory organs :
thus pointing out the direct connection between sound digestion,
pure air, and mental vigour. I found that even a brief exposition of
the structure and functions of the digestive and respiratory organs,
and of their connection with the brain, illustrated by large drawings,
brought home to the understandings of my audience the importance
of digestion and ventilation to mental energy, and gave general
satisfaction,
The ideas were by no means new to them; but, although they The effects of
had often heard them stated by other lecturers, and had read them
in books, it had occurred to few to carry them into practice. I,
therefore, insisted largely on the evils which they inflicted on them-
selves and their children, by this neglect. Pulmonary consumption
produces a large proportion of all the deaths that occur in New Eng-
land, and I pointed out to them an obvious train of causes, in full
operation, which lead to this disease. By breathing hot and vitiated
air in ill-ventilated apartments, the blood is not properly aërated,
the lungs are enfeebled, and the tone of the whole system, mental
bad ventila-
tion.
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 329.
Z
354
Physical Education.
and bodily, is lowered. Nevertheless, in this condition, they make
the most rapid transitions from a temperature of 70° or 75º of
Fahrenheit's thermometer, which is common in their houses, churches,
and lecture-rooms, to one of 5° or 10° degrees below zero, in the
open air ; a change sufficient to injure the respiratory organs in the
most robust state of health, and much more so, when weakened by
this previous injudicious treatment."
Early personal My health was so imperfect that, although never unfit for duty, I
experiences
was taken from the school on the 1st of July in each year and sent to
given.
sea-bathing. This interrupted the course of my school lessons, and
if possible added to the inefficiency of the instruction there given.
Moreover, profound ignorance of the relation between fresh air and
the lungs, combined with the necessity for economy, led my mother
to place four, sometimes five, children in one small room, in which
also slept one of my elder sisters to take care of us. The room was
on the ground floor, and the north wall and window were protected
from the sea by a sloping buttress of large stones. There was also
a window in the east, equally low. It was necessary to fasten the
glass frames and barricade the outside shutters, to keep out the sea
and thieves. The room door was locked, for it opened into a com-
mon passage. Here then we were shut up for the night in an air-tight
box. I recollect well of awakening every morning very miserable.
When the tide was full in the mornings, I used to be handed out at
the north window, wrapped up in a shawl, and in a second or two
plunged over head in the cold, clear sea. The shock to my feeble,
exhausted, and excited frame was terrible; but there was so much
vitality in me, notwithstanding all these evil influences, that a speedy
reaction took place, and the skin glowed with a pleasing warmth.
This, with breakfast and the open air all day, set me up again, and
I struggled through the depression of the night; and, on the whole,
was strengthened by the bathing. Not so my younger brother
William, who, in bodily development, was greatly superior, although
in cerebral development inferior, to me. When plunged into the
cold water in the early morning, his system collapsed; his lips
became blue, and he shivered all over. Nobody conceived the cause
of these phenomena to be scrutable; but compassion saved William
1 America, vol. i. p. 212–13. For other personal experiences of the
effects of bad ventilation, see the “Life of George Combe" by Charles Gibbon,
vol. i. p. 6, et seq.
General Observations in regard to it.
355
from the early bathing, for it was found that, by mid-day, he was
able to stand the shock.
What we call the heart may, in fact, be considered as two hearts; The circulation
a right and a left. By the right heart, the blood is sent to the lungs
of the blood.
by the left, to the arteries. But each of these consists of two muscular
bags; and the circulation of the blood may be thus explained :-
The heart has two vital properties, irritability and contractility, by
the first of which, the stimulus of the blood is produced, and by the
second of which, the muscular fibres of the heart shorten themselves,
or, in other words, contract and close the cavity. The venous or
dark blood is poured into the first sac of the right heart, called the
right auricle; this, when filled, closes like a sensitive plant, and forces
the blood into the right sac, called the right ventricle; the ventricle
then contracts, and forces the blood through tubes into the lungs.
Here the blood is vivified, and rushes to the left auricle, or first cavity
of the left heart, which contracts and forces it into the second cavity,
or the left ventricle; this contracts, and forces it into the great canal
for the conveyance of arterial blood, whence it is distributed to all
parts of the body, supplying nourishment. It returns through other
tubes called veins, is received into the right auricle, and passes
through the same route as before. The body contains, it is supposed,
from twenty-five to twenty-eight pounds of blood, and two ounces
pass through the heart at every beat; according to which, all the
blood must pass through the heart every three minutes.
The brain is that organ which supplies nervous energy, or spirits, The conditions
as we say, to all parts of the body; thus, if the nerve which com-
municates with the stomach be divided, digestion is at once arrested.
Now, if, by any means, we continuously concentrate the whole nerv-
ous energy to any particular part, the other parts necessarily suffer.
Thus, if by the occurrence of some great calamity, thought and feel-
ing be kept in long-continued and inordinate activity, the digestive
and respiratory functions are ill performed, the blood is deteriorated,
and the body wastes and sinks with rapidity. So, if the muscular
system be inordinately exercised, the nervous energy seems to be
exhausted upon it; and if, after such exercise, we attempt to read
or think, the brain is indisposed to activity, and we fall asleep.
Without exercise, waste matter is not thrown off from the body in
of nervous
energy
1 From George Combe's Autobiography, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon,
vol. i. p. 22.
356
Physical Education.
a proper manner, and the blood does not circulate with due force;
but, if carried to excess, it interferes with our power of thinking
and feeling with vigour and continuity.?
The results of
Some have received a favourably organised constitution, the greatest
violation of the gift that Providence can bestow upon man,
The mind is of proper
In the robust; size, the lungs are well developed, the digestive organs in good
order. Persons so blest are very apt to laugh at the caution of
others, and to keep in a constant blaze of excitement. They eat
hearty dinners, rejoice in convivial suppers, and in punch and in
wine. Warn them of their danger, they mock at your fears. But
nature is keeping with them a reckoning. With some, she keeps à
daily account, exacting punishment for every offence as soon as it
is committed. With some, she keeps an account current, and she does
so with the persons of whom I speak. It may be years before she
exacts payment, but when she does so, she exacts the utmost far-
thing. Not one of their aberrations but is then found to have been
a nail driven into the coffin. I cannot tell you how many young
people I have seen start in manhood with fine, robust constitutions,
and after the vigorous enjoyment of health for years, fall into pre-
mature graves, from attacks of apoplexy, paralysis, or some severe
form of disease; while those whose weakly constitutions imposed
the necessity of rest and watchfulness, outlived them.
There is a class of men in whom the brain predominates, and the
lungs and digestive organs are comparatively weak. Such persons
delight in mental activity ; muscular exertion is disliked, and the
brain is continually on the stretch of excitement. But when we
reflect that, in thinking, we use the brain, just as, in walking, we use
the muscles; and that, in order to keep the brain in activity, nervous
energy must be drawn from the general system, all parts of which,
under such circumstances, perform their functions feebly: the impro-
priety of this course is evident. The muscles will be weak and
unenergetic, and the stomach will badly perform its duty.
Concentrated Two concentrated actions cannot go on in the system at the same
time. If you digest well, you must think badly; if you think well, ,
simultaneous. you must digest, badly. The best plan is to spend an hour or an
hour and a half in trifling conversation. If you talk nonsense, so
much the better, as that needs no attention; and instead of that
In the intel.
lectual.
functions
should not be
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 319,
General Observations in regard to it.
357
hour being counted as lost, it will, I assure you, be the best spent
of the twenty-four. People say that they cannot spend the hour in
such a way ; business or professional duty or study requires their
attention. But I answer that, if they go from the table to mental
avocations, attention will be feeble, everything will be performed un-
energetically ; whereas, if they allow the hour for digestion, the
brain, when they go to work, will be fresh and vigorous, and they
will do more than if they had been at work all the time.
In Bilious and Nervous temperaments the skin is generally The import-
inactive. I have told you how great a quantity of matter should weet of a
healthy skin.
pass off by this organ; its inactivity is therefore very detrimental.
To promote the secretion of perspiration, as well as the other secre-
tions, nothing is more important than exercise, which should be
taken in due quantity by every one. To keep the skin clean is of
prime importance, and this may be done by sponging or washing
the body daily. Perhaps the best wash for this purpose is composed
of one-third vinegar and two-thirds water, or a mixture of common
salt and water. After sponging the skin, it should be well rubbed
with a coarse towel or hair glove.
There are some men in whom the digestive system predominates. The effects of a
These are what are called easy fellows, jolly companions. They live predominant
a very happy sort of life, so long as things go on well. They eat system,
and drink heartily, enjoy pleasant, thoughtless conversation, and
sleep soundly and long. But business is often neglected by them,
and their easy, careless habits become a great source of trouble to
all who may be dependent upon them for support. To correct this
constitutional tendency, let the quantity of food be diminished ; let
what is taken, however, be solid and nutritious; and let plenty of
exercise be taken in the open air. ' This course will give good stimu-
lating blood, and consequently increase mental vivacity.
1
It is of importance when children are at school that their position The need of
should be easy. In Scotland, children have to support themselves support to the
on forms without backs. We have produced a reform, however,
in a number of schools.
The benches in the High School [of Edinburgh, which George
Combe attended] had no backs, but some of them stood close to the
walls. I suffered greatly from inability to sit upright, during the
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, pp. 326–28. 2 Ib., p. 335.
358
Physical Education.
long hours of confinement, on the seats away from the wall; and
have no doubt that then and there the distortion of the spine was
produced. I often abstained from getting up to the third “ form, ”
because the fourth stood next to the wall and supported my back.1
The treatment
3. NOTES ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
WOMEN.2
Allow me to address some remarks to the ladies especially; and in
doing so, we will make the skeleton the first object of contemplation.
The bones are formed by depositing bony matter in cartilaginous
of the bones in substance. In infancy comparatively soft, they go on hardening
infancy.
to old age. By disregarding their flexible nature in early life much
deformity is occasioned. Ladies wish to see their children walk
early. They put them to the feet before the bones are sufficiently
strong; in this way, the legs are often distorted.
Or they put
leading strings around them to keep them up, and thus the ribs are
pressed upon and deformed; pressure is produced, too, upon the
stomach, liver, lungs, and other viscera, occasioning sad conse-
quences. Nature, is in all these things, the sure guide. When the
child feels the necessity for muscular exercise, it attempts to crawl
about on all fours, and delights to tumble about the floor. This is
the best form of exercise in the particular circumstances ; it
strengthens the little muscles of the child, which begins in a while
to raise itself by the chairs, and finally to walk. All this is natural
and safe, which the system of urging and dangling is not.
I have before stated that, in the human skin, there are innumer-
of the head in able pores, from which waste matter is continually passing. Clean-
infancy.
liness is, therefore, another essential requisite in the treatment of
children; but, as young children are susceptible to atmospheric
1 From George Combe's Autobiography, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon,
vol. i. p. 25. This use of forms without backs is still sadly common, even in
the new schools now being erected. Some School Boards, and notably the
London School Board, have acted rationally and kindly in this matter, and
provided supports. Our medical men, with united voice, proclaim the evils of
the old system. See, on this subject, Dr Liebreich's pamphlets, "School Life
in its influence on Sight," and "A Contribution to School Hygiene” (Lon-
don: J. & A. Churchill, New Burlington Street), and “ The Public School ; its
Organization, Management, and Teaching,” by the Editor (Edinburgh: Thomas
Laurie), in which also an abstract of Dr Liebreich's principles is given in the
Appendix.
2 These notes are chiefly from George Combe's Lectures on Education de-
livered in America, in 1838–40.
The treatment
With Special Reference to Women.
359
changes, you must be careful not to expose them too much. I am
told that, in this country, it is not usual to protect the heads of chil-
dren, and that some physicians recommend this neglect. I cannot
but consider this injurious. The temperature in this climate ranges,
in a very short space of time, over an extent of forty degrees. Other
parts of the body are protected, and why is the head exposed to
such vicissitudes ? The brain is a very important organ.
In in-
fancy, the skull is very thin, and there is very little hair. Some
protection, therefore, seems necessary, though to stimulate the brain
by too much clothing is injurious. Captain Parry relates that, on
one very cold day, he sent two young gentlemen in search of a marine,
who had been exposed to a temperature much below zero, without
any adequate protection; and that so great was the effect even upon
them, that when he sent for them into his cabin on their return,
they looked wild, spoke thickly and indistinctly, and it was impos-
sible to draw from them a rational answer to any of his questions.
After being on board for a short time, the mental faculties appeared
gradually to return with the returning circulation, and it was not
till then that a looker-on could be easily persuaded that they had not
been drinking too freely.
One great evil to which the fair sex is liable is deformity of the The treatment
of the spine:
spine. The spine or backbone is supported by many muscles which
keep it erect, as a mast is kept erect by the ropes. If these muscles
are compressed, they become weakened; if made to support the body
for a long time in an erect, stiff position, they become exhausted ; if
this is persisted in, the spine gives way. But, as there is a natural
tendency to equilibrium, the curve of one part is compensated by a
curve in another, and thus, in such deformity, there is generally a
double lateral curve, something like the italic letter f. When I was
young, the remedy for this was to use a steel support. What would
you
think of me if I recommended, in order to strengthen the arm,
that you should bind it in splints and keep it perfectly still for
three months ? You would see the absurdity at once, and yet the
using of a steel support to the spine for the purpose of strengthen-
ing it was just as absurd. The only rational mode of strengthening
the muscles is by exercise.
When I was lecturing upon this subject some years ago in Edin-This exempli-
burgh, a lady was present, who, on going home, noticed that her fied in a special
daughter, a young lady of nine years of age, had slight deformity
of the spine. She became alarmed, and was led to think of the
best course to be pursued under the circumstances. Seeing her
case,
360
Physical Education.
very
daughter next morning attempt to lift some earth with the gardener's
spade, she thought that that would be just the thing to encourage
her in. Accordingly, she asked her, if she would like to have a
little spade of her own. “Oh yes," was the reply, she would
like it much. She was then asked, if she would like a little
wheelbarrow, to wheel earth from one part of the garden to
another. She was perfectly delighted with the idea. They were
procured; she was directed how to use them, and cautioned
never to continue their use after she felt fatigue coming on.
The young lady shovelled and wheeled in the open air day after
day—the whole muscular system was exercised, but particularly
the muscles of the back. In three or four months, the curvature
was completely removed, and she resumed that form of elegance
for which she is still distinguished. She is now grown up, and has
told me that she looks back to the time she spent in digging and
wheeling as among the happiest of her life.
The treatment The next point to which I would draw the attention of the ladies
of the lungs. is the importance of free action in the lungs. This subject is nearly
threadbare, but still it is necessary to return to it.
Whenever you
see the breast flat and little space in the chest, it shows that the
lungs are small, and that the blood cannot be properly aërated. This
difficulty, it is obvious, would be increased by compressing the chest
or by inhaling bad air; yet, notwithstanding that a small chest is
incompatible with vigorous health, we find ladies doing all they can
to compress their chests into the least possible dimensions, having
somehow or other acquired the extraordinary notion that a narrow,
spider waist is beautiful. It is probable that the notion originated
from the circumstance of some persons of high rank being deformed
by nature, rendering deformity fashionable. In the old country, this
fashion is fast going out, especially among the higher classes. А.
lady who should now enter a drawing-room in London, Edinburgh,
or Dublin, with her waist compressed in the way which a short time
ago was prevalent, would be set down as unfashionable and vulgar
-the spectators would whisper, “ There goes an uneducated
woman.' I am sorry to see, as I do in walking Broadway, that,
among your ladies, the spider waist is in great esteem, and tight-
lacing prevalent.
The absurdity
I would respectfully observe that, by this distortion, they assume
and danger of that they have more knowledge, judgment, and taste, than the Creator
tight-lacing.
himself. These very ladies pity the savages who seek to improve
the form of the skull by compressing it. They see that this pro-
With Special Reference to Women.
361
cess renders the “human form divine” truly hideous. They laugh
at the Chinese women, who attempt to amend God's handiwork by
compressing their feet till they render them unfit to support them ;
but, by a blindness of perception which would be incredible if we
did not witness it, they perform the very same operation on their
own waists, and sap the sources of health and life. Surely God did
not make their waist so imperfectly as to need their assistance to
improve it. By this practice, the heart, lungs, stomach, liver, and
other viscera are compressed to a most injurious extent, being cooped
up so as hardly to be able to perform their functions. The circula-
tion, too, is interfered with, as well as a large extent of exhaling
surface. Yet, with all these pains, they only render themselves
pitiable spectacles to all who possess correct taste. Not such forms
do painters and sculptors take as the models of beauty.
That form is best in which the brain, chest, abdomen, and limbs The finest
are all in due proportion. When any of these preponderate greatly female form.
in size, beauty suffers. Thus, if the abdomen is much larger than the
rest of the body, we have a figure like a hog standing on its hind
legs. The Creator has implanted in our minds a love of the beautiful,
for a wise purpose; for it is found that beauty of form and perfection
of healthy structure and action are most intimately connected. A
female figure of the finest proportion for symmetry and beauty is,
cæteris paribus, the most favourably constructed for healthy action.
If the carriage of the body be erect, and the motions easy and
graceful, these are indications that the bones are solid and the
muscles energetic, that the blood is well nourished and well
oxygenated, and that it circulates freely. If the countenance beam
with intelligence and goodness, this is an indication that the moral
and intellectual regions of the brain predominate; and that the indi-
vidual, in birth and constitution, is one of nature's nobility.
I deem the study of the Fine Arts important. He who considers The import-
the beautiful human form as addressed to Amativeness alone or chiefly, study of the
takes a most degrading view of it. It is addressed to Ideality, which Fine Arts to
contemplates it with keen delight; to Veneration, as the chief of the
Creator's physical works; and, to Intellect, it gives the highest
pleasure. Viewed in this light, I see not only no immodesty, but
the greatest propriety, in ladies visiting galleries of the Fine Arts. No
better school can be selected for the mother, who, being thus made
familiar with the most perfect and beautiful creations of the painter
and sculptor, would carry in her mind standards which would enable
her readily to detect deformity in her children, and lead her to seek
women.
362
Physical Education.
timely remedial means. And I am disposed to think that, if ladies
were instructed, in their youth, in the uses of the human frame, and
taught to appreciate the conditions and proportions of the different
organs that are most favourable to health and beauty; they would,
when they were mothers, become far sooner aware of disorders in
their children than they now are, and would save the lives of many
of them. Who, for instance, after gazing at this painting of Eve at
the fountain, could admire the spider waists? From being presented
in its proper light, the study of the Fine Arts has, in the old country,
become much more general Ladies study the natural figures, and
pass round the galleries where they are exhibited, without the
slightest feeling of impropriety on their own part, or on that of
any cultivated or correct mind."
4. ON THE TEACHING OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
Order of teach. A general outline of Anatomy and Physiology might be rendered
ing Anatomy
and Physi-
very simple and yet useful. Teach,
ology.
First, the appearances and structure of each great organ;
Second, its functions ;
Third, the effects of its under-action and over-action, or its
diseases ;
Fourth, the most common causes which produce its under-action
and over-action, or which remove these ; and
Finally, the mutual influence of the organs.
2
In the lessons which I have given in John Watson's Institution
in Edinburgh, of which I am a Director, no subject has so much
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, pp. 321–26. Additional remarks
on the importance of Physical education to Women will be found in the pre-
sent work, p. 59.
2 From MSS.
3 George Combe was, for many years, one of the Governors of this Institution.
In 1851, he first attempted to induce the Directors, a committee of the
Governors who have more the immediate management of the Institution, to
improve the school curriculum generally, and to introduce the teaching of
Physiology. In November 1854, he was elected a Director; in December
following, he was appointed chairman of a committee to examine the existing
curriculum of the school, and to report as to the measures to be adopted for
its improvement. A majority of the committee voted for the introduction of
Physiology. From various unpleasant causes, George Combe resigned the
convenership of the committee. On May 3, 1856, the Directors consented to
The Teaching of Anatomy and Physiology. 363
interested the children and made so deep an impression on them of Order of teach-
the reality of the things taught, as the exposition of the Divine power and Physiology.
and wisdom in the objects brought under their consideration. But,
to do this effectually in Physiology, I have found it indispensable to
enable them to understand :
First, the structure;
Second, the functions;
Third, the relations of the structure and functions of each vital
organ to the others, and also to the external world; and
Fourth, the great fact that, in this world, everything, dead and
alive, is an agent, producing results appointed by God, and, there-
fore, not to be evaded by man."
1
Education in-
cludes.
[The history of the progress of Physiology and Physical Education What Physical
in schools, and the part taken in it by George Combe, from the
earliest recommendations of it, till now when it is taught in many
schools and fostered by Government, has already been given in Part
Second, p. 102.
The subject of Physical Education is very much broader than the
teaching of Physiology in schools. It should include Physical
Cleanliness in all its bearings, Physical Development by training or
exercise, and Physical Government, or the regulation of the bodily
functions, according to the Laws of Health, For a brief exposition
of its nature and aims, see “Physical Education for Common
Schools” (Edinburgh, Thomas Laurie), and “Physical Education
and Hygiene in Schools” (London, John Kempster & Co.), by the
Editor.
hold an examination of the senior children in the subject, after much solicita-
tion by George Combe. But, from suspicion of the propriety of the subject,
or fear of outside censure regarding it, then not uncommon, it was held in
private, Sir James Coxe being the only outsider admitted ! George Combe
thought it had been well taught. As a Director, he continued to exert himself
to raise the condition of the children in diet, clothing, ventilation, &c., and
succeeded in getting these greatly improved, though in the face of much oppo-
sition. See p. 105 of this work; also other details of his connexion with John
Watson's Institution, in the “Life of George Combe” by Charles Gibbon, vol.
ii. pp. 318, 348, and 350.
i From letter to Mr Benjamin Templar, 7th May 1858. See p. 95 et seq.
of this work, for additional suggestions on the kind of instruction recommended
by George Combe, and the manner of its teaching ; also specimens of lessons,
in Part Third, chap. v.
364
Physical Education,
cation.
Ling's Rational Physical Development should aim at a full exercise of the whole
Physical Edu- muscular system, by systematic, regular, and scientific training.
The first scientific exposition of its nature, and of a system of
exercises adopted for carrying it out, was given by the great
Swede, Peter Henry Ling,' at the beginning of the century, under
the title of "Rational Physical Education," which included not only
the wise development of the healthy, but the cure of the diseased.
This system, which was very fully worked out by himself, has
been subsequently modified and improved by Rothstein and others
in Germany, France, and America. It was first made known and
advocated in this country, nearly thirty years ago, by Dr Matthias
Roth, the great physical educationist and advocate of the Movement
Cure, which is one application of Ling's system.2 For an exposition
of Ling's system and of Physical Education generally, see Dr Roth's
various works, a list of which can be had from Baillière & Co.,
Regent Street, London, especially his “Gymnastic Free Exercises
(London, Groombridge); and Georgii's “Rational Gymnastics
(London, Baillière & Co.)
Text-books on Happily, the whole subject in its various applications has received
Physical Edu-
very great attention during late years, and numerous text-books on
it now exist, of which the following may be named :-
1. For a general exposition of its nature and aims: See the works
On its nature already named; also Dr Roth's “Plea for the Compulsory Teaching
and aims;
of the Elements of Physical Education in our National Schools—or
the Claims of Physical Education to rank with Reading, Writing,
or Arithmétic” (London, Groombridge), earnest, forcible, and short;
and Dr Caldwell's “Thoughts on Physical Education " (Edinburgh,
Maclachlan & Stewart), which should be studied by all having
to do with education ; Dr Andrew Combe's “ Principles of Physi-
ology applied to the Preservation of Health” (same publishers);
Professor Hodgson's “Two Lectures on Health and Wealth Edu-
cationally considered” (about to be republished); Dr Paget on the
“Study of Physiology,” in “Modern Culture,” edited by Dr
Youmans (London, Macmillan & Co.); Herbert Spencer on
“Physical Education," in his “Education" (London, Williams &
Norgate); Introduction and Appendix to “A System of Physical
Education," by Archibald Maclaren of Oxford (Oxford Clarendon
Press).
cation :
1 See a short account of Ling and his labours for Education and Health, in
Dr Roth's “Gymnastic Free Exercises,” Appendix (London, Groombridge).
2 See p. 105.
Works on the Subject.
365
logy and
2. Works containing a System of Exercises for Physical Training: On Physical
Dr Roth’s “Gymnastic Free Exercises by Ling, arranged by Training ;
Rothstein" (Groombridge); "Gymnastic Exercises Without Appar-
atus, according to Ling's System” (London, Myers & Co.); and
Gymnastic Exercises on Apparatus” (London, Baillière); Mac-
laren’s “System of Physical Education” (just mentioned); “The
New Gymnastics for Families and Schools," by Dr Dio Lewis
of Boston, U.S. (London, Tweedie); D. Cunningham’s “Calis-
thenics and Drilling, simplified for Schools and Families” (London,
Haughton & Co., Paternoster Row).
3. On Physiology and Anatomy: For general use in schools— On Physio-
Mrs Bray's “ Physiology and the Laws of Health, in Easy Lessons
Anatomy;
for Schools” (Longmans), one of the simplest, happiest, and most
practical ever written, now, in the 3rd Edition, adapted to the
Education Codes; Dr W. Foster's “Physiology" (Science Primers,
London, Macmillan); “Animal Physiology," by John Angell 1
(Collins' Elementary Science Series); Dr M‘Kendrick's “Animal
Physiology" (W. &. R. Chambers); and other text-books issued by
different educational publishers.
For more advanced study, and for the teacher-Huxley's “Ele-
mentary Lessons on Physiology," 9th Edition (London, Macmillan);
Carpenter's “Principles of Human Physiology;" Dalton's “Treatise
on Physiology and Hygiene,” for Schools, Families, and Colleges
(London, Sampson, Low, & Co.); Dr Draper's “Anatomy and
Physiology ;' Dr Cleland's « Animal Physiology” (Collins'
Advanced Science Series).
4. On Hygiene, or the Principles of Health : Dr Edwin Lancaster's On the Princi-
"Practical Physiology, a School Manual of Health” (London, ples of Health.
Hardwicke & Bogue); Dr Edward Smith's “ Health, a Handbook
for Households and Schools” (London, Isbister & Co.); Mrs Bray's
“Physiology and the Laws of Health" (already mentioned); Mrs
Buckton's “ Health in the House” (Longmans), simple, interesting,
and practical; Dr Andrew Combe's “Physiology and Health,” last
edition, edited by Sir James Clark, an excellent book, never really
out of date, which should be in the hands of every teacher;
“Health for the Household ” (London, Jarrold & Sons), containing
very good and most practical matter, as also do other works by the
same publishers called “Household Truths.”
1
Organiser of the Secular Schools in Manchester, now Senior Science Master
in the Manchester Grammar School. See Part Third of this work, p. 245.
366
Physical Education.
On Domestic
Economy;
On School
Hygiene.
5. On Domestic Economy-a branch of this subject, of the
highest practical value, which has recently received great attention,
and is included in the Education Codes : Home Comfort, “A
Complete Manual of Domestic Economy,” and “Manual of Domestic
Economy," by Jane Stoker (London, W. Stewart & Co.);
“Domestic Economy for Girls," Edited by the Rev. E. T. Stevens
(Longmans); "Lessons in Domestic Economy for Elder Girls," by
Joseph Hassell; “Home and its Duties," by J. W. Laurie
(Edinburgh, Thomas Laurie); and nther Manuals issued by various
educational publishers.
6. On School Hygiene-a most important application of this sub-
ject to education, which should secure much more attention than it
has : Dr Budgett's “School Hygiene" (London, Lewis), short, full,
and practical; Dr Roth's “School Hygiene and Scientific Physical
Education," a paper read before the Social Science Association
(London, Baillière); “ The Public School; its Organization, Manage-
ment, and Teaching,” by the Editor (Edinburgh, Thomas Laurie) ;
Dr Liebreich's "A Contribution to School Hygiene,” and “School
Life in its Influence on Sight” (London, Churchill); "Health
of Schools" (Boston, U.S., A. Williams & Co.), a series of
superior papers read before the American Social Science Associa-
tion, which has taken up this as a special subject, and done
very good work in regard to it; “Sanitary Requirements
in School Architecture," in the Sanitarian of New York
(Trübner & Co., London), by Dr F. Lincoln, who has devoted
special attention to the subject; Report of Committee of Board of
Public Instruction, on the Sanitary Condition of the Schools
(Philadelphia, E. C. Markley & Son); “School Architecture,
being Practical Remarks on Planning, Designing, Building, and
Furnishing School-houses,” by Edward R. Robson, Architect to the
London School Board (London, John Murray); "School Archi-
tecture, or Contributions to the Improvement of School-houses in
the United States," by Dr Henry Barnard (New York, Charles B.
Norton).
See a very good article on School Hygiene, in Kiddle & Schem's
“Cyclopædia of Education," 8. v. (New York, E. Steiger; London,
Sampson, Low, & Co.)--Edit.]
CHAPTER III.
MORAL EDUCATION,
1. ON THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MORAL TRAINING.
tion comes first
The faculties which produce the Propensities and Sentiments are Moral Educa-
earliest manifested in the order of nature, and therefore, a child is in the order of
susceptible of Moral education before he is susceptible, in an equal time;
degree, of Intellectual education. It is of importance to parents and
teachers to attend to the fact, that the Feelings and dispositions of
the mind depend upon innate faculties, as well as the Intellectual
powers, and that the former faculties may be cultivated as well as
the latter. The embryo Feelings of every kind (except two, Ama-
tiveness and Veneration) which distinguish the full.grown man, may
be experienced by the child. A few years after birth, the individual
will experience the same sensibility to fear, to censure and applause,
and to justice, and the same natural tendency to fight, which will
distinguish his character in future life. These Feelings may, in
maturer years, be directed to other objects; but the power of
experiencing them exists at both periods. The child who trembles
at the threat of being shut up in a dark closet,—who exhibits to us
with delight his new suit of clothes,—who fights about a marble,
or who covets his neighbour's top, is under the influence of the
same faculties which, in future years, may make him tremble under
the anticipation of a fall of stocks,—which may make him desire
to be invested with a star and garter, which may make him con-
tend for an island or a kingdom, or which may lead him to covet
his neighbour's property.
1
to Self-
command.
One test of civilisation, both in individuals and nations, is the It should train
power of Self-command amidst temptations; and a second is the
capacity of discovering and following out through difficulties, the
path that leads to ultimate good. In regard to the first test, it is a
common remark in Scotland, that the sons of excessively rigid
1 Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 314.
368
Moral Education.
clergymen occasionally run into wild immoralities when they are
emancipated from paternal restraint. The explanation is, that their
own Moral and Intellectual faculties have never been disciplined to
resist and to control the solicitations of the Propensities amidst temp-
tations. The restraining and directing power has been external; and
good conduct depended on its presence. No youth is ever safe or
well-trained unless these powers be internal ; for then only are they
ever present and ever at their posts. The same rule holds good in
the case of nations.
1
Happiness de- Happiness consists in the free play of all our faculties within
pendent on
Self-govern-
their legitimate spheres of action, and this kind of action can exist
ment.
only when the animal Propensities are subjected to the control of
the Moral Sentiments and Intellect, and where these latter powers
are sufficiently enlightened to be capable of distinguishing between
good and evil,-between the right course and the wrong,-in every
department of individual, domestic, and social action. I earnestly
press on your attention the great truth, that our effective faculties,
both animal and moral, are in themselves blind impulses, and that
they stand in need of constant guidance. There must be subordi-
nation, restraint, self-denial, the power of self-direction, in short,
there must be government, and enlightened government, before
happiness can be attained. Your institutions have done every thing
to set your faculties free : But what have they done to guide them
in the right path? So far as I can discover, the answer must be
too little.
2
The training
of the Moral
faculties as
curbs to the
Lower.
We have not the power of preventing our Feelings, but we
have the power of controlling them. They start into involuntary
activity; it is for the Moral Sentiments to supply the curb. In
most, the strength of their impulses needs to be lessened ; and
recollect that every day in which the Moral Sentiments are trained,
the activity of the Propensities is diminished, just as, by using the
right arm exclusively, we should diminish the powers of the left.
In some cases, however, though not often, a particular Propensity
needs cultivation, as Combativeness, for instance. This must be
done by putting the child in a little danger, and by training it to
meet the danger well.
3
1 America, vol. iii. p. 269.
America, vol. iii. p. 401.
3 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 341.
The Training of the Moral Faculties.
369
the Intellect
If the faculties which give Feelings are innate, and manifest The Feelings
distinct froin
themselves thus early, we are bound, by every tie of duty and
affection, to direct these Feelings to their proper objects, and not to and earliest.
lacerate them by treating those who possess them, as if they had no
Feelings at all. Many persons appear, by their conduct, to believe
that a child cannot distinguish betwixt justice and injustice, when
practised towards him; betwixt polite treatment and rudeness;
betwixt the due exercise of parental authority and self-willed
tyranny: because he cannot reason on abstract subjects. But such
ideas are equally erroneous and disgraceful. The power of feeling
depends on faculties different from those which produce intellectual
manifestations; and although the child cannot reason so well, he
can feel as acutely as his parents.
To present to the Moral Sentiments their appropriate exciting They can be
objects should be the first great aim of education. This is the only
trained only
through their
true mode to make children act well; precepts may do something, exciting ob-
but they are feeble, indeed, compared with example
. Would you jects.
have your child Benevolent? Engage it early in acts of kindness,
and be yourself kind. Would you excite its Veneration? You
must yourself be respectful in your demeanour, treat all with due
consideration, and be attentive to the duties of religion. I saw a
beautiful example of appropriate training in Philadelphia. A little
negro girl went to a door to beg food. The servant gathered some
together, and did not present it herself, but called a little child
and permitted it to do so. In performing this act of charity, its
countenance beamed with joy and goodness. As I looked upon the
scene, it struck me that this would have more effect in training that
child to the practice of Benevolence than ten lectures on the subject.2
It is necessary to cultivate the Feelings by the direct exercise of Their training
the faculties upon which they depend. Parents and guardians, through
Example ex.
therefore, ought to repress the manifestations of the lower Propen-plained by
sities in children when they are too energetic, and to call the facul-
Sympathy.
ties of the higher Sentiments into vigorous activity. The latter
effect will be produced by the influence of example; because, by
the law of social Sympathy, active manifestations in one indi-
vidual excite the same faculties upon which the manifestations
1 Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 315.
2 From MSS.
2 A
370
Moral Education.
active in the
depend, into activity in the beholders. Thus, if a parent or
guardian manifest the faculties of Benevolence, of Conscientious-
ness, of Veneration, or of Acquisitiveness, strongly and habitually
in the presence of a child, the same faculties will, by these acts,
be cultivated and excited into permanent activity in the child.
This is the true account of what the Metaphysicians call the Prin-
ciple of Imitation in children. There is, no doubt, a faculty of
Imitation, which gives the power of mimicry, and which unques-
tionably exerts an influence in disposing the child to imitate his
seniors; but there is, besides, an identity of faculties, and a sympa-
thetic influence arising from similarity of constitution, that make a
child prone to do the acts which he sees done before him. Every
child does not always do so, because the faculties are not, in every
case, precisely the same in energy in every individual: and, of
consequence, where the faculties of the parent differ from those of
the child, the former may exhibit many active manifestations of
particular feelings; but, from the primitive faculties which produce
these feelings not being naturally powerful in the child, the parent
may fail in impressing on him his own character.
Sympathy As a general rule, however, for cultivating the Moral Powers, it
lower as well may be safely laid down that, by a law of nature, the regular active
as in the higher manifestations of faculties in parents excite into habitual activity
similar faculties in children. But this rule obtains in the faculties
which are most prone to run into abuse, as well as in those of a
higher order. A parent who inflicts personal .chastisement often
and in a rage, or who scolds loud and long, and shows little polite-
ness, little benevolence, and little justice towards a child, cultivates
in the latter the faculties which give rise to the emotions of rage
and resistance (Combativeness and Destructiveness), and outrages
the higher Sentiments just as effectually, or indeed more effectually,
than if he were to frame and teach a catechism recommending rage
and resistance as positive duties, and decrying justice and benevo-
lence as dangerous and prejudicial. As a general rule, whatever
you
wish
your
child to be or to do, be that or do that to him. If you
wish him to be outrageous, to be cruel, and to be quarrelsome, be
outrageous, cruel, and quarrelsome to him. If you wish him to be
humane and polite, be humane and polite to him. If you wish him
to be just and pious, be just and devout before him.
This result arises not solely from a principle of Imitation leading
him to do mechanically as you do, Such a principle would be
1 See the Law of Sympathy explained, p. 328.
faculties.
.
The Influence of Sympathy in Moral Training. 371
faculties best
cold and lifeless. The result arises from sympathetic faculties in This action of
the child giving inward emotions and feelings corresponding to Sympathy dis-
your own. These faculties are innate, permanent, and steady, and, from Imitation.
when
you
have cultivated them, you can depend on the permanence
of their effects. When you cultivate in children the faculties
which feel Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, you
will make the feelings which attend the activity of these faculties
known to them by experience; and these feelings are so agreeable
in themselves that they will afterwards, without your superinten-
dence, indulge the same faculties in active manifestations, for the
sake of experiencing the inward satisfaction that attends their
activity. But if you outrage all these faculties in your conduct to
your children, and act towards them under the influence of rage, of
deceit, of self-will, or of any improper feeling, you will excite into
permanent and energetic activity the same faculties in them.
To cultivate the Moral Powers properly, it is not sufficient merely The Moral
to excite their Sympathetic activity by the influence of example. trained by
To give them the full measure of cultivation, we must allow them to self-action.
manifest themselves externally in actions as frequently as possible,
or, in other words, we must allow them to produce actual effects.
If we wish to cultivate the faculty of Benevolence to the best
advantage, we must make our children the actual administrators of
benevolence themselves. We must allow them to do acts of
charity, and not merely to give alms, but to court acquaintance with
poverty, misery, and distress in its bodily form, and to feel the
sympathetic glow which can be experienced in its full fervour only
when we see the objects of our charity in all their misery, but at
the same time in “possession of all the feelings which unite them
to us by the ties of a common nature.” The case is the same with
all the other faculties. If we wish to cultivate the faculty of Con-
scientiousness in children to the best advantage, we must accustom
them to practise it, and administer it in acts. Constitute them
judges of each other's conduct, teach them to award punishments
or recompenses to each other, and let their awards always be ful-
filled, unless they are extremely erroneous and absurd, which will
arely be the case. In the same manner, if a child has too little
regard for property, and is too much disposed to bestow on others,
without consideration, every thing which he happens to possess ;
endeavour to excite his desires ardently for some object, but do not
allow him to obtain it till he has performed a quantity of labour as
the purchase of it, and then his faculty of caution will be more
rar
372
Moral Education.
ready to restrain his generosity, when he has learned the difficulty
of acquiring
1
This illustrated There is only one way of strengthening faculties, and that is by
by prison dis-
cipline.
exercising them; and all the American prisons which I have seen
are lamentably deficient in arrangements for exercising the Moral
and Intellectual faculties of their inmates. During the hours of
labour, no advance can be made beyond learning a trade. This is
a valuable addition to a convict's means of reformation, but it is
not all-sufficient. After the hours of labour, he is locked up in
solitude, and I doubt much if he can read for want of light; but,
assuming that he can, reading is a very imperfect means of
strengthening the Moral Powers. They must be exercised, trained,
and habituated to action. My humble opinion is, that in prisons
there should be a teacher of high moral and intellectual power for every
eight or ten convicts; that, after the close of labour, these instructors
should commence a system of vigorous culture of the superior
faculties of the prisoners, excite their moral and religious feelings,
and instruct their understandings. In proportion as the prisoners
give proofs of moral and intellectual advancement, they should be
indulged with the liberty of social converse and action for a certain
time on each week-day and on Sundays, in presence of the teachers;
and in these conversaziones, or evening parties, they should be trained
to the use of their higher powers, and habituated to restrain their
Propensities. Every indication of over-active Propensity should be
visited by a restriction of liberty and enjoyment; while these
advantages, and also respectful treatment and moral consideration,
should be increased in exact proportion to the advancement of the
convicts in morality and understanding. By such means, if by any,
the convicts would be prepared to enter society with their higher
faculties so trained and invigorated as to give them a chance of
resisting temptation, and continuing in the paths of virtue.
In no country has the idea yet been carried into effect that, in
order to produce moral fruits, it is necessary to put into action
moral influences, great and powerful in proportion to the barrenness
of the soil from which they are expected to spring.
2
The cultivation of the Intellectual faculties is of great importance
* Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 320.
2 America, vol. ii. pp. 19 and 20.
The Influence of the Intellect in Moral Training. 373
in directing the faculties of the Propensities and Sentiments in the The influence
proper mode of their gratification; but I am obliged to observe that lect in Mor-
the cultivation of the Intellect, where the higher Sentiments are not ality :
equally cultivated, has less effect in leading to morality than is generally
generally supposed. On observing mankind, I find individuals in reckoned;
whom the faculties of the higher Sentiments are naturally powerful,
exceedingly moral, although their Intellectual powers are often
slender; and I find individuals, whose faculties of the higher Senti-
ments are weak, often exceedingly immoral, although their Intel-
lectual powers are remarkably strong. I observe that the individuals
in whom the faculties of Cautiousness, Conscientiousness, Benevo-
lence, Veneration, and Firmness are energetic, either from natural
endowment or much cultivation, are generally prudent, honourable,
and virtuous, although possessed of very different degrees of intel-
lectual power. I find, on the contrary, individuals in whom these
faculties are weak, selfish, illiberal, and unjust, even although
adorned with the most splendid intellectual capacities.
But under the present system, Moral and Religious instruction is But of the
directed too exclusively to the Sentiments. We impress precepts of portance in
duty to God and man upon children; in other words, enjoin them Training.
to exercise Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientiousness, as duties
which are highly proper, but (and this is an imperfection) we give
them extremely little intellectual information concerning the reason-
ableness and advantage of doing so, or concerning the means or
manner of accomplishing the objects which we represent to them as
duties to be fulfilled. It is for want of a Philosophy of Mind that
we are so lame in these particulars.
For example, nothing can be more admirable than the precept, This illustrated
Love thy neighbour as thyself ; but how difficult it is to the mind in by a commou
precept.
an unenlightened condition to conceive of this as really practicable !
If every man is pursuing his individual interest, how is this to be
attained ? Even if its practicability is admitted, as a matter of faith
or duty, out of deference to the authority of Him who issued the
injunction, how prodigiously difficult is it to carry it into effect,
while we are ignorant of the proper mode of attaining true happi-
ness either for ourselves or our neighbours ! It appears to me that
the practicability of the precept is capable of demonstration from
the elements of the human mind and their relations.
1 Essays on Phrenology, (1819), p. 332.
374
Moral Education,
ance of the
Intellect in
illustrated.
The import-
It is impossible for human beings to be happy alone, or amidst
the misery of their fellows. If, for instance,. no individual can
Moral training exercise the Organic, Moral, and Intellectual faculties conferred on
him in their due degrees alone, without the presence and aid of his
fellows; if his Intellect cannot flourish amidst dull and stupid
associates; if his Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness
cannot enjoy the delights of their constitution amidst ferocious,
blaspheming, and dishonest knaves; and if the Propensities, when
untamed and unregulated, would lead individuals to destroy each
other: it becomes clear that not one of us can more effectually
gratify his love of himself if, by these words, we mean the promo-
tion of his own real happiness, than by improving the moral and
intellectual condition of his neighbours. By doing so, we shall raise
our neighbours in the scale of rational existence, and most persons
will admit that, if the great majority were enlightened in regard to
these principles, and would combine to carry them into effect, they
might be rendered practical. Now, in such a state of society, we
could "love our neighbour as ourselves" literally and truly, because
our interests and enjoyments would be compatible with his. In
short, in place of starting in life under the notion that our fellow
men are our rivals, whose interests are opposed to ours, we should
see clearly that, as God is good and just, He has constituted the
human mind and body and the external world in principles exactly
opposite to selfishness_namely, in such a way as to admit of the
welfare of all simultaneously; indeed, so as to render the happiness
of our neighbour an ingredient in our own, and in harmony with
His own precept, Love thy neighbour as thyself.
The influence Now, it is by becoming acquainted with the physical and mental
of Physical
nature of man, and its relation to external objects, that it becomes
Science on possible to form institutions of society, and adopt habits of life, that
Moral training will conduce to the real enjoyment of our own existence, and render
our neighbours as happy as we; and it is only by diffusing
this knowledge through society that the end of improvement can be
gained. All that we can at present do is to point to the promised
land, to pave the way through the wilderness, to beck on our fellow
men to enter upon the path that will ultimately lead out of it. And
the young are the grand objects on whom our instructions ought to
be most sedulously lavished. Let them perceive early that they
have received a rational nature, and point out to them the grand
objects at which it aims, and that these are to be reached only by
the cultivation of their moral and intellectual powers.
and Mental
The Influence of the Intellect in Moral Training: 375
tite for this
This leading principle being pointed out to children and young There exists a
natural appe-
persons, they will be able to conceive the utility and advantage of
studying the various branches of natural science related to their knowledge.
faculties. They will see that it conduces to the advantage of their
rational nature. Under the present system, it is extremely difficult
to enable children to conceive the benefits of education.
If that knowledge shall be communicated in due measure, not
over-exhausting the physical frame, as at present, by long hours of
mental application, and if it shall really be part of nature's stores,
their minds will desire it as their appropriate food, just as much as
a healthy stomach desires physical aliment. If the individual is
either confined from all muscular exercise, or doomed to great
exhaustion of toil, he will feel no appetite for food for the stomach:
if, like children at school among the lower classes, he is over-
tasked in learning, and the things taught are ill suited to his nature,
or if, as in the case of the lower orders, he is over-exhausted by mere
bodily exertion; he will experience little appetite for intellectual
food. But the errors here are in the treatment, and the want of
appetite ought not to be charged on the constitution of the stomach
and the mind.
1
One general defect in the mental condition of all of us is, that in The Intellect
ten instances we act from impulse and habit, for once that we do so trained to
from reflection. This arises from imperfect training in youth. Our regulate the
Impulsive faculties, being early developed, and possessing great faculties.
natural energy, are constantly liable to err and to lead us into evil,
when not controlled and directed by enlightened intellect. One
object, therefore, in teaching the young should be to communicate
knowledge, and another to train the Propensities and Sentiments to
submit to the control of the Intellect. In the United States, Train-
ing is needed above all things : for the public institutions of the
country, in fostering a spirit of independence, encourage the young
to rely on themselves; in other words, to act from the impulsive
elements of their nature, much more than from reflection. Reflec-
tion, when founded on knowledge, produces habits of self-denial,
self-restraint, and obedience. The want of this practical training
and discipline is seen in the males, in the recklessness with which
they dash into speculation and adventure, pursuing their leading
impulses at all hazards; and in the females, in the pertinacity with
1 From MSS.
376
Moral Education.
which they adhere to practices which they know to be injurious to
health, and in their deficiency of mental resolution to submit to the
temporary sufferings which always accompany a change of evil habits.
If the conductors of seminaries would require their pupils to
recapitulate, once a week, what they do in obedience to the laws
of health, and train them for two or three years to the practice
of these laws, they would form habits that would last during life,
and thus render the knowledge which they communicate effectual.
1
and Intellect.
Men classified Men may be divided into three classes. First, those in whom
the relations of the Moral Sentiments and Intellect naturally predominate over the
the Feelings Animal Propensities. Individuals so constituted are in very
little
danger from temptation, and may be excluded in the present discus-
sion. Secondly, those in whom the Animal Propensities naturally
preponderate over both Sentiment and Intellect. These are the men
who sink into vice in whatever situation they are placed, who
degrade themselves with habitual indulgence in animal pleasure,
and, so far as our observation extends, if placed in the country, they
become a focus of corruption to others; whereas, in a town, they
are swallowed up in the gulf of pre-existing iniquity. Thirdly,
those individuals, and they form the great majority of mankind, in
whom the Propensities are naturally so balanced against the Senti-
ments and Intellect, that external circumstances will cast the balance
to vice or virtue.
The training of This is the most important class. The object to be attained in
those having
equally bal- educating them is, to induce them habitually to restrain and regulate
anced faculties. the Animal Feelings, and exercise and manifest the Moral Sentiments
and. Intellect. To accomplish this end, every situation calculated
unduly to excite the Propensities must be avoided, and every cir-
cumstance that tends to call forth the Sentiments and to exercise
the Intellect ought to be encouraged. The question then occurs,
Does a secluded seminary, or a retired village, afford fewer tempta-
tions to vicious indulgence than a city ? Mr Campbell, we think,
has answered this successfully. “Granting,” says he, "the college
proctors whom you appoint to be the strictest and most conscientious,
still, how poor is a proctor's influence to a father's, to a mother's,
and to the purity of conversation ensured by the presence of sisters
1 America, vol. ii. pp. 128–9.
2 In “Suggestions Respecting the Plan for a University in London," by
Thomas Campbell, the poet, written in 1824-5, of which the above is a review.
The Influences of Home and of Great Schools. 377
of home influ-
ences in educa-
and respectable friends !" In short, in situations where boys live
closely congregated, and removed from the influence of ordinary
society, one individual of a corrupt mind may produce great conta-
mination, and it is well known that retired seminaries are, in fact,
selected as places of reform for all depraved and spoiled children of
the community, whose dispositions render them nuisances at home.
In these institutions, therefore, there are always some individuals of
bad natural dispositions, who come into the closest communication
with those who are ready to yield to the first impression.
But, farther, all the powers of the mind possess natural activity; The importance
and it is highly erroneous to imagine that boys whose mental organs
are equally balanced, and whose case we are now discussing, will tion.
naturally be pure if not contaminated by evil example. On the
contrary, their Animal Propensities will engender vice in the most
retired situation, unless prevented. And how are they to be pre-
vented! By exciting highly and habitually the Moral Sentiments
and Intellect. We require only to contemplate those powers for a
moment, to be able to decide what situation is best adapted for their
exercise. They are, Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientiousness,
Hope, and Ideality; and these may be aided by Adhesiveness and
Love of Approbation. Allow, then, that the Intellect is equally
well cultivated in a retired seminary and in a college situated in a
city. Whether is the bosom of a virtuous family, or the chambers
of a great school, best suited to keep in habitual exercise the Senti-
ments here enumerated ?
There can scarcely be a shade of difference in opinion on the The pleasures
subject; and it ought always to be remembered that it is only faculties all.
by carrying the mind upward, and leading it to expand its powers, important in
training.
and reap its enjoyments, in the department of morality and in-
tellect, that the Animal Propensities can possibly be restrained
and regulated. Mr Campbell, in adverting to the case of sailors
and Turkish women, gives a convincing commentary on the
success which attends attempts at curbing the lower instincts by
mere physical restraint,--that is, by merely rendering the natural
gratification of them impossible, without providing countervailing
enjoyments for the mind.
The principle of leading the mind from vice and to virtue by
pleasure is scarcely at all understood, and nevertheless it is essential
to the success of all plans for the improvement of the species.
1
1
Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (1824-5), p. 438.
378
Moral Education.
The play-
In Wilderspin's system of Infant Education, the playground is
ground as a
theatre of
looked upon as the theatre of Moral Training. There the older
Moral training. children are trained to be kind and affectionate to the younger.
Every deviation from Benevolence and Conscientiousness, every out-
break of passion or manifestation of selfishness, is made a matter of
inquiry. Nothing, in fact, is considered too insignificant for such
investigation. This is conducted openly, the children being the
jury. They rarely fail to take a just view of the matter and give a
just award. It is perfectly delightful to see the effect of this train-
ing. Temptations are not removed but presented; and, though
many of the children are taken from the very lowest ranks of
society, and some have not sufficient food, yet the dinners of their
more fortunate schoolmates, the currants, gooseberries, pears, and
apples in the playground, are all safe as if under lock and key. In
Britain, there are parents so poor that they have to send their chil-
dren to school without dinners. This is made a means of cultivating
the Benevolence of the more favoured, who make up a dinner out of
theirs for the little unfortunates.
1
The influence The employment of female teachers is new in the boys' schools
of Female
of America, and it has been found to answer well. The young
teachers in
Moral training. women treat the boys with a kindly interest, obviously influenced
by sex, and the feeling is reciprocal. The boys, when studying
under the young women, are more gentle and refined in their
manners than when taught by male teachers, and they perform
their tasks more obviously from a desire to please. This is as it
should be. There is nothing necessarily indelicate or improper
in the feelings of the sexes towards each other. Indeed, I have
heard ladies of the strictest principles and the most refined delicacy,
acknowledge that they were conscious of receiving an additional
stimulus to exertion from the influence of a teacher of the opposite
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 345. See p. 322, note 2,
regarding Wilderspin's System. The importance of the playground, rightly
utilised, as an educative field, cannot be overstated. As is well said by James
Simpson (see the Introduction and p. 201, et seq.), “ Here is the true infant
school; the schoolroom is but an accessory. In the playground are acquired
cleanliness, cheerfulness, health, activity, and resource; and social affections
are exercised and practised.” See his “ Philosophy of Education,” Appendix
No. 1, where some very good illustrations are given of the right use of the play-
ground. Its importance was fully recognised and acted on by Stow, who has
happily and truly designated the playground as "the uncovered schoolroom.."
See his “ Training System.
The Influence of Sex in Education.
379
sex.
There is no reason why this excellent ordination of nature
should not be employed to promote the training and instruction of
the youthful mind.
1
2. NOTES ON THE TRAINING OF SPECIAL MORAL FACULTIES.
so full of ness: Its wise
A boy, who was extremely mischievous, was sent to the Blind Destructive-
Asylum at Boston in America, as a pupil
. He was so full of
direction.
destructive energy that he broke the benches, tore the chairs
asunder, swung on the doors till he wrenched them off their
hinges, and perpetrated all sorts of mischief on frangible objects;
while he was so restless, that he was incapable of bending his
attention to books. Dr Howe reasoned with him, appealed to
his Moral Sentiments, and did everything in his power to im-
prove his habits by means of moral suasion, but with little success.
He was satisfied that there must be causes for these dispositions,
and endeavoured to discover them. He observed that the boy
1 America, vol. ii. p. 42. The influence of the Sexes on each other in the influence
Education is a most important subject, deserving greater study than it has yet of Sex in
Education.
received, though it begins to gain more attention. It was one on which
George Combe laid increasing importance after his return from America in
1840 Mr Bastard, a great friend of George Combe's (see p. 247), writing to
the editor in regard to it, says,
“The more I reflect on the co-education of the
sexes, the more I regard it as the great reform in Education, which will be
made, even up to carrying it out in the Universities themselves. I believe it
to be an immense mistake, in all institutions, whether moral or social, from
the infant school to the college, in scientific associations, clubs, and social
gatherings of all kinds, to separate the sexes. I have never had any doubt
about it since George Combe, after his return from America, where, he told me,
he first had his attention particularly drawn to the joint-education of children,
explained to me, physiologically, the advantages it affords. I cannot, without
much thought, fully recollect all the reasons he gave, but I think they were
based chiefly on Sexual Sympathy, and the disposition it engenders not to
oppose each other.
This leads the rough boy to be gentle to the girl, and to
receive instruction and even reproof from a female teacher, that he would not,
without some spirit of opposition, from a master; and, on the part of the girl,
it leads her to yield without question, to what looks like the strength of the
boy; and, farther, in opposition, to use a softness which the male has a diffi-
culty in withstanding. Finally, these sexual principles pervade human life
and should always be borne in mind.” One of the most valuable contributions
to the subject is “The Education of Girls and the Employment of Women
(London: Trübner & Co., 1869), by Professor Hodgson. It is also very
well put in “The Co-Education of the Sexes," by the Rev. James H. Fair-
child, D.D., of Oberlin College, U.S., copies of which, price 2d, may be had
from the principal booksellers in Edinburgh. See also pp. 67 and 68 of the
present work, for other contributions to the same subject.
380
Moral Education.
Destructive- had large lungs, and a high Sanguine Temperament, which gave
him
ness. Its wise great strength and restless activity ; also large organs of Destruc-
;
tiveness, that prompted him to exert those qualities habitually in
injuring the objects around him. He thought of providing him
with a legitimate field for the exercise of his dispositions. He sent
him into the cellar every morning, for three hours together, to saw
and split wood for the use of the institution. This exercise had the
desired effect. After undergoing it for some time, he became quite
willing to sit still in school and receive instruction with the other
boys; and the benches and chairs were safe. The boy himself was
delighted with the change, and soon sawed and split up all the wood
in the cellar. He was then set to running, leaping, climbing poles,
and disporting himself in various ways, in the gymnasium of the
institution; and Dr Howe found that so long as a legitimate and
adequate vent for his excessive muscular energy was provided, he
conducted himself with propriety, and was capable of mental
application.
Its hurtful Some children think it a capital practical joke to make a com-
manifestations.
panion strike hard on a soft substance with the point of a concealed
pin sticking up in it; or they ask to shake hands, and pinch with
the nail of their thumb till the blood spring; or they give a hot
object that will burn into the hand, and laugh heartily at the pain
produced. This results from Destructiveness and Secretiveness, and
is quite unintelligible as a source of pleasure to children in whom
Conscientiousness and Benevolence are large. It indicates selfishness,
finding gratification in cruelty, and ought to be represented to the
child as odious and immoral, and to be checked by every means.
Combativeness: When Combativeness is very large and active, it gives a hard thump-
Its character.
ing sound to the voice, as if every word contained a blow. Madame
istics;
de Staël informs us that Bonaparte's voice assumed this kind of
intonation when he was angry; and I have observed similar mani-
festations in individuals whom I knew to possess this part of the
brain largely developed. When predominant, it gives a sharp
expression to the lips, and the individual has the tendency to throw
1. America, vol. i. 217-8. See p. 122, regarding Dr Howe. The above
anecdote, told him by Dr Howe, was frequently used by George Combe, he tells
us, as an illustration in his lectures.
2 From MSS.
The Training of Special Moral Faculties. 381
his head backwards, and a little to the side, in the direction of the
organ, or to assume the attitude of a boxer or fencer. When the
organ is small, the individual experiences great difficulty in resisting
attacks; and he is not able to make his way in paths where he
must invade the prejudices or encounter the hostility of others.
Excessively timid children are generally deficient in this organ, and
possess a large Cautiousness. I conceive the extreme diffidence and
embarrassment of Cowper the poet to have arisen from such a com-
bination; and in his verses he loathes war with a deep abhorrence.
Deficiency of Combativeness, however, does not produce fear, for
this is a positive emotion, often of great vivacity, which cannot
originate from a mere negation of an opposite quality. Combative-
ness is generally more developed in men than in women, but in
the latter it is sometimes large. If it predominates, it gives a bold
and forward air to the female, and when a child she would probably
be distinguished as a romp.
Dr Parr was the admirer and advocate of pugilistic encounters Its exhibition
among the boys who were his pupils; and he defended the practice in fighting;
by the usual arguments, such as the exercise of a manly and useful
art, calculated to inspire firmness and fortitude, and to furnish the
means of defence against violence and insult. It was amusing to
hear him speak of the tacit agreement which subsisted, he said, be-
tween himself and his pupils at Stanmore, that all their battles
should be fought on a certain spot, of which he commanded a full
view from his private room, as thus he could see without being
seen, and enjoy the sport without endangering the loss of his
dignity. It is mentioned that his hind head was remarkably
capacious.
Persons in whom the Propensity is strong, and not directed by In private life.
superior Sentiments, are animated by an instinctive tendency to
oppose every measure, sentiment, and doctrine advocated by others;
and they frequently impose upon themselves so far as to mistake
this disposition for an acute spirit of philosophising, prompting
them to greater rigour of investigation than other men. In
society, it is useful to know the effects of this faculty, for then
we can treat it according to its nature. When we wish to convince
a person in whom the organ is large and Conscientiousness deficient,
he will never endeavour to seize the meaning or spirit of our
observations, but will pertinaciously put these aside, catch at any in-
accuracy of expression, fly to a plausible although obviously false
inference, or thrust in some extraneous circumstance, as if it were of
382
Moral Education.
essential importance, merely to embarrass the discussion. Indi
viduals so constituted are rarely convinced of anything; and the
proper course of proceeding with them is, to state our propositions
clearly and then drop the argument. This, by withdrawing the
opportunity for exercising their Combativeness, is really a punish-
ment to them, and our views will have a better chance of sinking
into their minds, unheeded by themselves, than if pertinaciously
urged by us, and resisted by them, which last would infallibly be
the case if we showed anxiety for their conversion. A good test
for a combative spirit is to state some clear and almost self-evident
proposition as part of our discourse. The truly contentious opponent
will instinctively dispute or deny it; and we need proceed no fartner.1
Cautiousness:
Cautiousness is almost uniformly large in children, and appears,
Its general
from this circumstance, to be developed at an earlier age than many
manifestations;
of the other organs.
This is a wise provision of nature, as caution
is never more indispensable to the safety of the individual than
during the helpless years of infancy and childhood. Children pos-
sessing a large endowment may be safely trusted to take care of
themselves; they will rarely be found in danger. When, on the
other hand, the organs are small in a child, he will be a hapless
infant; fifty keepers will not supply the place of the instinctive
guardianship performed by adequate Cautiousness. In a boy of six
years of age, it was very small, and he took off his clothes to leap
into an old quarry full of water to recover his cap, which the wind
had blown into it, totally insensible to the danger, which was im-
minent, of being drowned. In some very young children, the organs
are so prominent as to alarm mothers with the fear of disease or
deformity. Water in the head, indeed, frequently shows itself by an
enlargement of this part of the skull, but it is not uncommon for
unskilful persons to mistake a natural and healthy development of
the organ in question, for an indication of that malady.
When defici- In mature age, when the organ is very deficient, the individual is
rash and precipitate. He is never apprehensive about the results of
his conduct, and often proceeds to act without due consideration.
Persons of this description are frequently of a gay, careless dis-
position, and engrossed entirely with the present; they adopt rash
resolutions, and enter upon hazardous enterprises without delibera-
tion or advice. In domestic life, misfortunes overtake them in
1 System of Phrenology, vol. i. pp. 250–1.
ent;
The Training of Special Moral Faculties. 383
bined with
consequence of their want of precaution. From constitutional reck-
lessness, they precipitate themselves against objects in the dark;
they break frangible articles, owing to a want of precaution in
arranging them; and lose the money which they lend, by omitting
to take proper security for repayment. Riding upon a slippery path,
quite insensible to danger, their horse falls and deprives them of
life. A cat, or other animal, overturns the candle which they have
left burning, and sets their house on fire. In short, they are subject
to interminable misfortunes, through want of caution in their
conduct.
This faculty produces a repressing influence, and, in estimating its When com-
effects, the faculties with which it is combined should be kept in
other faculties;
view. An individual with large Acquisitiveness and Self-esteem,
which produce instinctive selfishness, was pointed out to me as
remarkably careful of his own interest, although the organ of
Cautiousness was deficient in his head. It was admitted, however,
that his prudence consisted chiefly in resisting solicitations to per-
form generous actions, and to enter into suretiship; but that, when
a tempting prospect of gain was held out to him, although attended
with great risk, he was liable to dash into the adventure, and in
consequence frequently sustained severe losses. His natural dis-
positions rendered him little prone to excessive generosity, and in
that respect no danger awaited him; but if Cautiousness had been
large, it would have kept him alive to the perils of speculation, and
prompted him to prefer small and certain profits to the chances of
great but uncertain gain.
Extreme and involuntary activity of this faculty produces internal When largely
sensations of dread and apprehension, highly distressing to the developed.
individual, although often very ridiculous in the eyes of ignorant
spectators. Many persons believe that the Feelings of the mind
depend upon the dictates of the Understanding, and that individuals,
if they would allow themselves to be convinced of the groundlessness
of their apprehensions, might, by an act of volition, remove the
terrors which oppress them. Such notions argue great ignorance of
human nature, As easily can we remove a pain from the leg, by
resolving to be quit of it, as can the unhappy sufferer under diseased
Cautiousness dispel the mental gloom by which he is afflicted.
1
The activity of Benevolence is productive of so much benefit in Benevolence.
1 System of Phrenology, vol. i. pp. 273-5.
384.
Moral Education.
society, that its cultivation ought to be specially attended to in the
training of children. The experience of the teachers of Infant
schools shows how much may be done in adding to its energy.1
Good Taste:
As Good Taste is the result of the harmonious action of the
its cultivation. faculties, we are able to perceive why Taste is susceptible of great
improvement by cultivation. An author frequently reasons as pro-
foundly, or soars as loftily, in his first essay, as after practice in
writing for twenty years; but, at the outset of his career, he rarely
manifests the same tact which he subsequently acquires by study
and the admonitions of a discriminative criticism. Reasoning de-
pends on Causality and Comparison, and lofty flights of imagination
on Ideality; and if the organs of these faculties be large, they will
execute their functions intuitively, and carry the author forward,
from the first, on a bold and powerful wing ; but as Taste depends
on the balancing and adjusting, the suppressing and elevating, the
ordering and arranging of his thoughts and emotions, so as to pro-
duce a general harmony of the whole, it is only practice, reflection,
and comparison with higher standards, that will enable him success-
fully to approximate to excellence; and even these aids will suffice
only when the organs are by nature combined in pretty equal pro-
portions, for if the balance preponderate greatly in any particular
direction, no effort will produce exquisite adjustment.?
Order.
The mode in which a person is trained in youth has a marked in-
fluence on the activity of Order. If brought up by regular and
orderly parents, the individual will be much more distinguished by
the same qualities than if his early years had been spent in the
midst of disorder and dirt.?
Music: the
choice of
words.
Singing relieves the monotony of the other studies, affords gratifi-
cation to the children, and serves to cultivate a taste for refined and
innocent pleasure. In one school I visited in America, the children
were requested to sing, and to select their own song. They chose
System of Phrenology, vol. i. p. 396. See Phrenological Journal, vol. vi.
pp. 129, 428—(G. C.)., where some good remarks on the cultivation of this and
other Sentiments will be found. Some very good examples of the training of
the Sentiments in Infant Schools are given in Appendix No. I. to James
Simpson's “Philosophy of Education."
2 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 281. 3 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 92.
1
The Training of Special Moral Faculties. 385
“I love my native land,” and sang it with great zest and good
execution. The sentiments savoured a good deal of Self-esteem,
like the patriotic songs of Old England. I was glad to observe,
however, sentiments of Benevolence and Justice towards other
nations introduced into the last verse.
1
I visited also the “Hawes Common School” in South Boston, Profane lan-
and found one peculiar institution. The children have been formed guage in
into “An Association for the Suppression of Profanity,” which the
teacher said had been eminently successful in banishing not only
oaths, but rude language and violence from the school. The organ-
isation of the Association is very similar to that of a temperance
society. It has a president, vice-president, secretary, and a standing
committee, elected every three months. 66 The members of the
society,” the teacher says, “wish to begin life with fair prospects.
We believe it to be important to gain the mastery over our tongues;
and to aid us in so doing, to excite us to watchfulness, we have
formed this Association.” “The society has a pledge which its mem-
bers sign, and a constitution by wbich all its proceedings are regu-
lated.” Article 5 of the constitution provides, that “any member
who shall be known to be guilty of profanity may be indicted by
the standing committee, and expelled or suspended, or otherwise
punished at the discretion of the society.” Article 6, “Profane
swearing shall be divided into two classes. In the first class, there
shall be comprehended the use of the name of God,' or the "Saviour,
together with that of 'damn' or its compounds, and "hell’ and its
compounds. In the second class, shall be included all other words
which may indirectly come under the title of profane, such as
'curse,' "devil,' and their compounds, of which the society shall
judge.” The form of initiation is not published. This society, in
addition to its moral influence, trains children to the practice of
public business, an object of importance in a country where every
man, after attaining twenty-one years of age, becomes an influential
member of the social body.”
2
books.
I visited a private school for Greek, Latin, arithmetic, geography, The preserva-
drawing, &c., taught by Mr James in Market Street, Philadelphia. tion of school
The arrangements and modes of teaching seemed remarkably good,
1 America, vol, i. p. 160.
America, vol. i. pp. 170–1.
2
2 B
386
Moral Education.
The preserva- but the circumstance which struck me most, as being new, was Mr
tion of school
books.
James's method of preserving the school-books from destruction : the
use of which is included in the school-fees. He covers the books with
cotton cloth, and enjoins care of them on the boys. To give efficacy
to this injunction, he withdraws every book immediately on per-
ceiving the slightest tear or stain on it, sacrificing it altogether, and
substituting one clean, new, and perfect, in its place. This practice
stimulates the boys to preserve their books, those among them who
are naturally careless becoming ashamed of the frequent renewals
which they render necessary.
He mentioned that he had found
that, when the books continued to be used after being soiled or
torn, however little, they all made a rapid progress to decay; but
that, by requiring them to be kept constantly in a high condition,
the waste is surprisingly small.
The principle involved in this practice is capable of being exten-
sively applied. Erect a high, but still an attainable standard, in
manners, cleanliness, and moral deportment in schools, and the
children will work up to it with greater earnestness and success than
many teachers believe.
1
3. ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF EMULATION IN EDUCATION.
Love of Appro-
Love of Approbation is too much cultivated in education, by being
bation :
almost universally appealed to as the chief stimulus to exertion
Too much
appealed to; and good behaviour. In Infant schools, however, conducted on Mr
Wilderspin's plan, prizes and place-taking are dispensed with, and
the result is most satisfactory. It is only where the subjects
of study are unsuitable to the minds of children, or improperly
taught, that Love of Approbation requires to be strongly ap-
pealed to.2
Combined with Secretiveness large, and Conscientiousness defi-
1 America, vol. ii. p. 58. .
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. v. p. 613; X. p. 9; and James Simpson's
Necessity of Popular Education” (afterwards known as “The Philosophy of
Education "], p. 148.-(G. C.) In the Phrenological Journal, vol. v. p.
613, James Simpson, in giving an account of Sheriff Wood's Sessional School
in Edinburgh, makes some very good observations on the use and abuse of
Emulation in Schools. In the same journal, vol. x. p. 9, Mr Robert Cox,
nephew of George Combe, long editor of that journal, and author of well-
known valuable works on the Sabbath Question, also treats the subject in
two excellent papers on Benevolence and Destructiveness.
The Use and Abuse of Emulation.
387
own.
cient, Love of Approbation prompts its possessor to pay to others Its manifesta-
those unmeaning compliments which pass current in society, and tions when
;
which most persons receive well when addressed to them-
selves, but treat with ridicule when bestowed lavishly on others.
When its development is excessive, while the regulating organs
are deficient, it is the cause of great unhappiness. It renders
the little girl at school miserable, if her dress and the style
of living of her parents are not equal to those of the parents
of her associates. It overwhelms the artist, author, or public
speaker with misery, if a rival is praised in the journals in higher
terms than himself. A lady is tormented by perceiving, in the
possession of her acquaintance, finer dresses or equipages than her
It excites the individual to talk of himself, his affairs and
connections, so as to communicate to the auditor vast ideas of his
greatness or goodness; in short, vanity is one form of its abuse.
Sir,” says Dr Johnson, “Goldsmith is so much afraid of being
unnoticed, that he often talks merely lest you should forget that he
is in the company.” When not combined with Conscientiousness
and Benevolence, it leads to feigned professions of respect and
friendship, and many manifest it by promises and invitations never
intended to be fulfilled or accepted. It, as well as Self-esteem,
prompts to the use of the first person; but its tone is that of
courteous solicitation, while the I of Self-esteem is presumptuous
and full of pretension.
When, on the other hand, the organ is deficient, and the Senti-When deficient.
ment, in consequence, is feeble, the individual cares little about the
opinion entertained of him by others; and, provided they have not
the power to punish his person, or abridge his possessions, he is
capable of laughing at their censures, and contemning their applause.
Persons of this sort, if endowed with the selfish Propensities in a
strong degree, constitute what are termed "impracticable” men;
their whole feelings are concentrated in self, and they are dead to
the motive which might induce them to abate one iota of their own
pretensions to oblige others. If actuated by any strong passion,
and endowed with intellect, it is astonishing what they are some-
times able to accomplish in attaining their objects. Strangers to
ceremony, and indifferent to censure, they meet with a thousand
rebuffs which they never feel, and are loaded with a hundred in-
dignities which never affect them. Free from the restraints which
delicacy imposes upon others, they practise upon the benevolence,
the disposition to oblige, or the interest of mankind, and succeed in
388
Moral Education.
circumstances in which a sensitive mind could have found only
obstacles insurmountable,
1
The effects of
Emulation on
study.
It is mentioned by some persons, however, that they are stimu-
lated to excess by Emulation, and that they occasionally ruin their
health by their exertions to gain prizes. This error is a serious one,
for when knowledge is acquired by laborious efforts, not for its own
sake but to gratify the feelings of Self-esteem and Love of Appro-
bation, its practical value is not appreciated, and it escapes from the
memory when the gratification for which it was acquired has been
attained. Information, on the contrary, recommended to the Intel-
lect by its inherent interest, and embraced by the Moral Affections
from its practical utility, will become the stock and furniture of the
mind through life, and, however limited in amount, it will be all
real and permanently available.?
The natural
rewards of
Are Prizes The question has been much agitated, whether it be expedient to
good in Edu-
cation ?
use prizes as a stimulus to exertion in education. I beg leave to
offer a few remarks on the subject, leaving the reader to decide for
himself.
The natural rewards for exerting each faculty are–First, the
exercising the pleasure attending the exercise of the faculty itself ; secondly, the
faculties.
value of the objects which it desires, when attained ; and thirdly,
the consequential advantages which may result from that attainment.
Thus, a highly-gifted musician derives intense pleasure directly from
exercising his talents; by cultivating them he lays up a store of
enjoyment for himself on which he may draw at pleasure ; and he
may also obtain admiration from the public, and fortune, if he
choose to dedicate his abilities to their gratification.
The treatment In some children, certain faculties enjoy high spontaneous acti-
of bright chil-
vity, and the pleasure and natural advantages attending the exercise
of them suffice to render them as active as any sensible teacher
or parent would desire. If a child, for example, have a great
natural talent for languages, he will learn to read with facility,
and experience great pleasure in reading. Books and study will be
his delight, and, in many instances, it will be more necessary to offer
him a recompense for giving up this pleasure and resorting to play
for the benefit of his health, than to stimulate him by honours and
1 System of Phrenology, vol. i. pp. 363-4.
America, vol. iii. p. 243.
dren;
Prizes and Place-taking in Schools.
389
prizes to greater mental application. The same remarks apply to
children who have great natural talents for drawing, or calculation,
or mechanics, or natural history, or any other pursuit. They will
study in the direction of these faculties with an ardour and a relish
that will render all extrinsic rewards superfluous. For such children,
therefore, prizes, as a stimulus, are altogether unnecessary.
There are other children, however, who have very little natural of dull chil-
dren.
talent for particular branches of education which their parents wish
them to learn, such as languages, or arithmetic, or mathematics;
and, as they do not experience any direct pleasure in such studies,
teachers have resorted to punishment for deficiency, and prizes for
proficiency, in the prescribed exercises, as motives to exertion. It
cannot be denied that these have a certain effect in promoting the
attainment of the end in view. A boy with a moderate talent for
languages will not study Greek and Latin for his own gratification,
whereas he may be induced to do so by receiving a severe beating if
he fail, and a gold medal if he succeed, in learning certain lessons.
Even the advocates of prizes, therefore, should, in consistency, The only occa-
sion for prizes.
confine the application of them to the object of drawing forth exer-
tion from children in studies which are necessary for their destina-
tion in life, but to which they are not naturally inclined. The
indiscriminate administration of them is clearly erroneous.
Prizes are of two kinds, either marks of personal distinction, such Their nature.
as high places in a class, or medals worn for a day, or property, such
as books, sums of money, or inedals of gold and silver, bestowed on
the individual as gifts. The value of the former, namely places and
decorations, consists in the gratification which they afford to the
self-love and vanity of the wearer. They mark, not that he is a
good scholar, but that he is the best compared with his fellows, all
of whom may be only indifferently accomplished.
Obvious objections present themselves to prizes administered in Objections to
this form. The gratification consists not in the attainment of an
prizes :
object valuable in itself, but in a feeling of personal superiority over
a neighbour. The circumstance which makes a child dux,? or brings
1 Horace Mann, the great American educationist, puts this subject very
well, in a letter written in 1852 : “We are all anti-emulation men—that is,
all against any system of rewards and prizes, designed to withdraw the mind
from the comparison of itself with a standard of excellence, and to substitute
a rival for that standard." See “Horace Mann's Life” (Horace B. Fuller,
Boston, U.S.A.), p. 386. As has also been well said, the aim in education
should be to generate in the child a desire for excellence, not for excelling.
2 Dux means, in Scotland, the head of a class, and is the Latin word dux,
1
390
Moral Education.
envy.
the love of
(1.) They foster him the decoration of a medal, is not the actual possession of a certain
selfishness and
quantity of useful knowledge or of learning, but the accident of
the other children in the class with him being more stupid or less
diligent than himself. The mind of the child does not always con-
template the medal as the certificate that he has acquired a certain
amount of information, but often as the symbol of a personal
triumph over all the other children in his class. It, therefore, fosters
pride and selfish ambition in the successful competitor, and envy
and jealousy in the unsuccessful, feelings which are naturally strong,
(2.) They do and need to be repressed; while it does not, in any appreciable
not cultivate
degree, cultivate the love of knowledge for its own sake, which is the
knowledge. legitimate object of education. I have known children in whom
these passions were strong bribe their more talented schoolfellows,
in whom they were less energetic, by giving them money or play-
things, to resign high places and medals in their favour. They
carried home the trophies thus acquired, and were lauded by their
parents for their genius. This was a direct cultivation of falsehood
and cunning, in addition to vanity and pride, in the children, and
was calculated to exercise a baneful influence over their future lives.
Prizes as re-
Prizes administered in the form of donations of books, money, or
wards for exer- other kinds of property, do not necessarily imply the depreciation of
other competitors, and in so far are unobjectionable. If they are
offered, not as insignia of triumph over them, but as rewards for
exertion, they appear much in the same light as fees paid to artists,
and to men of talent in the professions of the law and medicine,
which assuredly stimulate them to diligent application.
Great evils attend the prevalent system of administering prizes,
some of which may be briefly noticed.
3.) They culti- In place-takings, the competition is directly personal, and the
vate the lower reward of the successful child is founded on the humiliation of his
passions.
less successful fellow. In this practice, the attention of the com-
petitors is very little drawn to the value of the lessons themselves;
their minds are strongly agitated by the passions of ambition, envy,
and hatred. Place-taking, therefore, appears to be calculated to
throw into the shade the natural advantages of knowledge, and to
cultivate some of the worst passions of our nature.
In place-taking, and in the usual method of awarding prizes, the
reward is frequently assigned to those individuals who have least
tion.
a leader, from duco to lead ; a remnaat of old Scotch school Latinity, like
dominie for the teacher, and pandie for a stripe on the hand, another form of
the imperative pande manum, stretch out your hand.
Prizes and Place-taking in Schools.
391
reward the least
1
scure the natu-
merit. If one boy enjoy from nature a great aptitude for learning (4.) They often
languages, with a vivacious temperament, and another possess only
meritorious.
a moderate endowment of that talent, with a slow temperament; the
latter may have sacrificed more hours of play and pleasure in pre-
paring his lessons than the former, yet the clever boy shall reap
the prize and the glory of scholarship.
At the time when I was educated, punishment, place-taking, and (5.) They often
prizes were, to a great extent, relied on as superseding the duty on teaching.
the part of the masters of teaching the scholars. Our lessons were
prescribed, and we were left to learn them as we best could, being
flogged, confined, and put down places if we failed to say them, and
praised, put up, and let out of school early, if we were expert in
performing our tasks. This rendered the school literally a place of
punishment, a character of it which seemed to be recognised by the
teacher himself also, when he rewarded us by abridging the hours of
our confinement in it. I do not know whether this practice still
lingers in any schools, but I fear that it does.
The prevalent system of place-taking and prizes obscures the per-(6.) They ob-
ception, in both teachers and pupils, of the natural pleasures and
ral pleasures
advantages of knowledge. From experience and observation, I am of knowledge.
satisfied that, to the great majority of children, a school may be
rendered a scene of delightful occupation. A well-conducted Infant
school, in which the moral affections are exercised, and the intellec-
tual faculties instructed in objects adapted to their constitution, is
resorted to by most children with positive pleasure; and the
majority of young men follow courses of instruction in science with
a degree of zeal which shows that they regard their studies as a
pleasure and not as a burden. If place-taking, medals, and prizes
were abolished at ordinary schools, it would soon be discovered that
a number of the branches taught, as well as the methods of instruc-
tion, are deficient in real interest: it would be found impossible to
induce the scholars to make adequate exertions to learn ; and the
consequence would be, that teachers would be prompted by necessity
to select branches of knowledge and methods of instruction calcu-
lated to benefit the youthful mind, and thus improvement would be
forced upon both teachers and pupils.
A considerable number of excellent and successful schools are now (7.) Their non-
conducted without place-taking, with the best results both on the best
results.
moral dispositions and the intellectual habits of the children, a fact
George Combe gives a most graphic account of the kind of education he
received at school, in his “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 17 et seq.
1
392
Moral Education.
which shows that the natural advantages of knowledge are sufficient
to induce exertion for their attainment when judiciously presented
to the youthful mind.
1
Works on
Emulation
and Rewards
in Schools.
66 The
[On the use of Emulation in Schools and the giving of Rewards,
see also the following works :-Edgeworth's “Practical Education,
vol. i. chap. 9; Locke on Education, sect. 52; Stow's “Training
System," chap. xxii. ; Horace Mann on "School Motives," in his
Report for 1845, in vol. iii. of his “Life and Works," by Mrs
Mann (Boston: Horace B. Fuller), and on Emulation, in his
“ Educational Tour;" Dr Andrew Bell's “Elements of Tuition,”
Part Second, Book 2d, Part ii. 9; John L. Parkhurst on
Means to Stimulate the Student without Emulation,” in “The
Schoolmaster: Essays on Practical Education," vol. i. (London:
Charles Knight); Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclopædia of Education"
(New York : E. Steiger; London : Sampson, Low, & Co.) 8. vv.,
“Rewards” and “Emulation;" Currie's “Common School Education,
sect. 214 et seq., and his “ Early and Infant School Education,”
sect. 245; Gill's “Systems of Education," see Index (London:
Longmans); Dr Wiese's “German Letters on English Education,”
p. 188; the articles mentioned, p. 386, note 2; and other works
on Discipline mentioned at the end of next section, p. 405.—Edit.]
4. ON THE PRINCIPLES OF DISCIPLINE IN EDUCATION.
Discipline In administering punishment, let the teacher ask himself whether
should remove the infliction has a tendency to remove the cause of the evil which
he desires to remedy. Annihilate the cause, and the effect will, of
course, disappear.2
the causes of
evils.
1
In the lower and middle ranks of life, parents often complain of
want of respect and obedience on the part of their children; but a
common cause of this evil may be found in the deficient knowledge,
harsh dispositions, and rude manners of the parents themselves,
Popular Education, pp. 75–78.
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. xiv. (1841) p. 55; from remarks at meeting
of the Phrenological Association, held in Glasgow, in Sept. 1840, of which
George Combe was President. Education,' says William Ellis, deals
with causes-punishment with effects.' What volumes of practical wisdom are
embodied in this simple remak!"--George Combe, in Westminster Review for
July 1852.
The Principles of Discipline.
393
which are not calculated to render them really objects of respect to True obedience
can be based.
the higher Sentiments of their children. The mere fact of being only on re-
father or mother to a child is obviously not sufficient to excite its spect.
Moral Affections. The parents must manifest superior wisdom,
intelligence, and affection, with a desire to promote its welfare; and
then respect and obedience will naturally follow. The attempt
to render a child respectful and obedient by merely telling it to be
so, is as little likely to succeed as the endeavour to make it fond of
music by assuring it that filial duty requires that it should love
melody. We must excite the faculty of Tune by pleasing strains ;
and, in like manner, the Moral Sentiments must be addressed by
their appropriate objects. Harsh conduct tends naturally to rouse
the faculties of Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Self-esteem;
while the Moral Sentiments can be excited only by rational, kind,
and just treatment. As reasonably might a father hope to gather
figs from a thorn tree, as to gain the love and respect of his children
by maltreating or neglecting them. If a parent desire to have a
docile, affectionate, and intelligent family, he must habitually address
himself to their Moral and Intellectual Powers; he must make them
feel that he is wise and good-exhibit himself as the natural object
of attachment and respect; and then, by average children, the
reciprocal duties of love and obedience will not be withheld.
If parents knew and paid a just regard to the natural and reason-The natural
able desires of the young, they would be far less frequently disobeyed desires of chil-
than they actually are. Many of their commands forbid the exercise dren should be
respected.
of faculties which in children pant for gratification, and which
nature intended to be gratified; and the misery and disappointment
consequent on baulked desire have an effect very different from that
of disposing to affection and obedience. The love of muscular
motion, for instance, is irrepressible in children, and Physiology
proves that the voice of nature ought to be listened to. Yet the
young are frequently prohibited from yielding to this instinct, that
the family or teacher may not be disturbed by noise; tasks unsuit-
able to their age and dispositions are imposed; their health and
happiness are impaired; and when peevishness, unpalatable to the
parents, ensues, the children are blamed for being cross and dis-
obedient!
A friend, who is the father of several intelligent children told
me that before he studied Phrenology and the Natural Laws," he
1 See the Natural Laws explained and applied to Human Life in George
Combe's Constitution of Man; ninth edit., (Edinburgh, Maclachlan & Stewart.)
and reasonable
394
Moral Education.
Unintelligent taught his children the Shorter Catechism, and required their
commands
illustrated.
obedience on the strength of the Fifth Commandment, “Honour
thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee;" assuring them that God would
punish them by premature death if they disobeyed this injunction.
God, he said, had power of life and death over all, and, as he was
just, he would enforce his authority. The children soon learned,
however, by experience, that this consequence did not follow : they
disobeyed, and were threatened; but, finding themselves still alive,
they disobeyed again. He was not successful, therefore, by this
method, in enforcing obedience.
Intelligent After becoming acquainted with the Natural Laws, he still
commands and
obedience
taught them the Commandment, but he gave them a different ex-
illustrated. planation of it. You see, said he, that there are many objects
around you dangerous to your lives; there is fire that will burn
you, water that will drowu you, poison that will kill you: and also,
there are many practices which will undermine the constitution of
your vital organs, such as your heart, your stomach, or your lungs
(explaining uses of these at the same time), and cause you to die,
as you have seen John and Janet, the children of Mrs Wilson and
Mrs Brown, die. Now, because I am old, and have listened to my
parents, and have studied and observed a great deal, I know what
will injure you, and what will not, better than you know yourselves;
and I am willing to communicate my knowledge and experience to
you, that you may avoid danger and not die, if you choose to listen
to and obey me. But, if you prefer taking your own way, and
acting on your own ignorance, you will soon discover that God's
threat is not an empty one; you will come home some day suffering
severely from your own rashness and self-will, and you will then
learn whether you are right in your disobedience,—you will then
understand the meaning of the commandment to be, that if you obey
your parents, and avail yourself of their knowledge and experience,
you will avoid danger and live; while if you neglect their counsels,
you will, through sheer ignorance and self-will, fall into misfortune,
suffer severely, and perhaps die. He said that this commentary,
enforced from day to day by proofs of his knowing more than the
children, and of his ability to advise them to their own good, was
successful; they entertained a higher respect for both the Command-
ment and him, and became more obedient.
It is a common practice with nurses, when a child falls and hurts
itself, to beat the ground or the table against which it has struck.
The Principles of Discipline.
395
trations of
both.
should be regu-
This is really cultivating the feeling of revenge. It gratifies the Farther. illus-
child's Self-esteem and Destructiveness, and pacifies it for the
moment. The method of proceeding dictated by the Natural Law
is widely different. The nurse or parent should take pains to
explain the cause of its falling, and present it with motives to take
greater care in future. The suffering would thus be turned to
good account; it would become, what it was intended by Providence
to be, a lesson to lead the child to circumspection, patience, and
reflection.
In exacting obedience from children, it should never be forgotten Discipline
that their brains are very differently constituted from each other, lated according
and that their mental dispositions vary in a corresponding degree. to the natural
disposition.
The organ of Veneration, besides, is generally late in being developed;
so that a child may be stubborn and unmanageable under one kind
of treatment, or at one age, who will prove tractable and obedient
under a different discipline, or at a future period. The aid which
parents may derive from Phrenology can hardly be overrated. It
enables them to appreciate the natural talents and dispositions of
each child, to modify their treatment, and to distinguish between
positively vicious tendencies (such as deceit, lying, dishonesty) and
other manifestations (such as stubbornness and disobedience), which
often proceed from misdirection of faculties (Self-esteem and Firm-
ness) that will prove extremely useful, under moral guidance, in the
maturity of the understanding. The reason for watchfulness and
anxiety is much greater in the former than in the latter case; because
dishonesty, falsehood, and pilfering betoken not only over-active
organs of Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness, but a native deficiency
of the controlling Moral organs, which is a more serious evil. When
the Moral organs are adequately possessed, the perceptions of chil-
dren regarding right and wrong are naturally active and acute; and
although individuals with a large development of the organs of the
higher Sentiments may, under the impulse of the Propensities,
commit errors in youth, they will certainly improve as age and
experience increase. Where the Moral organs are very defective,
the character tends to deteriorate in mature life. After the restraints
imposed by parental authority are withdrawn, and respect for the
world is blunted, persons deficient in these faculties are prone to
become victims to their inferior Feelings, to disgrace themselves,
and to bring sorrow on their connections. I
1 Moral Philosophy, Lecture vii.
396
Moral Education.
This exempli. The larger any organ is, the more it is predisposed to become
in
with defective active; and the smaller, the less so. Hence an individual prone to
faculties; violence, to excessive pride, vanity, or avarice, is the victim of an
unfavourable development of brain, and, in our treatment of him, we
should bear this fact constantly in mind. If we had wished, for ex-
ample, to render Bellingham mild, the proper proceeding would have
been, not to punish him for being ill-tempered, for this would have
directly excited his Destructiveness, the largeness of wþich was the
cause of his wrath, but to address ourselves to his Benevolence, Venera-
tion, and Intellect, that, by rousing them, we might assuage the vehe-
mence of Destructiveness. In a case like that of David Haggart, in
whom Conscientiousness was very deficient, we should always bear
in mind that, in regard to feeling the obligation of justice, such an
individual is in the same state of unhappy deficiency as Mr Milne
is in perceiving colours, and Ann Ormerod in perceiving melody;
and our treatment ought to correspond. We would never think of
attempting to improve Ann Ormerod's organ of Tune by beating
her; and, Haggart's Conscientiousness being naturally, as deficient,
we could as little have succeeded in enabling him to feel and act
justly, by inflicting severe punishment. The reasonable plan in
such cases is, first, to avoid placing the individual in circumstances
demanding the exercise of the deficient faculty—not to place Ann
Ormerod, for instance, in a band of singers, or David Haggart in a
confidential situation, where property is entrusted to his care; and,
in the next place, to present to all the organs of the higher Senti-
ments which are largely possessed, motives calculated to excite them
and to control the Propensities; so as to supply, as far as possible, by
other means, the directing power of the feeble Conscientiousness.
With very de. Occasionally, individuals who are very deficient in several of the
Moral and Intellectual organs, will not believe in their own defi-
ciencies, and, in opposition to the counsels of their best friends,
insist on engaging in enterprises which they are incapable of con-
ducting with success. The proper mode of treating such persons is
to restrain them if possible; and, if this cannot be done, to allow
them to suffer the disagreeable consequences of their own line of
conduct. It is only by undergoing these that their own incapacity
becomes practically known to themselves.
fective facul.
ties.
1
In awarding punishments, also, the different functions of the
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 189 and 190. See full descriptions of
the cases mentioned above, in the saine work.
The Principles of Discipline.
397
for different
faculties, and the difference of their endowment in different indi- Different dis-
cipline required
viduals, ought to be kept constantly in view ; for what occasions
severe suffering to one individual will often excite no uneasiness in persons.
another. If the Love of Approbation be powerful in one individual,
he will be liable to be deeply affected by disgrace; while, in another
in whom that faculty is weak, disgrace will produce a very trifling
sensation. In a third individual in whom Acquisitiveness is strong,
the loss of property will be dreaded as a serious evil, and he will be
more affected by the loss of money than by any other affliction.
It is only in the very lowest natures that some Feeling may not be Only the lowest
found by means of which the conduct may be influenced, and it is require chas-
only with such individuals that corporal chastisement ought to be
resorted to. In such cases, where all our endeavours to elevate the
conduct by education prove ineffectual, no duty remains for man to
perform but to guard himself against the evils likely to be produced
to society by such unfortunate individuals. Such persons ought to
be looked upon rather as patients than as objects of wrath. They
then become the subjects of criminal legislation.
1
should exercise
all the facul-
It was lately announced that an attempt made in the new Real education
Academy to teach without the infliction of corporal chastisement
had failed, and that it had been found necessary to introduce the ties.
“ tawse," or rod of correction. This result is not surprising; but the
legitimate conclusion from it is, not that youth cannot be managed
without coercion, but that the system of tuition there pursued is not
in accordance with nature. The phrenologist, in surveying the
youthful mind, perceives a great variety of Propensities, Sentiments,
and Knowing and Reflecting faculties, all endowed with natural
activity, and soliciting exercise and gratification. Happiness con-
sists in the indulgence of these powers, and suffering or uneasiness
is the direct consequence of their permanent suppression. A system
of education, therefore, framed in conformity to nature, must afford
opportunities for the exercise of all the faculties. The Propensities
and Sentiments require active life and social intercourse for their
expansion; the Knowing or Perceptive powers desire to become
acquainted with objects existing in nature and their qualities; and
the Reflecting faculties demand a knowledge of relations, to minister
to their gratification. The cultivation of the Sentiments and direc-
Essays on Phrenology (1819) p. 340.
2 The Edinburgh Academy, founded in 1824. The above was written at the
beginning of 1825. See p. 88 regarding the Academy and education at that time.
1
398
Moral Education.
tion of the Propensities belong chiefly to the domestic circle; but, in
public schools, proper exercise should be provided for the Intellectual
powers. Individuality delights in information concerning objects
which exist (history, natural and civil); Locality desires to know
places (geography); Order is delighted with arrangement; Colour
desires to contemplate the hues and shades of nature, in all their
rich variety and profusion; Constructiveness, Size, and Weight
delight in the mechanical arts; Form desires to know the figures of
objects; Number delights in calculations ; Tune and Time, in music
and the dance; Language and Ideality, in poetry; while Causality,
Comparison, and Wit? desire to discover the causes, the analogies
and differences of all the other subjects of knowledge.
The neglect of In schools, as at present conducted, the only faculties exercised
certain facul.
are Language, Locality, and Number, on which depend reading,
cause of chas. geography, and accounts; the other faculties, being left unemployed,
produce restlessness and mental wanderings—they stray after objects
calculated to excite them, and the lash is then introduced to quell
their activity, and to concentrate the whole energies of the pupil on
the task prescribed to him. While this fundamental error is perse-
vered in, the “tawse” cannot be dispensed with ; but, if the whole
Intellectual powers were provided with legitimate employment in
schools, education would be the most delightful exercise of life, the
deepest attention would reign in the class-rooms, and every counte-
nance would beam with joy; fear and compulsion might then be
dispensed with, for the causes which now render them necessary
would be removed.2
ties a fertile
tisement.
at school.
This exempli- The noise and inattention which provoked Mr Luke Fraser, our
fied in personal teacher in the Edinburgh High School, and led to much of his severity,
were the natural consequences of our condition. Fully half of the
seats stood apart from the wall and had no backs. In summer, we sat
on them from 7 to 9 A.M., from 10 till 12 noon, and from 1 to 3 P.M.;
and in winter, from 9 to 11 A.M.; and 12 to 2 P.M. : without any
intellectual occupation, except hearing the lessons repeated over and
i George Combe subsequently changed his views regarding the function of
Wit. See his System of Phrenology, vol. i. p. 490.
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (1824-5) p. 237. The above touches one of
the great secrets of discipline, the employment of all the faculties according to
the laws of their natural activity, and one of the best means of its improve-
ment. It was seen by Quintilian, who had a strong aversion to all corporal
punishment (Quintilian, i. 3).
The Principles of Discipline.
399
over again, as they descended from the top to the bottom of the The effects of
class. There was suffering from an uneasy position of the body, faculties on
unoccupied
and nearly absolute vacuity of mind,--and this at an age when every discipline.
fibre of the brain and muscles was glowing with nervous activity. If
Physiology and the laws of the healthy action of the brain and
muscles, and the laws of mental action had been known in those
days, everything might have been different. The silence, pleasing
excitement, and general good behaviour which reigned when we had
an intelligible object presented to us, clearly indicated what was
wanted to render us all happy; but the hint was not taken. In point
of fact, there was no other rational knowledge adapted to the young
mind in the teacher's brain : ex nihilo nihil fit was exemplified in his
whole teaching Only on two occasions did he ever, to my recollec-
tion, address a word to us beyond translation and grammar of the
baldest description. The first of these exceptions took place when
we read the description of the bridge erected by Julius Cæsar over
the Rhine, given in the “Commentaries." The other instance was
due to the occurrence of a thunderstorm, which frightened us by its
darkness and proximity. This led him to describe a previous storm
of the same kind, which had ended by a thunderbolt striking the
front of the Royal Infirmary, quite near to the High School of those
days, and breaking the windows on that side. He gave us some
account of the nature of a thunderstorm, and how, after a terrible
crash, the danger was past; and this sustained our courage till the
clouds cleared away. No other items of general information, except
these two, dwell on my memory as having been communicated
during the four years of my attendance.2
1
The doctrine of Sympathy3 leads to valuable practical consequences. The application
The Natural Languaget of any faculty is intelligible to, and excites Sympathy to
the same faculty in, another, and this same principle explains why discipline;
harshness is much less powerful than mildness, in commanding the
services of others. Harshness is the Natural Language of active Self-
esteem, Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Firmness. In virtue of
the above rule, it naturally excites the same faculties in those
against whom it is directed, and an instinctive tendency to resistance
1 This is described in Part Third, chap. iv. sect. 3.
2 From Autobiography, prefixed to his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 20.
3 See this doctrine explained, p. 328.
4 The Natural Language of the faculties is explained, p. 331.
400
Moral Education.
Sympathy or disobedience is the result. Among the uneducated classes, this
applied to dis-
cipline;
process is exhibited every day. A parent, in a harsh and angry
tone, commands a child to do or to abstain from doing something ;
the child instinctively resists, and loud threatenings, and at last
violence, ensue. These last are direct stimulants to Cautiousness;
they overpower the faculties excited only by the indirect stimulus
of harshness : and obedience at last takes place. This is the uniform
effect of imperious commands: obedience never ensues till conse-
quences alarming to Cautiousness are perceived, and then it is
attended with a grudge. Veneration, Conscientiousness, Love of
Approbation, and Benevolence, on the other hand, are the faculties
which lead to willing submission and obedience, and to which, there-
fore, we ought to address ourselves. If we stimulate them, com-
pliance will be agreeable to the individual, and doubly beneficial to
the person who commands.
And to moral This principle explains, also, the force of Example in training to
training by
Example
good conduct, and affords instructive rules for the proper education
of the Propensities and Sentiments. Where parents and seniors act
habitually under the influence of the higher Sentiments, the same
Sentiments in children not only receive a direct cultivation, but are
sustained in enduring vivacity by the natural expression of their
activity thus exhibited. Children, having the organs of the Senti-
ments early developed, can judge of what is right and wrong long
before they can reason; and hence the importance of always mani-
festing before them the supremacy of the Moral Feelings. Much of
the effect of example upon the future character has been ascribed to
Imitation; but, although this faculty has an influence, I am persuaded
that it is small compared with that of Sympathy as now unfolded.
1
The manage-
ment of very
active chil.
dren :
Children with well developed brains and a very active tempera-
ment are often difficult to manage; the teacher loses all command
of them, and they become petulant, quarrelsome, forward, and un-
profitable scholars. Several causes conduce to this. Where the
children have the Sanguine-nervous or the Nervous-bilious tempera-
ment, and are in high health, they require bodily exercise to a
great extent to let off their surplus energies; and, until this be
expended, they are not in a state sufficiently quiescent to rest, and
employ their brains in learning. Where the children have active
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 271-2. See the effects of Example
explained, pp. 370–1 of the present work.
The Principles of Discipline.
401
temperaments, and large intellectual organs, they will experience a The employ-
craving for solid, useful, and precise information, and unless this be ment elit haina
facul-
supplied, they will be unhappy; their faculties, not being engaged, ties.
will wander, and inattention and insubordination will ensue. The
organs of Combativeness and Destructiveness, with Self-esteem, are
sometimes large, and the temperament being active, these will break
out. Some hours hard labour would give vent to their energy.
Sometimes the teacher is Lymphatic, or Sanguine-lymphatic, when
the children are Nervous, or Nervous-bilious, or Nervous-sanguine ;
and the former is soft and slow in the timbre or tone of his mani-
festations, while the latter are quick and sharp. The want of har-
mony between the Temperaments prevents the teacher and scholars
from getting into harmony in their minds, and this also causes
insubordination. To use force to support authority in this instance
is the result of ignorance. It does not remove any of these causes,
and either breaks the spirit of the children or renders them hypo-
critical actors.
1
dient and
You have a child in whom Self-esteem, Destructiveness, and of the disobe-
Firmness are predominant, and they, by their spontaneous activity, obstinate:
produce petulance, disobedience, pettishness, and obstinacy. You
wish to remove these dispositions and to render the child docile,
obedient, respectful, and obliging. Attend to the faculties. You
desire Self-esteem, Destructiveness, and Firmness to be quiescent;
and Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Love of Appro-
bation to be active.
Now, each faculty is roused into activity by the natural objects The wrong
related to it addressing it from without. Suppose you scold and way of its
;
whip the pettish child, you manifest your own Destructiveness in
anger and blows, and your own Self-esteem in authoritative command.
As your head is larger and your physical strength greater than the
child's, you may certainly overcome it by these means, and terrify it
into submission ; but look at the means, and mark the result.
Your anger and imperiousness tend to excite the very same feel-
ings in the child, and, in fact, they actually do so. The child first
gathers itself up to set you at defiance. You, therefore, stimulate
and give life and energy to the very organs which you wish to
subdue; and you do nothing whatever to rouse Benevolence,
Veneration, and Conscientiousness, which you desire to excite.
i From MSS. See p. 341, on The Temperaments.
2 C
402
Moral Education.
Although, by superior force of your own organs, you overcome the
child, he has internally the rancorous feeling of a fallen enemy.
He rebels in his soul, after he has yielded in action. Survey his
dogged and sulky countenance as he goes to do your bidding, and
you will see all the passions now described painted in it, with fear
of your superior force added to them.
The right way
To rouse Benevolence, Conscientiousness, and Veneration, the
and its results. whole proceedings must be addressed to these faculties. Your voice
must be soft, kind, yet firm. You must give indications that cannot
be mistaken of a moral purpose, and of an affectionate interest in
the child himself. If you must resort to severity, to overcome a
resistance that will not yield to mildness and persuasion, you should
do so meekly, quietly, and temperately, expressing your mortification
at being forced to resort to such unworthy means of overcoming a
nervous temper. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, you will
succeed by the moral method, and the child will have its own offend-
ing Propensities allayed in activity, and the higher Feelings culti-
vated. Every successful repetition of the treatment will be a step
towards an ultimate cure ; while the other produces an opposite effect.
In the next place, if an organ is not possessed in an efficient
degree, the corresponding feeling cannot be experienced. I am not
aware of any means of supplying organs very deficient, such as
Number or Tune. They may be cultivated up to the point to which
the organs can admit of cultivation. Do not place the individuals
in circumstances which require activity of the power in which they
are deficient. If the moral organs are very deficient, the child is a
moral patient, not reformable by ordinary means.
The treatment
of the very
deficient.
1
Personal ex- The activity of my Moral and Intellectual faculties, and of my
periences of
Animal Propensities also, was a source of great unhappiness to me,
defective
discipline : left, as they all were, to well forth in utter ignorance of their own
(1.) Of mere
commands nature and objects, and undirected by any intelligent and self-con-
without coun- sistent discipline. My father and mother never gave us any instruc-
sel and reason;
tion. They set excellent practical examples before us. They were
both highly moral; had an abhorrence of debt; never shrank from
their duties; and were kind to the destitute people around them, and
to their poor relations. Their industry was unceasing. . But they
owed all these excellent qualities to nature. Their education was
very defective, and they had never been accustomed to use their
1 From MSS.
Personal Experiences of Early Discipline. 403
ment;
97
intellects beyond the sphere of practical duties. They appear to me
now to have laboured under an extreme diffidence in venturing on
counsel or explanation on any moral or religious subject, lest they
should err and mislead us; and probably also they were conscious
of inability to expound principles and enforce precepts, in conse-
quence of the untrained state of their own Intellectual faculties. Be
this, however, as it may, the fact is, that they only ordered us to do
or not to do certain things, and scolded us heartily if we failed.
My father never beat us, for a reason which he communicated to (2.) Of threats
without fulfil-
me before he died. His mother had once beaten him unjustly and
severely in a fit of passion, and her conduct had left an indelible
and painful impression on his mind through life. “I forgave her,"
said he, “but I never could forget the injury. I mentioned it to her
in later life, and she begged of me never to name it to her again.
From the moment of the infliction, child as I was, I formed a
resolution that no provocation should induce me to leave a similar
impression on the mind of any child of mine ; and I have kept my
word.” Dear, good, old father! you did keep your word; but
you gave us orders—we were remiss in obedience; you threatened
severe consequences-we discovered that you did not execute your
threats; we calculated on impunity, and continued our play, when
we should have been doing our duty to you. You then threatened
louder and louder, until Abram use to whisper to me-“He is
getting near the striking pitch ; we had better go.” And then we
went; but I went sullenly, the love of self-indulgence pulling one
way, conscience another, and fear only supporting conscience at
last.
The conflict between love of self-indulgence and conscience was (3.) Of non-
in me perpetual, and it was a source of great unhappiness. Yet I appeal to the
was not vicious; and my Moral and Intellectual faculties were ings;
naturally so strong, and my Love of Approbation and Adhesiveness
so vigorous, that one word of moral counsel, accompanied by kind-
ness, approval, or commendation, would have subdued my selfishness
and made me as docile as a lamb; but it never came.
With a
nature highly affectionate, I never received a caress ; with an ardent
desire to be approved of, and to be distinguished for being good
and clever, I never received an encomium, nor knew what it was to
be praised for any action, exertion, or sacrifice, however great; and,
humble as was the figure I made at school, I did my best, and often
dragged my weary bones there, when, with a feebler sense of duty, I
should have gone to bed.
404
Moral Education.
(4.) Of neglect Then my Reflecting faculties were active in their own way. I
of the Reflect-
ing faculties.
was constantly asking cui bono? and got no answer. The education
given me in the High School bore no relation that I could discover
to the duties of my domestic and social life; and the religion which
I learned from the pulpit and Catechism appeared a matter for Sun-
days only. I never saw or heard it acted on as a practical rule of
conduct. On the contrary, I was systematically taught that my
religion and the world were at open war; and truly all observed
facts and personal experience confirmed the truth of this assurance.
But, all the while, my faculties desired good, and also consistency
between profession and practice, and above all, intelligent views of
the objects and aims of my being. It often struck me as unaccount-
able why so much time and labour should be expended in making
me read the histories of the heathen gods and their crimes, while I
was informed that they were all false gods; and why Christianity
and the heathen mythology should be imparted as branches of in-
struction of equal importance. In the school, the boys who knew
all about the Pagan deities were our heroes, and Christianity was
never attended to. In the Church, God, the Prophets, Jesus, and
the Apostles, were all in all, and the divinities of the High School
were rarely mentioned, and then only as sinful idols. I saw the
inconsistencies of this tuition, but was only bewildered by it.
The import-
I mention these details, childish and serious, to open the way to
the remark that no boon would have equalled to me an exposition
cipline of a
knowledge of of my own faculties, of their relations to domestic and social life,
aims of life.
and of the line of duty which their constitution and its relations
obviously prescribed. And, if I had been trained by intelligence,
gentleness, and firmness to walk in that line of duty, I should have
been a happy boy and a better man.
ance in dis-
self and the
2
Punishments
According to the Regulations for Common Schools in Pennsyl-
in the schools vania, the teacher is required to “pay most especial regard to the
of Pennsyl.
morals, habits, and general behaviour, as well as to the mental in-
struction of his pupils. The punishments to be inflicted by the
teacher shall be:
vania.
1 In the Middle Class schools of Scotland, Religious Knowledge then, and
largely now, formed no part of the instruction given.
2 From Autobiography prefixed to his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, p. 50.
For George Combe's views on the importance of a knowledge of self and of the
aims of life, in education, see p. 108 et seq.
Works on the Principles of Discipline.
405
1st, Reading aloud the rule violated.
2d, Insertion of the offender's name under the head of “bad
conduct,” in the monitor's book.
3d, Private and public admonition,
4th, Detention after school hours.
5th, Special reports, or complaints to parents or guardians.
6th, The rod. The rod shall be applied whenever, in the
teacher's judgement, it shall be necessary ; when used, it shall be in-
flicted with certainty and effect, but passion or cruelty in its appli-
cation shall be avoided. 1
[On the important subject of Discipline in schools, especially on its Works on the
side of Punishment, the following works may be consulted with ad- principles of
Discipline.
vantage2: Professor Pillans on "The Causes and Cure of Imperfect
Discipline," first published in 1827, and on “The Rationale of
Discipline," chap. ii., now included, with Postscript and Appendix,
in his “ Contributions to the Cause of Education (London:
Longmans) ; Horace Mann “On School Punishments,” a lecture
delivered in 1840, and now included in his “ Lectures and Annual
Reports,” being vol. ii. of his “ Life and Works,” edited by Mrs
Mann; Herbert Spencer on “Moral Education," chap. iii. of his
work on “Education " (London: Williams and Norgate); Kiddle
and Schem's “Cyclopaedia of Education,” s.v., "Corporal Punish-
ment," and "Discipline," which are superior articles; the Edge-
worths' “Practical Education,” vol. i. chap. ix. ; Locke on Educa-
tion, $ 43, &c. ; Lyman Cobb on “The evil Tendency of Corporal
Punishment” (New York); Rosenkranz's “Pedagogics as a System,”
translated by Anna C. Brackett (St Louis, U.S.); Professor Calder-
wood“ On Teaching : its Ends and Means” (Edinburgh: Edmonston
and Douglas), chap. ii. ; Jacob Abbott's “The Teacher," chap. iv. ;
1 America, vol. ii. p. 41.
.
2 See additional notes on Discipline by George Combe, throughout the General
Principles of Education, beginning p. 263, especially on the Harmonious
training of the faculties, p. 312, the use of their Natural Language, p. 331,
and the repression of over-active faculties, p. 339; also the practice of the
Secular Schools, p. 256, especially of the Williams School, Edinburgh, p. 215,
and in the Appendix. For graphic details of the severe discipline to which
George Combe was subjected in the Edinburgh High School, and its demoraliz-
ing effects on the after-life of the pupils, see his “Life” by Charles Gibbon,
vol. i. pp. 18, 31, and 46, et al.
406
Moral Education.
Works on the Thring's “Education and School," chap. xv. ; Currie's “Common
principles of
Discipline.
School Education," part second, chap. ii., and his “Early and
Infant School Education,” part iii. chap. 5 (Edinburgh : Thomas
Laurie) ; Gill's “School Management," part second, chap. iii., which
contains an excellent résumé of the whole subject, and “Systems of
Education," see Index (London: Longmans); Morrison's “School
Management” (Glasgow: William Hamilton), chap. vii. ; Leitch's
“Practical Educationists, and their Systems of Teaching," see
Index (Glasgow: Macklehose); Dr Wiese's “German Letters on
English Education” (London: William Collins & Co.), p. 194 ;
Richter's “ Levana," Sixth Fragment, chap. iv. ; Pestalozzi's “Let-
ters on Early Education," addressed to J. P. Greaves, Letter xxx.,
&c. ; Dr Andrew Combe's “Management of Infancy," chaps. xiv.
and xvi. (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart); Charles Bray's
“Education of the Feelings," parts iv. and v. (London: Longmans);
Stow's “ Training System," chap. xxii. ; Dr Andrew Bell's “ Elements
of Tuition," part second, book ii., part ii 9; Simon S. Laurie's Dick
Bequest Report for 1865, p. 151 (Edinburgh : Thomas Constable);
Vicesinius Knox's “ Liberal Education," sect. 34 ; in “The School-
master : Essays on Practical Education ” (London : Charles Knight),
see essays by J. de Saintville, George Long, and John L. Parkhurst,
in vol i.
For an account of the different kinds of school punishments that
have been in use, see “History of the Rod," by the Rev. W. M.
Cooper (London : Hotten).—Edit.]
5. ON MORAL TRAINING IN SCHOOL VIEWED AS A PREPARATION FOR
SOCIAL LIFE.
Social life
In the lecture on Education forming part of my first course in
necessary for Philadelphia, I explained the difference between instructing and
thorough train-
ing of the training, and remarked that, for the latter, the field of Social Life is
faculties.
necessary. In illustration, I mentioned the great difference in com-
mand of temper between a body of lawyers and a body of divines
when assembled to discuss their own affairs. In their profession,
lawyers are trained to oppose and to meet with opposition, without
losing temper; while divines are treated with such general deference
and courtesy, that they are very little accustomed to contradiction.
The consequence is, that lawyers in general discuss their affairs with-
out falling into heats of temper or making personal allusions :
Moral Training as Preparing for Social Life. 407
case.
whereas the clergy, when assembled in their public courts, do not This illustrated
by a special
treat each other with that deference which they are accustomed to
receive from the world ; they meet as equals, espouse opposite
opinions, and contradict each other like ordinary men. Their
minds, however, being untrained to bear opposition, they lose their
equanimity, become heated, fall into personalities, and exhibit ex-
traordinary aberrations from that meekness of spirit which should
characterise the Christian, whether clerical or lay. This description
was drawn from observations made in my own country, but the
latter part of it considerably amused my audience, the precise cause
of which I never found out till to-day. I had, altogether uncon-
sciously, described scenes which had recently occurred in the General
Assembly of the Presbyterians in Philadelphia, when the ministers
quarrelled and split, an event which had attracted great public
attention. The utter unconsciousness, on my part, of the blows I
was dealing, contrasted with their actual, although accidental, force,
excited the risible faculties of not a few of my auditors. The sub-
ject was mentioned to me in the course of a conversation about a
cause which was then depending in the Supreme Court, between
these two sections of the Presbyterian Assembly, and which was
exciting great and general interest.1
One distinct cause of the fear of individuals to oppose public Moral trainin;
opinion, when wrong, is the want of reliance on the moral tendency regard to pub-
of the public mind, and on its influence to correct its own errors, lic opinion.
and to do justice to those who have braved its disapprobation in
defence of truth. The vivid excitement under which opinion is
formed, is one element in producing this terror; but another un-
questionably is the uncertainty which is felt regarding both the
principles and motives by which, at any moment, it may be swayed.
The public intellect is practical and direct, and it neither investigates
principles nor embraces distant or comprehensive views; while the
public feeling is composed of a confused jumble of selfish and moral
impulses, the course of which, on any particular emergency, often
defies calculation. Nevertheless the race is ever onward ; there is
little looking back, little calm reflection, little retracing of steps once
taken, unless some unsurmountable obstacle presents itself, which,
from its magnitude and immovability, deflects the public mind, or
makes it recoil upon itself. It appears to me also that the organs of
1 America, vol. ii. pp. 153–4.
408
Moral Education.
Benevolence and Veneration are larger and more powerful than those
of Conscientiousness in the Anglo-Saxon race in general; and that,
in consequence, both the Americans and British are more dis-
tinguished for benevolent and religious feelings than for an acute
sense of justice. This defect renders it more arduous for indi-
viduals, either in Britain or America, to take their stand on high
moral principle in opposition to public opinion, because the faculty
which prompts to the rectification of error, and the redressing of in-
justice, is comparatively feeble in the common mind.
This improved But this imperfection may be removed by a more assiduous cul-
by the better
cultivation of
tivation of the faculty of Conscientiousness in the young. If the
Conscientious- common schools embued the youthful mind with a clear knowledge
ness in schools;
of its own faculties, of the laws appointed by the Creator for their
guidance, and also of the natural laws which regulate the progress
of society; this information might come in place of monarchical
and feudal institutions for the guidance of opinion, and might afford
fixed starting-points, from which the moralist and statesman, the
divine and the philanthropist, could advance with safety, in their
endeavours to check the people when bent on erroneous courses of
action.
In short, if the gigantic regulating and controlling power of public
and scientific
training.
opinion evolved by the free institutions of America, were en-
lightened and guided by the principles of Christianity and science,
instead of being left to act impulsively and, as it were, blindly; it
would prove itself not a tyrant, but a protector to virtue, law, order,
and justice, far more efficient than any that has hitherto been dis-
covered. It would leave thought and action absolutely free, within
the legitimate limits of all the faculties (which none of the guides
of opinion erected by human invention has ever done); while it
would apply an irresistible check at the very point where alone a
check would be wanted—that which separates the boundaries of
good and evil."
And Christian
The pursuit of The Americans are taunted by the British for their exclusive de-
Wealth :
votion to the pursuit of wealth; but, in this respect, as well as in
many others, they are the genuine heirs of English dispositions,
with a better apology for their conduct. One of the earliest in-
junctions of the Creator to man was, “ to multiply and replenish the
earth.” The Americans have a fertile country of vast extent placed
1 America, vol. iii. pp. 299-301.
Moral Training as Preparing for Social Life. 409
before them, inviting them to fulfil this commandment; and it Its real nature;
would argue mental lethargy or imbecility, were they to disobey the
call. But how can a wilderness be peopled and replenished without
the creation of wealth ? Houses must be built and furnished;
clothes and implements of husbandry must be manufactured ;
animals must be reared : yet these are the constituent elements of
wealth. The fertile soil of the West, therefore, invites the active
and enterprising spirits of each generation to advance and take
possession of it. Within two years after it is cleared, it places in
the hands of the occupier a surplus produce, after supplying his own
wants. He sends this surplus to the eastern cities to be sold, and
receives, in exchange, the various manufactured articles which con-
stitute the conveniences and ornaments of civilised life. The
demand of the West on the capital and industry of the East is in-
cessant and increasing. The rich lands of the West, aided by the
rapid increase of population, present investments which can scarcely
fail, after a few years, to yield an immense profit to the adven-
turer; and this legitimate drain for capital affects profit and interest
and the value of property all over the Union. There are revulsions,
no doubt, but the wave never recedes so far as it had advanced, and
those who fail are generally men who have engaged in enterprises
far beyond the measure of their capital and legitimate credit.
Were the people of the East, therefore, to despise riches, and to Its relation to
become merely the cultivators of Literature, Philosophy, the Fine higher pur-
Arts, and all the social graces, they would be fit subjects for their
own lunatic asylums. The physique must precede the morale in the
order of nature. We must be well lodged, clothed, nourished, and
altogether physically comfortable, before we can bend our minds
successfully to refinement, Philosophy, and the investigations of
Abstract Science. The people of the United States, therefore, are
only fulfilling a law of nature. They are peopling and replenishing
the desert, and devoting themselves to this duty with a degree of
energy, assiduity, and success that is truly astonishing. It is in
vain to blame their institutions or their manners for these results.
They owe their origin to nature.
But while I thus hold the Americans as not meriting disapproba- The need of its
tion for pursuing wealth as their natural vocation, I regard the
by education.
impulse which prompts them to do so as one which needs to be
watched, and, within certain limits resisted, lest it should swallow
up all other virtues. Their real prosperity depends on the co-ordi-
nate activity of their acquisitive with their moral and intellectual
suits ;
wise restraint
410
Moral Education.
faculties. If their external circumstances stimulate Acquisitiveness
with a power equal to 10, they should put on a power of moral,
religious, and intellectual cultivation equal to 15, to guide and
restrain it. They are endeavouring to do so by their public schools;
and, if they succeed, they will, in due season, become a magnificently
great nation,-great equally in the possession of physical and moral
civilisation. 1
!
Domestic
education :
The object of education in the family circle is to develop and
Its defects and regulate the Affections, as well as to instruct the Understanding. So
means of im- far as a stranger can discover by observation, or learn by inquiries,
provement.
the family education in the United States is exceedingly various,
and depends for its character much more on the natural dispositions
of the parents than on any system of instruction. In general, the
parents are in easy circumstances, are happily matched, are good-
natured, active, and frugal; and these qualities insensibly cultivate
similar dispositions in the young. But there are, of course, numerous
exceptions; and education has not advanced so far among the masses
as to render domestic training systematic. Every family has its own
manners, maxims, and modes of treatment. Speaking generally, the
faculties of the child are allowed free scope in the family circle,
without sufficient enforcement of self-denial, or of the subordination
of the lower to the higher powers. The first useful lesson to a child
is that of self-restraint, or of foregoing a present enjoyment at the
call of duty, or for the sake of a higher, although more distant,
good. Many American children appear to be indulged in their
appetites and desires, and to be too little restrained in the manifes-
tation of their Propensities. Egotism, or the idea that the world is
made for them, and that other persons must stand aside to allow
them scope, is a feature not uncommonly recognised. The con-
sideration of the manner in which their Sentiments and modes of
action will affect other individuals of well regulated and well cul-
tivated minds, is not adequately brought home to them. In short,
the active manifestation of the Moral Sentiments in refined habits,
in pure and elevated desires, and in disinterested goodness, is not
aimed at systematically as an object in domestic training. I speak
of the masses composing the nation, and not of the children of well
educated and refined individuals.
In intellectual cultivation, domestic education is still more defec-
America, vol. ii. p. 196.
1
Domestic and Professional Education.
411
tive, because in the masses the parents themselves are very imper-
fectly instructed.
On the whole, therefore, the domestic training and instruction
appear to me to be imperfect, viewed in relation to the objects of
enlarging the mind's sphere of action, of conferring on it the power
of self-restraint, and also the ability to discover, and successfully to
pursue, its own permanent welfare. I
The great majority of the people of the United States are engaged Professional
in arts, manufactures, commerce, navigation, agriculture, divinity, its defects and
law, and medicine ; and their pursuits are therefore useful, and pro- means of im-
ductive of enjoyment. As the paths of industry are rarely obstructed provement.
by bad laws or artificial obstacles, American civilisation, in this
department, will bear a favourable comparison with that of the most
advanced nations. These avocations, however, do not fully develop
the highest faculties of the mind. They cultivate Acquisitiveness,
Self-love, and the love of distinction, more than Benevolence,
Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Ideality. They call the Intellect
into activity, but many of them do not necessarily direct it to moral
objects. They are deserving of all praise as important elements of
civilisation, indeed as necessary to the very foundations of it; but
in order to exhibit the "internal nature of man with lustre and
grandeur," higher pursuits must be added to and mingled with
them. The schools, colleges, and the pulpit must supply the lustre
and grandeur in which the avocations of common life are necessarily
defective. Great improvements in professional attainments remain
to be made in the United States. American divines are not, in
general, so learned as those of England, but they appear to be more
practical; while the professions of Law and Medicine in the rural
districts, comprising nineteen-twentieths of the whole United States,
stand in need of large accessions of knowledge, to bring them to a
par with the same professions in the enlightened countries of Europe.
The improved education which I have suggested would render the
practices of the professions in some degree scientific or philosophical
pursuits, in which each individual would endeavour, in his vocation,
to observe the laws which the Creator has established as essential to
success, and the calm calculations of reason would, to some extent,
regulate the impulsive and empirical movements which have hitherto
been fraught with so much suffering to the people.?
1 America, vol. iii. pp. 258–60.
2 America, vol. iii. pp. 249-51
412
Moral Education.
6. ON SCIENCE AS A MEANS OF MORAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING. 1
in Science.
2
The Moral and If the qualities of things, and their relations, modes of action, and
facul-
ties should act results, are real, and bear evidence of design in the intelligent and
moral Power which instituted and upholds them; and if our Intel-
lect perceives the design, and also forms rules of action from the
preception of it; then we need only to train the Sentiments of
Veneration and Wonder to hallow these as rules revealed through
nature to our Understandings by God, and they will become religious
—and to train the Sentiments of Benevolence and Conscientiousness
to recognise them as embodying duties prescribed by God, and they
will become moral; and thus the laws of nature will furnish us with
a basis of Religion and Morality. I cannot overstate the importance
of our keeping in view, that all existing religions have been formed
by associating intellectual ideas about God and His will (in some
instances drawn from polluted sources), with the religious emotions;
and that there is no natural obstacle to our associating with these
emotions, the conceptions of God and His will which we derive
from the study of His works, and thus constituting a religion in
harmony with our knowledge of existing things and their relations.
It is presumable that such a religion would excite, gratify, cherish,
and improve all the faculties of our mind. It would necessarily
also embrace a code of systematic morality.
The effects of Another advantage which would follow from acknowledging
discipline illus-
nature to be Sacred, would be the introduction of an efficient
religious discipline into life. Discipline consists in prescribing
rules of action, and enforcing observance of them by motives
that strongly influence the Will. The soldier affords a striking
example of its efficacy. I knew a dirty, slovenly, ill-conditioned
lad, who used to drive coal-carts, and who, in a fit of drunken-
ness, enlisted as a soldier. Three months afterwards, I saw him
again, and scarcely recognised his identity. He was then clean
in person and attire, walked erect, and his manner was decided yet
respectful. Discipline in other words, commands strictly enforced,
but accompanied by instruction how to obey them, and the example
trated.
1 For George Combe's views on Moral and Religious training through Science,
to which he attached the greatest importance, see the chapter on that subject,
p. 121, especially section 2, p. 149.
2 See this idea worked out by George Combe, in Part Fifth, chap. ii. sec. 1,
"On the nature of the Religious Difficulty in education," in which the rela-
tion between the emotional and intellectual elements in Religion is aptly
compared to warp and woof, and their interaction explained.
Moral and Religious Training through Science. 413
would intro-
life.
of obedience in others—had produced the change. In the case of
the soldier, discipline accomplishes much more than this. It
renders the individual alert, obedient, resolute, and all-enduring, in
the discharge of his duties; still the mainspring of its influence is
Command strictly enforced.
Now, we have a discipline of this sort in Nature, if we only This union
open our minds to understand it.
If we know the structure, duce religious
functions, and laws of health, of the digestive and respiratory discipline into
organs, we shall perceive that temperance, cleanliness, exercise,
breathing pure air, and other observances, are prescribed to us
by a command that is absolute in authority, that of God Himself,
and enforced by a discipline that is irresistible. On the one hand,
we have health, enjoyment, efficiency, abundance, and length of
days, as the rewards of observance; and, on the other, disease, pain,
incapacity, mental misery, physical destitution, and premature death,
as the consequences of disobedience. Every organ and faculty,
bodily and mental, acts under similar conditions; and a work which
should elucidate each organ, in its structure, functions, and modes
of action, and the natural and inevitable consequences of its use and
abuse, would reveal a system of philosophy, morality, and practical
wisdom, which might be indissolubly combined with Religion, for it
would proceed from, and be enforced by, a discipline instituted by
God.
All these advantages are lost by our obstinate refusal to regard How this is
nature as sacred, and by the exclusion of her authority and teach-
ing as practical rules from our literature, our schools, our pulpits,
and our legislative assemblies, either ignorantly, or out of deference
to the dogmas of a dark and semi-barbarous age. It is only by
regarding Nature as an Institution, and its ruler as God, that
Religion can be successfully introduced as a sanctifying influence
and an element of discipline into daily life; and this is not
only possible, but is so obviously practicable, when earnestly and
intelligently attempted, that only the misdirection of our faculties
by the dogmas can account for its being so long neglected and resisted.
I have been favoured with the perusal of the manuscript outlines The same is
of a series of lessons on Social Economy given privately by my and Economic
friend Mr William Ellis of Lancaster Terrace, London,' to several laws.
lost to us.
true of Social
1 This refers, the author informs the editor, to William Ellis's “Religion in
Common Life” (Smith, Elder, & Co.), see p. 236, which was published in
1858, a few months before George Combe's death, the last work of the latter,
“Science and Religion,” from which the above is extracted, appearing in 1857.
414
Moral Education.
This illustrated
young pupils, in which he demonstrated that by the order of nature
every line of conduct-in the pursuit whether of wealth by farming,
manufacturing, navigation, commerce, or by the practice of profes-
sions in order to be successful must be moral: and that success
follows skill, industry, and morality, as failure follows ignorance, ,
sloth, and immorality; with the same certainty that a rich crop of
corn follows from skilful ploughing, manuring, sowing, tending and
reaping
These prin The dogmas, on the contrary, represent a state of war as existing
ciples applied
to the pursuit between God and Mammon; but Mr Ellis shows that, when this is
of Wealth.
understood to be a condemnation of the pursuit of wealth, it must
be a mistake; because, as the production of wealth is indispensable
to human well-being, and also to the practice of morality and religion,
there must be modes of pursuing it which are in harmony with
morality and religion. Now, surveying in detail all trades and
professions, and the pacific acts by means of which their objects-
namely, the acquisition of wealth, social distinction, power, influ-
ence, and other enjoyments are most successfully attained, he
shows that morality must pervade and form the basis of them all
For example, the commercial maxim to buy in the cheapest and
by a commer-
sell in the dearest market, is generally held to breathe the concen-
trated spirit of selfishness or Mammonism. But let us try this con-
demnation by the rules of reason and morality before we acquiesce
in its justice. In Odessa, for instance, after a good harvest, there is
a superabundance of wheat, more than its inhabitants can consume;
in consequence of which its price is very low. In the same city,
however, there is a scarcity of cotton and woollen cloths and cutlery;
in consequence of which the prices of these necessaries of life are
very high. The people of Odessa would feel greatly relieved if
some benevolent person would bring them a supply of these articles,
and take in return a portion of their superabundant corn. But, in
Liverpool, in consequence of a bad harvest, there is a great scarcity
of wheat; while, owing to the untiring industry of Manchester,
Leeds, and Sheffield, there is a superabundance of woollens, calicos,
and broad cloths, which lie unsold, because the people are forced to
lay out their money in large amounts in buying the scarce, and
therefore high-priced corn. The people of these towns desire, above
all things, that some kind friend would bring them wheat and
exchange it for these goods that are lumbering their warehouses.
Now, a merchant who owns a ship and has abundance of capital,
buys in Liverpool the manufactured articles at the prices at which
cial maxim.
Moral and Religious Training through Science. 415
their owners are anxious to sell them :
they are cheap, because
they are superabundant. He fills his ship with them, sends it to
Odessa, sells them there at the price which the inhabitants offer to
give him for them : and, with that money, he buys the wheat with
which they are encumbered, and pays them the price they ask; it is
a low price, because they have more wheat than they can consume.
The ship carries this cargo to Liverpool, and there it is eagerly pur-
chased, because it lessens the scarcity of food, one of the greatest
evils with which human beings can be afflicted. But, on counting
the results of these transactions, the merchant finds that he has
gained a considerable addition to his capital. This stimulates him
and others to repeat the same course of transactions. And what is
the ultimate effect ? The inhabitants of Odessa are at length
relieved of much of their superfluous wheat, to their great content-
ment; while the supply of the manufactured articles has become
abundant, also to their great advantage. Turning to England,
again, what has ensued? Wheat has been imported so largely that
it has fallen in price, and the poor rejoice; while hardware, woollens,
and calicos have been purchased, paid for, and exported to so great
an extent, that the warehouses are empty, prices have risen, and
the manufacturers are again in full employment at remunerating
prices. These results are all the direct consequences of Divine Commercial
Institutions, which give differences of climates and products to principles are
different parts of the globe; and the gains of the merchant are the laws.
rewards furnished by Divine wisdom and goodness to those who
intelligently, honestly, and diligently, apply their knowledge,
skill, and capital, in removing the wants and increasing the
enjoyments of their fellow-men. Viewed in this light, as the
fulfilment of a Divine appointment, buying in the cheapest and
selling in the dearest market passes from the dominion of Mammon
into that of God, and becomes not merely a moral but a religious
act.
Similar observations will be found to hold good in regard to all The same holds
the other necessary acts and duties of life, whenever we shall con-
sent to view this world as a Divine Institution, and turn our
whole faculties to discover its laws and to act conformably to them.
It is from the pursuit of wealth by immoral means, and the applica-
tion of it to immoral or useless purposes, that the evils erroneously
ascribed to it arise. As, by the fiat of nature, wealth is indispens-
able to human welfare, the sin even of the miser, who makes his
property his god, consists, not in accumulating and investing, but in
true of all the
duties of life.
416
Moral Education.
The duties of something else. The wealth he has saved is so much capital gained to
life may be-
conio Divine.
the society in which he lives: and, when he invests it on good securi-
ties, he lends it to men of skill, enterprise, and industry, who apply it
in still further augmenting the capital of their country, by which all
are benefited; for capital is an indispensable element in the produc-
tion of the necessaries and comforts, as well as the luxuries of life.
The miser's sin lies in his neglect of all the personal, domestic,
and social duties which are incumbent on him, as the possessor of
riches. It is by such conduct that he becomes the slave of Mam-
mon and the contemner of God. The profligate spendthrift who
dissipates an inherited fortune in immoral indulgences cannot be
called a worshipper, but a contemner of Mammon, yet he is equally
a contemner of God; for, so far as lies in his power, he wastes the
products of the skill and industry of his more virtuous predecessors,
deprives himself of the means of discharging his personal and social
duties, and impedes the progress of his country by destroying the
fund for promoting the industry and rewarding the skill and intel-
ligence of his fellow-men.
These prin- Mr Williams and I taught the Laws of Health and Social
ciples have
been taught
Economy on these principles, in a school kept by him in Edinburgh,
successfully for the children of the working-classes : and, while we were
calumniated by excellent evangelical persons, as inculcators of
infidelity, the more intelligent children understood, rejoiced in,
and profited by the lessons, and even the less gifted were interested;
so that no blows or chastisements were needed, exclusion from
the lessons being felt to be the severest punishment that could be
inflicted.2
1
in schools.
In a letter, written January 21, 1852, in reply to a speech of the
Duke of Argyle's, delivered in Glasgow, “on the Church of Scot-
land's Endowment Scheme,” in which the Duke criticised George
Combe's lecture on “ The Comparative Influence of the Natural
:
2 These principles are successfully expounded in several works on Social
Economy, by Mr William Ellis, published by Smith, Elder & Co., of London.
The latest is entitled, “Where must we look for the further prevention of
Crime ?" and is both interesting and instructive, (G. C.) The “Religion in
Common Life” has been published since. George Combe wrote in 1857. Mr
Ellis's numerous works on Social Science for schools are enumerated, p. 236.
2 Science and Religion, pp. 233-8. See an account of the Williams School
above referred to, p. 201. The same subjects formed a special feature of the
Secular Schools, and are still taught in the Birkbeck Schools. See all these
schools described in chap. vii. pp. 201–259.
Moral and Religious Training through Science. 417
Sciences and the Shorter Catechism on the civilisation of Scotland,"
George Combe says :-
You proceed—“I think there are few men of education who They are higher
than religious
have not felt the calming influence of turning to those works of
dilletanteeism.
God in which His laws are never disturbed or broken by a
selfish and corrupted will.” This is treating Science as a matter of
pure dilettanteeism, and indicates an unconsciousness of the mo-
mentous nature of the question at issue between the “ Catechism"
and science. I respectfully ask your Grace whether the fertility of
the soil, the health of the body, vigour of mind, the worldly pros-
perity of individuals and of nations in short, the temporal interests
of mankind are now governed by means of special acts of super-
natural power? This is the form in which the Divine government
represented to us in Scripture was conducted, but it is generally
allowed to have ceased with Scripture times. The Scriptures contain
no systematic exposition of the government of the world by natural
laws. Will your Grace, then, for a moment admit that no Divine
government of this lower world exists ? or, that if it exists, it is in-
comprehensible by human reason Mark the consequence. If the The Natural
Laws Divine
world is not now governed by acts of supernatural power, and if it
Commands.
is not governed on the plan of comprehensible natural laws, then it
is virtually a theatre of atheism, a world without the practical mani-
festation of a God! If, on the other hand, such laws exist, and are
given for the direction of human conduct,-if God conducts this
government in such a manner that when certain states or conditions
of things exist, and then only, certain results always ensue,—I
humbly submit that these Divinely-appointed laws are entitled to a
higher consideration than you assign to them, when you speak merely
of the calming influence which flows from the contemplation of them.
They are the finger-posts and trumpet-tongues of Providence making
known to intelligent creatures—This way leads to disease, poverty,
vice, misery, and death; This other way conducts to health,
wealth, virtue, enjoyment, and long life. And are such indications,
coming from such a source, to be treated with indifference ?
Your Grace, speaking of the class of educationists to which I be- The heart
long, observes—“I take them up on their own ground, and I object reached in
to their shallow and false philosophy—a philosophy founded on Morality and
what they call the Laws of Nature. I object to it and to them, that Religion.
they are grossly blind to some of the most obvious laws of that
human nature of which they pretend to speak. There are especially
two laws which they either forget, or of which they are completely
should be
2 D
418
Moral Education.
The Natural
Laws should
reach the
heart.
The heart ignorant. There is one law, and a most important one, which has
should be
reached in
come under the observation of all of us thousands of times in our
Morality and own experience, viz., That one principle which touches the affections
Religion
of the heart is worth a hundred lectures which affect the understand-
ing only." Why, this is the very doctrine which pervades almost
every page of this false philosophy! I shall immediately adduce
evidence on the point. Your Grace proceeds~" And there is an-
other law which is equally important, That you cannot possibly get
at these affections of the heart, in the broad light and blaze of our
Christianity, by attempting to spell out of the Laws of Nature those
inferences, correct as they may be, which satisfy the Red Indian of
the existence of a Great Spirit from everything he sees around him.
You cannot get at the affections of the heart, unless by a distinct
and practical teaching of that revelation of the nature and will of
God which is given to us in the faith and doctrines of Christianity."
As your Grace, like the Red Indian, sees “the existence of the Great
Spirit in everything around you," why should you think so meanly
of the operations of this Great Spirit as to speak only of their
“calming influence ?” They produce the same soothing effect on the
coloured savage ; but has the science in which your Grace “dabbles
and the church in which you worship, taught you no higher use of
them than this? Were the affections of your Grace's heart never
touched by any of the Great Spirit's manifestations of benevolence
and wisdom in the works of nature ? You say not, and you ascribe
the negation to the "broad light and blaze of our Christianity." This
is a striking and painful illustration of the very evil which the
Secular Educationists desire to remove. They affirm that God
instituted the external world, and impressed regular modes of action
on all its parts; that a compliance with the laws of these actions is
as indispensable to temporal well-being, as a knowledge of Christianity
is to spiritual welfare; and that, as God has established the connec-
tion, men ought to reverence it. And they complain that the clergy
have taught doctrinal faith so extensively, that they have blinded
their own understandings, and those of the laity, to the necessity of
knowing and reverencing the requirements of nature, which are in-
dispensable to temporal prosperity. Your Grace appears not to have
a glimpse of this important truth, but calmly propose the removal of
spiritual," as an infallible remedy for “temporal” destitution !
But let us inquire what “the affections of the heart"
which your Grace alludes. They cannot be parental love, filial piety,
the love of the poor, or the love of our friends; because all these
66
are to
Moral and Religious Training through Science. 419
virtues existed and were esteemed before Christianity was promul- Temporal well-
being depend.
gated, and are to be found in nations among whom it is still un-ent on the
known. I, therefore, infer that your Grace means specially the love Natural Laws.
of God, the love of holiness, the disposition to reverence and obey
the Divine laws. Now, assuming, in as ample terms as your Grace
could desire, the high importance of these affections, and the
efficiency of the Christian Religion in awakening and cherishing
them in the mind, I affirm that the question under discussion re-
mains wholly unaffected by the assumption. The question is, Are
the natural conditions of temporal well-being practically embodied
in these emotions, as awakened by the peculiar doctrines of the
Gospel ? It is a certain fact that they are not; for no spectacle is
more common, and at the same time more lamentable, than to see
undoubtedly religious persons grossly violate the natural laws of
health, and bring suffering, and perhaps premature death, on them-
selves and their offspring; or mistake the laws of social well-being,
and advocate the most injurious political institutions. To enable
men to act with success in temporal affairs, they must learn the
Natural Laws by which these affairs are governed, or, in other words,
the plan according to which the affairs of the world are administered
by the Divine power which we recognise; and my charge against
the clerical teachers of the people is that they, with a few honour-
able exceptions, have grossly neglected this great branch of popular
instruction. Your Grace abets them in this neglect, and tells them,
that we who wish to remove it are ignorant that “one principle
which touches the heart is worth a hundred lectures which affect
the understanding only.” I have said that this assertion of the
importance of “the affections of the heart” is our very doctrine,
which we have all along been driving into the public mind, but
which they misunderstand, evade, or reject, through mere ignorant
prejudice.
The clergy and your Grace treat the agencies of nature, not as The Religious
Divine Institutions fraught with instruction and command to men, should be
but as mere intellectual conceptions of philosophers. You regard associated with
obedience to them as acts of prudence, disregard of them as a matter
of small account; and you associate with them no affection of the
heart, either high or low, holy or unholy. But this severance of
emotion from intellectual conception is your doing, and that of the
friends whom you patronise. It is no part of the order of nature, ,
such as it emanated from the Divine hand. God endowed man with
emotions of awe, admiration, and reverence, and with feelings of
these Laws.
420
Moral Education.
1
sults of this
love and affection, which may be directed by early trailing to a
great variety of objects. Priests know this well. The Raman
Catholic clergyman directs these emotions in the young to the Pope,
the saints, and himself; the Presbyterian clergyman, to the Cate-
chism, the Confession of Faith, the Bible, the Church, and himself.
The evil re- And “as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.” But not one of them
not being done trains these affections to reverence and obey the rules deducible from
in youth. the manner in which God is shown, by Science, to execute his tem-
poral Providence, and himself as the Supreme Governor by whom
that method has been established. This is the cause why teaching
the grown-up drunkard the laws of Physiology, the confirmed
libertine the pains of dissipation, and the dishonest trader the inevi-
table
consequences of rash speculation and unjust dealing on his
property, is so inefficacious. The sentiments of the heart, reverence
to God, and conscience itself, have, by an imperfect and erroneous
system of education, been kept disjoined from these laws in youth,
and cannot be joined with them in adult life, Nay, your Grace
crowns a long list of persons, some of whom consider such a junction
as impossible, and others as dangerous; and, in your present state of
information, it is probable that you regard such arguments as these
as mere balderdash : but they have an intrinsic truth which will
commend them to enlightened and unprejudiced understandings.
The manner in In the very lecture which you are assailing, it is said :—“The
should be done. grand reform now needed in education is to teach, first, things that
exist; secondly, their modes of action ; thirdly, the nature of man;
fourthly, how the operations of the elements of nature are adapted
to the human mind and body, and how they give rise to most of the
pleasures and pains of life, and lastly, in every step of this instruc-
tion, we should direct the emotional faculties of wonder, reverence,
benevolence, conscientiousness, and the love of the beautiful, to God,
as the author of all; and train those faculties practically to the faith
that, in conforming to His laws, we are paying him the highest
homage that can be offered by a rational being to its Creator; and,
at the same time, expanding, elevating, and improving our own
minds." You attempt to treat these ideas with ridicule. Your
Grace means no harm; but I ask you whether this mode of education
is practicable? Look at the connection which the priesthood of
every country has contrived to establish between these emotions and
the objects of its own faith and worship. The adorer of Juggernaut,
throwing himself beneath the chariot wheels of his idol; the Hindoo
1 See this idea worked out, Part Fifth, chap. ii. sect. 1.
which this
Moral and Religious Training through Science. 421
widow ascending the funeral pile of her husband; the weary pilgri- It can easily be
done with such
mages, and the painful mortifications of Roman Catholic believers, themes.
with innumerable other instances—prove that it is possible, by train-
ing, to connect those affections even with the most unnatural objects
and observances. Why, then, should we doubt that they may be
linked with the true revelation of God's power, benevolence, and
wisdom, embodied and addressed to the human understanding in
the laws of nature ?
]
77
Suppose we bring before us a group of children from the western This kind of
shores of Ireland, the Islands of Scotland, and the Tron Church teaching ex-
Parish of Glasgow, and begin by asking them, “Who made you?” Physiology.
Most of them would probably answer, God. “How do you know
that God made you ?" I once put this question to a class of
twenty-two boys, from eight to twelve years of age, and, after a
long pause, only two of them could find any answer—and these
two said, “The Bible tells me.” The twenty knew no reason
whatever for their belief. “Would you like to know some other
reasons for that notion ?" 66 Yes." Here a skeleton was brought
in, and their attention was drawn to the ball and socket joint of
the shoulder, the hinge joints of the arm and knee, and the bones
of the foot and hand; and they were requested to strip off their
jackets, and examine whether there was a skeleton in their own
bodies. They did so, looked at the skeleton, compared these joints
and bones in their own frames with the same parts in it, and
declared that they were alike. “ Did you make that skeleton in
your body?”
“Did your father make it?"
Who then made it?” "God.” “Do you now know any reasons
for believing that God made you ?”
“Then, in all time to
come, you must look on your body as the workmanship of God.”
“Well, did God make that body for your enjoyment? Think before
you answer. You are sometimes cold and hungry, sometimes your
foot or your arm gives you pain ; if you fall on the ice, you are cut
and bleed and feel pain; if you fall into the fire or put your
hand
in too hot water, you are burned. All this comes from the way in
which your body is made. Say, then, did God give you a body
for pleasure or for pain?” The willing instinct of human nature,
even in the most destitute condition in early life, answers, “For
66 No."
66 No.”
- Yes.”
1 From letter to the Scotsman, written January 21, 1852; afterwards published
as a pamphlet. See George Combe's “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 302.
.
422
Moral Education.
this aim.
How Science
pleasure."
“Would you like then to know the causes of the pain
that you sometimes endure, and to inquire whether it may be
avoided ?" Every eye and ear is open to receive this information.
The manner of Suppose that we then explain to our pupils the structure and uses
treating this
subject with
of the bones, the matter of which they are composed, how it is
furnished to the body, and the consequences, in reference to health
and strength, of its being imperfectly supplied ; that we give them
the same information concerning the skin, muscles, brain, and
nerves; and fully unfold the structure and functions of the heart,
blood vessels, lungs, and digestive organs, and show how the well-
being of the whole body depends on their condition; that we next
teach the relation of all these organs to mental efficiency and
enjoyment; and that, at every step, we refer the structure, functions,
relations, pains, and pleasures, all to God, instituted for our wel-
fare, and presented for our study, and to furnish practical rules of
conduct in this world's affairs—what would be the probable effects ?
Be it observed that, in the Scottish Islands and west of Ireland,
becomes Reli: the people have for ages enjoyed clerical instruction.
teaching. islands, the Established and Free Churches and the Roman
Catholic Church labour for the edification of the people, and yet
the unhappy Highlander, like the Irishnian and the Tron Church
Parish, Glasgow, sits immersed in dirt. Physiology reveals to us
that this is one cause of mental feebleness and moral degradation ;
because, in such circumstances, the skin cannot deliver the body
from its waste matter, and this, circulating in the blood, impairs
the action of the brain, and on vigour of brain depends the energy,
not only of their bodies, but of their Moral and Intellectual faculties.
Suppose, then, that we prove to the young whom we mean to save
from degradation, that cleanliness is enjoined by God, and enforce
obedience to this law by connecting it with their love of their own
well-being, and with their instinctive sentiment of reverence; will
this proceeding have any natural relation to the end in view,-
inducing them to shun dirt as at once injurious to theinselves, and
implying disrespect, on their part, to God their benefactor ?1
In our
Enable children to understand the great fact that, in this world,
everything, dead and alive, is an agent, producing results appointed
Lecture “On the Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and the
Shorter Catechism,” delivered in 1851, in which certain criticisms of Dr
Buchanan of Glasgow, who referred to the Tron Church Parish there, were
replied to.
Moral and Religious Training through Science. 423
instruction.
by God, and therefore not to be evaded by man. It is the clear The only means
of infusing
perception of the agency and the results being institutions of nature, this Religious
that is, of God, that fixes attention and commands respect; and no element into
amount of pious exhortation, or mere authoritative precept in words,
will produce an effect on the Understanding equal to this : and it is
only when Veneration and Conscientiousness are linked with clear
Intellectual perceptions and convictions, that the things taught
sway the conduct. Teachers in general tell me that they are incap-
able of infusing this Divine element, naturally and successfully,
into their lessons, because they have never been taught, or trained,
to think and feel in this manner: they have to pump up the natural
religious element from memory; and it comes out cold, disjointed,
and lame. By bringing it into complete fusion with instruction, you
will do them a real service,
1
1 From letter to Mr Benjamin Templar, of 7th May 1858. See an account of
Mr Templar's labours for education, p. 241.
Examples of the kind of Religious education recommended in this section
are given in Part Third, chap. v., and in the Appendix.
See George Combe's ideas on the training of the Moral and Religious facul-
ties through Science also explained, chap. v. p. 121.
CHAPTER IV.
INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION.
1. ON THE TRAINING OF THE OBSERVING FACULTIES.
The Intellec- THE Intellectual faculties communicate to men and animals
tual faculties :
their classifica- knowledge of their own internal sensations, and also of the external
tion.
world ; their object is to know existence, and to perceive qualities
and relations. Dr. Spurzheim's latest division of them is into
three genera :
“I. The External Senses.
“ II. The Internal Senses or Perceptive faculties, which procure
knowledge of external objects, then physical qualities, and various
relations.
“ III. The Reflective faculties."
I adopt the same classification, although it is far from being
unexceptionable ; but, until the analysis of the faculties themselves
shall be more complete than at present, an accurate arrangement of
them cannot be attained.
The External I. By means of the External Senses, men and animals are
Senses.
brought into communication with the External world. The
external organs of the senses do not form ideas. For example,
when an impression is made on the hand, it is not the nerves of
touch which form the conception of the object making the impression;
they merely receive that impression, and communicate it to the
brain, and an internal faculty of the mind perceives or forms an
idea of the object by which the impression is caused. Without
the nerves of feeling, the internal faculty could not experience the
perception, because the medium of communication between it and
the object would be wanting.
The senses may be exercised, and their powers greatly improved
by exercise. The taste of the gourmand is more acute than that
1
Spurzheim's “Philosophical Principles of Phrenology.” Boston, U.S.,
1832, p. 52.
The Intellectual faculties Classified.
425
of the peasant, and the touch of the artisan than that of the plough-
man.
1
II. The Perceptive or Knowing faculties take cognizance of the The Perceptive
existence and qualities of external objects. They correspond, in faculties :
some degree, to the Perceptive Powers of the Metaphysicians ;
and form ideas. The organs of these faculties are small but active.
If they had been as large as those of the Propensities, we should
have been liable to intellectual passions.
1
The Knowing faculties are susceptible of education at an early They are early
teachable.
period of life. The functions of these faculties are to become
acquainted with objects and their qualities, but not to reason.
Most of these faculties may be manifested in the first stages of
childhood, but the Reflecting faculties, or those which trace abstract
relations and consequences, cannot in general be so till a much
later period in life.
The proper mode of cultivating the Knowing faculties is by
exercising them in active manifestations. If the reader will
look over the list of these faculties and their functions, he will
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 1, 2, 5 and 27. For his views on the
nature and functions of the Senses, see the same work, vol. ii. pp. 1--27. The
Education of the Senses is most important, both for its own sake, and for its
applications in other parts of education, and in life and study; and it should
receive greater attention than it does, especially in early years.
On this works on the
subject, the following works may be consulted : Dr George Wilson's “Five Education of
the Senses.
Gateways of Knowledge ”; third paper in the First Publication of the Central
Society of Education (London: Taylor & Walton, 1837); Currie's “Early and
Infant School Education,” chap. v., and “Common School Education,” part i.
chap. vi.; Taine “On Intelligence,” book ii. chap. ii. (London : Reeve & Co.);
Bernstein's “ Five Senses of Man" (New York); Professor Bain's “Senses and
Intellect” (Longmans) ; Dr Andrew Combe's "Management of Infancy,” chap.
xv. (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart); Eliza A. Youmans on “ The Culture
of the Observing Powers of Children,” edited by Professor Payne (London :
H. S. King & Co.); Dr Hill, of Harvard, “On the Culture of the Senses,”
in Dr Youmans' “Modern Culture,” Appendix (London: Macmillan). An
admirable text book for Sense-culture is “Exercises for the Improvement of
the Senses, for Young Children” (London : Bell & Daldy). See also Mayos'
" Lessons on Objects" (London : Seeleys), and other works for Infant Schools.
2 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 27 and 28. The Knowing faculties,
according to George Combe and Phrenologists generally, are Individuality,
Form, Size, Weight, Colouring, Locality, Number, Order, Eventuality, Time,
Tune and Language. For his views on them, see the same work, vol. i. pp.
27-150.
426
Intellectual Education.
They require have no difficulty in perceiving the class of studies in which
individual
exercise. children may advantageously engage. According to the present
mode of conducting education, the faculty of Language is the only
one of all the Knowing faculties cultivated in childhood. Children
are made to learn sounds, the meaning of which they are not cap-
able of comprehending; and they are not instructed in regard to
the knowledge of many external objects which they are quite
capable of understanding, and instruction in which would afford
them delight.
The relation However unphilosophical it may appear, yet it is a fact estab-
between Lan.
guage and the lished by every day's experience, that a child may excel greatly in
other Knowing the capacity for learning words, who is not able to manifest Senti-
faculties;
ments, or other faculties, in proportion to the faculty of Language.
On the other hand, an individual may possess a very limited power
of learning words, who may possess great natural genius for other
pursuits. If one child, possessed of a powerful faculty of Language,
should experience great pleasure, and manifest great power, in
learning words; and another child, possessed of powerful faculties
of Constructiveness and Form, should experience great pleasure in
drawing, cutting figures, and constructing, and manifest these
faculties in acts, it is barbarism to punish the latter for manifesting
the faculties which nature has made most powerful in his mind,
and for not manifesting the faculty of Language as powerfully as
the former, which perhaps is bestowed upon him in a very limited
degree. It is equally absurd to conceive, that the former individual
is endowed by nature, with all the elements of a splendid genius,
merely because he manifests one Knowing faculty with superior
power.
In like manner, if a child manifest a great natural talent for
calculation or for music, the parent and teacher ought to know
faculties:
the exact sphere of the functions of the faculties on which these
acts depend, and either cultivate the faculties of the child, with
reference to his future destination, or direct his destination with a
regard to the faculties which he possesses. They ought never to
conceive for a moment, that a great talent for Language, for Drawing,
for Music, for Mechanics, or for Mathematics, implies the possession
of Moral Sentiments and Reflecting faculties in equally eminent
And between
these and the
other mental
| This was literally true of the education of George Combe's earlier life, as
he felt to his sad experience, some details of which are given in this chapter,
sect. 3, and, more fully, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon, in the four first
chapters. It is still far too true of the present time.
The Training of the Observing faculties.
427
perfection. While, therefore, they do not despise any talent which
nature has bestowed, they ought never to delude themselves into a
belief that any particular faculty to which nature has assigned
only limited functions, is universal in its scope of activity.
I
the Reflective
When Individuality is deficient, the individual fails to observe Individuality:
Its functions ;
things that exist around him; he may visit a house, and come
away without knowing what objects were in the rooms.
A person
thus deficient walks in the streets, or through the country, and
observes nothing. In short, although the external senses are in
perfect health,-owing to the feebleness of his observing power,
they are not called into activity for the purpose of acquiring
knowledge.
This organ, when large, prompts to discovery by observation of Its relation to
things which exist. Persons so constituted do not seek to arrive
faculties.
at new truths by reasoning, but inquire of nature, of men, of
books, for information; and hence, many brilliant physical dis-
coveries have been made by persons largely endowed with these and
the other Perceptive organs, whose Reflecting faculties have not sur-
passed mediocrity. Since Bacon's rules of philosophising have been
duly appreciated and become fashionable, science has been exten-
sively and successfully cultivated by a class of minds, which, while
the method of speculative reasoning prevailed, was excluded from
such pursuits. This class is composed of persons in whom the organ
under consideration greatly predominates over those of the Reflect-
ing powers. Such individuals are constituted by nature to become
observers; and Natural History, particularly Botany, Anatomy,
Mineralogy, and even Chemistry, are great departments of knowledge
fitted for the exercise of their peculiar talent. The substance of
these sciences consists in a knowledge of the existence, appear-
ances, and properties of natural objects, as facts; and we need not
be surprised to meet with eminent professors of them, in whose
heads the Reflecting organs are greatly inferior to the Knowing.
When Individuality is small, and the Reflecting organs large, the
possessor forms vague conceptions of things that exist, and
of facts. 3
1
Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 325.
2 See Letter by Mr Hewett Watson, on the heads of botanists, Phrenological
Journal, vol. viii. p. 101.-(G. C.)
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 32.
3
428
Intellectual Education.
Eventuality :
Distinguished
from Indivi.
duality.
"No."
The function of Eventuality is to take cognizance of changes,
events, or active phenomena, indicated by active verbs. It observes
motion ; in such expressions as the ROCK falls, the HORSE gallops, the
RIVER runs, the substantive springs from Individuality, and the verb
from Eventuality. Two gentlemen went to see a review of two or
three thousand soldiers. After the review, a friend asked one of
them what regiments were on the ground. He could not tell.
“Did you not observe the numbers on their knapsacks ?” “No, I did
not.” “Did you observe the facings of their coats ?”
* Then, pray what did you observe ?” “I observed the Evolutions.
The men came on the ground in marching columns; they formed
line; then column again; then hollow squares ;” and he proceeded to
describe all their movements. In his head, Eventuality was large,
and Individuality deficient. Another gentleman, who heard this
discourse, said, “My observations took a different direction. I
noticed the numbers painted on the knapsacks of the men, indicating
the regiments; the facings, the particular officers who commanded,
&c.: but I could not recall the evolutions, as Mr A. has done." In
this person, Individuality was large, and Eventuality deficient.1
i
Its exhibition Eventuality is often largely developed in children, and gives
in children and
in life.
them an appetite for knowledge, in the form of stories and
narratives. In practical life, it gives chiefly the talent of observing, ,
recollecting, and describing action; in other words, of observing the
occurrences of which history is composed, and of telling the story of
what we know. When deficient, great difficulty is experienced in
observing, recollecting, and describing active phenomena. Captain
Marryat's novels exhibit the faculty strongly, and the organ appears
to be large in his portrait. The writings of Godwin show little
of it, and, in his mask, the organ is small. Mr Charles Meymott
mentions, in the Phrenological Journal, vol. xiii. p. 260, that
although he remembered the appearance of a certain person whom
he had previously known, he could not recollect “when, where, or
how often he had seen him, his name, occupation, or indeed any
event. whatever relating to him. This," says he, “is only one
instance out of many of the same kind that are continually occurring
to me.” He adds, that, in his head, the organ of Eventuality
is “relatively much smaller than the surrounding organs.
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 93–4.
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 98.
"72
1
2
The Training of the Observing faculties. 429
Its functions
The special function of the faculty of Number seems to be cal- Number :
culating in general. Dr Spurzheim limits its functions to Arithmetic,
Algebra, and Logarithms; and is of opinion that the other branches
of Mathematics, such as Geometry, are not the simple results of
this faculty. In this analysis, he appears to me to be correct.
This organ probably assists Eventuality and Time in recollecting
dates. Form, however, seems also to aid them in this effort, by re-
taining before the mind the idea of the printed numerals.
I am acquainted with individuals, and include myself among the When defi-
number, in whom this organ is deficient, and who experience great
difficulty in solving the most ordinary arithmetical questions—who,
indeed, have never been able to learn the multiplication table, or to
perform readily, common addition and substraction, even after per-
severing efforts to attain expertness.
cient;
From an early period of my studies in Arithmetic, I despaired of Examples of
its deficiency.
ever being able to learn it. I worked through the rules, and per-
formed the evolutions they described with slow laborious difficulty,
and never acquired facility. I remained studying Arithmetic long
after my contemporaries had passed forward to higher studies. It
was in vain for me to attempt to learn Algebra. It was an incompre-
hensible mystery.
2
One young lad in the Asylum for the Blind at New York had a very
large organ of Number, and was a great mental calculator. A little girl
was extremely deficient in it, and she could never learn Arithmetic. I
sympathised with her, as I labour under a similar defect both of the
organ and the power. This is a small organ, and from its position,
outward from the external angle of the eye, there is difficulty in ob-
serving its dimensions accurately, except in extreme cases. In these,
however, its local situation and its functions are so clearly discernible,
as to leave no room for doubt. I confess myself to be so deficient
in the power of calculation, and in the development of the organ, to
such an extent as to be incapable of learning the multiplication
table ;3 and I continue unable to add, subtract, and divide sums,
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 85, 86, 87.
2 From Autobiography, in his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 14.
3 Caroline Lucretia Herschel, the sister of Sir William Herschel, and his
talented assistant, who did so much for Astronomy, “never could remember
1
430
Intellectual Education.
Examples of
deficient
Number.
even of moderate magnitude, correctly, after thirty years of
practice.
1
A gentleman who kindly undertook the management of the tickets
for my lectures at Lowell, U.S., wrapped up the sum received from
each bookseller in a separate paper, and made the person who paid
it, mark on the parcel the amount it contained. When he paid the
bills for advertising, &c., he took the money wanted out of one of
the parcels, and put the receipts for the payments into it, and
brought the whole sums collected to me in this form. Not under-
standing why he had done this, I placed the contents of the whole
parcels together, and asked him how much he had received, and
how much he had paid. He could not tell! I then observed that
his organ of Number was deficient, and he told me that he had
adopted this method, to avoid confusion." My own organ of
Number being equally small, we tried, both by the pen and by
counting the money, to discover the amount; but neither of us
could succeed! We finally parted, much to our own amusement,
without either of us having been able to find out the aggregate sum
either received or paid, and certainly it was not the magnitude of
the amount that caused our difficulties.
The same prin- A deficiency of this kind, when it occurs in the organ of Number,
ciple applied to
the Moralfacul- occasions only amusement; but I never experience its effects without
sincerely sympathising with those individuals who are as defective
in the organs of Conscientiousness or Causality as I am in that of
Number. They stand as much in need of external guides to virtue and
wisdom, as a man in my condition does of a ready reckoner; and
they are equally unfit to fill situations in which active honesty and
reflection are necessary to success, as such a man would be to dis-
charge the duties of a teller in a bank.2
ties.
Colouring : I have observed that, in the great majority of individuals who are
Its deficiency. born and continue blind, the organ of Colouring presents an obvious
deficiency in size, while it is developed, to an average extent, in those
who have become blind only after the period of full growth; and, in
the New York Asylum for the Blind, the same fact was found to
the multiplication table, but was obliged to carry always a copy of it about
her." "Memoirs of Caroline Herschel,” p. 316. (London: John Murray, 1876.)
1 America, vol. i. p. 228.
2 America, vol. iii. pp. 204-5.
The Training of the Observing faculties.
431
present itself. It shows that an organ habitually deprived of its
natural stimulus does not attain its full natural dimensions,-an
important point in education.
The celebrated Cuvier owed much of his success as a comparative Form :
When large.
anatomist to Form. De Candolle mentions that “Cuvier's memory
was particularly remarkable in what related to forms, considered in
the widest sense of that word; the figure of an animal, seen in reality
or in drawing, never left his mind, and served him as a point of
comparison for all similar objects." This organ, and also the organs
lying along the superciliary ridge, were largely developed in his
head. Mr Audubon says of the late Mr Bewick, the most eminent
wood-engraver whom England has produced—“His eyes were placed
farther apart than those of any man I have ever seen.'
Children in
whom the organ of Form is very large, learn to read with great
facility, even in languages of which they are totally ignorant, and
although the book be presented to them upside down.”
relations to
Locality appears to be an element in a genius for Geometry. In Locality: Its
the heads or busts of six or seven eminent mathematicians which I
Mathematics.
have carefully examined, this organ, and also those of Size, Indivi-
duality, and Comparison, are large. Indeed Pure Geometry treats
only of the relations of space, and does not imply agency, or any
relation except that of proportion; and hence it might be legiti-
mately inferred to belong to the sphere of the organs now mentioned.
Negative cases also coincide with these positive observations.
Zerah Colburn, the American youth who was celebrated for his
arithmetical powers, turned his attention to Mathematics, but with
very little success. He stated to me that he had been taught the
first six books of Euclid, and understood the propositions, but felt
no interest in the study. He liked Algebra much better; and he
had the organ of Number large, but that of Locality deficient. The
1 America, vol. i. p. 229.
? See two illustrative cases in The Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. p. 65, and
vol. ix. p. 344 ; also vol. xi. p. 407.—(G. C.)
3 Colburn was an
' Arithmetical Prodigy," who astonished the world early
in
in this century. He was born of poor parents, at Cabot in Vermont, U.S.,
1804, and died in 1840. George Combe saw him in Edinburgh, and a cast of
his skull was taken there. “He was not distinguished,” says George Combe,
“ by high intellectual attainments in other respects. He subsequently becaine
a preacher in New England, and manifested only average abilities.”
432
Intellectual Education.
relations to
Locality: Its gentleman who had taken charge of his education, it is said, at first
Mathematics.
intended him for a mathematician, but afterwards, finding that his
genius did not lie that way, directed his attention to law. Mr
George Bidder, when a mere child, displayed such astonishing talent
as a mental calculator, that several gentlemen in Edinburgh were
induced to take charge of his education; and, on the supposition
that his abilities extended to Mathematical Science generally, selected
for him the profession of an engineer. Having heard of this inten-
tion, and having observed that in his head the organs of geometrical
faculties were not developed in any extraordinary degree, I inferred
that his eminence as a geometrician would not equal that which he
had attained as a calculator, and communicated this conviction, in
writing, to Principal Baird, one of his patrons. Mr Bidder subse-
quently pursued the study of Geometry; but, at the end of two
years, both he himself and Professor Wallace informed me, that he
was not distinguished for more than common ability in the class.
Mathematics as An opinion prevails, that Mathematics afford exercise to the
training the
Reasoning
Reflecting faculties, and that their tendency, as a branch of education,
faculties. is to cultivate the talent for general reasoning; some persons regard
them as the best substitute for the useless Logic of the schools.
This idea appears to me to be erroneous. Geometry treats of the
proportions of space, and Algebra and Arithmetic of the relations of
numbers, and the three constitute the grand elements of the science
of Pure Mathematics. For judging of the proportions of space,
the
faculties of Size, Locality, and Individuality, aided by Comparison,
are those essentially required; while the faculties of Number and
Order, also aided by Comparison, are the chief powers necessary for
dealing with the proportions of numbers. Causation always implies
power, force, or agency; and the idea of Causation, or efficiency,2
does not at all enter into the propositions of Pure Mathematics.
1 Bidder was another calculating genius, doing wonderful things when
seven years old ; able to answer, when eleven, the most complicated questions
in Algebra in about a minute, without notation. See George Combe's System
of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 85 and 275.
2 George Combe's idea of Causation is this : “In addition to the invariable
sequence which Eventuality perceives, a notion of power or efficiency in the
antecedent to produce the consequent, appears to me to arise in the mind,
when contemplating instances of Causation; and this notion is formed and
manifested by means of the organ of Casuality.” System of Phrenology, vol.
ii. p. 164, in which he controverts Dr Thomas Brown's celebrated idea of mere
invariable sequence.
The Training of the Observing faculties.
433
The popular error is not sanctioned by the authority of the masters
in Philosophy. Lord Bacon observes, that "the mathematical part
in some men's minds is good, and the logical is bad. Some can
reason well of numbers and quantities, that cannot reason well in
words."
Dugald Stewart remarks, that “when it is stated in the
form of a self-evident truth, that magnitudes which coincide, or
which exactly fill the same space, are equal to one another, the be-
ginner readily yields his assent to the proposition; and this assent,
without going any farther, is all that is required in any of the de-
monstrations of the first six books of Euclid.") Mr Stewart was
à mathematician, and also a metaphysician; and this is a strong
testimony to the fact, that the whole of the first six books of
Euclid, which constitute a large portion of a common mathematical
education, relate exclusively to the proportions of space or magni-
tude, and do not imply Causation.
Professor Leslie states, that the whole structure of Geometry is Pure Mathe-
grounded on the simple comparison of triangles, and Dugald Stewart matical.com-
corrects this remark by observing that “it is expressed in terms too other reason-
ing.
unqualified. D'Alembert has mentioned another principle, as not
less fundamental, the measurement of angles by circular arches.”
It is obvious, that both triangles and circular arches are mere forms
“Fluxions," says Professor Playfair, “were, with Newton,
nothing else than measures of the velocities with which variable or
flowing quantities were supposed to be generated, and they might be
of any magnitude, providing they were in the ratio of those velocities,
or, which is the same, in the ratio of the nascent or evanescent in-
crements.”2 Sir John Herschel remarks, that “it must be recollected
that there are minds which, though not devoid of reasoning powers,
yet manifest a decided inaptitude for mathematical studies,—which
are estimative—not calculating, and which are more impressed by
analogies, and by apparent preponderance of general evidence in
argument, than by mathematical demonstration, where all the argu-
ment is on one side, and no show of reason can be exhibited on the
other. The mathematician listens only to one side of a question,
for this plain reason, that no strictly mathematical question has
more than one side capable of being maintained otherwise than
by simple assertion; while all the great questions which arise in
busy life, and agitate the world, are stoutly disputed, and often with
of space.
1 66
Philosophy of the Human Mind," vol. ii. p. 174, edit. 1816.
2 Dissertation III. “Encyclopædia Britannica.”
2 E
434
Intellectual Education.
a show of reason on both sides, which leaves the shrewdest at a loss
for a decision."1
The limitations In these remarks, I allude merely to Pure Mathematics, or to
of Mathemati-
cal reasoning. Geometry and its branches, with Algebra and Arithmetic and their
branches. Although these sciences do not treat of Causation, yet
they may be applied to measure forces, in instances in which these
operate with undeviating regularity. Gravitation is such a force.
But wherever agents do not operate in this manner, mathematics are
inapplicable. Human actions, for instance, proceed from intellectual
perceptions, the impulses of affection, or the force of passion; all of
which are causes, but none of them possesses that simplicity of
character and uniformity of operation which are indispensable in the
application of mathematical measurements. In judging of human
conduct, the Understanding must estimate by innate sagacity, im-
proved by experience, the influence of motives and of external cir-
cumstances; and a high mathematical training, by exercising chiefly
the powers conversant with space and quantity, is by no means
favourable to the development of this talent, which depends chiefly
on Comparison and Causality, operating along with the Affective
faculties. Hence an individual may be distinguished for talent as
a mathematician, and extremely deficient in this estimative
sagacity.
Illative words It is worthy of remark, that the French mathematicians use the
used in Mathe- word donc 66
then,” where the English use
matics.
" therefore,” in their
demonstrations. The French donc corresponds with the Latin tunc,
and with the English then, or at that time, and it is the more
correct expression. In a purely mathematical demonstration, the
conclusion becomes apparent at a particular point of time, when the
proposition and its relations have been unfolded, without the least idea
of active efficiency in the premises to produce the conclusion as an
effect; whereas the word therefore expresses a necessary result of
2
1
66 Views on Scientific and General Education, applied to the proposed
System of Instruction in the South African College ;” reprinted in The
London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, vol. viii.
p. 432, No. 48, May 1836.
2 On t}educative value of Mathematical studies, a greatly debated question,
besides the works mentioned above, see also Sir William Hamilton's “Dis.
cussions on Philosophy," p. 257 (Longmans) ; J. S. Mill's “Examination of
Sir W. Hamilton's Philosophy," p. 521 (Longmans); Dr Carpenter's “Mental
Physiology," p. 479 (Henry S. King); Todhunter's “ Conflict of Studies'
(Macmillan); Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclopædia of Education,” s. v. Mathe-
matics, by Professor Olney, of Michigan, and other works mentioned there.
The Training of the Observing faculties.
435
efficiency. In the proposition "The sun shines brilliantly, therefore
we are hot;" the word therefore implies a relation of Causation :
whereas in the proposition, “A is equal to B, and C is equal to B,
therefore A and C are equal to one another;" the relation which it
expresses is one of proportion merely, and the French then is the
more philosophical term.
1
No objection to Phrenology is more frequently repeated, than The faculties
that such and such persons have retreating foreheads, and yet are Cleverness.
very clever. A short explanation will serve to remove this difficulty.
In the first place, a forehead may appear retreating, not because the
Reflecting organs are greatly deficient, but because the Knowing
organs are very prominently devoloped, so that if the latter were
diminished in size, the former would appeur relatively larger. But
every one must perceive that, the only effect of such a change would
be to diminish the Perceptive, without increasing the Reflective
powers, although, in such a case, the unskilful observer might
imagine the development of the forehead to be improved. In the
mask of Henri Quatre, the forehead appears to slope; whereas, if
the Knowiny organs were reduced to the same state of small pro-
jection beyond the cheek-bones as in the mask of Voltaire, it would
appear much more perpendicular. But this would clearly detract
from the mental power. It would cause the Reflecting faculties to
predominate, only by diminishing talent in the department of obser-
vation.
But, in the next place, let us suppose that a head does retreat Cleverness dis-
considerably: still Individuality, and the other knowing organs, may higher ability.
tinguished from
be large ; and, if we attend to the range of these powers, we shall
perceive that the individual may be deficient in Causality and Com-
parison, and yet be very clever, in the popular acceptation of these
words. A wide range of sciences, falling under the scope of
Individuality and Eventuality chiefly, has already been pointed out,2
and in these a person so endowed may be very learned. Farther, the
details of History, Statistics, Geography, and Trade, all belong to
the department of simple knowledge; and in them also he may be
eminently skilled. And, finally, in the daily occurrences of life,
acuteness of observation, and the power of treasuring up the lessons
of experience, which he may possess, constitute important elements
1
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 77-81.
2 Page 427.
436
Intellectual Education.
1
to the other
ties;
in a practical judgment. If, then, to a large endowment of the
Knowing organs, a Nervous temperament be added, the individual
may be observing, active, and enterprising ; if Cautiousness be large,
he may be prudent, and rarely venture beyond the scope of his abilities;
if Conscientiousness be large, he may enjoy that delicacy of sentiment
which discriminates intuitively where the right lies, and where the
path of honour terminates : and, with these endowments, there will
be no wonder if he act creditably and cleverly in the ordinary walks
of life. These are not imaginary suppositions, but descriptions
drawn from observations made on numerous individuals engaged in
active business. Such persons, however, are never distinguished
for profound and comprehensive views of abstract subjects; which
can be reached only by the Reflecting faculties.
The relation of The faculty of Form perceives the forms of objects --Colouring,
Individuality their colour,—and Size, their dimensions; Individuality takes
Knowing facul- cognizance of things existing, and Eventuality of events in general.
The question naturally occurs-If the minor Knowing powers
apprehend all the separate qualities of external objects, what pur-
poses do Individuality and Eventuality serve in the mental economy?
One important function of Individuality is to form a single intel-
lectual conception out of the different items of information com-
municated by the other Knowing faculties, which take cognizance of
the properties of external objects. In perceiving a tree, the object
apprehended by the mind is not colour, form, and size, as separate
qualities; but a single thing or being, named a tree. The mind
laving, by means of Individuality, and these other organs, obtained
the idea of a tree, as an existing object, may analyse it, and resolve
it into its constituent parts of form, colour, and magnitude; but the
contemplation of it in this manner is at once felt to be widely
different from the conception attached to the word tree as a whole.
The function of Individuality, therefore, is to combine the elements
furnished by these other Knowing faculties into one, and to produce
out of them single conceptions of aggregate objects; which objects
are afterwards viewed by the mind as individual existing things,
and are remembered and spoken of as such, without thinking of
their constituent parts. Although we have no knowledge of the
substance of objects apart from their qualities; yet we have a con-
viction of their substantive existence, and this is given by Indivi
duality. Children early use and understand general terms, such as
1 This subject is more fully illustrated in The Phrenological Journal, vol.
iii. pp. 48, 67.—(G. C.)
The Training of the Observing faculties.
43.7
tree, man, ship; and the organ of Individuality is, for the most part,
early and prominently developed in them.
Farther, after Form, Colouring, and Size have furnished certain
elementary conceptions, and Individuality has united and conceived
them as one, such as Man, the faculty of Number may be called into
action, to give the idea of plurality; and that of Order, to furnish
the idea of gradations of rank and arrangement. Now, Individuality,
receiving the intimations of all these separate faculties, combines
them again, and contemplates the combination as an individual
object, and this is an army. After the idea of an army is thus
formed, the mind drops the recollection of the constituent parts, and
thinks of the aggregate only, or of the combined conception formed
by Individuality, and regards it as a single object.
The organ of Eventuality is surrounded by Individuality, Locality, And of Eventu-
Time, Comparison, and Causality, and forms individual conceptions same faculties.
ality to the
from their combined intimations. A storm is not a specific existing
object, nor is it a quality of any thing; yet the mind clearly appre-
hends it. It is the result of certain physical elements in violent commo-
tion, and all the faculties last enumerated, together with Eventuality
itself, which observes motion, combine in furnishing individual con-
ceptions, which Eventuality unites into one idea, designated by the
word storm. Revolution is another example. A revolution does
not exist in nature as a substantive thing, but arises from the
combined action of numerous moral and physical causes, the result
of which Eventuality conceives as one event.
If these views be correct, the meaning attached by different The cause of
individuals to abstract terms of these classes will be more or less
conceptions
complete, according to the degrees of development of the several of abstract
Knowing organs in their heads. If Colouring be defective, and
Form be large, the individual will think chiefly of the forms and
dimensions of objects ; if Form be deficient and Colouring large, he
will observe and conceive their colours much more forcibly than
their forms; and his abstract terms will embody each object exactly
as it is perceived by his own faculties.1
the different
terms.
2. ON THE TRAINING OF THE REFLECTING FACULTIES.
The Knowing faculties furnish us with knowledge of objects,
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 147. For a full exposition of George
Combe's views on the Perceptive or Knowing faculties, see the same work, vol.
ii. pp. 1-150,
438
Intellectual Education.
The Reflecting their qualities and relations, and also of events; the Reflecting
faculties: Their
functions.
faculties “act,” as Dr Spurzheim expresses it, on all the other
sensations and notions ;” in other words, they judge, not of the
qualities and relations of external objects, but of the relations of
different classes of ideas produced by the Perceptive faculties. They
minister to the direction and gratification of all the other powers,
and constitute what we call reason or reflection.1
Comparison : The faculty of Comparison gives the power of perceiving resem-
Its functions ; blances and analogies
. Tune may compare different notes ; Colour-
ing contrast different shades; but Comparison may compare a tint
and a note, a form and a colour, which the other faculties by them-
selves could not accomplish. “The great aim of this faculty," says
Dr Spurzheim,“ seems to be to form abstract ideas, generalizations,
and to establish harmony among the operations of the other facul-
ties. Colouring compares colours with each other, and feels their
harmony, but Comparison adapts the colours to the object which is
represented; it will reject lively colours to represent a gloomy
scene."
Its relation to It attaches us to comparison, without determining its kinds; for
other faculties;
every one must choose his analogies according to his knowledge, or
from the sphere of activity of his other faculties. He who has
Locality in a high degree, derives thence his examples; while
another, in whom Form predominates, will illustrate his subject
from it. Dr Chalmers drew his illustrations from Mechanics and
Astronomy; and the organs which take cognizance of these were large
in his head.
And to Reason. This faculty gives a tendency to what is frequently called Reason-
ing.
ing, but which is very different from the correct and severe induc-
tions of a sound logic; namely, it endeavours to prove that one
thing is of such and such a nature, because it resembles another
which is so and so—in short, it reasons by analogy, and is prone to
to convert an illustration into an argument. The published sermons
of the late Mr Logan, minister of Leith, afford an example of the
productions of this kind of intellect. He is always establishing a
proposition, and, to those who do not analyse profoundly, he appears
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 150. In George Combe's system, in
its latest development, the Reflecting faculties are two-Comparison and
Causality-as seen in the above work ; in his Essays on Phrenology, his first
work on the subject, written in 1819, they included Comparison, Causality,
Wit, and Imitation.
The Training of the Reflecting faculties.
439
to be an argumentative preacher ; but his argument is not induction
-it is a mere statement of analogies, closed by an inference that
the case in point must be as he views it, otherwise it would be an
exception to the ordinary arrangements of nature. Comparison
enables the mathematician to perceive the truth of a proposition
which is necessarily implied in another, which he knows to be
demonstrable.
This faculty is more rarely deficient than any of the other Intel-It is rarely
lectual powers, and the Scripture is addressed to it in an eminent
deficient.
degree, being replete with analogies and comparisons. From giving
readiness in perceiving analogies and resemblances, it is one element
in instantaneous acuteness. The organ is largely developed in a
neighbouring nation; and it is correctly observed by an anonymous
writer, that "ingenuity in discovering unexpected glimpses and
superficial coincidences in the ordinary relations of life, the French
possess in an eminent degree.” i
In schools, the best scholars generally have much Language and Its develop-
Comparison. In children, the organ of Comparison is usually well ment in chil-
developed ; and it is remarked by a practical writer, that "children
come both to understand and to relish a figurative expression much
sooner than we might naturally be led to imagine.' Children,"
says Miss Edgeworth, " are all more or less pleased with the percep-
tion of resemblances and of analogy." 3
.
» 2
Individuality and Eventuality take cognizance of things obvious Causality:
to the senses.
Causality looks a little farther than these, perceives Its functions.
the dependencies of phenomena, and furnishes the idea of Causation,
as implying efficiency, or something more than mere juxtaposition
or sequence. It impresses us with an irresistible conviction, that
every phenomenon or change in nature is caused by something, and
hence, by successive steps, leads us to the Great Cause of all. In
looking at the actions of men, it inclines us to consider the motives,
or moving causes, from which they proceed. Individuality and
Eventuality apprehend facts and events, or take cognizance of direct
evidence; Causality judges of circumstantial evidence, or that by
inference.
In a trial, a juryman with large Individuality and
| Edinburgh Review, Nov. 1820, p. 389.
2 Wood's “ Account of the Edinburgh Sessional School" (1828), p. 179.
3 “ Practical Education,” vol. iii. p. 96. System of Phrenology, vol. ii.
pp. 151-4.
440
Intellectual Education.
Eventuality, and small Causality, will have great difficulty in con-
victing on circumstantial evidence. He in whom Causality is large,
will often feel that kind of proof to be irresistible. This faculty
induces us on all occasions to ask, Why is this so? It gives deep
penetration, and the perception of logical consequence in argument.
A great defect of the organ renders the Intellect superficial; and
unfits the individual for forming comprehensive and consecutive
views, either in abstract science or in business. Coincidence only,
and not Causation, in events is then perceived.
What gives the Dr Spurzheim observes, that “the faculty of Individuality makes
“philosophic
us acquainted with objects, that of Eventuality with events; Com-
ing." parison points out their identity, analogy, or difference, and finds
out their harmony; finally, Causality desires to know the causes of
all occurrences. Consequently, these faculties together, pointing out
general principles and laws, and drawing conclusions, inductions, or
corollaries, constitute the truly philosophic understanding.
understand-
11
The Reflecting The Reflecting faculties, like all the others, will be best cultivated
faculties are
trained only by that mode of exercise which makes them produce the most active
by individual manifestations. In the Metaphysical systems of Philosophy, ideas
exercise.
have been unfortunately confounded with the mind; and it has
been conceived that, if we merely infuse, with sufficient assiduity, a
store of moral precepts and philosophical ideas into the memory, we
shall produce the highest state of cultivation in the mind. Accord-
ing to Phrenology, however, all beneficial education consists in the
cultivation of faculties. Precepts cannot exert an influence on the
mind, unless the faculties be previously sufficiently powerful to feel
the obligation of them, or to perceive their force. Hence the proper
way to make an individual devout, is to cultivate his faculty of
Veneration; and this will be better done, by exciting it into a glow
of activity by the influence of example, than by merely encumber-
ing his memory with words. Hence, also, the way to render an
individual charitable and humane, is to cultivate his faculty of
Benevolence; and this will be done more effectually by exciting the
faculty to produce active manifestations, than by laying down abstract
rules concerning his duty to his neighbour, unattended by active
practice of them in life.
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 166. For a full exposition of George
Combe's views on the Reflective faculties, see the same work vol. ii. pp.
150-180.
The Training of the Reflecting faculties. 441
Hence, our great object in cultivating the Reflecting faculties How to give
ought to be to give them energy and activity in performing their them energy
.
functions, and to point out the best modes of directing their mani-
festations. The particular ideas which we furnish are stores or
materials for these faculties to work upon; but, if we wish the
faculties to produce powerful manifestations themselves, we must
excite them to act; we must excite them to compare, penetrate, and
trace conclusions; we must teach them to use the stores which
we furnish : for, till we do so, the latter are of no utility. Hence
every mode of instruction in which the pupil himself is actively
employed is always the best. If prelections alone are read, it will
only be minds possessed of great natural internal activity that will
derive full benefit from them. Such minds, being naturally ener-
getic, seize on and appropriate thoughts wherever they are to be
found; "they gather sweets from every opening flower": but, on
minds of inferior capacity, the sentences of the teacher fall like
sounds on a deaf ear—they never penetrate; and the sluggish
faculties, instead of being excited, are lulled into more hopeless
inactivity by dull discourses which they do not comprehend. Where
the natural energy of the faculties is weak, or only moderate in
degree, it is the more necessary to stimulate them to greater energy
by calling them into activity; and hence such a mode of education
is undoubtedly the most effectual.?
Those individuals in whom the Observing faculties and that of The different
Language predominate, cannot conceive the irksomeness and un-training of
predominant
profitableness of an education confined to words and syntax when Reflecting and
administered to boys who are deficient in, or only moderately faculties.
Observing
endowed with, these organs, but in whom those of Comparison and
Causality and of the Moral Sentiments are large and active. The
latter communicate a positive craving to learn the real, the true, and
the useful, and to understand the causes of the phenomena which
diversify life. To such minds, the ordinary classical academies, as
then conducted, were hungry deserts. There is a difference, also, in
the modes by which these two classes of minds gain knowledge.
Those in whom the Observing organs predominate, acquire their
information directly by seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching, which
acts are followed by rapid intuitive perceptions of the qualities of
the objects and of the character of events. Those in whom these
1
Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 329.
442
Intellectual Education.
The effects of
the non-culture
organs are deficient and the Reflective organs predominate, are slow
in observing; and even what they do see and hear makes
very
little
impression on them, until it be brought within the range of their
Reflective faculties. It becomes necessary, therefore, in teaching
them a rule—if in Grammar, to give them a reason for it; if in
Arithmetic, to explain on what principle it is founded; if in Morals,
not to rest it on mere authority, but to show them why the forbidden
act is wrong, and that commanded is right; in teaching them History,
to explain the causes and consequences of the events, as well as the
moral qualities of the actors.
This kind of instruction was too often omitted in the old system
of the Reflect of teaching, and hence some boys of profound intellects and fine
ing faculties. moral dispositions sat in the benches dreary and desolate, without
acquiring ideas or gratification. They were considered as irretriev-
ably dull,' and left the school demoralized rather than improved.
The correctness of this representation is not contradicted by the
fact, that, of the recorded duxes' at the High School of Edinburgh,
some stand registered in the country's history as men of superior
powers; for these will be found to have had an ample development
of certain Observing organs which in Andrew were deficient, and
also to have enjoyed the aid of private tutors, an advantage which
to him was denied. In the High School of Edinburgh, instruction
in Science has recently been added to the classical curriculum, and
if this arrangement had existed in Andrew's day, it would have
exercised a highly beneficial influence on his mental development.*
case.
This exempli- When calling lately at the house of a friend, we found one of his
fied by a special sons, a fine boy, with a large development of the Reflecting organs,
but deficient in Time and Tune, bathed in tears, and suffering great
mental distress, occasioned by his inability to compose a given
number of Latin verses, prescribed as a task by his teacher in the
i George and Andrew Combe used to be designated at home by their father
as “blockheads!" See “Life of George Combe,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i.
p. 91 ; in which also are given abundant proofs of the evil effects of the educa-
tion then given in the High School.
2 See Note 2, p. 389, on the meaning of this term.
3 See additional remarks on the same subject, in his Autobiography, in
Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 49.
4 Life of Andrew Combe, p. 29. This book was published in 1850, by which
time great improvements had been effected in the curriculum and teaching of
the High School, as told, p. 91, in the present work.
The Training of the Reflecting faculties. 443
new Academy. The boy excelled in the other exercises of the The neglect of
the Reflecting
school, and, having a large Love of Approbation, he felt mortified
faculties.
at his inferiority in this respect. The misery thus caused, recurring
day after day, will, we venture to predict, never be effaced from his
memory ; and, in future life, when he compares the value of the
accomplishment with the distress endured in a vain attempt to
attain it, he will see slight reason to admire the wisdom which
directed his youthful studies. We are no enemies to the highest
classical erudition where nature has bestowed, in an adequate
degree, the faculties on which a taste for it depends. If an indivi-
dual possesses a great development of Language, Tune, Time,
Individuality, and Ideality, we know of no exercise more fitted to
delight his understanding and improve his taste than reading the
Greek and Roman classics and attempting to imitate them : but if
these organs are deficient, and those of the Reflecting powers, or of
the other Knowing faculties, are large ; it appears extremely unwise
to force a boy to follow a line of study for which he has neither taste
nor ability, and to deny him (which is a necessary consequence of
his being so occupied) the means of cultivating and gratifying the
faculties that he possesses in an eminent degree.3
3. ON LANGUAGE, AND THE RELATION BETWEEN WORDS, THINGS,
AND IDEAS ; AND THEIR PROPER TEACHING.
The functions of Language will be understood by a short elucida- Communica-
tion by Natura
tion. The different faculties, being active, produce desires, emotions,
Language.
and intellectual conceptions. The mind, wishing to communicate a
knowledge of these to other individuals, accomplishes this end by
making signs expressive of their existence. These signs may consist
of the peculiar gestures, looks, and cries, that naturally accompany
2
1 The Edinburgh Academy opered in 1824 ; see p. 88. The above was
written in 1825.
Speaking of his attending Dr. Hill's second class for Latin in Edinburgh
University, George Combe says :- “ Although I made no progress in acquiring
the Latin language, I derived considerable pleasure from hearing the Latin
Classics read and explained, and have no doubt that they furnished me with a
standard of taste and an interest in literary composition, which developed
itself at a later period spontaneously.” Autobiography, in his “ Life," by
Charles Gibbon, p. 59. For a fuller expression of his views on the influence
of the Classics in Education, see p. 69 et seq. and p. 114 of the present work;
and his “Life,' vol. ii. p. 199.
Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (1824-5), p. 235.
3
444
Intellectual Education.
the actions of the several faculties, and which, being part of our
constitution, are universally understood. For example, when the
mind is deeply impressed by fear, a certain terror-stricken expression
is spread over the countenance, indicative of the emotion. When it
is wrapt in pride, the head is carried high, and a cold, repulsive,
arrogant aspect is presented to the spectator. These signs constitute
the elements of Natural Language, and need only to be presented,
to be understood in all countries and by all nations.
Communica- But mankind possess also the power of inventing and establishing
tiearby means arbitrary signs to express their feelings and conceptions. For
signs through example, the words, love, compassion, and anger, are mere conven-
Language.
ventional signs, by which we in Britain agree to express three
internal feelings; and there is no natural connection between the
signs and the things signified. The Metaphysicians attribute this
talent to Association; but it is a peculiar power of Association given
by the faculty of Language only. Persons possessing much of this
faculty, have a great natural power of inventing arbitrary signs, and
of learning the use of them when invented by others. As this
faculty, however, gives the talent merely for expressing our feelings
and ideas, by means of sounds and forms, it is cognisant of signs
alone, the meaning of which is acquired by other faculties. If a
horse, for instance, be presented to the mind, the faculty of Lan-
guage will give the desire to find a name or sign by which to indi-
cate it, and also the power of associating the appearance of the
Their significa-object with any particular sound or name when invented. But the
on other facul- meaning or signification which the word will embrace will depend
on the perfection of other faculties, and the extent to which they
have been used. For example, the faculty of Form will judge of
the form of a horse ; Size, of its dimensions ; Colouring, of its
colour. A blind man, by the aid of the faculty of Language, may
learn to connect his own notions of a horse with the name : but his
conceptions will be very different from those attached to it by a
person who sees; for the blind man could not judge of its colour at
all, and not very correctly of its form and size.
In the same way,
any individual possessing the organ of Language, may learn the
manner in which the word justice is generally used; but the mean-
ing attached to it, in the mind of a person who is extremely deficient
in the organ of Conscientiousness, will be very imperfect when
compared with the notion which would be connected with it by
one in whom that organ is extremely large.
i See Natural Language explained, p. 331.
ties.
On Language and its Proper Teaching.
445
words.
Every Metaphysical author complains of the ambiguity of words, The reason of
the different
and shows how the vagueness of their signification retards the pro-
meanings
gress of Moral and Intellectual Science; the exposition now given attached to
shows whence this vagueness arises. Before individuals can attach
precisely the same conceptions to words expressive of feelings, and
judgments of the Understanding, they must possess a similar com-
bination of faculties; and, as no two individuals do possess an
exactly similar combination of faculties, so as to be capable of feel-
ing and judging alike, there will be shades of difference in the mean-
ing attached by different persons to such terms, in spite of every
effort to define them. In consequence of this difference in the
faculties, the very definition itself is differently apprehended. In
Mathematics and Algebra, the things indicated by the signs are not
feelings, which vary in every individual, but relations and propor-
tions of space and numbers, which have a definite and fixed exist-
ence, and which, if apprehended at all, can be conceived only in one
way. Hence arises the precision of the language of these sciences,
compared with that of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy.
The power of Associating, by means of the faculty of Language, The limits of
conceptions with signs, is limited in one respect. Any indifferent Association by
object may be selected and used as the arbitrary sign of a Propensity, Language.
Sentiment, or Conception ; but, if the object already stands in a
natural relation to any faculty, it cannot, except with great difficulty,
be made the arbitrary sign of an opposite emotion. For example,
we might, by a mutual understanding, constitute a square figure the
artificial sign of the emotion termed rage. After the agreement
was understood, that figure would suggest the notion of rage, just as
well as the letters now composing that word, which are mere forms
placed in a certain order. But, if we were whimsical enough to use
the outline of a sweet and smiling countenance, which, likewise, is
merely a species of form, as the sign of this emotion; we could not,
without great difficulty, learn to associate the idea of rage wit!
this figure, for it is already the natural sign of emotions entirely
opposite : it would excite Benevolence directly, more forcibly than
Destructiveness indirectly, through the medium of Language; it
would call up ideas of joyfulness and innocence, rather than of anger
and cruelty.
In the same way, we might associate feelings of venera-
tion, pity, affection, or grief, with soft and slow notes of music, because
these notes themselves stand in a natural relation to such emotions;
while it would be difficult to form associations, by which they should
become the artificial signs of violent rage, jealousy, and fury.
446
Intellectual Education.
The relation of
The relation of Philosophers have written voluminous disquisitions on the in-
feelings and
fluence of words on thought; but, if the view now presented be
conceptions to
words. correct, feelings and conceptions must, in every instance, precede
the intelligent use of words; and the invention of a term for which
no idea exists, instead of being a step towards the advancement
of knowledge, would be a simple absurdity. It is true that the
language of any nation is a correct index of its mental attainments;
but this happens, because, in proportion as a people acquire notions,
they invent words to express them, and not because they first in-
vent words and then use them as a means of acquiring ideas.
The art of writing greatly facilitates the progress of knowledge;
writing to
but it does so only by giving precision to words and permanence to
Language.
thought. Written words are to emotions and intellectual concep-
tions, what figures are to numerical quantities, and their relations;
they serve to express, and enable us to record, our past attainments,
and thereby to advance, unincumbered, in the path of discovery ; in
no instance, however, can they profitably precede the acquisition of
ideas. The new nomenclature of Chemistry smoothes the study of
that science ; but the nomenclature itself was the result of correct
and enlarged ideas of the nature and relations of chemical sub-
stances, and could not possibly have been formed before these were
obtained.
In education, If these principles be sound, it is a grievous error in education to
things should
precede words. devote the years of youth chiefly to the study of languages. In all
cases, knowledge of objects and their qualities and relations should
precede the study of words; for it is only in consequence of that
previous knowledge that words become significant and useful. A
good education should embrace the culture of all the faculties;
which can be attained only by exercising each on its own objects,
and regulating its action.
Persons who have a great endowment of the organ of Language,
large Lan-
abound in words. In ordinary conversation, their expressions flow
like a copious stream--in making a speech they pour out torrents.
When this organ is extremely large, and those of Reflection small,
the individual is prone to repeat, to the inconceivable annoyance of
the hearer, the plainest sentences again and again, as if the matter
were of such difficult apprehension that one enunciation is not
sufficient to convey the meaning. This practice appears to originate
in an immoderate power and activity of the organ of Language--so
great that delight is felt in mere articulation, independently of re-
flection.
The effects of
guage;
I
On Language and its Proper Teaching.
4-47
When the organ is very small, there is a want of command of of small Lan-
expression, a painful repetition of the same words, and a consequent guage.
poverty of style, both in writing and in speaking. The style of
that author is generally most agreeable, in whom the organs of
Language and of Reflection bear a just proportion to each other.
If the Intellectual powers are very acute and rapid, and Language
not in equal proportion, a stammer in speech is frequently the con-
sequence.
Individuality, Eventuality, Time, Comparison, and Imitation, The power of
greatly assist this faculty, when applied to the acquisition of foreign languages
.
learning foreign
languages and Grammar, I have observed that boys who are
duces' in classes for languages, generally possess such a combination ;
and that this endowment, with moderate Language, accomplishes
more in the way of scholarship, than a large development of the
latter organ, with a small endowment of the others. Such indi-
viduals have a great facility in recollecting rules, as matters of fact
and detail, in tracing etymologies, and in discriminating tenses and
shades of meaning. The combination alluded to gives them great
readiness also in using their knowledge, whatever the extent of it
may be.
The doctrine before laid down, that the signification of words is The power of
learned by means of other faculties, removes an apparent difficulty repeat.
learning to
in regard to learning to repeat, which occasionally presents itself.
A person with a moderate organ of Language, will sometimes learn
songs, poetry, or particular speeches by heart, with considerable
facility and pleasure : but, in such cases, the passages committed to
memory will be found highly interesting to his other powers, such
as Ideality, Causality, Tune, Veneration, Combativeness, or Ad-
hesiveness; and the study and recollection of vocables only, will be
difficult and disagreeable to him. To a person, on the other hand,
in whom the organ is decidedly large, mere words are interesting, and
he can learn them without caring much about their meaning.
Hence, also, a person with a moderate organ of Language and good
Reflecting organs, may, by perseverance, learn languages, and attain
proficiency as a scholar; but he will not display copiousness, fluency,
and richness of expression in his style, either in his own or in a
foreign tongue.
Language, then, expresses merely the feelings and conceptions
produced by the various primitive faculties acting separately or in
combination. Now, let us imagine the cerebral development of a
1 See Note 2, p. 389, on the meaning of this term.
448
Intellectual Education.
a learner to a
The relation of nation to be distinguished by large organs of the Propensities, Sen-
Language to
the other
timents, and Knowing faculties, small Reflecting organs, and little
faculties. Secretiveness. Their language, being the spontaneous growth of
such a combination, would naturally abound in words expressive of
simple feelings, and of conceptions of individual objects and their
qualities; while it would be poor in terms of abstract relation, con-
ceived by the faculties of Reflection. For the same reason, the transi-
tions in such a language would be rapid, like those in Mrs Quickly's
speech, and they would follow the order of the occurrences which
excited the ideas; Secretiveness being small, there would naturally
be little involution in the arrangement of the words. Suppose, on
the other hand, that, in another nation, Secretiveness and the Reflect-
ing organs predominated; the genius of their language would differ
widely from that of the people first described. Their expressions
for discriminating individual conceptions would be fewer, while
their stock of words and phrases designative of abstract relations
would be more extensive, and the general structure of their sentences
The relation of would be more involved. Suppose, again, two individuals, with
foreign lan- equal organs of Language, and consequently equal power of learning
guage.
words, as mere signs, to possess, the one a head like the former, and
the other a head like the latter people, and that they attempted to
learn these different languages. It appears probable that the one with
the first mentioned development would find the genius of the first
language the more easy and natural to him; he would acquire its
forms of collocation and its niceties of designation with facility and
delight, because they would coincide with the modes of feeling and
thinking of his own mind. If, on the other hand, his attention
were directed to the language of the second people, he would meet
with greater difficulties. Although he might master the words, he
would not find the idioms natural to him; the forms of expression
depending on the Reflecting powers, and likewise the involutions
introduced by Secretiveness would, through defect of tact to appre-
hend them, appear to him extremely intricate and unintelligible :
he would be obliged to learn them by rule, and rules alone never
produce a really excellent linguist. The second language, on the
other hand, would appear natural and easy to the other individual
possessing a head like that of the people who invented it.
If these views be correct, the talent for learning the genius or
spirit of different languages will depend upon the development of
the organ of words, in conjunction with the power of the individual
to enter into the feelings, and form the precise kinds of intellectual
On the Best Method of Instructing.
449
combinations, of different nations; or, upon his capacity to enter On learning
into the mental state of others—a power conferred chiefly by of a language.
the “ spirit”.
Secretiveness, Imitation, Individuality, and Eventuality, aided of
course by the other primitive faculties. Although this is merely a
theory thrown out for the consideration of the reader, yet it has
been suggested by facts. I know an individual who has an excel-
lent development of many of the organs, but is a very decided
character, and possesses little of the talent of entering into or
accommodating himself to the feelings of others; and he experienced
an inconceivable difficulty in acquiring the simplest French idioms.
I know another young gentleman who was in the same situation in
regard to Latin, and who has little versatility. In them, the organ
of Language is rather deficient. On the other hand, I have met with
several persons in whom the organ was equally deficient, and who
possessed the power of learning foreign idioms; in their case, how-
ever, the power of amalgamation with the mental states of others was
decidedly greater, and their organs of Secretiveness, Imitation, Indi-
viduality, and Eventuality were larger.
و
1
tion is best
The Intellect, which consists of the Observing and the Reflecting How Instruc-
faculties, is the medium by which instruction is gained.
gained.
(1) The best means of acquiring instruction, is to bring the facul-
ties into direct communication with their natural objects—as Form
with forms, Colouring with colours, Individuality with objects that
exist, the Reflecting faculties with the relations of objects.
(2) In prosecuting instruction, we should avail ourselves of the
plurality of the organs, and relieve the faculties by alternating the
studies.
(3) We should avail ourselves of the plurality of the organs, by
employing as many organs as possible. If I wish to lift a weight
and employ one finger, my power is limited to its strength. If I
employ one organ only, as Language, the power is less than by
employing more. Therefore call in the aid of Form, Colour, &c.;
in Mathematics, use diagrams; in Geography, maps. Natural His-
tory addresses all the organs in the Observing ridge.?
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 124-135. See additional observations
on the relation between words and ideas, and between Language and the other
faculties, in the chapter on Linguistic Education, p. 69. The prominence
George Combe placed on things as compared with words is appropriately shown
in his motto, adopted from the first,"RES NON VERBA QUÆSO.”
2 From MSS.
1
2 F
450
Intellectual Education.
nanies.
ance of the
sentation of
The right pro-
There are two modes of obtaining knowledge. The one is to pre-
cedure in teach-
ing things and sent the object directly to the faculties, and then add the name
;
the
second is to give the name, and add a description. Now a word is
nothing of itself; before it is of the slightest importance, it must be
joined to an idea. The difference between the two modes of
instruction may be thus illustrated. I have a bust behind me.
Suppose I describe it to you and give you the name, how faint
would be your conception of its size, form and colour! I now pre-
sent it to you, and give you the name. The object being directly
presented to the faculties, you will obtain a better idea of it in three
minutes than from a description of three hours' length. When you
send your children to school and set them to learn by rote, you give
them words merely, not ideas; you increase their knowledge of
signs, not of things.
The import- The true plan is to present the object to the children. Let them
actual pre-
examine its form, size, colour and other particulars; and afterwards-
tell the name, and spell it. All nature is adapted, in the most
things.
beautiful manner, to the faculties, and the study of nature imparts
great pleasure. Thus the curiosity of children to know things is
insatiable. You are aware that they will break their playthings
to see what is within. When properly taught, the elements of all
the sciences are simple. Talk to a child of Geometry, triangles, ,
and hexagons, and you will puzzle it completely. But present a
figure, let it notice that it has three sides and three corners, then
tell it that all such figures are triangles; and it readily understands
the matter. So of the other geometrical figures. · Children always
take pleasure in learning by actual presentation. They can be
instructed in almost anything which can be presented to them
directly, and subjected to their senses.
Education in To prove this, I dissected, before two girls and a boy, the heart
things illus-
and lungs of a sheep. Their delight was great, the impression
(1.) By dissec- made on their minds vivid and lasting.
The teacher under whom I suffered—for that is the term com-
monly used in Scotland_was fond of Mechanics, and he constructed
a bridge after the plan laid down by Cæsar in his “Commentaries,”
trated :
tion;
i This phrase is not in general use in Scotland, and never was. . It would
seem to have been used by the High School boys, in George Combe's time.
He says, “The torture and screams and reckless injustice of this rule made
us High School boys, when we met many years later in society, ask each other
* Under whom did you suffer ?'”—Autobiography, prefixed to his “Life,” by
Charles Gibbon, vol. i. pp. 18 and 46.
Education in Things illustrated.
451
1
which was always brought out when a class came to that part. I (2.) By Cæsar's
bridge ;
recollect with what anxiety we looked forward to the time when
we should be allowed to study Cæsar's bridge. At length it came;
and then, instead of the disinclination to go to school, the tardiness,
the truant-playing, and listlessness of other times, all was eagerness
and attention. There was no occasion for scolding or flogging.
We went on reading and examining with the greatest assiduity;
and thus the most difficult part of the “Commentaries” became to
us the most easy. When the description was over, with what
regret did we see the bridge deposited in the closet whence it had
been taken ! Monotony recommenced, and the arm and “the tawse”
were again employed to do the work of the teacher's brains.
The above observations are well illustrated and confirmed by the (3.) By Wilder-
results of Mr Wilderspin's system of Infant Education. In the
spin's Infant
Education ;
first place, the schoolrooms are large and well ventilated, so that
the children constantly breathe pure air. Then, surrounding the
school, is a dry, airy playground, and the play and lessons are so
judiciously alternated that neither lose their attractions by over-
duration. And, in the school, the truth that the organs of the brain,
like the muscles of the body, will become wearied by long exertion
is practically attended to. One object of study is never dwelt upon
so long as to cause fatigue. In their intellectual exercises, the pre-
sentation of visible and tangible objects holds the most conspicuous
place. By degrees, they are familiarised with a great variety of
substances, with their qualities and relations, their natural and
artificial combinations. All the faculties which take cognisance of
external things are thus directly stimulated and pleasurably excited.
They obtain, by this means, a vast aniount of useful knowledge, as it
were in play. The teacher will take a mathematical figure-a.
triangle, for instance—and ask them if they would like to talk
about it. Yes, they are all anxious. He gets them to describe it.
They see that it has three sides and three corners, and tell him so.
After they have examined it for a certain time, he asks if they
would like to know the name. He then tells them the name, and
they repeat it. Would you like to tell mother how to spell the
word ? he will next inquire, perhaps. Yes, they would like that
very much. He then sets up the word with wooden letters, and
1 See this same story very well told, in his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol.
i. p. 20. The only other intellectual incident that occurred, during his four
years' attendance at this class, is told at the same place, and at p. 399 of the
present work.
452
Intellectual Education.
they spell it over. In this way, they learn to read, as it were
incidentally. Instruction is never prolonged more than a quarter of
an hour.
1
)
( 4.) By teaching In visiting a friend this evening, an influential man, we found
Geography;
that he entertains very enlightened views regarding what constitutes
education, and what is necessary to be done in improving it, for the
true interests of the United States. He advances the instruction of
his sons in a way at once simple, agreeable, and efficacious. In the
evening after tea, when the family are enjoying the quiet comfort of
the winter fireside, he desires one of his sons to read from the daily
newspaper the list of ships which have arrived in the port of Boston;
it specifies the places from which they have come, and the nature of
He then asks one to point out the place in the map, and
to tell the latitude and longitude ; another is requested to assign a
reason why it brings that particular cargo from that port. This
leads to an explanation of the climate, soil, and natural productions
of that part of the globe; this is often followed up by details con-
cerning the religion, government, manners, and customs of the people.
They learn a great deal of useful and interesting information in these
conversations, which also give them a perception of the real value of
their geographical and historical studies at school?
the cargo.
(5.) By the The following letter, written by a young gentleman who is per-
teaching in a
German school: sonally known to me, and who, after studying at the High School
of Edinburgh, went to Cassel and Göttingen, is lively and instruc-
tive :
3
Practical know- “ In Germany, as in England, boarding-schools are the principal
ledge is given. seminaries of education, day-schools like those which we have in
Edinburgh being seldom if ever met with. These boarding-schools
are attended, not only by the boys who reside with the teacher, but
also by what are called day-boarders; and masters for drawing,
dancing, music, and other ornamental and useful accomplishments,
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 343. .
See note on Wilderspin's System, and George Combe's appreciation of it, p. 322.
2 America, vol. i. p. 168–9.
3 The writer was the late Sir James Coxe, his nephew, Commissioner in
Lunacy, author of several works on that subject, editor of the last edition
of George Combe's works, and chairman of the Combe Trustees. An account
of his intimate connection with George Combe will be found in the “ Life,'
by Charles Gibbon (see Index).
.
Education in Things illustrated.
453
teach at stated hours, as in similar establishments in this country.
There are in Germany no such institutions as our High School,
where almost nothing but Latin is taught; and indeed no one thinks
of learning Latin, except those who are intended for the learned pro-
fessions, and who absolutely require a knowledge of it. Thus, boys
in general, instead of spending five or six years in a state of misery,
are enabled to acquire an extensive stock of useful and practical
information.
“In German boarding-schools, Natural History is a prominent Science is prac-
object of pursuit, and the boys are instructed in the outlines of tically taught.
Zoology, Ornithology, Entomology, and Mineralogy. This branch
of education is devoured by the learners on the Continent with the
utmost avidity. There the teacher is not an object of fear, but the
friend of his pupils. He takes them, about once a fortnight, to visit
some manufactory in the neighbourhood, where they are generally
received with kindness, and are conveyed through the whole build-
ing by the owners, who seem to have pleasure in pointing out the
uses of the various parts of the machinery, and in explaining to
their juvenile visitors the different operations which are carried on.
Suppose, for example, that an expedition is undertaken to a paper-
mill: the boys begin their scrutiny by inspecting the rags in the
condition in which they are first brought in; then they are made to
remark the processes of cutting them, of forming the paste, of sizing
the paper, &c., with the machinery by which all this is executed. On
their return, they are required to write out an account of the manufac-
tory, of the operations performed in it, and of the manufactured article.
During the summer months, pedestrian excursions are under-
taken, extending to a period of perhaps two, three, or four weeks. Field excur-
Everything worthy of attention is pointed out to the boys as they sions give a
knowledge of
go along; and deviations are made on all sides, for the purpose of natural ob-
inspecting every manufactory, old castle, and other remarkable jects ;
object in the neighbourhood. Minerals, plants, and insects are
collected as they proceed, and thus they early begin to appreciate
and enjoy the beauties of external nature. If they happen to be
travelling in the mountainous districts of the Hartz, they descend
into the mines, and see the methods of excavating the ore, working
the shafts, and ventilating and draining the mines. Ascending again
to the surface, they become acquainted with the machinery by which
the minerals are brought up, the processes of separating the ore from
the sulphur and the silver from the lead, and the mode in which
the former metal is coined into money.
454
Intellectual Education.
Manufactories Having become familiar with these operations, the boys next,
are visited and
perhaps, visit the iron-works; and here a new scene of gratification
explained;
is opened up to their faculties. The furnaces, the principles of the
different kinds of bellows, the method of casting the iron and form-
ing the moulds,—everything, in short, is presented to their senses,
and fully expounded to them. In like manner, they are taken to
the salt-works, and manufactories of porcelain, glass, acids, alkalies,
and other chemical bodies, with which that part of Germany abounds.
If any mineral springs be in the neighbourhood, these are visited,
and the nature and properties of the water explained. In short, no
opportunity is neglected by which additions to their knowledge may
be made.
The amount “In this way, I may say without exaggeration, they acquire,
and value of
in the course of a single forenoon, a greater amount of useful,
this know-
Jedge ; practical, and entertaining knowledge than they could obtain in
six months at a grammar-school. For my own part, at least, I
learned more in one year at Cassel than during the five preceding
which were spent in Edinburgh. This knowledge, too, is of a kind
that remains indelibly written on the memory, and that is often
recalled in after life, with pleasure and satisfaction. How different
were my feelings, when thus employed, from those which tormented
me in that place of misery, the High School of Edinburgh !!
These journeys not only have a beneficial effect on the mind,
but also conduce, in no small degree, to the growth and consolidation
of the body. They are performed by short and easy stages, so as
not to occasion fatigue.
“On their return home, the boys write an account of their travels,
tested;
in which they describe the nature of the country through which
1 This letter was inserted in No. XXX. of the Phrenological Journal, vol.
vii. (1831–2), and the Editor (not myself) here subjoins the following note:-
“Our correspondent's language is strong ; but as we know it to be nothing
more than the expression of honest and heartfelt indignation, we have
allowed it to remain unmodified. We ourselves can never forget the toedium
vitae which attended us during the lingering years in which we made a strenuous
but unsuccessful attempt to overcome the difficulties of Latin Syntax, at the
High School of Edinburgh. Often did we envy the condition of boys who
laboured in the field for a scanty subsistence, but whose minds were free from
the intolerable and spirit-breaking incubus of Latin grammar.” It is proper
to add that, in another seminary and at college, the writer of this note subse-
quently attained considerable proficiency in classical literature, and is an
admirer of it; circumstances, however, which do not prevent him from concur-
ring in the views expressed in these lectures regarding Classical education.
(G. C.)
How it is
Education in Things illustrated.
455
they have passed, and its various productions, minerals, and manu-
factures. This is corrected and improved by the teacher. The
minerals and plants which have been collected serve at school to
illustrate the lessons.
“The boys likewise go through a regular course of study, and The formal
receive lessons on Religion, Geography, French, and the elements studies en-
in
of Geometry. They are taught also the elements of Astronomy;
not merely the abstract particulars generally given in courses
of Geography in this country, relative to the moon's distance,
the diameter and period of revolution of the earth, and the like, but
also the relative positions of the principal constellations. The
figures of cubes, cones, octagons, pyramids, and other geometrical
figures, are impressed upon the minds of the junior boys by pieces
of wood cut into the proper shapes. Latin is taught to those who
particularly desire it Poles are erected in the garden for gymnas-
tics, and the boys receive every encouragement to take muscular
exercise.
Now, this method of education seems to me--indeed, I know This compared
experimentally that it is-s0 vastly superior to that which is in education.
vogue in Edinburgh, that I can never cease to wonder that the bar-
barisms of the dark' ages should still be allowed to exert their influ-
ence among us. In Germany, the boys enter the schools which I
have described, at the age of eight or nine, and leave them when
about fourteen or fifteen, at which period those intended for the
learned professions enter the lyceums, preparatory to enrolling their
names at the universities. Now, whether is it more rational for a
boy, at that period of life, to consume his valuable time in the dreary
halls of the High School in acquiring scarcely one useful idea, or to
employ it in the pursuit of substantial knowledge! For my own
part, I shall always look back on the time which I spent in obtain-
ing a superficial acquaintance with the Latin tongue as a hideous
blank in my existence.” 1
Mr Campbell (one of his earlier teachers) taught me to read and Examples of
spell after the fashion of those days, that is, I spelled and pronounced without mean-
the words with a broad Scotch accent, with no regard to stops and ing :
intonation; and without once dreaming that the words had a mean-
ing. The discovery that English words in a printed book were signs
Popular Education, pp. 35–8; and Phronological Journal, vol. vii.
(1831–2) p. 375.
1
456
Intellectual Education.
read;
In learning to of feelings and ideas did not dawn upon me till several years after-
wards. One reason of this was that the only significant speech
which I knew was broad Edinburgh Scotch; and it never occurred
to any one to explain the meaning of English words to us children
in this dialect. An English book was as unintelligible to me after
I could pronounce and spell the words of it as was a Latin book
before I had learned the rudiments of that language.
In going to I was regularly taken to church in those days; but never under-
church;
stood one word of the sermon. This gave rise to a habit of inatten-
tion to spoken as well as to printed language, which was most
obstructive to mental improvement. The preacher appeared to me
to live and speak in a sphere so far above my condition and compre-
hension that I never attempted to follow him, but at once retreated
within my own consciousness, and there made entertainment for
myself by spinning fancies and forming schemes—good, bad, and
indifferent,—to be executed when suitable opportunities occurred;
or, whenever I was out of the reach of my father's foot and hand, I
fell asleep, the refreshment of which was the only solid advantage I
derived from my church attendance in those days.?
In learning
Geography;
In October 1802 (when 14 years of age, after leaving the High
School), I was sent to learn Geography and Mathematics under Mr
Robert Darling, who had been a teacher of reputation, but was now
a very old man—I should suppose about eighty. Mr Darling was
not only behind the year 1802 in his method of teaching, but was
mentally effete. He had been, however, a man of talent, and he was
still very good. I liked and respected him, though I profited little
by his instruction. By way of teaching me Geography, he made me
repeat, without using the maps, the boundaries, capitals, towns,
rivers, and mountains, &c., of all the principal kingdoms, learned
by heart from a printed book. It was an offence, in saying the
lessons, to use the maps as aids to memory. As I was conscientious,
I abstained from studying them, and crammed my memory with
pure words to the best of my ability. As, however, my capacity for
learning words without meaning, and uninteresting details, was very
slender, I forgot yesterday's lesson in learning to-day's; and the
result was that, at the end of the course, I was as ignorant of
Geography as at the commencement. This was an evil which fol-
lowed me through life ; for, literally, now in my seventieth year, I do
1 Autobiography, in his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i p. 8.
Teaching Words without Meaning illustrated. 457
not know the Geography of any country, or even of any county in
England and Ireland which I have not visited personally, or been
led to study by the events of a war or other incidents giving it a
temporary interest !
My mathematical studies under the good old man were equally In learning
Mathematics;
unfortunately conducted. He showed me how to use the compasses
and scale, in drawing figures; but, again, his teaching consisted in
hearing me repeat the demonstrations of the first six books of Euclid
by heart, without reference to the diagrams; and the same with
Trigonometry. The diagrams were before me, but he never explained
the rationale of them. I did not discover this; and, as he was
satisfied with my rattling off the words, I confined my attention to
them. These lessons evaporated as soon as they were learned ; and
thus my mathematical instruction was marred, and never was
repaired. I contrived, however, to discover some principles or
reasons in Trigonometry; and, having procured a quadrant and a
linear tape, I measured the height of the West Church steeple and
the top of the new barracks in Edinburgh Castle, above my father's
yard, and came pretty near to the recorded truth."
tasks;
Andrew Combe's faculties were late in attaining maturity, and, in too heavy
moreover, the system of teaching in his day was little calculated to
instruct him. At that time, many schoolmasters only prescribed
tasks to be learned by their pupils, the teaching being performed by
private tutors; and these schoolmasters limited their own exertions
to ascertaining whether the lessons had been learned, and to punish-
ing the scholars who failed. Andrew did not receive the assistance
of a tutor, and the tasks were generally beyond the reach of his un-
aided efforts; hence his poor success is accounted for. It is, there-
fore, only justice to his teachers to add, that all their scholars were
not so backward as he was. But, in his case, another evil existed.
The instruction was not adapted to his peculiar combination of In teaching
the Classics;
faculties. His preceptors taught him Greek and Latin words and
rules, but neglected English style and composition. These were
supposed to come by nature. Moreover, extremely little of sub-
stantive knowledge of things, events, or causes, was communicated;
and, even when the classic authors read at the school contained
valuable ideas, these were rarely made the subjects of observation or
reflection. Words, syntax, and translation were all in all. The
1 Autobiography, in his “ Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 56.
458
Intellectual Education.
boys in whom the Observing organs were large, and particularly the
organ of Language, took an interest in this teaching, and profited by
it; but Andrew, who could learn chiefly through the medium of
Comparison and Causality, remained unimproved; for, in those
days, these faculties, particularly that of Causality, had nearly an end-
less vacation at the High School of Edinburgh, and in the Greek
and Latin Classes of the University. Andrew's sister, Jean, with
instruction in English Composition, French and Italian, excelled
him immeasurably in literary attainments at this period.
The circumstances now mentioned serve to explain the great
interest which Andrew took in the subject of education. In his
own case, his parents had spared neither zeal nor expense to give
him profitable instruction, and to fit him for a useful and respect-
able sphere of life; but, from the causes mentioned, his time and
their money had been expended with very inadequate advantages.
The waste of
such instruc-
tion;
1
In teaching I saw a specimen, in Philadelphia, of an Infant-school, the chief
reading;
object of which seemed to be instruction in reading; and certainly
some of them read beautifully. But I asked them, what was meant
by going to the right hand, what by going to the left. I told them
to lift up their right hands. About one-half held up the right
hand, and the other half the left. I asked them which way.was
east, which west; they could not tell. A higher class was called
up, and read about Jefferson taking the oath of the Constitution. I
asked what was meant by an oath, and what by the Constitution ;
they could not tell. The teacher said it was impossible that they
should know these things; but, when they were grown up, she hoped
they would find them out. I hope so too.
The teacher was a very
intelligent lady, and wished to explain the lessons; but the parents
thought that the time was lost which was dedicated to explanations,
and they complained to the directors of the school! She was then
ordered to make “fluent readers” of the children as quickly as
possible, which she certainly accomplished.
In the want of You are generally before us in the education of the people, but
useful ideas;
you are not so conspicuous for the quality as you are for the quantity
of educational means. If you will inquire into the subjects taught
in
your schools, you will find, I am afraid, that the number of use-
ful ideas imparted is not so great as it should be. I do not under-
Life of Andrew Combe, p. 28.
Spoken to an American audience, in 1838.
I
2
Teaching Words without Meaning illustrated. 459
value a knowledge of words; but to impart a knowledge of useful
ideas should be the great object. You pay your money. Why do
you not take care to have your money's worth ??
dren;
In my lectures on education, I adverted to the errors of this In the case of
mode of teaching words without meaning, and told my audience Gaelic chil-
that it reminded me of the mode of teaching English in a
certain Highland school in Scotland. The children, whose ver-
nacular tongue was Gaelic, were taught to spell, pronounce,
and read English correctly and fluently, and, at a public
examination, they displayed such proficiency, that the clergymen
present were about to compliment the teacher publicly on his meri-
torious exertions; when a friend of mine, one of the proprietors of
the parish, struck by the mechanical tone of the reading, put several
questions to the children regarding the signification of the passages
which they had read. He found them ignorant of the meaning of
the words. The teacher had omitted to translate the English into
Gaelic, and, although they could read, and pronounce the words,
they did not understand the former language.?
The children in the Philadelphia schools are, to some extent, in a In too difficult
similar condition; they read works on the history of America and
other subjects, the language of which is so far superior to the ex-
pressions contained in their domestic vocabulary, that, while unex-
plained, it is to them a foreign tongue.3
books;
There is a wide interval between knowledge and practice. In one In learning for
female seminary in which Dr. Combe’s “ Physiology”* (with ques-display,
tions appended to the chapters) is used as a class-book, its rules
appeared to me to be violated, in the very act of teaching them ;
that is to say, the brains of the young ladies were strained by
excessive tasks, and by undue excitement of the spirit of emulation.
The distinction between instructing and training is still imperfectly
understood, both in the United States and in Great Britain. These
young ladies were taught to repeat the laws of health, but they were
not trained to carry them into practice, in their daily habits.
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 346.
2 See this case mentioned, p. 84 ; also in article on Secular Education, in
Westminster Review (p. 7) for July, 1852. 3 America, vol. ii. p. 215.
4 Dr Andrew Combe’s "Principles of Physiology applied to the Preservation
of Health,” &c. (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart).
460
Intellectual Education.
Apparently, their leading objects in learning them were, to be able
to show off their knowledge at the public examinations, to gain
prizes, and to establish their reputation for superior talents.
In prepared The pupils of a distinguished teacher in Edinburgh used to astonish
rotē answering; the public by the great extent, accuracy, and readiness of their know-
ledge of history, exhibited at their annual examinations; but the
admiration of their exploits diminished when the secret of his teach-
ing was known. Questions were printed at the end of each chapter,
and, in reading the work, he desired them to mark certain words in
the text with a pencil; he added that these constituted the answers
to the questions, which they must learn to repeat promptly when-
ever the questions were asked. They did so; but their knowledge
was not an intellectual conception of the historical events, but
resulted from a mere parrot-like exercise of verbal men and
faded as rapidly as it was acquired.
emory,
1
The after ef- One anomaly in my mental constitution seemed to puzzle Dr
fects of such
Adam.” Every afternoon, he gave us one or two pages of his
teaching:
“Roman Antiquities” to be learned, and discoursed of next day.
In preparing He did not require us to repeat the words, but merely to show, in
the sabstance
of a lesson ;
answer to his questions, that we had read the pages and knew the
sense of them. Most boys enjoyed this exercise; but I was a com-
plete dunce in it. I read the passages carefully at home, but they
did not interest me. My intellect had been trained to repeat words
without thinking of their meaning; and I read the “Antiquities,"
and saw no meaning in them! I could not, therefore, tell the sense
which I did not see, and the words were not required. This bad
teaching was aggravated, in my case, by a small organ of In-
dividuality, which gave me a feeble capacity for learning details.
Had any one expounded the text to my Reflecting organs, I should
have mastered it easily.3
The defects in my education now became worse than ever, and
1 America, vol. ii. pp. 127-8.
2 The esteemed Rector of the Edinburgh High School from 1768 to 1809,
author of the well-known “Roman Antiquities” and other works on Latin,
under whom George Combe spent the last years of his school course and whom
he "respected and even loved.” See Autobiography, in his “Life” by Charles
Gibbon, vol. i. p. 47.
3 Autobiography, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 48.
The Effects of Defective education.
461
very painfully apparent. I was not dull or stupid : on the contrary, In separating
I had intelligent notions concerning the things which had come
language from
thought.
under my observation and experience, and also a quick apprehension
and practical understanding ; so much so that, when sent with
messages relating to business, I rarely failed to bring back satis-
factory and intelligible answers. But, when placed at the desk (he
was apprenticed to a lawyer) and furnished with a style book con-
taining a printed form of a simple law paper, with notes instructing
me how to fill up the blank spaces in it, with names, dates and sums
corresponding to the business in hand, I was completed derouté.
My faculty of Language had been trained to act on its own account,
separate from my Judgment, and, in my new vocation, it could only
blunder when acting by itself; for my Reflecting faculties had never
been taught to deal logically with language. It is difficult to
describe my obtuseness, slowness, and blunderings in this work.
could copy with tolerable correctness, although very slowly, because
this required no thinking
1
solid instruc-
I urged on my audience in Philadelphia the indispensable neces- The need of
sity to the welfare of the country, that the education of American
tion in things.
children should embrace solid instruction in things, and not con-
sist of words merely; and that training also, or daily discipline
of the dispositions, should be regarded as of great importance to
them. I earnestly advised them to invite Mr Wilderspin to visit
their country, and to show them a few good Infant and Training
schools in operation ; after seeing which, they would not long
tolerate their present inefficient system. In England, Scotland, and
Ireland, the most efficient schools are those which embrace most of
his principles and practice.
In all my education, the cultivation of the English language had
been deplorably neglected. I had learned to read, and, through the
medium of Latin, understood English Grammar; but no attention
1 Autobiography, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 65.
2 America, vol. ii. p. 217.
3 Yet he had passed through the High School and the University of Edin-
burgh! An English master was appointed in the High School only so recently
as 1866, though some English lessons had been given before by the classical
masters ; and the Chair of English Literature was not founded in Edinburgh
University till 1762 !
462
Intellectual Education.
The neglect of had been bestowed on my pronunciation, and it was incorrect,
English in
schools.
vulgar, and slovenly in the extreme. Lessons in English Composi-
tion were never dreamt of; and, as to Elocution, I had scarcely heard
the term used, and was actually puzzled to know exactly what it
meant, when, in May 1804, Mr Dallas (a Writer to the Signet, to
whom he was apprenticed), recommended me to attend a course of
instruction in that art, for the improvement of my style of reading
and speaking. I attended Mr Scott's classes for three months, from
5 to 6 P.M., five evenings in the week, and was much interested and
benefited. He was a refined natural gentleman, aged, but still
vigorous. He had published the text book which we used, under
the title of the Beauties of Eminent Writers ;” and it fulfilled the
pretension of its title. It consisted of extracts, selected with taste
and judgment, from the best prose and poetical literature of England.
Varieties of Mr Scott read one of the passages aloud, and each of the class, con-
reading
sisting of seven or eight youths of my own age, read it aloud after
him. I was struck with the differences in the manner of reading of
mỹ class-fellows. Some imitated our instructor admirably, without
appearing to catch an idea of the sense of the passage; others gave
meaning and their own expression to it, but could never reflect Mr
Scott's tone and expression correctly; while one or two read words
only, without tone, expression, or intelligence. I belonged to the
second category, and could never imitate Mr Scott, although he occa-
sionally commended the intelligence of my reading in my own way.
1
Verse-making Horace has said, “ Poeta nascitur non fit,” but our Academicians 2
fer certain only pique themselves on showing that a poet can be formed etiam invita
persons. Minerva. Let us reflect on the mode generally adopted in teaching
our own language. Is it held by any one competent judge of the
matter, that a capacity for Verse-making is indispensable for the
perception of its structure, its beauties, its application? Shall it
be said that such men as Hume, or Robertson, or Gibbon, who, as
far as we know, never wrote a single verse in their lives, were
unacquainted with the powers of that instrument which they used
so nobly? While we argue thus, however, we have every disposi-
tion to do justice to the longs and the shorts. We distinctly allow,
that those who have a natural talent for classical literature should
attend to the quantity of Greek and Latin syllables, and that too
1 Autobiography, in his “ Life" by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 66.
Spoken of the Edinburgh Academy. See note, p. 88.
2
On Memory and its Training:
463
ness as a gene-
so minutely that, were Porson himself present, he should discover no
cause for disapprobation; but we maintain, that only those who
have a natural talent for this branch of learning should be required
to pursue it. It is probable, besides, that the power of learning
quantities may exist, without the presence of the higher degree of
ability necessary for verse making; and consequently, that it is no
more necessary to write verses in order to become acquainted with
the rhythm of Greek and Latin poetry, than to compose English
metre in order to read that language with ease and grace.
Even admitting that a certain kind of talent for making verses Its untenable-
could be attained where nature has been sparing in her endowments,
ral exercise.
still it would be a mere mechanical facility of placing words in
metrical apposition, utterly without value, if the spirit of poetry
were not present to confer life and energy. We are surprised at
the estimation in which such a power is held by men otherwise
intelligent. The instant that an attempt should be made to pre-
scribe the composition of English verses to boys, with the view of
perfecting them in the reading of their native language, the absurdity
of the notion would become too apparent to be resisted. To the
phrenologist who is accustomed to discriminate minutely the sources
of native talent, the practice of verse-making, when prescribed to
individuals deficient in the particular powers on which it depends,
seems equally absurd as the endeavour would be to compel a person
who cannot distinguish flats from sharps, to compose music in the
style of Rossini.
1
4. ON MEMORY AND ITS TRAINING.
Memory is a mode of action of the faculties. In most Memory :
What faculties
individuals, the mind has no power of calling up, into fresh
possess it.
existence, the emotions experienced by means of the Propensities
and Sentiments, by merely willing them to be felt, and hence we
hold these faculties not to possess memory. The ideas, however,
formed by the Knowing and Reflecting faculties, can be produced
by an act of recollection, and these powers are, therefore, said to
have Memory. Memory is thus merely a mode of action of the
Knowing and Reflecting faculties.
Each organ enables the mind to recall the impressions which it
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (1824-5) p. 235.
2 Reasons for this opinion will be found in George Combe's System of
Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 193.
464
Intellectual Education.
A person
Its nature and served at first to receive. Thus, the organ of Tune will recall notes
action.
formerly heard, and give the memory of music. Form will recall
figures previously observed; it will give the memory of persons,
pictures, and crystals, and will produce a talent for becoming
learned in matters connected with such objects. Individuality and
Eventuality, large, will confer memory for objects and events, and
render a person skilled in history, both natural and civil.
in whom Causality is powerful, will possess a natural memory for
Metaphysics. Hence there may be as many kinds of memory as
there are Knowing and Reflecting faculties; and an individual may
have great memory for one class of ideas, and very little for another :
George Bidder? had an almost inconceivable power of recollecting
arithmetical calculations, while, in memory of history or languages,
he did not surpass ordinary men. As the recollection of objects and
occurrences is commonly meant, in popular language, by “a great
memory," individuals so gifted will generally be found to possess a
good development of Individuality, Eventuality, and probably of
Language.
Retentiveness There appears to be a quality of brain which gives retentiveness
of memory.
to memory, in consequence of which one individual will retain
impressions much longer than another, although the size and com-
bination of their organs be the same.
It is said that Sir Walter
Scott possessed this characteristic in a high degree; but the cause
of it is unknown. This fact does not invalidate the theory of
Memory now given : because, in every individual, the power of
retaining one kind of impressions is greater than that of retaining
another, and this power bears a uniform relation to the size of the
organs. The celebrated Cuvier affords another striking illustration
of this remark. He possessed the quality of retentiveness, the
cause of which is unknown, in an extraordinary degree; but the
power was strongest in his largest intellectual organs.
The science of Mnemonics is founded on the power of the mind
to associate ideas with other ideas, or with arbitrary signs. In
i Or, as he elsewhere expresses it, “Every Intellectual faculty has its own
Memory. Suppose I call to mind that I saw a man in Broadway yesterday, at
twelve o'clock : Form, Size, Colouring, and Individuality, are employed in
recollecting his person ; Locality, in recollecting the place; and Time, in
recollecting the hour.'' American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 288.
2 See note on Bidder, p. 432.
System of Phrenology, vol. ii.
PP.
220–221.
3
On Memory and its Training.
465
Mnemonics.
for different
devising means for aiding the memory, it should be constantly kept The true
in view, that every individual will, with the greatest ease, associate principles of
ideas with such external objects as he has the greatest natural
facility in perceiving. Sometimes portions of space are used as means
for recalling ideas which we wish to remember. The room, for
example, is divided, in imagination, into compartments, and the
first topic of the discourse is placed in the first compartment, the
second in the second, and so on; in the hope that, by thinking on
the spaces, the different heads of the discourse with which they
were associated may be recalled. It is, however, only when
Locality is large that such a devise can be serviceable; because, if
this faculty be weak, it will be as difficult to imagine and recollect
the positions of the compartments as the discourse itself. If, in
like manner, numbers be resorted to as the connecting medium,
with the view that, on hearing one fact which we wish to recollect,
we shall associate it with the number one, and, on hearing another,
we shall associate it with number two,-it is certain that, unless the
organ of Number be large, this will be a more difficult task than
that of simply recollecting the facts themselves. Hence, different Different mem-
means to aid recollection should be used for different individuals. ory aids needed
He who has Number most powerful, will associate words most easily persons.
with numbers; he who has Form most energetic, will associate words
most easily with shapes; he who has Locality most vigorous, will
associate words most easily with positions; and he who has Tune
most powerful, will associate words most easily with musical notes.
Hence, also, the influence of Associations on our Judgment is the influencc
of Association
accounted for. He in whom Veneration is powerful, and to whom
the image of a saint has been from infancy presented as an object ing faculties.
to be venerated, experiences an instantaneous and involuntary
emotion of Veneration every time the image is presented to him, or
a conception of it formed; because it is now the sign which excites
in him that emotion, altogether independently of reflection Until
we can break this association, and prevent the conception of the
image from operating as a sign to excite the faculty of Veneration,
we shall never succeed in bringing his Understanding to examine
the real attributes of the object itself, and to perceive its want of
every quality that ought justly to be venerated. In the same way,
when a person is in love, the perception or conception of the beloved
object stirs up the faculties which feel, into vivid action; the con-
sequent emotions are so delightful, and the Reflecting faculties have
so little consciousness that the real source of the fascination is in
on the Reflect-
2 G
466
Intellectual Education.
the faculties which feel, that it is impossible to make the lover see
the object of his passion with the eyes of a disinterested spectator.
The means of If we could once break the association between the object and the
breaking this faculties which feel, the Reflecting faculties could perform their
influence.
functions faithfully, and the beloved object would be seen in the
true colours. But, while we are unable to break this link, and to
prevent this fascination, we may reason ad sempiternum, and our
conclusions will never appear to be sound; because the premises,
that is, the appearance of the object, will never be the same to the
party most interested in the argument, and to us. Thus, the
associations which mislead the Judgment and perpetuate pre-
judices, are those of words or things with Feelings or Sentiments,
and not associations of conceptions with conceptions, or merely of
ideas with ideas. The whole classes of ideas formed by the Know-
ing and Reflecting faculties may be associated ad infinitum, and no
moral prejudices will arise, if these ideas do not become linked with
the Propensities and Sentiments.
The action of In studying the laws of Association, therefore, we must go beyond
Association
and Memory
the ideas themselves and consider the organs and faculties which
dependent on form them. If these be kept in view, the phenomena of Asso-
the faculties;
ciation will appear more lucid and intelligible; and we shall find
nature confirming our principles, because they will be founded
on her laws. In regard to the organs, I may observe that there
must be a state of an organ corresponding to every idea formed, and
to every emotion felt; and that, by repetition of an act, the organs
acquire an increased tendency to enter into the same states, in the
same order of succession. If, for instance, the organ of Language
has been trained to repeat certain verses, or the organ of Tune to
reproduce a certain air, a tendency will be produced in the organ
to renew the same series of actions, in other words, to repeat the
verses or reproduce the tune with increased facility and precision.
If we direct our attention to the combinations of the organs, we shall
see the individual who has the Reflecting organs most powerful,
associating ideas according to the relation of necessary consequence;
we shall perceive him who has the Knowing organs most largely
developed, associating ideas according to the relations of time, place,
and circumstances;' and very often, though not always, we shall
find each individual associating with most facility, and recollecting
most perfectly, those ideas which minister to the gratification of his
1 See examples of Association of colours, on page 60, voL ii., of my System
of Phrenology.-G. C.).
On Memory and its Training.
467
relations of
mere ideas.
most powerful Propensities or Sentiments. If we seek only for Not on the
relations among individual ideas themselves, or for general laws,
according to which ideas are associated in all individuals, our
researches will never be crowned with success. No stronger proof
of this fact could be found than the circumstance, that, although
different individuals will use the same process of reasoning to pro-
duce the same conviction, yet no two will state their arguments in
the same words, or make use of the same illustrations. The general
similarity of the reasoning process depends on the similarity of the
constitution of the faculties which reason; but differences in words
and illustrations arise from particular individuals possessing different
combination of organs, and being placed in different circumstances,
which afford materials of thought in some degree peculiar to each.1
of names.
Some individuals in whom Language is large state, as an objection, The memory
that they have a bad memory of names; but they will be found in
general to have a deficient memory of the objects which the names
indicate. For example, if they cannot recollect names of persons,
they will have deficient Form and Individuality; and if they cannot
recollect names of tunes, they will be deficient in Tune. The defect
lies in the faculty which apprehends and recollects the primitive
idea, for which Language recollects the name; and it is quite con-
ceivable that, although Language may be powerful, yet it may
not
furnish names, as mere words, when the thing signified is not pre-
sent in the mind.2
In the Phrenological Journal, vol. xv. p. 137, Mr Hytche The memory
remarks that, “Amongst the many distinguished men who have of musi
been wholly or partially devoid of any taste for music, may be
mentioned, Johnson, Burke, Windham, Fox, Mackintosh, and
Charles Lamb; and that, nevertheless, the speeches of Burke,
Windham, and Fox were delivered with graceful intonation of
voice, and the writings of Johnson, Mackintosh, and Lamb were
well modulated.” He mentions also similar cases known to himself.
Mr Hytche considers that the organ of Tune, which he names
“Tone," "is not merely a music-judging or tune-learning organ; but
that its province is to appreciate sounds," and he is disposed to
ascribe the perception of rhythm to it; but he does not appear to
me to account in a satisfactory manner for the cases cited by himself,
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 254–7.
2 See remarks by Dr A. Combe on the talent for recollecting names, Phren-
ological Journal, vol. iii. p. 120.-(G. C.).
468
Intellectual Education.
in which the power of rhythm was strong in conjunction with de-
ficiency of musical perception. 'I may be allowed to mention that
in my own head, the organ of Tune is small; that I am able to
perceive melody, and to enjoy it, while the instrument is sounding,
but have no memory of it, being incapable of recalling in my own
mind, or reproducing, the simplest musical note. My organ of Time
is better developed, and I am more alive to the quality of time in
music. When a boy, I could scan with facility every variety of
Latin verses, and give the rules, which many of my schoolfellows
who greatly excelled me in other exercises could never learn to do.
I have not been able to determine satisfactorily on what organs this
talent depends.
1
5. ON THE NATURAL ORDER OF IDEAS AND SUBJECTS IN TEACHING.
The order of
ideas in ex-
amining any
object.
The external world and the human mind, having emanated from
the same Creator, should be found wisely adapted to each other;
and this accordingly appears, in an eminent degree, to be the case.
If the reader will direct his attention to any natural or artificial
object, and consider-
1st, Its existence;
2nd, Its form;
3rd, Its size;
4th, Its weight;
5th, Its locality, or position in space;
6th, The number of its parts;
7th, The order, or physical arrangement of its parts;
8th, The changes which it undergoes ;
9th, The periods of time within which these take place;
10th, The analogies and differences between the object under
consideration and other objects;
11th, The effects which it produces; and,
1 System of Phrenology, vol. i. pp. 144-6. On his power of scanning, he
afterwards remarks, in his Autobiography: "My impression is that the Reflect-
ing organs penetrated to the perception of system and order in the recurrence
of the long and short syllables, and it was through them that I succeeded.
Certain it is, and perhaps the fact is anomalous, that I had not a quick ear for
the longs and shorts in English poetry, and, when I tried to write verses, made
a sorry figure.” He says that, in one of his school books, he found a lucid
systematic explanation of the structure of the different kinds of verse, compre-
hended it easily, got the rules by heart, and could apply them ad libitum to
every kind of verse. — “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 48.
The Natural Order of Ideas and Subjects. 469
Lastly, If he will designate the assemblage of ideas thus acquired
by a name-he will find that he has obtained a tolerably complete
notion of the object of his contemplation, and is able to express it.
This order should be followed in teaching the sciences. Botany This is the
and Mineralogy are rendered intolerably tedious and uninteresting teaching the
to many persons, who really possess sufficient natural talents for Sciences.
studying them, in consequence of names and classifications being
erroneously taught as the chief objects to be attained. A better
method would be, to make the pupil acquainted with his own
mental powers; and to furnish him with experimental know-
ledge that these stand in definite relations to external objects, and
feel a positive pleasure in contemplating them. His attention should
then be directed to the existence of the object, as in itself interesting
to Individuality ; to its form, as interesting to the faculty of Form ;
to its colour, as pleasing to the faculty of Colour; and so forth with
its other qualities : while the name, order, genus, and species, should
be taught, in the last place, as designative merely of the qualities and
relationship of the objects with which he has become conversant.
Practice in this mode of tuition will establish its advantages. The advantages
The mind which, unexercised, regards all forms not extravagantly of such teach-
ugly or beautiful, with indifference, will soon experience delight in
discriminating minute degrees of elegance and expression; and a
similar effect will follow the cultivation of the other powers. The
larger the organs, the greater will be the delight experienced in
study; but, even with a moderate development, much may be at-
tained. Nor is it necessary to resort to schools and colleges for this
exercise of the Intellect. Objects in nature and art calculated to
stimulate our faculties everywhere abound ; and if the reader, as he
walks in the town or country, will actively apply his various powers
in the manner now pointed out, he will find innumerable sources of
pleasure within his reach, although he should not know scientific
names and classifications.
ing
1
should not be
As science is, at present, taught, it tells chiefly that such and such Language
objects exist, where they exist, and their distinguishing properties ; first or chief.
and the great aim of the preceptor is to teach the arrangements into
orders, genera, and species. Men in whom Individuality is large,
delight in knowing mere existence. Nomenclature, in consequence,
1 System of Phrenology, vol. ii. p. 180.
470
Intellectual Education.
or ideas addressed to Individuality, Order and Language, are the
chief points taught.
The faculties To amend this, the information given should be:
that should be
addressed.
1st, The object exists—Individuality.
2nd, Its Form, Colour, Order of parts, and Number of parts.
3rd, The places where it is found-Locality.
4th, The changes which it undergoes-Eventuality-such as the
Physiology of plants.
5th, The effects which it can produce on other substances, and
which they can produce on it. This is Chemistry, which treats of
the minute properties of bodies and their mutual influence—such as
the effects of heat, their mixture together, &c. It is addressed chiefly
to Eventuality and Causality.
1
[On the General Principles of Education, and on Intellectual
Education, the following works, amongst others, have appeared :
Educational
I. WORKS WRITTEN ON A PHRENOLOGICAL Basis.—George Combe's
works based
on Phrenology. “System of Phrenology” (Edinburgh : Maclachlan & Stewart) which
gives fuller details and illustrations of the principles contained in this
work; Spurzheim's “Elementary Principles of Education,” an
admirable work, and his various works on Phrenology; James
Simpson's “ Philosophy of Education," 2d edit. (Edinburgh : A.
& C. Black); “Life and Works of Horace Mann," 5 vols., by
Mrs Mann (Boston, U.S.: H. B. Fuller), especially his Lectures and
Reports, and his "Educational Tour," edited by Professor Hodgson,
4th edit. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.); “Education and
Self-Improvement,” by O. S. Fowler (New York : Fowler & Wells
-London, 337 Strand); Sir George S. Mackenzie's “Principles of
Education ;" Charles Bray's “Education of the Feelings,” 4th edit.
(Longmans) ; John Hecker's “Scientific Basis of Education," 2d
edit. (New York, 1868); the Rev. Joseph A. Warne's "Phrenology
in the Family, or the Utility of Phrenology in Early Domestic
Training," an American work strongly recommended by George
Combe, republished in this country by Maclachlan & Stewart,
Edinburgh, now out of print, but deserving republication ; Smidt's
educational works, chiefly his “Geschichte der Pädagogik" (1862,
4 vols.), translated in Barnard's American Journal of Education ;
Dr Richard Poole's “Essay on Education," originally published in
1 From MSS.
Works on the Principles of Education.
471
66
1819, in the “Encyclopædia Edinensis ;" Lalor's Prize Essay on
Education ; numerous articles of great value in the Phrenological
Journal, 20 vols., in which education always formed a special topic,
and which did much to help educational progress in this country
early in the century.
II. WORKS WRITTEN FROM THE COMMON PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS : Based on the
-1. Works on the General Principles.—Out of a host of vary-osophy:
common Phil-
ing value—The older standard works of Ascham, Milton, and on the general
principles;
Locke; Herbert Spencer's “Education” (Williams & Norgate);
Dr Carpenter's “Mental Physiology” (London: Henry $. King);
Taine's “On Intelligence" (London : Reeves & Co.); Edgeworths'
“Practical Education;" Taylor's “Home Education ;” Stow's
Training System;" Currie's " Common School Education"
and Early and Infant School Education” (Edinburgh :
Thos. Laurie); Gill's “School Management” and “Systems
of Education (Longmans); Payne's lectures on "Froebel,"
Pestalozzi," and “Jacotot," 66 The Science and Art of
Education,” and “Visit to German Schools” (London: Henry S.
King); “ Observations upon Liberal Education ” (London, 1742),
by George Turnbull, LL.D., containing admirable matter; Jacob
Abbott's 66
* Teacher ;” Miss Martineau's
Miss Martineau's “Household Education"
(London : H. S. King); Curwen's “Teacher's Manual,” full of
excellent matter on general education (London Tonic Sol-Fa
Agency); Dunn's “Principles of Teaching” (London: Sunday
School Union); Pillans' “Contributions to the Cause of Educa-
tion;" Leitch's “Practical Educationists" (Glasgow: Maclehose);
Krüsi's “Life and Work of Pestalozzi” (Cincinnati : Wilson,
Hinkle, & Co.); Quick's “Essays on Educational Reformers; ”
Ogle's “Theory and Practice of Education, as deducible from
Familiar Truths concerning the Nature of Man" (London: D. Nutt);
Thring's “ Education and School” (London: Macmillan); Emily
Shirreff's “Intellectual Education” (London: Parker & Son);
Oppler's “Lectures on Education” (Longmans); Gall's “Philo-
sophy of Education” (Edinburgh: Gall & Son); Calderwood's
"On Teaching, its Ends and Means” (Edinburgh : Douglas);
Professor Jardine's “Philosophical Education;" Dr Biber's
“Lectures on Education;" Bryce's “ Lectures on Early Education”
(Belfast : Alex. Mayne); Tate's “Philosophy of Education ;" Hugo
Reid's “Principles of Education” (Longmans); P. G. Hamerton's
“The Intellectual Life” (London: Macmillan); Henry Barnard's
“National Education in Europe ;” Bartley's “Schools for the
472
Intellectual Education.
authors.
as
British authors People” (London : Bell & Daldy); Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclo-
ciples of edu. pædia of Education " (New York : E. Steiger-London : Sampson,
cation;
Low, & Co.), especially s.vv. Education, Instruction, Intellectual
Education, Object Teaching, Pestalozzi, Kindergarten, which are
superior articles : Papers in the publications of the Central Society
of Education (London: Taylor & Walton); in The Schoolmaster,
published by Society for Useful Knowledge (London: Charles
Knight); in Papers for the Schoolmaster; in the Educational
Times, of great value ; in the Quarterly Journal of Education :
in Reports of H.M. Inspectors of Schools, published in the Annual
Reports of the Committee of Council of Education Department;
the various Standard Treatises on Mental Philosophy, of Locke,
Sir William Hamilton, Reid, Dugald Stewart, Brown, Mill, Bain,
Morell, Abercrombie, &c.
Foreign
Of Foreign Writers :-Rousseau's “Emile,” translated into English
“Emilius and Julia, or a New System of Education;" Pestalozzi's
“Evenings of a Recluse," “ Leonard and Gertrude," "How Gertrude
teaches her Children," "Letters on Early Education," addressed to
J. Greaves (now in English, in whole or part) ; Richter's “ Levana,
or the Doctrine of Education" (more than one translation in English;
one published, 1866, by Ticknor and Fields, Boston, U.S.);
Froebel's Pedagogical Works, edited by Lange (3 vols. Berlin);
Marcel on “Language," a valuable treatise on the principles of
education ; Madame Necker's "Progressive Education," now in Eng-
lish; Abbé Girard's “La Langue Maternelle," translated by Lord
Ebrington; Willm's “Education of the People," translated, with
very good introduction, by Professor Nichol (Glasgow: William
Lang); Rosenkranz's “Die Pädagogik als System,” translated
by Anna C. Bracket (St Louis, 1873); Herbart's “Allgemeine
Pädagogik," "Aphorismen zur Pädagogik," " Umriss pädagogischer
Vorlesungen," now collected in 2 vols., edited by Willmann
(Leipsic); Beneke's Erziehungs-und Unterrichtslehre ; Schwarz's
"Erziehungslehre ;” Dittes's “Schule der pädagogik; and other
works on Pedagogy and Method; Diesterweg's “Wegweiser zur
Bildung für deutsche Lehrer” (5th edit. Essen); Schmid's great
work, the "Encylopädie des gesammten Erziehungs-und Unter-
richtswesens.” A great part of these German works has been
translated in the American Journal of Education, afterwards
called the Annals of Education, and in Henry Barnard's “German
Teachers and Educators," in his “Educational Biography."
2. Works on special parts of Education and on Method :- Many
Works on the Principles of Education.
473
of those already mentioned take up Method, especially Stow, Authors on
Currie, Gill, Tate, Curwen, and the serials: “Modern Culture, " Method.
edited by Dr Youmans (London: Macmillan); Morrison's “School
Management" (Glasgow: William Hamilton); Eliza A. Youmans'
“The Culture of the Observing Powers of Children,” edited by
Payne (London: H. S. King); " Essays on a Liberal Education,"
edited by Farrar (London : Macmillan); S. S. Laurie’s “Primary
Education” (Edinburgh : Blackwood); Wilkin's “ National Educa-
tion in Greece” (London: Strahan & Co.); Dr Donaldson's “ Lec-
tures on Education” (Edinburgh : A. & C. Black); Wiese's “Ger-
man Letters on English Education" (London: Collins); Vicesimus
Knox's Essays “On a Liberal Education;" Young's “ Teachers'
Manual for Infant Schools" (Dublin: M‘Glashan); “Infant Edu-
cation” (W. & R. Chambers); the Mayos' “Object Lessons," and
other works ; Wood's “ Account of the Edinburgh Sessional
School;" and the educationally historical works :--Wilderspin's
“ Infant System,” “ Importance of Educating the Infant Poor,"
and “Early Discipline Illustrated;" Bell's “Experiments in Edu-
cation," and his "Elements of Tuition," in two parts, containing the
principles of the Madras System; Lancaster's “Improvements in
Education.”—Edit.]
CHAPTER V.
EXAMPLES OF TEACHING CERTAIN SUBJECTS.
The value of [The following examples by George Combe of the teaching of certain
these examples. subjects are interesting as showing (1) How certain subjects, little
known as yet in our schools, may be taught-Physiology, Social
Science, and Phrenology ; (2) How subjects which are generally
deemed abstruse and too difficult and advanced for children, and, if
taught at all, reserved for higher schools and upper classes, may be
simply and skilfully treated, so as to make them easily comprehen-
sible and interesting to young children, and these the children of our
common schools; (3) How the Moral and Religious element which
George Combe considers so important, and so strenuously insists
should pervade all subjects and all lessons, may be naturally and
effectively introduced into the teaching of these subjects.-Edit.]
1. LESSON ON PHYSIOLOGY.
The physical
functions de
scribed.
“The highest class in the Williams School in Edinburgh,
founded by George Combe, underwent a most searching exami-
nation by Mr Combe in Physiology, particularly with regard to the
bones, muscles, skin, heart, lungs, blood vessels, absorbent vessels,
the stomach, liver, intestines, and other digestive organs, and they
showed a knowledge of the local situations, general structure, and
functions of all these parts. This was by far the most interesting part
of the examination, and the pupils acquitted themselves to the admira-
tion of all present, as was evinced by the frequent manifestations of
applause. They were then examined on the uses of this knowledge.
An infant and an adult skeleton, for example, were placed before
them, and they were asked how the one grew to the size of the
other. They described the absorption of the waste matter of the
body by the absorbent vessels, and its discharge by the skin,
bowels, bladder, and lungs; then the renovation of the textures by
the deposition of new matter by the blood
vessels, bone being given
1 An account of this school and its teaching is given, p. 201.
Physiology and Social Science.
475
to bone, muscle to muscle, nerve to nerve, &c., where wanted, in
order to renew waste and complete growth. They next described
how wholesome food, in proper quantity, is necessary to supply the
blood with the elements of these structures, and pointed out the
consequences to growth and to health of too little, too much, and of
ill-chosen food; they described the necessity of fresh air to in vigo-
rate the blood, of cleanliness to prevent its being contaminated by
dirt absorbed through the skin, and of exercise to preserve the
circulation of all the vessels in a state of activity.
They were next asked who made all these vessels, bones, and The Religious
other parts, and appointed their uses? They answered "God.'
duced.
'Did God intend them for your happiness ?'-'Yes.' Can
you
escape from the painful consequences of neglecting cleanliness, fresh
air, exercise, and temperence?'-'No.' · Why not?'-Because
God has made the organs, and made them act as they do; and they
act well or ill, according to our conduct.' 'Are you thus living
under God's laws here and now ?'-'Yes.' 'Do you need to die
before you come into God's presence and under His law?'-“No;
we are under His law here, and He is now present executing His
element intro-
6
law.'11
2. LESSONS ON SOCIAL SCIENCE.
“Mr Combe commenced the examination of the same school in Social Science
defined.
May 1850, by mentioning that, by Social Economy, was meant an
exposition of the laws of nature, by which wealth was created and
distributed. These laws had their foundation in the nature of man,
in the constitution of the external world, and in the relations of the
one of these to the other. While individuals differed in their views
in regard to these foundations of the science, they could not agree on
the superstructure. In this school, therefore, the children had been
taught the structure and functions of the human body, the structure
and functions of the brain, as the index of the mental faculties, the
nature of the physical world, and, finally, the adaptations of the first
two to the latter. He then questioned the children upon the
physical, organic, and moral laws, instituted by the Creator, of all of
which the children supplied several illustrations. They were next
questioned as to the manner in which man may discover these laws,
and the necessity under which he is placed of accommodating his
1 From the first Report of the Williams School, p. 14. Extracted from the
Scotsman of April 7, 1849.
476
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
world.
Man's condi- conduct to them. They described the condition in which man
tion in the
enters the world compared with that of the lower animals. In their
answers, they stated that he comes into life a helpless being, unclothed
and unskilled, while the lower animals are clothed; and many, like the
swallow, the bee, and the beaver, receive directly from the Creator,
without need of apprenticeship, all the skill and all the knowledge
of materials necessary for building habitations, and also for collecting
food suited to their wants ;-that, as a compensation for the absence
of these gifts, God has presented to man soil capable when laboured
of yielding food ; rocks, metals, and trees, and other materials capable
of being made into houses; animals bearing fleeces and silk, with
flax, cotton, and other elements fit for garments ;-and that, to avail
himself of these, he must acquire, first, knowledge of the capabilities
of these objects, next, skill, and finally, he must apply his bodily
and mental powers to the duty of turning them to his own advan-
tage;
and that his success will bear a proportion to the degree in
which he complies with all these requisites.
Work governed · Are all equally endowed with the powers requisite for gaining
by organisa- ?
skill and working efficiently ??-'No.' 'How do you prove this ?'
The children here referred to the skeleton and to several casts
of human heads, and said that some men have larger and stronger
bones, lungs, digestive organs, and brains than others. “Supposing
all equally ignorant or equally instructed, Which of these would
be able to extract from the earth the greatest amount of pro-
duce and build the best habitations ?'— Those with the highest
organisation. The case of two men was supposed-one with strong
intellect and well informed, but with a weak body; the other
with a weak mind and ignorant, but with a strong bodyboth
engaged in the cultivation of the land ; and the children were
questioned as to their comparative powers of production, their position
at the end of ten years, and the manner in which they could best
co-operate. Their answers affirmed, that the man with superior
knowledge and mental power would invent machines and train
animals to help him, while the other could merely make use of his own
bodily strength; that, at the end of the ten years, the first would have
saved the most wealth ; that both would gain, if the latter were to
place himself under the guidance of the former, and receive wages
for his labour, by which arrangement he could produce more than
when left to himself. In this manner, and with the aid of additional
examples, the distinction between the capitalist and the labourer
Social Science.
477
was shown to be a result of the natural inequalities in the capa-
cities of men for producing and accumulating wealth.”I
George Combe thus describes a lesson he heard given on Social
Science, in 1849, by Mr William Ellis, in Lovett's School, Holborn,
London, one of the first schools in which Mr Ellis began the teach-
ing of this subject 2 :-
“In previous lessons, Mr Ellis had explained the nature and origin Lesson on
of Wealth, and the laws of its distribution; and, on this occasion, the Social Science
subject was “Capital,” its employment and returns. Mr Ellis, by
his clear and happy illustrations, enabled the children to understand
(as was proved by their answers, for he did not lecture, but explain
and question), the difference between " gross and nett profit."
“Gross profit,” said he, “is the total increase made to capital by its
employment.” It includes—1st, remuneration to its owner for his
skill and labour in applying it to produce wealth ; 2d, compensation
for its use; and, 3d, compensation for the risk he runs of losing it.
Suppose, said he, that a man has £1000, and buys land with it,
and cultivates the land, and sells the produce, all by his own skill
and labour, he would then receive all the profit. But, suppose
again, that a number of persons, such as, surgeons, lawyers, clergy-
men, and ladies, have each spare capital from which they desire to
derive profit, but that some want skill and others leisure to employ
it in a profitable undertaking themselves; they may put all their
sums together and embark them in making a railroad. They must
then have a manager and pay directors, who understand the business,
and are willing to devote their time to it; and the question is, What
share of the profits are the owners of the railroad entitled to ? They
furnish the capital, and run the risk of the undertaking turning out
profitable or unprofitable; but they devote no personal attention to
its concerns. They must pay the portion which corresponds to the
first head, to the manager and directors, and they are entitled to
expect the returns belonging to the second and third heads, viz.,
the use of the capital, and the risk of losing it, for themselves.
Suppose that there are other persons who are more cautious, and
desire to avoid risk altogether—what do they do? They lend their
capital to the persons who desire to make the railroad, and take
? From the second Report of the Williams School, p. 26.
2 See an account of Lovett's School, p. 244 ; and of other matters during
this visit to London, p. 228.
478
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
security for its repayment with interest. The interest is the share
of the profit which compensates them for giving to the others the
use of their capital, without superintendence and without risk. Mr
Ellis enforced the principle that, wherever the owner of capital
receives or is promised a higher return for its use than the current
rate of interest, he is receiving or bargaining for the risk of losing it,
and occasionally he does lose it--a circumstance which is too little
attended to by many persons who place their capital in railways.
Mr Ellis then applied the same principles to ordinary trades, and
showed whence the profits of them arose; and how, when several
persons are concerned, they are divided,
1
under which
3. LESSON ON PHYSIOLOGY AND SOCIAL ECONOMY COMBINED.
Circumstances The application of Physiology to the elucidation of Social Economy
is also an important practical object. This may be shown by a brief
the lesson was
given. report of a lesson which, in August 1857, I gave to a class of children
of the working-classes in the agricultural village of Charlton in Dor-
setshire, when on a visit to my friend Mr Bastard, who has done
much for the individual and social improvement of the people of
that place. The lesson was intended to show that this kind of
instruction is not only intelligible, but interesting and useful to
young persons in every rank of life. I was honoured by the attend-
ance of the curate and schoolmaster, the smith and carpenter, and
nearly thirty of the adult population of the village. The lesson was
improvised for the occasion, and assumed the form of a conversation,
the questions being put to the pupils in succession. It was repeated,
in September, in a school for children of the middle class, kept by
the Rev. Mr M'Alester at Holywood, near Belfast. There, several
new questions were put, and higher answers elicited than in Charlton,
and both lessons are combined in this report. It is proper to add,
that, to the more difficult questions, the answers were drawn out by
suggestions and illustrations, which it would be tedious to detail,
and which, in each instance, must be varied to suit the intelligence
of the pupils.
97
The subject in-
“Did you get your breakfast to-day?"-"Yes, sir." "At what
troduced.
hour?" “At eight o'clock.” “Of what did it consist ?”—“ We
had bread and milk."
1 Letter to Scotsman of 17th November 1849.
2 See an account of the Club and School in Charlton, and of this visit,
p. 248 ; also in his “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 362.
Physiology and Social Science Combined.
479
66
“Right.
“ Yes,
“ Have you had dinner ?”—“Yes, sir.” 66 What had you for
dinner?” Some said bread and cheese, some bread and milk, &c.
" At what hour? At one o'clock."
Why did you eat dinner so soon after breakfast ?" Here there
was a pause ; at last a boy said, “ Because I was hungry, sir."
Quite right. But why were you hungry so soon ?" No answer;
a pause; still no answer. “Would you like to know why you were
hungry so soon ?” All shouted, “ Yes, sir ; please tell us.
“Have any of you a knife?” Here several pocket-knives in
various stages of wear were presented. One much worn in the joint,
and one not perceptibly worn, were selected.
“Do you see any difference in the joints of these two knives ?”
They were handed to each pupil and examined. Yes, sir; one is
worn round and the other is quite straight in the joint.
But what caused that one to become round?”—“Much opening and
shutting; this wore away the iron of the joint by rubbing against
the spring.'
- Does the axle of a cart-wheel wear away T?”.
sir.” “Why?" __“Also by rubbing." “Do they put grease on
it?"
6 Yes.”
“For what purpose ? "_" To make the wheel move
easy, and rub less."
Now, does anything resembling this go on in your body?” A The body con-
pause ; no answer. Strip off your jackets.” This was instantly
ton;
done, accompanied by a shout of laughter. “Feel, with your left
hand, the shoulder-joint of the right arm, and swing the right arm,
extended at full length, round and round. What do you feel ?"
—“The top of the arm moving at a joint.” A diagram of the
human skeleton was bere unrolled, and the structure of the ball-and-
socket joint of the shoulder explained to them. “ Is there anything
like this in your arm?'_“Yes, sir; it is the same as in the draw-
ing.” “Now, suppose that this were a real skeleton of bone, and I
should swing its arm round and round for a day, what would
“ The motion would wear the bones in the joint.” Here
the secretion, in the socket of the joint, of oil to lessen the friction
of the cartilages coating the bones, was explained. “Will this
altogether prevent the waste ? ” _“No, the cart-axle has oil, yet it
wears."
The hinge joint of the elbow, and several other joints, were shown And muscles.
on the diagram, to give them a notion of the extent of surface over
which this kind of waste takes place. “Now, with your right hand,
grasp firm the thick part of the left fore-arm, and open and shut the
hand, and move it forcibly in every way you can: Do you feel any
66
tains a skele.
66
ensue?”
480
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
66 Do
thing moving below the skin ? "_“Yes, sir; something rises
and falls." “ 6 What is it?" No answer. “Would you like to
know ? "_" Very much." Another diagram was then unrolled,
showing the superficial layer of muscles stript off the skin.
you see here the part of your arm that rises and falls ? "_“Yes, sir;
it is flesh.” The structure and use of the muscles were now explained
to them ; namely, that each consists of numerous fine fibres, or
threads of flesh, bound up in a common sheath, that their ends are
attached to the bones, and that, by contracting and relaxing, they
move the limbs. “If these fibres rub against each other, and con-
tract and relax, during a whole day, as happens when a man digs
with a spade or guides the shafts of a plough, will they wear ?"
“Yes, sir.”
How waste is “Now, suppose this wearing and waste to go on for several days,
supplied.
and not to be repaired, what would happen ?” “ The man would
become weaker and weaker, and at last die.” Right. But how
is the waste caused by this wearing to be supplied ?"_“By eat-
ing.” “Do the bread and milk and cheese supply it ?”
66 Yes.”
“How?” One said, “They are converted into blood." A brief
explanation of the processes of digestion, assimilation, and absorp-
tion of the nutritious elements of the food ; of their conversion into
blood; and of the deposit, by the blood, of bony matter to bones, flesh
to muscles, nervous substance to nerves, &c., was given, The
children listened to these elucidations with eager attention.
The Religious “When you ate your dinner at one o'clock, did you do so because
element intro-
duced.
you understood all these things, and saw that it was time to repair
the waste ?” A laugh—"No, sir, we were hungry. 6 Well, then,
what made you hungry?” All answered, “ It was the waste.”
“ Let us attend, then, to the point at which we have arrived.
Hunger, you say, is a call to you to eat, to repair waste: who made your
body to waste away, to require food, and to feel hungry?”—“God.”
“ Did He make you hungry, to lead you to eat when it was necessary
to do so, although you knew nothing concerning the cause of your
being hungry?"_“Yes.” “Was this a kind provision for your
welfare?" “Yes, sir.” “Let us inquire now whether anything
more has been done by God, for your preservation and enjoyment.”
“Where did the bread come from?”—“From the baker.'
“ Did he make it?"_“Yes." “Out of what?"_" Flour and water."
“Where did he get the flour?”—“From the miller.”
“Where
did the miller procure it ?”—“ He bought wheat from the farmer,
and made it into flour." “Where did the farmer get the wheat?"
Physiology and Social Science Combined. 481
66 Was
“It grew on his farm.” “Do you mean that the farmer found How God sup.
lies things.
it all ready-grown in his fields, whenever and in whatever quantity
he wished to gather it?"_"No, he raised it.”
" What did he do to
raise it?"-"He ploughed the land." "Anything more?"-"He
harrowed it.” Anything farther?” “He sowed seed."
nothing more necessary ?" One clever boy, the son of a farmer, said,
-"He put dung into the ground.” “Right. Was anything more
done?”—“In harvest, he cut the wheat and thrashed it.”
“ Well
said; but was this all that was needed ?” A pause ensued; at
last a boy answered, “Rain, sir.” “Quite correct; but are you
sure that nothing more was required ?" A pause; then one said,
“Heat, sir.” “Well answered; but where did the heat come
from?” “ From the sun, sir.”
“You have told me that the farmer, in order to raise wheat, must
plough, manure, harrow, and sow seed. Where did the land
and first seed come from ?”—“God provided them.” Right.
Who furnishes the rain and the sunshine ?".
6 God.” “Does God
also plough, manure, harrow, and sow the land ?"_"No, Sir, the
farmer must do those things."
“Let us again consider the point at which we have arrived. You When God
helps us.
say that God made your bodies liable to waste, that He made you
feel hungry when it was necessary to eat, in order to repair the waste,
and that bread and other articles of food are necessary to this end;
and you have traced the history of bread through the baker, the
miller, and the farmer, back to God, as the Giver of it. Here, then,
we see that God has formed the body, and the ground, the wheat,
the rain, and the sunshine, with reference the one to the other.
Why has God provided the rain and the sunshine, the land and
the seed, and not also done the ploughing and harrowing?" A
long pause; and much reflection was expressed in the countenances
of the children. It was necessary to help them, and I said,-
“Every farmer needs land and seed and rain and sunshine ; and
these he cannot make, and therefore God provides these things for
them all. Now, why does He not do the ploughing and other
work also ?”—“The farmer can do all these, and God leaves him
to do them.”
“From what you tell me, then, I understand that, before you could How work be
comes religious
enjoy the bread which you ate to your breakfast to-day, it was
necessary that the bounty of God, and the labour of the farmer, of
the miller, and of the baker, should be combined ?"_“Yes, sir."
“And that, in those arrangements, God does only what He has not
2 H
482
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
Skill more
than strength
required.
enabled man to do for himself, and that He has assigned to man the
rest of the work ?"_“Yes, sir." Well, then, when the farmer
ploughs the land, is he doing something which God intended that he
should do?"_" He is.' “When you do what God requires you to
do, are you doing the will of God?”__“Yes, sir.”
66 When a
farmer is ploughing all day, is he doing a necessary duty ?"_“Yes,
he is." “Is he to be respected or despised for working in this
manner?"_“To be respected ; he is doing what is right." “If
he had in his mind all the steps which we have followed, would
he feel that in ploughing he was doing a religious duty ?"_“Yes."
Why so ?” “Because he would understand that God had
appointed him to do it, that he and others might have bread, to
enable them to live.” “Right."
“ But, to enable the farmer to raise wheat in the greatest quantity
and of the best quality, is anything more necessary on his part?'
A pause; then the answer, “Strength.” “What gives hinu
strength ?”—“The food that he eats.” “Right. Is anything more
necessary ?" A pause; at length a boy said, "Mind," and another
said, "Knowledge." "Right again. He requires to know how to
plough. But how does he acquire this knowledge ?”—“Somebody
who has learned to plough must show him the way.” “Quite correct;
and we call the combination of this acquired knowledge with
strength, skill. Have all men equal strength ? "_"No."
all men equally clever in learning to do what you teach them ?”
“No." "Then, if you were farmers, and were going to hire two men to
plough your land, and one were skilful and the other not, would you
give them both the same wages ? ” —"No." “Why not?”–
“Because the one would plough more and better than the other, and do
more to raise wheat.' “Right. But would this not be a hardship
to the unskilful man ?". “He should acquire more skill.”
he is naturally weak and dull ? "_This would be his misfortune;
he should try some easier work.” “Right again."
Suppose you were farmers, and could not plough all the fields
with your own hands, but must hire men to plough for you, would
you require anything more in your ploughmen than strength and
knowledge ?” A pause; no answer. “Has the ploughman the care
of the horses?" “Yes, Sir.” “Is it his duty to feed and curry
them, make a nice clean bed for them, and keep them dry and warm
in the stable ?”—“That is his duty.” “Suppose, now, you had two
ploughmen, one of whom was a kind-hearted, conscientious man,
who was fond of his horses, and did all these things for their welfare
66 Are
66 But if
The value of
morals in
business.
Physiology and Social Science Combined.
483
5
punctually and with pleasure; and another who was ill-tempered,
careless, and unconscientious, and looked on the care of his horses
as a burden, which he shirked whenever his master's eye was off
him. Which would you prefer?”—“The good man. " “Certainly
But why would you prefer him?"_“Because his horses, being
well fed and cared for, would work better.” “ Then you consider
good nature and honesty necessary to make a good ploughman, as
well as knowledge and strength ?”—“Yes, sir.”
“Let us next suppose that there are two villages like Charlton, each The mutual
dependence of;
with five hundred inhabitants, who need to be fed with bread, and
mankind on
that each of them depends entirely on three farmers for the wheat each other.
with which their bakers must make bread; but that the three
farmers who supply one village are skilful, conscientious, active men,
and keep only good ploughman and horses; and that the three
farmers who supply the other village are careless, unskilful, and un
conscientious persons, who do not look after the conduct of their
ploughmen: Which would the lazy and unconscientious plough-
men of the neighbourhood seek out for their masters ?”—“They would
go to the careless farmers.' “Which village, then, would be best
supplied with wheat and bread ?”—“The one that had good farmers."
“It appears from this, that all the people who live in the villages
depend, more or less, on the character and skill of the farmers and
ploughmen in the neighbourhood for their supply of bread ?”—“They
do, sir.”
“But is it not hard that these persons in the villages
who have no command over the farmers should suffer by their bad
conduct?” A pause; no answer. “Let us inquire how this happens.'
“Do the people of the villages do anything for the farmers in
return for the wheat and bread ?"_“Yes, sir, they make clothes
and shoes for them; also carts and ploughs, and the baker bakes
bread for them." “Right. Does the schoolmaster instruct their
children, and the clergyman preach to them on Sundays ?"_“They
do." “Will it make any difference to the farmers, if the tradesmen;
the schoolmaster, and clergyman, who do these things for them, are
skilful and conscientious, or slothful, careless, and unconscientious?"
“ It will make all the difference between being well served and
ill served." “And suppose that the prices of the things furnished by
these two sets of tradesmen, schoolmaster and clergyman, were
equal, would the farmers prefer the articles made by the one set to
those made by the other ?”—Yes, sir; they would find the articles
made by the good and skilful men the best.” “Would they, on
account of their superior quality, be really cheaper than the other,
484
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
The mutual
although the price in money were the same ?” “Yes; they would
dependence of serve the farmers better, and also wear longer.” " Is it not a hard-
mankind on
each other. ship on the farmers to depend for good articles on the skill and
honesty of these villagers, over whom they have no control ?” A
pause; no answer. “Now, mark what I am going to say.
Do
the villagers depend on the sale of their articles to the farmers, for
obtaining a share of their wheat to make bread ?"_“Yes, sir."
“And if they make bad articles, will the farmers buy them ?”—“No,
sir.” “Will the villagers, in that case, have a supply of bread ?”.
"No."
“Then you see that the farmers have a degree of control over
the conduct of the villagers; for, if they do not make good articles,
they withhold their bread. Let us again turn to the farmers.
Which of the two classes of farmers, the skilful and honest, or the
unskilful and careless, would produce the best wheat ?"_“The skil-
ful and honest." “ Which could afford to sell their wheat cheapest,
and yet, by their greater crops, have enough for themselves and for
payment of their rents ?” “ The good and skilful farmers.”
“Would the villagers prefer buying good wheat of them to inferior
wheat from the other class, even if the price were the same ?”.
“They would."
“Right.
But from this it appears, that the
farmers, in their turn, are dependent on the villagers for the sale of
their wheat ?”—“ Yes, sir.'
Love to our
“Now, who was it that made the farmers and the villagers, and,
neighbour by the constitution of their bodies, made it necessary for them all to
dependent on
natural law. work, and each to do work to supply his neighbours with some-
thing that they need, in return for which he gets something that is
wanted by himself—who, I ask, established this necessity for work-
ing, and this dependence of us all, the one on the other ?"__"It was
God.” “Right. When you are told in the Bible, that it is your
duty to love your neighbour as yourself, do you see, in this state of
things, any arrangement to lead us to do so ?” “ Yes, sir; if we
should all do our duty in our own lines, we should all benefit our-
selves and our neighbours at the same time; for each of us would
have more things to sell and of a better quality, and he would get
more articles in return." “Well answered."
“But let me ask again, If God has established all this in the
framework of our bodies and the endowment of our minds, is he a
clever fellow who tries to find a shorter way than by skilful and
honest labour, to a supply of bread, who, for example, cheats to get
ít, or steals it? No, sir."
“Can bread be produced by cheat-
ing and stealing?" A laugh. "No, it cannot." “Do the men who
Physiology and Social Science Combined.
485
66 Well,
try to get bread by these means take it from some one who has The natural
produced it, or has obtained it by giving something valuable in ex- happiness.
way to gain
change for it?”—“Yes.” “Then is it the interest of all good, skil-
ful, and honest people to stop these men from eating the bread
which they do nothing to produce ?"_“Yes.” “If they combine
their strength, have they the power to prevent them ?”—“They
have, sir." "If, then, by working skilfully and honestly each of us
in our own line, and exchanging our articles, we are all better
supplied, and if God has arranged things in this manner; what kind
of conduct does He prescribe to us, and approve of ?” A pause.
“God means us to acquire skill, to be kind to each other, and to be
honest.” “Then, is there any hardship in our being dependent one
on the other in this way ?”—“No, sir.” “Do you see in this de-
pendence any sign that God meant us all to be happy together; in
short, to love our neighbours as ourselves ?” “Yes, sir.”
then, let us bear these things in mind, and try to do them, in the
full conviction that we shall never find shorter, easier, or better
ways to our own happiness than those which God has appointed,
and that, in all of these, we must walk side by side with our neigh-
bours, to find the surest way to our own enjoyment.”
I repeat that this was an improvised lesson, given to illustrate a The nature of
this teaching
method of instructing children which at once rouses their Intellects,
excites their Moral faculties, and conveys knowledge of actual things
and agencies which directly affect their well-being. It will be ob-
served that, in illustrating the waste of the human body, I confined
myself to that form of it which could be made intelligible to pupils
who had not been instructed in Physiology. Where this subject
has been taught to children, impressive lessons may be founded on
it, embracing a wide field of practical duties, both personal and
social. I learned this mode of teaching from my friend Mr William
Ellis. 1
4. LESSONS ON PHRENOLOGY.
The children of the Williams School, Edinburgh, then proceeded The Mental
faculties
to the structure and functions of the brain and nervous system, or
taught
Phrenology. They mentioned the anatomy and functions of the
spinal chord, the separate origins and uses of the nerves of motion
and feeling, and the connection of these structures with the brain.
They next answered on the functions of the brain, and pointed out
1 On Teaching Physiology, pp. 7–14. See Mr Ellis's “Socratic Method of
Teaching” described, p. 237.
486
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
illustrated.
the situations of the organs of the Animal Propensities and the
Moral and Intellectual faculties. An unmarked skull was then
presented to them; and when Mr Combe touched one part of it
after another at random, they named the cerebral organ which lay
under that part, and never once failed to do so correctly. They also
explained, in answer to miscellaneous questions, the uses and abuses
of the faculties. To show the nature of this examination, in which
Mr Combe and Mr Simpson took a part, as they had occasionally
done in the other subjects, we select a few examples :-
Their functions “What organ lies here ?" (pointing to a place on the skull) -
“ Combativeness." “What is the use of that faculty ?”—“To give
us courage to meet danger and difficulty in the discharge of our
duty.” “What are its abuses ?"_“Fighting, opposing, conten-
tion.” “If other boys assail you, should you fight?”—“No, we
should tell you. “But suppose I am absent, what should you
do ?” __“Call the police for protection." “Yes; or any gentle
man who may be there, if you cannot see a policemen. • Why are
the police necessary ?"_"Because there are people who steal and
fight and destroy things.” “What is the advantage of applying to
the police rather than fighting ?” 6 Because we should all make a
bad use of our Combativeness alike, and might be beaten, and no
good would come to anybody from it.” “What good comes from
the police ?"_“The peaceable are protected and the bad punished.”
This referred to the instruction which Mr Williams had given to
the boys, to abstain from fighting with the pupils of a neighbouring
school who had assailed them ; because, when both parties were
apprehended and carried to the police office, the magistrate had told
them that, as both had fought, he could only punish or dismiss both,
the latter of which he did with a reprimand.
Religion part “What organ lies here ? "_" Veneration." " What are its
uses ? "_" To produce the emotion of respect, reverence, and reli-
gious feeling.” " What are its abuses ?”“Idolatry, superstition,
and respect for things and people that do not deserve it.”
other faculties enter into religious feeling ?”_“Hope and Wonder."
Suppose any one were to tell you that religion was nonsense, and
the invention of priests, to keep the people in order, what would you
say to him ?”—“ That there are organs for Religion in the brain,
that God made the organs, and that therefore God made man a
religious being." “When the Greeks and Romans worshipped idols,
were they religious ? ” __“Yes; but they were superstitious—it was
a wrong religion.' “ How can we discover true religion ? "_"By
of man's
nature.
" What
92
Phrenology.
487
27
applying our Intellectual and Moral faculties to the study of God's
will.”
“What organ is this ?”—“Ideality.” « What is the use of it?" How happiness
is best found.
“ It makes us love the beautiful and refined.” “Do you know
any objects that please Ideality ? "_" Sir Walter Scott's Monument,
Mr Stewart's Monument, the pillars on the Calton Hill, the front of
the Commercial Bank, the Princes' Street Gardens, the view from
Arthur's Seat.” Each of these answers proceeded from a different
boy, and was his own suggestion. “Are there any other faculties
for enjoyment like Ideality ?"__"Colouring and Wit, Time and
Tune.” “Do these show that God meant man to be merry at times
and happy?"_“Yes." “ What do some men drink whisky for ?”
“ To make themselves happy.” “Do you know any other way of
becoming happy ?”_“Yes; to eat temperately of good food, keep
the skin clean, breathe pure air, take exercise, follow some useful
trade, and acquire knowledge.” “Which of these two ways of
becoming happy--the short-hand one of drinking whisky, or the one
you have described, is the best ?”—“ The other is best."
does whisky do to the stomach ?' " It inflames its coats.”
does it do to the brain ?” “ Irritates and stupefies it.”
does the other method of being happy do ?”—“It improves the
stomach and brain." “ How are people next day after drinking
whisky ?"_“Stupid, ill, and unfit for work.” How, after the
other way ?"_“Strong and well, fit for everything they need to do.”
These are mere specimens of the course of the examination, which
embraced several other faculties, with their uses and abuses. The
answers of the boys elicited frequent bursts of laughter and
applause from the audience.
66 What
66 What
6 What
1
organs
Mr Combe examined the children on Phrenology and its applica- The mental
tions. They named, with great readiness and exactness, the bones,
sutures, and leading processes of the skull, the divisions of the
brain, and its relations to the spinal marrow. They stated the
divisions of the mental organs, and, as Mr Combe pointed to a parti-
cular spot on an unmarked skull, they named the organ there
situated, and stated its uses and abuses. They showed their com-
prehension of the modifying effects of different combinations of
organs. “What is the consequence if Cautiousness be very large,
The
? From the first Report of the Williams School, pp. 14 and 17.
examination was held in July, 1849.
488
Examples of Teaching certain Subjects.
The causes of
mortality.
and Combativeness be very small, in an individual ?”—“He is too
much afraid, and cannot contend with opposition.” “If both
organs be large, what happens ?"_“The man is prudent and
brave.” Other similar illustrations were given, and it was clear
that the children used Phrenology as an instrument of mental
analysis.
Mr Combe quoted, from a published return of the mortality of
Edinburgh, the statements that the mean age-
Years.
Of the gentry at death was
431,
Of the master tradesmen and clerks,.
367,
Of the artizans, labourers, and servants,
27};
and asked the children whether God favoured the rich and was
unkind to the poor.—"No." “How, then, do the labouring
classes live so few years ?"__"Because many of them are dirty,
wear dirty clothes, live in ill-aired houses, drink whisky, and are
hard wrought." “How can this be remedied ? How can we keep
them clean, give them well-aired houses, &c. ?”—“Educate them,
and teach them to take care of themselves.” One boy said,
“Employ the scavengers. Roars of laughter followed this answer,
and Mr Combe said, “How many scavengers will be needed to wash
the skin of every dirty man, of every dirty woman, and of every
dirty child, in Edinburgh ? (Roars of laughter.) Who will pay
them? Will you ? (Loud laughter.) Will the dirty people allow
the scavengers to wash them ?”—“ No, they will fight then.”
“Can anybody keep them.clean but themselves ?"_“Nobody can
do so." "How does dirt make them die?"_"By stopping the
pores of the skin and producing disease." “How does sleeping in
bad air make them die?"--"By weakening their lungs."
66 How
does drinking whisky cut short their days?"_“By damaging the
stomach and brain." “ Can any one, then, make these people live
as long as the others ?”_"Nobody but themselves."l
1 From the second Report of the Williams School, p. 25. The examination
took place in May 1850,
GENERAL UND
University as
LAICHIGAN
PART FOURT H.
WHO SHOULD BE EDUCATED ?
THE UNIVERSAL EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE.
PART FOURT H.
CHAPTER I.
1. THE RIGHT OF THE LABOURING CLASSES, AS HUMAN BEINGS, TO BE
EDUCATED.
It may appear superfluous in the present day to discuss the necessity The need of
discussing the
for educating the people; but there are many well meaning, in-
question of
fluential, and by no means unintelligent persons, in both the higher universal edu-
cation.
and middle ranks, who continue to express doubts of the expediency
of such a measure.
1
The question in hand is the education, not of the rich, nor of the
middle classes, nor even of the well-to-do members of the labouring
classes, all of whom in this country contrive to educate their
children according to their own views,—but the education of the
lowest grade of our people; those who can do least, almost nothing
for themselves. I beg that this distinction may be kept in view.2
The working-classes are God's creatures, and are as well entitled The Labouring
to justice as the higher ranks.3
Classes : the
objects of their
lives.
Our opinions of the kind of education which the industrious
classes should receive, will depend on the objects which we assign
to their lives. If they have been created by Providence merely to
toil and pay taxes, to eat, sleep, and transmit existence to future
generations, a limited education may suffice. But if they have been
born with the full faculties of moral, intellectual, and religious
“Secular Education," in Westminster Review, for July, 1852.
2 In a letter to the Economist of 18th May, 1847.
America, vol. iii. p. 375.
1 Article on
492
The Universal Education of the People.
The elements
O
an
nature,
too little
rational,
beings; if they are as capable, when instructed, of studying the
works of God, of obeying His laws, of loving Him and admiring His
institutions, as any class of the community ; in short, if they are
rational beings, capable of all the duties, and susceptible of all the
enjoyments, which belong to the rational character: then no educa-
tion is sufficient for them which leaves any portion of their highest
powers waste and unproductive. This is the light in which I regard
them; and the grand question is, What mode of life, and what kind
of pursuits, are best adapted to the nature of man?
In answering this question, we must keep in mind, that human
nature consists of the following elements :-
1st, An organised body, requiring food, exercise, and rest, in due
proportions;
2nd, Animal Propensities, requiring gratification;
3rd, Moral Sentiments, demanding exercise and enjoyment;?
4th, Intellectual faculties, calculated to acquire knowledge, and
intended to direct the whole voluntary functions, bodily and mental,
in the pursuit of their objects.
The lives of In the present state of society, the industrious classes, or great
Labouring men
mass of the people, live in the habitual infringement of several im-
portant laws of their nature. Life with too many of them is spent
to so great an extent in labour, that their Moral and Intellectual
powers are stinted of exercise and gratification; and hence their
mental enjoyments are chiefly those afforded by the Animal Pro-
pensities : in other words, their existence is too little rational ; they
are organised machines more than moral, religious, and intellectual
beings. The chief duty performed by their higher faculties is not
to afford predominant sources of enjoyment, but to communicate so
much intelligence and honesty as to enable them to execute their
labours with fidelity and skill. I mean no disrespect to this most
deserving portion of society: on the contrary, I represent their con-
dition in what appears to me to be its true light, only with a view
to excite them to amend it. I speak, of course, of the great body
of the uneducated people : There are, among the labouring classes,
many individuals who possess high attainments.
Does human nature, then, admit of the adoption of such habits
and employments by these classes, as will tend to raise them to the
condition of beings whose chief pleasures shall be derived from their
rational natures—that is, creatures whose bodily powers and Animal
1 The term Moral Sentiments, when used in these lectures, always implies the
Religious Feelings, which I regard as innate.--(G. C.)
Natural Right of Lower Classes to be Educated. 493
moderate in
amount and
Propensities shall be subservient to their Moral and Intellectual Labour is
faculties, and who shall derive from the latter their leading enjoy healthy, and
ments ? To attain this end, it would not be necessary that they good.
should cease to labour; on the contrary, the necessity of labour to
the enjoyment of life is imprinted in strong characters on the
structure of man. The osseous, muscular, and nervous systems of
the body, all demand exercise as a condition of health ; while the
digestive and sanguiferous apparatus rapidly fall into disorder if due
exertion be neglected. Exercise of the body is labour; and labour
directed to a useful purpose is as beneficial to the corporeal organs,
and far more pleasing to the mind, than when undertaken for no
end but the preservation of health.
Commerce is rendered advantageous by the Creator; because It should be
different climates yield different productions. Agriculture, manu-
factures, and commerce, therefore, are adapted to man's nature, and duration.
I am not their enemy. But they are not the ends of human existence,
even on earth. Labour is beneficial to the whole human economy,
and it is a mere delusion to regard it as in itself an evil; but the
great principle is, that it must be moderate both in quantity and
duration, in order that men may enjoy, and not be oppressed by it.
I say enjoy it; because moderate exertion is pleasure, and it has
been only labour carried to excess, which has given rise to the
common opinion, that retirement from active industry is the goal of
happiness.
It may be objected that a healthy and vigorous man is not The effects of
oppressed by ten or twelve hours labour a-day; and I grant that, if its excess.
he be well fed, his strength may not be so much exhausted by this
exertion as to cause him pain. But this is regarding him merely as
a working animal. My proposition is, that after ten or twelve hours
of muscular exertion a-day, continued for six days in the week, the
labourer is not in a fit condition for that active exercise of his
Religious, Moral, and Intellectual faculties which becomes him as a
rational being. The activity of these powers depends on the con-
dition of the brain and nervous system ; and these organs are ex-
hausted and deadened by too much muscular exertion. The fox-
hunter and ploughman fall asleep when they sit and attempt to read
or think. The truth of this proposition is demonstrable on physio-
logical principles, and is supported by general experience; never-
theless, the teachers of mankind have too often neglected it.
The first change, therefore, which is to be desired is, to limit the
hours of labour, and to dedicate a portion of time daily to the exer-
494
The Universal Education of the People.
ties.
How the
Time should be cise of the mental faculties. The same means will lead to the
devoted to the realisation of practical Christianity. An individual whose active
existence is engrossed by mere bodily labour, or by the pursuits of
gain or ambition, lives under the predominance of faculties that do
not produce the perfect Christian character. The true practical
Christian possesses a vigorous and enlightened Intellect, and Moral
Affections glowing with gratitude to God and love to man; but how
can the people at large be enabled to realise this condition of mind,
if stimulus for the Intellect and the nobler Sentiments be excluded
by the daily routine of their occupations ?
The uneducated and untrained labourer is not only ignorant, but
his mental organs, through want of exercise, are dull, feeble, and in-
capable of thinking continuously, or acting perseveringly. We may
give him instruction, but it does not penetrate into his inactive brain,
and it is not reproductive of thought and action.
The middle classes have long since arrived at the conviction, that
Middle classes
obtain the
this country presents to them a theatre for exertion, in which, as a
social prizes. general rule, the prizes of wealth and social consideration fall to the
share of those individuals who display the greatest amount of activity,
directed by intelligence and morality, to useful or pleasing objects.
The extraordinary efforts which they make to train up their children
in habits of activity and perseverance, show how deeply they are
penetrated by this truth. Their children are sent to school at five
or six years of age, and from that age to fifteen or sixteen, in some
cases till eighteen or twenty, they are subjected to mental exercises
during six or eight hours a-day. It is not so much the knowledge,
as the habits of mental activity and perseverance acquired by this
discipline, that enables those children, in after life, to appropriate the
prizes to themselves. They do not rob the working classes of them,
as some persons maintain; because, by the order of Providence, the
prizes could not exist unless there were intelligence, powers of com-
bination, capital acquired by industry and accumulated by prudence
and economy, to produce them; and it is the superior mental train-
ing of the middle classes which enables them to realise these con-
ditions of wealth.
How the The children of the working classes, in localities where they are
not protected by the factory law, or trained by parents who are
themselves educated, are too generally sent to labour at the age of
eight or nine years, and afterwards their mental faculties receive
little or no cultivation. The consequence is, that they are not only
1 This evil has been remedied, to a large extent, since the passing of the
Lower classes
lose them.
Natural Right of Lower Classes to be Educated. 495
ignorant, but, in adult age, they become dull and incapable of in-
tellectual application and moral perseverance. The necessity which
poverty imposes on the labouring classes, of taking their children too
early from school and employing them on labour, appears to me to
be the greatest of all the existing obstacles to the elevation of those
classes in the social scale.
If this opinion be well founded, the best remedy the evil admits They can be
of, in the present condition of society, appears to be to improve and
gained only
through effici-
multiply schools, and to lower the fees of them; so that not only ent education.
none of the children of the poor may be excluded from them, but
that the teaching and training may be so efficient as to render the
of leisure which are at the command of the children of
this class, as productive of good habits and intellectual intelligence
as possible.1
few years
Men in general have appetites sufficiently strong to impel then, The desire of
without external excitement, to seek supplies for the wants of their knowledge is
animal nature. Hunger and thirst press so keenly on their feelings, weak in some.
that the most thoughtless of mankind are prompted, by their im-
portunity, to exert themselves to procure food. The piercing winds
and the winter's frost force them to provide raiment. But it is
argued by some writers on religious and scientific education that the
case is quite different with our Moral and Intellectual nature. The
human being, deeply buried in ignorance, has no painful conscious-
ness of his condition; he is stimulated by no self-acting desires to
feed and clothe his mind; he will remain for ever mentally destitute
and naked, the passive victim of his animal feelings, unless excited
by the importunity of more enlightened men to cast aside his sloth.
While this representation contains some truth, it does not appear This desire not
yet fairly
to me to be entirely correct. · The appetite of the mass of the people tested.
for instruction has never been fairly tried. By their external circum-
stances they have been trained to fight, to labour, and to indulge in
dissipation; but rarely to seek enjoyment in the cultivation of their
Moral and Intellectual powers. It would be as reasonable to state,
as an objection against human nature, that an individual trained as
a divine, has little relish for agriculture or for law, as to urge as a
plea against it, that labourers and artizans, whose mental powers
English Education Act of 1870, and the Scotch Act of 1872. The Supple-
mentary Scotch Act of 1878 is framed, amongst other objects, to meet this
abuse of childhood.
Popular Education, pp. 24-27.
1
496
The Universal Education of the People.
Poor food has
to it.
have never been cultivated, but, on the contrary, have been blunted
by their occupations, have no taste for literature or science.
Besides, the great body of the people have never had wholesome
been supplied mental food presented to them, and their defect of appetite is pre-
maturely assumed. If the foregoing views of the constitution of
the mind and its adaptations be correct, the objects best calculated
to rouse the Intellect, and delight the Moral Sentiments, are those
presented by nature in her various departments; and knowledge of
this kind has never been offered to the people and rejected.
Drowsy and incapable teachers have too often administered husks and
rubbish to the youthful mind; and, because it has revolted at this
dose, it has been charged with a distaste for all useful information.
If the minds of practical men could have taken a deep and abiding
interest in Greek, Latin, scholastic Logic, and Metaphysics, I should
have despaired of the progress of the race; and yet, until almost
the present day, the learned had little else to offer to their notice.
That they have turned with distaste from these studies is no better
proof that they will dislike all knowledge, than the rejection of
wormwood by a child is evidence that it will not relish sugar,
Before the appetite of the people for knowledge can be fairly
estimated, they must be placed in external circumstances calculated
to favour the activity of their Moral and Intellectual powers; know-
ledge really related to their faculties must be presented to them;
and their teachers must be men qualified by nature and acquire-
ments to communicate useful information and command respect.
A knowledge The principles on which God administers the Physical, Organic,
of man and his and Moral Government of the world, are to be discovered by study-
surroundings
has not been ing the constitution, modes of action, and laws of the instruments,
taught.
or of the things and beings, by means of which that government is
conducted:1 but this proposition is not generally recognised as true;
yet, until it shall be admitted, the paramount importance of study-
ing and acting in harmony with the laws of nature cannot be
comprehended. This view of Providence is not understood, because
the people have rarely been taught the philosophy of their own
nature, physical and mental, and its relations to the external world.
Hence, if there be any course of study or of action, written, as it
were, in the constitution of man, and recommended by the Creator
to our attention, too little of that lesson has yet been read to the
people. Teachers themselves were ignorant of it. The mental
organs being a portion of the means by which the Moral Government
1 This idea is worked out, p. 123, et seq:
Natural Right of Lower Classes to be Educated. 497
of the world is conducted, must be studied and understood before
the principles of that government can be comprehended ; neverthe-
less, this study is, by many persons, opposed, denounced, or neglected,
as if God had neither framed the organs nor established their
relations.
Unless there be prompters to enforce attendance, or unless the The prevalent
appetite already exists to induce the people spontaneously to repair education is
indifference to
to the portals of the church, or to the halls of the schools and the caused by its
imperfection;
university, the richest viands for the mind may be spread there,
and no guests be found to enjoy their delicious savours. Accord-
ingly, we perceive, that, after the London University College has
been reared, and other arrangements for education have been com-
pleted, the students are few, and the good accomplished is limited.
The citizens, educated in words alone, are unbelievers in the exist-
ence of practical knowledge, and proceed in their wonted rounds of
labour and money-getting, unconscious of the value of science, and
without a motive to engage in its study. Some provincial institu-
tions for the scientific instruction of the industrious classes, have
shared a similar fate. They have perhaps been frequented for a
short time, while novelty and influential names produced excite-
ment; but have too soon been deserted by those for whose benefit
they were reared. For these unfavourable results, I blame the
stinted education given to the existing generation in their primary
schools. This left them sceptics concerning even the existence of
useful knowledge, and defrauded them of all taste for its advantages
and sweets.
Indifference to instruction has been fostered also, by the low And by the
estimate too generally formed by religious teachers of the practical of Natural
value of Natural Science; and the blindness of many persons to the Science.
fact that science is information concerning the great laws by means
of which God governs the world. It is true, then, that, in the
present state of society, there is a vast body of men, who, from their
circumstances and training, feel no spontaneous impulses towards
improving their Moral and Intellectual nature, and who, if provided
with food, clothing, shelter, and amusement, desire little else.
But there are also among the people many gifted spirits, whose
native energies have enabled them to surmount all the obstacles
1 The London University College has of late years had a success that would
have gratified George Combe. The above was written in 1848. University
College had only been separated from the University of London in 1836. See
Kiddle and Schem's “Cyclopædia of Education,” s.v. University College.
low estimate
21
498
The Universal Education of the People.
successful.
The educated presented by imperfect education to the expansion of their minds,
Labourer is
happy and
whose Moral and Intellectual faculties long for knowledge, for
refinement, and for improvement in virtue, as keenly as their
bodily appetites burn for their proper gratifications. These indivi-
duals have struggled hard for food for the mind; and they have
generally obtained it. They not only desire to advance themselves,
but they feel a call within them to become apostles or missionaries
to excite their less vivacious and intellectual brethren to improve-
ment. This appears to me to be the class instituted by Providence
for successfully inviting the unwilling guests to the banquet of
knowledge.
These should Too many of the educational institutions which have hitherto
been formed, have omitted to invoke the co-operation of these
in regard to
education.
important auxiliaries. Bankers, merchants, and landed gentlemen,
whose consequence and influence originated in, and depended chiefly
on, wealth, have been the founders and directors of most of the
existing establishments; and by rank, habits, feelings, and inclina-
tions, they were far removed from the class of slumbering minds
who stood in need of being awakened."
be consulted
Man is improv It has sometimes appeared to me that divines, with the best
able by educa- intentions, have obstructed the progress of human improvement by
tion;
colouring too highly the representations of man's depravity and
weakness, and urging in too strong terms his natural incapacity for
any good. These views repress exertion, and foster indolence and
ignorance. Dr Chalmers entertained more favourable opinions of
our nature, and I rejoice in calling your attention to the eloquence,
as well as the truth, of the following remarks. 'We might not
know the reason,” says he, in his Bridgewater Treatise, “why, in
the moral world, so many ages of darkness and depravity should
have been permitted to pass by, any more than we know the reason
why, in the natural world, the trees of a natural forest, instead of
starting all at once into the full efflorescence and stateliness of their
manhood, have to make their slow and laborious advancement to
maturity, cradled in storms, and alternately drooping or expanding
with the vicissitudes of the seasons. But though unable to scan all
the cycles either of the moral or natural economy, yet we may
recognise such influences at work, as, when multiplied and developed
to the uttermost, are abundantly capable of regenerating the world.
1 Popular Education, pp. 62–66.
Natural Right of Lower Classes to be Educated. 499
One of the likeliest of these influences is the power of education,
to the perfecting of which so many minds are earnestly directed at
this moment, and for the general acceptance of which in society,
we have a guarantee in the strongest affections and fondest wishes
of the fathers and mothers of families.” 1
Add to these reasons for hoping well of our nature, the discovery And by the
that the capacity for civilisation may be increased by exercising the dencies of his
Moral and Intellectual faculties, in conformity with the laws of faculties.
organisation; a fact from which the happiest results may be antici-
pated in regard to human improvement. History represents man as
having been hitherto a passionate, pugnacious, grasping, and ambi-
tious, rather than a moral and rational, being; and even now we do
not feel entirely secure against a recurrence of rapine and war.
Yet
fighting and plundering are calculated to gratify only a few of the
human faculties, and these the lowest in the scale; while they
outrage the higher and better feelings. In proportion as the know-
ledge of our true good, and of the real relations of our nature to our
fellow-men and the external world shall increase, it will be seen
that prosperity and enjoyment spring only from industry and virtue
and we may hope that the appetite for war will diminish.
The objection has been stated, that, even in the most improved Are any men
incapable of
condition of the great body of the people, there will still be a con-
siderable proportion of them so deficient in talent, so incapable of mere labour ?
improvement, and so ignorant, that their labour will be worth little ;
that, as they must obtain subsistence, no alternative will be left to
them but to compensate, by protracted hours of exertion, for their
deficiencies in skill; and that their labour, furnished at a cheap rate,
will affect all other classes of society, and prevent the anticipations
now stated from ever being realised. This objection resolves itself
into the proposition, That the people have been destined by the
Creator to be mere labouring animals, and that, from their inherent
mental defects, they are incapable generally of being raised to any
more honourable station; which is just the great point at issue
between the old and the new philosophy.
If mankind at large (for the industrious classes constitute so very
great a majority of the race, that I may be allowed to speak of them
as the whole) had been intended to continue for ever mere hewers
of wood and drawers of water, it is probable that Moral and Intel
lectual faculties would not have been bestowed on them; and as
even the humblest individuals enjoy the rudiments of all the feelings
1 Dr Chalmers' “ Bridgewater Treatise,” vol. i. p. 186.
more than
500
The Universal Education of the People.
Their posses- and capacities which adorn the highest, and as these faculties them.
ficntiebigberes selves are capable of improvement, I do not subscribe to the doctrine
higher capaci- of the permanent incapacity of the race. I consider them quite
ties.
capable of becoming qualified, in successive generations, to perform
the duties and to reap the enjoyments of rational beings : and when-
ever the great majority of them shall have received a thoroughly
good education, and a proper moral training, and have thereby
acquired a sense of the true dignity of their nature, and a relish for
the enjoyments afforded by their higher faculties; they will be
found capable of regulating the supply of labour in reference to the
demand, in such a manner as to obtain the means of subsistence, in
return for moderate exertion. I regard it as probable, that then few
of the imbeciles alluded to in the objection will exist; and that these
few will be kept in the right path by the influence of enlightened
opinion, which will then pervade the social circle.
But universal At the same time, in reference to the present and several succeed-
improvement ing generations, there is great force in the objection now stated.
with centuries. In throwing out the views contained here, I embrace centuries of
time. I see the slow progress of the human race in the past, and
do not anticipate miracles in the future. If a sound principle,
however, be developed-one having its roots in nature—there is a
certainty that it will wax strong and bear fruit in due season;
but that season, from the character of the plant, must be a distant
All who aim at benefiting mankind, ought to keep this truth
constantly in view. Almost every scheme is judged of by its effects
on the living generation : whereas, no great fountain of happiness ever
flowed clear at first, or yielded its full stream to the generation who
discovered it. Even enlightened men do not yet understand the
principles on which the Order of God's Secular Providence is con-
ducted, nor do they practically believe in a real and efficient govern-
ment of the world by Divine laws. In consequence, mankind do
not yet enjoy the moral benefits of Christianity. Practical Chris-
tianity is only developing its power, and hundreds of years may
elapse before its blessed spirit shall fully pervade all the transactions
of human life. I do not expect to see the principles advocated here
generally reduced to practice in this age ; but, if they be founded
in nature, they will in time vindicate their own might.”
1 See these ideas worked out, p. 123, et seq.
Popular Education, pp. 46-48.
one,
2
CHAPTER II.
THE PERSONAL ADVANTAGES OF EDUCATION TO THE
LABOURING CLASSES.
MR COMBE mentioned the circumstances which had led him to take George Combe's
a particular interest in the welfare of the working classes. Born in tion with the
early associa-
a manufacturing suburb of Edinburgh, lying between the Grass- lower classes.
market and the West Church, there were no middle-class houses within
à considerable distance of his father's brewery, while all around it
were the houses of working men. His earliest companions, there-
fore, were the children of this class. His first initiation into social
life was under their roofs. He found
He found among them many excellent
dispositions, comfortable homes, and individuals possessed of intelli-
gence and respectable attainments. There were, indeed, some who
were vicious and miserably poor, whose lives were passed in alter-
nate debauchery and starvation; but they were the minority. In
his sixth year, he was sent to school, and envied the lot of the
workmen's children, many of whom were left free to roam in the
fields, play at marbles, and slide upon the ice. In a few years,
however, he saw these young light-hearted beings, all untrained
and uneducated, taken from their sports, sent to trades, and sub-
jected in manufactories to ten labour hours a-day. He continued
for years to toil in schools and fag at lessons, while they laboured
in their workshops; and, during this period, it was hard to
say which was the most severely tasked, the boys of the middle
classes in their schools, or the children of the workmen in their
shops.
But the next ten years, after the end of the schooling and of the The middle
classes rise by
workmen's indentures, made a great difference in the destinies of the education.
two sets of children. The toil of the brain had fitted the one
class to discharge the higher and more difficult duties of social life,
given them self-restraint, and that commanding capacity which
enabled them to wield and apply capital as a source of wealth.
They reaped the prizes of the world. They did not rob the lower
classes of them; because it was their own educated ability, steadi-
ness, morality, and economy, which enabled them to pay for and to
502
The Universal Education of the People.
from its want.
men.
their cultiva-
tion.
combine the uneducated labour of the working men in producing
wealth which that uneducated labour, if left to its own resources,
never could have called into existence.
The lower are He saw that the working men, as a class, remained stationary.
stationary
Their career in life was determined by their early condition. Some
enlisted into the army and navy, and were killed off in the war
which then raged; some, while yet young, fell victims to disease
induced by irregular habits, dirt, bad air, and other avoidable evils;
while those who lived longer still perished comparatively early, worn
out by hard labour and imperfect nutrition. Among all the children
of the working classes who were the companions of his childhood,
Mr Combe knew of none surviving; but he knew the grandchildren
of some of them: while of his school associates many remained
alive, several filling highly honourable stations in society.”
But they rise There were exceptions, however, to these cases among the working
according to
Those individuals among them who had natural talents, and
had received some degree of moral and intellectual cultivation, took
the higher stations in their own rank, became skilled operatives and
foremen, earned good wages, lived comfortably, and were highly
respected. Some few rose to be master tradesmen; but hard toil,
occasional reckless indulgence, and poverty, were the lot of too great
a number. The returns of mortality for the city of Edinburgh bore
out these facts. They showed that, among the labouring classes, the
average of life is only 277 years; among master tradesmen and shop-
keepers, 36years; among landed proprietors and professional men,
43 years.
Real educa. What caused these great differences ? Mr Combe was convinced
that education was more influential than all other agencies and cir-
agency for
raising them: cumstances combined, in giving wealth, enjoyment, and long life to
the great majority of the one, and toil and poverty and early death
to the mass of the other class; and, from the day when he arrived at
this conviction, he had never ceased to desire a higher education for
the people, for whom he continued to feel all the sympathy, attach-
ment, and respect generated by his early observation of their natural
3
tion the best
2
1 The war against Napoleon, the effects of which are described in his Auto-
biography, in his “Life," by Charles Gibbon, p. 29.
George Combe's early life, and his intercourse with the working classes, are
graphically described in his Autobiography, in his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon,
chaps. i. and ii. When George Combe spoke the above, in 1851, he was 63
years of age.
3 This was spoken in 1851. The same returns are referred to pp. 140 and 488.
Personal Advantages of Popular Education. 503
good qualities, and of the hardships to which many of them were
exposed.
1
crease their
You, the working classes, are the chief objects of the educational It would in-
movement.2 The upper and middle classes are both able and willing skill as work-
to educate their children themselves; but, for want of money, time, men;
and knowledge, you are, in this respect, in a less favourable condition.
This country has arrived at that stage of civilisation in which mind
has acquired an enormous superiority over mere strength. The
steam-engine has been made to supply the place of millions of human
muscles as operating forces; and, while these muscles continue in-
capable of higher modes of action than those which belong to the
steam-engine, the horse, and the water-wheel, their owners can
expect no higher remuneration for their toil than that which will
remunerate the masters of such inanimate and unintelligent powers
for the capital expended on them. The human labourer must learn
to do something which these cannot accomplish; he must acquire
skill to form more intricate combinations, and taste to produce
finer results than they: and then his labour will be worthy of, and
will obtain, a higher remuneration. The labourer will then, in
intelligence and skill, be the fellow of the capitalist and employer,
and will share his profits and command his respect. This high ad.
vantage can be obtained only by careful training and instruction in
childhood and youth.
I repeat, then, that the enlightened advocates of National And make
Education desire to raise your children to the rank of skilled gent citizens.
operatives, and moral and intelligent members of the community.
You are the persons chiefly interested in the movement, and
yet, so far as I know, you have been least of all consulted on
the subject. Men of different religious denominations, who are
sincerely desirous to elevate your condition, have endeavoured to
devise a scheme of National Education, in which the rights of all shall
be respected; but hitherto the accomplishment of the good work has
been hindered by the circumstance, that each religious sect desires
Speech at Glasgow in 1851, on National Education; from North British
Daily Mail.
2 This refers to the great agitation in favour of National Secular Education
carried on in 1851, in support of Lord Melgund's Education Bill for Scotland,
introduced into Parliament in June that year; in which agitation George
Combe was one of the chief movers. See Introduction, and pp. 223 and 237 of
the present work; and his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 289.
them intelli,
1
504
The Universal Education of the People.
to have such control, direct or indirect, of the educational machinery,
that the schools may serve, not merely to impart Secular knowledge,
but also to recruit the ranks of the sect, and to fill the pews of its
churches or meeting-houses. In regard to this, too, they have omitted
to consult the labouring classes, whose children chiefly the schools
are intended to educate. 1
The prizes of Parents who neglect the education of their children, really
intelligence
are gained
renounce, for their offspring, all right to the prizes offered by
only by the
Providence to intelligence, industry, and morality, and rivet
educated.
the chains of dependence about their necks for ever. Wealth
cannot be produced by ignorance and inertness; and, without a
moderate command of property, independence and social considera-
tion cannot be attained. The labouring classes, therefore, in my
opinion, have no alternative but to qualify themselves, by training
and education, to fulfil the conditions on which Providence has
made wealth and social well-being to depend, or to submit to
poverty and dependence.
This proved by There is a large number of working men, particularly in the de-
the experience
of working
partments of skilled labour, who are intelligent and moral, and who,
when married to prudent and active women, live in comfort, and
bring up their children with much respectability. This class will
be able to trace their own advantageous position to good natural
endowments, strengthened and rendered practical by education,
example, or other influences, tending to give the ascendency to their
Moral and Intellectual faculties. If, therefore, they desire, not only
to transmit their own condition to their children, but to promote
their elevation in the social scale, they will prize well-constituted
schools as the best of all means for accomplishing these ends.?
men.
Education I have stated, with some minuteness, that a neglect of education
necessary for leaves the individual not only ignorant, but incapable. You,I
the exercise of
the faculties., perceive, dislike Phrenology; but you will, I hope, excuse me for
referring to it, because, by no other means, can I render what appears
to me to be an important truth so clear as by the application of its
principles. The mind in this life acts through the instrumentality
Speech at Edinburgh in 1851, on National Education; from Scotsman.
Popular Education, p. 27.
3 See pp. 494-5.
4 The Editor of the Economist, in an article in that journal, of 15th May, 1847.
1
2
The Personal Advantages of Popular Education. 505
of the brain, and the brain is subject to all the ordinary laws of
Physiology. An unexercised limb is feeble, and incapable of
sustained and vigorous action. Education is to the brain what
exercise is to the limbs; and the uneducated man is not only igno-
rant, but, owing to the unexercised condition of his brain, his Moral
and Intellectual faculties are blunt, dull, and incapable of sustaining
activity. This dulness is to me inexplicable, if the mind is not in-
fluenced by the state of its organs.
In these remarks, I refer to average men, for there are individuals, Its want makes
them dull and
in every community, who have derived from nature an inherent inert
.
energy, which enables them to educate themselves; and they are not
here the subjects of consideration. It is the inertness, the dulness,
the want of the power of pursuing a distant good, at the expense of
a temporary act of self-denial, that keeps the lowest portion of our
people in their present condition, surrounded, as they are, by the
lights of a free press, and of a high general civilisation. Their
external circumstances educate their Animal Propensities, and give
activity and vigour to the portions of the brain with which they are
connected; while, through want of exercise, the Moral and Intellec-
tual regions are not only vacant but benumbed.
I beg to apply these observations to Germany. I have lived 'l'his is proved
in Germany :
nearly two years in Germany, and had some experience of the
condition and qualities of its people. I have visited Prussia,
Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Bohemia, and Austria; and had oppor-
tunities not only of conversing with the enlightened men and women
of these countries, but of living in close contact with portions of
their common people. I have employed a few of them as domestic
servants, and many of them as temporary guides, coachmen, trades-
men, &c. In some portions of Germany--Hesse-Homburg, for ex-
ample,--the Austrian dominions, and in Bohemia, the common
people have enjoyed the benefit of schools placed under clerical
guidance, and the general influence of European civilisation, which
you mention as important instruments of education. But, in Prussia,
Saxony, and South-western Germany generally, in addition to these,
a vigorous Secular education has been applied to all classes by
Government aid. The difference of the results, in my judgment, is
so great as to warrant the description I have given.
In the former countries, the common people, generally, are not
George Combe travelled much on the Continent, especially during the
latter part of his life, for the purposes of health, inquiry, and the spread of
liis opinions. See his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon.
1
506
The Universal Education of the People.
Stupidity and only ignorant, but distressingly stupid, and, in the adult state,
incapacity are
according to
nearly incapable of instruction. I state this from observations
the neglect of made to me by philanthropic and enlightened patriots in these
education.
countries, who laboured, with a zealous and judicious earnestness, to
improve the people on their own estates and in their own localities.
Their constant lament was—“Our people are so stupid, they are so
silly, that they do not act out the instructions we give them, or
apply judiciously and perseveringly the means of improvement we
place in their hands.” I have heard the same remark made by
Dorsetshire philanthropists, who have asked me, “Why is it that
our common people are not only ignorant, but so dull as to seem
incapable of profiting by what we desire to do for them?” Irish
and Scotch Highland proprietors have again and again put the same
question to me—“How is it that, although we point out to these
people what they should do to improve their condition, and tender
them assistance to do so, there is a constant tendency in them to
relax in their efforts and to relapse into their old habits, whenever
we cease to apply the spur?”
Only one answer can be given by me :—The untrained and un-
exercised brain obstructs the play of the mental powers; it is feeble,
and soon becomes fatigued; it wants spontaneous activity: and
hence, when you cease to excite it by external appliances, it sinks
into inaction, and the mind takes no interest in future good to be
purchased by a present painful effort.
Activity and As a contrast to this condition of the uneducated masses in
capacity rise
Austria, Bohemia, and the neglected portions of Germany, among
with educa-
whom (as well as among the uneducated in many parts of England,
Ireland, and Scotland), the inertness of the seventeenth century still
prevails; I beg to state, that in the countries where the Prussian
system of education has been in force for twenty or thirty years,
there is palpably a greater mental activity, and greater capability of
improvement, in the lower classes of people. They not only know
more, but are more capable of learning. The exercise of their brain,
from infancy, in mental action, has made thinking comparatively
easy. By the increased vigour which it has imparted, it has rendered
persevering effort in pursuit of moral ends more easy and agreeable,
and the individual more capable of spontaneous reflection, as well as
more alive to the influence of Moral and Religious emotions. In
short, the uneducated German is, to this day, like the Scottish High-
1 Mr Bastard, George Combe's friend, lived at Charlton-Marshall, near Bland-
ford, Dorset, whom he often visited. See p. 247; and Combe's “Life,” Index.
tion.
Personal Advantages of Popular Education. 507
lander, the Irish peasant, and the Dorsetshire. labourer, not only
ignorant, but feeble-minded; while the German who has gone
through the training and instruction of the Prussian schools, ap-
proaches much more nearly to the condition of our educated, intelli-
gent, and energetic operatives in Manchester and Birmingham. The
great recommendation of the Prussian system is, that it embraces
the lowest members of the social mass; and when I compare the
present condition of that class in Prussia, with what their state was
before they were educated, and that in which their untrained compeers
still continue in Germany, the figure, that “education has put a soul
beneath the ribs of death,” really does not appear to be exaggerated.
in England is, that our educational agencies do not
effectually reach that class.
If parents have transmitted to their children well balanced and The certainty
of the results
favourably developed brains, and discharged their duty in training, of early train-
educating, and fitting them out in the world, they will rarely have ing.
cause to complain of ingratitude, or want of filial piety.
the brains of the children are ill-constituted, or where training and
education have been neglected or improperly conducted, the parents,
in reaping sorrow and disappointment from the behaviour of their
offspring, are only suffering the ratural consequences of their own
actions; and if these are punishments, they should read in them an
intimation of the Divine displeasure of their conduct. In propor-
tion to the development and cultivation of the Moral and Intellectual
faculties, are gratitude and filial piety strongly and steadily mani-
fested by children. By the well-principled and respectable members
of the middle and lower ranks, parents are scarcely ever left in
destitution by their children, if they are at all capable of maintain-
ing them; but, among the heartless, reckless, and grossly ignorant,
this is not uncommon. The legal provision established for the poor,
has tended to blunt the feelings of many individuals in regard to
this duty; yet great and beautiful examples of its fulfilment are
frequent, and we may expect that the number of these will increase
as education and improvement advance.”
George Combe had personal knowledge of all the countries referred to.
See his “Life” by Charles Gibbon.
2 From a letter to the Economist of 18th May, 1847, in reply to an article
there, of 15th May; given also in Horace Mann's “ Educational Tour,” edited
by Dr Hodgson, 4th Edit. p. 214 (London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co.)
3 Moral Philosophy, Lecture VII.
1
CHAPTER III.
THE SOCIAL ADVANTAGES OF UNIVERSAL POPULAR
EDUCATION.
The wide dif. The necessity for educating the working men is dictated by the
ferences be-
tween the up. very reasons which objectors urge as arguments against it. In the
per and lower savage and barbarian states of society, the humblest member of the
by education. tribe is not, in point of acquired information, intellectual power,
and refinement of taste, nearly so far below his chief and the
magnates of the land, as is the peasant or labourer, who can neither
read nor write, beneath our educated upper and middle ranks. The
high instruction of the minority, and the unabated, savage-like
ignorance of the majority, of our population, have silently effected
the greatest social revolution that the world has ever witnessed.
Education has given a scope of knowledge and an intellectual
capacity to the former, which have placed in their hands the
resources of nature, wealth, refinement, and political power, to an
extent unparalleled in the history of nations; while scarcely one step
in advance in all these advantages has been made by that portion
of the people which continues altogether uninstructed.
The con-
sequence is that, in helplessness, ignorance, intellectual incapacity,
improvidence, vices, and coarseness of feeling, the latter exhibit
many characteristics of the Red Indian, without his self-respect,
power of endurance, and circumspection. The atmosphere of
civilisation has dimmed their manhood, while it has left many of
the worst features of the savage or barbarian state unchanged.
Need we wonder, then, that those mental qualities ripen into
pauperism, and overflow the land as with a wasting flood ?
This degradation punishes, with scorpions' stings, the upper and
the lower
classes pun.
middle classes, through whose blindness and apathy it has occurred.
ishes the com- If they have human sympathies, they are galled, particularly in
munity.
seasons of scarcity, by the spectacle of wan-faced, sickly, starving
men; emaciated, half-naked, dirty, and debased women ; ragged,
shivering, and famished children, whose numbers are so overwhelm-
ing that they plunge the kind-hearted into despair. Again, they
are visited by tax-collectors, claiming their substance for the support
The state of
The Social Advantages of Popular Education. 509
of criminal officers, gaols, houses of correction, ships for transporta-
tion and pauper workhouses, to an extent that often seriously
impairs their power of educating and providing for their own off-
spring and dependents; and this solely to restrain and maintain
this abject portion of our people. They are exposed also to the
overflowing of infectious diseases, which ever and anon break out in
the dens of filth and misery where those unfortunate creatures
reside ; and which, occasionally reaching the higher ranks, sweep
away, indiscriminately, youth and age among them, as if by an aveng-
ing scourge. Finally, they live in a habitual sense of danger from
the overwhelming physical power, unguided by knowledge, and
unrestrained by moral and religious principle, which is known to
reside in the masses. They fear that, if pressed upon beyond
endurance, it may, at any moment, burst forth like a volcano, and
deluge the country with blood. These are some of the reasons
which dictate the necessity for educating the people; and they
appear to us so cogent, that our suprise is great that they have not
sooner produced energetic action."
education
The British Legislature has refused adequate grants for the educa- The want of
tion of the people. Considering that the national debt was incurred
endangers
exclusively under the administration of the aristocracy, and that its social order ;
existence is the cause of much of our heavy taxation, it would be
an equitable arrangement to apply the £8,400,000 raised annually
from tobacco, snuff, and home-made spirits 2 (the luxuries, and, in
my opinion, the injurious luxuries of the labouring classes) to
the education of the people, and to raise a corresponding sum by
imposing inventory duties, legacy duties, and direct taxes on real
estate. As the law now stands, the unrepresented masses are able
to influence the classes who make the laws only in two ways, either
by outrages against social order and property, which are speedily
repressed and punished, or by becoming burdens on them as paupers.
I am far from believing that legislation can remove all the evils
with which the lower classes in Great Britain and Ireland are
afflicted, and much farther from recommending universal suffrage as
the remedy even for those which legislation may reach. I have
elsewhere said that “no rational person will maintain that one
1 Article on Secular Education in the Westminster Review for July, 1852, p. 3.
3 The above was written in 1841. The duty for home-made spirits alone for
the year ending March, 1876, was upwards of £15,100,000.
3 In Moral Philosophy, chap. vii.
510
The Universal Education of the People.
ignorant man is a proper ruler for a great nation, but additions to
numbers do not alter the species. Twenty, or a hundred, or a
thousand ignorant men, are not wiser than one of them ; while they
are much more dangerous. They inflame each other's passions,
keep each other's follies in countenance, and add to each other's
strength.”
And leaves the
In consequence of profound ignorance, man, in all ages, has been
masses without directed in his pursuits chiefly by the impulses of his strongest
rational regu-
lation.
Propensities—at one time to war and conquest, at another to animal
pleasure, and at a third to accumulating wealth,—without having
framed his habits and institutions in conformity with correct and
enlightened views of his own nature, and its real interests and
wants. Down to the present day, the mass of the people, unfavour-
ably situated for the development of their rational nature, have
remained essentially ignorant, and liable to become the tools of
interested leaders, or the victims of their own blind impulses.
They constitute the great majority of the nation, and, of necessity,
their condition influences that of the rest. But the arts and
sciences are now tending towards abridging human labour, and
promise to furnish leisure to the people; the elements of useful
knowledge are rapidly increasing; the capacity of the operatives for
instruction is generally recognised, and the means of communicating
it are becoming more abundant: so that a new era may fairly be
considered as having commenced.”
educated.
Inventions and You 3
say,
“ Will Mr Combe show us, within the last thirty years,
improvements
only from the one social improvement imported into England from Prussia, for
ten imported into Prussia from England ? To the uneducated
people, the educated people have been indebted for steam-navigation
and railroads, cotton-mills and newspapers, &c.”
Answer.- England has always had a highly educated class, whose
early training and instruction enabled them to profit by her free
institutions; and it is they, and not her uneducated masses, who
have achieved these great inventions and improvements. It is from
them, therefore, that the Germans have borrowed. I ask, Can you
show great improvements emanating from the uneducated agricul-
1 America, vol. iii. p. 371 ; written in 1841, before the Minutes of the Com-
mittee of Privy Council on Education of 1846. Popular Education, p. 46.
3 The Editor of the Economist, in article of 15th May, 1847.
2
Its Social Advantages.
511
tural labourers of England, which have been adopted by the
educated labourers of Germany? This is the true form in which
the question should be put.
1
fitness for civil
duties.
But there is one effect of the study of science which I am pre- Education will
increase ration-
pared to admit. When the mind has been opened up to the
al enjoyments.
designs of Providence, as displayed in creation, and has learned to
draw its best enjoyments from contemplating their excellence and
grandeur, and taking a part in their execution; there will be a dis-
taste for excessive and exclusive money-getting, and for the present
long and toilsome hours of attendance at the manufactory, the shop,
and the counting-house. These will be felt to be inimical to man's
moral and intellectual progression, and be restricted. This result
I hail as a positive advantage, believing, as I do, that all our wants
may be amply supplied, and that time may still be left us to
cultivate and enjoy our rational powers. Should this result follow
in the course of ages, it will be an example, not of study producing
incapacity for business, but of moral and intellectual enlightenment
regulating the plan of life, and reducing it into conformity with the
constitution of our rational nature.
Our labouring classes have votes for members of Parliament, and it will improve
exercise political power.
From among them are chosen the
managers of many of the Hospitals for educating children, both
male and female, in Edinburgh. They become Commissioners of
Police, and, in that capacity, superintend all public measures for
increasing the health and comfort of the citizens. As members of
Parochial Boards, they are entrusted with the management of the
poor, and the education and training of the pauper children. They
are elected members of the Town-council of Edinburgh, and become
the patrons of the City's public schools, of the High School, of most
of the Chairs in the University, and of the City Churches. Society
is, at present, in a state of visible transition. Old ideas, habits, and
practices, are fast disappearing, and the public mind is bounding
forward eagerly in search of new and untried institutions. Is it
not the interest of all, that sound knowledge of Physical Science and
the nature of man, and through them of the laws of God's Secular
Providence, should be diffused among all ranks; and particularly
among that class which is respectable by its morality, and influential
· Letter to the Economist of 18th May, 1847, in reply to the above men-
tioned article.
512
The Universal Education of the People.
by its property, and which requires only intellectual information to
render it at once the ornament and safeguard of the state ?
Working men Mechanics Institutions provide instruction in science for opera-
begin to act on tive tradesmen ; and the Universities open their gates for the
aristocracy : but females of all ranks, and the middle classes of
citizens, although at least as important and interesting from their
numbers, their position, and their wealth, as either of the other two,
have hitherto been overlooked. They are now pursuing the only
course that can conduct them to an equality in point of knowledge
with the classes above and below them in the social scale, --coming
forward to provide the means of instruction for themselves. This
is precisely what they ought to do. They possess among themselves
too many well-informed, able, and active men, to render it necessary
for them to go into leading-strings under the great in Literature
and Science; and too much wealth to permit them to solicit
pecuniary aid from any individuals out of their own circle. They
come forth, therefore, in their own strength and might, conscious
that, by union and co-operation, they can accomplish their own
intellectual regeneration. Edinburgh stands pre-eminent in literary
and philosophical reputation among the cities of the world; but she
would place a still more noble crown of glory on her head, could
she boast of industrious citizens combining talents for every species
of practical usefulness, with refined taste and cultivated under-
standings. She would then become the preceptress of the world ;
and prove, by her example, that labour, intelligence, morality,
and religion, go hand in hand in promoting the highest enjoyments
of man.
1
1 Popular Education, pp. 72, 73. The above was written in 1848, the year
of the French Revolution (see p. 517), of the establishment of George Combe's
Secular School in Edinburgh and of similar schools elsewhere (see p. 201 et
seq.), and of increased interest and agitation in favour of a broader and more
general education. See his “Life” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii.
CHAPTER IV.
THE POLITICAL NEED OF UNIVERSAL POPULAR
EDUCATION.
1. THE POLITICAL NEED OF UNIVERSAL POPULAR EDUCATION SHOWN IN
REFERENCE TO GREAT BRITAIN.
of the masses
ONE grand cause of the prevailing indifference to the general educa- The education
tion of the people may be found in the want of political power on
necessary for
the part of the masses. We are no believers in the capacity of general safety ;
ignorance successfully to execute social functions which require
knowledge and experience for their beneficial exercise, and still less
in the notion that any multiples of ignorance will constitute know-
ledge. But in this we have undoubted faith--that if the people
possessed political power, the mere selfish instincts of the upper and
middle classes would render them as anxious to educate them, as
they have hitherto been apathetic. When we visit the lion in his
cage, and are satisfied that the bars have strength sufficient to con-
fine him, we look with indifference, or mere curiosity, on his teeth
and claws; but, break down the iron gratings and let him loose upon
us, or shut us up beside him, and we should hasten to extract, if we
could, those implements of destruction. Thus it is with the people.
While we are able, by horse, foot and artillery, criminal officers,
judges and gaols, to restrain them, with all their rude habits and
fierce instincts rife within them, we quietly leave them in degrada-
tion until we settle our own ecclesiastical and theological disputes
regarding the persons by whom, and the manner in which, their teeth
and claws should be removed.
Were they once invested with votes for parliamentary representa- Especially
when invested
tives, and let loose into the political arena, other counsels would
with political
speedily be seen to prevail. In the United States of America, we power.
were witnesses to this result. When the masses, enjoying universal
suffrage, began to take an interest in political questions, and to decide
them by their votes, every form of conservatism became alarmed.
The rich discovered that their lives and property were in the hands
of the people, and there arose among them one unanimous cry, Let
2.
514
The Universal Education of the People.
Educating ne- us educate them, or we perish! The philanthropists, who, from
cessary for
general safety. benevolent and patriotic motives, had long called aloud for education
unheeded, and the religious public, who, from the love of souls, but
with the same want of success, had petitioned for the instruction of
the people, suddenly found their ranks recruited, and their spirits
cheered, by the owners of lands and dollars, who cared not for the
people, but who feared them as the fountains of legislative power; and
also by the better class of trading politicians, who, looking only to place
and profit, perceived that ignorant electors would be proud to bestow
these on the most unprincipled candidates, who promised most
recklessly and flattered most egregiously. All interests, therefore,
were now united, and the legislatures of the States entered upon the
work of education in earnest. The issue was, that entrance to a
school for Secular instruction was provided free to every child in the
commonwealth, There is a general conviction in the States that,
on the success of the teaching and training of these schools, more
than any other single cause, will henceforth depend the prosperity
and endurance of the Union.1
The political Mental action is the first requisite to moral and intellectual im-
masses grows : provement. If we expect to confer, on the British people, intelli-
therefore edu- gence,—we must educate them; if self-restraint, we must intrust
cate then;
them with political power, and train them to use it. It appears to
me, therefore, that, retaining the two Houses of Parliament as at
present constituted, a limited representation might, with safety and
advantage, be granted to the people. The objections to remodelling
the House of Commons, and introducing universal suffrage for all
the members, are formidable. The majority of the people in Great
Britain and Ireland are uneducated, possessed of little property, and
untrained to political action. A legislative assembly which should
represent and give effect to their feelings and ideas, would probably
lead directly to anarchy. Both in physical circumstances and mental
enlightenment, they are inferior to the majority in America; yet,
even in America, the people are not prepared to do justice to their
institutions. Universal suffrage in that country is attended with
many
evils; and I, therefore, should deprecate its adoption in Britain,
at present, as dangerous to the best interests of society. To house-
hold suffrage, or any other limited representation, there would be
this objection, that it would still leave a large non-represented class,
1 Article on Secular Education in the Westminster Review, for July, 1852.
Its Political Need in Britain.
515
which would become more discontented and impatient, the nearer it
was brought to the line which separated it from the represented. To
leave the people unrepresented, and to attempt to perpetuate the
selfish reign of the upper classes, is neither desirable nor practicable.
The working classes are God's creatures, and are as well entitled to
justice as the higher ranks. By the peculiar institutions of this
country, the middle classes have been trained to admire and act with
the higher; but when their eyes are thoroughly opened to the injustice
which has been inflicted on the lower, this idol-worship will cease.
Besides, the increasing intelligence of the labouring classes will
render their calls for justice irresistible.
If we assume, then, the population of Great Britain and Ireland Especially
with universal
to amount to twenty-four millions, and that the non-electors are to
suffrage.
the electors as eight to one ; this will give twenty-one millons of un-
represented persons in the whole of the United Kingdom; or, to
obtain round numbers, we may assume them to amount to twenty
millions. Suppose the kingdom were divided into 100 districts, each
containing a population of 200,000 unrepresented persons. If uni-
versal suffrage—limited only by requiring in an elector six months'
residence within his ward or county previous to an election,
freedom from conviction for felony, and twenty-one years of age-
were established, and the power of electing one member of the House
of Commons were given to each district, the following results might
be expected probably to ensue :-The mental faculties of the labour-
ing classes would be provided with a legitimate field of political
action, which I consider useful in prompting them to improve their
moral and intellectual condition. There would be no non-represented
class, to foment secret discontent and resistance to the laws: There
would be no danger of anarchy, because the members who represent
the property of the country would still constitute a large majority in
Parliament. The labouring classes would have legitimate organs in
the Legislature capable not only of making their grievances known,
but of obtaining, to some extent, the redress of them: In all
measures regarding which the representatives of property were nearly
equally divided, these hundred members could cast the scale on the
side which was most favourable to the people. The higher classes,
seeing the people possessed of political power, would be prompted by
their own interest, as in the United States, to respect them more, to
1 The above estimate refers to 1831, when the population was 24,287,483.
In 1871 it was nearly 32 millions (being 31,629,299), which would give, on
the above calculation, 28 millions of the unrepresented.
516
The Universal Education of the People.
do them justice, and to assist in elevating their moral and physical
condition ; and thus by slow degrees our vicious system might be
purified, and the British Constitution be adapted to the wants of in-
creasing civilisation. The House of Commons is already too
numerous; and probably 100 menibers might be well spared from its
present members, whose places might be supplied by the representa-
tives of the people. Property would still have five and a half votes
to one, even supposing these representatives to be disposed to assail
it, which is far from being a probable occurrence."
The special
In our own country, the duty of teaching sound and practical
need of educa-
tion since the views of the nature of man as an individual, and of the laws which
Reform Bill. regulate his social condition, to the young, has become doubly urgent
since the passing of the Reform Act. Under the previous system
of government, only the wealthy were allowed to exercise the politi-
cal franchise, and as education was a pretty general concomitant of
wealth, power and knowledge (so far as knowledge existed) were
to a great degree united in the same hands. Now, however, when
great property is no longer indispensable to the exercise of political
influence, it is necessary to extend and improve general education.
The middle classes of this country have in their own hands the
power of returning a majority of the House of Commons; and, as
the Commons hold the strings of the national purse, and, when nearly
unanimous, exercise an irresistible influence in the state, it is obvious
that those who elect them ought to be educated and rational men.
In past ages, government has been conducted too often on short-
improving
legislation.
sighted empirical principles, and rarely on the basis of a sound and
comprehensive philosophy of man's nature and wants : hence the
wars undertaken for futile and immoral purposes ; hence the heavy
taxes which oppress industry and obstruct prosperity ; hence, also,
the restrictions, protections, and absurd monopolies, which disgrace
the statute-book of the nation ;--all of which are not only direct
evils, but are attended by this secondary disadvantage, that they
have absorbed the funds, and consumed the time and mental energy,
which, under a better system, would have been dedicated to the
improvement of national and public institutions. Henceforth, the
government of this country must be animated by, and act up to,
the general intelligence of the nation ; but it will be impossible for
it to advance to any considerable extent beyond it. Every patriot,
1 America, vol. iii. pp. 374-6.
Its need for
Its Political Need in Britain.
517
therefore, will find in this fact an additional motive to qualify him-
self for expanding the minds, and directing the steps, of the rising
generation, that Britain's glory and happiness may pass, untarnished
and unimpaired, to the remotest posterity of virtuous and enlightened
men.
1
education
would lessen
A new Revolution has taken place in France;* Louis Philippe has Improved
been dethroned, and a Republic proclaimed. Whatever may be the
immediate consequences of this event, I cannot doubt that its the danger of
revolution.
ultimate result will be the extension of the power of the people in
every country of Europe, and especially in our own. Not a day
should be lost, therefore, in qualifying the people, by Instruction
and Training, to distinguish between good and evil, and between the
possible and the impossible, in human institutions. Hitherto, the
cause of National Education has been greatly impeded by conten-
tions regarding the teaching of religious doctrines in schools. In a
series of pamphlets lately published, 3 I have endeavoured to show :
that the world, both moral and physical, is governed by natural
laws, instituted by the Creator to serve as guides to human conduct;
and that the great aim of Secular education should be to communi-
cate a knowledge of these laws, and of the mode in which they are
administered, and to train the young to yield obedience to them in
their actions. Such an education would tend to protect a country
from the evils of revolution. If there be Divine arrangements in
nature, connecting consequences of good and evil with every mode
of action, and if it be impossible to reach either individual or social
happiness except by submitting to them, the people may be enabled
to understand that that form of government will be most perfect
which coincides most closely with their requirements. No revolu-
tion can unseat the Eternal Ruler of the Universe, or alter, or
enable men to evade, His laws.
If this truth were demonstrated to the youthful mind as a prac- And, if Real,
tical fact, and the rising generation were trained to pay homage to it it impossible.
and its consequences, in their conduct, we should at last feel that
social order rested on the basis of nature. The points of religious
doctrine on which rival sects differ, are feable as cobwebs in restrain-
ing an excited people in the whirlwind of revolutionary passion; but
* Moral Philosophy, Lecture VII.
2 That of 1848.
3 Remarks on National Education, on the Relation between Religion and
Science, and What should Secular Education Embrace ?-all embodied in the
present work.
518
The Universal Education of the People.
the truths of religion in which all are agreed, fortified by a deep con-
viction that the Divine Ruler has established, even in this world, an
inseparable connection between virtue, both public and private, and
prosperity, might probably furnish a firmer basis for the maintenance
of social order, than these discordant doctrines have ever afforded.
True religion would harmonise with, hallow, vivify, and render
practical, a scheme of education founded on the principles revealed
to man in the order of God's Secular Providence.1
The contrast A well instructed citizen will consider the influence of any law on
between the
educated and the general welfare before he consents to its enactment; and a well
uneducated
trained citizen will not only obey that law when enacted, but lend
citizen.
his whole moral and physical energies, if necessary, to enforce its
observance by all, until repealed by constitutional authority. An
ill-instructed citizen will clamour for the enactment of any law which
promises to relieve him from an individual inconvenience, or to
confer on him an individual advantage, without much consideration
concerning its general effects; and an ill-trained citizen will seek to
subject the magistrates, judges, and the law to his own control, that
he may bend them in subservieney to his interest, his ambition, or
his inclinations, from day to day, as these arise and take different
directions. The ill-trained citizen takes counsel of his self-will; and
self-will, uninstructed and untrained to the guidance of moral prin-
ciple, leads to destruction.
2
2. THE POLITICAL NEED OF UNIVERSAL POPULAR EDUCATION
ILLUSTRATED BY REFERENCE TO THE UNITED STATES.
Education
is specially
necessary in
a Republic.
The error has been in following, for too long a period, the per-
nicious example of the church and aristocracy of England,—that of
neglecting to prepare the minds of the people, by education, for
wielding with success the vast power which the American institu-
tions have committed to their hands. It is true that the education
of the people is now attracting serious attention; but it is only
recently that this has been the case. The active generation at pre-
sent on the stage is greatly under-educated in reference to their
political powers and their duties, and fifty years from the present
1 Pref. to 3d Edit. (1848) of Popular Education, first published in 1833.
2 America, vol. iii. p. 253.
1839, when George Combe was in America. See a history of education
there, in Part Fifth, chap. iv. sect. 2.
3
Its Political Need in America.
519
time must elapse before the real effects of the American institutions Education is
can be fairly judged of by their influence on an instructed genera-sary in a Re-
specially neces-
tion. Even at this day, notwithstanding all past experience, the public.
conviction is not general among the Whig party, that their only
chance of retaining power (for they may gain it by accident for a
time) lies in raising the mental condition of the people up to that
degree of intelligence which will enable them to understand the
moral and political principles on which the welfare of nations is
founded, and in training them to act in accordance with these. It
is true that even the purely selfish among the rich have discovered
that they are in the hands of the masses, whose ignorance and
excitability alarm them. They are, therefore, at last seriously
desirous to educate them for self-preservation, if from no higher
motive; just as they would desire to pare the claws of a wild beast
that had unfortunately got into the drawing-room, and could not be
expelled :—but do not many of them still linger over the condition
of European society with regret, and lament in their hearts, that the
people are their masters, and that they cannot do without them ??
I ask, Are your schools, your literature, your daily maxims and It should aim
pursuits, and the spirit which animates the masses of your people,
at forming an
enlightened
steadily, systematically, and successfully directed towards the attain-public opinion.
ment of high and honourable objects? Are they adequate to the
formation of a public opinion under which a virtuous and enlightened
mind may live in peace, and rejoice, and with which it can cordially
co-operate? When I converse with your wisest citizens, many of
them concede that such should be the objects of your institutions,
manners, and pursuits; and they labour to reach them: but they
often lament the vast interval which lies between these great con-
ceptions and their accomplishment. The enlightened philanthro-
pists of this country desire to see commenced, in earnest, a system of
Training and Instruction which shall be really capable of preparing
the young republican for the discharge of the highest duties which
a rational being can be called on to execute, in a manner and in a
spirit becoming their grandeur, dignity, and utility ; but they ex-
perience extraordinary difficulties, arising from the ignorance and
the power of the people, in realising their aspirations.
Many who now hear me, and who participate in these desires, will
confirm what I say. I was invited to come to this country by some
1 America, vol. iii. p. 25.
520
The Universal Education of the People.
The urgent
need of an
i proved
education.
philanthropists, who believed that Phrenology would aid your people
in discovering at once their own need of better instruction, and the
means of obtaining it. This philosophy lays open, even to the most
ordinary mind, an intelligible view of the human faculties; it carries
home a striking conviction of the indispensable necessity of educa-
tion to their improvement and direction, and presents tangible
principles for administering this instruction. I have long been an
admirer of your institutions, and an advocate of man's capability of
aising his Moral, Religious, and Intellectual powers to supremacy
over his Animal Propensities; and I obeyed the call which was sent
Far from disapproving of your institutions, I admire them,
nd have confidence in them; but it is my duty to express my con-
viction, that your people need a vastly improved education to render
them equal to the faithful and successful discharge of the important
duties committed to them by the institutions of the States and of the
Federal Government, and to form a public opinion adequate to the
due performance of the high duties assigned to this power.
to me.
1
The danger of In Austria and Prussia, the safety-valve of the body politic is
ignorant popu- loaded with the weight of an established church, and 100,000
bayonets. In cases of discontent, opinion cannot escape, until it
has burst through these compressing powers, and then it explodes
with terrific violence. Here the safety-valve bears no load except
the sense of each individual mind. Any strong internal excitement,
or the application of external provocation, causes the Propensities
and Sentiments to glow, and to express themselves with instantaneous
energy. Their voice is heard in Europe, and the timid hold their
breath, waiting for a grand explosion. Perhaps it never comes. In
your country, ten times ten thousand valves let off excited opinion,
so rapidly that the body-politic cools down to its natural heat as
quickly as its temperature was raised. But every one of these ex-
citements shakes credit, deranges trade, ruins fortunes, is attended
by suffering, and leaves many pangs behind.
Load, then, your safety-valves with knowledge of nature and
religion, and train your young minds to control passion by virtue
and you will find these means more effectual than millions of armed
soldiers to insure your prosperity and happiness. Mr Wyse, in his
work entitled “Education Reform," says, "A period of total quiet,
America, vol. iii. pp. 416-7.
2 Vol. i. p. 48. The author was Thomas Wyse, M.P., an active worker in
Its Political Need in America.
521
resulting from a long continued acquiescence in old institutions, It can be regu-
la ed only by
leaves a very different imprint upon the national mind from that
E lucation.
which is the necessary consequence of a general breaking up of old
principles and forms, and an earnest search after new. In the first
instance, an education of stimulants becomes necessary. It is essen-
tial to the healthy activity of the body-politic. In the second,
steadiness, love of order, mutual toleration, the sacrifice of private
resentments and factious interests to general good, should be the
great lessons of National Education.” Such, assuredly, should be the
education of your sons.
Yours is a noble destiny. Providence has assigned to you the
duty of proving, by experiment, whether man be, or be not, a
rational and moral being, capable of working out his own way to
virtue and enjoyment, under the guidance of Reason and Scripture,
unfettered by despotic power, and unchained by law-enacted creeds.
Your institutions and physical condition call all your faculties into
vivid action. Among these, the Animal Propensities, as I have
remarked, are not dormant; but those observers err who allow
their attention to be arrested only, or chiefly, by the abuses of the
Propensities which appear in your people. Virtue consists in meet-
ing and overcoming temptation. As you, then, by possessing free-
ilom, are tempted above other nations, you will show a virtue above
them all, if you nobly resist every seducing influence and march
boldly onward in the paths of rectitude and wisdom. The subjects Education ne-
of a despot, whose every thought and action are ruled by other cessary for
political self-
minds, have little merit in exhibiting order and decorum in their government;
public conduct. You will prove the true strength of your moral
principles, when you restrain your passions by your own virtuous
resolves, and obey just laws enacted by yourselves. It is to aid you
in this admirable course of action, in so far as the feeble abilities
of one individual will go, that I now address to you these observa-
tions. And I again ask, Do your schools teach all that your
young voters should know? all that the best of your citizens would
wish them to know, when they act as electors and arbitrators of the
public welfare ?—I believe not. If you ask how they can be im-
the educational struggles at the beginning of the century, one of the founders,
and chạirman, of the Central Society of Education, which did so much to dis-
seminate broader views on the subject, author of numerous papers on its publi-
cations and elsewhere, and introducer of the Irish Education Bill of 1835. He
was also a correspondent of George Combe's. See George Combe's “Life,” by
Charles Gibbon, vol. i. p. 307.
522
The Universal Education of the People.
proved, you will be answered by as many projects and proposals for
education as if you had inquired for the philosopher's stone.
And for de So far from education supplying this knowledge, it appears to
veloping the
real greatness
me, that a vast proportion of your people have not yet obtained a
of a country. glimpse of what, I hope, is destined to constitute the real greatness
and glory of your country. I find here, the ambition of many in-
dividuals directed towards raising the United States to the rank of
the richest and the most powerful nation in the world. They bend
their whole minds to the increase of her commercial, agricultural,
naval, and military grandeur. This is not wrong ; but it is not all.
Thousands of your young men pant for war, in order to wreath the
laurels of victory round the brow of their native country; and they
call this patriotism. I desire to see higher and better views enter-
tained of the glories and destiny of the United States. History
presents only the records of wars, devastations, and selfish aggran-
disement pursued by all governments that have ever existed; re-
publics, oligarchies, monarchies, all have run one wild career of
immorality and ambition. If your nation consider herself to have
no higher vocation than these, she ceases to be an object of moral
interest to the philanthropist and philosopher. If her annals be
destined to record the contests only of faction against faction, of
party against party, or of the nation against foreign nations, the
friend of human improvement must turn from her in despair. The
grand duty assigned to Americans is to raise up and exhibit to the
world a nation great in virtue : to shew, for the first time, since
history began, a people universally educated; a people prosperous,
refined, happy, and gigantically great, by the realisation, in their
institutions, in their private lives, and in their public actions, of the
principles of Christianity.
America, vol. iii. pp. 409-413.
1
1
CHAPTER V.
ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS TO UNIVERSAL POPULAR EDUCATION.
1. OBJECTIONS FROM ITS EFFECTS ON THE INDIVIDUAL.
An objection may be urged, that only superficial knowledge can be (1.) "A little
learning is a
communicated, and that the tendency of such instruction is to en-
dangerous
courage pedantry and discontent. The line of Pope, that "a little thing."
learning is a dangerous thing,"l is often quoted in opposition to all pro
posals for instructing the industrious classes. There is much force in
this objection, if “learning” be confined to mere reading and writing ;
but it is pointless when applied to instructionin Natural Science, which
is the kind of knowledge in favour of which I am now pleading.
“It would be easy to show," says Dr Caldwell, “that, under the When it may
be dangerous.
government of the United States, a very limited amount of school-
learning, diffused among the people, is calculated, politically speaking,
to injure, rather than to benefit them. I allude to that degree of
attainment, which qualifies them merely to read newspapers, and
understand the meaning of what they contain, without enabling
them to judge of its soundness. A people only thus far instructed,
are in the fittest of all conditions to be imposed on and misled by
artful demagogues and dishonest presses. When party spirit runs
high, and the political passions become inflamed, they are induced,
by intriguing men, to read papers only on one side of the question.
The consequence is plain. Not being able to judge of the truth of
the matter laid before them, as respects either the fitness of men, or
the tendency of measures, they are liable to be seduced into the
most ruinous courses. Were they unable to read at all, or did they
never see a newspaper, their condition would be less dangerous.
Demagogues would have less power to delude and injure them. In
the present state of our country, it is emphatically true, as relates
to the great body of the people, that,
“ A little learning is a dangerous thing;”
1 The full couplet in Pope is,
"A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring."
On this passage, Horace Mann remarks, “One would like to know what
524
The Universal Education of the People.
The education
The only remedy for the evil consists in the reformation of the
prevent this. public presses, or the diffusion of more learning, knowledge, and virtue,
among the people. The former, it is to be apprehended, is not soon
to be looked for. On the latter alone, therefore, rest the fate of our
government, and the hope of our country. Let the community at
large be taught to think correctly and feel soundly, and they will
not only have a secure protection against the falsehood and corrup-
tion of the presses; these sources of mischief will cease to be en-
couraged. They must then choose between reformation and extinc-
tion. At the present moment, some of our public presses are the
arch-engines of evil to our country, and a disgrace to the human
character.” 1
I consider entire ignorance as more dangerous than partial know-
ledge.
What "learn.
ing” means in
this objection.
“Learning," in Pope's time, meant an acquaintance with Latin
and Greek, and with the barbarous jargons of Logic and Metaphysics,
which constituted the chief stock of knowledge of educated men in
his day. Science has, to a great extent, been created since the time
of Pope ; and it has been brought within the reach of the industrious
classes only within these twenty years. His remark, therefore, is
wholly inapplicable to instruction in scientific knowledge. So
far as it goes, it is instruction in the laws of God's Secular
Providence. A little of such knowledge is better than none at all,
on the same principle that it is better to know our way clearly, al-
though only for one mile, than to be entirely ignorant to which
hand to turn on our journey through life. A man who has learned
how to deal with two causes which produce two effects involving his
happiness, is more profitably wise than he who is acquainted with
only one. If the instruction be useful, the smallest quantity cannot
possibly injure, while it may create an appetite for more.
extent of acquired knowledge would constitute 'deep drinking in the sense
of this authority ; or, in surveying the vastness of the works of God, whether
all that Pope himself knew, though it were multiplied a hundred-fold, would
not be a dangerous thing.' The doctrine and this passage is as false in the
eye of reason, as the simile is in the creed of a teetotaler !” Lecture, in 1840,
on “a Historical View of Education."
1 A Discourse on the Advantages of a National University, especially in its
influence on the Union of the United States; delivered September 25, 1832.
By Charles Caldweil, M.D.
“This maxim appeared when Greek and Latin were regarded as learn-
ing,' and it meant that a man who knew only a little of these was not much
wiser for his knowledge, and that he was liable to become conceited and foolish,
Answers to Objections.
525
“ learning!
1
I deny, however, that the knowledge communicated will neces- The kind of
sarily be superficial. If lecturers do their duty, solid and extensive
that should
instruction in the great leading principles of the sciences may be be given.
communicated in popular lectures. An intelligent student of
Geography may be very far behind a practical surveyor in his
knowledge of the localities of a particular country, every acre of
which the surveyor has measured and delineated; but his knowledge
of the relative positions of all important places may still be accurate,
extensive, and useful. The popular student of Anatomy and Physi-
ology may be far short of the skill which would enable him to tie an
artery or to amputate a limb: but he may still possess precise and
valuable information concerning the structure and functions of the
great organs, on the proper condition of which health and life depend;
and he may understand and be able practically to apply the prin-
ciples thus unfolded. Lectures have also a very beneficial influence
in communicating to the mind an interest in any science treated of,
and a familiarity with its general principles, which enable the
student to pursue his studies of it in books, with a zeal and facility
which could not otherwise be attained.
It has been urged against Popular instruction, that, by communica- (2.) General
ting a smattering of knowledge to all, it will prevent the growth of would obstruct
great geniuses and profound philosophers; in short, that we shall the growth of
Genius.
have a superficially learned society, but no masters in science. This
is the argument of a common-place mind, which has acquired
celebrity by arduous study of other men's thoughts, and which
dreads the approach of the vulgar to its shrine of self-importance
and conceit. There is a simple answer to the argument. Genius
either is, or is not, necessary to reach the profundities of science.
If it be necessary,—then my argument is, that genius is an inherent
education
This might be true of a slender knowledge of Greek and Latin, but Real learn-
ing is knowledge of the order of nature, and the smallest degree of it is useful.”
From speech by George Combe on National Education, in Aberdeen, in 1851.
Professor Nichol, pointing out the mistake in confounding Education with
mere Instruction says, in speaking of Pope's couplet, “The fallacy in itself
is a transparent one; but no man will venture to denominate as dangerous, a
little culture, or Moral and Intellectual Training. The work of Education
includes both culture and instruction; but that which is wholly inseparable
from it is-culture." Preliminary Dissertation to Willm's “Education of the
People,” p. lxxii. (Glasgow, William Lang).
George Combe spoke the above in advocating popular lectures (such as
those in connection with the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution), which he
was one of the earliest to begin ; as told in the Introduction, part iii. 3.
1
526
The Universal Education of the People.
education to
Genius.
The relation of quality of a few gifted minds ;1 it goes on in its own way conquering
and to conquer : it rejoices in the fellowship of human beings,
although their progress be but a furlong, while it advances a league ;
its power is within itself, and it is not impeded by the presence of a
multitude moving in the same direction. It is cheered by their
proximity, animated by their applause, and feels more confident of
its reward, in proportion as they become capable of appreciating its
achievements. Genius, therefore, will not stop short in its high
career, because the denizens of the busy world are gazing at its
progress in fond admiration, and advancing in the same path,
although at a vast and perhaps an impassable distance. If genius be
not necessary to profound acquirements in Philosophy and Science,
then the higher the common standard of attainment is raised, the
farther ahead must those proceed who desire to hold a prominent
station in public esteem. All the motives of interest and ambition
by which common minds are actuated, increase in proportion as the
class is numerous and enlightened by which the prizes are awarded.
This objection, therefore, has no solid foundation.
(3.) The study
It has also been maintained, that the study of Science incapacitates
of Science in the mind, or at least gives it a distaste, for business. This is an
capacitates for
business. important objection, and demands serious consideration. What
should we say to the assertion, that the practice of walking unfitted
a man for running; or that the habit of eating wholesome food had
a great tendency to impair the digestive organs? We should laugh
at such absurdities : because the man runs by means of the same
bones, tendons, and muscles by which he walks; and walking is
the moderate, natural, and healthy exercise of those parts; so that,
while it may well augment his capacity for running, it cannot
possibly impair it, unless carried to excess. Wholesome food, also, is
the natural stimulus of the digestive organs, and, if used in modera-
tion, it is the best prescription for preserving them in health ; and,
in point of fact, there can be no vigour in the function if it be with-
held. Now, the Creator has constituted external nature and the
Moral and Intellectual faculties of man, and adapted them to each
other, with the same wisdom which he has manifested in adapting
the stomach to food, and the muscles to the law of gravitation. The
effects of knowledge are, to strengthen the Understanding and to
enable it to act vigorously, and to judge soundly of the things and
beings with which it is dealing. A man transacts business by means
of the same mental faculties with which he studies useful science.
1 See Note 2, p. 276, on George Combe's ideas of Genius.
Answers to Objections.
527
The moderate pursuit of science, therefore, has the same tendency
to strengthen, improve, and gratify the mental faculties, that the use
of wholesome food has to benefit the digestive functions. It is
absurd, then, to assert either that the study of nature is not calculated
to strengthen these powers, or that a study which is calculated to
strengthen them, unfits them for business.
The sources of the prevalent errors on this head can be easily The sources of
this objection.
traced. If young persons give themselves up to the excessive and
exclusive study of works of fiction and imagination, they impair
- their relish for, and also their powers of conducting, practical
business; because most works of fiction are addressed more to the
Propensities and inferior Sentiments, than to the Moral and Intel-
lectual faculties. The recital of horrors exercises Destructiveness
the description of wild and mysterious events arouses Wonder,
Cautiousness, and Secretiveness : but these are not the chief faculties
by means of which business is transacted. When these faculties
become highly active, the transition to sober observation and reflec-
tion is painful, and business is disliked. The exclusive study of the
Fine Arts, even, is not favourable to the formation of business
habits. Painting, poetry, sculpture, and music, exercise Ideality, ,
the Moral Sentiments, and several of the Intellectual Powers; and
unquestionably communicate to these refinement and susceptibility,
but they leave many of the subordinate Feelings and some of the
Reflecting faculties uncultivated; while the objects with which they
are chiefly conversant, belong to the world of imagination. The
study of the Fine Arts, therefore, when exclusive, both unfits the
faculties for practical business, and withholds ideas connected with
worldly affairs. Many persons, from observing the injurious effects
of an excessive devotion to those pursuits on the mind's aptitude for
serious study, have concluded that every species of mental exercise
that is not laborious and disagreeable, must have a similar effect;
and that, therefore, science also is apt to obstruct the formation of
habits of energetic application. But the cases are widely different.
The kind of exercise which the study of the Natural Sciences gives Educational
to the mind, is closely analogous to that which is necessary in the tific studies;
management of practical affairs. Those persons, therefore, who
imagine that they have facts in support of the baneful influence of
scientific instruction, in unfitting the mind for business, must have
in view only the exclusive pursuit of one abstract science, such as
Mathematics, which is quite different from what is here recom-
mended.
value of Scien.
528
The Universal Education of the People.
And of the
Fine Arts,
rightly pur-
sued.
The study of the Fine Arts, poetry, and works of fiction, however,
should not be undervalued. They are sources of great enjoyment,
and when kept within due bounds, refine, exalt, and expand the
mind, without weakening it. It is only excessive indulgence in the
pleasures which they afford, that is practically injurious.
1
(4.) Education We lately heard an extensive landed proprietor, a man of taste
renders the
lower classes
and talent, and himself an author, gravely expounding the danger of
too refined for rendering the working classes too refined for their inevitable con-
their condition
dition and duties, and, in consequence, discontented and dangerous,
if their tastes and intellect were awakened and enlarged by a really
good education. “ If,” said he, "all are rendered intelligent, and
trained to skilled labour, where shall we find hewers of wood and
drawers of water ?"
This gentleman and all his class may keep their minds at ease on
this point. Different capacities are bestowed by nature on different
individuals, and, after we have done our best to instruct and train
the people, there will always remain a sufficient number of them,
whom no education, however much it may improve their morality,
will ever raise intellectually above the humbler duties of civilised
life. By a thorough education of the employers of labour, also, and,
by the interposition of science, the duties of the humblest working
man may be rendered far less irksome than they now are, and, by
this means, his position may be improved to an extent quite equal
to his advance in intelligence and refinement.2
(5.) Education Many absurd theories have been advanced in regard to the bad
produces rest-
lessness and
effects of education upon the lower and middle classes of the com-
unhappiness.munity. We have been told, that, “after a desire of rising seizes
a peasant or mechanic, his whole life is spent in the fevered anxiety
of discontent and unhappiness--a sort of diseased restlessness, of
which he becomes the passive victim, infects his mind, and tinges
his pursuits; and, even when his friends are looking up to his labour
as superhuman, while they are admiring or envying his advance-
ment in knowledge, his nights are often spent in sleepless musings,
and his days consumed in the labour at which his whole soul revolts,
but which he finds indispensable to his schemes of advancement.
He feels his condition as miserable as that of the slave chained to the
i Popular Education, pp. 68-72.
* From article on Secular Education, in Westminster Review of July, 1852.
Answers to Objections.
529
galley-oar; because he knows, from his books, situations of a
different kind."
Such notions are founded on a lamentable ignorance of human The state of the
uneducated.
nature. The individual whose higher faculties are not cultivated,
is just a human being abandoned to the impulses of the Propen-
sities and Sentiments which are naturally most powerful in his
mind. These are always the lower Propensities of our nature;
and hence savage and uncultivated man is a being inspired by
strong Propensities of Amativeness, Destructiveness, Combativeness,
Acquisitiveness, without Moral faculties equally active to direct or
modify their manifestations. And, in point of fact, the savage
character is uniformly found to be a compound of lust, ferocity,
pugnacity, and dishonesty, corresponding completely with what
might be expected from the unrestrained manifestations of the
faculties which predominate in his constitution. Human nature is
the same in every country; and the labourer of civilised life is
naturally just as prone to disgusting and dreadful vices as the
savage of the wilderness; and the actual difference of character
betwixt them is attributable entirely to the education of the latter.
In the former, the faculties of the lower Propensities are excited to
vehement activity by his situation. In the latter, the manifesta-
tions of these faculties are repressed, and his higher powers more or
less cultivated. If we cultivate the Moral Sentiments of the Effects of edu-
mechanic, his lower faculties will be controlled, in proportion as
the energy of those is increased. If we cultivate his Knowing their spheres,
and Reflecting faculties, we open up to him sources of gratification
of a higher nature, and give him an increased power of usefulness,
and a capacity of adapting means to an end, which will not only
benefit the individual himself, but make him a much more useful
member of society. If nature have bestowed upon him powerful
faculties of Ideality, Causality, and Comparison, it is very probable
that, by education, we shall give him a dislike to the meaner
drudgeries of labour. But, in doing so, we shall capacitate him for
a higher sphere of action. If nature implant the higher faculties
eminently powerful in any individual, and if circumstances conspire
to oppose the manifestation of them in their legitimate sphere of
action, his life will present a melancholy history of high-minded
efforts continually failing, and continually plunging him into
deeper misery, because the faculties were not properly directed.
Of this, the life of Burns, and the lives of many other eminent but
unfortunate men, furnish too conspicuous examples.
In them,
cation on the
faculties and
of action.
2 L
530
The Universal Education of the People.
these faculties were innate; and, being naturally great, produced
great conceptions, notwithstanding the abject circumstances in
which their possessors were placed. If such individuals had been
placed in circumstances where their faculties would have had scope
for an unobstructed activity, the individuals themselves would have
been happy, and their lives useful to society.
The effects of Let no one apprehend that, by education, we shall be in danger of
education are
bounded by rendering the mass of the lower population disgusted with their
natural capa- employments, and lead them to aspire to elevated destinies. The
city.
effects of education are always bounded by the natural capacity of
the mind to be educated; and nature has taken care to provide a
sufficient supply of men for every rank of life, by making the
endowment of the faculties of a large majority of the race so
moderate in degree that they will never be enabled by the efforts
of others to aspire to anything much above the level of moderation,
1
(6.) Education I have heard an objection stated against cultivating the Reflecting
fosters self-
faculties by exercise, that, by doing so, we are apt to produce conceit
conceit.
in the pupil, and an exaggerated opinion of his own attainments.
Such an objection, however, is founded upon ignorance of the
separate functions of the faculties. It is the faculty of Self-esteem
alone which produces conceit; and exaggerated opinions of our-
selves are in proportion to the activity of that faculty, and not to
the cultivation of the Understanding. No doubt, if the faculty of
Self-esteem be particularly energetic in an individual, and if he
write an essay at college, he will be exceedingly proud of it, and, in
all probability, will entertain exaggerated opinions of its merits. But
it is not the writing of the essay which produces the Sentiment of
Self-esteem; the Sentiment was previously energetic in his mind,
and that circumstance only gives it a particular direction. Had he
not written the essay, he would have been equally proud, but of
some other real or supposed accomplishment; and, as it is certainly
better to be proud of intellectual talent than of inferior attainments,
the writing of the essay must be regarded as a fortunate incident in
his education.?
As the direct tendency of a good education, is to repress the
manifestations of the lower Propensities, and to cultivate the
1 Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 333.
2 Essays on Phrenology (1819) p. 331.
Answers to Objections.
531
results
pro-
superior Sentiments and the Knowing and Reflecting faculties, we (7.) The small
may hold it as an indisputable axiom that, where an individual has
duced by
been well educated, and his subsequent conduct has not corresponded education.
to the instructions he has received, his imperfections are to be attri-
buted to nature, and not to education. In some individuals, the
natural endowment of the lower faculties is so great, that it is a
matter of extreme difficulty to subdue their energy; and hence, in
such individuals, education may not always appear to have produced
its full effects. But education improves even the worst natures to a
considerable extent. If the ferocity, the sensuality, the avarice, or
the lust of dominion of such persons is, at any time, apparently
restrained by the predominance of higher Sentiments, this advan-
tage may be owing, in no inconsiderable degree, to education; for
we have only to look to the savage state to be satisfied of the general
brutality of man when uncultivated.2
2. OBJECTIONS RAISED ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL GROUNDS.
But it is said that the lower orders do not need such an educa- (1.) Educat on
would render
tion as the upper classes receive that it would unfit them for their
the lower
stations, and render them discontented and unhappy. Now, this is classes dis-
contented.
the very result, above all others, which I desire to bring about. It
appears to me that there is no hope for the working men until they
shall become dissatisfied with ignorance and dirt, with crowded ill-
aired houses, with hard toil and the absence of refined recreation,
with whisky as a substitute for the enjoyments of a cultivated mind
acting in a healthy body; in short, until they shall open their under-
standings and ask why is it that the upper and middle classes
live in possession of so many enjoyments to which they do not
attain? You have often asked this question of yourselves and of
others, and you have received many answers. You have been told
by the clergy, that you are not sufficiently religious—that you must
*pray more, and read your Bibles better, and do, in all things, as they
You are told by radical reformers, that you must obtain
votes for members of Parliament, and, through them, amendments of
the laws. Many of those who give you this advice are honest and
sensible men; but there are some individuals who vehemently urge
it for selfish ends,--to obtain a sway over you and your money,
for
their own use.
By political economists, you are informed, that you
must be industrious and economical and save capital, and then
1 Essays on Phrenology (1819) p. 337.
bid you.
532
The Universal Education of the People.
manufacture and trade for your own profit. All these means of
improving your condition are good, but they are incomplete. You
must add to them more knowledge. While your Intellects continue
uninstructed regarding the chief natural conditions on which your
welfare and elevation depend, and your Moral Sentiments remain
feeble and incapable of controlling your Propensities, your rise in
the social scale appears to be impossible."
(2.) It would A friend has called my attention to an article in Blackwood's
make them
Magazine for February 1839, No. 280. The object of it is to
uneasy and
restless in their show, that the mass of the people never can become enlightened
station,
and refined ; that, therefore, education can render them only
uneasy and restless ; that ignorance is to them the parent of
contentment; but that, if they must be educated, a religious educa-
tion is the only one fitted to do them good. It renders them
patient, humble, and moral, and relieves the hardships of their pre-
sent lot by the prospect of a bright eternity. “How. strangely,"
said my friend, “ do such sentiments sound in America, where
we must enlighten and refine the mass of the people or perish ; for
they rule our destinies. The author obviously considers England as
the world, and the present condition of her people as the only one
in which the human race can ever exist! If the article be written
in good faith, the author needs much to be educated himself. If
he is an aristocrat or a priest, endeavouring to prop up a system
which devotes eight out of every ten of the English people to toil
and ignorance, without prospect of relief on this side of the grave-
for the benefit of the remaining two—he deserves to be doomed to
undergo this fate himself, that he may know, by experience, the
efficacy of his own prescriptions for human misery.” 2
(3.) It would
subvert social
order.
But perhaps some conservative souls are alarmed at the subver-
sion of social order which they imagine that such an education
would produce. Let them hush their fears. Knowledge of God's
works and obedience to God's laws never can introduce evil. A
thousand prejudices would be banished from our minds, and we
should rejoice in a new world of happiness and freedom. It would
then be clearly seen that labour is not a curse, but a privilege ; and
Glasgow Speech on National Education, in 1851. From the North British
Daily Mail.
? America, vol. ii. pp. 189-90.
1
.
Answers to Objections.
533
that the very notion of its being an evil has arisen from its being
performed unintelligently, compulsorily, and in excess. Labour
which engages the mental faculties, is pleasure; labour which
exercises the muscles, promotes the circulation of the blood, aids
digestion, and gives zest to repose and sweetness to sleep, is an
inestimable blessing; and labour which brings increase of wealth,
and adds to the refined enjoyments of cultivated men, is as honour-
able as it is profitable. Let no one, therefore, who admits that God
ordained the external world, and created man as its administrator,
dare to say that the highest instruction which we can bestow on all
classes, and on the people in particular, will unfit them for their
duties, and prove subversive of social order. It is impiety to heaven
to breathe such a suspicion.
You enumerate the educational means, such as schools, univer- (4.) Free insti.
sities, &c., which were in operation in Prussia before 1807,9—the exist without
march of general civilisation,—the emancipation of the people from education.
serfdom, &c., as causes of the present condition of her people. I
admit the existence and importance of them all; but they did not
reach the lower grade of Prussians, any more than the same causes
have reached the same classes in our own country, and they form
the chief subjects of my pamphlets. I concur cordially in your
estimate of the importance of free institutions, peace, and industry,
to social happiness; but observation has led me to the conclusion
that these operate most forcibly on those who, by previous mental
training, are brought most fully into the natural condition which is
necessary to allow scope to their influence. These institutions are
agents in civilisation, but they need the aid of education to bring
forth their best fruit.
“ It is our opinion, in direct opposition to that of Mr (5.) Education
Combe, that Prussian education—the drilling of the people in the increases royal
national schools—has aided the royal power in retarding political
reform, instead of having promoted it.” On the other hand, I beg
to adduce the remarks made to me by many enlightened and zealous
Glasgow Speech on National Education, in 1851. From the North British
Daily Mail.
2 The editor of the Economist, in an article of May 13th, 1847, on George
Combe's educational pamphlets.
3 The year when Germany and Prussia, then under the heel of Napoleon,
began their new educational history, roused by Fichte's celebrated “Addresses
to the German Nation."
You say,
534
The Universal Education of the People.
60
are so
reformers, in those continental countries into which the Prussian
education has not penetrated, and they are confirmed by my own
observation. “Our common people," they have said,
ignorant that the Government and the priests can lead them as they
please; they are incapable of understanding the importance of con-
bination ; the idea of risking individual liberty or property for
social ends appears to them folly; in short, the Government knows
that, while it keeps the people ignorant, it may safely tyrannise over
both them and us. We have neither opinion nor physical force to
fall back upon, to support us in our struggle for reform." In Prussia,
again, I heard the following observations uttered ten years ago, and
Its real effects still more frequently since :“Our cause is safe. The progress may
on royal power. be slow, but it is sure.
The schools are rendering our common
people intelligent. They are not only able to read, but they are
learning to think. There is a great increase in the number of books
circulated among them, and the character of them is improving.
This capacity for reading and thinking renders them capable, in
some degree, of understanding their own interests, and of acting in
combination to promote them. Ours are a slow, not a very practical,
but a steady and persevering people. Give us time, and we shall
work out our regeneration. The Government, by instructing the
whole people in military evolutions, and teaching them to read, has
rendered them capable of combining, nay, of organising themselves
for resistance; it has passed the sword from its own hand into ours.
Nobody knows better than the King of Prussia that, if he were to do
any act which should grossly outrage the public sentiment, our
people could understand its consequences, and are conscious of their
own strength. If led by the middle classes, which in such a case
would be certain, it would be the King and public functionaries
versus the nation. But the King will never hazard such a trial.
Give us time, and we shall succeed.” Your readers must judge of
the degree of sense in these two representations."
unfit for do-
(6.) Education As to the education of the middle classes, again, we have been
renders women
told, that cultivation makes them proud and fantastic in their notions,
mestic duties. and averse to the duties of their situation in life, and incapable of
fulfilling them. This has been alleged in a particular manner to
be the result of cultivating the minds of the females of the middle
rank. In answer to such objections, I remark that the capacity for
From letter to the Economist of May 18, 1847.
Answers to Objections.
535
discharging domestic duties depends upon the cultivation of the
supe-
rior Sentiments, and of the Knowing and Reflecting faculties jointly.
Hence, a woman who possesses Cautiousness, Conscientiousness, Bene-
volence, Philoprogenitiveness, and Firmness, in an eminent degree,
will make an excellent daughter, sister, wife, or mother. If the facul-
ties of Language, Constructiveness, and Time are eminently cultivated
in her mind, she will possess, besides, three valuable sources of amuse-
ment to herself and of entertainment to others. And if the Reflect-
ing faculties are also eminently cultivated, she will be still the more
excellent. She will then possess a depth of penetration and a scope
of Understanding, which will give her dignity as a woman, and
extended usefulness as a member of society. Hence, the first
requisite for constituting a good wife is vigorous and active faculties
of the Moral Sentiments; and the second is a liberal endowment
and cultivation of the Knowing and Reflecting faculties. Those
persons, however, who think that intellectual endowment or educa-
tion incapacitates woman for the duties of her situation, seem to
believe, either that the Propensities and Sentiments will be mani-
fested to most advantage when altogether undirected by intel-
lectual power, or that cultivation of the Intellect withers up and
eradicates the Moral faculties. Such ideas are too absurd to merit
refutation. The best Sentiments degenerate into weakness when
undirected by Reflection; and the most vigorous exercise of Under-
standing does not necessarily dry up the sources of Feeling. The
most perfect character is made up of a happy endowment of both.
is the expense.
There is no natural obstacle to such an education being given to (7.) The ex-
the working classes. All the obstacles are artificial.
One of these pense to the
community
The advocates of Secular education propose that of popular
education.
the schools should be free, and that the cost of maintaining them
should be levied as a tax on the community at large. Of course,
the larger amount of the burden would fall on the upper and middle
classes, and the chief benefit would be reaped by your children.
This is objected to by many. I reply that, in the diminished
expense of criminal officers, gaols, transportation ships, and trans-
portation settlements, their pockets would find a compensation. But
I go farther. The upper and middle classes, who alone were mem-
bers of Parliament, incurred the national debt, and the working
classes are largely taxed to pay the interest of it. The army and
Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 336.
1
536
The Universal Education of the People.
navy defend the estates and funded property of the upper and
middle classes ; and you who have no estates and small possessions
of any kind, contribute largely in the taxes you pay on tea, coffee,
sugar, beer, whisky, tobacco, and many other articles of which you
are the great consumers, to defray the expenses of these protective
armaments. Let the upper and middle ranks, therefore, reciprocate
your aid to them by helping you to educate your children. Such
aid is due to you; it will return in blessings on their own heads, by
producing security, peace, and public prosperity.
1
(8.) Education The enemies of education say that crime increases in proportion
tends to in-
crease crime.
as education is promoted ; and the statistical returns seem to favour
their assertions. But they forget that what is called Education is
merely instruction in words and signs. The instruments of educa-
tion have been put into men's hands, but they have not been edu-
cated. They have received no proper instruction concerning either
physical or human nature, and have not been trained to the practice
of goodness. Let the opponents of education show that crime has
been increased by training the Intellectual faculties and Moral
Sentiments to proper activity, and then we will give the matter up.3
In an Essai sur la Statistique morale de la France, by Mons.
A. M. Guerry, published at Paris in 1833, it is stated that crimes
against property and person are most numerous, in proportion to the
population, in those departments of France—the north and east-in
which the people are the best educated, the richest, and the most
1 Glasgow speech on National Education, in 1851 ; from the North British
Daily Mail.
2 In Blackwood's Magazine No. 255, for January 1837, p. 84, occurs the
following “ Education—that is, the conferring the power to read and write-
has no tendency whatever to check crime. It is an instrument of vast force ;
but whether that force is to be exercised to good or bad purposes, depends
entirely on the habits of the people to whom it is entrusted, and the desires in
the public mind with which it exists."
Boardman, p. 370. “The evils of partial instruction never can be the
consequence of true education, the prime end and aim of which is not Instruc-
tion merely, but Development; just because Instruction is not its end or chief
aim,-nay, although having a distinct and independent value, it is yet always
used as an instrument. Just as education has advanced, to that very extent
must the mind become more obedient to Duty, and less under the control of
IMPULSE.”—Professor Nichol in Preliminary Dissertation to Willms' “ Educa.
tion of the People," p. 72. (Glasgow, William Lang, 1847).
3
Answers to Objections.
537
industrious. This must be owing partly to the increased power
which education confers of doing either good or evil, and partly to
defects in the education afforded.
M. Guerry's statement, however,--supposing it to be grounded on the real con-
sufficient data, —does not show that education tends to increase ditions of the
rather than diminish crime; for, as a writer in the Phrenological
Journal observes, “Until it be proved that education has the same
kind of subjects to operate on in every part of France, its effects
cannot be judged of from such data as those fúrnished by. M.
Guerry." There is good reason to believe that the generality of
heads are better in some parts of France than in others. “Now,"
says the writer, “this important fact ought not to be overlooked, as
it has hitherto been, in judging of the influence of education ; for it
can hardly be doubted that educated but inferior minds will dis-
play less morality than minds which are uneducated but naturally
much superior. What should we say of a man who called in ques-
tion the efficacy of medical treatment, because a patient tainted from
birth with consumption, and who had long been under the care of a
physician, was not so healthy as a person with naturally sound
lungs, who had never taken medical advice in his life? But for the
treatment, the consumptive man would have been much worse than
he actually was, and probably would have died in early youth.
“To judge correctly, therefore, of the question at issue, we must The relations
compare the present amount of crime in particular Departments of of education
to
France with its amount in the same Departments when there was either
very little instruction or none at all. In this manner, we shall also
avoid being misled by the effects of other influences, such as the
density or thinness of the population, the employment of the
people in agriculture or manufactures, and their residence on the
coast, in the interior, or in the mountainous or fertile districts.
Were such a trial made, I think it would almost without exception
be found, in cases where no great change of circumstances had
occurred, that, in exact proportion to the increase of education, there
had been a diminution of crime. I am well aware that, by the
system of Instruction generally pursued, the Moral Feelings, which
restrain from crime, are wholly neglected. But cultivation even of Even when
the Intellect appears favourable to morality; first, by giving periods merely intel-
of repose to the lower Propensities, of whose excessive activity crime struction.
is the result; secondly, by promoting the formation of habits of
regularity, subordination, and obedience; and, thirdly, by strength-
ening and informing the Intellect, and thereby enabling it to see
538
The Universal Education of the People.
more clearly the dangerous consequences of crime. No doubt there
are criminals on whom an excellent Intellectual education has
bestowed; but instead of thence inferring that education increases
the liability of mankind to crime, I think it may with great reason
be asked, whether, had the same individuals wanted education alto-
gether, their crimes would not have been more atrocious ?”
The effects of Where the Philosophy of Man is unknown, children are not
education when
Real.
taught any rational views of the order of God's providence on earth,
nor are they trained to venerate and obey it; they are not instructed
in the constitution of society, and obtain no sufficient information
concerning the real sources of individual enjoyment and social
prosperity. They are not taught any system of morals based on the
nature of man and his social relations, but are left each to grope his
way to happiness, guided by creeds and catechisms, which they see
many men neglecting in their actions. The poor observe the rich
pursuing pleasure and fashion, and if they follow such examples, they
must resort to crime for the means of gratification. No solid in-
struction is given them-sufficient to satisfy their Understandings,
that the rich themselves are straying from the paths that lead to
happiness, and that it is to be found only in other and higher
occupations.
I Phrenological Journal (1834–36), vol. ix., pp. 267-8.
2 Constitution of Man, p. 300–1. M. Guerry himself says, in the same essay,
p. 42: “It would be a new error to suppose that instruction is proved, by statis-
tical inquiries, to have a tendency to increase crime. Instruction, meaning
thereby reading, writing, and casting accounts, is only an instrument of which
a bad or a good use may be made, according as the morality of the people
stands high or low from other causes."
PART FIFTH.
HOW SHOULD THE EDUCATION OF THE
COUNTRY BE CARRIED ON?
NATIONAL EDUCATION UNDER GOVERNMENT-
UNSECTARIAN, SECULAR, AND FREE.
PART FIFTH
CHAPTER I.
BY WHAT AGENCIES SHOULD NATIONAL EDUCATION BE
CARRIED ON?
1. SHOULD NATIONAL EDUCATION BE CARRIED ON BY THE CHURCHES ?
By whom, and by what social arrangements, should the two branches Objections to
of Spiritual and Secular instruction be taught? The clergy of the clerical
nearly all denominations answer that both should be taught by education:
them, or by teachers directed and controlled by them.
We at once
consign the teaching of the Religious department to them; but let
us inquire into their qualifications for superintending and controlling
the Secular branch of public instruction.
If experience is to guide us in solving the question, we should at the relation of
once say that they are most unfit for the latter duty. Hitherto,
the clergy to
Secular instruc-
with few exceptions, they have altogether failed to appreciate the tion.
necessity and advantage of this instruction to the well-being of the
people; for the reading and writing which they patronised were
avowedly given chiefly to enable the young to read the Bible. They
boasted of this as their leading object; so that we are justified by
facts when we affirm that, generally speaking, the clergy, in the
education of the people, have ignored and withheld all profitable
instruction in the order and agencies of nature by which temporal
well-being is determined. They have done so, because their own
education and professional pursuits were devoted to the adminis-
tration, not of temporal, but of spiritual interests, and this is still,
and will continue long to be, the case. They are, therefore, not
qualified by experience, education, or position to superintend the
Secular branch of public instruction; while, on the contrary,
laymen, who live, move, and have their being in the thick and throng
of temporal affairs, are better qualified for this duty. Moreover,
from the overwhelming importance attached by the clergy to
eternity in comparison with time, they would be under a constant
542
The Agencies for National Education.
temptation, often unperceived by themselves, unduly to subordi-
nate Secular to Spiritual instruction. While, therefore, they are
naturally indicated as the proper directors of the Religious branch
of education, regard to the public welfare leads us to deprecate the
consignment of the Secular branch to their administration.
1
Their relation Most churches and religious associations avowedly constitute
to certain doc- belief in certain religious doctrines, the chief importance of which
is their efficacy as means for securing happiness in a future life, as
the indispensable condition on which they will teach that knowledge
which relates to this world alone. But, as many individuals differ
regarding these points, the condition of believing them excludes
thousands from the schools, while the State cannot afford to allow
any of its children to be barred out from Secular instruction. This
is one reason why the State should be entrusted with the charge of
Secular education for the benefit of all.
Dogmas made Again, certain sects regard belief in the dogmas accredited by
paramount to them as the only stable foundation, not only for Religious, but for
Secular education; and, on this account, insist on rendering the
teaching of their own dogmas paramount to all other instruction;
and not only so, but, proceeding on the same ground, they claim also
the exclusive control of schools. If their doctrines actually formed
the only sound basis of Secular education, their pretensions would
be irresistible. But there is an important error in this assumption,
because, as already maintained,” there is no practical precept in the
Old or New Testament relating to human conduct in this life, which
is not contained also in the book of nature, and enforced by the
natural order of Providence; and I repeat that it is their confor-
mity to, and enforcement by, nature, which really give to Scrip-
tural precepts their practical efficacy. Very few sects recognise
this important truth, and we look in vain, in most of their schools,
for an avowed, clear, and systematic teaching of the order of nature
on which temporal posperity depends, as part of Divine revelation
for the guidance of human conduct. If the truth and efficacy of
all the precepts delivered by Jesus Christ, relating to those portions
of human conduct in which society is directly interested, depended
exclusively on our believing certain views of his character and work,
these sects would have reason on their side ; but, on the other
1 Westminster Review for July 1852; article on Secular Education.
2 See chapter on the “Training of the Moral and Religious Faculties through
Science," p. 123 ; especially p. 155.
Should the Churches conduct it?
543
should be
rs of
hand, if the practical efficacy of these precepts depends on their
conformity to the constitution and order of nature, and not on our
belief or disbelief in certain interpretations of Scripture, the case is
altered, and it becomes pure tyranny in sectarian men to deny
instruction in the temporal order of providence to children whose
parents do not embrace their doctrinal views in relation to eternity.
They will probably reply, that they leave parents who do not Education
approve of these doctrines to open schools for their children on
based on
their own principles. This, however, is just one of the evils which nature.
the advocates of State Education desire to avoid. The
powers
nature are paramount active agents, from the influence of which
neither prince nor peasant can escape; and hence God's natural
laws relative to this world are equally applicable to all sects and to
all nations, in all times, and they are expounded as such in the
Bible. By adopting them as the basis of general education, the
State may succeed in having all its people trained in one set of
practical principles, resting on the common basis of the order of
nature, and, therefore, admitting of unanimity and co-operation.
While each sect founds its Secular instruction on the basis of its
own interpretations of Scripture, this advantage cannot be obtained,
and, in consequence, not only is society rent by religious dissensions,
but its power of co-operation for practical improvement is greatly
paralyzed. We see the result of this state of things before us at
the present time. While discordant sects dispute whose doctrines
shall form the basis of Secular education, many of the people are
allowed to grow up in heathen ignorance, and too many of those
who are educated are fierce partisans of peculiar dogmas, contemning
and reviling all propositions to teach the order of nature, as rank
infidelity! Our boasted freedom of religious opinion is, and must
necessarily continue to be, a mockery, while each sect is striving for
supremacy, and there is no common arena in which all can meet and
recognise one God, and one order of nature. This, therefore, appears
to me to be another reason for committing Secular education to the
charge of the State.
I ask, Do the laws of nature, which regulate seasons, soils, and Nature does
manures, and the processes of husbandry, recognise any distinction not distinguish
between Roman Catholic and Protestant, Established Churchman
and Free Churchman, Episcopalian and Presbyterian? Do the
laws of nature, on which the success of the mechanic depends,
1 Remarks on National Education, p. 17.
544
The Agencies for National Education.
based on sec-
ences.
recognise such distinctions? Do the laws of health recognise them?
Do the laws of morality, of trade, of courtesy, of good neighbour-
hood, recognise them? To every one of these questions, the unhesi-
tating answer is, No!
Education Why, then, should the teaching of all those great and important
should not be elements of instruction be denied to our perishing people,-perishing
tarian differ- through ignorance, and falling into the mental degradation and
incapacity which Providence has rendered its inseparable accompani-
ment,-unless they agree to learn the points of doctrine in which the
Protestant differs from the Catholic, the points of form in Church
government in which the Episcopalian differs from the Presbyterian,
the points of government in which the Free Church differs from the
Established Church? These differences are infinitesimally small,
compared with the grand, world-embracing, practical truths in which
all are agreed. And only one reason can be given why the differ-
ences are magnified into such portentous dimensions, and the points
of agreement diminished into almost imperceptible space. The
power, the consequence, the emolument, the religious, social, and
political influence of the few, but active, enterprising, and ambitious
men who constitute the leaders of the sects, depend on the import-
ance attached by their followers to the differences. If the great
body of their followers viewed the differences as matters of small
account, and were ready to recognise as a brother every man who
embraced the views in which all are agreed, these great leaders
would instantly fall from their high places of authority and power.
How long will the people linger in darkness, not discerning their
true interest ? So long will the progress of the many, in intelligence,
religion and virtue, be sacrificed to the ambition of the few.
The relation of Let us, however, do justice to these men. With the ambition,
the people to
the clergy.
there is often mixed up a certain amount of piety, benevolence,
Christian zeal, and intellectual accomplishment, all of which are
sincerely devoted to promote the interests of the sect, and by which
great good is accomplished. They have done, and are doing, good
service to the State ; but the people have advanced beyond the con-
dition of pupilage in which sectarian guidance is necessary. They are
now prepared for emancipation; and the ground on which I ascribe to
their leaders ambition and the love of power, as strong influences
pervading their minds, is the extreme reluctance which they show to
this emancipation, and the unreasonable, disproportionate importance
which they ascribe to the points of difference. These effect their
own interests much more closely than they do those of their flocks.
Should the Churches conduct it?
545
a
The leaders live, move, and have their being in the differences ; while
the people actually live, move, and have their being in the points in
which all are agreed. Yet the leaders are blind to this fact,
blindness which I can ascribe to no cause but the ambition to lead
and wield power, which, probably unknown to themselves, exerts an
influence over their perceptions, so great that they cannot discern
the true value of that universal Christianity which is recognised
by all, and which, in the practical affairs of life, is actually the guide
of all.
I can compare the proposal to found education on the differences
of the sects (for they will not allow it to rest on the doctrines on
which all are agreed) only to the demand that, when we have a
comfortable three-legged stool to sit on, we shall pull out two legs,
and balance ourselves on the third.'
reference to
The question at issue may be illustrated thus : Suppose you and The question
a sectarian were in Constantinople, and that you saw the priests
illustrated by
there educating zealously in Mohammedanism, but leaving Christian, Mohammedan-
Jew, and destitute children wholly uninstructed; and you should ism.
say to the sectarian, “ Let us collect money which will pay for
25 school-rooms, and let us find 25 enlightened young men who
will teach these neglected children.” Would be hold it a proper and
satisfactory answer to say, “Look at these Mohammedan schools
they may go there”? He would at once say, “No; they teach
religious error, and we cannot allow them to enter them. Small as
the money is, and few as the 25 teachers are, let us employ them;
they will rescue some from vice and ignorance.” Now the Roman
Catholics, Jews, Unitarians, and infidels would as soon send their
children to a Mohammedan's school as to the sectarian's; and this
for the same reason that the sectarian would not send the Chris-
tian children of Constantinople to the Mussalman priest's school-
they regard his doctrine as error. The Mussulman might vaunt
over him, on exactly the same grounds as he exults in his own
large sums and numbers over you. The Secular educationists
have never denied the zeal and munificence with which the religi-
ous sects labour to instruct every child whose parents will enlist
it into the sect: but they deprecate this system, because the
teaching is directed mainly to subjects and doctrines that are calcu-
Speech on National Education, in Aberdeen, in 1851 ; from the Aberdeen
Herald.
1
2 M
546
The Agencies for National Education.
lated to support the sect; and the sects quarrel so incessantly and
so virulently, that this is an education to strife and not to peace and
good-will. In the Secular Schools, the things taught are calculated
to promote the welfare of the child as a citizen of the world, by
teaching him the things indispensable to be done, to enable him to
lead a quiet, virtuous, and useful life. His welfare in the next
world is committed to his parents, or the clergymen approved of by
them; and it is held that it is the special duty of the clergyman,
and not that of the schoolmaster, to impart that instruction.
2
State endow. It is a great evil to the nation that our Whig leaders have so
ment of incon-
sistent dogmas
little faith in the power of a right principle to vindicate and estab-
immoral.
lish itself. If Lord John Russell could see that the endowment of
inconsistent dogmas in schools is immoral, and cannot, if a moral
God governs the world, prosper ; that, on the contrary, the endow-
ment of sound Secular education, in other words, a knowledge of
God's order of creation and providence, is highly moral : he would
face all earthly powers in support of the latter, assured that the
right will vindicate its own might, in the long run; and he would
shrink from the former, as from a house whose foundations are
undermined, whose walls totter, and whose timbers are rotten.3
2. SHOULD NATIONAL EDUCATION BE CARRIED ON BY VOLUNTARY
EFFORTS ? 4
If, then, it is objectionable in principle, and impossible in practice,
to accomplish the Secular education of the whole people by means
of churches and the clergy, the question occurs, To whom shall the
task be committed
1
George Combe refers to the Secular Schools founded by himself and his
friends, and to the subjects which were taught there (described chap. vii.
p. 201), and which he wished taught in all National schools.
2 Letter of 24th November, 1853, to Mr James M'Clelland, regarding whom
see p. 220.
3 Letter to Sir James Clark, of April 14, 1847. See “ Life," by Charles
Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 238.
4 The fullest and strongest exposition of a Voluntary system of education is
contained in what are known as the Crosby Hall Lectures, delivered in
Manchester in 1850 (see p. 239) ; also, in " Letters on State Education," by
Edward Baines (London : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.); and in Dr Hamilton's
“ Institutions of Popular Education” (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1845,
-all written at that period of controversy on the subject.
Should it be Voluntary ? .
547
Should we leave the people to depend on Adventure schools, and objections to
Voluntary
schools instituted and maintained by Voluntary associations! The
schools :
objections to Adventure schools are : first, that when they are insti-
tuted for the lowest class of the people, they will never remunerate
the teachers, and, therefore, cannot continue to exist; and, secondly,
that the teachers who will attempt to establish them will be men
of slender expectations, and equally slender accomplishments, and,
therefore, incapable of giving the kind of instruction which the
people need. When we speak of educating the people, we should
think chiefly of the lowest class; for all above them are capable of
doing something for themselves : and, moreover, we should keep
constantly in view, that the education wanted is one which shall
impart not only real, useful, practical knowledge, but ardour to the
Moral Emotions, and vigour to the Understanding. We must aim
at strengthening the minds of this class, so as to enable them to
cope with the difficulties of life, which beset them more severely than
any other order of the community.
In regard to schools supported by Voluntary associations, we Voluntary
appeal to every practical observer, whether the leading motives of schools chiefly
sectarian;
the members of such bodies have not been religious ? We do not
state this as an objection to the individuals comprising such associa-
tions, or as implying disrespect to the principle of action; but
simply to call attention to the fact that their leading aim was to
impart Religious, and not Secular, instruction. They have generally
stopped short at Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, and the Cate-
chism or Bible, and left all the natural laws of Social Well-being
untaught. The schools referred to have been the appendages of
churches, or the recruiting stations of chapels; and, in their
addresses, they have dwelt largely on the spiritual benefits they were
conferring on the pupils whom they educated. Let them have their
meed of praise, and, by all means, let them continue their benevolent
exertions; but let them not deceive themselves, and imagine, as
hitherto they have too often done, that, in communicating Spiritual
instruction, they are conveying, at the same time, that Secular
knowledge which is indispensable to terrestrial well-being. We
have no hope that the excellent persons who have spent their lives
in conducting these schools on religious principles will ever become
thoroughly conscious of this great error, in omitting, from their
curriculum, the whole counsel of God as revealed in the constitution
and laws of the material world.
Before, therefore, we can hope for an adequate supply of schools
548
The Agencies for National Education.
needs.
Andinsufficient for the lowest class of the people, founded on truly practical prin-
for national
ciples, and supported by voluntary associations of the rich, we must
effect an entire change in the views and convictions of the middle
and upper classes themselves; and half a century may be needed for
accomplishing this purpose. We do not, therefore, enter farther
into the merits of the scheme for educating the people by Voluntary
etforts ; nor is it necessary to do so, since its inadequacy to realise
the object in view has been abundantly demonstrated, and it has
now only a few, although these are very earnest and respectable,
adherents. 1
The true nature
cate:
It is often argued, however, that the Voluntary efforts of the
of Government individual members of society afford a better means for the supply
right to edu-
of education for the whole people, than any Compulsory arrange-
ments of the State ; and hence it is denied that the State has a right
to educate its people.
It must be ap-
There is a practical fallacy, however, in the manner in which this
proved by the question is generally submitted to our consideration.
free
pation;
every
country, the State is merely the representative of the general power
(physical, moral, and intellectual) of the country. It is not a distinct
and independent being, that can exist and act in spite of the will of
its members. Any system of military defence, of police, of law,
and also of education, which the State can establish and maintain
in this country, must be approved of by the intelligence of the
empire.
It can do the Nobody contends that the Government has a right, despite of
work more
efficiently.
the will of the people, to seize on Public Education. All that is
maintained is, that the Government may do the work better than
individuals; and our security against the abuse, by Government, of
its delegated powers lies in the control over the conduct of Parlia-
ment and the executive, which the individual members of the
community are capable of exercising, through the elections and the
press. We do not leave the defence of the country, and the police
of our great towns, to the voluntary administration of individuals;
because, the majority of society is agreed that these objects can be
better accomplished by committing them to the State. And the
case will be the same in regard to education. Its direction cannot
be assumed by the Government until the majority of the public
shall have become satisfied that it is best fitted to conduct the
1 Westminster Review for July 1852, p. 20.
Should it be Voluntary ?
549
interference
necessary.
operations. The capricious or negligent administration of the means
of public defence, or of police, would endanger the welfare, not only
of those who erected themselves into the voluntary managers of
them, but of those who differed from their views, and considered
their course of action unwise and detrimental; and it is on this
principle alone that Parliament gives, to the executive, the right to
take these affairs into its own hands. In like manner, whenever
the majority of society shall become satisfied that individual teachers,
sects, and incorporations, have so neglected or mismanaged public
education as to endanger the welfare of the State, they will (without
limiting the right of individual action in so far as this is compatible
with public safety) provide public institutions for the better accom-
plishment of this important end.
Has such a case actually occurred? In answering this question, Government
it is necessary only to look at the mental condition of the inhabitants
of these islands to discover that education has hitherto been
grievously neglected and mismanaged. The extent of ignorance,
vice, helpless incapacity, crime, and suffering which abound, and
which are
more or less referrible to the low physical, moral,
intellectual, and religious training and instruction of the people, is a
point of too painful certainty to be disputed. This fact itself is
sufficient to warrant men of reflection in requesting and empowering
the State to try whether it cannot manage education better.
But other and solid reasons may be discovered for the failure The State has
of the voluntary efforts which have hitherto been made for the special advan-
tages for edu-
education of the people---reasons which may tend to justify cating.
us in committing it in future to the Government. The kind of
instruction which it is the direct interest of society to communi-
cate is that which relates to God's laws and mode of adminis-
tration of man's temporal condition. The statesman placed
in an elevated position, and entrusted with the welfare of all
classes, sects, and individuals, has natural advantages for discover-
ing what these laws are, for appreciating their social importance,
and for applying them, which no private individual, sect, or class,
can enjoy. He is in a position to discern, with a keener eye and a
surer sagacity, what instruction is equally beneficial to all, than the
man in the crowd, surrounded by objects which contract his vision
and invaded by interests which bias his judgment. I say that,
cceteris paribus, the statesman is better able than the individual
citizen to direct beneficially this complicated and difficult branch of
the public interest. Besides, his ear is open at all times to the
550
The Agencies for National Education.
admonition of individual wisdom, and his conduct is subject to the
unlimited control of the parliamentary constituencies.?
The social
We are told, however, by some able opponents of the educational
effects of past scheme introduced by the Orders of Council," that Government has
voluntary
education. no right to interfere with the Secular instruction of the people, and
that voluntary effort is adequate to accomplish all that is needed for
the public welfare. I have endeavoured to show that Government
is not only entitled, but bound, to enable the people, by legislative
aid, to organise their own wealth and intelligence for the establish-
ment and maintenance of schools for universal instruction; and I
now beg to add, that experience shows that legislative aid far excels
voluntary effort in this good work. England [1857] has been left
to voluntary effort for the education of her people from the founda-
tion of her institutions, and what has been the result? Mr Horace
Mann, in his "Educational Tour," says: "England is the only one
among the nations of Europe, conspicuous for its civilisation and
resources, which has not, and never has had, any system for the
education of its people. And it is the country where, incomparably
beyond any other, the greatest and most appalling social contrast
exists; where, in comparison with the intelligence, wealth, and refine-
ment of what are called the higher classes, there is the most ignorance,
poverty, and crime among the lower! Owing to the inherent vice
and selfishness of their system, or their no-system, there is no
country in which so little is effected, compared with their expendi-
ture of means; and what is done only tends to separate the different
classes of society more and more widely from each other.'
There is a great difference between the influence of the voluntary
sary to provide
for mental des principle when applied to the support of churches, and of schools
titution as for for the poor. The main object of the church is to provide means
physical.
for securing the eternal salvation of the contributor and his family
-a most momentous consideration to every reflecting man. It
involves the selfish principles of bis nature, as well as his affections,
and his sense of religious duty. The school for the poor, on the
other hand, addresses chiefly his Moral and Religious Sentiments,
leaving his self-interest far in the rear. Experience shows that
these emotions do not suffice to induce the rich to provide sufficiently
I! is as neces-
1 National Education, pp. 14–16.
.
This refers to the Minutes of 1846, and to Parliamentary educational
action in subsequent years.
It should be conducted by Government.
551
for the physical wants of the poor, and, in consequence, Parliament
has enacted poor-laws. Why, then, should we rely on them for
providing for a not less clamant mental destitution ?
1
Government
3. NATIONAL EDUCATION SHOULD BE CARRIED ON BY GOVERNMENT.
The public appear to be now nearly unanimous that the people The need of a
should be educated; but considerable differences of opinion exist as
system traced
to who should be charged with the duty of educating them—the to its origin :
State or individuals. To convey my views distinctly on these
points, I find it advisable to begin with the very elements of the
subject.
Let us consider Society, and its origin and objects. I regard The origin and
society as the direct offspring of the inherent faculties of man. Society.
Some species of animals are gregarious, that is to say, have received,
from the God of nature, certain feelings which render the presence
of their kind agreeable to them ; and, to this category, belongs man.
Many of our faculties have intelligent beings for their direct objects;
and all of them are adapted to a condition of social life. Not only
so, but also the grand outlines of the social state of man are deter-
mined by the fiat of the Creator. Individuals differ naturally in
bodily strength and in mental energy; and, in these differences, a
foundation is laid for diversities of social rank and condition for
the existence of the rich and the poor, of the governing and the
governed. In order correctly to understand human nature, therefore,
we must regard man as an individual being, seeking his happiness
in the gratification of his faculties; but, high in the list of these, we
must place his Social Powers, which are as certainly inherent parts
of his mental constitution as the most important of his Selfish
Feelings.
Government springs from the Social Faculties. Living in the The origin and
social state necessarily implies, that there are interests and duties
Government.
common to all the members of the tribe. Gregarious animals place
sentinels to warn the herd or flock of dangers, and choose leaders
to guide them. Among men, the ruling power, in its proper form,
consists merely of certain members of the associated mass selected
by the rest to attend to the common interests of the whole, and to
1 Science and Religion, p. 276.
2 Written in 1846, the year of the famous Minutes of the Committee of
Council on Education ; the 5th edition was issued in 1848, the year of the
French Revolution, and of the vigour and excitement on all subjects roused
by that great event, and not least on Education.
functions of
552
The Agencies for National Education. .
The true nature
of individual
rights:
In a commu-
nity;
enforce the reciprocal duties incumbent on the individual and the
community. General consent of the members selects the Rulers, and
lends them the power of the social body to execute their functions.
History tells us, indeed, that, in many states, strong and energetic
individuals have constituted themselves masters, and transmitted
their power to their descendants, irrespective of the will of the com-
munity; whence notions have grown up of the right to govern being
inherent in certain families, independently of the will of the people :
but these were usurpations disavowed by reason, and such claims
are not now made by the rulers of any constitutional state, and cer-
tainly not by the government of England.
In determining what are the rights of individuals, and what the
powers of Government, our best guide is still the nature of man.
Man subsists necessarily as an individual. He has received from
his Maker certain powers of action and enjoyment, and been placed
in a world adapted to his constitution. He has a right, therefore,
derived directly from God (who called him into existence, and pro-
vided the world for his reception), to the full enjoyment of all his
powers and capacities, but under two restrictions : 1st, that he shall
not transgress the laws which Divine wisdom has established, in his
own and in external nature, for their regulation; and, 2dly, that he
shall not convert his individual enjoyments into sources of annoy-
ance to his fellow-men, who, from the necessity of his and their
being, must live with him in society. God, in his government of
the world, enforces the first restriction, by punishing the individual
with loss of health for abuse of his corporeal functions, and by mis-
fortune and misery for neglect or abuse of his mental powers. The
duty and the right of Government is to enforce the second restric-
tion, viz., to see that the individual, in pursuing his own happiness,
does not invade that of his neighbours.
These premises enable us to draw certain conclusions regarding
the right of our rulers to interfere in the education of the people.
In the first place, it follows from them that, if any man chooses to
renounce all connection with and dependence on society, -to go
forth from the haunts of men, and neither live among them, accept
their aid, nor tender them his contributions, physical or mental, -
he has an undoubted right, so far as society is concerned, to indulge
all his faculties in his own way, because he commits no offence
against society, and causes it no injury. He commits, indeed, a
great offence against his own nature, which the Creator expressly
designed for social life; but nature herself, without the interference
In absolute
solitude.
It should be conducted by Government.
553
of man as an avenger, has provided ample punishment for that
offence, by the deterioration of his social nature, and the deprivation
of all social enjoyments, consequent on solitude. Betake himself to
what solitude he will, he cannot escape out of the presence of God,
or withdraw himself from the influence of His laws, which are woven
into the texture of his body and mind, and inscribed in every
breath of air, and every foot of ground. By their means, the
Creator will inflict on him the precise kind and degree of punish-
ment which his conduct merits, and which will best serve to recall
him to a due estimate of the privileges which he contemns.
But, when an individual prefers to avail himself of the advantages A man's duties
to Society;
of living in society, of the physical protection which other men's
skill and courage afford, of the social pleasures which their in-
telligence and attainments present, and, above all, when he claims
their sympathy, support, and relief in sickness and in old age-
which every man living in society virtually does : he becomes bound
to perform his duty to it in return; and society acquires a right
to enforce the performance of that duty, as the fundamental condition
on which it allows him to reap the benefit of its arrangements and
institutions.
What, then, are the duties which the individual owes to society? (1.) To pre-
serve physical
His first duty, in compensation for the advantages it confers on him, health.
is obviously to acquire bodily habits calculated, according to the laws
of organisation, which neither he nor society can alter, to preserve
himself in health, that he may be fitted for his allotted sphere of
action, and may avoid diffusing disease by infection around him.
It is on this principle that society has the right to enforce the
ordinary regulations of police in towns. It ordains every citizen to
put forth from his dwelling all refuse and noxious substances, and
employs men to collect and carry them away. This is not done in
the country, because there, individuals who neglect this duty, injure
only themselves and their domestic dependents. The same principle
will authorise the enforcement of still higher hygienic regulations in
towns; and, in point of fact, the statute 9th and 10th Victoria, c. 96,
recently passed, authorises the magistrates of towns, on receiving a
certificate signed by two duly qualified medical practitioners, “of the
filthy and unwholesome condition of any dwelling-house or other
building," to compel the person complained of to abate the nuisance
within two days.
But I may go farther in the same direction. The individual who
claims the benefits afforded by an advanced and intelligent state of
554
The Agencies for National Education.
himself for
social duties.
(2.) To qualify society, is bound to qualify himself, according to the endowments
bestowed on him by Providence, for acting well his part in that
society. In a society which is moral, he has no right to continue
publicly immoral; because this is not only offensive, but directly
injurious to his fellow-men: he is not entitled to remain ignorant
and untrained; because, in that condition, he is incapable of perform-
ing his due part in the grand social evolutions, the beneficial results
of which he claims a right to share.
The only con- Before he can consistently deny the right of society to train
ditions of re-
and educate his children, he must show his own title to make
fusing to have
his children the following announcement, viz.,—I decline to undergo the
educated.
fatigue and discipline necessary to render my brain active, in
order to fit myself for skilful labour, and for applying my
labour to the best advantage; I decline to learn to read and write;
I decline to be instructed in, or to conform my conduct to, those
conditions in the physical and moral world, which, by the ordi-
nation of God, are productive of prosperity and happiness; and
I decline to regulate my conduct by what you call the Laws of
Morality and reason: all this I decline, because I am a free and
independent man, and because it would be irksome to me to submit
to such training, instruction, and restraint. Nevertheless, I claim
the right to throw myself, with all my incapacity undiminished, all
my ignorance unilluminated, and all my passions unregulated and
untamed, upon the bosom of society. I insist, that its members who
have cultivated their faculties, and reaped the natural rewards of that
cultivation, in the possession of morality, intelligence, and wealth,
shall bear the burden of my incapacity, of my recklessness, and of
my follies; that they shall minister to me when sick, and feed me
when my unskilled labour, in competition with their skilled labour,
does not suffice to supply me with the necessaries of life ; and that
they shall provide for my wife and children when, through ignorance
and vice, I sink into a premature grave.
The right of This embodies, not a rhetorical, but a literal statement of the
Society to
demand which the untrained and uneducated labourer, who denies
the right of society to insist that himself and his children be trained
and educated, makes on his fellow-men; and I leave those to defend
it who abet him in that denial. The man who claims the benefit
of a poor-law, actually demands from society all that I have now
mentioned; and, unquestionably, we are entitled to say to him,-
Before you can legitimately claim ignorance as the sacred birthright
of yourself and your offspring, you must show your emancipation
educate its
members.
It should be conducted by Government.
555
from the laws of God, which connect want with incapacity, mis-
fortune with ignorance, misery with immorality, and disease and
premature death with habits of filth, sloth, and intemperance. If
the man admits that he continues a subject of the Divine govern-
ment (and, unless he be mad, he will not dispute this point), he
cannot, with any show of reason, contest the right of society to train
and instruct him and his children to that degree which shall render
him and them moral and intelligent agents, fit to play their parts in
the society of which they claim to be members.
1
of State inter-
ference with
It is now an established principle in Political Economy, that the principles
Government ought not to interfere with Industry. This maxim was
highly necessary when governors were little acquainted with the Industry;
natural laws which regulate the interests of society. Their enact-
ments relating to trade were then generally failures, often doing
much harm, and rarely accomplishing any good. But, if God actually
governs the world by means of fixed, intelligible, and steadily operat-
ing natural laws, designedly adapted to serve as guides to human
onduct; and if prosperity and enjoyment be attainable only by con-
forming our institutions and conduct to these laws: it seems reason-
able to conclude that, the science of human nature being once clearly
developed, our rulers might considerably hasten the attainment of
beneficial results, by adding the constraining authority of human
laws to enactments already instituted by the Creator. Natural laws
do exist, and the Creator punishes if they be not obeyed. The
evils of life are these punishments. Now, if the great body of With social
intelligent men in any State saw clearly that a course of action regulations ;
pursued by the ill-informed of their fellow-subjects was the cause of
continual suffering, not only to the evil-doers themselves, but to the
community; it appears to me allowable, that they should stop its
continuance by legislative enactment. If the majority of the middle
classes resident in towns were to petition Parliament, at present, to
order shops in general to be shut at eight o'clock, or even at an
earlier hour, to allow time for the cultivation of the rational faculties
of the men and women engaged in then, it would be no repre-
hensible stretch of power to give effect to the petition. It would
lead to no evil, if the ignorant and avaricious were prevented by
law froin continuing ignorant, and forcing all their competitors in
trade to resemble them in their defects. If the Creator have so
i National Education, pp. 6-9.
556
The Agencies for National Education.
would go
constituted the world that men may execute all necessary business
and still have time to spare for the cultivation of their rational
faculties, any enactment of the legislature calculated to facilitate
the accomplishment of both ends. would be beneficial and successful.
It would be in accordance with nature, and, although the prejudiced
and ignorant of the present generation might complain against it,
And all other its results would justify its adoption. This principle of interference
matters for the
general good.
go much further : its only limits seem to me to be the
boundaries of the real knowledge of nature; for so long as the
legislature shall enact in conformity with nature, it will be success-
ful. At present, ignorance is too extensive and prevalent to
authorise Parliament to venture far.
Parliamentary Since the foregoing was written in 1833, the legislature has
action on these
principles.
partially acted on the principles here advocated. It has limited the
hours of labour in factories, enacted laws for enforcing drainage and
other hygienic measures in towns, and it is now tending towards
enactments to improve the education of the people. These, and
other laws of a similar character, appear to me to be within the
legitimate province of a representative legislature. The chief ground
for hesitation is, that until the people become so far enlightened as
to see the foundations of the enactments in nature, they may view
them as officious and offensive interferences with their rights of
private judgment and action, and resist them. But, if they be really
conform to nature, they will not truly partake of this character, and
increasing knowledge will reconcile the public mind to obedience.
In point of fact, resistance will be in vain, because the order of
Providence will proceed in sending suffering in various forms, as
the natural consequences of disobedience to natural laws. Sooner
or later, this fact will be discerned, and the futility of resistance will
be acknowledged. It is no slavery to obey God. Man in vain
strives with his Maker. 1
Parliamentary In Britain, we are still so deeply immersed in the barbarism of
inconsistency the dark ages, that the maxim is very generally admitted to be
in legislation.
sound, that society has no right to compel its members to pay
money for benevolent objects. It is regarded as a legitimate exer-
cise of legislative power to levy taxes to maintain prisons and penal
colonies for punishing offenders, but quite illegitimate to exact
money to rescue the young from the temptations that lead to crime:
i Popular Education, pp. 49, 50 ; 3d edition in 1848.
It should be conducted by Government.
557
it is legitimate to levy taxes to maintain fleets and armies for the
purpose of fighting the people of other states, but illegitimate to
raise money to be applied in national education, which, by render-
ing our own people just, might avert the necessity for fighting
altogether!
cation needed
In the Voluntary system of education, the leading object is not Education im-
to teach things that may conduce to the temporal well-being of the
perfect when
regulated by
scholars. The practical men who pursue this world's wealth for men of wealtlı ;
their own sakes, are, with a few honourable exceptions, not great
educators. They want cheap labour, and that degree of intelligence
which shall enable the child to learn to practise some small depart-
ment of skilled or unskilled labour with success. They will edu-
cate to this extent, but no farther.
The religious men, again, have the church or chapel constantly in And by church-
view as their grand object. They desire to teach, first, the doctrines men.
that may bind the conscience of the child to their own altar, and
they will add only such Secular knowledge as, in their opinion, may
be useful and compatible with this end.
But what is wanted is an education of the people as moral and The true edu-
intelligent, as well as labouring and religious, beings, an education for a country;
which shall aim at enabling them to deliver themselves, by progres-
sive steps and in successive generations, from the filth and degra-
dation, physical and moral, and the stolid ignorance and imbecility
in which the majority of them now exist; and at elevating them
into the condition of moral and religious judges of the natural
causes of their own happiness or misery; and at infusing into them
mental vigour sufficient to reach and maintain themselves in a
state of well-being, by a cheerful and habitual compliance with the
requirements of these causes. To realise such a scheme, the sectarian
3ducator must be set aside; the worldly-minded accumulator of
wealth must be enlightened and humanised; and the people must be
raised to perceive the advantages, and urgently to desire the prac-
tical introduction of it.
This is a gigantic task; but so was it a Herculean labour to The difficulty
abolish slavery, to emancipate the Roman Catholics, to procure
of securing it.
Parliamentary Reform, and, lastly, Free Trade. But there were
giants in philanthrophy and in intellectual acquirements in those
days, triumphantly to perform these glorious acquirements; and
1 America, vol. i. p. 176.
558
The Agencies for National Education.
there are still, I sincerely trust, great spirits walking this earth able
and willing to do as much for the education of the people.
Education I acknowledge that water can never, by its own motion, rise
re-
gulated by the higher than its fountain head, and neither can education, by what-
most intelli-
ever machinery imparted, go beyond the intelligence of the edu-
gent.
cators. But it is possible to construct a water-course which shall
waste the water, obstruct its flow, and prevent it from ever rising to
the level of its source. So it is with education. Place it in the
hands of men whose chief object is not to promote the temporal
well-being of the people but attach them to a creed, and you throw
obstructions in the path of the philanthropy and intelligence which
would devote themselves to this end.
1
1 Letter to Richard Cobden, of 11th October, 1852. See “Life," by Charles
Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 315.
CHAPTER II.
THE RELATION TO RELIGION OF A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF
EDUCATION UNDER GOVERNMENT.
1. THE RELATIONS BETWEEN RELIGION AND THEOLOGY-THE
RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY,
THE grand obstacle to the establishment of a National System
of Education, supported by taxation, is the “Religious Difficulty.”
Let us inquire into its nature, and the objects of those who inter-
pose it.
terms:
1
In discussions of this subject, three terms are in frequent use, Definitions of
which it is necessary clearly to understand. These arem" Secular
(1.) “Secular.”
Education," "Religion," and "Theology.” The word “Secular,"
derived from seculum, an age, means things belonging to time as
contradistinguished from eternity. It means things belonging to
this world; and Secular Education, therefore, signifies instruction in
things which exist in us and around us, in our present state of being,
and by knowing which we may vastly increase our temporal pros-
perity and happiness, and avoid much temporal suffering. Secular
things, or things of this world, are not the opposites or antagonists
of the interests of eternity. They are a portion of them with which
we are necessarily much concerned in this state of being, and as
such I beg that you will understand them.
The word “ Religion” expresses a Sentiment, an emotion, or a state (2.)" Religion”
-emotional
of feeling, and is distinct from Intellectual conception.
The and universal.
history of man in every age and country proves the innateness of
the Religious Sentiment in his mind, though its intensity, like that
of all his other emotions, is different in different individuals and
nations.
In some, it is so feeble that they are scarcely, if at all,
conscious of its existence. In this respect, it resembles the love of
music and the power of producing it. Some savage tribes make
only a series of monotonous sounds, in measured time, by beating
on a rude drum with a stick, and this they call music. The Scotch-
See
page 257, for further remarks on the meaning and application of the
term Secular ; also letter on the subject, by Mr Williams, in the Appendix.
1
550 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
and universal.
(2.) “Religion” man invents a sweet but simple tune in which melody and time are
- emotional
combined, he weds it to immortal verse, and this is his music and
song. The German combines melodious sounds in infinite variety,
and with every possible interval of time, adapts string to string and
instrument to instrument, until he produces bursts of melody and
harmony that thrill the astonished listener. But there are indi-
viduals to whom all perception of melody is denied, and to whom
the sweet breathings of the lute are mere monotonous sounds. To
prove to such individuals that, in this respect, they form exceptions
to the general nature of man, we point to the existence of musicians,
musical instruments, orchestras, and music-balls, as evidence that a
love of music exists, of which these are the external symbols. And
thus it is with Religion. We point to priests, temples, churches, and
vast congregations of worshippers, existing in every age and almost
in every country, as the visible and tangible proofs of the existence
of a Religious Emotion in man. There are individuals to whom this
emotion is denied, and others in whom it is feeble; but these, as I
have remarked, form exceptions to the common rule. In men in
general, it is a strong, vivid, or intense emotion, and, from the
grandeur of the objects to which it is naturally related, it assumes
supremacy over all our other feelings. Such, then, is the Religious
Emotion.
(3.) Theo- Let us now inquire into Theology. “Theology" means the Intel-
logy” –intel- lectual ideas which we form concerning the Being to whom, or
variable ;
objects to which the devotional or Religious Emotion should be
addressed, and it springs from the Intellectual faculties stimulated
by that emotion; and here the difficulties of the subject begin.
The ideas formed of the object to which our Religious Emotion
should be directed bear necessarily a direct reference to the extent
of our knowledge of the external world and of the human mind.
The savage, a stranger to science, is unacquainted also with mind
elevated and improved by knowledge; and the lines of Pope describe
his religion-
lectual and
“Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind."
This is his Theology. The half-civilised Hindoo and Mahometan
know more of external nature and of the human mind, and they
have invented Sacred Books describing God and His prophets, and
purporting to reveal His will; but these, with portions of truth,
contain innumerable errors. The Christian nations are by far the
The Relations of Religion and Theology.
561
state of civili
most advanced in knowledge, on the face of the globe ; and the Bible, And deter-
mined by the
which they acknowledge as the chief source of their information
about God, is greatly superior to the so-called Sacred Books of the sation.
Hindoos and the Mahometans. But the Bible does not constitute
the Theology of these nations. They have framed various systems
of Theological doctrine for themselves, and although each refers to
the Bible as the source of its own standards, yet their doctrines
differ from each other, and each sect denounces those of its neigh-
bours as fraught with more or fewer dangerous errors.
The more
barbarous and ignorant any nation was when its standards were
framed, the more stern, harsh, and unprofitable is the Theology they
contain, and vice versa. Thus it appears that the Sentiment or
emotion of reverence and devotion to a great and good Being is
common to the savage, the Hindoo, the Mahometan, and the
Christian, but that each of these races forms notions of the qualities
and will of that Being corresponding to its own intellectual
enlightenment–in other words, its Theology bears the stamp of
its civilisation.
The difference between Religion and Theology may be aptly illus- The difference
between Reli-
trated by comparing them to the warp and woof of a web. The
gion and Theo-
weaver fixes in his loom, first, long threads stretching out directly logy that of
warp and woof.
from his own position, and these are called the warp. Then he
puts thread upon a shuttle, which he ever and anon casts between
the long threads, and these cross threads are called the woof. The
web or cloth is composed of the two series of threads closely pressed
together. Now, in our present problem, the native Sentiment of
l'everence and devotion may be likened to the warp. It is the
foundation or first element of the web. The Theological ideas may
be considered as the cross thread, or woof. As the shuttle adds the 'The nature of
woof to the warp to make the cloth, the Intellect adds Theology, or of the world.
the Religions”
particular notions about God, to the Emotion ; and the two com-
bined constitute what we commonly call Religion. The Hindoo
Religion is the primitive pure emotion, with such intellectual ideas
as the priests of the country have been able to weave into it. The
Mahometan and Christian Religions may be described in similar
terms; and thus it is that the composite web of reverential emotion
and intellectual ideas which each nation has formed for itself is
called its Religion. The compound nature of this web is not usually
perceived by its votaries. The Hindoo regards his sacred web as
altogether Pure Religion ; and the Mahometan, and the Christian of
whatever sect, do the same.
2 N
562 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
The results of The primitive Emotion, when energetic and excited, is so over-
the joint action
powering that it carries the whole mind captive. When it acts
of the two
elements. blindly, it dethrones reason, stifies conscience, and enlists every
passion to vindicate the honour and glory of the Being whom it has
been trained to reverence. When the woof of error has been added
in infancy, and the web of superstition formed, every thread—that
is to say, every notion concerning God, and his priests, and man's
duty to both—becomes sacred in the eyes of the devotee, and stirs
the emotion into a glow of rapture if gratified, and of pain, accom-
panied by indignation and fury, if offended. In this state of mind,
barbarous nations plunder and slay in honour and to the glory of
their gods.
The “ Reli- In Christian nations, analogous phenomena appear. We all pro-
fion” of Chris- fess to draw our Religion from the Bible; but, in Scotland, one
tendom;
woof is woven into the warp; in England, another; in Ireland, a
third; in Germany, a fourth; in Russia, a fifth ; and so on.
or Scotland; In our own country, the woof consists of certain views of God, of
human nature, and of man's state, duties, and destiny, embodied in
the Shorter Catechism and the Confession of Faith. In our infancy,
these are woven by our parents and clergy into the very core of our
Religious Emotion, and the resulting texture is our Religion. The
union is so intimate, and the web so firmly knit together, that most
of us have no conception of anything being Religion, except this
our own compound web of devotion and intellectual doctrine. The
Doctrine is to us as sacred as the Emotion, and he who controverts
it is regarded as the enemy of our Religion. In barbarous ages,
Christian men, acting under this impression, burned individuals
who controverted their interpretations of Scripture; and, in our own
day, they calumniate them as infidels, and obstruct their social
advancement. Nevertheless, the doctrine which they thus regard as
unquestionably Divine is a mere human woof, composed of inferences
drawn from particular texts of Scripture, by mortal men assembled
at Westminster in the 17th century,—men fallible like ourselves,
and many of them more ignorant, though its intimate union with
our devotional emotion is apt to incapacitate our mind from so
regarding it.
Of England ; We obtain direct and irresistible proof that such is the fact, by
merely crossing the Border, or St George's Channel. In England,
the woof is composed of the Liturgy and the Episcopalian Catechism.
The Englishman, into whose devotional emotion the doctrines of
these books have been woven from infancy, cannot conceive of any-
The Relations of Religion and Theology. 563
woven into
66
thing but his own web of opinion being the True Religion. If
ignorant and prejudiced, he regards the Scottish Theology with
indifference, aversion, or contempt; and, in a similar state of mind,
the Scotchman repays his contumely by treating English Theology
in a corresponding spirit. When enlightened, although they differ
in opinion, they regard each other with respect.
Cross the Channel, again, to Catholic Ireland, and there you find Of Ireland.
that the Pope and Councils have fashioned other standards of faith,
and that the priests have woven them into the warp of the Irish
mind, and this web constitutes its Religion.
Nay, the clergy of different sects have woven notions about Other elements
church government and ceremonies into the warp, and made these
Religion.”
also appear portions of Religion; and men fight for and defend them,
with as much zeal as if they were attributes of God.
You can now understand why it is that we are afflicted with The reason of
such deadly strifes and hatred in the name of Religion. The
religious strife.
clouds that intercept the heavens from us, come not from the
heavens, but from the earth.” The thing we call Religion is a
compound web; anıl when our neighbour shows us his fabric of
religious opinion, and calls it Divine, we, into whose minds it has
not been woven, survey it with the eye of reason, and pronounce it
partly pure and partly spurious in its threads. Our neighbour's
devotional feeling receives a rude shock; he becomes angry, and
attacks our web of opinion in his turn, and treats it in a similar
way. Neither of us, in general, is capable of examining closely
and calmly the threads that constitute the woof of his own web,
and hence discord is interminable.
How is this unhappy state of things to be brought to a close ? Rational and
Dr Duff, the missionary from the Church of Scotland to the Hin- Scientific edu-
doos, wrote home that preaching Christianity had but little effect on for these evils.
that people. They opposed their Sacred Books to his, and their
miracles to the Christian miracles, and were incapable of perceiving
the difference between them. He said to the Church of Scotland-
“Send me teachers of Natural Science to instruct these people in the
order and laws of nature, to open their understandings to truth and
falsehood, to things that are real and things that are fanciful, and to
teach them to reason; and, after they are so instructed, I shall
convert them.” In other words, he wished for men to pick out the
threads of superstition from their minds, and to substitute natural
truth; and, when the web was so prepared, he would be able to add
the woof of Christian doctrine. By a similar process, perhaps, we
cation the cure
564 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
might be enabled to pick out some errors from our own webs, and
form a fairer fabric of True Religion; for, that the doctrines of many
of our Christian sects must include error is certain, seeing that they
so widely differ in their interpretations of Scripture. Indeed, how
can the woof be pure? The Roman Catholic web was begun almost
under the Roman idolatry, and it was woven into its present
texture amidst the barbarism of the Dark Ages. The Protestant
faith was woven into a web or system three hundred years ago,
amidst bloodshed and fire and devastation; and many minor webs
have been formed in later times, taking their origin from the mental
peculiarities of their makers, such as Swedenborg, or from the
circumstances of the times.
The “Religi-
The nature of the “Religious Difficulty" which obstructs the pro-
ous Difficulty
in education gress of a comprehensive scheme of National Education will now
explained.
be easily understood. There are vast bodies of clergy and laymen
attached to particular woofs of Christian Theology or doctrine, which
they conscientiously regard as the only forms of True Religion; and
so intimately are these doctrines connected in their minds with the
pure devotional Sentiment, that they regard desertion of them as
deserting God. They are bent on promoting the universal diffusion
of them as boons to the human race, and are offended and affronted
by opposition. Not only so, but each denomination has expended
large sums of money in building places of worship and school-
houses in which to communicate their views to the old and to the
young, as Divine truth. They all see that the school-house is the
recruiting station for the chapel, and they, therefore, aim, as I have
said, first, to benefit your children, by education ; but, in the second
place, to benefit themselves, by enlisting as many as possible of them
under their own banners, in the certain expectation that, twenty
years hence, those children will prove pillars and stays to their
chapels.
What is praise- I do not blame them for their attachment to what they con-
worthy and
what õlamable sider truth, and I admire and respect their zeal in endeavouring
to diffuse it. Indeed, the deep interest and universal commotion
that now exists in the United Kingdom on Religion are to me, in
one view, subjects of rejoicing; for they indicate an awakening
energy in the highest emotional faculties of man, the torpor of
which, in the latter half of the last century, was fatal to moral
progress. But I lament the blindness which prevents the leaders
of the different sects from discovering that their own web of Theology
is not necessarily the only True Religion, although, from the cir-
in it.
The Relations of Religion and Theology. 565
cumstances before explained, it is the truest with which they are
acquainted.
2. THEOLOGY SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT IN NATIONAL SCHOOLS.
The two divi-
sions of educa-
We divide Education into two branches :
First, Instruction in Religious truth, and training to act in con- tion requiring
formity with it.
separation.
Secondly, Instruction in the objects and agencies of nature, and
in their influence on temporal well-being.
The leading aim of Bible Religious instruction is, to communicate
such principles of faith and practice as may ensure the salvation and
happiness of an individual in a life to come. That of Secular
instruction is, to impart such knowledge and habits of action as may
conduce to well-being in the world in which we now live. We
propose to disjoin these two branches, and to establish a separate
school for each.3
should the
Has the State a right to educate all the faculties of man? We What faculties
have already answered, that it has a right to train and educate every State educate?
faculty to the extent to which its action is necessary to enable the
individual to discharge his social duties, and no farther. It is
entitled to train Veneration, for example, to respect and yield
obedience to every Scriptural precept, and every natural law, which
directly affect the welfare of the social body; but has it a right to
force men to embrace and venerate any doctrine which has its issues
only in a future state of existence? Society, such as we see it, does
not exist beyond the grave. Therefore, only individuals in their
individual capacities are concerned in matters of oternity; and on
this subject, their birthright is entire freedom of judgment and
opinion.
The depth and magnitude of that interest is sufficient to secure Religious
an extent of teaching of this class of Religious doctrines up to the teaching se,
cured by volun-
full demands of the faculties; but no amount, however unlimited, tary agency.
of such teaching, necessarily implies or secures instruction in
temporal duties. Assuming that, during the last century, the
Speech delivered in Edinburgh, in 1851, on National Education ; from the
Scotsman.
2 See also the Appendix, for an excellent exposition of this position, by
Dr Andrew Combe, “On the Introduction of Religion into Common Schools."
3 Article on Secular Education, in the Westminster Review, of July, 1852.
1
566 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland have taught their people Religious
truth sufficient to secure their eternal welfare, it is certain that they
have not instructed and trained them, to an equal extent, in that
knowledge of this world and its laws which produces prosperity and
Secular should happiness. It is this latter species of knowledge which it is tho
the premiered by right and the duty of the State to provide for the people, because
it applies directly to interests falling under the management of the
State, and the absence of it, as we now see and feel in regard to
Ireland, cannot be compensated by purely Religious teaching.
Ireland demonstrates to us that the want of instruction in the order
of nature aggravates all natural calamities, and impairs all natural
blessings, to the great damage, not only of the individuals whose
training has been neglected, but of every member of the community
who has sympathies to feel for human suffering, or a purse to provide
for their removal.1
education.
The State has The question of National Education without a creed, on its true
nothing what-
ever to do with basis, is this : that a Civil Government has nothing whatever to do
Theological with educating its people in a Religion. The prevailing fallacy that
Morals and social order are based on Religion, and have no other
foundation, must be attacked and subverted before the proposition
that Government has nothing to do with Religion can be logically
maintained.; and there is not one statesman in a hundred who sees
his way through the question. Logically, the argument is irresistible
that Government is bound to lay the foundations, in the public
mind, of Morals and social order. If these have no foundation
except a Religious one, Religion must be taught as the basis of all
sound education ; but if Morals rest on one foundation, and religion
on another, like Architecture and Music, you may cultivate Archi-
tecture to secure good buildings, while you leave Music to its votaries
--in other words, teach Morals and leave Religion to the priests. If
the public mind were convinced on this subject, there would be an
end of the question.
Many religious men denounce the teaching of Science as "godless
education." While they are thus nearly unanimous in practically
i National Education, p. 14.
2 Letter of 14th July 1846, to Mr James M'Clelland. See p. 220, regarding
Mr M‘Clelland's Educational Efforts and connexion with George Combe.
No Theology in National Schools.
567
rejecting the course of Providence in nature as a source of instruc-The effects of
Sectarianism
tion, each places in the hands of the young its own Catechism of
on Religion;
doctrines, its Liturgy, its Confession of Faith, or its other articles of
belief; and, with the most pertinacious assiduity, labours to imprint
these indelibly on the memory, and to imbed them in the affections
of its pupils. Meanwhile, many of the sects denounce the Catechisms,
Liturgies, and Confessions of certain others as unsound, unscriptural,
and dangerous to the eternal welfare of the people. Here, then, is
a record unquestionably Divine, in so far as we read it rightly,
superseded and set aside for books of human compilation, denounced
as unsound by large masses of the community.
The effect of this on education is described by Mr Horace On Education.
Mann, in the following words : -“After the particular attention
which I gave to this subject (Religious Instruction) both in England
and Scotland, I can say, without any exception, that, in those
schools where Religious creeds, and forms of faith, and modes of
worship, were directly taught, I found the common doctrines and
injunctions of Morality, and the meaning of the preceptive parts of
the Gospel, to be much less taught and much less understood by the
pupils than in the same grade of schools and by the same classes
of pupils with us," in Massachusetts, where the teaching of all
sectarian doctrines in Common Schools is prohibited by law. Is not
this sacrificing Christianity itself at the shrine of Sectarianism?
The elements of which a sect is composed are the points in which the sects must
it differs from other sects; and its existence depends on the success
magnify their
differences.
and assiduity with which it infuses a knowledge of and reverence
for these into the minds of the young. It represents them as sub-
jects of the utmost importance to their temporal and eternal welfare.
In the estimation of its zealous leaders, they greatly surpass in
practical, as well as Religious importance, the order of nature. If
any sect were to cease investing its points of difference with the
highest reverence in the estimation of its pupils, and begin to
magnify the truth and utility of the doctrines in which all are
agreed, it would commit felo de se. Its dissolution and fusion into
the general body of Christian believers would be inevitable and
speedy. The more completely, therefore, the different sects obtain
the command of education, the greater will be the obstacles to the
introduction of the order of nature into schools.
"]
Report of an Educational Tour in Germany and Parts of Great Britain and
Ireland,” by Horace Mann, Esq. ; with Preface and Notes, by W. B.
Hodgson. (London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.)-(G. C.)
1 66
568 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
niental to edul-
cation.
These not the The points in which all Christian sects are agreed must constitute
essentials of
Christianity;
the essential substance of Christianity ; because it is on these that
Christian men of all denominations act in the business and relations
of life. Pious, honest, and benevolent men abound in them all ;
and this common excellence must spring from a common source.
The points on which they differ, although forming the life-blood
and bonds of union of sects, cannot constitute Christianity; because,
if they did, the Christian religion would really have scarcely any
practical form or substance. It would consist of abstract disquisi-
tions, discernible only by microscopic eyes, and inapplicable to all
beneficent ends. Who will say that the points of faith in which
the Church of England differs from the Congregationalists, or the
views of church government in which the Free Church differs from
the Established Church of Scotland, or the Secession Church from
the Free Church, or the Scotch Episcopalian Church from them all,
And are detri- are the essential elements of Christianity? And yet it is for the
sake of maintaining these distinctions from generation to generation,
and of transmitting, to the remotest posterity, the bitter contentions
which have so frequently vexed the spirits and alloyed the happiness
of this age, that we are called on to exclude instruction in the course
of nature, as a guide to human conduct, from our schools; to reject
a system of education founded on the points in which all are agreed;
to prostrate the national mind beneath the car of sectarianism, and
to allow it to be crushed and distorted by its unhallowed wheels !
Science de Practical Christianity, on the other hand, and the laws of nature,
physical, organic, and moral, present the same instruction, and re-
sectarianism.
commend the same line of action to all, and are, therefore, destructive
of sectarianism. Hence the cry of Infidelity which all sects raise
against them! Obedience to them is calculated to bind man to man,
and nation to nation, by the ties of reciprocal interest as well as of
affection and duty, and to bring all into communion with God.
Our knowledge of them grows with the growth of Science, and their
influence increases with the augmentation of the prosperity which
obedience to their dictates yields.
The duty of Will not the men of Intellect and Science who see this to be the
scientific men
to education.,
case assume courage, speak out, and help to stem the torrent of
sectarianism which overflows the land ? They have it in their
power at this moment to do their country an invaluable service, for
which she would one day rear monuments of gratitude to their
Will they, through fear of a little temporary obloquy,
desert the standard of truth, of God, and of the people? Let their
structive of
names.
No Theology in National Schools.
569
1
own consciences answer the appeal, and let them act as their
consciences dictate. Will no teachers arise, embued with know-
ledge of the order of nature, as unfolded in Science, and, with faith
in its adaptation to the human faculties, communicate it, under the
sanction of the Religious Sentiments, to the young, as a help to
guide them through the thorny paths of life? Yes! Such teachers
exist, and they lack only the countenance of the enlightened laity
to follow the strong impulses of their affections and understandings,
and accomplish this great improvement in Secular instruction.
Moreover, under the sectarian system, not only is the advancing Sectarianism
checks general
intelligence of the people shackled by the consecrated errors of the
intelligence and
Dark Ages, but the most vigorous and profound thinkers among the shackles cleri-
cal thought;
clergy of all denominations are subdued and held in thraldom by
their feebler brethren. The men of inferior endowments and intel-
ligence take their stand on the accredited dogmas, which they
cherish because they are in accordance with their own narrow and
prejudiced perceptions; and they resist every liberal idea and study
that has the most remote appearance of conflicting with their pre-
conceived ideas. As they exert a great influence over a half-educated
people, trained to regard their doctrines with holy reverence, the
more powerful minds too generally retire from the field, and leave
to them an undisputed sway.
The best interests of society suffer from this unhappy state of And hinders
things ; whereas, if nature were taught as the harmonious ally of a
ests of society.
sounder interpretation of Christianity, the men endowed with the
profoundest intellects and the purest and most elevated emotions,
would lead the general mind, and we should constantly advance.
In the present time, the leaders of the Calvinistic sects are strenu-
ously exerting themselves to bring back the public sentiment to
the opinions of the middle of the seventeenth century; and if they
do not succeed, it is Science alone which will prevent this consum-
mation of their labours. 2
the best inter-
The struggle between the sects to obtain possession of the schools
commenced with the Reformation. Luther, Calvin, and Knox
urged education as the only means of making good their conquests
from Catholicism. They saw that the school was an admirable
This refers to the Secular Schools then in operation, an account of which
is given chap. vii. p. 201.
2 Science and Religion, pr. 271-5.
570 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
education.
Their effects on
Sectarian place for effectively weaving the Protestant woof into young minds,
the conduct of and, by the most praiseworthy efforts, they accomplished this great
work. But Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, did the
same service to Catholicism. He and his followers instituted
Roman Catholic schools, and they speedily wove such a woof of
faith into the young minds of the flocks left to them after the
Reformation, that Catholicism has not only been impregnable ever
since, but appears actually to be gaining on Protestantism. Mr
Macaulay, in the Edinburgh Review, remarks that, since the age of
Luther, Protestantisin, relatively to Catholicism, has not increased;
and that, whatever since that time has been gained by Christianity,
has been acquired by Roman Catholicism.
How do the interests of laymen fare under these conflicts of
education and contending sects ? They wither and decay. The Theology itself
cramps the understanding, and lowers the moral courage of the
nation. These contests not only present obstacles to the founda-
tion of schools and benevolent societies, but block up the doors
of our universities, and of as many of our existing seminaries as the
sects are able to command. Sentinels, with theological and eccle-
siastical tests in their hands, stand at the portals of our colleges and
parish schools, and of our charitable foundations for education, and
beckon back all who will not consent to receive them as embodi-
ments of Divine truth. The consequences, I repeat, are that
education, and with it the moral and intellectual progress of the
nation, are obstructed. We are brought to a dead lock, and unless
the people declare their resolution to be free, I see no means of
escape.
Shown in dif. Survey the histories of nations, and you will find that they all
tell one tale. Wherever the education of the people has been
tries;
chiefly under clerical control, there Religious doctrines have been
assiduously taught, and the knowledge of God's creation, and the
laws by which it is administered, has, generally speaking, been
omitted; the people are ignorant and superstitious, and have made
small progress in material well-being. This is the character of the
instruction given in Southern Italy, Spain, and Portugal, in some
of the rural districts of England, and, until lately, in Catholic Ire-
land. The Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland afford
additional examples. Intellectual torpor and material degradation
reign in these countries, hand in hand with undisputed religious
creeds.
But Germany and the United States of North America present
ferent coun-
No Theology in National Schools.
571
with others
Scotch secta-
rianism:
examples of nations who are educated by Jaymen in Secular know- And contrasted
ledge, and by their clergy in religious creeds; and there intel-
having Secular
lectual activity and material well-being are far more general among education.
the people than in the same class even in Great Britain. Within
thirty years, under universal Secular education, Germany has made
greater advances in civilisation, in all its branches, than it had done
for a century before under purely clerical instruction. Nay, so
palpable did the evil of a predominant clerical influence in educa-
tion become to the Swiss, that, in 1847, the Protestant cantons
made actual war on the Roman Catholic cantons, and expelled the
Jesuits, because they had engrossed, and turned to their own pur-
poses, the education of the young, and were constantly, through this
means, extending their influence.
In these countries, far greater religious freedom reigns than in The results of
Scotland. There, a man who is moral may profess what religion he
pleases; here, the shopkeeper is forsaken by his customers if he is In society;
reputed unsound in his faith; the orthodox Churchman will not
stand on the same platform, for educational objects, with the Uni-
tarian; the Evangelical supporter of the Original Ragged School will
not even enter the door of the United Industrial School," because
Roman Catholic and Protestant children are there instructed in
Secular knowledge in the same classes. Nay, although the webs of
faith of the Established Church, the Free Church, and the United
Presbyterian Church, are actually woven from the same materials (the
Westminster Confession and the Catechism), yet, because they are
the products of different looms, and each has three or four threads of
opinion about church-government in which it differs from the others;
these few threads act like electrical elements of discord, and make
the whole webs repel each other with fiery vehemence.
state of things, I say, brings dishonour on our country. It wastes,
in paltry contests, the mental energy that should be applied in im-
proving the moral and intellectual condition of the people; it stifles
our emotions of benevolence and justice ; consumes our substance,
in building schools and chapels, which ruin previously existing
establishments of a similar kind; and, worst of all, it renders us
moral poltroons, for, so intense and active is sectarian hostility and
so vindictive in its spirit, that thousands who see and deplore these
evils are deterred from attempting to remove them.
They occasion more evil still. They prevent the development of
the national mind. In our Universities, the professor of Anatomy
1 Schools established for the education of the very poor in Edinburgh.
Such a
572 The Relations of Religion and State Education
And in the
will, for example, show the structure of the eye, and name it the organ
Universities. of vision ; and the professor of Natural Philosophy will describe the
sun, and demonstrate the laws of the solar system. Or the anato-
mist will describe the cells and tissues, the air-tubes and blood-
vessels, of the lungs; and the chemist will demonstrate the com-
position of the atmosphere. But there is no chair instituted to
teach the relations between these different classes of objects, and the
lessons which they read to man. Any instruction given about them
is merely incidental. Now, the young student, when his attention
is properly directed to these relations, discovers that, though the eye
without light would be useless, yet the grand fountain of illumina-
tion is ninety millions of miles distant from this organ. Then the
stupendous thought rushes into his mind, that an Intelligence which
embraced both, which designed, adapted, and maintains both, must
exist; and the devotional emotion glows with rapture in the con-
templation of His greatness, His goodness, and His power. Or,
again, the admirable adaptation of the air (with its seventy-eight
parts of nitrogen, twenty-one of oxygen, and one of carbonic acid
gas) to the lungs, bespeaks the presence of the same Divine Intelli-
gence in the arrangements of our bodies and of the earth, and reads
to us lessons of great practical utility in regard to ventilation, exer-
cise, and the laws of health. Yet this teaching is not to be found,
The consequent except incidentally, in our Universities. The Catechism and Con-
fession of Faith are thrust between the external creation and its
tween Religion
Author; we must draw our Theology from them; and small en-
couragement is given to us to gather threads of Divine texture from
the magnificent stores of nature, and to weave them into the warp
of our religious emotions. The standards of the Church, and they
chiefly, must constitute the woof of our religious web; if we insert
other threads, it must be at our peril and by stealth.
schools, generally speaking, this teaching of the relation between
nature and God, is nearly unknown; nay, it is frowned upon, is
designated as infidel, and the Catechism is thrust into the reluctant
hands of the schoolmaster to be taught in its place.
The two great
There are two questions wholly distinct, which are very generally
questions in
confounded in this discussion :--"What shall I do to be saved ?"
this discussion;
is the first. This every man is at liberty, in the exercise of an
unquestionable right, to judge of and answer for himself. The
appropriate and legitimate object of the students of faith in every
church, and of all clerical tendency, is to help each of us to form a
sound opinion on this momentous point. But the other question,
divorce be-
and nature.
In our
No Theology in National Schools.
573
cation cannot
in which the working classes are also deeply interested, is—“What Sectarian erlu-
shall we do to provide wholesome food, comfortable raiment, plea-satisfy the
sant dwellings, and the harmless luxuries of life, for our wives, our whole people:
children, and ourselves ?" Secular education, or instruction in
God's works of creation and in the laws which he has imposed on
them, which are the fountains of human well-being on earth, must
be given Free in our Common Schools, before the people can rise
to the dignity of intelligent administrators of this world, and cease
to wage the hopeless war of competition with the steam-engine and
the horse.
1
ferences of the
The best of all reasons, in our opinion, why Secular instruction From the dif-
should be separated from Religious instruction is, that it is impos-churches;
sible, in the present state of opinion, to unite them in a manner
that will satisfy the whole people; or, what is practically the same
thing, an overwhelming majority of them. And this is an indis-
pensable condition in any efficient system of National Education.
In regard to the doctrines to be believed, and the conduct to be
pursued as the means of securing salvation in the world to come,
and also in regard to the form of church government sanctioned by
Scripture; there exist great, and, at present, irreconcilable differences
of opinion among men equally enlightened, benevolent, and sincere.
Hence the conscientious Episcopalian declines to allow his children
to be instructed in the religious standards of the Church of Scot-
land, while the Presbyterian objects to the instruction of his chil-
dren in Episcopal tenets. The Roman Catholic protests against the
doctrines and church government of both, as unauthorised by
Scripture, and dangerous to the souls of men ; while the Protestant
sects denounce the Church of Rome as the promulgator of “soul
destroying" errors. The practical question is,-How, while these
and many other differences exist, is the Religious instruction of the
whole people to be accomplished ?
The multitude of neglected and vicious children who infest the And the oppo.
streets and lanes of our large towns are the offspring of Roman vicious.
Catholic, socialist, or other dissenting parents, who, although they
may not frequent any place of public worship themselves, still
cling to some form of faith, or of unbelief, which induces them to
withhold their children from the religious teaching of the Church
of England or of Scotland. We saw it lately asserted, on the
Speech in Edinburgh, in 1851, on National Education ; from the Scotsman.
sition of the
1
574 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
authority of Dr Strang, the Chamberlain of Glasgow, that, in that
town, there are 80,000 persons of the Roman Catholic persuasion.?
These, as a body, would as soon allow their children to be educated
by the Jews as by the Church of Scotland. In point of fact, they
have exactly the same repugnance to send their children to receive
Religious instruction from the schoolmaster of the Established
Church, as any evangelical Protestant would have to send his own
children for doctrinal faith to the school of a Roman Catholic priest.
The proposal, therefore, which has been made to extend the Reli-
gious teaching of the Church of Scotland as a means of giving Reli-
gious instruction to these children, and rescuing them from personal
and social degradation, is preposterous; it is an indication of that
blindness of understanding which ardent partisanship in Religion is
so apt to induce.
rian differ-
ences
Secular educa- Your correspondent says :-“The reason why people demand
tion necessary. State-paid Secular instruction is, because it relates to matters in
which there is no difference of opinion, whereas, in Religious teaching,
the Presbyterian objects to pay for the education of the Episcopalian
in doctrines which he considers it would be a misfortune for the
youth of Scotland to imbibe; and the Protestant objects to be taxed
for Roman Catholic schools, which he looks on as a machinery for
the promulgation of error.” There appears to me to be a partial
fallacy in this representation. There is no subject of human know-
ledge, except the Mathematical Sciences, on which “there is no
difference of opinion.” Such differences exist, more or less, in all
the sciences, even in those based on observation and induction;
while, on such subjects as History, English Composition, and the
But as relating English Language, differences abound. The real reason why it is
to this life;
proposed to include History, Languages, and the Sciences in National
Education is, that these relate to the things of this life, that they
can be brought to the direct test of observation and reason, and that
a knowledge of them is necessary to a right ordering of human
conduct in the present world. For example, experience shows that
the laws of health affect equally men of all religious opinions; and
hence it is important that children should be instructed in them.
1 There are now (1878) fully 100,000 Roman Catholics in Glasgow.
? Article on Secular Education, in the Westminster Review, for July, 1852.
An effort was made, in 1851, to secure a National system of education on
Sectarian principles, which was strongly opposed by George Combe, p. 587.
3 “A Secular Educationist," in Scotsman of November 22d, 1849.
No Theology in National Schools.
575
The laws by which the creation and distribution of wealth are
regulated apply equally to the enterprises of the Presbyterian,
Episcopalian, and Roman Catholic; and hence the advantage of
teaching these to all. It is not the circumstance of unanimity of
opinion on these subjects that renders them proper for Secular schools,
but that of their relation to human welfare in this life, and the
possibility of testing their soundness by reason and experience. If
they contain some truth, that truth bears directly on our temporal
well-being, and, in so far as they are imperfect, they may be improved.
On the other hand, Religious doctrines are objected to by me And having
as subjects of National School instruction, because they relate chiefly with the other
to human interests in another world, over which earthly govern-world.
ments have no jurisdiction, and because they are believed to be of
such momentous importance that no man should be allowed to
dictate to his neighbour in regard to them, the more especially as
the issue of his opinions cannot be tested by experience in this
life. The very fact that the laws of mechanical and chemical
action, of health, of Social Economy, and of common Morality, affect
equally individuals of every religious persuasion, shows that these
act independently of our religious beliefs; and it is a great contra-
diction to reason, and a certain impediment to human welfare, to
withhold a knowledge of them from the people, unless they agree,
at the same time, to be taught Presbyterianism, Episcopalianism,
Roman Catholicism, or some other Religious doctrine. It would be
as reasonable for the laity to insist that the education of the clergy
in the things pertaining to faith should be based on Natural Science,
and taught only by professors of Science; as for the clergy to urge,
that the teaching of physical and physiological nature shall be based
on Religious doctrines, and conducted only by men of certain Re-
ligious opinions. The blindness of many excellent laymen to the
truth of this conclusion can, in my opinion, be accounted for only
by the omission of scientific instruction in their own education,
and by their imperfect appreciation of its importance; but the
public mind is rapidly acquiring sounder views on this subject, and
indications are not wanting that the advocates of Secular education
will not long be overpowered by their present opponents.
1 From letter by George Combe, written 230 November 1849, and published
in the Scotsman of 24th November, headed “What is Secular Instruction ?
in reply to a letter signed “A Secular Educationist,” criticising sharply the
Williams Secular School and Phrenology, and speaking of “ Bishop Combe”
and “Dean Williams," written hy a man who has since attained great
literary eminence.
1
576 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
3. BY WHAT MEANS SHOULD RELIGION BE TAUGHT?
Education
should be Re-
ligious and
Secular.
mere
Religious
instruction
should be
given by the
Churches;
The advocates of Secular education do not“ object to Christian
churches taking up the work of Education.” The reverse proposition
would be nearer the truth. They divide education into two
branches : 1st, Instruction in Religious truth, and training to act in
conformity with it; and 2nd, Instruction in natural objects and
Natural Sciences (i.e., the subjects of which the Physical and Moral
Sciences and Natural Theology treat), and training to act in con-
formity with them. The leading aim of “ Religious” instruction is,
to communicate such principles of faith and practice as may insure
the well-being of the individual in a life to come; and that of
Secular instruction is, to impart such knowledge and habits of action
as may conduce to well-being in the world in which we now live.
By committing education to Churches, your Grace apparently pro-
poses to give both kinds of instruction by the same teacher, and in
the same school, and to blend the two together. Assuming for the
moment, although not granting, that this is desirable, I ask, Is it
possible? To me it appears not to be so, if we are to establish
schools for the children of the whole people, and not for
section of them.
The advocates of Secular education are not opponents of the Reli-
gious instruction of the people; but they are not blinded by sectarian
zeal. If they were hostile to Religious education, they would shake
hands with your Grace, and join in proposing to commit to one sect,
no matter which, the duty of educating all in Religious faith. By
this means, their irreligious end would be certain to be gained;
because, in the present state of opinion, no sect could collect all the
destitute children into its fold, not even if aided by Her Majesty's
horse, foot, and artillery. Being sincere in their desire to furnish
Religious instruction to the people, these advocates, therefore, pro-
pose to do so in a manner which is not a mockery, but practical and
real. They suggest that Religious should be separated from Secular
instruction, and that each sect should give Religious instruction to
the children whom it claims as its own. If there be children
deserted by their parents and guardians, claimed by no sect, and
left destitute of all Religious guidance, there can be no objection to
their being delivered over to the parish which maintains them for
Religious training, as well as for food and raiment; but these do not
constitute the mass of our degraded juvenile population.
1 The Duke of Argyle, in 1852.
How should Religion be taught ?
577
assumes.
It is in vain to urge as an objection, that ignorant and debased Which should
parents cannot be expected to give Religious instruction to their provide it for
children. In urging this, you fight with a shadow, because Secular
educationalists have never propounded such an idea as the objection
Their fundamental proposition is, that, in order to in-
duce the children of all sects to enter a school for SECULAR instruc-
tion, it is necessary to separate that school from the school in which
we propose to teach Religious doctrines, about which sects differ in
opinion. They urge, as earnestly as your Grace, the establishment
of Religious Schools, but separate from the Secular, and managed, not
by one sect, as you propose, nor by hostile sects, but by individuals
belonging to each sect, who shall charge themselves with the Religi-
ous instruction of the young belonging to their own persuasion.
Why do we propose to give such instruction in Secular schools Why National
schools should
as shall be acceptable to all sects? Because the order of God's
give Secular
Secular providence is the same for Jew and Gentile, Roman Catholic instruction.
and Protestant, believer and unbeliever. The sun shines on them
alike, ripens their corn by the same process, warms them by the
same influence; and its retreat to the distant regions of the south
leaves them all alike enveloped in winter's desolation. The atmo-
sphere carries health or sickness, the storm destruction, and the fire
warmth or torture, to all alike, according as they expose themselves,
wisely or unwisely, to the action of the elements. The laws of
social well-being, which determine the production and distribution
of wealth, the destitution of some, and the riches of others, are the
same to all. And Secular instruction means the communication of
these and other natural things and agencies.1
I propose to erect schools to teach the children of all classes who The nature of
choose to attend them, free of expense, the structure and functions of the Secular
re-
their own bodies; the structure and laws of physical nature, and the commended.
relation of man to these objects and laws; the facts of Social
Economy; and, above all, the laws of Morality and Religion, and
the indispensable necessity of our observing them, in order to attain
prosperity : and we must train the young to act on this knowledge.
1 From letter of 21st January 1852, to the Duke of Argyle, in reply to a
speech of the latter, delivered in Glasgow, on the “Church of Scotland Endow-
ment Scheme,” in which he criticised a lecture of George Combe's, “On the
Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and the Shorter Catechism on
the Civilization of Scotland”; also article on Secular Education, in Westminster
Review for July, 1852.
20
578 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
These measures will not banish all vice and want, for, in many
individuals, these spring from organic defects, but they will diminish
them; and they must precede all other plans and appliances for
human improvement, unless we can work miracles.
]
schools.
What Religious In regard to Religious Instruction, the Bible constitutes the only
should be given directory recognised in Protestant countries concerning the mode of
in National
securing everlasting happiness. The objects of the School for
Religion, therefore, may be held to be, to unfold the means by
which eternal interests may be best secured, and to train the young
to practise them. Although the Bible contains, as subservient to
this end, numerous valuable precepts for regulating Secular conduct,
yet, not being intended to supersede the use of observation and
reflection, it embodies no complete exposition of the special natural
agencies by means of which the order of God's Secular Providence
is now executed and maintained. Moreover, it does not expound
the arrangements in nature by which even its own precepts, in
regard to the duties and interests of this life, are enforced and
rendered practical Hence, Secular instruction, such as is now
recommended, is necessary to render practical the moral precepts
even of the Bible itself. Every precept of the Bible, therefore,
which has a counterpart in nature, and which is supported and
enforced by the order of God's natural providence, may legitimately
be introduced into Secular schools.?
Veneration
should be con-
nected with all
I do not consider that we shall ever have Religion operating fully
on human conduct, until the minds of the young be trained to
natural truth. connect Veneration with every important practical scientific truth.
The real distinction would be into Natural and Supernatural. But
the age is not ready for this distinction, and, in want of a better
definition, I would hold Secular instruction to include all truths in
nature, all reputedly true histories of human events, and all
principles of Morality and Religion, necessary for the right ordering
of practical conduct in the affairs of life.?
Lord John Russell, in a speech delivered by him in the House of
1 Speech at Paisley, in 1851, on National Education, from the North British
Daily Mail.
2 Letter to Mrs Whately. See “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 239.
3 “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 236.
How should Religion be taught ?
579
Commons on the 4th April 1853, in introducing a scheme of Lord John Rus-
sell's opinion of
National Education, is reported by The Times to have said : “The
the Religion of
scheme” (of giving Secular instruction in schools and omitting Secular Schools
sectarian Religion) “is developed by many of the writers on the sub-
ject, especially by Mr Combe, whose name, no doubt, will be well
remembered by the House. What he holds out is this,—That very
imperfect views are taken with respect to Religious subjects; that
very often those rules which the Almighty has laid down for our
conduct in this life, so far from being followed, are wilfully or
blindly set at nought; and that it is the business of the school-
master to teach those laws of Social Economy and of Physiology by
which the people of this kingdom may be better instructed in con-
ducting themselves, so as to enable them to avoid that course of
vice and misery into which too many of them fall. It will, how-
ever, be obvious to the House that this is a proposal different from
what was the apparent proposal, as at first put forth, of the advo-
cates of the Secular system. The proposal, as it stands nakedly in
the first declaration of their views, amounts to this,—give exclusively
Secular instruction in the schools, and leave Religion to be taught
elsewhere by the ministers of Religion. The second view of the
subject, however, is this - There is a Natural Theology which should
be taught in the schools, but Christianity should not be taught
there. Now, that appears to me a view certainly more extensive,
and undoubtedly far more dangerous, than that which the advocates
of Secular education first set out with. My belief is that the people
of this country acted with a right instinct, when, upon associating
together and devoting their money for the purpose of education,
they declared openly that there should be a Religious training in the
schools, and that that Religious training should comprise all the great
doctrines of Christianity."
Lord John Russell commits an error, if he means that, while the Christianity
advocates of a purely Secular education proposed that Christianity not supposed
should be taught by the clergy, or by teachers authorised by them, educationists.
in a separate school, I proposed to exclude such teaching altogether.
In none of my published works does any such proposition appear,
but the reverse.
I have advocated teaching Christianity in separate
schools, and I do so still; because the people are Christian : and I
should outrage every principle of religious liberty and common sense,
should I propose that persons, whose highest hopes and fears are
bound up in the Christian religion, should, in any way, be precluded
from having it taught to their children.
580 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
Secular educa-
tion not god-
less.
The real state of the question is this. When purely Secular
instruction in one school, and sectarian Religious instruction in
another, were proposed, the Religious public objected, “In your
Secular schools you propose (a godless education.'
When we
answered, “Nature is a Divine institution, and, in these schools, we
shall teach God's natural laws, established to regulate human well-
being, leaving you to teach sectarian dogmas in a separate school,”
Lord John replied, “This is far more dangerous !” More dangerous
than what? Apparently, from the context, than the purely Secular
instruction, which, however, many had denounced as "godless."
Lord John appears to me, by implication, to deny that nature is a
Divine Institution, that it reveals rules for the guidance of human
conduct, and that these rules are entitled to our reverence as
Divine.
1
Secular educa-
To teach supernatural doctrines as the basis of natural agency is
tion necessary preposterous; and to imagine that any education which does not
Religious. impress on the understanding the invariable character of natural
agency, and the inevitable results that flow from it, can prove
effectual in regulating conduct in practical affairs, appears equally
chimerical. While the supernatural is taught in schools as the
basis of the natural, the natural will never be taught at all with
practical effect
Lord John Russell regards my ascribing Divine authority to
nature as “dangerous.” Dangerous to what? I cannot answer this
question, except "to superstition." The Religious Emotions exist in
man, and are very powerful incentives to action. They may be
directed, in infancy and youth, to any objects or doctrines. To say
that the direction of them to respect God's natural laws is danger-
ous, is absurd ; while to teach God's order of governing in nature
without reference to Him, leaves that teaching unwarmed, un-
hallowed, and unsupported by the Religious Emotions, and it loses
greatly iu its interest and its practical influence on the youthful
mind.2
1 Science and Religion ; Appendix xi. p. 313.
2 “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 320. For further expositions of the
nature and purpose of the Religion that should be taught in National schools,
see the chapter “On the Training of the Moral and Religious Faculties through
Science,” p. 123; and in Appendix, Dr Andrew Combe “On the Introduction of
Religion into Common Schools,” and the extracts from Mr Templar “On the
Religion of Secular Schools.”
Advantages of no Theology in National Schools. 581
4. THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS EXCLUSION OF THEOLOGY FROM
A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATION,
I am prepared for the charge being made, that this is a proposal The Secular
to constitute infidelity the basis of National Education; because the vocated teaches
order of nature, even when coincident with and sanctioned by the true order
of Providence.
Christianity, is regarded by some minds as infidel. But I deny
that teaching the order of nature by which human happiness is
governed, is infidelity. Those who contend that it is so, forget
that, in this view, God himself would be the author of a great
system of infidelity ; for the whole Jewish dispensation was one
which had its sanctions exclusively in its temporal consequences.
No futurity was revealed to the Jews : The supernatural portion of
the Jewish Dispensation related chiefly to the nation in its national
capacity, and, in the opinion of some Christian sects, it is continued
to the present day. These sects regard the existence of the Jews
as a distinct people, unamalgamated with the races among whom
they are dispersed, as a standing miracle. But we do not perceive
the personal conduct of the individual Jewish men and women
whom we know, to be now regulated by supernatural acts of divine
administration, and is there reason to believe that, even before the
dispersion, a miracle was resorted to, in order to reward or punish
each private Jew who obeyed or transgressed the commandments ?
If a future state was not clearly revealed to the Jews, and if their
personal conduct was not formerly, and is not now, regularly
rewarded or punished by supernatural acts in this life, it seems to
follow that, in their individual capacities (when not reached by the
statute law), they were, and are, left under the ordinary adminis-
tration of the laws of nature ; and if so, on what principle can
education in these laws be called “godless ?” Besides, no one
proposes to exclude the teaching of the Scripture doctrines relative
to eternity. All that is recommended is to provide for the teaching
of these to the children of each sect according to the views and
wishes of their parents, at separate hours, and by separate teachers
from those engaged by the State.
We are told, however, that this proposed separation of Secular It is truly
from Doctrinal Religious teaching, is “a gigantic system of godless Religious.,
education.” With great deference to the excellent individual who
uttered these words, the case appears to me in a different light.
2 Sir Robert Inglis, M.P. for Oxford ; many others also so characterised it.
و
582 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
The Secular Apparently, he and his followers who have adopted this opinion,
instruction ad-
vocated is truly
have looked so long and so intently on the Old and New Testa-
Religious. ments, that they have lost sight of, or never attentively studied,
the record of God's Natural Providence. If, for instance, we com-
prehend the structure and functions of the nervous system in man,
and the vast amount of enjoyment of which it is the appointed
vehicle when duly administered, and the extent of suffering which
it entails on him when its laws are neglected or transgressed, and
perceive that this is the workmanship of God, and that in this
structure and its laws He is addressing our Wonder, calling on us
to admire, our Veneration, desiring us to reverence,
our Con-
scientiousness, commanding us to obey,—and our Intellect, inviting
us to study, prove, and practise, what He has revealed ; and that
He rewards us with health, strength, and enjoyment, for obedience,
and punishes us with bodily and mental pain and incapacity, and
often with death itself, for infringement of its precepts : THIS IS
How any man of a serious and an
enlightened mind can study and comprehend God's Natural Laws
without having his Religious Sentiments vividly excited, I cannot
comprehend. Is it not an abuse of terms to call that education
godless” which refers all that it teaches directly to the power,
wisdom, and goodness of God himself ?? In no sense of the words
is the study of Natural knowledge and its practical applications a
“godless education;" because it cultivates, trains, and enlarges the
self-same faculties by means of which the grander doctrines relative
to man's future destinies must be studied and apprehended.2
RELIGION AS WELL AS SCIENCE,
It would im- Some of the advantages which we should expect to follow from
prove Theologi-
cal instruction.
the separation of the Religious from the Secular element are the
following :—This separation would ensure a better treatment of
both branches. Religious instruction given by those educated in
Theology, and whose profession it is to teach it, would become
1 “Has Mr Combe introduced to you a 'godless ' subject ? Many persons call
it by that name. Yet God, in His wisdom, goodness, and power, is never for
an instant lost sight of. Every Secular lesson speaks of His blessed works.
It is 'godless to deny it.'”-James Simpson, in speech at Paisley, in 1851, at
meeting in favour of National Secular Education, at which George Combe also
spoke.—From North British Daily Mail. The Secular instruction recom-
mended for National Schools was aptly characterised by Lord Brougham as
priestless,” not “godless.
2 National Education, pp. 16-19
Advantages of no Theology in National Schools. 583
earnest, substantial, and practical. It would smite deep into the
young hearts, and live there, associated with questions of love and
reverence for the teacher and his doctrines, instead of being, as at
present, too often hated and expelled from the memory, under the
recollection of blows and drudgery associated with it in our Common
schools.
In the next place, the understandings of teachers and the public It would im-
would open to the real nature and unspeakable importance of prove the
teaching of
the Secular branch of public instruction ; and it would acquire a our schools.
character of substantive reality and practicability which it has
never yet attained, and which it never can reach, while the minds
of laymen remain confused by the prevailing error of believing that
the Religious element includes the Secular. When once the separ-
ation is made, the distinction between the two branches will become
so palpable, and the advantages of teaching them apart so con-
spicuous, that men will wonder at their great repugnance to sever
them. They will see that, while the supernatural constitutes the
basis of the faith that is to lead to salvation, the fixed, permanent,
and undeviating elements of nature form the ground-work on which
temporal well-being reposes, and out of which it must be educed by
human intelligence and effort.
Not only is there this palpable distinction, but the action of the It would give
mind in studying the different branches is widely dissimilar. In
of thought in
learning Theology, resting on a supernatural basis, the intellect, in practical life.
many instances, must yield itself up to the emotions of awe, wonder,
reverence, hope, and fear : “ Faith is the evidence of things not
seen.” In studying Secular Science, on the contrary, the intellectual
process is reversed. Everything must be closely observed, pro-
foundly analysed, and rigidly investigated. The pupil who, under
the present system of training, goes into actual business without any
distinct perception of the line of demarcation between faith and
reason, is prone, in many temporal matters, to act with a neglect of
due investigation, and a blindness to inevitable consequences, which
are evidently referrible to the habits of easy trust and reliance which
he has acquired in the department of Faith. How often do we see
sincerely religious persons relying on prayer as a means of securing
health, while, through lack of physiological knowledge, they are
living in habitual violation of the laws on which God has seen
proper to make this blessing depend ! How many prayers are
offered up for the success of mercantile and manufacturing enter-
prises by religious men, who, in conducting them, have disregarded
correct habits
584 The Relations of Religion and State Education.
It would fur-
nish true
conduct.
every natural law of social well-being ! And after ruin-the
natural, and therefore inevitable, termination to this course of action
-has overtaken them, how frequently and sincerely have they
sought consolation in Religion for their errors and mortifications ;
ascribing their miscarriages to sin, or to the chastening hand of God
out of love to their souls, instead of to their ignorance, rashness, and
folly! The confusion occasioned in men's minds by the jumbling
of the supernatural and natural in their training can alone account
for such senseless abuses of religion.
By the separation of the two, the inflexible reality of nature
guides of will be recognised, and the young will be trained to the in-
vestigation of the laws of her operations, and to yield obedience
to their requirements. Secular instruction will then embrace
the substances, agencies, and laws of the material and mental
worlds, and their relations to human well-being, including the
human organism itself, with all its corporeal and mental func-
tions, in the latter of which the laws of Natural Morality and
Natural Religion will be found to rest as on a rock. Historical
events and biographical characters (instruction in which will form a
branch in such a curriculum) will then be expounded in such a con-
nection with the basis on which they rest, and thus become far
more effectual guides to practical conduct than the empirical exposi-
tions of them which have hitherto been given even in the best
schools.
It would place After a few generations will have enjoyed this improved instruc-
Religion on a
true basis;
tion, modifications in Religious faith may be expected to follow; but
they will be gradually introduced, will rest on moral and intellectual
convictions, and be supported by Divine truth drawn from the
infallible book of revelation in nature. Under the present system,
Religious belief is hastening to a state of anarchy. The Bible is
undergoing a criticism of reason, such as it was never before exposed
to, and the discoveries of Science are daily shaking the established
interpretations of it to the foundation. To ignore Natural Science
in our Common Schools is not the way to strengthen the falling
faith, but the reverse ; it tends to encourage atheism. In point of
fact, many of the professors of atheism among the working-classes
are strong-minded and dauntless thinkers, who, owing to the entire
omission of Logical and Scientific instruction and training in their
youth, have been left to flounder in a chaos of crude and disjointed
facts and inferences, until their understandings have become bewil-
dered. The orthodox custom of expressing horror and alarm at the
Advantages of no Theology in National Schools. 585
atheistic
tendencies.
avowal of these opinions, and proposing mere Bible teaching as the And stem
only remedy for it, proceeds from blindness to its cause. Let the
professors of orthodoxy cease to obstruct the introduction of Secular
knowledge into our schools, and let them try the power of a clear
and forcible exposition, to the youthful mind, of God's agency in
nature, accompanied by an appeal to the Religious Emotions, as a
cure for this form of unbelief, and reserve their horror until this
teaching, too, has failed, as theirs has done, to render these indi-
viduals religious. Horror and abuse of our erring brethren may be
reserved, till we have fulfilled our own duty towards them in a
rational form, as well as in a benevolent and religious spirit.
word 6
[In discussions on the teaching of Religion in schools, a difficulty con- Ambiguous
stantly occurs from the ambiguity of the terms employed, especially of the termis in this
discussion dis-
Religion,” from which the foregoing utterances of George Combe are
criminated.
not quite free. This arises solely from his writing on the subject at different
times, and to different persons, to whom he had to accommodate his phraseology.
Even after 1851, when he did so much good service to the discussion by his
clear and happy distinction between Religion and Theology, as warp and woof,
he uses the samne ambiguous term “Religion” in both senses. “ Secular"
subjects, which, according to George Combe, should be taught in National
Schools, include all subjects relating to this world, and ther Religion
itself, so far as it relates to this world, that is, its department of “Natural
Religion” or “Natural Theology." What he would have excluded from these
schools is that departinent of “Religion” that relates to the other world,
which he proposes to designate the “Supernatural," as contra-distinguished
from the “ Natural, “Spiritual” as distinguished from “Secular,” and “Theo-
logy” as distinguished from “Religion,” and which he would have taught by
parents and churches. George Combe's position on this much-controverteil
question may be exhibited thus :-
I. TO BE INCLUDED in National Schools; and
taught by the National teachers there-
1. All subjects relating to this world : 1.C.,
all the subjects and sciences which
describe and interpret it; and there-
- Secular
fore,
subjects.
2. Universal Religion, or that department
of "Religion ” called “Natural.”
Included
II. TO BE EXCLUDED from National Schools ;
under the
and taught by parents and churches,
general
1. All subjects relating to the other world :
“Spiritual”
terms “Reli.
.e., the special “ Theology” of parents
Theo-
and sects.
gion” and
logical” “Religious.”
2. Universal Religion, as far as it bears
subjects.
on this special “ Theology.
-Edit.]
1 Westminster Review of July, 1852, p. 22.
or
CHAPTER III.
BY WHAT MACHINERY SHOULD NATIONAL EDUCATION UNDER
GOVERNMENT BE CARRIED ON?
GeorgeCombe's [To understand George Combe's position in regard to National
of NationalSec- Education, a brief statement of his action in regard to it is neces-
ular education.
sary. The various efforts at securing a broader National Education
have already been sketched in the Introduction, Part III., secs. 5
and 6, and in the history of the Secular Schools, p. 201.
The chief questions at issue in the educational controversy of the
time were—By what agencies should National Education be carried
on? and Should Theology be taught in National Schools? The
celebrated Minutes of the Committee of Council, issued in 1846,
gave aid to those schools only in which the Bible was taught, and
refused it to all others in which it was not taught, and were, there-
fore, based on sectarianism. As has been seen, George Combe
advocated a Secular system under Government control, and not
under churches or voluntary agencies; and, along with his party,
was therefore opposed equally to the then existing Government
scheme, and those proposed by the advocates of church and of volun-
He furnishes tary education. In 1841, after his return from America, he elabo-
the basis of the
rated the ideas on the conduct of education for which he had been
system. pleading from the first, and published his scheme for National
Education in this country, with details as to the requisite machinery,
based chiefly on the American and Prussian systems, in an able
article on
“ Education in America," in the Edinburgh Review for
July, 1841; and in papers in the Scotsman, in 1845, which
appeared, the same year, in pamphlet form, on “ National Educa-
tion and the Common Schools of Massachusetts.” These articles,
especially the former, became the basis of the great Lanca-
shire scheme, called “A Plan for the Establishment of a General
System of Secular Education," issued in 1847, which has already
been given in abstract, p. 238, and which is printed in full in the
Appendix. This began the great struggle in Parliament to obtain
a National System of education assisted and controlled by Govern-
ment, between the Sectarian and the Secular educationists, both
future National
The Struggle for National Education.
587
as
of their schemes being opposed by the Voluntary educationists; in
all which movements, George Combe was a prominent actor. The
struggle in England has already been briefly given, p. 237.
A similar struggle went on in Scotland. In 1850, an association The education-
of the leading dissenters was formed for promoting a scheme of al struggle in
National Education under Government, and a
" Manifesto" was
issued declaring their views, on account of which they were known
“The Manifesto Party.” George Combe and his friend, James
Simpson, “were excluded from participation in the project, as
dangerous persons." The former published his reasons against
this scheme, in a pamphlet distributed gratis. In 1851, the Secular
educationists prepared a Non-sectarian Bill for Scotland, which was
presented to Parliament by Lord Melgund, in June of that year,
George Combe having greatly helped his Lordship in the prepara-
tion of the Bill. The Bill was lost by the narrow majority of 13,
being 137 against 124. This defeat, which they hailed as a great
victory, only roused the Secular Education party to renewed and more
earnest efforts. The Glasgow Public School Association was formed
(see p. 224), and a series of meetings held, in 1851, all over the
country, in which George Combe took a most active part, in valuable
speeches, which have been quoted in this work. In 1852, he still
further assisted the cause by a very able article on Secular Educa-
tion,” in the July number of the Westminster Review, written at the
suggestion of his friend the editor, Dr Chapman, which gives an
admirably clear, full, and earnest résumé of the whole subject,
embodying his latest conclusions, which is given in this work, in
the present Part.
The Secular educationists continued their agitation in both Eng- The final suc-
land and Scotland, till their efforts were greatly crowned with success Secular party.
in the passing of the English Education Bill in 1870 and the Scotch
in 1872, in which most of the points for which they had so long and
so strenuously contended were embodied. For an account of these
struggles, see the Introduction, and p. 240; and, for fuller details,
George Combe's “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii., v. Index. -
Edit.]
cess of the
1. SCHEMES OF NATIONAL EDUCATION UNDER GOVERNMENT
OPPOSED BY GEORGE COMBE.
George Combe thus gives his opinion of the scheme of the
“ Manifesto” party of 1850 :-“Two schemes for accomplishing
588
The Machinery for National Education.
The scheme of National Education have been propoundeil.? One emanated a year
the “ Mani-
festo” party
ago from a number of highly respectable and influential individuals
in Scotland.
in this city, and proposed to divide Scotland into school districts, to
levy a rate for a school and a schoolmaster on each, and to leave to
the ratepayers the power of electing the teacher, and prescribing the
subjects to be taught, one of which, it was pretty plainly indicated,
should always be 'sound Religious instruction.' On the appearance
of this plan, I published objections against it, and subsequent experi-
ence has proved that they were well founded. It has made no pro-
Objections to gress. It virtually proposed to give the majority of ratepayers
this scheme.
power to introduce their own religion into the schools, and to tax
the minority for teaching it. Moreover, it would have placed the
schools chiefly under clerical control. The members of every church
and chapel act like a corporation. The clergyman issues his man-
date, and the office-bearers and congregation execute it. On the
word being given, the adherents of each sect would muster at the
meetings for the election of teachers and for other school business,
and try to carry their own candidates and measures. They would
convert the district into a theatre of theological war, in which the
most numerous sect would triumph, and your interests would be
liable to be trodden under foot if incompatible with theirs. The
defeated minority would be left with embittered feelings and no
redress, except that of withdrawing their children from such parts of
the education as they did not approve of, after having paid for the
whole." 2
These more
fully stated.
His reasons for opposing their scheme he thus states to Professor
1Iodgson >
1st, It does not suggest whence the funds are to come.
2nd, It speaks of a sound Religious education as a primary object
in National Schools. By these words, the clergy mean the Catechism
and Confession of Faith ; and the Liberals know that it is so: and
I object to this.
3rd, It proposes that the subjects to be taught in the school shall
be determined by a majority of the heads of families; which means
by the evangelical sects, moved by the clergy.
4th, If money is to come from the Exchequer, or to be raised by
i The above refers to the schemes of the "Manifesto” party, and of the
Secular Educationists, of the former of which he here speaks.
2 Speech in Edinburgh, in 1851, on National Education ; from the Scotsman.
Schemes Opposed by George Combe.
589
local taxation, it will be contributed partly by Roman Catholics,
Unitarians, Jews, and Deists; and yet the orthodox majority of
heads of families will set the convictions and rights of these parties
at nought in the management of the schools.
1
the scheme of
the Committee
George thus expresses his opinion of the Committee of Council
scheme, based on the Minutes of 1846 :-
Every motive of duty and interest, therefore, calls on the laity Education
should not be
and the legislature to disenthral education from the dominion of
sectarian.
sects, and to allow to God's Providence a fair field for working out its
beneficial ends. Disguise the fact as we will, the order of nature
-in other words, God's Secular Providence—is a power which, in
this world, shapes our destinies for weal or woe; while the peculiar
doctrines of sectarianism only exalt the consequence and power of
clerical teachers, and the few zealous laymen who constitute their
staff.
To vote money, therefore, as was done under the Minutes of Objections to
Council, cf August and December 1846, to every sect, to enable
it to educate its own members in its own Religious doctrines, is of Council.
actually to endow discord. It is deserting the shrine of reason
and of moral and religious principle, and bowing at that of
prejudice and bigotry. It is renouncing all reverence for God's
Providence, as revealed in the course of nature; for every one of the
sects, if it does not exclude, deny, and denounce the order of nature
as a source of practical instruction to the young, at least practically
treats it as a matter of small importance compared with its own
peculiar dogmas. To give them the public money to enable them to
pursue this course of instruction more effectually, is to encourage
them in placing their own wisdom high above that of the Creator.
Nor is this the worst feature of the case. To make the teaching of
God's order of Providence in nature as religious truth, if the Dogmas
are not taught along with it, an insurmountable objection to grant-
ing public aid to Secular schools, is actually treating the Divine
1 See “ Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 290.
2 George Combe said the Minutes should be called “Minutes of Council to
encourage sectarian religious teaching, and to perpetuate sectarian obstructions
and disputes with increasing bitterness to the last generation. See his “Life,”
by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 237.
3 The Secular Schools, though making frequent applications to Government,
were refused all aid by Grants, because the Bible was not taught. See p. 257.
590
The Machinery for National Education.
cation bad.
laws as dangerous, and, however unintentionally, with contumely;
yet this was the rule of the Committee of Council on Education.
Concurrent Truth alone can benefit a nation, and the doctrines of every sect
endowment of
Sectarian edu- cannot possibly be true. To give each of them public money, there-
fore, to teach its own tenets, is to endow equally truth and error.
It is tantamount, in Physics, to setting in motion antagonistic forces;
in cookery, to paying one man to pour wormwood, and another
sugar, into the cup of which the nation is to drink. By all means,
allow the men who prefer wormwood to fill their own bowl with it;
and those who prefer sugar to fill theirs with sugar; but let not the
Government, which superintends the cup out of which all must
drink, pay men with national money to destroy the contents of that
cup, and render them a potion which no human palate can endure.
To pay all sects, who are teaching solemn contradictions, implies an
utter disbelief in any intelligible order of God's providence on earth.
It deliberately supersedes the teaching of it, and plants conflicting
Catechisms, Liturgies, and Confessions, in its place. If the heads of
the Government cannot discern in science an exposition of the order
of nature, or, in other words, of the course of God's Providence on
earth, they may, at least, so far defer to Divine Wisdom and Intelli-
gence as to believe that God's Providence, however dark, must be
self-consistent, and that it does not promise to prosper contradic-
tions !
The scheme
advocated
stated.
2. THE GOVERNMENT SYSTEM ADVOCATED BY GEORGE COMBE.
In my opinion, the true plan for educating the people is that
which is universally known as that of the National Public School
Association for England and Wales, whose head-quarters is Man-
chester. It proposes to separate Religious from Secular instruction;
to leave the former to parents and pastors, and to import the latter
in schools supported by local rates, and managed by local committees
of ratepayers; the schools to be open to, but not controlled by
Government inspectors ; and every form of sectarian Theology to be
rigidly excluded.
1 Science and Religion, pp. 273-4.
2 Westminster Review for July 1852, p. 22. See an outline of the plan (which
was based, as already said, on George Conibe's article in the Edinburgh Review
of July 1841), and a history of the steps taken to promote it, p. 237 et seq.
The full text will be found in the Appendix, as worthy of preservation, on
account of the influence it had on recent legislation on education, and the part,
George Combe played in regard to it.
The demands of the Secular Educationists, as to the relation of the National
The Scheme Advocated by George Combe. 591
Public School
Association.
In the different meetings held in favour of National Secular Edu-The National
cation in Scotland in 1851, George Combe submitted a resolution
similar to the following:
That the meeting approve of the basis of the Association for
National Public School Education in England and Wales, expressed
in the following words :-“This Association is formed to promote
the establishment, by law, in England and Wales, of a system of
Free Schools?—which, supported by local rates, and managed by
local committees, specially elected for that purpose by the ratepayers,
shall impart Secular instruction only, leaving to parents, guardians,
Schools to Theology and the Churches, are thus well summarised by James Summary of
Simpson, George Combe's friend, in a series of propositions submitted by him views of the
Secular educa-
at the numerous meetings held, in 1851, in favour of Secular Education, at
tionists as to
which both spoke. “The conditions which have always appeared to me to be Theology and
essential to a just system of National Education, practicable with a population National edu-
cation.
divided into a great number of religious denominations, are the following:
1st. That education shall embrace both Secular and Religious instruction. 2d.
That that department of Religious instruction which inculcates the creeds or
confessions of special Theologies, shall not be given in the Secular school; so
that the Secular school, imparting natural knowledge only, may be open to all,
irrespective of their religious persuasions. 3d. That the Secular teacher shall
not give special Theological instruction, but confine himself to the duty of im-
planting Religious feeling in the minds of his pupils, by the demonstration of
the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as manifested in His natural institu-
tions—in other words, Universal Theology. 4th. That the Secular teacher shall
not be subjected to any special Theological test whatever. 5th. That no de-
nomination or sect professing a special Theology shall control or interfere with
the instruction given in the Secular school. 6th. That the State shall not
interfere with the right of any sect to impart their own specific Theology to the
young of their own persuasion ; but shall provide Secular education only for
the whole people. 7th. That the parent shall not be controlled in choosing
the special Theological instruction which his child shall receive, and the pastor
who shall give it. 8th. That, as a logical sequence to the foregoing conditions,
the Holy Scriptures shall not be a Secular school-book, or, in any of its versions,
be read in that school; but shall be committed, as their guide in instructing
the
young, to the parent and pastor alone. Lastly, That it is the paramount
duty and high privilege of the clergy, the most numerous body of teachers in
the country, to undertake the instruction of the young in the special Theology
of their own persuasion.”
1 The principle involved in the question of Free Education has been much
debated on both sides. To universal Free Education, supported by rates, the
frequent objection, that it is pauperising, is a fallacy, because the education
given is altogether paid for by the people. In favour of Free Education, see
the able work on "The Free School system of the United States," by Francis
Adams, Secretary of the National Education League (London, Chapman and
Hall, 1875), the fullest exposition of the subject yet written; and, on
592
The Machinery for National Education.
and religious teachers, the inculcation of doctrinal religion, to afford
opportunities for which, the schools shall be closed at stated times
in each week.” 1
GeorgeCombe's Sometimes, after explaining the purpose and proceedings of the
scheme more
Association, George Combe expressed the aim of the agitation more
fully ex-
plained. succinctly thus :-
I conclude by expressing an earnest hope, that you will second
its efforts by petitions to Parliament, and every other constitutional
means in our power, till you obtain an act for Free Unsectarian
Secu)ar Education, under the control of the ratepayers.?
George Combe thus explains his views of a National System to
Mr Cobden, M.P. :-
The scheme which I desire to see recommended to Parliament
and the people is one which should simply form the inhabitants of
a social district into a corporation, with power to tax themselves to
erect and maintain a school, for instruction in the conditions of
Social Well-being. I should have no objection to add power to raise
a rate for Religious teaching, provided that no man would be bound
to pay it who did not approve of the religion taught by means of it.
It would secure This simple machinery should, in time, change the character of our
the highest in schools. In the first place, the highest lay intelligence could act
telligence for
education; with effect in the system to be pursued in the school, by appearing
on the platform and advocating his own views, which he would
have a right, as being subject to the tax, to do; whereas, at present,
this intelligence is sedulously excluded from influence over the
schools of a Religious origin. Were we all taxed to support schools,
we could urge our views in a way which we cannot do as mere
And enable the voluntary subscribers. Moreover, and in the second place, the Act
Religious to do
more justice to
of Parliament which limited the instruction to the conditions of
Secular educa- temporal, individual, and social well-being, would give a different
direction to the thoughts and aims of the Religious men. Their
the other side, Dr Rigg's “National Education," chap. v. (London, Strahan
& Co., 1873). Dr kigg is replied to by Mr Adams, in the above work,
Appendix A.
1 From speech at the Edinburgh meeting, in 1851 ; from the Scotsman.
2 Speech at Paisley, in 1851, on National Education, from the North British
Daily Mail.
3 Of course, George Combe includes, in the above phrase, all the usual Instru-
mental subjects of instruction, along with the others he so earnestly advocated
as necessary to a good and sound education.
tion.
The Scheme Advocated by George Combe.
593
churches and chapels being banished to the separate schools, they
would exert their understandings to render the Secular instruction
really efficient for its end. In a brief space of time, comparatively,
they would, by the sheer necessity of their position, be forced
to study the real merits of Secular instruction, and having discovered
these, they would act on them.
This takes place in America. Men like Horace Mann, Dr Howe, The effects of
and Henry Barnard,' have an influence there which no individual the system in
America.
can wield in this country, unless avowedly sectarian, and then he
can act only on his own sect, and under the trammels of his
creed. The general ignorance of the natural conditions of Well-
being, which still prevails in the United States, is the cause why in-
struction in this knowledge is not, to a large extent, introduced into
their schools; but their laws leave the doors open for the entrance
of a higher state of knowledge, and give the professors of it a legiti-
mate right to urge its introduction, which is wholly wanting here.
You, my respected friend, in Parliament, stand in the position Its certain
which Horace Mann does in America. You have a right to lay bare effects in this
country.
the nakedness of the existing schools, and to urge Parliament and
the nation to introduce a better system. Fulfil this mission, and I
am satisfied. Leave it to the people who pay, to teach what they
please, limiting the instruction in the Secular school to the conditions
of temporal Well-being, and you cannot fail. Whatever principles
tend to that end will, sooner or later, find their way into the schools,
and all the sooner that there will be no rival objects to exclude them.
One word more: You say that you « would not prefer mixing When Theo-
Secular and Religious teaching, but would not set out with prohibiting ing could be
such a union where it was desired by others.” Neither should I, if I given in Na-
saw any possibility, in a National scheme, of avoiding injustice and tional schools.
oppression of the minority in such cases. Whenever a school district
is absolutely unanimous in its desire to mix them, as in your parish,
by all means let this be done ; only let the legislature provide that,
Regarding Dr Howe, see p. 122 ; and Kiddle and Schem's “Cyclopædia of
Education.” Henry Barnard, like Horace Mann, has been one of the most
eminent educationists of the United States, and, indeed, of the world, devoting
his great abilities to broaden and advance it, by unceasing labours, travels,
and writings. He is the author of numerous excellent works on the subject,
especially “School Architecture,” “National Education in Europe," and
“ Educational Biography.” He has done more than any other to introduce the
educational ideas of Germany into English speaking countries, by translations
of the chief works. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and still lives
(1878). · See the above Cyclopædia regarding him.
:
1
2 P
594
The Machinery for National Education.
even in this case, the Government Inspectors shall have a right to
see that the Secular instruction is not a sham, and also that, if there
be dissenters, they shall not be taxed to support a religion of which
they disapprove.
1
The need of In his lecture on the Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences
teaching the
conditions of
and the Catechism, George Combe makes the following appeal
Well-being regarding the education required for National Schools :-
in National
schools,
I ask you, whether you are disposed to decide that, in future,
our country, renowned for practical sense as well as for earnest
religious fervour, shall remain the byword and laughing stock of
Europe and America, as the most pious and most drunken nation in
the world; or whether, while we cling to our Religion, we shall not
also teach in our schools, and practise in our lives, that knowledge
of God's Natural Laws without obedience to which Religion, as to its
effects on this world's well-being, is but a sounding brass and a tink-
ling cymbal ? In the name of that God whom we adore and who
assuredly created heaven and earth, and who rules on earth through
the instrumentality of his works, let us try whether a knowledge of
these laws will not exercise some little influence on the youthful
mind, in relation to the world's affairs, and help, in however limited
a degree, to stem that downward tendency of our people to vice and
destitution, which we all so sincerely deplore.
Our duty to If we participate in any degree in these views, a solemn duty
the country in remains on each of us,-viz., to disseminate them, and to act on
them. Let us petition Parliament again and again, till our voices
are heard, for a scheme of National Secular Education, that shall,
in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, convey to every
child, free of cost, a knowledge of the works of creation and their
adaptations to the human mind and body ; leaving, to parents and
pastors and other religious instructors, the duty of teaching that
way of salvation which the conscience of each approves of and
prefers, so that the rising generation may be saved equally from
physical, social, and spiritual degradation,
view of this.
2
1 Letter to Richard Cobden, M.P. ; see George Combe's “Life,” by Charles
Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 317. Mr Cobden was one of the most earnest advocates and
movers in the Secular Education party, and was on intimate terms with George
Combe. See p. 237 of the present work, for his part in the Manchester move-
ment; and George Combe's “Life” (Index) for his relations with George
Combe.
2 Lecture on “The Comparative Influence of the Natural Sciences and the
The Scheme Advocated by George Combe.
595
In advocating a Non-sectarian system of National Education, I The machiner
of the Ameri.
do not propose to deliver over scholars and teachers to Government
can systen.
officers, with power to mould their minds into whatever forms our
rulers may prefer, as some advocates of Sectarian instruction pretend.
The United States of America have set us a bright example in this
enterprise. They have divided their country into convenient spaces,
and designated them as School-districts. The existing law of Mas-
sachusetts (Revised Statutes, 1835, title x., chap. 23), ordains, that
districts containing fifty families shall maintain one school, districts
containing one hundred and fifty families shall provide two schools,
and so forth,—“in which children shall be instructed in reading,
writing, geography, arithmetic, and good behaviour, by teachers of
competent ability and good morals." Larger districts, again, are
required to maintain a school, "in which the history of the United
States, book-keeping, surveying, geometry, and algebra, shall be
taught." And, if the locality shall contain four thousand inhabi-
tants, the teacher shall, “in addition to all the branches above
enumerated, be competent to instruct in the Latin and Greek lan-
guages, general history, rhetoric, and logic.” The law requires the
inhabitants to raise money by taxing themselves for supporting
these schools, and ordains them to appoint committees annually for
managing them.
1
George Combe thus describes the machinery for imparting "Theo- Arrangements
for giving
logical” instruction in Massachusetts, which he wished adopted in
Theological
this country :
instruction,
For the purpose of allowing time for Religious instruction, the
Wednesdays and Saturdays are generally made half-holidays in the
Common schools of New England. On the afternoons of those days,
,
accordingly, the clergyman of each sect collects the children of his own
congregation, from whatever school they may be attending, into a
schoolroom, which in most instances forms the basement storey of
his church, and there communicates Religious instruction to them in
his own tenets. Again on Sundays, before sermon, between sermons,
or after the afternoon service, the children are collected in the same
Shorter Catechism on the Civilization of Scotland," delivered, in Edinburgh,
on 25th November, 1851.
1 Science and Religion, p. 276. Farther details concerning the machinery by
which the schools are managed, and the taxes levied, in Massachusetts, will be
found in an article in the Edinburgh Review for July 1841, under the title of “Edu-
cation in America” (G. C.); also in Part Fifth, chap. iv., of the present work,
596
The Machinery for National Education.
Arrangements schoolroom, and the same instruction is continued. The attendance
for Theological at these Religious schools was, generally speaking, very large, so
much so as often to attract my especial notice, on account of the
numbers of children whom I used to see streaming from the school-
rooms at the hours of dismissal. And, moreover, the Religious
instruction was very efficient, much more so than that which in
Scotland is communicated in most of the lay schools. In the
American Religious schools the clergyman was the head instructor,
and, in his pupils, he saw before him the future members of his con-
gregation, on whose zeal, intelligence, and attachment his own bread,
reputation, and influence would, in a few years, depend. These con-
siderations, with his deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the young
generation, gave to his instruction a degree of liveliness, earnestness,
and energy which are rarely seen in the Religious teaching of the
lay schools of this country.
1
When compul-
Government has a right even to compel its subjects to receive
sion is neces-
such Secular instruction as is necessary to qualify them for the
sary in a Na-
tional system. discharge of their social duties; but I am satisfied that no compul-
sion would be necessary, and I do not advocate it, till all means of
moral persuasion and voluntary influence have been tried and failed.
Entertaining, as I do, the fullest confidence in the might and efficacy
of moral means, when honestly and judiciously applied, I am no
advocate for the use of physical force to accomplish a moral end.
But, as the right and the duty of the State at all to interfere in
education have been contested by men whose opinions are entitled
to great respect, I have considered it proper to grapple with the
objection, and sift it to the bottom, to the best of my ability.”
1 Letter to the Scotsinan, quoted by Mr P. Rylands, in a paper “On the
facilities for the Religious education of the People which might be afforded in
connexion with the Plan of the Lancashire Public School Association;" one of a
volume of excellent essays by good hands, traversing the whole subject of
controversy, issued by the above Association, in 1850, called “National Educa-
tion, not necessarily Governmental, Sectarian, or Irreligious,” well worth
perusal (London : C. Gilpin ; Manchester : Simms & Dinham).
2 National Education, p. 35.—The principle of Compulsion was recognised
in the English Education Act of 1870, according to which School Boards,
though not universally instituted, might be established by a majority of the
ratepayers, and compulsion was optional ; in the Supplementary Act of 1878
compulsion is made universal. In the Scotch Education Act of 1872, School
Boards and compulsion were made universal ; and compulsion is made more
stringent in the Supplementary Act of 1878. See a very good résumé of
the history of Compulsion in different countries, in Kiddle and Schem's
“Cyclopædia of Education,” s.v. Compulsory Education.
CHAPTER IV.
EXAMPLES, IN OTHER COUNTRIES, OF NATIONAL UNSECTARIAN
EDUCATION UNDER GOVERNMENT.
1. THE HISTORY OF THE STRUGGLE REGARDING SECULAR EDUCATION
IN IRELAND.
Sectarian
An instructive example of the practical results of teaching Religious The period of
doctrines irrespective of Natural Science and its applications is
teaching in
afforded by Ireland ; and I shall exhibit a brief outline of the schools :
history of her educational efforts and their effects.
The Church of England long wielded the legislative powers of Protestantism
Ireland, through the medium of the Irish Parliament, which was only taught.
composed of Protestants alone, Roman Catholics being rigidly
excluded. These legislators apparently embraced literally, and
practically acted upon, the Church's views of the nature of man,
and held that there could be no beneficial education except that
which was based upon Religious truth, -and, moreover, that their
own church was the sole depository of that truth. They regarded
the Roman Catholic faith as fundamentally erroneous, and therefore
incapable of affording a sound basis for Secular instruction. Under
these convictions, the Government of Ireland, " for nearly the whole
of the last century, laboured to promote Protestant education, and
tolerated no other. Large grants of public money were voted for
having children educated in the Protestant faith, while it was made
a transportable offence in a Roman Catholic (and if the party re-
turned, high treason) to act as a schoolmaster, or assistant to a
schoolmaster, or even as a tutor in a private family. The Acts
passed for this purpose continued in force from 1709 to 1782.
They were then repealed; but Parliament continued to vote money
for the support only of schools conducted on principles which were
regarded, by the great body of the Roman Catholics, as exclusively
Protestant, until the present system (the Irish National School
system) was established in 1832." 2
1 See 8th Anne, c. 3, and 9th William III., c. 1.-(G. C.)
2 See Letter from Lord Stanley to the Duke of Leinster, on the original
formation of the National Board; dated London, October 1831.--(G. C.)
598 National State Education in Other Countries.
The fundamen- These words are quoted from the Sixth Report of the Commis-
tal error of the sioners of National Education in Ireland, § 10, p. 135, and are
systen.
deeply instructive. It was a fundamental error, in the Protestant
Irish Parliament, to entertain the view of human nature which lies
at the bottom of these enactments. Man does not possess a single
power which is essentially and " of its own nature inclined to evil,”
as the Church teaches us. On the contrary, there is a legitimate
sphere of action for every function of the body and every faculty of
the mind; and it is only the abuses of these, through ignorance and
unfavourable influences, that constitute error and crime, and lead to
misery. There was in man, therefore, from the first, and there is
now in him, a capacity for education, by the development and right
direction of his natural gifts; and both his own constitution and
that of the external world are arranged with reference to that
development, to render him prosperous and happy in proportion as
he pursues it in a right direction, or miserable if he neglects it or
pursues it in a wrong way. Apparently the Protestant Government
of Ireland, being disbelievers in these institutions of Divine Provi-
dence, and sincerely convinced that the Protestant religious faith
afforded the only basis for a sound education, placed the before-
recited enactments on the statute-book; and the consequences are
now before us. The diffusion of the Roman Catholic faith in
Ireland has not been checked; because, Sectarian education being in
its own nature separable from Secular, the priests of that religion
continued to instruct their flocks in their own doctrinal tenets, and
have reared nearly seven millions of human beings' devoted to them
in soul and body, and ready to sacrifice everything that is dear to
humanity, including life itself, in their defence.
Its personal But these statutes effectually prevented the instruction of the
Irish people in the great laws of Providence on which social order
and temporal prosperity depend : They prohibited the cultivation of
their Intellectual powers, and the development of their Moral Senti-
ments, on which hang the security of person and property, public
tranquillity, and many of the enjoyments and amenities of private
life. All this, I say, was deliberately and systematically prevented
by Parliament; and we now see a sincerely devotional people (for
and social
effects.
1 The above refers to the statistics of 1841, when the population was
8,175,124. Between 1841 and 1851, the population decreased, chiefly through
emigration, nearly 20 per cent. ; between 1851 and 1861, 11} per cent. ;
between 1861 and 1871, nearly 7 per cent. In 1871, the population was
5,412,377; and the number of Roman Catholics, 4,141,933.
National Education in Ireland.
599
these ex-
2
no candid observer can doubt that the Irish Roman Catholic
peasantry are sincerely and deeply devotional) deplorably deficient
in mental energy and industry, sunk in the lowest depths of help-
less poverty, and—under the sufferings engendered by want-
turbulent and murderous, false in covenants, untrue as witnesses,
and wild and impulsive in revengeful action. Truly, when viewed
in this light, they do seem to realise the orthodox description of
human nature; but this is only the dark side of their character.
In more favourable circumstances, they are kindly, cheerful, affec-
tionate, and respectful to superiors, showing that they still possess
the higher feelings of our nature; but how far may not their fearful
aberrations and deficiencies have been aggravated by the imperfec-
tions of their training and education ?? Their qualities as a race may
present obstacles to their improvement; but this affords no apology
for having denied them, for so many generations, the means of
Secular education, except at the price of their Religious faith.
By prohibiting the use of the natural means for drawing forth the The causes of
human powers in the sphere of virtue, the law has allowed them to
plained.
luxuriate in that of vice; and, in the present condition of Ireland,
we read the consequences attached by the Author of nature to the
neglect and infringement of His laws. We see the beau-ideal of the
results of dogmatic teaching, when Secular instruction is dissevered
from it. In England and Scotland, a higher natural endowment of
mind in the people, and more favourable circumstances, have led to
the infusion of a certain amount of Secular instruction into the
schools for Religious teaching ; but among the Irish peasantry, for
many generations, the priest alone was the instructor. Secular
knowledge cultivates habits of correct observation of things which
exist, of just appreciation of the effects of their qualities and modes
of action, and of forethought and consideration regarding the adap-
tation of our conduct to their influences. Purely doctrinal teaching
-that is, the cultivation of Wonder, Cautiousness, Hope, and
Veneration, as the leading emotions--fills the mind with fearful or
sublime contemplations and aspirations, having their issues chiefly
in eternity; and, as these doctrines appeal to faith more than to
reason, they do not cultivate habits of exact observation and reflec-
tion on this world's constitution and laws. They do not necessarily
direct the attention of the mind to the proper arrangement and
George Combe speaks from personal knowledge and study of Ireland, in
which he was greatly interested. See his “ Life,” by Charles Gibbon (Index).
2 This refers to 1848, when the above was written.
1
600 National State Education in Other Countries.
results on the
condition of
Ireland.
sionon National
administration of Secular affairs in conformity with the laws by
which they are governed, but divert it away from them, and con-
centrate it beyond them, in regions of eternal misery, or of glory and
bliss.
Their necessary Ireland has been taught according to these principles, and her
people are imbued with them. Yet, because this world is an
existing reality, instituted and governed by God according to laws
adapted by Him to its present condition; and because man has been
fashioned by Him in relation to it, and required by his constitution
to act in intelligent accordance with its qualities and agencies; and
because much of this department of Divine teaching has been
neglected in the education of the people of Ireland : they present
the spectacle of poverty and ignorance, and of crime and misery,
which now appals the world. Again, therefore, I venture to repeat,
that an important use of the Religious Sentiments is to lead men to
study, venerate, and obey, God's Secular institutions ; and, after they
have done their duty in this department, they may be legitimately
employed in expatiating in the fields of eternity.
The Commis- In 1832, as already mentioned, the British Government, moved,
Education
not by Religious teachers of any sect, but by its own Secular percep-
appointed. tions, instituted the existing Commission for aiding in a National
education of Ireland on different principles. Lord Stanley, then
Secretary for Ireland, in his letter to the Duke of Leinster before
referred to, says "The Commissioners, in 1812, recommended the
appointment of a Board to superintend a system of education, from
which should be banished even the suspicion of proselytism, and
which, admitting children of all religious persuasions, should not
interfere with the religious tenets of any. The Government of the
day imagined that they had found a superintending body, acting
under a system such as was recommended, and entrusted the distri.
bution of the national grants to the care of the Kildare Place
Society. His Majesty's present Government are of opinion, that no
private society, deriving a part, however small, of their annual
1 See this idea developed more fully, p. 149, et seq.
2 The Commissioners of National Education in Ireland.
3 This was an educational society founded, in Dublin, in 1811, “ to assist
schools with grants, establish model schools, publish useful books, supply
school requisites at cost prices, keep an annual inspection, and encourage
masters by gratuities.” It was utilised by Government for distributing grants
to schools, the first grant, of £6980, being made in 1814. It accomplished much
good. See Godkin’s “ Education in Ireland,” chap. v. (London : Saunders,
Otley, & Co.)
GENERAL EUR
KICHIGAN
National Education in Ireland.
601
comment re-
each school.
income from private sources, and only made the channel of the
munificence of the Legislature, without being subject to any direct
responsibility, could adequately and satisfactorily accomplish the
end proposed."
He proceeds to mention, that this Society, with the purest Scripture read-
ing without
motives, enforced “ the reading of the Holy Scriptures, without note
or comment, in all their schools;" and that their efforts to teach the quired.
Roman Catholic population proved abortive, because this Church
denies, "even to adults, the right of unaided private interpretation
of the sacred volume with respect to articles of religious belief."
The Roman Catholic clergy "exerted themselves with energy and
success” against the system, “The Commissioners of Education,
in 1824–5, sensible of the defects of the system, recommended the
appointment of two teachers in every school, one Protestant and the A Protestant
other Roman Catholic, to snperintend separately the Religious and a Roman
education of the children ;” “but it was soon found that these teacher for
schemes were impracticable," and, in 1828, a Committee of the
House of Commons “ recommended a system to be adopted, which
should afford, if possible, a combined Literary, and a separate
Religious education, and should be capable of being so far adapted
to the views of the religious persuasions which prevail in Ireland as
to render it, in truth, a system of National education for the poorer
classes of the community.”
Accordingly, Commissioners were appointed, “composed of men A new Com-
of high personal character, including individuals of exalted station mission nomi-
in the Church,” and “ of persons professing different religious
opinions ;” and Parliament placed funds at their disposal, to exe-
cute this beneficent object. The Commissioners proceeded to
their task in a pure, upright, and enlightened spirit; and their
first regulation is, that “the ordinary school business, during
which all the children, of whatever denomination they be, are
required to attend, and which is expected to embrace a competent
number of hours in each day, is to consist exclusively of instruction Combined
in those branches of knowledge which belong to Literary and Moral Secular and
separate Reli-
education. Such extracts from the Scriptures as are prepared under gious teaching
instituted.
the sanction of the Board may be used, and are earnestly recom-
mended by the Board to be used, during those hours alloted to this
ordinary school business.” The second regulation is, that “one
day in each week (independently of Sunday) is to be set apart for
Religious instruction of the children; on which day, such pastors or
other persons as are approved of by the parents or guardians of the
nated.
602 National State Education in Other Countries.
on sound
children, shall have access to them for that purpose, whether these
pastors shall have signed the original application (placing the
school under the Commissioners) or not.” There are still other
liberal and judicious regulations for increasing the facilities for
separate Religious instruction, which I need not quote.
The scheme Tried by the principles which I have now laid down, these pro-
was founded
ceedings were essentially sound. That is to say, there is a vast
principles. field of knowledge, physical, moral, religious, and intellectual,
relating to this world and its administration, which is independent
of all notions concerning the best means of securing happiness in a
future state ; and which Jew, Christian, and Pagan must equally
study, and on which they must equally practise, before they can
secure to themselves prosperity on earth : and, as the functions of
Government are limited to the present world, this field is the only
one over which it can legitimately exercise any control. These
principles were essentially recognised and acted on by the Legis-
lature, when it appointed the Irish Board of Education.
These prin-
They did not, indeed, profess to take up this position; but they
ciples ex-
plained. approached as near to it as circumstances would permit. The.
nation consisted of the sects A, B, C, and D, each of which was
deeply impressed with the importance of Religious instruction, and
also of Secular education, to the young : but A held certain opinions
on points of faith which B, C, and Drejected; B held some
opinions, the soundness of which A, C, and D disputed ; and so
with C and D, each of which had its peculiar views,— belief in
which it made an indispensable condition of admission to its
schools. The consequence of these differences was, that educational
effort was paralysed, and schools either did not exist, or were
comparatively empty. The British Parliament solved the diffi-
culty, by leaving all sects and individuals to manage their own
schools, and teach their own children in Secular and Religious
knowledge, in their own way; but it proffered a helping hand, in
the form of pecuniary aid, to such of them as were willing to open
and conduct schools on the principles, Secular and Religious, in which
The character ull were agreed. This agreement was secured by placing the schools
under Commissioners chosen from different sects, each of whom had
a veto on teaching any doctrine of which he did not approve.
These Commissioners were able, liberal, and enlightened men, and
speedily discovered a vast field of solid information, both Secular
and Religious, respecting the truth and utility of which they were
unanimous; and they followed out the instructions of Parliament by
and action of
the Commis-
sion.
National Education in Ireland.
603
1
teaching this to the people. Their books embrace the elements of
Literature, Science, Morals, and Religion, the latter generally ex-
pressed in Scripture language ; but they contain few sectarian
doctrines.
What reception did this wise measure meet with from the Church The opposition
of England, and many other religious sects? It was decried as made to the
“infidel and godless,” misrepresented, abused, and opposed, in the
most unscrupulous and unmeasured terms. In the name of the
religion of truth, the grossest misrepresentation was resorted to, in
order to excite the public indignation against it. But the excellent
sense, truly Christian spirit, and calm temper of the Commissioners,
with the Archbishop of Dublin and the Roman Catholic Archbishop,
Dr Murray, at their head, meekly sustained and triumphed over
every hostile attack; they persevered in their wise and virtuous
measures prescribed by Parliament, and their success has been
correspondingly great.
Let us, then, briefly re-survey the history of education in the A résumé of
sister kingdom. The Irish Government first left the Roman
the history of
Catholic population of that country for nearly a century to the tion.
influence of Religious teaching alone, prohibiting, under the severest
penalties, Secular instruction from being given to them, by the only
class of persons from whom they would receive it. Secondly, it
tried to connect Secular instruction with reading of the Protestant
version of the Scriptures, as an indispensable condition; and its
efforts on these two principles egregiously failed. Thirdly, the
British and American Legislatures have established schools, sup-
ported and controlled by the State, for communicating Secular and
Religious instruction, exclusive of all peculiarities of sectarian faith;
and, in spite of violent and powerful opposition, they have been
successful. According to my reading of the order of creation, the
failure of the sectarian, and the success of the universal system,
afford instructive practical lessons to the statesmen; for beneficial
results are at once the evidence and the reward of the soundness of
the principles by which they are attained.?
Irish educa-
1
When Mr Buxton, in a recent discussion in the House of
Commons, made the unwilling admission that the Irish system of
Among their books, is an excellent little work on the “Evidences” of
Christianity, which has obtained the approbation of all the Commissioners.
--(G. C.)
National Education, pr. 28–35.
3 In July, 1858.
604 National State Education in Other Countries.
The pressure of National Education has been “a splendid success in its main end of
the churches
conveying a first-rate education to a great multitude of the poorest
against the
system. children," he admitted a great deal ; but, when he added that "in
its secondary aim of bringing up the Protestant and Catholic children
under the same roof, it has been an utter failure,” he made an accusa-
tion which is not only very serious, but is not quite unfounded.
Although, as we are about to show, matters are not so bad as
Mr Buxton and his party represent, and though their object is to
make them worse ; there is no doubt that the pressure of contending
Churches in Ireland has led the administrators of the system to
make concessions which not only materially infringe the principle
on which it was founded, but, instead of conciliating, seem to have
given new strength and materials to the agitators who would render
the system entirely and rigidly sectarian.
The two classes There are two classes of National Schools. The one are called
of Irish Na-
tional schools.
“ Vested Schools," and the other “ Non-vested Schools.” The “vested
schools"
are those which are invested in the Commissioners, or
were vested, previous to the incorporation of the Board, in trustees,
for the purpose of being maintained permanently as National schools.
Before any grant is made towards building a “vested” school-house,
at least one-third of the whole sum which the Commissioners deem
necessary for the erection of the house, providing furniture, &c.,
must be raised by local contributions, and the lease of the school-
house must be executed in favour of the Commissioners in their
corporate capacity. They keep such school-houses and furniture in
repair. “Non-vested” schools are those which have been built
entirely at the expense of private individuals. Although held by
trustees for the purposes of National education, the trustees inust
keep the house, furniture, &c., in repair.
How these are
Both of those classes of schools are under the control of local
managed.
patrons or managers, who have the right of appointing the teachers,
subject to the approval of the Board, and of removing them of their
own authority. These local patrons or managers must observe the
rules established by the Board, who appoint “Inspectors" to visit
all the schools, at least three times in each year, and to report to
them on the management and condition of the schools. When the
rules of the Board have been complied with, certain sums are paid
to the teachers as salaries, and such further remuneration as the
Commissioners consider necessary for the teachers must be raised by
subscription or by school-fees. Books, &c., are supplied, at reduced
prices to both classes of schools.
National Education in Ireland.
605
non
In the autumn of 1857, the number of National Schools was
3350, of which 1669 were “vested,” and 3681 “non-vested.” 1
One distinction between "vested” and “non-vested” schools is The rule as to
this :-As the “vested” have been established chiefly at the cost of Religious in-
struction.
the State and community, the Board requires that persons of every
religious denomination attending them shall have a right to receive,
within the schoolrooms, at times set apart for the purpose, such Re-
ligious instruction as their parents may provide for them. In “
vested" schools, which have been built by private funds, the local
managers may refuse this right, if they please, to persons of a
different persuasion from themselves.
It will be observed that the sole point at issue here, is the right
of private persons who have built schools entirely at their own ex-
pense, and have had the property of them vested in themselves, to
deny the use of them as places for giving Religious instruction to the
children of persons who dissent from their views of religious truth.
In all these schools, the Secular instruction is kept entirely distinct The Secular
from the Religious instruction of a denominational kind, including, distinct from
in this term, the reading of the Bible. Throughout the 3350 schools the Religious.
in all parts of Ireland—and whether the school is attended by both
Protestants and Catholics, or by Protestants or Catholics exclusively
--sound Secular instruction is given for four hours every day. Not
a book must be used, or a word spoken, during these four hours, by
pupils, teachers, or patrons, which can give pain either to the re-
ligious or political feelings of any person of any denomination. The
rules of the Board contain ample provisions for protecting the rights
of conscience, and these extend equally to "non-vested” and to
66 vested” schools. The patron of a non-vested” school cannot
force any child attending it to read the Bible or learn the Catechism
of his own Church, during the four hours authorised for Secular
teaching. The education given in both classes of schools is equally
good, and equally free from all interference with religious liberty.
These are the unquestionable facts regarding the constitution of The effects of
the system on
the Irish System of National Education, and every candid person the people.
may judge of its probable effect on the people. No doubt, a large
portion of the schools are not attended by pupils of both denomina-
tions. In three-fourths of Ireland, where the poor are almost ex-
clusively Roman Catholic, such mixture is impossible. Where the
Protestant poor are numerous, and the Catholics also are numerous,
1 The number in 1875 was 7267 National Schools; that is, of “Vested
Schools,” 2105; of “Non-vested,” 5162.
66
606 National State Education in Other Countries.
cation of the
no force, no wisdom, no liberality could induce the clergy, or even
the parents, to abandon, all at once or in a few years, the practice
of having separate schools conducted by the clergy of their own
persuasion; and hence, in many instances, each sect builds its
own “non-vested” schools, and gives its own Religious instruc-
tion in them, at hours separate from the four hours of Secular
teaching
The joint edu- But the education of different sects in one school is increasing
sects increases. every day; and although the justest rules will not render it universal
in a year, or in twenty years, yet a really just system, accompanied
by a really superior kind of teaching, will, in the end, prevail, because
it is the natural way to reach co-operation. Let the rules and practices
be sectarian and unjust, and endless discord will be the inevitable,
because the natural, consequence of such arrangements. Under a
just system, let there be two schools of different denominations in
a parish, with a dunce as a teacher in the one, and a man of talent
in the other, and let liberty of conscience be enforced, then children
of both persuasions will, in the end, be found in that school which
is best conducted.
The system It is obvious that nothing is more easy than to misrepresent this
Fasily mis-
system of National Education. All the schools are called “National
Schools;" let an uncandid Protestant reporter, then, suppress all
mention of the distinction between 6 vested” and “non-vested"
schools, and he may proclaim that he found “National Schools”
in which only the Roman Catholic religion was taught, and that this
was done openly and unblushingly in the schoolrooms. Farther, by
carefully omitting to mention the fact that he found other “National
Schools” in which the Protestant religion, and no other faith, was
communicated in the school-rooms, he might, without becoming
chargeable with direct falsehood, convey the impression that the
National system was grossly abused in favour of the Roman
Catholics. But it is obvious that an untruthful Roman Catholic
reporter might, with equal justice, make a similar complaint that
the Board is teaching only pure Protestantism in “National Schools.”
It will be understood that the end to which recent efforts in
Parliament have been directed is, not to discourage the system of
“non-vested” schools, but to give to that portion of the system a more
rigid sectarianism. The object is to abrogate that rule of the Board
which, in “non-vested” schools, keeps the Secular distinct from the
Theological instruction, and forbids the forcing of Roman Catholic
Theology on Protestant children, and vice versa. There is only one
represented.
Efforts to in-
crease "non-
vested' schools.
State Education in Massachusetts.
607
apology for this audacious demand—owing to the “non-vested” They should be
discouraged.
system making over the majority of the schools to the management
of particular Churches, and the separation of the great majority of
the children being consequently an accomplished fact already, a com-
plete change in the direction would not make matters much worse.
But, though this may be an apology, it is not an argument; and it
is to be hoped that the Commissioners will look upon the whole
non-vested” system as a provisional expedient, perhaps necessitated
by present circumstances, but to be gradually liberalised and finally
removed, not tightened and perpetuated.
66
1
2. THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES.
(1.) History of the State Schools of Massachusetts.
Similar principles have obtained similar success in the United The general
States of North America. Although that country is characterised the American
by a great variety of zealous religious sects, yet it has established system.
State schools, supported by public taxation, and superintended by
State-appointed Boards of Education selected from all sects. In these
the elements of Secular knowledge and of Universal Morality and
Religion are taught, but all Sectarian teaching is excluded, this being
furnished by the parents and pastors of the children at separate
hours; and these schools, too, have succeeded. They also have been
opposed by sectarian men, and reviled as “infidel and godless ;">
but neverthless they have been successful, and are conferring in-
valuable blessings on the rising generation.”
At the present time (1841), no problem perhaps engages a larger
share of the attention of patriotic minds than the question, To what
see
1 From the Scotsman of July 30, 1858, the last article on education written
by George Combe. See his “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 360.
George Combe died on August 14, 1858.
For the history and institutions of Irish education from the earliest times,
Education in Ireland," by James Godkin (London ; Saunders, Otley, and
Co., 1862). For an account of the present state of Education there, see
Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclopædia of Education,” and Dr Rigg's “National
Education," chap. vi. (London, Strahan & Co.).
See also an account of a visit made by George Combe to Ireland and to
Archbishop Whately, and some interesting facts regarding Irish Education, in
his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 223.
2 National Education, pp. 34-5.
608 National State Education in Other Countries.
The two chief
sachusetts.
Britain may
extent the Government of a country may legitimately prescribe and
learn from
Prussia and
enforce measures for the universal education of its people. Prussia
America. exhibits the example of an enlightened Government, forcing moral
and intellectual cultivation on its subjects, by the unsparing exercise
of despotic power.
The free institutions of Great Britain render it
impossible for us to imitate this example, even although it were
proved by reason and experience to be beneficial. In the United
States of America, again, we observe a democracy labouring to
educate itself by the application of such means as are consistent
with its own principles of rule. As the Government of Great
Britain wields, to some extent, the concentrated power of that
Prussia, while it acts on elements resembling, in no inconsiderable
degree, those of the American democracies, some useful principles of
action applicable to our own country may be deduced from con-
templating both.
The history of education in Massachusetts may be briefly told.
system of Mas. From the very infancy of the colony, two grand features stood forth
on the statute book, which have never undergone repeal or modifica-
tion—namely, that the benefits of a Common School education
should be brought within the reach of every child in the State,
however poor; and that the property of the State should support a
number of schools sufficient to confer this boon.
Education as This machinery, more or less modified, has been in operation,
local, with no during two centuries, in Massachusetts; but, it will be observed
central, power. that, although the schools have been supported by taxes levied on
property, and managed by committees chosen by the people, no
central directing or supervising power has existed. Every district
has been permitted, to a great extent, to follow its own perceptions
of utility in the management of its schools. It was assumed by the
Legislature, that the dictates of self-interest would prompt the
inhabitants to nominate the best qualified individuals as members of
the school and prudential committees; and that feelings of public
duty and responsibility would induce the committees to execute their
functions in the best manner. The law gave the committees ample
authority over the schools, and power to enforce the practical adop-
tion of every measure which they conceived calculated to promote
their efficiency. Yet, under this system, as we shall presently see,
education declined, and remedial measures were loudly called for by
the public.
The first improvement adopted by the Legislature was the founda-
tion of a public school fund. It was enacted that, on the list of
State Education in Massachusetts.
609
January 1835, a sum not exceeding one million of dollars (£200,000) A general
should be permanently invested by the State, under the name of the School Fund”
“ Common School Fund.” It was derived from the sale of lands in established.
the State of Maine belonging to Massachusetts, and from certain
claims for military services on the Government of the United States.
The statute ordained that the income of this fund should be paid
over annually to the “ towns," in proportion to the number of
children between the ages of four and sixteen years, within the
territory of each ; but on the condition always, that the towns should,
by taxes imposed on themselves, raise a sum annually equal to one
dollar and twenty-five cents (5s. 3d.) for every child between those
ages comprised in their population. If any town fail to levy this
amount, it receives no share of the fund. The analogy between this
regulation and that adopted by our own Government, of bestowing
a certain amount of public aid in favour of schools, on condition that
the inhabitants who apply for it shall contribute an equal sum them-
selves for the same purpose, will be at once recognised.
An Act was passed in 1834, chap. 245, which provided, that Restrictions
issued on
children under fifteen years of age should not be employed in
employing
factories, unless they had attended school for “at least three months children.
of the twelve months next preceding any and every year in which
such child shall be so employed,” under a penalty of fifty dollars for
each offence, to be levied on the employer, to the use of the Common
Schools in the town.
The Legislature, by an Act passed in 1837, chap. 147, authorised School libra-
ries and appa-
school districts to establish and maintain libraries and apparatus ratus provided.
for the use of the Common Schools; and to raise money from the
inhabitants by taxation for that purpose, to an extent not exceed-
ing thirty dollars the first year, and ten dollars in any subsequent
year. This provision might, with great advantage, be imitated in
Britain.
The next step which followed was the appointment, in April Board of Edu-
1837, of a Board of Education, with a Secretary. The statute of
Secretary
that year, chap. 241, establishes a “ Board of Education" for the appointed.
State. The governor, with the advice of his council, was authorised
to appoint eight persons who, together with the governor and lieu-
tenant-governor, ex-officiis, constituted the Board.
appointed hold their office for eight years; but one retires every year,
1 This was one of the conditions on which Grants were originally given to
schools. It has since been variously modified, and is not altogether departed
from, under the recent Acts of 1870, 1872, and 1878.
cation and
The persons
2 Q.
610 National State Education in Other Countries.
commencing with the person first on the list. The governor and
council fill up vacancies occurring by death, resignation, or other
causes.
Horace Mann
Character of Governor Everett exercised the power of making the first nomin-
the first Board.
ation. We are informed by the Common School Journal,' that
although himself a Unitarian and a Whig, he selected from both
political parties (Whigs and Democrats), and from all the leading
religious denominations in the State, men of talents, literary reputa-
tion, and philanthropy, residing in different sections of the country,
and representing, as nearly as possible, equal portions of territory and
population. They receive no remuneration for their labours; but
their incidental expenses, and all charges incurred in the execution
of their office, are defrayed by the State.
The Board of Education, at its first meeting, appointed the Hon.
first Secretary. Horace Mann, then President of the Senate of Massachusetts, to the
office of Secretary,—a choice which, judging from the Reports named
at the head of this article, appears to have been highly advantageous
to the State. In these Reports, he exposes defects, urges their
removal, and recommends improvements, with earnestness, persua-
siveness, and sagacity.
This representation of the results of the administration, for two
the previous
system.
centuries, of the Common Schools by the people themselves, without
the aid of any controlling, advising, or enlightening central power,
is highly instructive. It shows that, in conducting education, as in
executing every other difficulty and complicated process, the blind
are not adequate successfully to lead the blind. The example of
Massachusetts is calculated to prove instructive to Great Britain,
equally in those points in which her machinery for education has
failed, and in those in which it has proved successful. The
evidence afforded by the Reports, that the schools had degene-
rated, and that public education was rapidly declining under the
management of mere local committees, is overwhelming and irre-
sistible.
We shall now notice the effect of the remedial measures adopted
by the Legislature. Although it instituted the Board of Educa-
tion, and prescribed certain duties to be performed by them, it
conferred on them no compulsory powers.
Neither the Board nor
The results of
1 An educational organ, founded in 1838 by Horace Mann, and edited by
him, for ten years, with eminent ability. Other journals of the same name
have been published, such as the Connecticut Common School Journal, estab-
lished by Henry Barnard, and admirably conducted.
State Education in Massachusetts.
61I
The law pro-
1
the Secretary can direct the School Committees and Prudential The Board has
at first no com-
Committees, who retain the entire management of the schools, other-pulsory powers.
wise than by the influence of reason and persuasion.
vides that, if the towns do not raise the statutory sums for educa-
tion, they shall be subject to a fine, and receive no share of the
Common School Fund ; but the execution of these provisions is com-
mitted, not to the Board and Secretary, but to the civil officers of
the State. Machinery of a somewhat similar kind would be better
adapted to Great Britain than the Prussian system; for the various
sects into which this country is divided, would probably resist, as
the people in America have done, the application of any compulsory
measures to enforce public instruction.
Let us trace, then, the measures adopted by the Board, and the Conventions of
the friends of
success which has attended them.
To rouse public attention to
education
the actual condition of the schools, and to the means of improv-summoned.
ing them, the Secretary summoned Conventions of the friends
of education in every county of the State, excepting Suffolk. By
way of preparation for these county conventions, he drew up and
circulated, throughout the commonwealth, a series of questions,
addressed to the School Committees, for the purpose of drawing
forth and concentrating information on the most important points
connected with education. Written answers were received from
the School Committees of nearly half the towns in the State;
and, at the conventions, the Secretary delivered a lecture to the
assembled citizens on the general subject of education and the
schools, and afterwards the various topics suggested by the queries
were publicly discussed.” Massachusetts is rent by powerful and
bitter political parties; yet, to the credit of the people, the Secretary
reports that, “neither at the conventions which have been held in
the several counties, nor in the intercourse or correspondence with
1 A law enforcing Compulsory Education was passed, in 1846, in the Massa-
chusetts Legislature, on account of the rapidly increasing number of persons
unable to read and write, whose " presence had always been regarded with dis-
trust.” Compulsion was adopted in the Scotch Act of 1872, and has been
made more stringent by the Supplementary Act of 1878 : its adoption was at
first made optional to School Boards in the English Act of 1870, but it has
been made peremptory in a Supplementary Act passed in 1878.
2 The first Convention was held in 1837, when the Secretary, Horace Mann,
gave an address on “The Means and Objects of Common School Education.”
Similar Conventions were held, and addresses delivered by the Secretary,
till 1842, when they were repealed. These addresses are published in vol. ii.
of his “Life and Works,” edited by Mrs Mann, and should be read by all
interested in education.
612 National State Education in Other Countries.
Annual Re-
cation.
The state of
any one, has there been infused into this cause the slightest ingredi-
ent of partisan politics. In regard to this great subject, all have
reverted to their natural relations as fellow-men, discarding strifes
about objects which are temporary for interests which are enduring.”
This affords a valuable example to the opponents of National Educa-
tion in the United Kingdom.
The law requires that the Board of Education and its Secretary
Board of Edu. shall present, to the Legislature, an Annual Report of their pro-
ceedings, accompanied by such suggestions for the improvement of
the whole educational system as may appear to them important.
The first Annual Reports were prepared from the materials obtained
from the answers to the queries, and the experience and observation
of the Secretary and members of the Board at the conventions.i
They are minute and instructive, and unsparingly expose detects.
education.
The general results arrived at are : Apathy in the people, incapacity
in the teachers, dilapidation in the schoolhouses, irregular attendance
of the children, the absence of all system in the modes of teaching,
and of uniformity in the books used; with the desertion of the
Common Schools by the rich, in order to avoid that deterioration of
manners and morals by which too many of them are characterised.
Remedies The Board recommended an increase of the salaries of teachers
gested.
who then received less than the wages of common labourers
companied by the exaction of higher qualifications. They insisted
largely on the improvement of schoolhouses, on the establishment of
schools for training teachers, on the introduction of improved books,
on the State allowing a pecuniary recompense to the individuals
composing the School Committees, for the time they should bestow
in the discharge of their duties, and on the exaction of more
even efficient supervision of the schools.
Schools rapidly During the year 1840, “ more schoolhouses have been erected
than for ten years previous to 1838 ; and not only is the number
greater, but many of them are admirable specimens of school-house
architecture.”
Improved edu- The public mind was awakened to the importance of education,
cation of the
teachers re-
and the deficiencies of the teachers were widely recognised.
cognised. is scarcely a single instance," says the Secretary, “in the reports,
where the School Committees speak with universal commendation of
the teachers whom they have appointed.” An improved education
of the teachers is loudly called for. These facts afford strong
evidence of the possibility of operating on the public mind, by
1 These Reports are also contained in Horace Mann's “Life and Works."
sug-
ac-
increase.
66 There
State Education in Massachusetts.
613
means of an organised system and authorised functionaries, wielding
moral powers alone; and, in this point of view, they appear to be
instructive to ourselves.
In these Reports, another and rather singular fact is mentioned, The increased
which ought also to excite attention on this side of the Atlantic. female teachers.
employment of
“A change," it is said, “is rapidly taking place, both in the public
sentiment and action, in regard to the employment of female
teachers. The number of male teachers, in all the summer and
winter schools, for the last year, was thirty-three less than for the
year preceding, while the number of females was one hundred and
three more.
That females are incomparably better teachers for
young children than males cannot admit of a doubt. Their manners
are more mild and gentle, and hence more in consonance with the
tenderness of childhood.' This statement is worthy of serious con-
sideration in this country, where employment suited to women of
cultivated minds and polished manners is greatly wanted.
Much as Massachusetts was suffering from the deficiencies of her 'The training of
teachers begins.
Common School teachers, the State had, hitherto, made no pro-
vision for training and instructing schoolmasters. Amidst the
general excitement, however, produced by the publications of the
Board, a private citizen stepped forth and conferred on his country
that inestimable benefit. Mr. E. Dwight, a merchant of the city of
Boston, offered a gift of ten thousand dollars, on the condition that
the State should grant an equal sum, to be applied to the institution
of Normal Schools. The offer was accepted, and three excellent
schools for the training of teachers are now (1841) in operation.
We might have anticipated serious obstruction to the Board of The opposition
encountered by
Education from the political parties and religious sects, which contend the Board of
for superiority in Massachusetts. Such, however, has not occurred. Education,
Fierce opposition, as we shall immediately show, did arise ; but it
emanated exclusively from the enemies of all public improvements.
The real friends of the people, with admirable magnanimity, laid
2
1 The employment of Female teachers has received a greater development in
the United States than in any other country, and is a special feature of its
education system. In 1876, out of 169,577 teachers in the States, 126,822,
or about 74 per cent. were female ; in Massachusetts 88 were female. See
Kiddle and Schem's “Encylopædia of Education,” s.v., Female Teachers, for
interesting remarks on the subject.
? In 1839, the first two Normal Schools in America were founded at Lexing-
ton and Barre in Massachusetts, in which there are now seven.
There are now
(1877) 137 Normal Schools in the United States; and 855 in Europe. See
Kiddle and Schem's "Cyclopædia of Education," s.v., Teachers' Seminaries.
614 National State Education in Other Countries.
aside every prejudice, and joined cordially in promoting the general
good. The Board reports, that “no sectarian or party interest has,
in any single case, been manifested ; and those attending the meet-
ings have come together as on ground common to every good
citizen. It may be regarded as by no means one of the least bene-
ficial results of holding these conventions, that they unite, in an
object of permanent and sacred interest, all those who, however
alienated from each other in reference to other topics of public con-
cernment, take a lively and a common interest in the welfare of the
rising generation.”
The nature of
Every friend of education will recollect the bitter and inveterate
the opposition
encountered.
hostility with which certain very moderate proposals, on the part of
our own government, for the promotion of public instruction were
received in both Houses of Parliament, under the influence, in some
instances, of a purely fanatical, and in others, of an unyielding
party spirit. We regret to observe that, even in Massachussets,
where the people wield the supreme power, the efforts of the en-
lightened and philanthrophic members of the community in this
great cause are obstructed. In that State, hostility to the Board of
Education has been strongly and perseveringly manifested, not
only through the medium of the press, but in the Legislature. One
circumstance, however, attending it is consolatory. It has pro-
ceeded, not from religious and enlightened individuals who have
attended the conventions, studied the reports, and watched the
proceedings of the Board, and by these means become capable of
forming a sound judgment on their merits; but apparently from
persons who are hostile to all improvements in the public mind,
and who consider their own influence in danger of being diminished,
in proportion as that of reason and morality is increased. We are
led to this conclusion by a statement of the Secretary, that the
returns from the School Committees in general breathe no hostility
to the Board ; by the unsound and factious arguments adduced
by the opponents in support of their own views, and by their
proposing simply to abolish the Board, without substituting
any better institution in its place.
The spirit The Secretary's testimony to the spirit of the School Committees
shown as to
the Religious
on the subject of Religious instruction is in these words :-"It will
instruction.
ever remain,” says he, “an honour to the commonwealth of Massa-
chusetts, that among all the reports of its School Committees for
the last year, so many of which are voluminous and detailed, and a
majority of which probably were prepared by clergymen belonging
State Education in Massachusetts.
615
to all the various denominations in the State, there was not one which
advocated the introduction of sectarian instruction or sectarian books
into our Public Schools; while with accordant views—as a single
voice coming from a single heart—they urge, they insist, they
demand, that the great axioms of a Christian morality shall be
sedulously taught, and that the teachers shall themselves be patterns
of the virtues they are required to inculcate.” 1
(2.) The Opposition to the Religious Teaching in the State Schools.
culties have
setts.
Much as the different sects may accomplish, each in educating The need of a
the children of its own adherents, still a large number of the young system nnder
will be left uninstructed, until the Government shall undertake Government.
the task. In the extent of its uneducated masses, Great Britain
forms the opprobrium of Europe. There is no Christian country,
nearly approaching to her in wealth, science, and industry, which has
not established schools for the universal education of its people.
We are unwilling to concede that, owing to the power of the Sectarian diffi-
Established Churches and the multitude of Dissenters, it is im- been overcome
possible in this country to accomplish a similar object. Obstacles in Massachu-
nearly equal to any that present themselves here, have been over-
come in the United States of North America. Among the citizens
of the American Union, may be found the most ardent and zealous
sectarians, and the most dogmatic and fiery politicians, each armed
with constitutional power, by his votes, to give efficacy to his own
will, and to counteract the designs of his neighbours. Nevertheless,
in most of the States, the obstacles to public instruction have been
surmounted; and Jew, Christian, and unbeliever unite in maintain-
ing schools in which the children of all receive a highly, valuable,
Moral, Intellectual, and Religious education.
We say Religious education, because we have recently received a Religious edu-
cation given
pamphlet from Massachusetts, which shows that Religious instruc- in the State
tion is communicated in the Common Schools of that State ; and schools there.
a brief exposition of the extent to which it is carried will enable
our readers to judge whether, compared with the profound ignorance
in which so many of the children of our labouring classes are left, the
Religious teaching in these schools is not a benefit of the highest
order to the community; and whether similar schools could not be
i From article on "Education in America," in the Edinburgh Review of
July, 1841 ; which became the basis of the Lancashire scheme, and of recent
legislation on education. See pp. 586 and 590.
616 National State Education in Other Countries.
introduced with advantage into Britain. The pamphlet is entitled
“The Common School Controversy," and was published in Boston,
U.S., in the month of June, 1844. It presents in vivid, and we
believe true, colours, a picture of the system of Common Schools
now in operation in that State, and of the obstacles with which it
has had to contend.
The contro. The discussion to which the pamphlet refers originated in an
versy carried
on regarding it attack, in the Christian Witness and Church Advocate of 23rd
February, 1844, by the Honourable Edward A. Newton, of Pitts-
field, on the Board of Education and its Secretary, for not teaching
“ orthodox Christianity” in the Common Schools. This newspaper
is the acknowledged organ of the Episcopalians in Massachusetts.
The opinions of Mr Newton were espoused and defended by the
editor, and were therefore regarded as generally entertained by the
members of this highly respectable and influential sect. The attack
led to a defence of the Common Schools by the Secretary, the Honour-
able Horace Mann, a rejoinder by Mr Newton and by the editor of
the Witness; and, subsequently, to a very able, temperate, and in-
structive “controversy” in the public press, by men of all parties
and sects, in which the terms and interpretation of the law establish-
ing Common Schools, the institution of the Board of Education, and
the working of the system itself, are pretty fully expounded and
Its general
very freely discussed. The result is a concurrence of orthodox men,
of the highest standing, with Unitarians and other Liberals, in a
strong and decided approval of the system of Common Schools as
actually administered; the Episcopalian, Mr Newton, and the
Witness, standing alone in its condemnation. It is cheering to read
the cordial and sincere testimony borne by men of one religious sect
to the excellent qualities of individuals of other denominations, who
differ from them on the most important points of Christian doctrine ;
and, still more so, to see that, amidst all these differences, the best of
men of every sect have found it possible to co-operate in the great
cause of Public Education.
We shall giean a few of the facts and opinions, which, being of
general application, may interest our readers; and only regret that
the length of the discussion prevents us from presenting the "con-
troversy" entire.
The grand object of the "controversy," however, is, What, in con-
formity with law, may be taught in these schools in the name of
Religion? On this point, the “Constitution” of Massachusetts
requires that all children shall be taught " the principles of piety,
results,
State Education in Massachusetts.
617
taken to the
justice, and a sacred regard to truth, love to their country, humanity The Religious
and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry and frugality, charity, quired by law.
moderation and temperance, and those other virtues which are the
ornaments of society, and the basis upon which a republican con-
stitution is founded.” The “Constitution ” goes no farther in speci-
fying what things may be taught; but, by the laws of the State, the
School Committees are authorised to prescribe the books which shall
be used in the schools, under the restriction that they “shall never
direct to be purchased or used, in any of the town' schools, any school-
books which are calculated to favour the tenets of any particular
sect of Christians." This prohibition was first enacted in 1827;
but, in 1835, when the statutes were revised, it was retained and
re-enacted by an almost unanimous vote in both branches of
the Legislature.” It was the execution of this clause which gave
rise to the “ controversy.”
The Bible is allowed to be read in all, and is actually read in Objections
nearly all, of the schools, and, of course, whatever it teaches is
Religious in-
taught. But the editor of the Witness, in the name of the orthodox struction given.
Episcopalians, puts the question, "What says the law? It pro-
hibits the teaching of those things which favour the tenets of any
particular sect.' Well, of what particular sect does it favour the
tenets to teach that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
Himself,'--that a we are by nature children of wrath,'--that the
'blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin,'-and that ' by grace are we
saved through faith ?' Are these truths, which are the sum and
substance of the gospel, distinctive of any particular sect?' No,
thank God, they are the common ground of the great body who
profess and call themselves Christians. To teach anything less in
the name of Religion is sectarian, for it must be the tenet of some
particular sect, and not of the Church universal.” The Honourable
Edward A. Newton supports this argument by stating, that the
orthodox denominations made together “ at all times, and now make,
nine-tenths of the populations of the commonwealth.”
The Secretary to the Board of Education made a twofold answer
to this argument—1st, He presented a numerical statement of the
religious denominations, who are all taxed equally to support the
schools, and each of which has an equal right with its neighbours to
1 In the United States, “ town” or township” means one of the districts
into which the country is divided for administrative purposes, civil and
educational, with an average population of from 2000 to 3000. The term is so
used in the fourth paragraph after this one.
618 National State Education in Other Countries.
of sects in
Massachu.
setts.
The numbers prevent doctrines from being taught in them which it considers to
be unsound. “The population of the State,” says Mr Mann, " is
now about 750,000. One-tenth is 75,000.
One-tenth is 75,000. The Universalists
alone are estimated at nearly or quite this number. The number of
Unitarians may be somewhat though not very much less. The
Christ-ians have between twenty and thirty organised societies.
While there are very few orthodox people belonging to Unitarian
congregations, it is well known that there is no inconsiderable
number of Unitarians who worship with the orthodox. The opinion
of some of the best informed men is, that at least one quarter of the
people of Massachussetts are what is called, by way of distinction,
Liberal Christians. Some estimate the number at one-third. Then
there are the Nothingarians and Deists, who, taken together, are
probably more numerous than either of the above."
Defence of the 2nd, Mr Mann adds: “You insist that in our Public Schools,
Religious in-
struction given.
established for the whole, and supported by taxes levied upon the
whole, certain scriptural doctrines shall be taught, such as that
'God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,' &c. Very
well. The Bible is now read in all our schools, almost without
exception, and, in the great majority of cases, it is read by the
scholars themselves. These doctrines and declarations being in the
Bible, are they not in the schools also ?” Farther, “under the
provisions of the Constitution and laws, children may be taught to
love the Lord their God with all their heart, and their neighbour as
themselves; they may be taught to do to others as they would be
done by ; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God;
they may be taught to visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction, and to keep themselves unspotted from the world ; they
may be taught to honour father and mother; to keep the Sabbath
holy; not to steal; not to kill; not to bear false witness
against neighbours; not to covet. Nay," continues Mr Mann, “I
refer you to that awe-inspiring description of the judgment in the
25th chapter of Matthew, and I say that there is not a single action
or omission there mentioned, for which the righteous are to be
rewarded and the wicked punished, that may not be taught, incul-
cated, or warned against, in all our schools. Such, also, I know to
be the opinion of the Board of Education. Are all these things and
everything else of a kindred character, which the Scriptures contain,
non-essentials in Christianity? But perhaps you desire something
more for the schools? Perhaps you desire, not only that these
passages (those quoted by the Witness) should be read, but that
State Education in Massachusetts.
619
certain articles of faith, or formularies, more or less in number,
embodying these passages in a manner more acceptable to you than
is found in the original texts, should be taught with them?” This
is what is prohibited by the law.
Mr Mann continues—“I have now received more than a thousand The general
reports from the School Committees of the respective towns (dis- this teaching.
tricts) in the State, detailing the condition and wants of the schools.
Probably a majority of them were written by clergymen. In these
reports, no subject has been more freely discussed than that of
Moral and Religious instruction, and how far the latter might be
carried without trenching upon the rights of individuals; and, with
only two exceptions,-less, therefore, than one in five hundred-the
voice of these Committees has been unanimous in favour of our Con-
stitution and laws on the subject of Religious instruction, as they
now stand. Every one of their reports, also, was accepted in open
town meeting, and therefore must have received the sanction of the
town whence it came."
The editor of the Witness replied, that the precepts of Scripture Demand for
additional
cited by Mr Mann, as allowed to be taught, "are very well so far as
doctrinal in-
they go; they are important to the social uprightness and welfare struction.
of man; but they leave untouched what we and all orthodox
Christians esteem the essentials of Christianity-the way of salva-
tion by Jesus Christ. We will not be diverted,” says he, "from
the great question, whether the exclusion of what is distinctive in
Christianity, as a way of salvation, from our Public Schools, be not
an unchristian measure which orthodox Christians ought to observe
and think of.”
These quotations contain the substance of the topics brought
under discussion in the "controversy;"' and we shall now cite the
opinions of several orthodox men of high consideration, on the merits
of the question, whether the orthodox views should, or should not,
be taught in the Common Schools.
The law relative to Religious instruction in the Common Schools Sectarian
of Massachusetts shows, that the main feature of the enactments on
to be taught.
this subject is the prohibition to "purchase or use, in any of the
town schools, any school-books which are calculated to favour the
tenets of any particular sect of Christians." We proceed to cite the
views of this prohibition entertained by some of the first citizens of
the state.
The Hon. Alfred D. Foster writes as follows: “I am a decided
believer in the doctrines of grace, as held by orthodox evangelical
79
tenets not
620 National State Education in Other Countries.
Defence of Christians. In them, to me, are the spirit and life of the Gospel-
their exclusion
on their truth, rest my hopes of heaven. I must teach them to my
from schools.
children, for, in my opinion, it is through love and obedience to
them that my children, as well as I, must be saved, if saved at all.
But have I a right to insist that they shall be taught to my children
in a school supported by me only in common with those whose faith
is different from mine, and to whom my faith is both a stumbling-
block and a foolishness? I say no; and I think the laws and
common sense say, and should continue to say, no. My next-door
neighbour feels a deep interest in the cause of Common School educa-
tion; he is active in promoting it; he pays as much towards it as I
do (though this last circumstance is of no consequence); he desires
good morals to be taught, and many of the great religious truths
which I hold: but the Trinity, man's depravity, the atonement,
spiritual regeneration, to me realities of Revelation or of conscious-
ness, are to him, not truths but imaginations. I wish we might see
eye to eye; I may properly, with kindness, show him my reasons
for my faith, and urge them upon him; but I do not feel any more
that I have a right to compel him to have his children taught those
doctrines in school, than he has a right to compel me to have my
children taught the doctrines of Socinus, which I regard as wholly
How they
unsupported by Scripture, and feebly by reasoning. What, then,
should be
taught.
can we do? We can meet where the Constitution and the laws allow
us, on all common ground. Where we differ, we can peaceably
separate and teach our children, or procure them to be taught, what
we believe to be Religious truth. The means are at hand in our
families, in Sunday schools, from the pulpit. This, I think, we
ought to do. And when so much is to be done which all agree in
thinking desirable, I regret exceedingly that obstacles should be
thrown in the way of doing it, because our own religious views cannot
be taught. Such seems to me the effect of a course like that of the
Witness.
The need of
“The Board of Education, and its Secretary, are earnestly endea-
helping the
vouring to do a great and good work for the people, by stirring up
system.
the people to work for themselves, wisely and energetically. A debt
of gratitude is due to those gentlemen for the results of their labours
thus far-seen, as those results are, in improved school-houses,
in the increased amount of money raised for schools, in the interest
felt in them, and in this very opposition to the course they are pursu-
ing. While the schools were running down in houses, instruction,
and morals, who raised an alarm for their orthodoxy ? Now that
State Education in Massachusetts.
621
they are coming up, let us help, not hinder, their progress, and have
no fears that sound learning, good morals, or good manners, will
lead to heresy or spring from it."
The same gentleman addresses a letter to the Hon. E. A. Newton
(who was the first to lead the attack against the Board of Educa-
tion), in which he says_“I readily accord to you the purest motives,
and really suppose you desire only to contend for truth. I ought to
believe this, if I may judge from the very pleasant acquaintance and
intercourse I have had with you; and, so far as the great doctrines
of the Gospel are concerned, I do not suppose that we differ as to
what is truth or its importance. But you or I err greatly as to the
manner of advancing the truth through Common Schools.
“If you are right, then our Common Schools must become the The case put
battle-ground of warring sects, each fighting to advance its own for the two
systeins.
views, for the reason, that except those views prevail, all that is
learned will be useless, if not positively injurious. If I am right,
then we may find, in our Common Schools, one blessed spot which is
truly neutral ground, where each sect may lay aside its weapons of
offence, and all drink together from fountains of knowledge, refresh-
ing to the soul, though they do not sanctify it. If you are right,
then ignorance is better than knowledge uncombined with our pecu-
liar views of religious doctrine. If I am right, ignorance is never
better than knowledge, anywhere, nor with any religious opinions."
Nothing can surpass the excellence of these sentiments and their The causes of
beneficent tendency. They breathe the spirit of real Christianity, thought on the
as well as of philosophy and patriotism. We rejoice to remark, that subject.
other orthodox men are animated by the same admirable principles.
Such sentiments as these, publicly expressed by men entertain-
ing extreme differences of opinion on religious doctrine, are refresh-
ing and highly encouraging to the genuine philanthropist. And
what has produced this admirable and truly Christian spirit, in a
community which exists in a state of habitual and high religious
and political excitement? It is the perfect equality of all sects in
religious privileges and political power. The pride of domination
engendered by national establishments of religion deadens the just
and generous affections, in all but the highest minds in their com-
munion; while the sense of injustice, oppression, and exclusion, is
constantly irritating those who are compelled, by conscientious views
of truth and duty, to separate from the church established by law.
In this country, the necessity of a National and efficient system of
education for the universal people is becoming every day more and
622 National State Education in Other Countries.
This system
recommended
for Britain.
more apparent and pressing. It will be impossible to realise it,
except on principles of equality similar to those in operation in Mas-
sachusetts. If such a system as that of Massachusetts were tried in
this country, in which all sects should be taxed equally for the
support of schools, all sectarian doctrine should be excluded, and all
sects rendered equally influential in the administration of the
schools and school funds; then, unless we acknowledge ourselves
far inferior indeed to the Americans in virtue and understanding,
the scheme should succeed here as well as there,
1
3. THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM OF NATIONAL EDUCATION.
of Prussia.
The school Prussia also has set a noble example to Europe on the subject of
administration education. In Prussia," as in Germany generally, it is obligatory
on all parents to send their children to school, from the age of seven
to fourteen, beginning earlier if they choose ; and the duty is
enforced by penalties. Each parish is bound to support an Elemen-
tary school; each considerable town, a Burgh school, for the more
advanced studies; each considerable district, a Gymnasium, for
classical studies; and each province has its University. The parish
school is supported by the parish, and for its management all the
landholders and heads of families are formed into a union, which
appoints a committee to inspect and watch over the school.
The system of The system of instruction is prescribed by authority, and is
instruction
nearly uniform for the whole monarchy. It embraces, in the Elemen-
prescribed.
tary schools, (1) Religion and Morals; (2) The German tongue ;
(3) Elements of Geometry and Drawing; (4) Arithmetic, pure and
applied; (5) The elements of Physics (meaning Chemistry and
Natural Philosophy), General History, and the History of Prussia;
(6) Singing; (7) Writing; (8) Gymnastic exercises ; (9) “The more
simple manual labours,” by which seems to be meant, the use of
tools employed in the most common occupations, such as the spade,
pick-axe, saw, plane, file, trowel, stone-chisel, &c. The Burgher
i On National Education and the Common Schools of Massachusetts, which
appeared originally in the Scotsman, and afterwards in a pamphlet, in 1845.
For an account of American Education, see Francis Adam's “ Free School System
of the United States” (London, Chapman & Hall, 1875); Siljeström's “Edu-
cational Institutions of the United States,” translated from the Swedish by
Frederica Rowan (London, John Chapman, 1853); Dr Rigg's “National
Education” (London, Strahan & Co.); Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclopædia of
Education,” s.v. United States; and the works mentioned there.
2 Edinburgh Review, No. 116.-(G. C.)
National Education in Prussia.
623
for its main-
vision of the
school embraces the same branches carried farther, with the addition
of a little Latin, the study of which is not, however, universally
enforced. The instruction is not gratuitous, except to the poor.
The provision to be made by the parish embraces,-1st, A salary The provision
to the schoolmaster, with a retired allowance for him in old age; tenance.
2d, A schoolhouse, well aired and heated; 3d, Books, maps, models
for drawing, collections in Natural History, gymnastic apparatus,
&c. ; 4th, Aid to poor scholars. The fund is raised by con-
tributions, levied on the inhabitants, according to the amount of
their property or the produce of their industry, and by moderate
fees, which are not paid to the schoolmaster, but to the parochial
managers.
There are Cantonal courts, and inspectors, who control and inspect The super-
all the schools in a canton ; others for Departments, with a wider
schools.
authority; others, with still more extensive powers, for the provinces;
and, above all, there is the Minister of Public Instruction. In all
the courts, councils, or commissions, exercising authority over the
schools of any class, there are a few of the clergy,--Protestant and
Catholic being admitted according as the scholars belong to the one
or the other church; and great care is taken to prevent the slightest
offence being offered to the religious feelings of any party.
The choice of the books in the Elementary schools is left to the other elements
local committees. There are half-yearly examinations; and the boys in the system.
leaving school obtain certificates of their capacity and their moral and
religious dispositions, which must be produced when they go to the
communion, or enter into apprenticeship or service. The Prussian
plan embraces also what are of essential importance, schools for
training persons to act as teachers. There are thirty-four of these
Seminaries," where, besides studying the different branches of know-
ledge to be taught, the pupils learn also the art of instruction.2
2
1 This was in 1848. In 1875, there were 101 Normal Schools in Prussia, and
73 in the other German states. These are called “Teachers' Seminaries" in
Germany, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and German Switzerland.
Popular Education, p. 34. The above account of the Prussian system is
quoted by Professor Hodgson in the fourth edition of Horace Mann's “Educa-
tional Tour” (London : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.), as “clear and succinct."
Fuller information will be found in Victor Cousin's “State of Public Education
in Prussia,” translated by Sarab Austin (London, 1834); Matthew Arnold's
“Schools and Universities on the Continent” (London, Macmillan, 1868);
Dr Rigg's “National Education,” chap. iv. (London, Strahan & Co., 1873) ;
Henry Barnard's “National Education in Europe”; Kiddle & Schem's “Cyclo-
pædia of Education,” s.v. Germany.
624 National State Education in Other Countries.
4. NATIONAL EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND.
1
The following account of the Swiss system of National Education
was given by George Combe in a letter to Lord John Russell,
dated 30th December, 1854 :
The education- Having visited Switzerland last autumn, and resided some time
al system of
in Zürich, I made inquiries into the state of education in that
Zürich:
Canton, and received some information, which, if it has not already
reached your Lordship from other sources, may perhaps be interest-
ing to you to know, as President of the Committee of Privy Council
on Education. My information was derived partly from public
documents, partly from an accomplished Professor of the University
of Zürich, and partly from a gentleman extensively engaged in
commerce in that town; and, as I regard their statements as trust-
worthy, I respectfully beg leave to make the following communication.
I have experienced some difficulty in finding English terms by
which to render exactly the technical descriptions of some portions
of their school system, but I have endeavoured to use equivalent
expressions, so far as this was in my power.
Its general
In Zürich, the Legislature has placed Public Instruction under a
administration. Council of Education, whose authority extends over all the schools
of the Canton, supported by the State, and also over the University,
situated in the capital. The Council is selected by the people, and
consists chiefly of laymen. Its head quarters are in the capital. It
has jurisdiction over all the schoolmasters and professors of the
Canton, and over the things taught, and the books read, in the schools.
The Canton is divided into schcol districts; and there is a local
board of superintendence, also elected by the people in each district,
of which the clergyman of the parish is always a member; but the
schools and teachers are, in no sense, placed under his authority.
Meetings of
The teachers of each school-district are required by law to meet
teachers re-
once a month, to read one or two essays, or communications, on
quired by law.
subjects connected with education and schools, and to discuss then.
Reports of these meetings, containing the names of the teachers
present, of those absent, and of the topics discussed, and the
number of hours the meeting lasted, are sent to the Council of
!
1 The following is from MSS. See an account of the tour of which Switzer-
land formed part, in his “Life” by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 333. George
Combe was on terms of the most friendly intercourse with Lord John Russell ;
see his “Life,” by Charles Gibbon (Index).
2 Lord John was President only from June 1854 to January 1855.
National Education in Switzerland.
625
instruction
Education, and an abstract of these is published annually and
circulated in all the school districts.
The schools consist of (1) Common Schools, divided into three The classes of
classes, called “every-day schools,” “repeating schools," and schools.
“schools for singing and secondary instruction;" (2) a Gymnasium;
and (3) a High School, in which elementary instruction in the higher
branches of education is given. The teachers are remunerated partly
by salaries provided by the Canton, and partly by fees, which are
very moderate.
Parents are required by law to send their children to school, and Education is
compulsory,
if they are not able to pay the fees, the parish does so. In the but not all
towns, there are private schools, and parents have the right to send public.
their children to them, or even to educate them at home, if they
prefer doing so; but, in both of these cases, the local board of educa-
tion is authorised and required by law to ascertain by examination
that the children are de facto educated, and that the law is not
evaded.
The things taught in the Common schools are the ordinary branches The Religious
of instruction, including Religion. The teacher gives lessons in
given.
Religion, but the clergyman is bound by law to assemble the school
children belonging to his church twice a week, and to give them
Religious instruction. He is regarded, both by the legislature and by
the people, as chiefly charged with, and responsible for, that duty.
The Religious instruction given to the children is Protestant or
Roman Catholic, according to the creed of the parents.
The local School Councils are required to report annually to the Annual reports
Supreme Council the things taught in each school; the number of are issued,
children in attendance on the books; the numbers who have actually
attended and of those absent; the condition of each school, embrac-
ing its size, state of repair, furniture, &c.; the sums paid to the
teachers; and other particulars. An abstract of all this information
is made by the Supreme Council, printed, and circulated in every
school district. In the Abstract Report for 1852-3, it is stated that
364 placed teachers, and 110 assistant teachers are employed. The
condition of the schools is described thus: “Very good, 120; good,
268; middling, 67; bad, 9."
In the rural districts, the attendance of the children is irregular, The subjects
and the quality of the Secular instruction is low. Some of the more
taught.
enterprising teachers possess apparatus, and give elementary lessons
in Natural Science; but, generally speaking, the branches taught are
1 In 1875, 573 teachers were employed in the Canton of Zürich.
6
2 R
626 National State Education in Other Countries.
state of the
The need of
almost exclusively reading, writing, arithmetic, and a little geo-
graphy.' Religious instruction is given from the Bible and Cate-
chism; but the Order of God's Secular Providence, as manifested
through the medium of the qualities, agencies, and relations which
He has bestowed on organised beings and inanimate substances, is
omitted.2
The results of The Canton of Zürich, then, presents us with a republic possessing
the system :
universal suffrage and universal education. The education is based
on Religion, and is also provided, enforced, and superintended by the
State, using the clergy, as well as the schoolmaster, as its instruments
of instruction. What have been the results?
The general
According to my information, this education has rendered the
people. people, in ordinary times and circumstances, quiet, industrious,
moral, and to a certain extent, intelligent. Compared with un-
educated nations, it has placed them high in the scale of moral and
intellectual civilisation.
But this course of instruction, although the source of much
instructing in
Physical and good, and also adapted to the social condition of the Canton, at the
Social Science, time it was introduced, appears to be no longer adequate to meet
the requirements of its present circumstances. The progress of dis-
covery in the Arts and Sciences, the development of new ideas in
Social Economy and Religion, and a greatly increased intercourse
with foreign nations, have rendered it imperfectly suited to the
altered condition of the people. Manufactures are extensively
prosecuted in the Canton, and instruction in the elements of
Physical Science is found to be desirable to fit them for the practice
of the improved and more scientific methods now generally intro-
duced into the arts. Moreover, it has left the people open to
seduction, by the apostles of the wildest doctrines in Morals and
Social Economy that have disgraced the present age.
This shown by In the opening speech, delivered on 30th August, 1853, by
the President's
Speech;
President Fries, to the School Synod of Pfäffikon, after vindicating
the right of the school teachers to take an active interest in the
religious discussions, and in the political and social organisation of
the Canton, he proceeds: “A glance at the public life of our people
will, however, cause your attention to rest, in the first place, on
what is new and strange ; and, especially, as you cannot fail to
remark that, new and unusual as it is, it already lays claim to a
1 “Object lessons” are given in every school, and they receive more atten-
tion than in most other countries.
2 See the kind of instruction here spoken of explained in chap. v. p. 123.
National Education in Switzerland.
627
of Socialism.
certain degree of influence on all the affairs of life, and, in so far,
really exercises it, as it involuntarily drags all other interests into
its powerful stream. The social movement in our Canton operates
at present in this way; and no one can know his own position in
life, who is not previously thoroughly instructed as to his place and
duty in this movement, especially seeing that it is openly avowed
that the people are ready to take a direct part either for or against
it-a fact which is well known to the body of teachers.”
I inquired what these sentences referred to were, and was in- And the spread
formed that it was Socialism. The French Socialists, driven from
their own country, had taken refuge in Switzerland, and many of
them had settled in the Canton of Zürich. Finding a people
capable of reading, and to some extent intelligent, but very little
instructed in regard to the natural foundations of morals and social
institutions, they preached to them, orally and through the press,
the doctrines of the community of goods and the rights of labour;
with such effect as to alarm the holders of property, and to astonish
and confound the better educated members of society.
I have taken the liberty to bring these details under the notice of The need of
your Lordship, because they appear to indicate that even a general ing in Britain:
education of the people, sound and useful in many respects, but
omitting the subjects so earnestly adverted to, and so well set forth
by Lord Ashburton and the Dean of Hereford,1 has not, in this
instance, proved sufficient to ward off the influence of wild theories
and subversive doctrines, even in a country enjoying so much
political freedom, morality, industry, and prosperity as the Canton of
Zürich. If this education has been found insufficient for a people
possessing these advantages, perhaps your Lordship may be induced
to consider whether the condition and circumstances of the working
classes in Great Britain render the somewhat similar system of
instruction generally followed here, adequate to guide them suc-
cessfully to individual and social well-being.
Should your Lordship and the Committee of Council recognise
any shortcoming in the British system of education, perhaps a simple
similar teach-
1 This refers to the subjects recommended by George Combe, and taught in
the Secular and Birkbeck Schools-Physiology, Social Science, and the train-
ing of the Moral and Religious faculties in all lessons. See the chapter on
the history of the Secular Schools, p. 201, especially p. 253 et seq.; also the
chapter on Social and Political Science, p. 170, especially p. 193 et scq., as to
the history of its teaching in schools, and the opinions of the Dean of Hereford
and others in regard to it.
628 National State Education in Other Countries.
be secured.
How this may means towards supplying the want might be found in making com-
petency to teach the subjects recommended by Lord Ashburton
and the Dean of Hereford a mark of merit, and a title to additional
remuneration in the distribution of the funds placed at the disposal
of the Committee of Council.
1
1 For a fuller account of the Swiss system of education, see Barnard's
“National Education in Europe ;." Matthew Arnold's “Schools and Uni-
versities on the Continent," chap. xxi. (London, Macmillan & Co., 1868), and
his “Popular Education of France," chap. xv. (London, Longmans) ; Kiddle'
and Schem's “ Cyclopædia of Education,” and works mentioned there.
PART SIXT H.
WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF
A GOOD TEACHER ?
THE CHARACTER TRAINING, AND POSITION OF THE
TEACHER.
PART SIXTH.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD TEACHER.
IF Eventuality be large, and Concentrativeness deficient, the quali- The action of
Eventuality,
ties of observation and narration may be possessed, but the narra-
Individuality,
tive will resemble a description of figures in a carnival; it will and Concen-
trativeness.
be full of life, action, and incident, but deficient in onward con-
tinuity: with Concentrativeness large, the story would more nearly
resemble a regular drama. If Individuality be large, physical sub-
stances may be remembered vividly by it, their relations in space by
Locality and Order, and their causes and effects by Causality ; but
if Eventuality be deficient, extreme difficulty will be experienced in
bringing together these items of information, and presenting them in
the form of a natural narrative.
A person in whom the combination now described exists, and
in whom Concentrativeness is large, will feel strongly the desire
of communicating the quality of continuity to his narrative; and,
on important occasions, he will produce it by laboriously writing
down all the elementary ideas of his subject, by transposing them,
by filling up, and by striking out parts, until the whole shall cohere
with neatness and consistency. Such a combination will fit its
possessor for studying Physical more successfully than Moral
science; because action is the primary element of the latter.
If Concentrativeness and Eventuality be both deficient, the literary
or philosophical productions of the individual will be marked by
omissions of important intermediate ideas; in oral discourses, he
will combine description with inference, without taking sufficient
notice of modes of action; he will often wander from his subject;
in short, he may display great knowledge of objects which exist,
with profound reflection on their relations, and yet be unsuccessful
in conveying to the minds of his readers or auditors philosophical
convictions, similar to those which exist in his own mind. This
will be owing chiefly to deficiency in the power of representing, by
632
The Qualifications of a Good Teacher.
1
Eventuality, modes of action, and of giving, by Concentrativeness,
continuity to the thread of his discourses.
The qualities Individuality, Eventuality, and Concentrativeness are indispens-
of a successful able qualities to a successful teacher. I have never seen a person
capable of interesting children and exciting their intellects, who was
deficient in both the first and the second organs. The manner of a
teacher thus deficient in communicating knowledge, is vague, abstract,
and dry, and altogether unsuited to the mental condition of the
young. These three organs large, combined with large Philoprogeni-
tiveness, Benevolence, and Conscientiousness, and an active Tempera-
ment, constitute the leading mental elements of a good teacher.
Sir George Mackenzie suggests that he should also be gifted with a
mirthful disposition. 2
The professions When both Individuality and Eventuality are large, the indivi-
above faculties, dual possesses two important qualities for general business. They
confer that readiness of observation and talent for detail which are
essential in the management of affairs. The lawyer so endowed is
able readily to apprehend the details of his cases,—to recollect the
principles of law, the dicta of legal authors, and the decisions of
courts, as matters of fact, and to reproduce the whole in a con-
nected narrative before a judge or jury. His power of applying
principles to new cases depends on the Reflecting faculties; but
although these be powerful, yet, if Individuality and Eventuality
be deficient, he may feel great difficulty in preparation for a trial,
and in the reproduction of his ideas. In point of fact, the most
eminent practical lawyers, particularly in England, are distinguished
by a great development of these organs. They are equally necessary
to the public speaker, to give him a command over the materiel or
details of his subject, and to enable him to set it forth clearly and
naturally to his audience. I have observed them large also in emi-
1 See The Phrenological Journal, vol. V. (1827–28) p. 620—(G. C.); in
which Mr James Simpson, giving an appreciative account and criticism of Mr
Wood's celebrated Sessional School in Edinburgh, communicates valuable hints
on education, and enumerates the qualities of a successful teacher, viz., Benevo-
lence, Love of Children, regulated Self-esteem, Tact (which comes from Intellect,
Imitation, and Secretiveness), Language, Wonder, Hope, Ideality, Veneration,
and Conscientiousness, on each of which he makes pertinent remarks as applied
to teaching
2 General Observations on the Principles of Education for the use of Mechanics'
Institutions; by Sir G. S. Mackenzie, Bart., 1836, p. 65–(G. C.) This work
was a valuable contribution to education when it appeared in 1836, at a time
when the philosophy of the subject was only beginning to rouse attention. It
will well repay perusal.
His personal qualities.
633
Both of possessing
them.
nent physicians; for, in the profession of medicine, prompt and The authors
accurate observation is one important element in success.
these organs are large in authors who acutely observe objects that
exist, and also life, manners, and occurrences, as Le Sage, Defoe,
and Sir Walter Scott. They are essential to the composition of
such works as Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver's Travels, in which a
strong impression of reality is produced by a minute description of
particular objects and actions. In the skull of Swift, the organs
appear very large.
When both organs are small, and the organs of reflection are large, When they
the individual will retain only general ideas, and will experience
great difficulty in becoming learned; he may see, hear, or read many
facts, but they will make only a faint impression, and soon escape
from his mind; he will feel great difficulty in commanding, without
previous preparation, even the knowledge which he possesses.?
are small.
.
Writing to Baron Stockmar on the education of the Prince of
Wales, George Combe briefly sketches a man whose character and
acquirements should be those of all teachers :
The instructor of the Prince of Wales should be a man under forty The character
and acquire-
years of age, whose mind is free from subjection to any sect or party, ments of a
and who is more or less acquainted with all the Science of the day. good teacher.
The better he be acquainted with new scientific views and opinions,
the more suited will he be for his important vocation. In the ages
which are to succeed the present, Science will influence society far
more generally and powerfully than it has ever done, and both
Literature and Religion will act subordinate parts in the drama of
life compared with it. This idea, if correct, carries in itself a
principle which should never cease to influence the education of the
Prince.
An important object in educating the Prince of Wales should be
to lead his mind, from the first, beyond conventional and empirical
maxims and opinions in Morals, Politics, and Religion, to nature.
1
System of Phrenology, vol. ii. pp. 99–101.-Dr Spurzheim, in treating of
Eventuality, says: “It seems to me that this faculty recognises the activity of
every other, whether external or internal, and acts in its turn upon all of them.
It desires to know everything by experience, and consequently excites all the
other organs to activity; it would hear, see, smell, taste, and touch; is fond of
general instruction, and inclines to the pursuit of practical knowledge ; and is
often styled good sense in our proceedings. It is essential to editors, secretaries,
historians, and teachers.” Ditto.
634
The Qualifications of a Good Teacher.
ments of a
The character The first step in such a process should be to communicate to him a
and acquire-
sound and practical knowledge of the human mind and body, the
good teacher. objects of their functions, and the laws impressed on them by the
Creator. A mere metaphysician, theologian, or classical scholar,
unlearned in Physiology and Natural Science, would be unfitted for
the duty; while a mere Physiologist without Mental Science would
be equally inadequate to the task.
Classical literature and History, when studied empirically, without
the lights of Mental, Physiological, and Economical Science, are far
more calculated to mislead than to improve and instruct the youth-
ful mind. Every natural passion, and every exaggerated and
erroneous sentiment, may in them find excitement and encourage-
ment. It is only when they are brought to the tests of a pure
Morality and a sound practical Philosophy that they become in-
structive; and then they afford examples of evils to be shunned,
much more frequently than of good to be attained by following the
principles which they describe.
1
What gives
All the faculties possess instinctive activity, and they are capable
genius for any of advancing a certain length in accomplishing the objects for which
they were instituted, without the guidance of scientific knowledge
or well-digested rules. This instinctive power is called Common
Sense. A man endowed with a brain of ample dimensions and high
quality, a favourable combination of organs, and an active Tempera-
ment is a genius; and, impelled by the instinctive power of his
faculties, he is often able to accomplish great objects, whether in the
departments of Literature, Science, Art, or practical life, without any
scientific knowledge of the principles of what he is doing, and
without being capable of communicating to other minds less gifted
the power of producing the results which he has attained. Poets,
artists, and musical composers afford striking examples of the truth
of these remarks. But the assemblage of natural qualities, which,
when exercised in these departments, is recognised as Genius, appears
to us to have a wider range than is generally supposed. According
to the special combination of the cerebral organs in an individual
who is thus endowed, it may confer on one man a genius for money-
making in mercantile business, on another a genius for conducting
some special department of literature, on a third a genius for teach-
1 Letter of 1st Nov., 1844. See his “ Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii.
pp. 189–200. The whole letter deserves careful study.
His personal qualities.
635
ing, and so forth. By the word Genius, in these instances, we mean
an instinctive sagacity which enables its possessor to take the right
road to attain his object as if by intuition, combined with an active
energy in pursuing it, which leads him on to success almost without
conscious effort. I
In this category of characters we are disposed to place Mr Wilder- The qualities
spin. To an active Temperament and energetic quality of brain, he possessed by
adds, large organs of Philoprogenitiveness and Benevolence, ample
organs of Form, Eventuality, Individuality, Comparison, Tune, Time,
Language, and Imitation; and, under the guidance of the instinctive
power of this combination, not disturbed by antagonising qualities,
he invented, carried into practice, and taught the system of Infant
Training which bears his name. He latterly knew a little of Phren-
ology, so as to perceive the relation between it and luis own practical
methods of teaching and training; but we believe that he did not
arrive at the knowledge of his method through its medium, having
been guided solely by the instinctive impulses of his faculties, aided
by observation and experience. He was in Infant teaching and
training, what Raphael was in painting, and Shakespeare in poetry-
a heaven-born genius.
When he exhibited the results of his system and explained his The work done
method, the whole process seemed so simple, and recommended itself by him.
so directly to the Feelings and Understandings (the Common Sense)
of the spectators, that it was universally admired, and pretty gener-
ally adopted Money was raised by subscription, Infant Schools
were built, teachers chosen, and children collected ; and, under the
immediate tuition of Mr Wilderspin himself, many schools were
established with the most encouraging prospects of success. 2 But,
somehow or other, while many of the schools have flourished, others
have become languid : in the latter, the teachers have lacked energy
and resources, the children have not been excited and influenced as
they were by the founder of the system ; and, in the localities of
such schools, an impression has gone abroad that the scheme gener-
ally has failed.
On these facts, we observe that neither Mr Wilderspin himself,
nor most of those to whom he communicated his system, were
in possession of any scientific knowledge of human nature. The
1 See additional remarks on Genius, p. 276; and the subject fully treated
in an essay under that name, in George Combe's “Essays on Phrenology” (1819).
2 See remarks on Wilderspin's work in Scotland, and George Combe's con-
nexion with it, in the Introduction, Part i. 4.
636
The Qualifications of a Good Teacher.
1
The reason of scheme emanated from, and was addressed to, our instincts or Com-
his non-success.
mon Sense. But genius when acting without the guidance of
scientific principles, labours under two disadvantages : first, it is
liable to shortcomings, errors, and inconsistencies in its practice;
and secondly, it cannot communicate its method to ordinary under-
standings. Wilderspin, and men similarly constituted, succeeded
up to a certain point in Infant training; but, when individuals who
were deficient in the active Temperament, energetic quality of brain,
and favourable combination of cerebral organs, which had inspired
him, were employed to conduct the schools, and were thrown upon
their own mental resources, they proved by no means adequate to
the task.
The value of It is in such cases that the value of scientific rules becomes
scientific prin-
ciples to the apparent. Clear rules, founded on well ascertained natural prin-
educator.
ciples, not only serve to enlarge the sphere of genius, and to
save it from numerous errors, but enable it to communicate its
methods to average minds, and help these to work up to its sugges-
tions, and to follow closely in its track. If Phrenology had consti-
tuted a fundamental portion of universal education at the time when
Wilderspin appeared, his instincts would at once have allied them-
selves with scientific principles; a knowledge of these principles
would have enabled the community at large fully to comprehend the
rationale of his system ; and his exhibitions would have become
embodiments of these principles in practice. By this means, the
public, and those who were selected as teachers, would equally have
comprehended the condition of the infant mind and body, the
objects to be aimed at in training them, and the real relations
between the means employed and the ends aimed at.
We are en-
titled, from experience, to infer that, in this and in other instances,
men of average mental endowments would have been capable of
repeating the processes and reproducing the effects. . Archbishop
Whately long since remarked, that no person, even the most illiter-
ate, trusts to the dictates of Common Sense in the execution of any
complicated process, when he happens to possess scientific rules for
his guidance. The sailor, while he may approve of curing diseases
under the guidance of Common Sense, would scout the idea of navi-
gating a ship by its unaided illumination. It is sheer ignorance of
Mental Science which leads so many otherwise intelligent persons
Regarding Wilderspin and Infant Schools, see a short but good account
in Gill's “Systems of Education” (London: Longmans, 1876), and Leitch’s
Practical Educationists" (Glasgow : Macklehose).
His personal qualities.
637
1
their want.
to rely on the dictates of Common Sense, to the exclusion of
scientific principles, in every department in which mind is the sub-
ject of administration; but this department, instead of forming an
exception to the general case, is, of all others, that in which, from
the subtle nature of the powers to be directed and the complexity
of the phenomena, scientific knowledge is most necessary to success.
If there be truth in these remarks, they are equally applicable to the results of
the practical processes by which ordinary schools, lunatic asylums,
and prisons are conducted. Several of these institutions have been
brought into an admirable state of efficiency by men of peculiar
talents, in some instances aided by Phrenology, and in others relying
chiefly on their instinctive sagacity and experience. But we have
heard of two great difficulties being experienced in maintaining
their high condition: first, that of obtaining servants capable of
comprehending the principles on which the presiding mind acts;
and, secondly, when that guiding mind is removed by death or
other circumstances, that of discovering a successor qualified to
carry forward his ideas. We have been told by the master-spirits
of improved prisons and lunatic asylums, that they find it more
troublesome to instruct, manage, and direct their assistants and
servants than their prisoners and patients ; long cherished belief in
the efficacy of force, and want of all knowledge and experience of
the relation of force and of kindness respectively to the human
faculties, render untrained servants absolutely sceptical of the
influence of reason and humanity, while prisoners and patients
speedily feel their softening and subduing power.
We cannot doubt that instruction in Phrenology would remove or The effects of
their posses-
greatly lessen these evils.? A knowledge of the primitive faculties,
sion.
their modes of activity, and the effects of their combinations, com-
municated as elements of education to all classes of society, would
enable each of these successful improvers to place his method on a
precise scientific basis which could be communicated to hundreds ;
giving to average minds the power of executing, and, when necessary,
reproducing it, not empirically, but with intelligence and a clear
perception of the relation between means and end.3
See p. 638, on Common Sense in education.
2 See Phrenology further recommended to teachers, p. 644; and to mothers,
1
p. 61.
6. Why are
3 Phrenological Journal, vol. xix. (1846) p. 233, in an article on
Infant Schools languishing ?" in which the subject is well and practically
treated, and the differences between “ rational and irrational" Infant Schools
are pointed out.
CHAPTER II.
ON THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF THE TEACHER.
1. COMMON SENSE NOT A SUFFICIENT GUIDE IN EDUCATION.
ional work.
Common Sense In the exercise of nearly all their high elective, legislative, anıl
insufficient for
administrative functions, the people and their rulers generally pro-
any profess-
ceed on the mere dictates of Common Sense; and, as Archbishop
Whately has well observed, Common Sense is never recognised as a
sufficient guide in the management of important affairs, except
when the individual is ignorant of scientific principles of action.
A sailor will probably admit that Common Sense is sufficient to
enable a man to preach or to practise medicine, but he will deny
that it is adequate to the steering of a ship. He knows little of the
difficulties of preaching and practising the healing art, and therefore
believes that slender attainments will suffice for them ; while he is
intimately acquainted with the perils of navigation, and justly
decides that scientific knowledge and experience are both indispen-
sably necessary to render a man an accomplished navigator.
Instinct does not guide man as it does the lower animals; and
reason cannot act without extensive knowledge and laborious
training. The education of the American people being still essen-
tially defective in relation to their powers and duties, their institu-
tions, when seen in action, do not render justice to the wisdom
which framed them. A higher education, discipline in obeying the
natural laws under the sanction of religion, and practical moral
training, appear to me to be the remedies for these evils.
1
It is specially
insufficient in
education.
Most of you will probably acknowledge the advantages of educa-
tion, point to your Common Schools, to the large sums appropriated
by the States for public instruction, and ask what more can any
reasonable man desire ? With every feeling of deference towards
your learned men and divines, I would answer that you stand in
need of a Philosophy of Mind capable of guiding your steps in your
1 America, vol. iii. pp. 268–9.
Common Sense not sufficient in Education. 639
efforts to bestow education on your people. Many will say, Is not
Common Sense sufficient to enable us to manage with success both
our political and educational institutions? I repeat the observation
of Archbishop Whately, that men never acknowledge the sufficiency
of mere Common Sense to the accomplishment of any important
undertaking, when they fully understand its nature and the difficul-
ties that must be surmounted to ensure success. A blacksmith will
probably assure you that Common Sense is sufficient to enable you
to farm, if he knows nothing about farming ; but, if you ask him
whether Common Sense will enable you to shoe a horse, he will
unhesitatingly answer that, if you try the experiment, you will pro-
bably get your brains kicked out for your rashness and presumption.
Do you imagine, then, that the successful direction of the affairs of
a great nation, and the training of the human mind, demand less of
scientific skill and experience than shoeing horses
But allow me to ask, what do you understand by Common Sense, Common Sense
truly involves
which is supposed to be such an all-sufficient guide in the United
a theory.
States? What is called Common Sense means the notions which
have entered the mind of any individual, from such occurrences and
sources of information as he happens to have enjoyed. Men's
capacities differ, their opportunities of observation differ, and hence
their Common Sense differs. The individual who professes to have
no theory, no hypothesis, no system, but to follow plain Common
Sense, has a theory: it is that formed by his innate capacity, aided
by his own individual experience.
Every man is willing to trust Common Sense in whatever is not This theory
is imperfect
intimately connected with his own immediate employment; but in without Men-
that he sees the absurdity of such dependence. So in the business tal Science.
of Education : every man thinks Common Sense all-sufficient, and
each calls his own notions of the matter Common Sense. No need
of the Philosophy of Mind, they imagine, for the mother and the
teacher; that is, human nature can be trained in ignorance of its
true nature !
But, in fact, every man, whose business is to deal with the
human mind, has a system of Mental Philosophy of his own, accord-
ing to which he decides and acts. It may be a very imperfect
system; he may not recognise it as a system ; but still it serves him
as one, and by it he tries whatever questions may arise in which
1 America, vol. iii. pp. 405-6.
640 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
mental acts or processes are involved. In this case, such men, in
lack of a standard of Mental Philosophy, takes himself as a standard;
but there can be no agreement as to the true mode of education
until we have a system of Mental Philosophy on which we all
agree.
2. THE NEED OF TEACHERS BEING INSTRUCTED IN MAN's
CONSTITUTION.
To train the
The grand difficulty of conducting education is that teachers and
faculties, they
must be known; parents are ignorant, and society has formed its institutions in
ignorance of human nature.?
To be able to convey instruction, the teacher must himself
possess an accurate knowledge of the functions of the faculties, and
the different periods at which they are developed. When he sees
manifestations in a child particularly powerful, he must know to
what faculty these belong, and the particular class of objects or of
studies fitted to cultivate this faculty into permanent energy and
activity.
3
In their spheres In order to train the faculties properly, we must know what they
of action;
are, what their spheres of action are, and what objects are calcı-
lated to rouse them; and we must present these, for words do not
train.
The object of education is to modify the innate powers, and to
regulate their manifestations, to restrain such of them as may be
too energetic, or to call forth into greater activity those which may
be naturally languid. Before we can hope to conduct education to
advantage, we must acquire a knowledge of the innate dispositions
and capacities of the mind, and learn, philosophically, the sphere of
action of each faculty, and how far each is susceptible of being
repressed or exalted.
5
Education is intended to enlighten the Intellect, to train it and
the Moral Sentiments to vigour, and to repress the too great activity
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 365.
2 Fronı MSS.
Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 326.
4 From MSS.
6 Essays on Phrenology (1819), p. 308.
3
Instruction in Man's Constitution necessary. 64 1
of the Selfish Feelings. But how can this be successfully accom- In the laws of
their activity ;
plished, when the faculties and Sentiments themselves, the laws to
which they are subject, and their relations to external objects, are
unascertained? Accordingly, the theories and practices in educa-
tion are innumerable and contradictory; which could not happen, if
men knew the constitution and relations of the object which they
are training
1
out their wliole
Is the mind a single power? or does it manifest a plurality of And through-
faculties? It is important to teachers to ascertain this point. If
range.
it is one power, then every kind of exercise cultivates the whole;
if a plurality, you must cultivate each. If it is one power, you can-
not give rest by alternating studies; if a plurality, you may. Cul-
tivate all the faculties, says a teacher at Albany, by Composition ;
cultivate all, says a teacher at Hartford, by Mathematics and
Arithmetic; cultivate all, says a teacher at Philadelphia, by reading
fluently. If there be a plurality, each must be exercised by itself.
If, then, there be a plurality of faculties, it is important to the
teacher to know what they are ; that he may know how to excite
them, and that he may cultivate them all.”
to
The precept, "Train up a child in the way he should go," is admir- The knowledge
able ; but extremely little information is communicated concerning point out the
1st, The way in which he should go; and,
path of life;
2nd, The proper mode of training him to go in it.
To find out the first, we must know human nature and its rela-
tions clearly and precisely, as these display themselves in the insti-
tutions of society, and also the talents and dispositions of the child
himself; because successful Training implies judicious dictation of
the individual into his proper department of life, enlightened with
all the knowledge that is necessary to enable him to discharge the
duties of it well. Unfortunately, however, those who ought to
train the child in the way he should go, in these respects are ignor-
ant themselves.
To discover the second, we must either have enjoyed extensive And to train
experience in teaching and training children, or have made this
subject a special study,-neither of which advantages are gener-
ally enjoyed by the trainers of children. Farther, until the
elementary qualities of the mind shall be familiarly known, it
1 Constitution of Man, p. 300.
2 From MSS.
the child to
follow it.
2 s
2
642 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
will be impossible to render the experience of one man in teach
ing thoroughly available to others; because vagueness and incon-
sistency will be unavoidable as long as practice is purely empirical,
which education must continue to be until it shall be founded on
the Philosophy of Mind. We repeat, therefore, that the first
effectual step in the improvement of the mass of the people must be
to communicate to them a knowledge of the science of their own
nature with the duties resulting from it; and to teach them the
mode of beneficially applying this knowledge in ameliorating their
own condition."
The want of Before men can teach, they must know. There ought to be
Mental Science
the cause of
schools for instructing teachers; and of the things taught, the con-
the differences stitution of man should be considered the most essential. But
in education.
before it can be taught, it must be known. It may be said that the
Legislature could prescribe a system of instruction for youth which
should come in place of a Mental Philosophy. This it could do;
but it would doubtless be drawn up in accordance with Common
Sense. The question is, how will such a system agree with nature ?
Each teacher will think his Common Sense equal to theirs. To do
any good, to have any uniformity, we must penetrate to the very
foundations of nature. That such a system is not generally ac-
knowledged is evident from the vast differences of opinion which
exist in the proper mode of conducting education. Go to Paris, to
London, to New York, ask about any principle of Chemistry, and
you will find perfect agreement. True, there are points on which
chemists differ ; but then, such points are a terra incognita in which
science has not yet been reached. But ask men about Education,
and you hardly find two to agree; nor, until we have a true Science
of the Human Mind generally acknowledged, can there be such an
agreement; nor, till there is such an agreement, can there be any
united and well-directed efforts.?
Its necessity for Mental Science is now a department of Physiology, and the
the teacher.
teacher of the Prince of Wales should be capable not only of in-
structing him in this branch of knowledge, but of directing his own
treatment by its lights. It would enable the instructor to ascertain,
on sure grounds, the Mental dispositions and capacities of the
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. vi. (1829-30), p. 325.
2 American Leetures, edited by Boardman, p. 365.
Instruction in Man's Constitution necessary. 643
Prince in their relative degrees of strength and weakness, and to
modify his training, &c., to the dictates of reason founded on that
knowledge. In ordinary education, much prejudice, and occasion-
ally some unsound morality, are instilled into the youthful mind
by well-meaning instructors who are ignorant of the spheres of
activity of the primitive mental faculties."
rance of it on
In some of your academies, the talent for English Composition Effects of igno-
is supposed to be the most valuable attainment that can be com-
teachers;
municated to the young; in others, Arithmetic and Mathematics
are regarded as the best studies for developing all the faculties;
while one female teacher assured me, in all seriousness, that the human
mind is a blank, that all minds are alike in their native capacities,
and that she can evoke whatever talents and dispositions she pleases.
This is her theory, and she has practised on it for many years !
You must have observed how the practices of teachers differ; you
cannot suppose that each adopts his own method without some
reasons for preferring it;—these reasons, however limited and lame,
constitute his theory. In point of fact, they all have theories, and
the vast differences in their notions prove that nature is not the
author of them; because she is always consistent with herself,
and gives one response to all. When we have studied nature, we
agree. Hence, the great principles of Astronomy, Chemistry, Physi-
ology, and of other branches of Natural Science, are no longer in
dispute. But on the subjects of Morals, Religion, and Education,
the diversity and conflict of opinion are boundless. Does not this
indicate that our notions on these subjects do not yet rest on a scien-
tific basis ?-in short, that we enjoy no sound and practical Philosophy
of Mind?
In the present state of ignorance in which all classes, educated and on the
community.
and uneducated, are involved, concerning the mental constitution of
man, and the relation betwixt his faculties and the physical laws of
creation; it is impossible to arrive at first principles, and from them
to deduce demonstrative conclusions on any subject connected with
the condition either of individuals or society. A philosophical ex-
position of the effects of the poor-laws, of the liberty of the press,
of particular doctrines and practices in religion, of systems of educa-
tion, and, in short, of any of the institutions of society, requires a
1 Letter to Baron Stockmar, 1st November 1844, on the Education of the
Prince of Wales. See George Combe's “Life," by Charles Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 199.
644 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
precise and comprehensive knowledge of the constitution of the
human mind, and of its susceptibilities of modification, as the
ground-work of all our reasonings. Every attempt to remove pre-
judices, to convince the reason, or direct the feelings of the people,
must be made in conformity to the natural constitution of the mind,
and must reach its ultimate principles, in order to be successful;
and yet that constitution and these principles are almost unknown.
The consequence is, that, on no subject, is it so easy to embarrass
discussions with plausible objections, ingenious sophisms, and
successful ridicule; and, in no instance, is it so difficult to arrive at
demonstrative conclusions as in Moral and Political Science.1
3. PHRENOLOGY SPECIALLY RECOMMENDED FOR TEACHERS.
Phrenology a Every one who has observed mankind must be convinced that
valuable guide nature has implanted certain dispositions and capacities in the mind,
and that these form the basis of the character of each individual
through life. The object of education is to modify these innate
powers, and to regulate their manifestations, to restrain such of them
as may be too energetic, or to call forth into greater activity those
which may be naturally languid. Before we can hope to conduct
education to adỹantage, we must acquire a knowledge of the innate
dispositions and capacities of the mind, and learn, philosophically,
the sphere of action of each faculty, and how far each is susceptible
of being repressed or exalted. Phrenology is of great utility, as
affording us such information ; for it professes to treat of the innate
faculties of the mind, and the modifications of which they are sus-
ceptible.
How it should
be studied for
practical suc-
cess.
Phrenology teaches us emphatically that mere knowledge is not
sufficient to secure virtuous conduct. It lays open to us the Pro-
pensities and Sentiments as the main-springs of human action, and
proclaims, in the clearest language, that it is only by Training them
that really virtuous dispositions can be cultivated. No means,
therefore, that can assist the parent and teacher in Training can be
unimportant. The most talented and zealous teachers have asked me.
we accomplish the training of the faculties most
effectually ?” They say, “We are aware of its importance, and we
desire to train, but we experience much difficulty in doing so." I
1 Phrenological Journal, vol. ii. (for 1824-5) p. 445.
Essays on Phrenology (1819) p. 308.
6. How can
2
Phrenology Recomniended for him.
645
recommend to them to study profoundly the functions of the primitive
faculties, their spheres of action, and the objects that excite them.
This study must be serious, and the results of it must be made part
of the stock of the teacher's mind. We cannot use knowledge,
we cannot teach it, nor impress others with it deeply—until our
minds be saturated with it to overflowing. I relate this from ex-
perience. When in Edinburgh, I gave six lectures on General This shown
from personal
Anatomy and Physiology. I found it extremely difficult to produce
experience.
a favourable effect on my audience; and I discovered the cause.
Although I knew the subject, had seen the parts dissected and their
structure demonstrated, and had read descriptions of them, yet this
knowledge was all in the memory. It had not been wrought into
the warp and the woof of my own thoughts. Phrenology has been
thus woven in the very texture of my mind, and hence the greater
ease and power with which I am able to interest other minds in its
truths. Let other teachers become as familiar with it, and they will
wield it as a powerful instrument in practising their vocation.
When they have so studied Phrenology, they will discover that one
branch of it offers them great assistance in Training, which to the
uninitiated and the mere reader of Phrenology books, naturally
appears ludicrous when first mentioned. I allude to the Natural
Language of the faculties.
1
66 Of
[See p. 61, on the value of a knowledge of Phrenology, in the Recommenda-
tions of it loy
education of children, to mothers and women generally ; also, pp. others.
110-111, on the effects of teaching it to children. Many eminent
teachers have recorded their obligations to Phrenology in the work
of teaching See Dr Howe's opinion of it, p. 122. Professor
Hodgson of Edinburgh thus expresses himself in regard to it.
its importance to the educationist, I may speak, if with humility,
yet with confidence, based on actual experience. To the practical
teacher, Phrenology is of eminent service, not merely in enabling
him to form rapid and correct judgments of individual characters,
but from its clear and simple Philosophy of Mind, the light it throws
on the nature of the being to be instructed, and consequently on the
true aim and wisest methods of education."--Phrenological Journal,
vol. xix. p. 127. See also the same Journal, vol. x. p. 110, for the
1 From Address to the Boston (U.S.) Phrenological Society, Dec. 31, 1839.
See p. 331, for observations of the use of the Natural Language of the faculties.
646 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
Recommenda- opinions of other teachers on its value to the teacher. At the same
tions of Phiren.
ology for places in both the volumes mentioned, will be found the opinions of
Teachers. numerous eminent men as to its utility in various studies and pro-
fessions. George Combe himself constantly and fervently attributes
all his insight into human nature and education to Phrenology.
See Introduction, Part ii., 4, on his use of the subject in education.
Edit)
4. ON SUBJECTS WHICH SHOULD FORM PART OF THE EQUIPMENT
OF THE TEACHER.
Subjects neces- To conduct education properly, it is necessary to know the physi-
sary for the
teacher :
cal and mental constitution of the being to be educated, and also
Mental Science. the world in which he is to be an actor. Generally speaking, the
former knowledge is not possessed, and the latter object is very
little regarded. How many parents are able to call up, even in
their own minds, any satisfactory view of the mental faculties (with
their objects and spheres of action) which they aim at training in
their children? How many add to this knowledge an acquaintance
with the physical constitution of the human being, and of the kind
of treatment which is best calculated to develop favourably its
energies and capabilities ? Nay, who can point out even a body of
professional teachers who are thus highly accomplished ? I fear few
of us can do so.
I do not blame either parents or teachers for the present imperfect
state of their knowledge : because they themselves were not taught;
indeed, the information here described did not exist a few years ago,
and it exists but to a very limited extent still. Ignorance, there-
fore, is our misfortune, rather than our fault; and my sole object in
adverting to its magnitude is to present us with motives to remove
it. While it continues so profound and extensive as it has hitherto
generally been, sound and salutary education can no more be accom-
plished than you can cause light to shine forth out of darkness.1
Other sciences
he should
know.
The instruction and education of your children can be obtained
only by a thorough education of your own minds. After you have
become acquainted with Anatomy and Physiology, as the keys to the
physical constitution of man; with Phrenology, as the development
of his mental constitution ; with Chemistry, Natural History, and
1 Moral Philosophy, Lect. vii.
Other Subjects he should Study.
647
Natural Philosophy, as expositions of the external world ; and with
Political Economy and Moral Philosophy, as the sciences of human
action: you will be in possession of the rudimentary or elementary
knowledge necessary to enable you to comprehend and profit by a
course of lectures on practical education, which is really the applica-
tion of this knowledge to the most important of all purposes, that
of training the body to health, and the mind to virtue, intelligence,
and happiness. I beg leave to express my humble conviction,
that no error is more prosperous than that which leads many persons
to suppose that, without this preliminary or elementary knowledge,
parents can be taught how to educate their children successfully.
The process of education consists in training faculties, and com- The necessity
for these being
municating knowledge; and it appears to me to be about as hope-studied.
less a task to attempt to perform this duty by mere rules and
directions, as it was for the Israelites to make bricks in Egypt with-
out straw. I am the more anxious to insist on this point, because
no error is more common, in the practical walks of life, than the
belief that a parent can learn how to educate a child without under-
going the labour of educating himself. Many parents of both sexes,
but particularly mothers, have told me, that if I would lecture on
Education, they would come and hear me; because they considered
the education of their children to be a duty, and were disposed to
sacrifice the time necessary for obtaining instruction how to discharge it.
When I recommended to them to begin by studying Physiology, This illus-
Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, and Phrenology, at least to such an trated.
extent as to be able to comprehend the nature of the body and
mind which they proposed to train, and the objects by which the
inind and body are surrounded, and on which education is intended
to enable them to act,—they instantly declared that they had no
time for these extensive inquiries, and that information about educa-
tion was what they wanted, as it alone was necessary to their object.
I told them, in vain, that these were preliminary steps to any avail-
able knowledge of education. They were so ignorant of mind, and
of its faculties and relations, that they could not conceive this to be
the case, and refused to attend these courses of instruction.
If I could succeed in persuading you of the truth of this view,
the permanence of this Association, and the success of its lectures,
would be secured : because the industrious citizens of Edinburgh
1 The Philosophical Association of Edinburgh, now called the Philosophical
Institution, before which George Combe was then lecturing (1835–6), and of
which he was one of the founders. See Introduction, Part i. 1.
648 The Projessional Training of the Teacher.
All sciences
bear on edu-
cation.
would prize it as a grand means of preparing their own minds for
the important duty of educating their children, and would no longer
come hither merely to be amused, or to pass an idle hour; they
would regard every science taught by this Association as a step
towards the attainment of the most important object of human life,-
that of training the young to health, intelligence, virtue, and enjoy-
ment. 1
ing;
The subjects If you wished to instruct a person to conduct the physical training
l'equired for
Physical train. of your children,—that is, to administer their food, sleep, exercise,
and occupations aright, with a view to developing their bones,
muscles, lungs, stomach, nerves, and brain, into the highest attain-
able condition of health, vigour, and activity--what kind of knowledge
of the bodily organism would you require him to possess ? Common
sense answers-He should know the structure of the different
organs, that is, their Anatomy; their healthy functions, or their
Physiology ; and also the effects of disease on their modes of action,
or their Pathology.
For Mental Is it not the object of every sensible parent, in educating his
training :
child, to develop his natural Feelings and Intellectual faculties into
full vigour and activity, to direct them to their proper objects, to
restrain them when they act too vehemently, and to excite them
when too sluggish? In short, to bring forth a healthy, vigorous,
harmonious action, which, by insuring the proper discharge of our
duties to God and man, shall shed a daily beauty over life; and
also, through compliance with the laws of Providence, shall lead to
health, prosperity, holiness, and happiness?
But if this be the just and rational aim of education, I humbly
think that it takes for granted the following propositions : First,
that natural faculties exist ; secondly, that they have all legitimate
functions; and, thirdly, that the order of God's natural providence
recognises and is constituted with obvious relation to the existence
and legitimate uses of the faculties, because, as a general rule, it
renders the honest, religious, intelligent, prudent, skilful, persevering
and active man prosperous and happy, and the dishonest, profane,
stupid, unsteady and sensual individual poor and miserable.
The Physiology If such, then, be the real condition of the human mind; you will
of Mind.
observe that it has a Physiology, that its faculties have healthy
functions and lawful spberes of action, which must be studied and
1 Moral Philosophy, Lect. vii.
Training Colleges Necessary for this.
649
of Mind.
understood by every one who pretends to conduct the Moral,
Religious, and Intellectual education of our children.
The mind has also its Pathology, or its disordered and vicious, or The Pathology
immoral, states of action. This may arise from excessive energy in
one or more faculties, with weakness in others, as when a man in
whom the love of wealth is excessive, and the sentiment of justice
feeble, cheats and steals ; or it may arise from misdirection, as when
a Turk, in honour of Mahomet, beats the soles of the Christian's
feet, in order to convert him to his faith ; or from inflammatory
action of the brain, as when a person in a state of insane excite-
ment kills those whom, when in health, he dearly loved. The
knowledge of these disordered conditions also is necessary for con-
ducting education successfully.
1
5. ON THE NECESSITY OF TRAINING COLLEGES FOR TEACHERS.
efforts for Nor-
tain.
(George Combe, as already partly told in the Introduction, took George Combe's
the most active interest in the establishment of Training Colleges nial Schools.
for teachers, as the “first step” towards making education what it
should be, and persistently advocated their foundation in this
country and America, from an early date. When he went to the
United States in 1838, this was a prominent subject of his lectures
there, and his earnest appeals no doubt did much to aid Horace
Mann and other enlightened educationists in their final development
in that country.
The first Normal School established in Britain was the one the first of
these in Bri-
founded in Glasgow, in 1838, chiefly through the efforts of the
celebrated David Stow, with Mr Robert Cunningham, an eminent
and travelled teacher (see p. 89), as rector; which has been, since
the Disruption, the Training College in connection with the Estab-
lished Church in Glasgow. Of this institution, George Combe pub-
lished an excellent account, with an engraving of the building,
written, at his request, by Mr Cunningham, in the appendix to the
third volume of his Notes on the United States, published in 1841.
This account is interesting and valuable, as describing well the plan
and working of the first British institution of the kind, which
formed a model for the others since founded, and as containing a
résumé of the system of teaching followed there.
In this paper, written in 1840, Mr Cunningham also recommends
1 From speech on National Education at Aberdeen, delivered on 25th April,
1851 ; from the Aberdeen Herald.
650 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
The first in the
United States.
the appointment of a Professor of Education in connection with
Universities, which he had already advocated while in America in
1838-9, when professor of Ancient Languages in Lafayette College,
Pennsylvania,—an idea that was first promulgated in this country
by Professor Pillans, in 1828.1 The paper is too long to quote
here, but should be read by all interested in the subject.
The first Normal School founded in the United States was that
at Lexington, in Massachusetts, (which State was the first to move
in this direction,) in July, 1839, under the great teacher, Cyrus
Pierce as Principal, selected by Horace Mann; although a private
training institution for teachers had been opened in 1823, under
another eminent teacher, Mr Samuel Read Hall. The struggle in
favour of Training Colleges in the United States was long and try-
ing, only three students having appeared at the opening of the
Lexingtoni school, and the opposition being very decided.
assertion," as George Combe observes, “that the training of
teachers was necessary, was resented by nine out of every ten of the
actual teachers ; and they found it no difficult matter to induce the
parents of children to participate in their feelings.”
Works on their There are now 48 Normal Schools in Britain, 137 in the United
history.
States, and 855 in Europe. For their history in different countries,
see Kiddle and Schem's "Cyclopædia of Education," s.v., Teachers,
Seminaries; and for the difficulties in their first establishment in
America, see “The Life of Horace Mann," by his Wife (Boston :
Walker, Fuller, & Co., 2d edit., 1865). A short account of the
history of Normal Schools and George Combe's efforts in connection
with them is given in the Introduction, Part III. ii. 4.-Edit.]
66 The
Their necessity The impediments in the way of extending a sound and truly
for teachers.
valuable education to the people of America are very great. The
first step towards accomplishing this end must be to institute
Normal Schools for the instruction of the teachers, not only in the
proper subjects to be taught, but in the best modes of teaching. 4
I See Introduction, Part III. ii. p. 4.
2 America, vol. iii. p. 27.
3 Regarding these two remarkable men, see Kiddle and Schem's" Cyclopædia
of Education," and Barnard's “ American Teachers and Educators.”
* America, vol. iii. p. 27.
Training Colleges Necessary for this.
651
George Combe thus describes the establishment of Normal Schools Their need
seen in Massa-
in Massachusetts :-The Board of Education had proceeded only a
chusetts.
short way in the discharge of its duties, when it became apparent
to them (and it was no new discovery to the friends of education in
the State), that a grand impediment to the improvement of schools
consisted in the want of properly qualified teachers. “ It was stated
publicly, by a member of the School Committee of a town contain-
ing thirty or more school districts, that one-half at least of the
teachers approved by them would be rejected, only that it would
be vain to expect better teachers for the present remuneration."2
When it was maintained as a reason against augmenting the
salaries of teachers, that the State could not afford any increase of
its annual appropriations for schools, the question was put in
derision, “ Whether something more than one-six-hundredth part of
its welfare might not come from the enlightenment of its intellect
and the soundness of its morals?”
So strong, however, was the aversion of the people to submit to their first
foundation
additional taxation, that the Board did not propose any specific there.
measures for improving the instruction of teachers, until, in March
1838, Edmund Dwight, Esq. of Boston, a member of the Board,
authorised the Secretary to offer to the Legislature the sum of
$10,000 to be expended in the qualification of teachers of Common
Schools, on condition that the Legislature should place in the hands
of the Board an equal sum to be appropriated to the same purpose.
A committee of the Legislature reported strongly in favour of accept-
ing of the offer, and a resolution to do so passed both branches
almost unanimously, and, on the 19th of April, was approved of by
the Governor. After an anxious comparison of all practicable plans,
the towns of Lexington and Barre were selected for the location of
two of the Normal Schools; and the location of the third was
undecided on in February 1839. The two Normal Schools were in
successful action when I left the United States in 1840.4
1.See the term “ town,” as used here, explained, p. 617.
2 First Annual Report of the Secretary to the Board of Education, 1838–
(G.C.); now included in Horace Mann's “Life and Works,” edited by Mrs
Mann (5 vols., Boston, U.S.; Horace B. Fuller).
3 This offer was made to the Legislature through Horace Mann, whose per-
sonal friend Mr Dwight was. See an account of this enlightened transaction
in “ The Life of Horace Mann," by Mrs Mann (2d edit. 1865), p. 100.
4 America, vol. iii. pp. 75–7. The Lexington Normal School was afterwards
removed to Newton, and then to Framingham; and the Barre one to Westfield.
Other three have since been established in Massachusetts,-at Bridgewater,
Salem, and Worcester.
652 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
Their abolition In March 1840, the Board of Education, established in Massa-
advocated.
chusetts in 1837, with Horace Mann as secretary, sustained a
notorious attack by an obstructive party, which advocated its aboli-
tion. Amongst other matters, it proposed the abandonment of
the above Normal Schools, saying that "perhaps it is not desirable
that the business of keeping district schools should become a dis-
tinct and separate profession, which the establishment of Normal
Schools seemed to anticipate !" On this subject, George Combe
remarks :
This is a striking acknowledgment of the low state of education
in the Commonwealth ; and if the Committee had been composed
of enlightened men, it would have perceived that this fact fur-
nished the most forcible reason for establishing Normal Seminaries,
and for increasing the length of the attendance at Common Schools ;
but they, on the contrary, recommended the abolition of the Board
of Education, the school library, and the Normal Schools, and
proposed to refund the money "generously contributed” to the
support of the latter by Mr Dwight!! They appended to their
Report the draft of an Act to carry these recommendations into
effect !
In
my
humble opinion, all that has been written by European
proof of their
travellers against the people of the United States, their manners
and institutions, will not depreciate the character of their civili-
sation in the judgment of reflecting men to one-half the extent
that will be done by this document alone. It appears, indeed,
to contradict much that I have said in favour of the American
people; and at the hazard of standing still farther condemned, I
am under the necessity of reporting that it found 182 individuals
in the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, the most en-
lightened of the States, to vote for its adoption. In point of fact,
however, I have endeavoured to convey the idea that there is a vast
extent of ignorance in the Union, and even in Massachusetts ; and
this report signally sustains the assertion.
The contest
But there is also another side to the picture, which I am happy
now to exhibit. The minority of the committee gave in an admir-
able report in support of the Board of Education and the Normal
Schools. Some of the Boston newspapers warmly espoused their
Dr Channing 3 published, in one of these, an eloquent and
cogent defence of them; and, in the House of Representatives, a
1 Already described, pp. 613–4.
2 America, vol. iii. p. 316.
3 Dr Ellery Channing, one of the most enlightened educationists the world
This the best
uced.
in favour of
hem.
cause.
Works on the Subject.
653
highly interesting debate ensued on the merits of the whole ques-
tion, the result of which was that 248 members voted for the
rejection of the first mentioned Report, making a majority in favour
of the Board of 66 members. I
on
[On the need, nature, means, and history of the Professional Works on the
Training of the teacher, the following works may be consulted :
-teacher.
Training of the
“Contributions to the Cause of Education," by Professor Pillans,
part i. (London: Longmans) ; Horace Mann's “Life and Works,"
by Mrs Mann, Report for 1839, and Lecture ii. on “Special
Preparation a Prerequisite to Teaching” (Boston, U.S.: Horace B.
Fuller); Stow's “Training System,” chap. xxvi. et seq. (London:
Longmans); Herbert Spencer's “Education" (London: Williams &
Norgate); “The Educator," being Prize Essays on "The Expediency
and Means of Elevating the Profession of the Educator," by John
A. Heraud, James Simpson (George Combe's friend), and Sarah
Porter, published by the Central Society of Education, (London:
Taylor & Walton); Professor Payne on “The Science and Art of
Education" (London: Henry S. King), and on “The Importance
of the Training of the Teacher" (London : Ridgway); the Editor
The Professional Training of Teachers," read before the Social
Science Association, and included in their Transactions for 1874,
and in an article, under the same title, in the Fortnightly Review
of September, 1874 ; Mrs William Grey on "The Study of Educa-
tion as a Science," a paper read before the British Association in
Belfast, in 1874 (London: Ridgway); Dr Hodgson's Address on
Education, delivered before the Social Science Association at Nor-
wich, in 1873, and included in the Transactions; James Simpson's
has seen, was a champion of all advancement in education, as in all other
subjects of social progress, and a friend and admirer of Horace Mann. He
wrote Mr Mann a congratulatory letter, when he left his distinguished position
in the Legislature, and with “eccentric disinterestedness” devoted himself to
the despised work of education, saying that he “could not find a nobler
station ; Government had no nobler to give :" and wishing to be allowed to
“labour under" him—a wish which he most abundantly fulfilled, in efforts
and eloquent appeals for education.-See “Memoirs of Channing,” vol. iii. p.
233 (London : Routledge, 1850).
America, vol. iii. p. 316, where the above Report is criticised in detail.
The attack was made when George Combe was in America, and while visiting
Mr Mann.
1
654 The Professional Training of the Teacher.
the teacher.
Works on the “ Philosophy of Education," chap. vii. and Appendix vi. (Edin-
Training of
burgh : A. & C. Black); Scott Russell's “Systematic Technical
Education," p. 206 et al. (London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co.);
Willm's “Education of the People," part iii., and Preliminary
Dissertation by Professor Nichol (Glasgow : William Lang); “The
Training of Teachers,” a paper read before the Ayrshire branch of
the Educational Institute of Scotland, by William Glasgow (Glas-
gow: Robert Forrester, Royal Exchange Square); numerous papers
read before the College of Preceptors, London, (which had the dis-
tinguished honour of appointing, in 1873, the first Professor of
Education in Britain, Professor Payne, whose works on the subjects
are mentioned above, and who died in 1876), and published in
their organ, “The Educational Times,” which has had frequent
leaders on the same subject, for many years ; also papers read before
the “Society for the Development of the Science of Education” in
London, lately founded, of which “ The Scholastic World” is the
organ.
The idea, referred to p. 650, of having teachers trained in our
trained in the Universities, alongside of other professions, by Professors of Educa-
tion, with full practising machinery, has of late years been gaining
ground; and has at length taken practical form in the appointment,
in 1874, of such Professors at Edinburgh and St Andrews Univer-
sities. See an account of the various efforts made for this end,
in the Editor's papers on
“ The Professional Training of Teachers,”
mentioned above.—Edit.]
He should be
CHAPTER III.
ON THE SOCIAL STATUS OF THE TEACHER.
BEFORE much improvement can be expected, teachers must be The wisdom of
raised in consideration and social rank; and this can be accom-status for the
plished only by increasing their valuable attainments, and by teacher.
teaching the people to appreciate and honour such qualities. In
Britain, they are now not generally reckoned as fit companions for
gentlemen; they are not presented to company. Whence does this
arise ? From the circumstance, it appears to me, that their occupa-
tion has not been scientific but empirical. But this must be
allowed: If the man who takes care of our bodies is considered
equal to the best of us, surely the man who takes care of the mind
-trains and instructs it-should not be considered as below our
companionship. So to consider him is a relic of barbarism.1
The first thing that you require is a true Philosophy of Mind;
then teachers, well trained and instructed according to this Philo-
sophy, shall be ranked as high in public estimation as any class
of professional men. Then you require the parents to assist the
teachers in their duties, which may be done in many ways.?
Let us advert to the lamentable condition in which the teachers The low posi.
tion of teachers
of youth are retained, in consequence of the extreme deficiency ex-and the means
isting in the education of all classes of society. If man's rational of raising it.
nature were regarded as his glory, and the fountain of his true
happiness, and if the office of teachers, male and female, were to
cultivate and advance this portion of the mind; no employment could
be more delightful, no situation would require higher attainments in
those who aspired to it, and no individuals could be found of higher
worth and value to society. But the reverse of all this is the fact.
Nothing can be more slender than the stock of useful and positive
knowledge possessed by the common teachers of youth, and nothing
more abortive than the results of their labours. They are the half-
1 American Lectures, edited by Boardman, p. 366.
2 Ditto, p. 368.
656
The Social Status of the Teacher.
blind leading the wholly blind : and, in consequence, they hold a
very subordinate place in public estimation; they are very poorly
remunerated for their labours; and those among themselves who
enjoy any considerable degree of depth of reflection feel mortified
with their own ignorance, and that of society which restrains them
from advancing in knowledge. I
The low posi- Among females, the case is, if possible, worse. A fashionable
tion of Female
teachers.
governess is not supposed to know anything of the Philosophy of
Mind, or any other science; she is made up of accomplishments,—of
music, drawing, French, Italian, and fine manners : and the young
ladies entrusted to her care rarely rise above her attainments. The
mothers have been educated in the same way, and, neither they nor
the governesses of their children possessing any real substratum of
Philosophy or practical knowledge, are rivals in appearance and
superficial accomplishments. At least, many ladies indicate, by their
conduct, that they fear this rivalry; the governesses are treated with
great coldness and contempt; they are not admitted as equals into
the family circle; they cannot associate with the menial servants :
and, in this way, live in virtual banishment, as far as interchange of
feelings and affections among friends and equals is concerned,
although placed in the bosom of a numerous and apparently
cultivated family.”
status.
The patriotism The Americans need proper Normal Schools in which their
of raising the teachers may be instructed in the Philosophy of Mind, and in the
Art of Training and Teaching; and they must also pay them hand-
somely before they will command good education. If the Americans
were animated by an enlightened patriotism, they would submit to
a large taxation to accomplish this object, because, on its fulfilment,
will depend the future peace and prosperity of their country.3
1 The above estimate of the social position of the teacher is still too sadly
true ; and there is no doubt also that the true remedy is pointed out. As Scott
Russell well says, “ If we were truly wise, we should think no manner of man
too distinguished, and no social remuneration unreasonable, which should tempt
into the rank of the pedagogue the most distinguished men in Science, Art, and
practical life, and so secure the first condition—that the things taught have
the advantage of power, weight, and authority.”—“Systematic Technical Edu.
cation.”
2 Phrenological Journal, vol. vi. (1829–30) p.629.
3 America, vol. iii. p. 105. * There should be no economy in education,"
says the great Dr Channing. “ Parents should do all but impoverish them-
selves to induce the first minds in the community to become the guardians
and guides of their children. “Remarks on Education."
APPENDIX.
No. I. — THE FACULTIES OF THE HUMAN MIND
ACCORDING TO PHRENOLOGY.
REFERRED TO, p. 263, &c.
1. OUTLINE OF THE PARENOLOGICAL FACULTIES, WITH THEIR USES
AND ABUSES ; BY GEORGE COMBE.1
Order I. FEELINGS.
GENUS I. PROPENSITIES.
Common to Man with the Lower Animals.
THE LOVE OF LIFE.2—Uses : It gives the love of life, and instinct of
self-preservation ; combined with Hope, it desires to live for ever.
--Abuses : Excessive love of life. When it is very largely developed,
and combined with Cautiousness large, it gives an anxious dread of
death.
1. AMATIVENESS.—Uses : It produces love between the sexes. Marriage
springs from Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and Adhesiveness,
acting in combination.— Abuses : Promiscuous intercourse with the
opposite sex, seduction, marriage with near relations, marriage while
labouring under any general debility or serious disease, marriage without
possessing the means of maintaining and educating a family.
2. PHILOPROGENITIVENESS.--Uses : Affection for young and tender
beings. - Abuses : Pampering and spoiling children.
3. CONCENTRATIVENESS.—Uses : It renders permanent, emotions and
ideas in the mind.--Abuses : Morbid dwelling on internal emotions and
ideas, to the neglect of external impressions.
3a. INHABITATIVENESS. ----Uses : It produces the desire of permanency in
place.—Abuses : Aversion to move abroad.
4. ADHESIVENESS.—Uses : Attachment; friendship and society result
from it.—Abuses : Clanship for improper objects, attachment to worth-
less individuals. It is generally strong in women.
5. COMBATIVENESS. — Uses : Courage to meet danger and overcome diffi-
calties ; tendency to oppose and attack whatever requires opposition,
and to resist unjust encroachments. — Abuses : Love of contention, and
tendency to provoke and assault. This feeling obviously adapts man to
a world in which danger and difficulty abound.
From the Introduction to America, vol. i. p. xxvii.; and his “ Life," by Charles Gibbon
vol. ii. p. 386.
2 Now called Vitativeness.
2 T
658
Appendix, 1. 1.
(j. DESTRUCTIVENESS. — Uses : Desire to destroy noxious objects, and to
kill for food. It is very discernible in carnivorous animals. --Abuses :
Cruelty, murder, desire to torment, tendency to passion, rage, and harsh-
ness and severity in speech and writing. This feeling places man in
harmony with death and destruction, which are woven into the
system of sublunary creation.
6a. ALIMENTIVENESS : APPETITE FOR FOOD.-Uses : Nutrition.---
Abuses : Gluttony and drunkenness.
7. SECRETIVENESS.–Uses : Tendency to restrain within the mind the
various emotions and ideas that involuntarily present themselves, until
the judgment has approved of giving them utterance ; it is simply the
propensity to conceal, and is an ingredient in prudence. --Abuses :
Cunning, deceit, duplicity, and lying.
8. ACQUISITIVENESS.Uses : Desire to possess, and tendency to accumu-
late articles of utility, to provide against want.--Abuses : Inordinate
desire of property, selfishness, avarice, theft.
9. CONSTRUCTIVENESS.— Uses : Desire to build and construct works of art.
--Abuses : Construction of engines to injure or destroy, and fabrication
of objects to deceive mankind.
GENUS II. SENTIMENTS.
I. Sentiments common to Man with the Lower Animals.
10. SELF-ESTEEM.-Uses : Self-respect, self-interest, love of independence,
personal dignity.—Abuses : Pride, disdain, over-weaning conceit, ex-
cessive selfishness, love of dominion.
11. LOVE OF APPROBATION.—Uses : Desire of the esteem of others, love
of praise, desire of fame or glory.--Abuses : Vanity, ambition, thirst
for praise independently of praiseworthiness.
12. CAUTIOUSNESS. —Uses : It gives origin to the sentiment of fear, the
desire to shun danger, and circumspection; and it is an ingredient in
prudence.-
Abuses : Excessive timidity, poltroonery, unfounded appre-
hensions, despondency, melancholy.
13. BENEVOLENCE.--Uses : Desire of the happiness of others, universal
charity, mildness of disposition, and a lively sympathy with the enjoy-
ment of all animated beings. — Abuses : Profusion, injurious indulgence
of the appetites and fancies of others, prodigality, facility of temper.
II. Sentiments proper to Man.
14. VENERATION.— Uses : Tendency to venerate or respect whatever is
great and good; it gives origin to religious adoration.-Abuses : Senseless
respect for unworthy objects consecrated by time or situation, love of
antiquated customs, abject subserviency to persons in authority, super-
stitious awe.
15. FIRMNESS.—Uses : Determination, perseverance, steadiness of purpose.
-Abuses : Stubbornness, infatuation, tenacity in evil.
16. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.--Uses : It gives origin to the sentiment of
justice, or respect for the rights of others, openness to conviction, the
love of truth. ---Abuses : Scrupulous adherence to noxious principles
Mental Faculties according to Phrenology. 659
when ignorantly embraced, excessive refinement in the views of duty
and obligation, excess in remorse or self-condemnation.
17. HOPE.—Uses : Tendency to expect future good; it cherishes faith.—
Abuses : Credulity with respect to the attainment of what is desired,
absurd expectations of felicity not founded on reason.
18. WONDER.–Uses : The desire of novelty ; admiration of the new, the
unexpected, the grand, the wonderful, and extraordinary.—Abuses :
Love of the marvellous and occult; senseless astonishment; belief in
false miracles, in prodigies, magic, ghosts, and other supernatural
absurdities. —Note. Veneration, Hope, and Wonder, combined, give
the tendency to Religion ; their abuses produce superstition.
19. IDEALITY.-Uses : Love of the beautiful and splendid, desire of excel-
lence, poetic feeling. ---Abuses : Extravagance and absurd enthusiasm,
preference of the showy and glaring to the solid and useful, a tendency
to dwell in the regions of fancy and to neglect the duties of life.
19a. The organ of Sublimity : but not sufficiently ascertained.?
20. WIT.-Gives the feeling of the ludicrous, and disposes to mirth.
21. IMITATION. -Copies the manners, gestures, and actions of others, and
appearances in nature generally.
Order II. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES.
GENUS I. EXTERNAL SENSES.
Uses : To bring man into communication with ex-
FEELING OR TOUCH.
ternal objects, and to enable him to enjoy them.
TASTE.
Abuses : Excessive indulgence in the pleasures
SMELL.
arising from the senses, to the extent of impair-
HEARING.
ing bodily health, and debilitating or deteriorat-
SIGHT.
ing the mind.
GENUS II. KNOWING FACULTIES, WHICH PERCEIVE THE EXIST-
ENCE AND QUALITIES OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS.
22. INDIVIDUALITY.-Takes cognizance of existence and simple facts.
23. FORM.--Renders man observant of form.
24. SIZE.—Gives the idea of space, and enables him to appreciate dimension
and distance.
25. WEIGHT.-Communicates the perception of momentum, weight, and
resistance ; and aids equilibrium.
26. COLOURING.-Gives perception of colours and their harmonies.
GENUS III. KNOWING FACULTIES, WHICH PERCEIVE THE RELA-
TIONS OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS.
27. LOCALITY.–Gives the idea of relative position.
28. NUMBER. --Gives the talent for calculation.
29. ORDER.-Communicates the love of physical arrangement.
30. EVENTUALITY.—Takes cognizance of occurrences or events.
31. TIME.—Gives rise to the perception of duration.
1 It is now generally admitted by plirenologists.
660
Appendix, 1. 2.
32. TUNE.-The sense of Melody and Harmony arises from it.
33. LANGUAGE.-Gives facility in acquiring a knowledge of arbitrary signs
to express thoughts, readiness in the use of them, and the power of
inventing and recollecting them.
GENUS IV. REFLECTING FACULTIES, WHICH COMPARE, JUDGE,
AND DISCRIMINATE.
34. COMPARISON.-Gives the power of discovering analogies, resemblances,
and differences.
35. CAUSALITY.-Traces the dependences of phenomena, and the relation of
cause and effect.
2. A POPULAR EXPLANATION, AND DEFENCE, OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL
FACULTIES. BY JAMES SIMPSON.1
SIMPSON.
It is plain that, until an approximation be made to something like a practical
analysis of the mind of man,-until the faculties to be improved by education
be known,-education must continue to be vague, misdirected, and inefficient,
as it has hitherto been. If, as is evident, we can make no practical use of a
great part of the catalogue of faculties which we studied at college, may we not
meet upon some admitted common ground ? May we not adopt those impulses
or powers of mind which constitute the view of man taken, by necessity, in
the common affairs of life, but rejected by philosophers, and therefore never
reduced to anything like system, and, above all, never resorted to in education ?
Let any one think what are the tendencies or characteristics in his fellow-men
to which he traces their actions, and upon which he relies with the utmost
confidence for certain expected results. Let us turn to our most successful
portrayers of nature, a Shakspeare and a Scott, and observe what are their
constitutional characteristics of that nature, to which the same faculties in
ourselves echo with such delighted sympathy. Assuredly these will not be
found in the catalogues of the metaphysicians. I should be safe in conditioning
that I shall not need to claim for human nature any one impulse not recognised
and dealt with practically, though not systematically—by Shakspeare and
Scott. These are capable, we think, of a much more satisfactory analysis than
might be supposed ; an analysis which only requires to be acted upon, to supply
a basis for education which would advance its efficiency to a degree almost
beyond our calculation. I feel so confident that all my postulates as to human
powers, impulses, instincts, or faculties—for we need not dispute about names
—will be conceded to me, from the impossibility, as I humbly view it, of
refusing the concession, that I am content to peril the whole argument upon its
being admitted by every educated person–First, that the impulses now to be
enumerated form constituent parts of man; and secondly, that, as is true of
the physical structure and organic functions, oach is related to some objects in
nature, moral or physical, external to itself but directly pointing to it, upon
which it is exercised. I wish it, however, to be distinctly understood that I
do not found upon physiological evidence of the truth of the analysis of facul-
ties which I am humbly to offer, because that evidence is not generally admitted ;
I do not require to trace each faculty to a disputed cerebral origin : the facul-
From his “Philosophy of Education," 2d ed. 1836, p. 65. Edinburgh: A. & C. Black.
1
Explanation of the Phrenological Faculties.
661
ties shall be merely metaphysically submitted scriatim to the reader's judg-
ment and his own experience appealed to, and any one which he does not
recognise in man I am quite contented that he shall reject. If, too, he does
not think the relative object correctly added to each faculty as we advance,
that also he is at perfect liberty to disallow,
1. I do not fear denial when I claim for man a LOVE OF LIFE (VITATIVE-
NESS).1
2. It is not less certain that he has An APPETITE FOR FOOD (ALIMENTIVE-
NESS],an instinct which directs him, even when new born, to remove the pain
of hunger, the only pain then removable by an act of his own. Forming a
variety or mode of the instinct of food, which last includes hunger and thirst,
is the desire of the stimulus of alcohol, in wine or some other shape. The abuses
of these appetites are gluttony and drunkenness. That this instinct is primi-
tive is demonstrated by its often existing in a state of disease; the insatiable
craving of hunger, even when the stomach is full, is a common lunatic
symptom; while the temptations of wine and ardent spirits often become
altogether beyond the control of the will. The relative objects of that instinct
are edible animal and vegetable matter ; while the juice of the grape, and
other extracts capable of being fermented and distilled, gratify the taste for
alcohol alluded to.
3. For the preservation of his species, man is endowed with AN INSTINCT
OF SEX (AMATIVENESS]. As the abuse of this impulse leads to much evil and
suffering, individual and social, it requires much more educational watching
and regulation than it ever receives. Of this neglect, the consequences to body
and mind are often horrible. Its derangement is known in lunatic asylums,
and detailed in works on insanity. Its object, relatively, is the other sex.
4. Man has AN IMPULSE TO CHERISH HIS OFFSPRING [PHILOPROGENITIVE-
NESS]. There are cases in which this propensity has been morbidly excited.
Its relative object is the helplessness and innocence of childhood ; the feeling
and the object were intended for each other.
5. ATTACHMENT TO THE PLACE OF BIRTH AND RESIDENCE [CONCENTRATIVE-
NESS AND INHABITIVENESS) is a well-marked element in the constitution of
nian.
6. A PROPENSITY OF ATTACHMENT (ADHESIVENESS] to his fellow-men, in the
alliances of society and friendship, is a part of man's constitution. This feeling
is so strong that solitude has often produced mental alienation, as has the
uninitigated silence of some penitentiaries. Man's fellows exist in manifest
relation to this social tendency.
7. No impulse requires more the restraining hand of education than the
PROPENSITY TO CONTEND AND FIGHT [COMBATIVENESS). We are made most
aware of its being part of man by seeing it in the various forms of its abuse, –
contentiousness, contradiction, violence, assault, and war, But as no instinct
or faculty was given for the purposes of abuse, we shall find the use of this
Propensity in self-defence, courage, enterprise, and general activity. This im-
pulse has a marked relation to external objects ; it was given to man that he may
| The terms in brackets are added by the Editor, to show their phrenological connection;
but this has been done only where they are different from those in the text.
2 This appears in George Combe's list, p. 658, as 6a. It appeared originally second in
his list, as above, but was afterwards transferred.
662
Appendix, 1. 2.
A
repel the dangers which often assail hiin from other animals, and the passions
of his fellow-men. Its disease is a troublesome form of violent lunacy.
8. It is not enough that man shall contend and fight, it is often imperative
that he shall destroy. Besides killing for food, he must, in self-defence, kill
dangerous animals, and more dangerous men, that assail him ; and to fit him
for this, he has AN INSTINCT TO DESTROY [DESTRUCTIVENESS]. The feelings
which prompt to this extreme, with regard to his own species at least, are
resentment, anger, and rage. These are often abuses ; and certainly so is a
cruel delight in giving pain, and even depriving of life. In disease, it is the
most dangerous form of madness; for it produces murder without motive,
appetite for blood, ungovernable violence, and indiscriminate destruction of
everything within its reach. Much short of disease, it is a troublesome pro-
pensity ; cruelty to animals, and the tendency to deface and destroy, are its
manifestations; while the irascible tempers which disquiet the domestic le,
are its most ordinary form of abuse. It requires for its regulation, if not its
repression, the firmest and the gentlest educational management. The impulse
is widely spread in the animal creation ; it is the instinct of prey; and teeth,
tusks, beaks, and claws are its instruments. It prompts man, too, to arm
himself with destructive weapons, from the rude club to the battery of cannon.
Lastly, it constitutes the impulse to punish, to inflict pain, torture, and death.
9. In nothing will the observant instructor of youth perceive more diversity
among individuals than in the characteristics of reserve or openness. Some
individuals are so close that nothing can be extracted from them; others
apparently never conceal anything. The truth is, that all conceal much more
than they declare, and AN IMPULSE TO CONCEAL [SECRETIVENESS] is a con-
stituent part of man, for the wise purpose of preventing that constant exposure
of thoughts and intentions, which would not only render society intolerable,
but would remove a material guard against the evils which, by their selfish
passions, men are inclined to inflict upon each other. The right use of the
impulse to conceal is a prudent reserve; its abuses are cunning, duplicity, and
deceit. Those who are conversant with the insane, are well aware how often
a morbid habitual cunning calls for increased vigilance. The related objects
of the faculty are the other faculties whose outward manifestations it restrains.
The perfection of what is called acting, in both a favourable and unfavourable
sense, depends partly on the energy of this power. Some children are con-
summate actors, and thereby greatly perplex their teachers, who are ignorant
of the spring and origin of that deceptive character.
10. Man has A DESIRE TO POSSESS [ACQUISITIVENESS) the material things
that contribute to his enjoyment, and to accumulate them in exclusive
property. The use of the faculty to each individual is the attainment of the
means of regular subsistence for a family, and the benefit of inheritance. Its
abuse is avarice; its grosser abuse, theft; its disease every one has heard of or
witnessed, in an impulse, not created by necessity, but beyond the control of
the will, to appropriate things of value, and, in the worst cases, whether of
value or not. The related objects of the Propensity are, material things
which afford enjoyment in some way to the faculties, and money, their sign
and convertible value. The regulation of this Propensity ought to be an
important object of attention in education.
11. Independently of his reason, man has AN IMPULSE TO CONSTRUCT
Explanation of the Phrenological Faculties. 663
SITIES.
[CONSTRUCTIVENESS], to change the forms and combinations of matter into
instruments and accommodations ; Franklin called him a
- tool-making
animal.” The faculty is often possessed in uncommon power by cretins and
uther idiots, without an atom of intellect to guide it. Reason and imagination
greatly aid the faculty in man, as is evident when we compare the wigwam
with the palace. Individuals differ greatly in this primitive power ; some can
make whatever they see, others cannot fold a letter neatly. The relative
objects of the impulse are manifest in the material world. This power the
judicious instructor will recognise and call forth in his pupil.
It must have occurred to the reader that, in the inferior animals, are founıl
all the eleven Propensities now described ; for they are important, if not
essential, to animal existence. On this ground, I shall distinguish them as a
class, and refer to them in the sequel by the name of the ANIMAL PROPEN-
Before leaving this class of faculties, it seems the best time to appeal
to the reader's experience if it be not truth, and press the fact on the attention
of the educationist, that vice and crime, in all their phases and varieties, are
but other terms for the abuse of one or more of these specified impulses. The
enumeration of a few will sufficiently illustrate this, and the reader can apply
each instance to the impulse abused, for they are set down in the order
adopted---namely, gluttony, drunkenness, incontinence, contention, violence,
cruelty, murder, robbery, fraud, theft, &c.
12. Scarcely anticipating the possibility of the rejection of any of the eleven
impulses already submitted, I would next, with not less confidence, claim for
man, as we are comprehending him, a Sentiment of SELF-LOVE (SELF-ESTEEM),
in which is included, as well, self-elevation as self-preference. In due and bene-
ficial endowment, it is a legitimate attention to our own well-being ; it is self-
respect, independence, and confidence in our own powers and capacities. In
abuse, it is pride, self-sufficiency, disdain, insolence, love of power, tyranny,
and general selfishness. It is a great exciting cause of the activity of the
impulse to resentment and rage, when it takes the deeper colour of revenge ;
and when combined with the impulse to appropriate, it renders that propensity
yet more steady, grasping, and exclusive. It is the special faculty of quarrels
and duels, and forms the ingredient of turbulence and tyranny, which is a
nuisance in public and a curse in private life. No faculty of man is more apt
to run into abuse, and half the moral evils of man's lot spring from that abuse.
The guide of youth cannot, therefore, too early begin to watch and repress its
unamiable manifestations, and regulate its legitimate exercise. Under the pre-
sent system of education, this important part of man is left to its own guidance.
It needs scarcely be added, that it is often manifested in a form of insanity, not
to be mistaken ; morbid self-exaltation accounts for the straw crowns and
wooden sceptres of Bedlam. The related objects of the feeling are obviously
self and its concerns.
13. Another Sentiment, often, but improperly, confounded with Self-love,
exercises a mighty influence on man, and furnishes the key to much of the pur-
suit of his life ; and that is, DESIRE OF ESTIMATION or APPROBATION [LOVE
OF APPROBATION). By the one, a man esteems himself; by the other, he
courts the esteem of others. They are best distinguished in their abuse. The
one is pride, the other vanity ; the one assumes, the other begs : hence it is
often truly remarked that an individual is too proud to be vain. The use of
664
Appendix, 1. 2.
the Sentiment now considered, as intended by the All-Wise who endowed man
with it, is a proper regard to character, the feeling of shame, and, under proper
regulation, the incitement to worthy conduct in the love of praise. The feel-
ing shrinks from reproach, censure,, ridicule, and exposure.
It leads to a
careful concealment of vices, follies, and weaknesses, and, better yet, often to
their cure.
The laws which enact disgraceful punishments, as the pillory,
address it directly. It is essentially the love of glory, and, in combination with
self-exaltation, it constitutes ambition. Finally, it often runs into disease,
of which any one who has visited a large lunatic asylum must have been
rather annoyingly made aware, by the eager competition of the vain patients
to detail and display to him their merits, each at the same time pitying his
neighbour for his vain-glory. What, it may be asked, has education ever
done to regulate this and the previous powerful and all-pervading feeling ?
The answer is—Nothing! On the contrary, it has carefully instituted the
means of aggravating the evils of both, by all the competitions, prizes,
preferences, and “honours," of our schools and colleges. The related object
of this feeling is found in the tendency of mankind to observe and judge each
other.
14. That A SENTIMENT OF FEAR [CAUTIOUSNESS] is a part of man, no one
will deny, and least of all the teacher of the old school, whose ever-brandished
rod and cane make a personal appeal to the feeling. The Sentiment is given
as a self-protector from dangers, physical and moral, with which we are sur-
rounded. Its abuse is cowardice, terror, and panic. Punishment, for the sake
of example, implies our belief in its power as a motive. Its external objects
are danger and evil in general. When diseased, it occasions the groundless
fears and horrors of Hypochondria, and is essentially that insane Melancholy
which furnishes the impulse to suicide, by sufferings far more intense than man
often knows in what is erroneously distinguished as reality.
The last and the two preceding Sentiments of Self-love and Desire of Estima-
tion evidently regard self; and, therefore, although very important constituent
faculties in man, and intended, in their proper use, for the wisest ends, have
nothing in them amiable or exalted. They are as self-seeking as any of the
nine Animal Propensities, and therefore may conveniently be classed with
these, under the general denomination of the INFERIOR FEELINGS. The whole
twelve instincts make up and constitute the Scriptural entity, of the “law
in the members warring against the law in the mind."
15. That there is a law in the mind, is beautifully implied in the very dis-
tinction of Scripture alluded to; and it is the object of education, while it
represses and regulates the law in the members, to strengthen and confirm the
law in the mind. The first element of the law in the mind is BENEVOLENCE,
the benign parent of a catalogue of graces; in kindness, desire of the good of
others, generosity, compassion, mercy, and all the sympathies of brotherly love.
Sentient beings, generally, are the related objects of this exalted Sentiment,
and their happiness is its scope and delight. It is an error to suppose its
function confined to compassion and relief, to distress and misery. It goes
much beyond this : it is a well-spring of good-will to men, and reaps positive
delight from the increase and extension of human happiness. The field of
Benevolence is boundless, for it embraces all that can aid or advance human
happiness, physical and moral. It desires to see man free, enlightened, morally
Explanation of the Phrenological Faculties. 665
and religiously elevated, and placed in physical comfort and safety. It descends
also to kindness to the lower animals.
Even this high Sentiment is capable of abuse. This appears in facility,
indiscriminate almsgiving, and profusion. In disease, it is beyond the power
of the will of the individual, to whom, therefore, the law appoints a guardian.
16. A Sentiment of JUSTICE or CONSCIENTIOUSNESS belongs to man. It
respects the rights of others, and is also manifested in truth and candour. Its
deficiency is a great defect of character, unamended even by Benevolence. The
benevolent but unconscientious individual is apt to be generous before he
just, according to an everyday expression. It is a mistake to recognise a
defective Conscientiousness in that palpable dishonesty only which calls for the
interference of the law. It is a widespreading evil in society, far short of that
degree of its manifestation. It shows itself in a way and manner against
which the law cannot make provision, in the great variety of modes in which
men for selfish ends are unfair to each other, by taking advantages which they
would not give : concealing the truth which ought to be told, or misleading
with regard to it; disallowing others' claims, not capable of easy proof; shroud-
ing others' merits ; mis-stating or distorting others' arguments; resenting fair
competition ; envying success; manifesting a selfish jealousy; indulging in
evil-speaking and ridicule ; and, in a thousand ways, “doing to others that
which we would not they should do to us.” There is not a more delicate task
for the Infant teacher—for the training must be earlythan the exercise of the
Sentiments of Justice and Truth, not merely in its broad lines, but in its minutest
shadowings. The disease of the feeling, for even Conscientiousness may be
over-excited, is observed in the melancholy self-accusatory ravings of some
maniacs, especially in those too numerous cases in which religious terrors have
driven reason from its seat. The related objects of the Sentiment of Justice are
the rights and feelings of our fellow-men, It acknowledges the justice of God.
17. The most superficial observer of nian cannot have failed to feel in him-
self, and observe the signs in others, of a Sentiment of VENERATION, a feeling
of deference, submission, and reverence. Deferential terms are used by us in
our converse with those we feel to be our superiors in intellect or convential
rank, as something that is their due; and the whole strength of the feeling can
be testified by those whom it has deprived of utterance when suddenly brought
into the presence of majesty.
But there is a higher related object of this feeling than earthly kings. The
King of kings is its great end and object : it is then Veneration, and consti-
tutes the chief ingredient in the adoration of Religious worship. A large
natural endowment of the Sentiment often carries mere external sanctity to
excess, and, mistaking it for religion, claims and often receives consideration
and homage for it, to the inconvenient crowding of the calendar. The feeling
also runs into monomania. The misdirection of this feeling, either towards the
Deity or our fellow-men, is attended with so much evil, that its proper guid-
ance and exercise ought to form, what it never yet has formed, an object of the
most attentive and enlightened educational care.
18. I claim no more for man than almost all metaphysicians do, and all
the non-metaphysical world, in attributing to him a Sentiment of HOPE, the
source of much worldly happiness, and the natural foundation of our prospects
of a life to come. Hope is an ingredient in Religious feeling ; while, in common
666
Appendix, 1. 2.
life, it is not confined to expectations and anticipations of the future, but
is a permanent gaiety, lightness of heart, and buoyancy of spirits, which is con-
tented with the present, dreads no evil, and constitutes in itself real happiness.
Children, as well as adults, differ widely in this character of mind. An
enlightened teacher of youth will convert the feeling to useful purposes.
19. The teacher will find his pupils to differ in another respect; he will meet
with some of them pliant and obedient, and others obstinate and impracticable.
There is, in different degrees, in man a Sentiment of FIRMNESS, the use of which
is perseverance and fortitude, the abuse of which is obstinacy. It is of im-
portance that this should be recognised in education as an innate feeling, by
which much labour to the teacher and suffering to the young might be pre-
vented, by avoiding vain contests with obstinacy, persevered in by the teacher
in the expectation of curing the defect, while be is only strengthening the
feeling and confirming the habit. The struggle with an obstinate child who
is further fortified by pride and self-sufficiency, may be compared to an attempt
to extract à nail by striking it on the head; every stroke only drives it
farther. The judicious teacher will take care never to bring the matter to that
issue, but will address himself to other faculties, especially Justice, Benevo-
lence, and Reflection ; keeping in mind the fable, that the storm could not
induce the traveller to part with his cloak, while he held the faster, but the
sun prevailed.
20. Man loves the wonderful. That the Sentiment of WONDER is innate,
will scarcely be doubted by any one who observes its power as a motive, and
the fortunes that are made by appeals to it. It is evidently bestowed as a
source of delight in contemplating the wonders of creation, and as an impulse
to inquiry. With Veneration and Hope, it constitutes the Religious combina-
tion of faculties; I mean what is called Religious feeling, for conscience and
reflection are the bases of Religious duty. The joint operation, in due propor-
tion, of the two sets of faculties, makes up the perfection, humanly speaking,
of the Religious character, while a separation of them is always more or less to
be regretted. Education is called upon to watch this faculty ; it will show
itself in a child, in a tendency to exaggerate and embellish, a marked delight
to surprise and occasion wonder, with often an utter sacrifice of truth to
attain that end.
21. I do not anticipate objection to a faculty for the sublime, the beautiful,
the elegant, the perfect, the poetical, as a constituent of the mind of man.
The Imagination of the metaphysicians comes nearest this Sentiment, but it
does not express it. Imagination is considered as a power which produces
ideal creations; the feeling in question is a mere Sentiment, or habit of mind,
which aspires to the beautiful and perfect, and communicates an elegant refine-
ment to the whole character; it prompts other faculties to create, while itself
merely feels, and views all nature with associations of beauty and of poetry.
Its abuse is romantic enthusiasm, unguided by reflection. Its related objects
are all that is beautiful and sublime in nature ; it is one of the gifts of Divine
Benevolence, which points directly at high enjoyment; like music it is some.
thing superadded to the necessary faculties. When it is absent or deficient,
the individual is gross and unrefined. Infant education takes much care of
this feeling, and, in various ingenious ways, calls it into exercise, with different
success, according to the degree of natural endowment ; for in nothing do in-
Explanation of the Phrenological Faculties. 667
dividuals differ more from each other. With the explanation now given, I
shall call this faculty IMAGINATION, or IDEAL PERFECTION. A still more
beautiful term is IDEALITY (the phrenological term].
22. THE LOVE OF THE LUDICROUS (WIT), requires a judicious educational
management. Man is the only laughing animal, the only one gifted with a
specific enjoyment from the contemplation of incongruity. It is greatly
abused in satire, tricks, and mischief, and requires watching ; it operates
severely on the temper of many who are made its butts, and often withers every
purpose of exertion or improvement. Certainly it has been greatly neglected
in education. Its relative objects are found in the exhaustless fields of incon-
gruity.
23. SMITATION is a marked faculty in man, which shows itself even in the
youngest children. Its purpose is manifestly to bring society to a convenient
uniformity of manners, without which it would present a scene of inextricable
contrariety, and to aid in inducing the powers of the young, by the energy of
an impulse, to do what they see done by their seniors. It aids, as is most
obvious, the imitative arts; and has, for its selected objects, no narrower field
than universal nature.
The reader is requested to glance back at the faculties just treated of, be-
ginning with 15 and ending with 23, and to keep in mind that, whenever
the MORAL SENTIMENTS are mentioned, these nine faculties are meant. He
will at once observe that Self-Love, Desire of Estimation, and Fear, are not of
dignity sufficient to be classed with the Moral Sentiments; but, being as sel-
fish in their nature as the Animal Propensities, and being also plainly dis-
cernible in the inferior animals, they are classed with the Propensities under
the general name of the INFERIOR FEELINGS : it follows that the Moral
Sentiments are meant, when the term SUPERIOR FEELINGS is used. These
last distinguish man on this earth from all the creatures of God.
But the “Law in the Mind” would be an imperfect regulator of the “ Law
in the Members," if it consisted even of the Moral Sentiments alone. Senti-
ments are but Feelings, and Feelings, however virtuous, are blind, and depend
upon Intellect for their proper direction. For example, Benevolence prompts
us to succour poverty; but that Feeling makes no inquiry into the cause of that
poverty which it relieves. It therefore requires to be itself directed by another
class of faculties, namely, the Intellectual; which, observing, perceiving, know-
ing, and reasoning, can ascertain, if so it be, that the poverty is the result of
idle and profligate habits, that the poor man is perfectly able-bodied and fit
for labour, and that therefore the Benevolence is wasted, and worse, upon the
encouragement of an unworthy object. Man is endowed with Intellectual
faculties, and these may be divided into the KNOWING and REFLECTING. It
is undeniable that, intellectually, we know and we reflect. It is a common
observation that knowledge is not wisdom, till it is compared and reasoned on
by Reflection. It is its combination with Reflection, which constitutes that
knowledge which is power. The weakest Reflecting powers often co-exist in
the same individual, with a store of wisdom which excites our wonder. A
walking encyclopædia is a title currently given to a person who knows every-
thing, while his reasoning powers are nevertheless of the humblest order.
Nothing proves more demonstrably than this, that Knowing and Reasoning
are distinct powers of mind.
668
Appendix, 1. 2.
The FIVE SENSES are Knowing faculties. On these, it is unnecessary here to
enlarge. They are described in every school-book.
The KNOWING POWERS cognize two distinct classes of objects, namely,
cxistence and events, in other words, things that are and things that happen.
Let any one reflect for a moment, and he will find, that whatever he knows
must be either an existence or an event. The paper on which I write is an
existence--a thing that is; if I drop it on the carpet, it is an event, a thing
that has happened, a change has taken place ; soldiers are existences, their
battle is an event; the acid and the alkali are existences, the effervescence on
mixture is an event. Existences are marked by nouns, in grammar; events re-
quire verbs. Natural History concerns existences; Civil History records events.
Now, from observing that the power of perceiving and remembering these two
classes of objects, respectively, varies, in a marked degree, in different indivi-
duals, we may consider them as distinct faculties; which require, in education,
a separate range of study and exercise, the one improving the faculty for exist-
ences, the other faculty for events. I claim, then, for man,-
A POWER TO COGNIZE AND REMEMBER EXISTENCES (INDIVIDUALITY]:
A POWER TO COGNIZE AND REMEMBER EVENTS (EVENTUALITY]:
It is obvious that, to a great degree, man enjoys these faculties in common
with the inferior animals, which last could not exist without a considerable
degree of perception and memory, both of things that are and things that
happen. These two faculties are most active in childhood and youth, possess
a keen appetite for knowledge, and reap so much delight from its attainment,
that an instructor, himself well endowed with knowledge, and distinguished by
a lively and exciting manner of communication, who can keep wonder alive,
and put into his lessons a due mixture of the Higher Feelings, will possess a
power over the will and happiness of his pupils, which will form, and it is
already known to form, a striking contrast to the heart-withering irksomeness
of the old schools, in which an antiquated and most hurtful system of appeal
to the Inferior Feelings of fear, self-exaltation, vanity, and covetousness, is found
necessary to stimulate the languid faculties. The Knowing faculties are
capable of great educational improvement, and, by judicious exercise, often
arrive at such a degree of comprehension, minuteness, and accuracy, called
cleverness and acumen, as to give great practical power in life, and to lead to
discovery and invention which extend indefinitely the range of human attain-
ment. We can now understand the mode of activity called Attention; it is the
tension, or active employment, of the Knowing faculties when in the act of
observation. The young must be called upon to observe, and that extensively
and minutely; the educated know how little was done for them in this exer-
cise, when they were engaged exclusively in reading books, and dreamily pass-
ing over the whole of existing things, though before their eyes.
There are other Knowing faculties, of marked distinction in the different
degrees of manifestation by different individuals, which aid in the acquisition
of knowledge ; such as a perceptive power for each quality and relation of
matter, as FORM, SIZE, FORCE (WEIGHT], COLOUR [COLOURING], ARRANGE-
MENT [ORDER], NUMBER, PLACE (LOCALITY), TIME, SOUND (TUNE]. On these,
the talents of drawing, painting, sculpture, mechanics, calculation, and music
depend. But these manifestations must be so obvious to the enlightened anıl
judicious educationist, that I shall not occupy time and space with a detail of
them.
Explanation of the Phrenological Faculties. 669
The REFLECTING POWERS make use of the materials stored by the Knowing
Faculties, for the purpose of performing the operation of REASONING. That
consists of comparing two existences or two events, and concluding that some-
thing else exists, existed, or will or may exist, or that something else happens,
happened, or will or may happen, in consequence.
The process of Reasoning, of conclusion-drawing, is sometimes performed by
a simple act of comparison, or perception of analogy: a great majority of man-
kind reason in this way—such a truth, they say, follows from the resemblance
of two truths which they have compared. The whole of the brilliant field of
what, in Reasoning, is called illustration is nothing more than this process of
comparison ; and, as many writers and speakers, and these like Dr Chalmers
by far the most popular, manifest an almost exclusive preference for analogical
and illustrative reasoning, I feel that I am warranted in distinguishing in man,
the Reflecting faculty of COMPARISON.
Some reasoners, but comparatively few, are more severe, and are contented
with no conclusions which do not stand in the relation of Necessary Consequence
to their premises. This is truth, they reason, because it is deducible neces-
sarily from the consideration of these other known truths brought together.
These are the logicians who distrust analogy and comparison. The faculty
they use is the highest intellectual power, the percipient of the relation of
cause and effect, which I beg to designate by the name of THE FACULTY OF
NECESSARY CONSEQUENCE [CAUSALITY]. When the distinct operation of the
two mentioned faculties is understood by the instructor of youth, the different
lines of talent will be obvious to him, and the educational training will be made
to correspond.
It is a metaphysical error to distinguish Memory as a primitive faculty,
seeing that the Cognizing and Reasoning powers must necessarily be the
remembering powers ; remembrance being nothing else but the continued
impression of Cognition and Reasoning, varying according to the energies of
these powers. If memory were a distinctive power, it would, in each indi-
vidual, be alike strong, and regard all subjects of recollection alike. But this
is not consistent with fact; one individual remembers existences, and another
forgets existence and remembers events; a third recalls with ease a train of
reasoning, another musical airs, and another the faces of persons he has seen,
or the scenes he has surveyed-each perhaps weakly remembering something
else of the matter now enumerated. We are therefore forced to the conclusion,
that there is no general faculty called Memory, but that each faculty has its
own power of recalling its impressions. The instructor of youth should ponder
this truth well, and he will save himself and his pupil much time and labour,
in the indefinite and desultory exercise of a supposed general faculty of Memory,
when, in truth, he can only improve the memory of each faculty, in the proper
direct cultivation of the faculty itself.
The reader is, it is trusted, now in a condition to see the propriety of dis-
allowing Perception as a primitive faculty. Both the Knowing and Reflecting
percipient powers have now been explained and distinguished : the faculty of
existences perceives existences ; that of events, events ; that of comparison,
resemblances ; that of necessary consequence, cause and effect-so that a
general faculty of Perception is necessarily a nonentity.
Last of all, I claim for man, whose composition we have now finished, the
?
670
Appendix, I. 2.
man-distinguishing faculty of LANGUAGE, whereby he converts his thoughts
into the conventional signs called words, and, in oral and written discourse,
excites the faculties of his fellowmen in the boundless extent of social inter-
course.
Once more, before proceeding farther, the reader is requested to subject the
foregoing analysis to the strictest scrutiny. He is not asked to surrender the
catalogue of faculties which may be dear to him, as associated with the venerable
name of Alma Mater; he is welcome to reserve that for the amusement of his
Inetaphysical hours. All that is now asked is, that he will admit, or at least
not deny, that the feelings, impulses, or faculties, just submitted to his con-
sideration, have been recognised by him in that being called Man.
The whole faculties which have been described are now brought under the
reader's eye in a table, for the convenience of reference :
INFERIOR. FEELINGS.
ANIMAL PROPENSITIES.
77
Love of Life (VITATIVENESS].
Instinct of Food [ALIMENTIVENESS].
Sex (ADIATIVENESS].
Offspring [PHILOPROGENITIVENESS).
Home (ADHESIVENESS].
, Society (INHABITIVENESS].
Courage (COMBATIVENESS].
Instinct of Destruction [DESTRUCTIVENESS].
to Conceal [SECRETIVENESS).
Possess [ACQUISITIVENESS].
Construct [CONSTRUCTIVENESS).
Self-Love [SELF-ESTEEM).
Desire of Estimation (LOVE OF APPROBATION).
Fear (CAUTIOUSNESS).
77
SUPERIOR FEELINGS.
---
MOPAL SENTIMENTS.
Benevolence (BENEVOLENCE),
Justice [CONSCIENTIQUSNESS).
Veneration (VENERATION]
Hope [HOPE).
Firmness (FIRMNESS].
Wonder [WONDER].
Ideal Perfection, Imagination (IDEALITY).
Laughter at the Ludicrous (WIT).
Imitation (IMITATION].
INTELLECT.
THE SENSES.
KNOWING FACULTIES.
12
17
Cognition of Existences (INDIVIDUALITY). Cognition of Arrangement [ORDER].
Events [EVENTUALITY).
Number (NUMBER].
Form (FORM).
Place (LOCALITY).
Size [SIZE],
Time (TIME).
Force (WEIGHT].
Sound (TUNE).
Colour (COLOURING].
REFLECTING FACULTIES,
Comparison [COMPARISON].
| Necessary Consequence (CAUSALITY),
1
LANGUAGE (LANGUAGE).
Religious training through Secular subjects. 671
No. II.-ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE RELIGIOUS
FACULTIES THROUGH SECULAR SUBJECTS.
REFERRED TO p. 169, &c.
1. DR. ANDREW COMBE'S VILWS ON THE SUBJECT.
1
On the Introduction of Religion into Common Schools. By ANDREW COMBE, M.D.
(Extracted from his Life and Correspondence, by GEORGE COMBE, page 501).
Conscious of the immense power of the Religious Sentiments in the human
mind, and of the impossibility of separating them, without violence, from their
vital union with the moralities, I have all along felt that the plan of exclud-
ing Religion from education was inherently a defective one, which could not
continue to hold its place against the assaults of reason and truth. In the past
position of the question, it was the best which could be followed, and was de-
fensible as the smallest of several evils among which society was compelled to
choose. As such, I still advocate and defend it; but I think it important that
it should be defended and advocated on its true grounds, and not as in itself
proper and desirable. Instead, therefore, of recom
Instead, therefore, of recommending the separation of
Secular from Religious instruction, as in themselves distinct, I would adopt the
true grounds, and in answer to the wish of some to make all education Reli-
gious, say, “Yes, I agree with you entirely that all education must be based on
Religion, and that the authority of God should be recognised by us all as the
only infallible standard in everything ; but, that we may know what we are
talking about, let us understand distinctly what each of us means by Religion.”
Standing on such a basis, we cannot be shaken by either Jew or Gentile, Cal-
vinist or Lutheran. Then comes the discussion, What is Religion? A says it
is a code embracing, suppose, ten principles in all. On examination, B, C,
and D find that, say, eight of these refer to practical matters directly influen-
cing conduct and character, and that they approve of them as true ; but each
affirms that the remaining two are church dogmas, untrue, dangerous to salva-
tion, and deserving of all reprobation. For these, B proposes to substitute other
two; but is, in his turn, voted wrong by A, C, and D. The latter two follow
with their substitutes, and are each condemned ; all, meanwhile, admitting the
eight practical principles to be sound and necessary to happiness. Here it is
plain, that, if the children of all are to attend the same school, a compromise
must take place; and, while all agree to leave out the two articles, they may
cordially unite in teaching the remaining eight, and in endeavouring to insure
their recognition by the pupils as their best guides, and as indispensable links
in that Religious chain which binds them to their Creator, and imposes upon
them the primary duty of seeking to know and do His will in all things. This
done, let the parents and priests teach what they deem truth on the two dis-
puted points, in addition to the Religious principles thus daily and hourly in-
culcated and brought into practice, among both teachers and pupils.
The following was called forth by reading George Combe's pamphlet, “Remarks on
National Education,” and appeared afterwards as a pamphlet, which was extensively circu-
lated, under the title, “ On the Introduction of Religion into Common Schools.”
Combe's “Life and Correspondence," by George Combe, p. 499. (Edinburgh: Maclachlan &
Stewart.)
See Andrew
672
Appendix, II. 1.
It may be said that this is what is done already. But there is a difference.
At present, the line of separation between Religious and Secular education is
drawn sharp, and, in the school, the pupil is not taught that the natural
arrangements he studies or sees in play around him, have been devised by
Divine Wisdom for his guidance and happiness, nor are his feelings interested
in securing obedience and gratitude to God' as a Moral and Religious duty in
return. The arrangements of nature are taught simply as 'knowledge' coming
from nobody, and leading only to worldly advantage, not personal happiness.
Religion, again, is taught not as the complement of that knowledge, leading
the mind back to God, and bearing at every moment on our welfare, but as a
something apart, which does not dovetail with our conduct or duties. In short,
the prominent idea in the minds of both teachers and taught, under the present
national system, is, that Secular knowledge and Religion are distinct, and have
no natural connection; and hence neither exercises its legitimate influence.
But the result will be different if it be recognised universally that, taught
as it ought to be, all the knowledge conveyed is inherently Religious, and cal-
culated, necessarily, to bring the creature and the Creator into more immediate
contact, and to develope feelings of love, admiration, reverence, and submission
to the Divine will. Let it be proclaimed and understood, that the inevitable
tendency of knowledge is to lead the mind to the Creator, and that, wherever it
is taught without this result, there is and must be a defect of method, or a fault
in the teacher, which ought instantly to be remedied. Let it be proclaimed to
the four corners of the earth, that education, rightly conducted, is Religious in
the highest degree, although embracing none of the tenets peculiar to sects or
parties, and that a 'godless education' is a contradiction and a moral impossi-
bility. It would be as logical to speak of a solar light without a sun. Every
truth, Moral, Physical, or Religious, springs from and leads directly to God;
and no truth can be taught, the legitimate tendency of which is to turn us away
from God.
Instead, therefore, of giving in to the opponents of National Education, and
admitting a real separation between Secular and Religious knowledge, I would
proclaim it as the highest recommendation of Secular knowledge, that it is in-
herently Religious, and that the opponents are inflicting an enormous evil on
society by preventing philosophers and teachers from studying and expounding
its Religious bearings. If this were done, it would lay the odium at the right
door, and show that the sticklers for exclusive church-education are the real
authors of “a gigantic scheme of godless education,” in attaching such import-
ance to their own peculiar tenets on certain abstract points, that, rather than
yield the right of conscience to others, they are willing to consign society at
large to an absolute ignorance of the ways of God as exhibited in the world in
which He has placed them, and to all the misery, temporal and eternal, certain
to result from that ignorance.
It must be admitted that, as at present taught, much of our knowledge is
not Religious ; but this is an unnatural and avoidable, not a necessary, evil,
and it has arisen, in a great measure, from the denunciations of the party now
opposed to the diffusion of education. By stigmatising as “infidel and godless”
whatever knowledge was not conjoined with their own peculiar creed, they
deterred men from touching upon or following out the Religious aspects of
knowledge ; and, if they be allowed to maintain longer the wall of separation
Religious training through Secular subjects. 673
they have erected, the result will continue to be same as in times past. The
only way to meet them is to turn the tables, and denounce them as the
obstructers and enemies of Religious education; because they refuse to allow any
exposition of the Divine wisdom, and arrangements, and will, which does not
also assume the equal infallibility and importance of their interpretation of His
written wisdom and ways. This is a tyranny to which human reason cannot
continue to submit, and the sooner they are put on the defensive the better.
Science is, in its very essence, so inherently Religious, and leads us back
so directly to God at every step, and to His will as the rule of our happiness,
that nothing would be easier, or more delightful, or more practically improving
to human character and conduct, than to exhibit even its minutest details as the
emanations of the Divine wisdom, and their indications as those of the Divine
will for our guidance. In a well-conducted school-room or college-hall, the
Religious Sentiment might be nourished with the choicest food pari passu with
every advance in intellectual knowledge. The constant practice of exhibiting
the Deity in every arrangement, would cultivate habitually that devotional
reverence and obedience to His will, which are now inculcated only at
stated times, and apart from everything naturally calculated to excite them.
So far from education or knowledge proving hostile to the growth of Religion
in the minds of the young, they would in truth constitute its most solid foun-
dation; and best prepare the soil for the seed to be afterwards sown by the
parent and priest, who would then receive from school a really Religious child
fashioned to their hands, instead of being, as now, presented only with the
stony soil and the rebellious heart.
The practical inference from all this is, that while we continue to advocate
the exclusion of sectarianism of every hue from our educational institutions,
we are so far from wishing to exclude Religion itself, that our chief desire is to
see all education rendered much more Religious than it has ever been, or ever
can be, under the present system. To make Religion bear its proper fruit, it
must become a part and parcel of everyday life. It must, in fact, be mixed
up with all we think, feel, and do; and if Science were taught as it ought to
be, it would be felt to lead to this, not only without effort, but necessarily.
God is the creator and arranger of all things; and wherever we point out a use
and pre-arranged design, we necessarily point to Him. If we can then show
that the design has a benevolent purpose, and that its neglect leads to suffer-
ing, we thereby necessarily exhibit the loving-kindness of God, and recognise
it even in our suffering. If we next point out harmony between apparently
unconnected relations, and show how all bear on one common end, we neces-
sarily give evidence of a wisdom, omniscience, and power, calculated to gratify,
in the highest degree, our sentiments of wonder, reverence, and admiration.
If we familiarise the mind with the order and laws of God's providence, and
their beneficent ends as rules for our conduct, the very reverence thereby
excited will prompt to submission-systematic submission, because cheerful
and confiding-to His will as our surest trust. Here, then, is the legitimate
field for the daily, hourly, and unreinitting exercise of the Religious feelings in
the ordinary life of man, and for the exercise of that true, vivifying, practical
Religion, which sees God in all things, lives in His presence, and delights in
fulfilling His will.
The slender influence of Sectarian Religion in regulating the daily conduct
2 U
674
Appendix, Il. 1.
of civilised man, and the exclusiveness with which its manifestations are
reserved for stated times and seasons, together with the small progress which
it has made in leavening the inass, furnish ample evidence that some grievous
error deprives it of its legitimate power, and limits its diffusion. The inore
narrowly we examine the matter, the more evident will it become that the
sticklers for Sectarian education, as the only one allowable, are the great
stumbling-blocks in the way of True Religion, and that the ignorance which
they cherish is the grand source of that apathy and irreligion against which
they clamour so lustily. Science by thein is reviled and despised as merely
human knowledge. The epithet is ludicrously false and illogical. All know-
ledge is Divine. All knowledge refers to God, or to God's doings. There is no
such thing as 'human’ knowledge in the proper sense of the word. What is
true is of God, whether it relate to Science or Religion. What is not true is
error, whether espoused by infidel or priest, Lutheran or Catholic, Mahom-
medan or Brahmin. Accurate knowledge (and there is none other) is not of
human but of Divine origin. If man invents notions and styles them know-
ledge, that does not give them the character of real knowledge. They remain
human inventions or errors as much as before. But whenever man discovers
a truth either in Physics or Philosophy, either by accident or by design, he is
certain that God is its author, and that, if seen in its relation to Himself and to
creation, it will be found characterised by the wisdom, power, and goodness of
its Divine source. Nothing can shake him in this belief. Stigmatise him as
you will, his faith will remain firm and unhesitating, because he knows the
attributes of God to be unchangeable and eternal. "Godless education,' for-
sooth! It is an absolute contradiction in terms; and those who obstruct the
progress of Religion by such an outcry have much to answer for, and little know
the evil they are doing.
In times past, man has erred by acting regardlessly of God's will and plans,
and his reward has been misery and crime. Instead of attempting to create
and legislate, let him study and understand what God has created, and the
laws already imprinted by Him on all that exists. If his health is to be pro-
moted, let him take for his guidance the arrangements made by God for the
healthy action of his various functions, and act in the closest accordance with
their dictates. If he has a social duty to perform, let him consult the moral
law imprinted on his nature by the Deity, and copied into the records of
Christianity. If he wishes even to brew or to bake with profit and success, let
him study the laws of fermentation arranged by Divine Wisdom, and conform to
the conditions which they impose as indispensable for securing the result. If he
wishes to provide the means of travelling with speed and safety, let him study
the laws of gravitation and of motion, and those which regulate the production
and expansion of steam, and adapt his machinery to fulfil the conditions im-
posed upon their use by the Deity himself. If he does not, he will either fail
or suffer. If he does, he will move along with speed and safety. If he wishes
to have his coat dyed of a fast colour, let him study the qualities which God
has conferred on colouring objects, and the relations in which they stand to the
properties of the wool, and conform to their indications; and he will have the
guarantee of Omniscience for his success. In short, he cannot stir in the per-
formance of any'act or duty, without either a direct or implied reference to the
harmony and unchangeableness of the Divine laws. From thoughtlessness and
Religious training through Secular subjects. 675
an imperfect education, he inay neglect looking deeper than the surface, and
see only man and man's inventions, where, in truth, God reigns supreme and
alone, hidden from our view only by the ignorance of man. Rightly directed,
then, education, instead of being 'godless,' would confer its chief benefits by
removing the curtain which hides God from our view. Instead of keeping
Him, as an awful abstraction, in a background too remote from the ordinary
affairs of life for either clear perception or wholesome influence, as is at present
done by the sectarian religionist; Science and Education would reveal Him, to
the human understanding and feelings, as an ever-present, ever-acting Being,
whom it was no longer possible to forget, and whose care and watchfulness
over us are equalled only by His attributes of benevolence and justice.
Such, then, is the direct and legitimate tendency of that Science and
knowledge so unjustly stigmatised as 'human,' and 'secular,' and 'godless !
And why so stigmatised ? Merely because its cultivators and teachers refuse
to mix up with it certain dogmas of an abstract nature, on which the greatest
differences of opinion prevail among the numerous sects which constitute the
religious world! The truths on which all agree—truths proceeding from, and
leading directly to God as their author and source, and replete with blessings
to man-are to be deliberately excluded and denounced, and the disputed and
abstract dogmas introduced in their place! What can be the results of such a
course of proceeding? If the tree is to be known by its fruit, as the Scriptures
say, we can have very little hesitation in declaring the existing tree of Sec-
tarianism to be not worth the cultivation ; for the burden of the complaints of
all so-called evangelical sects is, that, in spite of their utmost exertions, the
cause of Religion retrogrades--so much so, that, according to Dr Chalmers'
estimate, even in our highly-civilised communities, not one in twenty, and, in
many instances, not one in ninety or a hundred, lives under its influence, or
knows what it is. Admit this picture to be correct in its main features, does
it not point to some serious error, which silently undermines our utmost
exertions? And if so, why persevere blindly in the same course, and obsti-
nately refuse to tread another and more direct, though hitherto neglected, path
to the same living and true God, whom we all seek and profess to adore and
obey ?
It may be said that, as now conducted, education, when not accompanied
by a creed, does not lead to God. That it does not in some schools, is true;
and that in none does it go nearly so far in this direction as it might and ought
to do, is also true. But this defect has arisen in a great measure from the
very prohibition attempted to be enforced of giving education without a creed;
and it admits of an easy remedy, the moment the prohibition shall be removed,
Let it once be known that doctrinal creeds are no longer to be taught in schools
as the condition of obtaining general education ; but that, on the other hand,
an accurate and extensive knowledge of the laws of God, as exhibited in crea-
tion, and as regulating man's whole existence on earth, will be considered in-
dispensable in the teacher, and that his chief duty will consist in impressing
on his pupils the living conviction, that they can be happy in this world only
in proportion as they act in accordance with these laws, and that it is God and
not man who arranges and upholds the moral laws under which society exists :
and then his task will become at once more pleasing and more successful, and
every day will add to the facilities and aids which he will meet with in
676
Appendix, II. 1.
fulfilling it. Education will then be both Moral and Religious in its every
phase ; and its influence on conduct, now so small, will every day become more
visible, because backed by the Divine authority. Education, thus conducted,
would become the groundwork of that later and more practical education which
is now acquired in the actual business of life, and compared with which, our
present school-education avowedly bears a very small value.
To insist on connecting dogmas about the corruption of human nature,
the Trinity, and the atonement, with the knowledge of external creation, is to
insist on mixing up matters which have no natural connection or affinity, and
which, consequently, can never be made to assimilate. Let it be assumed that
man has fallen from his original condition, and that his nature is corrupt, the
great fact remains, that the world was created and received its present constitu-
tion from God before man fell. Whatever may have happened to man, the
laws of the universe were not changed. The heavenly bodies moved in their
orbits in obedience to the same forces which still operate. In our own globe,
we can demonstrate the present operation of the same physical laws which were
in action thousands or millions of years before man was called into existence.
It is worse than folly, it is impiety and rebellion against the eternal God, to say
that a knowledge of His works shall not be communicated except in conjunc-
tion with a disputed creed, which does not and cannot change their nature ;
and yet this is what must happen, if the opponents of National Education have
their way. The Christian revelation does not abrogate or supersede the pre-
existing order of Nature. On the contrary, it rests upon it as the only basis
on which the superstructure of revelation can be made to stand ; and therefore
the more clearly the order of Nature is expounded, the more easily will the
true bearings of Christianity be appreciated, and its principles carried into
practice. To the orang-outang or the monkey, revelation is without meaning
or influence, because, in their nature, it can find no resting-place and no point
of contact. To man it would be equally valueless, if its doctrines were not in
harmony with its nature and constitution. And, therefore, even if education
were to be confined solely to Religious instruction, the most successful way
would still be to begin by cultivating and developing the groundwork or soil
of Natural Religion, in which alone revelation can take root.
If neither the state nor the people are to be allowed to teach Natural
Religion, and make use of it in promoting good conduct, then it matters little
who has the charge of educating the people in our schools. So long as educa-
tion is confined to reading, writing, arithmetic, and the communication of the
elements of knowledge, without constant reference to its uses and its relation to
its Divine Author, it will prove both barren and godless, whether accompanied
by a creed or not. The only education worth having is that which is to influ-
ence conduct, and thereby improve our condition. If such education can-
not be taught to the young, the more urgent the need to begin by enlightening
the old who direct the young. If prohibited from teaching the children, let
us begin by educating their parents. By perseverance, we may produce an
impression on their common sense in the course of time, and thus at last get
access to schools.
As yet, Natural Religion has never been taught to either
old or young, and, therefore, it cannot be said to have proved ineffective. No
single work exists, so far as I know, having for its aim to expound the close
relation subsisting between Natural Religion and human improvement. The
Religious training through Secular subjects. 677
existence and operation of natural laws have been demonstrated, but not their
applications to, and bearings on, daily and hourly conduct. Veneration has
been hitherto supposed to have its true scope in the adoration of the Deity;
but its more important and equally elevated use, in prompting to'willing sub-
mission to His laws and authority, as an earnest of our sincerity, has been
almost overlooked. The Religious and Moral feelings have never been made
acquainted with their own intimate and indissoluble union, or trained to act
with the intellect in studying and obeying the natural laws.
In a letter to Sir James Clark, of 12th January 1847, Dr Andrew Combe
also says:
My conviction is that the true sphere of the Religious and, in some degree,
of the Moral emotions has been misunderstood, and that, in legislating for the
moral, religious, intellectual, or physical nature of man, we forget a great deal
too much that man is a unit—a compound unit, no doubt—but still a being,
all of whose faculties were pre-arranged to act together in harmony.'
2. MR BENJAMIN TEMPLAR'S VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT.2
What is the Religion of Secular Schools ?
It is, in addition to sound Moral instruction, the production of an intelligent,
profound, and abiding veneration and love for God ; and, consequently, of such
a reverent, devotional frame of mind as is a constant source of the purest and
most elevating joy.
But how is this done where there is no Bible ?
The Secular teacher does it by directing the attention of his pupils to the
evidences of God's infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, which appear in
teaching, among others, the sciences of Physics, Physiology, Social Economy,
and Morals.
While teaching Physics, he calls attention to the exceedingly useful proper
ties of natural objects and agents; to the permanence of these properties ; to
the invariable certainty with which they act; and to the fact that the tendency
of their properties and operations is beneficent.
For example, he shows what are the remarkable properties of heat and of
gravitation, and some of the numberless important uses to wh
which they are
applied in art, science, and domestic life; and his pupils at once see that not
only much of our daily comfort, but our very existence, depends upon the
uniform, unvarying exercise of these properties, with which God, in His
wisdom and goodness, has invested them. A clear perception of this never fails
powerfully to excite the grateful admiration and wondering awe of the pupils.
Physiology is made to furnish even more striking proofs of creative wisdom
and goodness than these. The teacher shows that every organ has some useful
function to perform, and that it is fitted, in the best possible manner, for the
1 See his “Life," by George Combe, p. 509. George Combe remarks on the above expres-
sion of Dr Combe's ideas, that “the identity of views” between himself and his brother “is
naturally accounted for, by the constant and unreserved communication of thought which
took place between them.” Ditto, p. 501.
2 Regarding Mr Templar, see p. 241. The following is extracted from a paper on "The
Religion of Secular Schools, and their Claiin to Government Aid," read before the Social
Science Association, at Bradford, in 1869, and afterwards published as a pamphlet.
678
Appendix, II. 2.
ر
performance of that function ; and that the organs and functions are adapte
to others, and to the external world, with surpassing wisdom and benevolence.
His pupils see this, iu the adaptation of the eye to the reception and exclusion
of light ;--of the forms of the muscles to their situations, and of their strength
to the force of gravity ;-of the skeleton to the supply of firmness, support,
easy motion, and ample protection. They see, too, how wonderfully and how
mercifully the body is provided with the means, not only of keeping its
parts in a healthy condition, but of giving warning of and repairing injury as
well. They see, and gratefully acknowledge, the beneficent uses of bodily
pleasure and pain : sensations that deter them from doing what is hurtful, and
encourage them in doing what is beneficial, to their health. Surpassing?
great do they feel that benevolence to be which has not only provided us with
special sensations, but which has so made one of them—that of taste--that it
shall accommodate itself to the state of the organs for whose protection it is
in part provided, by becoming more fastidious as they become more delicate.
Experience shows that the consideration of these, and of similar things,
excites in children, as in us, emotions of the deepest veneration, gratitude,
and love towards God, the all-wise and all-merciful Author of them.
Secular school teachers are peculiar for the extent to which they teach
Social Economy; and, in doing so, they find they have a peculiarly powerfu
means of Religious instruction.
Mark how this is. The teacher invites the pupils to a careful consideration
of the numerous ways in which men labour in the production and distribution
of wealth ; and, from studying them, they learn the following important and
impressive facts :-
Every man, while labouring to advance his own interest, is, at the same
time-though quite unintentionally, and often unconsciously-advancing the
interests of others, contributing to the public good ; that men, so far from
permanently benefiting themselves at the expense of others, can do so only by
doing good to others, no matter what may be the nature of their occupation :
for God has so interwoven men's interests, that not only is it true that no man
liveth, or can live, to himself alone, but also that no man's loss can be a real
permanent gain to his fellow-man. They learn, that there can be no clashing
of real interests; that the interests of all classes, even the most opposite, such
as masters and men, and producers and consumers, are concurrent instead of
antagonistic,—else civilisation, with all its advantages, would be impossible.
They learn, too, that national as well as individual prosperity can exist only
where there is peace and mutual benefit.
My own experience, like that of others, shows that the frequent careful con-
sideration of the phenomena of social life, such as those I have just named,
produces deep thoughtfulness, and proves not only the reality of God's govern-
ment of the affairs of men, where least recognised, but the infinite wisdom and
beneficence of that government also. As none can recognise this without
having their veneration for, and love and gratitude to, God strongly excited,
the teacher, in revealing it to his pupils, is influencing them Religiously.
Lastly, the Moral instruction of Secular schools is made a means of Religious
culture.
The pupils are taught that every rational being has certain Moral duties to
perform, and therefore they have theirs. These duties, they are shown, are—to
Religious training through Secular subjects. 679
love and obey their parents; to be honest, truthful, kind, and obliging to all;
to restrain every inordinate desire ; and to train themselves to habits of clean-
liness, diligence, punctuality, self-reliance, perseverance, and self-respect. In
dwelling upon the reasons for these obligations, and the modes and consequences
of discharging or of neglecting them, the children have their Religious emotions
strongly excited by the discovery of the gratifying fact, that God has made the
full and faithful performance of these duties a source of profit and pleasure to
the performer, instead of a mere arbitrary task.
This is easily proved by reference to their own short experience, which has
already taught them how great a pleasure is in store for those who successfully
resist temptations to lie, steal, or commit any other immoral act; that the
pleasures of self-restraint often outweigh those of self-indulgence ; that few
acts of self-gratification result in such intense satisfaction as follows resolute
self-denial—the consciousness of having performed a difficult duty; and that
a generous deed is never performed, nor a kind, sympathising word spoken,
that is not followed by a feeling of pure, joyous satisfaction, which far more
than compensates for any self-sacrifice made to perform it; and that thus “the
quality of mercy” is indeed “twice blessed.”
Thus, by showing that God has mercifully made our duties to be pleasures,
the scholars have their gratitude and love to Him greatly increased, and they
become more devotional, more Religious, in consequence of the discovery.
This, then, is the Religious training of Secular Schools. It leads the pupils
to regard all natural objects and operations as God's agents in working out
His all-wise and all-merciful plans ; it teaches them to see His wonderful
handiwork, not only in the structure, but also in the functions assigned to each
individual and class of organised beings; it shows, what is not generally so
obvious, viz., that our mental and moral natures bear as decisive marks of
infinite wisdom and goodness as do our physical constitutions; and it shows,
as I have before stated, not only the reality of God's government of all things
-physical, organic, mental, moral, and political—but the boundless wisdom
and goodness of that government also. In a word, it proves that an ever-
present Deity is not a mere figure of speech, a poetic fancy, but a grand,
gladdening reality ; and leads those so taught to recognise in Him an all-wise,
all-merciful Father and Friend. It imbues them with that profound, grateful
devotion which is the foundation of all True Religion, and which will ever be
to them an inexhaustible source of the most elevating joy, because it is the
result of careful, intelligent inquiry, and of consequent deep-rooted conviction.
Now I submit not only that this is Religious instruction, but that it is Religious
instruction of a high order.
1 The whole paper from which the above is extracted is very well worth perusal. See
also on the same subject, Mr Templar's “Questions for School Boards,” and “The Reli-
gious Difficulty in Education," (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 6d.) which are short,
practical, and excellent, embodying the results of experience in the Manchester Free
School, on this and other points.
680
Appendix, III. 1.
No. III.-THE PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION
ILLUSTRATED.
1. EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORTS OF THE EDINBURGH SECULAR
SCHOOL, founded by George Combe; written by W. Mattieu
Williams, Head-Master.
REFERRED TO IN THE INTRODUCTION, AND AT pp. 213, 215, 217, &c.
I. MORAL EDUCATION.
1. A SCHOOL CONDUCTED WITHOUT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.
+
nieasures.
The principal difficulty the teacher has experienced has been in maintaining
order and discipline, without resorting to corporal punishment, or other severe
It is easy to maintain silence in a school, by the simple expedient
of flogging any child who makes a noise ; but to lead the children to control
their own boisterous and desultory playful tendencies, by the force of a con-
scientious feeling of duty and an ever-active sense of propriety, requires some
time, and much patient careful training-especially when some of the children,
from having been accustomed to harsh discipline, both at home and at the
schools they have formerly attended, have been trained to base their self-
restraint on the fear of corporal punishment alone, and have thus become, to
a great extent, insensible to other motives. On this account, it has been found
necessary to have occasional resort to corporal punishment in extreme cases of
disobedience ; but it is hoped that there will shortly be established a general
moral tone among the children, sufficiently strong to obviate entirely the
necessity of this most objectionable means of discipline.1
Corporal punishment is now 2. entirely excluded from the school discipline,
and the teacher pledges himself never again to have recourse to it. The pro-
moters were adverse to it from the commencement, and the circumstances
which led to its adoption at first were the following :-Previously to the open-
ing of this seminary, Mr Williams had never had a school under his own
management, but had been trained at the Birkbeck School of the London
Mechanics’ Institution. Like many persons who have considered this subject
theoretically, he objected to physical punishment; but, on discussing it with
practical schoolmasters, he found them most unanimous and earnest in reject-
ing such views as Utopian, and in insisting upon the impossibility of efficiently
conducting a large school, without using direct physical chastisement, or some
painful substitute for it equally objectionable. They told him that, if he
attempted to conduct a school of the kind proposed, failure would be inevitable,
if he were not allowed to use corporal punishment. As many of the individuals
whom he consulted were men for whose judgment he had the highest respect,
he was unwilling to oppose a merely speculative opinion of his own to their
practical experience, and he therefore declined to undertake the charge of the
school unless allowed to use physical chastisement, if found necessary. The
1 From First Report, published in 1850, p. 8.
In 1851, when the Second Report was published.
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 681
promoters yielded to him on this point, on the understanding that the inflic-
tion was to be dispensed with, if possible.
At first, considerable difficulties did arise in controlling the children, because,
from never having been accustomed to entertain even the idea of self-control,
they regarded freedom from stripes as an invitation to anarchy. On several
occasions, therefore, corporal punishment was resorted to, and the immediate
result was better order in the school. Every time, however, that order and
obedience were thus enforced, the teacher perceived and felt, with unequivocal
distinctness, that the outward semblance of improvement was obtained at the
cost of a moral sacrifice, both on the part of the children and himself. The
enthronement of physical force produced a slavish submission in the children,
and a degrading influence on the teacher. The hush and show of diligence
which the punishment occasioned, could be maintained only by repeating the
infliction ; and, in proportion as it became familiar, its restraining power
diminished, while its demoralising influence daily acquired strength. This
experience led to a suspension of chastisements from about the month of
February to the termination of the session, at the end of July 1850. The
school re-opened in the end of August, and, in September, there was an influx
of new pupils, most of whom had been accustomed to yield obedience only to
blows. Considerable disorder consequently ensued, and, on one occasion, it
had reached to such a height that four of the boys were sentenced to receive
two “palmies” each (Anglice, stripes on the hand). Among these was one
boy who had been a considerable time at the school, but who had proved
almost unmanageable, owing chiefly to his very remarkable deficiency of
Cautiousness. He was intelligent, and endowed with about a medium develop-
ment of the Moral Sentiments, and much Adhesiveness. He was strongly
attached to the school and to the teacher, but he disturbed all discipline by
playing grotesque antics, making queer noises, and giving absurd, though
sometimes witty, answers to the questions put to the other children. All this
was attributable mainly to an utter disregard of the consequences of his own
actions, either to himself or others. On the occasion referred to, he was one of
the principal offenders. When it came to his turn to receive the “palmies,
he, to the surprise of the teacher, began to cry most bitterly, imploring, with
the greatest earnestness, that he might not be punished.
No, no, no,
maister ; dinna, dinna lick me, maister ; no, no, no, maister, I'm no sae bad
as that.” He repeated the expressions again and again, in tones of positive
anguish, to the great perplexity of the teacher; for it was quite clear that the
fear of physical pain was not the cause of his distress. He had seen that the
punishment inflicted on the other boys was slight, and his own careless in-
difference to pain is most remarkable ; so much so, that he often comes to
school bruised and bleeding in consequence of his utter recklessness in play,
and he seemed to regard the floggings he received at home as a sort of cus-
tomary excitement. It was clear that the pain he manifested on this occasion
was purely moral; that the tie which bound him to liis teacher—who was
perhaps the only person who had ever attempted to govern him by a really
moral influence—was in danger of being broken ; and that, in his own estima-
tion, he was exposed, by the punishment, to a miserable degradation.
The teacher felt that the degradation was by no means limited to the boy,
but that the larger share of it was his own ; and, although compelled to inflict
66
682
Appendix, III. 1.
the punishment in this instance (the boy having been sentenced with the res
who had already suffered the infliction), he determined never again to have
recourse to this most painful remedy for insubordination.
This resolution was confirmed by the general tone which pervaded the school
for a day or two after the event; for, although the punishment was not inflicted
in presence of the rest of the pupils, they knew that it was going on; and,
when the teacher returned among them, they were certainly much more quiet and
orderly, but it was a gloomy and sullen quietness—the superior minds seemed
instinctively oppressed with a feeling that they were to be governed by a
degrading influence, while the inferior sulkily obeyed, merely because they
were afraid to do otherwise. The evident tendency of the infliction was to
make the latter regard disobedience as a sort of forbidden enjoyment, to be
snatched when favourable opportunities occurred.
The teacher has very carefully observed and reflected upon the results of the
two experiments of governing the school, with and without corporal punish-
inents, and is convinced that those which are usually held forth as the advan-
tages of corporal chastisement are in fact dangerous and delusive evils. Its
direct influence on the pupils is usually demoralising; and on the teacher, and
through him, on the school, invariably so.
The very facility which it affords of suppressing at once inattention, disorder,
and a tendency to disobedience, is particularly mischievous ; for it blinds the
teacher to the real cause of the evil, which is most commonly some defect in the
detailed or general management of the school, or some want of energy or skill
on his own part.
If he is not permitted thus to repress the outward symptoms of these
deficiencies by “making an example” of the most troublesome pupils, he is
compelled to seek out the radical cause of the mischief, and to apply the true
and permanent remedy. Thus, when teaching is an everyday occupation, the
teacher is continually liable to fall into habits of mechanical and plodding
routine, to lose sight of first principles, to slacken in enthusiasm, and manifest
a moral slovenliness which tells immediately upon the school.
If he represses
this by physical chastisement, he evades the effort of self-correction, and is
likely to gradually degenerate. If he has no such means to fall back upon, he
is compelled continuously to maintain his efficiency, and to advance instead of
retrograding.
The position of the schoolmaster is one of peculiar difficulty, in respect of the
danger to which he is continually exposed of degenerating into a petty tyrant.
Every candid teacher of young children will admit that he has felt this ten-
dency creeping upon him, and, unless he be ever on his guard, he must become
corrupted by it. The words dominie and pedagogue suggest at once to the
mind the image of a despot and pedant; a man, perhaps, of natural good
qualities spoiled by the habitual exercise of irresponsible authority. It is
melancholy to contemplate the number of schoolmasters who, as they grow old
in the service, sink into this deplorable condition. It is easy to understand
how an excellent man may thus degenerate, when we consider that he is
surrounded only by children whom he is bound to govern, and of his superiority
over whom he must be conscious. He is tempted to set up his own will as
law; to enforce obedience to his commands, simply because he is master, rather
than because his commands are just and beneficial. Unless he keeps the
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 683
strictest watch upon himself, he will be apt to praise or blame, to punish or
reward, according as it suits his humour. Few men can look back upon their
school days and not remember how they watched the features of their master
when he entered school, and calculated their own chances of smarting during
the day, by the expression of his morning countenance. How many boys'
backs have been made to sympathise with their teacher's stomach, when he
has been suffering under a fit of indigestion! The teacher of this school has
been specially anxious to guard against this tendency, and, from careful con-
sideration of his experience in this respect, is convinced that none but men of
most rare and almost impossible constitution can remain free from some degree
of such corruption, if they permit themselves to enforce the submission of their
pupils by any form of physical chastisement.
When no such punishments are permitted in a school, the teacher is com-
pelled to govern with justice and moderation, and to regulate the energies of
his own will; in short, habitually to govern himself as well as his pupils.
When he ceases to do so, he is immediately admonished by a spirit of insub-
ordination; and, as he cannot now suppress it by means of his muscular
superiority, he must remedy it by his moral influence, ---by removing the cause
which has produced it. If he is unable to do so, and the insubordination
ripens into rebellion, proof is afforded of his incapacity; and he should either
undergo further training himself under an abler man, or seek some other occu-
pation for which he is better fitted.
When corporal punishments were first excluded from the school, the teacher
thought that some means of correction were necessary to keep the more dis-
orderly children in subjection, and occasionally one or two of the most
refractory were imprisoned or fixed to a post. All such punishments are now
set aside ; and the practical conclusion drawn from comparing the results of
those experiments is, that the infliction of punishment of any kind whatever as
punishment, or, in other words, direct and exclusive appeals to the nerves of
sensation and the Sentiment of Fear, are not only unnecessary, but decidedly
inischievous. All that is required is simply to place the offender under
training, that is, to exercise the faculties manifested in deficiency, or to
repress those which are manifested in excess. Such training is necessarily
painful, but this pain is instituted by the Creator as an element of the human
constitution, and is a sufficiently intense, and far more effective, appeal to
selfishness and fear, than any of the artificial devices for inspiring terror,
which are commonly resorted to.
Special care is now taken to make the children understand when they are
under discipline, that they are being exercised, not punished, by the teacher ;
that, if the exercise is painful, the pain is a warning instituted by their Creator,
to prevent them from infringing His laws, which, if they obey, will afford them
continual happiness.
It
may well be conceived that, during the transition from the one system to
the other, the school may present an appearance of order inferior to that which
is found in seminaries in which the lash is vigorously applied ; but every year
is reducing the difference, and the moral gain is incalculable. The most
earnest efforts are made to enable the children to understand the principles
upon which their education is conducted, and to lead them to co-operate
intelligently with their teachers in all their efforts. Thus, when children dis-
684
Appendix, III. 1.
turb the discipline of the class by a fidgety want of self-restraint-shown
talking during the lesson, and moving from their place—they are told to stand
out of their class, because they disturb those who are diligent, and they are
exercised in simply standing still with their faces to the wall, and hands
.behind their backs; and the duration of this exercise (which is sufficiently
irksome to make them very anxious to escape from it) depends on the degree
of self-control they exhibit in obeying this extra discipline.
The time thus lost from their lessons is, as far as practicable, made up by
extra duty during the play hour. Wilful idleness is treated by giving the
offender additional work during the play time, always upon the understanding
that it is not merely for the sake of punishing him, but as extra training in
habits of industry. Children who come dirty to school are publicly washed.
When two children cannot sit beside each other without playing together, they
are separated ; but, when they quarrel, they are made to sit or stand side by
side, sometimes hand in hand together, until all angry feeling has given way
to cheerful friendliness.
In the case of troublesome and wilful children, it is found useful to explain,
plainly and truthfully, the sources of their conduct, in presence of their fellows.
If a boy is impertinent and tries to display his supposed superiority by braving
the authority of his teacher, or if a girl is pouting and sulky, the teacher points
out to the class that these are illustrations of misdirected Self-esteem and Love
of Approbation, and asks the children what are the proper uses of these facul-
ties. When they answer that it is to give dignity and amiability to the pos-
sessor, he asks them whether the conduct of the offender is dignified and
amiable or the reverse.
In the case of quarrelling, they are questioned upon what is the difference
between the brain of a dog or any of the lower animals and that of man. They
answer, that man possesses a greater development of the Anterior and Superior
regions, where the organs of the Intellectual and Moral powers are situated,
and upon that depends his superiority to the brute. They are then asked what
a dog does when his will is frustrated, or he is in any way annoyed by another
dog. Fight, and the strongest and most active conquers. What must man
do in a similar case ?
Thus the great object of the system pursued in the school is, to train the
children to restrain and direct their own faculties by self-conscious efforts,
under the dictates of their Moral and Intellectual faculties.
The teachers and promoters anticipate more beneficial results from this
method of governing and training, than can be obtained from habits of obe-
dience produced by corporal chastisement. When the child is removed from
the dread of the latter, he eagerly indulges in all those acts of insubordination
and transgression which were forbidden; he enjoys a jubilee of mischievous an
misdirected gratification of his Propensities. Under the system of moral
restraint, the child is early accustomed to weigh his actions and their conse-
quences, to feel that he lives under Divine laws, and that natural punishments
await his transgressions, which he cannot escape, although no human avenger
be present.
It is hoped that, by these habits of self-control, founded upon perception of
consequences, the pupil will in time become a considerate moral agent, capable
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 685
of regulating his conduct according to the rules of morality in all the ordinary
circumstances of life.I
In the last Report, it was stated that the corporal and other severe punish-
ments had been entirely given up, and that this was attended with the most
satisfactory results. Another year's experience adds fresh testimony in con-
firmation of this statement.
From the commencement of the school, the principal difficulty experienced
has been to maintain strict order, without unduly repressing the activity,
energy, and natural cheerfulness of the children ; and the teacher's aim has
been to make the discipline consist in directing the exuberance of youth in such
a manner as to communicate animation and earnestness to the prosecution of
the school duties, instead of crushing that exuberance by harsh severity, and
introducing, in its place, dull, unchildish inactivity.
Ever since corporal punishments have been abolished, this difficulty has been
steadily diminishing. At present, in so far as it exists, it is attributable
chiefly to new comers, who have been accustomed to severe treatinent in other
schools, and, in consequence, manifest a tendency to break out wildly when at
first released from this restraint. The troublesome pupils are mostly boys of
from twelve to fourteen or fifteen years of age, some of whom have been sent
here because they have been found elsewhere unmanageable. The month of
November has always been the period when the tendency to disorder has been
the greatest. This seems attributable to the fact, that during September and
October, especially in the latter month, a large number of new pupils join the
school. At first, they are restrained by the novelty of the situation ; but, on
becoming more familiar with it, and perceiving that there is really no flog-
ging in the school, they begin to break out into disorder. After a short time,
however, they become interested in their lessons, the example of the children
of the previous season begins to act on them, and this tendency gradually
diminishes.
In some instances, younger boys, who, at other schools, have been rebellious and
intractable, and have, (after repeated and unavailing floggings,) been dismissed,
have here become attentive and anxiously obedient, manifesting both energy
and activity, which, under kind treatment, has spontaneously taken a beneficial
direction. There are children with large and active brains, in which the In-
tellectual, Moral, and Animal organs, more especially Conscientiousness, Firm-
ness, Combativeness, and Destructiveness, are all powerfully developed. The
effect of flogging on such children is highly injurious. It excites in them a
feeling of savage resentment, and drives them into a state of moral outlawry;
while, with firm but kind treatment, they might be made at least moral and
respectable, if not even superior men.
In other cases, boys who have been notoriously troublesome at other schools
are more or less so here. These pupils are characterised by general deficiency
of the Moral region of the brain, or of Cautiousness.
A few extreme cases of melancholy deficiency, approaching to moral idiocy,
have been presented. All of these have, for the first few weeks, played the
truant repeatedly, sometimes absenting themselves for two or three days;
sometimes, on a sunny day, they have slipped out in the middle of school hours.
1 From Second Report, published in 1851, P, 10.
+
Appendix, III. 1.
686
The usual course adopted in these cases has been to ask them, why they did
not come to school, whether any body had used them ill there, whether being
at school made them uncomfortable, whether they disliked the teachers or
their schoolfellows, whether they thought it better to come to school and learn
to be clever and useful, or to run away and be useless dunces and blackguards.
In a short time, these questions penetrate their understandings, or touch their
feelings; and, as they are not beaten, they begin to comprehend the idea that,
by running away from their lessons, they themselves are the only sufferers.
In time, they leave off playing the truant and become reconciled, and some of
them at last attached, to the school ; so much so, that the threat of dismissal
was found to be the most powerful means of influencing them that could be
used.
The extent to which an attachment to the school has grown will be under-
stood from the fact that, in some cases, children of this kind, who at first could
not be restrained from playing truant, have been so completely reclaimed in
this respect that they have come to feel mere putting them outside the school
door, when they have been troublesome, as a severe punishment. Instead of
running away to play, they have stood at the door-post crying, and actually
begging to be let in again. In such children as these, Adhesiveness, along with
the other organs at the base of the brain, are usually largely developed, and it
is through this feeling that they are most capable of being influenced.
Some time ago, a boy of this sort, about seven years of age, was brought to
the school and entered as a pupil. The next day, he did not make his appear-
ance, of which notice was given to his parents. On the following day, he was
brought, screaming and kicking, to school by a servant. It was with the
greatest difficulty that she at last succeeded in dragging him in. The teacher
spoke kindly to him, but the child slunk away, evidently suspecting that the
kind words were only a decoy, to get him within striking distance; for, with
an expression of fear, cunning and fierceness, very much like that of a hunted
animal when brought to bay, he crouched in an attitude of defence, with his
arm held over his head, to ward off the expected blow. No blow was given,
and the teacher then left him ; after which some of the children about his own
age, whom curiosity had attracted to the spot, were allowed to congregate round
him. When they came near him, he at first kicked and struck at them, but, in
a short time, they succeeded in rendering him more pacific, by telling him that
he would not be beaten.
A glance at his head showed a great development of Adhesiveness, with very
large organs of Cautiousness, Destructiveness, Secretiveness, and of the other
Animal Propensities, combined with extreme deficiency of the organs of the Moral
Sentiments. The teacher took him by the hand, and asked him if any one had
beaten him. He replied that his parents beat him. The teacher remarked that he
was very sorry that he had been beaten, and asked the boy a great many questions,
expressing at the same time sympathy and interest in all his troubles. When
the child's feelings were fairly roused, the teacher made an offer of friendship
and protection, promising to intercede with his parents, and to do everything
possible to save him from further beatings, on condition that he would prove
his friendship and affection to the teacher by being obedient and attentive.
A considerable time was necessary to make him understand and believe this to
be a real proposal. At first, he looked cunning and sulky, and made no answer
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School.
687
to any of the questions put to him, evidently suspecting that all this was the
prelude to a flogging. He then stared strangely, as at something that he was
quite unaccustomed to, and finally began to cry, and at last clung to the teacher
with a touching expression of affection and submission. After this, he came to
school willingly by himself.
He continued, however, to be troublesome, kicking, thumping, and pinching
his schoolfellows, and otherwise disturbing his class; but all the time he
remained at the school (about six months, when he was taken away by his
parents without any reason being assigned), he manifested a most remarkable
and dog-like attachment to the teacher, watching his every movement, and
making strong efforts at good behaviour when directly under his eye. When
the school was dismissed, he would generally wait about the doors until he
received some recognition, a word of encouragement, or a pat on the shoulder
from the teacher, and then he started off quite happy.
Much may be done to improve the character of such children as these, if
proper means be adopted ; but it does not seem possible to render them capable
of independent Moral self-restraint when placed under circumstances of strong
temptation ; and, in a school like this, where special arrangements cannot be
made to meet individual cases of the kind, they interfere so much with the
general business of the classes, that in justice to the rest of the children it is
sometimes necessary to dismiss them. This is especially the case when they
manifest a strong propensity to theft, which is a common tendency where the
Moral restraining powers are so very weak. 1
One of the consequences of the abolition of corporal punishments, and the
general absence of repressive discipline, has been to afford the teachers many
opportunities of observing the natural characteristics of the children, which,
under a system of severe external restraint, would have been lost. Among the
obstacles which have stood in the way of the general progress of the Science and
Art of education, there is probably none which has had a more injurious influ-
ence than the common mistake of teachers, in believing that their business is
only to teach their pupils, and that they have nothing to learn from them ;
that the children are to be modelled to their “system,” instead of their
systems being carefully adapted to the natural requirements of the children.
Every teacher needs to be continually taking lessons from his pupils : for it is
only by careful observation of the natural phenomena, presented by the growth
of the infant mind, that the laws of its development can be learned ; and it is
upon these laws alone that sound teaching must necessarily be based.
In order to make such observations intelligently and profitably, the teacher
will find it a great advantage to himself to be acquainted with the principles
of general and cerebral Physiology. Many circumstances have occurred in this
school which illustrate strikingly the advantage of this knowledge. Thus it
is well known to Physiologists that during periods of rapid growth the brain,
as well as the other bodily organs, is weakened. It seems that the vital energies
are largely consumed in supplying the general increase of material to the body;
and it has been clearly established that, in this condition, the effect of forcing
1 It will be difficult to provide for the proper treatment and disposal of such children until
society becomes acquainted with the Physiology of the brain. The annoyance, loss, and ex--
pense which they occasion, are the natural consequences of the treatment which they receive,
bearing little reference to their inherent dispositions. — (Mr Williams.)
688
Appendix, III. 1.
the brain or any other organs into a degree of activity, beyond that which their
diminished strength can easily support, is injurious to health, and, in some cases,
may even prove fatal to life.
In schools where set tasks are given, and flogging is resorted to when these
are not performed, such consequences are liable to occur. The teacher assumes
that, if a child has been able to do a certain amount of work at one time, he
can do the same at any other time; and when he does not do so, the falling off
is attributed to wilful laziness, and the rod is applied as an excitement, without
further consideration or inquiry. The fear of physical torture may drive the
child to overstrain its faculties, just at the period when such violent efforts are
specially dangerous.
The observations which have been made upon the children in this school
have shown that these constitutional changes are of frequent occurrence. A
boy or girl who has been remarkable for activity and intelligence, occasionally,
and in some instances suddenly, becoines comparatively dull and stupid. This
is usually accompanied by a peculiar expression of the countenance, which it
is very difficult to describe, but which may be recognised by an experienced
observer who has carefully watrhed the phenomena. The features become
relaxed and have a less plump and youthful appearance than formerly ; they
acquire a more serious, or, in some cases, an anxious and languid expression.
The appearance differs from that produced by a cold, a temporary fit of indi-
gestion, or other similar disturbances of the system, and somewhat resembles
-only in a minor degree—the change which, in mature years, we recognise as
occurring in the look and gait of a man of broken fortunes, whose mental
energies have sunk under his affliction. It still more closely resembles, is, in
fact, very siinilar to, the expression which physicians recognise as accompanying
chlorosis.
At the time when these remarks are being written, such a change has come
upon a boy who, a fortnight ago, stood the highest in the school for general
attainments, activity, and intelligence. He could frequently answer questions
which all his class-fellows had failed to solve, and he usually did so with great
eagerness. Now, when a question requiring any considerable effort of reflec-
tion is put to him, he shakes his head languidly, with a melancholy, exhausted
expression, indicating the greatest aversion to intellectual effort, which con-
trasts strikingly with his manner a few weeks since. In algebra, he has quite
fallen back; the effort required to express a problem, in the form of an equa-
tion, is painful to him, although formerly he took great pleasure in such
exercises, and frequently borrowed the book that he might amuse himself with
working such problems at home. He was rather troublesome, and sometimes
in disgrace on account of his boisterous and trickish activity. He is now most
tame and orderly ; his voice, which frequently required to be hushed, is now
scarcely ever to be heard. In a few months, all this will probably be explained
by the protrusion of his arms and legs beyonl the limits of his jacket sleeves
and trousers.
It is possible that this boy might, by using great severity, be forced to go
through his usual amount of work ; but the consequences of such overstraining
of the brain at such a critical period might prove to be its permanent enfeeble-
ment, and probably a serious derangement of the whole constitution.
In schools in which flogging is constantly used, it is not uncommon to attri-
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 689
"
os only
bute such changes in the conduct of children to obstinacy, sullenness, and
wilful idleness, and to flog them with the greater severity, in order to drive
the dogged fit out of them. This fate sometimes overtakes even
, the “ dux,
upon whose attainments the credit of the school is often based, if he happen to
suffer under one of these constitutional changes, and refuse to make the same
efforts as formerly. In schools, again, where corporal punishments are
occasionally used in extreme cases,” it is probable that a large proportion of
these "extreme cases are instances similar to the one above quoted; especially
as this disturbance of the constitution is frequently (perhaps always, when the
brain is overtasked), accompanied by peevishness and irritability, such as com-
monly accompany illness, weakness, or constitutional disturbance. It is liable
to break out in sulky or impertinent answers to the teacher when scolding the
boy for his shortcomings, and this is punished by a renewed chastisement.
Most teachers who have themselves enjoyed robust health in youth, if untrained
in the Physiology of the nervous system, cannot conceive the feelings of oppres-
sion, injustice, hatred, and disgust, occasionally of fierce revenge, which this
severe discipline engenders in nervous, delicate, and high-minded boys. The
sense of the wrong done them never leaves them throughout their lives.
Another instance of recent occurrence may be mentioned as illustrating the
mischievous consequences of beating children in school. A boy, twelve years
of age, was brought to the school about six weeks ago by his uncle, an intelli-
gent man, who had studied Physiology. He stated that the boy had had a
severe illness, at the close of which he returned to his former school, but
became dull and stupid ; he was beaten daily, in consequence of the remissness
attending this state ; but, instead of improving, he not only continued to lose
ground in regard to his intellectual attainments, but was reduced to such a
state of nervous irritability and feebleness, that he was unable to make any
mental effort without crying and trembling. The uncle ascribed the change
to cerebral disturbance produced by the illness, and prevailed on the boy's
mother to try him at the school in which Physiology was understood and acted
This was done, and the soundness of the uncle's inference speedily became
evident. The teacher, as is usual with new pupils, gave the boy a book to
read, and asked him a fow questions, in order to ascertain how far he was
advanced. He cried and trembled so much, that, although he evidently knew
the words in the book, he was unable to pronounce them, except in a very
slow, stammering, and blundering manner. He was treated with the greatest
kindness; the other teachers and monitors were told not to press him, but to
let him do the best he could in his own way, and the other children in his class
were made to understand that he was unwell, and that his crying was a conse-
quence of illness, so that their sympathy also was enlisted in his favour. The
crying and trembling continued for some days, but regularly diminishing; and
now, at the end of a few weeks, these symptoms have entirely disappeared, the
expression of his countenance has changed, he has become cheerful and happy,
he speaks out plainly and boldly what he has to say; and, although he is still
rather dull and inactive, the improvement he is making is so satisfactory, that,
in all probability, he will ultimately reach a fair average of capacity and attain-
ments. Had he been much longer subjected to the treatment he was receiving,
insanity, idiocy, or death, might have been the result.
Two cases lately occurred, almost simultaneously, which show how greatly
on.
1
2 x
690
Appendix, III. 1.
1
ordinary Physiological causes influence the mental powers of children. A boy
and a girl, no way related, were for some time absent from school, suffering
from fever. The boy was one of the most intelligent and advanced in the
school; the girl was moderately so, but by no means remarkable. When they
returned after their illness, the boy had seriously deteriorated in mental power
and activity, which, however, he is gradually regaining; the girl, on the con-
trary, came back remarkably improved in intellectual capacity, and she now
takes the decided lead of the girls in answering the more difficult questions in
all the lessons on Science. These differences of result may probably have arisen
from differences in the kind or severity of the fevers, or in the conditions of
the children ; and they are mentioned only with a view to enforce the necessity
of a knowledge of Physiology to every one who undertakes the training and in-
struction of the young.
In the Fourth Report, Mr Williams says :-
The children seem to work more spontaneously, and to require less watching
and driving than most boys—as might be expected, from not having, at
school, been dependent on the stimulus of the lash, but trained to act from the
motives suggested by their own intellectual convictions and sense of moral duty.
This should always be remembered in considering the influence of corporal
punishments, and of governing by fear and despotic authority in school : for,
even if it could be proved that a boy could be made to do more work, and to
be more orderly in school, by means of such discipline, its superiority would
not be thereby established ; for, when the rod is withdrawn, as it must be when
he leaves school, his habitual motive to exertion and self-restraint is gone,
and he has then to commence the most important, the fundamental part, in
fact, of his education, viz., the getting a habit of acting from a sense of duty,
and a perception of the natural consequences of his conduct. The child, who
in school has been trained habitually to act from these motives (which, unlike
the rod, he carries with him wherever he goes after leaving school), even
though he was less orderly, and less industrious and attentive as a pupil, than
the boy who has been flogged up to the required standard of school discipline,
will be better prepared to profit by the discipline of life, which will naturally
become more effective as his responsibilities increase, than the other who enters
the world a stranger to such motives of action.2
In reply to an inquiry made to him regarding his practice in connexion
with corporal punishment, Mr Williams writes, in 1851, as follows :-
In no case do I have recourse to physical chastisement, and have pledged
myself (voluntarily) never to use it, and this the children are well aware of.
This has been the case for about a twelvemonth, or rather more.
Formerly, I used it only as a dernier ressort in extreme cases, but I find it
much easier to do without it altogether; for, when physical punishment is used
at all, the children seem to think that the teacher is not in earnest till he
threatens them with it, and, if he threatens without carrying out his threats,
he loses control most seriously, so that, if he flogs at all, he must do so pretty
frequently, and thus brute force becomes enthroned, and moral influence sinks
into abeyance.
Corporal punishment is, no doubt, the shortest and easiest way of obtaining
1 From Third Report, published in 1852, p. 22.
2 From Fourth Report, published in 1853, p. 16.
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 691
an outward obedience, and a general appearance of order and discipline ; but, of
course, it is the reality of moral discipline we seek for in our Secular Schools,
and not merely a soldierlike exhibition of the children.
I should most earnestly advise every teacher to bum the tawse, and have
done, resolutely and for ever, with corporal punishments. He will probably
find that some little disorder will immediately follow the change, but he must
not think that this is the result of the reformation, but rather the bad conse-
quences of the old system, manifesting themselves more decidedly during the
period of transition. He will also have a little additional work to do, but he
will be amply repaid for that, in the moral comfort he will daily experience in
consequence of his improved relationship to the children; for, when he teaches
them that pain is a natural consequence of misconduct, and that his office is to
aid them in averting such pain, both present and future, they will regard him
with far better feelings, and, when he conscientiously carries this out in practice,
his feelings towards them will be equally improved. The idea of deliberately
beating any of my little ones, seems now, to me, so unnatural and brutal, that
I can hardly conceive anything more revolting.
All the punishment that is required is to practically teach them the con-
sequences of their own conduct. Thus, if a child interrupts the class by
talking, playing, or otherwise, he must be sent out of it (I usually stand
them with their faces to the wall, that they may not see and play with the
rest). When thus sent out of the class, he loses his lesson ; this loss must be
made up by keeping him in to work during the play-time.
The children may easily be brought to understand that this sort of punish-
ment is self-inflicted, not at all inflicted by the teacher; he is only doing his
duty as a teacher, not as a punisher, for he could not teach the rest while they
disturbed the class, and, as they refused to be taught during the school time, he
must teach them at the play time. When I first began this, an impudent fellow
cried out one day, “Eh, maister, you're keept in as well as we are !' I replied
that that was quite true ; that they thought that I was keeping them in, but,
in fact, they were keeping me in, and that I was hungry and wanted my dinner, ,
and it was very unkind of them to serve me so, after I had been working so
hard all day to make them good and clever boys. This had a great effect
upon the six or seven present; one suggested that I should give them all
palmies and let them go, and then I could get home to my dinner; and, though
they were some of the worst boys in the school, I believe they would willingly
have received palmies all round as a means of letting me off to my dinner, for,
in matters of simple feeling, children are far superior to us adults.
In the Second Annual Report of the school, you will find a tolerably full
exposition of my views and experience on the subject of corporal punishment.
The more I observe and reflect upon the subject, the more deeply I become
convinced of the fundamental importance of entirely abolishing it, and, I have
little doubt that the teachers of your Secular Schools in Glasgow will have
equally strong convictions in this direction, if they fairly, and for a sufficient
time, try the experiment of ruling the school entirely and avowedly without
it. 2
It has always been regarded as a primary object in the government of the
Already quoted p. 680 et seq.
From letter to Mr James M-Clelland (see p. 220), of 8th December 1851,
1
2
692
Appendix, III. 1.
$
school, to maintain discipline without repressing the natural buoyancy and
joyfulness of childhood, and to enforce obedience, and the authority of teachers
and monitors, without anything approaching to slavish fear. The full realisa-
tion of this, in a school where there are large numbers of children, who, for
the most part, have been accustomed to a harsh and severe discipline, and,
therefore, to regard disobedience and riot as a sort of holiday pastime, is a
matter of considerable difficulty ; but, from the commencement of the school,
this difficulty has been continually diminishing, and a steady progress made
in the desired direction.
This is strikingly exhibited in the healthy public opinion which is now
firmly established in the school. Some children are sent to this school merely
because they are found unmanageable in other schools. It seems that some
parents, unacquainted with the principles upon which the school is conducted,
or having no sympathy with them, who have a boy that has rebelled against
all control, both at home and at the various schools to which they have sent
him, consign bim, as a last and desperate resource, to the Secular School.
In some instances, this has been candidly avowed when the boy has been
brought to the school. One poor woman concluded a long account of her
son's transgressions by saying, in a melancholy tone, “I am sure, sir, we have
done our duty to him, for his father gives him his licks (Anglice, flogs him)
every day whenever he comes home from his work.” She then stated that she
did not approve of the school exactly, but that she had been recommended to
try what
could do for him. The teacher advised her to discontinue the
licks,” but the advice was evidently received with very little respect, and,
when he told her that no flogging was used in the school, she seemed inclined
to take him back, but finally resolved to try its effects on him for a half-
quarter. The boy, who was a reckless, energetic fellow, with a low but power-
ful organisation, commenced his career by swearing at some of his school-
fellows. This was immediately reported to the teacher, and he was ordered to
stand out from his class, and remain separated from the rest of the children, until
he could behave himself respectably, and become fit to associate with respectable
boys. He at first refused to stand out, and looked round to the other boys,
evidently expecting them to sympathise with him and admire his bold dis-
obedience, but he found nothing of the kind ; on the contrary, several were
earnestly urging him to do as he was bid, by making signs and pushing him.
He was evidently surprised and bewildered at this; he stared about for some
time, but, finding himself quite alone, without any sympathy, and the teacher
simply waiting for him to obey as a matter of course, showing no tawse and
using no threats, he became quite confused and dispirited, and, having thus
nothing to stimulate him to resistance, he passively and mechanically walked
to the corner where he was told to stand, put his hands behind him, to turn
to the right and to the left, &c., all of which he did mechanically,2 like
the patient of a mesmeriser, and was evidently lost in amazement at his own
docility. The next day, he was brought up on a charge of challenging a boy
to fight, -the same who had told of his swearing the day before. He was again
I The school, being situated near the Cowgate of Edinburgh, was attended largely by the
very poorest and lowest classes.
2 It is found, in cases of this kind, very desirable to take advantage of this passive, docile
state of mind, and put the child through a series of mechanical exercises like military drilling,
for the sake of inducing the habit of obedience.-(Mr Williams.)
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 693
separated from the rest, and told that he was separated in order to prevent
the unpleasant consequences of quarrelling. He obeyed immediately this
time, but mumbled some threat about “outside,” and what he would do to
the boy when he got him there. In consequence of this, he was kept in school
during the play-time, until he promised not to molest the boy, and then he
was let out to join the rest. He kept his word, and told the boys that it was
the queerest school he had ever been to, and that he would rather have
palmies” (stripes) than be sent out and talked to in that manner.
This case is described, not on account of its singularity, but as a well-marked
type of a large class of cases, where boys of a rebellious disposition have been
prevented from any manifestation of active disobedience by the force of the
public opinion among the pupils co-operating with the teacher, and leaving the
offender in a state of moral isolation, which has so depressing an influence on
organisations of this kind. If this boy had received from his school-fellows
the least encouragement or sympathy in disobedience, he would have rebelled
outright, by refusing to stand out in the corner when told in the first instance.
Previous to the last year, three such cases had occurred since corporal
punishments were abolished in the school; these were of boys who had refused
to stand out when told, and they were immediately dismissed from the school.
Two were taken back again after an explanation with the parents, and never
repeated the disobedience. The third was a boy of about fourteen years of
age, who got a situation shortly after his dismissal.
During the past year, 148 new pupils have entered the school, but no such
case has occurred. This fact affords a sufficient answer to the question which
has frequently been put by other teachers, who think that flogging cannot be
dispensed with, viz., “How would you act if a boy should flatly refuse to do
what you tell him ?"
During the first year and a half, when corporal punishments were used, such
disobedience was much more frequent, the rule being, that corporal punishment
was applied only in cases of disobedience; and it would seem that the ten-
dency of this rule was to induce rather than suppress it, for the facts stand
thus : During 18 months with corporal punishment, and an average attend-
ance below 100, some 15 or 20 cases of disobedience occurred ; during the next
18 months without corporal punishment, and an average attendance of about
140, 3 cases of disobedience occurred ; during the last 14 months, with an
average attendance of above 160, and no corporal punishment, and the fact of
its having ever been used in the school being nearly forgotten, and looked
back upon as a curious barbarism of ancient times,-not one case of dis-
obedience.
It must not be inferred from the above, that any encouragement is given to
the children in idle tale-bearing. They are encouraged to restrain each other
in play, and to use every effort to save their school-fellows, as well as them-
selves, from present and future disgrace and trouble, by urging and aiding each
other in diligent application to their school duties; but, at the same time, they
are taught that, when any serious breach of discipline or any immorality,
beyond their power of suppression, is committed, it is their duty to inform the
teacher, and that, in so doing, they are not acting unkindly to the offender,
but doing him the greatest possible service, as the teacher never inflicts any
pain that can be avoided, but only endeavours to prevent the repetition of
694
Appendix, III. 1,
conduct which, if continued, must induce habits which will lead to serious
degradation and suffering hereafter.
2. THE GENERAL MORAL TRAINING AND INSTRUCTION OF THE
SCHOOL.
In all the classes, except the sewing, the boys and girls are taught together.
In philosophical subjects, the progress of the girls is not equal to that of
the boys. Their inferiority is shown in the power of grasping and applying
general principles, and in appreciating Causation. In learning matters of
detail, isolated facts, and events, they are generally superior to the boys. Thus,
when the children are examined upon what they have just read, the girls
usually answer more readily than the boys, so long as the answers are confined
to the literal contents of the book, and answers in the words of the book are
accepted; but, when they are required to supply original illustrations, or apply
what they have been reading to new circumstances suggested by the teacher,
the boys exhibit a decided superiority. By keeping these differences in view,
and alternating the questions between the boys and the girls, they are made
continually to assist each other.
By comparing the conduct of boys and girls thus in school together, the
moral superiority of the female character is strikingly evident. Their gentle-
ness and docility, their kindness to each other, and conscientious faithfulness
in the performance of every duty, added to the depth and earnestness of their
Religious emotions, render the moral government of the girls a task that is
scarcely felt, and their presence is a powerful aid in the moral government of
the boys. The petty jealousies, slanderings, and other abuses chiefly origin-
ating in misdirected Love of Approbation, to which girls are most liable when
restricted to the society of each other, are seldom manifested in the presence of
for their boisterous ridicule is as effective in suppressing these follies, as
the gentle sensitiveness of the girls is in appealing to the higher feelings of the
boys, and inducing them to practise moral self-restraint. When any symptoms
of these jealousies manifest themselves, the teacher finds it quite sufficient to
say that he has observed something of the kind, without mentioning the name,
or in any way indicating the offender ; explaining, at the same time, phreno-
logically, the origin of the folly, and that it is especially a girl's failing. The
curiosity of the boys is at once excited, and the girls, in their eagerness to
avoid an exposure of their weakness, speedily adjust their differences and
become better friends than ever. Affectation is treated in the same manner,
the principal difficulty here being, not in finding a moral remedy strong
enough, but in moderating the force of its operation.2
The moral training is not confined to the mere teaching of the principles of
morality, but every effort is made to exercise and develope the Moral Powers
of the children, by maintaining them in active operation, in all the proceedings
of the school. We desire so to regulate the conduct of the children, that what
they are taught in the lessons may, at once and habitually, be carried out in
their intercourse with each other. Moral delinquences are tried by a jury of
the children, the teacher acting as judge. These trials are so conducted as
1 From Fourth Report (1853), p. 6.
2 From Fourth Report, p. 19.
boys;
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 695
to form practical moral lessons on circumstances which the children cannot
fail to understand and appreciate, and aid in creating a sound public opinion
throughout the school,--the operation of which is not confined to the occasion
on which a verdict is pronounced. The offender, who thus receives condemna-
tion from his own school-fellows, feels both its force and justice far more deeply
than if the teacher alone pronounced it; and the jury themselves, in asserting
the supremacy of justice, are exercising their own Moral Powers, and thus
fore-arming themselves against the liability to commit similar transgressions.
The teachers have always endeavoured to give a moral tone to the whole
proceedings of the school, by maintaining a scrupulous impartiality in their
treatment of the children, by explainicg to them the moral grounds upon
which the school discipline is founded, and freely permitting their own conduct
to be questioned-making the government of the school, in fact, as constitu-
tional as possible, and altogether based upon reason and the Moral Sentiments;
always avoiding the position of irresponsible despotism, which is assumed by
some schoolmasters, and viewed by many parents, as essential to school
discipline.
The intellect of the children has been awakened to so great an extent as to
have effected, in many cases, a visible change in their manner and appearance
-an earnest curiosity and a love of knowledge have arisen, and become a
general characteristic of their minds. They evidently begin to feel that they
are living and moving in a world which has been created by Divine power, and
adapted by Divine wisdom to the nature of man. They perceive the direct
influence on their well-being of the knowledge imparted to them ; while they
have also learned that they live in a scene of wonders, where fresh beauties
and harmonies are ever opening to those who look around with attention and
intelligence. They observe, think, and read spontaneously ; in many cases,
with such earnestness and activity, as to require considerable vigilance, on the
part of the teachers, to prevent over-exercise of the brain.
Moral Training has always been maintained as the paramount object of the
school. As already mentioned, the children are taught the laws of their own
constitution-physical, intellectual, and moral—as deduced from the structure
and relations of their bodily and mental organs, and from observed mental
phenomena. It is shown to them, that these laws are not mere human
inventions, but the positive institutions of the Creator ; that the whole frame-
work of external nature is built up in accordance with them; that not one can
be violated by us, without deranging the harmony of our own functions and
relations to the world around us, and thereby necessarily producing immediate
or remote pain and misery to ourselves and those we influence. This principle
is studiously kept in view in all the lessons on the Sciences. The children are
shown the evidences of design and unity existing in the structure of the
universe ; that not a particle of matter, however insignificant, can change its
place, but in accordance with the laws impressed upon it by its Creator; and
thus they learn that every truth which Science teaches is a revelation of God's
will, which should be known by man, and serve to guide him in performing
his part in the general scheme of creation.
In the lessons on the Physical Sciences, they are taught the laws by which
the Creative intelligence is governing and sustaining the physical universe ; in
1 From First Report (1850), p. 10.
696
Appendix, III. 1.
the Physiological lessons, they learn the conditions upon which He permits
organized beings to enjoy life and health ; and in the Phrenological lessons,
although these cannot teach them what is the essential nature of Thought and
Sentiment, they find an exposition of the organic conditions upon which the
manifestations of the Intellectual and Affective faculties depend,—they learn
that the moral as well as the physical world has been created with a fixed and
definite constitution—the laws of which we may study, and thereby learn
much of the will of the Creator concerning our moral conduct. These laws,
as far as the progress of Science has as yet developed them, are taught by
examining the elementary faculties, the action of which produces all our
impulses, emotions, and ideas; how these powers may be abused and mis-
directed, and thus be in discord with each other and the world without, which
discord is vice and leads to misery; and how they may be rightly used and
well directed, so as to be in harmony with each other and all things, which
harmony is virtue and tends to happiness.
The introduction of Phrenology, because of the prejudices still cherished
against it, was considered by many as an experiment of questionable prudence,
but experience has proved its wisdom and great utility. Without instructing
children in their bodily and mental constitutions, it is impossible to convey to
them clear, useful, and practical notions of their own relations to the other
objects and beings of creation, and to the Creator, and to invest instruction
in the works of God with that Religious character which truly belongs to it.
By enabling the children to understand their own mental faculties and bodily
functions, and the objects of the Creator in bestowing these upon them, their
Religious Feelings are brought, in harmony with the Intellect, to bear upon all
things, and to exert their elevating, purifying, guiding, and restraining
influence upon daily thought and action.
The children take a deep interest in this instruction ; so much so, that if
their attention be flagging over an object, they are roused and excited to fresh
life when its designs and uses, as instituted by the Creator, are unfolded. It
is no longer a subject of pure intellectual contemplation, but becomes a key-
note which rouses their Sentiments of Wonder and Veneration ; and these,
again, communicate new intensity and depth to their intellectual perceptions."
II. THE INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL.
The main object kept in view in the teaching is, to fix in the minds of the
children the great principles of each branch of Science, and to give them such
a key to the whole subject, and the mode of investigating it, as will enable
them to prosecute more fully any branch of study that their future occupation
or inclination may lead them to undertake. Every effort is made to train
their minds to habits of philosophical investigation, and to carry them
practically out of the very common error, that Science is a something confined
within the walls of universities, behind lecture tables, and amongst stoppered
bottles and philosophical apparatus ; and to convince them that what we call
Science is simply a systematic knowledge of the objects which exist, and the
agencies which are ever acting around and upon us, and which, in fact, influence
1 From First Report, p. 9.
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 697
us at every moment of our lives, and regulate the most ordinary affairs of
everyday life. They are taught to observe the fact that the laws which
Science teaches are everywhere and always in operation ; that no being or
object can exist for a moment without being subject to them ; that our happi-
ness or misery depends to a great degree upon the circumstance, whether we
place ourselves in harmony or at discord with them; that every object or
action we can contemplate affords us an illustration of some of the principles
of Science; that all nature is a manifestation, and, by its relation to our
faculties, a revelation of the power and will of our Creator ; and that, therefore,
every duty of life, great or small, has in itself an inherent dignity and
importance-is, in fact, a Religious duty, and should be performed, not merely
for the sake of its direct advantages, but out of reverence to Him who insti-
tuted it. I
Among other means which have been adopted for awakening the intelligence
of the children, one may be mentioned which was tried by the teacher as an
experiment, and has proved successful. The children were directed to look
about them wherever they went, to examine carefully the things and books
they met with, and to try to find something they could not understand, and
which might puzzle the teacher; to write a question concerning it, with their
name appended to it, and hand it to the teacher, who, if he could, would
answer it and explain the subject to the whole class. This was tried shortly
after the school opened, but it was not until the month of May following that
any of the children were induced to commence. When once begun, however,
the questions became subjects of much excitement, and poured in very abund-
antly. Lessons have since been regularly given upon them, and they are
found to interest the children more than anything else, and afford a powerful
means of exercising their Observing and Reflective faculties; besides suggesting
to the teacher a multitude of useful subjects and common applications of great
principles, about which the children's minds are already active and their
curiosity roused, and informing him of much that it is desirable he should
know concerning their ideas and wishes, and the subjects which most occupy
their minds, and those which fail to do so.
This readiness of apprehension was expected, from the obvious consideration
that the same Divine wisdom which instituted the mental faculties also con-
stituted the material world, and that an adaptation of the one to the other was
therefore presumable. All natural objects present themselves first to the senses
and Perceptive faculties as mere existing things, possessing certain qualities;
they are next viewed as active agents, and the phenomena which they exhibit
are presented to Eventuality, and the other faculties whose organs form the
second range of the Perceptive group. These actions, when regarded in their
relations and results, are the objects of the Reflective faculties. The practical
utility of the arrangements of Nature bearing directly on our comforts and in-
terests, arouses to harmonious and beneficial activity the Social and Self-pre-
servative feelings; while the wisdom, benevolence, and beauty, which beam
from every work of God, appeal powerfully to the Moral, Religious, and Poetic
Sentiments. Thus, the objects of Science, when presented in their natural
order to the mind, take hold of all its faculties, and cling to it with a force and
permanency proportionate to the number and vigour of the faculties addressed.
| From Second Report, p. 8.
2 From First Report, p. 8.
2
698
Appendix, III. 1.
Phrenological investigators have shown that Attention and Memory are not
separate independent faculties, but are modes of action common to each of the
Intellectual powers, and bear a relation to their general vigour. Hence the
interest felt in any particular subject, and the power of retaining knowledge of
it, depend upon the number of combined faculties to which it appeals, as well
as upon the strength of the faculties considered individually.
This principle is the key to our power of imparting knowledge. The greater
the number of faculties the teacher is capable of rousing into energetic activity,
and bringing to bear upon the subject, the more keen will be the attention of
the children, and the more permanent the impressions made upon them. If
the teacher be an intelligent Phrenologist, well acquainted with the functions
of the elementary faculties, and the objects to which they are related, he knows
at once which mental powers he is appealing to, and it is easy, and soon be-
comes habitual to him, to present scientific subjects to all the faculties, in the
order in which they naturally and most harmoniously act. He thus not only
imparts a greater amount of knowledge, but affords to the mind the best
possible discipline ; for, it must be remembered that, while the most powerful
character is that in which the faculties act with the greatest energy, the most
perfect is that in which their action is combined in the truest harmony.
In the care of children who, for a long time, have been accustomed to learn
lessons by rote, it is at first difficult to direct their attention continuously and
systematically to precise objects. This seems to arise from the fact that, in
learning lessons by rote, two or three of the Perceptive faculties, with Concen.
trativeness, are all that are exercised, and only these are trained to act in con-
cert, while the others are left in a state of comparative torpor. Some time is
required to bring the brain into that state of general uniform activity which is
essential to the operation of the mental faculties in logical successiou and
harmonious combination. Upon the existence of this condition seems mainly
to depend the possession of the philosophical intellect : and, when once it is
fairly induced, philosophical subjects, instead of appearing dry, heavy, and
obscure, are found to be the most interesting and exciting that can be presented
to the mind; the whole character is awakened and vivified, and the change is
decidedly visible in the countenances and general bearing of the children
This change is a matter of continual remark by the more frequent visitors to
the school, who have observed that the coarseness and vulgarity of aspect of
some of the children, and the heaviness and dulness of others, are rapidly
changing to an expression of comparative refinement and intelligence; and this
has led many strangers to suppose that they belong to a higher class in society
than is really the case.
With the exception of the arithmetical tables, no lessons are set to the
children to learn by rote. Wherever references or theories are involved, they
are submitted to severe examination, the teacher suggesting difficulties and
apparent objections, and requiring the pupils to do the same. In general, his
object is to lead rather than carry them through a subject, by supplying, or,
if possible, drawing from themselves, such suggestions and facts as may
direct their minds to investigate and find their own conclusions, rather than
to remain mere passive and submissive recipients of the statements of the
teacher. By these means the Intellectual faculties are vigorously exercised
1 From Second Report, p. 5.
1
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 699
and developed, and the subjects taught are firmly fixed in the mind. It is
hoped that the intellectual training thus commenced in the school will not
terminate there, but that the children will acquire habits of investigation,
and an independence and energy of intellect, which will induce them to continue,
through life, the pursuit of knowledge as their most valued recreation.
Object lessons are given daily to the younger children-generally by Miss
Carmichael, sometimes by Mr Williams, and occasionally by one or another of
the ablest monitors. These lessons are conducted so as to afford some general
and rudimentary ideas on various branches of knowledge, and on the meaning
and application of the ordinary words and scientific terms which the sensible
properties of the objects illustrate, in order to prepare the children for those
systematic courses of instruction in the Sciences which constitute the chief
business of the advanced classes.
By presenting to the youngest children a piece of metal, of rock, of glass, of
wood, &c., and examining experimentally its most obvious properties—such as
colour, texture, hardness, cohesion, odour, specific gravity, fusibility, &c., &c.,
and naming them by their proper Scientific designations, which, thus taught,
are more easily understood and remembered than less definite and accurate
terms—the pupils are prepared for the advanced classes, where the higher
phenomena of nature, and the mechanical and chemical laws which regulate
them, are studied.
In Geography, all that is visible on the map--the distribution of land and
water, and of mountains, valleys, and plains ; the courses of rivers, and the
relative situations of the various countries and their chief cities ; also the
climate, plants, animals, and the most prominent customs and physical
peculiarities of the people of different nations may be presented to the minds
of children of from five or six to ten years of age, and rendered intensely
interesting to them : and, whatever interests a child, is understood and
remembered. When they have passed through this preliminary training,
they are ready for the advanced classes, in which they are instructed in the
relations of our planet to the heavenly bodies, and the forces which determine
its movements among them; the structure of the earth's crust, and the
changes it has passed through and is undergoing; the constitution of the
atmosphere and of the waters of the earth-their mutual relations and their
influences on the solid foundations upon which they rest; the phenomena and
laws of climate and Meteorology; and the moral and intellectual characteristics,
the social and political institutions, and general history of the inhabitants of
different countries.
The object-lessons are also made introductory to Physiological and Moral
Science. A bone, a skull, the whole skeleton, an anatomical diagram or
preparation, is sometimes made the subject of an object-lesson to the younger
children ; and thus they become acquainted with the general structure, and
some of the functions of their own bodies, preparatory to entering upon a
regular course of Physiology.
Rudimentary ideas of their own Mental Faculties are afforded, by leading
them to inquire how they know that an object is brown, or hard, or odorous,
&c.; and thus the organs and functions of the senses and Perceptive faculties
are made, to a certain extent, familiar to them, and the subject of Mental
Philosophy, and the relations of their faculties to the external world, is
700
Appendix, 111. 1.
opened, to be afterwards more fully unfolded in the advanced classes for
Phrenology.
The comparison of a natural with an artificial object--a piece of flint, for
example, with a piece of glass, or a tree with a table-serves as the basis of
elementary instruction on the distinctions between raw materials and manu-
factured articles-on wealth and its production by labour-on the capital
required for its production—on wages, profits, division of labour, interchange,
commerce, &c.
Having, in this manner, conveyed to the minds of the children some simple,
precise, and accurate notions of the forms and qualities of physical objects, the
next aim of the promoters and teachers of the school is to superadd a systematic
knowledge of the structure and functions of the human body, and of the facul-
ties of the mind. Physiology, illustrated by a human skeleton, by casts of the
muscular system, and by diagrams representing the blood-vessels, the digestive
and respiratory organs, and also the brain, spinal marrow, and nerves, is used
as the basis of explanations of the structure, modes of action, laws of health,
and uses and abuses of the bodily and mental organs. Abstract terms and
disquisitions are, as much as possible, avoided, and objects, facts, relations, and
mental states, falling within the observation and consciousness of children,
and elucidated by numerous and familiar illustrations, are chiefly relied on.
The success of the instruction in these departments exceeds the most sanguine
expectations of the promoters of the school, and shows that God, who ordained
the human faculties, adapted the remainder of creation to them, with a wisdom
and goodness which promise results of unspeakable importance, whenever
adequate instruction in natural truth shall be generally and successfully con-
veyed to the opening faculties of the young.
Thus, grounded in accurate ideas concerning the simpler elements and laws
of the Physical and Moral worlds, the pupils are prepared for lessons on Social
Economy, in which the natural laws which govern the production of wealth,
the manner in which it has been and may be distributed, and the foundations
of differences of rank, of civil laws and government, and of the general duties
and arrangements of social life, are taught.1
Particular care is taken to secure the intelligent co-operation of the children
with the teachers, in forwarding their own education, by explaining to them
why they are at school, and the advantages which steady application to their
school duties will confer upon them in adult life.
These explanations are not confined to mere dogmatic statements,—that
education is a good thing; that well-educated people rise, and that the un-
educated sink, in the social scale—but abundant illustrations of these facts are
supplied ; and, what is of still more importance, the necessary influence of
knowledge and training in determining human conduct, and the natural con-
sequences of conduct, are philosophically elucidated; and the conditions of
success and failure in life are shown, not to be the results of political arrange-
ments, or of human laws of any kind whatever, but to depend upon the
natural laws of the human organism, and the relations which it bears to the
objects and active forces of the external world.
Thus, in the Physiological lessons, the children are shown how and why it is
that our physical health and happiness depend upon our complying with the
| From First Report, p. 5.
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 701
و
fixed natural conditions of health. The Physiology of the brain teaches them
the conditions upon which mental vigour depends, and demonstrates that vice
and misery are, in their origin, identical, both being the necessary results of
the discordant and ill-regulated action of the Animal, Moral, and Intellectual
powers; while virtue and happiness result from their well-directed and har-
monious action. They are also taught, not empirically but inductively, that
every organ, whether of the Physical, Intellectual, or Moral powers, requires
regular and systematic exercise in order to fit it for steady and vigorous action;
that, during early youth, while all the organs are rapidly growing, this exercise
is the most urgently required and most effective ; and thus they learn the
natural necessity for school and domestic training.
In like manner, the
lessons on the Physical Sciences, Natural History, and Social Economy, show
them the use of the school teaching, by demonstrating how the properties
of natural objects, the active, physical, chemical, and vital forces of the
organic and inorganic world, may be made to promote human well-being,
when we intelligently avail ourselves of them, or may produce misery and
destruction if we ignorantly or wilfully misuse them ; and finally, how, by
the intelligent and moral co-operation of human beings with each other, all
the advantages which individual intelligence and good conduct can afford may
be increased a thousand-fold.
This instruction is readily understood by the children, and received with
avidity, as indicated by the earnestness with which they question the teachers
upon the use of what they are being taught, whenever such explanation has
been omitted.
Not only is the usefulness of every branch of knowledge which is taught
explained to the children, but also the reasons for adopting any particular
order or method of teaching. As already stated in the previous reports, the
children are also taught the reasons for the discipline to which they are sub-
jected. Thus, when a child, by playfulness or otherwise, disturbs the business
of a class, he is turned out of it, and, for the time, deprived of the advantages
of the teaching : and he is told that this is done in order that those who are
willing and anxious to learn may not be disturbed by those who are so foolish
as to be otherwise ; and that, when he leaves school, he will be treated in the
same manner, viz., he will be turned out of any situation, and lose all the
advantages that may be derivable from it, if he neglects the duties which he
is required to perform in that situation ; and that boys and girls, who have
not sufficient self-control to remain steadily at work in their classes, unless
they make great efforts and acquire that power before leaving school, will, on
becoming men and women, be outcasts in the world, just as they were in
school ; that those who cannot be trusted to behave well, and to try to
improve themselves in school, but require continual watching and reproof
from their teachers, are not likely to become fitted for responsible and honour-
able employments, but will be driven to inferior drudgery, as servants to those
who have sufficient moral energy to control themselves, and who, having proved
that they can do that, are trusted to control others : that, in like manner,
those who, by their superior trustworthiness and abilities, rise to become
monitors at school, are likely, in after life, to take superior positions, to become
foremen, directors, masters, &c.; and that, in acting as monitors, they are
being trained in the act of governing justly and impartially, without self-
702
Appendix, 111. 1.
conceit or petty tyranny, which all must learn to do who aspire to direct
others. 1
The isolation of the school, which is the only one of the kind in Edinburgh,
has hitherto placed the pupil-teachers at a disadvantage, by depriving them of
the advantages of communication, and the stimulus of competition with pupil.
teachers of other schools,
The smallness of their number (three) has rendered it difficult to adopt the
systematic modes of instruction for pupil-teachers, which may be carried out
in a Normal School, where special organisation for this purpose exists. This
defect having been felt, an effort has been made to obviate it, by instituting
weekly critical lessons. These lessons are given, either by the pupil-teachers,
or such of the monitors as volunteer, to the junior pupils, in presence of the
rest,—the teacher acting as chairman. At the end of the lesson, the children
(including the elder pupils, who attend as spectators), the monitors, pupil-
teachers, and those to whom the lesson has been given, are called upon to
make such criticisms as they think fit, on the matter, the style, the arrangement,
the grammar, pronunciation, &c., of the lesson they have heard. They are
carefully informed that the object of such criticisms is mental improvement,
more especially the improvement of the pupil who has given the lesson, and
that, therefore, they must be made in a kindly spirit, and not for the mere
gratification of Self-Esteeem and Love of Approbation of the critic; and that
they should be received thankfully by the giver of the lesson, as friendly con-
tributions to his improvement, and never as attacks upon his dignity.
When all who are disposed have made their remarks, the giver of the lesson
is called upon to reply, that is, to accede to the justice of the criticisms
which he thinks were correct, and to defend his position, when he regards the
criticisms as unsound, or founded upon a misunderstanding of his design.
After this, the teacher sums up the whole, and makes such additional remarks
and suggestions as appear to him to be necessary,
These lessons were commenced in January of the present year, and were at
first given weekly ; but their influence has been found so beneficial, and the
volunteers so numerous, that they have been extended to twice a-week. The
teacher occasionally gives a lesson, subject to the same criticism as the rest.
The acuteness shown by the children in these criticisms is very remarkable;
an ungrammatical expression, an error in the statement of facts, or in pro-
nunciation, seldom escapes comment. They are particularly keen in convicting
the teacher of Cockneyisms. If he adds or omits an aspirate at the beginning
or an r at the end of a word, a number of slate-pencils are immediately at
work making note of the fact, and, at the end of the lesson, the error is freely
stated and the correction made.
At first, the vigour of these criticisms produced considerable mortification to
the pupil-teachers and monitors that had given the lesson. One of the
monitors, a very sensitive boy, who had prepared his lesson with great care,
and evidently expected that he had made it proof against attack, was so much
wounded upon finding error after error pointed out, that, after struggling with
himself for some time, he at last burst into tears, although the criticisms were
all made in a kindly spirit.
1 From Fourth Report, p. 4.
Mr Williams had come from London to take charge of the school.
2
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School.
703
Since the teacher has submitted himself to the same ordeal, this sensitive-
ness has been diminished, and the children are evidently learning to bear
patiently the questioning of their opinions, and the free discussion of their
own merits,-a lesson that every one requires to learn, in order to pass through
life without continual quarrelling or despondency. Nor is it likely that such
lessons will tend to engender a mischievous indifference ; for their effect is to
direct the attention of the pupil to his own defects, with a view to removing
them, and to prevent his Self-Love from leading him either to form an
unjustifiable estimate of his own merits, or to produce that diffidence and
despondency which often impedes the progress of sensitive youths, whose Self-
Esteem and Love of Approbation are naturally active, but who have not been
trained to bear the rebuffs and disappointments they must encounter in the
active contests of life.
By thus submitting teachers and pupils to the same tribunal of free dis-
cussion, a practical demonstration of the natural supremacy of truth and
justice is afforded, the final appeal being made to the authority of these alone.
The position of a teacher naturally tends to induce a disposition to dogmatise,
the counteraction of which is of the utmost importance. This tendency shows
itself particularly in pupil-teachers, who, just at the age when Self-Esteem
and Love of Approbation are most actively manifested, are placed in a position
of authority over children a little younger than themselves, and thus exposed
to great danger of becoming pedantic, conceited, and despotic. By these
periodical criticisms from their own pupils, they are made conscious of their
imperfections, and are continually reminded, that neither their pride nor their
position can give them any real superiority over their pupils, but that their
authority must be based on superior attainments and moral energy alone.
The adult teachers are also benefited in like manner by this sort of training ;
for it must never be forgotten that the schoolmaster, as well as the pupils, is
being daily educated by the circumstances in which he is placed.
Many may at first suppose that, by allowing such liberty to the children,
the authority of the teachers will become subverted or diminished ; for it is
often laid down as a sort of schoolmaster's axiom, that the teacher must
always conceal his ignorance and natural defects from his pupils; and it is a
common practice, with even good teachers, to evade questions which they
cannot answer, and have recourse to many other artifices, in order to lead the
pupils to form an exaggerated estimate of their attainments. The promoters
and teachers of this school believe this to be a serious and demoralising error;
and the teacher has, from the commencement, scrupulously acted upon the
opposite principle, by candidly confessing his ignorance whenever a question
is put to him that he is unable to answer; or, whenever he ventures an
explanation which is at all doubtful, the doubt is distinctly and carefully
stated, and the explanation offered, not as a sufficient one, but as the best he
is able to give. Experience has shown that, instead of diminishing the respect
of the children, this course produces the opposite effect. Children can under-
stand Natural Language more readily than artificial language ; they have great
skill in interpreting the tones of the voice, expression of the countenance, and
general manner of persons with whom they are accustomed to communicate ;
they are influenced by these much more than by the words which are used,
and are more likely to detect evasions, or any effort at concealment of igno-.
704
Appendix, 111. 1.
rance, than even adults. All such devices, therefore, are pretty sure to be
self-defeating, and to lead to a general tendency to distrust the teacher. But,
when he is in the habit of candidly avowing his ignorance, or any other defeat
or disadvantage, and acknowledges thankfully any information which the
children are able to give him, they instinctively respect his truthfulness, and
place the utmost reliance on whatever he does profess to know or to do. The
importance of this, as regards the influence of example, is too obvious to need
any comment. 2
III. ON THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN THE SCHOOL.
One of the leading characteristics of this school is the prominence which is
given to the teaching of Science to children of both sexes. In the last Report,
the usefulness of this as a means of general training, that is, of calling into
the most healthy exercise all the Intellectual faculties, and combining their
action harmoniously with the Moral Sentiments and Affective faculties generally,
was pointed out. Many persons are still of opinion that this kind of instruc-
tion is not required in schools for the working classes ; a little reflection, how-
ever, must show that it is, to them especially, a matter of great practical
importance.
In the first place, no method of strengthening the mental faculties, and
rendering them vigorous and alert, will be found so efficient as teaching the
objects and agencies of nature. It not only furnishes the children with
knowledge, but trains them to use it, as the grand element of their future well-
being in social life. Secondly, the artisan and the agriculturist, in their daily
avocations, come into direct contact with the objects of external nature; their
business is to take advantage of the qualities, relations, and inherent active
powers of these objects, and thereby extract from them, or convert them into, use-
ful commodities. Science is simply a systematic knowledge of these qualities,
relations, and powers. He who is best acquainted with these, and has the
power to apply his knowledge in the required direction, is the best workman.
Previously to the time of Bacon, while what was called Science consisted
almost wholly of mere speculative pedantry, the unlettered artisan, by prac-
tically dealing with nature, possessed more of real Scientific knowledge than
the learned men of his day. To have taught him their verbose systems of
Philosophy would have been wasting his time, and diverting him from more
useful and really higher avocations. From this has probably originated the
| It often happens, in the course of a lesson, that the teacher is at a loss for an illustra-
tion, which some of the children will be able to supply if he asks them, especially if the class
be large. These illustrations are often the best that can be afforded, as they are drawn from
facts with which the children are most familiar. The teacher has derived much valuable
aid in this manner from the children, especially in the lessons on Social Economy, when
they have given him information on domestic, workshop, commercial, and other usages,
which are common in Scotland, but differ from those of London. When he is describing
the processes of Arts and Manufactures, the children are continually contributing some addi-
tional information on the practical details connected with their father's trade, or derived
from what they have seen in workshops in the neighbourhood of their residence. It is true
that such information may be gained from the pupils without any confession of ignorance or
dependence on the part of the teacher, by putting the questions in the same manner as
other questions which are intended to draw forth answers, which he is prepared to supply
if the children cannot; but, for the reasons above stated, this is not done.-(Mr Williams).
2 From Fourth Report (1853), p. 8.
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 705
idea that Science is beyond the reach and requirements of artisans and practical
men, and that its study should be confined to professional and merely learned
individuals. At the present day, however, no rational foundation for this
opinion exists. Philosophers now follow the same inductive method of inves-
tigation which practical men in all ages have done ; but, by more united,
skilful, and systematic efforts, they have, in many respects, left the working
man far behind in knowledge of the available powers of nature.
Many persons, who admit the importance of teaching Physical Science to
boys, are inclined to exclude it wholly or partially from the education of girls,
regarding it as unsuitable to the sex, and disposing to pedantry. This idea
can arise only from a misapprehension of what is here meant by Science, and
is taught as such in this school. It certainly is quite possible to cram the
mind of a girl with a large number of mere technicalities, and, by presenting
to her, as the chief motive to exertion in such studies, the desire to become
inore learned than the rest of her sex, and to eclipse them by displaying her
condition,--to lead her to connect this knowledge so intimately with her Love
of Approbation and Self-Esteem, as to render her so-called Scientific attain-
ments useless to herself, and a nuisance to those who are compelled to listen to
her displays of them.
But, when the realities of Science are taught in a proper spirit, the effect will
be diametrically opposite to this. When children are made to understand
that they are living in a world where every object in existence is a never-
resting agent, exerting some influence on everything arrived at, and being, in
turn, perpetually acted upon by everything else ; that they themselves, as
sentient beings, are suffering happiness or misery, according as they place
themselves in harmony or at discord with these never-ceasing efforts of causa-
tion; when they are further taught that their Creator has beneficially endowed
them with faculties, specially adapted for learning the properties of these
objects, their relations and operations on each other and on themselves, and
that he has attached the highest and purest gratification to such exercise of
these faculties; when they understand this, and that a systematic knowledge
of these things constitutes Science, Science ceases to be pedantry; it is felt to
be a necessity, and the study of it a high and holy duty.1
The question will perhaps be asked, Can sufficient Scientific instruction be
imparted to children at school to enable them to become Scientific operators
instead of mere mechanics, and thus to adapt themselves to the shifting
exigencies of their future lot ? With regard to children in general, this ques-
tion may be answered in the affirmative. There will, of course, be some with
naturally inferior capacities, who cannot be qualified to perform other than the
easier mechanical operations. Let us not, however, be misunderstood. It is
not pretended that the extent of Scientific information which can be imparted
in a school for the children of the working-classes (who leave it so early) can
be sufficient to enable them at once to understand and apply every improvement
in manufactures depending on Science; but this much may be accomplished :
They may be made acquainted, as they are at this school, with the great prin-
ciples of Science, and thereby rendered capable of seeking in the proper places
for the special information required, and also to understand the technical lan-
guage in which it is expressed. The teacher of this school may quote his
1 From Third Report, p. 5,
2 Y
706
Appendix, III. 1.
own experience in illustration of this remark. At the time when electro-
plating and gilding were first introduced, he was in London engaged in Electro-
metallurgy, and several platers and water-gilders came to him for materials and
instruction in the new process. Some of these were members of Mechanics'
Institutions, and had studied a little of general Science, and Chemistry in par-
ticular. These men were able to read and understand the treatises written on
the subject; they studied them carefully, and having grasped the principles
they applied them with comparative ease, failing, of course, sometimes (as all
men are liable to do who have not had practical experience in any art) ; but
then every failure was instruction, for they were able to discern the cause of
failure, and thereby to overcome the difficulty and avoid its recurrence. Others
of them were respectable skilful mechanics of average natural intelligence, but
quite ignorant of Science and the technical terms used in expounding it. They
were besides wholly untrained to the task of tracing scientifically the operations
of the various agents exhibited in natural phenomena. They had purchased
manuals on Electro-metallurgy, and had endeavoured to follow out mechanic-
ally the directions given in them, despairing altogether of understanding the
Scientific principles upon which the art depended. The consequence was that
sometimes they succeeded, sometimes they failed; but they scarcely ever knew
why they succeeded or why they failed, and their experience therefore was of
little value. After wasting much time and material, most of them threw up
the new process in despair, and returned to the old method, struggling on in a
hopeless effort to compete with those who had the advantage over them in being
able to wield it. Some of them were compelled to take a subordinate place,
doing the cleaning, "scratching," and burnishing at the trade, while their
more intelligent associates directed the electrical operations.
Some persons are apt to undervalue the teaching of the general outlines of
Science, and to call it a mere useless smattering. This opinion is frequently
entertained by such as have studied very minutely the more recondite details
of some particular branch of Science, with the view of making original investi-
gations and discoveries. A little reflection, however, will show that what is
thus frequently regarded by the learned as the profundities of Science is in
reality only the smatterings; while that which is apt to be treated lightly, as
mere smattering, is truly the profound part of our knowledge.
It is true that these subjects and technicalities may be, and frequently are,
presented in such a mannner as to be extremely difficult for children to under-
stand. If a teacher describes and demonstrates, however clearly and logically,
and goes on as an ordinary lecturer would do, without at every step questioning
and cross-questioning the children, to be sure that they understand him, he
will probably lead them into a mass of confusion. He must not assume that,
because he speaks quite grammatically, and his style is most accurate, clear,
and simple, he is therefore understood. He must obtain demonstrative proof
that they have understood him, by making them tell him what he has already
told them ; he must not be satisfied if they repeat exactly what he said, for
then they may be repeating mere words without expressing ideas. They must
describe, in their own way, what they have learned. Many words which are
among the most familiar to adults, and to them express clear ideas, are mere
words in the ears of children ; and if we consider the short time that the child
1
1 From Third Report, p. 15.
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School. 707
has been engaged in the practice of using words at all, it will appear doubtful
whether even the words which the children best understand, are as strongly
associated in their minds with the ideas they represent, as they become in
after life. In connection with this remark, a very important principle, which
seems to be but little, if at all, understood and acknowledged in its relation
to education, may here be stated.
A complex idea may easily be imparted by words alone, to any one who
understands the meanings of the terms which express the elementary ideas of
which it is made up. Not so with simple elementary ideas ; these must exist in
the mind before the words which express them can possibly be understood.
Words may suggest such ideas when already existing in the mind, but
cannot directly impart them in the first instance. In teaching Science to
young children, such simple or nearly simple ideas have frequently to be
imparted ; and hence the necessity of objects, pictures, experiments, and
references to familiar facts. 1
In the collective lessons for simultaneous instruction of large numbers, the
reading is made subservient to the systematic courses of instruction on the
Moral and Physical Sciences, Natural History, Geography, &c. The teacher
first reads aloud a sentence, and then all the class read it aloud together-
keeping time by a slight exaggeration of the pauses. In these lessons, elocution
and English pronunciation are carefully attended to, and every effort is made
to enable the children to grasp fully the subject of the lesson, by supplying
them with additional facts and illustrations of a familiar, and, if possible,
local character; and by leading them to supply illustrations of thir own, and
practical applications of the knowledge they are acquiring. Spelling and
etymology are connected incidentally with these lessons. Whenever the subject
permits, and the means of the school will afford, objects and diagrams are
exhibited ; and the teacher has found that the rapidity, accuracy, and stability
of the progress of the pupils in any branch of knowledge, may be almost
measured by the number of such illustrations that has been presented to
them.2
The value of the course of Physiological teaching becomes greatly increased,
when it includes the Physiology of the Brain, as is the case in this school.
The children are shown that the conditions of Mental vigour are as certain and
invariable as those of Physical health. Thus, when the heart, lungs, stomach,
liver, &c., all act harmoniously together, each doing its share in the work of
the system, by performing efficiently the function assigned to it, the body is
in health : but when any organ is deranged, weakened, or inflamed, and
performs its function irregularly, deficiently, or in excess, feebleness or
disease is the result. So with the brain ; the children learn that every part of
it is adapted to its particular objects, as directly and perfectly as the stomach
is to food, the lungs to air, the muscles to gravitation and other physical
resistances; that Moral and Intellectual education is the presenting to the
faculties manifested by the cerebral organs their proper objects, and training
them to act with vigour and in harmony in relation to them ; that intellectual
power, moral virtue, and general happiness result from the proper direction
and harmonious action of the faculties, and that imbecility, vice, and misery
are the result of the opposite states. In studying the structure of the skeleton,
1 From Third Report, p. 9.
2 From Fifth Report, p. 12.
708
Appendix, 111. 1.
they see simple and unmistakeable evidences of adaptation and design. As
they proceeded onwards to study the organs and functions of digestion,
respiration, &c., they learn how beautifully and wisely all these are adapted
to the mechanical and chemical properties of the substances to which they are
related, and upon which they act. In like manner with the brain : although
the intimate nature of its actions is too subtle and refined for our comprehen-
sion-although the nature of mind itself is profoundly mysterious—yet the
dependence, in this life, of faculties upon their appropriate organs can be
demonstrated, and the sphere of action and objects related to each described ;
and when this is done, the same wise and beneficent adaptation, rendered
still more admirable from the greater elevation of its objects, is apparent.
The fact that it is impossible to infringe any moral law without inducing
suffering, is thus placed upon a scientific basis. Such infringement is seen to
be a misuse of our faculties, by directing them to improper objects or ing
them with undue intensity; and to be analogous to misusing the stomach by
supplying it with improper food, or overloading it. When the functions of the
cerebral organs and their relations to each other and the external world are
thus understood, the sin and folly of the former abuses are as evident, and
their evil consequences are seen to be as inevitable as the latter. I
This exposition of the nature, uses, and abuses of the Mental faculties,
enables the teacher to carry Moral analysis of words and actions far beyond what
is possible when these are unknown; and no one who has not had experience
can conceive how imperfectly Moral and Religious teaching is comprehended by
Scotch children, when conveyed in the English language and unexplained.
Even after this class had made some progress, and although its elder members
are from 13 to 14 years of age, not one of them could tell what “moral” and
“immoral” or “immortality” meant. They were asked if they had never
heard in church that the Gospel had brought “life and immortality to light.”
Twenty voices answered, “Yes.” "What, then, did these words mean?”
No one could tell. And it was not want of mere expressions to convey their
ideas that prevented them from answering. They were encouraged to frame
any sentence in Scotch in which they could use the words intelligibly ; but
they could not. To test them further, they were asked if the lower animals
were immortal, and most of them answered “Yes.” The explanation of this
apparent dulness is found in the fact, that English is to them, in some measure,
a foreign language. After explaining to them that a “moral" action is one
approved of by enlightened Intellect, and the Sentiments of Benevolence,
Veneration, and Conscientiousness (the offices of which they had by this time
learned), and that “immoral” means an action condemned by these faculties,
they shouted out “moral
moral” means “right,” and “immoral” means wrong ;"
these being their familiar words for “moral” and “immoral.” When they were
told that the desire for “immortality” arises froin the faculty of the Love of
Life, which also had been explained to them, they called out, “It means living
for ever.
The exposition of the nature, objects, and relations of the Mental faculties,
and their connection with different parts of the brain, enables the children to
comprehend the fundamental cause of the differences of talents and dispositions
which they meet with among themselves ; and also the absolute necessity of
From First Report p. 5,
Reports of the Edinburgh Secular School.
709
education, to exercise, invigorate, and instruct their faculties, so that they may
act in the directions which will conduce most effectually to their well-being.
Their attention is particularly called to the great fact that this world is a
theatre of active causes or forces, physical, animal, and moral, which are
constantly determining the well or ill-being of every individual, and that the
object of the school is to instruct them in these. This teaching expounds the
hasis of Social Economy, and also affords a basis for practical precepts, and for
addresses to the feelings and understandings of the pupils when they do wrong,
which reach their inward consciousness and subdue them to virtue more
effectually than any other method which has been tried in this school.
Visitors who have heard these exercises in Moral and Intellectual analysis
have frequently expressed their surprise how children could execute them ;
but there is no mystery in the process. Every moral force is taught in con-
nection with its organ. It is explained to them that cæteris paribus (words
which are thoroughly expounded) each is weak when its organ is small, and
strong when it is large, and thus the organs serve as a visible and tangible
basis on which they build easy explanations of the uses, spheres of activity,
abuses, and relations of the Mental powers. I
It must not, however, be inferred that in thus presenting these subjects in
relation to their practical applications, the inherent interest of knowledge for
its own sake is lost sight of. It is found that little effort is required, in the
form of rhetorical commentary, to lead children to appreciate the admirable
properties and beautiful harmonies of nature ; for, if their attention is fairly
directed to the facts and relations of Science and Natural History, and these
are made clear and intelligible to them, they appeal spontaneously not only to
the Intellect, but to the easily roused Wonder and Poetic emotions of the child,
and quite as effectually as the most popular nursery fiction. The steam-engine,
moved by a natural force which the intellect of man has summoned to his use,
is stronger than the biggest giant that fabled heroes ever vanquished. The
modern chemist, by availing himself of the simple properties of the earth's
materials, can effect changes as wonderful as those which the magician, aided
by his spells and familiar spirits, is said to have produced. The genii con-
jured up by means of Aladdin's lamp could not perform half the marvels
actually achieved by electricity; which, in one of its forms, can be made to
appear by rubbing a common piece of glass. Even fairyland, the purest and
most elegant of all the creations of imaginative poetry, is eclipsed by the minia-
ture world of beautiful beings the microscope unveils ; and it would be pro-
fanity to compare even the grandest of romantic conceptions with the overwhelm-
ing vastness of the infinite maze of worlds revealed to us by the telescope.
The importance of educating the Poetic faculties of children by directing
them to natural objects has been too much overlooked. The emotional desires
for novelty, grandeur, beauty, and perfection are among the most active of
the child's faculties. Fiction, frequently romantic and exaggerated, is the
medium through which the objects of these aspirations are most commonly
presented to the child; and, when we commence by such means to educate the
faculties on which they depend, the faculties are misdirected, and acquire a
love of wild romance and florid exaggeration in preference to reality and
simple truth. They are thus associated in their action with the Propensities
1 From Third Report, p. 20.
710
Appendix, III. 2.
rather than with the Reflective faculties and Moral Sentiments. If the child
is taught to perceive, to love, and admire the beauties and grandeur of the
qualities, phenomena, and laws of nature, its taste will be elevated, and a
power of appreciating the delicate and exquisite poetry embodied in nature's
simple truth will be evoked; and thus its aspirations to novelty, beauty,
grandeur, and perfection will be enlisted, as powerful stimulants to intellectual
and moral improvement. This may be done without altogether excluding
fiction, by making truth or nature the primary, and fiction or art the second-
ary, means of cultivating these emotions—the latter being admitted only as
ideal or eclectic representatives of the former.
The importance of cultivating Ideality has been referred to in previous
Reports; its influence on the domestic habits is very great. While a know-
ledge of the Laws of Health will show the consequences of inattention to
cleanliness, this faculty, by adding an impulse or emotional love of elegance,
purity, and refinement, and an instinctive abhorrence of dirt, coarseness,
and squalor, will aid the Intellectual faculties in enforcing practical obedience
to their requirements. I
2. On LAURA BRIDGMAN, DEAF, DUMB, BLIND, AND WITHOUT SMELL;
AND THE MODE OF TEACHING HER.
REFERRED TO, p. 122, &c.
The most attractive of all the pupils in the Massachusetts Asylum for the
Blind is the girl Laura Bridgman, now about nine or ten years of age. She
has from infancy been deaf, dumb, and blind; and is also destitute of the
sense of smell. She has grown considerably in stature since last year, and I
observe a distinct increase in the size of her brain. The Coronal, or Moral
region, in particular, has become larger, not only absolutely, but also in pro-
portion to the Animal region. Her Temperament is Nervous, with a little
Sanguine. The head altogether is of full size and well formed. The organs of
the Domestic affections are amply developed, and in the best feminine propor-
tions. Self-Esteem, Love of Approbation, Cautiousness, Firmness, and Con-
scientiousness are all large. The anterior lobe of the brain also is large, and
both the Knowing and Reflecting departments are well developed. The organs
of Order are large, and she shows great tidiness in all her arrangements.
Phrenology leads us to understand that, in this child, the Moral and Intel-
lectual powers exist in great vigour and activity, and that all that is wanting
to her successful education is the means of conveying knowledge to them. Dr
Howe and his assistants, guided by this science, have succeeded wonderfully
in the work of educating her. I perceive a manifest and important improve-
ment since last year. She manifests the most sensitive delicacy in regard to
sex. When I placed my hand on her head she was troubled and removed it
but she did not interest herself to remove a female hand. The natural language
of her countenance expresses intelligence and happiness; and we were told that
I From Fifth Report, p. 9.
2 George Combe twice visited the above Asylum, under the able superintendence of
Dr Howe (see p. 122), while in America from 1838 to 1840. He was specially attracted
by this remarkable pupil, and interested in the mode of teaching her.
;
Account of Laura Bridgman.
711
she is very happy. She has been taught the finger-alphabet, and converses
readily with the masters and scholars. She has been instructed in writing
also, and when informed of our names, she felt C.'si dress and mine, recognise
us as old acquaintances, recollected our visit of last year, and wrote in pencil
the words—“Laura glad see Combe," and presented them to us.
Two of the pupils named Baker, to whom she was much attached, were
absent on a visit to their friends, and she had worked a bag which she wished
to send to them. She had just finished a letter to them, which she kindly
allowed me to carry with me, as a specimen of her chirography, and said she
would write another. It was in the following terms :-“Louisa and Elizabeth
Baker. -Laura is well. Laura will give Baker bag. Man will carry bag to
Baker. Laura will cry, Baker will come to see Laura. Drew" (another pupil] ]
“is well. Drew give love to Baker. Laura Bridgman.
I asked Dr Howe by what means he succeeded in teaching her the connection
between the letters deliver,” and the act of delivering, and so forth. He
said that the meaning of all such words was communicated only by very
frequent repetition of the act, and by writing the letters each time. He took
a bag, for instance, and time after time made Laura deliver it to him, and
write the letters, and thus he succeeded in connecting the mental conception
with the words. She has large organs of Philoprogentiveness, and has a little
doll which she caresses and dresses very beatly. She has a great admiration of
ornaments, and was delighted with C.'s bracelets and brooch. She has a
separate box for her own bonnet, and another for the other parts of her
dress, and preserves them all in the greatest order. She has at present no
ideas of Religion. Dr Howe waits for the further maturity of her organisation,
and the greater development of her faculties, before he attempts to convey to
her this species of knowledge; and, in the meantime, every one is enjoined not
to allude to the subject, lest they should convey impressions that might render
her unhappy, and which it might be impossible to eradicate.
I add the following particulars from the “Annual Report of the Trustees ” of
the Institution, for 1840 :-
“There is one whose situation is so peculiar, and whose case is so interesting
in a philosophical point of view, that we cannot forbear making particular
mention of it; we allude to Laura Bridgman, the deaf, dumb, and blind girl.
“The intellectual improvement of this interesting being, and the progress
she has made in expressing her ideas, is truly gratifying.
“She uses the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes with great facility and great
rapidity ; she has increased her vocabulary so as to comprehend the names of
all common objects; she uses adjectives expressive of positive qualities, such
as hard, soft, sweet, sour, &c.; verbs expressive of action, as give, take, ride,
run, &c., in the present, past, and future tense ; she connects adjectives with
nouns to express their qualities ; she introduces verbs into sentences, and
connects them by conjunctions : for instance, a gentleman having given her
an apple, she said, man give Laura sweet apple.
“She can count to high numbers ; she can add and subtract small
numbers.
“But the most gratifying acquirement which she has made, and the one
which has given her the most delight, is the power of writing a legible hand,
1 Mrs Combe, called Cecilia. See
See p. 332.
712
Appendix, III. 2.
and expressing her thoughts upon paper : she writes with a pencil in a grooved
line, and makes her letters clear and distinct.
“She was sadly puzzled at first to know the meaning of the process to which
she was subjected ; but, when the idea dawned upon her mind that by means
of it she could convey intelligence to her mother, her delight was unbounded.
She applied herself with great diligence, and in a few months actually wrote
a legible letter to her mother, in which she conveyed information of her being
well, and of her coming home in ten weeks. It was indeed only the skeleton of a
letter, but still it expressed, in legible characters, a vague outline of the ideas
which were passing in her mind. She was very impatient to have the man carry
this letter, for she supposed that the utmost limit of the Post-office Department
was to employ a man to run backward and forward between our Institution
and the different towns where the pupils live to fetch and carry letters.
"She has improved very much in personal appearance as well as in intellect;
her countenance beams with intelligence ; she is always active at study, work,
or play; she never repines, and most of the time is gay and frolicsome.
She is now very expert with her needle ; she knits very easily, and can
make twine bags and various fancy articles very prettily. She is very docile,
has a quick sense of propriety, dresses herself with great neatness, and is
always correct in her deportment. In short, it would be difficult to find a
child in the possession of all her senses, and the enjoyment of the advantages
that wealth and parental love can bestow, who is more contented and cheerful,
or to whom existence seems a greater blessing than it does to this bereaved
creature, for whom the sun has no light, the air no sound, and the flowers no
colour or smell.” 1
"The following is an extract from the diary kept by her instructor :-
Spent one hour in giving Laura an idea of the meaning of the words left and
right. She readily conceived that left hand meant her left hand, but with diffi-
culty generalised the term. At last, however, she caught the idea, and eagerly
spelt the name of her arms, hands, fingers, feet, ears, &c. , as they were touched, and
named them, right or left, as might be ; suddenly pausing, however, and look-
ing puzzled, she put her finger on her nose, and asked if that were left or right;
thus she continually puzzles one : but such is her eagerness to find out one's
meaning, such a zealous co-operation is there on her part, that it is a delightful
task to teach her.
"Uses to-day freely the prepositions in and on: she says teacher sitting in
sofa :—do not dare to correct her in such cases of anomalous usage of the pre-
position, but prefer to let her be in error, rather than shake her faith in a rule
given : the corrections must be made by and by: the sofa having sides, she
naturally says in.'
“In her eagerness to advance her knowledge of words and to communicate
her ideas, she coins words, and is always guided by analogy. Sometimes her
process of word-making is very interesting ; for instance, after some time spent
in giving her an idea of the abstract meaning of alone, she seemed to obtain it,
and understanding that being by one's self was to be alone, or al-one. She was
told to go to her chamber, or school, or elsewhere, and return alone; she did
1 The account of the method of teaching her is so interesting that I have transferred it
entire. (G. C.)-It is inserted here as full of practical instruction in teaching.
Account of Laura Bridgman.
7.13
1
so, but soon after, wishing to go with one of the little girls, she strove to ex-
press her meaning thus, Laura go al-two.
“The same eagerness is manifested in her attempts to define, for the purpose
of classification : for instance, some one giving her the word bachelor, she came
to her teacher for a definition. She was taught that men who had wives were
husbands, those who had none, bachelors; when asked if she understood, she
said, man no have wife bachelor-Tenny bachelor,' referring to an old friend
of hers. Being told to define bachelor, she said, "bachelor no have wife, and
smoke pipe.' Thus she considered the individual peculiarity of smoking in one.
person as a specific mark of the species bachelor.
Then, in order to test her knowledge of the word, it was said by her
teacher, Tenny has got no wife, what is Tenny?
“She paused, and then said, " Tenny is wrong!'
The word widow being explained to her, a woman whose husband is dead,
and she being called upon to define, she said, ' widow is woman, man dead,
and cold,' and eked out her meaning by sinking down, and dropping her hand,
to signify in the ground.
“The two last words she added herself, they not having been in the de-
finition ; but she instantly associates the idea of coldness and burial with
death.
'Her having acquired any idea of death was not by the wish of her teacher,
it having been his intention to reserve the subject until such a development of
her reason should be attained as would enable him to give her a correct idea
of it.
“He hopes still, by aid of the analogy of the germination and growth of
plants, to give her a consoling hope of resurrection, to counterbalance the
almost instinctive dread of death.
“She had touched a dead body before she came to the Institution.
“She easily acquired a knowledge and use of active verbs, especially those
expressive of tangible action; as to walk, to run, to sew, to shake.
At first, of course, no distinction could be made of mood and tense ; she
used the words in a general sense, and according to the order of her sense of
ideas; thus, in asking some one to give her bread, she would first use the word
expressive of the leading idea, and say, ' Laura bread, give. If she wanted
water, she would say, 'water drink Laura.'
“Soon, however, she learned the use of the auxiliary verbs, of the difference
of past, present, and future tense ; for instance, here is an early sentence,
'Keller is sick—when will Keller well;' the use of be she had not acquired.
Having acquired the use of substantives, adjectives, and verbs, prepositions
and conjunctions, it was deemed time to make the experiment of trying to
teach her to write, and to show her that she might communicate her ideas to
persons not in contact with her.
“It was astonishing to witness the mute amazement with which she submitted
to the process, the docility with which she imitated every motion, and the per-
severance with which she moved her pencil over and over again in the same
track, until she could form the letter. But when at last the idea dawned upon
her, that, by this mysterious process, she could make other people understand
what she thought, her joy was boundless.
“Never did a child apply more eagerly and joyfully to any task than she did
714
Appendix, III. 2.
to this, and, in a few months, she could make every letter distinctly, and sepa-
rate words from each other.
"The following anecdote will give an idea of her fondness for teazing or in-
nocent fun or mischief:-Her teacher, looking one day unobserved into the
girls' play-room, saw three blind girls playing with the rocking-horse. Laura
was on the crupper, another in the saddle, and a third clinging on the neck,
and they were all in high glee, swinging backward and forward as far as the
rockers would roll. There was a peculiarly arch look in Laura's countenance
the Natural Language of sly fun. She seemed prepared to give a spring, and
suddenly, when her end was lowest, and the others were perched high in the
air, she sidled quickly off on the floor, and down went the other end so swiftly
as to throw the girls off the horse.
“This Laura evidently expected, for she stood a moment convulsed with
laughter, then ran eagerly forward with outstretched hands to find the girls,
and almost screamed with joy. As soon, however, as she got hold of one of
them, she perceived that she was hurt, and instantly her countenance was
changed; she seemed shocked and grieved, and after caressing and comforting
her playmate, she found the other, and seemed to apologise, by spelling the
word wrong, and caressing her.
“When she can puzzle her teacher she is pleased, and often purposely spells
a word wrong with a playful look ; and if she catch her teacher in a mistake,
ske bursts into an ecstasy of laughter.
“When her teacher had been at work giving her an idea of the words car-
penter, chair-maker, painter, &c., in a generic sense, and told her the black-
smith made nails; she instantly held up her fingers and asked if the blacksmith
made them, though she knew well he did not.
"With little girls of her own age, she is full of frolic and fun, and no one
enjoys a game at romps more than Laura.
“She has the same fondness for a dress, for ribbons, and for finery as other
girls of her age, and, as a proof that it arises from the same amiable desire of
pleasing others, it may be remarked that, whenever she has a new bonnet or any
new article of dress, she is particularly desirous to go to meeting, or to go out
with it. If people do not notice it, she directs their attention by placing their
hand upon it.
“Generally she indicates her preference for such visitors as are the best
dressed.
“She is so much in company with blind persons that she thinks blindness
common, and when first meeting a person, she asks if they are blind, or she
feels for their eyes.
“She evidently knows that the blind differ from seeing persons, for, when
she shows blind persons anything, she always puts their fingers on it.
“She seems to have a perception of character, and to have no esteem for
those who have little intellect. The following anecdote is significant of her
perception of character, and shows that, from her friends, she requires some-
thing more than good-natured indulgence :-
“A new scholar entered school-a little girl about Laura's age. She was
very helpless, and Laura took great pride and great pains in showing her the
way about the house, assisting her to dress and undress, and doing for her many
things which she could not do herself. In a few weeks it became apparent
Account of Laura Bridgman.
715
even to Laura that the child was not only helpless, but naturally very stupid,
being almost an idiot. Then Laura gave her up in despair and avoided her,
and has ever since had an aversion to being with her, passing her by as if in
contempt. By a natural association of ideas, she attributes to this child all
those countless deeds which Mr Nobody does in every house,-if a chair is
broken, or anything is misplaced, and no one knows who did it, Laura attributes
it at once to this child.
“It has been observed before that she is familiar with the processes of addi-
tion and subtraction in small numbers. Subtracting one number from another
puzzled her for a time, but, by help of objects, she accomplished it. She can
count and conceive objects to about one hundred in number to express an
indefinitely great number, or more than she can count, she says hundred. If she
thought a friend was to be absent many years, she would say–will come hun-
dred Sundays, meaning weeks. She is pretty accurate in measuring time, and
seems to have an intuitive tendency to do it. Unaided by the changes of night
and day, by the light, or the sound of any timepiece, she nevertheless divides
time accurately.
“With the days of the week, and the week itself as a whole, she is perfectly
familiar ; for instance, if asked what day will it be in fifteen days more, she
readily names the day of the week. The day she divides by the commence-
ment and end of the school, by the recesses, and by the arrival of meal-times.
She
goes to bed punctually at seven o'clock, and of her own accord. For
some time after she came under our charge, she had some one to put her
to bed every night; but soon it was thought best to send her alone, and,
that she might not wait for any one, she was left alone one evening; and she
sat until quite late, a person watching her; and at last she seemed to form
her resolution suddenly—she jumped up and groped her way up to bed. From
that time to this, she has never required to be told to go to bed, but, at the
arrival of the hour for retiring, she goes by herself.
“Those persons who hold that the capacity of perceiving and measuring the
lapse of time is an innate and distinct faculty of the mind, may deem it an
important fact that Laura evidently can measure time so accurately as to
distinguish between a half and a whole note of music.
“Seated at the pianoforte, she will strike the notes in a measure quite
correctly.
“Now, it will be perceived that she must have a clear perception of the
lapse of time, in order to strike the two-eighths at the right instant; for, in the
first measure, they occur at the second beat, in the second measure, at the
third beat.
"There is no doubt that practice will enable her to subdivide time still
more minutely. Possibly, some attach an undue degree of importance to this
power of measuring time, considered in a metaphysical point of view, for any
one may make the same experiment upon himself, and by stopping his ears
and closing his eyes, will find he can measure time, or the duration of his
sensation, and know which of two periods is longest ; nevertheless, we shall
continue carefully to note the phenomena in the case of Laura, for the benefit
of whom they may concern.
“It is interesting, in a Physiological point of view, to know the effect of the
deprivation of three senses upon the remaining two.
716
Appendix, 111. 2.
“The sense of Smell being destroyed, it seems a curious question whether
the effect upon the organ of Taste is general or particular ; that is, whether
the Taste is blunted generally, and for all things alike, or whether one kind
of sapidity is more affected than another. To ascertain this, some experiments
have been tried, but as yet not enough to enable one to state confidently the
results in minute distinction. The general conclusions are these :
“ Acids seem to make vivid and distinct impression upon the Taste, and
she apparently distinguishes the different degrees of acidity better than of
sweetness or bitterness. She can distinguish between wine, cider, and vinegar,
better than substances like manna, liquorice, and sugar, Of bitters, she
seems to have less perception, or indeed hardly any ; for, on putting powdered
rhubarb into her mouth, she called it tea, and on one saying no, and telling
her to taste closc, she evidently did try to taste it, but still called it tea, and
spat it out—but without any contortion or any indication of its being par-
ticularly disagreeable.
Of course, she has a repugnance to these kind of experiments, and it seems
almost imposing upon her good-nature to push them very far; we shall, how-
ever, be soon able to ascertain certainly, how far she can distinguish different
sapid bodies. Those who are curious in the Physiology of the Taste know that
the highest degree of gusto, or the acme of pleasure, is not obtained until just
as the morsel has slipped over the glottis, and is on its way beyond power of
recal down the oesophagus. This seems to be a wise precaution of nature to
prevent the stomach being cheated of its due ; for, if the highest degree in
pleasure of eating could be obtained without absolutely swallowing the morsel,
the epicure could have an exhaustless source of pleasure, and need never de-
generate into the gourmand.
“Some Physiologists who have speculated upon this subject, consider that this
final climax of the pleasure of Taste is produced by a fine aroma which, rising
from the morsel and mounting up the fauces, pleasantly titillates the ramifi-
cations of the olfactory nerve. The fact that, when we have a cold in the
head and the fauces are obstructed, the Taste is blunted, seems to bear out
this supposition ; but, from some observations on Laura, one would be in-
clined to think that some other cause must contribute to the effect.
“She appears to care less for the process of mastication than deglutition; and
probably it is only the necessity of mechanical trituration of food, which
induces her to go through with it, before hastening to the pleasant part of
swallowing. Now, as the imperfection of smell impairs the taste in the
tongue and palate during mastication, it should have the same effect in
deglutition, supposing this theory to be correct : but it seems not to be so-
else Laura would have little inducement to swallow, save to fill a vacuity of
stomach. Now, it seems doubtful whether the feeling of vacuity of stomach,
strictly speaking, would show a child the road for the food, or whether it would
not be as likely to stuff bread into its ear as into its mouth, if it had no plea-
surable sensation in tasting ; and further, if the pleasurable sensation did not
increase and tempt to deglutition, it is doubtful whether hunger or vacuity of
stomach alone would teach a child to swallow the chewed morsel. On the
whole, she seems to care less for eating than most children of her
“ With regard to the sense of Touch, it is very acute, even for a blind person.
It is shown remarkably in the readiness with which she distinguishes persons :
age.
/
Account of Laura Bridgman.
717
there are forty inmates in the female wing, with all of whom of course Laura
is acquainted; whenever she is walking through the passage-ways, she per-
ceives, by the jar of the floor, or the agitation of the air, that some one is near
her, and it is exceedingly difficult to pass her without being recognised.
Her little arms are stretched out, and the instant she grasps a hand, a sleeve,
or even part of the dress, she knows the person, and lets them pass on with
some sign of recognition.
“ The innate desire for knowledge, and the instinctive efforts which the
human faculties make to exercise their functions, is shown most remarkably
in Laura. Her tiny fingers are to her as eyes, and ears, and nose, and most
deftly and incessantly does she keep them in motion ; like the feelers of some
insects which are continually agitated, and which touch every grain of sand
in the path, so Laura's arms and hands are continually in play; and when
she is walking with a person, she not only recognises everything she passes
within touching distance, but, by continually touching her companions hands,
she ascertains what he is doing. A person, walking across a room while
she had hold on his left arm, would find it hard to take a pencil out of his
waistcoat pocket with his right hand, without her perceiving it.
“Her judgment of distances and of relations of places is very accurate ; she
will rise from her seat, go straight towards a door, put out her hand just at
the right time, and grasp the handle with precision.
“ When she runs against a door which is shut, but which she expected to find
open, she does not fret, but rubs her head and laughs as though she perceived
the ludicrous position of a person flat against a door trying to walk through it.
“The constant and tireless exercise of her feelers gives her a very accurate
knowledge of every thing about the house ; so that if a new article, a bundle,
bandbox, or even a new book, is laid anywhere in the apartments which she
frequents, it would be but a short time before, in her ceaseless rounds, she
would find it, and from something about it, she would generally discover to
whom it belonged.
“She perceives the approach of persons by the undulations of the air striking
her.face; and she can distinguish the step of those who tread hard, and jar
the floor.
“At table, if told to be still, she sits and conducts herself with propriety ;
handles her cup, spoon, and fork, like other children ; so that a stranger
looking at her would take her for a very pretty child, with a green ribbon
over her eyes.
But, when at liberty to do as she chooses, sbe is continually feeling of things,
and ascertaining their size, shape, density, and use—asking their names and their
purposes, going on with unsatiable curiosity, step by step, towards knowledge.
“ Thus doth her active mind, though all silent and darkling within, commune
by means of her one sense with things external, and gratify its innate craving
for knowledge by close and ceaseless attention.
Qualities and appearances, unappreciable or unheeded by others, are to her
of
great significance and value ; and, by means of these, her knowledge of
external nature and physical relations will in time become extensive.
“ If the same success shall attend the cultivation of her Moral nature, as has
followed that of her Intellect and her Perceptive faculties, great will be the
reward to her, and most interesting will be the results to others."
1 America, vol. iii. pp. 187 and 456.
"1
718
Appendix, IV.
No. IV.-ON THE TERM “SECULAR,” AS APPLIED TO
THE SECULAR SCHOOLS OF GEORGE COMBE
AND HIS FRIENDS.
REFERRED TO, IN THE INTRODUCTION, part iv., and p. 258.
name
BELMONT, TWICKENĦAM,
17th Decr. 1877.
DEAR SIR, -I fully admit the justice of your remarks on the mischievous
influence of the title which was selected for the Edinburgh school. Looking
at the term “ Secular,” as now very commonly understood, it may appear to
many that we chose it in a spirit of defiance and opposition; that our school
was, after all, as narrow and sectarian as any already existing, being merely a
school of the “Secularists."
This, however, was by no means the case. When we decided to adopt the
Secular School,” the word "Secular” had quite a different meaning from
that which it has since acquired. When the school was established (1848),
there existed no sect naming themselves Secularists, or publicly so-called by
others. The term “Secular” had been revived and frequently used by Mr
Combe in its original and etymological sense, as designating that which only
belongs to our present state of existence. Used in this sense, it exactly de-
scribed the limit of our teaching.
Religion was not excluded from the Secular School, Theology was not
excluded from the Secular School, but the Religion and the Theology were
purely Secular; the Divine authority of the Moral Law was especially and most
powerfully enforced in Mr Combe's teaching, and not only moral law and
moral duties, but physical law and physical duties were based on the same
authority, but only applied to the world. Mr Combe, for example, did not
merely teach that "cleanliness is next to godliness,” but that “cleanliness is
godliness.” He showed that the structure of the skin implied a Divine com-
mand that we should keep it clean, and for this and every other duty, great or
small, he maintained that the primary and leading motive should be obedience
to the will of God, as revealed in His works. This constituted the very essence
and foundation of all his teaching ; but, nevertheless, neither he nor I ever
touched the subject of Revealed or Supernatural Religion, or taught anything
concerning a future state. This was left to the special teachers, on the ground
that the differences of Religious sects usually commence there.
We hoped that the word Secular would be understood accordingly, and we
selected it as a specially colourless name. But, some time after the establish-
ment of the school, a section of very highly-coloured controversalists, generally
reputed as holding atheistical opinions, rather formally adopted the title of
“ Secularists."
I believe that it was in “ The Reasoner,” edited by Mr Holyoake, that this
application of this title was first proposed, discussed, and finally announced as
adopted.
Lectures on "Secularism,” or rather denunciations of “Secularism,” suddenly
became fashionable. At one of these, delivered in a chapel in Edinburgh, I
On the Name of the Secular Schools.
719
heard "Secularism” described as a system of atheism, which denied morality,
human responsibility, sanctioned unlimited sensual indulgence, &c., and, after
the definition, the lecturer or denouncer, a minister named Rutherford, pro-
claimed Mr Combe as “the High Priest of Secularism ;" in proof of which he
quoted the name of the School. This, of course, did us some damage, and was
very annoying. To have changed the name of the school, in submission to such
misrepresentation, would have been still more damaging.
I need scarcely add, that, had we foreseen this perversion of the name, we
should never have adopted it; as neither Mr Combe nor anybody else con-
cerned in the promotion and carrying on of the school were at all afflicted with
that vanity of obtrusive ostentatious heterodoxy, which too often magnifies
Theological differences, and needlessly provokes the immoralities of Theological
odium.-Yours truly,
W. MATTIEU WILLIAMS.
To Wm. Jolly, Esq.,
H. M. Inspector of Schools, Inverness.
No. V.-ON NATIONAL UNSECTARIAN SECULAR
EDUCATION.
1. « THE PLAN FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A GENERAL SYSTEM OF
SECULAR EDUCATION IN THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER,” issued in
1847, by “The Lancashire Public School Association," after-
wards called “ The National Public School Association.'
REFERRED TO, pp. 237, and 590.
TO THE PEOPLE OF LANCASHIRE.
A number of gentlemen of various religious denominations, resident in this
county, feeling a deep interest in the education of the people, have drawn up
the following plan for the establishment of a system of Popular Education in
the county of Lancaster, which they respectfully recommend to the attentive
consideration of all classes, sects, and parties, in the earnest hope that they
may be induced to recognise the soundness of the principles on which it is
based, and to demand of the legislature the powers which are necessary to carry
it into effect.
On no great question which has agitated the public mind for a very long
period, has a greater diversity of opinion existed than on the subject of Popular
Education. Yet, amidst all this variety of opinion, there appears to be a
general recognition of the value of education, and an increasing belief in the
necessity that exists for promoting its extension among the people.
For ourselves, we believe there is no safeguard for civil and religious liberty,
no security for the rights of property and labour, nothing within the scope of
merely human agency which can conduce to the material, the moral, and the
religious well-being of the people, equal to a universal diffusion of education.
720
Appendix, V.1.
Deeply impressed as we are with this belief, it is no less our conviction, that
the vast benefits of education may be, to a great extent, neutralized, if it be
conducted on false or erroneous principles. If, as in countries governed by
despotic power, the duty of educating is assumed by the government, the
minds of the people may be pressed down into bondage, rather than elevated
to freedom.
If, as with us, the education of the people is entrusted
to the voluntary efforts of certain sections only of the community, that large
portion of the people unconnected with any religious denomination is aban-
doned altogether to chance, or to what is worse than chance, to utter exclusion
from all instruction,
To adopt a course between those two extremes, we hold to be the part of a
free and enlightened nation ; and to point out the means by which we conceive
such a course may be pursued, is the object we have in view. In thus inti.
mating our belief that voluntary effort is not equal to the necessities of our
condition, we must guard against the supposition, that we are insensible to
the vast amount of good which has been effected by it. The national grati-
tude is due to those who have so nobly struggled for the emancipation of their
fellow-men from the bonds of ignorance.
But, in our gratitude to them, let us not forget the claims of society at large;
let us not forget that our gaols are filled with criminals, the ignorance of a
large majority of whom is sufficient evidence that the existing educationalagencies
have not embraced the whole of the population ; let us not forget that, if we
had built school-houses instead of gaols, many of our criminals might have been
honest and respectable members of the community. We do not assert that
universal education would wholly prevent crime; but we do say that it would
be the means of greatly diminishing it.
The plan adopted by the Government for aiding voluntary effort, is, we con-
ceive, in one essential respect, imperfect, considered apart from the conscien-
tious objections which are felt to it by great numbers of Dissenters. The
Government gives money in proportion to the amount raised by voluntary
subscription ; aid must, therefore, be granted in an in verse ratio to the neces-
sities of the people. In localities where the congregation is poor and stands
most in need of help, the smallest amount of assistance is afforded. We
believe that the only fair and equitable mode of raising and apportioning
public money for the purposes of education, is to give to the people themselves,
in their various localities, the power of taxing all equally, and of exercising
control over the expenditure.
As all should contribute to the support of public schools, so all should have
the right of admission to them. And, in order that none may be directly or
indirectly debarred from the exercise of this right, nothing should be taught
in the schools which would practically exclude any. All catechisms and
creeds should, as a measure of simple justice to all, be strictly excluded.
None will deny the value of Religious instruction ; but the most effectual
barriers should be provided against the introduction of Sectarian teaching. In
the words of the Honourable Horace Mann, Secretary to the Board of Educa-
tion, Massachusetts, United States, “Our aim obviously is, to secure as much
of religious instruction as is compatible with religious freedom.”
To give the greatest possible efficiency to the public schools, and to protect
the rights of every section of the people, a central board for collecting and
Plan for Secular Education in Lancashire. 721
diffusing information, and with certain other limited powers, should be estab-
lished, deriving its authority from the people, and responsible to them for the
exercise of it.
The public schools we propose to establish, should not be considered merely
as schools for the poor. The education given in a large proportion of schools
established for the middle classes, is of a very inferior character; at the present
time, some amongst the very poor receive a better education than those who
occupy a position somewhat more elevated in the social scale. By the latter,
we anticipate that the establishment of a system of education for the whole
people will be hailed with satisfaction.
Such are the chief features of the following plan, and such the objects we
have had in view in its construction.
We entertain a strong hope and belief that the public mind is becoming
daily more convinced of the truth of the principles on which it is founded.
We have proposed to confine it to this county, because we believe it will meet
with a warmer support from some, and a less decided opposition from others,
than if it had been proposed for the country at large, and because we believe
that in this county are to be found men pre-eminently qualified to carry out
such an experiment with spirit and success.
DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTY.-The county of Lancaster is divided into six
Hundreds or Wapentakes.
SCHOOL COMMITTEES. —Every parish or township in the county, containing
2000 inhabitants or upwards, shall be required to appoint annually a school
committee, consisting of numbers in the following proportion to the population.
The school committees shall be required to establish and support the follow-
ing four descriptions of schools ; for which purpose they shall be empowered to
levy rates.
SCHOOLS :- 1st. COMMON DAY SCHOOLS, for children from five to fifteen
years of age.
In which they shall be instructed in reading, grammar, writing, arithmetic,
geography, and such other kinds of useful Secular information as may be
deemed advisable, or the growing intelligence of the people may demand. In
addition to these, a sacred regard to truth, justice, kindness, and forbearance
in our intercourse with our fellow-creatures ; temperance, frugality, industry,
and all other virtues conducive to the right ordering of practical conduct in
the affairs of life. And inasmuch as these virtues, together with Reverence
and Love towards the Divine Being, are clearly taught and powerfully enforced
in the Scriptures, a selection of examples and precepts inculcating them shall
be made therefrom, and read and used in the said schools, but without refer-
ence to the peculiar theological tenets of any religious sect or denomination.
For the purpose of making this selection, a commission shall be appointed
by the county board, consisting of nine individuals, no two of whom shall be
members of the same religious denomination ; and in order that the peculiar
tenets of no religious sect may be favoured, the unanimous concurrence of the
commission shall be required in the selection.
2ND. EVENING SCHOOLS, for persons of the age of ten years and upwards.
Under the same regulations as the day schools.
3RD. INFANT SCHOOLS, for children under six years of age.
4TH. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, for the purpose of affording food and shelter
2 Z
722
Appendix, V.1.
during the day to that portion of the juvenile population, which has no appa-
rent means of subsistence, save by begging or crime ; of instructing them in
the foregoing branches of education, and in some industrial occupation, which
may lead them to prefer a life of useful activity to one of idleness, rescue them
from destitution and misery, and give them an opportunity of becoming honest
and respectable members of the community.
RIGHT OF ADMISSION TO THE SCHOOLS.—All children shall have the right of
free admission, at the ages before mentioned, to the day, evening, or infant
schools of the parish, township, or school union, in which they reside ; except
such as do not possess the faculties of hearing, speech, or sight-such as are of
unsound mind, afflicted with any contagious disorder, or convicted of crime.
Note.—School committees may, in special cases, relax the rule excluding
children convicted of crime.
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE. -The school committee
shall have power to engage and dismiss masters and teachers, and to decide on
all matters relating to the management of the schools, subject to the following
regulations :-
1. Nothing shall be taught in any of the schools which favours the pecu-
liar tenets of any religious sect; and in order that perfect security may be
afforded, any ratepayer shall have the right to complain to the school com-
mittee of the conduct of any teacher in this respect; and in case of dissatisfac-
tion with the decision of the school committee, he shall have the right to
appeal to the committee of the hundred; and, if dissatisfied with their decision,
to the county board of education, and from the decision of the county board
to the courts of law and equity.
2. No clergyman of the Church of England, nor any Dissenting minister,
nor any ecclesiastic of the Catholic Church, shall be capable of holding any
salaried office in connection with the schools.
3. No master or teacher shall be appointed to any school who has not
received a certificate of his qualification from the examiners appointed by the
county board, so long as there is a candidate for the vacancy who has received
a certificate; unless the county board, on special cause shown to it, shall
authorise the school committee to dispense with the certificate.
4. No book shall be admitted into any school which has not first received
the sanction of the county board.
5. The course of education recommended by the county board, shall be pur-
sued in all the public schools in the county.
As it is of the first necessity to create in the minds of the people a desire for
education and a just estimate of its benefits, it shall be the duty of the com-
mittees to endeavour to create this desire by communicating personally, or by
means of agents, with the parents and guardians of those children who are
receiving no education.
Each school committee shall furnish to the county board an annual report of
the schools under its management, and shall at all times furnish such infor-
mation as may be required by the board.
Each school committee shall annually publish, in a cheap form, for the
use of the ratepayers, a statement of all moneys received and expended by
them, and present a copy of the same to the committee of the hundred and to
the county board.
Plan for Secular Education in Lancashire. 723
School committees shall have power, in special cases, to relax the rule exclud-
ing children convicted of crime from the day, evening, or infant schools, and
to expel any child for any gross insubordination or misconduct.
School committees shall have power to appoint a clerk with a salary.
COMMITTEES OF THE HUNDRED.-In each hundred, a central committee shall
be annually elected by the school committees within the hundred.
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEES OF THE HUNDRED.-1. To unite
parishes or townships containing less than 2000 inhabitants into school unions,
which unions shall act in every respect as if they were parishes or townships of
themselves.
2. If the majority of the ratepayers of any parish or township present at a
public meeting, called for the purpose, object to be united with any other
parish or township, they shall have the right of appeal from the decision of
the committee of the hundred, to the county board.
3. If any parish, township, or school union neglect to establish or support
schools, the committee of the hundred shall levy rates for the purpose, and
appoint a school committee for such parish, township, or union.
4. To admonish or dismiss teachers whose conduct is brought under their
notice by appeal from the decision of the school committees.
5. The committee of the hundred shall have power (but it shall not be
imperative on them) to establish schools for the deaf, dumb, and blind, and to
draw a sum for their support from the school rates of each parish, township, or
school union, in proportion to its population.
6. The committee of the hundred shall forin a corporation, in which shall
be vested the whole school property of the hundred, in order that, if the neces-
sity for the maintenance of a school in any parish, township, or school union
shall cease, the property may be made available to some other place within
the hundred. In this corporation may also be vested any other property con-
veyed or bequeathed for educational purposes within the hundred.
7. The committees of the hundred shall annually furnish to the county
board reports of their proceedings, statements of all moneys received and
expended by them, and, at all times, such information as may be required by
the board.
8. The committee of the hundred shall have power to appoint a clerk, with
a salary.
COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.—A county board of education shall be
established, consisting of twelve persons, of whom not more than three shall
be members of any one religious denomination. The board shall consist in the
first instance of the following persons, viz. :-(In this place should be inserted
the names of the twelve persons composing the first county board.)
Two of the members who have attended the fewest meetings of the board
shall retire annually, but may be re-elected. All vacancies shall be filled up
by a majority of the votes of the members of all the committees of hun-
dreds. The board shall elect annually a president. Five members shall form
a quorum.
DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE COUNTY BOARD.-1. The board shall appoint
annually a secretary, at a salary of not less than £500, nor more than £800,
per annum ; and two inspectors at salaries of at least £200 each per annum.
724
Appendix, V.1.
The concurrence of two-thirds of the members present shall be necessary
in the appointment of the secretary and inspectors.
2. It shall be necessary for the board to sanction all books before they are
admitted into any of the schools; and no book shall receive the sanction of
the board which favours the peculiar tenets of any religious sect. Objections
made in writing by any three members of the board, to any book, on the
ground that it favours the peculiar tenets of any religious sect, shall prevent
such book from being introduced into any of the schools.
3. The members of the board, or their secretary, or inspectors, shall have
power to enter the public schools at all times, to examine into the progress
made by the scholars, into the course of instruction pursued, and into all
matters relating to the management of the schools.
4. It shall be the duty of the board to admonish or dismiss for the first
offence, and for the second offence to dismiss, any teacher whose conduct
shall be brought under its notice by appeal, and who shall appear to it to have
favoured in his teaching any peculiar theological opinions.
5. If any township, parish, or school union, shall neglect to establish and
support schools, and if the committee of the hundred in which such parish,
township, or school union is situated, shall neglect to use the power given
them to supply the deficiency, it shall be the duty of the county board to
establish schools, to levy rates on such parish, township, or school union, for
their establishment and support, and to appoint a committee to manage them.
6. The county board shall draw up such a plan of education as it shall deem best
suited to the four descriptions of public schools, which it shall recommend to the
school committees, and it shall be the duty of the board to enforce its adoption.
7. The board shall obtain from the school committees whatever information
it may require relating to the condition and management of the schools, and
present annually to the two houses of parliament, and to every school com-
mittee, a detailed report of the state of education in Lancashire.
8. The board shall procure as much information as possible of the state of
education in this kingdom, on the continent of Europe, and in America, and
convey whatever may appear needful to the different school committees.
9. As an incitement to diligence and good conduct on the part of the
pupils in the local schools, the county board shall have power to expend
£2000 annually in maintaining, at the normal school, a number of such pupils
as shall be reported by the school committees to be deserving of such reward,
and shall pass through such a course of examination by the public examiners as
shall be decided on by the county board.
10. The expenses incurred by the board shall be defrayed by the parishes,
townships, and unions, in proportion to their population.
11. The board shall form a corporation, in which shall be vested the property
belonging to the normal schools, and in which may be vested
any
other property
conveyed or bequeathed for the establishment or support of normal schools,
colleges, libraries, or for any other educational purposes, for the use of the
county generally.
EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS. -1. The county board shall appoint three
competent persons to examine candidates for the office of master or teacher.
2. The examiners shall have power to decide on the qualification of candi-
dates, and to grant or refuse certificates accordingly.
Plan for Secular Education in Lancashire. 725
on
3. In order to ensure impartiality in the decisions, the same test of fitness
shall be applied to all applicants for certificates in the same branches of
knowledge, and the course of examination shall be laid down by the county
board.
4. The time and place at which examiners shall meet for the purpose of
examining candidates, shall be appointed by the county board, and at least a
month's notice, previous to any examination, shall be given by advertisement
in the principal county papers.
5. The county board shall have power to fix the salaries of the examiners, at
a sum not exceeding £
each per annum; and every
applicant for a certificate shall pay to the board a fee of
registering his name.
6. The certificate shall be the property of the person to whom it is granted,
and, if delivered up by him to any of the school committees, it shall be re-
turned to him on demand.
7. If any applicant is dissatisfied with the decision of the examiners, he shall
have the power of appeal to the county board, which may then grant him a
certificate if it think fit.
NORMAL SCHOOLS.-1. The county board shall establish and support one or
more normal schools, for the training of teachers. It shall have power to
engage and dismiss teachers, to decide on the course of instruction to be pur-
sued, and on all matters relating to the management of the normal schools.
2. Nothing shall be taught in the normal schools which favours the peculiar
tenets of any religious sect.
3. The county board shall have power to draw from the townships, parishes,
and school unions, in proportion to their population, the sums necessary for
the erection of buildings for the normal schools. The current expenses shall
be defrayed by the pupils, or by the townships, parishes, or school unions, for
whom the pupils are in training.
4. It shall be optional with the 'school committees whether they engage
teachers who have been educated in the normal schools or not.
The following are extracts from the “Explanatory Remarks” appended to
the foregoing Plan :
EVENING SCHOOLS.-
No plan of popular education would be complete which
did not provide for the establishment of evening schools. They are fully as
important as day schools. The very early period of life at which children are
employed in agricultural and manufacturing occupations, renders necessary
some provision for enabling them to receive instruction after the labours of the
day are over. The knowledge which a child can acquire before he is ten years
of age, must of necessity be extremely limited ; and to afford him no facilities
for adding to his stock of information after that age, is almost to render useless
the instruction he has previously received. It must also be remerubered, how
insufficient has been the education of a large proportion of those who form the
adult population of the present time.
By the term adult, we do not refer exclusively to those who have attained
their legal majority, but to all who have passed the age at which the education
of youth is ordinarily concluded. The promoters of this plan are able to speak,
from their own experience, of the desire that exists on the part of many adults
726
Appendix, V. 1.
to acquire the knowledge which the neglect or poverty of others has deprived
them of in youth. For such as these, it would be well to establish separate
classes in the schools, in order that none might be deterred from availing
themselves of the advantages offered to them, by a feeling of shame at expos-
ing their ignorance to the younger scholars. The good that might be
effected by such means among the labouring population is incalculable. No-
thing that could be devised would offer so formidable a barrier to the spread of
intemperance; nothing would tend so much to refine and elevate the working
man, and enable him to seek relaxation in Mechanics' Institutions, Libraries,
and Reading Rooms, instead of in the low and degrading pursuits, which are
almost the only species of amusement open to those who have the misfortune
to be wholly uueducated.
Let it not be supposed that this would have any tendency to undermine
the independence of the working man. The expenses of the schools being de-
frayed by rates, every man would feel that, directly;or indirectly, he contributed
his share to their support, and would therefore receive the benefits conferred
by them as a right, and not as a favour. It cannot be too often repeated that
nothing can render men so truly independent as knowledge.
The same buildings would suffice for both the day and evening schools, but
it would probably be necessary to appoint additional teachers for the latter.
SECULAR EDUCATION–SELECTIONS FROM THE SCRIPTURES.—In denomin-
ating the system here proposed, a Secular system of education, we take the word
Secular in its most eomprehensive sense, and prefer a negative to a positive defini-
tion of it. We would say that it includes every thing which is not theological,
or in other words, any thing which does not favour the tenets of any religious sect.
In the choice of books, it would seem absurd altogether to exclude the Bible, on the
ground that certain portions of it unhappily occasion differences of opinion among
the various religious bodies. That the whole of it cannot be admitted without
causing strife, is deeply to be regretted, and it is surely preferable to allow the
introduction of such portions as can be introduced without offence to any, than
to exclude the whole. It may at first sight appear difficult to obtain nine
individuals of nine different denominations who could be unanimous in agreeing
to a volume of selections from the Scriptures. But the difficulty vanishes
when we consider, that in effect every one of the nine commissioners would
possess an absolute veto on any selection proposed to be made. No single
passage could be selected if objected to by the representative of any one of
the nine different denominations. No necessity for discussion or argument
would arise ; the simple objection of one individual would be fatal to any
passage proposed for selection.
A selection from the Scriptures having been once adopted, the purpose for
which the commission was appointed would be accomplished, and it would there-
fore cease to exist. It would, however, be competent to the county board, at any
time to appoint another commission, for the purpose of revising the selection.
The composition of the commission as here proposed, is obviously intended
to prevent the introduction into the schools of any portion of the Scriptures,
which may appear, when taken by itself, to militate against the tenets of any
religious denomination. Every denomination possessing one representative
would be as amply protected as if its views were represented by one-half of the
members composing the commission.
Plan for Secular Education in Lancashire. 727
SECURITIES AGAINST SECTARIAN TEACHING.–We conceive that ample
security, in this respect, is afforded by the proposed mode of making the
selections from the Scriptures ; by the constitution of the county board, of
which not more than one-fourth can be members of any one religious denonina-
tion ; and by the right of appeal possessed by the ratepayers, from the school
committees to the committee of the hundred, from them to the county board,
and ultimately to the courts of law or equity. This right of appeal would be
found a most substantial protection against sectarian teaching in the school.
In Mr Combe's Notes on National Education and the Common Schools of
Massachusetts, he says: "In almost every district, there are individuals
sufficiently patriotic and enlightened to enforce the law on those who are in-
different to its execution; in every district, there are active members of every
sect who watch, denounce, and expel sectarian teaching.” We cannot doubt
that the same vigilant superintendence would be exercised in this country;
and that those who have distinguished themselves by their voluntary exertions
and their munificent contributions for the education of the people, would ever
be found ready to stand forward as the defenders of the rights and interests of
their poorer brethren.
EXCLUSION OF MINISTERS OF RELIGION FROM SALARIED OFFICES. –We beg
especially to direct the attention of the reader to the fact, that as it is not pro-
posed to remunerate the individuals holding the offices of committee men in
the townships or in the hundred, or the members of the county board, ministers
of religion would not be prevented from holding those offices. In proposing
the provision rendering clergymen of the Established Church, Dissenting
ministers, and ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church incapable of holding any
salaried offices connected with the schools, we have been solely actuated by a
desire to prevent any cause of distrust. Suppose—for the sake of example-
that, in any township where members of the Established Church preponderated,
a clergyman of that Church were appointed a master in the public school; how
difficult would it be for dissenters to believe that, conscientious as he might be,
he could altogether avoid making use of his position to propagate his
principles ! Reverse the case, and imagine a dissenting minister appointed to
the office of schoolmaster, a similar fear would be felt by Dissenters of other
denominations as well as by members of the Established Church ; and, without
intending the slightest offence to our Catholic fellow-countrymen, we have
only to hint at the possibility of an ecclesiastic of the Catholic Church, of the
order of Jesuits, being appointed a schoolmaster, to awaken in the minds of
Protestants a full sense of the propriety of the exclusion we recommend.
We are not insensible to the peculiar fitness of ministers of religion (qualified
as many of them are by the possession of commanding talents and extensive
knowledge) for superintending the education of the people ; and in confining
the restriction against them to salaried offices, ways are left open in which
their valuable services may be made available to the community.
EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS. - It is with a high appreciation of the import,
ance and true dignity of the office of schoolmaster, and with a desire to elevate
it in the public estimation, that we propose to institute an examination into
the qualifications of candidates for appointments in the public schools.
Nothing will more tend to promote the efficiency of the schools, and to
728
Appendix, V. 1.
stimulate the desire of the people for education, than the erection of a high
standard of excellence for teachers.
Length of probation is too often taken as a proof of competence : nothing
can be more absurd or fallacious. Natural aptitude or previous acquirements
will enable some men to become qualified with a much shorter course of study
than others. Why should the former be compelled to lose time after they are
duly qualified, or the latter to relinquish study before they are so, by fixing
the same period of probation for both ?
The best test of fitness is examination, and the examination should be open
to all comers, no matter when, where, or how their qualifications have been
acquired. Those persons trained in the county normal schools should have no
exemption from the test of an examination, but should be placed on precisely
the same footing as others.
Individuals possessing certificates granted by the examiners, would find them
of great service, if they became applicants for the office of schoolmaster, in
other schools than those it is here proposed to establish. We do not doubt
that these certificates would be found to possess a current value beyond the
limits of this county, and that people would come from other parts of the
kingdom desirous to obtain such a testimonial to their qualifications. It is on
this account that we propose to exact a fee from all applicants for examination,
as it would be unjust to charge the county with the expense of examining per-
sons not intending to apply for offices in the public schools.
NORMAL SCHOOLS.—Of the propriety of establishing Normal Schools for
the training of teachers, we apprehend there will be no difference of opinion.
Without teachers fully competent to convey instruction, the expenses in-
curred in the establishment and support of schools would be comparatively
thrown away. The supply of properly qualified teachers is totally inadequate
to the requirements of the schools already in existence ; how much less adequate
would it be, if a great additional demand was created by the establishment of
public schools, with no additional source being provided from which the
demand could be supplied ! One great advantage of providing competent
instructors is commonly overlooked. Under an efficient teacher, a child will
acquire a given amount of knowledge in half the time that he will do under
an incompetent one. In a country where the labour of the young forms a
large proportion of the means of subsistence possessed by the working classes,
as it does in England, and especially in Lancashire, this is a most important
consideration. The length of time necessary to acquire even the mere rudi-
ments of education, in a very large number of the schools now in existence, is,
no doubt, one cause of the disinelination of parents to send their children to
them, and of the children to attend. Every day more than is necessary, spent
at school after a certain age, is so much valuable time, or its equivalent in
money, withdrawn from the family stock. If we add, to this loss of time or
money, the weekly payments that have to be made under the present system
for schooling, and consider in how many cases the progress made by the pupil
is scarcely perceptible from month to month; we cannot wonder that the dis-
inclination on the part of the parent should exist, or that it should be difficult
to impress either parents or children with a sense of the advantages of educa-
tion. In the United States, the period of the attendance of children at the
schools is very short; and the fact is sometimes quoted by the opponents of a
Plan for Secular Education in Lancashire. 729
1
general system, to show that the condition of the people with regard to educa-
tion in the States is not what it would appear to be from statistics. But a
very different conclusion can be drawn from the same fact in conjunction with
another. All travellers concur in stating, that the great mass of the people
in the United States is much better educated than in this country. If, during
their short attendance at school, the children are able to acquire a greater
degree of knowledge than children in England during a longer period, one of
two things necessarily follows ; either that the capacity of American children
is greater than that of English, or that their teachers are better qualified.
That the latter of these suppositions is the correct one cannot for a moment
be doubted. The establishment of normal schools, as proposed in this Plan,
would, to some extent, remedy the deficiency in schools already in existence ;
because, while it would be optional with the school committees to engage their
teachers from the normal schools, so it would be optional with the teachers to
accept engagements in the public or in private schools.
Such is the plan which we submit to the consideration of our fellow-
countrymen of this county. We are not prepared to say that it is, in every
one of its details, the best that could be devised ; but it is our deep conviction
that it is based on sound principles, and that no plan for general education
is worthy the adoption of a free people, in which the management is not placed
under popular control, and in which the equal rights of the various religious
denominations, and of the different classes of the community, are not recog-
nized and secured.
On a question on which there has ever been so great a diversity of sentiment,
it is not to be expected that men of all shades of opinion should suddenly
become reconciled. But we appeal to all classes ; to those in high places
and of great wealth, who may rely on it there can be no protection to
property, no security for the maintenance of public order, like an educated
people; to those whose wealth is in their labour, and whom education
will enable profitably to employ the faculties of the mind as well as the
powers of the body ; to the advocates for the extension of political privileges,
who may rest assured that these can only be obtained by an enlightened
population; to the philanthropist, who would rejoice to see misery, intemper-
ance, and crime disappear before the light of knowledge ; and to the truly
pious and enlightened of all classes and of all creeds, who believe that
emancipation from brutish ignorance is not a hindrance but a help to the
reception of divine truth : to all these we appeal with earnestness to lay aside
the bitterness of controversy, and to approach the consideration of this
momentous question in a spirit of conciliation, benevolence, and justice.
2. EXTRACTS FROM "A MEMORIAL ON BEHALF OF A NATIONAL SYSTEM
OF EDUCATION," BY THE GLASGOW PUBLIC SCHOOL ASSOCIATION.
REFERRED TO, p. 224.
At a meeting of the above Association, held on the 9th of February 1854,
John Tennant, Esq., of St Rollox, in the chair, a series of nine resolutions,
embodying almost entirely the same views as the Lancashire Association, were
730
Appendix, V. 2.
adopted, and a Memorial embodying these directed to be addressed and sent to
Earl Granville, then Lord President of the Council on Education. The follow-
ing are extracts from the Preliminary note and the Memorial, which were drawn
up by Professor Nichol of the Glasgow University :-
“But it does appear singular, that in face of success elsewhere so abundant,
in face of the virtual acceptance of so many of its principles-parliamentary
authorities should continue to denounce our Secular scheme as not a
practical' one. This word, my Lord, is ambiguous : it has, at least, two
meanings. First, it may signify that it would be difficult to enact the Secular
system-a difficulty which, unquestionably, is not diminished by such declara-
tions. Great reforms, my Lord, are never easily realised ; but we respectfully
submit, that, in those days, no statesman need lose hope, or turn round when
confronted by obstacles, provided he can broadly appeal to the public reason,
and knows that great and beneficent consequences will attend success. The
word, however, has a second, and more important signification. It may mean
that the scheme proposed, as a basis, is not adequate to sustain the fabric pro-
posed to be raised upon it. Now, if it be the aim of Government to construct,
at present, a system of education worthy to be called NATIONAL ; if it be its
aim to do essential Justice-to act with an equal beneficence towards all classes
of its subjects, whatever their station or creed ; if it be its ambition to lay
foundations that cannot be shaken, and to place a structure thereon, not only
in harmony with existing circumstances, but which no change that is visibly
imminent in society, shall avail to disturb: then, my Lord, we shall take
leave to assert, that only through their relations to the scheme termed
‘Secular,' and in exact proportion to the closeness of these relations, have
the recent proposals of the Scottish minister-skilfully as they have been
contrived, and ably as they have been expounded-their just and proud title
to that rare merit involved in the epithet 'practical.'
“Can it fail to be evident how unjustifiable is that rude, but far from un-
common, imputation which describes such a scheme as irreligious ? The
Secular scheme is not based on the assertion, that regard to Religious Senti-
ment and Belief, should be held of inferior moment in the training of the
young; but expressly on the very different proposition, that, unless the
suggested separation is made, and dogmatic teaching left to the care of the
different Churches—whose willingness and ability to undertake and execute
the task, we shall be the last to doubtma true and effective system of National
education is, under existing circumstances, impossible. Still less does it
follow, that the character of the teacher chosen under such a system, although
unguaranteed by tests, need be irreligious : or that what we have designated
secular' and 'moral' training should not involve care for all Religious
elements really operative in the mind of the child. The character and bear-
ing of the teacher, as to his effective relations to God, would, of course, fall to
be weighed, along with other points of character, by the persons having the
power of nomination. And it would be open, in every such school, to draw
out, by every auspicious method, those primary Religious Sentiments, on the
ground and vitality of which all true belief must be based ; as well as to
accomplish another object, no less vital, viz. :—to guard and enforce the
sincerity and integrity of the Understanding—thereby instructing and confirm-
ing the pupil in the exercise of Conscience, in reference to all phases of every
Memorial of Glasgow Public School Association. 731
momentous question that, in maturer years, may engage his attention or in-
fluence his fates. Although claiming the privilege of dealing, in our schools,
with these comprehensive elements of true character, we have yet chosen to
limit the phraseology of our resolutions to 'Moral Training;' and our reason
is, that the phrase, “Religious Instruction' is not understood by any of the
parties at present struggling for ascendancy, in a sense corresponding to that
now explained. For the most part, these sections of our countrymen appear
to consider, that no training can be Religious, if dissevered from the presenta-
tion of the transcendental doctrines of Theology, to every mind-whatever its
age or its degree of intellectual development, and, therefore, without regard to
its ability to appreciate, or its right to accept them.”
“Let us once for all put an end to misapprehension as to the significance of
the phrase, Secular Education. We confess it an incomplete term, as symbols
of mere antagonism generally are; and we grant, farther, that doctrines con-
cerning Secular education have also, through effect of opposition, asserted more
than they really meant. The true opposition is not between education, Secular
and Religious, but between Secular education, Moral and Religious, as rightly.
designated by the word Training; and the attempt to fill the child's memory
with Theological dogmas, which, at that time of life, can find no response
either from the Heart or Intellect. The question, in its ultimate form, is not
a Religious question at all, but one appertaining purely to the science of
education. Had the latter science been cultivated in this country, the debates
now existing would have been unheard of Government could take no means
more likely to expedite the rational settlement of these problems, than by
instituting teachers and professors of scientific Pedagogy through all the great
permanent seminaries of the kingdom. Now that the burden of University
tests is removed, it is competent for the Crown to institute, to such chairs,
persons free from all bondage.”
“The considerations now briefly indicated to your Lordship, have sufficed
to persuade us, that no educational scheme founded on provisions assuring
the introduction into our Common Schools, of Theological or Dogmatic teach-
ing in any form, can ever be a national or permanent one ; and uncon-
taminated by admixture with principles, condemned alike by justice, and an
enlightened regard to the prosperity and progress of vital Religion. And the
existence of such a project is, at present, the more deeply to be deplored,
because its apparent popularity is the only obstacle to the enactment of
measures which might ensure the effective diffusion of industrial, intellectual,
and moral training through every zone of the population of Scotland. But,
my Lord, be not misled by that apparent popularity,–let not sound and far-
seeing statesmanship be scared from right and comprehensive action by an
over-estimate of the influence, or the mistaken interpretation, of a few un-
analysed public meetings. These meetings cannot, as we have said, represent
the true principles of the Voluntary Church in this country; and it is be-
coming every day more manifest, through the resolutions of the presbyteries
of that church, that they do not represent them. Your Lordship needs not
be informed, that, in all countries, there are great numbers of the Religious
laity, who, unless imperatively required to pronounce, are never willing to
oppose the clerical body in measures plausibly averred to involve the interests
of Religion ; and yet, how frequently has history told us, how false would be
732
Appendix, V. 3.
the inference that the laity approve such measures ! This movement, as we
are prepared to substantiate, finds small sympathy among the masses of
working men in our large cities; and we remind your Lordship, that it is
avowedly based on disregard of the religious views of the now important
Roman Catholic element of our Scottish population. But a fact still more
emphatic is this,—it has received no welcome, it has rather encountered
distinct opposition, from by far the most influential portion of the public press in
Scotland. Is it possible, my Lord, on any wide consideration of the case, to
suppose that the contrary could be true? We have the experience of the world
before us; and surely Scotchmen do not draw their origin from another
planet than this. On the Continent of Europe, some of the most enlightened
nations have drawn the high culture they possess from a system altogether
analogous to the one we now propose. In Ireland, under the sanction of the
British Government, the system has composed great differences. Why, then,
should it not be recognised by our thinking people as certainly capable of
reconciling small ones? Or, if it is alleged that the Anglo-Saxon race is
marked by peculiarities, observe how it has acted when free. Look to North
America ; look to our greatest colonies-Canada and Australia:-depend on
it, my Lord, that the man who, in face of these great and clear examples,
chooses to declare the adoption of our principles impracticable, is either
dogmatist or doctrinaire. There may, at present be a slight difference in
circumstances ; but, under the necessities of modern civilisation, Scotland is
rapidly drifting towards the conditions under which those other Anglo-Saxon
populations already exist.”
3. THE LAST VIEWS OF DR CHALMERS ON NATIONAL EDUCATION
AND ITS RELATION TO RELIGION.
REFERRED TO, p. LXII AND p. 204.
It were the best state of things, that we had a Parliament sufficiently
theological to discriminate between the right and wrong in Religion, and to
encourage or endow accordingly. But failing this, it seems to us the next
best thing, that, in any public measure for helping on the education of the
people, Government were to abstain from introducing the element of Religion
at all into their part of the scheme, and this not because they held the matter
to be insignificant—the contrary might be strongly expressed in the preamble
of their act; but on the ground that, in the present divided state of the
Christian world, they would take no cognisance of, just because they would
attempt no control over, the Religion of applicants for aid, leaving this matter
entirely to the parties who had to do with the erection and management of
the schools which they had been called upon to assist. A grant by the
State, upon this footing, might be regarded as being appropriately and ex-
clusively the expression of their value for a good Secular education.
The confinement, for the time being, of any Government measure for
schools to this object, we hold to be an imputation, not so much on the
present state of our Legislature, as on the present state of the Christian world,
now broken up into sects and parties innumerable, and seemingly incapable
of any effort for so healing these wretched divisions, as to present the rulers
Dr Chalmers on National Secular Education. 733
of our country with aught like such a clear and unequivocal majority in
favour of what is good and true, as might at once determine them to fix upon
and to espouse it.
It is this which has encompassed the Government with difficulties from
which we can see no other method of extrication, than the one which we have
ventured to suggest. And, as there seems no reason why, because of these
unresolved differences, a public measure for the health of all--for the
recreation of all for the economic advancement of all-should be held in
abeyance; there seems
there seems as little reason why, because of these differences,
a public measure for raising the general intelligence of all should be held in
abeyance. Let the men, therefore, of all churches and all denominations
alike hail such a measure, whether as carried into effect by a good education
in letters or in any of the sciences; and, meanwhile, in these very seminaries
let that education in Religion, which the Legislature abstains from providing
for, be provided for, as freely and amply as as they will, by those who have
undertaken the charge of them.
We should hope, as the result of such a scheme, for a most wholesome rival-
ship on the part of many in the great aim of rearing, on the basis of their
respective systems, a moral and Christian population, well taught in the
principles and doctrines of the gospel, along with being well taught in the
lessons of ordinary scholarship. Although no attempt should be made to
regulate or to enforce the lessons of Religion in the inner hall of legislation,
this will not prevent, but rather stimulate to a greater earnestness in the
contest between truth and falsehood—between light and darkness—in the outer
field of society; nor will the result of such a contest in favour of what is right
and good be at all the more unlikely, that the families of the land have been
raised by the helping hand of the State to a higher platform than before,
whether as respects their health, or their physical comfort, or their economic
condition, or, last of all, their place in the scale of intelligence and learning.
Religion would, under such a system, be the immediate product, not of
legislation, but of the Christian and philanthropic zeal which obtained through-
out society at large. But it is well, when what legislation does for the fulfil-
ment of its object tends, not to the impediment, but rather, we apprehend, to
the furtherance of those greater and higher objects which are in the contempla-
tion of those whose desires are chiefly set on the immortal well-being of
man.
On the basis of these general views, I have two remarks to offer regarding the
Government scheme of education :
1. I should not require a certificate of satisfaction with the Religious progress
of the scholars from the managers of the schools, in order to their receiving
the Government aid. Such a certificate from Unitarians or Catholics implies the
direct sanction or countenance by Government to their respective creeds, and
the responsibility, not of allowing, but more than this, of requiring that these
shall be taught to the children who attend. A bare allowance is but a general
toleration ; but a requirement involves in it the mischief, and, I would add, the
guilt, of an indiscriminate endowment for truth and error.
2. I would suffer parents or natural guardians to select what parts of the
education they wanted for their children. I would not force Arithmetic upon
them, if all they wanted was Reading and Writing; and as little would I force
734
Appendix, VI.
general Christianity of the people, but through the medium of the Christianity
the Catechism, or any part of Religious instruction that was given in the
schools, if all they wanted was a Secular education. That the managers in the
Church of England schools shall have the power to impose their Catechism
upon the children of Dissenters, and still more to compel their attendance on
church, I regard as amongst the worst parts of the scheme.
The above observations, it will be seen, meet any questions which might be
put in regard to the applicability of the scheme to Scotland, or in regard to
the use of the Douay version in Roman Catholic schools.
I cannot conclude without expressing my despair of any great or general
good being effected in the way of Christianising our population, but through
the medium of a government themselves Christian, and endowing the true
Religion ; which I hold to be their imperative duty, not because it is the
Religion of the many, but because it is true.
The endowment of the Catholic Religion by the State, I should deprecate,
as being ruinous to the country in all its interests. Still I do not look for the
of their rulers. This is a lesson taught historically in Scripture, by what we
read of the influence which the personal character of the Jewish monarchs held
on the Moral and Religious state of their subjects; it is taught experimentally
by the impotence, now fully established, of the Voluntary principle ; and last
and most decisive of all, it is taught prophetically in the book of Revelation,
when told that then will the kingdoms of the earth (Basileiai, or governing
powers) become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ, or the Governments of
the earth become Christian Governments. 1
THOMAS CHALMERS.
No. VI.-LIST OF MEDICAL MEN WHO SIGNED THE
MEDICAL OPINION ON THE IMPORTANCE
OF
TEACHING PHYSIOLOGY AND THE LAWS OF
HEALTH IN COMMON SCHOOLS, IN 1853.
REFERRED TO, p. 99.
Thomas Addison, M.D., Senior Physician, and Lecturer on the Practice of
Physic, Guy's Hospital, &c.
James Alderson, M.D., F.R.S., Fellow, Curator, and Lumleian Lecturer to the
Royal College of Physicians.
J. Moncrieff Arnott, F.R.S., Member of the Council and of the Court of
Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons, &c.
Neil Arnott, M.D., F. R. S., Physician Extraordinary to the Queen, Member of
the Senate of the University of London.
Benjamin Guy Babington, M.D., F.R.S., Physician to Guy's Hospital, &c.
T. Graham Balfour, M.D., Surgeon, Royal Military Asylum.
William Baly, M.D., Lecturer on Forensic Medicine at St Bartholomew's
Hospital, &c.
1 The above was written during the journey to London which preceded Dr Chalmers' death
in 1847, after the issue of the celebrated Minutes of the Privy Council on Education, in 1846,
which are referred to. It is quoted with approbation by Professor Nichol, in his edition of
Willm's " Education of the People," p. lxxxi. (Glasgow, William Lang, 1847.)
Medical Opinion on Physiology in Schools.
735
Archibald Billing, M.D., F.R.S., Member of the Senate and Examiner in
Medicine, University of London, &c.
Golding Bird, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Materia Medica and Assistant
Physician to Guy's Hospital, &c.
Francis Boott, M.D., Member of the Council of University College.
W. Bowman, F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at King's College,
&c.
Richard Bright, M.D., F.R.S., Physician Extraordinary to the Queen, Con-
sulting Physician to Guy's Hospital, &c.
Sir Benjamin C. Brodie, Bart., D.C.L., F.R.S., Sergeant Surgeon to the Queen,
Surgeon to H.R. H. Prince Albert, &c.
George Budd, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Medicine at King's College, and
Physician to King's College Hospital.
Sir William Burnett, M.D., K.C.B., and K.C.H., F.R.S., Director-General of
Naval Hospitals and Fleets.
George Burrows, M.D., F.R.S., Physician to St Bartholomew's Hospital,
&c.
Wm. B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S., Examiner in Physiology, &c., University of
London, Professor of Forensic Medicine at University College.
Sir James Clark, Bart., M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Physician in Ordinary to the
Queen and to H.R.H. Prince Albert, &c.
James Copland, M.D., F.R.S., President of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical
Society.
John Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Inspector-General of Army Hospitals.
John E. Erichsen, F.R.C.S., Professor of Surgery, University College, and
Surgeon to University College Hospital.
William Farr, M.D., of Registrar-General's Office.
Robert Ferguson, M.D.,Physician Accoucheur to the Queen, &c.
William Fergusson, F.R.S., Professor of Surgery at King's College, Surgeon in
Ordinary to H. R.H. Prince Albert, &c.
John Forbes, M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., Physician in Ordinary to H.M. House-
hold, Physician Extraordinary to H.R. H. Prince Albert, &c.
R. D. Grainger, F.R.S., Lecturer on Physiology at St Thomas's Hospital.
William Augustus Guy, M.B., Physician to King's College Hospital, Professor
of Forensic Medicine at King's College.
Cæsar H. Hawkins, President of Royal College of Surgeons, Surgeon to St
George's Hospital, &c.
Francis Hawkins, M.D., Registrar of Royal College of Physicians, and
Physician to Middlesex Hospital,
Thomas Hodgkin, M.D., Member of the Senate of the University of London.
Joseph Hodgson, F.R.S., Member of Council of Royal College of Surgeons,
Examiner in Surgery in University of London.
Sir Henry Holland, Bart., M.D., F.R.S., Physician in Ordinary to the Queen
and H.R. H. Prince Albert.
William Jenner, M.D., Professor of Pathological Anatomy at University
College.
H. Bence Jones, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Physician to St George's Hospital.
Francis Kiernan, F.R.S., Member of Senate and Examiner in Anatomy and
Physiology, University of London.
1
736
Appendix VI.
P. M. Latham, M.D., Physician Extraordinary to the Queen.
William Lawrence, F.R.S., Surgeon Extraordinary to the Queen, and Examiner,
Royal College of Surgeons.
Charles Locock, M.D., First Physician Accoucheur to the Queen, &c.
Thomas Mayo, F.R.S., Physician to St Marylebone Infirmary.
Richard Owen, F.R.S., Hunterian Professor of Physiology to the Royal College
of Surgeons, &c.
James Paget, F.R.S., Assistant Surgeon and Lecturer on Physiology at
Bartholomew's Hospital, &c.
John Ayrton Paris, M.D., F.R.S., President of the Royal College of Physicians.
E. A. Parkes, M.D., Professor of Clinical Medicine, University College,
Physician to University College Hospital, &c.
Richard Partridge, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, King's College,
Surgeon to King's College Hospital, &c.
Richard Quain, F.R.S., Surgeon to University College Hospital.
G. Owen Rees, M.D., F.R.S., Assistant Physician and Lecturer on Materia
Medica at Guy's Hospital.
Edward Rigby, M.D., Examiner in Midwifery to the University of London.
P. M. Roget, M.D., F.R.S., Member of Senate of University of London,
Author of “Bridgewater Treatise on Physiology,” &c.
H. S. Roots, M.D., F.R.S., Consulting Physician to St Thomas's Hospital.
John Scott, M.D., Examining Physician to the East India Company.
Edward James Seymour, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., formerly Physician to St
George's Hospital.
William Sharpey, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Physiology, University College
Examiner in Physiology, University of London.
Alexander Shaw, Surgeon, and Lecturer on Surgery to Middlesex Hospital.
Andrew Smith, M.D., Director-General, Army Medical Department.
T. Southwood Smith, M.D., Physician to London Fever Hospital, and Member
of General Board of Health.
H. H. Southey, M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., Gresham Professor of Medicine.
Edward Stanley, F.R.S., Surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital.
R. Bentley Todd, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Physiology at King's College, ,
Physician to King's College Hospital.
Benjamin Travers, F.R.S., Surgeon Extraordinary to the Queen, and Surgeon
in Ordinary to H.R. H. Prince Albert.
Alex. Tweedie, M.D., F.R.S., Physician to London Fever Hospital, Examiner
in Medicine to University of London, &c.
W. H. Walshe, M.D., Professor of Medicine at University College, and Physi-
cian to University College Hospital.
Thomas Watson, M.D., Consulting Physician to King's College Hospital.
Charles West, M.D., Physician Accoucheur, and Lecturer on Midwifery at St
Bartholomew's Hospital.
C. J. B. Williams, M.D., F.R.S., late Professor of Medicine at University
College, and Physician at University College Hospital.
James Arthur Wilson, M.D., Senior Physician to St George's Hospital.
LONDON, March 1853.
(
INDEX.
Abbott, Jacob,
Jacob, lvi; his work, | Angell, John, account of, 245;
“The Teacher,” 405.
works, 245; head-master of Man-
Abercrombie on Mental Philosophy, chester Oddfellows' School, 244; and
472.
Salford Mechanics' School, 246, and
Abstract terms, cause of different con- Manchester Mechanics' Institution,
ceptions of, 437.
246 ; his present position, 247; on
Accomplishments, 47 ; their part in teaching science, 255; his “Animal
education, 64.
Physiology," 365.
Acland's, Dr Henry W., "Memoir Anti-Corn Law League, 155.
on the Cholera at Oxford," 106 ; Approbation, Love of, its uses and
“Health, Work, and Play,” 106 ; abuses, 658, 663; its manifestations
“Notes on Teaching Physiology in when large, 387; when deficient, 387,
the Higher Schools," 107.
693 ; too much appealed to, 386 ;
Acquisitiveness, its uses and abuses, causes of this, 386 ; combined with
658, 662 ; its relations to deceit, other faculties, 386 ; its use in
395.
emulation, 388; its use in discipline,
Acting, its effects on actors, 332. 401 ; its manifestations in girls,
Action, mental, distinguished from 694 ; its regulation in school work,
power, activity, &c., 299.
703; its training in scientific teach-
Activity, mental, explained, 299; ing, 705.
causes influencing it, 301, 304. Argyll, Duke of, letter to, xxvi ;
Adams', Francis, The Free School quoted, 40, 416, 576.
System of the United States," 591, Arithmetic, merely instrumental, 26,
622.
43, 51.
Adhesiveness, its functions, 657, 661 ; Arnold, Dr Thomas, lvi.
its treatment, 681.
Arnold's, Matthew, “Schools and
Advantages of education, personal, Universities on the Continent,
501, 507; social, 508, 572; political,
Popular Education of
513, 522.
France," 628,
Air, need of its purity, 351 ; its im: Ascham's “Schoolmaster,” 471.
purity, 352.
Ashburton, Lord, recommends Social
Alcott, Amos Bronson, lvi.
Science for schools, 199, 625.
Algebra. See Mathematics.
Association, dependent not on the re-
Alimentiveness, its uses and abuses, lation of ideas, 467; its limits in
658, 661.
relation to Language, 445 ; its in-
Amativeness, its uses and abuses, 657, fluence on the Reflecting faculties,
661 ; when developed, 287, 366. 465; dependent on the faculties,
American Journal of Education, 470, 466.
472.
Attention, not an independent faculty,
Anatomy, in relation to God's moral 698; how to fix it in children, 698.
government, 129. See Physiology. Austin's, Sarah, Translation of Cousin's
Ancient languages, the. See Classics. " State of Public Education in
Anderson, Dr John, founder of Prussia,” 623.
Anderson's College, Glasgow, lx; Austria, results of education in, 505,
his popular lectures on science, lx. 506 ; its government, 520.
628;
3 A
738
Index.
>>
Back, the, need of support for, 357. Bennett, Rev. W., 221 ; his connection
Bacon, Lord, on force of nature, 299; with Glasgow Secular Schools, 221.
on mathematics, 433.
Bennett, Thomas, 221; his connection
Bain, Professor Alexander, lvi, lviii ; with Glasgow Secular Schools, 221 ;
his “Senses and Intellect,'' 425, 472. his Plea for "
Baines', Edward, “Letters on State 221, 222.
Education,” 546.
Bernstein's “Five Senses of Man,'
Barlow, Dr, article on Physical Edu- 425.
cation, 103.
Biber's, Dr, "Lectures on Education,”
Barnard, Henry, account of, 593; 471.
emipent in education, lvi ; his Bidder, George, account of, 432; his
labours for it, lvi; on female educa- powers of number, 307 ; his general
tion, 68; his “Studies and Con- faculties, 464.
duct,” 93 ; “School Architecture, ” Bilious or fibrous temperament, 342.
366, American Journal of Educa- Birkbeck, Dr, an eminent educationist,
tion, 470; “National Education in liv, lvi; founder of Mechanics' Insti-
Europe,” 471, 623, 628 ;
"German
tutes, lxi; one of the earliest lecturers
Teachers and Educators,” 472 ; on popular science, lx ; in Glasgow,
“Educational Biography,” 472–593; 231; in London, 231.
Connecticut Common School Journal, Birkbeck Schools, 207, 230; the first
610 ;
American Teachers,” 650. school founded, 231 ; education
Bartley's, George, C. T., “Schools for given in, 231; subjects taught in,
the People,” 237, 471.
Ix, lxxi, 235; principles on which
Bashfulness, its nature, 295.
conducted, 235; how carried on,
Basedow,
Johann Bernhard, lvi.
234; importance laid on Social
Bastard, T. Horlock, account of, 247, Science in, xliii, 235; their reli-
506 ; attempts to read a paper of gious teaching, xlii; visited and
George Combe's at the Social Science described by George Combe, lxv,
Association, 101 ; founds Labourers' 232; earlier schools now discon-
Club, 248; founds a Secular School, tinued, 233; schools now existing,
248 ; his relation to the Combes, 233; their success, 235.
249; erects memorial to the Combes, Blackwood's Magazine, on education,
249 ; his article on “ Labourers'
532, 536.
Clubs and Women Members," 248 ; Blood, its circulation, 355.
on Co-education, 248 ; visited by Body, the, its general structure, 347;
George Combe, 506.
conditions of its healthy growth,
Bastard's School, Blandford, its foun- 347 ; results of violation of its con-
dation, 248 ; subjects taught, 248; stitution, 356 ; its functions should
its success, 249.
not be simultaneous, 356.
Beddoes, Dr Thomas, his popular | Bohemia, results of education in, 505,
lectures on science, lx.
506.
Belfast Academy, 250 ; its early Bonald, De, quoted, 142.
teaching of science, 250.
Boys, their abilities compared with
Bell, Dr Andrew, a leading educa- girls', 693 ; their influence on girls,
tionist, liv, lv, lvi ; his system of 693.
Mutual Instruction, 322 ; George Botany, its teaching, 469.
Combe's opinion of, 322: his “Ex- Boston, U.S., Hawes' Common School
periments in education,” lviii, 473 ; in, 385.
* Elements of Tuition,” 406, 473 : Boston Phrenological Society, ad-
trains teachers, lxi.
dressed by George Combe, 109.
Bell Chairs of Education, lxii.
Books, their preservation in schools,
Beneke's Erziehungs- und Unter- 385 ; when too difficult, 459.
richtslehre,” 472.
Bones, the, their treatment in infancy,
Benevolence, its uses and abuses, 658, 358.
664 ; the importance of its training, Brackett, Anna C., on female educa-
383; its use in discipline, 401, tion, 68; her translation of Rosen-
402 ; its training through science, , kranz's “ Die Pädagogik als Sys-
412 ; necessary in the teacher, 632. tem,” 472, 536.
Index.
739
on
Bridgman, Laura
, her development, Carpenteral Dehysiology," 105
, ' 309,
Brain, the, a conyeries of organs, 289 ; Business, as related to education, 288.
the source of nervous energy, 355;its Butler, Bishop, on God's moral govern-
careful protection, 359 ; developed
ment, 132.
only by exercise, 269; conditions
of its exercise, 270 ; conditions of Calderwood's, Professor, “On Teach-
its healthy growth, 271 ; effects of ing,” 405, 471.
its over exercise, 271, 273, 274, 292, Caldwell, Dr Charles, on classics,
687–8, 694; examples of its exercise, 78, 82; quoted on great men ig-
272, 273, 275 ; cerebral effects of norant of classics, 78; on physi-
appeals to its organs, 295; size neces- cal education, 12, 78, 83, 344,
sary for power, 302 ; examples of 364; quoted on physical education,
this, 303; its training during rapid 345 ; his " On the Advantages
growth, 687 ; the need of knowing of a National University,” 524 ;
its physiology, 687-690, 707.
a little learning,” 522 ; his
Branches of instruction. See Subjects Thoughts on Physical Educa-
that should be taught.
tion,” 103, reprinted and edited
Bray, Charles, account of, 103; his by Robert Cox, with preface by
"Éducation of the Feelings,” 104, George Combe, 103.
111, 406, 470; his "Education of the Campan, Madame, on female educa-
Body, "“Philosophy of Necessity,” tion, 57.
and “ Anthropology,” 103.
Campbell, Thomas, on “Plan for a
Bray's Mrs Charles, “ Physiology for University in London,” 376.
Schools,” 107, 365; "Our Duty to Capacity, natural. See Endowment,
"
natural.
Dr, lvilviii, ;
710 ; the methods of teaching her,
Physiology
710-717.
325, 434, 471; **Principles of
Brigham, Dr, “On the Influence of Human Physiology,” 365 ; “ Out-
Mental Cultivation on Health," line of Psychology,” 105.
103; re-edited by Dr Robert Mac- Catechism, the, prominence given to
nish, 103.
its teaching, lii.
Bright children, their treatment, 388. Causality, the faculty, its functions,
Britain, may learn from America and
439, 660, 669; its relations to In-
Prussia in education, 608.
dividuality and Eventuality, 439;
British and. Foreign Society, lv, lxi. and to the philosophic understand-
British Quarterly, Herbert Spencer ing,” 440; its training when large,
on physical education in, 107.
458; in Chemistry, 470; social
Broader education, efforts at securing, effects of its culture, 529.
201–259. See Real Education. Causation, George Combe's definition
Brougham, Lord, an educational refor- of, 40, 432; subjects of, in relation
mer, liv; his educationallabours,lxii, to Mathematics, 432, 433 ; in rela-
lxvi; on Secular instruction, 582. tion to God's moral government,
Broussais, François J. V., 287.
135, 145; the subjects of causation
Brown, Dr Thos., his ideas of causa- should be taught, 40, 439; their
tion controverted by George Combe, neglect in schools, 40.
432 ; his Mental Philosophy, 472. Cautiousness, its manifestations, 382;
Bruce Castle School, 250 ; its teaching its uses and abuses, 658, 664 ; when
of science, 250.
deficient, 382, 681 ; combined with
Bruce's, Rev. J. C., Academy, New- other faculties, 383; when large,
castle, and its teaching, 251.
383 ; its use in discipline, 340 ; its
Bryce, Rev. R. J., 250 ; Lectures effects, 436 ; its discipline, 683,685.
on Early Education,” 471.
Central Society of Education's publi-
Bryce, Dr James, 250.
cations, 472.
Buckton's, Mrs, “Health in the Chalmers, Dr Thomas, his views of
House,” 365.
popular education, lxiv, 29, 203,
Budgett's, Dr, “School Hygiene," 366. 205; these broaden, lxiv, 204, 732;
Burritt, Elihu, account of, 273 ; his on sacredness and science, 119; on
studies, 273.
the effects of education, 498; on
740
Index.
395.
National Secular Education,lxiv, 204. great men on their teaching, 78 ;
732; his “Bridgewater Treatise,"499. Cowley on, 78; Locke on, 78; Dr
Chambers' W. & R., “Encyclopædia” Caldwell on, 78, 82; Gibbon on,
quoted on Sanitary Science, 98; their 79; Thomas Moore on, 79; Milton
Infant Education," 473.
on, 79; Dr Adam Smith on, 79;
Champlin's, J. J., “Lessons on Poli- Sydney Smith on, 87 ; Lord
tical Economy,” 199.
Cockburn on, 90 :
as bases of
Channing, Dr Ellery, his educational further knowledge, 80 ; as trainers
work, 652; on economy in educa- of observation, 81; as strengtheners
tion, 656 ; Memoirs of, 652, 656. of the judgment, 81 ; as training to
Character, as produced by the faculties, overcoming difficulties, 81; as influ-
encing civilisation, 83 : good effects
Chemistry, its nature, 52 ; its teach- of their study, 85; proper age for
ing, 470 ; in relation to God's moral teaching them, 85; opinions on
government, 130.
this, 85; contest against their
Children, their reasonable desires teaching, xix, 87 et seq. ; new anti-
should be respected, 393.
classical era begun, 90 ; present
Christison, Prof., on classical educa- state of the classical controversy,
tion, 75.
93; writers on both sides of the
Churches, should National education subject, 93 ; discouraged in Secular
be carried on by ? lxiv, 541, 557 ; schools, 256.
their relation to certain doctrines, Cleanliness, its importance, 357, 358;
542; make dogmas paramount in a part of physical education, 363.
education, 542; their relation to Cleland's, Dr,“ Animal Physiology,"
the people, 544 ; live by sectarian 365.
differences, 544, 545 ; their main Clergy, the, their conduct of education
object in education, 550 ; their re- in the past, liii ; their relation
lation to Secular education, 557, to Secular instruction, 541 ; their
542 ; their claim to conduct educa- character, 544 ; exist by sec-
tion, 542.
tarianism, 544, 545 ; their relation
Civilisation, man's capacity for, 499 ; to Public schools, 727.
as influenced by teaching languages Cleverness, the faculties producing,
and science, 83 ; the knowledge 435; distinguished from higher
necessary for its progress, 84.
ability, 435.
Clarke, Dr E. H., on female educa- Cobb's, Lyman, “The Evil Tend-
tion, 68.
ency of Corporal Punishment,” 405.
Clark, Sir James, on Physiology in Cobden, Richard, M.P., promotes
schools, 100, 735; favours Social Secular education, 241 ; on the term
Science, 199; letter to, by George Secular, 258 ; letter to, 558, 592 ;
Combe, 546.
on National Secular education, 594;
Classics, instrumental subjects, xxxvi, his connection with education, 594.
44, 69 ; their proper place, 44; to Cockburn, Lord, on classics, and the
whom necessary, 45, 82; to whom anti-classical contest of this cen-
they should be taught, 443 ; their
tury, 90.
ancient value, 71, 72; their de- Co-education of the sexes, 68, 379;
cline, 71, 86 ; their new value at George Combe's opinion of, 378,
the Revival of Letters, 71; their 379; Bastard's, 379; works on, 379.
relation to modern literature, 72; Colburn, Zerah, account of, 431.
have become less valuable, 72; their Colouring, its function, 436, 659, 668;
study in our schools, 73; too much its deficiency, 430 ; its relation to
time devoted to them, lix, 73, 90 ; Comparison, 438.
effects of their too exclusive study, Combativeness, its characteristics,
74, 115, 312 : their relation to the 380, 486 ; its uses and abuses, 657,
intellectual faculties, 74, 80; to 661 ; its training, 368, 486; in
practical life, 75, 82; to a know- fighting, 381 ; in private life, 381 ;
ledge of English, 76 ; to scientific its guidance, 381-2; its discipline,
technicalities, 77 : great men who 685; appealed to by harshness, 393.
were ignorant of, 78; opinions of Combe, Dr Andrew, account of, xix;
Index.
741
a
counted a “blockhead” at home,
442; his mental organs, 442, 457 ;
his education, 457; his works, xix;
one of the first to write on Physi-
ology for schools, xxxviii, 103 ; his
works on Physiology recommended,
60 ; on classics, 89 ; his studies
with his brother, 134 : his advo-
cacy of the sacredness of science,
168; on Sympathy, 328: his “Prin-
ciples of Physiology and Health,
103, 364, 365, 459; “Management
of Infancy," 104, 406, 425 : his
memory of names, 467 : his "Intro-
duction of Religion into Common
Schools,” 565, 580 ; quoted, 671 ;
“Life” of, xix, 104, 442, 458.
Combe, George, his birth, xvii; home
discipline, 402, 125 ; early educa-
tion, 456, 460, 354 ; his religious
education, 127; learning to read,
456, 462 ; learning geography, 456 ;
learning mathematics, 457; learn-
ing English, 461 ; his defective
number, 429, 430; counted
“blockhead,” 442 ; his early mental
struggles, 111; education in High
School, 398, 404, 126 ; his physical
education, 350 ; his Tune and Time,
468 ; his Latin verse-making, 468 ;
his early association with working
classes, 501; at Edinburgh Univer-
sity, 443, 126 ; his tendency to
niental studies, xvii: his earlier
writings, xvii ; his early study of
education, xvii; founds the Phreno-
logical Society of Edinburgh, xvii ;
his first work on education, xvii ;
becomes a candidate for Chair of
Logic in Edinburgh, xviii ; his tes-
timonials then, xviii; offered
Chair, xviii ; marries Cecilia Sid-
dons, 332 ; retires from business,
xviii; visits America, xviii; his
work there, xviii; his account of
it, xviii, xxvii ; travels much on
the Continent, xviii, 505 ; his con-
nection with the Phrenological
Journal, xviii, xix; list of his edu-
cational writings, xix, xxv-xxvii,
lviii ; writes the life of Dr Andrew
Combe, xix; his part in the anti-
classical contest of the century,
xix, lix; tries to improve the Edin-
burgh High School, xx; his con-
nection with Infant schools, xx;
lectures on education throughout
the country, xx; receives his first
notions on the Moral Government
of the world from Spurzheim, 124 ;
his early history in search of the
principles of this Government, 125
et seq.; his nursery experiences of
this government, 125 ; his school
and college experiences of same,
126 ; his religious education in re-
lation to it, 127; his theological
studies in relation to it, 128 ; his
scientific studies in relation to it,
129; its true principles begin to
dawn in commerce and population,
130; Bishop Butler sheds some
light on it, 132; its central principle
discovered by him, 132 : accused of
infidelity, 158; his interest in
broader theology, 166 ; his advo-
cacy of Religious education, 167;
propounds the sacredness of science,
168 ; teaches it in Williams' School,
416; proves the supremacy of moral
law, 178; one of the earliest advo-
cates of teaching Social Science,
xxi, 96 ; founds the Secular school
in Edinburgh, xxii, 201: his connec-
tion with Glasgow educational move-
ments, xxiv, 224 ; with Lovett,
225 ; with Manchester educational
movements, xxiv, 239 : becomes a
Governor in John Watson's Institu-
tion, Edinburgh, 362; his efforts in
favour of Physiology, 98, 107, 362;
improves Watson's Institution,
363 ; lessons given by him on
Physiology, Phrenology, and Social
Science, 474-488 ; one of the foun-
ders of the Edinburgh Philosophical
Institution, xxi: one of the greatest
advocates of “Secular” education,
xxi, xxiii, 586 ; his use of the term
“Secular,” lxxi,lxxii,718; his action
in favour of Secular education, xxi,
lxiv ; of National education, xxi,
lxvii ; visits Mr Bastard in Dorset,
248, 506 ; on popular lectures,
lx, 525; one of the earliest to give
them, lx; his advocacy of Real edu-
cation, xix, xxxvi, xxxviii ; fur-
nishes the basis of the present Na-
tional system, 586 ; examines and
describes the educational system of
Zürich, 624 : his advocacy of Nor-
mal schools, 649; of universal
popular education, lv ; of improving
the range of study in schools,
lix; one of the earlier reformers
of the process of education, lvii ; his
a
742
Index.
influence on the teaching of Science,
lxi : his action on the training of
teachers, lxiii ; on female education,
xlii, 68 ; on teaching classics, 87;
on Physiology in schools, 100, 101;
teaches it in the Williams School,
120 ; this teaching misunderstood,
120; his defence of it, 121: seeks
Government aid in vain, lxxi;
his
eminence as an educationist, xv,
lxix: his life-long study of educa-
tion, xxiv ; his educational services
little known, xv, lxix; the great
aims of his life, xvi ; his perception
of education as the best application
of philosophy, xvi; his enthusiasm
in education, xvi, xvii, xviii, lxix,
lxx : his « Constitution of Man"
an introduction to an essay on edu-
cation, xvi; never wrote a formal
treatise on education, xxvii ; all his
works educational, xvii ; the nature
of his educational utterances, xxviii;
the value of these, xxix; his edu-
cational views before his own and
this age, xxx, lxx; his use of
Phrenology in education, xlvii ; his
classification of the Phrenological
faculties, 657: his views of what
education is, xxxi ; his views of the
nature of training, xxxii ; his views
of the nature and aims of instruc-
tion, xxxv; his views of the sub-
jects that should be taught, xxxviii;
his views of religious education,
xli, lxiv; his views of the great
outline of education, xlii ; his views
of female education, xliii ; his views
of want of time for certain subjects,
xliv; his views of who should be
educated, xliv, lv; his views of Free
education, xlv; his views of the
agencies for National education,
xlv, lxvii ; his views of the profes-
sional training of the teacher, xlv,
lxiii ; his views of the status of the
teacher, xlvi : his devotion to great
ideas, lxxiv, xvi; the opposition
and obloquy he gained, lxvi, lxxiv;
the clearness of his style, xv, xxviii,
lxix; his merit as a scientific edu-
cationist, lvii ; his influence on the
education of his time, lxx, lxxiv;
his influence on the education of
the future, lxxiii, lxxv; his educa-
tional views largely embraced, lxx;
the real merit of his Secular Schools,
Lxxii; his ultimate position as an
educationist, lxxv : his connection
with Horace Mann, lxxiii, lxiii;
his last articles on education, xxv,
186 ; his motto, lxxvii, 449 ; his
death, xvii, xxv ; his character, xvi,
lxxiv: Life of, by Charles Gibbon,
lxx; by Professor Nichol, lxix.
Combe's, George, Works:-Address at
Anniversary of birth of Spurzheim to
Boston (U.S.)Phrenological Society,
xxv, 109, 334, 645 : American lec-
tures, edited by Boardman, xxv,
xxvii; quoted, 15,57, 104, 272, 274,
275, 289, 293, 307, 314, 326, 330,
336, 339, 342, 343, 347, 350, 352,
353, 356, 357, 358, 362, 368, 378,
452, 459, 464, 536, 640, 642, 655 :
“ Constitution of Man, issued
xvii, xxvii, 102 ; quoted, xvi,
xlviii, 20, 43, 44, 56, 149, 181,
182, 312, 393, 538, 641; editions of,
for schools, xxxix: “ Education in
America,” in Edinburgh Review,
xxvi, lxvii, 590, 595, 615, 622 ;
“Elements of Phrenology,” 330.;
Essays on Phrenology,” xxvii,
xvii, 102 ;. qnoted, 17, 19, 267, 276,
278, 279, 280, 287, 290, 297, 298,
340, 347, 367, 369, 372, 373, 397,
427, 438, 441, 530, 531, 535, 635,
640, 644 ; “Functions of the Cere-
bellum” (Gall, Vimont, and Brous-
sais), translated by George Combe,
287 : Lectures on education at New-
castle, quoted, 18;
“ Lectures on
Popular Education,” xxi,
xxi, XXV,
xlii; quoted, 9, 11, 16, 42, 45, 67,
82, 103, 294, 306, 392, 455, 495,
498, 500, 504, 510, 512, 518, 528,
556, 623 : letter to Sir James Clark,
546; to Cobden, 558, 594 ; to
Economist, 491, 507, 511, 534 ; to
Mr James M‘Clelland, xlix, 546,
566 ; to Edinburgh Weekly Journal,
quoted, 19; to Baron Stockmar, on
education of Prince of Wales, 643 ;
to Mr B. Templar, on his “Science
and Religion,” xxv; on teaching
Physiology, 330, 363, 423 ; to Mrs
Whately, 578 : Life of Dr Andrew
Combe,”, xix, xxvii, 105: “Moral
Philosophy,” xxi, xxvii ; quoted,
11, 19, 21, 149, 155, 173, 182, 184,
198, 395, 507, 509, 517, 646, 648 :
from MSS., xxvi. 13, 17, 18, 19, 20,
26, 37, 51, 95, 109, 270, 271, 273,
313, 317, 326, 339, 362, 369, 375,
380, 401, 402, 470, 624, 640, 641 :
+
Index.
743
"On Natural Sciences and Shorter Phrenology,” 121 ; on the Birk-
Catechism,” xxvi; quoted, 39, 85, beck Schools, 231, 232; on Social
158, 422, 594 : “ Natural Supre- Science in schools, 186 : “Sugges-
macy of the Moral Sentiments,” 178; tions” in regard to Edinburgh High
“ New Reformation in Germany, School, 102 : “System of Phreno-
166: from North British Daily Mail, logy,” xvii ; quoted, 102, 269,
Speech on Education at Paisley, 271, 277, 287, 296, 302, 304, 306,
in; quoted, 13, 16, 33, 38, 240, 305, 309, 311, 319, 321, 325, 326, 327,
503; speech at Glasgow, 536, 578, 328, 337, 338, 342, 382, 383, 384,
392 : 6 Notes on the United States 388, 396, 398, 400, 425, 427, 428,
of North America,' xviii, xxvii, 429, 432, 435, 437, 438, 439, 440,
lxvii ; quoted, 1, 13, 20, 22, 45, 46, 449, 463, 464, 466, 467, 468, 469,
122, 151, 189, 190, 192, 193, 275, 470, 633: “On teaching Physiology
276, 282, 293, 296, 312, 331, 333, and its Applications in Common
335, 342, 344, 350, 354, 368, 372, Schools,” xxv, xxvi, 101 : Speech
376, 380, 385, 386, 388, 405, 407, on National Education at Paisley,
408, 410, 411, 430, 431, 452, 459, in 1851, xxvi, quoted, 13, 38, 305,
460, 461, 491, 510, 516, 518, 519, 578, 592 ; at Edinburgh, in 1851,
520, 522, 557, 638, 639, 650, 651, xxvi, quoted, 504, 565, 573, 588,
653, 656 : “Parliamentary Reform, 592; at Glasgow, xxvi, quoted,
quoted, 184 : “Phrenology applied 16, 33, 503, 532, 536; at Aberdeen,
to Painting and Sculpture," 342, in 1851, xxvi, quoted, 18, 46, 525,
343: from Bhrenological Journal, 18, 545, 649 ; at opening of Edinburgh
19, 67, 82, 102, 103, 109, 111, 117, Secular School, 207 : “Science and
119, 122, 175, 176, 178, 184, 251, Religion,” xxi, xxii, xxvii ; quoted,
252, 266, 267, 269, 280, 281, 282, 20, 106, 151, 416, 551, 569, 580,
284, 286, 288, 289, 291, 296, 304, 590, 595 ; his own opinion of, xxv:
308, 318, 319, 322, 323, 324, 327, “Thoughts on Capital Punish-
334, 337, 339, 377, 384, 386, 392, nient,” 149 : “Secular Education,
398, 427, 428, 431, 436, 443, 454, in Westminster Review, xxii, xxvi,
455, 463, 467, 471, 538, 632, 637, lxviii, quoted, 392, 459, 491, 509,
642, 644, 656: Preface to Dr 514, 528, 542, 565, 574, 577, 585,
Caldwell's “ Thoughts on Physical 590"; “What should Secular Educa-
Education, quoted, 12, 346 : tion embrace ?” xxii, xxvi; quoted,
“Remarks on National Education, 20, 55, 149, 154, 219.
xxiv, xxvi, lxvii; quoted, 12, Combe Trustees, who they are, xxix;
15, 20, 34, 157, 167, 523, 550, 555, their connection with the present
566, 582, 596, 603, 607: Review work, xxix.
of “Histoire Philosophique de Commands, should be intelligent, 394;
l'Hypochondrie et de l'Hysterie,” those without reason, 402.
by Dubois, 64 ; of “Plan for a Commerce, in relation to God's moral
University in London,” by Campbell government, 130.
tlie Poet, 376 ; of MÍrs Sandford's Committee of Council on Education,
"Woman in her Social and Do- lxvii,
mestic Character,” quoted, 66, in Committee of Council scheme of educa-
Phrenological Journal, 67, 103 ; of tion, of 1846, 589; objections to,
Spurzheim's "Elementary Principles 589, 590.
of Education,” quoted, xlviii : from Commissioners of National Education
Scotsman, xix, xxv, xxvi; on
in Ireland, 600; their school books,
New Reformation in Germany,”166; 603.
speech at Edinburgh on National Common Sense, not sufficient in educa-
Education, 504, 565, 573, 588, 592; tion, 638 ; or in any professional
his last article there, 607; on Com- work, 638 ; implies a theory, 639.;
mon Schools of Massachusetts, 622 ; this imperfect without Mental
letter to Duke of Argyll, xxvi, 40, Science, 639 : its culture, 325.
416, 577 ; on “What is Secular in- Comparison, the faculty, its functions,
struction?" 575; on Compulsory 438, 660, 669 ; its relation to other
education, · 596;
- On teaching faculties, 438; to Reasoning, 438;
66 The
744
Index.
$
2
rarely deficient, 439; its training in with Secular education in Glasgow,
children, 439; its training when 220, 222, 224.
large, 458 ; social effects of its Cunningham's, David, - Calisthenics
culture, 529.
and Drilling,” 365.
Compulsion in education, when neces- Cunningham, Rev. Robert, account
sary, 596 ; how carried out in the of, 89; his school in Edinburgh, 89,
Codes of 1870, 1872, and 1878, 596; 251 ; his system of education, 89,
works on, 596 ; in America, 611 ; 272; on Stow's first Normal School,
in Switzerland, 625; in Scotland, 649 ; recommends Universities for
611; in Massachusetts, 611.
training teachers, 650, lxii.
Concentrativeness, its action, 631, Currie's • Common School Education,"
632; its uses and abuses, 657, 661. 325, 406, 425, 471 ; “Early and
Conduct of life, the, the knowledge re- Infant School Education,” 406, 425,
quired for, xliii, xxxvii, 28, 45, 471, 473.
192 ; relation of classical teaching Curwen's, John, “Teacher's Manual,"
to, 75, 82; instruction in Mental 471, 473.
Science necessary for, 108, 172, 235; Cuvier's, Baron, retentiveness of
ignorance regarding its principles,
memory, 464.
170, 173, 192; importance of a “Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine,”
knowledge of, in discipline, 404. article in, by Dr Barlow, on teaching
Conscientiousness, its uses and abuses, Physiology, 103.
658, 665; its training through
science, 156, 412; its effects, 436 ; D'Alembert, on mathematics, 433.
combined with Love of Approbation, Dall, Caroline, on female education, 68.
386; its use in discipline, 401, 685; Dalton's “Treatise on Physiology and
should be more carefully trained in Hygiene," 365.
school, 408; its training in reference Darwin, Dr Erasmus, on female educa-
to public opinion, 408 ; necessary
tion, 68.
in the teacher, 632.
Daughter, picture of a good, 535.
“ Constitution of Man." See Combe's, Davies, Emily, on female education, 68.
George, Works, 742.
Dawes, Rev. Richard. See Hereford,
Cooper's, Rev. W. M., "History of Dean of.
the Rod,” 406.
Death-rate, shows need of teaching
Cousin's, Victor, - State of Public Physiology, 98.
Education in Prussia,” 623.
Deceit, often arises from misdirected
Cowley, the poet, on classics, 78.
faculties, 395.
Cowper, the poet, on the resemblance Delicacy, its training, 59; in relation
between mind and body, 301 ; his to teaching Physiology, 59.
timidity, 381.
Destructiveness, its uses and abuses,
Cox's, Robert, 56 On Benevolence and 658, 662; its wise direction, 379;
Destructiveness,” 386.
its misdirection, 401; its hurtful
Coxe, Sir James, account of, 452; manifestations, 380; appealed to by
letter on Real teaching in a German harshness, 393, 401; its misuse in
school, 452; on teaching in Edin- discipline, 395, 401, 685.
burgh High School, 454.
Development, the end of education,
Crime, its relation to education, 536– xxxi; limited by organisation, 298;
538; the effects on, when education the conditions of, in relation to the
is merely intellectual, 537; when faculties, 309, 313.
education is Real, 538; in relation' Dick's, Dr A. H., “Outlines of Politi-
to God's moral government, 143 ; cal Economy,” 199.
its statistics in France, 143; in Diesterweg, lvi ; his “Wegweiser zur
Britain, 144.
Bildung für deutsche Lehrer,” 472.
Criminals, their mental development Diet, importance of its being nutri-
when strong, 303.
tious, 350.
Criticism lessons, 702.
Digestion, 349; effects of its predomi-
Crosby Hall Lectures on Education,
nance, 357.
546.
Discipline, the principles of, 392-406,
Cunliffe, Richard S., his connection 680-693; should remove its need
t
Index.
745
392 ; should foster true obedience, Donaldson's, J.W., “Classical Scholar-
393 ; should respect the reasonable ship and Classical Learning,” 93.
desires of children, 393, 684, 701 ; | D'Orsey, Rev. A. J. D., 253.
should use intelligence, 394, 402, Draper's, Dr, “ Anatomy and Physi-
684 ; should be regulated by natural ology,” 365.
disposition, 395, 684–5; should em- Dubois, C. Frederick, his "Histoire
ploy all the faculties, 398, 403, Philosophique de Hypochondrie et
684 ; should establish a healthy de l'Hystérie,” 64.
public opinion, 691; should avoid Duffey, Mrs E. B., on female edu-
threats, 403 ; should appeal to cation, 68.
higher feelings, 403, 684; and to Dull children, their treatment, 389.
Reflecting faculties, 404 ; should not Duncan, “On Genius," 297.
depress natural buoyancy, 684, 691 ; Dunn's “ Principles of Teaching,"471.
should exercise, not punish, the child, Duties, a daily record of, used for
683 ; should direct the faculties, children, 111; domestic, 57 ; ma-
684 ; should train to self-restraint ternal, 57 ; to society, 553.
and perception of natural conse- Dux, its etymology and meaning in
quences of actions, 690 : in relation
Scotland, 389.
to strong faculties, 396, 684, 685; Dwight, Edmund, his efforts for Nor-
to defective, 396, 685; as regulated mal schools in Massachusetts, 651.
by the law of Sympathy, 399, 401;
the influence of girls in, 693-4 ; Economist, Editor of, on education,
as influenced by example, 400 ; the 504, 510, 533.
principles of, should be explained to Economy, Domestic, text-books on, 366.
pupils, 701 ; of active children, Edgeworth, Maria, on Comparison in
400; of the obstinate, 401, 684, children, 439.
685, 686, 688; use of mechanical Edgeworth, Richard, a leading educa-
a
exercises in, 692 ; George Combe's tionist, lvi; his son-in-law, lx;
personal experiences of its defects, his "Practical Education,” lviii,
402–404 ; importance of knowledge 405, 439, 471 ; on female education,
of self and life in, 404; use of 68 ; on classics, 86.
pleasure and pain in, 340 ; its effects Edinburgh Academy, founded, 88;
illustrated, 412, 685, 686-693 : in its purpose, 88 ; its discipline, 397;
Edinburgh Academy, 397 ; in Edin- Latin verses in, 442, 462.
burgh High School, 398 ; in the Edinburgh High School, foundation
Secular Schools, 255; in the Wil- of present building, 88; George
liams Secular School, 680-693, 215, Combe's “ Observations
on, 88;
in the Birkbeck Schools, 234 ; in its history, 89, 91 ; subjects taught
Manchester Secular Schools, 242, in, 91 ; reform in its curriculum,
245 : books on its principles, 405. 91, 92; neglect of Reflective facul-
Disease, the true means of lessening, 119. ties in, 442 ; science in, 442 ; its
Disobedience, often from misdirected discipline, 398, 450; George Combe's
faculties, 395.
education there, 398 ; his first
Dispositions, their variety, 395 ; teacher in, 450 ; Sir James Coxe on
should regulate discipline, 395. its teaching, 454 ; long neglect of
Dittes' “Schule der Pädagogik,” 472. English in, 461.
Doctrinal instruction. See Spiritual | Edinburgh “Hospitals,” 74.
instruction.
Edinburgh Institution in Queen
Dogmas, made paramount in education Street, 89, 251.
by Churches, 542.
Edinburgh Model Infant School, xx
Domestic duties, should form part of George Combe's interest in, xx, lxii.
female education, 57.
Edinburgh Philosophical Institution
Domestic education, its defects and founded, lxi.
means of improvement, 410. See Edinburgh Review on the training of
Home education.
the Reflective faculties in, 439;
Dominie, etymology of word, 390. George Combe on education in
Donaldson's, Dr James, “Lectures on America in, lxvii, 590, 595.
Education," 473.
Edinburgh School of Arts Ix.
1
746
Index.
Edinburgh Sessional School, lxi, 632; giving broader education, at King's
beconies a Normal school, lxii. Somborne, in Belfast, near Birming-
Edinburgh Society for Diffusion of ham, in Edinburgh, in Newcastle,
Moral and Economical Knowledge, in Glasgow, in London, 249–252 :
lxi; George Combe's connection on the characteristics of the Secular
with, lxi.
schools, 252–257 ; on their title as
Edinburgh University, George Combe's “Secular,” 257–258 ; on the men
studies there, 442.
who founded and conducted them,
Editor, on George Combe's views and 258, 259 : on what Physical educa-
labours as an educationist, xv-lxxvi tion includes, with list of works on
(See Contents of Introduction, vii) : the subject, 363–366 ; list of works
on the principles of George Combe's on emulation, and rewards in
definitions of education, 16-17, 22 ; schools, 392 ; list of works on the
on female education, and the phy- principles of discipline, 405-406 ;
sical ability of women to undergo
ſist of educational works based on
hard study like men, 67-68 : on Phrenology, 470–471 ; list of educa-
the history of the anti-classical tional works based on the common
contest of the present century, 86- Philosophy, 471-473 : on George
89; on postponing the teaching of Combe's examples of teaching cer-
the classics, 86 ;
on the teach- tain subjects, 474 ; on ambiguous
ing of modern subjects and its terms in the discussions on teaching
effects, 89; list of works discussing Religion in schools, discriminated,
both sides of question, 93 : enu- 585; on George Combe's position in
meration of earlier attempts to in- teaching Religion, 585; on his posi-
troduce Physiology into schools, tion in regard to National educa-
102-107 : on the importance of tion, 586-587; on testimonies to the
instruction in man's Mental consti- value of a knowledge of Phren-
tution, 119–120 ; on George Combe's ology to those engaged in education,
teaching of the subject, 120-121 ; 645–646 : on George Combe's efforts
on schools in which Phrenology has for establishing Normal schools,
been taught, 121–122 ; on neglect of 649–650 ; works on their history,
Mental Philosophy in schools, 122 : 650 ; list of works on the training
on the position of Religious train- of the teacher, 653-654 ; on a Uni-
ing in education, 167 ; on George versity training for teachers, 654 :
Combe's advocacy of it, 167-168 ; his Public School,” 358, 366 ;
on the sacredness of science, and * Physical Education for Common
the need of its recognition in educa- Schools," and "Physical Education
tion, 168–169: on instruction in and Hygiene," 363 : letter of Mr
Social and Political Science, 194 ; Bastard to, on the influence of
early advocates of it, 196-197 Sex in education, 379.
text-books on it, 197-199; Educability, dependent on endow-
the manner of teaching it, 200 : on ment, 279.
efforts to secure a broader education, Educated, inventions only from
201–259 ; history of Edinburgh the, 511.
Secular School, 201-218; of Leith Educated, who should be ? 489.
Secular Schools, 218–219 ; of the Education, its need and nature, xxxi-
Secular associations and schools
XXXV, 1, 208 ; its need inherent in
in Glasgow, 219–224 ; of the man's constitution, 3, 208; its gene-
National Hall School of William ral principles, 264, 525; defined, 6,
Lovett, and his educational labours, 16, 17, 19, 94 ; different ways in
224-230; of the Birkbeck Schools which it may be defined, 22; the
in London, and William Ellis's principle of George Combe's defini-
educational labours, 230–237 ; of tion of, 16; its objects, 12, 17, 26,
i the Manchester Secular School 94, 263, 264, 307, 313, 375, 529,
movement and efforts to secure 530, 640 ; its effects, 36, 49, 324;
National education, 237–247 ; of its effects on happiness, 498, 528; its
Mr Bastard's school at Blandford, defects, 35, 36, 39, 54: includes train-
Dorset, 247–249 ; of other schools ing and instruction, xxxi, 12, 51,
on
Index.
747
neces-
264, 305; what it is when thorough,
29, 187, 189; viewed as Training,
16, 264; viewed as Instruction, 19;
should train all the faculties, 17, 35,
266, 397; certainty of its effects, 507;
the best application of Philosophy,
xvi : necessary to interpret the
external world, 5, 209; to enjoy the
higher faculties, 5; to national
happiness, 21, 187, 719; for man's
development, 9: reasons for the
different views of, 9; prevalent
views of, 203 ; limited by strength
of faculties, 276, 279, 530 ; can
only regulate faculties, 269, 277,
339 ; as influenced by combinations
of faculties, 320; is best when
training most faculties, 322 ; time
should be devoted to, 494 ; in-
difference to, from its imperfection,
497 ; and from low estimate of
Natural Science, 497 ; necessary for
exercise of faculties, 504 : effects of
it when good, 506 ; of its want on
the faculties, 504, 505, 506, 529,
536 : its means exist in nature and
society, 21; begins to be appreci-
ated, 21 ; means and end should be
distinguished in, 25; onesidedness
in 27, 188; as related to sex, 68; an
educated and an uneducated citizen
compared, 190, 264, 322, 323,
498; as related to business, 288 ;
should establish combinations
amongst the faculties, 313; effects
of its neglect, 322, 536 ; its effects
when harmonious, 324 ; limited by
capacity, 530 ; as influenced by the
temperaments, 341; should be
based on the physical, 344 ; as phy-
sical and mental, 345 ; is it best in
public or private ? 376 ; should deal
with causes, not effects, 392 ; its
object in the home circle, 410;
should not use language first or
chiefly, 469 ; will improve man-
kind, 498; of the labouring classes
(See Labouring classes) : personal
advantages of, to the labouring
classes, 501, 507 ; social advan-
tages of, 508, 512 ; political.advan-
tages of, 513-522 : necessary to raise
middle classes, 501 ; to raise lower
classes, 501, 502, 531, 532 ; to gain
prizes of intelligence, 495, 504 ; for
general safety, 509, 513, 514, 517,
520 ; to regulate popular excitement,
521 ; for political self-government,
521 ; for developing the great-
ness of a country, 522; to improve
legislation, 516; to lessen danger
of revolution, 517 : would increase
skill of workmen, 503; would
make intelligent citizens, 503 ;
would increase rational enjoyments,
511; would improve fitness for
civil duties, 517; should aim at
forming an enlightened public
opinion, 519 : its want endangers
social order, 509 ; and leaves the
masses without rational regulation,
510 : gives birth to inventions and
improvements, 510: more
sary with political power of masses,
513, 514 ; with universal suffrage,
515 ; and since the Reform Bill,516 :
not responsible for defects of endow-
ment, 531 ; its expense, 535 : sub-
jects that should be included in,
xxxviii, 25 et seq.,51; instrumental
and positive subjects in, xxxvi, 26;
too much devoted to instrumental
subjects, xxxvi, 27 ; its practical use
in life should be shown, 700, 701 ;
methods used in should be explained
to pupils, 701 ; responsibility of
parents in, 11 : when" dangerous,"
523; the kind necessary to prevent
its being “ dangerous,” 524 : as re-
lated to genius, 525; to self-con-
ceit, 530 : its small results ex-
plained, 531 ; its relations to crime,
536–538 ; its effects on crime when
merely intellectual, 537 ; when real,
538 : its relation to duty, 536; a
right a man owes to the State, 554 ;
should be regulated by the most in-
telligent, 558; hindered by seca
tarianism, 570; the
two great
questions regarding its conduct,
573 : requires more than common-
sense to conduct it, 638; all sciences
bear upon, 648; should be Moral
and Religious in every phase, 676 ;
what it is, separated from true reli-
gious training, 676; should be based
on the unity of man's nature, 677 :
history of extension of means of,
lv; of improvement in the process
of, lvi ; of extension of range of sub-
jects in, lix ; of Government action
for, lxvi:
scientific and non-
scientific students of, lviii, lxxv :
George Combe's efforts for, xvii-
xxv; his works on, xxv ; his in-
fluence on in his own time, lxx; in
748
Index.
the future, lxxiii ; his position in,
lxix ; his use of Phrenology in,
xlvii : its principles applied in the
Secular Schools, 255; state of, at
end of last century, li; first Go-
vernment grant for, liii ; revival in,
at beginning of this century, liv; a
brighter future for, begins to rise,
lxxv; recent advances in, lxx;
workers for, lvi, lviii: works on
its principles, Phrenological, 470;
based on common Philosophy, 471.
Education Bills in Parliament, lxvii.
Education, Female, xliii, 56 ; its im-
portance, 56, 64 ; should prepare
for domestic duties, 57 ; should in-
clude her physical nature, 57, 358 ;
should include the Natural Sciences,
63 ; should aim at full develop-
ment, 58; should train to manage
children, 58, 358; should include
Physiology and Anatomy, 59, 358;
should train to direct children's
culture, 61 : should include ac-
complishments, 64; and the Fine
Arts, 361 : opinions in favour of,
64; Buonaparte's opinion of, 57,
63; Madame Campan's opinion of,
57; Rousseau's opinion of, 57; his
views of, 67 ; Foreign Quarterly
Revicw on, 64 ; Mrs John Sand-
ford on, 65; Mrs Emma Willard
on, 66 : its defects, 64, 65, 66 : its
relation to hard study, 68 ; to co-
education of sexes, 68; to domestic
life, 534 ; and to producing good
wives, daughters, mothers, &c.,
535 : its history, 67 ; its modern
progress, 68; writers and works on,
67, 68.
Education, Free, recommended by
George Combe, xlv ; efforts in Man-
chester for, 257, 591, 720, 725;
Manchester Free Secular School
founded for, 241 ; means of securing,
535; should be given by the State,
573, 591, 720, 725; not pauperis-
ing, 591, 725; works on, 591.
Education by the State, history of
efforts for, xxiv, lxvi; the true
nature of its right, 548; its right
traced to the foundation of society,
551, 555 ; its need, 55, 549, 556 ;
must be approved by the nation,548;
will be more efficient, 548; advisable,
like public defence, 549; will be at-
tended with special advantages, 549;
as necessary as providing for physi-
cal destitution, 550 ; a duty society
owes to its members, 554 ; what it
should be, 557 ; the difficulty of
securing it, 557; the faculties it
should educate, 565; should be
Secular, 566; the machinery for
carrying it on, 586-596.
Education, recent advances in, lxx.
Education, the Universal, of the
people—xliv, 489; need of discuss-
ing it, 491; its urgent need, xliv,
520, 532 ; personal advantages of,
501-507 ; social advantages of, 508–
512 ; political advantages of, 513–
522 ; would give social and intel-
lectual prizes to them, 495, 504,
508, 509, 532; would raise them
socially, 531; 532; would increase
their mental capacity and power,
504-506; would lessen danger to
social order, 509, 513, 514, 517, 520;
would increase their rational enjoy.
ments, 511, 532; would fit them
for civil duties, 511 : more neces-
sary with their increasing political
power, 513, 514; with universal
suffrage, 515; and since the Reform
Bill, 516 : would make revolution
less possible, 517 ; would regulate
popular excitement, 521 : specially
necessary in a democracy, 188, 518,
521 ; for political self-government,
521; for developing the greatness
of a country, 522 : should aim at
forming an enlightened public
opinion, 579 : Objections to, 523-
538. — I. on personal grounds (1)
it would be “dangerous,” 523; (2)
it would obstruct genius, 525; (3) it
would incapacitate for business, 526;
(4) it would make the lower classes
too refined, 528; (5) it would produce
restlessness and unhappiness, 528 ;
(6) it would foster self-conceit, 530 :
ÌI. on social and political grounds-
(1) it would render the lower classes
discontented, 531 ; (2) it would
make them politically restless,
532; (3) it would subvert social
order, 532; (4) it is unnecessary
for free institutions, 553; (5)
it would increase royal power,
533 ; (6) it would render women
unfit for domestic duties, 534 ; (7)
it would be expensive, 535; (8) it
would increase crime, 536 : history
of means for securing, lv ; George
Combe's efforts for, lv.
Index.
749
369, 400.
Elucation, Voluntary-should educa- | English Education Act of 1870, lxvii ;
tion be voluntary ? 546 ; works ex- its protection of young children, 494,
pounding voluntary system, 546 ; 596.
objections to, 547, 557 ; chiefly English Supplementary Education Act
sectarian, 547 ; its leading aims, of 1878, 596.
547 ; good work done by it, 547; English woman's Review,on "Labourers'
insufficient for national needs, 548, Člubs and women members," by Mr
557 ; its social effects, 550; Horace Bastard, 248.
Mann's views of, 550 ; its defects, Envy, fostered by prizes, 390.
557.
Evening Schools, 725.
Ellis, William, account of, xxiii, 212, Eventuality, its functions, 659,7668,
lx, lxxi ; founds - the Science of
633 ; distinguished from Individu-
Human Wellbeing," 194; recom- ality, 428 ; its place, 437: its rela-
mends it for schools, 194, 196 ; his tion to Individuality, 436; to the
early study of, 230; begins its Observing faculties, 437; to Caus-
teaching in schools, 196, 231 ; ality, 439; to menrory, 464: its
works based on his principles, 200 ; exhibition in children, 428; in
his relation to its development, 236; studying Physiology, 470 ; neces-
his “What am I ?" &c., quoted, 20 : sary in the teacher, 631, 632, 633;
his services to education, 236 ; his Spurzheim on, 633.
connection with Edinburgh Secu- Example, its influence explained, 178,
lar School, xxiii ; his works enum-
erated, 197, 236, 416 ; his improve- Exercise, necessary for the faculties,
ments in educational methods, 237 ; 265, 304, 310, 323 ; necessary for
his “Socratic questioning,” 237 ; developing the brain, 269 ; its effects
his philanthropy, 237 ; a chief on the flow of blood to an organ,
promoter of Secular schools, 259 : 295 ; its astonishing effects on the
Professor Hodgson's tribute to, 259 ; faculties, 305; as related to habit,
on punishments, 392 ; his “ Reli- 308 ; effects of its want on the body,
gion in Common Life,” xlii, 413 ; 355. See also Training
its argument explained, 413-416; “ Exercises for the Improvement of
his union of Science and Religion the Senses," 425.
in his works, 413.
Expense of education, 535.
Emerson, G. B.,on female education;68.
Employment of children, restrictions Faculties, the, of what they consist,
on, in Massachusetts, 609 ; in 263; all require training, xxxi-
Britain, 494.
xxxiii, 17, 32, 35, 203, 304; can
Emulation, its discouragement in be trained only by exercise, 304 ;
Secular schools, 256 ; Adam Smith effects of their exercise, 41, 304 ;
on, 278; its effects on study, 388 ; neglect of their training, 42, 264,
faculties used in it, 388 ; on its use 322 ; education necessary for their
and abuse, 386–392; works on, 392. training, 42, 63, 110, 265, 529 ;
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Playfair on those most commonly possessed, 47
Fluxions in, 433.
those most deficient, 47 ; should be
Encyclopedia Edinensis, essay on Edu- explained to the pupils, 48, 62,
cation in, by Dr R. Poole, 102, 470. 111; the superior faculties wilí
Endowment, natural, should limit triumph, 114; should all have a
education, 276, 290, 530 ; should religious training, 151; are all under
regulate education given, 276, 282; natural law, 152; as influenced
regulated by parentage, 285 ; its by example 178, 369, 400; order of
relation to development, 309.
their development, 189, 286, 287,
Energy, mental, distinguished from 320 ; objects of education in rela-
vivacity, 300.
tion to, 263, 266, 322, 640 : should
English, neglect of in schools, 462; be known by the trainer and teacher,
its relation to classics, 76; and to 267, 640 : principles of their culti-
foreign tongues, 77; causes of its vation, 267; should be trained har-
imperfect knowledge, 76; neglect moniously, xxxi, 268, 312, 376,
of, in Edinburgh High School, 461. 697, 698; cannot be eradicated,
750
Index.
66 Co-
269, 339; require alternate exer- memory, 463 ; have a natural ten-
cise, 273, 326, 449; their training dency to improve man, 499; their
should be regulated by organisation, possession proves higher capacities,
278, 279, 280 ; their exercise should 500; those that should be educated
be regulated by their strength, 280; by the State, 565 : outline of, ac-
and by the state of the faculties, 281; cording to Phrenology, by George
the Knowing, when developed, 286; Combe, 657 ; popularly explained
the Reflecting, when developed, by James Simpson, 660: their
286 ; the objects of their training, Natural Language, 328,331,703 (See
xxxi-xxxiii ; their training regu- Natural Language of the Faculties)
lated by their order of development, how to repress their action, 339 ;
288, 321; their action dependent on the lower should be governed by the
separate organs, 289 ; have each higher, 340, 368; their regulation
their own functions, 289; require by pain and pleasure, 340 ; their
each their own special training, 290, natural rewards, 388; in the bright,
291, 641; act only on their own ob- 388; in the dull, 389; their nature
jects, 291, 294, 295, 326 : effects of and action as explained by Phreno-
their over-stimulus, 292; their pro- logy, 111, 118.
per exercise alone gives pleasure, Faculties, Combinations of-the esta-
292 ; those that are naturally and blishing of, 313, 314; their effects,
that are artificially cultivated, 293 ; 315 ; their want, 315, 316 ; their
stimulate each other, 318; how to want supplied, 315; how to pro-
stimulate, 326, 327 ; the more of duce, 317, 320, 698; how the facul.
them trained, the better the educa- ties influence each other, 318, 319;
tion, 322 ; as influenced by Imita- how they tend to combine, 319;
tion, 327; as influenced by Sympathy, the importance of, in education,
328; must manifest themselves, 320; their influence on character,
297, 299, 339 ; will act when strong, 321.
296, 299; act with ease when strong, Fairchild's, Rev. James H.,
297; are trained by their surround- education of the Sexes,” 379.
ings, 298 ; distinguished as to Faraday's, Michael, lecture on the
power, action, and activity, 299; “Education of the Judgment,” 325.
distinguished as to strength, quick- Farrar's, Rev. F. W., "
Essays on a
ness, energy, vivacity, 300 ; causes Liberal Education,” 93, 473.
influencing their activity, 301, 312; Fatalism, in relation to God's moral
conditions of their development, 309, government, 135, 145.
312, 313; and of their harmonious ac- Fawcett's, Henry, “ Political Eco-
tivity, 312, 313; effects of this, 324 ;
nomy,” 198.
limits of their growth, 310; their Fawcett's, Mrs, “ Political Economy,"
pleasure dependent on their activity, and “Tales in Political Economy,"
311, 312 ; and on their rank, 312; 199.
should have combinations estab- | Feelings, the, are blind and require
lished amongst them—(see Facul- enlightenment, 8, 263 ; are first
ties, Combinations of); the lower, active in the child, 367, 368; can
fostered by prizes, 390 ; effects of be trained only by their own objects,
their misdirection, 395 ; their rela- 369; their training by example ex-
tion to character, 395 ; their natural plained, 369; the power of control-
activities enumerated, 397–398 ; the ling them, 368; their spontaneous
neglect of some causes chastise- activity, 336; should be trained to
ment, 398, 399; can only receive co-operate with the Intellect, 314;
full training in social life, 406 ; should be regulated by the Intellect,
their culture in reference to the 375, 376; distinct from the Intel-
duties of life, 411; how to use in lect, 369, 383 ; as influencing the
instruction, 449; as many as pos- Intellect, 337: as influenced by
sible should be employed in teach- Natural Language, 332, 333 ; by
ing, 449 ; should be brought into Will, 336 ; by Sympathy, 370 :
direct communication with their have no memory, 463.
objects, 449, 450 ; those having | Fellenberg, De, an educational reformer,
Index.
751
17
liv, lvi ; his work early known in Germany, results of education in, 505.
English, lvi.
Gesner, Johann Matthias, distinguished
Female teachers, their increased em- as an educationist, lvi.
ployment in Massachusetts, 613 ; Gibbon's, Charles, “Life of George
their influence in education, 378. Combe,” referred to or quoted, lxx,
Fénélon, on female education, 67. xxvii, 208, 272, 274, 332, 351, 354,
Fibrous or bilious temperament, 242. 355, 358, 362, 391, 399, 404, 420,
Foreign Quarterly Review, on female 429, 442, 443, 450, 451, 456, 457,
education, 64.
460, 461, 462, 468, 478, 502, 503,
Forni, its functions, 436, 464, 659, 505, 506, 507, 512, 520, 546, 558,
668 ; when large, 431; in meniory 578, 580, 589, 594, 599, 607, 624,
of names, 467.
634, 643.
Field excursions in a Gernian school, Gibbon, the historian, on classics, 79.
453.
Gill's, John, of Cheltenham Normal
Fighting in schools, 381.
College, « School Management,
Fine Arts, the, their teaching, 44; 471; and “Systems of Education,
their educational value, 528.
322, 406, 471, 473, 636.
Firmness, its uses and abuses, 658, Girard's, Abbé, his
' La Langue
666 ; its discipline, 685; its rela- Maternelle,” 472.
tion to stubbornness, 395, 401. Girard, Grégoire, great educationist, lvi.
Foreign authors on the principles of Girls, their abilities compared with
education, list of, 472.
boys', 693 ; the superiority of their
Forms in schools, should have backs, character, 693; their influence on
357; works on subject, 358.
boys, 693-4 ; should be taught
Foster's, Dr W., “Physiology, 365. science like boys, 705.
Fowler's, O. S., "Education and Self- Glasgow, educational condition of,
improvement,” 470.
573 ; efforts there in favour of
Francke, Hermann August, lvi.
National Unsectarian education,
Freedoin of mind, its nature, 148.
lxv, 220, 223, 224 ; Somers on its
Free institutions, in relation to educa- schools, 223.
tion, 533.
Glasgow Mechanics' Institute founded,
Free trade, as illustrating Scripture, lxi.
155.
Glasgow Public School Association,
Fröebel, Friedrich, lvi ; his Kinder- 224 ; Memorial of, on National edu-
garten introduced into Britain, lvi; cation, quoted, 729.
his pedagogical works, 472.
Glasgow Secular Schools. See Secular
Schools.
Gaelic, taught without meaning, 84, | Glasgow Secular School Society, 1xv,
459.
221 ; George Combe's connection
Gall, Dr Franz Joseph, 287 ; on limits with, lxv, 224.
of growth of organs, 310.
Glasgow Secular Sunday Schools, lxv,
Gall's, Rev. James, Philosophy of 220.
Education,” 471.
Glasgow Sunday Educational Associa-
Gallaudet, Rev. Thos. H., account of, tion, lxv, 220.
332; on the Natural Language of the Glasgow Western Academy, 251; its
faculties, 333, 334, 335 ; furnishes curriculum, 251.
George Combe with this subject, Godkin's Éducation in Ireland,”
335; his works on the subject, 334.
600, 607.
Garnett, Dr, his popular lectures on Goldsmith, Dr Oliver, his Love of
science, lx.
Approbation, 387.
Genius, its nature, 276, 525; not ob- Governesses, their position, 656.
structed by education, 525 ; its re- Government, its origin and objects,
lation to work, 634; that of Wilder- 551 : principles of its interference
spin, 635.
with industry, 555; with social
Geography, 51; of what it should con- regulations, 555; of its parliamen-
sist, 51; its right teaching, 452, tary action on these, 556 : should
699; its bad teaching, 456.
prevent evils as well as punish for,
Georgii's "Rational Gymnastics,” 364. 556 ; its rights as to education, xlv,
752
Index.
- Umriss
6. Ex-
34, 548, 551; can educate more Henderson, W. R., 244; his bequest for
efficiently, 548 ; has special advan- Phrenology and George Combe's
tages for education, 549; has no- works, 244.
thing to do with Theology, 566 ; Herschel, Caroline Lucretia, Memoirs
relations of Secular schools to, 257. of, 427 ; her defective Number, 429.
Graham's, Sir James, Factory Bill,lxvii. Herschel, Sir John, on mathematical
Grant's, James, "History of Burgh and and estimative studies, 433.
Parish Schools of Scotland, quoted, 91. Herbart, Johann Friedrich, lvi ; his
Granville, Earl, Memorial to, on Allgemeine Pädagogik," "Aphor-
National Education, 224.
ismen zur Pädagogik,
Guerry, Mons. A. M.; on crime and Pädagogischer Vorlesungen,” 472.
education, 536–538.
Hereford, Dean of, recommends Social
Science for schools, 186, 627 ; in-
Habit, its nature, 307; as related to troduces it into his schools, 186;
exercise, 308; as influenced by recommends it for teachers, 195 ; his
organisation, 309.
schools at King's Somborne, 250 ;
Hall, Samuel Read, first to train his “Phenomena of Industrial
teachers in America, 650.
Life,” 186, 195.
Hainerton's, Philip G., “ The Intel- | Higher classes, the, their superiority
lectual Life,” 471.
to the lower caused by education,
Hamilton's, Rev. Dr R. W., Institu- 508 ; punished by their neglect of
tions of Popular Education,” 546. the lower, 508; their duties in the
Hamilton's, Sir William, “Discus- education of the lower, 535.
.
sions on Philosophy,” 434 ; Hill's, Dr, of Harvard, “On the
amination” of, by J. S. Mill, 439, 472. Culture of the Senses," 425.
Happiness, its conditions, 38; the Hill, Rowland and Frederick, their
end of education, 17; as affected by schools at Birmingham and London,
the activity of the faculties, 312; 250; “ Plans for the government and
only by harmonious action of the liberal instruction of boys,” 251.
faculties, 268, 312;. dependent on History, its proper teaching, 114 ; its
self-command, 368; the natural true interpretation, 116.
way to gain, 485; how best found, Hodgson, Professor W. B., eminent as
487 ; secular, dependent on secular an educationist, lvi; on classics, 69,
causes, 205; national, only by 86 ; his early learning of classics, 86;
education, 21, 22.
recommends Social Science, 194,197;
Harshness, its effects explained, 393, and Phrenology to teachers, 645;
401.
one of first to recommend and teach
Hassel's, Joseph, "Domestic Economy Physiology, xxxviii, 104, 106, 107 ;
for Elder Girls,” 366.
his educational efforts in Manches-
Hay, James, carries on a Secular
ter, 238, 239, 241 ; his tribute to
school in Leith, 219.
William Ellis, 259 : his “Classical
Hazelwood School, 250 ; its teaching Instruction, its Use and Abuse,
of science, 250 ; its discipline, 251.
- Classical Instruction, Why ?
Head, the, its treatment in infancy,358. When? For Whom?” 93 ; "Lecture
Health, its preservation, 348; im- before the Association of the Work-
proved by teaching Physiology, 41. ing Classes for their Social, Intellec-
Health, Laws of, important part of tual, and Moral Improvement,” 104;
Physical Education, 363 ; should - Conditions of Health and of
be taught, xxxix, 97, 363; their Wealth,” 107, 194, 197, 364; "The
study, a duty owed to society, 553; Influence of Study of Economic
demonstrated by Phrenology, 117; Science,'' 197 ; Education of Girls
text-books on, 365.
and Employment of Women,” 259,
Heart, should be reached in Moral and 379; edition of Mann's "Educa-
Religious education, 417; and in tional Tour," lxxiii, 470, 507, 567,
Scientific education, 418.
623.
Hecker, Johann Julius, lvi.
Holmes, Mr, his connection with
Hecker's, John, “ Scientific Basis of Lovett, 231; with Physiology in
Education,” 343, 470.
schools, 231.
93;
Index.
753
264,
Holyoake's, John J., use of the term Industrial schools, 721.
Secular," 718.
Infant schools, training of the Senti-
Home and Colonial School Society, ments in, 384 ; loved by children
trains infant teachers, lxii.
when schools good, 391.
Home education, 307.
Inglis, Sir Robert, M.P., 581.
Hope, its uses and abuses, 659, 665; Inhabitiveness, its functions, 657,661.
its training in relation to religion Inspiration, mental, explained, 297–8.
and science, 151, 156.
Instruction, its nature and aims,
Horace's De Arte Poetica, quoted, XXXV-Xxxviii ; in what it should
331.
consist, xxxv-xliii, 15, 47, 51 ; its
Household Words on teaching Physi- need in education, xxxi, XXXV,
ology, 107.
525; distinguished from
Howe, Dr Samuel, account of, 122 Training, 305, 406, 459, 525; the
teaches Phrenology, 121; recom- best means of acquiring, 449 ;
mends its teaching, 122; teacher by what faculties gained, 449 ; how
of Laura Bridgman, 122, 710; his to use the faculties in, 449; general
discipline, 342, 379; on Destructive- outline of, xliii; instrumental sub-
ness, 342, 379.
jects of, xxxvi ; positive subjects
Hume's, David, essay
"On the of, xxxvi; principle of selection of
Pleasure of Tragedy” quoted, 292. subjects of, xxxvii; subjects of,
Hume, Joseph, M.P., his development, recommended by George Coinbe,
303.
xxxviii-xliii; subjects of, in last
Hunt, Leigh, on the sacredness of century, lii ; at beginning of this,
science, 168 ; his "Religion of the lix ; history of improvements in
Heart.” 168.
subjects of, lviii.
Huxley's, Prof., "Lay Sermons," 106; Instruction, Mutual System of, 322;
Elementary Lessons on Physio- George Combe's opinion of this
logy,” 365.
system, 322.
Hygiene, or Principles of Health, text- Instrumental subjects, what they are,
books on, 365; text-books on for xxxvi, 536; education too much
schools, 366. See Health, Laws of. confined to these, xxxvi.
Intellect, the, of what it consists,
Ideality, its functions, 487, 659, 666 ; 449 ; its spontaneous activity, 337,
addressed by the Fine Arts, 361 ; its when morbid, 338; how to train
training through science, 709, 710 ; it, 47 ; its relation to instruction,
social effects of its culture, 529. 449; distinct from the Feelings,
Ideas, natural order of, in teaching, 369, 383; should be trained to
468; the teaching of elementary co-operate with the Feelings, 314,
ideas, 707.
373; as influenced by the Feelings,
Ignorance, prevents the cure of evils, 337 ; its larmonious training with
32.
the Feelings, 376; its importance
Illusions, spectral, explained, 338. in Moral education, 373, 375; its
Imagination, its training through use in producing obedience, 394,
science, 709.
398 ; its action in regard to illu-
Imitation, its functions, 659, 667; sions, 338; addressed by the Fine
its influence on the faculties, 327; Arts, 361.
distinguished from the Natural Lan- Intellectual education, 424-473. See
guage of the faculties, 334 ; distin- Contents, xi; also Intellect, Intel-
guished from Sympathy, 371.
lectual faculties, Faculties.
Individuality, its functions, 427, 436, Intellectual faculties, their classifica-
437, 469, 631, 659, 668; its relation tion, 424; effects of want of train-
to the Reflective faculties, 427; dis- ing on, 14 ; trained only by their
tinguished from Eventuality, 428 ; own objects, 294 ; starved by
its relation to the Observing faculties, teaching mere words, 74; method
436; to Causality, 439; its relation of training, 697, 698; should
to Memory, 465 ; in memory of co-operate with the Moral, 318;
names, 467 ; in Chemistry, 470; effects of their training on Moral
necessary in the teacher, 631, 632. education, 694 ; their relation to
3 B
1
754
Index.
1
+
new
discipline, 398; those producing | King's, Dr William, paper on Physi-
cleverness, 435; should be ex- ology, in second publication of the
plained to the child, 48.
Central Society of Education, 104.
Ireland, National Education in, 597– King's Somborne Schools, 186, 250.
607; sectarian period of, 597 ; its Knowing faculties. See Observing
fundamental error, 598; its effects, faculties.
598 ; their causes, 599; popula- Knowledge, distinguished into instru-
tion of, 598; Commissions on mental and positive, xxxv, 26, 68;
National Education appointed, Real and linguistic distinguished,
600 ; Scripture read without com- Xxxvi, 70, 79; its needs in educa-
ment, 601 ;
Commissions tion, 264; what Real knowledge is,
appointed, 601; combined Secular xxxvii, xliii, 31, 38; what use of
and separate religious teaching of, knowledge is, 27; its uses, 40;
601; the principles of this scheme, the two modes of obtaining, 450 ;
602; action of the Commission, its natural pleasures, 391; these
602 ; opposition to it, 603 ; résumé often obscured by prizes, 391 ; the
of history of Irish education, 603 ; love of, lessened by prizes, 390 ; its
pressure of Churches against, 604; practical teaching in Germany,
the two classes of National Schools, 452 ; the desire of, general, 495 ;
604; rule as to religious instruc- but weak in some, 495 ; not fairly
tion, 605; effects of system, 605; tested, 495; has received poor food,
system easily misrepresented, 606; 496 ; of man and his surroundings
its interest to George Combe, xxv, not taught, 496 ; is all truly
lxv, 211, 212; works on Irish edu- religious, 672, 674; its present
cation, 607.
teaching not religious, 672; its
inherent interest should be used in
Jacotot, lvi; introduced to Britain, lvi. teaching, 709.
Jardine's, Professor, “Philosophical | Knox's, Vicesimus, “Liberal Educa-
Education," 471.
tion," lviii, 406, 473.
Jarrold's "Health for the Household,” Krüsi's"Life and Works of Pestalozzi,"
and “Household Truths,” 365.
471.
Johnson, Dr Samuel, on Goldsmith,
387.
Labour, necessary, healthy, and good,
Jowitt's, Rev. W., "Helps for the 493 ; should be moderate, 493 ;
Young in Self Guidance," 199.
effects of its excess, 493; are any
Judgment, its culture, 324 ; writers incapable of more than ? 499.
on, 325; principles of, furnished Labouring classes, history of efforts
by Phrenology, 118; as trained by for the education of, lv ; Real edu-
classics and by Real education, cation required for, 29, 187, 188 ;
81.
their ignorance of the principles
that regulate life, 174, 496 ; the
Kames', Lord, "Hints on Education,” difficulty of raising them, 174; their
lviii.
great political power, 187, 513–
Kiddle and Schem's “ Cyclopædia of 516 ; their education requires to be
Education," 68, 93, 197, 322, 333, broadened, 187, 189; their influence
366, 472; “Corporal Punishment in a democracy, 188, 518; the
and “Discipline” in, 405; “Mathe- great questions they have to decide,
matics” in, 434; University Col- 189; the study of Social Science
lege in, 497, 593 ; “Compulsory specially necessary for them, 189,
Education” in, 596 ;
- Education 196; effects of neglect of their
in Ireland” in, 607 ;
56 Female
education, 322; their right as
Teachers” in, 613 ; 6 Seminaries" human beings to be educated, 491;
in, 613; “United States” in, 622 ; objects of their lives, 491; their
Germany" in, 623; “Swiss Sys- lives too little rational, 492 ; how
tem" in, 628.
they lose the social prizes, 494;
Kildare Place Society in Ireland, 600. can gain these only through educa-
Kindergarten, introduced into Eng- tion, 495, 504 : their desire of
land, lvi.
knowledge general, 495; weak in
1
+
Inder.
755
are
do
some, 495; not fairly tested, 495 ; appealed to in education, 426 ; its
has got poor food, 496 :
training when large and small, 441;
happier when educated, 498; its relation to other faculties, 444,
should be consulted on their educa- 448; to the Observing faculties,
tion, 498; are all capable of more 426 ; its effects when large, 446,
than labour, 499 ; their having when small, 447 ; its relation to
higher faculties proves capacity, inemory, 464; in memory of names,
500; their universal improvement 467 ; should not be first or chiefly
very slow, 500; personal advan- used in education, 469.
tages of education to, 501-507 ; Languages, are instrumental, xxxvi,
social advantages of education to, 26, 43, 47, 69; their relations to
508-512; George Combe's early Real knowledge, 79, 83 ; are more
association with, 501 ; effects of the taught than things, 70; what lan-
want of education on, 504-506; guages should be taught, 26, 82;
effects of education on their condi- their results compared with those of
tion, 506; their inferiority to the Real education, 79, 83; their intel-
higher classes from want of educa- lectual discipline, 80; as the bases
tion, 508; their state punishes the of further knowledge, 80; as pre-
community, 508; their want of edu- paring for life, 82; discouraged in
cation endangers social order, 509, Secular schools, 256.
513; and leaves them without rational Languages, foreign, the power of
regulation, 510; will become fitter learning, 447; relation of a learner
for civil duties by education, 511 ; to, 448; learning the "spirit” of,
begin to appreciate education, 512; 449.
possess share of ability among them, Latin, remains of words of, in Scotch
512: their education necessary for schools, 390.
general safety, 513; especially with Laurie's, J. W.,
6 Home and its
increasing political power, 513, 514; Duties," 366.
and with universal suffrage, 515; Laurie's, Simon S., Dick Bequest
their political power grows, 513, Report for 1865, 406; “Primary
514 : objections to their education, Education,” 473.
523-538 (See Education, the Uni- Laws, our, their relation to religion,
versal, of the People): do not become 161.
too refined through Real education, Laycock's, Professor, “The Scientific
528; or restless and unhappy, 528, Place and Principles of Medical
532, or socially discontented, 531. Psychology," 107.
Lalor's Prize Essay on Education, "Learned Man,” its original mean-
471.
ing, 72.
Lancashire Public School Association, Learning,” its old meaning, 524,
238, 596.
524 note ; Prof. Nichol on, 525.
Lancaster's, Dr Edwin, “ Practical Lectures, popular, begun, 1x.
Physiology,” 365.
Lee's, Dr Edwin, translation of Mar-
Lancaster, Joseph, his system of tin's “ Education of Mothers," 104.
Mutual Instruction, 322; George Legislation, education required to im-
Combe's opinion of it, 322; on edu-
cational reform, liv, lv, lvi ; his Leinster, Duke of, letter of Lord
" Tractate,” lviii; his “Improve- Stanley to, on Irish education, 597.
ments in Education,” lviii, 473; Leitch's, James, “ Practical Educa-
trains teachers early, Ixi.
tionists,” 322, 406, 471, 636.
Language, what it is, 444 ; its func- Leslie, Prof., on geometry and fluxions,
tion, 71, 83, 447 ; its signification, 433.
on what dependent, 444 ; its relation Leverson, Dr R. M., on Social
to things, 83, 446; and to writing, Science, 200; advocates William
446; when separated from thought, Ellis's principles of, 200; his
461; the effect, not the cause, of " Social Economy," 197
his
knowledge, 85.
“Common Sense,” 199.
Language, the faculty, its functions, Lewis's, Dr Dio., "New Gymnastics
443, 447, 660, 670; too much for Families and Schools,' 365.
prove, 516.
;
:756
Index.
Libraries in schools, in Massachusetts, | Maclaren, Charles, on the improve-
609.
ment of education, 88; on classical
Liebreich's, Dr, - School Life in its teaching, 88; on Social Science in
Influence on Sight,” and “School schools, 196 ; articles in Scotsman
Hygiene,” 358, 366.
on the improvement of education,
Life, general plan of, necessary in edu- 102 ; his "Select Works,”' 102.
cation, 313.
Mackenzie, Sir Geo., account of, 84 ;
Lincoln's, Dr F., "Sanitary Require- on words and things, 84 ; on the
ments in School Architecture,” 366. qualities of a good teacher, 632;
Ling, Peter Henry, account of, 364;
his Principles of Education,
his Rational Physical Education, 470, 632.
364; works on his system, 364. Madras System of education, 473.
Linguistic subjects. See Languages. Man, his varied faculties, 3 ; his
Literary and Theological Review of higher faculties require cultivation,
America, quoted, 334.
3; his relations to external nature,
Literature, 53 ; modern, its growth, 4 ; his rational faculties increase
72; its relation to religion, 161, 162. his power over nature, 4 ; his rela-
Locality, its functions, 659, 668 ; its tions to other beings, 5; his higher
relation to mathematics, 431; its faculties must be educated to afford
order in teaching, 468, 470.
their own happiness, 5; kind of
Locke, on classics, 78; on imitation, education he requires, 6; his con-
328 ; his “Thoughts concerning stitution compared with that of
Education,” 328, 405, 471, 472. lower animals, 6; reason necessary
Logic, taught in schools, 122.
for his guidance, 7; has a capacity
London Mechanics' Institution, lxi. for improvement, 8, 498 ; his con-
London University College, 497.
stitution necessitates training, 13 ;
Long, George, on beginning classics, his condition in the world, 476 ;
86; on discipline, 206.
improved by education, 498; and
Love to our neighbour, dependent on by natural tendency of his faculties,
natural law, 484.
499 ; his capacity for civilisation,
Lovett, William, account of, 224 ; 499; should know his relations to
efforts for National education, 224; his fellowmen, xl; and to nature,
recommends Social Science, 194 ; xxxix.
first to teach Physiology in schools, Management of children, should be
xxxviii, 227 : his National Halí part of female education, 58.
School, 206, 224, 225; its name, Manchester Education Aid Society, 241.
225; its objects, 226 ; its relations Manchester Examiner quoted, on the
to religion, 226 ; subjects taught in, Manchester Mechanics' Institution
227; visited and described by George
School, 247.
Combe, 227 : his works, 229 ; his Manchester Free Secular School, lxv,
Autobiography, 227; his labours, 241 ; subjects taught in, 242 ; Moral
228, 229 ; his teaching of Physio- lessons given in, 242; its success,
logy, 229; his educational views, 243; it becomes the Manchester
229; his place in educational history, Free School, 243; George Combe's
230; his death, 230.
connection with, lxv, 244; its pre-
Lucas, Samuel, his efforts for educa- sent state, 244.
tion, 238.
Manchester Mechanics' Institution
Lungs, the, their treatment, 360 ; School, 246 ; its history, 246 ; its
effects of tight-lacing on, 360.
present state, 247.
Lymphatic temperament, 342.
Manchester National Public School
Association, its scheme, xxiv, lxv,
Macdonald's, John, “Political Eco- 238, 239, 586, 591 ; publications of,
nomy,” 198.
596 ; its Plan, 719.
Maclachlan & Stewart, Edinburgh, Manchester and Salford Committee on
publishers of George Combe's works, Education, 239.
xxvii, xxviii.
“Manifesto” scheme for National Edu-
Maclaren’s, Archibald,
System of cation in Scotland, 588 ; George
Physical Education,” 364, 365. Combe's objections to, 588.
Index:
757
summons
con-
Mankind, their mutual dependence, | Secretary, 610; Conventions of
483.
friends of education, 611; future
Mann, Horace, his connection with improvements in, 612 : training of
George Combe, lxiii, lxv, lxxiii; his teachers begins, 613 : opposition to
high opinion of same, lxxiii; devotes this, 613 religious teaching in, 615;
himself to education, 653 ; a great controversy regarding it, 616-622;
educationist, lvi; on emulation and objections to it, 617; defence of it,
prizes, 389 ; on Pope's couplet on 618: George Combe on the educa-
a little learning,” 523 ; on volun- tional system of, 586 ; its effects,
tary education, 550 ; on religious 593 ; its machinery, 595 ; its ar-
education, 720 ; on religious in- rangements for theological instruc-
struction in Britain, 567; as Secre- tion, 595; foundation of its Normal
tary of Education, 610; as writer on Schools, lxiii ; its interest to George
education, 610 ;
Combe, lxv; works on, 622.
ventions of friends of education, Mathematics, are instrumental sub-
611; Annual Reports by, 104, 612, jects, 26, 43, 51 ; their relation
651; his part in the controversy to Locality, 431; and to other facul-
on Religious education, 617-619; ties, 431, 432; as training the Rea-
his action as to Normal schools, soning powers, 432; in relation to
lxiii, 650, 651; his relations with subjects of Causation, 432, 433;
Channing, 653: his “On School pure mathematical compared with
Punishments,” 405, 470, 611, 613 ; other reasoning, 433 ; authorities
his “Educational Tour,” lxxiii, 470, on this, 433; their limitations, 434 ;
507, 550, 567, 623; A Historical illative words in, 434; works on
View of Education," 524, 593 ; their educative value, 434 ; their
Common School Journal, 104, 610; bad teaching 457 ; Zerah Colburn's
The Means and Objects of Com- powers in, 432; George Bidder's,
mon School Education,” 104, 611. 342.
Mann's, Mrs Mary Ann, “Life and Mayer, John, 222 ; his connection
Works of Horace Mann,” lxxiii, with Glasgow Secular Schools, 222,
611, 612, 651.
223.
Manufactories, visited in a German | Mayo, Dr Chas., lvi; introduces Pes-
school, 454.
talozzi to England, lviii; trains
Mapes, James J., daughter of, operated teachers, lxii.
on by George Combe, 294.
Mayos? “ Lessons on Objects,” 425,
Marcel's " Language as a Means of 473.
Culture,” 93, 472.
M‘Clelland, James, account of, 220 ;
Marcet's, Mrs,“ John Hopkins' No- connection with Secular education
tions of Political Economy,” 198. in Glasgow, 220, 222, 224, 252 ;
Markby, on Female education, 68. letters to, 546, 566, 690.
Marriage, should be regulated by or- M‘Kendrick's, Dr, - Animal Physio-
ganisation, 285.
logy,” 365.
Martin, Aimé, on Female education, M‘Lean, James N., his connection
68; his “ Éducation of Mothers," with Glasgow Secular Schools, 222.
104.
Mechanics’ Institutions, founded, lxi,
Martineau's, Miss Harriet, “Political 231; in Glasgow, lxi, 231; in Lon-
Economy,” 198; “Household Edu- don, lxi, 231, 232.
cation,” 471.
Melgund, Lord, his Education Bill for
Massachusetts, Educational system of- Scotland, 503.
history of system, 607–622; general | Memory, its nature and action, 464,
character of, 607 ; is an example to 698; its common meaning, 464 ; the
Britain, 608, 622; chief features of, faculties having it, 463 ; not a pri-
at first without central power, mitive faculty, 669 ; retentiveness
608; Common School Fund founded, of, 464 ; different aids required for
609 ; its restrictions on employing different persons, 465 ; as influenced
children, 609; school libraries pro- by association, 465 : dependent on
vided, 609; Board of Education the action of the faculties, 466; not
appointed, 609; Horace Mann as on mere relations of ideas, 469 : of
608;
758
Inidex.
!
?
639;
names, 467; of music, 467; in learn- | Mitchell, Dr Arthur, xxix; Chairman
ing by rote, 698.
of the Combe Trustees, xxix.
Mental education, dependent on phy. Mnemonics, their true principles, 465.
sical, 344, 345, 346.
Moore, Thomas, on classics, 79.
Mental Science, on instruction in Moral education, is essential, 48,
in schools, xxxix, lx, 108; the 529; comes first in time, 367;
need of this instruction, 108, 119 ; the general laws of morals should
good effects of such instruction, be taught in, xl, 34 ; should train
110 ; its importance as a branch of to self-command, 367, 410, 684 ;
education, 119; can be early and should train to rule the lower
easily taught, 108, 120, 277; would faculties, 368 ; best carried on by
furnish a plan of life and happiness, self-action of the faculties, 371 : as
108 ; what principles should be influenced by the intellect, 373,
taught, 109; little taught in schools, 375, 694; by scientific education,
122 ; taught in Mrs Willard's In- 42, 374, 412: importance of the
stitution at Troy, 122; necessary to pleasures of the higher faculties in,
show God's moral government, 142; 377 ; of home influence in, 377,
can train the moral and religious 410 ; of playground in, 378: should
faculties, 413 : effects of ignorance explain the grounds of discipline,
of it on asylum treatment, 636, 637; 694 ; influence of female teachers
and teaching, 637, 643 : necessary in, 378; of sex on, 378, 379, 693,
for a perfect theory on any subject, 694 : of a high standard in, 386 :
for teachers, xxxiii, xxxiv, on training ofspecial moral faculties,
642, 646.
379 : defective in regard to public
Method in education, authors on, 473. opinion, 407 ; how to improve it in
Meynott, Charles, on Eventuality, this respect, 408; in reference to
428.
wealth and its pursuit, 408 ; to
Middle classes, the, how they obtain domestic education, 410 ; to pro-
the social prizes, 494; rise only by fessional education, 411 : should be
education, 501 ; punished for their carried on in the teaching of science,
neglect of the luwer, 508; their 123, 412; should reach the heart,
duties in the education of the lower, 417; when moral faculties deficient,
535; their ignorance of Social 430; how it becomes religious, 678,
Science, 175.
695; the duties that should be
Milldown School, Blandford. See taught by it, 678 ; should not be
Bastard's School,
confined to mere moral instruction,
Mill's, John Stuart, works, 198, 472; 694 ; in treatment of moral evils in
Examination of Sir W. Hamilton's school, 694 ; in maintaining im-
Philosophy,” 434.
partiality, 694.
Milton, on Education,” 471; on Moral faculties, the effects of want
classics, 79.
of training on, 14; should be
Mind, not a single power, 641 ; acts explained to the child, 48; their
only through physical organs, 146, training through science, 123 et
147, 148.
seq.,412; their training through their
Mind, Philosophy of—its objects, own objects, 294 ; their regulation,
52, need of a standard of, 10, each 307, 708, 721.
man has his own, 10 ; should be Moral government of the world, early
studied in schools, xxxix, 270 ; ideas of, 123; these erroneous, 124 ;
should form part of education, 48, exposition of its principles, 123 ct
52, 108, 109, 117, 277; should be
seq. '; statement of the problem of,
included in female education, 62; 124 ; its principle stated, 132, 134,
necessary for training the faculties, 141, 143, 149; questions to be
62, 642 ; effects of ignorance of it answered in regard to, 133; true
on teachers, 642, 643. See also mode of investigating these, 134,
Mental Science and Phrenology. 143; its principle traced in mor-
Mineralogy, its teaching, 469.
tality, 134, 137 ; is this govern.
Minutes of Committee of Council on ment fatalism ? 135, 145; is it
Education, 550, 551, 589.
regular causation ? 135, 145: its
Index.
759
principle shown in regard to the its effects in America, 593 ; its cer-
senses, 136.; and the body, 137; tain effects in Britain, 593 : rela-
and crime, 143 ; the principle ap-
tions of Secular schools to, 257 ;
plied to mind, 146 ; to morals, 149 : final success of Secular party in,
instruction in it necessary, xxxix, 587; when Theology could be taught
123; should be taught to children, in, 593, 595 ; should include Social
679 ; taught in the Williams Science, 594 ; when compulsion is
School, Edinburgh, xxxix; its use necessary in, 596 ; history of efforts
in the training of the religious for, xxiii, lv, lxiv, lxvi ; George
faculties, 149 ; George Combe's Combe's efforts for, xxiii, lxvii,
search after its principles, 125 (See 239, 586 : efforts for, in Glasgow,
Combe, George) ; reasons of ignor- 223 ; in Manchester, 237 ; in Scot-
ance regarding it, 142.
land, 503, 587; in Ireland, 597-
Moral law, its supremacy proved, 607 ; in Massachusetts, 607–622;
178; its industrial rewards, 179. in Prussia, 622–623; in Switzerland,
Morell, on Mental Philosophy, 472. 624-628 ; Lovett's efforts for, 224.
Morrison's, Thomas, “School Man- National Public School Association.
agement,” 406, 473.
See Manchester National Public
Mortality, in relation to God's moral School Association.
government, 134, 137; its rate in National Society, lv, lxi.
England, 135, 139 ; causes of, Natural history, 52.
488.
Natural Language of the faculties, its
Mortality, Infant, its causes, 58.
nature, 328, 331, 443 ; its "effects
Mother, experiences of a, in using illustrated, 329; how to excite,
Phrenology with her children, 111; 331 ; effects of our using it on child,
picture of a good, 535.
331 ; effects of his using it on him-
Music, memory of, 467 ; great men self, 331 : its influence on the Feel-
ignorant of, 467; the choice of ings, 332 ; on irritation, 333; on
words for, 384.
the insane, 333; on the higher
faculties, 332; on defective faculties,
National Education, should provide 334 : distinguished from Imitation,
for the whole people, lv, 573 ; 334 ; should be taught to children,
should include all the lowest 334; how to use it in education, 335.
classes, lv, 547 ; relations of Secular | Natural Laws, are the basis of Real
schools to, 257; difficulty of secur- knowledge and education, 43; re-
ing, 557 ; by what agencies should gulate all the faculties, 152 ; afford
it be carried on? 541; should admirable training for the Religious
it be carried on by Churches ? 541 faculties, 153, 154, 156 ; are the
(See Churches) ; should be based on basis of Scripture, 155; are sacred,
natural truth, 543, 544 ; should not 151, 156, 159, 417; are Divine
be based on sectarian differences, commands, 417; are the basis of all
543, 544, 545, 589; this illustrated religious progress, 157 ; regulate
by Mohammedanism, 545 ; im- happiness, 205, 485; and temporal
moral so to base them, 546 ; the well-being, 419; are the basis of
kind required, 547, 557 ; should it love to our neighbour, 484 ; should
be voluntary ? 546 (See Education, be taught to the young, 43, 55;
Voluntary); should be conducted advantages of their teaching, 47 ;
by Government, 548, 551 (See Edu- time should be afforded for their
cation by the State); by what study, 55; should be taught so as
machinery should it be carried on? reach the heart, 418; should have
586-596 : schemes for, opposed by the Religious feelings associated
George Combe, 587-590 ; scheme of with them, 419.
“Manifesto” party for, 587 ; ob- Natural objects, taught in the field,
jections to this, 588; Government 453.
scheme of 1846, 589; objections to Natural Philosophy, 52.
this, 589: scheme advocated by Nature, we should know the powers of,
George Combe, 590-596; his scheme xxxix, xliii, 28 ; the natural truths
stated, 596 ; its merits stated, 592; that should be taught, 45; is sacred,
760
Inaex.
66
151 ; the elements of human, 492 ; between their training and that
should be the basis of education, of the Reflective faculties, 441 ;
543 ; does not distinguish between they have memory, 464 ; as influ-
sects, 543.
enced by association, 466 ; natural
Napoleon, on female education, 57, order of their use in teaching, 468,
63; his Combativeness, 380.
470 ; effects of their culture, 529 ;
Necker's, Madame, "Progressive Edu- a plan for training them, 697.
cation,” 472.
Ogle's, John, " Theory and Practice of
Nervous affections, as influenced by Education,” 471.
Real education, 50.
Olney, Professor, on Mathematics in
Nervous energy, its conditions, 355 ; Kiddle and Schem's “Cyclopædia
its effects on mental exertion, 346. of Education,” 434.
Nervous temperament, 341.
Oppler's, Adolph, “'Lectures on Educa-
Nichol, Prof. John, account of, 220 ; tion,” 471.
connection with Secular education, Order, the faculty, its functions, 659,
220, 224; on dangerous ” learn- 668 ; its training, 384.
ing, 525 ; on development in educa. Order of development of faculties,
tion, 536 ; on instruction, 536 ; his 286; their training regulated by,
account of George Combe, lxix; 288.
quoted on National Secular educa- Organisation regulates educability,
tion, 729-732 ; his translation of 279, 281, 282, 284, 290 : should
Wilſm's “ Education of the People," regulate exercise of the faculties,
104, 472, 525.
278, 280; our expectations regarding
Normal schools, the need of them for persons, 281, 290 ; and treatment
teachers, 650, 656, 728; the first of children, 281 : limits develop-
in Britain, lxii, lxiii, 649; in United ment, 298; and power of work, 476 :
States, lxiii, 650, 651, 652 ; first in relation to habit, 309.
grant for in Britain, lxii; George Organs, Mental, regulate the mani-
Combe's efforts for, lxiii, 649 ; festation of the faculties, 279; re-
works on their history, 650 ; in quire each special training, 289 ;
Prussia, 623.
cerebral effects of appeals to, 295 ;
North British Revicw, quoted, 29, their size limits development, 298 ;
204.
their limits of growth, 310; their
Number, the faculty, its functions, power as regulated by size, 298, 299,
429, 659, 668; when defective, 311, 303, 321, 336, 396.
429; examples of its deficiency, Owen, Robert, liv, lvi, 337.
429 ; when large, 431.
Paget's, Dr, “Study of Physiology,"
Obedience, when true, based on
106, 364.
respect, 393; and on intelligent Pain, its use in regulating faculties,
commands, 394.
340.
Object lessons, in the Edinburgh Secu- Painting, 53.
lar School, 699 ; their systematic Pandie, etymology of word, 390.
teaching important, 699; this Panics, their effects explained, 329.
illustrated, 699; in Switzerland, 626. Papers for the Schoolmaster, 472.
Observation, as trained by classics and Parentage, its effects on original en-
by Real education, 81.
downent, 284 : its importance in
Observing faculties, their nature, 424, human progress, 285 ; in marriage,
425; their classification and func- 285 ; in producing a sound consti-
tions, 659, 669 ; their training, tution, 286.
424 ; early teachable, 425; require Parents, their responsibility in edu-
separate exercise, 426 : their rela- cation, 11 ; effects of their neglect
tion to Language, 426, 444 ; to the of their children's education, 504 ;
other faculties, 426 ; to Individu- certain effects of good training on
ality, 436 ; to Eventuality, 437 ; their children, 507 ; ought to edu-
to abstract terms, 437 : their char- cate their children, 554.
acteristics in detail, 427-437; their | Parkhurst, John L., on discipline,
effects when large, 436 ; relation 406.
Index.
761
lxxv ;
on, in reference to women, 358;
Parliament, its action in regard to teaching, 108, 113; kind of instruc-
education, lxvi ; in regard to in- tion recommended, 109; its right
dustry and social matters, 555, teaching, 707, 708 : would enable
556 : its inconsistency in legislation, children to co-operate in their own
556.
education, 110, give a kuowledge
Parr, Dr, on fighting, 381.
of the faculties, 111, 118, 395 ;
Payne, Prof. Joseph, an eminent strengthen the superior faculties,
educationist,
introduces 112 ; give faith in the victory of the
Jacotot to Britain, lvi; his “ True superior faculties, 114; enable us
Foundation of Science Teaching, rightly to interpret history, 115;
255 ; his “ Froebel, Pestalozzi, and to analyse actions and argu-
and “ Jacotot ; ;"" The Science and ments, 116; would demonstrate
Art of Education,” and “Visit to the laws of health, 117 ; furnish
German Schools,” 471, 473.
principles of judgment, 118; give
Perception, its nature, 327.
the laws of human progress, 119;
Perceptive faculties. See Observing sho the true means of lessening
faculties.
misery, 119; and assist in discipline,
Personal advantages of education, 395, 684, 687 : tanght by George
501-507.
Combe in school, 120 ; lessons on,
Pestalozzi, educational reformer, liv, by him, 485; its teaching misunder-
Ivi; his work early known in stood and defended, 120 ; schools
English, lvi; first made known in in which it has been taught, xxxix,
England, lviii ; his works, lviii
,
121, 253 ; systematically taught in
his “Letters on Early Education, the Williams School, xxxix, 120,
when written and translated, lviii, 121, 695, 707; taught and recom-
102, 406, 472 ; “Life and Works." mnended by Dr Howe, 122: works
by Krüsi, 471 ; “Leonard and Ger- on education based on, 470.
trude,” and “How Gertrude teaches Physical education, 344-369 (See Con-
her Children," lviii, 472 ; “ Even- tents, x); its true meaning, 105,
ings of a Recluse,” 472.
345, 363; what it includes, 363 ;
Philanthropin, the, lvi.
the basis of all education, 344 ;
Philoprogenitiveness, its
uses and
its importance in all education, 94,
abuses, 657, 661 ; its training, 307; 346 : its relations to mental, 345,
necessary to the teacher, 632.
346 ; its importance to women, 57,
Philosophic understanding, the, 440. 358; general notes on, 347; notes
Philosophical education, a, 48.
.
Philosophical Institution of Edin- Ling's “Rational Physical Educa-
burgh, xxi, 647 ; early popularises tion," 105, 364, 365; text books
science,xxi; George Combe one of
founders of, xxi; Report of, quoted Physiology, its right teaching, 41, 95,
on George Combe, lxi.
96, 97, 485; order of teaching it,
Phrenological Journal, Edinburgh. 362, 363 ; the extent of its teaching
See Combe's, George, Works.
in schools, 60, 97 ; what its teaching
Phrenology, based on the facts of should include, 52, 95, 97; good
man's nature, 660, 669; recom- effects of its teaching, 41, 101 ;
mended to teachers, 636, 637, 644, should form part of female educa-
645; how it should be studied by tion, 59; relation of its teaching to
teachers, 644; recommended to delicacy, 59, 173; opposition to its
physicians, 637; and to women, 62, teaching, 59, 173; necessity for its
111; its classification of the Mental teaching, xxxviii, 60, 61, 94, 98,
faculties, according to George 173, 348; progress its teaching has
Combe, 657; explained popularly made, 60 ; early efforts in favour of
by James Simpson, 660: George its teaching, 98 ; how it can train
Combe's use of it in education, xlvii ; the religious faculties, 421, 677;
his defence of this, xlix ; its services British Government urged to pro-
to Mental Science and Education, mote its teaching, 99; it recommends
xlix; recommended as a subject in it, 100; Medical Opinionſ on the
schools, 48, 62, 109; need of its importance of its teaching, 99, 100,
:
on, 364, 365,
762
Index.
1
734 ;
Political advantages of education, 513-
Massachusetts Legislature | Popular, Universal, education. See
enjoins its teaching, 100 ; first in- Education, the Universal, of the
cluded in the Science and Art people.
Government course, 100; Household | Population, in relation to God's moral
Words on its teaching, 101 ; sum-
government, 131.
mary of earlier efforts to introduce Pounds, John, his educational efforts,
it into schools, 102: taught in lv.
Secular schools, 222, 223, 242, 245, Power, mental, explained, 299; not
246, 247 ; in the Williams School, most valuable quality, 301; requires
698, 700; in Birkbeck Schools, a large brain, 302; examples of
234 ; in Lovett's School, 227 ; in this, 303.
Bastard's School, 248 ; in other Prince of Wales, a good teacher for,
schools, 250, 251; in John Watson's 633, 642.
Institution, Edinburgh, 362 : lesson Prison discipline, 372. .
on, by George Combe, 474 ; lesson Prizes in school, are they good ? 388 ;
combined with Social Science, 478 ; the only need for them, 389; when
should be known and practised by not objectionable, 390 ; their kinds,
teachers, 687 : text books on, 365. 389; what they really mark, 389 :
Pierce, Cyrus, first Principal of a objections to, 389–392—withdraw
Normal school in America, 650. the mind from a true standard of
Pillans, Professor, an eminent educa- excellence, 389; kind of gratifica-
tionist, lvi; his articles on the tion they give, 389; foster selfish-
training of teachers, lxii; recom- ness and envy, 390; do not cultirate
mends Universities for training the love of knowledge, 390, 391 ;
teachers, lxii, 650 : his “Principles cultivate the lower feelings, 390 ;
of Elementary Teaching," Ixii; often reward the less meritorious,
“The Causes and Cure of Imperfect 391 ; often supersede real teaching,
Discipline,” the “Rationale of 391 ; their non-use has best results,
Discipline,” 405; and “Contribu- 391: not used in the Williams
tions to the Cause of Education, School, 217; discouraged in the
lxii, 93, 405, 471 ; on classics, 89. Secular Schools, 256 : works on,
Plan of life furnished by instruction 392.
in Mental Science, 108,
Profanity in schools, 385.
Playfair, Professor, on fluxions, in Professional education, its defects and
Encyclopedia Britannica, 433. means of improvement, 411.
Playground, its importance in educa- Profit, gross, explained, 477.
tion, 378; Wilderspin on, 378; Progress, human, regulated by paren-
Simpson on, 378; Stow on, 378. tage, 285; the laws of, shown by
Pleasure, its use in regulating faculties, Phrenology, 119.
340.
Propensities, the Animal, their classifi-
Poetic faculties, the, their training in cation according to Phrenology, 657,
children through science, 709.
660; effects of want of training on,
Poetry, in education, 53.
15 ; their training, 306, 307; their
regulation by pain and pleasure,
522.
340 ; and by the Intellect, 375;
Political functions, the need of in- their discipline when strong, 396;
struction in Physical and Political have no memory, 463.
Science for the exercise of, 187 ; | Prussia, effects of education in, 505;
the education necessary for, 187, Secular education in, 505; its
188, 191, 192.
government, 520 ; state of, before
Political power of masses, is growing, 1807, 533; after 1807, 5334; its
513, 514, 515 ; its effects on educa- royal power in regard to education,
tion, 513, 514, 515.
533.
Poole's, Dr Richard, Essay on Prussia, National Education in—622–
Education," 102, 470; on a special 623; an example to Britain, 608;
case in education, 282.
its school administration, 622;
Pope, the poet, on "a little learn- its system of instruction, 622; its
ing,” 523; this criticised, 523, 524. maintenance, 623; its supervision,
Index.
763
392;
66
623; other elements in, 623; Normal often superseded by prizes, 391 ;
schools in, 623 ; works on, 623. should exercise all the faculties,
Public opinion, in relation to Moral 397 : its influence on crime, 536 ;
education, 407; in relation to con- on civilisation, 83; on nervous af-
scientiousness, 408.
fections, 50 ; on religion, 563: neces-
Punishment, should deal with effects, sary to raise working classes, 33,
different for different persons, 502, 508; would increase the skill
397 ; only necessary with lowest of workmen. 503 ; make intelligent
natures, 397; in Pennsylvania, citizens, 503; render revolution
404.
impossible, 517; lessen discontent,
Punishment, Corporal, the reason of 531; teach the order of God's provi-
its need, 397, 398; the means of dence, 581; be deeply religious,
dispensing with, 397; only neces- 581 ; improve Theology, 582; raise
sary with lowest natures, 397; when the teaching of schools, 582 ; give
needed, 340 ; common opinion of correct habits of thought, 583 ;
its need, 680, 690; kind of obedi- furnish true guides of conduct, 584 ;
ence produced by, 680, 681; its place religion on a true basis, 584 ;
degradation, 681, 690; good results and stem atheistic tendencies, 585 :
of its abandonment, 682, 691-693; needed in Switzerland, 626.
loss of time from its use, 684; should Real knowledge, xxxvi, 31, 38; the
be universally abandoned, 691-693; subjects included in, xxxvii-xliii.
its non-use in Secular schools, 256 ; See Real education.
and in the Williams School, 680; Reasoning, pure mathematical, as
in Pennsylvania, 405; books on, compared with other reasoning,
405.
433 (See Mathematics) ; its relation
to Comparison, 438.
Quarterly Journal of Education, 472. Reasoning faculties. See Reflective
Quetelet, on crime in France, 144. faculties.
Quick's, Rev. R. H., Essays on Reflection, its effects on Moral educa-
Educational Reform,” 93, 471.
tion, 375.
Quickness, mental, distinguished from Reflective faculties, classification and
strength, 300.
functions of, 438, 660, 669; their
Quintilian, on corporal punishment, relation to Individuality, 427; their
398,
exercise in mathematics compared
with other 'subjects, 432, 433; and
Raikes, Robert, his labours, lv.
with subjects of causation, 432, 433;
Raumer, Carl Georg von, lvi.
in relation to cleverness, 435, 436 ;
Reading, merely instrumental, 26, 43, have memory, 465; their training,
51; varieties of, 462.
437–443; trained only by separate
Real education, defined, xxxvi, 87, exercise, 440 ; a plan for training
210, 557 ; its need, 16, 30, 38, 538, them, 697; how to give them energy,
627; its aims, xxxvii, xliii, 40, 46, 441; relations between their train-
557 ; its pleasures, 265; elements ing and that of the Observing
of, xxxvi-xliii, 38, 39, 46, 47, 229, faculties, 441; their treatment
577 ; what it should be for the work- when large, 442, 458; natural
man, 29 : its general effects, 35, 43, order of their use in teaching, 468,
44, 55, 79, 83; on social intercourse, 470; effects of their culture, 529 ;
37; on social order, 532: based on effects of their neglect, 442, 443.
the natural laws, 43; motives Reform Bill, causes
more need for
furnished by, 51; compared with education, 516.
linguistic, lix, 69, 79, 83; never Reid's, Hugo, “Principles of Educa-
dangerous,” 523, 524 ; neglected tion," 471, 472.
in schools, 73, 536; its place in Reid, Thomas, on Mental Philosophy,
Secular schools, 253, 256; efforts
472.
at providing it in schools, 201; Religion, its true nature, 48, 559 ;
given in a German school, 452– what the word includes, 585 ; ele-
455 ; its amount and value, 454; ments woven into, 563; powerless
George Combe's efforts for, xix; to raise man's condition unless
764
Index.
assisted by nature, 157 ; in unison 622 : in Zürich, 625 : as it should
with science, 159, 165 ; gulf exist- be in common schools, by Andrew
ing between it and science, 153, Combe, 671 ; schools in which
158 ; neglected by scientific men, George Combe's views of, were
159, 162; detriment done to it by carried out, xlii ; controversy re-
its divorce from science, 158 : its garding it in Britain, xxi, Ixiv;
relation to "common sense, 161 ; to
the kind that should be given in
Literature and Law, 161, 162 ; to schools, xli, 34, 167, 578; how
Theology, 560, 561 : its immense much should be given in schools,
power over men, 163; its difficul- 54 ; how it should be given, 576.
ties, 164 ; its strifes, 563 ; relations | Religious faculties, part of man's
of Secular schools to, 252 ; when nature, 486; are under natural
combined with Theology, 562 : of law, 152 ; their training through
Christendom, 562 ; of Scotland, their own objects, 294 ; can be
562 ; of England, 562 ; of Ireland, associated with anything, 412 ; can
563 : influence of Real education on, be trained through secular subjects,
563; different opinions regarding, 671, 695 ; Dr Andrew Combe on
671 ; should leaven all education,
their cultivation through science,
673, 675, 676 ; how taught through 671 ; Mr Templar on ditto, 677 ;
Physics and Physiology, 677 ; should be associated with the
through Social Economy, 678 ; how natural laws, 419, 671, 695 ; how
should it be taught in National this can be done, 420; should be
education ? 576–580 ; is included trained through Science, 412 ; cul.
in true science teaching, 582 ; tivated in Secular schools, xlii, 252.
would be placed on a true basis by Religious strifes, their reasons, 563.
Real education, 584; ambiguous Religious teaching in middle class
terms in discussion of, discrimin- schools in Scotland, 404.
ated, 585.
Repetition, the power of, 447.
Religion, Natural, should form part of Report of Board of Public Instruction,
Secular education, xli, 53, 676 ; its on sanitary condition of schools, 366.
difficulties fewer than those of Re- Reports of H.M. Inspectors of Schools,
vealed, 164.
referred to, 472.
Religious difficulty," the, its nature, Respect, the source of true obedience,
559-564 ; explained, 564 ; its praise
and blame, 564.
Revolution, less danger of, with im-
Religious education, essential, xli, 48, proved education, 517.
167; its 'importance in controlling Rewards in school. See Prizes in school.
the other faculties, 49; the faculties Reynolds, Sir Joshua, on Taste as
used in it, 150, 151; all the facul- affected by training, 305.
ties should have it, 151 ; should | Richter, Jean Paul, on female educa-
be carried on through science, 123, tion, 68 : his “ Levana,” lxx, 406,
149, 153, 154, 412, 695; should 472 ; quoted, xxxiv ; when written,
reach the heart, 417; how to con- lvi ; when translated, lvi, lviii.
duct. it in scientific teaching, 420, Rigg's, Dr, “National Education,”
421 ; through secular subjects, by 592, 607, 622, 623.
Andrew Combe, 671; how it | Rights of individuals, 552; in a com-
leavens work, 482; given in connec- munity, 552 ; in solitude, 552
tion with Physiology, 475, 480, 695; Robson's, Edward R., “School Archi-
as carried on by Training, and by tecture,” 366.
Instruction distinguished, 306; Ronges, the, introduce the Kinder-
defects, 54 ; its common teaching garten into England, lvi.
in relation to the moral government Rosenkranz's “Pedagogics as a Sys-
of the world, xxxix, 127;
its position tem,” 405, 472.
in education, 167 ; compared with Rote answering, example of, 460.
Secular, 204 ; George Combe's advo- Rote learning, discouraged, 698.
cacy of it, 167 : in Massachusetts, Roth, Dr Matthias, his efforts for Phy-
614 ; how given there, 615 : con- sical education, 105, 106, 364;;, his
troversy regarding it there, 616- “Ling's Gymnastic Free Exercises ;"
393.
Index.
765
as
Compulsory Physical Education,” effects, 45 ; not Godless, 158, 167,
364; "Gymnastic Exercises without 566, 580, 581, 582, 674, 675; in
Apparatus," “Gymnastic Exercises unison with Religion, 159, 582,
on Apparatus, 365; "School 673 ; is inherently religious, 673,
Hygiene and Scientific Physical 674, 677, 695 ; existing gulf between
Education, 366.
it and Religion, 153, 158, 162 ; how
Rothstein, Ling's
Gymnastic Free science becomes Religious, 153, 412,
Exercises,” arranged by, 365.
578, 672–679 ; ought to wield the
Rousseau, his Emile," lvi, lviii, power of the Religious faculties, 164
472 ; on female education, 57.
412 ; neglected by the Religious,
Rowan's, Frederica, translation of 158 ; must regulate Theology, 165;
Siljeström's “ Educational Institu- its character before Bacon, 704 ;
tions of United States," 622.
there is a natural appetite for, 357.
Royal power, in relation to education, Science teaching in schools—the aim
533.
of, 696 ; what truths should be
Rüntz's, John, connection wit rk- taught, 45, xxxviii- xliii ; in certain
beck Schools, 231.
schools, 521; in a German school,
Russell, Lord John, George Combe's 453 ; in Secular schools, 253, 254;
connection with, 624 ; his opinion its special character there, 254 ; its
of the religion of Secular schools, value in training the faculties, 63,
579 ; his Education Bill, lxvii.
527, 704 ; natural order of ideas in,
Russell, Scott, on the low station of 468 ; its use a renovator in
teachers, 656; his Systematic school, 696; its bearing on educa-
Technical Education," 197, 656. tion, 648: its influence on Moral
Rylands, P., 'On the Facilities for
education, 374 ; on Religion, 563 ;
the Religious Education of the on public opinion, 408 : compared
People,” 596.
with that of classics, 79 ; low esti-
mate of its effects on education, 497 ;
Saintville, J. de, on discipline, 406. does not incapacitate for business,
Salford Mechanics’ Institution School, 526; the reasons of thinking it does,
246.
527 ; should be given to girls equally
Sandford, Mrs John, on female erlu- with boys, 705; the effects of it
cation, 65; her work on “Female on the after practice of trade, 705 ;
Education,” 66 ; this reviewed, 67. its proper teaching opposed to
Sanguine temperament, 341.
pedantry, 705; should give the
Sanitarian, “Sanitary Requirements general outlines of subjects, 706 ;
in School Architecture," by Dr the over-use of technicalities in,
Lincoln in, 366.
706 ; Physical and Economical can
Sanitary Commission Report, quoted, be generally taught, 55; can be
98; various Commissions appointed, taught to wonien, 63.
98.
Science, the Sacredness of—its im-
Sanitary Science, 98.
portance in education, xli, 167,168,
Scanning, power of, 468.
412, 582 ; how science becomes
Schmidt, Karl, an eminent educa- sacred, xlii, 153, 412 ; higher than
tionist, lvi; his educational works, religious dilettanteeism, 417 ; the
xxvii, 470.
natural laws Divine commands,
Schmid's, “Encyclopädie des gesamm- 417, 419, 582 : explained in regard
ten Erziehungs- und Unterrichts- to the laws of wealth, 414 ; and the
wesens,” 472.
duties of life, 415: how it can be
Schmitz, Dr, his connection with taught, 420, 422 ; the only means
Edinburgh High School, 92.
of teaching it, 423; is true of Social
Schoolmaster, essays on practical edu- Science, 413; its teaching exem-
cation in, 406, 472.
plified in Physiology, 421; would
Schools giving a broad education, introduce a Religious discipline into
the Secular 201 et seq.; others, 249. life, 413; the idea first propounded,
Schwarz's “Erziehungslehre,” 472. 168; George Combe's advocacy of,
Science, what it is, 696, 704 ; its in- 167; some schools in which taught,
fluence on happiness, 41 ; its mental
416.
1
766
Index.
Sciences, the, their relation to the
moral government of the world, 53.
Scientific study, in relation to God's
moral government, 129.
Scientific technicalities, their relation
to classics, 77 ; their over-use in
teaching, 706.
Scotch Education Acts of 1872, lxvii ;
its protection of young children, 494.
Scotch Supplementary Education Act
of 1878, ditto, 494.
Scotland, its religion, 562; its sec-
tarianism, 571.
Scotsman, The, extracts from. See
Combe's, George, Works.
Scott, Sir Walter, his retentiveness of
memory, 464.
Scripture, its truth based on natural,
542; must be supported by nature,
155 ; its use in Public schools,
726; used without comment in
Irish schools, 601.
Sculpture, in education, 53.
Secretiveness, its uses and abuses,
658, 662; combined with other
faculties, 386 ; its relations to
deceit, 395.
Sectarianism, immoral as basis of
State endowments, 546; should not
be the basis of education, 543, 544,
573 : its effects on Religion, 567,
on education, 567, 568, 676 ; on
intelligence and thought, 569; on
social interests, 569 : must magnify
its differences, 567, which are not
essential, 568: destroyed by science,
568: its struggles for the conduct of
education, 570; their effects on edu-
cation and progress, 570 : results
of it in Scotland, 571; in the Uni-
versities, 572:
a divorce
between science and religion, 572;
in education in Ireland, 579 ;
effects of, 598–600 ; its differences
overcome in education in Massa-
chusetts, 615; securities against,
in schools, 727.
Secular education, definition of name,
lxxii, 216, 257, 559, 585, 718, 731;
history of name, 718; its nature
and aims, xxi, xli, 208, 257, 535,
559, 574,
574, 577, 585, 731; its
defects, 54; has nothing to do
with dogmas, 542 ; should be sepa-
rated from Theology, 565, 566, 573;
its relation to Spiritual instruction,
559, 672 ; not opposed to Spiritual,
576 ; as relating to sectarianism,
574; as relating to this life, 574; has
nothing to do with the future
world, 575;
does not oppose
Christianity, 579; not Godless,
149, 580, 581 ; should all be made
Religious, 581, 671; necessary for
efficient Religious, 580 ; the Reli-
gious instruction included in it,
578: that recommended would
teach the order of God's providence,
581; would be deeply religious,
581 ; would make good citizens,
546; would improve theological
instruction, 582; would improve
the teaching of the schools, 583;
would give correct habits of thought,
583; would furnish true guides of
conduct, 584 ; would place religion
on a true basis, 584 ; would stem
atheistic tendencies, 585 : relation
of clergy to, 541 ; should be given
by the State, 566, 573, 577 ; its
endowment by the State highly
inoral, 546 ; its influence on edu-
cation and progress, 571 ; its place
in the questions regarding the con-
duct of education, 573; should be
free, 535, 573 ; examples of, in
other countries, 597-628 ; has in-
creased in strength, lxiv: compared
with “Religious," 204; ambiguous
terms in the discussion discrimin-
ated, 585; history of efforts for,
lxiv, 503 ; George Combe's efforts
for, xvi: summary of its relations
to Theology in schools, 591; Lord
John Russell's opinion of the Re-
ligion of, 579 ; in Prussia, 505;
Lovett's efforts for, 224 ; Plan for,
in Lancashire, 719; Dr Chalmers'
views on, 732; Prof. Nichol on,
730, 731.
Secular schools, list of (See Contents,
ix); their foundation, xxiii, lxv;
their history, 201-259; their char-
acteristics, 252 ; their relation to
Religion, 252 ; their broad educa-
tion, 253 ; the subjects taught in,
253; their science teaching, 254 ;
their application of the principles
of education, 255; their discipline,
255 : their relations to Real and
linguistic education,
256 ; to
National education, 257; to Govern-
ment, 257, 589 : their title, lxxii,
216, 257, 559,585, 718, 731 ; their
founders and conductors, 258; their
chief promoters, 259.
causes
Index.
767
216;
Secular School in Edinburgh, 201; Social Science in schools, 197 ;
its name, lxxii, 216, 718 ; its pros- teaches in Secular Schools, in Man-
pectus, 201; subjects taught in, chester, 244 ; teaches in Birkbeck
xxii, 202 ; its object, 207, 213; its Schools, 234 ; his character and
foundation, xxii, 213; its history, death, 234 ; his “Lessons in Social
xxiii; its relation to Religion, xxii, Economy,” 199.
211; its relation to Theology, 211, Shirreff, Emily, on female educa-
moral training in, 203, 215, tion, 68; her “ Intellectual Educa-
680; conducted without corporal tion,” 471.
punishment, 680–693 ; its intellec- Shuttleworth, Dr Kay, eminent as an
tual training, 696 ; its instruction educationist, lvi; Secretary of the
in science, 214, 703; its success,
Committee of Council on Educa-
xxiii, 215, 217; Reports of, quoted tion, lxvii.
xli, 215, 217, 475, 477, 488, 680– Siddons, Cecilia, George Combe's
710; refused Government grants, wife, 332.
lxxi ; its giving up, 218.
Siddons, Mrs Sarah, her daughter,
Secular Schools in Glasgowin St married by George Combe, 332 ;
Andrew Square, 221 ; its founda- her feelings when acting, 332.
tion; 221 ; its teaching, 222; its Signs, arbitrary, their relation to
history, 222--in Carlton Place, language, 444.
222 ; subjects taught in, 223; its Siljeström's "Educational Institutions
special features, 223.
of the United States,” 622.
Secular School, Manchester Free. See Simpson, James, account of, xxi;
Manchester Free Secular School. on classics, 86, 88; his “Philoso-
Secular School in Leith, established, phy of Education,” xxi, xxvii, lxi,
218 ; its teaching, 218 ; its history, 88, 103, 178, 384, 386, 470; on
219.
George Combe's connection with
Secular School Movement in Man- the supremacy of the Moral laws,
chester, lxv, 237 ; efforts there 178 ; on Social Science in schools,
for National Education, 237–241 ; 196: his connection with Edinburgh
George Combe's connection with Secular School, xxii, xxiii, 212 ;
lxv ; Plan for Secular education, with Glasgow educational move-
quoted, 719–729.
ments, 224; with ditto in Manches-
Secular Schools in Manchester, lxv, ter, 239 ; one of chief promoters of
240, 241.
Secular schools, 259 : on the impor-
Secular School, Oddfellows', in Man- tance of the playground, 378; on
chester, 244 ; its principles, 245; emulation, 386 ; on Wilderspin's
its teaching and discipline, 245; its system, 322 ; on the training of the
history, 246.
Sentiments in Infant schools, 384;
Secular Sunday Schools in Glasgow, speech on National Education at
220 ; their foundation, 221; their Paisley, 582 ; summary of Secular
origin, 221 ; their aim, 220.
views of teaching Theology, 591; on
Self-Command, the end of Moral Secular education not being Godless,
education, 367, 410; the condition 582 ; on the qualities of a good
of happiness, 368 ; its neglect in teacher, 632 ; popular explanation
home education, 410.
and defence of the Phrenological
Self-Esteem, its uses and abuses, 658, faculties, 660; his death, xxiii.
663, 705 ; its regulation in school Size of organs, a measure of power, 299.
work, 703 ; in emulation, 388 ; its Size, the faculty, its functions, 436,
connection with obstinacy, 401.
659, 668.
Selfishness, fostered by prizes, 390. Skin, the, in portance of its health,
Senses, the, their nature, 424 ; their 357, 358.
functions, 659; their training, 424; Smiles', Dr Samuel, “ Physical Educa-
in relation to God's moral governº tion; or the Nature and Manage-
ment, 136 ; works on their train- ment of Children,” 104.
ing, 425.
Smith, Dr Adam, on classics, 79;
Sentiments, the, in Phrenology, 658.
. on education, 278; his works,
Shields, W. A., advocates and teaches 198; his “Moral Sentiments,” 278.
1
768
Index.
512.
an
Smith's, Dr Edward, Health,” Social advantages of education, 508–
365.
Smith's, Dr Southwood, “ Philosophy Socialism, its spread in Switzerland,
of Health,” 103.
627 ; how to prevent it, 626–7.
Smith, Sydney, on classics, 87. Social life, necessary for training
Social and Political Science, de- the faculties, 406.
fined, 475; the necessity for its Social Science Association Reports, 223.
teaching, xl, lx, 171, 172, 180, 182, Social status of teachers, 655; patriot-
186, 191, 194 ; evils arising from ism of raising, 656.
the want of its teaching, 172, 174, Society, its origin and objects, 551 ;
175, 180, 184, 185; necessary for the restrictions on individual liberty
conduct of life, 108, 171, 176, 178, in, 552; a man's duties to, 553;
185; the prevalent ignorance of, its ignorance as to the objects of
170, 173, 174, 175, 184; would life, 170, 174, 175; their removal
help to cure social evils, 178, 183; by teaching Social Science in
demonstrates the industrial condi- schools, 171 ; suffers from want of
tions of moral reward, 179; its education, 509, 510 ; dangers to,
defective exposition by its students, from want of education, 509, 513,
180; too much devoted to the 514, 517; contrast between the
question of wealth, 181 ; should educated and uneducated citizen,
harmonise the principles of our 518; state of, in 1848, 202 ; its
whole nature, 181; the good results right to educate its members, 554;
of its teaching, 182, 184, 185, 186; the knowledge necessary to its
schools where taught, 186, 196 ; members, 33.
necessary for the exercise of poli- “Socratic questioning,” explained,
tical functions, 187, 192, 193: it 214, 237 ; illustrated, 485,698, 704.
is “the Science of Human Well- Spencer, Herbert, his work as
being,” 194 ; its special form as educationist, lvi, lviii.
developed by William Ellis, Spine, should be supported, 357 ; its
194 ; his best work on this, 198 ; treatment, 359.
other works embodying it, 200 : “Spiritual” instruction, defined, 208;
recommended by Lovett, 194, 196 ; its effects on education and progress,
by William Ellis, 194, 196 ; by 570, 675; the questions regarding,
Prof. Hodgson, 194, by the Com- 572; discordant views of,543; relates
missioners of 1861, 195 ; it can be to the future life, 575; ambiguous
made simple and interesting, 194 ; terms in discussion of, discrimin-
it should form part of the prepara- ated, 585; to what faculties it
tion of teachers, 195, 643 ; it is chiefly appeals, 550 ; relation of
represented in Normal schools, clergy to, 541; should be separated
195 ; early advocates of its teach- from Secular, xli, 565; should not
ing, 196; how it can be made to be given by the State, 566, 619;
train the religious faculties, 678: should be given by the Churches,
text-books on its nature and aims, 546, 576, 620, 731, 732; its leading
197, for general students and aim in schools, 565, 576 ; secured
teachers, 198, for scholars and by voluntary agency, 565; reasons
young students, 198: action of
why objected to by George Combe,
teachers in regard to it, 199; the 575; endowment of, by Govern-
special phase of the subject here ment, 590; advantages of its
recommended, 199; nature of its exclusion from National education,
true teaching, 485; the manner of 581 ; would be improved by Secular
its teaching, 200, 704 ; importance education, 582 ; Horace Mann's
laid on, in Birkbeck Schools, 235; opinion of, in Britain, 567 : de-
lesson on, by George Combe, 475; mand for, in schools in Massachu-
by William Ellis, 477; lesson on, setts, 619; not to be taught there,
combined with Physiology, by 619; defence of its exclusion there,
George Combe, 478"; should be 620 : controversy regarding it in
made essential in National educa- Britain, lxiv; Dr Chalmers views
tion, 594.
of, 732
Index.
769
are
on
Spontaneous activity, of the Feelings, Studies, should be alternated, 273 ;
336 ; of the Intellect, 337.
their regulation by the action of
Spurzheim, Dr, eminent as an educa- the faculties, 293.
tionist, lvi ; George Combe receives Subjects, those that should be taught,
his first notions of God's moral XXXV-xliii, 25, 38, 46, 51, 86 ; the
government from, 124 ;
on the
principles regulating their choice,
effects of parentage on education, xxxvii, xliii, 25; instrumental and
284 ; on marriage, 285 ; on human positive subjects discriminated,
progress, 285 ; on the order of the xxxvi, lix, 26; those that
development of the faculties, 287 ; instrumental, xxxvi, 25, 26, 31, 43,
on the mutual influence of facul- 47, 69; those of Causation, 40;
ties, 318 ; on the Reflecting facul- natural order of, in teaching, 468;
ties, 438 ; on Comparison, 438 ; on examples of teaching certain, 474 ;
Eventuality, 633; his connection the value of these examples, 474 ;
with George Combe, xvii, xxvii, extent to which subjects should be
124 : his “View of the Elementary taught in school, 53 ; those proper
Principles of Education,” lviii, 102, for early years, 86; those taught in
479 ; reviewed by George Combe, Edinburgh High School, 97.
102, 284, 287, 318; his “Philosophi- Sublimity, the functions of the organ
cal Principles of Phrenology,” 424. of, 659.
Staël, Madame de, on Napoleon's Surgery, in relation to God's moral
voice, 380.
government, 129.
Stanley's, Lord, letter to Duke of Switzerland, educational system of
Leinster 66 Roman Catholic Zürich in—624-628;its administra-
Religion," 597.
tion, 624 ; its meetings of teachers,
State education. See Education by 624; its schools, 625; its compulsion,
the State.
625; its religious instruction, 625;
State endowment of dogmas, immoral, its annual reports, 625; its subjects,
546.
625; its results, 626 : general state
Steven's, Dr, “History of Edinburgh of the people in, 626 ; need of Real
High School,” quoted, 91.
education in, 626 ; works on, 628.
Stevens', Rev. E. T., “ Domestic Sympathy, its true nature, 328; caused
Economy for Girls,” 366.
by exciting objects, 328 ; caused by
Stewart, Dugald, quoted, 142, 433; the Natural Language of the facul-
on the aim of education, 267 ; on ties, 328 ; differences in, explained,
hereditary character, 279 ;. his 330; as explaining the influence of
Philosophy of the Human Mind," example, 369, 400; distinguished
433, 472.
from Imitation, 371 ; active in all
Stockmar, Baron, letter to, by George the Feelings, 370; its influence in
Combe, on the education of the discipline, 399.
Prince of Wales, 643.
Stoker's, Jane, " Home Comfort,” | Taine's, Mons. H., "On Intelligence,"
and - Manual of Domestic 425, 471.
Economy," 366.
Tasks, when too heavy, 457.
Stow, David, a leading educationist, Taste, bad, 325.
lvi ; his early training of teachers, Taste, good, its nature, 325 ; its cul-
lxii; his connection with Infant tivation, 384.
schools, xx; the importance he at- Taste, the sense of, its training, 424,
attaches to the playground, 378 ; 716; its position, 716.
founds the first Normal School in Tate's' “ Philosophy of Education,”
Britain, 649; this described by 471, 473.
George Combe, 1xiii ; Memoir of Taylor's, Isaac, “Home Education,” "
him referred to, lxii ; his “Train- 471.
ing System,” 406, 471, 473; his Teachers, qualities of successful, 629–
Moral Training,"lviii; his “Bible 637 ; character and acquirements of
Training,” lii.
good, 631-635 ; Simpson on same,
Strength, mental, distinguished from 632, Sir G. S. Mackenzie on same,
quickness, 300.
632 ; require scientific principles to
30
770
Index.
guide them, xlvi, 636 ; Philosophy
of Mind necessary for, xxxiii, xlvi,
639; common sense not a sufficient
guide for, xlvi, 638 ; should learn
from their pupils, 687; should sub-
mit to be criticised by their pupils,
702 ; degraded by using corporal
punishments, 681; effects of non-use
of corporal punishments on, 683 ;
their danger of becoming tyran-
nical and absolute, 682 ; need for
testing qualifications of, 727; their
low social position, 655; should have
a higher social status, xlvi, 655, 656.
Teachers, the Professional training
of—its necessity, xlv, xlvi, 638,
639; should include instruction in
Man's Constitution, 640 ; in Mental
Science, xxxiii, xlvi, 642, 646, 648;
in Phrenology, 637, 644, 687; in
Anatomy and Physiology, 648, 687;
in Social Science, 195; their action in
regard to it, 199 ; in other sciences,
646 ; the necessity for these, 647:
history of efforts for, lxi; efforts in
Britain for, lxi, 649; first Normal
schools for, in Britain, 649; recog-
nised in Massachusetts, lxiii, 612,
650 ; their training begins there,
613; the first Normal schools there,
lxiii, 613; George Combe's efforts
for, Ixiii, 649; Universities recom-
mended for, 650, 654 ; in last cen-
tury, lii ; works on, 653.
Teachers, female. See Female teachers.
Temperaments, the, their varieties,
341; the nervous, 341; the san-
guine, 341; the bilious or fibrous,
342 ; the lymphatic, 342 ; their
combinations, 343 ; their manage-
ment, 343, 401; harmony of, between
teachers and pupils, 401; that of the
teacher, 632 ; works on, 342-343.
Templar, Benjamin, account of, 241;
his writings, 241, 243 ; advocates
Social Science in schools, 196, 197;
teaches it, -197; head-master of
Manchester Free Secular School,
241; on corporal punishment, 256 ;
letter of George Combe to, xxv ; his
Reading Lessons on Social Eco-
nomy,” 198;
“ On the Religion of
Secular Schools," 580 ; this quoted,
677.
Theological instruction. See “Spi-
ritual” instruction.
Theological teaching, in relation to
God's moral government, 128.
Theology, its nature, 560, 585'; rela-
tions to Religion, 561 ; what the
word includes, 585 ; must coincide
with science, 165, the progress of
broader, 166 ; determined by civi-
lisation, 561; should be separated
from Secular education, 565 ; its
leading aim in schools, 565; advan-
tages of its exclusion from National
education, 581; would be improved
by Secular education, 582 , when
it could be taught in a National
Secular system, 593 ; arrangements
for, 595 : its separate teaching in
Ireland, 601; its nature there, 602;
opposition to, 603 ; rule regarding,
605; its effects, '605.
Things. See Words and Things.
Thorn, Rev. Mr, of Liverpool, 244.
Thring's, Rev. Edward, * Education
and School,” 406, 471.
Tight-lacing, its effects, 360.
Time, the faculty of, its functions, 659,
668; George Combe's, 468.
Todhunter's, I., “Conflict of Studies,"
434.
Touch, effects of its training, 425 ; its
acuteness in the blind, 716, 717.
"Town” and “township,” as used
in the United States, explained,
617.
Training, nature and importance of,
xxxi-xxxv; distinguished from in-
struction, xxxi-xxxiii, 305, 406,
459, 525 ; need of in man's constitu-
tion, 13, 265; should be directed to
doing more than to knowing, 13;
should be part of all education,
xxxi, 49, 375, 525 ; its effects, 313;
its field of exercise, xxxiii; limited
by strength of faculties, 276, 279,
280 ; carried on by surroundings,
298; effects of its want, 14, 313,
375; on the Intellectual faculties,
14; on the Moral faculties, 14; on
the Propensities, 15, 49.
“ Transactions of the Edinburgh
Phrenological Society,” 298.
Trial by jury in school, 694.
True education. See Real education.
Tuckerman, Rev. Dr, 332.
Tune, the faculty, its functions, 464,
467, 659, 668; when small, 311 ; its
memory, 468 ; Mr Hytche on, 467;
George Combe's, 468.
Turnbull's, Rev. George, “Obser.
vations upon Liberal Education,"
471.
3
Index,
771
Understanding, the. See Intellect. burgh, 362 ; George Combe's con-
United States of America, their de- nection with, 362; Physiology in,
mocratic institutions only begin- 362.
ning to develop, 188 ; power of the Watts, Dr John, his connection with
masses in, 188 ; need of improved National education, 239, 241.
education for, 189, 190, 191, 192, Wealth, its relation to Moral Science,
193, 518–522; the noble destiny of, 181; its gratification, 323; its pur-
521.
suit, 408; the real nature of its
Universal suffrage, its effects on educa- pursuit, 409; its relation to higher
tion, 515.
pursuits, 409; its wise restraint,
University, religious tests in, 160. 409; its pursuit in relation to Moral
Unsectarian education. See Secular and Religious training, 414; its
education.
principles based oni Divine law,
Upper classes, the, their ignorance of 414.
Social Science, 175; higher aims for, Wehrli, Johann Jakob, lvi.
176 ; true pride of ancestry in, 177. Westminster Review,
- Classical In-
struction” in, by Prof. Hodgson,
Vaughan's, Professor, “Oxford Reform 93, 259 ; quoted on discipline by
and Oxford Professors," 93.
George Combe, 392 ; on
si Secular
Veneration, the faculty of, its uses Education," lxviii, 459, 491, 509,
and abuses, 486, 658, 665 ; in- 514, 528, 542, 565, 574, 577, 585,
active in early life, 366, 395 ; its 590 ; on Voluntary schools, 548.
use in discipline, 401 ; its action Whately, Archbishop, his views of
when strong, 465; its training education, 203, 607 ; on common
through science, 150, 156, 192, 412, sense in education, 636, 638; his
578, 696; addressed by the Fine views of Phrenology, xlix; his inti-
Arts, 361; its relation to obedience
macy with George Combe, xlix;
and disobedience, 395, 401.
his - Political Economy,” 198.
Ventilation, need of, 352; effects of Whately, Mrs, letter to, 578.
bad, 353.
Wiese's, Dr, “German Letters on
Verse-making, classical, only for English Education,” 406, 473.
certain persons, 462 ; objectionable Wife, picture of a good, 535.
as a general exercise, 463; George Wilderspin, Samuel, his development,
Combe's, 468.
635 ; a genius in education, 635;
“ Vested ” and “ non-vested” schools an educational reformer, liv, lv, lvi;
in Ireland, 605, 606.
his Infant School system, 322, 451;
“ Views on scientific and general George Combe's opinion of, 322;
education," in the London and services for, xx; and his use of the
Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, playground, 378; on emulation, 386;
434.
George Combe recommends his being
Vimont, on the cerebellum, 287.
invited to America, 459; the work
Vitativeness, its uses and abuses, 657, done by him, 635; reason of his non-
661.
success, 636; his want of scientific
Vivacity, mental, distinguished from principles, 636 ; his "System of
Education,” 322, 378 ; his “ Infant
Voluntary agencies for education in- System,” 473 ; his " Importance of
sufficient, 720.
Educating the Infant Poor," and
'Early Discipline Illustrated,"473;
Wales, Prince of, letter on education works on his system, 636.
of, 643.
Wilkin's, Augustus S.,
- National
Warne's, Rev. Joseph A., " Phreno- Education in Greece," 473.
logy in the Family," 111, 470. Will, its influence on the Feelings, 336.
Washington, George, an example of Willard, Mrs Emma, account of, 66,
sound judgment and good sense, 122 ; on female education, 66 ;
325.
teaches Mental Science, 122.
Watson, Dr Hewitt C., on heads of Williams, W. Mattieu, an account of,
botanists, 427; on Perception,
327. xxii; begins the Edinburgh Secu-
Watson's, John, Institution, Edin- lar School, xxii, 213; his works,
energy, 300.
772
Index.
A
xxii; annual reports of his school, in that of words, 84 ; things, not
xxii, 213; these quoted, 680–6; his words, necessary for developing the
connection with the first Birkbeck faculties, 313; things should precede
School, 231; his early thoughts of words in education, 446, 450, 707 ;
discipline, 680; his later thoughts, the right method in teaching, 450;
680-693; one of the first to teach importance of their relation, 449;
Physiology in school, xxxviii; his education in things illustrated, 450–
later life, xxii, 218; on the title 455 ; in dissection, 450 ; in learning
“Secular,” 718, lxxii.
Latin, 451 ; in Infant teaching, 451;
Williams' School in Edinburgh. See in geography, 452 ; in German edu-
Secular School in Edinburgh.
cation, 452; its need, 461; struggle
Willm, J., of Strasburg, 220; his about their teaching in present cen-
“ Education of the People,” 472, tury, 87 ; works on, 69.
525, 536.
Words taught without meaning-ex-
Wilson's, Dr George, “Five Gateways amples of, 455-461 ; in reading,
of Knowledge,” 425.
455, 458 ; in church-going, 456; in
Wit, the functions of the organ of, geography, 456.; in mathematics,
659, 667.
457 ; in too heavy tasks, 457 ; in
Women, importance of Physical classics, 457 ; in the want of useful
education to, 57, 59, 358; notes on ideas, 458; in Gaelic children, 459;
their physical education, 358; their in learning for display, 459 ; in rote
endowments as good daughters, answering, 460 : its after effects,
wives, &c., 535; the finest female 460; its waste of time, 458.
form, 361. See also Education, fe- Work, how.it becomes religious, 482.
male.
Working classes, the. See Labouring
Wonder, the faculty, its uses and classes.
abuses, 659, 666 ; its training in Working power, regulated by organisa-
relation to religion and science, 151, tion, 476.
156, 412, 696, 709.
Writing, merely instrumental, 26, 43,
Wood, Sheriff, eminent in education, 51; its relation to'language, 446.
lvi; on Comparison in children, 439; Wyse, Thos., M.P., eminent in educa.
his Sessional School, lxi, 386; trains tion, lvi; account of, 520; his
teachers early, lxi; his " Account” “Education Reform,”.520.
of the school, 439, 473; James
Simpson on the school, 632.
Youmans', Dr, “Modern Culture,"
Woodbridge, William C., lvi.
93, 106, 325, 364, 425, 473.
Woodward, Dr, 333 ; in Worcester, Youmans', Eliza A., 6. The Culture
Hospital, 333.
of the Observing Powers of Chil-
Words, reason of different meanings dren,” 425, 473.
attached to, 445 ; relations of Feel Young's “Teachers' Manual for Infant
ings and Conceptions to, 446.
Schools,” 473.
Words and Things, relation between
them, 31, 69, 83, 85, 445, 446; Zürich, the educational system of. See
a knowledge of things not implied Switzerland.
PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GRADUATE LIBRARY
DATE DUE
STE
tuttet
0 7 1980
BOUND:WW
MAY 1419
009
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 07415 1641
9
!
:
2
iin
DO NOT REMOVE
OR
MUTILATE CARD
3
1
܀
i
;
ܙܙܗ