14 THE TEACHING BOTANIST 



acteristic, Mind. To enable him not only to make 

 the best present use, but to realize the utmost poten- 

 tialities of this his great weapon, such is the true 

 end of Education. But though the aim is simple, its 

 attainment is hard, for Mind at its best is so com- 

 plex, so liable to maladjustment, so little understood 

 by most of its possessors, that its cultivation requires 

 the greatest wisdom, skill, and sympathy, and the need 

 for these qualities is but partially realized by the public. 



Of all of the many problems of Education, the one 

 nearest the surface is this, to determine the proper 

 balance between mind-training pure and simple, and 

 the training of the mind for the practice of a particu- 

 lar business. The demand for the latter is incessant, 

 particularly in poorer communities ; but if there is one 

 thing plain about Education, it is this, that from 

 the very nature of Mind, it is a more efficient weapon 

 for any particular service if it has first been put into 

 a state of general sharpness and polish. This means 

 that each mind will achieve greater success in the 

 end, if, before it is turned to a particular work, it is 

 given the best general drawing-out it is capable of. 

 To give this is the first duty of Education. 



Unhappily Education has to contend not only with 

 misunderstanding from without, but against dissensions 

 from within. In the abstract all admit that in mind- 

 training the leading faculties are to be drawn out, 

 and of these the following are of most account. First, 



