u8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



grew up a new order of knowledge, 

 which, at the same time that it gave in- 

 sight into the constitution of natural 

 things, conferred also vast power for the 

 purposes of human improvement. We 

 are justified in saying that in a high 

 sense a new universe was thus created 

 for the human mind. Through scien- 

 tific knowledge man entered upon a 

 higher intellectual career and first 

 gained a real conception of his own 

 possibilities and true position in the 

 world. A new civilization followed, 

 which is signalized in a thousand ways ; 

 and the answer to Mr. Sill's question, 

 " What is this Nature (which figures so 

 largely as a final arbiter in the enthusi- 

 astic eulogies of Science) ? " is given in 

 the powerful mental movements of all 

 enlightened nations for the cultivation 

 and extension of that natural knowl- 

 edge which has become the controlling 

 agency in the improvement of human 

 society. 



And is it to be supposed that this 

 new power in the intellectual world is 

 to remain impotent in the domain of 

 modern education? Can the great rev- 

 olution of ideas in regard to nature fail 

 to bring about a corresponding revolu- 

 tion in the mental cultivation of man- 

 kind? The simple question is, whether 

 the minds of our youths are to be de- 

 veloped in future by means of the lower 

 or by means of the highest and most 

 perfect forms of knowledge. Thoso 

 who offer the classics as an all-suffi- 

 cient means of culture discredit the 

 achievements of modern thought, and 

 have no more use for the knowledge of 

 nature than had the ancient classical 

 authors before such knowledge existed. 

 Mr. Sill puts his educational theory 

 in the following nutshell, which, as will 

 be seen, finds no room for nature. He 

 says: "The truth is, there is a perma- 

 nent aspiration in man for spiritual en- 

 largement, for higher and richer pianos 

 of intellectual being. This aspiration 

 has in every age reached out, no doubt 

 more or less blindly, after whatever 



was greatest and best in preceding hu- 

 man attainment. Latin and Greek have 

 been studied, not alone, as our author 

 almost seems to suppose, as words aud 

 for words' sake, but for the vital con- 

 tact they give with the living men who 

 thought in Latin and Greek." 



Now, granting this permanent hun- 

 ger for spiritual enlargement, the ques- 

 tion still remains how that hunger is to 

 best appeased. Mr. Sill says by "the 

 accumulation of man's thought and feel- 

 ing concerning human life and affairs." 

 But what " accumulation " ? Why, the 

 literary treasures of Greek and Latin, 

 of course. The yearnings of human 

 nature after intellectual illumination 

 are to be met, not from the magnificent 

 treasures of truth which are now the 

 grandest possession of humanity, but 

 by the undeveloped thought of two 

 thousand years ago, and by bringing 

 the minds of our youth " into vital con- 

 tact with the living men who thought 

 in Latin and Greek." The absurdity is 

 self-evident. Men's aspirations are not 

 to be thus satisfied. The thought con- 

 cerning human life and affairs which 

 we require for mental cultivation is 

 modern thought the knowledge which 

 bears upon the emergencies to be en- 

 countered. Only by the light of the 

 most advanced science can affairs in 

 these times be intelligently dealt with. 

 Our age is full of living questions which 

 can only be resolved by modern meth- 

 ods. To go back thousands of years 

 after the intellectual help we need is 

 simply to shirk the responsibilities of 

 the present age. 



Knowledge of nature for guidance 

 in life is the great requirement. But 

 Mr. Sill does not seem to recognize that 

 knowledge has any function of guid- 

 ance. There is disparagement through- 

 out his paper of the importance of 

 knowledge for any use that can be made 

 of it in the conduct of life. Mr. Spen- 

 cer bad classified the knowledges in his 

 little book as they bear upon the activi- 

 ties of life, and had ranked first "those 



