4 68 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



But, if improvident, he is improvident in a high cause. Emerson 

 and others have taught us the uses of the great man. The teacher of 

 a new truth, the discoverer of a higher and worthier form of artistic 

 expression, is one in advance of his age, who, by his giant exertions, 

 enables the community, and even the whole race, to reach forward to 

 a further point in the line of intellectual evolution. He is a scout who 

 rides out well in advance of the intellectual army, and who by this 

 very advance and isolation from the main body is exposed to special 

 perils. Thus genius, like philanthropy or conscious self-sacrifice for 

 others, is a mode of variation of human nature which, though unfa- 

 vorable to the conservation of the individual, aids in the evolution of 

 the species. 



If this be a sound view of the nature and social function of the 

 man of genius, it may teach more than one practical lesson. Does it 

 not, for example, suggest that there is room just now for more con- 

 sideration in dealing with the infirmities of great men ? There is no 

 need of exonerating intellectual giants from the graver human respon- 

 sibilities. We do well to remember that genius has its own special 

 responsibilities, that noblesse oblige here too. At the same time we 

 shall do well also to keep in mind that the life of intellectual creation 

 has its own peculiar besetments, and that in the very task of fulfilling 

 his high and eminently humane mission, and giving the world of his 

 mind's best, the great man may become unequal to the smaller forti- 

 tudes of every-day life. To judge of the degree of blameworthiness 

 of faults of temper is a nice operation, which may even transcend the 

 ability of a clever and practiced critic. Perhaps the temper most ap- 

 propriate to the contemplation of genius, and most conducive to fair- 

 ness of moral judgment, is one in which reverence is softened by per- 

 sonal gratitude, and this last made more completely human by a touch 

 of regretful pity. Nineteenth Century. 



AN EXPERIMENT IN PRIMARY EDUCATION. 



By Dr. MARY PUTNAM-JACOBI. 

 I. 



IN modern times education has been recognized to be something 

 more than an elegant luxury, designed exclusively for the benefit 

 of the " upper classes." It is a force, and a potent and indisputable 

 means, not only for the training but for the evocation of forces. It is 

 able, not only to convey information, but to increase power. It is not 

 simply a social convention, but a real means for attaining real ends. 

 The final ends of education are efficiency and repose. The educated 

 person is he who knows how to get what he wants, and how to enjoy 

 it when he has got it. 



