lo8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



steady development instead of a constant struggle between duty 

 and inclination. This is the only way of reaching that absence of 

 effort which is as necessary to a harmonious life as it is to a work 

 of art. It also tends to produce in every individual a certain true 

 simplicity of nature, which in a sense makes every one a genius 

 by freeing him from the bondage of a dull conventionalism. 



The same principles apply on the intellectual side of develop- 

 ment. One must not set up an arbitrary standard before the child 

 and crudely expect him to attain to that. In short, we must find 

 something which he can do, and not peremptorily order him to 

 perform things which are impossible to him. What is the right 

 cure for idleness ? First of all it may be safely stated that punish- 

 ment is not the cure. Idleness is generally a sign either that the 

 work is too difficult or that it is unsuited to the child. Very few 

 children will prefer doing nothing to suitable occupation; and 

 those few are in an unhealthy condition, probably caused by 

 previous mismanagement. A head master remarked not long ago 

 in a speech on prize-day that he had often seen an apparently dull 

 boy changed into a bright, happy one, by being set to practical 

 work in the laboratory. When children are dull, it is the business 

 of the persons who are educating them to find out why they are 

 dull, and apply the right remedy. The children can not find it 

 out for themselves, any more than they can discover the causes 

 and cures of their bodily ailments. They often have a vague sense 

 that they are not being treated fairly, and in some cases they even 

 learn to regard teachers as their natural enemies. 



The fact is, that not only is teaching useless when it fails to 

 arouse interest, but it is injurious to the moral nature as well as to 

 the mind. An ignorant boy is a less unsatisfactory object than 

 one crammed with undigested information. One does not know 

 how to begin to improve the latter ; he seems a hopeless case ; he 

 is persuaded that all school-books are unutterably dull, and never 

 opens one if he can avoid doing so. When this state of mind is 

 once produced it is difficult to alter it. Probably it can only be 

 altered by giving up school-books entirely for many months, and 

 putting the boy to some totally new occupation. But it is by no 

 means an impossible task to prevent its being produced at all. In 

 a Kindergarten a child's mind never gets into this state. There is 

 a steady development which should be continued throughout the 

 period of education. The pressure of contradictions which is in- 

 compatible with real moral and intellectual progress should 

 never be introduced. 



One of the problems of the present time is the successful ap- 

 plication of Froebel's principles to the education of children 

 beyond the age for the Kindergarten. Owing to the fact that the 

 attention of teachers haa been more frequently directed to the 



