106 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Let it not be supposed that I undervalue literary subjects. 

 I should allot to them a much larger share of the curriculum 

 than they now possess ; and I should find time for them by 

 striking out languages, which are quite distinct from literary 

 culture, and to a great extent antagonistic to it, though they are 

 confused with it and mistaken for it. I agree most heartily 

 with the Committee that literary culture is a most important 

 part of the mental equipment of everyone ; but it would be 

 absurd not to recognise that in school life literary culture can 

 only be begun. In school life only the foundation can be laid, 

 and the most important part of the foundation for this and for 

 most other mental acquisition is a thorough education, not in 

 foreign languages, but in the mother tongue. For this reason 

 I rejoice to see the emphasis with which the Committee again 

 and again insists on the importance of the teaching of English. 

 Literary expression has never, I think, in the whole history of 

 this country, been at such a low ebb as it is at the present time. 

 By literary expression I do not mean flowing language and the 

 use of tropes and ornaments. I mean the ability to express 

 plain meaning in plain words, so that the reader shall be in no 

 doubt as to what the meaning is, and shall experience no 

 difficulty, no hesitation, and no fatigue that can be avoided, 

 in apprehending the meaning. This ability is extremely rare. 

 I think it was never so rare as it is at the present time. It is 

 also extremely discreditable — discreditable to the writers, and 

 doubly discreditable to the schools in which they have received 

 a so-called education. What sort of competence schoolmasters 

 possess for the task of instructing their pupils in the use of their 

 mother tongue may be estimated from the analysis, given in 

 Science Progress for October, 191 7, of a literary composi- 

 tion by the head master of a great public school. 



The Report under consideration, the product of a Committee 

 of men of science, is extremely clear and well written, very 

 unusually so for an official document, but it contains many 

 peccadilloes, and is much to seek in the application of the difficult 

 art of punctuation. It is, however, upon the whole a most 

 statesmanlike document, broadminded, far-seeing, comprehen- 

 sive, and persuasive. It ought to have a most powerfully 

 beneficial effect upon the education of our future citizens. 

 Whether it will or not remains to be seen. 



