472 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



the last twenty years, which gained for them the monopoly of production of 

 many articles essential for the business of peace or war, was due not so much to 

 the wide knowledge possessed by each individual as to the fact that throughout 

 Germany there was a respect for knowledge and an appreciation of its value to 

 the nation. Thus it was worth while for men to become expert in all the varied 

 branches of science, so that in every undertaking the whole of the past experience 

 of mankind dealing with the subject could be brought to bear on any problem in 

 question. 



Importance of Instruction in Language 



From a broad standpoint it is impossible to draw any marked line of distinction 

 between literary and scientific studies. Since words are the counters we use in 

 the complicated processes of thought, we cannot hope to attain accuracy of thought 

 and reasoning without accuracy of expression. A well-turned phrase is one 

 which signifies exactly what we intend to say. An essay possessing literary 

 form must be one in which the ideas are well expressed and the reasoning 

 logically carried out. The first principle in education, whether we call it 

 literary or scientific, is a training in the use of language, and we shall achieve 

 little in the way of improvement of education until every lesson, whatever its 

 subject matter, is at the same time a lesson in expression, i.e. in the use of 

 appropriate language. From the very beginning of education every word learnt 

 should be realised as expressing some definite experience, and it is especially 

 important to avoid the use of expressions which have no real significance. 

 Among the Japanese every piece of writing, whatever its content, was an object 

 of respect and acquired a sacred and even magic import. What we have to 

 guard against is allowing a child to attach to words, or to a collection of words, a 

 similar importance apart from their real meaning. The devotion of the inarticu- 

 late Englishman to catchwords and his hypnotisation by phrases is largely due to 

 his defective training in language. A real reform in this respect might go far to 

 break down the senseless adhesion to party formulae which is such an impediment 

 to social reform. 



The first essential, therefore, in the intellectual side of education is training in 

 language. Our forefathers recognised this in putting Latin and Greek in the 

 forefront of secondary education. At that time these two languages were the 

 gateways to all human and scientific knowledge then existent, while Latin was 

 the only means of communication among scholars and therefore of acquiring new 

 knowledge or new ideas from other workers and thinkers. But now the situation 

 has changed : it is our own langnage which is the portal to knowledge and the 

 instrument of thought, and training in its use should be the beginning of education 

 and occupy a prominent place throughout the whole of school life. Every lesson, 

 whether in other languages, ancient or modern, in science t»r history, should at 

 the same time be an exercise in the use of the mother tongue. There seems no 

 reason why this vast and noble heritage of ours should not be an object of study 

 as detailed and devoted as that applied by the French to their own language. 

 And indeed the principal value of the study of other languages for most boys and 

 girls is that they gain therefrom a fuller acquaintance with their own. By this 

 means they learn the roots of which their words are built up, the real value of 

 each word, and the meaning of exactness of expression. This is not to deny 

 utility to the teaching of other languages than English. A knowledge of Latin, 

 for instance, not only elucidates the meaning of words in English and teaches a 

 just appreciation of the methods of grammatical constiuction, but it also facilitates 



