XV THE SCHOOL BOARDS 391 



the kind is not done, the English physique, which 

 has been, and is still, on the whole, a grand one, 

 will become as extinct as the dodo in the great 

 towns. 



And then the moral and intellectual effect of 

 drill, as an introduction to, and aid of, all other 

 sorts of traininsr, must not be overlooked. If vou 

 want to break in a colt, surely the first thing to do is 

 to catch him and get him quietly to face his train- 

 er; to know his voice and bear his hand; to learn 

 that colts have something else to do with their 

 heels than to kick them up whenever they feel so 

 inclined; and to discover that the dreadful human 

 figure has no desire to devour, or even to beat 

 him, but that, in case of attention and obedience, 

 he may hope for patting and even a sieve of oats. 



But, your " street Arabs,'' and other neglected 

 poor children, are rather worse and wilder than 

 colts; for the reason that the horse-colt has only 

 his animal instincts in him, and his mother, the 

 mare, has been always tender over him, and never 

 came home drunk and kicked him in her life; while 

 the man-colt is inspired by that very real devil, per- 

 verted manhood, and his mother may have done 

 all that and more. ' So, on the whole, it may 

 probably be even more expedient to begin your 

 attempt to get at the higher nature of the child, 

 than at that of the colt, from the physical side. 



2. Xext in order to physical training T put the 



instruction of children, and cspeciallv of girls, in 

 85 



