LITERARY NOTICES. 



823 



in these works. In so far as education de- 

 pends upon principles, it is capable of be- 

 ing dealt with as a science ; and, though a 

 practical art, yet like all other arts it must 

 be pursued by blhid habit or under rational 

 guidance. We have pointed out again and 

 again in this " Monthly " how the science of 

 mind has been widened in modern times so 

 as to include its corporeal conditions, and 

 thus bring the living being into view as a 

 psychical organism rather than the mere ab- 

 straction of mind. This is the method of 

 the modern psychology, the immense su- 

 periority of which over the old mental phi- 

 losophy is most apparent in the field of 

 education. We know nothing of mind ex- 

 cept as manifested through its organic ma- 

 chinery. When we consider mind as men- 

 tal force, it at once becomes complicated 

 with the bodily energies, and it appears 

 under limited and quantitative laws, which 

 it should be the first task of the teacher to 

 master. Mind and body are developed to- 

 gether, and the fornrier can not be intelli- 

 gently led out except under inflexible cor- 

 poreal restrictions. Professor Bain's long 

 familiarity with this point of view has spe- 

 cially and eminently qualified him to pre- 

 pare a practical manual of school culture 

 that treats educational questions in detail 

 in harmony with the present state of knowl- 

 edge. 



It is impossible to give anything like an 

 adequate analysis of this admirable work 

 within the limits of an ordinary literary 

 notice, nor, indeed, is it necessary. Por- 

 tions of it have already appeared from time 

 to time in this magazine, by which our 

 readers have been somewhat informed of 

 its scope and object. Yet the articles pub- 

 lished fail to convey any just idea of the 

 adaptation of the book to the needs of 

 those engaged in the work of practical in- 

 struction. Certain important psychological 

 considerations of a general nature were 

 brought forward in a way to illustrate their 

 grave significance, but little, however, was 

 said of their bearing on the exigencies of 

 school-work. In the volume these exposi- 

 tions are recast and thrown into such a 

 shape that their applications and bearings 

 are brought out in their full force. The 

 various current studies in our schools are 

 taken up systematically, with the view of 



determining their educational power, and 

 how they stand related to the unfolding of 

 the mental faculties. This is a most im- 

 portant portion of the work, one hitherto 

 greatly neglected by educators, and the 

 conclusions of which require to be sharply 

 brought out and vigorously enforced. The 

 waste- of exertion on worthless objects of 

 study in our schools is something frightful 

 — objects of trifling worth alike in the in- 

 formation they give and in the narrow and 

 imperfect mental discipline they afford. In 

 regard to the study of languages especially, 

 Professor Bain's views are entitled to the 

 most serious attention. The study of lan- 

 guage, its critical and careful study, Pro- 

 fessor Bain of course recognizes to be of 

 the first importance ; but, at the same 

 time, he maintains that the educating power 

 of language is enormously over-estimated. 

 That which is but a preliminary use of 

 tools, indispensable in itself, but utterly 

 subordinate to the larger objects beyond, 

 to which it is but a means and a stepping- 

 stone, has been exalted into the great end, 

 and almost the whole time of education is 

 thus wasted upon initial acquisitions. Pro- 

 fessor Bain denies that the study of lan- 

 guage, however extended, can educate in 

 any real or adequate sense. After con- 

 sidering this subject, and laying down the 

 principles that should guide its study, and 

 the practice of lingual exercises, he passes, 

 in Chapter X., to the formal consideration 

 of the value of the classics. With this gi- 

 gantic superstition he makes no terms. The 

 pretexts for its continued ascendancy are 

 successively and efifcctually exploded. With- 

 out denying that some small benefit may of 

 course arise from the study of dead lan- 

 guages, as hitherto and commonly pursued, 

 he demonstrates the utter futility of the 

 several claims put forward in their behalf, 

 and shows how, by standing in the way of 

 modern studies, the classics are a fatal hin- 

 drance to that broad and thorough mental 

 discipline which can only be acquired by a 

 larger exercise of the mind in scientific 

 methods, and upon the knowledge of actual 

 things. 



An important phase of the work is the 

 treatment of what Professor Bain calls the 

 logical or analytical problem of education. 

 It involves the question of the sequence of 



