THE STORY OF A SCHOOL. 503 



witho-ut tlie aid of books. Prof. Straight first developed the rela- 

 tions which knowledge sustains to mind, and the action of mind 

 under varying conditions. He then took up some familiar subject 

 and called upon the class to apply the knowledge thus far gained. 

 For example, a flower was brought in and analyzed according 

 to the laws of systematic botany. Then came introspection : what 

 powers of mind had been used, and in what order ? A lesson in 

 geometry came next, and this was followed by the other school 

 studies, until the list was exhausted. Next came the industries : 

 what mental powers are brought into play in raising a crop, in 

 building a house, in boiling a potato, in the making of bread ? By 

 this plan mental philosophy was lifted out of the fog of dreary 

 abstractions and set on its feet in the broad light of every-day 

 life. 



Moral philosophy fell to my share. ISTo books were used. My 

 methods were quite similar to those of Prof. Straight. In a series 

 of discussions, extending over several weeks, the human being 

 was taken where Prof. Straight left him, and the relations devel- 

 oped that existed between him and other human beings. Needs 

 were shown to exist by virtue of the " constitution of things," and 

 deeper than this we did not attempt to go. 



Human beings were seen to be ^potentially equal in needs, hence 

 the necessity for equality before the law, that all might have 

 opportunity for their natural development. Out of needs grew 

 rights, and out of rights duties. A study of experience soon 

 showed that duty assumed two phases — positive and negative. 

 Confucius is credited with a maxim covering the ground of nega- 

 tive duty — forbidding injury to your neighbor ; Jesus enunciated 

 a law that summarized both positive and negative duty. 



Next, the principles derived from this preliminary study were 

 applied to the conditions which exist in school, home, and neigh- 

 borhood. Why should a person work ? What time should be 

 given to recreation ? What shall we do with the tramp ? What 

 with worthy but destitute men and women ? What with needy 

 orphans ? 



The discussion was conducted almost solely by the pupils. 

 When it took too wide a range, the teacher quietly led it back to 

 the question at issue. The lesson on one occasion dealt with card- 

 playing. One young woman charged that it led to gambling and 

 bad company. To this another replied that she had often played 

 but never for money, nor had she the least inclination to gamble. 

 As for bad company, she played with her sister, who was no 

 worse company at the card-table than at the dinner-table. When 

 I found that the discussion had become a mere assertion of opin- 

 ion, I interposed : " You seem to disagree. Why ? " " Yes," said 

 one, who recalled my method of treating such cases, " we have 



