306 Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



In Latin the South African boy is painfully backward, but that 

 is easily accounted for. He has not gone through the mill or had the 

 sound grounding which the average English boy gets. Boys often 

 come to school late in life and are placed beyond their range of know- 

 ledge, and they never make this up. A book of Caesar or a speech of 

 Cicero is their goal, and there are many stumbling-blocks before even 

 that is reached. Yet I would not have Latin abolished. Abt^it omen! 

 The I'esults may not be great and the amount of acquaintance with the 

 language acquired very jejune ; but Latin is an unrivalled educative 

 agent. Besides this, there is always the danger in a young country of 

 keeping down to the level of what "pays," and what can produce 

 material results — a fatal policy. Curiously enough in English, 

 especially English grammar, analysis, parsing and the like, the South 

 African boy leaves the English bo}'^ sti*eets behind ; a curious satire 

 on our system of education in England ; but the fact remains, and I 

 don't think will be disputed. 



History shares the fate allotted to it in a public school regime at 

 home, and practically "goes under." Greek is anathema maranatha to 

 the South African boy, if one may judge from his openly expressed 

 views on the subject, but it is undoubtedly an easy language to learn 

 after the first plunge, and a most paying subject for boys who aspii-e to 

 a high class in the matriculation lists. 1 have most pleasant associations 

 with mv Greek classes and with the quaint and ill-concealed aversion to 

 the subject. On the domain of mathematics I will not venture to 

 tread, except to say that the standard set out here seems considerably 

 higher than that at home, but boys seem to fail more than one would 

 expect. It may sound hopelessly old fashioned and out of date, but I 

 do wish out here boys could be imbued with a little taste for ancient 

 histor3^ The "Persian wars," the "struggles of Athens and Sparta," 

 the " Punic wars," and the " Roman Empire " — surely something should 

 be known about these from a general, not a pedantic, standpoint. 



The question of discipline is an interesting one, and not to be 

 dismissed with a few words. Discipline is so bound up with teaching 

 and the effect of the teacher's work, that its importance cannot be 

 overestimated. Discipline is lax in some schools out here, as it is in 

 .some schools in England ; and even where it is not lax throughout a 

 school, the laxity is often noticeable in isolated cases. This often, I 

 think, arises from an imperfect and inadequate knowledge of the South 

 African boy. To my mind it is axiomatic that the colonial boy can be 

 led, but cannot be driven. This was i-einarked to me on my first 

 arrival in South Africa, and years of teaching have convinced me of 

 its truth. It remains, then, to be seen what must take the place of 

 mere force and driving, which are patently useless. I think a master 

 need never find any ditliculty, however large the form and however 

 naturally unruly the boys, if he observes certain lines of conduct. He 

 must be strict. All boys, and the South African boy is no exception 

 to this rule, like a strict mastei*. The}'^ know where they are. But 

 by strictness I do not mean hard and fast rules, or a procrustean 

 system. That is not strictness, but pedantry. Then he must be fair. 



