1854] WRITINGS OF JOSEPH HENRY. 337 



pend on a knowledge of its principles, and can be readily 

 acquired without reference to them. The most expert account- 

 ants are frequently and perhaps generallj'' those who have no 

 knowledge of the philosophy of figures. On the other hand, 

 a profound acquaintance with the principles of an art may 

 exist without the ability to apply it in practice. I have 

 known of mathematicians who were unable to perform with 

 accuracy and dispatch the processes which constitute the ap- 

 plication of the simple rules of multiplication and addition. 

 The same is the case with the art of composition. A most 

 learned rhetorician is not necessarily a fluent and pleasing 

 writer. 



The acquisition therefore of these arts should be the prin- 

 cipal and prominent object of the primary or common school, 

 and nothing ought to be suffered to usurp their place. Un- 

 fortunately the drilling which is at first required to induce 

 the mental habit is so laborious and tedious to the teacher, 

 and in most cases so irksome and distasteful to the pupil, 

 that there is a tendency in our schools, and (I am sorry to say) 

 a growing one, to neglect them, and to substitute other objects 

 of more apparent — but of less intrinsic value. This is not 

 only an irreparable injury to the individual, but also to the 

 public. All the practical operations of life in which these 

 processes are concerned (and they apply to all except those 

 of mere handicraft skill) are badly performed. I may ven- 

 ture to say that the general substitution of instruction in the 

 mere rationale of the rules of arithmetic without a proper 

 drilling in the practice would produce more bankruptcies 

 than all the changes of tariffs or fluctuations of trade. 



It is an important principle, which should be kept in view 

 by the teacher, that although the practice of an art is at first 

 difficult and requires at each step an effort of mind, yet 

 every repetition renders it easier, and at length we come to 

 exercise it not only without effort, but as a pleasurable grati- 

 fication of an habitual act. Perseverance therefore in this 

 cause will ultimately receive a grateful reward. It should 

 be impressed upon the minds of the directors of elementary 

 education that the teacher who neglects to train his pupils 

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