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government. He often sacrifices for the people as priest, he l«ads them 

 to war as commander-in-chief, he ■would lead the war galleys of his fleet 

 as chief admiral, and lay down laws for his people's guidance, he sits in 

 judgment at the gate, and before him people throng to have their 

 disputes decided. But soon the business of government grows and 

 becomes more complicated. The king must have his general to fight his 

 wars, his chief justice to sit in judgment for the people. The', key to 

 the constitutional history of our country is this principle of sub-division. 

 In the great council of our Norman kings, there are the germs of our 

 present cabinet or executive government, our present Parliament or 

 legislative body, our present Law Courts or judicial authority. The 

 King's Great Council was all of these, but see how vastly complex each of 

 these sub-divisions has grown. The Law Courts which are themselves 

 only one off-shoot of the Great Council of the King, have Bankruptcy, 

 Admiralty, Probate, Queen's Bench, and Chancery Divisions, Court of 

 appeal and Committee of Privy Council ; each has its own special 

 business and confines itself thereto. Or, to take the executive ; it m;;y 

 not usurp the functions of legislation, still less may it invade the 

 privilege of the judicial bench. Yet, what a complex organization. 

 Tui'u to the Summary in Whitaker's almanac and an examination of 

 the personnel of the government offices will impress you with tlu' 

 magnitude of its operations far more than any words of mine. One small 

 subdivision of this, viz. : the War Office has had its organization much 

 discussed of late in the public press. And, why '? Because it is not 

 sufficiently sub-divided. As you are aware, the Navy is managed by a 

 Board of Admiralty, and the office of Lord High Admiral has been put 

 in commission. The Uuke of Cambridge however still holds in his 

 hands the multifarious functions pertaining to the office of Commander- 

 in-Chief. This involves, it is said, considerable confusion. 



It may be permitted to a schoolmaster to draw an illustration from 

 the playing fields. In cricket, even in its earlier days, there must have 

 been the rudimentary distinction between the batsman and the bowler, 

 and the man fielding the ball. But each position in the field 

 has now received scientific study, its possibilities have received 

 scientific elaboration. A man gets his place in the Univei'sity 

 Eleven because he is an admirable wicket-keeper or cover-point : each 

 man has his special capacities, and if stationed in any but his favourite 

 place, finds himself at a serious disadvantage. In football the process of 

 elaboration has proceeded within our own memory. When I was at 

 school we played an unscientific game all in a lump. Now a man is a 

 forward, or a back, or a half-back, or a three-quarter : and when he 

 proceeds to the University from his school, he does not often change the 

 place to which he is accustomed, and for which he has specialized, for 

 any other for which he has not received the same training. 



There is one point in connexion with education in which this 

 specialization is as obvious, as it is, or may be, harmful. In old days 

 everyone had the same training, everyone was forced through the same 



