ScIENTIFIC AND LiTERARY TEACHING IN HicH ScHOOL 249 
We are all, of course, familiar with the early educational 
movement in Europe. That was an age when the mind of man 
was just awakening from a long slumber, aroused by the beauties 
of the literatures of old Greece and Rome. Soon after, the wave 
of religious enthusiasm in the form of the Reformation, that 
swept over Europe, gave to men an intense desire to study 
deeper into the mysteries of God’s word. As a result of this 
awakening the study of Language and Literature grew in pop- 
ularity and men thought that nothing more was required for a 
complete education. And were they not right? Would any- 
thing else have awakened men from the stupor of the Dark Ages? 
Civilization, as we understand the term today, was then in 
its infancy. Simplicity marked all the pursuits of life. Machin- 
ery, all but the simplest types, was unknown. Streams were 
forded instead of being spanned by bridges. The great Ocean 
was a mystery upon which they dared not venture. But as time 
went on changes came. The science of Aristotle no longer sat- 
isfied the demand. Something larger, something truer, more real 
must come or men would again sink into that Chinese stagnation 
that had characterized their thought for so many hundreds of 
years. 
The story is too well known to be related here. The 
demands of the world today are not what they were a thousand 
years ago, nay, nor a hundred years ago. Then will the educa- 
tion that they gave their youth a thousand years ago or a 
hundred years ago be the one that is best suited to prepare our 
youth for the complex struggle that is to meet them in a few 
years? 
It seems to me that no sane man will say that our educa- 
tional system is so perfect that it should be stereotyped for all 
time. Let us then leave these petty bickerings as to the greater 
value of this study than that, and recognize the one great general 
principle that when an organ is properly exercised its power is 
increased. 
The progress of the world during the last half century has 
been phenomenal in many ways. Along what lines has this 
progress been most marked? Has it been along the line of literary 
production? Has the world been made broader or has it become 
a more comfortable or pleasant place to live in because of its 
literary productions? Can we truthfully say that the literature 
of the present day is very far in advance of that of the Eliz- 
abethan Age several hundred years ago? Then can we ascribe 
this wonderful advance in the world’s progress to its influence? 
Is the railroad, the factory, the coal mine, the telegraph and 
the thousand and one other things that make life livable at the 
