22 BUBAL BECONSTBUCTION 



fit and proper persons to fill the places designed for them as can be. 

 The practical test of the value of the man is his fitness for his rdle in 

 life. And the test of the value of the upbringing of young people 

 accordingly must be the fitness attained by them for filling such 

 destined place. We do not value a medical man or a lawyer in 

 proportion to his proficiency in literature or a knowledge of languages. 

 We want him to do his own proper business well. And wherever 

 the calling requires early familiarity with its functions, as in sea- 

 manship, we take care to catch our pupils in an early age. 



In respect of rural callings this very sensible principle has thus 

 far been more honoured in the breach than in the observance. And 

 in truth this is only one of the complaints leviable against our 

 established system under its rural aspect. We are eager, as is only 

 too apparent to-day, to promote and extend education. But, so 

 far as regards the country, we do not seem quite to know how to do 

 it. We have the steam full up, but how about the chart ? 



We are accustomed to oneness. Time was when for the better 

 brought-up a classical education was the one rule ; but of late years 

 we have grown a little shaky about Greek. And, indeed, our native 

 practical sense has, long before other nations, led us to allow Vulcan 

 and Mercury a fair place by the side of Apollo and the Muses. Hence 

 our early superiority among nations in the mechanical arts, engineer- 

 ing, industry, and all the " modern " side. The effect here particu- 

 larly sought to be brought into relief is, however, observable with 

 exceptional clearness in the history of our most formidable modern 

 rival. All that rivalry, and the endowment for it, remained 

 undreamt of. impossible, so long as Germany failed to specialise, 

 adhering to the principle of pure classics. Between sixty and 

 seventy years ago it began to specialise, creating its " real " course 

 of studies, out of the erst despised and neglected rudiments. And 

 the result of its so specialising was a truly astonishing development 

 and an unanticipated prosperity, from which we have suffered. 



We have thus far gone in matters of education on the old non- 

 specialising tack. We have borrowed our rural educational system, 

 designed for the country, from that prepared for the towns. Leaving 

 patent differences of circumstances out of consideration, we have 

 served out the same food to stomachs of essentially different con- 

 stitutions and fixed the gaze of eyes with very different powers of 

 vision on the same objects. The natural consequence is that, with- 

 out coming near making our rural pupils as able students as the 

 urban, we have certainly spoilt them for the country. We have 

 put town ideas into their heads, fixed their desires on town aims, 



