CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



seems to us that his special work here should be 

 the study of physiology and the laws of health, of 

 psychology, of the laws and history of his country, 

 and of its literature. He should combine with 

 this such studies as may throw light on these 

 subjects ; and he should add to this some special 

 department of investigation in which he may try 

 his own powers. This last may be a special 

 branch of science, such as theology or medicine, 

 which he has chosen for his profession. But now 

 certainly is the time for him to search into truth. 

 In his school career he has been amassing know- 

 ledge gained by others in the past. If he has 

 been instructed in the right way, he has been 

 doing more than amassing he has been gaining it 

 for himself. But still he has been exercising his 

 powers under direction, and on materials procured 

 by others. Now he tries to penetrate into obscure 

 regions, that he may fetch forth truth for himself; 

 and in such an exercise as this, he necessarily 

 brings into activity the highest energies of his 

 intellectual powers, and so performs the highest 

 functions of mind. 



It is needless to say that this sketch is to some 

 extent ideal. Neither schools nor universities at 

 present existing, accomplish what is here said to 

 be their work. But still, they more or less aim 

 at accomplishing them. Their failure, so far as 

 they do fail, has for the most part to be explained 

 historically. We have divided the schools into 

 common schools, commercial schools, classical 

 schools, technical colleges, and universities. 



The difficulties in regard to common schools 

 have been that portions of the communities have ] 

 wished the working- classes to remain in ignorance ; 

 that the working-classes have often been extremely 

 indifferent to education ; that they are unwilling 

 to be taxed for education ; and that some people 

 are afraid of the interference of government. 

 Wherever the work has been best accomplished, 

 as in Germany, it has been by the state under- 

 taking to organise schools. 



The commercial schools have not been remark- 

 ably successful anywhere. The most vigorous 

 attempts have been made in Germany and Switz- 

 erland ; but in these countries, especially in Ger- 

 many, merchants shew a preference for those who 

 have been educated in the gymnasien or classical 

 schools. These schools, however, cannot be said 

 to have failed from causes that necessarily attach 

 to them. The classical schools had preoccupied 

 their ground. Thus commercial' or realschulen, 

 as they are called, had to force their way into re- 

 cognition. They were to a certain extent neglected 

 by government ; they were not supplied with such 

 good teachers as the gymnasien possessed. But a 

 better future seems before them. At least, there 

 is hope, that both in Germany and this country, 

 a greater effort will be made to equip such schools 

 properly. 



The classical schools and the universities are 

 hampered by traditions. Most of them have 

 existed for long periods. Ancient modes and 

 usages have become sacred and stereotyped. 

 These institutions are naturally conservative. 

 And such innovations as are attempted are often , 

 made with half-hearted energy, and therefore 

 fail For instance, there is nothing on which 



576 



educationists are more clear than that science 

 should be taught in these classical schools. But it 

 is easy to teach science in such a way as to make it 

 utterly repulsive and non-educative. It is difficult 

 to teach it so as to bring out the powers of mind 

 which it can bring out. And accordingly, for one 

 teacher that can teach science well, and make the 

 subject a success, you can get ten who cannot 

 teach it, and will therefore make it a failure. 



The universities which have come nearest to 

 attaining the ideal are the German univer- 

 sities. Some of them are of quite recent origin. 

 They are the products of nineteenth-century 

 thought ; and though they are far from perfect, 

 they stimulate investigation into truth power- 

 fully. 



Again, however, all that Germany has succeeded 

 in doing, it has done by the state. The Germans 

 believe that education is a matter which concerns 

 the entire community, and that therefore the 

 state, as the representative of the community, 

 should see to it that the means of educating all 

 the citizens should be provided. They think that 

 it is the business of the state not merely to look 

 after the instruction of the working-classes, but 

 to superintend and organise the entire instruction 

 of the country ; so that the poorest child, if he 

 has ability, may rise to the highest honours of the 

 state, and so that the highest education may be 

 given as perfectly as possible. It is the interest 

 of an entire community that each individual in it 

 should be educated to the utmost. The benefits 

 which an individual receives from a good educa- 

 tion can never be confined to himself. They must 

 flow over to the whole state. To bring out all 

 the powers of a human being, is to bring out the 

 highest amount of good that is in him, or in other 

 words, to make him in the highest degree beneficial 

 to his fellow-men. And such a work is one that it 

 is the bounden duty of every individual and every 

 state to accomplish in the most perfect manner 

 possible. 



We have said nothing of the education of girls. 

 To a large extent the education of boys and girls 

 ought to be the same. Whatever draws out, elevates, 

 and refines a boy, will draw out, elevate, and refine 

 a girl. But unquestionably the work of the woman 

 is not generally the same as that of the man. To 

 her, in a special manner, is intrusted the education 

 of all children. It is therefore her special duty to 

 make herself well acquainted with the laws which 

 regulate the evolution of the human mind, and her 

 instructors should prepare her for this scientific 

 study, as boys are prepared for psychology. It is, 

 moreover, characteristic of her that she exercises 

 a wider sway by her affections than by her reason- 

 ing. It should therefore be the special aim of her 

 instructors to bring out to the fullest the aesthetic 

 side of her nature, leading her through all the 

 most beautiful works of the ancients to the most 

 lovely creations of modern poets ; giving her, 

 indeed, full opportunity to exercise her reasoning 

 powers ; but at the same time, and as the pre- 

 dominant aim, strengthening, deepening, and ele- 

 vating her sense of the beautiful in the external 

 world, and in the actions of man. Above all, her 

 education should be such as to give her true 

 sympathy with all that is noblest in man. 



