326 Darwinism and Other Essays. 



fringed. A course of study like the one here de- 

 scribed cannot profitably be undertaken without 

 more thorough elementary preparation than the 

 student is likely to obtain at school. In such a 

 country as England, where a dense population is 

 confined to a small area, and where a considerable 

 degree of uniformity prevails in the civilization 

 of different localities, all the necessary work pre- 

 liminary to a university career can easily be per- 

 formed in the great public schools. If, however, 

 the present population of England were loosely 

 spread over all the country between the Atlantic 

 and the Dnieper, and if, while some parts were as 

 highly educated as London, other parts were as 

 poorly educated as Dalrnatia, the state of things 

 would be analogous to that which now exists in 

 our own country. It is in conformity with these 

 different circumstances that our system of edu- 

 cation must be organized. We have no Eton or 

 Rugby ; but we have hundreds of schools for el- 

 ementary education, scattered over an immense 

 tract of country, and differing widely in the 

 amount and quality of the instruction which they 

 impart to their pupils. The social environment 

 in which they are situated is usually very differ- 

 ent from that of Cambridge ; and the especial 

 preparation of students for Harvard College can- 



