XVI TECHNICAL EDUCATION 415 



fulness which, if they do not always accompany 

 these blessings, can hardly in the nature of things 

 exist without them ; to which we must add 

 honesty of purpose and a pride in doing what is 

 done well. 



A good handicraftsman can get on very well 

 without genius, but he will fare badly without a 

 reasonable share of that which is a more useful 

 possession for workaday life, namely, mother-wit ; 

 and he will be all the better for a real knowledge, 

 however limited, of the ordinary laws of nature, 

 and especially of those which apply to his own 

 business. 



Instruction carried so far as to help the scholar 

 to turn his store of mother- wit to account, to 

 acquire a fair amount of sound elementary know- 

 ledge, and to use his hands and eyes ; while leaving 

 him fresh, vigorous, and with a sense of the 

 dignity of his own calling, whatever it may be, if 

 fairly and honestly pursued, cannot fail to be of 

 invaluable service to all those who come under its 

 influence. 



But, on the other hand, if school instruction is 

 carried so far as to encourage bookishness ; if the 

 ambition of the scholar is directed, not to the gain- 

 ing of knowledge, but to the being able to pass 

 examinations successfully; especially if encourage- 

 ment is given to the mischievous delusion that 

 brainwork is, in itself, and apart from its quality, 

 a nobler or more respectable thing than handiwork 



