OF EDUCATION 27 



and control it : a scene of irresistible forces which 

 crush him if he is ignorant, and serve him if he is 

 wise. . . . 



' ' The overshadowing error of the present educa- 

 tion, is the propensity to accept words in place of the 

 ideas and things for which they stand, and from 

 which they borrow all their value. Words are the 

 vehicles of thought ; so much of the study of language, 

 and in such forms as are necessary to its intelligent 

 use is demanded in education. But the lingual stu- 

 dent, captivated by the interest of word studies, loses 

 the end in the means. A plough was sent to a bar- 

 barian tribe : they hung it over with ornaments, and 

 fell down and worshipped it. In much the same 

 manner is language treated in education. . . . 



" So long as little was known of the order of the 

 universe, little could be understood of him in whom 

 that order culminates. And here I call attention to 

 the deep defects of that predominant scheme of cul- 

 ture which not only ignores the human brain, and the 

 sciences which illustrate it, as objects of earnest sys- 

 tematic study, but explodes upon it all the traditional 

 contempt which it cherishes for material nature. 

 Men admire the steam-engine of Watt and the calcu- 

 lating engine of Babbage, but how little do they care 

 for the thinking engine of the Infinite Artificer ! 

 They venerate days, and dogmas, and ceremonials ; 

 but where is the reverence that is due to the most 

 sacred of the things of time, the organism of the 

 soul ! . . . 



" A knowledge of the being to be trained, as it is 



