OF EDUCATION 2Q 



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No human pursuits make any material progress 

 until science is brought to bear upon them. We 

 have seen, accordingly, man} 7 of them slumber for 

 centuries upon centuries; but, from the moment that 

 science has touched them with her magic wand, they 

 have sprung forward, and taken strides which amaze 

 and almost awe the beholder." 

 — His Royal Highness, Prince Albert. 



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Modern civilization rests upon physical science; 

 take away her gifts to our country, and our position 

 among the leading nations of the world is gone to- 

 morrow ; for it is physical science only, that makes 

 intelligence and moral energy stronger than brute 

 force. ... I believe that the greatest intellectual 

 revolution mankind has yet seen is now slowly taking 

 place by her agency. She is teaching the world that 

 the ultimate court of appeal is observation and ex- 

 periment, and not authority ; she is teaching it to esti- 

 mate the value of evidence ; she is creating a firm 

 and living faith in the existence of immutable moral 

 and physical laws, perfect obedience to which is the 

 highest possible aim of an intelligent being. 



"But of all this your old stereotyped system of 

 education takes no note. Physical science, its meth- 

 ods, its problems, and its difficulties, will meet the 

 poorest boy at every turn, and yet we educate him in 

 such a manner that he shall enter the world as ignor- 

 ant of the existence of the methods and facts of 

 science as the day he was born. The modern world 

 is full of artillery ; and we turn out our children to do 

 battle in it, equipped with the shield and sword of an 



