254 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



mathematics to a useful end." Evidence such as 

 this, fully establishes the advantage of a variety 

 of study. One group of men speak grate- 

 fully because they had it, and another speak 

 regretfully because they had it not. I find none 

 who had a reasonable variety who disapproved 

 of it, none who had a purely old-fashioned edu- 

 cation who were satisfied with it. The scientific 

 men who came from the large public schools 

 usually did nothing when there ; they could 

 not assimilate the subjects taught, and have 

 abused the old system heartily. There are 

 several serious complaints about superficial and 

 bad teaching which I need not quote afresh. 

 Overteaching is thoroughly objected to ; thus, 

 in speaking of merits of education, I find: 

 " Freedom to follow my own inclinations, and to 

 choose my own subjects of study, or the reverse/' 

 "The great proportion of time left free to 

 do as I liked, unwatched and uncontrolled." 

 " Unusual degree of freedom/' There is much 

 scattered evidence throughout the replies to 

 my questions generally, in addition to what I 

 have extracted, which implies that this feel- 



