SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



415 



let the equally ignorant white man 

 be equally excluded. We have great 

 faith in the educative effect of jus- 

 tice, and a firm administration of 

 law. It would at once raise the self- 

 respect of the negro to know that 

 what was law for the white man was 

 law for him, and vice versa; and 

 self-respect is a sure ground for 

 further advance. In the matter of 

 education, we hold that educa- 

 tion for the colored race should 

 be almost wholly of a practical 

 kind. We go further, and say 

 that the education given to white 

 children everywhere might with 

 great advantage be much more prac- 

 tical than it is. The proper educa- 

 tion for any individual is that which 

 will tend to make him more efficient, 

 successful, and self-sufficing in the 

 position which he is called to occupy. 

 This principle, far from implying a 

 stationary condition of the individ- 

 ual, is precisely the one which pro- 

 vides best for his advancement. It 

 is the man who is thoroughly com- 

 petent for the work he has at any 

 given moment to do who passes be- 

 yond that work to something better. 

 The misery of existing systems of 

 education is that to so large extent 

 they educate for a hypothetical posi- 

 tion beyond that for which an imme- 

 diate preparation is necessary. The 

 result is that the schools unload 

 upon the community year by year a 

 levy of adventurous youths who at 

 once begin to live by their wits in 



no very creditable sense, and who 

 constitute a distinct menace to the 

 stability of society. 



We would therefore urge most 

 earnestly upon all who take an in- 

 terest in the education of the colored 

 race to keep in view above all things 

 the importance and necessity of fit- 

 ting the negro to take an active part 

 in the practical industries of the 

 country, and above all in agricul- 

 ture. An education directed mainly 

 to this end would do far more to de- 

 velop his intelligence than one of a 

 more abstract and ambitious charac- 

 ter and would furnish a far better 

 foundation for success in life. Far 

 from tying the negro down to man- 

 ual occupations, it would prepare the 

 way for his eventual participation in 

 all occupations. But occupation for 

 occupation, where is there one that 

 can reasonably be rated higher than 

 the intelligent and successful cul- 

 tivation of the soil? If the negro 

 problem can not be solved by com- 

 mon sense and common honesty it 

 can not be solved at all. Before giv- 

 ing it up as insoluble we should 

 make full proof of these homely spe- 

 cifics. We have long been proclaim- 

 ing that the negro is a man and a 

 brother; let us therefore treat him 

 as such, and if we find out any- 

 thing that is particularly good for 

 his moral and intellectual improve- 

 ment, let us try a little of it our- 

 selves. It surely will not do us any 

 harm. 



SPECIAL BOOKS. 



The Lesson of Popular Government * is a fruit of thirty years' study, 

 by Mr. Bradford, of certain peculiarities in the political workings of our 

 institutions. The book is not for those who consider it patriotic to shut 

 their eyes to whatever is going wrong, but for those whose regard for the 

 Federal Constitution and the organization of our governments is only in- 



* The Lesson of Popular Government. By Gamaliel Bradford. New York : The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. Two volumes. Pp. 5SO and 590. Price, $4. 



