THE SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT IN ENGLAND. 



253 



created in the face of the industrial spirit of our age. Ever 

 since the latter half of the eighteenth century schemes for 

 a general education of the masses have attracted the 

 thought and the attention of philanthropists and states- 

 men in many countries of Europe. But the directions 

 taken by these educational efforts have been character- 

 istically different in the different countries, and their suc- 

 cess, so far as the great masses of the people are con- 

 cerned, has been very partial indeed. It is true that 

 during the first thirty years no country possessed such 

 distinguished schools of science as did France in the great 

 scientific and medical institutions of her capital. It is 

 also true that no country equalled Germany in her system 

 of universities and higher schools, which had come under 

 the influence of classical learning and philosophical ideals. 

 England, which at that time took no part in the educa- 

 tional movements of the Continent, 1 possessed, neverthe- 



1 This statement requires two 

 qualifications. Firstly, both Milton 

 and Locke have had great influ- 

 ence in spreading enlightened views 

 regarding the principles and the 

 object of education in general 

 especially in the direction of en- 

 larging the idea of education, so as 

 to make it comprise something more 

 than merely instruction and pedan- 

 tic teaching. I cannot find, how- 

 ever, that in England, either in the 

 direction of higher university edu- 

 cation or of a general system of 

 popular education, their influence 

 has been very marked. Locke's 

 influence abroad, through his psy- 

 chological analysis of the mind, has 

 been very considerable. Secondly, 

 in the direction of practical educa- 

 tion, of the endeavour to reach 

 large numbers of the people by 

 educational institutions, we must 



look with admiration to the early 

 work done in Scotland, which in 

 this respect somewhat resembles 

 Switzerland. The Scotch system of 

 parochial schools, and their influence 

 on the education of the people, 

 has been too little studied abroad, 

 though rightly extolled at home. It 

 is true that, with the exception of 

 Calvin, none of the great Continen- 

 tal educationalists such as Fe"ne- 

 Ion, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, or W. 

 von Humboldt have had any di- 

 rect influence on Scotland ; nor has 

 the educational work of Scotland 

 produced any great educational 

 literature like that which Switzer- 

 land can boast [of, and which has 

 brought the theory of education 

 so prominently before the world. 

 But nevertheless there it stands, 

 this creation of John Knox and 

 the early Reformers. "Civilised 



