260 



SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT. 



Germany, education and higher instruction present in- 

 dependent developments ; in England alone the genius 

 and language of the nation have refused to admit of any 

 curtailment of the original sense of the word. This con- 

 tinued to imply a discipline of the character as well as 

 of the mind, practical as well as intellectual training. 

 So much has been said in this country and abroad re- 

 garding the shortcomings of the English universities and 

 higher schools, that I feel it a duty to point to the posi- 

 tive gain which this ideal of a liberal education 1 has 



1881, vol. L p. xvii ; also Compayre, 

 toe. eit. t voL ii. p. 280, &c.) Every 

 Government which has attempted 

 to systematise, to centralise educa- 

 tion, has been forced also to secu- 

 larise it, to reduce it to instruction, 

 leaving out what many consider the 

 central problem of education, the 

 training of the character and the 

 discipline of the feelings and the 

 heart. Considering the large organ- 

 isations which have been developed 

 in England by the unaided efforts 

 of working men, such as the trade- 

 unions and theco-operative societies, 

 and looking at the amount of self- 

 government, self-control, and self- 

 denial which they demand from 

 then" members, one might be tempt- 

 ed to say that England is the best 

 educated, though it may be the 

 worst taught and the least informed, 

 of the three nations now under 

 review. 



1 The term "liberal education" 

 has acquired a peculiar significance 

 in the history of English culture 

 and thought. It cannot be trans- 

 lated into French or German with 

 any certainty that the real signifi- 

 cance of the term or the subject 

 which it denotes is conveyed. It is 

 interesting to note how each of the 

 three nations has given to special 

 words of the once common Latin 



language a peculiar pregnancy, de- 

 noting a peculiar form of thought 

 or culture which they have especi- 

 ally elaborated. Thus "science" 

 in the modern sense is a product of 

 French thought, Wissenschaft a pro- 

 duct of German thought. England 

 has reserved to itself the elabora- 

 tion of a " liberal education." I am 

 at a loss how to translate it into 

 French, unless I am permitted to 

 use simply the word education in 

 its contrast to instruction and en- 

 seignement, not as this was defined 

 by Condorcet, but as it is under- 

 stood in the writings of modern 

 French educationalists, such as 

 Greard, Breal, Compayre, and 

 others. To convey the meaning 

 of "liberal education" to a Ger- 

 man, I would revert to the Greek 

 phrase, the f\v6epios rcuSda of the 

 post - classical age. The fact is 

 that down to the middle of the 

 century the Germans in discussions 

 on the work of universities and 

 high schools always talk of Wissen- 

 schaft, English writers always talk of 

 " liberal education/' To a German 

 scholar's heart Wi-sse nschaft is dear 

 beyond anything ; to an English 

 university man it is "liberal edu- 

 cation." The former will sacrifice 

 everything to Wisstnschaft ; the 

 latter will not part with "liberal 



