The Success of the Public Schools 93 



of defective curriculum; no schools can be of any use 

 which do not teach a great number of things, botany, 

 astronomy, physiology, Bible history, agriculture, Greek. 

 It seems to one who ponders upon this matter almost 

 providential that our schools have come so far without 

 a curriculum definitely prescribed by statute. Our chil- 

 dren are evidently taught basic things, whether they 

 learn other things or not. To be able to exercise civic 

 duty the boy must be able to read, to write, to compute 

 accounts; with such knowledge, Washington, Jackson, 

 Lincoln, and Cleveland accomplished all the demands of 

 the republic. Nay, more: does not even such simple 

 knowledge open the way to all highest things? With it 

 Laplace found the way to the stars and discovered plan- 

 ets new; with it Faraday, the blacksmith's boy, prepared 

 the way for all that has since been done in electrical 

 science; with it Stephenson found the locomotive, Ark- 

 wright the spinning- jenny, Whitney the cotton-gin, Edi- 

 son the electric light, Gray the telephone, Wright the 

 aeroplane. Teach a man the magic of numbers and teach 

 him to read, and you open the gateway to endless worlds ! 

 Not that I would disapprove of all else in public school 

 work; not that; but that I deem it fortunate that so 

 much is left to the preference of the people themselves. 

 Music and language, history, geography, civics, geometry, 

 natural science, physics, use all these things and other 

 arts, as opportunity may open the way. Open for chil- 

 dren the windows of the world wide as you may. Few 

 or no studies are required; the choice is left to the 

 people themselves. Now and then some meddler crowds 

 upon the statute book some specific thing to be taught 



