284 APPENDIX. [No. XX. 



Up to twelve years of age, I believe that subjects of instruction 

 should, as far as possible, be brought tangibly before the child ; for every 

 object which is impressed upon the mind, and every property of which it 

 is made cognizant, remains till the latest period of life, and may give rise 

 hereafter to important results. Simple facts brought tangibly before the 

 senses may be regarded as units of knowledge, and I must submit that 

 such units should especially be regarded in any scheme of sound education 

 for early childhood. After twelve, the mind well stored with units may 

 be taught to combine and arrange them, and at that period the best and 

 soundest theories should be the subject of education. 



I much fear that those who seek to improve the endowed grammar 

 schools will be met with the usual cry of " No room for such subjects 

 here." To those who employ this old and hackneyed phrase, I will reply 

 that it is impossible to confine a child's attention to Latin and Greek for 

 more than half the period that he is usually employed at school, and that 

 such additional subjects would be an agreeable diversion for his mind, 

 would command his attention, and render his scholastic studies far more 

 agreeable to him. 



A child not only likes to derive knowledge by the medium of his 

 senses, but he is also fond of doing some work for himself. This desire 

 should, as far as possible, be gratified ; and a child may practise drawing, 

 be taught to make pieces of mechanism, and even conduct some of the 

 more simple chemical processes. 



The number of masters even at our first grammar schools is extremely 

 insufficient. In some cases a single master has the charge of as many as 

 forty boys, a number far too many to insure a satisfactory tuition ; and 

 thus the addition of masters for other subjects could not fail to be 

 extremely beneficial. 



The introduction of additional studies into the endowed grammar 

 schools would probably require not only the force of public opinion, but 

 even would demand a legislative enactment, so far are the managers 

 wedded to bygone practices and antiquated customs. 



2. With respect to the Mechanics' and Literary Institutions as now 

 constituted, they seem rather to be places of amusement than institutions 

 for study. If we take for example the London Institution, which is noted 

 for its wealth and its means for instruction, we find that at the present time 

 not one single educational course is provided. Its laboratory is tenantless 

 and useless, and, with the exception of an evening lecture twice a week 

 during the winter months, its magnificent theatre is unused. 



It appears to me that all these institutions should have professors to 

 direct regular educational courses adapted to the young, and occasionally 

 that special evenings should be set apart for the illustration of new 

 discoveries and principles, in order that those engaged in business may be 

 fully made acquainted with all the scientific novelties of the day. The im- 

 provement of these institutions in many cases depends upon the managers ; 

 in too many instances the managers regard the post as an honour to be 

 coveted, for a certain rank which it is supposed to bestow on account of 

 their sitting in a more prominent seat, and by placing amusement before 

 instruction they forget the real educational objects for which such institu- 

 tions are destined : but there appears to me to be no valid reason why 

 regular systematic instruction should not be supplied at the Mechanics' 

 and Literary Institutions. 



