72 TECHNICAL EDUCATION. (>ECT. 



not like to have superadded to that the possible 

 need of unteaching. 



"Well, but, you will say, this is Hamlet with the 

 Prince of Denmark left out ; your " technical educa- 

 tion" is simply a good education, with more attention 

 to physical science, to drawing, and to modern lan- 

 guages, than is common, and there is nothing specially 

 technical about it. 



Exactly so ; that remark takes us straight to the 

 heart of what I have to say ; which is, that, in my 

 judgment, the preparatory education of the handi- 

 craftsman ought to have nothing of what is ordinarily 

 understood by " technical " about it. 



The workshop is the only real school for a handi- 

 craft. The education which precedes that of the 

 workshop should be entirely devoted to the strengthen- 

 ing of the body, the elevation of the moral faculties, 

 and the cultivation of the intelligence; and, especially, 

 to the imbuing the mind with a broad and clear view 

 of the laws of that natural world with the components 

 of which the handicraftsman will have to deal. And, 

 the earlier the period of life at which the handicrafts- 

 man has to enter into actual practice of his craft, the 

 more important is it that he should devote the precious 

 hours of preliminary education to things of the mind, 

 which have no direct and immediate bearing on his 

 branch of industry, though they lie at the foundation 

 of all realities. 



Now let me apply the lessons I have learned from 

 my handicraft to yours. If any of you were obliged 



