VIEWS ON EDUCATION 197 



But it is worth enquiring here whether the German ideal 

 which requires the subject, in the words of the English Prayer 

 Book, ' to do his duty in that state of life to which it has pleased 

 God to call him/ without any hope of bettering his position; or 

 the British ideal, a democratic one, to make it possible for every 

 gifted boy and girl to climb the tree ; to make it possible for the 

 corporal to wield the marshal's baton, is the better of the two. 



Although the methods employed have been lamentably defec- 

 tive, it must yet be acknowledged that the democratic ideal lay 

 at the bottom of English educational efforts. Even the attempt 

 at science teaching had its good side ; it rested on the assumption 

 that the children, at a later stage, would be able to utilise their 

 attainments for their own benefit and for that of the State. 

 On the other hand the German aim has been to create an efficient 

 machine, where knowledge was reserved for those with the power 

 to apply it and where the c hands ' were strictly and irrevocably 

 differentiated from the ' heads. 5 



We are learning now, by bitter experience, how efficient this 

 system is in war ; in German hands it bid fair to be equally 

 successful in commercial war. The socialistic movement, which 

 was strong in Germany, was a protest by the people against this 

 view of the organisation of a nation, the revolt of a people against 

 repression. But the German nation as a whole has not been 

 successful at rebellions ; the spirit of drill has penetrated too 

 deeply into the soul of the people, and for the most part the slaves 

 are content with their bondage. Whether a change is to be 

 looked for time alone will show. 



Stated tersely the difference in the two ideals is that between 

 individualism and collectivism. In Britain the spirit of col- 

 lectivism exists ; it has taken the form of trade unions, where 

 compulsion holds sway and all individualistic effort is discouraged. 

 But on the whole the British nation is individualistic ; let every 

 man have his chance. 



