370 



REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



adjusted not only to the natural capacities of the pupil but also to the 

 stage of development which his brain has reached ; that certain forms 

 of study are appropriate to certain ages. That is a platitude. What 

 need then to stress a principle which everyone accepts ? Yet, if accepted, 

 is it remembered by an age which has acquiesced in the idea that most of 

 the population should leave school at 14, and is now comforted by the 

 thought that in future they may not leave it till a year later ? At the 

 ages of 14 or 15 the mind cannot cope with, if it can conceive, the subjects 

 which compose a liberal education and are vital to the citizen. A boy 

 reads literature — " Hamlet " or " King Lear " — and should read them. 

 But what can the profound scepticisms of Hamlet, the passion and agony ^ 

 of Lear mean to him ? He reads history. Can he form a true con- 

 ception of Charles and Cromwell, Bismarck and Napoleon HI ? At 

 18 we may scan the surface of history and literature, but we cannot 

 see below it. Still more does this apply to the political questions on 

 which an elector has to express an opinion. Unless you believe that 

 these subjects are not meant for the masses and that the voter needs no 

 further education for his duty than experience of life, the newspapers, 

 and the speeches of political candidates, you are admitting the absurdity 

 of an education which stops at 14 or 15.' 



In relation to the second reason — the time factor — further inquiry into 

 the actual curricula of the schools is necessary before a final conclusion can 

 be reached ; such inquiry may even involve consideration of the relative 

 importance of various sections of the curriculum as instruments of learning 

 and as a means for the preparation of pupils for life. In the meanwhile 

 an inspection of the returns received shows, as has already been indicated, 

 divergence of practice and many contradictions in the opinions expressed. 

 These were so marked that the following list has been prepared. 



Grade B. — Replies from Junior Schools. 

 History. 



