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[Vol. IX , No. 215 



which they work. But I do say, that we want 

 something of the kind, suited to our national needs 

 and character, and bearing the same fruit of 

 trained intelligence and skill wliich it is produ- 

 cing in the countries where it is practised. A great 

 deal is being done in England for technical educa- 

 tion, and a great deal is said as to its need, for 

 there is a very real danger of English workmen 

 being driven out of the field on account of the 

 superior skill of foreigners and the great advan- 

 tages Ihej enjoy in the way of technical educa- 

 tion. We can but rejoice that we are beginning 

 to recognize this danger, and that so much atten- 

 tion is being directed to the need of technical edu- 

 cation ; but even supposing the country were 

 covered with technical schools, if our young 

 people come to them with eyes and hands un- 

 trained, with little or no sense of form and beauty, 

 with lack of perception and habits of observation, 

 with untrained and undeveloped muscles, how 

 can they possibly hold their ow^n against the youth 

 of other countries, coming fresh from schools 

 where eye and hand have been trained to general 

 dexterity, which will stand them in good stead 

 whatever special branch of technical work they 

 may take up, with trained observation and per- 

 ception, and with a love for work and an interest 

 in it which has been quickened and stimulated 

 by many a victory gained by perseverance, atten- 

 tion, and energy ? 



Should this slojd instruction be given to girls as 

 well as boys ? This question has already been 

 answered practically in the aiSrmative in Sweden, 

 and with excellent results. It is just as important 

 for a woman to have the complete use of her 

 hands as for a man. It may be said that girls 

 have needlework, which is more suited to their 

 sex, and more useful to them in after-life. It 

 would be a very sorry thing for our future wives 

 and mothers not to learn the use of their needle, 

 but why should they not learn needlework and 

 slojd too? The use of the tools would develop 

 their muscles, and they would gain an added dex- 

 terity which needlework alone cannot give. And 

 besides this general development, which is of para- 

 mount importance, the positive knowledge gained, 

 and the power of doing little jobs about, the 

 house, would be of great service to them when 

 they grow up. 



But, it will be objected, even granted that a uni- 

 versal hand-education should be given, including 

 both sexes, and granted that teachers are forth- 

 coming who are capable of giving it, how is it 

 possible to spare time for another subject ? I will 

 only reply, that the schools in Sweden are among 

 the best in Europe, and yet they find time for it. 

 The slojd classes — which are entirely voluntary 



— are held in the evenings, so as not to interfere 

 with the ordinary school-work. 



For the girls of our higher schools it seems to 

 me even more important than for their sisters of 

 the working classes. The latter have to help their 

 mothers at home in many active ways, and get, 

 at all events, plenty of movement and variety of 

 occupation : but the former, who have not so 

 many active games as their brothers, and who are 

 often unable to be much out of doors in bad or 

 severe weather, are lamentably in want of some 

 interesting active work as a counterpoise to the 

 continual sitting and poring over books and exer- 

 cises. Sldjd of some sort is the very thing they 

 need. I am persuaded, that, if only we set our 

 shoulder to the wheel in this matter, we shall find 

 in this hand-education the true remedy for over- 

 pressure of brain, which is not an invention of 

 the doctors. 



You will perhaps wonder where all the teachers 

 of slojd, so universally taught in the Scandinavian 

 schools, are trained. A slojd seminary has been 

 founded by Herr Abrahamson, a wealthy Gothen- 

 burg merchant, on his beautiful estate of Naas, 

 within easy reach of Floda station, on the main 

 line between Stockholm and Gothenburg, and 

 about an hour by rail from the latter. 



This seminary was founded in memory of Herr 

 Abrahamson's wife, in 1872, and he has spared 

 neither time, money, nor effort in making it a 

 worthy memorial. There is also a model school 

 for boys and girls in connection with it, so that 

 those who are in training may see the system ac- 

 tually at work among the children. I may men- 

 tion, in passing, that this school has a great repu- 

 tation, and that children are sent from considerable 

 distances to attend it. The seminary is directed 

 by Herr Otto Salomon (Herr Abrahamson's 

 nephew), who is quite an enthusiast in the cause 

 of slojd, and devotes his life to the spread of the 

 system in other countries as well as his own, and 

 to the improvement of it iniDractical details. The 

 seminary, which is built very picturesquely of 

 timber, in the old Norwegian style, is situated in 

 Herr Abrahamson's park, close to the lovely lake 

 of Savelangen. It consists of large work-rooms 

 fitted with double rows of carpenters' benches and 

 racks all round for the different tools, a large lec- 

 ture-room, a sitting-room for the gentlemen, a 

 small one for the ladies, and a room where the 

 models and finished works are kept. Upstairs is 

 sleeping accommodation for thirty men. In ad- 

 dition to the seminary, there is a pretty little house 

 close by, called ' Vanhem ' (friends' home), where 

 the lady students live, who form a very small 

 minority of those who attend the course. There 

 are also other cottages in the neighborhood, where 



