April 15, 1887.] 



SCIEN-CF. 



375 



occupy half his time : in the other half he learns 

 to till the soil, to build his house, to repair his 

 plough and his wagon. But it is remarkable that 

 the white man should give to the Indian child a 

 more comprehensive education than he gives his 

 own. The gTavest problem that confronts the 

 American people is the education of the masses. 

 Our wealth has increased, but so has our 

 poverty ; our learning, but our ignorance also ; 

 refinement and joy, but also degradation and 

 misery. The march of civilization has also been 

 the march of vice and crime. '"Knowledge fights 

 on both sides in the battle between right and 

 wrong." " The association of poverty with prog- 

 ress," says Henry George, "is the great enigma 

 of our times. It is the riddle which the Sphinx 

 of Fate puts to our civilization, and which not to 

 ansvper is to be destroyed." Can the riddle of the 

 modern sphinx be solved? Can the diseases of 

 society be remedied ? While I am firmly con- 

 vinced of many advantages arising from hand 

 and brain training, I do not regard it as a panacea. 

 No single agency can bring immediate and per- 

 manent relief to the body politic. The mob that 

 cries for 'blood or bread' has passed beyond the 

 influence of the school, and demands a sterner 

 discipline. The hope of the state lies in its youth, 

 Too long have our schools inculcated a taste and 

 an admiration for purely intellectual accomplish- 

 ments ; at least, have cast a slur on the develop- 

 ment of manual skill. By far too many has edu- 

 cation been regarded simply as affording an 

 avenue of escape from all labor, as the ability to 

 ' live by one's wits.' We rejoice, then, in the 

 extension in several cities of the public-school 

 course. We believe it to be a broader and a 

 wiser education ; that it is based on a true phi- 

 losophy ; that it calls into activity powers that 

 have lain dormant, powers of the mind as well as 

 of the body ; that it develops a manlier, more self- 

 reliant spirit ; that it elevates industry, and 

 teaches respect for true manhood and woman- 

 hood under whatever guise. We believe that it 

 will materially assist in solving the problem of 

 modern civilization, since, to use the words of 

 William Humboldt, " whatever we wish to see in 

 the life of a nation, we must first put into its 

 schools." H. H, Belfield. 



THt] REAL-GY3INASIUM.' 

 While in Prussia and North Germany the con- 

 test over the relative advantages of the training 

 given in the real-gymnasium and that concerning 

 its rights and privileges has been gradually assum- 

 ing a very violent character, there has been de- 



1 A review of C. Dillman'a ' Das Real-gymnasium,' trans- 

 lated for this journal from Pddagogisches Archiv. 



veloped in Wurtemberg a real-gymnasium — the 

 one at Stuttgart — so quietly and peacefully, and 

 so well ensouraged by those who in Prussia are 

 the real-gymnasium's bitterest opponents, that the 

 Swabians may rightly be envied for the progress 

 they have made in this direction. This develop- 

 ment is described in the work mentioned above, 

 and with the avowed intention, successfully car- 

 ried into effect, of conciliating the opponents of 

 this new form of school. The author considers 

 himself called upon for these words of conciliation 

 and explanation, from the fact that for twenty 

 years he has been the rector of this institution. 

 Inasmuch as the real-gymnasium in Stuttgart has 

 met with but slight opposition, the author, in 

 his position as rector, has been able to observe 

 quietly the effects which this system of education 

 must have upon his pupils. It is seldom that we 

 see the two educational forces, language and 

 mathematics, with their influences on children, 

 youths, and men, so impartially weighed as in this 

 case. 



The history of the Stuttgart real-gymnasium is 

 very interesting for a Prussian, because there the 

 teachers in the gymnasia are its friends, while 

 those in thereal-schulen vvhere Latin is not taught 

 are its opponents. It is not possible to enter into 

 this subject more fully, and I will content myself 

 with a few remarks that may induce the reader to 

 refer to the book itself. 



In regard to rights and title, the author demands 

 with emphasis that those of the real-gymna- 

 sium should be equivalent to those of the gymna- 

 sium. The delay in this matter appears to him an 

 injustice, but he does not wish to interfere with 

 the authority vested in the gymnasium. Up to 

 this date the ministei's of the interior and of 

 finance in Wurtemberg demand from the gradu- 

 ates of the real-gymnasium a supplementary ex- 

 amination, in which the necessary answers are 

 translated into French instead of into Greek, for 

 entrance to the higher courses of study in their 

 departments, and those who succeed are entitled 

 to follow the studies offered by the faculties of 

 philosophy, natural science, and political economy. 

 To qualify for studying in the other faculties, 

 thei-e is only an examination in Greek, and a 

 ti'anslation of German into Latin, required, and 

 not a Latin essay. This is an important conces- 

 sion in comparison with the Prussian demands. 

 The real-gymnasium in Stuttgart is founded for, 

 and expressly appointed to prepare, students who 

 do not study Greek in the gymnasia for entering 

 the courses offered by the above-mentioned facul- 

 ties, as well as in the technical high schools. It 

 should be a model for all Germany. For once, stu- 

 dents have in a very satisfactory manner received 



