170 Transactions. — Miscellaneons. 



child for liis duties as a citizen, and for this the State must, for its own 

 security, be responsible. A right to the highest mental culture that can be 

 afforded by any country is also the heritage of its children, a right with which 

 the accidents of birth should not be allowed to interfere. 



In the commonwealth many things can be better undertaken by the 

 Government for the benefit of the whole, than by the individual for the 

 benefit of himself. All agree that protection to person and property is the 

 necessary duty of a Government, and this, to be effectually carried out, must 

 include provision by the State for the education of its members. 



Many advocates of national education maintain that the State need only 

 supply the rudiments of education to those who, through poverty or neglect, 

 would grow up in ignorance and be a burden upon the community. To open 

 common or elementary schools is a necessary provision of the State, but the 

 nation's duty cannot end here. The instruments of learning only open the 

 gates of knowledge, and simple elementary instruction does not of itself 

 prevent or diminish crime or increase the revenues of the State. 



A national system must of necessity be scientific. In its primary schools 

 the young should be trained in the first principles of science, and stimulated to 

 delightful and profitable study. The very conditions of our existence require 

 an early acquaintance with the truths of science. Schools of various grades 

 must be provided, leading up to classes and colleges for the highest branches of 

 human knowledge. Provision must also be made for the training of a staff of 

 competent teachers, and for technical education adapted to the particular 

 requirements of the district or country. A child will thus be prepared by the 

 State to take his share in the struggle of life, ready to meet and surmount its 

 difficulties, and help forward the great cause of human progress. 



2. The demand for science training in public schools arises from the 

 altered circumstances of our existence. The intellectual and industrial 

 callings of the present day require very different attainments from those 

 entering upon their service than in any era of past history. Natural science 

 is required because the future life of every child will be a struggle with nature, 

 and penalties for neglect of natural laws are being felt on every side. The 

 State is responsible for the culpable ignorance which results in so much 

 misfortune, sickness, and death. The laws of nature are invariable, and some 

 elementary knowledge of them can be obtained with far less trouble than is 

 often given to the study of ancient language, and the benefits derived are 

 beyond comparison. What enormous advantages would accrue to the State 

 if the laws of health and wellbeing were well understood and observed, and 

 yet this most important of all subjects is rarely tauglit in a common school 

 coui-se. 



I'hysical science must be taught, because man's best servants are the 



