Theory and Practice of Dr. Arnold^ of Rugby. ']'] 



also brought in a system and method which have greatly 

 improved the tone of all the schools in England. The number 

 of his pupils who have distinguished themselves in after life 

 may not appear large, but that is accounted for by the fact that 

 he died at a very early age. His whole time at Rugby was 

 only about ten years, but in the universities it began to be 

 recognised that boys who came from Arnold's school had a 

 very high moral tone, and in that way his influence was very 

 great. 



Dr. Calwell — Anything coming from Dr. Arnold com- 

 mands great sympathy and reverence, but it would require a 

 considerable time to criticise a paper on this subject, which Dr. 

 Sheldon has made so peculiarly his own. I have not that 

 time, so I am afraid any remarks I may make will hardly 

 partake of the nature of criticism. There is considerable diffi- 

 culty in discussing a question of education. One is very apt to 

 move off in an orbit of one's own, and, forsaking the paper, to 

 give his own peculiar views about education. I was very glad 

 to hear Dr. Sheldon lay so much stress on the necessity of 

 having a clear idea of what we hear called useful knowledge — 

 viz., the elementary parts of the general education. My own 

 opinion is that science trains much more deeply than does the 

 ordinary method of learning the classics. We gain a great 

 deal in training the powers of observation by studying such a 

 science as botany, and we actually gain moral training by 

 studying such a science as astronomy. The system of training 

 by asking questions is, in my opinipn, an admirable one. 

 From what experience of teaching I have, I know that it is 

 certainly the best way of making the hearer gain an intelligent 

 idea of the subject. Coming to my own system of education, 1 

 would put it as follows. You can divide the education of a boy 

 or girl into two periods. The first is that of school, where he 

 is taught the necessaries of ordinary civilisation. How far you 

 should go beyond that in teaching him the sciences — political 

 economy and so on — depends greatly on his age, ability, and 

 future prospects in life. The second period begins after he has 



