AE oa " 
duty best to her infant children. But this, above all, should 
be recollected, that the first duty of national education 
was the health of the children. A sickly child might be 
very intelligent, but in general, quickness of intelligence 
would be much affected by animal spirits, and animal 
spirits rested on healthfulness.” 
Although the physical, moral, and economical advan- 
tages arising from a system of physical training have been 
clearly shown in evidence before the Royal Educational 
Commission, there is still at present but very little hope 
for the general introduction of scientific physical training, 
because its bearing upon diminution of infant mortality, 
upon prevention of diseases, and consequently upon dimi- 
nution of poor-rates, as weil as upon the general increase 
of the population, and their working efficiency, their greater 
power of defending the country, and of colonising the 
various parts of the globe belonging to this empire, are 
not yet sufficiently understood; the greatest impediment 
is, that we are accustomed to pay for the diminution and 
-removal of an evil when developed, but we do not like the 
cheaper course of prevention; there is a want of encourage- 
ment on the part of the legislature, and no inducement is 
held out to the teachers of schools under Government in- 
spection to give up a part of their time to the introduction 
of a branch of education, which is not yet considered 
necessary, and for which, as it is not obligatory, no remu- 
neration is awarded. Iam sorry to be obliged to repeat 
a passage written twelve years ago, in a letter addressed to 
Lord Granville, at that time President of the Council on 
Education. I was then advocating physical training, and 
the introduction of rational gymnastics as a very important 
branch of national education. The passage is— 
“We have cattle-shows, exhibitions of poultry, distri- 
bution of prizes, and medals to the trainers of beasts for 
improving them. There are humane societies, philanthropic 
enough to reward a man who has saved another from 
drowning or fire; but what is there to reward those whose 
life is devoted to the mental and bodily improvement of 
our fellow-men? Would it not be desirable to encourage 
the zeal of educators by offering prizes to the man, who, 
by his moral and physical training, has brought up the 
greatest number of healthy and well-educated pupils? 
How is it that blind, deaf, and dumb children, idiots, and 
_ other unfortunates, are taken care of, while we allow so 
many, originally healthy and able-bodied children, to — 
74 On Scientific Physical Training 
