392 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
ON EDUCATION AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL. 
ABSTRACT OF THE BEY. J. M. HODGE's PAPEB. 
(Bead February 20th, 1873.) 
Necessaby abandonment of the subject " Schools of all Ages," as 
being too large a one, led to the choice of the present subject. 
Reference to the Economical view of the question, and to the 
success of the Jesuit Fathers as schoolmasters. Want of sufficiently 
eminent professional skill to cope with the difficulties of training 
young children best remedied by substituting small groups of 
pupils for large ones. Contrast between the ease with which a 
lively interest in the lesson can be maintained among a few pupils 
and the difficulty required to fix the attention and secure an in- 
telligent knowledge of the subject of a lesson given to a large class. 
Illustration from the study of Latin or Greek Grammar. 
Comparison of the moral power possessed by a well-ordered 
family circle with that of a large school, however well conducted, 
tends to show the advantage of grounding a child morally as well 
intellectually before sending him to mix unrestrainedly with other 
boys. Objection that this course would check the growth of a 
manly and independent spirit met by the consideration that such a 
course need in no wise interfere with a boy's training for the world, 
but would better prepare him for a gradual rise from a child to a 
man ; preventing the forcing the change prematurely. Fear of the 
" milksop" element being engendered by such a training further 
opposed by the consideration of a page's training in the Middle 
Ages. 
Comparison of the physical training of a page with that of a 
school-boy in the present day, and suggestions for the improvement 
of the latter by the establishment of gymnasia, &c. 
Advantage of early and thorough grounding in general culture, 
as affording opportunities for earlier commencement of professional 
education, thus enabling general culture itself to be extended and 
carried on to a later age. Further advantage of early instruction 
with a view to a man's special vocation, and also of training in 
