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Brahmin, was preordained to a blessed rective power. It is not often that people

life here and hereafter. The institution of civil society in India is a vast web of fate which overshadows the individual, and prevents the mobility which is thought essential to humanity in Europe. Yet this mobility is not realized any where in Europe to the degree that it is in America.

sufficiently realize the value to the community of those individuals who dis cover new avenues of employment. How many cities, like Manchester and Lowell, have been made almost entirely by the invention of the power loom? Where would be the wealth of this Mississippi Valley, had no adventurous Fulton inWhereas, in Europe generally, the vented the steamboat? Or where the ruling class is hereditary to a greater or wealth of the South, had no Whitney inless extent, there is also a separation of vented the cotton gin? The resources of other classes the proletary below, and this state are untold, if we can find the the property-holding middle classes above men to utilize them by mechanic inventhem. The tendency is to prepare the tion! Wealth is not merely exchanged, it people by early education to remain in is created by means of commerce and the the same class - the proletarian's chilarts of transportation. What vegetable dren to be proletarians still the land. productions are left ungathered! what holder's children to be landholders again. minerals are undisturbed in their native Mobility of classes is not encouraged to beds! what animals live and die in the any great extent; but far more now than wilderness! These are not wealth to anyformerly. Since the French Revolution body. They must be utilized, and this this has especially increased in France, cannot be done by mere mechanical and all over Europe to a less degree. The labor. It is the directive intelligence that accident of birth shall not count against is required. This alone will impress self-determination, in America, at least. into its service the elements, and force Here we approach an absolute mobility, them to lift, and tear, and draw for it particularly in "the West," and every whenever and wherever it lists. The one man is waited upon by the totality of educated directive man of the commusurrounding conditions soon after his adnity creates wealth enough to pay all the vent upon this part of the planet, and tuition in all the schools of his town or pressingly requested to show what power city. When a great industry is created, of will there is in him. The circumlaboring people flock near, seeking the stances all invite him to do the greatest best way to gain a livelihood. This causes deed in his power and receive his wages real estate to double and treble in value; therefor. In a new country - not yet de- this brings commerce, and merchants veloped - he may serve at any work, thrive on the profits of the goods bought from splitting rails in the woods to hair- and consumed. The whole wealth of the splitting in the court or legislature, or community arises from the application he may try a hand at "running the of directive intelligence, aud the corolmachine of civil government. lary deduced is this: No other investment pays so well as a good system of schools, kept up to foster the growth of this directive intelligence. The rugged soil of Massachusetts, unfitted for agriculture, and furnishing in quantity only cheap granite as its mineral resource, yet has a population trained for seven generations in public and private schools. This population is the most productive

Finally, the function of education, as regards the wealth of the community, may easily be told. The trained and disciplined mind will not prove a servile imitator - an educated boy will not grow up the mere drudge. It will not require two heads to direct one pair of hands.

The most profitable investment a community can make is in men who have di

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community of its size in the world. Its productive industry amounted, in 1860, to more than the entire staples of the West and South-cotton, tobacco, sugar and rice included; estimating these latter at $350,000,000. Natural resources are nothing without the disciplined skill to use them.

Education is productive of wealth to the community, but this is not the most convincing ground to urge in its favor. It is the production of civilized men that we aim at. Mere wealth is only an instrument useful in the production of culture. If we care for the education and refine ment of the boys and girls of the present, if we see to their spiritual culture, they will grow up strong men and women,

and material means will be at their dis

posal. What is the material world to the

Here is all fullness,

Ye brave, to reward you; Work, and despair not."

The Utility of Classical Studies as a Means of Mental Discipline.

[Apper read before Wisconsin Te icher's Association, Dec. 30, 1873, by Prof. WM. F. ALLEN, of the State University.]

By this topic I understand to be intended not a general defence of the disciplinary value of classical studies, but rather a definition and analysis of this value; that is to say, an examination of the kind of benefit derived from them, and the class of students to whom they are best

adapted. With this view, I will lay down the primary object of which is discipline, the proposition that in a course of study there is a certain stage at which the ancient classics from the very best basis of that in any course of study, so far as the instruction; and as a corollary to this, object is discipline, the ancient classics are likely to prove the best feature to introduce at a certain stage.

presence of the immortal soul? As Carlyle says: "Sweep away the illusion of time; glance from the near moving cause to its far distant mover; compress the three-score years into three minutes -are we not spirits that are shaped into a body, place, all purely professional courses of

into an appearance, and that fade away again into air and invisibility? We start out of nothingness, take figure, and are apparations; round us, as round the veriest spectre, is eternity; and to eternity minutes are as years and æons. Thus,

This definition excludes, in the first

study. If the classical languages find a place in these, as e. g., Latin in a medical course and Greek in a theological course, it is for their practical usefulness, not for their disciplinary power. It excludes, in the second place, all the lower grades of common school studies. The great ma

like a God-created, fire-breathing spirit-jority of persons leave school at so early

host, we emerge from the inane, haste stormfully across the astonished earth; then plunge again into the inane. Earth's mountains are leveled, and her seas filled up, in our passage; can the earth, which is but dead, and a vision, resist spirits which have reality and are alive?"

To us in our pioneer life, on the verge of civilization, these considerations of the supremacy of spirit and of the omnipotence of education in elevating man to the position of lord over matter and into the possession of his spiritual birthright, are peculiarly inspiring. From the lofty and serene heights of the world's history comes to us the still small voice:

"Here eyes do regard you.
In eternity's stillness;

an age, that their studies must necessarily be such as will be of immediately prac tical use for them-the common English branches, which every person must have, mental discipline required in their case. and which are well enough adapted to be

Our consideration is therefore confined

to what we may call the High School Course and the College Course; in both of these courses discipline is the main thing, and practical utility a secondary

one.

have at once the opportunity and the taste The proportion of persons who to pursue such a course is small in any seats of learning shows that to make this community; but the experience of our “opportunity,” money is far from being

the essential; our most brilliant and suc- | many times already. It will be enough cessful scholars are often those whose to say that there is probably no person 'opportunities" were simply "brains" who has a fair knowledge of Latin, who and "wit." is not glad of it; and few persons of culture who are devoid of it, who would not be glad to have it.

I think that the discussions of the last few years have resulted in two important conclusions in regard to College courses; and I think I shall be supported in bringing High School courses under the same category. These are: first, that their primary object is discipline, as I have just assumed; second, that discipline is only the primary, and not the sole object, and must be combined with practical usefulness. That is to say, the problem is to decide what studies combine the highest degree of mental discipline with some degree at least of practical usefulness in the work of life. It may very well be that there are, for example, some developments of theoretical mathematics, some complicated applications of the rules of logic, some details of natural history, which have no conceivable use except in training the reasoning faculties, or exhibiting the principles of classification; but that their serviceableness in these respects is so great as to warrant their introduction into a course of study. There may very well be a certain proportion of mere mental gymnastics such as these; but a course made up exclusively, or in any large proportion of such studies, can find no place in our present schemes of education. Life is too short, and there is too much hard work to be done in it, to allow much of it to be spent in mere preparation; especially since it may be maintained that in general the studies that give us the best training, at the same time give us the best tools.

My proposition is, then, that at a certain stage in the High School and College course, the ancient classics form the best means of discipline, and therefore may be pronounced an essential part of such course. To define further what this stage is, it will be necessary to enter into one or two preliminary inquiries, which will at once show their usefulness as a means of discipline; and at the same time define the point in question, the age, or grade, at which they will be found most advantageous.

Leaving out of view the moral and aesthetic nature, education must be mainly directed to the development and training of three faculties,-Observation, Memory and Reason. This is their natural order: we first observe, then remember, then reflect. The first two are devoted to the acquisition of knowledge, the third to its application. Following out this division,we come again to a proposition which has been generally agreed to by educators, and which, therefore, I will not stop to argue that the education of the child ought to follow this natural order; that observation and memory should come first, and reasoning afterwards. Not that the three can or should at any time be entirely separated. The weak and immature reasoning powers of the child can receive a healthy exercise and development at every step in the acquisition of facts; and it is in this that the skill of I should not be justified, therefore, in the teacher mainly consists. Those teacharguing for the introduction of the clas- ers are equally at fault who make the ensical languages into a course which is tire instruction of the child a matter essentially disciplinary, if it could not purely of memory, and those who on the be proved that the knowledge of these other hand task their reasoning powers languages will be serviceable in after life. too severely by lessons above their comThis point I will not stop to prove, partly prehension. These views are supported because it is not a part of my subject, by the almost unanimous judgment of partly because it has been proved a great experienced writers and thinkers upon

education, who are constantly urging the full early enough, if they are placed in introduction of Natural History into the the senior year, at the very end of a long lower grades of schools, and the relega- course of study. The same thing is true tion of the technicalities of English in a degree of scientific and moral subGrammar to the upper classes, where they jects as a whole; in proportion as they belong. are highly educational, they are difficult and complicated; in proportion as they are simple and easy, they are unsuited to this, the main end of education, for the reason that they appeal chiefly to the eye and memory, rather than the reasoning faculties. The question is, what branch of studies will best fill the gap? will best develop in the youthful mind the capacity of reasoning upon doubtful and conflicting evidence? will form the best intro. duction to those higher sciences-physical and moral—which task the highest powers of the mind?

At the age, say of ten years, when the reasoning faculties should begin to receive a moderate exercise on their own account, no longer incidentally as in the earlier stages of education, probably the best selection of a study that could be made for this purpose, is that which has been made in practice-Mental Arithmetic. Arithmetic, and the other branches of mathematics, continued steadily and moderately, not in the exorbitant degree which is common in our schools-should form the staple of intelectual education for some time after this period.

For this object there is nothing so good The lower mathematics, however, de- as the concrete study of language; that velop the reasoning faculties only on one is, not the abstractions of grammar, but side, that of exact-proof; for this they are the practical dealing with words and indispensable, and this is one indispensa- sentences. The abstract study of lanble side of education. But most demon-guage, whether in the philosophy of stration is not exact, but only probable, grammar, or the details of linguistic and to train the reasoning faculties in the science, belong further on, with the highdirection of probable proof, another class er range of subjects which come in best of studies is required. That is to say, to at a more advanced stage. At the period train the mind for its principal work, in question, say from twelve to sixteen that of judging of evidence, when the years of age, the work of translating evidence is conflicting or incomplete, from one language into anotherwhen it is possible to come to only a pro- handling its concrete forms-calls into visional and uncertain decision, a mathe- active and healthy exercise all the intelmatical training is inadequate. And as lectual powers which need to be exercised this is the character of most of the labor at this stage. The memory plays a large which the intellect has to perform in part, especially in learning words and life, it follows that the main object of a forms; but the translating itself is essendisciplinary education should be to pre- tially a process of reasoning. The rules pare the student to form judgments upon of inflection, indeed, may be so largely uncertain and conflicting evidence. generalized as to make the learning of paradigms principally a matter of classification; and the study of the derivation and relationship of words takes away its purely mnemonic character from the acquisition of a vocabulary. But when it comes to constructions, the memory has very little to do with it; the pupil is obliged from the very first to work logi. cally-the forms must be determined ac

For this end a large number of studies are well adapted, none better than, for example, Geology, Physics and Political Economy, which are studies of the highest educational order. But these are studies which require as a foundation an amount of previous acquirement, in the way of subsidiary sciences, or of observation of facts, which make them come

curately, and the power of each form must be understood, so that each step in translating shall be not a hap-hazard effort to make the words mean something, but an intelligent analysis of the elements present, so as to ascertain what they must and actually do mean.

ample, is as deserving of minute study and as favorable to mental discipline as any; but this study must consist in a considerable degree of abstractions, or of recondite points of scholarship, for the reason that the work that first engages the student of a foreign language, and It is not necessary to enter more mi- which give him the mental exertion I nutely into this argument, because this, have described, is impossible here. The too, is a point well agreed to by educa- boy knows what the sentence means, to tors. Every disciplinary course of study start with; and if he is told to study its intended for the classes in question-High meaning more intently, he is set to a work School pupils and the lower College of subtle and delicate order, unsuited to classes, is as a matter of fact made to his rough style of mental labor. For consist very largely of the two branches, this reason English affords material for Mathematics and Language. The only only a term or two of severe study adaptpoint with regard to which there is any difference of opinion, is what languages are best suited to this end. The old system made use of the ancient languages; the present tendency is to institute the modern languages, and I will admit frankly that if there is room but for one language, in a course which while mainly disciplinary, is still intended to finish the pupils formal education, the claims of some modern tongue could hardly be resisted. Any language can be made highly disciplinary: and every course must have an eye to practical profit as well as to discipline. Our concern is with courses that admit of more than one language.

ed to this stage. And what is true of English, is true in a degree of the modern languages cognate to English. The pupil finds nearly the same order of words and rules of construction as in his own language, so that he makes use very much more of mere memory, and less of the reasoning powers.

This brings us to the second and most important argument-the character of the languages themselves. The reason that translating from French or German is much more a matter of the memory than from Latin or Greek, is that their difficulties consist in so much greater degree, in idioms, rather than constructions; a natural result of their analytical char

My proposition is that, apart from prac-acter, or use of auxiliaries and prepositical considerations, the Latin and Greek languages are intrinsically the best for the purposes of discipline; so much the best, that, if a course were exclusively disciplinary, there should be no hesitation, and in any course that admits of even but two languages, one of these should be one of the two.

The most obvious, although not the weightiest reason, is the very fact of the remoteness and strangeness of the language. It is a mistake, at the age in question, to try to make the work too easy for superficial labor. Real work, but not too much of it, is the right principle. The English language, for ex

tions instead of inflections. There is of course a difference in this respect. German is far less idiomatic than either French or English; and is for this reason the best adapted for purposes of mental discipline; Greek, on the other hand, is more idiomatic than Latin, and for this reason less adapted for purposes of mental discipline. It is in the language, as in the institutions of Rome, that the pupil comes most completely under the dominion of law. Now the analysis of idioms is a most useful and interesting practice at a more advanced stage, but for beginners they are a matter of pure memory, while laws of construction be

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