of this system as opposed to all others? We nowhere find this stated
in a pointed manner: the author has left it rather to be collected
from his general exposition; and therefore we conceive that we shall
be entitled to his thanks by placing it in a logical, if possible in
an antithetic, shape. In order to this, we ask--what is a school? A
school is a body of young persons more or less perfectly
organised--which, by means of a certain constitution or system of
arrangements (A), aims at attaining a certain object (B). Now in all
former schemes of education this A stood to B the positive quantity
sought in the relation of a logical negative (_i. e._ of a _negation_
of quantity = _0_), or even of a mathematic negative (_i. e._
of-_x_):--but on this new system of the author before us (whom, for
the want of a better name, we shall call the Experimentalist) A for
the first time bears to B the relation of a positive quantity. The
terms _positive_ and _negative_ are sufficiently opposed to each other
to confer upon our contradistinction of this system from all others a
very marked and antithetic shape; and the only question upon it, which
arises, is this--are these terms justified in their application to
this case? That they are, will appear thus:--Amongst the positive
objects (or B) of every school, even the very worst, we must suppose
the culture of morals to be one: a mere day-school may perhaps
reasonably confine its pretensions to the disallowance of anything
positively bad; because here the presumption is that the parents
undertake the management of their children excepting in what regards
their intellectual education: but, wherever the heads of a school step
into the full duties of a child's natural guardians, they cannot
absolve themselves from a responsibility for his morals. Accordingly,
this must be assumed of course to exist amongst the positive objects
of every boarding-school. Yet so far are the laws and arrangements of
existing schools from at all aiding and promoting this object, that
their very utmost pretension is--that they do not injure it. Much
injustice and oppression, for example, take place in the intercourse
of all boys with each other; and in most schools 'the stern edict
against _bearing tales_,' causes this to go unredressed (p. 78): on
the other hand, in a school where a system of nursery-like
_surveillance_ was adopted, and 'every trifling injury was the subject
of immediate appeal to the supreme power' (p. 80), the case was still
worse. 'The indulgence of this querulousness increased it beyond all
endurance. Before the master had time to examine the justice of one
complaint, his attention was called away to redress another; until,
wearied with investigation into offences which were either too
trifling or too justly provoked for punishment, he treated all
complainants with harshness, heard their accusations with incredulity,
and thus tended, by a first example, to the re-establishment of the
old system.' The issue in any case was--that, apart from what nature
and the education of real life did for the child's morals, the school
education did nothing at all except by the positive moral instruction
which the child might draw from his lessons--_i. e._ from B. But as to
A, _i. e._ the school arrangements, either at best their effect was =
0; or possibly, by capricious interference for the regulation of what
was beyond their power to regulate, they actually disturbed the moral
sense (_i. e._ their effect was =-_x_). Now, on the new system of our
Experimentalist, the very laws and regulations, which are in any case
necessary to the going on of a school, have such an origin and are so
administered as to cultivate the sense of justice and materially to
enlarge the knowledge of justice. These laws emanate from the boys
themselves, and are administered by the boys. That is to say, A (which
on the old system is at best a mere blank, or negation, and sometimes
even an absolute negative with regard to B) thus becomes a positive
agent in relation to B--_i. e._ to one of the main purposes of the
school. Again, to descend to an illustration of a lower order, in most
schools arithmetic is one part of B: now on the new system it is so
contrived that what is technically termed _calling over_, which on any
system is a necessary arrangement for the prevention of mischief, and
which usually terminates there (_i. e._ in an effect = 0), becomes a
positive means of cultivating an elementary rule of arithmetic in the
junior students--and an attention to accuracy in all: _i. e._ here
again, from being simply = 0, A becomes = + _x_ in relation to B. A
school in short, on this system, burns its own smoke: The mere
negative conditions of its daily goings on, the mere waste products of
its machinery, being converted into the positive pabulum of its life
and motion. Such then, we affirm, is the brief abstract--antithetically
expressed--of the characteristic principle by which the system under
review is distinguished from all former systems. In relation to B (which
suppose 20 _x_) A, which heretofore was =-_x_, or at best = 0, now
becomes = + _x_, or + 2 _x_, or 3 _x_, as it may happen. In this lies
the merit of the conception: what remains to be inquired--is in what
degree, and upon what parts of B, it attains this conversion of A into a
positive quantity: and this will determine the merit of the execution.
Let us now therefore turn to the details of the book.
The book may be properly distributed into two parts: the first of
which from page 1 to page 125 inclusively (comprehending the three
first chapters) unfolds and reviews the system: all that remains from
page 126 to page 218 inclusively (_i. e._ to the end)--comprehending
four chapters--may be considered as a second or miscellaneous part,
treating of some general topics in the business of education, but with
a continual reference to the principles laid down in the first part.
An appendix, of twenty pages, contains a body of illustrative
documents. The first of the three chapters, composing what we have
called the first part, is entitled _Outline of the System_: and, as it
is very brief, we shall extract it nearly entire.
'A schoolmaster being a governor as well as a teacher, we
must consider the boys both as a community and as a body of
pupils. The principle of our government is to leave, as much
as possible, all power in the hands of the boys themselves:
To this end we permit them to elect a committee, which
enacts the laws of the school, subject however to the _veto_
of the head master. We have also courts of justice for the
trial of both civil and criminal causes, and a vigorous
police for the preservation of order. Our rewards consist of
a few prizes given at the end of each half year to those
whose exertions have obtained for them the highest rank in
the school; and certain marks which are gained from time to
time by exertions of talent and industry. These marks are of
two kinds: the most valuable, called premial[36] marks, will
purchase a holiday; the others are received in liquidation
of forfeits. Our punishments[37] are fine and imprisonment.
Impositions, public disgrace, and corporeal pain, have been
for some years discarded among us. To obtain rank is an
object of great ambition among the boys; with us it is
entirely dependent on the state of their acquirements; and
our arrangements according to excellence are so
frequent--that no one is safe, without constant exertion,
from losing his place. The boys learn almost every branch of
study in classes, that the master may have time for copious
explanations; it being an object of great anxiety with us,
that the pupil should be led to reason upon all his
operations. Economy of time is a matter of importance with
us: we look upon all restraint as an evil, and to young
persons as a very serious evil: we are therefore constantly
in search of means for ensuring the effective employment of
every minute which is spent in the school-room, that the
boys may have ample time for exercise in the open air. The
middle state between work and play is extremely unfavourable
to the habits[38] of the pupil: we have succeeded, by great
attention to order and regularity, in reducing it almost to
nothing. We avoid much confusion by accustoming the boys to
march; which they do with great precision, headed by a band
of young performers[39] from their own body.'
[Footnote 36: '_Premial_ marks:' this designation is vicious in point
of logic: how is it thus distinguished from the less valuable?]
[Footnote 37: 'Our punishments,' &c. This is inaccurate: by p. 83
'disability to fill certain offices' is one of the punishments.]
[Footnote 38: 'Habits!' habits of what?]
[Footnote 39: 'Performers!' _Musical_ performers, we presume.]
Such is the outline of the system as sketched by the author himself:
to us however it appears an insufficient outline even for 'the general
reader' to whom it is addressed: without having 'any intention of
reducing the system to practice,' the most general reader, if he asks
for any information at all, will ask for more than this. We shall
endeavour therefore to draw up an account of the plan somewhat less
meagre, by separating the important from the trivial details. For this
purpose we shall begin--1. with the GOVERNMENT of the school; _i. e._
with an account of the _legislative_, the _executive_, and the
_judicial_ powers, where lodged--held by what tenure--and how
administered. The _legislative power_ is vested in a committee of boys
elected by the boys themselves. The members are elected monthly; the
boy, who ranks highest in the school, electing one member; the _two_
next in rank another; the _three_ next a third; and so on. The
head-master as well as all the under-masters are members by virtue of
their office. This arrangement might seem likely to throw a dangerous
weight in the deliberations of the 'house' into the hands of the
executive power, especially as the head-master might pursue Queen
Anne's policy under the Tory ministers--and, by introducing the
fencing-master--the dancing-master--the riding-master, &c. under the
unconstitutional equivocation of the word '_teachers_,' carry a
favourite measure in the teeth of the patriotic party. Hitherto
however the reigning sovereign has shown so laudable a desire to
strengthen those checks upon his own authority which make him a
limited monarch--that 'only one teacher has been in the habit of
attending the committee's meetings' (p. 5): and, where any teacher
himself happens to be interested in the question before the house (_e.
g._ in a case of appeal from any decision of his), 'it has lately been
the etiquette' for that one who does attend to decline voting. Thus we
see that the liberty of the subject is on the growth: which is a sure
argument that it has not been abused. In fact, as a fresh proof of the
eternal truth--that in proportion as human beings are honourably
confided in, they will _in the gross_ become worthy of confidence, it
will give pleasure to the reader to be informed that, though this
committee 'has the formation of _all_ the laws and regulations of the
school (excepting such as determine the hours of attendance and the
regular amount of exercises to be performed),' yet 'the master's
assent has never even in a single instance been withheld or even
delayed.' 'I do not remember,' says Sir William Temple in 1683 to his
son, 'ever to have refused anything you have desired of me; which I
take to be a greater compliment to you than to myself; since for a
young man to make none but reasonable desires is yet more
extraordinary than for an old man to think them so.' A good
arrangement has been adopted for the purpose of combining the benefits
of mature deliberation with the vigour and dispatch necessary for
sudden emergencies: by a standing order of the committee a week's
notice must be given before a new law can be introduced for
discussion: in cases of urgency therefore a sort of _orders of
council_ are passed by a sub-committee composed of two principal
officers for the time being: these may of course be intercepted _in
limine_ by the _veto_ of the master; and they may be annulled by the
general committee: in any case they expire in a fortnight: and thus
not only is a present necessity met, but also an opportunity gained
for trying the effect of a law before it is formally proposed. The
_executive_ body, exclusively of its standing members the upper and
lower masters, is composed of a sheriff (whose duties are to levy
fines imposed by the court of justice, and to imprison on
non-payment)--of a magistrate, and of two constables. All these
officers are elected every month by the committee immediately after
its own election. The magistrate is bound, in conjunction with his
constables, to detect all offences committed in the school: petty
cases of dispute he decides himself, and so far becomes a _judicial_
officer: cases beyond his own jurisdiction he sends to the
attorney-general, directing him to draw an impeachment against the
offending party: he also enforces all penalties below a certain
amount. Of the _judicial_ body we shall speak a little more at length.
The principal officers of the court are the judge who is elected
monthly by the committee, and the attorney-general who is appointed at
the same time by the master. The court assembles every week: and the
jury, consisting of six, is 'chosen by lot from among the whole number
of qualified boys:' disqualifications arise in three ways; on account
of holding a judicial office, on account of conviction by the court
within the preceding month, and on account of youth (or, what we
presume to be tantamount, being 'in certain lower classes'). The jury
choose their own foreman. The attorney-general and the accused party,
if the case be penal, and each disputant, if civil, has a _peremptory_
challenge of three, and an unlimited right of challenge _for cause_.
The judge decides upon the validity of the objections. Such is the
constitution of the court: its forms of proceeding we cannot state in
fewer words than those of the Experimentalist, which we shall
therefore quote: 'The officers of the court and the jury having taken
their seats, the defendant (when the cause is penal) is called to the
bar by the crier of the court, and placed between the constables. The
clerk of the court then reads the indictment, at the close of which
the defendant is asked if he object to any of the jury--when he may
make his challenges (as before stated). The same question is put to
the attorney-general. A short time is then allowed the defendant to
plead _guilty_, if he be so disposed: he is asked no question however
that he may not be induced to tell a falsehood: but, in order to
encourage an acknowledgment of the fault, when he pleads _guilty_--a
small deduction is made from the penalty appointed by the law for the
offence. The consequence is--that at least five out of six of those
who are justly accused acknowledge the offence in the first instance.
If the defendant be determined to stand his trial, the attorney-general
opens the case and the trial proceeds. The defendant may either plead
his own cause, or employ a school-fellow as counsel--which he sometimes
does. The judge takes notes of the evidence, to assist him in delivering
his charge to the jury: in determining the sentence he is guided by the
regulations enacted by the committee, which affix punishments varying
with the magnitude of the offence and the age of the defendant, but
invest the judge with the power of increasing or diminishing the penalty
to the extent of one-fourth.' A copy of the sentence is laid before the
master, who has of course 'the power of mitigation or pardon.' From the
decision of the court there lies an appeal to the committee, which is
thus not only the legislative body, but also the supreme court of
judicature. Two such appeals however are all that have yet occurred:
both were brought by the attorney-general--of course therefore against
verdicts of acquittal; and both verdicts were reversed. Fresh evidence
however was in both cases laid before the committee in addition to that
which had been heard in the court below; and on this as well on other
grounds there was good reason to acquit the jury of all partiality.
Whilst appeals have thus been so rare from the verdicts of juries,
appeals from the decisions of the magistrate, and even from those of the
teachers, have been frequent: generally indeed the decisions have been
affirmed by the committee; and, when they have been reversed, in all but
two cases the reversal has met with the sanction of the teachers as a
body. Even in these two (where, by the way, the original decision was
only modified and not annulled); the Experimentalist is himself of
opinion (p. 12) that the non-concurrence of the teachers may possibly
have been owing to a partiality on their side. So far indeed as his
experience had then extended, the Experimentalist tells us (p. 79) that
'one solitary instance only' had occurred in which the verdict of the
jury did not coincide with his own opinion. This judgment, deliberately
pronounced by so competent a judge, combined with the entire
acquiescence in the verdict of the jury which is argued by the
non-existence of any appeals except on the side of the crown (and then
only in two instances), is a very striking attestation to the spirit of
conscientious justice developed in the students by this confidence in
their incorruptible integrity. 'Great,' says the Experimentalist,
'great, but of course unexpressed, anxiety has more than once been felt
by us--lest the influence of a leading boy, which in every school must
be considerable, should overcome the virtue of the jury: but our fears
have been uniformly relieved, and the hopes of the offender crushed, by
the voice of the foreman pronouncing, in a shrill but steady tone, the
awful word--Guilty!' Some persons, who hate all innovations, will
pronounce all this '_mummery_,' which is a very compendious piece of
criticism. For ourselves, though we cannot altogether agree with the
Experimentalist, who seems to build too much on an assumption that
nature and increasing intercourse with human life contribute nothing of
themselves without any artificial discipline to the evolution and
culture of the sense of justice and to the power of the understanding
for discovering where justice lies, yet thus much is evident, 1. That
the intellectual faculties must be sharpened by the constant habit of
discriminating the just and the unjust in concrete cases such as a real
experience of life produces; 2. That the moral sense must be deepened,
if it were only by looking back upon so large a body of decisions, and
thus measuring as it were, by the resistance which they had often
overcome arising out of their own immediate interest, the mightiness of
the conscientious power within which had compelled them to such
decisions; 3. That all sorts of forensic ability is thus cherished; and
much ability indeed of larger application: thus the logical faculty of
abstracting the essential from the accidental is involved in the summing
up of the judge; in the pleadings for and against are involved the
rhetorical arts of narrating facts perspicuously--of arranging arguments
in the best order of meeting (therefore of remembering) the
counter-arguments; of solving sophisms; of disentangling
misrepresentations--of weighing the value of probabilities--to say
nothing of elocution and the arts of style and diction which even the
records of the court and the committee (as is urged at p. 105) must tend
to cultivate: 4. (to descend to a humbler use) that in this way the
master is absolved from the grievous waste of time in administering
justice, which on the old system was always imperfect justice that it
might waste but little time, and which yet wasted much time though it
was imperfect justice. The author's own _moral_ of this innovation is as
follows (p. 76); and with this we shall leave the subject: 'We shall be
disappointed if the intelligent reader have not already discovered that
by the establishment of a system of legislation and jurisprudence
wherein the power of the master is bounded by general rules, and the
duties of the scholar accurately defined, and where the boys are called
upon to examine and decide upon the conduct of their fellows, we have
provided a course of instruction in the great code of morality which is
likely to produce far more powerful and lasting effects than any
quantity of mere precept.'