opportunities of useful employment, and this is specially true in
the case of scholars. For they profess learning, that is to say,
the _soul_ of the State, and it is too perilous to have the soul of
the State troubled with _their_ souls, that is, necessary learning
with unnecessary learners. Scholars, by reason of their conceit
which learning inflames, cannot rest satisfied with little, and
by their kind of life they prove too disdainful of labour, unless
necessity makes them trot. If that wit fall to preach which were
fitter for the plough, and he to climb a pulpit who was made to
scale a wall, is not a good carter ill lost, and a good soldier ill
placed?
All children cannot get a full training at school, even though
their private circumstances admit of it, yet as regards writing
and reading, if that were all, what if everyone had them, for the
sake of religion and their necessary affairs? In the long period
of their whole youth, if they minded no more, these two would be
easily learned in their leisure times by special opportunities, if
no ordinary means were available and no school nigh. Every parish
has a minister, who can give help in regard to writing and reading,
if there is no one else.
Choice of Scholars both from Rich and Poor.
Some doubt may rise between the rich and poor, whether all rich and
none poor, or some in both, may and should be sent to learning. If
some rich are sent, provided for out of private resources, some
poor will be commended by promising parts to public provision for
the general advantage, and if neither private nor public provision
is mismanaged, the matter will decide itself by the capacity of
the learners and their disposition to prove virtuous. The safe
condition is that the rich should not have too much, nor the poor
too little. In the former case, the overplus breeds a loose and
dissolute brain; in the latter, the insufficiency causes a base and
servile temper. For he who is never in need, owing to the supplies
of his friends, never exercises his wits to be a friend to himself,
but commonly proves reckless till the black ox treads upon his
toes, and necessity makes him try what mettle he is made of. And
he who is always in need, for want of friends, is apt to find his
heaven in whatever rids him of his difficulties, and to worship
that saint who serves his turn best. Now if wealthy parents out of
their private fortune, and public patrons out of their surplus
wealth would try to avoid these two extremes, then neither would
over-abundance make the one too wanton, nor want make the other
too servile. Neither would be tempted to hasten on too fast, the
one lest he should lose some time, and the other lest he should
miss some chance of a livelihood. The middle sort of parents, who
neither welter in too much wealth, nor wrestle with too much want,
seem most promising of all, if their children’s capacity is in
keeping with their parents’ circumstances and position, which must
be the level for the fattest to fall down to, and the leanest to
leap up to, to bring forth the student who will serve his country
best.
The Number of Scholars limited by Circumstances.
All cannot pass on to learning that throng thitherward, because
of the inconveniences that may ensue, by want of preferment for
such a multitude, and by depriving other trades of their necessary
workers. Everyone desires to have his child learned, yet for all
that every parent must bear in mind that he is more bound to his
country than to his child. If the parent will not yield to reason
some kind of restraint must be used. Fortunately the question is
often determined by necessity. You would have your child learned,
but your purse will not stretch; you must be patient, and devise
some other course within your means. You are not able to spare him
from your elbow for your own needs, whereas learning must have
leisure, and the scholar’s book be his only business free from
outside interference. You have no school near you, and you cannot
pay for teaching further off; then let your own trade content you,
and keep your child at home. Or your child is of weak constitution;
then let schooling alone, make play his physician, and health his
object. Whichever way necessity drives you, perforce that way must
ye trot. If the restrained child cannot get the skill to write
and read, I lament that lack, for these two points concern every
man nearly, and are useful in every kind of business. I dare not
venture to allow so many the Latin tongue, nor any other language,
unless it be in cases where those tongues are found necessary in
their trades. For otherwise the fear is lest, having such benefits
of school, they will not be content with their own station in
life, but because they have some little smack of book learning
they will think even the highest positions low enough for them,
not considering that in well-governed States Latin is allowed both
to country clowns and town artificers; yet these remain in their
own calling, without pride or ambition, on account of that small
knowledge by which they are better able to furnish out their own
trades.
The Number of Scholars kept down by Law.
It is no objection to allege against such a lawful restraint, that
if such a measure had been in force we might have lost men of high
intelligence and great learning who have been of much service to
the State. Some degree of foresight and orderly restraint are more
likely to secure that necessary functions will be well served than
if all is left to chance and individual will. Nor is it reasonable
to object that it were a pity, by the severity of an unkind law, to
hinder that excellence which God commonly gives to the poorer sort.
Talent not peculiar either to Rich or Poor.
As for pitying the poor, ye need not wish a beggar to become a
prince, though ye allow him a penny and pity his necessities. If
he is poor provide for him, that he may live by trade, but let him
not idle. Has he talent? Well, are artificers fools? And do not
all trades require ability? But is he very likely to distinguish
himself in learning? I do not reject him; he has his chance of
being provided a public help in common patronage. But he does not
well to oppose his own particular will against the public good; let
his country think enough of him, but let him beware of thinking too
much of himself. Because God has often shown himself bountiful in
conferring talent on the poorer sort, that does not prove that he
has not bestowed as great gifts on some of the upper class, though
they may have failed to use them. The commonwealth, it is urged,
must be prepared to give scope for ability, in whatever class it
may be found.
Choice of those fit for Learning.
The choice of learners is a matter requiring careful thought at all
times and in all places, but especially in our own day and country.
For it is more important to whom you commit learning when you have
found what to learn than to find what to learn before you commit
it, because the best instrument should always be handled by the
fittest person, and not by every one that has a fancy to handle
it. When the choice follows private liking rather than public
advantage, more mischief is caused than is easily discovered,
though the smart is generally felt. There is indeed little use in
discussing the question of fitness, if no choice is to be made
when the question is decided. And as the bestowal of learning must
have its beginning in the young child, ought not good choice to go
before if the due effect is to follow?
How the Choice of Scholars should be Determined.
I will now consider what kinds of talent and disposition are,
even from infancy, to be thought most fitting to serve the State
in the matter of learning. Often those who give least promise at
first turn out most suitable in the end; wherefore the absolute
rejection of any, before maturity is reached, not only does an
injury to those who are rejected, but would be an evidence of
rashness in those who reject. For the variety is very great, though
where certainty is impossible preference must be given to the
most likely. In the qualities that give promise of good service
when learning has been gained, there are commonly reckoned an
honourable disposition, zeal for moral virtue, and the desire to
benefit society without thought of personal profit. There must
also be taken into account the shrewdness of intelligence which
will not be easily deceived nor diverted from a right opinion,
either by the influence of feeling in themselves or the strength
of persuasion in others. And generally whatever virtue gives
proof of a good man and a good citizen must be held of value, so
that the learner should show capability and discretion in matters
of learning, and towardness and constancy in matters of living.
All this refers to free men who can secure independently the
opportunities of learning, yet provision is to be made for those
of good natural intelligence who need some help. There are three
kinds of government--Monarchy, Oligarchy, and Democracy, each
of which demands a different type of citizen and scholar. That
child is likely in later years to prove the fittest subject for
learning in a _Monarchy_ who at a tender age shows himself obedient
to the rules of the School, and, if he should offend, takes his
punishment gently, without complaining or taking affront. In
behaviour towards his companions he is gentle and courteous,
without wrangling or complaining. He will lend a helping hand, and
use every persuasion rather than have either his teacher disquieted
or his school-fellows punished. And, therefore, either he receives
similar courtesy from his school-fellows, or whoever shows him any
discourtesy must be prepared for challenge and combat with all
the rest. If he has any natural capacity in which he excels his
companions, it will be so well regulated and show itself with such
modesty that it shall appear in no way upsetting or over-ambitious.
At home he will be so deferential to his parents, so courteous
among servants, so dutiful toward all with whom he has to deal,
that there will be contention who can praise him most behind
his back, and who can cherish him most before his face. These
qualities will not be easily discerned till the child is either
in the Grammar School by regular but not premature advancement,
or at least upon his passage from the completed course of the
Elementary School, because his age by that time, and his progress
under regulation, will make it possible in some degree to perceive
his inclination. Before that time we pardon many things, and use
encouragement and motives of ambition to inflame the little one
onward, which are discontinued afterwards. When of their own
accord, without any motive of fear or other incitement, they begin
to make some show of their learning in some special direction, then
conjecture is on foot as to what their career ought to be.
Grounds for Promotion.
When the possession of means bids the school door open, the
admission and right of continuance is granted to all, till after
some proof the master, who is the first chooser of the finest,
begins to discern where there is ability to go forward, and where
natural weakness suggests prompt removal. When the master has
discovered strength or infirmity of nature, as may appear in the
ease or difficulty of acquiring and retaining that are seen in
boys of different aptitude, his desire will naturally be to have
the promising scholars continued, to procure the removal of the
duller ones by diverting their energy into some other course more
in keeping with their natural bent than learning, in which they
are likely to make little progress, however long they remain at
school. Care must be taken, however, not to decide prematurely, for
it may prove that those wits that at first were found to be very
hard and blunt may soften and prove sharp in time, and show a finer
edge, though this is not to be applied to dullards generally. For
natural dulness will show itself in everything that concerns memory
and understanding, while that kind of dulness that may some day
change into sharpness will show itself only at intervals, like a
cloudy day that will turn out fine in the end. Wherefore, injustice
may be done by a hasty judgment, and, on the other hand, the boy
who is not yet strong enough for manual work may remain a little
longer at school, where, even if he do little good, he is sure to
take little harm. Moreover, if the parents can afford it, and wish
to keep their children on at school, even though their progress
is small, the master must have patience, and measure his pains by
the parent’s purse, where he knows there is plenty, and not by the
child’s profit, which he sees will be small. Only he must keep the
parent constantly informed how matters stand, both as a matter of
duty and to prevent disappointment. But the case is different with
a poor child, who should be sent to a trade at once, if he is not
promising in learning.
Co-operation of Parents.
Seeing that the schoolmaster, to whose judgment I commend the
choice, is no absolute potentate in our commonwealth, to dispose
of people’s children as he pleases, but only a counsellor to act
along with the parent, if the latter is willing to take advice,
I should wish, that in order to have this duly accomplished,
parents and teachers should be not only acquainted, but on friendly
terms with each other. And though some parents need no counsel,
and some teachers can give but little, yet the wise parent is
always willing to listen before he decides, and the opinion of a
skilful teacher deserves to be heard. If this co-operation cannot
be established, the poor child will suffer in the present, and
the parents will lose much satisfaction in the end. This kind
of control will continue as long as the child is either under a
master in school, or under a tutor in college, and in this period
a great number may be very wisely arranged for, unlearned trades
being sufficiently supplied, and a life of learning reserved for
those only who by their intelligence and judgment are fitted for
it. By such means the proportion will be properly adjusted in
every branch of the public service, and the risk avoided of having
too large a total number. This period under the master’s charge
is the only period when the youth can be controlled by outside
direction; for afterwards at a more dangerous age they come to
choose for themselves, and their defects of nature and manners, if
not corrected, may bring sorrow to them and to their friends. And
though the schoolmaster may not always have his counsel followed in
such a case, yet if he let the parent know his opinion his duty
will be discharged. For if the parent shows himself unwilling to
follow the teacher’s opinion, supported by good reasons, but under
the influence of blind affection overestimates his child’s aptitude
for learning, then though the master should for his own gain keep
on an unpromising pupil, the fault lies with the parent who would
not see even after fair warning. So that it always proves true that
parents and teachers should be familiarly linked together in amity
and continual conference for their common charge, and that each
should trust in the judgment and personal goodwill of the other.
This will come to pass only when the teacher is carefully chosen
and kept on terms of friendly conference--not merely because “my
neighbour’s children go to school with you, so you shall have mine
too,”--a common reason in the case of children who are continually
being sent posting about to try all sorts of schools, and never
stay long in any, thus reaping as much learning as the rolling
stone gathers moss.
Admission into Colleges.
The other means whereby some selection may be made is by admission
into colleges, preferments to degrees, advancement to livings. In
regard to these the commonwealth may receive all the greater harm
that they come nearer the public service, so that plain dealing is
the more praiseworthy, in order to prevent mischief. As concerns
colleges I do not consider that the scholarships in them are
intended only for poor students, for whose needs that small help
could never suffice, (though some advantage may be given to them
in consideration of special promise which has no other chance of
being recognised) but rather that they are simply preferments for
learning and advancements for virtue, alike to the wealthy as a
reward of well-doing, and to the poorer students as a necessary
support. Therefore, as in admission I would give freedom to choose
from both sorts, so I would restrict the choice to those who give
genuine promise of usefulness. For if elections are swayed by
favour, shown on grounds not of merit but of private friendship,
though perhaps with some colour of regard for learning, those who
are responsible for the injustice will repent when it is too late,
finding themselves served in their own coin; for those who get in
by such means, owing their own advancement to private influence,
will act in the same way towards others, without regard to the
common welfare. When favour is shown on any other ground than that
of merit, founders are discouraged, public provision is misused,
and learning gives place to idling. But if elections were made on
grounds of fitness alone, the unfit would be diverted in time into
some other channel, the best would be chosen, the intentions of
founders would be fulfilled, some perjury for the non-performance
of statutes would be avoided, new patrons would be procured,
religion advanced, and good students encouraged.
Preferment to Degrees.
Preferment to degrees may be, and indeed ought to be, a more
powerful check on insufficiency, because by this means the whole
country is made either a lamentable spoil to bold ignorance, or
a favourable soil for sober knowledge. When a scholar is allowed
by authority of the University to profess capacity in a certain
specialty for which he bears the title, and is sent into the world
by the help of people who have acted under unworthy influences in
disregard of merit, what must our country think when she hears the
boast of the University title sound in her ears, and fails to find
the benefit of University learning to serve her in her need? She
will not blame the ignorant graduate, who is only naturally trying
to do the best for himself, but she will very greatly blame the
Universities for having deceived her and betrayed her trust. For
in granting a degree the University is virtually saying, “Before
God and my country, I know this man, not by perfunctory knowledge,
but by thorough examination, to be well able to perform in the
Commonwealth the duties of the profession to which his degree
belongs, and the country may rest upon my credit in security for
his sufficiency.” What if the University knew beforehand that
he neither was such an one, nor was ever likely to prove such?
Let the earnest professors of true religion in the universities
at this day consult their consciences and remedy the defect for
their own credit and the good of their country. A teacher may be
pardoned, for seeking thus earnestly to have true worth recognised,
considering that thereby would come not only satisfaction to
himself, but advantage to his pupils and to the country at large.
Can he be anything but grieved to see the results for which he
has laboured with infinite care and pains set at naught by bad
management at a later stage? It seems to be reasonable for anyone
who is given the charge of numbers to concern himself not only with
what comes under his own immediate regulation, but with the means
of securing public protection and encouragement for his pupils
after they pass out of his care.
Natural Capacity in Children.
I will now consider what children ought to learn when they are
first sent to school. There are in the human soul certain natural
capacities which by the wisdom of parents and the discernment of
teachers, who may perceive them in the child’s infancy and do their
best to cultivate them, may eventually be made very profitable
both to their possessor, and to the commonwealth. If these natural
capacities are not perceived, those who are responsible must be
charged either with ignorance or with negligence, and if they are
perceived but are either not improved or wrongly directed, the
teachers and trainers, whether they are parents or schoolmasters,
must be much lacking in sound skill, or else they are guided by
stupid fancies. Without making any complete analysis of the mental
powers, I would point out some natural inclinations in the soul,
which seem to crave the help of education and nurture, and by
means of these may be cultivated to advantage. In the little young
souls we find first a capacity to perceive what is taught to them,
and to imitate those around them. That faculty of learning and
following should be well employed by choosing the proper matter
to be set before them, by carefully proceeding step by step in a
reasonable order, by handling them warily so as to draw them on
with encouragement. We find also in them a power of retention;
therefore their memories should at once be furnished with the very
best, seeing that it is a treasury, and never suffered to be idle,
as it loses its power so soon. For in default of the better, the
worse will take possession, and bid itself welcome. We find in
them further an ability to discern what is good and what is evil,
so that they should forthwith be acquainted with what is best, by
learning to obey authority, and dissuaded from the worse by the
fear of disapproval. These three things, perception, memory, and
judgment, ye will find peering out of the little young souls at a
time when ye can see what is in them, but they cannot yet see it
themselves. Now these natural capacities being once discerned, must
as they arise be followed with diligence, increased by good method,
and encouraged by sympathy, till they come to their fruition.
Encouragement better than Severity.
The best way to secure good progress, so that the intelligence may
conceive clearly, memory may hold fast, and judgment may choose
and discern the best, is so to ply them that all may proceed
voluntarily, and not with violence, so that the will may be ready
to do well, and loth to do ill, and all fear of correction may be
entirely absent. Surely to beat for not learning a child that is
willing enough to learn, but whose intelligence is defective, is
worse than madness.
Moral Training falls chiefly on Parents.
The duty of leading children to cleave to the good and forsake the
bad, in matters of ordinary conduct, is shared by all who come
in contact with them; it belongs to the parents by nature, to
schoolmasters by the charge committed to them, to neighbours as a
matter of courtesy, and to people in general on the ground of a
common humanity. Teachers, it is true, have special opportunities
of influencing the morals and manners of children, by means of
the authority they naturally exercise, in teaching them what is
best, and inducing them to practise it, even by force at first,
till they come to appreciate it for themselves. But this control
of good manners is not for teachers alone, for as I have said,
they must co-operate with the parents, to whom that duty naturally
appertains most nearly, as they have the fullest authority over
the children. Wherefore, reserving for the teacher only so much
as strictly belongs to him, in instructing the child what is best
in good manners, and in framing good regulations and seeing that
they are properly carried out, I refer the rest to those who are
the appointed guardians of morals, to secure either by private
discipline at home, or by public control outside, that young
people are well brought up to distinguish the good from the bad,
the seemly from the unseemly, that they may know God, serve their
country, be a comfort to their friends, and help one another, as
good fellow-citizens are bound to do. But the task of training
their intelligence and memory belongs wholly to the teacher, and I
will now proceed to deal with it.
Elementary Instruction--Reading.