Every generation has added a little to the store of truth of which the
human race has possessed itself throughout the long sweep of the
centuries. Every truth expressed and preserved by those who lived in the
past, is a contribution which enriches the lives of those who live in
the present. We, as members of the human race, are not separate atoms
independent of the universe, but we are atoms of it. We are the product
of all time, and partake of the truth of all preceding generations, in
which the power to express ideas and preserve them has existed.
One reason why the race has not profited more largely by the discoveries
of previous generations, is the fact that we feel so profoundly the
discovery of a truth of any nature, that we are prone to dogmatize it by
a rule or set of rules.
This usually results in shutting away from us the real principle of
which the rule is but an evidence. A mechanic may learn every detail of
every rule for the construction of a steam engine, but if he lacks the
understanding of the principles which give rise to the rules, they will
avail nothing and his work must fail. If, however, he understands the
principles involved, his work will stand the test, though he has no
knowledge of rules as such.
In teaching the English language, the rules have been stressed, while
the principles have been submerged, so that the teaching of rules has
not resulted in the improvement of the student.
The People's College, realizing this, has, through the author of this
work, revolutionized the teaching of the fundamental principles that
underlie the use of language. The stress is laid upon principles instead
of rules, so that the student, whether he remember a rule or not, will
never forget the application of these principles to the use of the
written and spoken word.
The assertion is ventured that no more practical and effective method
can be devised for the rapid and thorough teaching of these principles.
Moreover, the importance of this new departure in method cannot be
over-estimated, when we consider that only through the use of language
can information be disseminated concerning other branches of learning.
This science, then, lies at the very base of all real education, and a
mastery of it puts the student in possession of the only weapon by means
of which he may master all other sciences.
The author has, with peculiar aptitude, grasped the fundamental
character of the foregoing facts and has adapted the study of language
to the real principles involved. All the dry rules that are the
witnesses of principles in the ordinary text are done away, while the
principles evidenced by those rules come forth to the light in practical
application, with a beauty of expression and a real utility that render
the mastery of the subject an entertaining excursion into the realms of
learning, rather than a dry imprisonment of the faculties in an effort
to memorize misunderstood rules without apparent reason or real use.
It is the principle behind the rule that has power in it. When this is
understood, the method pursued by the author in this course will be
universally applied to all branches of learning, and will end forever
the imprisonment of children for the useless worship of rules.
The author's grasp of this fact and the exemplification of it, contained
in this work are even more far-reaching than the foregoing would
indicate. It really means the application of a new viewpoint to life
itself. It means the questioning of the utility of authority; the
questioning of the utility of institutions; the application, we might
say, of such a test as this: Does any rule, does any authority, does any
principle, conserve the interests of humanity? If not, away with it.
This means rationalism, the use of common sense. It means that at last
the race is beginning to consciously direct its own destiny.
It is with a profound sense of the necessity of education as a part of
the evolutionary process now in the conscious grasp of the race, and
with a conviction of the fundamental importance of the new viewpoint so
ably presented by the author that we dedicate this work "To the
Education of the Workers by the Workers."