But, if adopting Mr. Spencer's own measure, we estimate the value of knowledge by its influence on action, we shall probably rank accomplishments much higher than they have hitherto been placed in the schemes of educationists. Knowledge and skill connected with the business of life are, of necessity, acquired in the discharge of business. But the knowledge and skill which make our leisure valuable to ourselves, and a source of pleasure to others, can seldom be gained after the work of life has begun. And yet every day a man may benefit by possessing such an ability, or may suffer from the want of it. One whose eyesight has been trained by drawing and painting finds objects of interest all around him, to which other people are blind. A primrose by the

of their time to science we should never have heard of their blundersor of their pictures either. If they were to paint a piece of woodwork, a carpenter might, perhaps, detect something amiss in the mitring. If they painted a wall, a bricklayer might point out that with their arrangement of stretchers and headers the wall would tumble down for want of a proper bond. But even Mr. Spencer would not wish them to spend their time in mastering the technicalities of every handicraft, in order to avoid these inaccuracies. It is the business of the painter to give us form and colour as they reveal themselves to the eye, not to prepare illustrations of scientific text-books. The physical sciences, however, are only part of the painter's necessary acquirements, according to Mr. Spencer. He must also understand how the minds of spectators will be affected by the several peculiarities of his work-a question in psychology!' Still more surprising is Mr. Spencer's dictum about poetry. 'Its rhythm, its strong and numerous metaphors, its hyperboles, its violent inversions, are simply exaggerations of the traits of excited speech. To be good, therefore, poetry must pay attention to those laws of nervous action which excited speech obeys.' It is difficult to see how poetry can pay attention to anything. The poet, of course must not violate those laws, but, if he has paid attention to them in composing, he will do well to present his MS. to the local newspaper.

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the river's brim is, perhaps, more to him who has a feeling for its form and colour than even to the scientific student, who can tell all about its classification and component parts. A knowledge of music is often of the greatest practical service, as by virtue of it, its possessor is valuable to his associates, to say nothing of his having a constant source of pleasure and a means of recreation which is most precious as a relief from the cares of life. Of far greater importance is the knowledge of our best poetry. One of the first reforms in our school-course would have been, I should have thought, to give this knowledge a much more prominent place; but Mr. Spencer consigns it, with music and drawing, to 'the leisure part of education.' Whether a man who was engrossed by science, who had no knowledge of the fine arts except as they illustrated scientific laws, no acquaintance with the lives of great men, or with any history but sociology, and who studied the thoughts and emotions expressed by our great poets merely with a view to their psychological classification-whether such a man could be said to live completely' is a question to which every one, not excepting Mr. Spencer himself, would probably return the same answer. And yet this is the kind of man which Mr. Spencer's system would produce where it was most successful.

Let me now briefly sum up the conclusions arrived at, and consider how far I differ from Mr. Spencer. I believe that there is no one study which is suited to train the faculties of the mind at every stage of its development, and that when we have decided on the necessity of this or that knowledge, we must

consider further what is the right time for acquiring it. I believe that intellectual education should aim, not so much at communicating facts, however valuable, as at showing the boy what true knowledge is, and giving him the power and the disposition to acquire it. I believe that the exclusively scientific teaching which Mr. Spencer approves would not effect this. It would lead at best to a very onesided development of the mind. It might fail to engage the pupil's interest sufficiently to draw out his faculties, and in this case the net outcome of his schooldays would be no larger than at present. Of the knowledges which Mr. Spencer recommends for special objects some, I think, would not conduce to the object, and some could not be communicated early in life. (1.) For indirect self-preservation we do not require to know physiology, but the results of physiology. (2.) The science which bears on special pursuits in life has not in many cases any pecuniary value, and although it is most desirable that every one should study the science which makes his work intelligible to him, this must usually be done when his schooling is over. The school will have done its part if it has accustomed him to the intellectual processes by which sciences are learned, and has given him an intelligent appreciation of their value.* (3.) The right way of rearing and training children

* Speaking of law, medicine, engineering, and the industrial arts, Mr. Mill remarks: Whether those whose speciality they are will learn them as a branch of intelligence or as a mere trade, and whether having learnt them, they will make a wise and conscientious use of them, or the reverse, depends less on the manner in which they are taught their profession, than upon what sort of mind they bring to it—what kind of

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should be studied, indeed, but not by the children themselves. (4.) The knowledge which fits a man to discharge his duties as a citizen is of great importance, and, as Dr. Arnold pointed out, is likely to be entirely neglected by those who have to struggle for a livelihood. The schoolmaster should, therefore, by no means neglect this subject with those of his pupils whose schooldays will soon be over, but, probably, all that he can do is to cultivate in them a sense of the citizen's duty, and a capacity for being their own teachers.* (5.) The knowledge of poetry, belleslettres, and the fine arts, which Mr. Spencer hands over to the leisure part of education, is the only knowledge in his programme which I think should most certainly form a prominent part in the curriculum of every school.

I therefore differ, though with great respect, from the conclusions at which Mr. Spencer has arrived. But I heartily agree with him that we are bound to inquire into the relative value of knowledges, and if we take, as I should willingly do, Mr. Spencer's test, and ask how does this or that knowledge influence action (including in our inquiry its influence on mind and character, through which it bears upon action), I think we should banish from our schools much that has hitherto been taught in them, besides those old tormentors of youth (laid, I fancy, at lastrequiescant in pace)-the Propria quæ Maribus and its kindred absurdities. What we should teach is, of course, not so easily decided as what we should not.

intelligence and of conscience, the general system of education has developed in them.'-Address at St. Andrews, p. 6.

* Vide Mill.-Address, p. 67.

I now come to consider Mr. Spencer's second chapter, in which, under the heading of 'Intellectual Education,' he gives an admirable summing up of the main principles in which the great writers on the subject have agreed, from Comenius downwards. These principles are, perhaps, not all of them unassailable, and even where they are true, many mistakes must be expected before we arrive at the best method of applying them; but the only reason that can be assigned for the small amount of influence they have hitherto exercised is, that most teachers are as ignorant of them as of the abstrusest doctrines of Kant and Hegel.

In stating these principles Mr. Spencer points out that they merely form a commencement for a science of education. Before educational methods can be made to harmonise in character and arrangement with the faculties in the mode and order of unfolding, it is first needful that we ascertain with some completeness how the faculties do unfold. At present we have acquired on this point only a few general notions. These general notions must be developed in detailmust be transformed into a multitude of specific propositions before we can be said to possess that science on which the art of education must be based. And then, when we have definitely made out in what succession and in what combinations the mental powers become active, it remains to choose out of the many possible ways of exercising each of them, that which best conforms to its natural mode of action. Evidently, therefore, it is not to be supposed that even our most advanced modes of teaching are the right ones, or