IN MEMOMAM,
John Swett
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
OR
THAT PART OP THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION WHICH
TREATS OF THE NATURE OF THE SEVERAL BRANCHES
OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE METHODS OF TEACHING
THEM ACCORDING TO THAT NATURE.
BY
JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM, LL.D.,
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF PENNSYLVANIA, LATE PRIN
CIPAL OP THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, AND AUTHOR
OF "SCHOOL ECONOMY," ETC.
"The method of nature is the archetype of all methods." — MAUCEL.
"Man cannot propose a higher and holier object for his study, than education,
uid all that appertains to education." — COUSIN'S PLATO.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
Kuterod, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866. hv
JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM,
In tha Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.
a Sfylbuty nf
To the men and women now constituting the Teachers
Profession in America, characterized as they are
by learning, worth, and devotion to a work
among the most noble that human effort
ever aspired to accomplish — the
right education of the whole
people of the nation — who
for their heavy labors
receive small recom
pense save the con
sciousness of
doing good ,
desire it has been to be worthy of a place as a
co-worker among them, whose hope it is to
aid in elevating and dignifying the Pro
fession to which he and they belong,
and u hose reward it will be to
have secured their approval
of his work, begs leave
to dedicate this
book.
54! 7 25
PREFACE.
THE author of this volume published, about a year
ago, a book entitled " School Economy." In the Pre
face to it, the statement was made that other volumes
were contemplated, but that their publication depended
very much upon the reception of the one then offered
to the Profession and the public. The commendations
of that book were so numerous and hearty, and its sale
so rapid, that the obligation was soon imposed upon
the author of redeeming his implied promise, by print
ing the volume on " Methods of Instruction," which
was then announced as being almost ready for tha
Press.
The present work, like the former one, is based upon
lectures delivered to classes of students preparing them'
selves for teachers, but much additional matter is intro-
duced here, that was not contained in the original
lectures, for the purpose of rounding out the whole
into a more perfect system, and making the book more
acceptable to all classes of teachers. As it now stands
!• (Y)
VI PREFACE.
it is hoped thai it will be found to embody principle8
well worthy the attention of the Philosopher as well
as of the Educator, and that its merit may be such as
to make it a standard work in the profession whoso
interests mainly it is designed to serve.
It will be observed that the word TEACHING is used
to designate all that belongs to the profession, whose
aim it is to educate mankind. The words Law and
Medicine have a similar relation to those professions
whose objects it is, respectively, to preserve social
order, and to cure the sick. Pedagogy, is the term
generally employed by the Germans to express what I
now call Teaching, but this word has an unpleasant
association in this country, which unfits it for that pur-
pose. Teaching was divided in the Preface to the
" School Economy," into four divisions, viz. : School
Economy, which treats of the preparation for, and the
organization of, the school, and the conditions of its
efficient working; Methods of Instruction, which treats
of the nature of knowledge, and the methods of im
parting it; Methods of Culture, which treats of the
nature of man, and the methods of educing from it all
possible perfection ; and the History of Education. To
the matter composing the first three divisions I have
sometimes thought shorter, but, perhaps, not more
expressive, names might be applied, as follows : SCHO
LASTICS, instead of School Economy; DIDACTICS, instead
of Methods of Instruction ; and HUMAMJCS, instead of
Methods of Culture. The first is, perhaps oty-
PREFACE. Vll
because it has already been appropriated, though not
much used ; the second is very expressive, and is now
applied somewhat indefinitely to Teaching in general ',
and the third, in a slightly different form, has associa
tions of long standing, which render it a fit term to
express the object-matter proposed to be embraced by
Methods of Culture. Throughout this work, however,
the forms of expression first chosen will continue to
be used.
The labor expended in the preparation of this book
was very great. It formed a daily subject of thought
for the past ten years, and much of it was written over
three or four times. This is hardly the place to confess
how often the task was about to be abandoned from the
disproportion felt to exist between its magnitude and
the limited powers that could be summoned to execute
it ; but it was as often resumed, and is now completed
— completed, but not perfected, for it is not presumed
that nothing erroneous or imperfect will be found in
the work. It would have been easy to fill five hundred
pages with matter concerning the methods of teaching
the several branches of knowledge considered independ
ently ; but in that case the book would have been a
mere collection of fragments, and not at all a scientific
treatise. It might, indeed, have been more popular,
but ii would have been unfaithful to the great theme
discussed ; so at the risk of losing readers, patient effort
was made to grapple with the subject in its broadest
relations. Great difficulty was met in condensing the
Vlll PREFACE.
materials. It would have been much easier to write
several volumes on the subject than one. The thinking
reader will appro*, iate this labor.
Criticism is anticipated from those who would mea
sure all knowledge by the standard of utility, or confine
it to the few branches which seem to impart most skill
in transacting the world's affairs, but this will be borne
with patience, if what is written shall secure the appro
bation of those who see in education the means of
developing all the powers of the human soul, and fur
nishing it with that instruction which is not only pro
fitable on earth, but which leads up towards the world
of light and love.
Teachers of the most limited scholarship will find
much matter in the book that they can readily make
use of in the every day work of their schools; but some
such teachers will likely complain that they meet with
things which they cannot understand. This, perhaps,
will not be the fault of the book. The doctrine of
education cannot be discussed as a Philosophy without
using philosophical principles and philosophical lan
guage. Works on Law and Medicine rise to the level
of the subjects of which they treat, and lift the earnest
student up with them. Teachers must adopt a higher
standard of learning. They must acquaint themselves
with the fundamental principles of Teaching. They
must learn to think. And, besides, this book was not
written for the babes of the profession, but for the men
— not for those who are satisfied to tramp forever the
PREFACE. iX
tread-mill of roatino and get no farther and rise no
higher, but for those who aspire to gain broader and
clearer views of the Philosophy of Education and to
guide the work of teaching by their light. Teaching,
when rightly done, is not a mere process of imitation or
a piece of guess-work. Its rules and precepts are not
even the generalizations of successful practice, but they
are founded upon the universal and necessary laws
which condition matter and govern mind.
As a preparation for the successful study of this
book, it is necessary to understand the several bran
ches of knowledge of the methods of teaching which
it treats; and also to be versed in the sciences which
directly appertain to mind — the Psychological Sciences.
In the broadest sense it requires the whole of Science
to constitute the basis upon which Teaching must
rest. The solution of the problem of man necessitates
the solution of the problem of nature, for to under
stand him all else must be understood. And yet this
conception is so far above the practice of the profes
sion, so much beyond the reach of many who are called
good teachers that I scarcely venture to present it.
When I think of the low ends we aim at in education,
and the unworthy means and imperfect methods we
use to accomplish them, I tremble to think we are
teaching and know so little. God, forgive us if we
mar thy noblest work. We are ignorant, and would
be humble. Thou alone canst know the difficulties
that surround our task.
X PREFACE.
The plan of this book was formed during the year
1855. To fill out the plan much reading as well as
much thinking has been done; but to tell to-day what
was obtained by the first process and what by the
second is an impossibility. Wishing to do justice to
everybody, no claim that may be fairly made to any
idea in it will be disputed; and it is hoped that some
thing may be left even when all claims are satisfied.
Nothing, however, has been taken from others and
used without digestion. All the facts and principles
found in the book, come whence they may, have been
fused into a common whole. This whole — this collect
ing and uniting of the scattered fragments of thought
concerning education — this system, is what the author
asks credit for, if credit be deemed his due.
The question is a disputed one as to whether Teach
ing is a science or an art. The settlement of this
question depends wholly upon the definitions of sci
ence and art. Teaching seeks an end without itself,
and this is a characteristic of art. It comprehends
many scientific principles which admit systematic ar
rangement, and this is a characteristic of science. It
applies those principles in the form of rules or precepts
in the accomplishment of its ends, and this again ex
hibits its relationship to the arts. All the principles
of Teaching come to it second-hand. They are first
found in the material or mental sciences, and are used
in Teaching to furnish a ground for its methods of pro
cedure. But as a body of truths they are among tho
PREFACE. XI
broadest and noblest that the human mind can contem
plate, and consequently place Teaching side by side,
as the peer of the proudest professions known to men
Teaching has the same claims to be considered a science
as Jurisprudence, Medicine, or practical Ethics; for
all these are constructed in a manner precisely like
Teaching. All of them borrow their principles, and
all of them use these principles in the effort to attain
their respective ends. Perhaps, as Mill following Comte
suggests, " There ought to be a set of intermediate
scientific truths, derived from the higher generalities
of science, and destined to serve as the generalia, or
first principles, of the various arts." Some such gene
ralia relating to Teaching are given in this book under
the head of Conditioning Principles. These and other
principles like them constitute the claim Teaching has
to be called a Science. If the claim is not well founded
with respect to Teaching, it cannot be well founded with
respect to any other profession. I am quite willing te
consider Teaching an art, but it is an art based upon
scientific principles that should always guide its prac
tice. Let teachers forever discard the degrading idea
that the highest and holiest work in which men can
engage on earth, the right education of the human
soul, is a mere mechanical employment that can be
learned by imitation — is a thing so easy that no special
preparation is required to do it. Let them hold to the
truth, though their pearls be trampled on by vulgar
feet, that Teaching lays under contribution all science
and all art in working out the grandest end that
£U PREFACE.
human conception ever realized — the perfection of
the race.
With grateful thanks for the kind reception accorded
to his first volume, the author now hopefully trusts his
second to the same generous hands.
J. P. W.
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, January, 1865.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION.
First Class of Reasons, PAOI
1. The teacher must understand the true object of educa
tion , 26
2. The teacher must understand that upon which he
operates 27
8. The teacher must understand that with which he
operates 28
4. The teacher must understand how to conduct the
operation 28
6. The teacher must know how to manage and govern the
school 30
fcusond Class of Reasons.
1. Special preparation on the part of teachers is necessary
to constitute Teaching a profession 30
2. Special preparation on the part of teachers is necessary
to make Teaching a permanent business 31
3. Efforts for the special preparation of teachers have
been attended with satisfactory results 32
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES.
I Principles inferable from the Nature of Mind 3?
1. The intellectual faculties can receive culture by judi
cious exercise 37
2 (xiii)
XIV CONTENTS.
PAOS
2. The human intellect embraces a number of distinct
faculties each of which requires a different kind of
culture 38
8. Human beings have been created with different tastes
and talents to fit them for performing different
duties or for occupying different spheres in life 39
4. The Perceptive powers are stronger and more active in
youth than the other intellectual faculties and thus
furnish a basis for the superstructure of knowledge 40
6. Commencing with the Perceptive Powers, the various
intellectual faculties increase in relative strength in
the following order: Memory, Recollection, Imagina
tion, Understanding, Reason 41
6. The human mind possesses two sources of knowledge,
the Senses and the Reason, the products of which
differ in kind 44
7. In acquiring knowledge, the mind first distinguishes its
objects in kind, then in quantity, and afterwards in
their relations 45
8. The ratiocinative faculty in elaborating systems of
science, proceeds inductively or deductively, analyti
cally or synthetically 46
9. The acquisitive powers of the mind in getting knowledge
operate according to certain laws of suggestion 48
10. The reproductive powers of the mind by means of laws
of association enable it to recall its knowledge, and
to hold it up in vivid pictures before it 49
11. The productive powers of the mind enable it to make
new discoveries and new inventions 50
12. The human intellect grows only by its own inherent
energies 51
13. The acts of men do not derive their moral quality from
the intellect 51
14. The intellect of man has limits which no extent of educa
tion can enable it to pass 52
II. Principles inferable from the Nature of Knowledge 64
1. Tho several branches of knowledge can be made to fur
nish the intellectual faculties with exercise proper
in kind and quantity 54
2. Educational means can be found adapted to give culture
to every capability of mind 66
CONTENTS. XV
PAG*
8. No God-constituted difference of mental constitution is
left unprovided for in the wealth of means which the
Creator intended to be used for the purposes of
education 67
4. Nature presents to the inquirer, first the concrete and
then the abstract; first things and then words, or
signs for things ; first facts and phenomena and
then laws and principles ; first wholes and then
parts and collections of wholes ; thus indicating to
the teacher the propriety of confining his elemen
tary instruction mainly to lessons on objects whose
properties can be directly perceived, for the purpose
of making the experience of the young as extensive
as possible ... 59
6. Nature opens up her truth in a certain order, and that
order must be followed in investigation and study... 60
6. The Empirical and the Rational Sciences require dif
ferent methods of instruction 62
7 The first form of instruction must be qualitative, next
quantitative, and, then, a comparison of relations... 64
8. As conditioned by the relations of the object-matter
of knowledge, methods of teaching must be induc
tive or deductive, analytical or synthetical 66
9. The object-matter of knowledge as it exists in nature is
so connected and arranged as to facilitate its acqui
sition 68
10. The matter of knowledge as it lies in the memory has
connections and relations which increase its avail
ability 69
11. New discoveries in science and new inventions in the
arts are still possible, and methods of instruction
should prompt the young to make them 70
12. Nature everywhere courts investigation by a system of
attractions which enlist the attention, and induce
increased activity in the powers by which we re
member, reflect, reason, and philosophize, and there
fore methods of teaching should be suggestive 72
13. The study of science does not in itself lead to virtue.... 75
14. What we can know is everywhere bounded by what
must remain unknown 76
XVl CONTENTS.
MM
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
I. The Classification of Knowledge 80
First Class — the Elements of Knowledge 83
Second Class — Language • 85
Third Class — the Formal Sciences 86
Fourth Class — the Empirical Sciences 8G
Fifth Class — the Rational Sciences 80
Sixth Class — the Historical Sciences 87
Seventh Class— the Arts 87
II. The Genesis of Knowledge 88
The Genesis of our knowledge of Language 88
The Genesis of our knowledge of the Formal Sciences 90
The Genesis of our knowledge of the Empirical Sciences... 93
The Genesis of our knowledge of the Rational Sciences 96
The Genesis of our knowledge of the Historical Sciences... 98
The Genesis of our knowledge of the Arts , 99
Educational generalizations 103
III. The Order of Study 109
Firs*. Period — Infancy 110
Second Period— Childhood 113
Third Period— Youth 117
Fourth Period — Manhood 120
CHAPTER I.
INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
I, Informal Instruction in the Elements of Knowledge 124
1. Children should be allowed ample opportunities for ex
ercising their Senses 124
2. Children should be instructed in learning to talk 127
3. Children should have their appetite for knowledge grati
fied 130
4. Children should be furnished occasions for applying
their powers of knowing what is true, beautiful, and
good 135
6. Children should be allowed facilities for practice in the
elements of the Arts 138
CONTENTS. XV11
I-AQB
O. Formal Instruction in the Elements of Knowledge HO
1. The Design of Object Lessons 141
2. The Matter of Object Lessons 144
3. The Preparation for imparting Object Lessons 150
4. The Method of conducting Object Lessons 154
6, The Dangers to which the Object Lesson System is
exposed 156
CHAPTER II.
INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
I. Instruction in our Mother-Tongue 161
Advantages to be derived from the Study of the Eng
lish Language 165
I. LEARNING TO READ OUR MOTHER-TONGUE 165
THE ALPHABET 165
1. The A B C Method. 168
The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with a Book.... 168
The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with Cards 169
The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with a Slate or
Blackboard 179
The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with Letter-
Blocks 173
2. The Word Method 175
Lessons upon the Names of Pictures 175
Lessons upon the Names of Words 176
Lessons upon the Names of Letters 176
PRONUNCIATION 179
1. The Synthetic Method. 179
The Alphabetic Method 180
The Phonic Method 182
The Phonetic Method 187
2. The Associative Method 188
3. The Eclectic Method., 191
ORTHOGRAPHY 195
1. The Auricular Mtthod. 196
2. The Ocular Method 197
2*
xviii CONTENTS.
PAOS
Exercises in Spelling.
Spelling Exercises for Beginners 200
Oral Exercises in Spelling 201
Method of using Slates in a Spelling Recitation.. 202
Method of using the Blackboard in a Spelling Recita
tion 204
False Orthography as an Exercise in Spelling 205
Dictation Exercises 205
READING 208
1. Method of leaching Reading as a Vocal Art 208
Quantity, including Force, Emphasis, Slur, Stress, and
Accent 210
Compass, including Pitch and Inflection 214
Movement, including Rate and Pause 216
Quality 218
2. Method of teaching Reading as a Mental Operation .... 220
Reading as related to the Intellect 220
Reading as related to the Emotions 224
3. Method of teaching Delivery 227
Expression 227
Posture 231
Gesture 232
II. LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND OUR MOTHER-TONGUE 234
LEXICOLOGY 235
1. The meaning of words may be learned by direct in
tuition 236
2. The meaning of words may be learned by concrete ex
planations 237
3. The meaning of words may be learned by the use of
simplified expressions 238
4. The meaning of words may be learned by observing
their signification as used in sentences 239
6. The meaning of words may be learned by the study of
foreign languages 241
6. The meaning of words may be learned by an acquaint
ance with Etymology 241
7. The meaning of words may be learned by scientific defi
nitions 244
GRAMMAR 245
1. Etymological Exercises 247
Nouns 248
CONTENTS. XIX
PAOH
Kinds of Nouns 248
Properties of Nouns 249
Verbs 249
Kinds of Verbs 250
Properties of Verbs 251
Exercises on the other Parts of Speech 252
2. Grammar as a Science 252
The Subject 253
The Predicate 254
Kinds of Subjects 255
Kinds of Predicates 255
Adjective Elements 256
Adverbial Elements 257
General Principles relating to teaching Grammar 258
RHETORIC 259
1. Kinds of Discourse 260
2. Qualities which characterize well constructed Dis
course 2G1
3. Arrangement and Style of Discourse 262
PHILOLOGY 265
The Nature of Philology 265
III. LEARNING TO COMPOSE IN OUR MOTHER-TONGUE 266
1. Elementary Composition 267
Classes of Exercises 268
2. Higher Composition 270
Composition in connection with Grammar and Rhetoric. 271
Directions for conducting Special Exercises in Compo
sition , 272
II. Instruction in the Dead Languages 275
1. Uses of the Study of Latin and Greek 277
The study of Latin and Greek assists in the study of
our own language 277
The study of Latin and Greek assists in understand
ing the character of the people who spoke them 277
The study of Latin and Greek assists in obtaining a
knowledge of the history of the Romaic and
Greeks 278
The study of Latin and GreeK furnishes very gpod in
tellectual discipline 278
XA CONTENTS.
PASl
The study of Latin and Greek furbishes fine aesthetic
culture 279
2. Methods of teaching Latin and Greek 280
The Method that commences by teaching Pupils to
speak Latin and Greek 282
The Method that commences by teaching Pupils to
read Latin and Greek 283
The Method that commences by teaching the Latin
and Greek Grammar 285
3. General directions for conducting a recitation in the reading
of a classical author 287
III. Instruction in Living Foreign Languages 289
CHAPTER III.
INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
I. The Formal Sciences in General 295
1. Definitions and Axioms 296
2. Deductions and Demonstrations 299
3. Applications 302
II. Mathematics 303
1. The Value of Mathematical Studies in themselves 304
2. The Value of Mathematical Studies in their objective
Relations 305
3. The Value of Mathematical Studies in their Effects upon
the Mind 306
ARITHMETIC 312
The Ends for which Arithmetic is studied 313
The Conditions necessary to the Attainment of these
Ends 314
1. Exercises in counting 315
2. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing orally 316
3. Exercises in combining these Processes 316
4. Exercises in learning the written Symbols for Num
bers 316
6. Exercises in Numeration and Notation.... . 316
CONTENTS.
rioi
6. Exercises in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,
and Division 819
7. Exercises in the Solution of practical Examples in
volving the four Fundamental Rules 321
8. Exercises in imparting the Idea of a Fraction 321
9. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing Fractions orally 322
10. Exercises in teaching Fractional Expressions 323
11. Exercises in the Addition, Subtraction, Multiplica
tion, and Division of Fractions, and their Ap
plications 323
12. Exercises in Decimal Fractions 323
13. Exercises in Compound Numbers 324
14. Exercises in Proportion, and Involution and Evolu
tion 325
16. Exercises in Arithmetical Applications 325
ALGEBRA 326
Algebraic Symbols ... 328
The Algebraic Idea 328
Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and dividing Alge
braic Quantities 329
Algebraic Equations 329
GEOMETRY 331
Geometry for young Children 332
Geometrical Demonstrations 334
HI, Logic 336
1. The Utility of Logic as a Study 336
Logic is a useful study in itself 337
Logic is a useful study on account of its objective re
lations 837
Logic is a useful study because it disciplines the Un
derstanding 837
2. Methods of Teaching Logic 338
Its definitions 338
Its Deductions and Demonstrations 339
Its Applications 340
ndi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IT.
INSTRUCTION IN THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
PAOl
The Uses of the Empirical Sciences 343
I The Empirical Sciences in General 346
1. The Order in which the Empirical Sciences must be taught.... 346
The Exhibition of Objects 346
The Pointing out of particular Facts 350
The Classification of Facts 353
The Derivation of Laws controlling Facts 354
The Bringing of new Facts under ascertained Laws... 357
The Recognition of universal and necessary Principles
on which all Empirical Laws depend 358
2. The Stages of Growth exhibited by the Empirical Sciences.... 360
The Poetic Stnge 360
The Mystic Stage 361
The Observational Stage 362
The Classificatory Stage 362
The Inductive Stage 363
The Demonstrative Stage 363
The Philosophic Stage 365
The ^Esthetic Stage 365
The Religious Stage 360
II. Geography 367
1. Lessons on Objects relating to Geography which Pupils
can observe for themselves 370
2. Lessons on similar Objects which can be found only in
Localities distant from the School 372
3. Lessons on the Topography of the Neighborhood about
the School 373
4. Lessons on the Explanations of common Geographical
Terms 376
6. Lessons on Detailed Geography 379
6. Lessons on the Classification of Geographical Facts 385
7. Lessons on the general Laws which govern Geographical
Facts... .. 887
CONTENTS. XX111
CHAPTER V.
INSTRUCTION IN THE RATIONAL SCIENCES.
PAOl
I. The Nature of the Rational Sciences 389
(I. The Value of the Rational Sciences as Studies .... 394
1. The Value of the Rational Sciences in Themselves 394
2. The Value of the Rational Sciences in their Relations
to other Sciences 396
3. The Value of Rational Sciences as Means of Discipline. 397
4. The Value of the Rational Sciences in preparing the
Mind to accept Revealed Truth 398
III. The Object-Matter of the Rational Sciences 399
1. Primary Ideas 400
2. The Criteria 403
8. Axiomatic Truths 404
4. Deductions and Demonstrations 404
5. Applications 405
IV. The Methods of Teaching the Rational Sciences 406
CHAPTER YI.
INSTRUCTION IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
I. The Facts of History 414
1. The Nature of the Facts of History 416
2. The peculiar Difficulties which are encountered in the
Study of the Facts of History 416
3. A Course of Study in the Facts of History 418
4. General Suggestions in Regard to teaching the Facts of
History 421
II. The Philosophy of History 426
i. The Materialistic Theory 428
2 The Spiritualistic Theory 434
3. The Theistit Theory 442
Method in teaching the Philosophy of History ,.. 447
JEXIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
WJOH
L Writing 461
1. Lessons designed to leach the Conception of the Forma of the
Letters 452
2. Lessons designed to give Culture to the Muscles used in
Writing 455
General Suggestions in Regard to teaching Writing.... 456
II. Drawing 459
1. The Abstract Method 460
Classes of Exercises 461
2. The Concrete Method 463
Classes of Exercises 464
8. Shading, Shadow, and Perspective 466
III. Vocal Music 468
Advantages of a knowledge of Vocal Music 468
1. The Training of the Vocal Organs 471
2. The Culture of the Musical Taste 477
3. Musical Execution 479
IV The Arts in General 480
The Nature of the Arts 480
1. Instruction in the Empirical Arts 483
Their End 483
Their Means 486
Their Modes of Execution 488
2. Instruction in the Rational Arts 480
Their End 400
Their Means . 491
Their Modes of Execution 4f£
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION.
EDUCATION as a science comprehends the laws of
the physical and mental constitution of man, and
ita relations to those means by which he can receive
instruction and culture.
Education as an art consists in selecting and
applying the means used for imparting instruction
and culture.
Like other sciences, education can be studied;
and, as in other arts, acquired skill as well as native
talent is essential to success. To attain a knowledge
of the science and proficiency in the art of educa
tion, it seems evident at a glance that special prepa
ration is necessary ; but as this position has been
questioned, it is considered advisable to introduce
the following work by some considerations in its
favor.
Until within a few years, the common schools of
this country were taught almost exclusively by
persons who had never studied professionally, who,
indeed, were generally ignorant that any preparation
could be made or was needed to enable them to dis-
ft (25)
26 INTRODUCTION.
'charge; -their duty in the work of teaching. Acade
mies and colleges were not much better off in this
O
respect; for, though those who taught in them
possessed a higher degree of scholarship than the
teachers of common schools, they could justly claim
little more professional knowledge. The public
seem to have been satisfied with this kind of guess
work teaching. Instructors of youth were allowed
to enter upon their business without having served
even that period of apprenticeship deemed necessary
for those who make hats or coats, build houses, or
shoe horses. They were everywhere employed with
little regard to their literary, and less to their pro
fessional, qualifications. These strictures are not so
applicable to the present condition of our educational
affairs as to their condition a few years ago ; but
notwithstanding schools for the trail :it»i> of teachers
exist in most of the Free States, and other means
of obtaining knowledge appertaining to teaching
are readily accessible, the great body of American
schools are still taught by persons who have neither
attended Normal Schools nor availed themselves of
any other means of professional improvement.
That special preparation is necessary for teachers
will appear from the considerations which follow:
1. THE TEACHER MUST UNDERSTAND THE TRUE OBJECT
OF EDUCATION. — The lowest idea of the object of an
education embraces only its advantages in acquiring
that knowledge which may be used in obtaining
food, clothing, shelter, protection, or in carrying on
dome kind of business. An idea of the object of
education to this extent may be obtained, perhaps,
TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 27
without any special preparation, it may result from
the pressure of circumstances ; but education has an
object far higher — an object that is not limited by
the mere necessities of life. The great end of edu
cation is to perfect man, physically, mentally,
morally, religiously. To do this truth must be
sought and loved for its own sake, discipline must
be valued for the permanent strength it imparts to
the soul, longings for the high and the holy must be
made to spring up in the heart, and all his powers
must be so directed as to attain true manhood for
man. To realize all this even in thought is diffi
cult, to realize it in life is the great problem which
it is our mission on earth to solve. ' Ho teacher can
work effectively without a well-defined object, and no
teacher can fully conceive the highest object of edu
cation without long and careful thought. To do so,
he must study with profound attention the natu e
of man physically and mentally, and his relations to
the world in which he lives, to his fellow-men, and
to God.
2. THE TEACHER MUST UNDERSTAND THAT UPON
WHICH HE OPERATES. —No man can operate skilfully
upon a thing the nature of which he does not under
stand. The farmer must understand the nature of
the soil he cultivates; the blacksmith, the iron he
fashions ; the potter, the clay he moulds, before either
can produce the most advantageous results. The
human mind is certainly not less easy to compre
hend than are soils, iron, or clay, that the teacher
<;an be safely relieved from the special professional
laoor and study required of farmers, blacksmiths,
28 INTRODUCTION.
and potters. True, like them, he may work like a
machine, or work ;/y imitating others, but such blind
methods of procedure, unworthy of a man in any
avocation of life, become almost criminal when
applied to the education of human beings whose
success in this world and happiness in the world
to come he may jeopardize.
3. THE TEACHER MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WITH
WHICH HE OPERATES. — The subject-matter of know
ledge comprehends the world of matter and the
world of mind. The teacher has all created things
from which to select means to be used in the work
of education. No man can make a judicious selec
tion of these means, and be prepared to present
them in their proper order and proportion without
long and careful study. The physician spends
much time and thought in selecting and compound
ing his medicines for the body ; it is riot more easy
to prepare those which are designed to be adminis
tered to the mind. Indeed, the selection of the best
course of study for a child is a problem as difficult
as any with which the human mind ever tried to
grapple.
4. THE TEACHER MUST UNDERSTAND HOW TO CON
DUCT THE OPERATION. — A man may understand the
nature of the thing upon which he intends to ope
rate, he may understand the means with which the
operation is to be performed, and still want a know
ledge of the method of performing the operation.
It is the teacher's duty to train and instruct children,
and he can have no intelligent method of doing this
TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 29
without making special preparation. He can no
more dispense with a knowledge of the method of
operating than can the man who navigates a ship or
builds a railroad. If methods of teaching were
merely mechanical, founded upon no fixed princi
ples (and this is not the case), they could not be suc
cessfully imitated without special preparation; for
such is the law with this whole class of operations.
Besides, facts show that the possession of knowledge
does not imply ability to impart it. It is self-evi
dent that one person cannot impart to another what
he does not know himself, but it is maintained here
that good scholars do not always succeed in becom
ing good teachers. Persons who have been well
taught must have learned something concerning the
methods by which they were taught, but they can
not intelligently follow these methods in their own
practice unless they have carefully studied all their
details, and the principles upon which they are
founded. Like passengers on board of a rail-car or
steamship, pupils may make swift speed toward
their journey's end without noticing the way along
which they travel. Methods of teaching cannot be
well studied incidentally; they have a philosophy
of their own, and should be made a definite object
of study. Skill in teaching, it is true, may be
acquired by school-room experience without special
instruction beforehand; but this is always done at
much risk to the teacher, and with much loss to the
pupils. ~No man has more need to profit by the
experience of others than the teacher, for no man's
mistakes are less easily remedied. Teaching talent
may seem in some inborn, but this is true also io
3*
30 INTRODUCTION.
respect to particular individuals in all professions,
and cannot be fairly adduced as an argument against
special preparation for those not so highly favored
by nature.
5, THE TEACHER MUST KNOW now TO MANAGE AND
GOVERN A SCHOOL. — Discipline gives power. One
hundred well-drilled soldiers are worth more on a
battle-field than several hundred raw recruits. The
captain of a vessel, the superintendent of a factory,
the commander of an army, must acquire professional
skill by discipline ; knowledge of the principles of
school-management and school-government, and
skill in applying them, must be acquired in the same
way. Progress can be hoped for in teaching only
as teachers make use of the experience of their
predecessors as a starting-post for their own inves
tigations. Where wise and good men tell us how
to avoid falling into errors, it is great folly to shut
our ears to their advice. Nor can natural aptitude
for managing and governing a school be relied upon,
any more than natural aptitude for practicing medi
cine or law can be relied upon in those professions.
Some additional reasons will be given in favor of
special preparation for teachers. They belong to a
different class from the preceding, but are scarcely
less convincing:
1. SPECIAL PREPARATION ON THE PART OF TEACHERS
IS NECESSARY TO CONSTITUTE TEACHING A PROFESSION. —
If scholarship is the only requisite for the teacher,
then all scholars are teachers, or may properly
become such whenever the prospects of miccess iv
TEACHERS REQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION, 8l
more desirable fields of effort become discouraging.
Teaching would thus be a kind of common ground
open to all, and admitting the limitation of no pro
fessional lines. As ?, consequence, teachers would
attach little importance to, and have little interest
in, their work; there would be little unity of effort
among them, and a general want of that class feel
ing, or esprit du corps, which is always essential to
the building up of any profession, and without
which teaching can neither attain the rank among
the professions hoped for by teachers, nor meet in
the value of its results the reasonable expectations
of the public.
2. SPECIAL PREPARATION ON THE PART OF TEACHERS
IS NECESSARY TO MAKE TEACHING A PERMANENT BUSI
NESS. — At present no other kind of business is sub
ject to so many changes as teaching. It is certain
that of those who have charge of our Common
Schools one year, not more than two-thirds, in
some places not more than one-half, remain to take
charge of them the succeeding year. Such fre
quent changes do not take place in any other pur
suit, and they are partly, at least, accounted for in
the teachers' profession by the opinion which is
held by many that "anybody" can teach. The
consequence of this opinion is that thousands are
etill found occupying the position of teacher who
never intend to become permanent teachers, but
who teach merely to replenish their exhausted
funds, to enjoy opportunities for self-improvement,
to put in time while waiting to engage in some
other kind of business, and are restless under the
82 INTRODUCTION.
irksome necessity that confines them to the school
room. A well-taught school by any of these classes
of persons must be an exception to the rule. They
have made no special preparation to become
teachers* and they do not intend that either their
livelihood or their reputation shall depend upon
their success as such ; and actuated by none of the
usual motives that prompt to earnest effort, they
cannot be expected to evince much interest or
exhibit great skill in teaching. In proportion as
men expend time, labor, and money in fitting them
selves for a particular kind of business will be their
indisposition to abandon it, and never until the
public recognize the truth that teachers require
special preparation, will communities be freed from
the evils consequent upon the frequent change of
teachers, and the profession of teaching relieved of
the horde of intruders who now disgrace it and
reduce to a very low amount the remuneration i*
affords.
3. EFFORTS FOR THE SPECIAL PREPARATION OF
TEACHERS HAVE BEEN ATTENDED WITH SATISFACTORY
RESULTS. — Prussia has tried the experiment of train
ing teachers upon a large scale, and both government
and people think it has been successful. Austria,
France, and England have their schools for teachers,
and find them essential to the well-working of their
systems of education. Such men as Dinter, Cousin
and Brougham have advocated the establishment
of Normal Schools. These schools have also been
established in many of our American States; and
though they have encountered much opposition,
TEACHEES EEQUIRE SPECIAL PREPARATION. 33
they have everywhere met with signal success. The
public have seen teachers who have made special
preparation at Normal Schools work by the side of
those who have not made such preparation ; with
the shrewdness characteristic of our people a com
parison of their respective merits has been made,
and the conclusion is best expressed in the liberal
patronage which such schools receive and the hun
dreds of thousands of dollars which are annually
expended for their support.
The reasons just stated are sufficient to show that
teachers require special preparation, and their state
ment seems appropriately to introduce a work on
Teaching which aims to aid in that preparation. If
any teacher, or any one who designs to become a
teacher feels the want of the preparation which it
has been shown teachers need, he is invited to study
the subject as presented in the following pages;
and it is hoped he will not only find that which will
increase his ability to discharge the duties incum
bent upon the teacher, but that which wil) elevate
his idea of the importance and dignity of the
teachers' profession.
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES.
Human perfection is the grand aim of all well
directed education. The teacher has ever present
with him his ideal man whose perfections he would
realize in the children committed to his care, as the
sculptor would realize the pure forms of his imagina
tion in the rough marhle that lies unchiseled "before
him. Embraced in this great end of education there
are several subordinate ends, that of gaining know
ledge, that of attaining discipline, that of lifting up
the mind to the contemplation of pure beauty, truth,
and excellence, and that of fitting ourselves to per
form in the best manner possible all our duties to
man and to God.
Granted, that this is a true conception of the end
of all education, and the object-matter which must
form the foundation for a system of teaching, will
comprehend : 1st. The nature of the thing to be
operated upon, or educational capabilities; 2d. The
nature of the instrumentalities which may be used
in operating upon it, or educational means ; 3d. The
manner of performing the operation, or educational
method's. A system of agriculture is likewise divis
ible into three parts; that which treats of the soil,
that which treats of the means of fertilizing or work
ing it, and that which treats of the methods of
applying the means to the desired end. A system
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 35
of Medicine, too, consists essentially of the sciences
of Anatomy and Physiology, Pharmacy, and the
Practice of Medicine.
In a system of teaching, the thing to be operated
upon is man; the means wherewith to operate are
found in everything that can be made to bear an ob
jective relation to man ; and the methods according
to which the operation must be performed can have a
basis nowhere but in the relations the mind and body
sustain to each other and to the great universe.
The whole subject admits treatment from two
stand-points : 1st. The nature of man and the methods
of educating him according to the laws of that nature;
2d. The nature of the several branches of knowledge
and the methods of teaching them according to the laws
of that nature.
Proceeding from the first of these stand-points,
we commence with the study of man, learn his
educational necessities and capabilities, and conclude
with an exposition of the methods by which he can
best be educated. Proceeding from the second
stand-point, we commence by an examination of the
means which may be made use of in the work of
education, the several branches of knowledge ; in
quire into their relations and conditions, and close
the investigation by presenting the methods by
which knowledge can be best imparted. The whole
subject of teaching may therefore be divided into
two great parts, appropriately called METHODS OF
CULTURE and METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. If the two
classes of methods thus arrived at are found to har
monize, no further verification of their truthfulness
is needed.
86 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
The subject of Methods of Culture may be treated
of hereafter, but, in the present volume, it is my
intention to consider only Methods of Instruction.
Care will be taken, however, to verify conclusions
in all open ways before announcing them.
The methods adopted in the work of teaching
may be right or they may be wrong. Just so the hor
ticulturist can stimulate his plants to a more active
growth or he may destroy them, the lawyer may
gain or lose his cause, the physician may cure or
kill his patient ; and even the mechanic may operate
upon his wood, or clay, or iron by skilful or unskil
ful processes. Immortal minds are committed to
the teacher's charge. If he adopt right methods of
teaching he can make those minds bear an image
worthy of their heavenly origin and destiny and of
Him who created them ; but if he pursue wrong
methods they may be marred and debased until
they become the most lamentable of all spectacles,
wrecked and ruined human souls.
Starting with the obvious fact that there may be
right and wrong methods of teaching, I proceed to
take the first step in the search for those that are
right by stating some of the principles which all
such methods must observe, and which have been
denominated CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES.
Methods of intellectual education must be condi
tioned on the one hand by the nature of mind, and
on the other by the nature of knowledge ; the sub
ject, therefore, will be considered in two sections.
The first will embrace a statement of principles that
belong rather to Methods of Culture, but whose
guiding light cannot well be dispensed with in the
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 37
department of education now under consideration.
Upon an examination of these principles, it will be
seen that the two sources from which they are
drawn yield the same fruit — one set of principles
corresponding with the other — and a basis for the
science of teaching is found either in mind or in
nature, is both Psychological and Cosmological. In
order that the student may better appreciate the
beautiful correlation existing between the two sets
of principles, the corresponding propositions will be
numbered alike.
This classification of principles, it ought to be
remarked, is intended to embrace only the most
important of those which appertain to intellectual
education — it is not exhaustive.
I. Principles Inferable from the Nature of
Mind.
The nature of a thing acted upon always gov
erns in some measure the methods of acting upon
it. If soils were differently constituted, farmers
would be under the necessity of changing their
modes of cultivation ; if the diseased human body
was unlike it now is, a corresponding modification
would be necessary in systems of medical practice.
The same process that will put in motion particles
of air or water will not separate those of quartz or
granite. TVrood and iron cannot be worked in the
same manner nor with the same tools. {lenca
educational principles are inferable from the uature
of mind, and among them are those which follow : —
1. THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES CAN RECEIVE
4
•S8 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
TURE ONLY BY JUDICIOUS EXERCISE. — No means are'
known whereby the faculties of the mind can be
developed but by exercising them. By the potent
spell of the magic word Exercise, is evoked all
human power.
The proof of this proposition is found in multi
tudes of facts. The senses grow more acute by
using them. The memory is improved by remem
bering, the reason by reasoning, the imagination by
imagining. All these powers, too, become weak
if not used. These facts may be learned from each
person's own experience, or from observation upon
others. The law inferred from them is fixed and
universal.
Exercise, however, in order to strengthen must
be judicious. Too much or improper exercise will
weaken the mind's powers instead of giving them
strength.
2. THE HUMAN INTELLECT EMBRACES A NUMBER OF
DISTINCT FACULTIES EACH OF WHICH REQUIRES A DIF
FERENT KIND OF CULTURE. — It is acknowledged that
the body may be made strong without giving
strength to the mind, that our intellectual, emotional,
and executive faculties can, as classes, receive an
independent culture. This law holds good of the
distinctive faculties that make up the human intel
lect. It requires one mode of culture to educate
the senses and the perceptive powers, another to
strengthen the memory, and still others to develop
the powers of recollection, imagination, comparison,
and reason. Each intellectual power differs from
the others in its nature, in its mode of operation,
TONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 39
and modes of culture must adapt themselves to these
differences. He would be like a blind man leading
a blind man who should attempt to teach, ignorant
of this great law.
3. HUMAN BEINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED WITH DIF
FERENT TASTES AND TALENTS TO FIT THEM FOR PERFORM
ING DIFFERENT DUTIES OR FOR OCCUPYING DIFFERENT
SPHERES IN LIFE. — That children differ in tastes and
talents every parent and every teacher is agreed.
The Bible intimates the same fact. The reason pro
bably is that, as in nature's system each necessary
office was designed to be filled by a qualified officer,
men differ because their social duties or their spheres
in life are different. But, whatever the reason, the fact
is certain, and is of great significance to the educa
tor. It teaches him that he must plan his system
of Teaching with reference to the peculiar tastes
and talents of children.
Doubtless, certain kinds of general knowledge and
certain kinds of mental discipline maybe considered
indispensable for all ; but, in addition, every true
teacher should consider it a privilege to furnish
each one of his pupils an opportunity for the de
velopment of his special powers. The aim of edu
cation is not to make all men move in the same
plane — to create a social dead-level. Protestations
have been made against the prescribed, unvaried
course of instruction in institutions of learning, and
not always without reason. Such men a's Lord
B}Tron, Hugh Miller, and Dr. Kane were restless
while made to pursue those branches of study in
which they felt little interest, and indulged by
40 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
stealth those special talents which God had given
them. Educate together from their youth up such
men as Plato and Aristotle, Kant and Goethe, New
ton and Burns, La Place and Lamartine, Benjamin
Franklin and Patrick Henry, and they might be
made more alike, but would the world profit so
much by their genius ? A wise system of education
aims to render available all the mental force of the
world. The mechanic may contrive and the mer
chant make his ventures, the farmer watch his
harvests and the statesman promulgate his laws, the
naturalist search and the philosopher speculate, the
poet kindle the fires of genius upon their intended
altars, and the prophet pluck down manna from
Heaven to feed soul-hungry mortals — the world
needs them all, and teachers must not attempt to
thwart what God seems to have designed. But in
all this it must be remembered that special talent
may result from education as well as be the gift of
nature. No fact is more open to the notice of an
observer of the phenomena of mind than that mental
force may be directed artificially to certain faculties
which grow strong by use, while others are dwarfed
for want of exercise.
4. THE PERCEPTIVE POWERS ARE STRONGER AND
MORE ACTIVE IN YOUTH THAN THE OTHER INTELLEC
TUAL FACULTIES AND THUS FURNISH A BASIS FOR Till:
SUPERSTRUCTURE OF KNOWLEDGE. — A child is merely
an animal until there is awakened in him the power
of self-consciousness. After this I can find no time-
when all his faculties are not active in some degree ;
but his perceptive powers are the strongest and most
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 41
active during the whole period of childhood and
youth. Any one who will observe children can
scarcely doubt this fact. They like to see and hear
things. What is new or strange attracts them.
How rapidly they learn the form, color, size, and
other qualities of things ! What an immense num
ber of facts they acquaint themselves with as they
play in garden or yard, walk through field or
meadow, or pass along street or highway !
We do not, as some have taught we do, derive all
our knowledge from experience; but no psycholo
gical truth is more obvious than that we cannot
know anything without experience. For the attain
ment of certain necessary, regulative truths, expe
rience may furnish only the occasion; but its neces
sity to the knowing process is not less real when it
stands directly as the source of our knowing than
when it stands indirectly as the occasion of it — when
it determines the limits of our knowledge than when
our knowledge transcends its limits. Experience
therefore may be said to form the basis of know
ledge.
Convincing reasons may be found in what has
now been said, in favor of enlarging experience as
much as possible by taking advantage in the work
of education of the strong and active perceptive
powers of the 3roung. Let teachers make them ac
quainted with things, facts, phenomena, that they
may have a broad basis upon which to erect the
superstructure of knowledge.
o. COMMENCING WITH THE PERCEPTIVE POWERS,
THE VARIOUS INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES INCREASE IN
4*
42 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION".
RELATIVE STRENGTH IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER:
MEMORY, RECOLLECTION, IMAGINATION, UNDER
STANDING, REASON. — It must not be understood that
the first named of these faculties attains maturity
while the others remain in a state of inactivity.
Probably, a child in the simple act of refusing to put
its hand against a hot stove to-day because yester
day it was burned in doing it, makes use of all the
faculties it ever will possess. Still these faculties
are relatively stronger at some periods of life than
at others, and this fact cannot be overlooked in
teaching.
As used here, Memory is the power of retaining
knowledge ; Recollection is the power by which we
awaken what lies dormant in the mind ; Imagina
tion is the power the mind has of holding up vividly
before itself the thoughts which it has recalled into
consciousness ; Understanding is the power by which
we judge of relations; and Reason is the power that
gives birth to those necessary and universal princi
ples which control all thinking. It is proper to
remark that this classification is essentially Hamil
ton's, and the definitions are, in part, his.
It is evident that knowledge must be retained
before it can be recalled, that it must be recalled
before it can be held up for contemplation, that it
m\ist be held up before the mind before its relations
can be judged of, and that the whole thinking pro
cess must go on before it can be controlled or regu
lated. Logically, therefore, the activities of the
several faculties do follow an order of succession,
but practically the whole goes on simultaneously
CONDITIONING PEINCIPLES. 43
Still, as before stated, these activities differ relatively
in degree during the different periods of life.
Next to the Perceptive powers the Memory is the
most vigorous intellectual faculty possessed by the
young. It is the granary of the mind. Let it be
well filled while it can be, as from its stores all the
other faculties must take their materials.
A little later the faculties of Recollection and
Imagination are developed in full strength. Both
are engaged in lifting up the elements of knowledge
from the depths of the Memory and placing them
in vivid pictures before the mind. The forms of
the Imagination are, however, at first rude and
fanciful, being yet unchastened by the higher powers
of Judgment and Reason.
The Understanding is the working power of the
mind. It studies the relations of wholes to parts,
parts to wholes, and things to one another. It
classifies, generalizes, reasons. This power, al
though manifesting itself in a little child, does not
att&iu maturity until the age of manhood.
The Reason rules the mind. As soon as a child
is conscious of the identity or difference of two
objects, he must use his Reason; nor can he take a
single step in any intellectual process without its
aid. But, while this is true, Reason can never assume
full sway until all the other intellectual faculties
perform their work. A commanding general can
not wield the whole power of his army unless every
subordinate officer and every private does his duty.
JSTone but a man intellectually full-grown can make
a light use of his Reason, and the most difficult of
all Philosophies is the Philosophy of Reason itself.
44 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION".
6. THE HUMAN MIND POSSESSES TWO SOURCES OF
KNOWLEDGE, THE SENSES AND THE REASON, THE PRO
DUCTS OF WHICH DIFFER IN KIND. — That we derive
knowledge through the senses, no one doubts. It
consists, in the first place of facts, which, however,
may be elaborated into systems of science. Know
ledge thus derived may be called empirical know
ledge, because its source is experience.
That we possess knowledge which we do not
derive through the senses must be evident to all
who will consider the matter. Our idea of space,
for example, is not merely the sum of all the spaces
embraced in our experience, but it transcends all
possible experience. So of the idea of time. We
can acquaint ourselves with things that are very
great in extent — the earth, the distances of the
heavenly bodies, the profound abysses penetrated
by the telescope, but still we know that all these
are limited, finite, and we cannot help believing that
there is something more, the unlimited, the infinite.
~No experience can show us that two straight lines
cannot enclose a space, or that two parallel lines
will never meet, and yet we know that such is the
case. We may, indeed, have no adequate concep
tion of the absolute or the infinite, of a creation,
of God, or of immortality; but certainly we have
ground for thinking that there is something un
caused, something unlimited, that the universe had
a beginning, that God is, and the human spirit is
immortal. In every direction the intuitions of the
Reason overleap the boundaries of experience, and
furnish, at least, a ground for enlightened faith,
As the Reason is the source of the kind of know-
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 46
ledge now referred to, it may be called rational
knowledge.
Empirical knowledge includes all that concerns
the qualities and quantities of things, the relations
of substances and attributes, and causes and effects,
and systems of inductive science. Rational know
ledge includes the universal and necessary princi
ples which condition the whole of the mind's opera
tions, which form the foundation of all Philosophy,
properly so called, and upon which must rest all
firm faith in "things unseen."
The value of what has just been said will be
appreciated by the many thinking teachers who
lament the materialistic tendencies of some of our
modern systems of education. All the knowledge
that can be gained through the senses may be, but
why should we close up that other fountain of the
soul from which comes knowledge richer and
purer? It will do us good to remember that "Man
cannot live by bread alone."
7. IN ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE THE MIND FIRST DIS
TINGUISHES ITS OBJECTS IN KIND, THEN IN QUANTITY,
AND AFTERWARDS IN THEIR RELATIONS. — Perhaps the
distinguishing of an object in kind involves some
what of the processes of distinguishing it in quan
tity, and in its relations ; but the arrangement as
expressed is as correct as any serial arrangement
of mental phenomena can be, and will be found to
have much practical value in the work of education.
A child first noticing objects, retains only that
general impression of them which enables him to
reccgnize them among other objects. Long after-
4:6 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION".
wards, it may be, he attends to them more closely,
makes accurate measurements of the qualities he
observes, or determines their quantities. Still later
he learns to inquire into causes, to look for ends, to
estimate' uses.
Our investigations concerning what is new to us
follow the same order. Take a crystal : we first dis
tinguish it from other things; then count its faces,
measure its angles, test its structure ; and afterwards
search for the causes which may have been opera
tive in its formation. Take heat : we bring it under
observation as a distinct object; we invent thermom
eters to measure it, and then busy ourselves in find
ing a theory that will account for its facts.
The genesis of science is in accordance with the
same principle. Astronomy, in its beginnings, con
sisted of the loose observations ignorant men could
O
make with the unaided vision. In course of time
observations became more numerous and more
exact until measurements were attempted; and
finally the speculations of Copernicus and Galileo,
and the great discoveries of Kepler and Newton
made the study of the stars, a science. Some facts,
belonging to the science of chemistry, must have
been possessed by the most ignorant savages ; these
greatly multiplied would naturally attract the atten
tion of men in more highly civilized communities,
who would set about determining their nature, their
quantity ; and, by-and-by, laws would be discovered
and a science begin to emerge from the confused
mass of materials. The other sciences have grown
up in the same way.
8. THE RATIOCINATIVE FACULTY IN ELABOKATING
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 47
SYSTEMS OP SCIENCE PROCEEDS INDUCTIVELY OR DEDUC
TIVELY, ANALYTICALLY OR SYNTHETICALLY. 1 US6 the
expression ratiocinative faculty to designate a specific
application of the faculty of the Understanding.
Starting out with the products of the Senses and
the Reason, two modes of dealing with them are
possible. We can commence with particular phe
nomena, and proceed to find the general laws which
comprehend them. This is Induction. It is a
process of involution.
We can commence with general or universal
truths, and proceed to find the particular truths
which are embodied in them. This is Deduction
It is a process of evolution.
All reasoning must be either inductive or deduc
tive. "We can take wholes and unfold their parts,
or we can take parts and unite them into wholes,
but all thinking in judgments must assume one or
the other of these forms. Logicians use but two
kinds of syllogism, the inductive and the deductive.
Analysis and synthesis are the servants of induc
tion and deduction. Analysis is the separation of a
whole into the elements which compose it. Syn
thesis is the composition of a whole from the parts
which belong to it. An observer noticing a phe
nomenon which he wishes to understand, simplifies
it by division, and then infers the law that controls
it. Thus his power of induction is aided by analysis.
Or he may have discovered a number of different
-.aws relating to phenomena and desire to combine
them all into a system of science, and this can be
done only by the process of multiplication. Thus
his power of induction is aided by synthesis. The
48 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
general or universal principles with which deduction
begins imply in their very names the existence of
special or conditioned principles, from which they
can be discriminated only by a process of analysis.
Thus analysis aids deduction. A deductive science
like Geometry is made up of a system of truths de
pending upon axioms, definitions, and preceding
demonstrations, and is a work of synthesis. Thus
synthesis aids deduction.
Systems of science, therefore, must be elaborated
by the methods of induction and deduction aided
by those of analysis and synthesis, and the methods
used in constructing systems of science must also be
used in teaching them.
9. THE ACQUISITIVE POWERS OF THE MIND IN GET
TING KNOWLEDGE OPERATE ACCORDING TO CERTAIN
LAWS OF SUGGESTION. — The laws of susr^estion are
OO
operative in the search for original knowledge. "We
begin to make observations upon a particular object,
directly it presents itself in another point of view,
and then in still another ; and thus we are led for
ward in a series of successive steps. Or from one
object, we may pass to another, and then to others,
neglecting many but selecting some, which upon an
examination of the train will be found to follow
one another according to some principle of sugges
tion. Series of experiments, too, are mostly carried
on in the same way, the first suggesting the second,
and the second the third, and so to the end. That
the mind thus proceeds in getting knowledge by
means of observation and experiment there can be
uo doubt Suggestion of a different kind may lead
CONDITIONING PKINCIPLES. 49
it on from one set of reasonings to another, but still
this higher work of the mind may be considered as
proceeding according to the same law.
The laws of suggestion are operative in the study
of acquired knowledge. It is associated facts that
most attract children and most engage their atten
tion. Present them as isolated statements and they
will be forgotten, weave them into a narrative or
story, and they impress themselves on the memory
forever. The advance in study is most rapid where
the facts to be learned are systematically arranged,
when all the parts of the sciences under considera
tion follow one another in a logical order.
It follows from what has been said that teachers
should understand the laws of suggestion, and take
advantage of them in imparting knowledge.
10. THE REPRODUCTIVE POWERS OF THE MIND BY
MEANS OF LAWS OF ASSOCIATION ENABLE IT TO RECALL
ITS KNOWLEDGE AND TO HOLD IT UP IN VIVID PICTURES
BEFORE IT. — Every one is aware that his thoughts
are not isolated, but that each is a link in a chain.
It is proper to speak of a train of thought. Some cir
cumstance suggests a thought, that suggests another,
and so on in a ceaseless flow. Or we can hold up
before the mind one conception or element of
thought, and immediately other conceptions or
elements of thought crowd about it and appear in
connected or related clusters.
Sir William Hamilton says that " thoughts are
associated, or able to excite each other: 1st, if co
existent, or immediately successive in time ; 2d, if
their objects are conterminous, or adjoining in space ;
6
50 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
3d, if they hold the dependence to each other of
cause and effect, or of mean and end, or of whole
and part; 4th, if they stand in a relation either of
contrast or of similarity ; 5th, if they are the opera
tions of the same power, or of different powers con
versant about the same object; 6th, if their objects
are the sign and the thing signified ; or 7th, even
if their objects are accidentally denoted by the same
sound." These la\vs may be reduced in number, but
they seem more easily applied as stated. They must
condition the whole work of imparting knowledge.
Questions cannot be asked by a teacher, nor can
answers be given by pupils skilfully without ob
serving them. They determine the order of arrange
ment in both science and art.
11. THE PRODUCTIVE POWERS OF THE MIND ENABLE
IT TO MAKE NEW DISCOVERIES AND NEW INVENTIONS. —
Facts disprove the doctrine of those who maintain
that there is nothing new, that what seems new is
but the revival of the old which had been forgotten.
Ideas may not be innate, but we have innate powers
of mental production. There can be originality in
this sense, that one man may think something that
no other man ever thought. Apparent chance may
present a fact, or occasion a circumstance, which a
thousand men will pass by unheeding, but at last
one comes that way to whom its language is intelli
gible, and the world is blessed with a new discovery,
or a new invention — a law of gravitation or a steam-
engine. The mind has productive powers. It is
not like a mirror reflecting back only what is pre
sented before it. It is an active principle, capable
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 51
of guiding its own exertions, capable of making
plans, capable of searching for truth and of apply
ing it to new uses, and expressing it in new forms.
Such powers ought riot to rust away in inactivity.
12. THE HUMAN INTELLECT GROWS ONLY BY ITS
OWN INHERENT ENERGIES. — All true education is a
growth. The mind is not a mere capacity to be
filled like a granary, it is a power to be developed.
It is no tabula rasa — no blank sheet of paper to be
written upon, but it has innate activities which
prompt it towards its end, and cause it to modify all
with which it comes in contact. The horticulturist
puts his seed in good soil, surrounds the plants with
circumstances most favorable to their growth (a
proper degree of heat, light, and moisture), protects
them from injuries, and expects his crop. He knows
that the life-principle which God placed in the seed
needs but opportunity to grow. The mind must re
ceive a like culture. When the human body needs
food the healthy appetite craves it, and if taken
into the stomach without such craving, it is apt to
clog the system rather than to nourish it. Neither
can the mind be forced to digest its food. Even an
unprofessional diagnosis reveals the fact that there
#re many cases of mental dyspepsia in our schools.
A desire to know is the mental appetite, and the
gratification of this desire must be a primary condi
tion for all normal growth of the intellect.
13. THE AcTa OF MEN DO NOT DERIVE THEIR MORAL
QUALITY FROM THE INTELLECT. — The best fruit of the
intellect is science, and the principles of science
52 METHODS OF INSTKUCTIOtf.
cannot be said to be right or wrong — they are simply
truths. The intellect, indeed, enables us to com
prehend moral as well as other truths, but, in the
mere comprehension of a moral truth, I can detect
no moral element.
It must not be inferred, however, that intellectual
culture has no relation to moral and religious cul
ture. It is intellectual culture that renders moral
and religious culture possible. The intellect is the
eye of the soul, and all our seeing earthward and
heavenward is done by it. It is the intellect that
reveals God in His works, in His Word, and in the
human soul. A man may be pious and know little
of the principles of science, but he must have sources
of light within himself.
The culture of the intellect must precede all other
culture. We must acquaint ourselves with acts
before we can judge whether they are right or
wrong. "We must know that God is, before we can
love him. A knowledge of the important Psycho
logical fact, that the intellectual capacity of the
mind acts of itself in the presence of its objects,
and that the emotive and executive capacities await
the action of the intellect, would have enabled mis
sionaries to understand, long before they found it
out by costly experience, that schools must precede
churches in heathen countries in order to make their
labors most effectual. The principle is applicable
everywhere.
14. THE INTELLECT OF MAN HAS LIMITS WHICH NO
EXTENT OF EDUCATION CAN ENABLE IT TO PASS. — In
all human reasoning something has to be taken for
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 53
granted. The most profound logic can neither take
us back to a beginning nor lead us forward to an
end. Looking backward, successions in nature seem
like an endless chain of effects and causes, and,
looking forward, they seem like an endless chain of
causes and effects. We can think successive periods
in time or points in space until the imagination
grows weary with the vast summation, but still there
is more beyond. We can mount the great ladder
of successive causes until our heads groAV dizzy, and
yet we fail to form an adequate conception of the
absolute. Finite ourselves we cannot measure the
infinite.
All that is said in the preceding paragraph is
true, and yet it does not express the exact limit?
tions of human thought. We cannot measure the
infinite, but we can think in all directions beyond the
finite. Our idea of space is not filled by the sum
of all experienced spaces, nor our idea of time by
the sum of all experienced times. We feel that
there are more links in the chain of causation than
can be counted. We cannot indeed by searching
find out God, but we can know that lie exists. "A
Deity understood" says Sir William Hamilton,
"would be no Deity at all." The highest effort of
.reason is to furnish a ground for faith. We have a
clear view up to the boundaries of the finite and the
relative, and then we are permitted — glorious privi
lege ! — to know that the infinite and the absolute,
the unconditioned — lie beyond. The conviction
Hiat we have power in thought to overleap the con
ditioned, results from no mere blind consciousness,
us some have said, but it is certain knowledge. We
5*
54 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
see th^ light but we cannot approach or analyze it.
Oui reason gives us a firm ground for belief in the
existence of God, but here we must be content with
an imperfect knowledge of Him.
II. Principles Inferable from the Nature of
Knowledge.
I mean by knowledge the means made use of in.
Jie work of education. These means exist both in
the form of ascertained and unascertained truth. A
teacher may content himself in making his pupils
a<vpiainted with what knowledge he finds in books
ami what he knows himself, or he may lead them
to Iry their strength in wrenching new truth from
nature; but whether ascertained truth be taught or
unas< Certain ed truth be sought for, the nature of the
truth employed will vary the methods of imparting
it. T^e principle that the methods of operating
upon a rhing are modified by the means used in the
operatiou, is susceptible of many illustrations. The
farmer considers the nature of his fertilizers before
he adopts a method of applying them upon his fields,
the physician regards the properties of his medicines
in his methods of administering them, and the
mechanic handles his jack-plane in one way and
his hand-saw in another. That the teacher must
perform his work in obedience to the same principle
will be abundantly proven to one who will consider
the propositions which follow.
1. THE SEVERAL BRANCHES OF KNOWLEDGE CAN BE
MADE TO FURNISH THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES WITH
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 65
EXERCISE PROPER IN KIND AND QUANTITY. — The intel
lectual faculties grow only by exercising them, and
bountiful provision is made for such exercise. It is
furnished by noting the vast multitude of facts and
phenomena with which we become aquainted our
selves or of which we learn from others, and by the
study of Natural Science, Language, Mathematics,
Metaphysics, History. In this manner the Senses,
Perception, Memory, Recollection, Imagination, Un
derstanding and Reason can all receive due exercise.
All this will be clear to any one who will analyze a
branch of knowledge, and learn how its several parts
adapt themselves to the different intellectual facul
ties. The intellectual faculties, however, will not
grow stronger without effort. A merely passive state
of mind weakens it. We must knock at the door of
knowledge before it will be opened. We must
smite heavily the rock of truth before its fountains
will gush forth their waters for the thirsting spirit.
Nature everywhere ignores the indolent. She eats
away their strength as rust destroys iron. Nor will
it do to look on while others work. No Sedan
chairs can be used for carrying passengers along the
paths that lead to the temple of knowledge. Labor
is the inexorable condition of success in study.
Knowledge, too, is easy or difficult and thus adapts
itself both to the weak and the strong. Many of
nature's facts and phenomena appear openly to the
senses, but more require careful searching to find
them. She allows some truths to lie loosely upon
the surface, but others she conceals deep down in
her very heart. Both a child and a philosopher may
observe an apple fall from a tree, or a soap-bubble
56 METHODS OF IJSTSTKUCTION.
float away in the sunlight, and each iind suitable
intellectual exercise in so doing. The great is every
where found in the little, and the little in the great,
that the intellect in its several stages of growth may
have exercise proper in kind and quantity.
2. EDUCATIONAL MEANS CAN BE FOUND ADAPTED TO
GIVE CULTURE TO EVERY CAPABILITY OF MIND. — A
plant is beautifully adapted to the circumstances
that surround its growth. It needs mineral ele
ments, and its little rootlets seek and find them in
the soil. It feeds on gases, and millions of minute
pore-mouths suck them in. It needs moisture, and
the rain falls about it. It needs heat and light,
and the sunshine warms its roots and plays among
its branches. So, too, an adaptation exists be
tween our intellectual wants and the means of
supplying them. Each distinct intellectual faculty
requires a different kind of culture, but educational
means are as diversified as the wants they are
intended to supply.
We have senses, and there are things to be seen,
and heard, and handled. We have perception, and
there are objects and phenomena that constantly,
and on every hand, attract observation and courl
examination. We have memory, and the world is
full of things to be remembered — the object-mattei
of science and art; the words of language, the facts
of history, the products of all that the mind does.
We have recollection and imagination, and the
stores of the memory must be brought forth, held
up for contemplation, and represented in new forms,
We have understanding, and the whole work of
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 57
elaborating systems of science — forming classes,
making generalizations, and demonstrating princi
ples, must be done. We have reason, and we know
there is something beyond the conditioned, universal,
and necessary principles, and a Being with infinite
perfections, God. If any intellectual power lacks
in discipline, it is not because means are wanting
adapted to the purpose.
3. No GOD-CONSTITUTED DIFFERENCE OF MENTAL CON
STITUTION IS LEFT UNPROVIDED FOR IN THE WEALTH OF
MEANS WHICH THE CREATOR INTENDED TO BE USED FOR
THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION. — All men are not
naturally alike in taste or talent. To discharge the
various duties of life different kinds of ability are
required. Unity in diversity seems to be Nature's
greatest maxim.
If God made men unlike, did He provide means
for preserving the difference ? It cannot be doubted
that some men are peculiarly fitted to observe and
investigate the works of nature, and to build up
systems of natural science ; and is not their field of
labor boundless ? There are men who seem spe
cially endowed with a talent for Mathematics, can
they ever exhaust the laws which may be evolved
from number and form? There are men whose
penetrating glance can pierce the shifting phe
nomena of sense, and perceive the very foundations
and ends of things, Philosophers — and surely things
have foundations and ends. Are there no materials
left out of which Poetry and Music can be made ?
acne that the artist can express on canvas or in
68 METBx DS OF INSTRUCTION
marble? Has Gcxl so fully revealed Himself that
prophecies are no longer possible?
The answer to gll these questions is easy. The
creation is infinite in all directions. No one man
can explore the whole of it. E"o one man can pei
form all the world's work. If all men were simi
larly endowed with talents, or gifted with tastes,
there must come a time when all progress would
cease. Divide labor, let each do what he can do
best, give all employment, and this field of life will
bring forth its most abundant harvests. With such
an arrangement need any one be idle ? JsTot until
the finite becomes the infinite.
Much is said in works on education in regard to
the harmonious culture of our mental faculties. If
it is merely meant that all our faculties should
receive due culture, the sentiment is faultless ; but
if it is meant that each individual should receive an
even culture, that the powers of his mind should
be balanced, that the chief business of education
consists in suppressing talents wdiere talents have
been given, and attempting to create talents where
talents have been denied, I must be permitted to
enter my protest against the doctrine. The interests
of science and the duties of life no less than our
diversity of gifts forbid it.
"What is above said applies to the difference re
quired in the education of the sexes. Individuals
may learn whatever they are capable of learning.
The tastes and talents God gave to women they may
use as well as men ; and just so far as their tastea
and talents differ from those of men' should their
education differ. It need scarcely be added that all
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 69
women can find fit food for their mental appetites
as well as all men.
4. NATURE PRESENTS TO THE INQUIRER, FIRST THE
CONCRETE, AND THEN THE ABSTRACT ; FIRST THINGS, AND
THEN WORDS OR SIGNS FOR THINGS ; FIRST FACTS AND
PHENOMENA, AND THEN LAWS AND PRINCIPLES; FIRST
WHOLES, AND THEN PARTS AND COLLECTIONS OF WHOLES
— THUS INDICATING TO THE TEACHER THE PROPRIETY OF
CONFINING HIS ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION MAINLY TO
LESSONS ON OBJECTS WHOSE PROPERTIES CAN BE
DIRECTLY PERCEIVED, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING THE
EXPERIENCE OF THE YOUNG AS EXTENSIVE AS POSSI
BLE. — The perceptive are relatively the strongest
intellectual faculties possessed by the young, and
they are the first to be made use of in the search
for knowledge.
Nature presents to the inquirer first the concrete
and then the abstract. This is true of course with
respect to all objects of Natural History; but it is
also true of the so-called abstract sciences. The
first step in Arithmetic was counting the fingers or
counting something else. The first step in Geometry
was the measurement of land. The first Music was
the song of birds or the tones of the human voice.
Nature presents first things and then words, or
signs for things. All that we know of the origin of
language goes to confirm this view. Many corres
pondences are found in the primitive languages,
and some in all languages, between the sounds of
words and the things signified by them. Qualities
were noticed and then names applied. The Bible
60 MLTHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
tolls us, too, that animals were brought before Adam-
to see what he would call them.
Nature presents first facts and phenomena, and
then laws and principles. The genesis of all science
is confirmatory of this statement. It is true that
when a science reaches a certain stage of advance
ment and its laws and principles become well-
established, they can be applied to new facts and
phenomena; but science in its earlier stages of
growth is now alone in question.
Nature presents first wholes and then parts and
collections of wholes. The whole of an object
must be observed before it can be analyzed into
parts ; and the mind must pass from one individual
whole to others before it can make a synthesis of
the collection.
If these statements are true, they must have an
important bearing upon elementary education. Na
ture plainly indicates the first steps in learning. To
attempt to teach in contravention of her plan is to
damage the intellect under training, and to lay a
foundation upon which science can never rest
securely. The great aim of elementary education
should be to communicate the elements of know
ledge — to make more extensive the experience of
the young.
5. NATURE OPENS UP HER TRUTHS IN A CERTAIN
ORDER AND THAT ORDER MUST BE FOLLOWED IN INVESTI
GATION AND STUDY. — The elements of all knowledge
are cotemporary in origin. A child may begin the
study of all branches of science, for in their begin
nings all seem equally simple. Progress in science
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 61
is from a united base to divided branches, or from
the homogeneous to the heterogeneous. The ob
servations a child may make as he stands in a garden
or walks through a meadow will serve as the first
steps in all kinds of learning. From this root
several trunks spring, and divide and subdivide like
the branches of a tree.
The object-matter of knowledge is arranged like
successive strata, that beneath not being approch-
able except by passing through that above. First,
we find qualities and facts disconnected and frag
mentary. They lie upon the surface. Deeper down
we find other facts and other qualities. Second, we
notice the likeness and unlikeness of things. They
appear to us in clusters or classes. The differences
we notice first are very apparent, but identity and
difference extend down to the very heart of things.
Third, we begin to see that particulars can be re
duced to generals, that individuals belong to classes,
and species to genera, that many phenomena are the
result of a single law. ~No limits can be fixed to
O
this work. Fourth, seeing effects, we search for
causes. We inquire why? and wherefore? We
construct syllogisms and carry on processes of rea
soning. No end can be found to the chain of causa
tion. Fifth, we realize that something exists that
~ no process of reasoning can reach — that we can think
things that we could never know by experience;
that we can catch glimpses, at least, of the infinite,
the pure, and the perfect. Here we find God, and
our work is done.
I cannot claim that what has just been said is an
accurate expression of the order in which the mind
62 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
proceeds in acquainting itself with the object-matter
of knowledge, for I well know that more or fewer
steps may be made ; but I think it will convey to
the mind of the reader with sufficient clearness the
great educational truth under consideration.
The contents of a text-book must be arranged in
accordance with the law now stated. In commenc
ing the study of a branch of learning, it Is clear
that there is a first step which should be taken, a
second that ought to follow, and this introduces a
third; and so a whole subject, to be properly studied,
must be made up of a series of logically connected
parts. A pupil enters school knowing something.
The teacher must acquaint himself with what his
pupil knows, and then detach from what is unknown
to him appropriate matter, arid link the known and
the unknown together.
6. THE EMPIRICAL AND THE RATIONAL SCIENCES
REQUIRE DIFFERENT METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. —
Knowledge has two sources, the Senses and the
Reason. All science based upon the evidence of
experience may be call Empirical science, and all
science based upon the intuitions of the Reason may
be called Rational science. Methods of teaching
these two classes of sciences are different.
An Empirical science differs from a Rational
science in its data, in its end, and in its processes of
reasoning. The data of an Empirical science arc
facts ; its end is the attainment of general laws, and
its processes of reasoning are inductive. The data of
a Rational science are necessary and universal princi
ples or ideas, its end is the attainment of particular
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 63
principles, or less general ideas, and its processes of
reasoning are deductive. Chemistry is an Empirical
science, and Geometry, including its axioms and
definitions, has the form of a Rational science; to
those acquainted with the nature of both no further
exposition is necessary.
There are two modes by which an Empirical
science may be taught. By the first, facts are pre
sented, and then the laws that may be inferred from
them. By the second, an hypothesis may be
assumed, and afterwards search may be made for
the facts by which it can be tested ; or laws, fully
established, may be stated to the unlearned in the
form of propositions, and the facts upon which they
rest adduced to prove them. In the more advanced
stages of an Empirical science, it is possible to an
ticipate the existence of unascertained facts from a
knowledge of the general laws which must control
them. In the first mode there are given facts to
find laws, and in the second there are given laws,
either ascertained or hypothecated, to find facts.
There are likewise two modes of teaching a
Rational science. The necessary and universal prin
ciples which form the data of such a science may be
first communicated, and this may be followed by
the demonstration of the particular truths contained
in them. This is the first mode. A particular truth
or principle may be assumed, and the proof of it
be sought for in the necessary and universal princi
ples of which it is a part. This is the second mode.
The first mode consists in the evolution of the con
tents of axioms, definitions, intuitions of the reason;
the second consists in demonstrating particular
64 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
truths, by showing their conformity with universal
and necessary truth.
The two modes of teaching an Empirical science
differ from the two modes of teaching a Rational
science. Take the modes first named with reference
to each, and compare them. The source of our
knowledge of facts is the Senses, the source of our
knowledge of universal and necessary principles is
the Reason. When we infer general laws from par
ticular facts we proceed in one way, inductively; hut
when we attempt to analyze the pure products of
the Reason we proceed in quite another, deduc
tively. The conclusion in one case is hut the gen
eralization of experience and cannot extend beyond
the facts observed, while in the other the conclusion
is exact and positive knowledge.
The same differences will appear if we compare
the two modes last mentioned. Starting out with
an hypothesis or an ascertained law in Empirical
Science may be the same as commencing with the
assumption of a particular truth in a Rational
Science, but here the similarity between the two
modes of procedure ends, for proving a principle
by facts differs very materially from demonstrating
it by reasoning.
7. THE FIRST FORM OF INSTRUCTION MUST BB
QUALITATIVE, NEXT QUANTITATIVE, AND THEN A COM
PARISON OF RELATIONS. — Things are known only by
their qualities. They are the Alphabet of nature,
They are the medium of introduction between thai
which is to know and that which is to be known.
The first form of instruction must be qualitative.
CONDITIONING PEINCIPLES. 65
Mark how a child learns. He perceives that things
are hard or soft, large or small, few or many, long
or short, tough or brittle, hot or cold, white or black,
red or yellow, heavy or light, sweet or sour, without
at all stopping to measure their several degrees.
He distinguishes objects from one another by their
kind of qualities. He will learn for instance to
distinguish a horse from a cow before he can dis-
o
tinguish horses or cows from one another. The
same thing may be inferred from the language of a
child, as his first speech is made up of words which
stand for man. dog, clock, cat, &c., &c. He even uses
pa and ma in a general sense. All this goes to prove
the truth that stands at the head of this paragraph,
and suggests lessons on objects, lessons on form,
consistency, color, and the qualities of things gen
erally.
The second form which instruction should take
is quantitative. After having observed a quality
we soon begin to limit it — to limit it in space, in
time, and in degree. We inquire how large or how
small ? how long or how short? how much or how
little ? We invent weights, measures, coins. It is
evident that to learn quantities requires closer, more
precise, better defined thought than to observe quali
ties ; and such thought is necessary to build up a
?»cience. When children have learned the qualities
ryf objects, let them be made to attend to them more
Closely, to quantify them. They should not merely
name the form of an object, but tell its length,
yreadth and thickness ; not merely say that a thing
IB large or small but state how large or how small ;
they should be taught to measure in ounces and
6*
OtJ METHODS OF INSTRUCTION".
pounds, in pints and quarts, in shades, in degrees,
and in numbers.
After instruction has passed through the qualita
tive and quantitative stages, its further progress
must be by a comparison of relations. "We discri
minate qualities and measure quantities by compari
son, but this kind of comparison is not a comparison
of relations. We employ such a comparison when
we compare causes and effects, means and ends, and
the inherent identities and differences of things ; and
such a comparison is only possible when we are in
possession of the qualities and quantities used as data
in our reasoning. All works of science, properly so
called, are the results of a comparison of relations, and
the teacher has, therefore, ample material for impart
ing the kind of instruction implied in the premises.
8. AS CONDITIONED BY THE EELATIONS OF THE
OBJECT-MATTER OF KNOWLEDGE, METHODS OF TEACH
ING MUST BE INDUCTIVE OR DEDUCTIVE, ANALYTICAL
OR SYNTHETICAL. — The whole objective world is made
up of existences and the laws which control them.
Science is made up of such of these as men have
been able to observe and find out. Induction means
ascending from facts to principles, and this method
may be adopted in teaching.
When in the possession of the generalizations of
induction, we can use them in the interpretation of
new facts and phenomena, and this process is some
times culled deduction, but it is rather a part of
induction and is so considered here. No science
can be well taught without its use.
It has been shown that the intuitions c^the Reason
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 67
enable us to apprehend certain necessary and uni
versal principles and that these contain other prin
ciples embodied in them. Deduction, as I under
stand it, is the evolution of particular principles
from necessary and universal principles, and as such
must be the method of study in all the Rational
Sciences. Properly there is no induction in Mathe
matics or Logic, and surely there is none in Ethics
or ./Esthetics.
As the inductive is the only method applicable
to the Empirical Sciences, and the deductive is the
only method applicable to the Rational Sciences,
and as all science may be included in these classes,
it follows that methods of teaching must be either
inductive or deductive.
Apart from mere perception or intuition, every
operation we are capable of performing upon the
object-matter of knowledge maybe generalized into
the processes of multiplication and division. In our
investigations of nature, she never presents herself
to us in her minutest subdivisions. With solvents,
dissecting-knives, and microscopes we must search
for these. Earth, water, air, animal and vegetable
organisms are made to yield up their hidden ele
ments. This is the process of division or analysis.
Nature does not anywhere, to our view, complete
herself. She ignores fractions. We see a number
of her animals, her plants, her rocks, her stars, and
infer the rest. We laboriously search out laws and
truths and combine what we discover into systems
oi science ; but, at best, we know little in com
parison with what remains unknown. Science
grows ; every day adds something to the world's
68 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
Btock cf knowledge. This is the process of multi
plication, or synthesis.
All knowledge, as presented in books for study,
is a synthesis. The materials of which such know
ledge is made up, however, must have been obtained
mainly by means of analysis. If in teaching a
science we follow the method by which it grew up,
the process must be synthetical, but if we take it as
it is, and divide and subdivide it into parts until we
find the elements upon which it is based, the process
is analytical. Both processes are equally legitimate,
and both should be used in almost every lesson.
Authors of text-books are accustomed to apply the
terms analytical and synthetical to their works with
very little judgment. Both analysis and synthesis
must be made use of in writing a text-book on any
subject, and in teaching it, and no other methods
having the same aim are possible.
9. THE OBJECT-MATTER OF KNOWLEDGE, AS n
EXISTS IN NATURE, is so CONNECTED AND ARRANGED
AS TO FACILITATE ITS ACQUISITION. — The suggestive
powers of the mind and the connections of matter
correlate. We can imagine a world with its parts
confused, disjointed, fragmentary. In ours complete
isolation is unknown. The motto e pluribus unum
could nowhere be so well applied as to the universe.
It is the connections and relations of natural
objects that render science possible. Surely there
is a foundation in the things themselves for the for
mation of classes, genera, and species. If a student
makes the acquaintance of one fact, that will intro
duce him to another, and so on in endless succession.
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 69
Nature is arranged like a suit of rooms, each with a
door opening to the next, A student in sympathy
with nature hears voices calling him, arid sees hands
beckoning him on at every step in his progress^ and
before him ever floats "the banner with the strange
device, excelsior."
If the object-matter of knowledge, as it exists in
nature, is so connected and arranged as to facilitate
its acquisition, so may it be in text-books. A text
book ought to present a subject in its natural o^der
and connections. One point, or one topic, or one
lesson ought to suggest the next. It may be well in
teaching sometimes to put questions concerning
things apart from their connections, but it is best to
first teach them in their connections.
10. THE MATTER OF KNOWLEDGE, AS IT LIES IN
MEMORY, HAS CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONS WHICH
INCREASE ITS AVAILABILITY. — If the connections
and relations of knowledge are observed in acquiring
it, it will preserve these connections and relations
as it lies in the memory, and the same conditions
that rendered its acquisition more easy, will also aid
in making it available. In addition, however, there
are other laws which apply to acquired knowledge
that do not apply to the objective realities from
which it was derived. Things originally discon
nected or unrelated, may have been learned at the
same time, or in such way as to link them together
in the memory. Besides, the laws of association
seem constantly operative in assorting the materials
of knowledge as they exist in the mind. They bring
like things together, and separate things that are
TO METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
unlike. A well disciplined memory has a place for
everything, and keeps everything in its place.
If the object-matter of knowledge, as it lies in the
memory, has such connections and relations as have
now been pointed out, they must make it more
available. A man of business can settle an account
in a few moments, it may be, if all the papers relat
ing to it are kept together, but, if they are scattered
about, hours may be occupied in doing the same
work, and even then it may be done inaccurately.
It is just so with the materials of knowledge as they
lie in the memory. These materials are too vast to
be dealt with as individual things, they can only be
made available to the powers which recall and hold
them up for contemplation, by forming them into
trains, arranging them in clusters, uniting them in
series, or associating them in classes. Teachers,
who would not see much of their labor lost, must
conduct their work mindful of these facts.
11. NEW DISCOVERIES IN SCIENCE AND NEW INVEN
TIONS IN THE ARTS ARE STILL POSSIBLE, AND METHODS
OF INSTRUCTION SHOULD PROMPT THE YOUNG TO MAKE
THEM. — Discoveries are constantly being made in
all departments of science. Never before was the
progress of science so rapid. The harvest seems
ripe, and every reaper is blessed with a share of
fruit. And still all that has been done is little in
comparison with what remains to be done.
What is true in the field of science is true also
in the field of art. It may be that the same ray id
progress is not apparent with respect to the Fino
Arts, but it is especially manifest in all departments
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 71
of the Mechanic and Useful Arts ; and still e\?ery
day human ingenuity brings to light some new
invention.
I take it that education means something more
than merely conning the facts and repeating the
reasonings of text-books. If properly instructed,
pupils will desire to look beyond what they have
been taught, or what they have simply learned.
They will feel that work has been left for them to
do, and they will desire to do it. The highest aim
of teaching is not to store the mind with the ac
cumulated knowledge of ages, but to arm it with
energy and skill ; not to enable pupils merely to
solve problems in Mathematics, construe sentences
in Grammar, or answer questions in Philosophy,
but to inspire them with a love of study, to awaken
in their minds an animating, life-giving power, that
does not rest satisfied with present attainments but
is ever striving to open up new truths, to express
new beauty, or to contrive new ways of lessening
labor or effecting good.
Few, if any, great thinkers were ever made by
books. A mathematician very inferior to Newton
or La Place can follow the reasoning of the Principia
or the Mecanique Celeste. Bacon and Locke are
read by school-boys who talk flippantly of the In-
cluctive Philosophy and the doctrine of Innate Ideas.
When once conquered, nature's noblest truths grow
comparatively tame. To secure the best mental
discipline, we teach too much at second-hand. We
rely too much upon books. We suffer the mind's
productive powers to lie too nearly dormant. We
follow too closely in the paths beaten by others to
72 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
gain the advantage of that vigorous self- thinking,
which is necessary to wrench new truth from nature.
Those methods of teaching should he adopted which
would throw pupils most upon their own resources,
which would call out all the originality that they
may possess, which would lead them to repeat the
experiments and verify the conclusions of others,
and urge them on to add their mite to the sum of
human knowledge and human ingenuity.
12. NATURE EVERYWHERE COURTS INVESTIGATION BY
A. SYSTEM OF ATTRACTIONS WHICH ENLIST THE ATTEN
TION, AND INDUCE INCREASED ACTIVITY IN THE POWERS
BY WHICH WE REMEMBER, REFLECT, REASON AND
PHILOSOPHIZE; AND, THEREFORE, METHODS OF TEACHING
SHOULD BE SUGGESTIVE. — Pupils should not be made
mere passive recipients of knowledge. Many teachers
tell too much. They communicate facts, answer
questions, solve problems, and their pupils receive
their instruction in blank wonder or stupid indiffer
ence. With such teaching knowledge is merely
received like grain into a granary or freight into
the hold of a ship. Such teachers are like apothe
caries or grocers, and simply deal out their stock in
trade to their waiting customers. At the best they
can only store the memory with facts which must
lie there, cumbrous, undigested, and useless.
The search for knowledge should not be charac
terized by a blind activity on the part of the pupil.
We have just seen that a teacher may aid his pupils
too much, it is just as true that he may aid them
too little. A due regard to the economy of the
mental forces will not admit of their useless expendi-
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 73
lure. Pupils without direction as to what or how
lo study may waste their time in fruitless efforts.
A traveller in a strange city without a guide may
easily lose his strength in ill-directed efforts to find
his way, so a timely hint from a teacher may relieve
a pupil from a difficulty that is wearing away his
time and wearying his patience without conducing
to any useful end. The teacher can guide his pupil
without carrying him along, he can direct his work
without performing it, he can pilot his bark without
doing all the rowing.
Progress in study should not be merely mechani
cal. It is easily possible for pupils to go over studies
without learning them. Their progress is measured
too often by the quantity of the work looked at,
rather than the quality of the work done. Some
teachers are at great pains to relieve their pupils
from the trouble of thinking. They are constantly
watchful to remove every difficulty from their path
way, and, by leading questions, make them seem to
know that of which in reality they are ignorant. If
learning could be obtained in this way, the road to
it would be a " royal " one — a kind of rail-road,
ready-graded and well provided with cars and mo
tive power, to transport swiftly along those who are
in search of knowledge, and who meanwhile can sit
or sleep.
In opposition to those methods of teaching which
make the condition of the learner one of passive
reception, one of blind activity, or one of mechanical
progression, we say that methods of teaching should
be suggestive — should prompt pupils to earnest self-
exertion. Facts should be communicated in such a
74 METHODS OP INSTRUCTION.
manner as to suggest other facts; one effort in
reasoning, stimulate to other efforts; one trial of
strength, induce other trials; one difficulty over
come, excite an ambition to triumph over other
difficulties. The teacher should create interest in
study, incite curiosity, promote inquiry, prompt in
vestigation, inspire self-confidence, give hints, make
suggestions, tempt pupils on to try their strength
and test their skill.
Nature teaches according to the suggestive method.
The phenomena of animal and vegetable organisms
of earth, and air, and sky, are so many hints to in
duce man to investigate her mysteries. Grecian
artists take a hint from plants and trees, and Doric
and Corinthian columns adorn their country's proud
est cities ; Newton takes a hint from a falling apple,
and the ponderous planets roll in harmonious gran
deur about the universe, in obedience to his law of
gravitation ; "Watt takes a hint from a hissing tea-
urn, and we have the steam-engine; Hugh Miller
takes a hint from the curious fossils which his boyish
pranks exhumed, and the Old Red Sandstone of his
loved Scotland spreads forth its treasures in a voice
so eloquent that the whole world listens.
Nature teaches according to the suggestive method.
She has her picture galleries, and her galleries of
statues, her stupendous architecture, her rich mu
seums, and her immense zoological and botanic
gardens; to all the enjoyments of which she invites
men eagerly, freely, without money and without
price.
Nature teaches according to the suggestive method.
She excites curiosity, courts investigation, asks to
CONDITIONING- PRINCIPLES. 76
have her riddles read ; sometimes, silently persuad
ing the willing to examine her treasures, and some
times compelling the indolent to study her laws by
making obedience to them essential to their well-
being.
One of my best lessons in teaching was taught me
by a robin. It was in my garden, and the mother-
robin was teaching her young brood to fly. A little
robin sat upon the nest and seemed afraid to move.
The mother-bird came and stood by its side, stroked
it with her bill, and then hopped to a neighboring
twig and stood awhile as if to induce the little bird
to follow. Again and again she repeated her caresses,
and then hopped nimbly to the same twig. At
length the little bird gained courage, and to the
great joy of its mother, shook its weak wings, started
and stood by her side. Another more distant twig
was now selected, and further effort brought the
little bird to it also. And so the process was re
peated many times, until the timid fledgling now
grown quite bold could sail away with its mothei
over woodlands, fields, and meadows.
13. THE STUDY OF THE SCIENCES DOES NOT IN ITSELF
LEAD TO VIRTUE. — Virtue may be defined as con
formity of conduct to the rule of right, and a virtu
ous man is one who conforms his conduct to the
rule of right. But the rule of right cannot be found
to inhere in things — neither in their fitness, their
harmony, nor their relations. No study of the
sciences, however profound, can reveal it, although
such study may prepare the way for its full appre
ciation.
76 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
Looking to the same conclusion is the fact that
many great scholars have "been bad men, and many
good men have been poor scholars.
But while no searching among the sciences will
discover the rule of right, we intuitively conceive an
ideal of the perfection and worth of the human
spirit. That there is a real thing corresponding to
this ideal conception is most certain, although it
cannot be made an object of scientific investigation.
The right is to add perfection and worth to the
human spirit, and study when pursued with this end
in view is virtuous. Those means are virtuous
which are legitimately used to attain virtuous ends.
In the light of what has been said it is easy to
define the relation of intellectual education to wrong
doing or crime. The moral value of an intellectual
O
education depends upon the end for which it is
sought. It is bad if sought for selfish or wicked
purposes. It is good if sought for the purpose of
benefiting mankind, of dignifying the human
character, or of honoring God ; if sought to gain
knowledge, to attain discipline — ends within itself,
although among its gettings one will not find
wisdom, yet its tendencies must be indirectly on
virtue's side.
14. WHAT WE CAN KNOW is EVERYWHERE BOUNDED
BY WHAT MUST REMAIN UNKNOWN. An apple falls
from a tree in a garden. A wise man, watching it,
is moved to search for the cause. He observes many
similar phenomena, and ascertains that all of them
are controlled by a common law. He calls it the
law of gravitation, and finds, after careful investiga
CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES. 77
tion, that its influence extends to the heavenly
bodies and keeps the planets in their orbits. But
can any one tell us what the law of gravitation is in
itself? or what may be its cause ? A Geologist may
trace with indefatigable labor the changes through
which our earth has passed; he may ascend from
the present condition of things to that which imme
diately preceded it, and from that to the next, and
so on until he finds the earth at first to have beeu
without form and void, and with darkness resting on
the face of the deep, or until it appears as a vast
nebulous mass of fluid-matter floating in space, and
yet be compelled to leave the whole mystery of
creation unsolved. "Who can define space ? "Who
can measure time ? Who can mount up to the
beginning of things, or fathom their end ? Who,
indeed, can take up the ends of the thread of his
own consciousness?
What we can know is everywhere bounded by
what must remain unknown. But what can we
know ? We can know all that is finite and relative,
although we cannot number the years it will take
the race to do it. We can do more, we can know
that there is an infinite, an absolute, a Grod, but what
they are it is beyond our power to find out. Phi
losophy, mis-called so, has never been able to exclude
from the human consciousness the idea that there
is something that extends beyond all possible expe
rience, that back of all phenomena there is some
actuality in which they inhere, or from which they
spring, that there must be a great First Cause. The
human consciousness is right. This idea must be
answered by a reality. It is impossible not to be-
7*
78 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
lieve it. It must be or nothing can be. But while
we have firm ground for faith in such a reality,
we can construct no science of the unconditioned.
What we know must be derived from Revelation.
We see with human vision, but cannot understand
without supernatural assistance.
If these views are true they will prevent an over
estimate of the extent and value of scientific attain
ments. The}^ show that the knowable has limits ;
and they show, too, that even the basis of the
knowable is faith. Science will thus learn to walk
in the humble sphere God designed for her.
They will also furnish a ground upon which to
establish the doctrines of Religion. They are
equally at variance with Atheism on the one hand,
and Pantheism on the other. They make certain
our knowledge of the existence of God, but in limit
ing our knowledge of Him to this fact, they neces
sitate a Revelation, and leave room for the most
exalted faith.
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
THE Naturalist finds classification necessary to
enable him to handle the immense number of facts
which observation brings to light in any one branch
of science. It will surprise no one, then, that in a
discussion concerning Methods of Instruction, which
requires the whole object-matter of knowledge to
be kept in view, some systematic arrangement of
the various branches of knowledge is necessary as a
preliminary condition.
A certain amount of knowledge is now in the
possession of mankind. If we could determine the
process by which it was obtained, or how it grew up
in the mind, a great step would be taken in the way
of ascertaining a correct method of teaching, for
knowledge must be imparted in the manner it can
best be learned. If History tells anything on this
point, it ought to be consulted.
It is not a matter of indifference as to what kind
of knowledge is first imparted. There is much
which a child can understand, and much that can
only be comprehended by full-grown men. In any
particular branch of knowledge some things depend
upon other things, and thus necessitate a series of
connected steps in teaching.
In building a foundation for our proposed Methods
of Instruction, it may be well to consider:
80 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
I. The Classification of Knowledge.
II. The Genesis of Knowledge.
in. The Order of Study.
The close attention of the student is invited to
the discussion of each of these topics, as he will find
therein a key to much that follows :
I. The Classification of Knowledge.
A classification of knowledge is possible from two
stand-points. Its object-matter consists of the uni
versal whole of things. The whole of things has its
divisions and subdivisions — its kingdoms, classes,
orders, genera, and species. It is for Philosophy to
find the trunk, and trace out the branches of the
tree of knowledge ; or it is for Philosophy to fine
a principle of classification, and apply it. This
Btand-point is that of the objective relations of
knowledge.
Laws control all our mental operations. Science
could not result from lawless thought. If we could
mark the point at which the thinking process begins
and measure the successive stages of its unfolding,
we might be able to classify knowledge from the
order in which its several parts are evolved. This
Btand-point is that of the subjective laws of thought.
To a mind with infinite powers a classification of
knowledge is possible, both from the relations of
things and from the laws of thought; but the
results of one mode would be the same as of the
other. When men attempt to classify knowledge,
they must proceed in the same way ; but their
imperfect understanding of the relations of things
THE CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 81
on the one hand, and of the laws of thought on the
other must always render their results incomplete,
if it does not cause them to be erroneous.
Since knowledge is the product of the mind
within upon the world without, it would seem that
there could be formed a classification of knowledge
founded upon its historical development, which
would be sufficient at least for practical purposes,
combining, as it might, the advantages of both the
preceding methods; but even here there is little
agreement among those who have attempted it.
Before any systematic discussion respecting Meth
ods of Instruction can take place, some scheme for
the classification of knowledge must be adopted;
and, seeing this, diligent search has been made to
find one suited to the purpose. Many have been
examined, but all of them seemed open to serious
objection. Comte's is the best known classification
of the sciences, made with respect to the matter of
which they are composed. His classification is as
follows: Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chem
istry, Physiology, Social Physics. The principle
which determines the order of the series is the
relative degree of simplicity in the subject-matter.
Without naming the several objections that may be
made to this classification of the sciences as such, it
is enough to show its want of adaptation to the pur
poses of teaching to say that the mental nature of
no child will admit his being first taught Mathe
matics, next Astronomy, and so on to the end of
the series. Hegel may be taken as the ablest repre
sentative of the class of Philosophers who classify
the sciences with respect to the laws of thought by
82 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
which they are evolved. But he begins with Logic,
or the science of pure ideas — a science he has
scarcely made clear to the wisest men, to say nothing
of children. Herbert Spencer's classification of the
sciences, founded upon the relative degree of
abstractness in the matter of the various classes
comprised in it, is more exhaustive, and, I think,
more philosophical than that of Comte, but it can
not be used to any more advantage in teaching, as
his first class comprises what is most abstract, while
the work of instruction must commence with what
is wholly concrete. Our own countryman, Rev. Dr.
Hill, President of Harvard University, has arranged
and expounded with great ability a classification of
the sciences based upon the order in which the
several sciences are developed ; but, as has been
already intimated, and as will be more fully shown
hereafter, the elements of all the sciences are so
nearly cotemporaneous in origin that it is practi
cally impossible to fix their position in an order of
time. A course of study, therefore, must com
mence with the elements of all the sciences, and not
as ])r. Hill states in the order of his classes, Mathe-
sis, Physics, History, Psychology, and Theology.
It ought to be added, however, that, somewhat in
violation of his own theory, as it seems to me, Dr.
Hill advocates in practice the simultaneous study
of the different branches of knowledge.
Failing to find in any of the schemes of classifica
tion known to me, those requisites which the dis
cussion contemplated seems to demand, I will group
into several great classes the matter taught in our
schools, trusting to the Philosopher of a future day
THE CLASSIFICATION- OF KNOWLEDGE. 83
to accomplish what I now feel myself unable to do.
These classes have been formed with special refer
ence to teaching. They differ most in the elements
they contain capable of modifying Methods of Instruc
tion. Still, branches of knowledge have not been
thrown together independent of what is considered
to be their essential relationships, nor in the gen
eral arrangement is all reference to the order of
growth in which knowledge is built up in the mind
overlooked. It will be perceived, however, that
these classes of studies often involve one another.
From the nature of the case, it is impossible to form,
a classification to which this may not be made an
objection. The principles of the various branches
of knowledge necessarily overlap and interlace, for
there is in reality but one science. Nature is a
whole, and one science must be involved in all other
sciences. It ought to be remarked further that the
elements of all the sciences are, in their beginnings,
equally simple. Nor can one science ever attain
perfection without help from the other sciences.
The simplest fact that can be observed must have a
connection with the most profound truths. There
is no proper hierarchy of the sciences.
The classes it is thought proper to make, are the
following :
FIRST CLASS. — The Elements of Knowledge. — The
elements of knowledge are the perceptions of the
sense and the intuitions of the reason. Upon these,
as a basis, all knowledge is built up.
By perceptions of the sense is meant whatever
can be seen, heard, felt, or directly knowr by the
84 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
senses — facts and phenomena. Included in t',;is
class are the color, form, size, weight, and number
of objects; such qualities as hardness and softness,
smoothness and roughness, sweetness and sourness,
loudness and softness; and such phenomena as
appear to the senses in the world about us.
By intuitions of the reason are meant those regu
lative principles of the human mind which render
all experience possible. A child may be wholly
unconscious of them, it may be a long time before
he can give them verbal expression, but they are
ever operative, universal, and necessary. It cannot
be supposed that any mental operation, even the
simplest act of perception, takes place without the
control of law; and a careful analysis of such acts
will reveal the fact that they involve certain uni
versal and necessary principles which admit of
statement. A very young child, for example, knows
its mother, but the law of identity and difference,
by which it does so, cannot, of course, be under
stood. A boy who has his ball in his pocket is
quite sure it cannot be in the pocket of another boy,
although he may not be able to appreciate the axiom
that "A thing cannot be in different places at the
same time." He knows, too, that a whole pie is
equal to the sum of all the pieces into which it is
cut, if he can find no n't expression for the principle
that enables him to know it. Pages of illustrations
might be given, but these are sufficient to show that
the principles upon which the profoundest Philoso
phy must rest are found operative in the minds of
children, and must be considered among the ele
ments of knowledge.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 85
All science must rest upon the basis now poir'eci
out, but the arts have science itself for a basis ; and
soon after a child is in possession of the elements
of the sciences, he begins to operate with, or upon,
them in such a way as to produce what may be
called the elements of the arts. He imitates sounds ;
he carves sticks, and moulds clay; he paints his face
or clothes with berries; he builds houses with stones
or blocks ; he makes figures in the sand ; indeed, it
is not difficult to trace in the plays of children the
rude beginnings of many of the arts which have
now, in civilized countries, reached such a high
degree of perfection.
The first of our classes then includes the elements
of knowledge, the elements of the sciences, and the
elements of the arts. The discussion of each class
of knowledge might embrace the elements upon
which it rests ; but as teaching must begin by im
parting a knowledge of the elements of knowledge
in general, without regard to the class to which they
belong, the plan adopted is considered the best.
SECOND CLASS. — Language. — Language might bo
classed among the arts, since, like them, it is in
part, at least, the product of human skill. It might
be classed with the Empirical sciences, since, like
them, many of the laws which govern it have been
derived from observation and experiment. And,
again, it might be classed with the Formal Sciences,
since its laws are often identical with the laws of
thought. Its great importance, in an educational
point of view, however, determines me to consider
it by itself.
8
86 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
The clans is intended to embrace all those branches
of instruction which relate to the acquisition of skill
in the use of language, or which treat of language
as a science.
THIRD CLASS. — The Formal Sciences. — Two sciences
are designed to be included in this class — Mathe
matics and Logic. Mathematics gives precise ex
pression to the relations of forms and numbers, and
Logic gives precise expression to the laws of thought.
Matter could not exist but for Mathematical condi
tions, and thought is known to us only under
Logical conditions. Logic is the more general of
the two sciences, for Mathematical reasoning itself
is subject to its forms; but their relationship is
sufficiently obvious.
FOUKTH CLASS. — The Empirical Sciences. — Laws
learned by induction are called Empirical laws, and
the sciences composed of systems of these laws have
received the name of Empirical sciences. Or, the
Empirical sciences are the sciences which are made
up of that knowledge of which experience is the
source. Among these sciences are Geography,
Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Physiology, Zool
ogy, Botany, Geology, Astronomy, Psychology, &c.
FIFTH CLASS. — The Rational Sciences. — The basis
of the Rational sciences is the self-evident, neces-
sar}T, and universal principles which can be directly
apprehended by the reason without the intervention
of any discursive process. Or, the Rational sciences
are the sciences which are evolved from thoss ideaa
THE CLASSIFICATION" OF KNOWLEDGE. 87
of which experience is the occasion, but not the
source. The term Metaphysics might be applied
to the whole class; and of its subdivisions I will
name but three: Philosophy, or the science of THE
TRUE; ^Esthetics, or the science of THE BEAUTIFUL;
and Uthics, or the science of THE GOOD.
SIXTH CLASS. — The Historical Sciences. — History
collects the facts relating to the life of man upon
the earth, and presents them in systematic narra
tions. In its higher departments it essays to solve
the problem of man's condition and destiny. Into
all calculations respecting the Historical sciences,
the elements of a free-will and a superintending
Providence enter, and these render it necessary to
place the Historical sciences in a class by themselves.
Events cannot be recorded or accounted for before
they have occurred, and hence History complements
all other sciences, and cannot be finished until all
the future becomes the past.
SEVENTH CLASS. — The Arts. — Art in its beginnings
may precede science, but in its more advanced stages
it must always follow it. Says Mill, "Art neces
sarily presupposes knowledge; art, in any but its
infant state, presupposes scientific knowledge ; and
if every art does not bear the name of the science
upon which it rests, it is only because several
sciences are often necessary to form the ground
work of a single art." This explains sufficiently
well the place occupied by " The Arts" in our classi
fication of knowledge. The class will be divided
Into the Empirical arts and the Rational arts.
88 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
II. The Genesis of Knowledge.
It is proposed to inquire how the human race came
into possession of the knowledge they now have?
Volumes would be required to push the inquiry to
its limits; but it is hoped that enough concerning
the subject may be stated in a few pages to throw
considerable light upon Methods of Instruction.
The growth of knowledge in the individual mind
must correspond to its historic growth in the mind
of the race.
Sufficient has already been said, or will be said
in other connections, concerning the genesis of the
" Elements of knowledge," and hence this topic
will be omitted in the present discussion. The order
followed in the discussion of the other topics under
this head will be that of the preceding classification
THE GENESIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE. —
Several theories of the origin of language have been
proven fallacious. It is now acknowledged that no
ready-formed vocabulary could have been the gift
of God. While some words, in all languages, are
imitations of sounds heard in nature, the vast ma
jority of them cannot be accounted for by any
system of Onomatopoeia. Interjections are, doubt
less, found in all languages, but that all other parts
of speech are derived from these has never been
proven, and is past belief. The most profound of
modern Philologists have reached the conclusion
that man was endowed by his Creator with the
power of naming r, and that he exercises this power in
the same way as a bird sings. Multitudes of words
Were produced ir> the earlv a^es which ^erished. but
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 89
certain root- words, four or five hundred in number,
survived the " struggle for life," and now form the
basis of all languages. These root- words are the
generous parents of whole tribes of other words,
which, by being modified in meaning, compounded
and inflected, swell the number of words in some
languages to eighty or a hundred thousand.
But a teacher is not so directly interested in ques
tions concerning the origin of language as he is in
those concerning the manner in which children, in
ordinary circumstances, acquaint themselves with
human speech.
I do not doubt that the same speech-forming
instinct or faculty exists now as in the early ages of
the world's history, and that if the race were to lose
all knowledge of the words they now use they would
produce new ones. But children do not create a
new language, they merely acquire the power to use
one already in existence. How do they acquire it?
First, they notice objects or actions. Then they
hear certain verbal sounds associated with them, and
finally learn to imitate these sounds. They are
aided in the whole process by an innate desire to
know and to speak. An English child learns English
because he hears English words and English forms
of expression. Other languages are learned in the
same way. The words a child first learns are those
that stand for objects or actions which are most
prominently presented to him, or in which he feels
most interest. Of this class are pa, ma, puss, dog,
horse, door, hat, clock, bell, &c., &c., or run, walk, ride,
farn, bark, sing, &c., &c. The same principle holds
good with regard to the manner in which the ability
90 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
to use forms of expression consisting of two or more
words is acquired. The parts of speech a child
generally uses first are the noun and the verb, and
those he next uses are the adjective and the adverb ;
and it requires much practice before he constructs
whole sentences in talking.
It may be fairly inferred from what has been said
that the best mode of teaching young children tho
use of language is to make their acquaintance with
things as extensive as possible, and to allow them
full opportunity of hearing things talked about, and
of talking about them themselves.
THE GENESIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE FORMAL
SCIENCES. — There can be no doubt that Mathematics
arose from very humble beginnings. I am not
aware that any savage tribe has yet been found who
had not some idea of number, but some are known
to exist who cannot count beyond five. Pressed by
necessity, primitive men began to enumerate present
objects. Afterwards they desired to count absent
objects, but finding the mental effort too great they
resorted to counting their fingers as children do now,
hence the application of the word, digit, to a num
ber less than ten. When they did not count their
fingers, they may have used pebbles, as is indicated
by the word calculus, or sticks, or leaves, or grains of
corn. Some nations were found to use five as the
basis of their scale of notation, probably because five
is the number of fingers on one hand; and many use
ten, probably because that is the number of fingers
on both hands. Weights and measures, too, aroso
in the same way. No one can be mistaken in tho
THE &ENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 91
significance of words like grain, pennyweight, carat,
barleycorn, foot, span, hand, day, month, &c., &c. It is
clear that the art of numbering must have, for a long
time, consisted in performing the simplest operations
upon objects — must have been wholly concrete. By
and by, however, the ability to use larger numbers
was acquired, abstractions were performed, symbols
were invented representing, at first, perhaps, only
lines or strokes, or combinations of lines or strokes,
more difficult calculations were made, and Arith
metic began to assume something of its present form.
The annual overflowings of the river Nile, in
Egypt, rendered it difficult to preserve the bounda
ries of the lands owned by particular individuals,
and it is said that Geometry was first used for the
purpose of measuring land in that country, and
hence derived its name. Doubtless the land was
measured in Egypt, and the circumstance alluded
to may have rendered it necessary to measure it
with more than usual accuracy ; but it is evident
that some of the principles of Geometry must have
been applied from the earliest dawn of the human
intellect. They were used in constructing dwellings,
in making domestic utensils, articles of clothing,
and weapons of warfare, in overcoming resistances,
~and in calculating distances. Indeed, the idea of
form must be cotemporary in origin with the idea
of number, if it does not precede it, and both come
into the mind at a very early age. The arts now
referred to had probably made considerable advance
ment before any particular notice was taken of the
Geometrical principles involved in them, but, by
and by, their further progress rendered such notice
92 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
necessary, and Geometrical truths began to be recog
nized. Other truths were found by demonstration
to be contained in these, and a mass of loose Geo
metrical knowledge floated about in the minds of
men, until such Philosophers as Thales, Pythagoras,
Plato and Euclid reduced the whole to systematic
order, and found fit expression for the universal and
necessary principles upon which it is based.
Sir William Hamilton defines Logic as the "Sci
ence of the necessary Form of Thought." Abstract
as is the conception of this science in the minds
of Philosophers like Hamilton, and lofty as are now
its claims, it is probable that its beginnings consisted
in the simplest reasonings. Children reason now
almost from infancy, and we may well suppose that
men did so from the earliest times. The circum
stances by which they were surrounded compelled
them to think. They must be protected from cold
and heat, they must have food, they must defend
themselves from animals and from enemies of their
own species, and all this required the exercise of
reason. Doubtless, it was soon observed that some
reasoned well, made safe calculations, managed skil
fully. These were considered wise men, and often
became trusted rulers. In the course of time many
observations were made upon reasonings, their cor
rect forms were in a measure determined, and sources
of error were pointed out. If the History of Logic
could be written, such fragments would be found
among all people who have attained any considerable
degree of civilization. They existed in ancient
India, in Egypt, in Greece, and most likely in other
countries of antiquity. It remained for the giant
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 93
mind of Aristotle to collect them, and construct of
them a system that has won the admiration of the
world.
From what has been said, it seems likely that
Logic at first consisted of descriptions of certain
disconnected forms of thinking which men made
use of in carrying on the common affairs of life:
that afterwards these forms were compared and
simplified ; and that eventually they became entirely
abstracted from the matter which had filled them,
and Logic took its place along side of Mathematics
as a Pure science.
THE GENESIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE EMPIRI
CAL SCIENCES. — Efforts have been made to discover
the origin of the sciences belonging to this class, and
to write their history. Such efforts have been suc
cessful in accumulating a vast amount of valuable
knowledge, but no one has ever been able to point
out the time at which men first began to observe
ilie facts upon which they are based. When well
considered, this is not at all wonderful, since the very
earliest inhabitants of the earth must have observed
some of the phenomena of nature, and these obser
vations of which no record could be kept became
.the basis of all knowledge.
Our American savages have among them no such
thing as science, and yet they are in possession of
many of the elements of the sciences. They have
marked the places of some of the stars, and can
calculate the lapse of time and the change of seasons.
They can find their way through the forests, and
nave learned much concerning the properties of
94: BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
trees and plants and the habits of animals. They
are familiar with the forms and motions of the clouds
and the phenomena of rain, hail, snow, &c. They
are acquainted with the processes of fermentation
and distillation, and have noted those of growth
and decay. Indeed, they are remarkably close ob
servers of nature, and I do not believe that any
science can be named of whose fundamental facts
they do not know something. What is true of these
untutored Indians is true of all tribes or nations of
uncivilized men. Among them there is needed but
the ability to colligate and generalize to commence
the evolution of the sciences.
Children, too, become acquainted with a vast,
number of facts — facts belonging technically to all
the sciences, especially the Empirical sciences; and
these they can be taught when older to arrange into
systems of science.
The history of science and the condition of the
knowledge in the possession of uncivilized men and
of children indicate that the Empirical sciences are
merely the extension by means of reasoning of the
accumulated facts which experience has made
known. Common knowledge becomes scientific
knowledge by classification and generalization. A
common man becomes a philospher by learning to
reason.
For the purpose of illustrating the position now
taken, a few facts will be stated in the history of a
single science, Botany. "In the accounts of rudest
tribes," says Whewell, "in the earliest legends,
poetry, and literature of nations, pines and oaks,
roses and violets, the olive and the vine, and the
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 95
thousand other productions of the earth, have a
place, and are spoken of in a manner which assumes
that, in such kinds of natural objects, permanent and
infallible distinctions had been observed and univer
sally recognized." In the early stages of man's
career, however, plants and parts of plants received
names as individuals and of course were not care
fully noticed in their connections and relations.
Then came a time when much inconvenience was
felt from the use of loose and ambiguous terms and
from the multitudes of objects which required nam
ing, and men resorted to classification as a relief.
The first classifications of plants were very vague
and unscientific. Among them were that which
divided plants into trees, shrubs, and herbs ; that of
Theophrastus which divided them according to size,
use, place of growth, lactescence, and generation ; and
that of Dioscorides, which arranged them according
to their qualities, as aromatic, alimentary, medicinal,
and vinous. It is easy to see in all these classifica
tions, and in others like them, the attempt to system*
atize the results attained by the superficial observa
tions of men. The work was rendered more difficult
by the many qualities which an active fancy and
a love of the marvelous had attributed to plants.
The kind of classifications just named was
gradually displaced by others more systematic.
The fanciful gave way before the real. Step by
step, closer investigations revealed new facts, until,
at last, such Naturalists as Linnaeus and Jussieu
were enabled to place the science of Botany upon
the firm basis of the inherent resemblances and
differences existing in the vegetable world.
96 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
The Genesis of our knowledge of the Empirical
sciences generally, is believed to be fairly exem
plified by the Genesis of our knowledge of
Botany.
THE GENESIS cr OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE RATIONAL
SCIENCES. — We observe facts in the material world;
upon investigation these facts are found to have
certain relations which, when properly expressed,
are called laws — the laws of matter. We observe,
by means of our consciousness, facts in the world
of mind ; these, too, have their relations which can
be expressed in the form of laws — the laws of mind.
Thus are constituted the Empirical sciences. All
such laws, however, are dependent, contingent, and
subject to modification or limitation.
This is not the place to enter upon a lengthy dis
cussion in order to show that we are in the posses
sion of principles wholly unlike those which make
up the Empirical sciences, and which, indeed, may
be made to form the basis of a class of sciences by
themselves; but among these principles I would
place —
Certain Primary Ideas. — No one will maintain that
our idea of space or time corresponds with our con
ception of the sum of our experienced spaces and
times. Our conception of the infinite and the abso
lute is, at least, beyond our knowledge of the finite
and the relative. The ideas which we have of the
true, the beautiful, and the good, greatly transcend
the perfections of any object which our senses have
made known to us. We think of God, not merely
as a projection of our own personality with all its
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. tfi
human frailties, but as a Being endowed with all
possible virtues, without spot or blemish.
And Certain Generalized Intuitions. — I mean by
Generalized Intuitions, the axioms of Mathematics
and Logic, the maxims of Philosophy, ./Esthetics,
and Ethics, and the foundation principles of all
other sciences. I call them " Intuitions," because
they are perceived by the mind directly, without the
intervention of any discursive process. They are
without doubt, an outgrowth of our Primary Ideas.
I describe them by the word "Generalized," since,
as it seems to me, they are not found, or do not
come into the mind, except upon the presentation,
or representation, of an object or a succession of
objects, either material or mental. I distinguish
them from Empirical laws because they transcend
experience and are self-evident, universal, and neces
sary. Take the axiom — two straight lines cannot
enclose a space, and its truth is perceived at once ;
but, although felt to be self-evident, universal, and
necessary, such a truth would never have occurred
to a mind wholly unacquainted with straight lines.
The Rational Sciences, then, are the sciences
which treat of those Ideas which are the primary
sources of knowledge, and those Intuitions which
may be generalized into principles that are self-
evident, universal, and necessary. What has been
their manner of growth?
Primary Ideas, as previously stated, come into the
mind upon the presentation or representation of
some object. They are not innate in the sense in
which power of remembering or reasoning is innate ;
but they necessarily attend the function of cognition.
98 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
These Ideas do not comprehend the infinite or the
absolute, although a belief in the infinite and absolute
is founded upon them. They are things of degree,
widening as experience widens, but always trans
cending experience. Children and savages have
ideas of space and time, of the true, the beautiful,
and the good, which all the matter of their experi
ence cannot fill ; but they cannot fully realize these
ideas or find expression for them. As men ad
vance in knowledge their Primary Ideas become
more clear and more comprehensive, and finally
attract attention, and find articulate expression.
Once held up before the mind as objects of study,
philosophers evolve their contents and arrange them
in scientific order, deduce from them certain defini
tions, axioms, maxims, and fundamental truths, and
construct upon this foundation, as I suppose, all the
branches of Metaphysics. It will be noticed that I
base these sciences upon such ideas as we can form
of the object-matter now under consideration. I
do not maintain that a " Philosophy of the Uncondi
tioned" is possible, but I do maintain that a Phi
losophy of such of our knowledge as transcends
experience is possible, and I think I have showD
how it originates.
THE GENESIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORI
CAL SCIENCES. — History is an account of what man
has done, and how, and why he has done it.
History may consist in a narration of facts, and in
that case the Genesis of our knowledge of it is very
obvious. All tribes of uncivilized men have their
traditions. They are re]ated by parents to their
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 99
children, and by the old to the young. They con
tain some truth intermixed, doubtless, with much
that is fabulous. When a people become a little more,
advanced in civilization, these traditions, in the form
of myths or legends, are frequently sung or recited in
verse by individuals who make a profession of it.
They are sometimes commemorated by rude figures
cut upon the surface of rocks, or by rough piles of
stone. After having learned to write, it is not long
till men begin to compose History ; at first full of
fancy and fiction, by and by it becomes more truth
ful, and assumes its proper place in Literature.
Thus, the simple stories that may be told in the
cabins or around the council-fires of a tribe of
savages, become, in the course of centuries, the
basis of the great tomes written by a thousand pens,
which narrate in choice words and polished style the
teeming events of the past.
History may be the exposition of a Philosophy,
and then our study of it can only properly begin
after we have acquired much other knowledge upon
which it depends. The Philosophy of History is
the Philosophy of man ; and as he was the last of
created things — the crowning glory of the whole, to
understand him all else must be understood. A
knowledge of him, indeed, is necessa?y to complete
all other knowledge ; but, in the order of things,
we must approach the study of mind through the
Rtudy of matter.
THE GENESIS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS. —
Man undoubtedly was created with the power of
making things. He was an artificer from the be-
100 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
ginning. Birds build nests, beavers make dams,
bees construct combs in which to store their honey,
and the most primitive races of men were endowed
with similar but higher mechanical powers. It is
not possible to account for the origin and growth of
the Arts without admitting that this inventive, crea
ting instinct is the foundation upon which they are
based. This power was probably stimulated into
exercise by necessity. Food, clothing, protection
from the elements and from wild beasts, were, at
least, needed by the earliest inhabitants of the earth,
and such wants must be supplied; and, doubtless,
under their pressure the first rude Arts made their
appearance. The kinds of food first used were nuts,
berries and other fruits, and sometimes roots. Flesh
did not come into use until later, and then it was
eaten raw. No cooking was done in these early
times. The primitive inhabitants of the earth
clothed themselves with the leaves of trees or the
skins of animals. Caves and hollow trees were the
first houses, and clubs and stones the first imple
ments of warfare. "With these to start with, the
human race commenced that career of progress
which excites the wonder of all who contemplate it,
but which can be illustrated here by only a few
examples.
The Greeks classed Drawing, Writing, and Paint
ing together, as having a common basis, and applied
to them the common name 7pa<pix^, or Graphics. It
is to be presumed that men would early endeavor
to represent the strange forms which they saw about
them. The first written communications with one
another were probably of this nature. As a matter
THE GENESIS OF
of fact a kind of picture-writing or picture-drawing,
has been found to exist among a number of tribes
low down in the scale of civilization. These rude
drawings were sometimes colored, and thus came
the first attempts at Painting. The colors, however,
were put on with little skill, just as savages paint
their faces or children daub pictures on paper. It
was not till influenced by the fine scenery and
polished culture of Greece that this difficult art
assumed any thing like perfection. As Drawing,
in the course of time, branched off into Painting, so
also it was the source from which "Writing was
developed. Things were first represented by pic
tures, and as these, where frequently used, became
very familiar, their forms were very much changed
and greatly abbreviated to render them more easily
and quickly made. By and by, some of them be
came symbolical, as a picture of a circle represented
eternity, and one of a fox, cunning. Then the same
characters, or the same characters somewhat modi
fied, were used to represent monosyllabic words,
and when these were compounded, syllables of these
words. At last they were made to stand for sounds,
and the Alphabet was invented. Thanks to some
old Egyptian king, whose vanity built the Pyramids
and inscribed them all over with hieroglyphics, for
these same hieroglyphics tell, in unequivocal lan
guage, the story just related. Champollion and
others seem to have found among them pictures
representing things in every state of transition until
they became letters representing sounds; that is,
they found the same characters to be ideographic,
verbal, syllabic, and phonetic.
9*
,102 : BUI L DTI? G- THE FOUNDATION.
Even in the most polished styles of Architecture
it is thought the influence of the primitive abodes
of men may be traced. The Egyptian style re
sembles caves ; the Chinese, tents ; the Grecian, huts ;
and the Gothic, hollow trees, or trees themselves, pine
or fir. Trees driven into the earth in rows to sup
port a covering may represent columns wider in
diameter below and narrower above as trees are.
The bases of columns may have been suggested by
blocks of stone placed under wooden pillars to keep
them from dampness, and the capitals by boards
laid on the tops of such pillars to broaden the place
of support for the structure which rested upon them.
Sculpture in its beginnings had a close relation
to Architecture. Stone, without doubt, was early
quarried and cut for the purpose of building. Carv
ings for ornament on rocks and the walls of caves,
succeeded carvings intended to preserve the memory
of real forms or interesting events. These carvings
were at first slight indentations merely presenting
the outlines of the figures, afterwards they were cut
out more fully and assumed the form of bas-relief,
and finally we may reasonably suppose whole statues
were chiseled out. Piles of stone were the first
monuments, then came plain monuments cut from
solid rocks in place, and these among the Greeks
assumed the form of highly beautified sculpture
representing gods and men.
Poetry and Music, closely related as they are,
probably had a cotemporary origin. No tribe of
savages has ever been found who had not forms of
measured words and who did not indulge in singing
them. The Poetry is often barbarous, and the Music,
THE GENESIS OF KNOW-LEDGE. > >- , ,103
a succession of discordant sounds ; but they are the
first rude beginnings of arts that have done muct
to elevate mankind. The first musical instruments
were probably made of metals, as the Chinese gongs;
of the skins of animals, whence our drums ; of reeds
or the bark of small trees, whence our pipes, flutes,
and organs; and of strings, whence lyres, harps,
and pianos.
Agriculture must have been practiced very early,
but the implements used for loosening the soil were
at first sharpened sticks, next came implements of
stone, and after long ages those of iron. Some trade
was probably carried on by all uncivilized nations,
but it consisted merely in exchanges of articles used
for food, clothing, or protection. Rivers were at
first navigated on logs, which afterwards were hol
lowed out into canoes. A few of the properties of
vegetables seem to have been discovered at an early
day, and certain of them used for medicines among
all primitive people.
Sufficient has now been said concerning the
Genesis of our Knowledge to warrant a few general
izations which have an important educational sig
nificance :
First, Knowledge as a whole seems to have been de
veloped from the common observations of men stimulated
by animal or spiritual wants. — In the early history of
the race, the pressure of animal wants seems to have
done most to promote science and art ; but in all
times, and especially in highly civilized nations,
men have been moved to the attainment of know
ledge by the wants of their spiritual nature. This
1Q4 B,UILI>1NG THE FOUNDATION.
is the case whenever knowledge is sc light for its
own sake or with the end in view of making more
perfect him who seeks it.
In addition to what has already been said in sup
port of the main proposition, the opinion of the
learned Philologist, Max Miiller, may be quoted.
He says, " However humiliating it may sound, every
one of our sciences, however grand their titles, can
be traced back to the most humble and homely
occupations of half-savage tribes. It was not the
true, the good, and the beautiful, which spurred the
early philosophers to deep researches and bold dis
coveries. The foundation-stone of the most glorious
structures of human ingenuity in ages to come, was
supplied by the pressing wants of a patriarchal and
semi-barbarous society."
I know indeed that it is argued by some, that
Adam and his immediate descendants must have
received knowledge as a gift from the Divine hand,
inasmuch as no savage nation has ever been known
to civilize itself. But this theory does not account
for the fact that new discoveries and new inventions
have been made, and surely all that is known con
cerning the evolution of the sciences and arts is
against it. The correct theory probably is that God
endowed the first men with the power of gaining
knoivledge, that he has continued so to endow man,
and that all progress in learning and skill is owing
to the operation of this power moved by causes
in the condition and circumstances of men, and
prompted at times, doubtless, by the direct agency
of the spirit of God. It stems clear to me that the
problem of human civilization :«j impossible of sola-
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 105
tion without an acknowledgment of the direct inter
position of Deity in the affairs of men.
Second. A Course of Instruction should commence
with the General Elements of Knowledge. — Children
evince their knowledge-acquiring power by noticing
objects, and learning their qualities and phenomena.
They evince their art-producing power by changing
the places of objects, and forming them into new
combinations ; by piling up blocks, building play
houses, cutting figures from paper, and imitating
the words and actions of those about them. What
has been said concerning the Genesis of our Know
ledge goes to show that, as children acquire know
ledge now, so men acquired it in the infancy of the
race. It is, therefore, clear that instruction must
begin with the elements of knowledge.
These elements should be made to comprehend
as much as possible — should not be confined to a
few particular branches, but be general. It is a
great mistake to push children into the higher parts
of any one study until they have learned the ele
ments of many studies. For example, the principles
of Grammar and Arithmetic are studied by many
who ought to be studying the elements of the Natu
ral Sciences, or other branches adapted to their
mental condition. Thousands of children are thus
mentally surfeited every year, and the result is a
mental dyspepsia in early youth that entails, during
their whole life-time, sad consequences upon ita
poor victims.
Third. The second great step in a Course of Instruc-
106 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION".
tion should be to acquaint pupils with Particular Branches
of Knotvledge. — A child learns facts and phenomena
as they present themselves. He may, in a single
day, learn such as belong technically to twenty
different sciences and arts.
At its base all science is united, has only one
trunk ; but it soon begins to divide and subdivide
into numerous branches. The homogeneous be
comes the heterogeneous by a wonderful process of
differentiation. The undefined elements of general
science become the well-defined elements of par
ticular sciences. And as is the growth of the sci
ences so must they be studied.
Branching from the same trunk, the sciences
never lose their reciprocal relationship, and always
shed mutual light upon one another, yet they are
sufficiently distinct to admit of independent study.
Beyond the elements, therefore, the several branches
of science maybe pursued, each by itself, all together,
or a few at a time.
Educational institutions almost universally have
what is called a Course of Study. Each pupil
studies A few branches at a time, and when he is
thought to have completed these to the extent
desired, he commences others, and thus goes on
until he has mastered the prescribed course. What
use has thus sanctioned will generally be found the
best policy.
If a pupil enjoy an opportunity of pursuing a
course of study wisely arranged according to this
plan, it will be well for him to follow it through
Common School, High School, and College, and,
afterwards, if the desire exist, and the way open, htf
THE GENESIS OF KNOWLEDGE. 107
may apply himself to some particular science or
department of science. Considerable general know
ledge must be possessed, and a good degree of mentai
discipline be attained, before fresh investigators can
push their inquiries beyond the present limits of
some existing science, or make discoveries worthy
the name of a new one ; and a life-time is too short
to accomplish much in a wider, unexplored field of
research than a single science affords. In fewer
words, the plan proposed is this : teach, first, the
elements of the sciences in general ; next, teach in
detail the most important principles of the several
sciences composing a carefully arranged course of
study ; and last, let those who can, make themselves
masters of some special branch of science, and push
their inquiries beyond what is known respecting it.
This is essentially the plan adopted in countries
where learning has made the greatest progress ;
and it is the only plan which can secure to the stu
dent general scholarship under the greatest advan
tages, and, at the same time, afford him opportunity,
with the fairest prospects of success, of fathoming
the depths of some special science, and adding, in
that direction, something to the sum of human
knowledge.
Fourth, A Course of Instruction should End by
Teaching the Relationship and Harmony of all Know
ledge. — It would be a difficult thing to determine the
lines which separate one science or one art from
another. Knowledge is not composed of indepen
dent facts and principles, all its parts belong to one
whole; and the Philosopher is always distinguished
108 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
from the mere Scholar by his broad, comprehensive
generalizations which mark the unity of created
things and from which may be inferred the unity of
the creating Mind.
No course of study can be considered complete
until the logical relations of all its parts have been
exhibited. Pupils pursuing different studies, treated
of in different works by different authors, and some
times taught by different teachers, are apt to over
look their relationship and harmony. Each branch
becomes isolated, and pupils are required to study
the details of particular sciences when they ought
to be engaged in learning the principles of general
science. It is hardly possible in school, for example,
to teach, in full detail, any one of the Natural
Sciences, but it is possible to teach the great, leading
principles of all of them. The specific study of the
sciences should, therefore, be followed by the general
study of science. A course of study should not end
in a number of points but in a centre. The skill of
an architect cannot be fully appreciated while his
work lies scattered in disjointed fragments, so the
value of science is much lessened and its beauty
much obscured to him whose study ends in contem
plating disconnected facts, broken systems, and
inharmonious expressions. Comte says : " The
present exclusive speciality of our pursuits, and the
consequent isolation of the sciences, spoil our teach
ing. If any student desires to form an idea of Na
tural Philosophy, as a whole, he is compelled to go
through each department as it is now taught, as if
he were to be only an Astronomer, or only a Chemist ;
so that, be his intellect what it may, his training
THE ORDER OF STUDY.
must remain very imperfect. And yet his object
requires that he should obtain general positive con
ceptions of all the classes of natural phenomena.
It is such an aggregate of conceptions of all classes,
whether on a great or on a small scale, which must
henceforth be the permanent basis of all human
combinations. It will constitute the mind of future
generations. In order to this regeneration of our
intellectual system, it is necesssary that the sciences,
considered as branches from one trunk, should yield
us, as a whole, their chief methods and their most
important results. The specialities of science can
be pursued by those whose vocation lies in that
direction. They are indispensable, and they are
not likely to be neglected, but they can never of
themselves renovate our system of Education."
III. The Order of Study.
It was previously stated that the sciences do not
admit of a serial arrangement. In their primary
elements, all of them are equally simple, and in their
ultimate principles all of them are equally difficult.
They can be cultivated simultaneously, or they can
be cultivated as they grew up, first, in the form
of general elements ; second, in the form of special
sciences ; and, last, in the form of the philosophy of
science. Upon these points, however, sufficient has
already been said.
In the discussion which is to follow, concerning
methods of teaching the several branches of study,
much care will be taken to point out the order in
which the several parts of each branch should be
10
llO BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
taught, and this will render unnecessary an investi
gation of the same subject in this place. It is de
signed here to show what different studies or parts
of different studies can be profitably pursued simul
taneously. Our aim will not be to name these
studies so much with reference to their logical rela
tions among themselves as with respect to their
adaptation to the mental condition of pupils when
they engage in their study. Constant reference will
be had to the Classification of Knowledge already
presented.
Our education should never end, but that portion
of our days which we appropriately devote almost
exclusively to obtaining an education, may be called
the school-time of life. Our school-time of life may
be divided into four periods; the first embracing
the time from birth to the age of five years ; the
second, from the age of five to ten ; the third, from
ten to sixteen ; and the fourth, from sixteen to
twenty-one. The first of these periods may be
called Infancy; the second, Childhood; the third,
Youth; and the fourth, Manhood. This classification
will be of much practical value, but from the nature
of the case it is a very loose one. The task we
undertake is to name the branches of learning or
the kind of study suitable for each period. A
general statement is all that is practicable, and each
teacher must work out the details for himself with
the aid furnished him in subsequent chapters.
FIRST PERIOD. — Infancy. — The first care of a
mother is to preserve her infant's health. The
THE ORDER OF STUDY. Ill
large number of deaths which occur during infancy
pvoves such care to be necessary.
Not less important than the preservation of their
h jalth is the formation of the character of young
ciildren. Those traits of character which distin-
gaish a child at five years of age are most likely to
distinguish him through life. Much influence may
be allowed to the laws of hereditary descent, their
due weight may be given to the circumstances of
the school and of general society, and it will still be
tr ae that whether an individual possess the virtues of
industry, perseverance, honesty, manliness, bravery,
kindness, piety, and the like, or otherwise, will de
pend mainly upon the home instruction, or rather
home-impressions, which children receive during the
first five years of life. But we are at present con
cerned only with the intellectual acquisitions which
a child can make during the period of Infancy.
These intellectual acquisitions have been expressed
by the terms Elements of Knowledge, and are con
sidered to form the bases of all we know. Such
knowledge comes from an experience with objects,
and is best learned, as will be shown hereafter, in
series of lessons given without much regard to the
scientific arrangement of their subject-matter. All
classes of knowledge may be profitably embraced
in a single lesson. Here, however, it may be best
to point out what a child may learn during the
period of Infancy concerning the elementary facts,
phenomena, and forms of the great classes into
which it has been deemed expedient to divide our
knowledge.
An infant learns to speak. It is a vvonderful pro-
112 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
cess, and requires the guiding care of parents. The
speaking instinct must be encouraged to manifest
itself with the utmost freedom. The sounds of the
language must be correct! jr uttered and proper forms
of expression must be furnished, and the child's
faltering tongue be taught to imitate them. If a
child listen to good language, he will know no
other. All bad habits of speech should be carefully
corrected.
Number is an idea which we obtain very early.
Before the age of five, a child may be taught to
count objects, and to add and subtract small num
bers by their means. He must be able to conceive
forms in order to tell one object from another. lie
reasons, too, and should have his opportunities of so
doing multiplied.
Before a child can speak, objects may be given to
him, and he will learn many of their properties in play
ing with them. Well-selected toys may be made to
furnish valuable information. The more he is allowed
to hear and see, the sharper will be his senses and
the more he will remember. It can hardly be said
with sufficient emphasis that the kind of instruction
most suitable for Infancy is that which is addressed
to the senses and the powers of perception — that
which can be best imparted by the direct presenta
tion of objects and their phenomena or vivid pic
tures of them. The intense curiosity of cMldren
prompts them to seek what is new, but they uotice
things as individuals, not in their connection's and
nature on the surface so presents them. The Em
pirical sciences are based upon the facts cf r»\pe
rience, and, if allowed fit opportunity, a ht<le ?hvld
THE ORDER OF STUDY. 113
will become acquainted with multitudes of these
facts.
• Durir.g the period now referred to, the principles
of the Rational sciences cannot be made the direct
object of instruction ; but it is very evident that they
are operative in the minds of children. They recog
nize the truth of such axioms as " A whole is greater
than any of its parts" in relation to particular things,
although they do not generalize them or understand
thftir verbal expression. They also can be trained
IP a degree to discriminate between truth and false
hood, beauty and deformity, and right and wrong.
Ko part of elementary education can be of greater
importance than that of teaching the young to make
these recognitions and discriminations, but there is
no part of it more neglected.
Nothing delights a child more than stories, narra
tives, and personal incidents, if related or read in
language which he can understand. Good fruit
could be produced by instruction of this kind.
Children can learn to sing almost as soon as they
can learn to talk. At the age of three or four, they
will draw figures on a slate or blackboard, cut paper,
mould clay, build play-houses, and imitate many
simple, mechanical contrivances. Such educators
as Pestalozzi and De Fellenberg understood this
want of children and provided for it.
SECOND PERIOD. — Childhood. — If during the period
of his life between the ages of five and ten years,
a child does not learn to speak well, it is scarcely
'ikely that he will ever do so. Pure models should
oe furnished him; and he may be taught to speak
10*
114 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
foreign languages as well as his mother-tongue.
Exercises in Pronouncing, Spelling, Reading and
Composing, may be commenced and prosecuted
during this period. The meaning of a gieat number
of words may be learned if properly illustrated and
explained. Lessons on classes of words may be
given, but Grammar proper is a study too difficult
for children under the age of ten.
During this period children can be readily taught
to read and write numbers, and to perform the
Mathematical operations of Addition, Subtraction,
Multiplication, and Division, both of Integers and
Fractions. These operations should be performed
at first with objects, and both the mental and written
forms of solution ought to be practiced. They may
engage with great profit in the solution of simple
problems involving these fundamental rules, but
they cannot make much progress in reasoning about
the relations of numbers. Pupils of this age, too,
may be made acquainted with Geometrical figures
and their properties so far as they can be exhibited
to the eye by diagrams or blocks. Any except the
simplest attempts at demonstration would be out of
place. No generalization of the reasoning process
can be understood by a child of ten years of age,
and, therefore, theoretical Logic is beyond his reach.
lie can reason, however, and should be encouraged
to use his powers in this respect. His questions
should be answered, and he should be led to seek
for the causes of things.
From five to ten years of age, the powers of the
mind which are predominantly active are the senses,
the perceptive faculties, the memory, and the fancy;
THE ORDER OF STUDY. 115
and these fit the mind for making observations and
storing away facts. It cannot be doubted, therefore,
that much time during this period should be spent
in the study of the elements of the Empirical sciences.
A child may be made familiar with thousands of in
teresting facts, and learn the names of thousands of
interesting objects. He may thus be made acquainted
with the elements of Geography, Botany, Zoology,
Astronomy, Natural Philosophy, Physiology, and
other sciences like them. The simple facts of this
class of sciences seem to be particularly adapted to
the capacity of children between the ages of five
and ten, and peculiarly pleasing to their tastes.
They are keenly alive to all that is new, or strange,
or curious. Before the age of ten, however, it should
be remembered, a child is not prepared to appreciate
generalizations, abstractions, systems, or theories,
and it is folly to attempt to teach them to him.
Children cannot be made philosophers ; but the
condition of their mental nature admirably fits them
for learning the names and more obvious properties
of the multitudes of objects which the bountiful
hand of God has scattered all about us as if His
purpose was to furnish means of pleasing and
instructing little children.
Rational science is beyond the capacity of children
of ten years of age ; but the principles upon which
such sciences are founded, as previously stated, may
be made operative in their minds. They operate,
indeed, in the minds of all persons, however young
or ignorant; but by a studied presentation of occa
sions calculated to call them into activity, the mind
receives that discipline which eventually prepares it
116 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION1.
for their apprehension and systematic elaboration,
The kind of instruction, therefore, that was con
sidered proper up to the age of five must be con
tinued to the age of ten and longer. Any attempt
to teach a child of this age to account for principles
which are to him simply instincts that guide his
life, or to make him comprehend even the first steps
of a systematically arranged Rational science, would
prove a fruitless labor. As inductions from par
ticular facts, such principles can be understood by
a child ; but as abstract principles, independent of
facts but conditioning them, they can be compre
hended only by mature minds. To open the minds
of his pupils to the comprehension of these princi
ples in the only form in which they can be under
stood, as a preparation for understanding them in
that higher form in which they become our main
reliance in solving the greatest problems of life, is
the highest duty of the educator.
History, when presented in a form suited to their
capacity, has great attractions for children. They
like the play of life — like to read accounts of voyages,
travels, and past events, and they do not forget what
they read. They are especially fond of the novel
and the marvelous. Fiction might be made highly
useful in the work of education. A Fiction may
be a faithful portraiture of life, and as such to be
commended. The strong appetite which the young
manifest for this kind of literature is not without
its meaning. With judicious management it can be
gratified without harm, and in due time will give
place to other mental appetites, for which it is, ir/
part, a preparation.
THE ORDER OF STUDY. 117
In the Arts, at this age, a pupil can be learning to
draw and write. His Drawing ought to be confined
to copying pictures, drawing simple objects from
nature, and inventing easy patterns. lie ought to
learn to work, to imitate models, and to handle
tools. It will do him good to visit shops and manu
factories, lie should be taught to sing, and may
begin to take lessons upon some musical instrument.
Pictures will delight him, but not those which re
present some abstract idea, but those rather which
exhibit life.
THIRD PERIOD. — Youth. — With respect to Lan
guage, instruction, during this period, should be
continued in all that relates to Reading and Com
position. The pupil's vocabulary of words should
be enlarged by careful study. The Grammar of the
English language may be commenced at ten, and,
if other languages are to be studied, they may be
commenced at the same age. Some progress may
DC made in speaking, reading, and writing our own
and other languages before this age; but their formal
study cannot profitably commence earlier. A course
of reading in both prose and poetry should be con
tinued through the whole period of youth.
In Mathematics, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Alge
bra can be completed by the time a pupil is sixteen
years of age, at least so far as these subjects are
treated of in our ordinary text-books. During this
period, pupils must be carefully trained to habits of
correct reasoning — they must be taught to observe
the laws of Logic in their thinking. The higher
generalizations of abstract Logic may be beyond
118 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
their reach, but they can be made acquainted with
the most useful forms of syllogism, and with the
modes of discovering truth and exposing error.
Competent to classify and generalize, the youth
of from ten to sixteen years of age may study the
properties and phenomena of objects in connection
with the laws that govern their relations. To do
this he must not only observe, but he must search
and make experiments ; and he should be so taught
that he may rise gradually from the sphere of scat
tered facts to the sphere of united systems. During
this period great progress ought to be made in
sciences like Geography, Physiology, Natural Phi
losophy, Chemistry, Botany, and Astronomy. The
facts relating to them should be classified, inferences
should be drawn, and a general preparation should
be made for the full discussion of their highest
principles.
The time for the study of the Rational sciences
does not come to many before the age of sixteen.
Instruction relating to them should, therefore, be
continued in the spirit of that described as appro
priate for the period of childhood. In addition,
however, at about the age of sixteen, pupils may be
taught the distinction between universal, necessary,
and self-evident truths and such as are empirical.
Forms of expression may be given to some of the
grand maxims which constitute the basis of aJi
science, and pupils be taught to realize their truth.
Undefined standards of truth, beauty, and goodness
can be applied with great profit. Progress can be
made in the arts which depend upon the principles
THE OKDER OF STUDY. 119
of the Rational sciences long before these principles
themselves can be made an object of thought.
During the period of youth, History should
occupy a prominent place among the studies of
every pupil who desires a liberal education, or who
desires to guide his own life by the lamp of past
experience. First in importance is the History of
one's own country, then that of other countries
most closely related to it, or that of those which
have played the most important part in the world's
affairs. Biographies of the good and great will be
read with avidity, and are well calculated to exert a
favorable influence upon the young. The historical
development of the several sciences will furnish
matter of much interest. From these sources, vast
stores of lacts can be collected, and will furnish a
basis for the generalizations which belong to tho
Philosophy of History.
Sufficient skill for the ordinary purposes of life
may be acquired in Writing and Drawing during
this period. Instruction in Vocal Music should
continue, and if proficiency in Instrumental Music,
Painting, or any other branch of an ornamental
education be desirable, it can be most rapidly at
tained during the years between ten and sixteen.
I think the Formal and the Empirical Sciences can
be most effectually taught in connection with the ap
plication of their principles to the arts of which they
are the bases. Sciences like Arithmetic, Chemistry,
and Astronomy, excite much more interest in the
minds of students when they see that they can be
made praciical — when they see their use in the
arts. When the young exhibit special mechanical
120 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
talent, or special talent in an art of any kind, that
talent should receive special culture.
FOURTH PERIOD. — Manhood. — At the termination
of this period, the scholastic course of study is
supposed to be completed.
Suitable studies in language are Rhetoric, Criti
cism, Literature, and foreign languages, both an
cient and modern.
Studies in the Formal Sciences should embrace
the higher Mathematics and Logic. Their relations
to other sciences should be pointed out, and an
application of their principles should be made.
The more abstruse principles of the Empirical
Sciences studied during this period, can be mas
tered ; and such principles, and the relations of
these sciences to one another, are proper objects of
study for minds approaching maturity. Pupils
may be encouraged to select some one of the
sciences, and to prosecute original investigations
with respect to it. The ambition to add something
to the sum of human knowledge is a worthy one.
This period should be characterized by the study
of the Rational Sciences, furnishing as they do the
noblest themes for human thought, and the best
means of mental discipline. It will be found, too,
that their principles underlie all other sciences, and
are necessary to their full comprehension. That
teacher deserves the name of wise man, who, taking
his pupils through many sciences, leads them at last
to the firm conviction that faith is the only sure
basis of all philosophy ; and this, when well under
stood, is the spirit of all Metaphysical study.
THE ORDER OF STUDY. 121
History must now embrace the History of science
and the History of philosophy, as well as reveal the
principles that have ever worked changes in tb.e
affairs of men. Its highest province is to embrace
all science and all art in its comprehensive narra
tions, and to trace out the causes and effects of
human actions, and thus solve the problem or
human life.
If it is thought proper to continue the study of
Drawing through any part of this period, it may
include the principles of Shading and Perspective.
Mechanical and Architectural Drawing might, in
some cases, be taught. The time to be devoted to
Music must depend upon other circumstances than
those which arise from its nature. This, too, is the
case with other arts, such as Painting, whicn are
considered more ornamental than useful. From
the age of sixteen to twenty-one, the realities of life
begin to press themselves upon the attention of the
young man or the young woman. They select a
profession, or seek to prepare themselves for some
kind of business. They feel the need of a profes
sional education ; and such an education aims not
to impart knowledge of the sciences, but skill in
the arts. The highest of all arts is the art of living
well, and to this art all science contributes. Excep
tions apparently to the common order of things are
the gifted sons of Genius — the great Artists of the
world. To them we are indebted for the noblest
creations of the human mind ; and, though but one
such person — poet or prophet — appear in a century,
a broad system of education cannot be unmindful
of the great fact.
11
122 BUILDING THE FOUNDATION.
What has now been written is intended to intro
duce a discussion of those detailed methods of
instruction of which it is the special object of this
work to treat. In accordance with the classifica
tion of studies already made, the remaining part of
the volume will be divided into seven chapters as
follows :
I. INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
II. INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
III. INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
IV. INSTRUCTION IN THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES
V. INSTRUCTION IN THE RATIONAL SCIENCES.
VI. INSTRUCTION IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
VII. INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
CHAPTER 1.
INSTRUCTION IN THE ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
What is meant by the elements of knowledge has
i ready been explained. The elements of each
branch of knowledge, or of each class of branches,
might be treated of in connection with the discus-
sis, n of the methods of teaching that branch or that
ctass of branches ; but practically these elements are
noC separated but combined in early education. A
child cannot study the sciences, but he can study
the general facts which form their bases.
Ti.e whole subject will be discussed in two sec
tions as follows :
I. Informal Instruction in the Elements of
Knowledge.
II. Formal Instruction in the Elements of
Knowledge.
"Unaer the first Head it is intended to speak of
thai irwruction in the elements of knowledge which
a cr.ila acquires from parents, companions, and the
circanifltances that surround him, without any
special teacher or any set lessons. Under the second
the design is to discuss that kind of instruction
which is now generally known by the name of
Object Lessons.
(123)
124 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
I Informal Instruction in the Elements of
Knowledge. — How interesting to the educator is
the infant soul in its efforts to attain freedom !
"Wrapt in sleep, how softly it awakens to a state of
conscious existence ! Closely folded within the
depths whence it comes, how gently its tender
germs seek the light! An angel sent from God,
with what seeming hesitation it sets its delicate
feet upon the rough earth !
We know not what impressions a child may have
received before that time, hut the beginning of its
instruction may be dated from the moment it knows
itself — from the moment it shows, by looks or
actions, that it recognizes something apart from its
own being. Commencing at this tender age, a child
must receive instruction suited in kind and method
to its capacity. Children exhibit in their mental
manifestations and predilections the kind of instruc
tion and training which they need. There are
internal impulses which prompt them to satisfy
their mental cravings. By carefully watching the
outward play of these impulses, we may be guided
in selecting the most appropriate means and methods
of educating the young. "Follow the indications
of nature," said Rousseau. In order to make the
subject as definite as possible, the most important
educational inferences which can be derived in this
way, will be expressed in a series of propositions:
1. CHILDREN SHOULD BE ALLOWED AMPLE OPPOR
TUNITIES FOR EXERCISING THEIR SENSES. — A child
can exercise the senses of touching, tasting, and
smelling before it can see and hear. Of the two
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 125
last named senses I am not sure which is first awak
ened, that of seeing or hearing; but when a few
weeks old an infant will look at bright cHors and
seem pleased with certain sounds. When a little
older, it will follow with its gaze the motions cf
objects which attract its attention, and smile at the
sound of voices or of music. Soon after it learns to
hold and handle things, and to play with them, and
all the senses begin to develop themselves rapidly.
The maternal instincts of mothers generally teach
them how to supply the intellectual wants of their
young children. They suffer them to gaze at the
lamp, or the open fire, at the sunlight as passing
through openings in the window-blinds it plays
npon the floor or about the curtains, at the bright
colors of flowers, buttons, or clothing. They allow
them to look through the casement at what they
can see in yard, garden, street, or field. They
amuse them with talking and singing, with rattles,
little bells, or gingling keys. They place in their
hands numerous playthings differing in size, shape,
texture, and color. They let them look at animals
in motion, vehicles passing on the highway, and
trees moved by the wind. No better mode of
awakening the slumbering intellect of a child than
this could be pointed out. It needs but to be
applied with more intelligence. Mothers might
place before their infants a great variety of objects
presenting marked contrasts in color and sound;
they might select and change their playthings with
more judgment, and make more attractive the world
of nature about them.
The mental growth of a child from the time it
11*
126 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
becomes conscious of the existence of objects around
it until the time it can walk is truly wonderful. It8
power of discriminating colors, sounds, and consist
encies is greatly increased. Its senses are rapidly
developed. It becomes alive to all that is passing
around it, and exhibits a strong inclination to touch
and handle all objects within its reach. It learns to
walk, and then commences the active exercise of its
newly found powers. Drawers are opened, baskets
upset, cupboards and closets explored, flowers
plucked. The child seeks objects about the
kitchen, parlor, shop, yard, garden, and, if allowed,
on the highway or in the street. It is wide awake,
and knowledge seems to be taken in through every
pore.
This is a precious season in which to sow the seeds
of knowledge. Mothers especially at this time
enjoy opportunities of pouring instruction into the
opening mind. Says Harriet Martineau, "If the
mother is at work, and the children are running in
and out of the garden, it is only saying to the little
toddler, 4 Now bring me a blue flower ; now bring me
a yellow flower; now bring me a green leaf.' At
another time she will ask for a round stone ; or a
thick stick ; or a thin stick. And sometimes she
will blow a feather, and let it fall again ; or she will
blow a dandelion-head all to pieces, and quite away.
If she is wise she will let the child alone, to try its
own little experiments, and learn for itself what is
hard, and what is soft; what is heavy, and light; hot,
and cold ; and what it can do with its little limbs
and quick senses. Taking care, of course, that it
does not injure itself, and that it has objects within
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 127
reach in sufficient variety, she can do no better, at
this season of its life, than to let it be busv in its
own way. I saw a little fellow, one day, intently
occupied for a whole breakfast- time, and some time
afterwards, in trying to put the key of the house-
door into the key-hole of the tea-caddy. "When he
gave the matter up, and not before, his mother helped
him to see why he could not do it. If she had taken
the door-key from him at first, he would have missed
a valuable lesson. At this period of existence, the
children of rich and poor have, or may have, about
equal advantages, under the care of sensible parents.
They can be busy about anything. There is nothing
that cannot be made a plaything of, and a certain
means of knowledge, if the faculties be awake. If
the child be dull, it must, of course, be tempted to
play. If the faculties be in their natural state of
liveliness, the mother has only to be aware that the
little creature must be busy while it is awake, and
to see that it has variety enough of things (the sim
pler the better) to handle, and look at, and listen to,
and experiment upon."
2. CHILDREN SHOULD BE INSTRUCTED IN LEARNING TO
TALK. — Children are characterized by talkativeness.
They possess a wonderful capacity to learn words
and to form them into sentences. When five years
of age, children have been known to speak with
considerable fluency five different languages.
The use of language renders the acquirement of
knowledge more easy and rapid, if it is not essential
to it; and in this, probably, may be found the rea
son why children are endowed with the remarkable
128 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
power just referred to. A child likes to know the
names of all he sees, and is constantly asking,
" What's this?" and "What's that?" lie prattles
all day with father, mother, brother, sister, servant,
playmate ; and, when no one will listen, he talks to
his cat, bird, dog, toys, or to himself. It is just as
natural for him to do this as it is for a plant to grow,
or a bird to sing ; and his nature could not indicate
more clearly that it is the duty of parents or teachers
to instruct him in learning to talk.
A child in learning to talk performs two distinct
operations : the first, one of association ; the second,
one of imitation. He first associates certain verbal
utterances with particular things or thoughts, and
afterwards learns to imitate them. In learning a
word, therefore, a child must hear it correctly ut
tered, and then learn to utter it correctly himself.
Instruction in learning to talk can be given to a
child in two ways : first, indirectly, by good ex
ample ; second, directly, by correcting his errors
and presenting him proper models for imitation.
Parents should be careful, as far as practicable, to
suffer their children to listen to none but pure and
proper language, for they will imitate the language
to which they listen. If the words they hear spoken
are bad words, or the sentences uttered in their
presence are inelegant or ungrammatical, no care in
after life can completely correct the improper habits
of speech thus formed. In order to prevent their
children from forming such habits, parents should
use good language in talking with them or in their
presence, and be careful in the selection of servants,
governesses, and others with whom they come in
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 129
contact. Especially should this care be exercised
in the choice of companions and playmates. A
single afternoon spent in play with those who use
them, will serve to introduce into a child's vocab
ulary quite a list of bad words and uncouth ex
pressions. His taste is thus blunted, and his heart
may be poisoned. The Gracchi, it is said, were
indebted to their mother's conversation for their
eloquence ; and Alexander could never get rid of
the defects of manner, gait, and speech which he con
tracted in his infancy from his instructor, Leonidas.
Every one, indeed, must have noticed the difference
in the language of children whose parents and asso
ciates exhibited good taste in their speech, and that
of those who did not possess this characteristic. The
scanty vocabulary and the rough forms of speech
which characterize the poor peasant-child, whose
parents are ignorant, contrast strongly with the full
flow of words and finely formed sentences wrhich
distinguish the child whose parents are educated
and refined.
In addition to this indirect but most effective
teaching by example, parents should take advantage
of their. capability of learning words so readily to
impart to their children mo^ directly certain kinds
- of instruction in language. It may be done by
attentively noticing their articulation and their im
proper forms of expression, and CA^efully correcting
them. For this time and patience will be required.
The corrections should be made mere in the manner
of play than of formal instruction. Ths child could
not appreciate reasons if given. The parent, nothing
the fault, should present the correct modc\
130 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
playfully induce the child to imitate it, once, twice,
or as many times as may be necessary, until the
difficulty shall be overcome.
At two years of age, a child will understand little
stories, if related or read to him in simple language,
and such exercises furnish valuable lessons. After
receiving them, children immediately exhibit in
their conversation the forms of expression thus
acquired. I cannot recommend these exercises of
conversing and reading with children too highly.
They should be engaged in every day. Those mis-
pronunciations and misconstructions, called "baby-
talk," however, are generally both hurtful to the
child and unbecoming to the parent.
Children can be taught to speak in learning to
sing or in hearing others sing. They are nearly
always fond of music, and will gladly commit little
songs and hymns, and thus improve their speech
while they cheer the household with their joyful
melodies.
3. CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE THEIR APPETITE FOR
KNOWLEDGE GRATIFIED. — It has already been shown
that children should be allowed to exercise their
senses, and it will now be made equally evident
that their appetite for knowledge should be grati
fied. They should not only be encouraged to use
their senses for the purpose of using them, but for
the purpose of gaining knowledge. With very
young children the discipline of the senses is the
principal end aimed at, but in a short time the
attainment of knowledge assumes greater impor
tance.
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 131
Children exhibit great curiosity. They like to
see things, to handle and examine them. They
stand in raptures when papa opens his watch, or
mamma her drawers, for them. All their waking
hours are devoted to looking at things, playing
with them, or tearing them to pieces. These rest
less inner promptings are natural to children, and
indicate an educational want which ought not to be
overlooked. The searching curiosity goes out
through the active senses and returns laden with
rich stores for the capacious memory. A beautiful
correlation exists between the functions of the
curiosity which prompts, the senses which are the
instruments, and the memory which receives and
retains, and the order of their development. This
whole mental apparatus seems nicely adjusted to
bring about the end of collecting multitudes of
facts, and storing them away in the memory to be
eventually classified, and made to constitute the
data for scientific generalizations.
The appetite children have for knowledge can be
gratified by conversing with them. The names and
qualities of things can be talked about — their color,
size, form, weight, number, uses. Children ask
many questions, and these, whenever possible,
should be answered. Parents often rebuke their
children for asking them questions, but this is to do
them great wrong, since it serves to check the
growth of the intellect, and may stop it altogether.
If parents would spend a short time each day in
conversation with their children much valuable
information could be imparted to them. The Lest
naethod of presenting knowledge on such occasions
132 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
is that of relating incidents, describing objects, or
telling stories. Children will listen to such narra
tions with breathless attention, and receive from
them lasting impressions. Quite similar to conver
sations of this kind is the practice of reading suit
able books to children. This practice may com
mence some time before the children themselves can
read. Parents may read, and afterwards make
what they have read a topic of conversation. If the
selections be appropriate, and the conversations be
judiciously conducted, parents can have the satis
faction of seeing the minds of their children expand
like opening buds. Not the least important good
derived from such exercises is their influence upon
the character and opinions of children.
The appetite children have for knowledge can be
gratified by showing them interesting objects in
mature and art. They may be made familiar with
many minerals, flowers, trees, birds, reptiles, insects.
What valuable lessons they could learn about bees,
ants, spiders, beetles, frogs ! With what interest
they would examine an ant-hill, an old hornet's nest,
a, spader's web, or the chrysalis of a butterfly ! How
much knowledge they could gather in walks over
fields, through woods, along streams ! Let there
be pointed out to them, growing plants and ripening
fruit, birds building their nests, fishes sporting in
the water, animals caring for their young, the shift
ing clouds, the many-colored rainbow, the dew-drops
as they glisten upon leaves and flowers in the morn
ing sunlight. No suitable opportunity should be
lost of taking them to mills, factories, workshops,
menageries, and museums. The Stereoscope aiicl
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 133
the Magic Lantern may be used with much profit
in exhibiting to them the scenery of distant countries,
their cities, buildings, manners, and customs. En
gravings, too, may be made a most valuable means
of instruction. Children love pictures, and nothing
pleases them better than to be allowed the privilege
of examining a picture-book. There is no mode
probably in which a child can be taught so much in
the same time as by means of pictures. The best
pictures for the purpose are those -vhich represent
animated nature — scenes of life among animals or
among men. Opportunities of pointing out the form,
number, color, and other properties of the things
they see should not be overlooked. Much valuable
instruction of this kind can be imparted incidentally.
The appetite children have for knowledge can be
gratified by furnishing them with proper toys and
playthings. A child needs play as much as he needs
food. He must have it, and this disposition can be
turned to good account mentally as well as physically.
Whenever possible, a suitable apartment should be
arranged in every house in which there are children,
for a play-room where they might be allowed to run,
jump, and play without danger to themselves or
disturbance to others. This play-room ought to be
provided with swings, hobby-horses, little wagons,
jumping-ropes, balls, blocks of many shapes and
sizes, and some with prints of animals, letters, &c.,
upon them, wheels, beads of different colors arranged
on strings, blackboards and chalk — anything indeed
of which an interesting play can be made. To make
these plays most valuable, some older person must
assist in planning the plays and superintend the
12
134 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
childi^n in playing. In fine weather the plays may
take place in the open air. A yard with a sward of
grass is the best place for them. The Infant Schools
of Europe have gardens or yards attached to them
in which the children sing, and dance, and play,
under the constant care and direction of teachers
whose presence is no restraint upon the fun, hut
who seize the fit opportunity to intermingle instruc
tion with it. In writing what has just been said, I
have had in mind quite young children. Some
additional playthings may be provided for those who
are older. Among these toy-towns with different
kinds of buildings, people and animals walking in
the streets, vehicles passing along, &c. ; slates and
pencils; cup-and-ball ; paper for cutting pictures
out of; clay for modeling figures ; tea-sets and house-
furniture in miniature ; letters and maps cut into
sections ; the Chinese puzzle ; blocks of great variety
and shape, with which stools, chairs, tables, houses,
monuments, towers, castles, churches, bridges, &c.,
could be made. For amusement out-of-doors, balls,
kites, hoops, bows and arrows, carts, wheelbarrows,
garden tools, quoits, and other things of the same
kind are proper. It must not be supposed that it is
expected that any one family will procure all the
articles mentioned, the design is only to name those
out of which selections may be made. Toys and
playthings should be kept under lock and key, and
children be allowed at one time only those articles
which they may choose or which may be considered
proper for them. Frequent changes will keep them
ever new. Besides, children should be allowed to
exercise their own ingenuity in inventing means of
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 135
enjoyment. It will be observed that our list of toys
and playthings includes only those which may be
made use of for the purposes of instruction and
discipline, and these are the only kinds I would
permit children to handle. Space need not be taken
up in describing in detail the manner of mingling
instruction with play, for after what has already
been said the instincts of those who sympathize with
children will guide them correctly.
4. CHILDREN SHOULD BE FURNISHED OCCASIONS FOR
APPLYING THEIR POWERS OF KNOWING WHAT IS TRUE,
BEAUTIFUL, AND GOOD. — Truth has been denned as
the correspondence between thought and its objects.
There are different kinds of truth, but no classifica
tion of them is needed here. The truths with which
a child becomes first familiar may be called truths
of perception. He learns by means of his senses
that iron is hard, that ice is cold, that roses are red,
that birds sing, that plants grow green in the sun
shine, that animals need food, that water seeks a
level, that the whole is equal to all its parts ; and
every effort should be made to widen his experience,
for this will fix in his mind the correspondence be
tween thought and thing. The stories children are
so apt to tell arise mainly from defective observa
tion or from the mistake they sometimes make of
supposing that the pictures of their fancy are the per
ceptions of their senses. A child that comes to his
mother and says that he saw a cow in the field that
has five legs, or that he talked with his grandfather
wno is a hundred miles away, does nothing at which
a parent should be alarmed. Habits of correct ob-
136 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
servation will make it all right. A judicious mother
wouid take her child by the hand and go and look
at the cow, or ask him to find the place where he
met his grandfather, and a good lesson would be
taught him. Always set a child right when he says
a thing that is \vrong, and never fail to give him
every chance of learning what is true. A very
young child can recognize the difference between
truth and falsehood. If his brother tell him that
his ball has rolled behind the door and he does not
find it there, or that a bright penny is in one hand
when he finds it in the other, he shows by his looks
that he understands the deception that has been
practiced upon him. I am firmly convinced that
it is in great measure owing to the deceptions of
which he is the witness on the part of servants, play
mates, brothers and sisters, and even parents, that a
child learns to tell falsehoods. How can he remain
pure and innocent while he beholds constantly about
him those who practice exaggeration, deception, and
falsehood ? Let all conduct in the presence of a
child be open and sincere, let all words spoken be
fore him be honest and truthful ; and, furnished
with such occasions, he wrill not only learn what is
true but be truthful. One who is himself truthful
will trust others, and this is the ground upon which
rests our earliest and purest faith.
Children appreciate the beautiful in objects at a
much earlier age than is generally supposed. I
have noticed well-marked evidences of such appre
ciation at the age of two years. This taste for the
beautiful, like the early buddings of a tender plant,
requires careful culture. The attention of children
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 137
may be easily called to beautiful flowers, trees and
buds ; to the rippling brook, the towering moun
tain, the rising or the setting sun ; to pattering
rain-drops, falling snow-flakes, and drifting clouds.
Nature is everywhere full of beauty, and it may be
used with an unsparing hand to make glad the
hearte of children. Art, too, has beauties which are
attractive to the young. Of course, they cannot ap
preciate a fine painting or piece of statuary ; but
they a*e keenly alive to what might be called sur
face beauty — that which depends upon color, form,
proportion, motion, and like qualities. Let their
thirsty spirit drink at these fountains until they come
to find purer draughts deeper down. If every child
could have a bed of flowers to plant and cultivate,
or a pet bird or rabbit to care for, it would do much
to improve his taste and awaken feelings of ten
derness and love.
Clearly there is a power within us which God de
signed to enable us to distinguish between right
and wrong. "We may not make good use of it and
accept error for truth, but that does not invalidate
the certainty of the great fact that the faculty exists.
Young children can discriminate between good acts
and bad acts, and this power they seem ready to
apply when proper occasions are presented. If the
good is constantly exemplified in the conduct of
those who surround a child and whom he loves, his
sense of right and wrong must be quickened by the
exercise it would receive. Would that all parents
felt the great importance of this fact ! Besides, puins
can be taken to point out good acts to a child — acts
of honesty, justice, kindness, mercy, gratitude, pa-
12*
1S8 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
triotism. Life in every neighborhood has incidents
of this kind, and history is full of them. Let his
conscience be kept active by frequent appeals to it,
and the child will grow daily in virtue.
What is said in the preceding paragraphs is predi
cated upon the assumption that the human mind
has the power in itself to determine what is true,
beautiful, and good, and that the duty of the in
structor consists only in multiplying occasions for
its exercise. But to arrange these occasions so as
to answer their end is a work so delicate and difficult
that none but the most accomplished teachers can
perform it skilfully. Something, however, may be
done by all who love children and sincerely desire
to have them become virtuous and happy themselves
and a blessing to mankind.
5. CHILDREN SHOULD BE ALLOWED FACILITIES FOR
PRACTICE IN THE ELEMENTS OF THE ARTS. The meil-
tal nature of children is characterized by vigorous
imitative powers and a lively fancy. This leads
them to imitate and contrive things, and gives zest
to many kinds of play in which they delight.
A slate and pencil or blackboard and chalk may
be made very useful for the purpose of preparing
children to write and draw. At first, a child might
&
be allowed to make such marks as his fancy prompted
or he might be encouraged to imitate simple figures
of various shapes and sizes. If any one desires to see
how much a child is interested in this kind of work,
let him draw while the child looks on, the picture
of a cat, a dog, a house, a stage-coach, and witness
the effort he will make to imitate it. If a little
INFORMAL INSTRUCTION. 139
judicious help be given, a child will spend willingly
an hour or more every day at such exercises.
Like instruction may be derived from other em
ployments in which children greatly delight, such
as coloring pictures or cutting them from paper or
pasteboard ; moulding various kinds of objects from
terra cotta, such as animals, flowers, fruit, dishes,
boats, &c. ; building with suitable blocks, houses,
castles, bridges, &c., or making of them tables, chairs,
bedsteads, &c. ; dressing dolls and arranging doll-
houses ; imitating the several varieties of work
which they see going on in the kitchen, in the shop,
and on the form ; and I recommend them all as
means of instruction which may be made very valu
able by judicious management. Much information
can be furnished children likewise, by allowing
them to visit shops and manufactories and to see
machinery in operation.
Every father who has young sons would find it
much to their advantage to provide a shop in which
they could work, and supply it with suitable tools.
Sets of children's tools can be bought for a few
dollars, and their value in making boys more inge
nious and active can scarcely be calculated. Girls
can derive similar benefit from needle-work, crochet-
work, and embroidery. Whatever may be their cir
cumstances, children should learn to work. Ability
to handle tools will not prove amiss in any sphere
of life.
Without such instruction as that now indicated,
the productive powers of children would remain
undeveloped, and all thinking persons must acknow
ledge that this would be a grave educational error.
140 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
II. Formal Instruction in the Elements of
Knowledge. — The preceding section has given hints
as to the kind of instruction children ought to receive
in their younger years, and as to the methods by
which it should be imparted. This informal or inci
dental instruction must be continued as the child
advances in years and acquirements, but in addition
he must receive other instruction more formal and
systematic. He must be trained to more regular
habits of study. He must learn to work as well as
play. Knowledge should not merely be presented
to him in disconnected fragments but in regular
lessons.
Thinking men accustomed to observe tne mental
nature of children were long ago convinced that
the dry and tedious methods of hearing them give
the names of letters, and spell and pronounce words,
as usually practiced in Primary Schools, could not
be the best to awaken interest in study or develop
the powers of the mind. Children have a natural
appetite for knowledge, but it must be presented in
such a form as adapts it to the condition of their
mental digestive-apparatus, or it will cloy that appe
tite instead of satisfying it.
As we have seen, a child's first intellectual lessons
are learned wholly in connection with objects.
When older, if allowed to follow his instinctive
promptings, objects will still engage his attention
and supply the object-matter about which he thinks;
and it is obviously unwise to divert his intellectual
faculties from their natural course in obtaining
knowledge. The lessons constructed in view of
this theory are generally known by the name o*
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 141
Object Lessons ; and Object Lessons may be defined
as lessons designed to teach the Elements of Knowledge
by the use of objects.
It is proposed to consider :
1. THE DESIGN OF OBJECT LESSONS.
2. THE MATTER OF OBJECT LESSONS.
3. THE PREPARATION FOR IMPARTING OBJECT
LESSONS.
4. THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING OBJECT LESSONS.
5. THE DANGERS TO WHICH THE OBJECT-LESSON
SYSTEM is EXPOSED.
1. THE DESIGN OF OBJECT LESSONS. — The general
design of Object Lessons is made sufficiently plain
in the definition just given, but it may be well to
state it a little more in detail.
Object Lessons supply a want in elementary in
struction. ISTo one can be mistaken as to the lessons
of which children are mos.t fond. Their intense
curiosity, their active senses, their capacious memo
ries, and their great loquacity indicate very clearly
the direction in which they can be best educated.
Little is done, however, in most schools to take
advantage of these vigorous manifestations of certain
mental faculties. Pupils in our Primary Schools
are made to sit down, shut themselves away from
the world of objects in which they might find so
much to interest and delight them, and engage in
the dull work of learning to read, write, and cipher
— dull, because abstract. Reading, writing, and
arithmetic must be learned, and may be learned to
142 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
some extent in the Primary School ; but neither of
these branches, nor others like them, can meet the
pressing educational wants of children. The true
philosophy of education teaches that advantage
should be taken of all mental capabilities at the
time, in the manner, and with respect to the degree,
in which they manifest themselves. This wise
mental economy is much disregarded in the common
methods of teaching; and the quick perceptive
powers of children, their strong memory, and their
lively fancy are made much less use of than they
might be in imparting knowledge, and are suffered
to remain almost altogether without systematic dis
cipline. Children might learn much more and
learn it in a much more grateful manner, they might
receive much more mental discipline and receive it
much more in accordance with the nature of their
minds, if a well-devised system of Object Lessons
were substituted for the usual course of elementary
instruction. A child is a germ put into the hands
of the educator, and it is his duty to supply the con
ditions necessary to its full development. No poten
tiality of its nature should be allowed to lie dormant,
no talent should be buried, and unjust will be the
steward who violates his trust.
Object Lessons impart valuable knowledge in a
form best suited to the capacity of children. Object
Lessons teach things, facts, phenomena, words, in
short, the elements of knowledge — the foundation
upon which the whole superstructure of learning
must rest. Children have strong impulses prompt
ing them to learn. They are constantly obtaining
knowledge without a teacher. Nature teaches
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 143
them, and they enjoy her teachings. Object Lessons
are intended to lead the child methodically in the
way nature indicates that he should be taught. At
first, they present to him things which are simple,
and afterwards those which are less easily discerned
or less easily comprehended.
A characteristic feature of the object method of
teaching is that the matter presented to the pupil
may be greatly varied. It is a common practice in
our schools to confine young children to one or two
special branches of study; and of these they soon
grow weary, and consequently misspend much of
their time. A variety of objects must be presented
to children in order to enlist their attention, and
gratify their appetite for knowledge. A child may
learn lessons in the elements of all the sciences as
he walks through field or meadow. Nature has not
separated one class of things from another, but
presents all in rich profusion. The teacher should
learn from her.
Object Lessons furnish the best discipline for the
young mind. By the ordinary methods of teaching
a child his letters, to spell, and to read, he receives
very little mental discipline. The same is true of
the process of committing to memory and repeating
forms of words which are not understood and are
soon forgotten. But let a child use his senses in
observing and noting the qualities of interesting
objects, and it will soon be perceived that his whole
intellectual nature is developing itself. One might
as well deprive a plant of light or heat, and expect
it to grow, as to endeavor to impart healthy mental
discipline to a child without the presence of objects.
14:4: ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE
The concrete should precede the abstract in the
work of education.
2. THE MATTER OF OBJECT LESSONS. — The field
from which the objects themselves may be chosen is
as boundless as nature. It may embrace multitudes
of things in the mineral, vegetable, and animal
worlds, and multitudes of events in the history of
mankind. Writers upon Object Lessons have given
long lists of such objects, and it is quite unnecessary
to repeat them here. It is of much more impor
tance to determine the principles which ought to
guide the teacher, not merely in the selection of
proper objects for his lessons, but in the disposition
of the matter connected with those objects with which
he would make his pupils acquainted. The princi
ples about to be stated will be better appreciated if
the reader will keep in view the fact that Object
Lessons are designed to teach the elements of know
ledge, and that the expression, elements of know
ledge, is here intended to comprehend the elements
of all the sciences and arts.
The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to
give exercise in their early growth to all the mental
faculties. In the simple perception of an object
and its discrimination from other objects, a child,
probably, calls into requisition every faculty of his
mental nature. It is a psychological error to sup
pose that any of his mental powers are dormant.
Some manifest themselves more actively or more
obviously than others, but all act, and all should
be furnished an opportunity of gaining strength.
Teachers have been accustomed to consider Object
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 145
Lessons simply as designed to give culture to the
perceptive powers; but this is a very narrow view
of the subject. As the perceptive powers are more
active in youth than any others of our mental facul
ties, they are more capable of receiving culture, and
Object Lessons are peculiarly adapted to impart it;
but it should not be imparted to them to the neglect
of any other faculty of the mind. The matter of an
Object Lesson, in addition to what it contains that
can be known by the senses, may present something
to be retained in the memory, something to excite
the imagination, something to start a train of reason
ing, or something to call into play one of those
ideas of the reason which, whether consciously or
unconsciously, condition all our thinking. Take,
for example, such a simple object as a piece of
bread. The teacher may call the attention of his
class to the sowing of the seed, the gathering of the
harvest, the threshing of the grain, the grinding of
the flour, the baking of the bread — all of which
furnish exercise to the perceptive powers and the
memory. The imagination is exercised as well in
conceiving the ripening wheat, harvest-time, the
threshers at their work, the mill, the bakery. A
very little child can answer such questions as — Why
is the ground ploughed and harrowed when it is
desired to sow it with wheat ? Why is the ripe
^heat gathered and put in barns ? Why is it
,hreshed out and taken to mills? — and thus learn to
a&e his judgment or learn to think. So, too, it would
be proper in giving such a lesson, for the teacher to
say that God gave us the grains of wheat; He causes
it to grow; He ripens it and makes it fit for food;
13
146 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
and lie is good. Such instruction will find a lodge
ment in children's minds, because it is adapted to
their mental nature, thus showing that the noblest
faculty of our minds, the reason, is active in early
youth.
The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to
increase the pupil's facility in the use of language.
Thoughts are helpless without words. But words
are best learned in connection with things. With
fit opportunity, it is surprising how rapidly a child
becomes acquainted with language, but the ordinary
instruction of our primary schools does not furnish
this opportunity. If the system of object teaching
is not diverted from its true function, it will give
prominence to linguistic culture. According to
tliis system, the names of things, and the names of
qualities of things are constantly pressed upon the
attention of the pupils. They are taught, not only
to make observations, but to tell what they know,
to repeat what they have learned ; and every lesson
acquaints them with new words. A constant suc
cession of interesting objects is made to pass before
them, and they are taught to give them names. An
Object Lesson is, in part, an exhibition of objects,
and, in part, an application of words, and the two
processes should be inseparable.
The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to
communicate the elementary facts which constitute
the foundation of knowledge. It was previously
shown that all the sciences took their rise from the
common experience of men. A child can be made
to experience by design what men at first experi
enced incidentally or by accident, and this is one of
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. l-i7
the principal ends proposed by the object system of
teaching. A child can be made acquainted with an
immense number of facts, which are not only valua
ble in themselves, but form the basis of further
knowledge. Almost every common object may be
made the subject of interesting lessons. Many of
the objects technically belonging to the various
branches of Natural History, many of the simpler
phenomena of experimental science, certain national
peculiarities of customs and manners, and large
numbers of historical incidents, when properly pre
sented to children, are well calculated to instruct
and delight them. The experience of children can
thus be made broader, and a great number of
valuable facts and useful words be stored away in the
memory.
The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to
expand the elementary ideas which furbish the con
ditions and measure of our knowing. That there
are such ideas has been already shown, and no
student of the human mind can doubt it. No
exhaustive enumeration of them will be attempted
here, as this is properly the work of the mental
philosopher. It may be said, how- >ver, that they can
be divided into two great classes : Empirical ideas,
or those which are derived from experience, and
are limited by it; and Rational ideas, or those of
which experience is simply the occasion, and which
transcend experience. Theso form respectively the
bases of the Empirical and the Rational sciences.
Among the ideas which I would denominate empi
rical, are those of form, number, relation, size, weight,
color, consistency, locality, $c , which relate to material
ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
things ; and those of duty, right, truth, beauty, good
ness, £c., which are moral qualities. Among the
ideas which I would call rational ideas, are those of
space, time, order or harmony, identity and difference,
the infinite, the absolute, the true, the beautiful, and the
good. Chronologically the former class of ideas pre
cede the latter in consciousness, but logically they
are evolved from them. For example, a child
realizes the idea of form before the idea of space,
but the idea of space contains all possible forms.
So the idea of number is involved in the idea of
time, the idea of relation in the idea of order or
harmony, the ideas of particular truth, beauty, or
goodness in the all-comprehending ideas of the true,
the beautiful, and the good; but in all these cases,
and in all others, the mind passes from that which
can be presented in a concrete form to that which
can only be conceived abstractly. Hence lessons in
form, number, relation, &c., are valuable in them
selves, and more valuable for furnishing the occa
sions of the realization in consciousness of the all-
comprehending ideas which involve them.
If the ideas now designated do furnish the con
ditions and measure of our knowing (and no think
ing man can doubt it), it should be one of the
principal aims of those who instruct the young, to
expand them, or to increase the knowledge which
is based upon them. Their ideas of form can be
expanded by having children notice, describe, and
name objects of various forms; draw these forms
upon slates, paper, or blackboards ; or imitate them
in wood, stone, or clay. Their ideas of number can
be expanded by counting objects, as beans, pebbles,
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 149
or grains of corn ; and adding, subtracting, multi
plying, and dividing them. E"o object exists in
nature that has not its relations — its relations to
other objects, and the relations of its parts to one
another; and many of these are so simple that
children of five years of age, and even younger,
can understand them. Other ideas relating to ma
terial things may be expanded in the same way.
Moral ideas must be expanded by acquainting chil
dren with the acts which exemplify or illustrate them.
History, biography, personal experience, must be
made to contribute stores of incidents that can be
made to do much to enlarge the conception chil
dren have of right and wrong, and to form their
character to virtue.
The matter of Object Lessons must be adapted to
improve the artistic taste and talent of the young.
Children have productive as well as receptive
powers. These productive powers can be stimu
lated to activity by the exhibition of objects of art.
The teacher can call their attention to the structure
of houses, bridges, mills, vehicles, articles of furni
ture, and machinery in great variety. Such lessons
are lessons on objects, and so are those which relate
to the mechanism of plants, animals, and the human
frame-work. They can also receive exercise in
practicing the elements of writing, drawing, paint
ing, and making things of wood, and stone, and
clay, or of any other suitable materials. Fathers
and mothers could attend to this duty better than
teachers, but teachers can do much. Our schools
cannot have shops connected writh them, as had
those of Pestalozzi and De Fellenberg, but still such
150 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
instruction can be given in them as greatly to im
prove the taste and talent of the young. Nor need
this instruction be wholly confined to what are called
the useful arts, for it happens that many children
can appreciate some of the artistic qualities which
distinguish the grander works of nature, and the
finer creations of man.
It need scarcely be added that the matter of
Object Lessons must be selected and arranged with
reference to the age and acquirements of pupils.
Some objects may furnish matter more appropriate
as lessons for young pupils, and other objects be
better suited for the study of those who are older ;
but it will often happen that the same object may
be used in teaching both classes, provided due regard
is paid to their intellectual differences. Objects
generally have some qualities, resemblances and
differences, relations, and uses which are easily dis
cerned and open to the observation of children ; and
others which being more hidden require close in
spection, or careful experiment to reveal them.
Sheldon's work on Object Lessons makes five series
of lessons each more difficult than the preceding.
This is an excellent arrangement.
3. THE PREPARATION FOR IMPARTING OBJECT LES
SONS. — An important part of the preparation for
imparting Object Lessons consists in procuring suita
ble objects. Knowledge is most effectually con
veyed to children through the medium of tho eye.
\Vhcnever it is possible, therefore, the teacher
should present to his class the object upon which he
desires to give a lesson. For this purpose primary
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 151
schools should be furnished with cabinets of Things.
These should contain many common objects; col
lections from the mineral, animal, and vegetable
kingdoms; tools used by different tradesmen, and,
if possible, specimens of manufactured articles ;
models of machinery ; curiosities exhibiting the
manners, customs, and degree of civilization among
tribes and nations ; coins ; sets of weights and mea
sures ; blocks of various forms; in short, any object
about which a useful lesson may be given. Some
times, it is more convenient for a teacher to take his
•<3lass to see an object than to bring the object into
the presence of the class. Children are greatly pro
fited by visits to a museum, a menagerie, a gallery
of pictures ; by rambles down a valley, through a
wood, or along the ocean shore, and they should
frequently be indulged in them.
When the object itself cannot be exhibited to a
class, the best substitute is a picture of it. A vast
amount of useful knowledge might be pleasantly
imparted to the young by means of pictorial illustra
tions. At present such illustrations are mainly
used incidentally ; I would make a systematic use
of them. There have been prepared in Europe, and
some of them in this country, Charts of Lines and
Forms, Charts of Colors and Colored Cards, Charts
of Natural History, Charts of Common Things,
Moral Prints, Scripture Prints, and Prints illustra
tive of the History and Peculiarities of Nations. It
would not be very difficult to prepare a set of en
gravings which might be used to great advantage in
elementary instruction. If a teacher can draw, the
olackboard is a never-failing resource.
152 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
In addition to objects and pictures of objects, there
are certain kinds of apparatus that seem indispensa
ble in the work of primary schools. Children will
watch with intense interest the revelations of the
Microscope. A Stereoscope can be used with great
advantage, as can also a Magic Lantern. A teacher
can procure, with trifling expense, the means of
making many simple philosophical and chemical
experiments, and his pupils will be delighted with
them.
But with all it is necessary sometimes to rely
upon descriptions. When this is the case, the de
scriptions, whether given by the teacher or presented
in a book, must be of the most lively character.
The story must be well told, and calculated to
awaken in the most vivid manner the imagination
of children. Most children are fond of the novel,
the marvelous, and the witty, and this fondness must
be turned to good account.
A teacher of Object Lessons must prepare himself
both in respect to the matter and the method of the
lesson. A text-book may enable a teacher ^gnorant
of the subject of the lesson to ask questions of his
pupils and know whether their answers are correct
or otherwise ; but all such botchwork as this is out
of the question in object-teaching. In giving an
Object Lesson, a teacher must collect and arrange
his own materials. His knowledge of the matter he
would present must be full, precise, and ready, or a
failure is inevitable. No proper inquiry from a
pupil should take him by surprise or make him hesi
tate for on answer.
No small degree of skill is required to adopt a
-FORMAL INSTRUCTION". 153
proper method of imparting a lesson on an object
The matter must be arranged with reference to ita
own logical relations, and also with reference to ita
adaptation to the mental capacities of the class.
This work requires skilful handling, and cannot be
done without careful consideration. The difficulty
is increased when a general subject is intended to
be developed by a series of lessons, which is always
best except with the youngest pupils. It is a good
plan for a teacher first to fill his mind with the
details of the subject, and then arrange them under
prominent headings, calculated to present the parts
of the lesson in their proper relations, and to make
an impression upon the minds of his pupils. He
may write out a full sketch of the lesson for his own
convenience, but a well-planned outline of it is
indispensable. Such an outline should not be
referred to at the recitation, but it should be strictly
followed. Without such adherence to a method,
the desultory modes of thinking which characterize
children will make the lesson fruitless of good in
effecting that mental discipline which is its main
object. Still the outline should only guide, not
cramp, the recitation. An Object Lesson should not
consist merely of a number of questions asked and
a number of answers given ; the teacher should
propose to himself in every lesson certain points to
be presented, certain ends to be attained, and then
strive to accomplish what he purposes. It is more
a training than a teaching exercise ; and each ques
tion should be put Avith a well-defined object, and
other questions should follow until that object be
attained.
104 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
Something will be gained in all cases if tl o
teacher would announce the object about which a
lesson is tj be given some time before the recita
tion takes place. When this is done, the pupils
can make some preparation for the lesson. They
can observe, make inquiries, and, instructed to that
extent, can increase their information by reading.
It does not follow that because the kind of instruc
tion now contemplated is called Object Lessons
that pupils are precluded from increasing their
knowledge from books, and it is well to have suit
able books, books of reference, books containing
pictures of objects and descriptions of them, pro
vided in every primary school. A lesson about an
object of which the pupils know nothing will
always be dull, and is likely to be profitless.
Teachers sometimes furnish an outline of the pro
posed lesson to their pupils before the recitation,
and this practice, it is thought, guides them in
their search for information, and enables them to
make a more systematic arrangement of it.
4. THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING OBJECT LESSONS.
— A school-room presents no more delicate or
difficult work than the recitation. Nothing else
tests more severely the teacher's skill. This is
especially the case with lessons on objects. In most
other recitations, the text-book furnishes some help,
but in giving an Object Lesson a teacher is thrown
mainly upon his own resources.
The teacher is supposed to have in his mind the
point which he wishes brought out in the lesson.
This may be the communication of a knowledge of
FOEMAL INSTRUCTION. i55
important facts, the pointing out of a quality, the
development of a principle, the expansion of an
idea, the exhibition of a relation ; but whatever it
is, it must be allowed to give direction to the recita-
tion. Goins: forward with a well-defined aim, the
o '
recitation has three stages which should be severally
noticed:
First, it is the teacher's duty to obtain all the
information concerning the matter of the lesson
which may be in the possession of the class. He
may ask questions or make suggestions, but before
giving any information himself he must be sure that
no member of the class could give it. Pupils will
not exert themselves to prepare a lesson unless they
think they will have permission to show what they
have learned. A lesson about an object is not in
tended to be a lecture upon it. Besides, if the
teacher does the observing and thinking for his
class, the disciplinary purposes of the Object Lesson
are in great measure defeated.
Second, it is the teacher's duty to give his pupils
the opportunity of finding out all they can. Skill
in teaching does not so much consist in what a
teacher imparts to a class as in what he leads them
to find out for themselves. In object-teaching
especially pupils should be constantly prompted to
observe new facts, explain new phenomena, and
perform new mental operations. Each lesson is a
voyage of discovery in which the teacher acts as
captain and pilot, but in which the pupils make,
record, and elaborate the observations. When
pupils hesitate for an answer, they should not be
told it directly unless hints will not suggest it to
156 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
them, or they cannot be brought to infer it from
what they have previously learned. To lead a pupil
from what he knows to lind out what he does not
know requires the highest order of teaching talent,
and to attain this ability should be the constant aim
of the teacher. Without it, no successful object-
teaching is possible.
Third, when pupils have exhausted all their
knowledge acquired before the recitation and all
their ingenuity in adding to it during the recitation,
the teacher may impart any further information he
deems proper.
The three stages of a recitation now named are
sufficiently well marked, but of course it is not
meant that any one of these stages can be completed
in all the particulars of a lesson,- until the others are
entered upon. The teacher must not wait to give
hints or impart knowledge in regard to one point,
because the pupils have not exhausted their infor
mation in regard to others.
5. THE DANGERS TO WHICH THE OBJECT LESSON
SYSTEM is EXPOSED. — Doubtless the greatest danger
to which the Object Lesson system is exposed arises
from the want of a proper appreciation of it on the
part of teachers. Many teachers even who profess
to use the system, entertain extremely narrow views
respecting it. They do not apprehend the great
educational truth that all the sciences rest upon certain
elements as bases, and that these elements are only known
by means of our experience with objects. The system
of object-teaching well understood is broad enough
to embrace all the elements which constitute the
FOEMAL INSTRUCTION. 157
foundation of knowledge, and that system is much
disgraced by those who allow it to degenerate into
loose lessons on pieces of paper, bits of glass, lumps
of sugar, or stalks of grain. Besides, those who
would fully comprehend the system of object-teach
ing must study its adaptation as a means of develop
ing the mental faculties of children as well as of its
capability, when well administered, of imparting
instruction in the elements of knowledge. "With
an inadequate conception of the function of Object
Lessons it is no wonder that many teachers fail in
securing any advantage from them. ~No one who
has been accustomed to a slavish dependence upon
text-books can succeed. But success is possible to
all who possess teaching talent and strive to make
themselves acquainted with the nature and design
of Object Lessons.
In addition to the danger to the Object Lesson
system which arises from ignorant teachers, several
special dangers to which it is exposed may be briefly
referred to. They all arise from a misconception as
to the true nature of Object Lessons, or are faults in
the methods of imparting such lessons.
The Object Lesson system is apt to become an
exercise in learning words without ideas. Children
are capable of making great progress in the use of
language, and they should be instructed with refer
ence to this end. In giving a lesson upon an object,
it does not seem objectionable to allow children to
name every quality they can readily discern, nor do
I see any serious objection to the use of scientific
names; but it is objectionable and quite contrary to
the spirit of the Object Lesson system, for children
14
158 ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
to cummit to memory the names of the qualities of
things which they cannot be made to perceive with
out great difficulty, if at all. The lists of the names
of the qualities of certain objects, as they appear in
some of oar works 011 Object Lessons, ought to be
much shortened.
The Object Lesson system is apt to tempt the
teacher to introduce matter into the lesson which
the pupils cannot comprehend. This is a temptation
to which all teaching is liable, but it seems to be
stronger when the teacher makes his own selection
of matter for a lesson than when that matter is
arranged in a text-book. At any rate, the fact is cer
tain that many who impart instruction in Object
Lessons err in this particular. The desire is so
great to communicate to others what seems most
important or is most interesting to ourselves, that if
such teachers could sit in judgment upon their own
work they would find it to consist, not wholly in an
effort to impart the simple elements of knowledge
adapted to the capacity of children, but in an effort
to expound principles of science quite beyond their
comprehension.
The Object Lesson system is apt to continue
instruction in the concrete after pupils can appreciate
the abstract. All instruction should commence with
the concrete. The elements of all kinds of know
ledge must be taught in connection with objects,
but an acquaintance with material things is far from
being the highest end of study; and object-teaching
pushed too far tends to degrade education. Back
of all there are principles, ideas, controlling things,
which are the soul's most nourishing pabulum
FORMAL INSTRUCTION. 159
Soon after a child has learned to count with objects,
he may begin to count without them ; soon after he
has become acqainted^vith real forms, he may begin
to deal with ideal ones. Through facts and phe
nomena he should be led to apprehend the laws that
control them and the Lawgiver. The contempla
tion of truths should bring into clear consciousness
the idea of truth, and of virtues, virtue.
The tendency of the times is towards materialism
in education. It manifests itself in the oft-repeated
objections which are made to the study of the
Ancient languages, to the study of higher Mathe
matics, and especially to the study of Metaphysics.
In this spirit some have favored Object Lessons, be
cause it was thought the system tended to cultivate
in the young a taste for concrete rather than abstract
science, to teach them to handle substantial realities
rather than airy nothings. Blind guides these; all
earthly phenomena are fleeting, while the powers
that cause and govern them are eternal. Herbert
Spencer, in his inquiry as to "What knowledge is
of most worth ?" arranges education with reference
to its relative decree of worth into the following
o o
classes : 1st. That education which prepares for
direct self-preservation ; 2d. That which prepares
for indirect self-preservation ; 3d. That which pre
pares for parenthood ; 4th. That which prepares for
citizenship ; 5th. That which prepares for the mis
cellaneous refinements of life. All this looks like
an implied denial of man's immortality — as if the
interest of self was man's only interest. But is that
education of highest worth which prepares for
direct self-preservation ? I am not unmindful of the
value of life, but surely there are manv things for
ELEMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE.
which it is well to sacrifice it. The preservation of
life is not to be compared in importance to the pre
servation of the soul's integrity. Let education be
guarded from the influence of a low materialism.
Concrete science is worth much, but abstract science
is worth more. The former is but a means of reaching
the latter. Let us devoutly study the works of the
creation, but let us not forget that God made them.
The Object Lesson system is apt to cramp the im
agination, and weaken the trustfulness, of children.
Every one has noticed the lively imagination of
children. They gild the narrow horizon of theii
vision with dreams. Elysian fields cover all their
future. Unless this characteristic indicates an ab
normal condition of the youthful mind (and no one
can believe that it does), it is wrong to limit their
education to the acquirement of dry, hard facts.
Facts must be learned, true enough, but we must
allow some room for the play of the imagination.
It is a great mistake to suppose " That facts alone
are wanted in life." The sunlight plays about the
rugged mountain heights, and silver lakes nestle
down below frowning crags and cliffs. I would but
chasten his imagination, I would not destroy a single
air-castle of a child.
God made children trustful. No scheme of edu
cation could be worse than one which proposes
never to describe anything to a child which he
cannot see, never to tell a child anything which he
cannot understand, for this would be to weaken the
power which was given him to be developed intr.
that faith which lays hold of things unseen — im
mortality, God. Doubts will come soon enough,
and strong enough ; childhood is the time for trust.
CHAPTER II.
INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
" MAN, in fact," says Sir William Hamilton, "only
obtains the use of his faculties in obtaining the use
of speech ; for language is the indispensable means
of the development of his natural powers, whether
intellectual or moral." The truth of this statement
is unquestionable, and it shows at once the de
servedly high place Language holds in a course of
study. For its beauty as a science, for its useful
ness as an art, for its disciplinary advantages as a
study, Language can scarcely be outranked in excel
lence by any other subject open to the contemplation
of finite minds.
The following divisions are deemed proper :
I. Instruction in our Mother-Tongue.
II. Instruction in the Dead Languages.
III. Instruction in Living Foreign Languages
b
I. Instruction in our Mother-Tongue.
Nobody will deny that to be able to read and write
our Mother-Tongue with accuracy and facility is a
valuable acquirement, but even some teachers hold
that its further study is of little use. In these cir
cumstances it may be worth while to make a fe\v
14* (161)
162 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
statements intended to favor the study of the English
Language as a science.
A knowledge of the English Language, as a
science, is necessary to a nice appreciation of it.
One who is accustomed to hear well-spoken dis
courses, or to read well-written books, may be able
in good degree to understand the meaning and per
ceive the beauty of what he hears or reads ; but to
enable an individual to appreciate those more deli
cate shades of thought, or those finer touches of
beauty, which may be expressed in words, careful
study is necessary. If any doubt it, let them test
the matter. Take a poem of Milton's, or an oration
of "Webster's, and enter upon a critical examination
of it with a well-read man who has never studied
Grammar or Rhetoric, and you will most likely find
that many things relating to its arrangement, its
choice of words, its introduction of figures, its con
struction of sentences, its order of paragraphs, have
almost altogether escaped his attention; and that
even many things Avhich he has noticed he cannot
express in appropriate words. No art, indeed, can
be fully appreciated without a knowledge of the
science or sciences upon which it is based, and lan
guage is no exception.
A knowledge of the English Language, as a
science, is necessary to its skilful use. With suita
ble models for imitation, a child may learn to speak
and write correctly. A favored son of genius may
be so gifted with speech that without the prepara
tion of study he can lead men captive by the charms
of his poetry or the power of his eloquence. But
these facts do not invalidate the proposition which
OUR MOTHER-TONGUE. 163
heads this paragraph. Suitable models for imitation
may, indeed, enable a child to speak and write his
Mother Tongue with as much accuracy as is gen
erally required by the common usages of society,
but the degree of skill thus acquired would be en
tirely inadequate to the higher purposes of Litera
ture. If the gift of genius in the use of language,
on the part of the one who has it, be taken as a fact
indicating that no necessity exists for study on the
part of the thousands who have it not, there is no
reason why the same principle might not be applied
to all human efforts, for in each of these, at some
time, genius has enjoyed triumphs. It is not possi
ble for ordinary men to use language with skill who
have not closely studied the signification of words,
the structure of sentences, the characteristics of
style, and the composition of discourse. The Greeks
made their language a prominent object of study,
and the classic elegance of their writings is the
delight of all readers. The Parisians, by the same
means, are fast making the French the language of
refined society throughout Europe. Demosthenes
prepared his unequalled orations with immense
labor, and the same is true, with fewer exceptions
than is generally supposed, of all great speakers
and writers.
A knowledge of the science of the English Lan
guage is valuable for its own sake. We study not
merely to use, but to know. Knowledge is of much
worth in itself. Language is subject to laws which
control its growth, its changes, its constructions.
If it is worth while to study the laws which relate
to the mineral masses of the earth, to plants, to
164 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
animals, to stars, it cannot be less worth while to
study the laws which relate to human speech. The
science of the English Language contains as much
worth knowing as any other science, the study of it
is as valuable for discipline, and as well calculated
to lift the mind up to the contemplation of what is
most noble in human life and human thought. In
deed, it would seem that our Mother-Tongue ought
to have more interest for us than almost any other
thing. It is by means of our powers of speech that
we hold converse with our friends, in words we
embalm our thoughts, in words our heart's highest
aspirations are expressed. Except the soul itself,
earth can present nothing more wonderful or more
clearly evincing Divine wisdom and goodness than
Language.
A knowledge of the science of the English Lan
guage is valuable to us on account of the relations
of the science of language to other sciences. Lan
guage must be used to record all the observations
and discoveries which are made in any department
of science, and the scientific man feels the constant
want of words adapted to express his meaning. He
sees things which he cannot describe ; he feels
thoughts stir within him which he cannot express.
Suffering from such a disability, he says what he
does not mean, and is misunderstood, perhaps
maligned. The history of science records many
"wars of words." Bacon, Locke, and many other
writers lament the errors in science which arise
from a misuse of language. While language has
thus an intimate general relation to all the sciences,
its relations are particularly close to History and the
THE ALPHABET. 165
Philosophy of the Mind. The language of a people
reveals their inmost life. Not only what they did,
but what they were, becomes fossilized in words, and
men can read the record after the lapse of centuries.
So the mind reflects itself in speech as in a mirror.
The laws of thought are found expressed in the laws
of speech, and hence the sciences of Logic and
Grammar have much in common.
The preceding statements, showing the value of a
knowedge of our Mother-Tongue, prepare the way
for a detailed discussion of the methods of instruc
tion adapted to the various branches which relate
to it. Generally stated they are as follows:
I. LEARNING TO READ OUR MOTHER-TONGUE.
II. LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND OUR MOTHER-
TONGUE.
III. LEARNING TO COMPOSE IN OUR MOTHER
TONGUE.
I. LEARNING TO READ OUR MOTHER-TONGUE.
Under the head of Learning to Read our Mother-
Tongue, we will discuss methods of imparting
instruction in the Alphabet, Pronunciation, Spelling,
and Reading.
THE ALPHABET.
Already something has been said concerning
methods of teaching children to speak correctly,
hereafter something further will be presented on the
subject; here some degree of familiarity with spoken
words on the part of the pupil is taken for granted.
INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Reasons lu^ve been given also why the instruction
of a child should commence with things rather than
with words ; but, since there will come a time when
he must be made acquainted with written language,
we will now consider methods of teaching the
Alphabet.
There are twenty-six letters in the Alphabet of
the English Language. In order that children be
made acquainted with these characters, they must
learn: first, to know their forms; second, to asso
ciate their names with their forms. That will be
the best method of teaching the Alphabet which
impresses the forms of letters most deeply upon the
memories of learners, and succeeds in making the
most lasting associations between these forms and
their names.
In teaching the forms of letters, the sense of sight
is addressed ; and in teaching their names, the sense
of hearing. To the blind, a knowledge of the forms
of the letters is communicated through the sense of
feeling. The deaf and dumb cannot learn the names
of the letters — they can learn to write but not to
read.
It is possible that our English letters are the
changed forms of symbols used by the ancient
Phoenicians or Egyptians, and they may once have
represented real objects; but now they are wholly
arbitrary. Many other forms might be adopted that
would answer the purpose just as well. The names
of the letters, too, are arbitrary; at least so far as a
child can understand. The names of some of them
do possess an analogy to the sounds they are in
tended to represent ; but there are so many depar-
THE ALPHABET. 167
tures from this principle that little practical advan
tage can be derived from it in teaching. A child
cannot see why de is a more appropriate name for
the letter d, than ge would he ; why z should he
called ze, instead of zed, izzurd, or any other name ;
nor why the twenty-six names in use have been
chosen in preference to as many others.
To learn our Alphabet, then, a child must become
acquainted with twenty-six arbitrary forms, and
associate with them twenty-six arbitrary names.
Infants first notice objects, as cat, dog, clock ;
next, they learn to associate certain verbal utter
ances with these objects, and always look for the
thing when its name is mentioned ; and, finally,
they attain the power of imitating these utterances,
or they learn to talk. Objects familiar to a child
may be represented by pictures, and he may be
exercised in naming the objects thus represented.
Such exercises upon the pictures of familiar objects
may be followed by others upon the pictures of un
familiar objects, and the child may be taught to call
the pictures of a lion, a tiger, a camel, an ostrich,
&c., by their right names. Other lessons might
acquaint the child with the forms and names of
some of the simpler diagrams used in Mathematics,
-such as squares, triangles, circles, and rectangles.
These exercises seem to present a series of easily
followed progressive steps from the first attempts at
talking to the task of learning the Alphabet. They
follow essentially the steps which preceded the in
vention of the Alphabet. The principle is the same
in all, that of learning forms and their names. The
168 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Alpnabet is more difficult to learn, because its forms
and names are arbitrary.
The Alphabet may be taught in two ways : first,
by commencing with letters ; second, by com
mencing with words. The first may be called the
A B C Method, and the second the Word Method.
1. THE ABC METHOD. — The ABC Method
commences with letters. As the manner of con
ducting a recitation in the Alphabet, according to
this method, depends somewhat upon the kind of
apparatus used, a convenient classification may be
based upon it.
1st. The Manner of teaching the Alphabet from a
Book. — As the Alphabet was taught some years
ago, and as it is taught now to a more limited
extent, each pupil was provided with a book, called
a Primer, or an A B C Book> from which he recited
his lesson. Teachers generally called their pupils
up singly, and, with pen, pencil, or pen-knife,
pointed to the letters, from a to 3, or from z to a,
and asked their names, or told what they should be
called. The whole twenty-six letters were named
in quick succession, little effort was made to im
press their forms or names upon the pupils' memo
ries, no questions were asked or instruction given
apart from the lesson which might be calculated to
add interest to it, and the work of recitation was a
short process, but a very dull and dry one.
More skilful teachers may use boqks in teaching
the Alphabet to better advantage. Instead of pur
suing a fixed order in their teaching, and invariably
THE ALPHABET. 169
passing from the first letter of the Alphabet to the
last, or from the last to the first, they may select at
the commencement a few of those letters which
possess the most easily remembered forms, describe
them, ask questions about them, and engage their
pupils in searching for them among other letters.
Used in this manner, the Alphabet may be taught
from a book quite readily; but as only one at a time
can be heard conveniently, this manner of conducting
a recitation loses the advantages of classification ;
and, besides, looking at and talking about forms are
not the best conditions for remembering them.
2d. The Manner of teaching the Alphabet with Cards.
— Cards used for giving instruction in the Alphabet
should be large, and the letters should be printed
upon them in large type. The first Card might
have a few of the letters most easily learned, as 0,
JT, and $, placed prominently in the centre, and the
same arranged promiscuously with a few other
letters about the margin. The second Card might
have a few additional letters placed in the centre,
and these, with those first learned, and a few others,
might be made to occupy the margin, as in the first
Card. This arrangement of the letters should be
continued upon other Cards until the whole Alpha
bet was presented.
Imagine such a set of Cards, a suitable frame
upon which to place them, the teacher with pointer
in hand, and a class of pupils, and you will be
ready to appreciate the lesson which is about to be
described.
The teacher first calls the attention of his class
15
170 INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
to the large letters in the centre of the Card. He
speaks of their forms, peculiarities, and resem
blances ; gives their names, repeats them, and asks
appropriate questions about them. Then, the inter
esting search for the letters, as they are arranged
about the margin of the Card, commences. Mary
finds six e's, but John detects another one. Jainea
counts four b's, but the rest insist that one of them
is a d. Sarah finds out three r's, and no one can
find another. Emma names a letter, and the rest
are requested to look for it. It is p. The eager
search begins, and it is eager, for Emma well knows
that^? is a hard letter to remember, and there is but
one on the Card. James calls out, "I have it."
Other letters are named and found ; and when the
recitation has ended, the pupils take their seats
reluctantly, and wait impatiently till the time again
arrives when they can have another game of " hide
and seek" with letters. It cannot be doubted that,
with Cards skilfully used, a knowledge of the
Alphabet can be quickly and pleasantly imparted.
3d. The Manner of teaching the Alphabet on the Slate
or Blackboard. — The best way of impressing forms
upon the memory is to make them. In drawing an
object, one is compelled to look at it closely, and
follow out all its details, and this is well calculated
to deepen the impression it leaves upon the mind.
For this reason, the slate and blackboard, upon
which letters may be copied, are considered useful
articles of apparatus in teaching the Alphabet.
If the teacher can draw skilfully, he may place
letters for imitation upon the slate or blackboard ;
THE ALPHABET. 171
but if not, he must have suitable printed letters for
models.
In conducting a recitation, the teacher may first
require his pupils to imitate the forms of several
letters which he has placed upon the blackboard.
Next, he may engage them in criticising their own
work, and comparing it with the models. All the
peculiarities in the forms of the letters must be
commented upon. If deemed expedient, the letters
may be redrawn. The teacher may draw the letters
awkwardly on purpose, in order to excite interest,
and induce criticism. Finally, the names of letters,
thus drawn, may be given, pointed out by the chil
dren, and repeated in various ways.
One of the advantages of using the slate and
blackboard, in teach;.ig the Alphabet, is that the
teacher can furnish pleasant employment for the
class when not engaged in reciting. Lessons which
have been recited may be repeated upon the
pupils' slates at their seats, or upon blackboards
suitably located for the purpose; or new lessons
can be prepared in the same manner. Children are
very fond of work of this kind, and it will be found
^ greatly to facilitate their progress.
There are certain letters in the English Alphabet
\vhich, from the similarity of their forms, are more
difficult to distinguish than others, such as A and V,
M and 1ST, and E arid F, among capital letters; and
b and d, p and q, c and e, and u and n, among small
letters. The distinctions between such letters can
be more prominently brought before the learner's
mind when exhibited upon the blackboard than in
any other way, and if he be required to draw them
172 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
repeatedly himself he cannot easily forget them.
For the purpose of illustration, we will take the
letters, 6, c?, p, and #, and describe a lesson upon
them. Having drawn the letters conspicuously
upon the black-board, the teacher may call the
attention of the class to their forms, leading them
to see that these are composed mainly of two parts.
He may then draw these parts separately, and give
them names. I call them stem and curve. After
wards, it will be well to draw a stem, and by placing
the curve, first at the top, and then at the bottom of
the stem, and upon both sides, it will be shown that
all the letters can be made. Let the teacher now
satisfy himself that his pupils know their right hand
from the left, and he may send them to the black
board, with the direction to draw a stem, and place
the curve at the bottom, at the top, on the left side,
on the right side, until they are quite familiar with
all the forms, and can draw them readily. The
names of the letters may now be given, and the
teacher will ask such questions as these : If I place
the curve at the top of the stem on the right-hand
side, what letter do I make ? If I place it on the
left-hand side at the bottom, what letter do I make?
On the left-hand side at the top ? On the right-hand
side at the bottom ? Which letter is pf Which is
d? Which is b? Which is q? How is d made?
How is q made? Where do you put the curve in
making b? Where do you put it in making p?
The lesson may conclude by requiring the pupils to
make each of the letters upon the blackboard when
its name is given.
THE ALPHABET. 173
4th The Wanner of teaching the Alphabet with Let-
t^r-Blocks. — It is easy to obtain small blocks with
letters painted or pasted upon them, and these may
be made to answer a good purpose in teaching the
Alphabet. To make the lesson most interesting
and profitable, each pupil should possess a set of the
blocks.
At recitation, the pupils should be stationed
around a table or desk, each with his blocks before
him. The teacher may first require the pupils to
separate all the letters they think they know from
those they do not, and have mistakes corrected by
the class. He may then take up a block upon which
is the letter he designs to teach, and make them
acquainted with its form and name, and request each
pupil to select a similar letter from among those
before him. If any make mistakes, the class should
correct them. When several letters have been
selected in this way, the remaining time of the reci
tation may be devoted to teaching those selected.
Suppose <?, e, h, and k to be the letters selected.
Each pupil will push aside all his other blocks, and
with these only before him, the recitation is ready
to proceed. The teacher may hold up each letter
in succession, and inquire its name; a pupil may be
appointed to hold up the letters, while the others
name them ; or all may be required to select the
letters when the teacher gives their names. The
teacher may make words with the letter-blocks, and
ask the pupils to imitate them, both when they have
the privilege of looking at them, and from memory;
or words, as models, may be given in books, or
placed on a blackboard.
15*
174- INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Letter-blocks may be cut into sections ; and pupils
can be amused and instructed in putting the sections
together so as to form letters. The differences be-
O
tween letters which are nearly alike can be strikingly
exhibited in this way. If, for example, one block
represented the stem of the letters 5, d, p, and <?, and
another the curve, it would be easy to show their
relative position in the formation of these letters.
The letter-blocks can be used most conveniently
with a frame. Such a frame is called a Reading-
Frame. The body of the frame maybe made some
what like a common blackboard, about three feet
wide, and long enough to allow two feet to each
member of a class. At convenient distances apart,
horizontal grooves should be placed along the face
of the frame in such a manner that the letter-
blocks would stand upright when placed in them.
At the base of the frame, and extending out a foot
or more in front, there should be boxes appro
priately divided into apartments for the blocks. All
the Alphabetical exercises which can be performed
with letter-blocks, can be better performed with a
frame constructed in this manner. It is used some
what as type are set; and words and sentences can
be built up and taken apart by children with as much
interest as they would take in a puzzle. With the
"Education Tables," manufactured at Windham,
Connecticut, and consisting of block-letters moving
in grooves, I have seen children teach themselves to
spell words and to read short sentences with very
little assistance, and that given in answer to their
questions.
It has now been shown how books, cards, slalea
THE ALPHABET. 175
and blackboards, and letter-blocks may be used in
teaching the Alphabet. All that remains to be said
is that all these articles of apparatus may be used
by the teacher at his pleasure, or they may be com
bined in teaching. A teacher violates no principle
if he use book, cards, blackboard, and blocks at
the same recitation. Children are fond of variety,
and it can hardly be doubted that a teacher who
varies his methods and means of teaching will cause
his pupils to make more progress than one who con
fines himself to a single method or to the same
means, even though he may choose the best.
2. THE WORD METHOD. —The ABC method of
teaching the Alphabet commences with letters, and
when the pupil is sufficiently acquainted with these,
he proceeds to learn words by a process of synthesis.
The method of teaching the Alphabet about to be
described commences with words, and proceeds by
a process of analysis to resolve them into their com
ponent letters.
The first step in a linguistic course of study is to
become acquainted with oral words. Children learn
the names of things. They learn to talk. Starting
here, there may be found a series of nice gradations,
which, if followed in teaching, will lead naturally to
a knowledge of the Alphabet.
1st. Lessons upon the Names of Pictures. — The
pupil has learned the names of objects. By pictures
he will learn that objects can be represented, and he
will acquire the power also of looking closely at the
details of different forms in order that he may dis-
176 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
tinguish one from another. These picture-lesson a
may be given from books or cards prepared for the
purpose.
2d. Lessons upon the Names of Words. — These
lessons may at first embrace only the words which
stand for the objects represented in the pictures.
They should be printed near the pictures in order
that an intimate association may be formed between
the picture, its name, and the word which stands
for the name. In asylums for the blind, labels with
raised letters cut upon them, are sometimes attached
to familiar objects, in order that an easy connection
can be formed between the object and the word
which symbolizes it. After such an introduction,
the pupil should be exercised upon the names of
words, disconnected from pictures or objects. A set
of cards could be easily contrived presenting, first,
pictures without words; second, pictures with words,
and, last, words without pictures.
3d. Lessons upon the Names of 1 etters. — Having
learned to use spoken words, and to distinguish some
written words, pupils would seem to be prepared to
analyze these words and ascertain the parts of which
they are composed, or to learn their letters. The
words first selected for analysis should be short,
should represent some familiar object, and should
be composed of letters which are easily learned;
such as ox, cow, cat, boy, hen, &c. In analyzing words
into letters, books, cards, slates, blackboards, and
letter-blocks may be used as described when speak
ing of the ABC method. Pupils, having been
THE ALPHABET. 177
made familiar with the letters composing certain
words, can make the words on slates and blackboards,
or form them with letter-blocks.
Several reasons may be given in favor of the Word
method of teaching the Alphabet.
It is the natural method. Children use words in
speaking, and the transition seems natural from
spoken words to written words, and then to the
letters of which words are composed. If we com
mence with letters, there can be no immediate con
nection between that knowledge of language which
the pupil has and that which he is expected to ac
quire. Besides, the "Word method follows the order
in which written language was invented. Characters
were first used for objects, next for words, and last
for letters.
It possesses more interest for children. A child
cannot be made to take much interest in abstract,
arbitrary forms like a, b, c ; while all children delight
in talking about a bird, a dog, a bell, a coach, and con
sequently may be pleased to learn the words for
such objects, and the letters composing such words.
Teachers unconsciously show the truth of what is
here said, when they tell their pupils that a stands
'for apple, b for boy, and d for dog., &c.
It aids pupils in learning to pronounce. The
pupil necessarily learns the pronunciation of some
words in learning the Alphabet, but the benefit
claimed has reference to the habit he acquires of
associating the names of words with their forms ;
and it will be shown in the article on methods of
teaching pronunciation that the learner is more de
pendent for his skill in pronuciation upon
178 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
associations than upon the names or the sounds oi
the letters.
Two additional suggestions will close the discus
sion :
The names and the sounds of the letters should
be taught cotemporaneously. If the ABC
method be adopted, the powers of the letters should
be taught before attempting to teach pronunciation,
for the names of the letters are of little use in pro
nouncing. Practice will prove moreover that both
the names and sounds of letters can be taught
in nearly the same time that either can be, and
hence dictates the policy of teaching them together.
If the Word method be adopted, the analysis of
words into the letters of which they are composed,
and into their component sounds, will prove each an
advantage to the other. The variety this double
analysis will furnish will add interest to the lesson,
and since the eye is engaged in one, and the ear in
the other, the process cannot be wearisome. Noth
ing need be said specially in regard to the methods
of teaching the sounds of the letters, as their names
and sounds must be taught substantially in the same
manner. The sounds of letters, however, are more
difficult to utter than their names, and the teacher
must train his pupils to utter them after him, and
carefully guide them in placing their organs of
speech in the proper position to do so.
The capital and small letters should be taught at
the same time. Those letters which are alike will
be remembered from their resemblance; and those
that differ, from contrast; and one class of letters
will be needed by pupils about as soon as the other.
PRONUNCIATION. 179
PRONUNCIATION.
Pronunciation consists in naming words upon
seeing the characters which compose them, or hear
ing uttered the names of these characters or the
sounds represented by them. In reading, words are
usually pronounced upon seeing the characters which
compose them. A familiar word can be pronounced
without seeing it, if some one name the letters of
which it is composed ; and the pronunciation of all
words is but the combination of their elementary
sounds.
The orthographical peculiarities of the English
language render the* work of acquiring its pronun
ciation exceedingly difficult. If there was a single
character to represent every elementary sound in the
language, the name and sound of the letters would
be identical, and the pronunciation of a word would
merely consist in a synthesis of its elementary sounds
and could present no serious impediment to the pro
gress of a learner. But we are to speak of methods
of teaching the Pronunciation of the English Lan
guage, and must therefore accept it as it is.
Pronunciation may be taught in two ways ; first,
by causing the pupil to name or notice the characters
composing words, and utter in combination the
sounds they are intended to represent. This may
be called the Synthetic method. Second, by causing
the pupil to associate the names of words with theii
forms. This may be called the Associative method.
1. THE SYNTHETIC METHOD. — The names of ali
words are syntheses of their elementary sounds. If
each linguistic sound was represented by a single
180 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
letter, and the name and sound of the letter were
the same, the teaching of Pronunciation would con
sist : first, in acquainting the pupil with the elemen
tary sounds ; second, in impressing upon his memory
the characters by which these sounds are repre
sented; and, third, in teaching him to pronounce
words by uttering the sounds in combination. This
is strictly a process of synthesis.
With respect to the English language, each sound
is not represented by a single letter, and the names
and sounds of the letters are seldom identical. Our
present task is to show how the Pronunciation of
such a language can be taught synthetically. As
might be supposed, the Synthetic method has as
sumed several forms, each of which will be dis
cussed in its order.
1st. The Alphabetic Method. — To commence pro
perly the work of teaching Pronunciation according
to this method, the pupils must know the names of
the letters of the Alphabet. When able to point out
and name all the letters presented individually, they
are required to point them out and name them as
they occur in words, and then to pronounce the
words. At first, monosyllabic words which contain
no silent letters are selected, and afterwards the
pupils are gradually introduced to more difficult
monosyllabic, dissyllabic, and polysyllabic words.
This is the method generally practiced in our
schools; but it will require little argument to show
that it cannot be the best that might be adopted.
The radical error underlying it is the assumptf .n that
the name of a word is a synthesis of tLe names of
PRONUNCIATION. l8J
the letters composing it — a thing which is not true
of a single word in the English language. A child
cannot know upon merely naming the letters in a
word, what sounds they represent, whether other
letters may not represent the same sounds, or
v;hether they represent any sounds at all. Take
such simple words as at, go, me; name the letters,
and then comhine the sounds uttered ; and there
will he formed a result wholly unlike the names
of these words. If the simplest words cannot be
pronounced "by combining the names of their com
ponent letters, still less can words like leisure, vic
tuals, phthisic, knife, yacht, ycleped, and thousands of
others whose pronunciation could hardly be guessed
from a knowledge of their orthography.
It must be admitted, however, that pupils do learn
to pronounce in schools where no other method of
teaching Pronunciation than the Alphabetic is used.
The proper explanation of this fact is that the
teacher supposes he is teaching according to one
method when he is actually teaching according to
another. The child is not guided to the pronun
ciation of a word by naming its letters, as many
teachers seem to think, but he learns to associate
the name of the word which the teacher gives him
with its form, the parts of which he has named.
Every teacher who has used this method will testify
that after pupils had named the letters composing a
word, he had to give them its pronunciation, and
sometimes to repeat it again and again, before it
became fixed in their minds. In stating this, it ia
not intended to be denied that naming the letters
may sometimes aid the pupil in pronouncing
16
182 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
The names of letters may do something to suggest
their power, when practice has made these powers
partially familiar; and so far as this can he the
case, some advantage in pronouncing may be de
rived from the Alphabetic method.
2nd. The Phonic Method. — According to the Pho
nic method, the teacher first imparts to his pupils a
knowledge of the sounds of the language. His
next object is to teach them to combine sounds.
This he may do by uttering individual sounds, and
then showing how they can be combined; and after
wards requiring his pupils to utter sounds and make
combinations of them. Such lessons are valuable,
and children may be taught in this way a correct
oral pronunciation.
The point of difficulty with the Phonic method
is to apply it to written words. As applied in
teaching the pronunciation of the German language
(and this method comes to us from Germany), it
answers a good purpose, because nearly all the Ger
man letters have but a single sound, and where this
is not the case, the power of the letter can gene
rally be determined by the notation. The peculia
rities of the Orthography of the English language,
with the same characters representing several
sounds, and the same sounds represented by dif
ferent characters, its silent letters, and its double
consonants, must render the application of the Pho
nic method to the teaching of the pronunciation of
our language a work of much difficulty. Indeed,
it is scarcely possible to do it to any useful extent,
without employing the aid of orthographical rules,
U^CIATION'. 1«3
classifications of words, and systems of notation ;
but with these auxiliaries many teachers esteem it
the most philosophical and practical of the methods
now in use. The leading features of the method
when thus used must be described.
As already stated, the first step in the Phonic
method is to impart a knowledge of the elementary
sounds of the language and the characters by which
they are represented ; and as there are more than
twenty-six of these sounds, and some of the letters
of the Alphabet have several sounds, some system
of notation must be adopted.
The second step in this method is to teach pupils
to combine these elementary sounds so as to form
words. The work of combining sounds may com
mence as soon as pupils become acquainted with
a sufficient number of them to form combinations.
It is evident that these two steps constitute the
whole work of teaching Pronunciation, but in prac
tice many difficulties will be encountered of which
something must be said.
It is best to teach first the short sounds of the
vowels : as a in at, e in en, i in it, o in ox, u in us.
!N"ext should be taught the sounds of the simple
consonants : as b, d, f, I, m, n, p, &c. Then come
words of two letters ; as an, at, in, ox, &c. ; or combi
nations that form parts of words : as ad, et, in, ol, up,
&c. ; and afterwards words composed in the same
way of three or four letters may be given. The
word-tables composed of such monosyllables as ba,
ma, le, he, si, no, tu, bla, ble, bad, mad, &e., as found
in our old-fasnioned spelling-books, could be made
very useful as exercises in phonic synthesis.
184 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
The preceding paragraph points out what ia
appropriate in lessons for beginners. In advancing
further, it will be best to choose a spelling-book in
which words are arranged according to their analo-
o o
gies in respect to some peculiarity in sound, and
presented in an order progressing from the easy to
the difficult. Interest may be added to first lessons
by introducing words that represent objects and
actions familiar to children.
In giving first lessons in Pronunciation according
to this method, cards, letter-blocks, and blackboards
may be advantageously used. As an example of
the mode of teaching such lessons, an exercise upon
a blackboard will be described. Let the teacher
draw a letter, say a, upon the blackboard, and re
quire the pupils to give its sound ; then t may be
placed on the right side of it, its sound given, and
the two sounds combined ; and, afterwards, r may
be placed upon the left side of it, its sound given
also, and the whole word, rat, pronounced. Erasing
r, £,/, m, n, s, or v may be substituted, and the pupils
required to pronounce the new combinations. The
other letters composing the word can be changed in
a similar way, and other words can be chosen and
built up or taken apart in a manner, when performed
by an ingenious teacher, that never fails to engage
the attention of pupils. At times, it may be well
for pupils to point out or draw in their order the
characters which represent particular sounds, uttered
by the teacher, and then combine them into words;
or the combinations may be made without the
characters. As soon as pupils are made thoroughly
acquainted with the elementarv sounds of the lan<
PRONUNCIATION. 18
gnage, nnd the characters used to represent them,
and have attained some facility in combining them
into syllables and monosyllabic words by practicing
a series of exercises designed to accomplish that
end, they may take up the more formal lessons of a
well-arranged spelling-book. In such a book the
words are carefully classed according to their analo
gies of sound, arid the character or combination of
characters which is used to represent the sound,
common to the whole, is placed prominently at the
head of the lesson, and serves as a key to the pro
nunciation. For example a, as in /ate, might be the
key, and then the lesson would contain such words
as aid, gay, they, veil, break, guage, $c. ; or the sound
of sh in ship, might be made to indicate the pro
nunciation of a large class of words in which that
sound is represented by ti, si, ci, ch, «. ce, se, and sch.
After pupils have learned the pronunciation of
the words of a lesson by making a synthesis of their
elementary sounds, they must have much practice
in naming words without uttering the individual
sounds of which they are composed. The division
of words of more than one syllable into syllables
is proper for children in their first efforts to pro
nounce ; but the same words should be immediately
pronounced without such division. A Spelling-
Book, arranged in conformity with the method of
teaching Pronunciation now indicated, should con
tain many miscellaneous exercises, in which all
classification and all notation should be discarded.
From what has been said, it is evident that the
Phonic method of teaching Pronunciation is more
philosophical than the Alphabetic method. It pre-
16*
t86 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
sents the subject in a series of well-graded exer
cises. It is consistent with itself, systematic, and
logical. There are, however, some objections to it
which must be noticed.
It is objected that the classes of words required
by this method, if made according to their analogous
sounds, would be so numerous that few children
could remember them. Besides, if all the words
belonging to a particular class were to be always
arranged in a single lesson, it would bring together
both easy and difficult words in a manner tbat could
not fail to perplex the learner. The authors of
Spelling-Books, it would seem, might easily obviate
this objection.
It is objected further that pupils taught to rely
upon analogy of sounds or a system of notation
for the pronunciation of words, would find them
selves greatly perplexed in dispensing with these
helps when it became necessary in general reading
The miscellaneous exercises in pronouncing referred
to on a preceding page would remove this objection.
It is objected finally that there are many words
in the English language that do not admit of classi
fication with other words in any way that would be
useful to a learner, and whose Orthography is so
peculiar that a synthesis of their elementary sounds
would scarcely aid him in remembering their Pro
nunciation. This is the most serious objection that
can be brought against the Phonic method of teach
ing Pronunciation, and I see no way of answering
it. It would seem that the Pronunciation of such
words can be best learned by a different method.
PRONUNCIATION. 187
8d, The Phonetic Method. — It is generally agreed
that there are over forty elementary sounds in the
English language. Our Alphabet contains hut
twenty-six letters. The advocates of the Phonetic
method of teaching Pronunciation generally use
the letters of our present Alphabet, each to repre
sent one sound, and invent others as signs for the
Bounds unrepresented.
The first step in the application of this method
is to teach the elementary sounds and the characters
which have been agreed upon to represent them.
The second step is to teach pupils to combine
sounds when uttered by the teacher or suggested
by their appropriate symbols. These combinations
consist at first of two sounds, then of three, and
thus on, until they include all of those found in the
longest words. Spelling-books and spelling-cards
suited to this method have been prepared and can
be used as in the other methods. The same advan
tage, too, may be derived from the use of black
boards and letter-blocks.
The third step consists in having pupils make
the transition from the pronunciation of words
spelled phonetically to those spelled in the common
way. This transition may be made by placing the
same words spelled in both ways in parallel columns
or in alternate lines. There is so strong a resem
blance or so great a contrast between the two modes
of spelling that pupils do not find much difficulty,
it is claimed, in passing from the phonetic word-
symbols to the common word-symbols.
It is but just to say that experiments have been
made, and apparently with fairness, designed to
188 INSTRUCTION- IN LANGUAGE.
test the relative advantages of the Phonetic and other
methods of teaching Pronunciation ; and results
have been reported decidedly favorable to the former.
Upon the other hand, other experiments have failed
to yield the same results and some very strong objec
tions have been urged against the Phonetic method.
It is alleged that a pupil taught to pronounce
upon the principle that every letter is sounded and
that every sound is represented by a single character,
would be completely bewildered in attempting to
dispose of the silent letters, and the numerous char
acters used to represent the same sound, and nu
merous sounds represented by the same characters,
which are incident to our English Orthography.
In consequence, it is denied that the transition from
the pronunciation of words spelled Phonetically to
the pronunciation of those spelled in the ordinary
manner can be easily made, or made at all without a
departure from the principle of the Phonetic method.
It is maintained, too, that pupils taught according
to the Phonetic method, will experience great diffi
culty in learning to spell. Practicing phonic ana
lysis exclusively, they would be apt to make the
number of letters in a word equal to the number
of its elementary sounds, and this would tend to
introduce errors into their Orthography.
2. THE ASSOCIATIVE METHOD. — According to the
Associative Method, Pronunciation is learned by
associating the names of words with their forms.
~No conscious synthesis of the names of letters or of
sounds represented by them is made, but the pupil
is taught at once the written signs for oral words,
PRONUNCIATION. 189
Children can be taught to pronounce by this
method. Oral language exists. Children can talk,
They use words. Written language was designed
to be the medium of communication between the
ear and the eye — to convert the products of the
former sense into forms recognizable by the latter.
It is a matter of history that various forms of writing
have prevailed at different periods, and it is well
known that in Stenography and Telegraphing the
common word-signs are not used. Besides, it is
plain that any arbitrary symbol may be agreed upon
to represent a word, and by familiar association be
made to suggest it. It is upon this principle that
the Associative Method of teaching Pronunciation
is based, and it has no reference to the component
letters, or the component sounds of words.
Since the association between the names of words
and their forms is arbitrary, the irregularities of the
Orthography of the English language present no
difficulties in the way of acquiring its pronunciation
that would not be presented in a language strictly
phonetic.
Teaching, according to this method, will be suc
cessful in proportion as it succeeds in making a
lasting association between the names of words and
their forms. Much skill will be required on the
part of the teacher to attain this end.
It is best to select for first lessons words which
stand for things in which children are most inter-
O
ested, as boy, girl, dog, cat, whip, tree, &c. These may
be given first in connection with pictures, but after
wards without the pictures.
The second class of lessons should contain such
words as of, in, a, to, an, the, and, is, are, lias, have, &c.
190 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
The third class of lessons may embody the same
words in short sentences. These should be so con
structed as to interest children.
In all these lessons, books and cards suitably
prepared, letter-blocks, and blackboards may be
advantageously used. The forms of words must be
impressed upon the pupils' memories by describing
and analyzing them, talking about the objects they
represent, and making their names familiar by
frequent repetition.
The lessons which succeed these, containing more
difficult words, should be arranged upon the same
principle, and instruction given in them in the
same manner. Each lesson should consist of a
proper number of words, and when the pupil is
familiar with their pronunciation individually pre
sented, he can be taught to pronounce them in
sentences intermixed with words learned in pre
ceding lessons.
In estimating the value of this method, it must be
admitted that no one can pronounce words with
facility who has not formed a familiar association
between their names and their forms. The attempt
to do this directly, in the manner proposed by the
Associative Method encounters some difficulties.
It would be a task of great difficulty to acquaint
pupils with the immense vocabulary of the English
language without the aid of phonic synthesis or the
analogies of the language. It would be subject to
the same objections as the Verbal System of writing
practiced by the Ancients, or the clumsy word-signs
of the Chinese.
It would also involve the additional labor upon
PRONUNCIATION". 191
the teacher of pronouncing every word for the
pupil. In strict accordance with the method, the
pupil could not aid himself in pronouncing by
naming letters, giving sounds, seeking out analo
gies, or searching Dictionaries.
Sufficient has "been said of each of the methods
of teaching Pronunciation when applied indepen
dently. It has been seen that difficulties lie in the
path of all of them, and it remains to be ascertained
whether some of these may not be removed by a
judicious union of methods. The method thus
formed may be called the Eclectic Method. Some
repetition may be necessary in describing it.
A word is the simplest subdivision of discorrse.
A child uses words when he begins to talk, not
sentences on the one hand, or letters or elementary
sounds on the other. It is most natural, in learning
written language, that the pupil should also com
mence with words — that he should translate worda
he can understand by sound into words he can
understand by sight. So far as the first lessons in
Pronunciation are concerned, then, I would follow
the Associative Method. It may be followed to the
extent of teaching pupils to read short sentences.
As soon as pupils are able to pronounce a certain
number of words at sight, or while they are learn
ing to do it, they should be required to analyze them
into their component letters and sounds, and, after
wards, be instructed as to the manner in which ele
mentary sounds are combined to form words, and as
to the fact that letters are used to represent sounds,
and that their names and their sounds are different,
192 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
All this should be abundantly illustrated. As some
of the letters of the Alphabet have several sounds,
it will be necessary to adopt a system of notation.
From this point on through the Spelling-Book, I
would adopt the arrangement of words and exercises
previously described as appropriate to the Phonic
method ; but I would not adhere to that metnod in
conducting the recitations. I wTould conduct recita
tions in the following manner, which, I think, enables
pupils to profit by what is good in all methods.
First, let the teacher pronounce the words and the
pup'ls imitate him. Second, let the pupils name
the elementary sounds in a word, and then pro
nounce it. Third, let the pupils name the letters
composing a word, and then pronounce it. Fourth,
let the pupils pronounce the word without giving
the elementary sounds or naming the letters. Of
course, the words should be disposed of in this way
one at a time. The first step enables the pupil to
obtain a correct pronunciation of a word, and to ini
tiate an association between its name and its form.
The second is an exercise in phonic synthesis. The
third is an application of the Alphabetic method
and has advantages in itself, and in the preparation
for learning to spell which it affords. The fourth is
the consummation of the end aimed at — the pronun
ciation of a \vord at sight. Thus, as I conceive, the
strong points of one method may be made to supply
the weak points of another, and each deriving help
from the others, an Eclectic method can be formed
that is at once philosophical and practical.
Pupils must not only be taught to pronounce
words, but they ought to be taught to pronounce
PEONUNCIATION. 193
them correctly; and it is requisite that something
be said in this connection regarding the method of
attaining this desirable end. Contrary to the com
mon practice, great care should be taken to have
the pupil acquire a correct pronunciation to the
greatest extent possible, before he begins to read —
pronouncing words in sentences is not reading.
In teaching pupils to pronounce correctly, two
things must be attended to: first, Enunciation;
second, Accent. Enunciation relates to the manner
of uttering sounds. Accent is stress of voice placed
upon particular syllables in words.
Certain impediments frequently lie in the way of
pupils' acquiring a good Enunciation. Among them
are imperfect vocal organs, timidity, and bad habits.
"When pupils are unable to utter certain sounds
on account of imperfect vocal organs, the teacher
may, in some cases aid in removing the difficulty by
training them to speak with due deliberation, with
an expiring breath, and with the mouth open, so as
to allow the weak organs freedom of movement ;
but a want of time in school will generally prevent
that prolonged application of remedies deemed
. essential to effect a cure. Lisping, stammering,
stuttering, and like vocal defects, can often be cured;
but special schools are wanted to apply properly the
means. If the teacher find the impediment to arise
from inability to utter a certain sound, he can often
remove it by securing practice upon the most nearly
related sounds. lie can do something, too, by show
ing the position of the organs in uttering the sounds
with which difficulty is experienced. He can always
do much by patiently giving general vocal culture.
17
194: INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
If pupils mispronounce words in consequence of
their timidity, the teacher must endeavor to gain
their confidence by speaking words of encourage
ment and showing an interest in their work. He
must also lead them step by step to have confi
dence in themselves.
Bad habits are the most common source of mis
pronunciations. Children listen to words incorrectly
pronounced, and, of course, imitate what they hear.
The spoken language of few neighborhoods is free
from errors ; and that of many is full of them.
Children learn to utter certain vocal elements
erroneously, to omit them when they ought not to
be omitted, and to use them when they ought not
to be used. These bad habits can only be corrected
by long and patient training in phonic analysis and
phonic synthesis. Pupils must be made familiar
with all the elementary sounds of the language.
They must be taught to make words by combining
sounds, and to distinguish the simple sounds con
tained in words. They should be allowed much
practice upon combinations of sounds of difficult
utterance, and words and classes of words which
they are liable to mispronounce. Great difficulty
will be experienced with the vocal sounds in unac
cented syllables, but the teacher must make his
practice conform to the best authorities he can find
upon the subject. Beginners may derive advantage
from a division of words into syllables.
All words in the English language of more than
one syllable have one accented syllable. Polysylla
bic words have generally both a primary and a secon
dary accent. The placing of the accent is an impor-
ORTHOGRAPHY.
tant matter in pronouncing words?-, and teachers
should carefully train their pupils to do it properly.
Their own pronunciation should be a correct model
for imitation. Patient attention must be paid to the
accentuation of words new to pupils, and frequent
repetition is necessary to break up habits of mispro
nouncing words with respect to which they have been
accustomed to place the accent upon the wrong
syllable. Much advantage may be had from the
practice of having pupils write on slates or black
boards columns of words, and then mark the ac
cented syllables. Lessons of the same kind may be
made with the words as arranged in Spelling-Books.
As soon as pupils can use a Dictionary, they should
have access to one. It will only be added that moie
attention to the principles of Orthoepy in Primary
schools would save much labor in higher schools and
many foolish blunders in society.
ORTHOGRAPHY.
Spelling consists in expressing the characters
composing words upon hearing or conceiving those
words. In pronouncing, the forms of letters are
.presented to the eye, or their names or sounds to
the ear, and the pupils are expected to name the
words thus constituted. Spelling is this process
reversed. More concisely, it may be said that in
pronouncing, we have given letters or letter-sounds
to find words ; and in spelling, we have given words
to find letters or letter-sounds. Pronunciation is
essentially a synthetic process ; but Spelling is an
analytic process. Logically, Pronunciation must
precede Spelling in a course of study, because
196 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
children must be acquainted with words as wholes
before they can reproduce their component parts.
Practically, however, it may be convenient to in
clude exercises in both in the same lesson.
Words may be analyzed in two ways ; and conse
quently there are two methods of teaching Orthog
raphy. The first method consists in resolving the
words into their elementary sounds, and in express
ing the characters which represent these sounds.
This method is founded upon an analysis of sound,
and depends upon the sense of hearing. It may be
called the Auricular method.
The second method consists in resolving words
into their several parts, and in expressing these
parts. This method is founded upon an analysis of
form, and depends upon the sense of seeing. It
may be called the Ocular method
Both methods are dependant upon the memory.
1. THE AURICULAR METHOD. — If the English was
strictly a phonetic language, the Auricular method
of teaching spelling would have advantages over any
other method. In that case, spelling would consist
in the analysis of words into the simple sounds
which compose them, and the representation of
these sounds by their appropriate characters. Chil
dren could be readily taught to do this, and thus
escape the heavy task of memorizing spelling-lessons.
The English language, however, does not conform
its Orthography to the Phonetic principle. Many
of the letters composing words are silent. Many
letters represent more than one sound, and many
sounds are represented by more than one letter.
ORTHOGKAPHY. 197
Even with words of the simplest Orthography, an
analysis of their sound never gives the names of the
letters.
Orthography is the reverse of Pronunciation. The
Auricular method of teaching Orthography is the
reverse of the Synthetic method of teaching Pro
nunciation, and might he divided into the same
number of special methods. As letters can he
named and the Pronunciation of words sus^ested
OO
by them, so the names of words may suggest their
component letters. As elementary linguistic sounds
can be combined to form words; so words can be
analy/^.d into their simplest sounds. As a classifi
cation of words according to their analogies aids in
learning Pronunciation working forwards, so may
such a classification be made to aid in the work of
learning Orthography working backwards. As
separate characters may be used to represent all the
elements employed in phonic synthesis, so may
they be used to represent the results of phonic
analysis. Thus methods of teaching Orthography
might be arranged to correspond to the Alpha
betical, the Phonic, and the Phonetic methods of
teaching Pronunciation. This detail is deemed
unnecessary here, however, since whatever merits
or demerits these methods have with respect to
Pronunciation they must have with respect to
Orthography.
2. THE OCULAR METHOD. — We spell more by form
than by sound. We are more apt to remember
letters as parts of whole words, than we are to
remember them as characters representing sounds,
17*
198 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
We use the sense of seeing in spelling more than
that of hearing. In proof of this position, it might
be stated that most persons are accustomed to write
words with respect to the Orthography of which
they are in doubt, or to conceive their form, thus
judging whether words are spelled correctly by
their looks.
Proof-readers, whom I have consulted, allege
that they seldom consider what elementary sounds
compose words, and then what characters represent
them ; but they think of words as pictures which
are marred by bad spelling.
It is the general experience, too, that the blind
epell with more difficulty than the deaf.
The Ocular method of teaching Orthography is
founded upon the same principle as the Associative
method of teaching Pronunciation, and corresponds
to it. By this method, the problem of Pronuncia
tion is : given the form of a word to determine its
name ; and that of Orthography is : given the name
of a word to find its form. Pronunciation is the
translation of eye-language into ear-language, and
Orthography is the translation of ear-language into
eye-language. It need scarcely be added that the
advantages and disadvantages of teaching Pronun
ciation by the Associative method belong equally to
th3 Ocular method of teaching Orthography.
In the preceding Article it was stated that the
different methods of teaching Pronunciation might
be combined, and that an Eclectic method might be
formed that would avoid many of the objections
which could be made to each of these methods when
used by itself, and embrace the certain advantages
ORTHOGRAPHY 199
derived from all of them. The same may be said
in reference to methods of teaching Orthography.
Pronunciation and Orthography should be taught
together, and both require the same arrangement
of subject-matter; and as this arrangement Las
already been indicated, a repetition is now un
called for.
As the most important thing to be attended to in
teaching Orthography is to impress the form of
vords upon the memory of pupils, some suggestions
may be made with reference to this end. The cor
rect forms of words may be impressed upon the
memory of a child by selecting words that he under
stands, and that represent something in which he is
interested. It may be done by calling attention to
the peculiar forms of words, their analogies, and by
requiring pupils to draw or write their spelling-
lessons before reciting them. If pupils be taught to
spell immediately the same words that have fur
nished their pronouncing or reading lesson, it will
be found to be of great advantage. One exercise
may contain words correctly spelled with which
pupils nay be made familiar, and then pass on to
another in which the same words are used with
letters omitted, added, or misplaced, that they are
required to correct. Words of like Pronunciation
but unlike Orthography can be most easily spelled
when their meaning is known and contrasted.
Pupils should be made familiar with the various
methods of spelling words of doubtful Orthography,
and for this purpose lists of such words should be
frequently spelled. There are a few Orthographical
rules, such as those with respect to changing y into t,
200 INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
and doubling the final consonant, a knowledge of
which may be profitable to pupils. Each rule should
be fixed in the mind by numerous examples.
After this statement of principles, it is deemed
proper that a more detailed description should be
given of methods of conducting recitations in Or
thography.
1st. Spelling Exercises for Beginners. — Much atten
tion should be paid to Orthography in our Primary
schools. Those who do not learn to spell well when
young, seldom acquire the ability to do so. Each
lesson should be pronounced and then opelled.
Pupils may repeat the names of words utteied by
the teacher and associate them with their proper
word-signs. They may name the letters or sounds
composing words and again pronounce them. They
may pronounce the words, and then give the letters
or sounds. They may pronounce the words with
out giving either the letters or sounds. Finally,
they should spell the words both by giving the
names of the letters and the elementary sounds of
the words. Each of these exercises will aid the
others, and all ought to be embraced in the same
lesson. The words contained in every primary read
ing lesson should be spelled, and the words used
in a spelling lesson should be embraced in sentences
and read.
A Reading-Frame with block-letters can be used
very advantageously in teaching young children to
sr f U. Words made of these letters can be imitated,
tuKen apart, and put together in a manner well
calculated to impress their forms upon the pupil' I
ORTHOGRAPHY. 201
memory. The handling of the letters tends to fix
the attention upon their relative locations in words.
Before children can write, they may draw or print
words upon their slates or upon the blackboard.
They can copy in this way their reading and pro
nouncing lessons.
2d. An oral Exercise in Spelling. — The common
mode of managing an exercise in oral Spelling is to
require pupils to prepare several columns of words
from a Spelling-Book. A class is then formed, and
the words are given out to each pupil, commencing
at the head of the class and proceeding toward the
foot. If a pupil misspell his word, the next below
him may spell it and take his place ; if two misspell
a word, a third may try it, and so on to the end, un
less some one spell it correctly.
It may be objected to this method that, by collu
sion among one another, each pupil knowing the
order in which the words will be given out, may
prepare only those words which he calculates will
be assigned to him. This objection, however, can
be easily obviated by the teacher's changing the
order of assigning the words.
It is also objected to this method that, while
pupils are spelling at one end of the class, they may
be inattentive at the other end. Thi« result does
not occur unfrequently, but it may be prevented
by the teacher's assigning words miscellaneously.
If it be desirable to retain positions of honor and
dishonor in the class, at the end of a recitation,
those who have misspelled the fewest words can
pass to the head of the class ; those who bave mis-
202 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
spelled the next to the fewest words can occupy the
next place, and thus on until all are located, such
as misspelled the same number of words retaining
the same relative position as when the recitation
began. This changing of position need occupy but
a moment, and necessitates no confusion. Each
pupil can be readily accustomed to recollect the
number of words he misspelled, and honestly to
report it, or some one can be appointed to keep the
account.
A more serious objection to tl.e method of oral
spelling is that by this mode of reciting each pupil
can receive but a small portion of the words of the
lesson, and the teacher does not know whether the
whole lesson has been prepared or otherwise. In
other studies the teacher may nearly always judge
how well a pupil knows the whole lesson by the
manner in which he recites a part of it, but this is
obviously not the case with Orthography. Though
this is a strong objection to oral spelling, yet the
practice of it ought not to be wholly discarded. It
sometimes happens that pupils cannot write, and
sometimes it is inconvenient for them to do so ;
and if neither wTas the case, variety of method in
reciting gives zest to study. Now and then, indeed,
I do not think it out of place for the teacher to
indulge his pupils in an old-fashioned spelling-
match. The interest they will take in preparing for
the contest will acquaint them with the Orthography
of many words.
3d. Method of using Slates in a Spelling Recitation. —
Those who spell well orally do not a1 ways write words
ORTHOGRAPHY. 203
correctly. Every teacher has witnessed and won
dered at this fact. It may be that, in oral spelling,
we rely more upon the sense of hearing than upon
that of seeing, and that in written spelling the
reverse is true. Whatever may he the cause, the
fact is as stated, and hence the necessity that pupils
should have ample practice in spelling words by
writing them. This exercise may be conducted by
using slates. The pupils having made the necessary
preparation by looking closely at the words of the les
son, writing them, and naming the letters composing
them, are supposed to be conveniently seated, each
with a slate and pencil. The teacher now pronounces
the words of the lesson, or such of them as he may
select, and all the pupils write them. When the
words have all been written, the teacher must ascer
tain how many of them have been spelled correctly.
For this purpose, I have found the best plan to be
for the teacher to spell the words in the order he
gave them out, and require each pupil to mark such
of them as he may have misspelled. Pupils may,
however, spell the words by turns, or as called upon,
and correct one another, marking misspelled words
as before. How to dispose of the misspelled words
is an interesting question. It would be a great mis
take merely to have them marked, and then allow
them to pass without further notice. It is an excel-
lect plan to require each pupil to write upon paper
lists of all the words he misspelled, and then to
make special preparation to spell them at certain
fixed times, once a week, or more frequently, in a
review lesson. At such a recitation, all the lists
nridt be handed to the teacher, and he can assign
204 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
the words in the usual manner; and as each pupil
has only the words misspelled by himself to pre
pare, it can justly be expected that no mistakes
will be made.
In addition to the attainment of the ability to
write words correctly, some of the advantages of
this method are that each pupil has the opportunity
of spelling all the worJs of the lesson, all the mem
bers of the class are constantly employed during the
recitation, no one who does not know his lesson can
escape detection, and misspelled words can be re-
studied and recited a second time.
4th. Method of using the Blackboard in a Spelling
Recitation. — In order to conduct a spelling recitation
upon a blackboard, there must be sufficient surface
to allow to each pupil the requisite amount of space
upon which to write his lesson. "When ready to
recite, each pupil takes his place in front of the space
upon which his lesson is intended to be written;
and with a piece of crayon in one hand and a suita
ble rubber in the other, prepares himself to write.
The lesson is then given out, written, corrected, and
reviewed, as when slates are used. Instead of each
pupil's correcting his own work, all may change
places, and each correct the work of another. Slates
can be exchanged in the same manner ; but in both
cases, there is always some loss of time, and there
may be ill feeling.
I prefer slates to the blackboard in conducting a
spelling lesson, for the reason that while the general
advantages are the same, pupils cannot so readily
copy from a blackboard their misspelled wordo after
ORTHOGRAPHY. 205
the recitation, and during the recitation there is a
strong temptation to watch each other's \vork and
profit by it. This latter objection can be partially
removed by dividing the whole class into two sub
classes, placing the members of each alternately,
and giving out the words of the lesson to each sub
class in a different order ; but this arrangement is
itself not free from objections.
5th. False Orthography as an Exercise in Spelling. —
Proof-readers become very expert spellers. They
detect instantly by its look every misspelled word.
An exercise something like proof-reading might be
profitably introduced into our schools. Pupils could
be made to notice carefully the correct spelling of
certain collections of words, and afterwards these
words might be embraced in miscellaneous exercises
systematically misspelled. Reading lessons might
be followed by exercises in False Orthography, or
misspelled words might be introduced into sen
tences and the pupils be engaged in correcting them.
Examples of False Orthography might be placed
under each of the Orthographical rules, and pupils
could thus become familiar with the rules in apply
ing them. A book containing matter suitably
arranged can easily be conceived. In preparing
such lessons, pupils ought to have loose slips of
paper upon which they could make their corrections
for the teacher's inspection.
6th. Dictation Exercises. — All exercises that require
pupils to write words when given out by the teacher
may be called Dictation Exercises; but by such
18
206 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
exercises in this connection are meant sentences,
paragraphs, or short pieces of composition read by
the teacher and written by the pupils. The mean
ing of words contained in sentences is more readily
discerned than when they are arranged in col
umns, and consequently children take more inter
est in spelling them. Besides, the spelling of sen
tences seems to them to be working to more pur
pose than spelling the words of dry spelling-book
columns.
Dictation exercises should be first written upon
slates, but when they have been corrected they may
be transferred to paper. The manner of correcting
the exercises may be the same as in the ordinary
spelling upon slates. With advanced classes, the
teacher will do well to make such selections for
dictation as are worth preserving on account of
their literary merit ; and something may be done in
this way to cultivate the taste even of beginners.
It is considered proper to append a few additional
suggestions. They have a general application.
Some attention should be paid to Orthography in
all branches. It is not amiss to ask pupils to spell
the new words with which they meet in Arithmetic,
Geography, Grammar, or any higher study. Espe
cially is it proper -that pupils be required to spell
the new words which occur in their reading lessons.
I have noticed pupils increase their skill in spelling
English words by practice in spelling the words of
other languages.
A wonderful degree of interest can be created
among children by giving them lessons in which
they are required to spell common things, such as
207
the things about the school-room, articles of furni
ture, articles of wearing apparel, kinds of food,
things bought at stores, things taken to market,
names of trees, flowers, vessels, vehicles, men,
women, &c., &c.
Li giving out a spelling lesson or dictation exer
cise, the teacher should always pronounce the words
correctly, and in a clear, audible voice.
The teacher should never mispronounce a word in
order to aid the pupil in spelling it.
A word or sentence should be repeated but once,
and in oral spelling but one trial should be allowed
the pupil. In written spelling, since the pupil
cannot know immediately whether his work is cor
rect or not, he will not often desire to change what
he first writes.
It is well for pupils to pronounce the words in
oral spelling after the teacher has done so, and
before spelling them ; and also to give the pronun
ciation of each syllable as spelled by itself, and in
combination with the preceding syllable or syllables,
if there are such.
What has been said on the subject of methods of
teaching Orthography has reference only to ac
quiring skill in spelling words as authorized by
good authorities. There are Etymological and other
reasons why words are spelled as we see them.
Orthographical peculiarities have not been produced
by mere chance or caprice. They are often the
result of linguistic laws, which can be investigated.
When pupils have made that degree of advancement
necessary to prosecute these philosophical inquiries,
208 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE,
teachers will find any effort they may make to
encourage them amply repaid. In no department
of science can there he opened a richer field than
that which embraces the origin, nature, and changes
of written language. While we are careful to inves
tigate the Orthographic laws relating to foreign lan
guages, let us not forget what is due from us to our
Mother-Tongue.
READING.
Reading, as a "branch of instruction, is the art of
giving proper oral expression to written or printed
composition. Taken in this sense, the words Read
ing and Elocution are synonymous, although the
latter term is generally applied to the higher depart
ments of Reading. Skill in Reading maybe desired
for the purpose of understanding written or printed
language, and without any intention of reading for
the "benefit of others ; but it is evident that a teacher
can only judge of such skill by an oral exhibition
of it. What is said of Reading in the following dis
cussion will apply almost equally well to Declama
tion and the different forms of Public Speaking.
Methods of teaching Reading are readily divis
ible into three classes : first, those which relate to
Heading as a Vocal Art; second, those which relate
to Reading as a Mental Operation; third, those which
relate to Delivery.
1. METHOD OF TEACHING READING AS A VOCAL ART.
— In reading we use the vocal organs as instru
ments; and, if these instruments are defective, it
will be impossible to acquire the ability to read
READING. 209
well. As well might it be expected that a musiciar
could make good music upon an instrument broken
or out of tune, as to expect a person to read well
with an uncultivated voice. Good reading depends
as much upon the voice as good singing ; and yet
the systematic culture of the voice for purposes of
reading is little attended to in educational institu
tions, and that is one great cause why there are so
few good readers. The human voice is a wonderful
instrument, and greatly susceptible of culture. No
one can doubt who has heard a great vocalist sing,
or seen a great actor play, that much of our singing,
speaking, and reading might be better done. The
Creator evidently intended that the voice should
express all kinds of truth and all forms of sentiment
that can originate in the soul.
Yocal culture in reading may either relate to the
simple utterance of linguistic sounds, as they occur
in words ; or to the utterance of such sounds with
respect to their Elocutionary qualities. The first
division has already been called Pronunciation ; the
second may be called Modulation.
As methods of teaching Pronunciation were
treated of in a preceding Article, it seems only
necessary to say here that no one can read well who
is unable to pronounce correctly and fluently. Ex
ercises upon the Enunciation of sounds and the
Pronunciation of words may, therefore, appropri
ately introduce a lesson in .Reading. These exer
cises should be based upon the reading-lessen, and
adapted in kind and extent to the acquirements of
the class. Pupils just beginning to read should be
taught to pronounce the words of the lesson before
18*
210 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
reading it, either as arranged in sentences (in which
case they should he named in a reversed order from
that in which they are read), or as arranged in
columns. Some of the worst habits of bad reading
irise from permitting children to attempt to read a
lesson before they can pronounce the' words con
tained in it. Even those counted good readers
sometimes spoil the delivery of a sentence by a
failure to articulate correctly a sound or a combina
tion of sounds, or by the inability to pronounce
readily a word or a succession of words.
Modulation, in the sense here used, includes the
Quantity, Compass, Movement, and Quality of the
voice.
Quantity. — By Quantity, in an Elocutionary sense,
is meant the volume of voice that can be used — the
power with which sounds can be uttered. Force,
Emphasis, Slur, Stress, and Accent all relate to
Quantity of voice. Force is the volume of voice
applied in reading. Emphasis is the manner of
applying more Force to certain words in a sen
tence, or sentences in a paragraph, than to others
with which they are connected. Less Force, thus
applied, produces the Slur. Stress is the manner
of applying Force in uttering single sounds, sylla
bles, or monosyllabic words. Accent is the greater
Force with which certain syllables in pollysyllabic
words are uttered than others in the same words.
Quantity of voice depends upon the power of the
lungs, and a good reader must be able to contrcl
this power so a& to utter loud or soft sounds at plea
sure. A feeble voice may arise from general ill-
READING. 211
health, or from weak lungs, or from a want of
exercise of the pulmonary organs. It is the teacher's
special duty to supply the want of exercise to these
organs ; hut as the general culture of the voice can
only he attained by particular applications of vocal
power, the methods of doing so will be detailed in
speaking of Force.
Some sentiments require to be given with a low,
soft voice ; and others with a voice loud and strong.
Hence the necessity for vocal training in respect to
Force. A reader should always make himself dis
tinctly heard by those who listen to him ; but weak
voices, bad habits, timidity, and affectation stand in
the way of securing this end in our schools. Not
unfrequently, classes composed of girls read in a
tone so soft as scarcely to be audible. It is not un
common at Young Ladies' Seminaries for the pupils
to undertake to entertain an audience by reading
compositions of which scarcely a word can be heard ;
and the listeners are compelled to be content, if
they can notice a slight motion of the reader's lips,
and, now and then, a change of position. Strength
can be given to the voice by judicious breathing
exercises, and by oft-repeated lessons in uttering
letters, letter-sounds, syllables, words, and sentences,
with different degrees of loudness. The teacher
should illustrate these lessons, by first making the
sounds himself, and afterwards aid his pupils by
accompanying them with his voice in their efforts
to imitate him. I have succeeded best in this kind
of training by using sentences selected in reference
to the degree of Force in utterance required by the
Bentiment. It is an easy matter for a teacher to
212 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
collect a great variety of such sentences. It is an
advantage to place reading classes at some distance
from the teacher, and to classify the voices of those
who read in the same class and hear them in sec
tions. Special care must be taken with those whose
voices are naturally weak, and kind encouragement
must inspire the timid with contidence. It is an easy
matter to train children to read with sufficient Force.
Nothing will please them better than exercises in
"loud reading." It is not so easy to succeed with
older pupils, hut the methods proposed will he found
•the most effectual. Loud reading, must not he
suffered to become a habit or the voice will be
rendered incapable of uttering sounds with that
variety of Force which the expression of different
kinds of sentiment requires.
The masters of English speaking and English
reading make very great use of Emphasis. In no
other language, probably, is its use so common or
so effective. Without it, not only would the sense
of discourse be frequently ambiguous, but reading
would be extremely monotonous. No better test
of good reading can be found than a skilful use of
Emphasis. Teachers should, therefore, train the
vocal organs of their pupils so that they could apply
Emphasis whenever and in whatever degree the
sense requires it. Drill exercises in Emphasis might
consist in uttering the sound of some letter or word
a number of times with the same degree of Force ;
and, at certain intervals, or at a given signal, in
creasing the Force. In pronouncing a series of let
ters, figures, or words, some of them might be desig
nated to receive Emphasis. Practice may be bad
BEADING. 213
with sentences in which the emphatic words are
indicated to the eye. These may be either selected
from a book, or written on the blackboard. It is
in favor of such training that, while pupils are
receiving this kind of vocal culture, they can, at the
same time, learn the use of Emphasis, and the dif
ferent methods of giving it. The Slur, in ail Elo
cutionary sense, is directly opposed to Emphasis.
If some sentences and parts of sentences are uttered
with much Force, it necessitates the utterance of
others with little Force. When a sentence or a
part of a sentence is read more rapidly and less for
cibly than others, it is said to be slurred. Examples
of the Slur may be shown by reading parenthetical
clauses, or side remarks in dialogues. The drill exer
cises are necessarily similar to those for Emphasis.
Emphasis and Slur have reference to the com
parative Force with which sentences and parts of
sentences are uttered ; but if close observation be
made, it will be found that the Force used in the
utterance of single sounds is not equally distributed
throughout the vocal movement. This modifica
tion of Force is called Stress. All the different
Jdnds of Stress may be applied in the utterance of
any simple sound or single syllable; but I have
succeeded best in training the voices of pupils to
utter sounds, with regard to Stress, by requiring
them to imitate the pronunciation of w^ords in
which these different kinds of Stress are exempli
fied. Such words as ring and ears, might serve for
Radical Stress; bell and loiv, for Vanishing Stress;
xtrike and sad for Median Stress; and so of the
other kinds.
£14 INSTRUCTION IN. LANGUAGE.
Of Accent something was said in another con
nection, and it need only be added here that the
best training exercises are those in which pupils
imitate the teacher as he changes the Accent in
pronouncing words, or follow him when he desig
nates where the Accent should be placed. It
increases interest when words are selected in respect
to which a change of Accent brings about a change
of meaning.
Compass. — In speaking or singing, the human
voice moves between certain limits, above or below
which it cannot utter sounds. The space included
between these limits is called the Compass of the
voice. The Compass of the voice is a limitation in
extent of height or lowness, while the Quantity of
the voice is a limitation in degree of power. The
Compass of the voice may be marked by a regular
series of gradations of sounds. Such a series is
called a Scale, and the general name for its different
degrees is Pitch. In other words, Pitch in reading
denotes the point of elevation or depression of the
voice. These points are called notes in Music.
They are placed at considerable intervals, and the
voice generally passes between them by leaps ;
while in Reading the intervals are mostly crossed
by sliding the voice from one note to another.
This sliding the voice from one degree of Pitch to
another is Inflection, and it seems proper to consider
it in connection with Pitch.
There may obviously be as many degrees of
Pitch in Reading as there are notes in Music, but
Elocutionists have not deemed it necessary to die-
READING. 215
tinguish all of them. For all practical purposes iive
degrees of Pitch are sufficient, viz.: Very Low,
Low, Middle, High, and Very High. The teacher
will not find it a very difficult thing to train chil
dren to pitch their voices upon any key within their
Compass. For this purpose he may select vowel
sounds as a, o; syllables as do, ra; words as on, one,
book; or suitable sentences. In exercises like these
the teacher must first utter the sounds, that the
pupils may imitate him as he passes from one
degree of Pitch to another ; but in the end the
pupils must be able to give sounds or read sentences
with any degree of Pitch required without such aid.
It is an easy matter to arrange a list of sentences
which would be good examples for the kind of prac
tice here insisted upon. The list should not only
contain sentences the sense of which would require
them to be read with different degrees of Pitch ;
but some in which a change of Pitch is required in
reading the same sentence.
Skill in reading depends greatly upon ability to
manage the Inflections of the voice, and nothing
but careful training can impart it. As in Pitch, the
teacher may use for his training exercises the ele
mentary vocal sounds, letters, figures, words, the
syllables of the Diatonic Scale, or sentences adapted
to the purpose. An interesting mode of recitation
consists in arranging a series of sounds, letters,
figures, or words, in the form of questions and an
swers, and allowing one portion of the class to put
the questions, and the other to give the answers.
The different kinds of Inflection are best illustrated
by means of sentences ; and these, too, furnish the
S5i6 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE.
most effective drill. Some Elocutionists have ar
ranged bars, like those used in Music, and placed
upon them certain marks indicating to the eye the
upward and downward slides of the voice. By
taking a simple sound or syllable, practice can be
had in inflecting the voice as readily as in running
up and down the Diatonic Scale.
Movement. — By the Movement of the voice is
meant the degree of rapidity with which sounds can
be uttered. It is a limitation in time. The degree
of rapidity with which sounds are uttered in read
ing is called Rate. Closely connected with the
Movement of the voice is Pause. Pauses in reading
are suspensions of the voice for the purpose of
giving rest to the reader, or effect to the reading.
Words or syllables should not be uttered in that
stated measure which is heard in Music ; but it is
very evident that solemn discourse requires a Slow
Rate ; simple narrative, a Moderate Rate ; gay, glad
description, a Brisk Rate; and wild passion, a Rapid
Rate ; and it would be very much amiss to overlook
these facts in reading. The voice, then, should be
so trained as to be able to utter sounds rapidly or
slowly at pleasure. Like a good musician, it should
be able to keep time whether it be quick or slow.
For the purpose of training his pupils to keep time
in reading, the teacher will find the drill exercises
used in Vocal Music to effect the same end, to be
very valuable. Pupils can be made to give the
Elementary Vocal Sounds, to count, to name the
letters of the Alphabet, or repeat series of words m
quick or slow time, as the teacher may direct.
READING. 217
Numerous sentences can be selected which require
to be read with the different degrees of Rate, and
should be made the subjects of frequent lessons.
With a class in which some pupils read too fast or
too slow, it is well occasionally to practice reading
in concert. If the teacher observe the proper rate
in leading the concert, the pupils will soon accustom
themselves to follow.
Two kinds of Pauses are to be noted in reading.
o
The first are those indicated by the marks of Punc
tuation ; the second are those required by the sense
but not indicated by the marks of Punctuation.
The latter are called Rhetorical Pauses. Both
require the same kind of vocal training. Pauses
enable the reader to supply himself with breath, to
rest his organs of speech, to make Ins delivery more
effective. The Pauses which are indicated by the
common marks of Punctuation must not be disre
garded ; but all rules which direct pupils to pause
long enough at a Comma to count a certain number,
a certain additional number at a Semicolon, and
twice as many, perhaps, at a Period, are wholly arbi
trary and serve only to confuse the pupil. Counting
, may be done rapidly or slowly ; and, besides, since
the place and length of the Pauses depend altogether
upon the sense, a longer pause may be required at a
Comma in one place, than at a Period in another.
About the only successful mode in which a teacher
can train his pupils to make proper Pauses in read
ing, is to present them correct models for imitation.
lie may either select sentences or take the ordinary
reading-lessons, and then read each sentence slowly
and with due regard to all the Pauses, requiring the
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218 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
pupils to follow, both singly and in concert, until
his end is gained. The melody of verse requires
certain Pauses in reading not used in prose. To
train his pupils to properly regard these in blank
verse as well as in that which is rhymed, and at the
same time to have them avoid all appearance of
sing-song tone, will demand great care on the part
of the teacher.
Quality. — The Quality of the voice is its capability
of uttering varied sounds. It is a limitation in kind,
and includes the manner of uttering all varieties of
vocal sounds. The particular Qualities of the voice
applied in reading, are called Tones. The Tones
are the language of the heart, and no department
of Modulation requires more delicate management.
It is by means of Tones in great part that Reading
and Speaking are made lively and interesting. The
sense of discourse can be conveyed by words, but
the feelings of an author can only be expressed in
the natural language of Tones. A reader or speaker
who would interest an audience must not utter
words coldly like a talking machine, but his manner
of utterance must indicate his personal sentiments.
His individuality must appear in what he says, and
this is impossible without the use of Tones. There
is a very great number of different Tones used in
reading, many of which can only be appreciated by
the ear, and cannot be expressed in words. Elocu
tionists, however, have formed the following genera)
classes, viz.: Pure, Orotund, Aspirated, Guttural^
and Tremulous. Pure Tone is clear and smooth,
Orotund, deep, energetic, dignified ; Aspirated,
whispered; Guttural, harsh, growling, throat
READING. 219
formed; Tremulous, irregular, plaintive. Ability
to use any one of these Tones at pleasure, or to
change readily from one to another is to some a gift
of nature ; but there are few, whatever faults of
Tone they may have either natural or acquired,
whose voices do not admit of great improvement by
judicious culture. Since the vocal organs are more
flexible in youth, than when older, teachers who
commence a course of training with their pupils, at
an early age, will find their efforts productive of
most fruit. Indeed, almost all that is then required
is to preserve their natural purity and sweetness of
Tone. No teacher who cannot himself utter sounds
in the different Tones must expect his pupils to
learn to do so. Children are generally apt imitators
of sounds ; but they cannot imitate what they do not
hear. If a teacher be able to use correctly the dif
ferent Tones in reading, he can readily find means
of imparting the same power to his pupils. Any
sound, syllable, or word can be uttered in various
Tones. It is said that certain Elocutionists could
make an audience laugh or weep, awaken their pity
or their indignation, by the mere recitation of the
letters of the Alphabet. In addition to this, every
teacher of Reading should collect numerous proso
sentences and stanzas of poetry, requiring a variety
of Tones in the reading, and adapted to the capaci
ties of the pupils, and use them for purposes of drill.
Both teacher and pupils should have them com
mitted to memory. The teacher should first utter
the sentence in +he required Tone; and then pa
tiently aid the p jpils in doing so. Much effort will
be required to remove faults of Tone which hav^e
220 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
become habitual. Examples of Pure Tone should
first be practiced upon ; and, afterward, examples
of the other Tones. The exercises must be con
tinued, until the pupils shall have acquired the
power of uttering sounds in any Tone when so
directed.
2. METHOD OF TEACHING READING AS A MENTAL
OPERATION. — Skill in reading does not depend
wholly, or, perhaps, mainly, upon vocal culture. It
matters not how well the voice is trained, unless
there are intellects to think and hearts to feel, there
can be no good reading. The best instrument will
make poor music, if the performer be unskilful. If
ability to make and vary sounds constitute all the
requirements of good reading, a machine might
possibly be made to read.
As a mental operation, Reading may either relate
to the intellectual part of the mind or to the emo
tive part of it. Our discussion must, therefore,
embrace : 1st, Reading as related to the Intellect ; and,
2d, Reading as related to the Emotions.
1st. Reading as related to the Intellect. — "No one can
read well what he does not understand. Great
powers of imitation and a well-cultivated voice
would be quite as likely to make worse his reading
who attempted to read what he did not understand,
as to make it better. A parrot could never be
taught to read. School boys make sad work read
ing Latin, until they come to appreciate the mean
ing of the words they use and the sentiments they
utter. A person can read that which he has written
READING. 221
himself better than that which others have written,
because he more fully comprehends it. No one can
read a passage well who is not able to place him
self in the position of its author, enter into his
spirit, see as he saw, and understand as he under
stood.
In view of the fact above stated, a teacher should
never assign a reading-lesson to his pupils that they
are not able to comprehend. Sufficient attention is
not paid to this principle with any class of pupils;
but no where is it so palpably violated as in the case
of children just learning to read. Reading-books
are frequently placed in their hands which contain
matter entirely beyond their comprehension. In
the great majority of our schools, the pupils are
using reading-books which are too difficult for them.
Many teachers, from a desire to gratify patrons, a
misdirected ambition, or a false standard of excel
lence, advance their pupils into the higher numbers
of their series of reading-books at much too early an
age. The consequence is not only that they learn
little in reading that is of value, but they acquire
bad habits which it is scarcely possible to correct.
Reading-books for beginners should contain little
else than simple narrations and lively conversations
concerning objects in which they feel an interest.
Starting here, such books might so increase their
range of subjects and so add to the variety of their
style, as to adapt themselves to the pupils of any
age or degree of acquirement in learning. At pre
sent, however, it must be confessed that reading-
books are not so much in fault as reading-teachers.
Teachers should make careful inquiry concerning
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222 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
their pupils' knowledge of the subject-matter of the
reading- lesson. Pupils should be accustomed to
study the lesson with this prospect, and the inqui
ries should, in general, be made before they are per
mitted to read. Teachers must be careful in the
reading, as in other lessons, to adapt their questions
to the capacities of the pupils to whom they are
addressed. The matter of reading-lessons is so
varied that it is difficult to designate in detail the
questions that may be asked concerning it. In
general, it may be said, that they should be such as
to call forth the pupil's knowledge of the subject
presented in the lesson, and to extend, consolidate,
and impress that knowledge. Pupils may be
required to give the sense of the selection or pas
sage to be read in their own language, and those who
have minds sufficiently mature, may show the rela
tion of the sentences in a paragraph to one another,
and the relation of each paragraph to the whole
composition. Questions addressed to young learners
must be calculated to give exercise to their percep
tive powers and their memories ; but those asked
of advanced pupils should call into requisition the
faculties of judgment, reason, and imagination.
Incidentally, in reading-lessons, allusions are often
made to distinguished persons, to noted places, to
the principles of science, to works of art, to certain
books, to the customs of antiquity, to human
duties, and to many other things that cannot be
here enumerated; and as these give life and beauty
to discourse, as well as reveal the under-currents of
the author's thought, no teacher can fully discharge
his trust who does not make them the subject of
READING. 223
study and explanation. It thus appears that, while
all reading-books should be arranged primarily with
reference to Elocutionary ends, they may be made
the means of imparting very important information,
and inducing highly beneficial culture.
It is the duty of a teacher of reading to see that
his class fully understand the language of the author
read, and appreciate his style. For this purpose,
he must call their attention to the definition of the
words, the form and construction of the sentences,
the marks of punctuation, and the various kinds of
figures used in the composition. lie must make
language transparent, in order that thought may be
revealed. Let the idea be hereafter wholly dis
carded that flippant pronunciation is good reading.
Better that the whole time of a recitation be spent
upon a single paragraph, or even a single sentence,
than to suffer pupils merely to utter sounds without
perceiving the sense they represent. If teachers
would make good readers of their pupils, they must
teach them to weigh every word, phrase, and sen
tence of the lesson. The reading-lesson prepared
and recited in this manner becomes a fine intellec
tual exercise, and furnishes good opportunities of
imparting valuable instruction in practical Gram
mar and practical Rhetoric. To those pupils who
are properly prepared, many questions relating to
the language used in the lesson to be read, need not
be put at any one recitation, but enough should be
a^ked to keep the attention of the class constantly
alive to the importance of understanding it.
Skilful reading is hardly possible for one who is
not a good general scholar. A person who has been
224 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
accustomed to study, to think, who has read good
authors, and heard intelligent conversation, will
readily see the meaning of a word, the drift of a
sentence, the aptness of a figure, the propriety of an
illustration, the point of a witticism, the significance
of an allusion, the force of an argument, or the scope
of a discourse, which would be wholly obscure to
another, less gifted by nature, or less favored by
education. The whole work of the teacher is, there
fore, a preparation for the reading-lesson, and much
benefit may result from so regarding it.
2d. Reading as related to the Emotions. — Some
thing more is necessary, in order to read well, than
to understand the meaning of what is read. There
is, probably, no literary production that is the cold
work of the intellect alone. In all that has been
written of prose or of poetry, the emotions play an
important part. The plainest composer does not
write wholly without feeling, and the heart-beats of
the true poet stir in his every line. No one can
read skilfully who does not appreciate the senti
ment expressed in what he reads, or who does
not feel for the time being as its author felt when
he wrote it. He cannot read well of beauty who
never saw anything beautiful, nor he of gayety, who
never felt gay, nor he of sorrow who never evinced
pity, nor he of wit who never enjoyed a joke.
Our school classes seldom seem to feel what they
undertake to read. It is not uncommon to hear
passages, as unlike in sentiment as possible, read
without variation of Force, Pitch, Rate, or Tone.
It is uncommon to hear reading done with that
BEADING. 225
regard to the feeling expressed in the composition
which at once evinces good taste and careful cul
ture. Something may be done to improve this bad
reading.
Such rsading-lessons should be assigned as are
calculated to interest the classes of pupils who are
to learn them. If the feelings of children do not
respond to the sentiments expressed in the lessons
they read, it is not because their hearts are cold.
Let the feelings be such as their child-nature can
appreciate, and they will evince no want of sym
pathy with them. It is not difficult to make an
application of this principle to all classes of those
who are learning to read.
The teacher should lose no opportunity of im
pressing upon his pupils the ennobling sentiments
which he may find in the reading lesson. Many
occasions will present themselves to the watchful
teacher of awakening in their minds a greater love
for the beautiful, the true, and the good. There are
beauty, truth, and goodness in the works of nature,
in art and science, in human life, in the Bible,
in God, the Fountain of all; and, now and then,
they are caught up by some master hand, and, ever
after, like the pearly drops that hang upon the
flowers, like the beaded bubbles that break upon
the stream, grace our literature. These the teacher
can hold before the gaze of admiring pupils, until
their hearts respond in answering sympathy. Senti
ments of an opposite character may be found in
reading-lessons, for literature is but a reflection of
human nature, and has its dark side ; but right
teaching will do much to guard against their iniiu-
226 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
ence. Ead sentiments will not be more loved
because well read.
One of the highest aims of composition is to
adapt the linguistic expression of thought and feel
ing to their nature. Without a close analysis of the
language used by an author, it is scarcely possible
to feel as he felt The heart of an author and the
heart of a reader hold communion through the
medium of words. It is the teacher's duty to remove
all obscurity from this medium, not only by explain
ing their meaning, but by exhibiting the music and
the poetry of words. I have marked the pleasure
expressed on the countenances of pupils when they
first began to appreciate the beauty of a Metaphor,
or the force of an Antithesis*, and was not disap
pointed in judging that such appreciation would
improve their reading.
All education that tends to improve the taste and
to give proper direction to the emotive nature, will
be valuable preparation for the reading lesson.
Among means of this kind, may be mentioned ex
tensive and varied reading, intelligent travel, famil
iarity with the beauties of nature and art, and
sympathy with the comforts and pleasures, the
wants and woes, the fond aspirations and the proud
successes, the blasted hopes and the fruitless enter
prises, which so strangely checker human life. The
Elocutionist must be a student of man's mental
nature, learn to analyze the mingled emotions that
agitate his bosom, and observe and imitate the most
effective manner in which they express themselves
in posture, in gesture, and in words.
READING. 227
3. METHOD OF TEACHING DELIVERY.
Delivery is the manner of reading. Success in
Delivery depends upon observing the relation oe-
tween thought and feeling and their expression.
The practical end for which skill in reading may be
desired, is to give full f irce to the meaning, and full
effect to the sentiment of an author. A person may
possess a well-trained voice, and may have both the
head and the heart to appreciate what he reads, and,
still, for want of power to adapt the one to the other
in practical use, fail to read well. In other words,
his reading machinery can be quite perfect, and yet
ho may not succeed in putting its several parts in
working order.
What is designed to be said of Delivery can be
embraced under three heads : Expression, Posture,
and G-esture.
Expression. — Expression is vocal Delivery. The
great principle to be observed in vocal Delivery is
that all the mechanical modifications of the voice
should be governed by the nature of the thought
and feeling to be expressed, and the construction of
the sentence in which they are embodied. This
principle may be applied in teaching reading in two
ways : first, the teacher may read correctly and
require his pupils to imitate him ; and, second, the
relations existing between thought and feeling and
their utterance in words, may be generalized into
rules which can be learned and followed in reading.
"With children just beginning to read, the teacher
must instruct them mainly by using their powers of
imitation. His voice must be their constant model.
Rules can be but of little service to them. A large
228 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
number of suitable sentences for practice may be
prepared ; and these the teacher should continue to
utter, until the pupils can deliver them in the proper
manner. Faults of reading should be prevented by
showing what is right, and similar faults should be
corrected by showing in what they consist. All
descriptions of the variations of the voice in Quan
tity, Compass, Movement, or Tone, will be unmean
ing, unless the sound described be itself exhibited.
This method of teaching Reading by imitation is
not only applicable to young learners, but must be
used throughout the whole course of instruction. In
advanced classes, however, it is to be employed in
connection with the second method above indicated.
It follows from all this that the teacher should be a
good reader. Reading can no more easily be taught
by one who is not an Elocutionist than Vocal Music
can be taught by one who is not a Musician.
Books which treat of Elocution contain many
rules that relate to Delivery. There are rules de
signed to aid the student in the use of Force,. Em
phasis, Slur and Stress, Pitch and Inflection, Rate
and Pause, and Tone. The manner in which sen
tences of different forms should be delivered is
pointed out ; and, in order to leave no doubt in the
pupil's mind concerning the application of the rules,
certain reading lessons are arranged with a notation
indicating the Quantity, Compass, Movement, and
Quality of voice required. Of course, rules relating
to Posture and Gesture, are also given. That some
advantage may be gained from the study of these
rules by learners who are able to understand and
apply them, can hardly be questioned ; but that
READING. 22P
harm may be done likewise is to be greatly feared.
If pupils can be made to see that conformity to the
requirements of Elocutionary rules in their reading
enables them better to present the thought and feel
ing of an author, and adds more force and graceful
ness to their Delivery, these rules may be profitably
studied and applied ; but if such rules are them
selves arbitrary, imperfectly understood, or have
been derived by a wrong method, the more effort
that is made to apply them, the more stiff and formal
will the Reading become. These remarks appro
priately introduce the question : What constitutes
good Delivery ? The teacher must have some stan
dard of excellence to which he aspires to elevate
his class, and by which he criticises their Elocu
tionary performances — What is that standard? It
is an easy matter to require pupils to commit and
mechanically apply the ordinary rules for reading
found in the works on Elocution ; but upon what
foundation do the rules themselves rest ? Some
say, " Mature is the Standard." It is admitted that
if we read as we speak, we would read much better
than we do; but it is still true that much of OUT
reading would not then be in accordance with good
taste. There are very few persons whose vocal organs
do not need culture ; and, even of those who have
received it,, scarcely any two have the same natural
style of speaking. Whose style is to be taken as a
standard ? Others maintain that Delivery is to be
measured by its effects upon an audience — if it
please, it is good, but if it displease, it is imperfect.
A reader may learn much respecting his impro
prieties of Delivery by watching its effect upon his
20
2-K) INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
bearers; but he will find such a standard very un
reliable, as what some count excellences others will
consider defects. The truth is that Reading is a
Fine Art, and like Painting, Sculpture, Architec
ture, and other such Arts, no rules of criticism
derived empirically are as an ultimate measure of
beauty applicable to it. Every man is endowed
directly by his Maker with the power of judging
between beauty and deformity, and he uses this
power in criticising nature herself. Given suitable
occasions for its exercise, and this taste is capable
of improvement, and detects beauty with more cer
tainty. Delivery in Reading, as well as style in the
other Fine Arts, is wholly a matter of taste ; and
Elocutionary rules made by others than those who
are capable of judging what is most fit and beautiful
in Expression, or most graceful in Posture or Ges
ture, are entirely unworthy of confidence. Such
rules as express the laws of taste, however, the
teacher is at liberty to impress upon the minds of
his pupils. He must always exemplify them by his
own reading. Thus learned, they will serve as
models. Properly presented, they do not destroy
the learner's individuality, they do not convert him
into a mere machine, but they leave room for the
display of the peculiarities of his own genius, and
tend only to promote the normal growth of that
noble part of his nature which directs him where
to find the beautiful and how to appreciate it.
Supposing that pupils have received proper vocal
training and that intellectual and moral instruction
which fits them to read well, the teacher's further
duty consists in cultivating their taste in Dehveiy
READING. 281
by furnishing occasions for its exercise, in present
ing them a chaste model for imitation in his own
Delivery, in guiding them by such rules as express
the generalized results of the masters of the art, and
in providing for them those opportunities of prac
tice which are necessary to make the required modes
of Expression and Action habitual. Skill in Read
ing, thus attained, will be a growth of that which is
within the learner, and not an imposition upon him
from without — it will be the realization in Expres
sion of his own ideals of beauty.
Posture. — The position which the body assumes
in Heading or Speaking is called Posture. Posture
relates simply to the disposition of the different
members of the body before or during Delivery,
while Gesture is applied to such of the motions of
these members as indicate or enforce thought or
feeling.
It will be necessary upon this subject to do little
more than to announce the general principles which
have reference to it.
1st. The Posture of the Reader should be one of ease
to him.self. — To secure an easy Posture, the reader
must violate no Physiological law. He must stand
firmly, but not stiffly, on his feet ; change his weight
frequently from one foot to the other ; keep his
body erect; project his chest forward and throw his
shoulders back; and allow his arms to hang naturally
by his side. If a book is used, it should be held in
the left hand, in order that the right may be readily
employed in turning the leaves, or in Gesticulating
232 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE.
In short, the easiest Posture should be sought and
maintained for all the members of the body.
2d. The Posture of a Reader should be graceful. —
If a reader stand perfectly at ease, his Posture will
exhibit a good degree of gracefulness. In addition
to this, however, a reader should rise gracefully;
walk forward gracefully ; take his position, and
change it, when necessary, gracefully ; make all the
members of the body retain their place, and perform
their part gracefully; and, when done, gracefully
take his seat.
All Postures must be practiced until they become
habitual. The pupil's taste, as to what is graceful,
must be chastened by an exhibition of the best
models the teacher can furnish.
G-esture. — Gestures are the actions of the various
members of the body, which indicate and enforce
thought and feeling. Heading and Speaking in the
English language are characterized by less Gesticu
lation than was used by the nations of antiquity,
with which we are best acquainted, or than is now
used among many modern nations ; but still the
subject deserves more attention than is generally
accorded to it. There can be no doubt that Head
ing, Declamation, and Oratory are all much more
effective when Expression in Delivery is accompa
nied by appropriate Gestures.
In speaking of methods of teaching Gesture, all
that was said of Expression might be repeated, with
little modification. Gesture can be taught by imi
tation, and, also, by learning and applying the rules
READING. 233
which express the relations between sentiment and
Action. Young beginners can be taught only by
requiring them to imitate the models the teacher
may exhibit to them. He must show them what is
right, and patiently train them to do it. Elocution
ists profess to have analyzed the bodily actions
which indicate and enforce thought and feeling,
and to be able to frame rules that will serve to
guide pupils in Gesticulating. Each thought and
each feeling in these systems is indicated and
enforced by certain motions of the hands, the arms,
the feet, the head, the mouth, the eyes, or some
other member or members of the body ; and
pupils are expected to learn and apply them in
reading. Heading-lessons, too, are sometimes no-
tated in such a manner as to indicate what Ges
tures are deemed appropriate. Kules for Gestures,
thus formed, are advantageous to pupils, under the
same conditions as those for Expression, and open
to the same objections. Gestures should express
some meaning, or else not be used. The same
standard, that of cultivated taste, by which Delivery
in sound may be criticised, is equally applicable to
Delivery in action. And, finally, as in Expression,
'the teacher must multiply occasions for the exercise
of the taste of his pupils in Gesticulation, he must
give them in his own Delivery a fit model for imi
tation, he must teach them to conform to rules
which good taste has everywhere sanctioned, and
he must provide them that practice which is ncces
sary to prompt the ready Gesture, even while the
words leap from the tongue.
20*
234 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
It is proper to close this discussion with a sum
mary of topics which may profitably be considered
in conducting a recitation in Reading. They may
aid pupils in preparing lessons, as well as guide
teachers in hearing recitations. Many or few ques
tions may be asked under each head according to
the circumstances of the class ; or, in particular
cases, some of the topics may be altogether omitted.
A perfect recitation would require a perfect know
ledge of all that is embraced in the list. It may be
added that passages should be daily committed to
memory, and declaimed. All Delivery is much
crippled by the use of a book.
LlST OF TOPICS FOR A RECITATION IN READING. —
Before reading a passage, pupils should be able —
1. To pronounce the words.
2. To define the words.
3. To understand the subject-matter.
4. To explain the language.
5. To account for the marks of Punctuation.
6. To point out what is true, beautiful, and good
in the sentiment.
7. To show the manner of Delivery, and give
reasons for it.
II. LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND OUR MOTHER-TONGUE.
In learning to understand our Mother-Tongue, it
is necessary to acquaint ourselves with four distinct
branches of study, viz. : Lexicology, or the science
ft-hich treats of words ; Grammar, or the science
which treats of sentences; Rhetoric, or the science
tvhich treats of discourse; and Philology, or the
science of the origin and growth of Language.
LEXICOLOGY. 235
LEXICOLOGY.
I use the term Lexicology to denote the science
which treats of the meaning of words ; and methodb
of teaching the meaning of words is the subject
intended for discussion in the present Article.
There can be no conscious thinking without the
use of symbols. The most convenient of all thought-
signs are words. Words, indeed, are the wheels by
which the thinking process goes on.
Words are the vehicles of social intercourse.
Without them, the fountains of the soul would be
almost sealed up.
Words are the repositories of science and art.
The dead past lies buried, but living words com
memorate it and transmit its mighty deeds to the
far future. Words are the caskets in which are
preserved forever the jeweled thoughts of the good
and great. How much feeling, thought, or power
may be concentrated in a single word : as love, truth,
will!
Words are the medals of the mind. All oui
mental energies impress themselves upon words. A
nation's character can be best read in its language.
" Language is concrete Metaphysics."
Words are the media of instruction. A know
ledge of the simplest facts as well as the deepest
philosophy is almost helpless without the motive-
power of words. Words are the winged messengers
that convey information from one mind and heaH
to another. All knowledge must be labeled with
words or it ran find no place in the cabinet of the
memory.
236 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Such is the worth of words. It is surely worth
while to study their meaning.
There are many ways by which the young may
learn the meaning of words. They may learn it by
direct intuition; hy concrete explanations; by the use
of simplified expressions; by observing thzir significa
tion as used in sentences; by the study of foreign lan
guages ; by an acquaintance with Etymology ; and by
scientific definitions.
The meaning of words may be learned by direct intui
tion. — Children learn the first elements of language
by hearing persons speak, and noticing the associa
tion made between certain verbal utterances and
sensible objects. "When a little older, they seem to
increase their vocabulary by catching the meaning
of words from the connections in which they are
used. In all nature there is nothing more wonder
ful than the process by which children learn to
talk. They seem to possess a language-forming
instinct. They have thoughts and feelings impris
oned within them, and instinctively seek to set
them free. If they had no opportunity of hearing
words they would invent them. As it is, they add
to their stock of word-knowledge every day, their
memories clinging tenaciously to all the words they
listen to. They catch up words from parents,
brothers and sisters, companions, servants, visitors,
and often, indeed, coin new ones. In all this, there
is no conscious reasoning, no formal instruction,
and I call the process intuition.
In view of the power children possess of learning
LEXICOLOGY. 237
the meaning of words by intuition, it "becomes the
teacher's duty to allow them an opportunity to exer
cise this power. He may talk to them of things ill
which they feel an interest, tell them stories, or
read suitable selections to them. If he adapts his
matter and style to their mental condition, he will
not want attentive listeners, and he will enjoy the
satisfaction of seeing them acquire the use of new
words and new forms of expression every day. A
teacher must not only talk to his pupils, but he
must listen to their talk. Children are great talkers.
There is within them an impulse strongly and con
stantly impelling them to hear, to see, to examine
things, and then to tell about them. Prevent a
child from talking, force him to perpetual silence,
and you will make him an idiot. Besides, a child
loves to use the new words he has acquired, and the
watchful teacher can readily detect the reproduction
of his own expressions in the language of his pupils.
As soon as children are able to read they will have
opened up a new source from which to enlarge their
knowledge of words.
The meaning of words may be learned by concrete expla
nations. — By concrete explanations of words are
meant such explanations as may be given by means
of an exhibition of the objects, actions, or qualities
for which the words stand. For example, the word
pistil could be explained by pointing to that part of
a flower, the word decrepitate by throwing a little salt
into the fire, and the word transparent by holding
\3p a piece of glass. In the absence cf an object,
238 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
the well-remembered experience of a child may be
used instead of it.
No one can doubt that if proper skill was used,
the pupils in our schools might be made acquainted
with a large number of words in the way just named.
Lessons 011 objects are well calculated to impart this
kind of instruction, but a teacher who sees the im
portance of it can find opportunity to impart it iu
giving a lesson on any subject. Special lessons
planned with reference to this end, might be made
very profitable as well as very interesting.
The meaning of words may be learned by the use of
simplified expressions. — If the meaning of a word is
not understood, it may be explained by using less
obscure synonymous words or forms of words — that
is by the use of simplified expressions. A very large
proportion of the words in a Dictionary are defined,
if the process is properly called defining, in this
manner. The " definition" of the word abandon is
to give up, to forsake ; of the word abbreviate, to shorten;
of the word abrogate, to repeal; of the word absur
dity, the quality of being inconsistent with obvious truth;
and so on for thousands of words. It is evident in
all these cases that if a pupil comprehends the
" definition" he can comprehend the word defined.
How can a teacher make use of simplified expres
sions in teaching the meaning of words ? In the
first place, no words must be used in the explana
tions which the pupils do not understand. The
unknown can be understood only from its connec
tions with the known. Many school dictionaries err
gravely on this point and thus defeat their whole
LEXICOLOGY. 239
object. Moreover, a School Dictionary ought to
illustrate the meaning of every word "by appropriate
sentences in which the word is used. It would be
much better, too, for the purposes of teaching, if
the words were arranged in lessons according to
the subjects or things to which they relate, and not
Alphabetically.
The common school-exercise of "learning deft-
O
nitions" is open to serious objections. It requires
pupils to commit the explanations of words to
memory and recite them, but presents no test to
ascertain whether they are understood or otherwise.
A new word is valuable only when accompanied by
a new thought, or when it furnishes a better expres
sion for an old one. Words simply memorized are
dead, mere skeleton-words, without life or soul in
them. They lie in the memory a confused mass, of
which no use can be made. If text-books on Lexi
cology were arranged as indicated in the preceding
paragraph, they might be used in classes, to the great
advantage of the pupils. If, in addition to the usual
synonymes and synonymous expressions, sentences
embodying each word were presented, its meaning
would become apparent. Besides, pupils should be
required to compose original sentences containing
the words of the lesson, and this they could not do
without understanding them. "Words having some
relation to one another form a much more interest
ing lesson than dry lists of disconnected words.
The meaning of words may be learned ly observing
their Signification as used in Sentences. — It has already
been intimated thaf the meaning of words can be
240 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE.
more readily discerned in sentences than in the
columns of Spelling-Books or Dictionaries. Chil
dren especially are apt in learning the meaning of
words in this way. They rise from the perusal of
every good book with a rich accession of new words;
and a person can often tell the volume a child has
been engaged in reading by his language. More
over, the finer shades of meaning, which distinguish
individual words, the innermost thought embodied
in a word, cannot be learned from a Dictionary.
Lexicographers explain each word by the use of
other words or forms of expression, but, since these
cannot mean exactly the same thing, every scholar
has felt the deficiencies of Dictionaries, and is aware
that they cannot be supplied. Those who desire to
realize the deepest meaning of words must study
them in discourse.
Teachers can do much to inculcate a taste for
reading among their pupils, and in this way, among
other good results, enable them to increase their
facility in the use of language. The reading-lesson
furnishes a good opportunity for calling the atten
tion of pupils to the meaning of words, as used
singly, or in phrases, clauses, or whole sentences, or
whether in a plain or a figurative sense. Something
may be done, too, to impart similar instruction in
hearing recitations in any branch of knowledge. If
new or uncommon words occur in a lesson, it is well
for the teacher to require an explanation of them.
The attention of pupils can thus be kept directed
upon the words they meet with in their studies, and
every day some addition will be made to their prac
tical vocabulary.
LEXICOLOGY. 241
The meaning of words may be learned by the study of
Foreign Languages. — In the study of foreign lan
guages, we necessarily use our Mother-Tongue. No
practice can be better calculated to familiarize us
with the meaning of words than that of translating
the words of our own into another language, or the
reverse. It is hardly possible otherwise to develop
that fine sense by which the nicer distinctions
among words and forms of expression can be per
ceived. Nothing further need be stated here, as
elsewhere there will be found a discussion of
methods of teaching these languages.
The meaning of words may be learned by an acquaint
ance with Etymology. — The English is a composite
language. Its ground-work is the Anglo-Saxon
element, but it has been enriched by the introduc
tion of multitudes of words from the Latin, Greek,
French, German, Danish, and other languages.
Anglo-Saxon words mainly compose the language
of common life, and their meaning is generally
learned without study. Those words for whose
meaning we search Dictionaries are mostly deriva
tive words; and in order to understand them fully
it is almost necessary to study their Etymology. It
is not going too far to say that without performing
an Etymological analysis of words, no student can
use them with nice discrimination and full effect.
Etymologists have made three classes of the ele
ments of words, as follows : Prefixes, Suffixes, and
Root- Words. With respect to methods of teaching,
the first two classes may be placed together.
A method of teaching Prefixes and Suffixes may
21
212 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
be readily indicated. A well-arranged text-book
on Etymology should contain lists of Prefixes and
Suffixes, their signification, and numerous examples,
in which the meaning of each is plainly illustrated.
Lessons may be assigned and prepared, as in other
studies. At the recitation, pupils may be required
to write on the blackboard lists of the elements em
braced in the lesson, together with their significa
tions. They may point out the Prefixes and Suffixes
in the words presented as examples in the book, and
write words containing any given element. Teachers
ought to prepare themselves with a number of mis
cellaneous words as tests of their pupils' skill.
When pupils have been made thoroughly ac
quainted with the Prefixes and Suffixes, the work
of teaching them the Root- Words of the languagt
should commence. Almost the only Root- Words
whose meaning is not known without study are
those which have come into our language from the
Latin and Greek, and the signification of these must
be learned from text-book or teacher. Text-Books
on Etymology generally present a Root-Word, ex
plain its meaning, and then give lists of words
derived from it. For example, the Latin word
traho is presented ; its primary meaning is stated to
be to draw, and then follow words like attraction,
subtraction, detraction, protraction, contraction, retrac
tion, traceable, trackless; and others more obscure in
their derivation, as contra liability, subtrahend, drag,
portrait, track, trade, tract, &c. In reciting, pupils
should be required to give the Root-Words and their
meaning, and then to analyze the derivative word:?
presented as examples, pointing out the force of the
LEXICOLOGY. 243
elements composing them, and the laws of their
union, and, finally, explaining the meaning of the
whole word. The mode of Etymological analysis
may be illustrated by an example. Take the word,
attraction : ATTRACTION. PREFIX, at-, signifying
to, changed from ad on account of euphony ; SUFFIX,
-ion, signifying the act of or process; RooT-WoRD,
-tract-, derived from the Latin, traho or tractum, which
signifies to draw ; MEANING OF THE WORD, the act or
the process of drawing to, or the tendency of bodies to
approach one another and adhere together. After an
alyzing a word, pupils may embody it in sentences.
A text-book ought not to contain full lists of deriva
tive words, as pupils are much profited by searching
for them. Miscellaneous exercises in the analysis
of words must be furnished either by the text-book
or the teacher. It may be remarked further that
instead of committing to memory the meaning of
Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root -Words, and analyzing
words by the aid of this knowledge, lists of words
which contain some common element may first be
given to the pupil, the meaning of that element
be ascertained and traced in other words, and,
finally, syntheses of such elements be formed. This
method, however, will not be found to differ ma
terially in practice from the preceding.
In conducting exercises in Etymological analysis,
the teacher can deepen his pupil's interest in the
study of words by imparting information, now and
then, in regard to the origin and history of words,
lie might introduce into almost every lesson a few
words whose primitive meaning would attract special
attention, or whose history would excite peculiar
244 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
curiosity. It might be explained how new words
come into a language, how old ones become obso
lete, and why some languages contain words for
which no expressions are found in others. This is,
indeed, a rich field, and it can be worked by a skil
ful teacher so as to yield fruit a hundredfold.
TJis meaning of words way be learned ly scientific de
finitions. — A definition is a connected statement of
the essential properties or qualities of a name or
a thing. These properties or qualities may be the
results of experience or they may be the pure pro
ducts of the Reason. The definitions peculiar to the
Empirical Sciences are of the former class, and those
which belong to the Formal and Rational Sciences
are of the latter class. Compare, for example, the
definitions of a mountain, a leaf, a bone, on the one
hand, with those of a circle, order, truth, beauty,
goodness, considered abstractly, on the other.
It is to be remarked that the construction of
scientific definitions requires very accurate know
ledge both of things and words. A good definition
is always a scientific triumph. It indicates that the
thing defined has been thoroughly investigated;
that all that is essential to it has been connected in
thought and expressed in words. Such definitions
make plain the meaning of words to those who will
take pains to study them.
In regard to teaching scientific definitions, it is
scarcely necessary to say that little advantage is
derived from simply committing them to memory.
If not understood, they are mere empty words that
but cumber the mind without strengthening it. The
GRAMMAR. 246
kind of definitions now referred to can only be
learned by learning the elements, real or ideal, of
which they are made up. The teacher must carry
his pupil back from the forms of words to the rela
tions of things, and then no school-exercise can be
more useful than that of learning definitions.
GRAMMAR.
Few branches of study have been taught less
skilfully than Grammar. This bad teaching is
owing to both text-book and teacher.
There is no text-book on English Grammar that
is a strictly scientific exposition of the principles
of the English language. Treatises upon this sub
ject may be found which contain a great deal that
is valuable ; but, in all of them, there is too much
effort made to fit the peculiar constructions of our
Anglo-Saxon speech to the forms of the ancient lan
guages. More independence of thought is wanted
in treating of the English language. Not till some
scholar is strong enough and bold enough to strip
the subject of its superfluous forms and rid it of its
incorrect definitions, and present its laws in a con-
. cise, consistent, and logical manner, will we have,
what can be truly called, an English Grammar. Be
sides, the arrangement of most of our Grammar
books is the worst possible for the purpose of teach
ing beginners. They commence by giving a defini
tion of Grammar, by stating its great general divi
sions, by fixing the number of Parts of Speech, &c.
--none of which generalizations can possibly be
understood without at least some knowledge of the
language. They would be more appropriate at the
21*
246 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
end of the bcok than at the beginning of it. Ill
teaching, definitions should be accompanied with
an exposition of their contents; and generalizations,
with a statement of the facts on which they are
founded ; but these principles are constantly vio
lated by our authors of Grammars.
Good teaching may neutralize the bad results
which are apt to follow from the use of imperfect
text-books ; but it is to be feared that in the case
of Grammar many of the commonly practiced
methods of teaching tend rather to increase these
bad results than to diminish them. A majority
of teachers to-day in teaching Grammar blindly
follow the order of the text-book; and though
every recitation should furnish evidence that this
is an error, they fail to appreciate it. Grammar, as
generally taught, consists in memorizing definitions,
decle: ?\ons, conjugations, and rules, and in applying
them in parsing and in the correction of examples
in False Syntax. Pursued in this manner, it is an
artificial and arbitrary system built up apart from
the ground upon which as a science it must rest.
Definitions, rules, and forms, in Grammar are merely
wo'ds and mean nothing disconnected from the facts
and principles which underlie them.
Grammar is the science of sentences. English
Grammar is the science of the English sentence.
There are certain general principles which are ap
plicable to the sentences of all languages, and there
are other principles which belong only to those of
particular languages. The division just maJe is
therefore a proper one. Grammar is not an art
Composition treats of the art of speaking and writing.
GRAMMAR 247
Sentences are composed of words, and these \\ords
may be classified according to their individual mean
ing or office ; the modifications, properties, and re
lations of each class may be determined ; and the
whole be made to constitute a system of English
Grammar. This method of studying the sentence
may be called Etymological inasmuch as it deals with
words as the best defined, integral parts of which
sentences are composed.
Sentences are composed of elements, some of them
essential and others non-essential, at some times
consisting of a single word and at other times of
several words combined, and these elements may be
classified according to their sentential relations,
each class become the subject of scientific investi
gation, and the result be made to constitute another
system of English Grammar. This method of study
ing the sentence may de called Logical inasmuch as
it is based upon the mutual relations of the elements
of sentences.
These two methods are both essentially analytical,
and are not at all antagonistic. Both ought to be
combined in practical teaching. The Logical method
might first consider sentences as wholes and then
find and dispose of their elements ; after which the
Etymological method might treat of the individual
words of which they are composed. Neither can
be dispensed with in the construction of a system
of Grammatical science.
To commence the study of the science of Gram
mar proper, with the prospect of much profit, pupils
ought to possess considerable general knowledge,
and be from twelve to fifteen years of age. The
248 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
first steps may be easy, but it requires some maturity
of thought to comprehend the principles which are
soon involved. Previous to the time of their com
mencing the study of the science of Grammar,
pupils should have much practice in elementary
Composition, of which it is intended to speak here
after, and it would be greatly to their advantage to
be taught the exercises now about to be described.
I call them Etymological Exercises, and desire that
they should be considered as an introduction to the
study of Grammar
ETYMOLOGICAL EXERCISES.
EXERCISE FIRST. — Nouns. — The class may be re
quired to write on slates or blackboard the names
of the objects in the school-room. This ' work
having been criticised by one another and corrected
by the teacher in respect to spelling, punctuation,
neatness, &c., they may be required to write furthei
the names of things seen in coming to school, those
which stand for kinds of trees, flowers, the organs
of the body, the parts of a house, the tools used by
farmers or mechanics, the articles purchased at
stores, &c. ; and submit their work for correction as
before. They may now be told that the names of
objects are called Nouns ; and much further practice
should be allowed them in selecting the Nouns in
sentences and framing sentences containing Nouns.
EXERCISE SECOND. — Kinds of Nouns. — The teacher
may name the boys in the class, and ask for the
name common to all. The girls may be named in
the same way, and also particular cities, rivers.
GRAMMAR. 249
mountains, &c., and like inquiries be made concern
ing them. Some common name can then be assigned
as horse, book, man, and the pupils required to write
all the particular names that they can think of which
are comprehended in the general name. This done,
the terms Common and Proper, as applied to Nouns,
can be defined, and pupils be profitably engaged in
classing them accordingly, in pointing them out in
sentences, and in constructing sentences containing
them.
E'XERCISE THIRD. — The Properties of Nouns. —
Gender, Number, and Person are the only Properties
of Nouns that can be taught intelligently without
an analysis of sentences. Case, therefore, except
the Possessive, cannot be treated of in this con
nection.
The teacher need not point out many examples
to enable pupils to understand the distinctions of
Gender and Number. They can readily see, too,
that some objects speak, some are spoken to, and
others are spoken of. They should be required,
however, to write lists of words denoting objects in
each Gender, Number, and Person; and point them
out as they occur in sentences. Sentences may be
written containing such words.
EXERCISE FOURTH. — Verbs. — The method of teach
ing Verbs will be understood by the following illus
tration : What does the fire do ? Class. " It burns."
Write the word " burns" on your slates. What does
the wind do ? Class. " It blows." Write " blows,"
aleo. What does *he rain do? Class. "It falls."
250 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
"What are the birds doing in yonder grove ? Class.
"They sing." What can you say of plants ? Class.
" They grow." Write the words " falls," sing," and
"grow" under the others. Now each take a place
at the blackboard, and write the names of all the acts
you can think of that boys do. The class write —
"boys play," "boys read," "boys write," "boys run,"
" boys eat," "boys laugh," &c., &c. The actions that
girls, horses, dogs, birds, &c., perform may then be
written, if time permit, or as&igned for future lessons;
and, when pupils are fully prepared to understand it,
they may be told that all the names of actions are
called verbs. In further lessons, they may be re
quired to form sentences containing particular verbs
and to point out the verbs in sentences.
EXERCISE FIFTH. — Kinds of Verbs. — Adopting the
common classification of Verbs, lists of them may
be written upon the blackboard as follows : —
FIRST LIST. SECOND LIST. THIRD LIST.
Boys play. The table stands. The boy was whipped.
Birds fly. The book lies. The soldier is wounded.
Men work. The curtains hang. The horses were sold.
Dogs bark. The teacher sits. The pitcher was broken.
Pupils having learned that the names of actions
are Verbs, can readily point out the Verbs in the
first list. They may then be asked to point out the
words that most resemb^ Verbs in the second and
third lists. This done, tney may be shown the dif
ferences in the meaning of the three kinds of Verbs,
and learn to call them by their names — Active,
Neuter, and Passive. A great deal of practice must
be allowed pupils in naming the different kin is of
GRAMMAR. 251
Verbs as they occur in sentences, and in composing
sentences containing them.
EXERCISE SIXTH. — The Properties of Verbs. —
"Whether Verbs are the names of actions which are
perceptible, or of those which are imperceptible;
whether they denote actions performed or actions
endured, they must have reference to time and man
ner. Pupils can readily give orally or write the
names of actions which are taking place at the pre
sent time ; and it is not much more difficult to
suppose that the same actions took place yesterday,
or will take place to-morrow, and to express them
accordingly. After full practice upon the Present,
Past, and Future Tenses, the pupils may be made
acquainted with those subdivisions of them thought
to be necessary by Grammarians.
The teacher can write lists of sentences contain
ing Verbs in the different Modes, and instruct his
pupils in those peculiarities of expression upon
which distinctions of Mode are founded.
Many examples of Verbs should then be given,
and the pupils be required to state their Tense and
Mode. Sentences can also be constructed containing
Verbs of certain given Tenses and Modes.
Verbs denote by their form whether actions are
performed or received by one person or more, or by
a speaker, a person or thing spoken to, or a person
or thing spoken of. This can be readily exemplified
;n the manner previously described.
Pupils should not only be required to commit the
Conjugation of verbs, in a certain order, but they
should be expected to answer questions asked mis-
252 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
cellaneously upon it. The teacher may name Modes,
Tenses, Numbers, and Persons, and demand of the
pupils forms of Verbs that answer the conditions,
he may require such Verbs to be embodied in sen-
tences, or he may assign the sentences and engage the
pupils in distinguishing and classifying the Verbs.
Exercises similar to those now described should
be given in respect to Pronouns, Adjectives, Ad
verbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections;
but any teacher who has appreciated the spirit of
the method indicated can do it for himself. The
spirit and form of these Exercises are identical with
those recommended in giving lessons on objects.
The more obscure distinctions in Etymological
Grammar can be presented in the same way to
pupils prepared to understand them. It must be
remembered, however, that these exercises do not
contemplate an exhaustive discussion of the Parts
of Speech.
GRAMMAR AS A SCIENCE.
An effort will now be made to point out the pro
per method of teaching Grammar as a science.
Our thinking is regulated by laws. The science
which treats of these laws is Logic. Language is
the verbal expression of thought, and therefore there
must be a close analogy between the laws of thought
and the iaws of speech. Hence the relationship
which exists between Grammar and Logic.
We think, talk, and write in sentences. Discourse
is made up of sentences. A sentence in Grammar
corresponds to the unit in Mathematics It is tho
GRAMMAR. 2f>3
least integral part of discourse, as words are bat frac
tional parts of sentences. The first step in teaching
Grammar therefore is to communicate to pupils an
idea of a sentence. To do this a teacher may ask his
class to say something ahout a book, a horse, a bird;
and what they say he may write on the blackboard.
These expressions and others like them they may
be told are called sentences. The division of their
reading lessons into sentences may be pointed out.
In this manner children can learn to know simple
sentences. Further practice should be given them
in writing sentences about particular things, and in
detecting combinations of words that do not form
sentences. A sentence is a form of words contain
ing a proposition ; but such a definition would be
quite out of place at this stage of progress.
AVhen pupils have learned to know simple sen
tences, they may begin the work of analyzing them,
and the elements thus found must be classified and
investigated. The system thus built up should pre
sent the principles of the language in a clear and
logical manner. A sufficient number of steps in
this analysis will be presented to indicate to the
thoughtful teacher the method by which the whole
may be taught.
The Subject. — The teacher may write such sen
tences upon the blackboard as birds fly, men work,
fire burns, rain falls, &c. ; and call the attention of
his class to the fact that in each of these sentences"
there is a word which represents a thing of which
something is said. The pupils may then point out
such words or forms of words in these and nume-
22
254 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
rous other sentences, and learn that they are called
subjects. They may be asked to name things of
which something may be said, and to tell what can
be said to run, fly, eat, work, &c.
The Predicate. — In the same manner, it can be
shown that sentences like those named in the pre
ceding examples contain words or forms of words
that are used to say something of the subject.
These are called Predicates. Pupils can be led to
point them out in such sentences and in others.
It is well also to give them practice in naming
words which are used to say something of things,
and to write on slate or blackboard what can be
said of boys, girls, horses, fishes, birds, &c.
In miscellaneous exercises upon Subjects and Pre
dicates, a Subject can be given and the pupils re
quired to find suitable Predicates, or a Predicate
can be given and the pupils required to supply
suitable Subjects, thus:
a
G5
Play,
Boys,
Run,
Girls,
Walk,
Horses,
EWrlte,
Required, Dogs>
Birds,
Read,
Cattle,
Talk,
Men,
Laugh, &c.
Women, &c.
When able to point out the Subject and Predicate
in sentences, pupils may be told that the two taken
together constitute a Proposition, and then be
allowed to point out and to construct Propositions.
GRAMMAR. 255
Kinds of Subjects. — The attention of the pupil
should be called to lists of sentences printed in his
Grammar-hook or written on the blackboard like
the following : John studies ; he studies ; to study is
right; that he studies is certain. When fully com
prehending the different kinds of Subjects, he may
be told that the name of the first kind of Subject
is Noun; of the second, Pronoun; of the third,
Phrase ; and of the fourth, Clause. Finally, he must
be allowed to point out the different kinds of
Subjects in numerous examples, and to construct
sentences containing any required form of Subject.
If the teacher deem it proper, his pupils may now
learn the nature of the Noun and Pronoun, their
kinds and their properties. The manner of doing
this has already been explained. The Phrase and
Clause must be treated of when the pupil is prepared
to understand them.
Kinds of Predicates. — The kinds of Predicates
can be taught in essentially the same manner as
kinds of Subjects. The teacher must first present
such sentences as: boys learn; they are to learn;
Spring is pleasant; it is as I told him. It is unneces
sary to make more than two kinds of Predicates :
first, the Verb simply ; and, second, the Verb with
some added word, phrase or clause. The nature
of the Copula may be explained. Much practice
in pointing out and classifying Predicates, in sen
tences, and in constructing sentences to contain
Predicates of a particular kind cannot be dispensed
with.
If not done before, the teacher may now make
256 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
his pupils acquainted with the nature of the Verb,
its kinds, and the properties which belong to it.
To the extent of the knowledge now acquired,
pupils may engage with great profit in the exercises,
beautiful when combined, of Analysis and Parsing.
Numerous miscellaneous sentences must be provided
for the purpose.
Pupils may be taught also that Pronouns, when
used as Subjects, are in the Nominative Case, and
have a particular form, and that Nouns are said to
be in the same Case when used in the same way.
Verbs also agree with their subjects in Number
and Person. Many sentences violating these princi
ples may be submitted to the pupils for correction.
Adjective Elements. — A word or a form of words
used to modify the meaning of the Subject is called
an Adjective Element. The same name is applied
to the words, phrases, and clauses which modify
Nouns and Pronouns in whatever relation they
may be placed. The teacher should begin his in
struction by calling the attention of his class to sen
tences in which the Subject is modified by simple
Adjectives, as: good boys study ; pretty flowers grow,
&c. When they fully understand the nature of the
Adjective Modification, it will not be very difficult
to lead them to see the words and forms of words
that perform similar offices in such sentences as fol
low: 1m book is lost; James, the carpenter, built the
house; Johns finger is hurt; a book of poems is on the
table; the boy who did not know his lesson is detained
after school. This done, and all that remains neces
sary is to allow full opportunity for practice in point-
GRAMMAR. 257
mg out these elements in sentences and constructing
sentences containing them. Adjective elements
admit division into classes ; but it requires the ap
plication of no special methods to teach them.
Rules of Syntax relating to the correct use of the
Adjective and Adjective element may now be given,
and examples of sentences in which this part of
speech is incorrectly used, may be assigned for
correction.
Adverbial Elements. — A word or a form of words
used to modify the meaning of the Predicate may
be called an Adverbial Element. Adverbial Ele
ments should be classified and taught in the same
manner as the Adjective Element; and repetition is
deemed unnecessary. Rules for the construction of
Adverbial Elements must not he overlooked.
Nothing special need be said in reference to
teaching the Preposition, Conjunction, and Interjection,
as the offices they severally perform in sentences
are easily detected, and readily illustrated.
All that has been said is intended to apply to sim
ple Declarative sentences. At the proper time,
other forms of sentences must be presented to the
pupil, and he must be taught to trace their relations
to the Declarative form. Phrases and Clauses must
be carefully studied. The close analysis of Complex
and Compound Sentences, and the classification of
the elements thus found, the discussion of the idioms
of oar language, the changes in construction it has
undergone, the relationship of thought and its ex-
pression in words, general and special Philological
22*
258 INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
laws, must complete a full course of instruction in
Grammar.
This discussion will be concluded with a summary
of the general principles by which the teaching of
Grammar should be governed, and which has guided
thp. preceding discussion.
1st. All Grammatical principles or rules should
be deduced directly from sentences, or proven by
reference to them.
2d. The pupil should begin the study of Gram
mar by analyzing the simplest forms of simple sen
tences, and then proceed by safe gradations from
the easy to the difficult. A sentence admits of a
logical discussion only by descending from the gen
eral to the particular. A classification of sentences
ascends from species to genera.
3d. No definition or rule should be given that
presupposes knowledge that the pupil does not pos
sess. The whole system should be logically con
nected, and introduce the pupil to new principles
just at the time he needs, and is prepared to under
stand them.
4th. Rules of construction and government, with
examples in False Syntax, should be taught in con
nection with the sentences or elements of sentences
to which they relate. This principle, logically
necessary, will be found of considerable practical
advantage.
5th. The Analysis of a sentence consists in find
ing its elements, or in reducing it to the Parts of
Speech, of which it is composed. Parsing consists
in finding out these Parts of Speech and determining
their properties and relations. Both should be com-
RHETORIC. 259
bined, as is the case in similar operations in other
sciences. The Botanist analyzes a plant, and then
names and describes its several parts. The Anato
mist dissects a subject, and then characterizes the
organs thus brought to his notice. Grammar can
be studied successfully in no other way. Parsing,
without a preceding analysis, can lead but to a very
imperfect knowledge of the organic structure of
sentences.
6th. Grammatical knowledge should be applied
throughout the whole course in the construction of
sentences. Pupils should be allowed ample oppor
tunity of framing all the different kinds and varie
ties of sentences, and of embodying in them, all the
elements of sentences, words, phrases, and clauses,
in all their forms, and with all their modifications.
7th. The study of the English language may be
made to yield the same kind of culture that is
derived from the study of the classical languages of
Greece and Rome. To do this, several standard
authors, or selections from many such authors, must
be subjected to a critical examination as to the
forms of sentences ; the location of the elements in
sentences, their relations, and their fitness to express
the thought intended; and the origin, history, and
meaning of words.
RHETORIC.
It is by no means easy to define the limits of the
study of Rhetoric, or to fix its position among the
sciences. There seems to be no general agreement
among writers respecting the ground which it should
occupy .
260 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Logic treats of the laws of thought. These laws
necessarily condition language. Grammar investi
gates them as they occur in sentences. But as all
discourse is subject to logical conditions, there is
room for a science which may he called the Science
of discourse. Rhetoric, however, not only treats of
the laws of thought as they appear in discourse, but
likewise includes an application of the laws of taste.
It is based upon the science of Logic, on the one
hand, and ^Esthetics, on the other. It is also closely
related to Grammar.
Some writers deny to Rhetoric the rank of a sci
ence ; but since, in addition to the principles it
embodies, that are found to grow out of the rela
tions which the different parts of discourse sustain
to one another, its rules are the generalizations
of what experience has shown to be most effec
tive and pleasing in speaking and writing, it may,
at least, as justly claim that rank as any Inductive
Science.
It would not be proper in this connection to speak
of methods of teaching either Logic or ^Esthetics,
notwithstanding they constitute the foundation upon
which the superstructure of Rhetoric is erected.
Rhetoric, as presented in our books, treats of the
several kinds of discourse, the qualities which expe
rience shows to be necessary in good writing and
speaking, and the manner of arranging ideas and
expressing them in language. Of methods of teach
ing Rhetoric, when thus considered, it is my pur
pose to speak.
1. KINDS OF DISCOURSE. — It will be convenient to
RHETORIC. 261
consider first, discourse as classed with regard to form;
and, second, as classed with regard to matter.
Classed with regard to form, discouree presents
two great divisions, viz. : Prose and Poetry. A dif
ference in form may not be the only difference
between prose and poetic composition ; but it is the
most prominent.
The leading divisions of prose composition are
Orations, Lectures, Essays, Theses, Fictions, Narratives,
and Letters. Several of these classes of composition
admit of subdivisions.
Thfe leading divisions of poetic composition are
Epic, Lyric, Pastoral, Dramatic, Didactic, and Satiric
Poetry. The form of Poetry differs also according
to the versification.
Classed with regard to matter, discourse may be
Novel, Witty, Humorous, Satirical, Sublime, and Beau
tiful. Or from another point of view, discourse is
Explanatory, Argumentative, Pathetic, or Persuasive,
according as it narrates or describes, argues, appeals
to the feelings, or attempts to move the will.
The teacher's whole duty to his pupils, in acquaint
ing them with the different kinds of discourse, may
be expressed in three words, describe, define, and
illustrate. Each kind of discourse must be carefully
described, the general terms made use of must be
defined, and the whole must be impressed upon the
pupil's mind by numerous, appropriate illustrations.
2. QUALITIES WHICH CHARACTERIZE WELL CON
STRUCTED DISCOURSE. — All well constructed discourse
must be characterized by Purity, Propriety, Precision,
Perspicuity, Strength, Euphony, Harmony, and Unity.
262 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
In teaching, pupils must first be led to see what
is meant by these qualities. Many examples of each
should be exhibited to them. It will be greatly to
their advantage if extracts from authors, faulty in
respect to these qualities, be presented to them for
correction.
3. ARRANGEMENT AND STYLE OF DISCOURSE. — The
invention of ideas, or, more properly, the obtaining
of ideas, does not properly belong to the Science of
Rhetoric. Ideas are furnished by investigations
concerning the subject-matter of other sciences.
Rhetoric treats only of the arrangement of these
ideas, and the style in which they should be
expressed.
By the arrangement of discourse is meant the
selection of suitable matter, and its proper distribu
tion. Out of the multitude of facts, arguments,
incidents, illustrations, which may be presented on
a particular subject, it is important to be able to
judge what should be chosen, and in what order
the selected matter should be arranged. Orations,
according to the method of the ancients, and the
practice is quite similar now, were divided, into
the Exordium, Narration, Proposition, Discussion, and
Peroration.
In other kinds of discourse, little more has been
done by Rhetoricians than to name the principal
parts, viz. : the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.
Pupils, however, must not be allowed to conclude
from this that the matter of books, lectures, poems,
dramas, fictions, any kind of composition, indeed, can
be thrown together in confused fragments. No! iiing
RHETORIC. 263
can be more important than the arrangement of the
matter of discourse, and the teacher should submit
many well-written compositions of different kinds
to his pupils that they may carefully analyze them
in this respect. Not that pupils should be trained
to a slavish imitation of any author; but that
they may see in a concrete form what has proved
itself pleasing and effective, and profit by this ex
perience.
By style is meant the manner of expression in
language. The style of an author or speaker must
vary according to his individual peculiarities, and
the circumstances which surround him ; but Rheto
ricians have made several divisions, according tc
the degree of ornament used, as follows: the Dry,
Plain, Neat, Elegant, and Florid; according to the
structure of the sentences, the Simple and Labored,
and the Concise and Diffuse ; and, according to the
effect produced upon the hearer, the Nervous and
Feeble. Under the head of Style, too, may be dis
cussed the various kinds of Figures used in dis
course. The teacher will find this a pleasant
department of the subject to present to his pupils ;
but will have no need to depart from the method
of teaching indicated in the preceding divisions of
the subject.
The discussion of the subject will be concluded
by presenting a few additional observations.
A course of study in English Literature should
follow one in Rhetoric. Selections from different
authors may be arranged chronologically; but all
should be closely analyzed with reference to kind,
qualities, arrangement, and style. Such an exercise
26* INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
might be called Khetorical Parsing, and its value
if well conducted would be very great.
Pupils should be expected to observe the princi
ples of Rhetoric in all their writing and speaking.
It is taken for granted that Rhetoric is studied not
only to be known but to be used. Indeed, it
can scarcely be fully known without being used
Hence, in all recitations, the attention of pupils
should be called to faults in Rhetoric. A good reci
tation consists not alone in giving correctly all the
facts and principles of the lesson, but in making the
most appropriate arrangement of them and express
ing them in the best language.
, In learning Rhetoric, it is not enough for pupils
to study the compositions of others ; they must com
pose themselves. They must be patiently trained
to exemplify in their own writing and speaking all
that has given value to the writing and speaking of
others. The end of the study of Rhetoric is not
chiefly to acquire the power of describing how skil
ful authors write and speak, but to be able to write
and speak well ourselves ; and no effective teaching
of this science is possible without allowing ample
opportunity for this kind of practice.
A teacher of Rhetoric ought to be a literary ama
teur. Without a love for literature himself he can
not make his pupils love it. Without literary taste
himself, he cannot cultivate the literary tastes of
his pupils. Ordinary teaching skill may suffice to
make known the facts and rules of Rhetoric ; but
nature does not open her beauties here, nor any
where, unless bidden by a loving heart.
PHILOLOGY. 265
PHILOLOGY.
The word Philology is used "here to denote the
science which treats of the origin and growth of
language, or, in other words, its Natural History.
Up to this point, language has been spoken of as a
ready-formed instrument with which pupils desire
to become acquainted, and methods of teaching how
to read and understand it as such have been dis
cussed. But a few remarks will show that it may
be studied from another stand-point.
Language is itself a growth — a product evoked
from human wants and evolved from human reason.
It is concrete thought. God gave man reason and
the power of speech, and he produced language.
This growth of words was governed both in its
origin and progress by certain laws. There are
principles by which the forms and rules of Grammar
can be accounted for. A language is not learned
when we know its declensions, conjugations, and
laws of construction, for the causes of these may be
investigated. Words even do not arbitrarily change
their pronunciation, orthography, or meaning. New
words are introduced into a language, old ones
drop out of it, and causes are ever at work chang
ing its form and constructions, and the mere Gram
marian who studies language as it is, or the mere
Historian, who notes these word-revolutions, may
remain in ignorance of the subtle forces that
ceaselessly operate to adapt human speech to the
condition and wants of men.
Philology, if now properly apprehended, has the
character of an Historical Science, with its facts and
23
266 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
its philosophy, and as such, methods of teaching it
belong elsewhere. They will be found to combine
methods of teaching applicable to all the other
sciences.
m. LEARNING TO COMPOSE IN OUR MOTHER-TONGUE.
Composition may be defined as the art of com
bining ideas and expressing them in words ; or it
may be called the art of speaking and writing. It
is founded upon the sciences of Grammar and
Rhetoric.
Without insisting that it is strictly philosophical,
the following division of our intellectual faculties
may be made : those by which we gain knowledge ;
those by which we elaborate it into systems ; and
those by which what we know is reproduced. The
first class may be called the Perceptive faculties;
the second, the Reflective faculties ; and the third,
the Expressive faculties. A perfect mind would
possess the power of obtaining the material of
knowledge, the power of working up this material
into mind-products, and the power of conveying
these mind-products back to the world without, iu
co-equal strength. As good reasons, therefore, can
be given for the cultivation of the Expressive
powers — the powers of speech, as for the cultiva
tion of any other class of powers which men possess.
Our intellectual light must not be hid under a
bushel any more than our moral light. Writing
and speaking are the candle-sticks by which this
light is distributed about the world.
Besides, so closely connected is our mental ma
chinery that we even use words in thinking, auci
COMPOSITION. 267
facility in using them consequently promotes think
ing.
The art of Composition may be learned, either by
imitating the speaking and writing of others, or by
applying the rules of Grammar and Rhetoric. Such
a knowledge of Composition as can be obtained by the
first method may be called Elementary Composition;
and that obtained by the second, Higher Composition.
1. ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION. — A child is taking
his first lessons in Composition when he begins to
talk. If he enjoy the opportunity of hearing good
language, a child at five years of age, will possess
a large fund of words, he can construct them into
sentences, and hold intelligible conversation about
objects with which he is familiar. If at that age
he be taught the written symbols which represent
words, he will soon learn to write words, sentences,
and little compositions about things he has seen.
This is the manner in which the teaching of Com
position should be commenced. As the child
enlarges his vocabulary of words, notices a greater
variety of sentences, and acquaints himself with
more numerous objects, his ability to speak and
write will become greater, and his instruction in
Composition should be adapted to his increased
capacity. Up to the age of ten or twelve, instruc
tion in Composition should consist mainly in pre
senting pupils suitable models of speaking and
writing for imitation, and in giving them ample
opportunity to imitate them. Much in the art of
Composition can be learned in this way at any age,
but nearly all must be learned in this way in child-
268 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
hood. Ill teaching Composition to children, teachers
ought not to he too critical — ought not to expect
great accuracy or much elegance in expression.
Their principal aim should be to evoke linguistic
power ; and when the power exists, it is time to
acquaint them with the niceties of Grammar and
Rhetoric. You must have the stream, before you
can make its waters play about your grounds or
sparkle in your fountains. There is nothing about
which we are more sensitive than our speaking and
writing, and teachers may do great harm to their
young pupils by expecting too much from them.
Some lessons, well calculated to aid pupils in ex
pressing their ideas in words, were described in the
Chapter relating to Elementary Instruction, and
they need not now be repeated. It is enough to
indicate a few classes of appropriate exercises, and
the intelligent teacher can expand them to any de
sirable extent.
First Class of Exercises. — The teacher may engage
his young pupils in conversation about things with
respect to which he know^s they feel an interest;
such as, horses, whips, fishing, harvest-time, sleigh-
riding, &c., &c. The discipline in language obtained
from lessons on objects as previously described ia
very valuable.
Second Class of ^Exercises. — Pupils may be taught
to give in their own language the substance of their
reading lessons. Attention should be paid in all
recitations to the language used. All erroneous ex-
pressions must be carefully corrected.
COMPOSITION. 269
TJnrd Class of Exercises. — Pupils may be required
to write sentences about things; as, house, table, ball,
&c., &c. ; or a word or several words can be given
to be incorporated into sentences ; as, book, beauti
ful, strange ; school-girls and rain ; boy, mother, and
cake; man, axe, and wood, &c., &c. Some good ex
ercises may be found in Sheldon's "Elementary
Instruction," commencing atpp.ge 220.
Fourth Class of Exercises. — The teacher may pre
sent certain forms of sentences and require his pu
pils to imitate them. "Writing from dictation with
attention to forms of sentences, punctuation, capital
letters, &c., is valuable. Pupils acquire the graces
of style unconsciously upon reading or copying well-
written composition.
Fifth Class of Exercises. — Lists of faulty sentences
may be kept by the teacher, and now and then pre
sented to the pupils for correction. Quite young
children can be taught to point out the errors in
large numbers of such sentences. Something can
also be done in this way to train pupils to habits ol
correct speaking.
Sixth Class of Exercises. — The teacher may read
striking narratives, interesting sketches, or lively
descriptions, and require his pupils to reproduce
them in their own language. This is an excellent
exercise.
Seventh Class of Exercises. — At the age of eight or
nine years, the teacher may begin to assign subjects
23*
270 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
upon winch his pupils are expected to write original
composition. These subjects ought to be simple,
calculated to interest the writers, and to furnish
them an opportunity of telling something they know
as well as of finding something to tell. The teacher
should assign the subject, and may make sugges
tions as to the matter and form of the composition.
Every child can say something about snow, flowers,
birds, hay-making^ hulking-corn, gathering nuts, going to
school, &c., &c. ; if not about progress, government, the
grandeur of nature s works, or the immortality of the soul.
The preceding exercises will convey an idea of the
manner in which children may be taught to com
pose, and further detail is deemed unnecessary. It
may be remarked, however, that children should
have daily practice in writing. It might, perhaps,
be done in connection with reading lessons. No
labored essays could be expected, but they would
acquire the power of thinking and of saying what
they think. What if the work thus done be crude
and wanting in order, it would at least be original,
fresh, and childlike. Great harm is done to children
by giving them time and opportunity to resort to
books and to older persons for help in writing com
positions. Let them learn to write, as they talk,
naturally. It is time those unmeaning forms of
words, half nonsense, half plagiarized, called compo
sitions, should be banished from the school.
2. HIGHER COMPOSITION. — The principal aim of
instruction in Elementary Composition is to bring
pupils to notice forms of expression, and to imitate
them in writing freely and naturally what they
COMPOSITION. 271
think and feel. Ability to compose "having been
thus acquired, the rules of Grammar and Rhetoric
must now be applied to induce the additional power
of composing correctly and elegantly ; or the pupil
must enter upon a course of study in language
which I have called Higher Composition. This
course may be commenced at the age of ten or
twelve.
It will be remembered that the methods of teach
ing Grammar, considered the best, required pupils
to exemplify every principle learned, in the construc
tion of original sentences. Pupils thus taught,
while learning the science of Grammar, will learn
the art of Composition so far as Grammatical prin
ciples aid in the formation of sentences.
It will also be remembered that in treating of
Rhetoric, it was stated that pupils should not merely
study the compositions of others, but that they must
have much practice in writing exercises in which
they should be required to observe every principle
learned. Such exercises would furnish a fine oppor
tunity of learning to compose, from the forming of
a sentence or the use of a figure to the construction
of an oration or the writing of a poem.
If these views are correct, Grammar and Compo
sition, and Rhetoric and Composition, should be
taught together; and every suitable Grammatical
and Rhetorical lesson should be followed immedi
ately by a lesson in Composition. The manner of
doing this is so obvious that there is no need of
further illustration. It might be remarked, how
ever, that the systematic correction of sentences, or
more general discourse, which violates the rules of
272 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Grammar or Rhetoric belongs appropriately to
Composition. Science systematizes the true, art
detects the false. Many pages of such exercises are
not too much to furnish pupils with the practice
they need. To be a good writer one must be a
good critic both of his own productions, and the
productions of others.
Not only in connection with Grammar and Rhet
oric should Composition be studied, but such in
struction should be given in connection with all
studies. Pupils either write or speak when they
recite, and it is always the teacher's duty to see that
they speak and write well. Each exercise may thus
be made to furnish valuable practice in writing and
speaking.
Some useful exercises may be mentioned which
are not usually found in works on Gramma'r or
Rhetoric, such as paraphrasing; expressing senti
ments in various forms ; abridging diffuse com
positions and amplifying concise ones ; writing
criticisms; and making analyses of orations, lectures,
essays, or preparing outlines for such productions.
Translating from a foreign language into our own
or the reverse, gives discipline in all that relates to
the use of language, hardly to be obtained in any
other way. Taste in composing is greatly improved
by reading good books, and by copying well-written
productions.
In addition to a systematic course of instruction
in Composition, as above indicated, teachers wili
find it advantageous with advanced pupils, at least,
to have at stated times miscellaneous exercises in
preparing and reading or.ginal compositions. I
COMPOSITION 273
propose to answer the following questions concern
ing these exercises: At what times should such
exercises be required ? Who should assign the sub
jects? What should be the nature of the subjects
assigned ? In what manner shall the compositions
be corrected ? How ought the recitation to be
conducted ?
The work now had in view will require research
and labor on the part of the student. It is not an
example or an illustration that is wanted, but a
systematically arranged composition, carefully pre
pared both as regards matter and manner. If pupils
are engaged at the same time in the study of other
branches, and have proper instruction in the details
of composing in connection with their Grammar
and Rhetoric lessons, the special exercises now
referred to cannot very well be performed more
frequently than once a week, if so often.
To give definite direction to a pupil's thoughts,
to adapt the task to his capacity and requirements,
and to remove from him as far as possible all temp
tation to plagiarize, it will generally be found best
for the teacher to assign the subjects for composi
tion, even to classes of advanced pupils.
The nature of the subject selected for a composi
tion should be adapted to the pupil's capacity, re
quirements, and taste. In selecting a series of
subjects, they should be chosen with reference to
their fitness to furnish practice in composing differ
ent kinds of discourse and using different varieties
of style. They should be such also as would be
calculated to call forth the knowledge pupils have,
or prompt them to search diligently for that which
274 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
they have not. But while care is taken to train
e^ual care must be taken not to cramp. An ex
uberant flow of words in youth is a better indication
of success in writing than a more correct, but more
formal, style. Let the imagination of the young
have free scope ; do not cut out and trim on" too
much. Value most of all a spontaneous out
pouring of intellect, or a spontaneous out-grilling
of feeling.
Teachers must inspect the compositions written
by their pupils ; but it will be found better merely
to point out the errors they may discover than to
correct them. If pupils are required to correct
their own errors, they will be more careful not to
make them; and, besides, the principle violated will
be more strongly impressed upon their minds.
The teacher must have some marks to indicate
errors. For words incorrectly used or misspelled,
wrong punctuation, or errors of any kind involv
ing only a single word or mark, a short, perpen
dicular line may be drawn through the word or
mark with respect to which the error occurs, and
attention be called to it in the margin by an jg^*.
In case the error extends to several words, a sen
tence, or several sentences, the whole may be under
scored, and attention called to it as before. More
general errors as to style and arrangement can be
best corrected at the recitation.
How ought a recitation to be conducted ? Each
pupil should write the errors which were pointed
out by the teacher, upon the blackboard, together
with the corrections made by himself. Each pupil
should also read his composition ; and, then, hia
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 275
whole work may become the subject of criticism,
first by the class, and afterwards by the teacher.
II. Instruction in the Dead Languages.
The only Dead Languages that are taught to anv
great extent in our schools are the Latin and Greek,
and special reference will be had in this Article to
methods ol teaching these languages, although the
methods indicated will be found applicable to all
languages belonging to the same class. The prom
inent place the languages of Greece and Home
have occupied in every liberal course of study would
be a sufficient reason, if no other could be given,
why some discussion of the methods of teaching
these languages should be introduced into a work
like the present one.
In regard to the benefits derived from the study
of the Dead Languages, three opinions are enter
tained: first, that all other studies are less impor
tant than that of Latin and Greek, and that conse
quently the learning of these languages should
occupy the most prominent place and the greatest
portion of time in every liberal course of study ;
second, that the time now spent in the study of the
Dead Languages might be employed to much better
purpose in obtaining a more complete knowledge
of our own language and the various sciences; and,
third, that the study of Latin and Greek ought to
occupy an important place in a course of study, but
that school-time should be fairly proportioned be
tween the several great departments of instruction,
and that Collegiate and University honors ought
not to be based upon proficiency in Latin and Greek
276 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
any more than upon proficiency in other branches of
learning.
The first of these opinions gives undue promi
nence to the study of the Dead Languages; the
second wholly discards their study ; and the third
occupies a middle ground between the two extremes,
and, while holding that Latin and Greek are not
indispensable in a liberal course of study, still main
tains that they are valuable auxiliaries in the work
of education.
In supporting the last named of these opinions,
the reasons will appear why it is considered that
both of the other opinions are erroneous. That
there are branches of instruction other than those
of Latin and Greek which are worthy of careful
study, will be generally conceded — conceded even
by those whose practice does not correspond with
their theory. Mathematics, Natural Science, Men-
tal Philosophy, General Literature, History, the
Modern Languages, and other branches of learning
should not be omitted from a comprehensive course
of study, and, as will be seen in the proper place,
all of them furnish classes of facts and kinds of
culture quite different from those* derived from the
study of the Dead Languages. Our duties as men
of business and citizens may not be learned as wrell
from the study of Latin and Greek as from some
other studies, and this end of utility in study can
not be ignored in teaching.
The cause of education, however, is most likely
to suffer detriment in this country, at this time, not
from those who favor classical studies too much,
but from those who oppose them altogether. The
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 277
danger is not now great anywhere that Latin and
Greek will absorb too much of the pupil's time and
attention ; but there are persons everywhere who
attach little value to the study of these languages.
As might be expected from the utilitarian character
of our people, America has her full share of these
advocates for the abandonment of the study of La
tin and Greek, and the substitution in their place
of other branches which are supposed to bear a
closer relation to the work of the office, the shop,
and the farm. In such circumstances, it may be
well to state the principal advantages which may
be derived from the study of the classical languages.
1. The study of Latin and Greek assists in the study
of our own Language. — The English language,
through the medium of the Gorman-French and
otherwise, derives at least one-half of all its words
from the Latin. Almost all our scientific terms arc
of Latin or Greek origin, and no one who is unac
quainted with these languages, can read a work on
Law, Medicine, Theology, Teaching, or upon any
science or art, without feeling sadly the want of such
knowledge. The close analysis of an English
author, such as Milton, is hardly possible for one
who is unacquainted with Latin. The finer beauties
and more hidden laws which characterize such a
work can be fully appreciated only by the classical
scholar.
2. The study of Latin and G-reeJc assists in under
standing the Character of the People who spoke them. —
The character of the Greeks and Romans is NFCS!]
24
278 INSTRUCTION" IN LANGUAGE.
worthy our study. Few nations have done so much
that will live in History. The language of a people
is closely related to its thought. In its language, as
in a mirror, is reflected back an image of what a
nation has thought and felt. Not even in the re
mains of their Sculpture and Painting, not even in
their stupendous ruins, their Parthenons and their
Colosseums, do the people of Greece and Rome
represent themselves so perfectly as in the Poems,
the Orations, the Histories and the Dramas, that
have been preserved from the general destruction
that overwhelmed them. Their noble languages
O O
are the richest legacy they could have left us, for in
their study we may learn to sympathize with the
master-spirits of the past, catch some of their inspira
tion, and commune with the sentiment which they
embalmed in words that remain fresh midst the
lapse of centuries.
3. The study of the Latin and Greek assists in ob
taining a Knowledge of the History of the Romans and
Greeks. — There were both Greek and Roman His
torians of great celebrity. No translation can do
them justice. They must be read to be appreciated.
Besides, what these classic nations of antiquity ac
complished best appears in the works of their Poets,
Orators, Dramatists, and Philosophers ; and no one
has ever acquired the ability to read these books
that did not acknowledge himself amply repaid for
all his time and trouble.
4. The study of Latin and Greek furnishes very
Intellectual Discipline. — A recitation in Latin or
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 279
Greek, when well conducted, gives exercise to the
memory, the judgment, and the reason. No better
culture for the intellectual faculties can be found
than that which comes from making nice discrimina
tions between the meaning of words ; carefully com
paring constructions ; earnestly searching the under
lying thought in one language and the fit words to
express it in another ; and closely studying the
modifications and relations among words, phrases,
and clauses. It is not maintained that there are not
other valuable means of intellectual discipline. The
polished Greek himself probably obtained his cul
ture without the study of language other than his
own. But it is claimed that the disciplinary advan
tages of the study of Latin and Greek have stood
the test of centuries, and nothing has been found
that can be safely used to supersede them. The
amount of practical knowledge gained from the
study of the Classics may not be equal to that which
can be gained in the same time from other sources ;
but the grand end of study is to increase mental
power, to give general efficiency ; and no way has
been found better suited to the accomplishment of
this end than the thorough study of the noble
languages of Greece and Rome.
5. The study of Latin and G-reek furnishes fine
Esthetic Culture. — No one can enter into the spirit
of the classic authors without experiencing a refine
ment of his taste, and a more exalted flow of im
agination. Relieved of whatever might have been
gross, through the pages of Homer and Plato,
and Cicero, the classic lands ot Greece and
280 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
Rome reveal themselves to the student as pictures
of surpassing beaut}7. They become his beau-ideals.
He rises up from the sphere of the sensual as he
contemplates them, and revels amid the ideal beau
ties of a world of purer thought and nobler senti
ment. The classic scholar is known by his nice
discriminations, his exact taste, his true sense of the
beautiful, his lofty aspirations, his responsive thrill
of emotion in witnessing whatever is manly and
right in human conduct.
Several different methods of teaching Latin and
Greek have been practiced. Before attempting a
classification or an exposition of them, it will be
well to determine the definite ends for which these
languages should be studied.
Latin and Greek are not now studied for the pur
pose of acquiring ability to speak and write them.
There was a time in the history of the principal
countries of Europe when books were generally
written in Latin, and the deliberations of ecclesi
astical councils and learned assemblies were carried
on in the same language ; but that day has passed
never to return. There were during the same
period, and perhaps later, institutions of learning
that required their students to dress up their poor
ideas in the stately flow of what was meant for
Ciceronian eloquence. Cicero's forms of expression,
his very words, were committed with great labor
and then servilely imitated. But even if this effort
to acquire the ability to speak and write Latin was
proper then, it is so no longer. Indeed, it is gener
ally admitted by critics that no other than a Roman
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 281
ever mastered the Latin language so perfectly as to
speak and write it like Cicero or Virgil ; and what
Lipsius, Scaliger, and Milton, after many years of
study, and with more inducements than exist at
present, failed to accomplish, it is scarcely worth
while for others, less gifted, and enjoying fewer
advantages for such study, to undertake. Exer
cises in Latin and Greek composition are required
wherever these languages are taught, but mainly
for the purpose of fixing in the pupil's mind Gram
matical forms and constructions. It is well known
that the poems and orations written in Latin and
Greek, and sometimes delivered at our college
commencements, are at best but poor imitations.
Besides, if ability to speak and write Latin and
Greek with classic elegance could be acquired, the
time and labor would be misspent. The Dead Lan
guages, therefore, are not studied for the purpose
of acquiring ability to speak and write them.
The purpose for which the Latin and Greek are
studied, is to be able to read them, to obtain the
rich stores of knowledge which they lock up, and
to secure the disciplinary advantages which may be
derived from their study. To accomplish these
ends, spoken and written exercises may be used
as means, but not as ends themselves.
If these views are true, it follows that the Dead
Languages must be taught in a manner quite differ
ent from that applicable to Living Foreign Lan
guages, inasmuch as the main purpose in learning
the latter, is to acquire ability to sper.k and write
them.
With a distinct object in view which is intended
24*
282 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
to be accomplished by the study of Latin and Greek,
it will be more easy to classify and define the
methods by which that object can be attained.
With respect to our Mother-tongue, we first learn
to speak it, next we acquire the power to read it,
and finally study to know the laws which govern
its forms and constructions. Pupils learning a Dead
Language, may commence at any one of these points ;
and, hence, there may be three general methods of
teaching such a language. These methods may be
called, respectively : 1st, The method that commences
ly teaching pupils to speak the language; 2d, The
method that commences by teaching pupils to read the
language; and, 3d, The method that commences by
teaching pupils the Grammar of the language. There
have been practiced many particular methods, some
times named after the teachers who used them ; but
I think it will be found that all of them are embraced
in the preceding classification.
1. The Method that commences by teaching Pupils lo
speak Latin or Greek. — A native language is learned
by associating certain verbal utterances with things
or ideas. The child in learning to talk first hears
particular names applied to particular things, forms
an association between the names and the things,
and finally, acquires the power of imitating the
names. The children of Rome and Greece found
no more difficulty in learning to speak Latin and
Greek than English children do in learning English.
If children now anywhere could hear these languages
Bpoken, they could readily learn them. The cele
brated Montaigne had a private tutor who spoke no
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 283
language in his hearing but Latin, and he learned
to speak and read that language with considerable
facility by the time he was seven years of age. At
the present day, it is impracticable to study the
Dead Languages in this way ; and, if otherwise, it
has been shown elsewhere that it would require the
sacrifice of a great amount of time and labor to do so.
2. The Method that commences ly teaching Pupils to
read Latin or G-reek. — Some teachers have taught
their pupils to read the Dead Languages by having
them read, first words, next simple sentences, after
wards sentences more difficult, and finally general
discourse. Of course the meaning of the words
must be learned either from the teacher or the
book. This is substantially the method by which
children learn to read their vernacular language ;
and, while it is admitted that the method can be
applied to any language, it is denied that it would
furnish that intimate acquaintance with the nature
of the language studied, and that higher intellectual
and aesthetic culture which is the main end of classi
cal study. If it be said that a knowledge of Latin
or Greek Grammar can be obtained after learning
o
to read those languages, it may be replied that
in such a case the reading of authors must be very
superficial, a second reading after the study of the
Grammar would have to follow the first, and the
whole work would require much unnecessary time
and labor.
Some teachers, too, instead of commencing with
words, place in the hands of their pupils an easy,
classical author, accompanied with a literal, inter-
284 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
linear translation, and expect them by this means
to learn the meaning of words, the construction of
sentences, and finally the sense of what they read.
it is claimed that Hamilton and others had great
success in teaching Latin according to this method ;
but it is evident that the same objections apply to
it as to the preceding method. It may be a speedy
way of acquiring the ability to read a language
superficially, but it cannot be the best method of
obtaining a thorough knowledge of it.
Othe* teachers select sentences from which par
ticular Grammatical forms or principles can be de
duced, teach their pupils to read them, and make
them draw the required inferences and learn them
in the form usually found in Grammar books. This
method is Analytical, and as applied to one's native
language, the best ; but in regard to the study of
the Dead Languages, it is defective in supposing the
pupil can have a form of words or a sentence in his
mind which he so well understands as to be able to
analyze it. A Latin or a Greek sentence is at first
wholly unintelligible to a learner, and its meaning
can only be determined by the Lexicographic and
Grammatical explanation of the single words which
compose it. The meaning of each word in a sentence
must be learned separately, and then in its relations
to the other words with which it is used, before
a clear idea of the meaning of the whole can be
obtained. In teaching a language spoken by the
learners, the method must be analytical; but in
teaching one which they cannot speak, the method
must be at first synthetical. A teacher of Latin
and Greek must therefore begin with words ; and
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 285
ill connection with an explanation of their meaning,
he will find it greatly promotive of his object, if he
acquaint his pupils with various Etymological forms
which distinguish them as individual words, and the
various Syntactical laws which control their place
and relations in sentences. When ability to read a
Dead Language has been acquired, no exercise can
be more beneficial than the analysis of sentences.
3. The Method that commences by teaching the Latin
or Greek G-rammar. — In teaching* according to this
O O
method, the pupil first learns the meaning and forms
of simple words and the principles of Grammar
which have been found by preceding analyses of
Latin or Greek composition, and finally applies this
knowledge in discovering the sense and beauty of
classic authors. This process is similar to the man
ner in which a native language is learned in com
mencing with single words ; but it differs from it
wholly in commencing with words which represent
Etymological forms and Grammatical principles.
It was previously remarked that a person might
learn to read any language without a knowledge of
its Grammar ; but it must be evident to any one
competent to judge that an acquaintance with the
forms of words and the laws of construction inci
dent to such languages as the Latin and Greek,
must greatly facilitate the work of understanding
them. It is my opimon therefore that the first book
which should be placed in a pupil's hands who de
sires to study a Dead Language is the Grammar —
not an analytical Grammar as if the pupil already
understood the meaning of sentences and was pre-
286 INSTKUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
pared to gather facts and to infer principles, from
them, but a Synthetical Grammar in which he
will first find definitions, paradigms, and rules, and
afterwards learn their significance in discourse.
It wras formerly customary to require pupils to
commit the whole Grammar, before being led to
make an application of any of its principles, or
being taught to observe how they might be illus
trated by reference to sentences. Nothing could be
less interesting to a child than the task of learning
the senseless jargon (to him) of hie — lidec — hoc and
o — ?j — TO ; and no word here said must be construed
to mean anything in favor of such a method. I
think, indeed, that the pupil should commence his
study of the Dead Languages with the Grammar,
but not with a Grammar book that contains nothing
but dry forms and abstract principles.
The method of Studying Latin and Greek now
presented, requires the pupil to commit Declensions,
Conjugations, and rules; but it contemplates the
accompanying of all such lessons with practical
exercises calculated to enforce and enliven them. In
detail, the proposed lessons might consist, first, of
the forms or rules to be committed to memory;
second, of sentences in which these forms or rules
are illustrated; third, other sentences in which the
principle of the lesson is violated ; fourth, the con
struction of original sentences that conform to the
principles of the lesson. At the recitation, these
exercises should be properly varied, and given some
times orally, and sometimes in writing. Numerous
miscellaneous exercises, intended for review, should
be distributed among them. With a book arranged
THE DEAD LANGUAGES. 287
upon a plan like this, an ingenious teacher cannot
fail to make the study of the Grammar of any of
the Dead Languages interesting.
What has been just said has reference to methods
of teaching the elements of the Dead Languages.
There is, of course, a higher department of Gram
mar which investigates the changes these languages
have undergone, accounts for their forms, and
reveals the great Philological laws which govern
their constructions. Into this inviting field, the
student, who is ahle, may enter ; and it will be
found that, if the Grammar is the proper book with
which to begin a course of instruction in the Dead
Languages, it is also the proper book with which to
end it.
Having completed an elementary course in the
Grammar, the pupil is prepared, in connection with
further study of the Grammar, to commence the
reading of authors in the language studied. Of
these the teacher must make a judicious selection.
Those works should be chosen which are the purest
in sentiment, the most varied in style, and the best
calculated to give culture to the taste, and impart
-information concerning the times in which they
were produced. A student may read the whole
work of an author or a part of it; but his course of
reading should leave him ignorant of no writer who
is distinguished in classic literature.
O
Some general directions may be given for conduct
ing a recitation in the reading of a classical author.
1. Pupils should be required to give both free
and literal translations ; the purpose of the latter
288 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
being to obtain a clear insight into the sense of what
is read, and that of the former to find appropriate
English expressions for it. The practice of trans
lating selections from Latin or Greek authors into
English, and afterwards translating the same back
again into Latin or Greek without reference to the
original text, is very valuable. By means of this
kind of double translation, Ascham says, Queen
Elizabeth became one of the best Latin and Greek
scholars of the age in which she lived.
2. Pupils should be required to explain the
Etymological, Syntactical, Prosodiacal, Rhetorical,
and Logical principles contained in the text. From
this source comes much of the most valuable cul
ture that is furnished by the study of the Dead
Languages. The pupil must prepare his lessons
with Grammars and Dictionaries open before him,
and the teacher must lead him to see the great laws
that regulate general human speech as they appear
in the particular language studied.
3. Pupils should be required to account for the
Geographical, Scientific, Historical, Mythological,
and other like allusions and references that may
occur in the lessons recited. Most pupils studying
the Dead Languages soon acquire a deep interest in
matter of this kind, and books containing such
information should be to them a vade mecum.
A few additional suggestions will be made.
Constant use should be made of the blackboard
in teaching the Dead Languages. This form of
LIVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 289
recitation is especially valuable while pupils are
engaged in the study of their Grammar.
As one of the great objects in studying the Dead
Languages is the discipline of the intellect and taste,
I have found class criticism, judiciously managed,
an excellent means of promoting it.
The teacher himself must be a good classical
scholar, if he would make good classical scholars.
Teachers of the Dead Languages, who love their
work, will have little difficulty in inspiring their
pupils with a similar love.
HI. Instruction in Living Foreign Languages.
The interests of commerce, correspondence, tra
vel, literature, and science render a knowledge of
several of the languages of Europe generally desira
ble. Besides, it is evident that the study of any
language may be made ads^antageous in a dis
ciplinary point of view. The new thoughts, the
varied modes of expression, the nice distinctions in
the meaning of words and sentences, the enlarged
vocabulary, the comprehensive linguistic laws, the
rich literary stores accumulated in other lands, with
which a student of Foreign Lan^uasres becomes
o o o
acquainted cannot but be valuable to him.
For these reasons, it is well to consider in this
place the methods of teaching Living Foreign
Languages; but the subject will not require a
lengthy discussion.
A few persons study French, German, and other
European languages for their literary and discip
linary advantages. For sucn persons, methods of
teaching might be substantially the same as those
^
290 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGE.
just described as most appropriate in the case of the
Dead Languages. Inasmuch, however, as the Ety
mological forms of French and German are less
complicated than are those of Latin and Greek, an
effort to learn to read the former without a know
ledge of their Grammar, would be attended with
more success than a similar effort in regard to the
latter.
The most prominent object for which Living
Foreign Languages are studied is to acquiie the
ability to speak, to read, and to write them. With
these ends in view, no better way of learning them
is possible than that by which we iearn to speak,
read, and write our own language. This is the
natural method. We learn to speak by hearing
others speak — by associating certain verbal utter
ances with certain ideas and imitating them. Next
we learn the characters which represent woi ds, and
acquire the power of making them ourselves.
When we know how to speak, read, and write our
native language, we may commence the study of its
Grammar. If circumstances favor, I am well con
vinced that this is the best way of learning a Living
Foreign Language. Let the pupil be placed where
he can hear the language it is designed that he
should learn, spoken— spoken in its purity, let him
hear no other, and he will soon learn to speak it
himself. This done, he can acquire the ability to
read and write it as he did his native tongue, and,
when prepared, he can engage in the study of its
Grammar. In writing this, I have in my mind
children who are from three to ten years of age ;
and it might be remarked that foreign languages
LIVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 291
are learned at this age with great rapidity. If pupils
are older than the age thought of, it might not be
improper to combine the exercises in speaking, read
ing, writing, and Grammar.
It is not often, however, that the circumstances
above supposed — circumstances in which the pupil
can hear spoken in its purity the language he wishes
to learn, are found to surround a pupil. They are
seldom enjoyed by any who cannot pursue their
studies in a foreign land, and hence some modifica
tion of this method must be adopted that will render
it better suited to the condition of such as study
under less favorable circumstances.
The pronunciation of a foreign language cannot
be correctly learned from any one who does not
pronounce correctly, nor can it be learned from a
book, however carefully notated. A person well
acquainted with the elementary sounds of our own
language, however, can use this knowledge to con
siderable advantage in learning another. French
and German for example, have very few sounds
which are not found in English. If such a pupil
first learn those sounds which are peculiar to the
lano-iage he desires to master, and then use a care-
full} notated book or Pronouncing Dictionary, he
can attain such a pronunciation as may possibly
suffice to make him understood. But to speak a
language correctly, something more is necessary
than to utter its elementary sounds; there is a tone
--a manner of speaking, that can never be acquired
except from a correct model.
Where foreign languages are often taught by
English teachers, as they are in this country, and
292 INSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGES.
where pupils use their native language always, ex
cept when preparing or reciting their lessons, the
systems of such authors as OllendorfF, Woodbury,
and Fasquelle are doubtless the best that can be
used. After having given some directions in regard
to pronunciation, these writers begin their lessons
with brief, conversational exercises about the most
familiar things, and follow them with other exercises
in which practice is given in reading and writing
such words and sentences as may have been intro
duced into the preceding conversational exercise.
Each lesson takes for granted a knowledge of the
lessons which preceded it, and new \vords and new
constructions are presented for practice in speaking,
reading, and writing. Grammatical forms and prin
ciples ire introduced into all the exercises when
ever 5* is thought that benefit can be derived from
them A course of lessons, arranged according to
this method, will comprehend a well-graded series
of exercises in speaking, reading, and writing a
language, conducted with reference to its Grammar.
This method differs from that by which a person
learns his mother-tongue in several particulars — in
the use of books when teaching pupils to speak the
language, and in teaching pupils to read and write
the language and learn its Grammar while learning
to speak it. For children not old enough to under-
Btand Grammar, it is not well adapted; but in the
hands of a teacher who can present a correct model
of pronunciation, it is perhaps the only method well
suited to the teaching of a foreign language iu
American schools.
Pupils may learn to read a foreign language by
LIVING FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 293
the method of interlinear translation ; but the know
ledge of a language thus acquired must be very
superficial It is a great error to suppose that a
knowledge of any language can be acquired in a
short time or in a few lessons. Possibly some easy
authors might be read profitably by means of inter
linear translations before commencing a series of
such exercises as those of OllendorfF. A good teacher
might impart in this way a knowledge of pronuncia
tion, the meaning of many words, and some idea of
construction, all of which would be very advanta
geous in learning the Grammar.
Pupils might begin the study of a language like
French or German by commencing with its Gram
mar ; but the teacher will find it very difficult to
interest pupils in the study of the abstract Grammar
of a foreign language, and, besides, it is scarcely
possible to acquire the ability to speak a language
in this manner.
After a course of elementary instruction in which
pupils have learned to speak, read, and write a
foreign language with some facility, and possess a
good knowledge of its Grammar, they may com
mence with profit the reading of authors. Easy
authors must be first chosen, and afterwards those
more difficult. Translations should be required and
questions be asked upon the subject-matter in much
the same way as has already been described in
speaking of methods of teaching the Dead Lan
guages.
25*
CHAPTEE III.
INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
THE Forma] Sciences treat of the necessary form*
in which truth presents itself or by which truth is
conceived. They may be divided into two great
classes, Mathematics and Logic.
Mathematics is the science of pure quantity. Ita
principles have no dependence upon material things.
All its calculations and demonstrations may be made
without reference to them. But its formulae express
the conditions under which matter exists in space
and time.
Logic is the science of pure thought. Its prin
ciples are not derived from the manner in which
thinking is done, but they show how it must be done.
Its formulae express the relations between the several
paits of the thinking process.
The sciences of Mathematics and Logic are
called Formal Sciences, because they relate to truth
only in its abstract or ideal condition. The prin
ciples of both would be true if matter had no
existence.
The following quotation from Sir William Ham
ilton will show that the object-matter of the Formal
Sciences is exhausted by Mathematics and Logic.
He says, " Formal Knowledge is of two kinds; for
it regards either the conditions of the Elaborative
(294;
THE FORMAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 295
Faculty— the Faculty of Thought Proper — or the
conditions of the Presentations or Representations
of external things; that is, the intuitions of Space
and Time. The former of these sciences is Pure
Logic — the science which considers the laws to
tvhich the Understanding is astricted in its elabora
tly e operations, without inquiring what is the ob
ject — what is the matter, to which these operations
are applied. The latter of these sciences is Mathe-
mavics, or the science of Quantity, which considers
the relations of Space and Time, without inquiring
whether there be any actual reality in space or time.
Formal truth will, therefore, be of two kinds —
Logical and Mathematical."
The Formal Sciences are evolved from certain
ideas and are founded upon certain axioms of which
it is not their province to treat. These belong to
the domain of Philosophy — a Rational Science.
If now we have correctly apprehended the nature
of Mathematics and Logic, methods of instruction
adapted to impart a knowledge of them must have
much in common; and, therefore, it may be well
before discussing the particular principles of instruc
tion whu,h apply to each separately, to speak of the
general principles which apply to both alike.
I. The Formal Sciences in General.
The object-matter of a Formal Science admits
division into three classes, as follows : 1. Definitions
and Axioms ; 2. Deductions and Demonstrations ; 3.
Application. Its applications are not properly a
part of the* science ; but they are very important in
296 INSTRUCTION IN THE FOKMAL SCIENCES.
the work of teaching to illustrate and enforce scien
tific principles.
1. DEFINITIONS AND AXIOMS. — Definitions, in the
sense here intended, express the necessary limita
tions of particular conceptions. This is their mean
ing whether they relate to the explication of a term
or to the nature of a thing.
Axioms, in the sense here intended, express
the necessary relations of particular conceptions.
Axioms in Mathematics express relations in space
and time, and Axioms in Logic express the rela
tions of one part of the thinking process to another.
It is exceedingly important that teachers should
be careful in teaching Definitions in the Formal
Sciences, where no real object can be presented to
illustrate their meaning. "We must understand the
meaning of terms before we can use them properly.
An object of thought must stand out before the
mind distinct in itself, and separate from everything
else, before one sure step can be taken in the inves
tigation of its relations. Imperfect Definitions
vitiate processes of reasoning, and it is to be feared
that much of our teaching is defective in not requir
ing pupils to define fully, distinctly, and adequately.
The following are the most important laws to
which Definitions must conform. Their meaning ia
sufficiently plain without any explanation.
1st. A definition must be a truthful representation
of the conception defined. It must contain nothing
that does not belong to it.
2d. A definition must be an adequate representa
tion of the whole conception. It must contain all
that belongs to it.
THE FOKMAL SCIENCES IN GEXEKAL. 297
3d. All that is contained in a Definition should
be self-evident. A Definition should not need
defining.
4th. A Definition should be an affirmative prop
osition. Showing what a thing is not does not
always reveal what it is.
5th. A conception cannot be defined by using the
same terms in which the conception is expressed.
In such a case, the unknown terms which darkened
the conception would also darken the definition
of it.
6th. Definitions should be stated in the briefest,
strongest, and most expressive form of words.
Let pupils study closely the Definitions of the
text-book, let them test them, and make others for
themselves. They may commit them to memory,
but it is much more important that they should
understand them. If properly conducted, exercises
in learning Mathematical and Logical definitions
will prove an exceedingly valuable discipline for
the mind.
All reasoning would be impossible without certain
fixed principles from which to start. No man could
ever convince another with regard to a truth or an
error, if there were not some common point of
agreement between them. Hence the necessity of
Axioms in the economy of thought. And, although
a formal statement of them is not always made, they
constitute the bases of all sciences, and are espe
cially prominent in the sciences of Mathematics
ftud Logic.
298 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
As previously stated, the Formal Sciences borrow
their Axioms from the Rational Sciences. From
Axioms in general it may be their province to select
such as belong to them; but they have nothing to
do in determining the nature of Axioms, the tests
by which they are to be distinguished, their number
or their classification.
Mathematical Axioms are so well known that it
seems unnecessary to enumerate them. They un
derlie as well the sciences which treat of number as
those which treat of form.
Among Logical Axioms the following may be
Darned —
Irit. All thinking is governed by law.
2<l. Every universal is composed of particulars.
&1. Every particular is comprehended in a uni
versal.
4vu. Whatever may be predicated of a universal
may be predicated of all the particulars of which it
is composed.
5tli. Whatever may be predicated of all the par
ticulars composing a universal may be predicated
of the universal.
6th. If two terms agree with the same third term
they agree with each other.
7th. If of two terms, the one agrees and the other
disagrees with the same third term, they disagree
with each other.
This enumeration is not intended to exhaust the
Axioms belonging to the science of Logic, but
simply to show that there are such Axioms.
With respect to pupils old enough to comprehend
THE FOKMAL SCIENCES IN GENEKAL. 299
Axioms, the method of teaching them presents no
difficulty. Their simple statement will secure as
sent, and nothing more is needed. The discus
sion of their use in building up a science belongs
further on.
2. DEDUCTIONS AND DEMONSTRATIONS. — Deduction
may be defined as the process of drawing out a
particular from a universal truth by simple inspec
tion or by a single step of reasoning. Demonstra
tion may be defined as the method of finding new
truths by the process of comparing definitions,
axioms, and established propositions with one
another. The first has the form of a direct infe
rence or a single syllogism, while the second con
sists of a train of reasoning or a series of syllo
gisms. As the method of both is substantially the
same, both may be considered together under the
name Demonstration. This may be the case also if
Deduction be used to designate a general method of
reasoning, and Demonstration, an application of it.
In Pure Mathematics, all that cannot be learned
directly, by intuition, must be learned by Demonstra
tion. Inductive reasoning has no place in Mathe
matics.
In Pure Logic the same is true, for although an
Inductive Syllogism may be used, yet, in a pure
form, the conclusion must be just as much a posi
tive truth as it is in a Deductive Syllogism. In Ap
plied Logic as in Applied Mathematics, the conclu
sions are not always either certain or exact.
The Demonstrations of Logic consist essentially
in showing the relations between the conclusions
300 INSTRUCTION IN THE FOliMAL SCIENCES.
of syllogisms and their premises. In general, but a
single step is necessary to be taken away from the
first principles upon which the science rests.
Demonstrations in Mathematics, although like
those of Logic in the circumstance that they con
cern pure conceptions and not the conceptions of
material objects, differ from them in several parti
culars. In Mathematics it is not the doctrine of the
83'llogism as an exposition of the laws of thought
that is to be demonstrated, but the relations of num
bers and forms by means of syllogisms. Mathema
tics is a formal application of Logic to the concep
tions of time and space. The student of Mathe
matics therefore cannot select any premises but he
must select the right premises. He cannot often
find the truth he seeks at the end of a single syllo
gism, but must frequently trace it through a long
series of syllogisms.
So far as methods of teaching them are concerned,
however, the Demonstrations of Mathematics and of
Logic may be considered together ; and the point now
is to find the governing principles of those methods.
One who would become skilful in demonstrating
must attend to the following rules : —
1st. Understand the proposition to be demon
strated and its relations to the definitions and
axioms upon which it depends and to the propo
sitions which may have preceded or are to follow it
2d. Observe a rigid logical order in the successive
steps of the demonstration.
3d. Argue closely and clearly.
4th. Attain positive conclusions.
5th. Use appropriate language.
THE FORMAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 301
These rules are sufficiently obvious without ex
planation. If any one of them is disregarded no
perfect demonstration can he secured. They apply,
however, to the demonstration of independent prop
ositions. The ohj ect-matter of a Formal Science
is composed of several kinds of propositions which
must he divided according to certain laws, among
which the following are the most important —
1st. The divisions should exclude one another.
2d. The order of the divisions should he deter
mined "by their logical relations.
3d. In the arrangement of particular propositions
the simple and the independent should precede the
complex and the dependent.
A child first learns to reason in connection with
objects. The steps he takes are very short and very
easy. Properly instructed, his skill rapidly improves
until he can appreciate the abstract relations of
things or thoughts. For first efforts at formal
demonstration, easy propositions should be given
nim, and then those more difficult. Eventually he
may be able to follow the most abstruse reasoning
incident to Mathematics or Logic.
If teachers reason skilfully, their pupils will be
likely to be benefited by their example.
Practice in detecting the different kinds of fal
lacies in arguments will be a good exercise.
A wise teacher will lead his pupils to discover
their own errors in reasoning rather than correct
them himself. The method Socrates so successfully
practiced against the Sophists of his day may be
JUST as usefully applied now.
802 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES
3. APPLICATIONS. — Mind and matter are correla
tive. For every ideal truth there must be a real
thing — for every form of thought there must he
matter to iill the form, or the creation would not
harmonize. The world witMn must envisage the
world without, or God could not have created it,
H ence all abstract formulse must be adapted to some
concrete phenomena ; or every Formal Science must
have its Applications.
Mathematical principles may be applied to all
things that appear under the conditions of space and
time.
Logical principles are of universal application, foi
all things may be thought about.
In making an application of Formal truths three
things are necessary: 1st, To have attained a ctear
conception of the truths themselves ; 2d, To have
carefully observed and colligated facts ; 3d, To be
able to apply the right ideas to the right facts.
Formal truths so far as they are not axiomatic are
attained by the process of demonstration as already
shown.
The collection and colligation of facts belong to
the department of Empirical science and are to be
treated of in the proper place.
The Applications of the Formal Sciences consist
in fitting the right ideas to the right facts. This
may be more a work of art than of science, but
nature presents no more important work for human
effort to perform. He who deals only with Formal
thought is apt to become impractical and visionary.
He may build up systems which seem beautiful, but
at a touch they vanish into the thin air of which
MATHEMATICS. 303
they were composed. He who absorbs all his rime
in collecting facts, who with eyes cast down to eartn
never looks heavenward, but occupies himself in
examining animals, and plants, and stones, ant)
fossils, until the eye of faith grows dim and matter
seems omnipotent, does even less for himself and
mankind than the speculative dreamer. But he
who accustoms himself to apply the right ideas to
the right facts, to prove his reasonings, to verify hia
theories, will be in no danger of becoming an im
practical idealist on the one hand or a coarse mate
rialist on the other. He finds that every fact rests
in an idea; that eadh jewel has its casket in the
crown of nature ; that forms of thought existed in
the God-mind and He made matter to fill them.
As hints to teachers giving instruction in the
Applications of the Formal Sciences, it may be
stated tha' sometimes facts may be given and pupils
required *o find principles, and sometimes principles
may be /nven and pupils required to find facts ; that
easj- applications should always precede those more
difficult; that numerous examples and abundant
illustrations should be furnished, arranged both with
• reference to specific principles and miscellaneously;
and that close explanations should be exacted in
all cases.
II, Mathematics.
After what has now been said respecting the
nature of the Formal Sciences in General and the
methods of teaching them, it is not deemed necessary
io treat specially of methods of teaching Mathe
matics. Besides, what should be said specifically
304 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
with respect these methods will appear in speaking
of methods of teaching Arithmetic, Algebra, and
Geometry.
Something will be expected, however, in regard
to the advantages to he derived from the study oi
Mathematics.
Mathematics has occupied a prominent place in
courses of instruction for the young from the earliest
times. Some have thought that its disciplinary ad
vantages were greater than could he derived from
any other "branch of instruction, while others have
maintained that its study was rather hurtful than
otherwise. In the hope of contributing something
toward the settlement of the question, it is proposed
here briefly to consider the value of Mathematical
studies: 1. In themselves; 2. In their objective rela
tions ; 1. In their effects upon the mind.
1. The Value of Mathematical Studies in themselves.
— All truth is worthy of study for its own sake. To
decide otherwise would be to question the wisdom
of God who created it. All kinds of truth, however,
may not be of equal value, and the inquiry might
be made as to the relative value of Mathematical
truth. Truth may be divided into three kinds:
ideal truth, formal truth, and real truth. Ideal truth
is the truth which we know by simple intuition,
which furnishes the basis upon which all other truth
rests, and the criteria by which it is judged. Formal
truth expresses the necessary forms in which all
truth presents itself or by which it is conceived.
Real truth is the harmonious relation between
things or between thought and things. In compar-
MATHEMATICS. 305
ing the value of these several kinds of truth, no
reasons appear why formal truth is not of as much
worth as either of the other kinds. It seems as
noble in itself, is of as much use, and manifests as
fully the glory of the Creator. But formal truth is
of two kinds, Mathematical and Logical, and we
seek to know only the value of Mathematical truth.
As has been already shown, Logic contains a
larger body of truth than Mathematics and is of
wider application, but I can find no standard by
which it can he determined that a truth in the one
science is more valuable than a truth in the other.
Mathematics is a noble science. Many of its
principles are exceedingly beautiful, and some of
them almost sublime. It has won the admiration
of great men in all ages, and his education must be
considered incomplete among whose acquisitions a
knowledge of Mathematics is not found.
2. The Value of Mathematical Studies in their Ob
jective Relations. — No other science is so generally
connected with the affairs of business as Mathe
matics. Arithmetic is used in keeping accounts and
in all the transactions of buying and selling. In
connection with Geometry, it is used in all me
chanical employments. Geometry, Algebra, Trigo
nometry, Conic Sections, &c., cannot be dispensed
with in the construction of machinery, nor in any
of the departments of Engineering. All this, how
ever, is so generally understood that it seems hardly
necessary to mention it.
Mathematics is the hand-maid of the sciences.
Working by means of this potent instrument mod-
26*
306 INSTRUCTION' IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
em philosophers have been able to make rapid
advances in many departments of physical science.
To it, we are indebted for what is most valuable in
Mechanics, Optics, Pneumatics, Thermotics, As
tronomy, and other sciences like these. It has its
uses in Geography, Chemistry, Geology, and even
Poetical Economy. Matter everywhere presents
itself to us under Mathematical conditions. Laws
that find their expression in Mathematics rule all
that moves in the heavens, all that flies in the air, all
that swims in the waters, all that springs up from
the earth or that falls upon its surface, and the firm
earth itself. Yonder yellow leaf that is lifted from
its stem by the autumn wind, and after innumerable
gyrations in the air, falls upon the surface of the
stream and is borne onward by the current, makes
no movement but in obedience to such laws.
Mathematics has principles great enough to sweep
the Universe, and hold suns and planets in their
grasp, and delicate enough to poise the smallest
atom on a point much too fine for human con
ception.
3. The Value of Mathematical Studies in their
Effects upon the Mind. — One of the most important
objects of study is to secure mental discipline.
What is the value of Mathematics in this respect ?
In discussing this point, Sir William Hamilton says :
" If we consult reason, experience, and the common
testimony of ancient and modern times, none of our
intellectual studies tend to cultivate a sraader number
of the faculties, in a more partial or feeble 'manner than
Mathematics." In proof of this opinion, he quotes
MATHEMATICS. 307
a large number of authorities, a few of whom I shall
take the liberty of citing here :
" Bernhardi, a celebrated Prussian educator, says :
4 It is asked — Do Mathematics awaken the judgment,
the reasoning faculty, and the understanding to an all-
sided activity? We are compelled to answer — No'
"'This also shows me,' says G-oethe, 'more and
more distinctly, what I have long in secret been
aware of, that the cultivation afforded by the Mathe
matics is, in the highest degree one-sided and con
tracted.'
"Descartes stated in a letter in 1630, 'That he had
renounced the study of Mathematics for many years,
and that he was anxious not to lose any more of his
time in the barren operations of Geometry and
Arithmetic, studies which never lead to anything
important.'
"'Thus it is rare,' says Pascal, 'that Mathemati
cians are observant, or that observant minds are
Mathematical.'
" Dugald Stewart says, ' When the Mathematician
reasons upon subjects unconnected with his favorite
studies, he is apt to assume, too confidently certain
intermediate principles as the foundation of his
arguments.' And again, ' I have never met with
a mere Mathematician who was not credulous to a
fault.'
" Bayle says, 'It cannot be disputed, that it is
rare to find much devotion in persons who have
once acquired a taste for the study of Mathe
matics.'
" De Stael, to the same effect, ' The Mathematics
lead us to lay out of account all that is aot proved.' "
308 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
Sir William's argument against the use of Mathe
matics as a discipline for the mind is summed up in
the following sentence. "We are thus disqualified
for observation, either internal or external, for abstrac
tion, and generalization, for common reasoning, nay,
disposed to the alternative of blind credulity or of
irrational skepticism." This argument he supports
at much length with great ability and greater learn
ing. When closely examined, however, the whole
argument will be found to bear not so much against
the use of Mathematics as a disciplinary study in
its proper place, as against the injudicious claims
advanced in its behalf in that regard.
No one should claim for the study of Mathema
tics that it disciplines the ordinary powers of obser
vation. It is not concerned with either material or
mental phenomena. Its province is not to collect
facts. Pure Mathematics is quite indifferent to the
existence of matter. There is a kind of observing
power, however, which the study of Mathematics
does cultivate — that power which sees truth in de
finitions and axioms and without which all demon
strations would be blind and unproductive of fruit.
Abstraction and generalization as used in the Em-
O
pirical sciences have no place in Mathematics, and
therefore that study cannot develop and strengthen
the mental powers by which those processes are
performed. But in another sense all of Pure Ma
thematics is abstract, and surely Mathematical
truths admit classification and generalization. In
every branch of Mathematics there are forms of
demonstration which are true in particular cases,
and there are others which must be true in all
MATHEMATICS. 309
cases. In teaching, pupils may be made to advance
from particular examples to general principles.
If by common reasoning is meant that kind of
reasoning in which the conclusions arrived at are
O
probable but not positive, it must be admitted that
the study of Mathematics is not well calculated to
increase ability in its use. As Hamilton forcibly
remarks, "Mathematical demonstration is solely
occupied in deducing conclusions; probable reason
ing, principally concerned in looking out for premises.
All Mathematical reasoning flows from, and, admit
ting no tributary streams, can be traced back to its
original source : principle and conclusion are con
vertible. The most eccentric deduction of the
science is only the last ring in a long chain of
reasoning, which descends, \vith adamantine neces
sity, link by link, in one simple series, from its
original dependence. In contingent matter, on the
contrary, the reasoning is comparatively short; and
as the conclusion can seldom be securely established
on a single antecedent, it is necessary, in order to
realize the adequate amount of evidence, to accu
mulate probabilities by multiplying the media of
inference ; and thus to make the same conclusion,
as it were, the apex of many convergent arguments.
In general reasoning, therefore, the capacities
mainly requisite, and mainly cultivated, are the
prompt acuteness which discovers what materials
ure wanted for our premises, and the activity,
knowledge, sagacity, and research, able compe
tently to supply them. In demonstration, on the
contrary, the one capacity cultivated is that patient
habit of suspending all intrusive thought, and of
810 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
Continuing an attention to the unvaried evolution
of that perspicuous evidence which it passively
recognizes, but does not actively discover. Of ob
servation, experiment, induction, analogy, the Ma
thematician knows nothing."
The above is a true exposition of the nature of
Mathematical reasoning ; but it does not follow that
such reasoning is of no value. It cannot accom
plish what its nature unfits it for, but it may accom
plish other ends quite as important.
The habit of rigid demonstration, of close think
ing, which Mathematics inculcates, must be in itself
very valuable. If no other kind of reasoning be
practiced, it will no doubt lead to a one-sided cul
ture ; but, pursued with other kinds, any danger of
this sort is avoided, and much is gained by intro
ducing somewhat of Mathematical exactness and
clearness, both of thought and language, into what
has been called the " common reasoning of life."
Need it be added that the loose forms of reasoning
to which the majority of men are accustomed stand
much in want of pruning?
Mathematical reasoning is necessary in Mechanics,
Engineering, Navigation, Geography, Astronomy,
and other arts and sciences ; and when we consider
that the principles of Mathematics are used in all
transactions of buying and selling, the reasoning
peculiar to that branch of study will not be con
sidered very uncommon.
Hamilton himself admits that the study of Mathe
matics tends to correct the vice of "mental distrac
tion," and to inculcate the virtue of "continuous
attention." The attainment of this end alone would
MATHEMATICS. 311
justify the study of Mathematics in our schools, for
no one addicted to the vice of " mental distraction"
can either become a scholar or succeed well in life.
It is easy to see how a mere Mathematician — a
man who knows nothing but forms and numbers,
might become credulous as to premises, and skeptical
as to conclusions ; but this danger cannot exist when
instruction in Mathematics is combined with instruc
tion in other departments of learning. Besides, it
would seem that any one understanding the nature
of Mathematics would scarcely expect to find else
where self-evident premises or positive conclusions ;
and hence be on his guard against allowing habits
of thought engendered in demonstrative reasoning
to influence him in inductive reasoning. The in
ductive reasoner, indeed, needs quite as much to
be on his guard against bad mental habits as the
Mathematician.
The sum of all is this : Man and nature correlate.
It takes the whole of nature used as means to culti
vate duly the whole of man. Instruction confined
to one science, or to one class of sciences must be
'partial, one-sided, and productive of bad mental
habits. Mathematics may receive more than its
share of attention in some of our institutions of
learning, and bad results may sometimes flow from
it ; but that such studies are valuable in them
selves, in their objective relations, and as a discipline
of the mind, is susceptible of the strongest proof.
The only point that has been seriously questioned ia
their value for the purpose of mental discipline;
but until it can be shown thar demonstrative reason-
312 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
ing is valueless in itself, that the discipline of the
mental faculties it calls into requisition is a super
fluous work, and that it has no useful application in
the sciences or in the affairs of life — all impossible,
Mathematics will retain a prominent place in our
courses of instruction.
ARITHMETIC.
Arithmetic may be defined as the science of Num
ber. The idea of number, probably, has its origin
in a consciousness of successive mental states con
stituting periods, and is therefore involved in the
more fundamental idea of time. But whether this
is a correct account of its origin or otherwise, it is
certain that external objects furnish the occasion of
its formation, and that children possess it at a very
early age.
Arithmetic has its Definitions and Axioms, its De
ductions and Demonstrations, and its Applications.
Among Arithmetical definitions, there must be
those of number, a unit, a fraction, ratio, &c. ; and
among Arithmetical axioms, there must be the fol
lowing : " Two magnitudes are equal when they can
be divided into parts which are equal each to each;"
"The vvhole is greater than any of its parts;" " The
whole is equal to the sum of all its parts f "If with
the same means the same operations be performed
upon equal quantities, the results will be equal."
It is maintained by good authority that "Pure
Arithmetic contains no demonstration," but while
the operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying,
and dividing may, perhaps, be resolved into pro
cesses of simple intuition, there seem to be other
ARITHMETIC. 813
Arithmetical operations which cannot be so resolved ;
for example, that the product of the two means of a
proportion is equal to the product of the two ex
tremes, or that if the numerator and denominator of
a fraction be multiplied or divided by the same num
ber its value will remain the same. Arithmetic may
require fewer steps of reasoning than Geometry, but
its methods of operation are substantially the same.
All the reasonings of Arithmetic are properly
deductive or demonstrative. Some writers upon
Arithmetic use the term induction with reference
to certain methods of operation ; but in all cases
the truth sought is capable of being demonstrated
without the series of facts from which it is inferred
by induction, and, besides, universal truths which
it is the special province of deductive science to
attain, can never be arrived at by an inductive
method.
The greater part of our treatises on Arithmetic is
taken up with the Applications of the science. Its
practical importance renders this desirable.
From what has been stated above, it will be seen
that the general remarks made upon Methods of
Instruction in the Formal Sciences, apply to Arith
metic ; but as already intimated, it is my purpose
to enter upon a more detailed discussion of Methods
of teaching this subject.
Before proceeding to describe these methods, it
ruay be well to state the. principal ends for which
Arithmetic is studied, and the most necessary con
ditions of their attainment. These ends are: 1st, To
obtain a knowledge of the properties of numbers ; 2d,
27
314 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
To give practice in mathematical reasoning ; 3d, To
attain precision in the use of language; and 4th, To
secure skill in the application of numbers to the concerns
of life. There are several secondary ends which
must not be overlooked. Among them, the follow
ing : 1st, Rapidity and accuracy in the solution of
problems; 2d, Skill in the use of abbreviating artifices ;
3d, An acquaintance with methods of proof. The
following may be named as the most necessary con
ditions for the attainment of these ends : 1st, The
object- matter of the science should be distributed in d
logical order ; 2d, Pupils should commence with the
simplest Arithmetical operation, and be thoroughly
grounded in each step of their progress before taking
another; 3d, Arithmetical definitions and rules should
be understood by pupils before they are required to use
them; 4th, Pupils should be taught to explain their
work in clear, concise, and appropriate language ; 5th,
Numerous, well-graded, skilfully varied problems, em
bodying every principle learned, should furnish ample
opportunity to pupils for making a practical application
of their theoretical knowledge.
Arithmetic is usually divided into two parts, Oral
Arithmetic and Written Arithmetic. These names
are derived from the manner in which the operation
is performed. All Arithmetic is "Mental," "Intel
lectual," and "Practical" in its character. Written
Arithmetic may embrace all Arithmetical topics.
In preparing their work, pupils write it out on slates
or blackboards ; and in reciting, they are expected
to explain what they have done. Oral Arithmetic
embraces only such topics as admit of a convenient
oral discussion, and such problems as do not con-
ARITHMETIC. 315
tain large numbers or require complicated fractional
reductions. Pupils are expected to prepare their
lessons in Oral Arithmetic without writing down
their work, and to repeat the prohlems and solve
them orally, upon hearing the teacher read them.
Instruction in both Oral and Written Arithmetic
should be given at the same time, and some
advantage may be gained by making the lessonr,
correspond. The peculiar advantage of the Oral
method is that it enables a teacher to accomplish
more disciplinary work in the same time than the
Written method, and gives more exercise to tho
powers of conception and memory. Being unaided
by written symbols it tends more to cultivate con
tinuity of thought.
We shall now endeavor to present a series of
Arithmetical exercises which will conform to the
principles already indicated.
1. Exercises in Counting. — A child will be found
to possess the idea of number at a very early age.
He undoubtedly obtains it through the medium of
objects. It is the teacher's duty to expand this idea
in the way nature indicates. If a child can count
too when he enters school, the teacher must begin
his instruction at that point and teach him to count
twenty, fifty, and a hundred in the same way he
learned to count ten. Convenient objects may be
found for this purpose in beans, grains of corn,
pebbles, strokes on a blackboard, or balls on a
frame Tne pupils should be taught to count back
wards as well as forwards, and without objects aa
well as with them.
316 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
2. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing orally. — These exercises must first be taught
with objects; but the pupil must be gradually
accustomed to do without them. Small numbers
must be used until the pupil is prepared for larger
ones. The manner of conducting such exercises is
so obvious that no description of it here, is deemed
necessary. Besides, any teacher who may need aid
can obtain it from works on Oral Arithmetic.
3. Exercises in combining these Processes. — These
exercises are of the same nature as the preceding
and can be conducted in the same way. The teacher
will do well to introduce into the lessons the names
of the pupils in the class, the objects about the
school-room, trees, flowers, sheep, horses, cows,
dogs, &c.
4. Exercises in learning the written Symbols for
Numbers. — Pupils have now the idea of number.
They can readily count, and it is a task of no diffi
culty to make them acquainted with the nine digits.
It is only necessary for them to make an arbitrary
association between the number and the character
which is used to represent it. The pupils may
count while the teacher forms the characters, or the
teacher may name the numbers, and the pupils
either point them out or name them. The meaning
of the cypher must likewise be taught.
5. Exercises in Numeration and Notation. — For the
purpose of teaching Notation and Numeration, 1
AKITHMETIC. 817
would arrange columns of figures upon cords or
blackboards thus:
1
10
100
1000
10,000
100,000
2
20
200
2000
20,000
200,000
3
30
300
3000
30,000
300,000
4
40
400
4000
40,000
400,000
5
50
500
5000
50,000
500,000
6
60
600
6000
60,000
600,000
7
70
700
7000
70,000
700,000
8
80
800
8000
80,000
800,000
9
90
900
9000
90,000
900,000
This done, I would use the first two columns in
giving the first lesson. One may be called the units
column, and the other the tens column. "We now
suppose that the class have learned to read and
write the numbers in the column of units, and we
use it only to assist us in the task of teaching them
to read and write the numbers in the column of tens.
The teacher should call attention to the fact that
there are single figures to represent any number of
objects up to nine; but that ten cannot be repre
sented by a single character. He may then arrange
objects in collections of ten, and have his pupils
count one ten, two tens, three tens, four tens, &c.
If now he tell them that one ten is designated by
the figure one with a cypher placed to the right of
it, as in the column of tens, they will be prepared
to understand that two tens are designated by the
figure two with a cypher placed to the right of it,
and so on to nine tens. The pupils should be
exercised in pointing out two tens or twent}*, five
tens or fifty, seven tens or seventy, &c. ; and after-
wards in writing them.
27*
318 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
The second lesson should consist in teaching the
class to read and write numbers between ten and
twenty, twenty and thirty, &c., to ninety-nine. The
teacher may write the number 10 upon the black
board and ask how many added to ten will make
eleven, twelve, thirteen, &c. He may then ask how
these numbers are written, and if no one can tell,
he may erase the cypher and put 1 in its place, and
eay the 1 on the left hand signifies one ten, and the
1 on the right hand one unit, and one ten and
one unit are eleven. If when 1 is put in place of
the cypher, the number becomes eleven, pupils will
readily understand that when 2 is put in its place
the number will become twelve; 3, thirteen, and so
on to nineteen. The numbers between twenty and
thirty can be taught in the same way, and so on to
ninety-nine. Pupils must not only read the num
bers but write them. Questions like the following
will also be very useful : What number is that
which it composed of two tens and seven units ?
four tens and three units ? eight tens and five units ?
&c. ; how many tens and units in twenty-four? in
thirty-seven ? in seventy-six ? &c.
Pupils have now learned to read and write all
numbers up to ninety-nine. The next lesson should
make them acquainted with the third column, or
the column of hundreds. To do this, the teacher
will take the ten collections of objects of ten each,
place them all together and ask the number. It is
one hundred. lie points to the number, has the
pupils notice how it is written, and then they readily
read and write the other numbers up to nine hun
dred. Any number may now be placed in the units
ARITHMETIC. 319
column by erasing the cypher and inserting the
number, and so with the tens column, or both
columns at the same time.
It is unnecessary to describe further, as the same
method applies to the column of thousands, tens of
thousands, hundreds of thousands, &c.
6. Exercises in Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,
and Division. — A pupil who can read and write
numbers is prepared to understand the operations
of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Divi
sion ; and, therefore, he should not only be taught
how to perform these operations, but why they are
so performed.
For the pupil to understand the process of Addi
tion, it will be necessary for him to know that those
numbers only which represent things of the same
denomination can be added together. This he can
be taught readily with objects. He will see at once
that five grains of corn and three beans neither
make eight grains of corn nor eight beans, and,
hence, that units must be added to units, tens to
tens, &c. He must know how to convert lower
denominations into higher ones, that is units into
tens, tens into hundreds, &c. This, however, more
properly belongs to Notation and Numeration.
Finally, he must be made to see that to render such
reductions more convenient he must commence in
adding at the right-hand column of figures.
To perform the operation of Subtraction nothing
more is necessary than for that of Addition, except
the converting of higher denominations to lower
ones, and that is as easily done as its reverse.
320 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES^
There is no principle in Multiplication that is not
found in Addition ; and Division is but a different
kind of Subtraction.
The lirst examples in Addition should consist of
such numbers that the sum of those under each
denomination can not exceed nine. The first ex
amples in Subtraction should consist of such num
bers that each number of a certain denomination in
the minuend should exceed the number of the same
denomination in the subtrahend. The first exam
ples in Multiplication should consist of such num
bers that none of the products of numbers in the
multiplicand by the multiplier can exceed nine.
The first examples in Division should consist of
such numbers that the divisor can be contained in
each number of the dividend without a remainder.
The first divisors used in what is called Lon^ Divi-
O
siori should be less than ten. In all cases the pro
gress of the pupils should be gradual ; but one point
of difficulty should be presented at a time. Much
practice should be allowed them in order to secure
rapidity and accuracy in the performance of their
work. Solutions should be neatly Avritten upon
blackboards and properly explained. Forms of ex
planation may be obtained from text-books; but
teachers should be careful to have their pupils un
derstand them and not merely commit them to
memory. Teachers will find the construction of
Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division
tables, by their younger pupils, a very valuable
auxiliary in familiarizing them with the processes
involved. The terms applied to the numbers used
in Subtraction are Minuend, Subtrahend, and Oil-
ARITHMETIC. 32l
ference. Any two of these being given, a third
can be found. The same is true in Multiplication
with reference to the Multiplicand, Multiplier, and
Product; and in Division with reference to the
Dividend, Divisor, and Quotient. I mention these
facts here, in order to say that such problems pre
sent work of much value to learners.
7. Exercises in the Solution of practical Examples
involving the four fundamental Rules. — Pupils not
only need to know how to perform simple Arith
metical operations, but when they are required to be
performed. For this purpose numerous practical
problems must be presented. All text-books con
tain some such problems; but none of them within
my knowledge contain one-fourth as many as are
needed. The teacher must supply this deficiency.
They are so well calculated to give interest to the
study and to make pupils think, that I am disposed
to consider them almost indispensable.
8. Exercises in imparting the Idea of a Fraction. —
The basis of all Arithmetical operations is the unit.
The unit may be multiplied or divided, and these
processes really constitute the whole of Pure Arith
metic. All Integers may be called multiplied units,
and all Fractions, divided units. Particular whole
numbers denote the extent of the multiplication,
and particular fractions denote the nature of the
division.
The idea of a fraction is formed upon seeing things
broken up or divided. Pupils have the idea when
they enter school, but the teacher must expand it b>
322 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
exhibiting and naming the parts of objects. For
this purpose, an apple may be cut into parts, a stick
may be broken into pieces, or a line, a square, or a
circle, drawn on a blackboard, may be divided into
sections. Such instruction should be continued
until the pupils can readily name the fraction upon
seeing the object, or find an object which is repre
sented by the fraction ; or, in other words, until
they learn to count fractionally.
9. Exercises in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and
dividing fractions orally. — At this stage of their pro
gress, pupils may perform orally with much advan
tage some of the simpler problems in Addition,
Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division of Frac
tions. Such questions as the following may be
asked: In Addition: What is the sum of one-half
and one-half? one-third and one-third? one-fourth
and two-fourths? one-half and one-fourth? one-half
and one-third ? &c. ; in Subtraction : What is the
difference between one and one-half? three-fourths
and one-fourth? one-third and one-sixth ? one-half
and one-third? &c. ; in Multiplication: What is the
product of two times one-half? three times one-third ?
lour times one-sixth? one-half times twro ? one-half
times one-half? &c. ; in Division: how many halves in
one ? in two ? in five ? how many times is two contained
in one-half? in one-third? in two-fourths? how
many times is one-fourth contained in one-fourth?
in one-half? in one-eighth? &c. All this can be
beautifully illustrated with squares drawn upon the
blackboard and divided into the requisite numbei
of parts. As soon as possible, however, pupils
ARITHMETIC. 323
pnould be taught to solve such, problems without
depending upon objects.
10. Exercises in teaching Fractional Expressions.—
When pupils have attained a clear idea of a fraction,
it will not be difficult to teach them to express it.
The simplest fractions are those in which the
numerator is unity, and, therefore, pupils should
first be taught to write ^, \, i, 1, J2, &c. ; and after
wards fractions in which the numerator is greater
than unity; as f , f, |, |2, &c. Pupils maybe required
to write fractions representing the given parts of
squares or circles drawn upon the blackboard, or
they may divide such figures so that certain given
fractions will represent them.
11. Exercises in the Addition, Subtraction, Multipli
cation, and Division of Fractions, and their Applications.
— Pupils are now prepared to enter upon the work
of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing
fractional numbers, and of making an application
of them in the solution of practical problems. The
work may be done orally or by writing. The sim
pler operations of fractions can be understood by
inspection ; but when pupils are prepared for it, the
rules for finding the Greatest Common Divisor, the
Least Common Multiple, and all other rules relating
to Fractions must be rigidly demonstrated.
12. Exercises in Decimal Fractions. — With a know
ledge of the Decimal Notation and of Common
Fractions, it will be no difficult task for a pupil to
learn Decimal Fractions, for t'lere is no new prin-
824 INSTBUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
ciple involved. A Decimal Fraction is a fraction
whose denominator is always 10 or some product
of 10. Such fractions are written by placing a point,
called the Decimal Point, before the numerator.
This point indicates that the number of figures in
the numerator to the right of it is equal to the
number of cyphers in the denominator, and hence
does away with the necessity of writing the de
nominator.
Instruction in Decimals must begin by making
pupils thoroughly acquainted with the Decimal
Notation. They must be taught both to read and
to write Decimals with facility. The Decimal Nota
tion may be taught in the same manner as the
notation of integers; but this trouble need scarcely
be taken, as pupils can almost as easily read or
write tenths, hundredths, thousandths, as tens, hun
dreds, thousands.
All the rules in the Addition, Subtraction, Multi
plication, or Division of Decimals may be shown to
be true either by reducing the Decimals to Common
Fractions, or from the nature of the Notation itself.
Text-books exhibit both methods, and it is un
necessary to detail them here.
13. JExerc-ises in Compound Numbers. — In the
Compound or Denominate Numbers, the units in
crease according to varying scales. These scales
are f\xed by some authority, and follow no regulai
law. Pupils must, therefore, commit them to
memory; but when the tables of Weights and
Measures are well understood, the Addition, Sub
traction, Multiplication, and Division of Compound
ARITHMETIC. 325
Numbers present little difficulty to the learner that
he has not already encountered in performing the
same operations with abstract numbers.
14. Exercises in Proportion, and Involution and
Evolution. — These exercises belong to Pure Arith
metic, but they are simply modifications of the four
fundamental rules. They present no special diffi
culty in teaching.
15. Exercises in Arithmetical Applications. — A
knowledge of Arithmetic is needed in almost
every kind of business in which men are engaged,
and, therefore, teachers should make its practica.
applications a prominent part of their instruction.
In solving practical problems, pupils should be
required to understand the words in which the
problem is expressed, to point out the relation of
the thing required to the thing given, to present a
neat solution, and to explain their work in concise
and appropriate language.
A few additional suggestions will be made.
Problems that involve but a single principle should
be given first, and, afterwards, those which involve
several principles. Text-book or teacher may fur
nish a form of solution, but the problems should be
so arranged that it cannot be followed mechanically.
Pupils may be required to compose problems involv
ing certain given principles or answering certain
given conditions. Many miscellaneous problems
add much to the value of an Arithmetic. These
may I e classified according to their relations. 1m-
28
j>t!6 INSTKUCTION IN THE FOKMAL SCIENCES.
portant facts may sometimes be incorporated into
Arithmetical problems.
Tbe preceding series of exercises do not profess
to cover the whole ground of Arithmetic; but it is
believed that most that is essential in teaching it,
has been presented.
ALGEBRA.
Algebra is not a distinct and independent branch
of Mathematics. It is rather a method of repre
senting quantities and of performing Mathematical
operations, by means of symbols. These symbols
may represent a portion of time, an extent of space,
an amount of matter, value, or force, and, also, the
relations of quantities and the operations which may
be performed on them. These symbols are used in
all the higher investigations of Mathematics, and
they have been productive of results as wonderful
as they are important. They have enabled mathe
maticians to abridge the processes of calculation, to
overcome difficulties previously considered insur
mountable, and to express in beautiful language the
truths they elicited. All this should recommend
the study of Algebra to the student.
Owing to the symbolic character of the language
used, the truths arrived at by the process of Algebra
are more general than the truths arrived at by the
processes of Arithmetic and Geometry. Algebra is
sometimes called General Arithmetic ; in a larger
sense, it might as appropriately be called General
Geometry. In Arithmetic, particular numbers are
given and particular numbers are required. When
we have demonstrated a property of a figure in
ALGEBRA. 327
Geometry, we are only sure that it is true of the
class to which that figure belongs. But in Algebra,
all kinds of quantity may be denoted by symbols,
and the truths arrived at by their means are true of
all quantities whatever when they are subjected to
the same operations. From this it appears evident
that common Arithmetic must be understood before
its operations can be performed Algebraically, and
Synthetical should precede Anatytical Geometry in
a course of study. Algebra should be commenced,
however, before Arithmetic and Geometry have
been completed.
In its ordinary signification, Algebra treats of the
relations and properties of numbers by means of
symbols, and it is in this sense that we design to
speak of methods of teaching it. Thus considered,
methods of teaching it must be quite similar to
those of teaching Arithmetic, and a brief discussion
of the subject is all that will be necessary. Any
one who succeeds in teaching Arithmetic will suc
ceed in teaching Algebra.
In the sense in which Algebra is now considered,
its Fundamental Idea, and its primary Definitions
and Axioms must be substantially the same as those
of Arithmetic. Its Demonstrations differ only in
being more general ; and its Applications, in being
more extensive. These, therefore, need no discus
sion here.
The Definitions peculiar to Algebra must be
learned oy the pupil, not perhaps, all at once, when
he commences the study, but as he needs them.
Ko Algebraic operation can be performed without
the use of symbols, and a knowledge of such as are
328 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
necessary in the solution of simple problems must
be imparted to learners in their first lessons. The
others may be learned when they have made some
progress in the study. All the symbols admit a
neat classification, and a knowledge of them can be
most readily acquired in that form.
In teaching beginners, it is best for the teacher to
illustrate the meaning of the symbols by using them
with respect to numbers. Thus : 4 + 2=6 ; 8 — 3=5 ;
4x3=12; 9-3=3; 7x4-^-2 — 4 + 2=12; v/16=4;
42=16. He may desire to add 576 to 764; but
instead of performing the operation Arithmetically,
he may say " we will let a represent the first number
and b the second, and the operation can be expressed
by a + 6." Nearly all the symbols used in Algebra
can be illustrated in this way, and no one but a
practical teacher can appreciate the value of such
illustrations to the pupil just commencing the study.
The Algebraic symbols which are used to repre
sent quantity are general in their significance, and
in this respect, differ from numbers. Pupils can
make little progress in the study of Algebra until
they understand this difference. For this purpose
the teacher cannot do better than to make a series
of additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divi
sions with numbers, and then show that a + 6 + , &c.,
a — 5? axb or a 6, and a-^-b or J are general expres
sions for all of them in the order named, and for all
others possible. Besides, it is easy to give illustra
tions showing that #, 5, £, &c., rr, y, 2, &c., can be used
to represent numbers in whatever manner or to
whatever things they may be applied.
The Algebraic idea can perhaps be best com mo-
ALGEBRA. 329
nicated by requiring pupils to solve suitable Arith
metical problems Algebraically. Some of the prob
lems in our works on Oral Arithmetic can be
selected for this purpose, or, as some authors of
text-books on Algebra have arranged it, they may
be so placed as to be an introduction to the general
subject. Pupils seem to see the practical value of
Algebra more clearly when commenced in this way,
and, consequently to take more interest in the study.
After such an introduction to the subject as is out
lined in the preceding paragraphs, pupils can be
taught to add, subtract, multiply, and divide Alge
braic quantities, whether integral or fractional; but
although some elements enter into these operations
that are not found in similar ones in Arithmetic,
they involve no new principle of teaching. The
pupil must be allowed much practice to enable
him to make a ready and intelligent use of the
symbols.
The simplest step in mathematical reasoning may
be expressed in the form of an Equation ; thus, one
added to one equals two may be written 1 + 1=2.
In idea the Equation is constantly before the mind
of the pupil when engaged in the study of Arith
metic ; and, consequently, the teacher will not find
the task a difficult one to acquaint him with the
Algebraic form of expressing it. A Pair of Scales
can be made to furnish a very good illustration of the
simple form of an Equation. The common weights
can be placed in one scale, and any body or bodies
vvho^e weight is unknown can be placed in the other ;
and, when balanced, the Equation is formed, and
can be represented by letting 2-, ?/, z, &c., represent
28*
330 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
'"lie known quantities, and «, £, c, &c., represent the
unknown. Having attained the idea of an Alge
braic Equation, the pupil must next learn to reduce
it to its simplest form. For this purpose, he must
be taught to clear the Equation of fractions, and
to transpose, collect, and reduce its terms. The
method of performing these operations and the
truth of the axioms upon which they depend can
be illustrated by taking the simplest form of an
Equation ; as 4=4, and showing that equals may be
added to or subtracted from equals, multiplied or
divided by equals, and the results will be equal.
In Equations containing two or more unknown
quantities, the various methods of elimination must
be explained and illustrated. The different methods
of solving Quadratic Equations and the forms to
which such Equations can be reduced must undergo
thorough discussion. The theories of all kinds of
Equations should be impressed upon the pupil's
mind by practice in solving numerous, well-graded,
and judiciously-selected examples and problems in
volving them. These problems may be divided
into two parts : first, that which relates to the for
mation of the Equation ; and, second, that which
relates to the solution of it. The formation of the
Equation consists in observing the facts given, in
noting their relations, in finding the equality be
tween the known and the unknown, and in express
ing that equality in Algebraic language. Having
attained the elements of a problem, the formation
of an Equation expressing these elements is a syn
thetic, while the solution of the problem is an
analytic, pro< ess The teacher may require one
GEOMETRY. 331
pupil to form an Equation for a problem, another
to solve it, while still another is engaged in maic-
ing a problem to answer the conditions of a given
Equation.
Perceiving no necessity for pursuing the subject
further, it may be well to remark in conclusion,
that the ends for which Algebra is studied are
similar to those for which Arithmetic is studied,
that the general conditions which must be observed
in their attainment are the same, and that the sug
gestions mentioned in reference to conducting reci
tations in Arithmetic or arranging its object-matter
for study apply equally well to like questions in
teaching Algebra.
GEOMETRY.
The Etymology of the word would lead us to
suppose that Geometry has reference to measuring
the earth, and no doubt it had this reference in
early times; for the necessities of the race would
compel them to adopt some means of measurement
long before abstract truths like those now composing
the science of Geometry could be appreciated, much
-less reduced to a system.
Geometry as now understood, may be defined as
the science of form. Its Fundamental Idea is space.
There are two kinds of form, pure and real. Pure
form is a portion of space limited in idea but not in
fact. Real form is a portion of space limited in fact.
Geometry proper treats only of pure forms, but it
may be applied to real forms.
Geometry furnishes the most perfect model of a
deductive science. It may be considered a type of
332 INSTEUCTION IN" THE FOEMAL SCIENCES.
all the rest. No Mathematician doubts that its
basis rests upon the Idea of space. Its Definitions
and Axioms are better understood than those of
any other of the same class of sciences. The De
monstrations which form the body of it, comprise a
beautiful system of applied logic, each admitting
an easy reduction to the syllogistic form. And its
Applications are among the most important in the
practical affairs of life.
The two most common divisions of Geometry are
Elementary Geometry, and Higher or Transcendental
Geometry. Elementary Geometry treats of the line
and the circle. Higher Geometry embraces the
consideration of all curves except the circle. A
brief discussion of methods of teaching Elementary
Geometry is all that is- contemplated in this con
nection.
Elementary Geometry as we find it in books like
those of Euclid and Legendre, is not a study for
children. Its abstract conceptions and long pro
cesses of reasoning require for their full compre
hension, minds of some maturity and some discip
line. The idea of form, however, must be one of
the earliest which springs up in the mind of a child ;
and it would seem to follow that he can receive
instruction in Geometry at as early an age as in
Arithmetic. It may be shown that this theoretical
conclusion can be verified in practice.
Young children can learn to distinguish a great
many Geometrical forms ; as a line, a square, a circle.
a triangle, a rectangle, a cone, a pyramid* a cylinder^
a prism, &c., &c. For this purpose, they can be
taught to draw them on their slates or on the black-
GEOMETRY. 333
board, and they can be shown blocks which represent
them as wholes, or are cut into sections of which
they can be engaged in making them.
Young children can also be taught the meaning
of many Geometrical terms. It is not meant that
abstract definitions should be given ; but certain
Geometrical terms can be so illustrated as to render
them comprehensible to children. The following
are examples : a plane, an angle and its different
kinds, the different kinds of triangles, & perpendicular,
a diagonal, parallel lines, the parts of- a circle, chords,
polygons, the kinds of prisms, &c., &c.
Many Geometrical truths can be made known to
children as matters of fact. They can perceive these
truths without being able to demonstrate them, that
is, they can perceive the particular truth, but cannot
make it general. It is not a difficult thing, with
blocks suitably made, or pieces of pasteboard suitably
prepared, to show children that " If one straight line
meet another straight line, the sum of the adjacent
angles will be equal to two right-angles;" "When
if two straight lines intersect each other, the opposite
or vertical angles, which they form, are equal ;" "In
every triangle the sum of the three angles is equal
to two right angles;" u Every triangle is half the
parallelogram which has the same base and the
same altitude ;" " The square described on the
hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle is equivalent
to the sum of the squares described on the other
two sides ;" &c., &c. A well-graded course of in
struction of this kind, if judiciously given, would
furnish very valuable discipline to children of the
Age of ten or twelve years, and greatly diminish for
834 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
them the labor of Geometrical demonstration when
their minds become sufficiently mature to enter upon
it. Besides, it seems to be the natural method.
Solid objects first meet the eye, not points, and
lines, and angles; and here, as elsewhere, the method
of proceeding should be from the concrete to the
abstract — from the particular to the general.
When pupils are prepared to understand Geomet
rical Demonstrations, they should be supplied with
a suitable text-book. The first pages of such a book
will present to them certain Axioms and Definitions
relating to Geometry which must be carefully studied.
If the author of the book has done his duty, its sub
ject-matter will be arranged in a rigidly logical
order, starting with the simplest and most inde
pendent propositions, and containing no missing}
imperfect, or superfluous link i?i the chain.
Geometrical propositions admit of two kinds of
demonstration ; the first, with axioms, definitions,
or previously proven propositions as premises, seeks
to show that the proposition to be demonstrated is
included in these premises, and is therefore true;
while the second consists in formfng hypotheses
which contradict the proposition, and in reasoning
upon these hypotheses until conclusiop? are reached
which contradict truths before knowv, and thus
prove the proposition by demon stratipp; that the
hypotheses which contradict it are false. The
former of these methods of demonstration is called
direct, and the latter, indirect, or reductio ad a^surdum.
Both are equally philosophical; but where & choice
is optional between them, the first as the more
simple is generally preferred to the second. 8on>«
GEOMETRY. 335
propositions admit both kinds of demonstration,
and many can be demonstrated by different methods
of the same kind. With such propositions, when a
pupil has followed the text-book in one method of
demonstration, he might be greatly benefited by an
effort to find others. It would be an admirable
feature in a text-book to present here and there
undemonstrated propositions, because pupils ought
not only to be trained to follow the reasoning of
others; but to invent processes of reasoning for
themselves. The connection between certain propo
sitions is so obvious, that a pupil, after having
demonstrated one, ought to be able to infer the next
without being helped to it by the book or teacher.
Original thinking is always much more valuable
than that which is second-hand. If the teacher
desire fully to impress upon the minds of his pupils
the truths they demonstrate, he should teach them
to make an application of them at once in the solu
tion of well-selected problems. Mensuration might
be very profitably taught in connection with Geom
etry. It might be well also to require the pupil
sometimes to give Algebraic demonstrations of
Geometrical propositions, and to solve Algebraic
problems by Geometrical methods.
In conducting a recitation in Geometry, the prop
osition should be stated, and the diagram drawn,
from memory; and the demonstration should be
given clearly and precisely, in the pupil's own lan
guage. In placing letters or numbers to the dia
gram, it is best to use them in a different order
trom the text-book, or the practice of demon strating
without a diagram may be productive of benefit,
336 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
especially in reviews. In addition to this, the pupil
should be taught to give a complete analysis of each
demonstration. He should be able to tell —
1st. The kind of quantity under consideration.
2d. The relation of the demonstrated proposition
to those which have preceded it.
3d. The kind of demonstration used.
4th. The axioms, definitions, or previously de
monstrated truths used as premises.
5th. The relation of the conclusion to the premises.
6th. The relation of Corollaries, Scholiums, and
Lemmas, to the principal proposition.
III. Logic.
The aim of this book does not require that Logic
should undergo a lengthy discussion. Much has to
be omitted, and the vast majority of teachers will
miss a discussion on Logic less than one on most
other branches taught in our schools. Still some
thing must be said, and it is proposed to say it
under two heads: 1. The utility of Logic as a study;
2. The methods of teaching Logic.
1. The Utility of Logic as a Study. — Some extra
vagant claims have been made by Logicians in res
pect to the utility of their favorite study. It has
been called the Art of Arts, the Science of Sciences,
Catharticon Intellectus, Caput et Apex Philosophies, &c. ;
and these names indicate the estimation in which
it was held by the authors who used them. But
while these claims should be moderated, it will ap
pear from what is to be said that the utility of Logic
LOGIC. 337
is such as to demand for it a prominent place in
every liberal course of study.
Logic is a useful study in itself. Thought, as
thought, presents a noble object for investigation.
It is man who thinks and thinking is his highest
attribute. A thought is greater than a thing.
Things pass away, thoughts are immortal. If
science as science is worthy of study anywhere, it
is surely worthy of it when it treats of the laws of
thought. "And is it nothing," says a writer, "to
watch the secret workshop in which nature fabri
cates cognitions and thoughts, and to penetrate into
the sanctuary of self-consciousness, to the end that,
having learnt to know ourselves, we may be qua
lified rightly to understand all else?"
Logic is a useful study on account of its objective
relations. Men can do nothing well unless they
think well. All science and all art are the fruit of
right thinking. Wrong thinking is at the root of
all error. In this sense, Logic would almost be
entitled to be called Ars Artium or Scientia Scienti-
arum. It is only in theory, however, that Logic
holds this place, for the best Logicians are far from
'finding all truth or escaping all error. All that
can be claimed is that as reasoning takes place in
every thing we do, the study of the laws of thought
must aid us in reasoning correctly. Besides, nature
in all its departments fills with matter certain logical
forms, and cannot be well understood in itself or
well arranged into systems of science without a
knowledge of these forms. Logic is an indispen
sable instrument in scientific investigation.
Logic is a useful study because* it disciplines the
29
338 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
Understanding. The Understanding is the faculty
by which we reason. The end of Logic is to reason
well. Hence it follows that the study of Logic dis
ciplines the Understanding. It not only imparts
skill but power, for reasoning about reasoning must
be at least as capable of strengthening and develop
ing the Understanding as reasoning about some
thing else.
2. Methods of teaching Logic. — If the nature of
Logic is as we have stated it to be, its subject-matter
will be composed of Definitions and Axioms, Deduc
tions and Demonstrations, and Applications.
Every one who has the least idea of Logic is
aware the first step in teaching the science must
consist in making pupils acquainted with the defi
nitions of concept, judgment, reasoning ; term, prop
osition, syllogism, induction, deduction, &c. Indeed,
Logic consists in much greater part than Mathe
matics in definitions and explications of the pro
ducts of the intuitions of. the Reason. The axioms
of Logic, too, admit as clear a statement as those
of Mathematics and bear the same relation to the
science. Hamilton speaks of Fundamental Laws
of Thought, and states them as follows: 1. The Law
of Identity; 2. The Law of Contradiction; 3. The
Laiv of Excluded Middle ; 4. The Law of Reason and
Consequent. Other Logicians give substantially the
same laws. But all of these laws admit of state
ment in the form of axioms, and many Logicians
Dave so stated them.
The Body of Pure Logic is arranged by Hamilton,
and substantially so by many others, into two great
LOGIC. 339
classes which may be expressed as follows : 1. The
Means of Thinking; 2. The Methods of Thinking.
The Means of Thinking include Concepts, Judg
ments, and Reasonings. Concepts are the products
of conception. Judgments are the arrangement
of concepts as subjects and predicates. Reasonings
are processes by which one judgment is deduced
from another, by means of a third which is inter
mediate. Reasonings, when fully stated, assume
the form of syllogisms, of which concepts and judg
ments are the elements. The Methods of Thinkin^
o
include the doctrine of Definition, the doctrine of
Division, and the doctrine of Proof. Logical defi
nition is the complete development of a concept.
Logical division is the separation of a whole into its
parts according to their relations. Proof consists
in deducing one judgment from another known tc
be true.
This whole Body of Pure Logic is made up in the
main of definitions and judgments which are knowa.
to be true only by intuition. A pupil who does not
realize in his own mind the thing spoken of will noi
be profited in the least by the words of the Logician.
'A teacher of Logic must be constant in his efforts
to induce his pupils to investigate the products of
thought as they lie in their own minds. The study
of Psychology should precede that of Formal Logic,
both because the habit of introspection into one's
own mind is a valuable auxiliary in the study of
Logic, and because concrete mental phenomena
are more easily understood than those which are
abstract.
Logic has also deductions and demonstrations,
340 INSTRUCTION IN THE FORMAL SCIENCES.
but their nature and the methods of teaching them
have been sufficiently characterized in discussing
the "Formal Sciences in General."
In regard to teaching Logic as a whole, it may
be remarked further, that the method for beginners
should be synthetic. Thought must be presented
first in its elements, and afterwards in its connec
tions. To analyze thought, requires a knowledge
of thought, and this is what the pupil does not
possess but seeks. Besides, a system of. Logic is a
growth. It commences with a germ in the Reason
and develops all its parts into a compact system.
This order of growth should be the order of study.
Logic has its applications in all the departments
of science and art; and to attain skill in making
these applications is the chief end of the study. Chil
dren begin to reason when very young. Through
out their whole course of study, it is the duty of
parents and teachers to train them to reason well —
to train them by correcting their mistakes, by teach
ing them to correct their own mistakes and the
mistakes of others, by setting them a good example
of logical reasoning. Thus taught they may be
come practical Logicians without learning Logic.
All this training, however, is rather mechanical than
scientific in its character. Valuable for children,
with more mature minds it must give place to some
thing higher. The science of Logic must be studied
by all who wish to make an intelligent application
of its principles.
The study of Logic in itself will not make a good
reason er. A person may know all the kinds, and
LOGIC. 341
figures, and modes of the Syllogism and still be
unable to construct one that will answer the condi
tions of practical life. The teacher who would make
his pupils good reasoners must not only show them
how reasoning is done or why it has certain forms,
but he must teach them to reason. The faculty of
reasoning itself must be exercised in order to grow.
The laws of thinking must be taught, and then
practiced until all thinking is governed by them —
until they " become identified with the spontaneous
activity of the reason."
Logic as taught in the schools is too formal.
More examples should be given ; more practical
applications should be required. Pupils should be
exercised in giving definitions, in making divisions,
in constructing syllogisms, in analyzing arguments
and demonstrations, and in building up systems of
science. Every lesson in science should be made a
lesson in Applied Logic, and thus the young would
be prepared for the great work of life.
29*
CHAPTER IV.
INSTRUCTION IN THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
FACTS are observed ; these facts are arranged into
classes ; general laws are inferred from them, and
thus the Empirical Sciences are built up. The Em
pirical sciences comprehend the systematic arrange
ment of the generalizations of experience. They
embrace a large number of particular sciences: as
Astronomy, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Mete
orology, Geology, Botany, Zoology, Mineralogy,
Geography, Physiology, Psychology, &c., &c. A
classirication of them may be made as follows : The
Mechanical Sciences, as Astronomy, Mechanics,
Optics, &c. ; the Chemical Sciences, as Chemistry,
Galvanism, &c. ; the Classificatory Sciences, as
Botany, Zoology, &c. ; the Organic Sciences, as
Physiology, Anatomy, &c. ; and the Psychological
Sciences, as those sciences of mind which are
founded upon the facts revealed by consciousness.
It matters little here, however, what particular
branches of study are included in the Empirical
Sciences, or of what classification they are suscepti
ble ; since all of them consist of facts which must
be observed, of classes which must be formed, and
of inferences which must be drawn, or laws which
must be applied ; and, hence, all of them must bo
taught by the same methods.
(342)
INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 343
It ought not to be necessary to say anything in
regard to the importance of the study of the Empi
rical Sciences, nor would anything be said were it
not for the fact that such studies are much neglected
in our American schools. A large proportion of
the student's time, both in Common School and
College, is taken up with the study of Language
and Mathematics, and he has little left to devote
to acquiring a knowledge of the great science of
nature.
Few sciences can be more useful to man than the
Empirical Sciences. These sciences treat of the
light by which he sees, the heat by which he is
warmed, the air which he breathes, the earth
from which he draws his sustenance, the animals
and plants that minister to his wants, and his own
body and mind. There is not one single occupation
in which a person may not derive great advantage
from a knowledge of some of these sciences. They
relate to life in all its forms and circumstances.
Few sciences can furnish more valuable mental
discipline than the Empirical sciences. They exer
cise the senses, the perceptive powers, the judgment,
the imagination, and the reason. They present
facts that a child may comprehend, and problems
that men like Bacon, Newton, Franklin, and Hum-
boldt have not been able to solve. Minds devoted
exclusively to the study of the Abstract or Rational
sciences, are apt to be dogmatic. They would like to
control the universe with laws of their own making.
They form their notions of what ought to be, and grow
captious if these notions are not found to correspond
with what is. They dwell in an ideal world which
344 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
is sometimes quite different from the real. Tk .
results of this mode of thinking appeared in the
dreamy speculations of the Scholastic Philosophy,
the bad effects of which it required all the strength
of the mighty mind of Bacon to neutralize. The
human intellect can engage in no nobler task than
the study of the Rational Sciences ; but the disci
pline they furnish should be tempered by that which
comes only from the study of the Empirical Sciences.
With one hand we may clutch the ideal, if with the
other we hold fast to the real. The study of the
Empirical Sciences is calculated to make men
patient in investigation, slow in the expression of
their own opinions, and liberal toward the opinions
of others.
The Empirical Sciences are peculiarly adapted to
awaken love for the Creator. It is only the "fool"
that "hath said in his heart there is no God." The
wise find the footsteps of a God everywhere, and
nowhere are they more clearly discerned than in the
works He has made. These works teem with so
many proofs of wisdom, evidences of goodness, and
marks of beauty, that one who studies them must
have his heart warmed in love and adoration to the
Being who made them all. Truly, " An undevout
naturalist must be mad." The Psalmist fitly ex
claims, " Whoso is wise, and will observe these
things, even they shall understand the loving kind
ness of the Lord."
In addition to the strong reasons in fiivor of the
aiady of the Empirical Sciences, which have been
just stated, two others of a less general application
will be named.
INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES. 345
A taste for the study of nature tends to lighten
labor. Labor is not toil to the man that thinks
while he works. All schemes that contemplate
dignifying labor without educating the laborer will
prove abortive. The farmer who, while he works,
finds food for thought in animals, insects, plants,
and soils ; the mechanic who speculates upon the
properties of matter and the nature of force ai he
deals with them; the miner who studies strata, and
veins, and fossils, while he exhumes the treasures
deep-buried in the earth's bosom, do much to con
vert the curse of labor into a blessing. Hugh
Miller may have cut out and chiseled down as many
stones as his companions in the quarries of Scotland;
but he found a pleasure in the task which they could
not, his head was kept as busy as his hands, he
worked like a man, not like a slave.
The study of nature gives pleasant employment
in leisure hours. Large numbers of persons in
every community are engaged in indoor occupations.
For these, linguistic, mathematical, or metaphysical
studies would be inappropriate. They want exercise
with study. This they can have by interesting them
selves in studies like Botany, Mineralogy, Geology,
or Entomology. What rich rewards in health,
strength, and pure intellectual and moral enjoyment
would accrue to merchants, mechanics, lawyers,
teachers, and others who lead sedentary lives; if
they would spend their leisure hours in the explora
tion of the neighborhoods in which they live in
search of those objects that so much interest the
student of nature. A taste for Natural History, too,
may be gratified in travelling. Nature is so full of
346 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
objects worthy our study, that they present them-
selves to the attentive passenger even in the swift-
moving rail-car. If delays occur, and they will
occur in travelling, while others grow weary and
impatient, the naturalist gives himself employment,
and keeps himself in good humour by reading a
fresh page in the great book of nature. He needs
no artificial help "to kill time," for the hours pass
quickly when nature presents her truth and her
beauty to his contemplation.
It is my purpose to speak, first, of methods of
teaching the Empirical Sciences in General ; and,
second, of methods of teaching Geography. The
reason I desire to discuss methods of teaching
Geography more particularly, is because it is one of
the branches almost universally taught in our Com
mon Schools ; and because by it can be illustrated
the methods of teaching the other sciences of the
same class. Geography, as usually taught contains
matter which belongs to History, but this does not
necessitate any change in methods of teaching it.
I. The Empirical Sciences in General.
The foundation of the Empirical Sciences is facts
and phenomena that are open to observation. Chil
dren begin to acquire these facts and notice these
phenomena as soon as they can use their senses ;
and by the time they are five years of age, their
stock of knowledge of this kind may be made truly
wonderful. Elsewhere, under the head of Instruc
tion in the Elements of Knowledge, an effort was
THE EMPIKICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 347
made to point out the method by which such infor
mation could be pleasantly imparted to children,
here, therefore, on this point, no detailed discussion
will be necessary. I will say, however, that I con
sider it the main business of teachers in Primary
Schools to teach their pupils to observe, to make
them acquainted with the facts and phenomena of
nature. To do this, nature's own method must be
adopted. A child in a ramble over a mountain,
through a meadow, along a rivulet, about a grove,
will notice objects and may observe phenomena that
belong technically to all the Empirical Sciences.
Nature scatters her treasures in rich profusion every
where, and the child picks them up where he finds
them. His attention cannot be confined, without a
loss of interest, to one class of natural objects, much
less to the minute differences which often distinguish
genera and species, or the scientific terms which are
applied to the peculiarities of individuals. Yon
Raumer in his G-eschichte der Padagogik has some
excellent remarks on this subject. I quote from
Barnard's American Journal of Education which
expresses the ideas of the author very correctly.
Von Raumer says, " A child commencing the study
of Natural Science should first examine, in all direc
tions, the neighborhood of his residence, and should
make himself so thoroughly acquainted with it that
he can call it up before his mind whenever he chooses.
Such an acquaintance is the result of the unconscious
and fresh pleasure which youth, joyful and free from
scientific anxieties, will find for itself in such an
examination, obtaining in this artless way a simple
general impression of the vicinity, not forced upon
348 INSTKUCTION IN EMPIKICAL SCIENCES.
him artificially by a teacher. He is not teased, while
he is rejoicing in the blue heavens and the rapid
motions of the clouds, in the oak woods and flowery
meadows, where the butterflies play, by a professor
with a cyanometer, to measure the blue of the sky
with, nor by a recommendation not to stare into the
woods, but rather to ascertain whether the oaks are
Quercus Eobur or Quercus Pedunculata; or, not to
look at the flowers in the meadow all at once, as if
they were a yellow carpet, but to take his Linnseus
and determine the species of this ranunculus. No
entomologist is setting him to chase butterflies and
impale them. Neither is the youth, when inspired
to devotion by the snowy Alps, glittering in moon
light, like so many spiritual, silvery forms of giants,
annoyed by a geologist talking to him of granite,
gneiss, and limestone, or of the junction and incli
nation of strata. The young enjoy the heavens and
the earth as a susceptible painter or an ingenious
poet does. In this first paradisaic pleasure is planted
the seed of the perception of an intellectual world,
whose secrets \vill not be fully ascertained and
understood even after the longest and most active
life of scientific effort. But most teachers, by the
dispersion of these simple impressions of nature,
forcibly destroy these earliest pleasures of children,
the brightness of the imaginary world which they
see. Even the great Pestalozzi falls into an error on
this point, when he says l It is not in the wroods or
meadows that the child should be put, to become
acquainted with trees and plants. They do not
there stand in the order best calculated to display
the characters of the different families,' &c. That
THE EMPIKICAL SCIENCES IN GENEKAL. 349
is, we ought to take the child into a botanic garden,
arranged on the Linnsean system, so that he may
study plants in the order of their species. To me
this seems like saying that the child ought not to
hear a symphony because that would be a mere
chaos, of sounds to him; he should rather have
played to him, first, the first violin part, then the
second, then the parts of the bass viols, the flutes,
clarionets, trumpets, &c. It is true that in this way
he would hear the separate parts, but not the bond
of thought which makes them a symphony. Jahn
was much more judicious in his gymnastic walks,
when he said, not i we are going botanizing, geolo
gizing, or entomologizing,' but merely cwe are
going to walk.' How much more naturally do our
youth, when the bird-of-passage instinct seizes them
at the university, wander through the father-land
and rejoice in its grandeur, and lay it deeply to heart,
without any idea of a premature, and painful, and
usually repulsive studying of a particular subject.
I hate this analyzing and lifeless elementarizing
of the first youthful impressions of nature — this
foolish, superficial, heartless, frivolous directing of
•the understanding prematurely out of its natural
path — which is so sure to chill the youthful heart
and render it old before its time. The utmost
attainments of a mind thus trained must be — unless
aided by remarkable natural qualities — to observe
with the bodily eye ; to use the reason, but not with
pleasure ; to derive mere lifeless ideas from creation ;
and to represent the objects thus conceived in equally
lifeless descriptions, like the ghastly wax figures
which afford a repulsive imitation of living men '
30
850 INSTRUCTION" IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
The sum of what has been said is that the first in
struction of children in the Empirical Sciences
should mainly consist in exhibiting to them interest
ing objects and phenomena; in allowing them to
look, handle, and ask questions; and in giving
opportunity for the free exercise of their youthful
imagination. A teacher may guide them in their
explorations of the neighborhood, direct their obser
vations, make inquiries, give explanations, conduct
experiments, call things by their right names; but
he must be careful to do it in such a manner as not
to check their play of fancy or chill their flow of
feeling.
"When pupils have acquired a taste for the study
of nature, when they have learned to derive rich
pleasure from a communion with her rocks, her
hills, her valleys, her flowers, her trees, her insects,
and her animals ; when they stand with breathless
interest while Air Pump, Magic Lantern, or Gal
vanic Battery reveals to them some astonishing
phenomena, it is time for them to take a second
step in the course of instruction of which we are
speaking — to commence the analysis of the objects
with which they have become acquainted and the
study of their several parts. This task is heavy
only to those who have no interest in it. Love here
as everywhere lightens labor. What then is the
oest way of acquainting pupils with the particular
tacts of the Empirical Sciences ? That is, how
shall they proceed to analyze the general impres
sions which we now suppose them to possess ?
It is well to remark first, that the facts to which
the attention of pupils is called should be suited to
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 351
their mental capacity. Nature is a vast store-house
of facts ; some of which lie open upon the surface,
while others are so deeply hidden that it requires
much searching to find them ; some are so simple
that a child can understand them, while others are
still unaccounted for by the ablest philosophers.
Among such an infinite variety of facts, the teacher
will point his class to those which are calculated
to interest and instruct them. As young children
are not able to observe closely or study much, they
cannot be confined to classes of facts belonging to
any particular science; but must be permitted to
acquire knowledge in the same unsystematic order,
if such an expression is allowable, which nature
evinces, when she throws together rocks, trees,
flowers, birds, insects, running streams, and sporting
fishes. When older, the attention can be more
easily confined to facts belonging to the same science
or subject.
The teacher should not rely upon verbal descrip
tions of facts or phenomena when a different course
is open to him. The most skilful and enlivening
word-painting makes a weak impression upon the
mind in comparison with the real thing. The
eye seems to be the most open inlet to the soul.
Hence, children delight in examining curiosities in
nature and art, in looking at pictures, and in wit
nessing experiments. The exhibition of a flower,
a mineral, a shell, a fossil, a bone, the picture of a
strange animal, or the falling of a feather and a
guinea in the exhausted receiver of an Air Pump,
will convey better ideas to a child at a glance than
the most elaborate description of the same things.,
852 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
Chemistry and Natural Philosophy require full ex-
periments; Physiology can be illustrated by pre
senting the heart, stomach, bones, &c., of animals
whose organic structure is similar to that of man ;
Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and Zoology, are
best learned where rich cabinets supply specimens,
or in the field ; and Psychology can only be appre
ciated by those who closely observe the actions of
others, and that which passes within their own
minds. Wherever possible, pupils should be re
quired to repeat the experimgnts made by the
teacher, to draw objects, and give written and oral
descriptions of them. When specimens are want
ing or facts cannot be tangibly presented, the un
known may sometimes be brought vividly before
the mind by comparing it with, the known which
resembles it.
The pupil himself should be taught to search for
facts. He should be appointed to conduct experi
ments, to make explorations, to give descriptions
of natural objects. While the vast majority of men
have eyes that see, they do not see, and ears that
hear, they do not hear, much that takes place about
them. They are blind and deaf to the beauty and
truth of nature. It is the teacher's duty to awaken
the dull senses of his pupils from their torpor, and
send them out to gather fresh facts from the rich
fields of nature ripe for the harvest. He should
instruct them to make and handle simple articles
of philosophical apparatus ; to observe the phenom
ena of rain, hail, snow, dew, frost, ice, &c. ; to
notice the habits of insects, the growth of vegeta
tion, the peculiarities of animals, &c. ; to visit ran-
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 353
seums and menageries, &c. ; to make excursions
to quarries and mines, meadows and mountains,
springs, rivulets, and rivers, &c. The pupils thus
learn to depend upon themselves, and not to rely
wholly for help upon text-book and teacher. If
pupils can be taught to find pleasure in collecting
facts, the work of teaching them is almost done;
for to such, science is itself a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night to guide them onward.
The third step in a course of study in the Em
pirical Sciences, is the classification of facts. Indi
vidual facts are so numerous that it is impossible
to make much progress in the study of the Empir
ical Science without the use of classification. In
the infancy of science, classifications were founded
upon adventitious circumstances ; but as further
discoveries were made such classifications gave
way to others founded upon inherent relationships.
Guided by an intelligent teacher, pupils can be
taught to classify objects properly, commencing of
course with objects whose resemblances are obvious
and passing on gradually to others in which they
are more hidden. Many classes among plants,
minerals, insects, and animals can be determined
by the general appearance of the individuals compo
sing them. I have succeeded best in imparting an
idea of classification by descending from the general
to the particular, from the class to the individual.
My pupils have not experienced much difficulty,
after having seen a few specimens of the Umbel-
liferse or Violacese and heard their characteristics
described, in finding the right place for other indi
vidual plants belonging to these Orders; and, so I
30*
£54 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
think it would be with the Quartz family among
Minerals, the Asteriadse among Radiates, the Ce-
phalopods among Mollusks, the Lepidoptera among
Insects, the Ophidians among Reptiles, the Gralla-
tores among Birds, the Ilodentia among Mammals,
and hundreds of other orders, classes, genera, and
species equally well marked. The same method
of teaching is applicable to the classes of facts and
phenomena belonging to Astronomy, Chemistry,
Natural Philosophy, Psychology, and other similar
sciences. The only difference is that the principle
of classification is not made so prominent in these
sciences as in those previously referred to.
These remarks are made in full view of the fact
that the lines separating the divisions which have
been made in the sciences are sometimes very ob
scure. Men who have made certain sciences a life
long study are not always agreed about them. But
the judicious teacher will confine his pupil in the
beginning to the study of those classes which are
most easily determined, and afterwards, when pre
pared, he can enter into the " debatable ground" of
the subject.
In making original classifications, it may be well
to remark that a sufficient number of facts should
be collected before it is safe to form classes ; that in
forming classes, permanent and inherent relation
ships only should be regarded ; that artificial systems
should be wholly discarded ; and that genera and
species should be discriminated by never-failing
marks.
A fourth step in a course of study in the Empirical
Sciences is the inferring of laws or principles. The
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 355
collection and classification of facts constitute only
the introductory parts of the Empirical Sciences.
Connecting principles must be found to bind these
classes together into systems. Counting stamens,
marking spots, measuring scales, or observing
phenomena in general, is not science. Nothing
takes place without law. We can only notice
effects, their causes must be inferred. We have the
consequents, but must find the antecedents. This
process is called inductive reasoning; and the ques
tion now is, how shall pupils be taught to reason in
that way.
A child reasons inductively when he learns that
the hot stove burns his hand, that snow makes it
cold, that a lump of sugar dissolves when placed in
a cup of tea. In all these instances, the antecedent
and consequent appear close together; a child has
no difficulty in making the connection. With young
children, the teacher must imitate this method ; and,
when nature conceals the consequent or places it
at a distance from the antecedent, he must show
their relation by carefully planned experiments and
judiciously chosen illustrations. More advanced
pupils, of course, need less help.
Text-books on certain of the Empirical Sciences
sometimes present facts and afterwards state the
principle involved, and sometimes announce the
principle and then explain it by reference to the
facts from which it was deduced. In building up a
new science, the former method is the only safe one;
but in teaching, either may be legitimately followed.
The statement of a proposition, in treating of an
Empirical Science before the facts which prove it
356 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
have been presented, is merely a matter of conveai
ence, and does not essentially change the method oi
reasoning which is from the particular to the general
Teachers will find it an interesting exercise to en
gage their pupils in deducing principles from given
facts, and in accounting for certain facts by known
principles.
It is proper to add that inductions should be made
with much caution. Both teacher and pupil must
be actuated by a sincere desire to obtain the truth
— to interpret nature correctly. Hypotheses may
be assumed, but they must be considered only as
hypotheses until carefully tested by facts. The
moment a teacher makes prominent some facts
while he conceals others or distorts them through
prejudice or preconceived opinions, the moment he
adopts an hypothesis and begins to enforce it dog
matically, he becomes a false teacher and does his
pupils a great wrong. Hasty generalizations have
been the bane of science. The progress of the race
has been greatly retarded by the resistance new
truth has met from old opinions. A teacher had
better communicate his facts and then tell his pupils
to doubt in regard to their explanation, than to lead
them into errors. Intelligent skepticism in matters
of science is better than blind faith. He best
studies nature who does it with a sincere desire to
find the truth, and is willing to accept what he finds.
Let no one be misled by " idols of the tribe," " idols
of the den," " idols of the market," or "idols of the
theatre." In searching for causes be sure that no
active element lurks in the antecedent for which
allowance is not made, and that which see jas to be
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 357
the consequent is not wholly or in part a mere con
tingency. The prominent elements in the character
of a successful student of the Empirical Sciences are
an enthusiastic love of nature and the most careful
circumspection in its investigation.
The process which, after Mill, may be called the
" Concrete Deductive Method," forms the fifth step
in learning an Empirical Science. This method
consists in bringing new facts or new phenomena
under laws already ascertained inductively, or in
determining the effect of such laws in new circum
stances. Comparatively few new laws have of late
been discovered i*i the Empirical Sciences, but the
laws already discovered have received a much more
extended application. The tendency of science now
is to simplify laws, and to multiply facts. New
effects are being constantly deduced from laws long
since known. In this, indeed, consist mainly the
triumphs of modern science. Such a standpoint
has been reached by some of our best Naturalists
that certain facts have been anticipated long before
their actual discovery.
When pupils reach this stage of progress in their
course of study, they will need little prompting to
push forward. Knowing laws and the facts from
which these laws were inferred, they will naturally
feel an interest in testing their validity in new cir
cumstances. Our text-books which treat of the
Empirical Sciences should contain many facts and
phenomena arranged miscellaneously, in order that
pupils might have exercise in accounting for them ;
or nature herself might be used as the text-book.
A pupil has but to go forth with his eyes open, and
358 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIEFCES.
nature everywhere, above, around, beneath, will ask
him to apply the scientific principles he may have
learned. Hardly anywhere as yet do teachers
estimate as highly as they should the value of
scientific experiments. First made acquainted with
laAvs by such experiments, pupils should be allowed
to witness their effects in other circumstances — to
repeat them, and to plan others for themselves.
There is a sixth step that must be taken before a
course of study in the Empirical Sciences can be con
sidered as completed. The observation of facts, the
generalizations of experience, and the extension of
known laws do not constitute the whole of science.
Eternal, universal, and necessary principles control
all facts and all inductions from facts. It is thus
with mathematical, logical, and metaphysical prin
ciples. Aristotle says: "The general principles
necessary to knowledge are axioms/'' An Empirical
Science is like a ladder, it needs support at both
ends — it cannot account either for the existence of
facts, or for the genesis of the ideas which embrace
them. Take an example : heat expands iron ; heat
expands gold, silver, copper, lead, &c. These are
facts, and we infer from them that " Heat expands
all metals." So far inductive science will take us;
but mark the queries concerning the matter which
remain unanswered : Are we sure that all metals
are expanded by heat? In concluding affirmatively,
what is the nature of the principle we take for
granted? How do we become cognizant of such
things as metals? How do we know one metal
from another? "Why do metals exist? Empirical
Science is powerless in dealing with such questions
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN" GENERAL. 359
as these, and yet similar problems lie about every
inductive syllogism. The Inductive Philosophy in
its own field has blessed mankind with rich fruit ;
but unaccompanied by the recognition of a higher
philosophy, it would leave us without a personal
Deity, without a united plan in creation, and would
lead us finally into the dry Skepticism of Hume,
the soulless Positivism of Comte, the philosophical
Pantheism of Spinoza, the cold Logic of Mill, or
the weak faith of Buckle.
The teacher who develops the Empirical Sciences
in their higher departments, will be false 1o his
trust if he does not exhibit to his pupils their limita
tions — if he does not show them what these sciences
can accomplish, and where they must fail. The
creation is the expression of an idea — is a thought
embodied in matter. The great end of Empirical
Science is, through facts and inferences, to reach
this idea, and use it in the further interpretation of
nature. The idea is not derived by any induction ;
but it is produced in the reason upon the occasion
of some experience. Says Hickok, " Till we attain
this eternal principle, which, as a living law, the
Maker of the universe has diffused all through it
from centre to circumference, we may stand outside
and measure and weigh, and overwhelm the un
derstanding with the summations of arithmetical
reckonings, but we shall know nothing of that cen
tral working which makes and holds all in one
concrete cosmos of perpetual beauty and harmony."
No greater harm could be done to the human spirit
than to teach it that all sure knowledge must be
based on facts patent to the senses. It would be to
360 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
dethrone God and cast the human intellect out upon
a sea that has no shore, and from which no hope
could lift the soul to Heaven.
Faithful to the study of nature, a few men of
genius have mounted like Moses to the top of
Mount Pi? yah, up through facts and inferences,
until, as a reward for their devotion, glimpses of
the divine plan in creation were flashed into their
minds, and praising God, they gave the heaven-horn
truth to raen, by whom the revelation will be
cherished until the end of their generations. I
hardly dare to name — but among those that must
be named, are Pythagoras, Plato, Kepler, Newton,
and our own Agassiz. These, and such as these,
hear the " Music of the Spheres ;" discern the " Soul
of the world ;" " Think God's thoughts after him ;"
" Count themselves little children — standing on the
shore playing with the pebbles, while the great ocean
of truth lies spread out before them ;" and recog
nize the "Facts of the world as the words of God."
This view of the steps necessary in a course of
study in the Empirical Sciences is strongly confirmed
by the history of their progress. A careful student
may mark this progress by several distinct stages
of growth.
First, the Poetic Stage. — The attention of unculti
vated men is first attracted to objects by some
quality which pleases their fancy or arouses their
feelings. The African savage may deck his person
with gaudy ostrich-feathers, the Arab may pitch his
tent near some palm not only to enjoy protection
from its shade but pleasure from its beauty, the
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 861
Indians of our own country may linger on some
mountain summit to gaze at the river which windj
jalong far below them, the lake which nestles -among
the hills, or the glories of the setting sun; and in
each, it is easy to see the awakening of that interest
ill nature which in more highly civilized conditions
of society will lead to study and knowledge. The
Mythologies of the East are largely indebted for
what in them is beautiful to this poetic interest in
nature which characterizes peoples who have not
made much progress in scientilic knowledge. The
most enlightened nations have had their ages of
Fable, in which they personified the objects and
powers of nature, and filled caves, and groves, and
air, and waters, with creations of their lively fancies.
It is not very difficult to see that the mental condi
tion of men then was like that of children now.
Second, the Mystic Stage. — AVondering at the
marvels which nature was constantly forcing upon
their attention, men could not long withstand the
temptation of trying to account for them. They
could not but see that certain consequents followed
certain antecedents, and the inquiry would become
very natural as to whether this was always the case.
Curious, indeed, would be that history which re
counted the efforts made by the human intellect to
find causes for the facts it observed. It may easily
be supposed that the first inquirers would hurry to
their conclusions, and that these conclusions would
generally be mere guesses, contradictory and mys-
tLal. The ancient Hindoos, Persians, and Egyptians
had their fanciful Cosmogonies ; the speculative
31
362 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
Greeks found the principle of the universe in water,
air, tire, and they placed the Titan, Atlas, under the
earth to upbear it on his shoulders ; and the Middle
Age Mystics found a ready explanation for physical
phenomena in supernatural causes. Both good and
evil spirits play an important part in the affairs of
men and the ongoings of nature, while nations are
passing through the stage of progress now referred
to. It is to be expected that children will now
exhibit similar mental tendencies; but it is time
that full grown men in enlightened countries should
have passed beyond the stage of progress which we
have called the Mystic.
Third, the Observational Stage. — Dissatisfied with
the small return of fruit resulting from purely ideal
speculations, students of nature began slowly and
patiently to accumulate facts. Different observers
explore the whole field of the Empirical Sciences —
they experiment at home and travel abroad, and the
treasures of thousands of volumes attest their in
dustry. All feel that they have now struck the right
path; and the faithful teacher must follow in it.
Fourth, the Clasmficatory Stag?,. — Facts accumu
late; the memory is overburdened ; the reaping of
the rich harvests seems threatened to be stopped
for wrant of barns in which to store the products.
The necessity of classification is felt, and efforts are
soon made to arrange the abundant material into
classes. External resemblances or adventitious cir
cumstances determine the first divisions into clashes;
but soon more hidden relationships are observed,
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL. 363
and, in the light of these, better systems of classifi
cation are adopted and the great mass of material
becomes moulded into manageable shape.
Fifth, the Inductive Stage. — Classification of facts
and phenomena could not well be made without
starting inquiries as to the causes which govern
them, and, when once the search for these began,
natural curiosity would prompt its vigorous prose
cution. The fanciful guesses of the Mystic Stage
of progress proceed from the same mental powers
that give birth to the slow and careful generaliza
tions of the Inductive Stage ; but during the former,
men leap to their conclusions without waiting to
test them by an appeal to facts. The spirit of in
quiry since the time of Bacon has been inductive.
Guided by this method, earnest investigators have
searched the earth, the air, and the heavens, the
vegetable and animal kingdoms; and rich indeed
has been their reward. Laws have been found, and
superstitious influences have been discarded. JSTot
only have busy hands revealed nature's curious
hieroglyphics ; but many a Champollion has decy-
phered them. The laws derived by induction may
be very simple and applicable only to special cases,
or they may be broad enough, like the law of gravi
tation, to comprehend the whole universe ; but all
safe inferences must be founded upon systematically
arranged facts.
Sixth, the Demonstrative Stage. — Generalizations
are often made in the Empirical Sciences long be-
tore all the facts which are embraced by them have
364: INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
been ascertained. Indeed, it is not possible to bring
all the facts embraced by a single generalization
within the limits of human experience, for that ex
perience is finite and nature is infinite. But the
laws of nature are uniform in their operations; and
we feel quite sure when we ascertain a law applica
ble to several of the members of a class, it is true
of the whole class, or when the tendency of a cause
is to produce a certain effect in one set of circum
stances its tendency will be to produce the same
effect under other circumstances. It follows that in
ductions may be made, and then used in the search for
additional facts or in the interpretation of different
phenomena. We may even anticipate the existence
of unknown facts. By a kind of demonstration we
can prove that newly discovered gases must be sub
ject to the law of chemical affinity, that the fossil
plants or animals, just obtained from the strata of
an unknown formation must exhibit the same plan
of growth and structure as those to which we have
been accustomed, or that the law of gravitation
extends its influence to the remotest star just re
vealed by the powerful aid of modern Telescopes;
and the same method is applicable to all depart
ments of science.
From its very nature it is clear that the Inductive
Stage of an Empirical Science must have preceded
the Demonstrative Stage, and the history of all
such sciences, is full of confirmatory evidence.
Even now the most able Physicists are laboring in
this stage, and the fruit gathered seems to show
that the harvest is but ripening.
THE EMPIRICAL SCIENCES IN GENERAL 365
Seventh, the Philosophic Stage. — By our senses we
observe facts, by means of the understanding we
classify them and make inductions from them ; but
these faculties can never give us the universal prin
ciples which condition both the facts and the induc
tions. The atoms of matter may unite in certain
definite proportions, the various organs of plants
may be metamorphosed leaves, bodies may attract
one another according to certain fixed laws; but
there are reasons why all these things are so, and
just so far as these reasons can be attained have we
what may truly be called a Philosophy. He who
observes the most facts and makes the broadest
generalizations, will be best prepared to discern the
eternal principles according to which the universe
was made. Reaching a certain standpoint, these
principles appear to the sincere investigator of na
ture, as the intuitions of the reason or as the per
ceptions of the quick eye of faith.
Eighth, the ^Esthetic Stage. — Nature has beautiea
which lie upon the surface. They serve to attract
attention. Nearly all persons, both young and old,
derive enjoyment from them. Even the savage stops
to gaze from some mountain summit upon the sleep
ing lake or the setting sun, and the little child claps
its hands in delight when wandering about a garden
of flowers or gazing at the richly-colored rainbow.
But all this Beauty bears little comparison to that
which ravishes his soul who has gazed upon na
ture's teeming facts, who has constrrcted them
into orderly systems, who has formed comprehen
sive generalizations, and who has at last caught
31*
366 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
glimpses of the eternal principles that are the
archetypes after which things were made. It is a
great mistake to suppose that those who are most
ignorant of nature's works exhibit the most admi
ration for them. Study, indeed, sometimes curbs
the light play of fancy and banishes forever her
airy creations ; but at the same time it reveals ten
thousand real beauties of which the untutored poet
never dreamed. All true art presupposes the highest
conceptions of science; and he alone can drink in
the full measure of nature's beauties who is able to
comprehend the divine plan in the creation.
Ninth, the Religious Stage. — In the earliest states
of civilization, men must have felt that there is a
power above nature. The mind of the poor Indian
"Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind."
Much of the ancient Mythology had its origin in
the attempt to find God in some object of the visible
creation or in some power that is manifested through
it. Every event was regarded as a miracle. A
darkened understanding prevented the Heathen
world from discriminating between the Maker and
the thing made. The most enlightened of these
nations could do no more than erect an altar to the
" Unknown God." Individual instances there were,
of persons who seemed to apprehend a personal
Deity, but they were such as had closely studied
nature and themselves. All past history goes to
show that those who have numbered the great
variety of objects which nature contains, who have
witnessed the working of her grand machinery,
who have noticed the " foot-prints of the Creator"
GEOGRAPHY. 367
in nicely adjusting means to ends, who have marked
the order that everywhere prevails and enjoyed the
beauty that adorns the whole, and who have care
fully inspected the revelations of their own minds,
possess, other things being equal, the most adequate
ideas of the Great Being who created the heavens
and the earth and all that in them is, and pro
nounced it very good. "The heavens declare the
glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handiwork." God has revealed himself in the
Bible ; but he has also left his name labeled upon
all his works and he who will may read it there,
''For the invisible things of him from the creation
f the world are clearly seen, being understood by
he things that are made, even his eternal power
and Godhead." The highest end of the study
of nature is to find God in his works. The true
philosopher finds Him, and his longing soul is
satisfied.
II. Geography.
Geography treats generally of the aspects of na
ture and the works of man, and the causes which
have produced or modified them. Its elementary
facts as they relate to nature have the same basis
as the Empirical sciences ; and its elementary facts
as they relate to man have the same basis as the
Historical Sciences ; but, in its higher departments,
it may present the broadest generalizations of both.
The difference between it and any special Natural
or Political Science is that its object-matter com
prehends a much greater variety of facts and prin
«aples. Geography is not so much a science in
368 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
itself as it is a collection of matter belonging to a
number of sciences.
The word Geography means a description of the
earth ; and a description of the earth is understood
to include the changes man has wrought upon it.
This meaning defines sufficiently well the Geogra
phical matter that appears in many of our text
books on the subject; but Geography must now
be considered not merely as a narrative of facts but
as a system of principles controlling the facts.
Geography is easily divisible into two kinds;
that which relates to Nature ; and that which
relates to Man. The first is called Physical Ge
ography; and the second, Political Geography
The terms Mathematical, Historical, Descriptive,
Local, &c., as applied to Geography do not repre
sent distinct divisions of the subject. If we follow
the order of cause and effect, we must first speak
of Physical Geography, and afterwards of Political
Geography ; but the teacher will find that he can
best illustrate the subject and do more to create an
interest in it on the part of his class, if he combine
the two, and teach both together. Causes and
their effects will thus be brought before the mind
at one view and their relationship can be more
readily shown. If this were otherwise, no neces
sity would arise for a corresponding division here,
inasmuch as the same pedagogical principles apply
to the one as to the other.
Many of our text-books on Geography adopt a
very imperfect method of presenting the subject.
They generally commence with some pages of defi
nitions concerning the planetary relations of the
GEOGRAPHY. 369
earth, the general divisions of land and water, lati
tude and longitude, zones, government, races of
men, stages of civilization, kinds of religion, changes
of seasons, &c. ; all of which it is impossible for a
child to understand. Such lessons as these with
others upon maps which are to the learner " a mere
set of marks, without any equivalent conception in
the mind of the thing represented," make the whole
work a dull, dragging process ; or, at the best, can
only crowd the memory with forms of words, and
images of dots, and lines, and ridges, which have
little meaning. By and by, it is true, a healthy
mental organization asserts its right to acquire
knowledge in a rational way, and Geography may
then be learned, not in accordance with this method,
but in spite of it.
In teaching Geography, as in teaching all other
studies, the teacher must first ascertain what know
ledge his pupils already possess concerning the sub
ject, and then make them familiar in a natural way
with such new matter as may be most closely con
nected with it. The mind makes progress in know-
ledge only by the process of assimilating the un
known to the known. A child will have attained
by the time he is eight years of age, a knowledge
of many Geographical facts relating to the neigh
borhood about his home or his school. He will
have seen water bubbling up from the earth in
springs, and running away in rivulets ; he will have
walked up hills, and wandered about valleys; he
will have noticed villages, and may have visited the
market-town, the mill, shops, and manufactories —
watched cars move on a railroad, or ships sail on a
370 INSTKUCTION IN EMPIKICAL SCIENCES.
river; he will have become familiar with many
plants, animals, reptiles, and insects; and with the
general appearance of rain, hail, snow, ice, and
frost; and possibly may have learned the names of
some of the rocks and soils. This and other know
ledge like this is what the pupil knows when he
begins the study of Geography, and nothing can be
more evident than that his instruction must start
at this point.
If the proper place of beginning has now been
found, it remains our task to arrange the object-
matter of Geography, and exhibit the proper
methods of making pupils acquainted with it. I
know no better way of doing this than by present
ing a classified series of lessons. These lessons are
intended to follow a natural order of progression,
and to include all the essential parts of the science
of Geography. Each class of lessons may embrace
matter sufficient for many individual lessons.
FIRST CLASS OF LESSONS. — On Objects relating t)
Geography, which Pupils can observe for themselves. —
The lessons to be given here are designed to extend
the knowledge already in possession of the pupils
by a method but little different from that by which
it was acquired. Nature is the only text-book
needed. Lessons may be given about the general
aspects of a neighborhood — its hills, valleys, water
courses, forests ; and, if, perchance, the school-house
is located near a mountain, lake, river, or the ocean's
shore, these objects will be an unfailing source of
interest. The attention of pupils may be directed
to the different kinds of land — farm-land, wi>od-
GEOGRAPHY. 371
land, meadow-land, level, hilly, and rolling land;
to the different objects composed of water — springs,
brooks, creeks, ponds, dams ; to the different kinds
of soils — clay, sand, gravel, vegetable mould ; to the
different kinds of stone — quartz, sandstone, granite,
slate, limestone, iron-ore ; to the different kinds of
trees — pine, oak, hickory, chestnut, poplar, ash ; to
the different kinds of productions of the neighbor
hood — corn, potatoes, rice, cotton, wheat, grass;
to garden flowers and wild flowers ; to domestic
animals and wild animals ; to reptiles and insects ;
to rain, snow, dew ; to the changes of the seasons ;
to villages and towns; to the employments of the
people; to shops, mills, manufactories, stores, school-
houses, and churches.
It is the design of this enumeration of particulars
to indicate to the teacher the sources from which
he may obtain the materials for his first class of
lessons in Geography. His own ingenuity must
suggest which subject of those mentioned, or of
other like subjects not mentioned, is most appro
priate for any particular lesson. In giving this
kind of instruction to young pupils, no strictly
scientific discussion is expected or desirable. They
should be taught those things in which they can be
made to feel an interest ; and this interest can be
greatly increased by placing the object of the lesson
before them in the school-house, or them before the
object out of the school-house. Minerals, flowers,
shells, fossils, &c., may be brought into the school-
house ; and the teacher and pupils may visit
woods, meadows, mines, quarries, gardens, ruins,
&c. These lessons, indeed, are Geographical Object
372 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
Lessons, and they should be given in the same mode
and with the same spirit as other Object Lessons.
SECOND CLASS or LESSONS. — On similar Objects
which can be found only in Localities distant from the
School. — Lessons on objects which they can see
would prepare children to receive lessons on similar
objects which they cannot see. In imparting such
lessons, the teacher must rely upon comparisons
made with things known, descriptions, and pictorial
illustrations. The names of the countries in which
the objects are found may be given; but the time
has not come for formal instruction in regard to the
relative positions of countries as exhibited upon
maps.
Suppose the school-house in which these lessons
are given is in Pennsylvania ; then, the teacher may
describe the natural features of countries unlike
Pennsylvania — deserts, prairies, countries very cold
or very warm, mountains covered with snow, hot
springs, volcanos, &c. ; such animals as the lion,
ostrich, elephant, reindeer, camel, whale, £c. ; such
vegetable productions as the coffee-plant, the tea-
plant, rice, bread-fruit, cotton-plant, banian-tree,
palm, &c. ; such people as the Esquimaux with their
dogs and their houses of snow ; the Chinese with
their strange peculiarities of food, dress, and mode
of life ; the Arabs with their tents and horses ; the
Turks with their long beards and their clumsy
clothing; the Hottentot in his hut, the Indian in
his wigwam, the European lord in his stately castle.
If given in simple language children will eagerly
read accounts of travels and voyages, descriptions
GEOGRAPHY. 373
of countries and their inhabitants, and biographical
sketches of distinguished men. Let a teacher tell
his pupils of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea,
Columbus on his way to America, Bonaparte at St.
Helena ; and if he does not interest them he will
accomplish less than others have done.
Admit that in all these lessons much of the know
ledge imparted cannot assume a definite shape in
the mind of the child, admit that some of his im
pressions will be erroneous, and it is no valid objec
tion against this mode of teaching; because children
learn nothing in any other way. On the contrary,
such teaching will impart many valuable ideas to
children which they could obtain in no other manner
BO agreeable to them, and, what is of more conse
quence, it awakens a desire for knowledge and a
taste for study which will render comparatively easy
the task of learning formal Geography.
Pictures of the objects upon wrhich the lessons
are given are a valuable aid ; and a Magic Lantern
or a Stereoscope could be used to great advantage.
THIRD CLASS OF LESSONS. — On the Topography of
the neighborhood about the School. — The two preceding
classes of lessons, while they are intended to relate
to Geographical subjects, are introductory in their
character. It is proposed now to place the objects
more definitely before the mind of the pupil by
localizing the most important Geographical facts
and introducing more system into the study of
them. For this purpose the pupil must have com
municated to him correct ideas of a map, and this
cannot be very well done unless he is acquainted
32
874. INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
witli the points of the compass. In this latitude,
the direction of the sun at rising and setting marks
with sufficient accuracy the points East and West;
the direction of the sun at noon and of the north
polar-star, or of a magnetic needle, indicates correctly
the points South and North. A teacher can readily
draw on the floor with a piece of chalk a line run
ning east and west; another crossing it at right
angles will run north and south. The respective
ends of these lines can be marked with the letters
E, "W, N, S ; and pupils will soon learn to name
any point of the compass thus represented, or when
drawn upon a blackboard. The class can stand up
and point toward where the sun rises, toward where
it sets, in what direction the sun is at noon, and in
what direction the north polar-star is, if the teacher
has previously taken the trouble to show them.
Some questions should then be asked in reference to
the direction from the school-house of certain promi
nent objects in the neighborhood. This done, the
design and construction of maps must be explained.
Maps are intended to represent the earth's sur
face; but the various means made use of for this
purpose, require considerable power of imagination
to make them significant. The teacher must make
his pupils realize the meaning of the marks, dots,
and lines that are used in map-drawing. To begin,
let the teacher draw, in the presence of his class,
upon a slate or a blackboard laid horizontally, a plan
of the school-house. He may make a line of a given
length, and let it represent one end of the school-
House, and then he may inquire of the pupils as to
the length and direction of the other lines and the
GEOGRAPHY. 375
location of objects in the room. After this, the slate
or blackboard may be raised to a perpendicular posi
tion, and the pupils required to imitate the plan
drawn.
This lesson may be succeeded by a similar one
upon the school-grounds. Different scales may be
adopted in representing them, in order to guard
pupils against the error sometimes fallen into by
them of supposing that the size of a map must be
proportioned to the size of the portion of surface it
represents. Questions may be asked in reference to
boundaries, and the relative position of the objects
indicated upon the map.
Then may be drawn other maps representing the
neighboring fields; the adjoining wood; the roads to
the mill, store, smith-shop, factory ; the town or the
village ; brooks, creeks, ponds.
Imaginary school-grounds may be drawn, orna
mented with walks, shade trees, shrubbery, and
beds of flowers ; imaginary roads crossed by streams
of water, bordered by fields and woodlands, and
along which are located farm-houses, shops, stores,
hotels, school-houses, and churches ; imaginary
streams spanned by bridges, and whereon are situ
ated saw-mills, flouring-mills, factories, forges, and
towns ; imaginary farms divided into fields with
wheat, cotton, corn, potatoes, &c., growing in them,
with streams of water passing through them, and
cattle grazing on the hills or in the meadows ; im
aginary plans of towns and cities with streets, gar
dens, public squares, and levees.
Such lessons as these, if accompanied with proper
instruction, will prove verv r^nr^ more useful and
876 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
interesting to children than committing to memory
the little rivers of Turkey or the insignificant towns
of Japan.
FOURTH CLASS OF LESSONS. — On the Explanation of
Common Geographical Terms. — The preceding classes
of lessons will prepare learners for entering upon
the more formal study of Geography. But as clear
ness of thought very much depends upon clearness
of language, some more definite ideas must be im
parted concerning certain Geographical terms. A
few examples will suffice to indicate the method of
doing this.
Let the term be River. All pupils have seen
rivulets, and they can easily understand that where
severa1 rivulets are conjoined a larger stream of
water is produced. A number of these larger
streams meet and form a creek, and a number of
creeks joining their waters make a river. A river
is, therefore, " a large stream of water." The repre
sentation of a river writh its various branches can
be drawn upon blackboard or exhibited upon Charts.
Let the term be Isthmus. A pupil can scarcely
be found who has not seen at least a small piece
of ground surrounded by water. He has noticed
this in a creek, a mill-dam, or, if no where else,
in a pond by the road-side. Two islands may be
connected by a narrow strip of land, and this is
called an isthmus. An isthmus can be represented
as in the case of a river.
In like manner, passing from the known to the
unknown, a pond can be expanded into a lake ; a
hill into a mountain ; a piece of low land filled with
GEOGRAPHY. 377
water from a creek when flooded, into a gulf or bay;
a township into a continent ; a village into a city.
Indeed, all that pupils really learn must be acquired
in this way. A mere abstract definition cannot
possibly be of any benefit to them. In order to
ascertain whether pupils have formed a correct idea
of such objects, they may be required to point out
the pictures of them on Charts, and to draw either
real or imaginary ones on the blackboard. Sets of
Geographical models designed for imitation, and
representing rivers, islands, straits, bays, lakes,
mountains, &c., might be advantageously used. For
this purpose, a distinguished English Educator re
commends an article of apparatus which he calls a
"Geographical box." It is made of wood, carved
to represent a continent with its seas, bays, islands,
lakes, &c. Mountains, table lands, banks of rivers,
&c., are made with putty, and the whole painted in
the natural colors of the objects represented. This
model is made to fit in a box somewhat larger in
size, and which when used is partly filled with water.
Inside, the box is painted a bluish green, to imitate
the color of the sea. The model must be so adjusted
In weight that when placed in the water contained
in the box, it will allow the water to pass about it
in such a manner as to represent peninsulas, isth
muses, straits, bays, harbors, rivers, lakes, &c.
Pupils may be told that the earth about which
they are going to study is round, and that it re
volves upon its axis once in a day and passes around
the sun once in a year. These facts must be illus-
irated by means of a globe or a Tellurian, may be
made to seem probable from the ready explanation
32*
378 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
they furnish of certain phenomena with which even
children are acquainted ; but at the stage of pro-
g'-ess indicated by the class of lessons now under
going discussion, it would be folly to attempt to
demonstrate them. Such facts may be received
upon testimony, until children are able to under
stand the grounds upon which they are based.
It might be proper also at this stage of their pro
gress to make children acquainted with the various
lines which are employed to determine the relative
positions of places upon the earth's surface. The
most important of these are the equator, the paral
lels, and meridians. Some knowledge of the tro
pics, the polar circles, the poles, &c., may be im
parted at the same time. Such instruction can be
best given by means of a globe, although in the
absence of one, some round object or the blackboard
can be substituted. The teacher can point to the
line which is drawn around the globe, show that
this line divides it into two parts, and give these
parts their proper names — hemispheres. Pupils will
readily understand that it is easier to find a place
in one of the hemispheres than it is to find one upon
the whole globe. Other lines parallel to the equator
may be pointed out or drawn, their names stated,
and their purpose shown. Meridians can be exhi
bited and their use explained in the same way.
Pupils should then draw maps of the hemispheres
upon the blackboard representing the parallels and
meridians, and numbering them; after which the
teacher may engage them in determining the lati
tude and longitude of such places as he may think
it proper to name. This done, a few minutes \v ill
GEOGRAPHY. 379
suffice to make pupils understand what is meant by
tropics, polar circles, and poles. "Whatever con
cerning these things children cannot comprehend
by such instruction must be left until their minds
are more mature.
FIFTH CLASS OF LESSONS. — On Detailed Geography.
— Having been instructed in the lessons previously
described, pupils are prepared to commence the
study of the details of Geography. For this pur
pose each country in turn must be brought under
consideration ; and the best order to be followed is
to consider the school-house the central starting-
point, and gradually advance further and further
away from it, until the whole world is compre
hended in the survey.
From the summit of a hill or the top of a house,
the neighborhood of the school can be seen, its
aspects and objects can be marked, and maps of it
can be drawn. Pupils thus introduced to the sub
ject could not fail to notice that the roads, rivulets,
and hills gradually disappear from sight; and to
realize that there was "more beyond." Then the
teacher can gratify their curiosity by presenting be
fore them a map of the town or township. If such
a map cannot be purchased, the teacher can draw
one for himself. In addition to the most important
physical features, a map of this kind ought to have
represented upon it, the public roads, the towns
and villages, mills, manufactories, churches, post-
oriices, school-houses, and even some of the farm
houses. Exercises upon maps like this and in draw
ing similar ones can scarcely fail to interest pupils.
380 INSTRUCTION" IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
Next to the Geography of the town or township,
the Geography of the county or district in which
the school is located should be considered ; then,
that of the state, the country, and in succession the
other countries of the world. Foreign countries
need not be described so minutely as countries
nearer home, nor those with which we have little
intercourse as those with which we have much.
Great teaching skill will be required to know what
to include in these lessons and what to omit. In
doing it, the teacher must be guided by the circum
stances of his class, and no theorizing can supply
that nice sense by which the true teacher adapts the
mental food of his pupils to their mental appetites.
In leaving the neighborhood of the school where
the pupil can use his own senses, reliance for com
municating Geographical knowledge must be had
upon maps and descriptions. The inquiry is im
portant as to the form in which these are most
effective.
"With all the art of the most skilful Engraving,
to crowd upon a flat surface of a few inches
square, anything that will bear a close resemblance
to the objects which are spread out upon a portion
of the earth's surface hundreds or thousands of
miles in extent is impossible. Maps with parts of
their surfaces raised to represent the elevations of
land, and profile maps may be better calculated to
make correct impressions upon a learner's mind;
but after all much must be left to the imagination
to supply, and the teacher will do well to have hia
pupils frequently compare what they have not seen
with what they have seen. Maps, however, roust
GEOGEAPHY. 381
be carefully studied. Outline maps are very useful
in teaching Geography. They train the papil to
remember by location and form. Having prepared
lessons by means of common Atlases, pupils can
have their knowledge tested upon Outline maps.
The teacher can point out localities and the pupils
name them, the teacher can name them and the
pupils point them out, or some pupils can name
them while others point them out. In reciting
with Outline maps, chants are sometimes used; but
while many names of towns, rivers, mountains, &c.,
can be quickly and pleasantly communicated in
that manner, they are apt to be soon forgotten
unless fixed in the mind by some interesting asso
ciation.
Map-drawing may immediately follow the lessons
on the maps, and it will be a test by which the
teacher can always know how faithfully the work
of preparation has been performed. Pupils will look
much more closely at their Atlases, and perform with
much more care their exercises upon the Outline
maps, if they know that they will be immediately
called upon to reproduce in the form of a map, what
they have learned. The teacher should require his
pupils to drawmaps of every country the Geography
of which they study. Beginners may copy their
maps, but more advanced pupils should always draw
from memory ; or classes may be allowed to copy
out of class, and be required to draw from memory
in class. Maps thus drawn may present merely the
outlines of countries, the outlines with a few of the
principal localities, or they may give the full details
that the best engraved maps contain. They may
382 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
be rough, extemporized sketches on the blackboard,
or they may be carefully prepared, and finely finished
specimens of map-drawing. A teacher who gives
instruction in map-drawing ought to be able to show
how coasts, rivers, mountains, &c., should be drawn,
and also to present rules for marking parallels,
meridians, &c. Such instruction may be facilitated
by the use of map-drawing cards, or blank, black
globes suitable for drawing upon.
But all this map-drawing and this study of Atlases,
and Outline maps, and globes, will be comparatively
dull and profitless unless the teacher know how to
enliven the lessons with interesting descriptions,
narratives, incidents, and stories. Pleasant associa
tions must be made to cluster about all the dry
details of Geography. The earth must not be con-
eidered merely as a skeleton. It must be vivified
with life. Its plants and animals must make revela
tions, and voices must come forth from mountains
and valleys, from oceans and seas, from lakes and
rivers, from great caves and mighty cataracts, mak
ing known their uses and revealing their beauty. It
must be considered as the theatre upon whose stage
the great drama of human life is being played. Scene
has followed Scene for the past six thousand years,
now a Tragedy, and now a Comedy, and still the play
goes on. Mark yon uprolled curtain, teacher, and
let your eager children view the wondrous spectacle.
When thus taught, Geography is a very attractive
study for the young. Here the teacher can pour
out in rich profusion the stores of his knowledge
gleaned from History, Biography, Voyages and
Travels, and the explorations of scientific men, and
GEOGRAPHY. 885
be will be listened to with intense interest. Start
ing with the pupil's own village or township, the
teacher can find an old church, a mound, a battle
field, the birth-place of some noted individual, a
romantic pile of rocks, a beautiful glen, a bed of
strange fossils, some mysterious legend, remarkable
event, or curious incident, that will throw a charm
about the formal dottings and tracings of the Atlas
and the cold statistics of the text-book, that wins
them a place in the pupil's mind and heart forever.
The teacher of Geography has a wide field from
which to gather his materials. He is at liberty to
cull the choicest facts, the noblest truths, the richest
beauties from all arts and all sciences, to furnish the
intellectual banquets he provides for his pupils.
ISTo country is so poor that it cannot present some
thing worthy of interest. Every state in this Union
has much that if skilfully woven into the recitation
would make its Geography one of the most attrac
tive of studies. We have our Natural Bridges, our
Mammoth Caves, our Niagara Cataracts ; our noble
rivers, our beautiful lakes, our picturesque moun
tains, our broad flower-decked prairies ; we have
Jamestown's ruins, Plymouth Rock, Independence
Hall, Bunker Hill, Stony Point, Brandy wine, Mount
Vernon, Ashland, Marshfield, Shiloh, Gettysburg,
and Missionary Ridge, and these, and such as these,
have about them clustering rich beauties or hallowed
memories. The teacher travels with his pupils in
imagination. He should make their travelling seem
real to them, by forming skilful combinations of the
physical and political characteristics of countries
and painting them in words or exhibiting them in
384 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
pictures. Let a teacher take his class across the
ocean, describing ocean life hy the way ; let him
visit with them, Scotland, England, France, Switzer
land, Germany, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Pales
tine, India, China, and other countries of the East;
and he will find that every step of the journey may
be made full of the most absorbing interest. If the
teacher speak only of those things which would
attract the attention of the class if actually travel
ling, and others necessary to make them understood,
he will have a delightful journey, and his pupils will
return from it wiser and better. The teacher might
be aided in this work by the use of a Stereoscope, a
Magic Lantern, or a series of pictures which would
exemplify the Geography of distant countries. With
such aids the teacher might almost make his pupils
think they wrere gazing upon the beautiful scenery,
the rich cities, the gorgeous palaces, the ruined
castles, the ivy-covered abbeys of the old world; or
standing upon spots associated with the names of
great men or noble deeds. lie might almost make
them conceive themselves as travelling in the snows
of Lapland, riding in the gondolas at Venice, or
marching upon the back of a rough camel across the
desert with the slow-moving caravan — as rambling
among the ruins of Rome, rebuilding in imagination
from scattered fragments, great temples in Athens,
climbing the Pyramids, or tracing the footsteps of the
Man of Sorrows about the Holy City — as introduced
among the wild Arabs in their tents, the grave
Turks on their cushions or at their mosques, the
superstitious Hindoos when performing their feats
of jugglery, undergoing their penances, or carrying
GEOGKAPHY. 885
cn their learned disputations, the self-conceited
Chinese where they traffic in their shops or on their
boats, where they dress their gardens or cultivate
their tea, or where they crowd their temples or
meditate in their schools of philosophy.
The design of all this is to exhibit the spirit with
which Geography should be taught. The teacher
must of course adapt his instruction to the age of
the pupils and the circumstances of the class.
SIXTH CLASS or LESSONS. — On the Classification of
Geographical Facts. — To primary classes learning
Geography there can only be imparted with much
hope of success a knowledge of individual facts.
Such facts must be chosen as will interest them, and
their tenacious memories will not suffer them to be
forgotten. As soon, however, as pupils enter upon
the study of the minuter details of Geography, the
teacher must aid their powers of recollection by a
carefully arranged outline of classification. In the
study of the detailed Geography of a particular
country, it is not best to consider the facts to be
learned in any order in which they may chance to
present themselves, but they should be grouped
together in classes. With such an outline of classi
fication before him, the pupil could collect his
matter and recite it, much more perfectly than it
would be possible for him to do otherwise. He
would also be likely to retain it longer in his
memory. Many of our Geographical text-books are
defective in their classifications. The following dis
tribution of the object-matter of Geography will be
found to answer the end now contemplated:
33
386 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
1. Boundaries.
2. Extent and divisions.
3. General character of the surface.
4. Internal waters.
5. Nature of the soil and climate.
6. Productions.
7. Cities and towns.
8. Facilities for internal communication.
9. The inhabitants.
10. Government, religion, science and art, edu«
cation.
11. Miscellaneous facts.
At recitation, each pupil should be expected tc»
reproduce the information he has collected respect
ing a particular country, and arranged under these
respective classes. He need not be confined to the
text-book in making preparation.
But the preceding classification is not broad
enough to satisfy a teacher in the higher depart
ments of Geography. The same principle should
be so extended as to embrace the various Geographi
cal facts relating to all countries. Mountains, rivers,
islands, lakes, rocks, soils, climates, currents, winds,
animals, plants, and men admit of classification.
Indeed, it is impossible to study them thoroughly
without it. If studied only as they appear in par
ticular countries, the information gained will be
comparatively of little value. Besides, the best
way for advanced pupils to study the extent of coun
tries, the population of cities, the length of rivers,
kinds of religion, stages of civilization, and forms
of government, is by comparison and classification.
GEOGKAPHY. 387
For beginners in Geography, the particular should
always precede the general ; but for advanced pupils
the general may precede the particular, for they will
possess sufficient knowledge to appreciate principles,
and principles will guide them in further study.
It will be understood from what has been said
that teachers of Geography ought not to be satisfied
with a mere accumulation of disconnected facts, but
they should lead their pupils to combine them into
well-arranged classes and systems.
SEVENTH CLASS OF LESSONS. — On the General Laws
which govern Geographical Facts. — Having found the
facts of Geography and classed them, learners must
be set upon the search for their causes. The form
of the earth must be demonstrated, and its motions
must be explained. The causes must be investigated
that have tended to shape the continental masses,
heaved up mountains, formed islands, scooped out
valleys, graded plains, covered deserts with sand,
and varied the nature of soils; that drive forward
the ocean currents, swell the tides, determine the
courses and cut out the beds of rivers, fill the lakes
with water and keep them fresh or make them salt;
that temper the weather, move the winds, distribute
the rain, bring hail, snow, and dew, and build up
and float away great bergs of ice ; that adapt plants
and animals to the countries in which they are
found, and even modify the races of men ; that con
trol the employments of the people, inducing those
of some nations to engage in manufacturing, some
in farming, some in mining, and others in com-
oierce, fix the boundaries of states, foment war*
388 INSTRUCTION IN EMPIRICAL SCIENCES.
and keep peace, point out the locations for the
founding of cities, the building of railroads, and
the construction of bridges, and exert an influence
upon government, the manners and customs of the
people, science, art, education, and religion. This
is a most inviting field ; and the thoughtful teacher
may find in it reasons so simple that a child may
understand them, and principles so complicated
that none but a mind like that of Humboldt could
evolve them.
In teaching pupils to make inductions, they must
be brought to compare the known with the unknown,
by means of explanations, illustrations, and experi
ments. Finding out the reasons of things generally
furnishes so much pleasure to learners, that the
most the teacher will have to do is to provide a
fit opportunity for the exercise of their reasoning
powers, and they w;ll gladly use them — and use
them to some purpose. A text-book may state
general principles and present a sufficient number
of facts to prove them ; but the pupil should be
required to make an application of these prin< »plea
in explaining new phenomena and solving new
probl ems.
CHAPTER V.
INSTRUCTION IN THE RATIONAL SCIENCES.
THOSE who understand the sciences of which we
have thus far treated can scarcely have failed to
observe that they start out hy taking something for
granted, that they make no attempt to account for
the ultimate premises upon which they base their
conclusions.
The sciences relating to Language treat of the
elements of speech and their relations ; but every
principle of these sciences may be traced back to
laws of thought, and these again rest upon certain
intuitions of the Reason.
The Formal Sciences confessedly erect their
superstructure upon a foundation of definitions and
axioms, the nature of which they do not pretend to
investigate. Mathematicians merely state the defi
nitions and axioms which relate to Mathematics:
Logicians often enlarge somewhat upon those which
relate to Logic, but merely as an introduction to
the subject proper. Logic treats of the laws of
thought, the treatment of the elements of thought
belongs elsewhere.
The Empirical Sciences rest also upon a basis of
definitions and axioms. Not a single observation
can be made, class formed, or inference drawn with
out the aid of principles which no Inductive Ph'ilo-
83* (S89)
390 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
eophy can account for. By themselves they begin
in assumption and end in assumption.
By means of the Understanding we can correct
concepts, compare facts, form syllogisms, and apply
ascertained principles, and this constitutes, apart
from the collection of materials, the whole work the
mind has to do in acquainting itself with a Language,
a Formal or an Empirical Science. The products
of the Reason are, of course, used, but they are
assumed.
It is evident, therefore, that back of all the sci
ences referred to, there must be another class of
sciences, whose province it is to treat of what is
elsewhere taken for granted. We have ideas of
space, time, cause, truth, beauty, right, &c. ; but
what is the nature of these ideas ? and whence do
they come ? We deal with axioms ; but what is an
axiom ? By what tests can axioms be distinguished ?
Upon what rests their claim to universal acceptance
as truth? The sciences that embrace this object-
matter must interpenetrate with their ideas and
regulate with their forms all other sciences, must
be the germs out of which they grow, the roots by
which they are supported and nourished, the light
in which they can be understood. The sciences
whose object-matter may be thus characterized, have
been called the Metaphysical Sciences, and, pro
perly, since they are over or above Physics; but a
better name, perhaps, is the Rational Sciences, since
they are evolved directly from the Reason.
The Reason is that faculty of the mind which is,
and by which it knows itself to be the source of
necessary and universal principles. Out of such
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 391
princ pies all the sciences grow, and by them life
should be guided. By means of the Reason we
rise above a servile independence upon material
things, and, believing, lay hold on things unseen.
In searching the whole field open to his investiga-
ion, the most diligent student can predicate nothing
in respect to what he finds that may not be arranged
in one of the three following classes: TRUTH,
BEAUTY, and GOODNESS.
The human mind has three great classes of
Powers, viz. : the Intellect, the Feelings, and the
Will. The activities of each class in their objective
relations are subject to a distinct body of laws.
The products of the right operation of the Intellect
may be called Truth, the products of the right ope
ration of the Feelings may be called Beauty, and
the products of the right operation of the Will may
be called G-oodness.
The Eeason reigns over the mind. All the
mental powers operate subject to its control. Each
looks to the Reason for an end to aim at, and a light
to guide its effort. The Intellect knows nothing of
truth ; the Feelings of Beauty ; the Will of good
ness, unless the Reason furnishes criteria by which
to judge them. These criteria are evolved from the
Primitive Ideas of the TRUE, the BEAUTIFUL, and
the GOOD; and based upon these ideas and out
working from them, we have the Rational Sciences,
called respectively PHILOSOPHY, ^ESTHETICS, and
ETHICS. The idea of God — an idea which unites
all perfection in one Being, gives us THEOLOGY, but
no discussion of this science will be indulged in
here. Leibnitz, followed by others, has arranged
392 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
the Rational Sciences into three classes, viz. ; Ra
tional Physics, or the science which treats of the
World ; Rational Psychology, or the science which
treats of the Soul ; and Rational Theology, or the
science which treats of God. This classification ia
exhaustive, but not so well suited to the present
purpose as that above named.
Among the ideas relating to the True are those
of space, time, substance, cause, infinity, &c. ; among
those relating to the Beautiful are order, proportion,
harmony, grace, perfection, &c. ; and among those
relating to the Good are right, duty, liberty, virtue,
holiness, &c.
A few remarks are in place here as to the ori
gin and nature of these ideas. It has already been
shown that they cannot be derived from experience,
but they are always formed upon the occasion of some
experience. We notice ^ something that is true,
beautiful, or good, and immediately there uprises
in the mind that ideal standard by which all that
is true, beautiful, and good may be measured. Let
experience be extended, be made as extensive as
possible, still the ideal will outspan it. If in thought
we can transcend all possible experience, can we in
thought know the Absolute and the Infinite? To
me it seems clear that our knowledge of the Abso
lute and Infinite must be confined to the fact that
they exist ; but of this fact we can be as certain as
of any other. We cannot resist the conviction that
there is nobler truth, richer beauty, greater good
than any we can possibly conceive of; and rising
in degrees it is impossible not to think that some
where there must be the absolutely and infinitely
INSTRUCTION" IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 393
Perfect. Besides, as there is the Relative there must
be the Absolute; as there is the Finite there must
be the Infinite ; as earthly truth, beauty, and good
ness centre in the human Reason — in man, so the
True, the Beautiful, and the Good, unconditioned
in their perfection, centre in the Divine Reason —
in God. The right conception of the human Reason
leads necessarily to a conception of the Divine Rea
son, and to a Divine Personality in which it is
enthroned.
We are just as sure of the existence of the Infi
nite as of the Finite ; of the Absolute as of the
Relative ; of the True, the Beautiful, and the Good,
as of truth, beauty, and goodness ; of God as of
man. What if into the pure regions where angels
dwell the human mind is only permitted to look —
that look reveals plainly enough the thing looked
for, is a firm ground of faith, and furnishes a suffi
cient foretaste of the ineffable delight with which
in the Better Land we shall behold its glories face
to face.
Some great thinkers have denied that the human
mind can attain to any knowledge of the Uncon
ditioned, but at the same time have admitted that
we believe in the existence of the Absolute and the
Infinite, or of a Being absolute and infinite. That
we may believe in the existence of a thing of which
we have no adequate conception is clear for we do
it constantly ; but it seems to me that we never
believe a thing without having some ground for the
belief — an idea out of which it springs. With Dr.
McCosh I hold " That when there is no positive
conception, then faith ought to cease, and
894 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
cease." But God has not left mankind without a
witness of Himself, without a light to guide those
who will heed it, to Heaven. Through the spiritual
eye, the Reason sanctified, the heart made pure,
man can see enough of Heavenly things to make
positive the evidence upon which he rests his faith
in God and immortality.
Since the Rational Sciences are so far removed
from what business men call practical, and since in
this country there is so much prejudice against
Metaphysical studies, it seems necessary to set forth
the value which may be derived from the pursuit
of such studies.
1. The Valueof the Rational Sciences in Themselves.-^-
To the unthinking, the value of the Rational sciences-
in themselves does not seem great. They can easily
understand that Grammar is useful as it aids in
speaking and writing, that Mathematics is useful
in keeping accounts, that Chemistry may be useful
in analyzing soils and selecting good fertilizers to
enrich them ; but the utility of truth so abstract
as that of the Rational Sciences is not likely to be
appreciated by those whose blind judgment esti
mates the worth of knowledge by the amount of
money it will make. The age is intensely practical.
Men are measured by the amount of work they
can do. He who makes a great speech, wins a
great battle, or heads a successful expedition ieceives
the honors which he merits ; but he who nobly
devotes himself to the study of truth for its own
eake is called a dreamer, a theorist, a transcendeu-
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES, 395
talist, and is rather pitied than applauded. This
condition of things may be excused on the ground
that our country is new, and that in cqnsequence
great activity is manifested in all that relates to the
external life ; hut the application of a test that
would determine the true worth of knowledge
might decide in opposition to the popular verdict.
"With a broader view even of the interests of our
earthly life, it might appear that the most potent
influence among men is exerted by the thinker —
the thinker who studies at the root of things, and
ever and anon announces principles that control
church and state, and guide the affairs of men.
The value of a knowledge of the Rational Sciences
appears in the nature of their object-matter. These
sciences contain all that body of truth which is ne
cessary, fixed, and fundamental — all else is contin
gent, fleeting, and dependent; and surely it is as
important to understand the thought that furnishes
the foundation and conditions the superstructure of
knowledge as it is the work done by the laborers
who simply adjust the materials. Besides, the
Rational Sciences are the products of the Reason —
the noblest of our mental faculties and the only one
that distinguishes man as a being differing in kind
from the lower animals.
The value of a knowledge of the Rational Sciences
appears further in the fact that herein are found
properly discriminated and expressed, all our Pri
mary ideas without which all truth would be con
tingent, all beauty passing, all goodness relative —
without which there would be no ground for a
belief in a future life or in the existence of God.
396 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
It might be added, too, that their value appears in
their relation to the Fine Arts. The Fine Arts are the
efforts the Reason makes to realize its ideal forms.
They impart their full meaning to him alone who
can read the pure sentiment pictured on the canvas,
enshrined in the marble, or uttered forth in poetry
and music.
2 . The Va lue of t lie Rationa I Scien ces in their Relations
to other Sciences. — The study of the Empirical Sciences
exclusively is apt to exert an evil influence upon the
mind. Accustomed to seek a cause for every effect,
the otudent of these sciences is easily led to doubt
the freedom of the will or the existence of a great
First Cause. He cannot be made to understand
how there can be an Unconditioned Being; and if
he adopt any views at all concerning religion it will
most likely be those of the Pantheist or the Fat^ist.
No one by walking in the treadmill of the Formal
Sciences can ever do more than demonstrate the
particular truths that lie embodied in the general
truths which he accepts without inquiry as to their
source or nature. The stream of demonstration can
never rise higher than its fountain.
The Rational Sciences constitute the bases of all
other sciences. Unless grounded upon such bases,
these sciences would be like floating vessels with no
anchors. Unsubstantial as they may seem to the
unthinking, all our knowledge rests upon the
intuitions of the Reason. Take these from under
the Empirical or Formal Sciences and beautiful
parts might still remain, but there could be no
scientific systems. Like the crumbling ruins of an
INSTKUCTION IN EATIONAL SCIENCES. 39?
ancient temple, they would lie scattered in dispro-
portioned and disordered fragments. There must
be conditioning principles for all perceptions, for
ail judgments, for all reasonings ; and of such is the
object-matter of the Rational Sciences composed.
The intuitions of the Reason must work down to
meet the intuitions of the Senses working up. Take
away the Rational Sciences and you take away the
heart of the other sciences — take away that which
makes them sciences, that by which alone their facts
and reasonings can receive an intelligent interpre
tation.
3. The Value of the Rational Sciences as Means of
Discipline. — An end of study is discipline, what is
the disciplinary value of the Rational Sciences ?
These sciences concern the highest form of truth.
They require the deepest insight, the clearest per
ception, the most exact definition, and the most
careful reasoning of which the human mind is
capable. They alone have furnished the great
problems the solution of which has called out the
full mental strength of such Philosophers as Plato,
Kant, Cousin, and Hamilton.
These sciences employ all the powers of the mind.
In its pure form, truth is apprehended only by the
Reason, but in its applied form all the mental facul
ties may be engaged in dealing with it. But if the
discipline to be derived from the study of the Ra
tional Sciences, appertains to the Reason alone, no
object in education can be higher than the develop
ment of that faculty. By it there is revealed to man
a world of truth, beauty, and goodness ; by it he ia
34
898 INSTRUCTION" IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
distinguished from the brutes that perish, by it Lo
reigns sovereign of this world, and by it he claims
heirship to a higher one
The mental discipline resulting from the study of
Language comes in good part from the relations of
Language to the Rational Sciences. This is more
emphatically true of the Formal Sciences ; and the
hardest questions that may be asked in connection
with the Empirical Sciences relate to ideas and not
to facts.
4. The Value of the Rational Sciences in preparing
the Mind to accept Eevealtd Truth. — Empirical Science
finds facts, classifies and generalizes them, but here
its work ends, as it can neither account for its facts
nor make its generalizations universal. To it nature
is but an endless chain of links. It can find neither
a beginning nor an end. In the view of the Induc
tive Philosophy, if the human mind is anything
different from matter, all its energizing is still sub
ject to the inexorable law of cause and effect.
According to it, there can be no free will, and, of
course no right and wrong, — no God, and, of course,
no inspiration, no revealed truth, no prophecy, no
miracles. Empirical Science is well worthy of study
in its own sphere, but it is incomplete by itself and
needs Rational Science as a complement.
The Formal Sciences accept necessary and uni
versal truths as facts, but make no inquiry as to
what they are or whence they come. They carefully
evolve from them particular principles relating to
space, and time, and the laws of thought, but neither
Mathematics nor Logic can solve the highest prob-
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 399
Jems of life. They are means, not ends. They
reveal truths, not truth. They treat of the Formal
above nature but the soul asks for the Real above
nature.
On the contrary, if we find a ground in the Reason
for faith in the doctrines of human responsibility,
the immortality of the soul, the existence of God,
the way is open for an intelligent acknowledgment
of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. Truth
does come into the mind without reasoning, whence?
May not God inspire it-? Or, may He not so sanc
tify the Reason that He can use it to utter forth
His counsel to a sinful world ? May not prophets
foretell future events, since from a certain standpoint
all truths are universal as to time ? And does not
the power of free origination render miracles not
only possible but necessary ?
A God in nature if such a conception can be
entertained, may be governed by the law^s of nature ;
but a God both in and above nature, from whom
nature came, must rule and regulate His works and
can in no wise be subject to the laws that govern
them. All skepticism has its root in an erroneous
or incomplete philosophy. The highest office of
the Reason is to believe without reasoning — to have
faith in things unseen — to look up like Stephen
through the opening Heavens and see revealed the
mysteries of God.
Before we can treat intelligently of methods of
teaching the Rational Sciences, we must characterize
their object-matter more definitely. This object-
matter consists, first, in Primary Ideas, or ideas of
4:00 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
the True, the Beautiful, and the Good ; second, in
Criteria, or standards by which may be determined
what is true, beautiful, and good ; third, in Axiomatic
Truths, or that body of principles from which deduc
tions and demonstrations are made ; fourth, in De
ductions and Demonstrations, or the processes of
evolving less general principles from those more
general, and of bringing new truths under principles
already established; fifth, in Applications, or the
adapting of abstract principles to concrete facts. It
is not pretended that the matter belonging to these
several classes is entirely distinct, but the classifica
tion will be found convenient. Strictly considered,
the Rational Sciences embrace only the matter indi
cated by the first three classes.
1. PRIMARY IDEAS. — I do not think therb are any
principles in the mind that are strictly innate. There
are doubtless innate forces and laws governing these
forces, but we never become conscious of them as
principles except upon the occasion of some experi
ence. An idea is the result of two factors — a sub
ject thinking and an object thought. But whilo
this is true as to the origin of intuitive principles,
we are constantly making use of these principles in
ways which show that they necessarily transcend all
possible experience and therefore cannot be derived
from experience. As soon as we understand what
parallel lines are we know that such lines can never
meet although wye cannot follow them to the end.
A single act of dishonesty is sufficient to suggest the
principle that all dishonesty is wrong. In ordinary
inductions many concurrent facts must exist before
INSTKUCTION II* KATIONAL SCiENCES.
we are safe in inferring a principle, and then we are
not quite sure that the principle extends beyond the
facts investigated. Here one fact suffices to bring
up before the mind a universal and necessary prin
ciple. If a body of such principles exist, it follows
that there must be a source in the mind out of which
they come or out of which comes the power to re
cognize them. This source we call the Reason, and
its legitimate products, its intuitions, we call Primary
Ideas — Primary, because arising simultaneously with
experience, it is only by their means that experience
can be understood. God made the universe after
archetypal ideas in His mind, and so our Primary
Ideas give form to all we know and to all we do.
These Primary Ideas may be arranged as previ
ously shown into three categories, the True, the
Beautiful, and the Good. A final synthesis may
unite them, but practically it is best to consider
them separately, marking, as they do, the triune
nature of man, and pointing, as perhaps they may,
to a higher Trinity.
For information as to the number, nature, and re
lations of these Primary Ideas, students must search
-works on Metaphysics. Our purpose is to charac
terize them only so far as is necessary to make
understood what we have to say concerning the
methods of teaching the sciences of whose object-
matter they form a part.
The idea of the true gives law to the Intellect.
The Reason discovers directly only necessary truth,
truth the opposite of which cannot be conceived,
but such truth furnishes the conditions under which
all contingent truth is made to appear. The trutt 9
34*
402 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
of all the sciences rest ultimately in the higher
truths reached by the insight of the Reason.
The idea of the Beautiful gives law to the Feel
ings. An object is noticed, say a rose, and in addi-
lion to those of its qualities which immediately
effect the senses, it is found to possess something
which leads us to pronounce it beautiful. What
is that something? and whence the power that
reveals it? To the first question no answer will
be attempted here ; but to the second no hesitation
is felt in saying that the source of the idea of the
Beautiful is in the Reason. We discover Beauty as
we discover truth by means of an original power
with which God has endowed us. The beauty of a
particular object may seem to result from an anal
ysis of objective properties, but further considera
tion will lead to the conclusion that the idea of the
Beautiful, like the idea of the True, is not derived
from but is necessary to experience ; and that it
furnishes the forms with which all beauty corre
lates. We are able, indeed, not only to criticise the
beauties of nature, but to create ourselves forms of
beauty and express them in a manner calculated to
awaken emotions of the Beautiful in all beholders.
The idea of the Good gives law to the Will. A
child knows but cannot be taught what is good.
Without an idea of the Good native to the mind,
the distinction of right and wrong would be as
impossible to a man as to a brute. The idea of
right and wrong cannot be a generalization of con
sequences, because it appears full formed on the
first occasion. The Reason issues forth a voice to
all who will listen to it demanding spiritual excel-
INSTRUCTION" IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. i03
Jence — demanding love to man and love to God.
There are appetites-, passions, propensities ever
tempting men to wrong-doing, ever leading them
down to degradation and ruin ; but the Spirit is at
war with these influences of the flesh, it warns men
of danger, and points out the way to life, light,
and love.
2. THE CRITERIA. — How are we to measure what
is true, beautiful, and good? "What is truth?'*
asked Pontius Pilate of Christ when brought be
fore him, and the problem has been propounded
thousands of times before and since. So, too, the
questions, what is beauty ? and what is goodness ?
have occupied a large place in the investigations of
speculative Philosophers. It is not our intention
to consider here the different theories which have
been presented respecting the measure of truth, the
standard of taste, or the rule of right. It appears
to me, however, that these Criteria are neither
found in the Objective nor the Subjective, but in
the relation between the two. If I might venture
to suggest a common Criterion for estimating truth,
beauty, and goodness, I would do it in these words:
CONFORMITY OF OBJECT AND IDEA. Expressed with
reference to each, it should be stated as follows : The
measure of truth is conformity of the Objective with the
Idea of the True ; the Standard of beauty is confer-
mity of the Objective with the Idea of the Beautiful ;
and the rule of right is conformity of the Objective with
the Idea of the Good. With God there must be com
plete conformity of object and idea, but with man
this conformity can never be complete, because he
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
cannot comprehend the Absolute and the Infinite.
We know, indeed, that there must be a Being
having unconditioned perfections, but we cannot
by searching find Him out. The Eeason is the
light of the soul — the spark of Divinity within us ;
but it is still human Reason with finite powers.
3. AXIOMATIC TRUTHS. — An Axiomatic Truth is
a self-evident, necessary, and universal principle,
known to be true by intuition. Such truths under
the names of Axioms, Canons, Maxims, Rules,
furnish the foundation upon which all the sciences
rest. The whole body of Axiomatic Truths belongs
to the Rational Sciences. It is the province of
these sciences to discover them, to test them, and
to arrange them into classes. Those which are
evolved from the idea of the True and can be
tested by the measure of truth belong to Philo
sophy ; those which are evolved from the idea of
the Beautiful and can be tested by the standard of
beauty belong to ^Esthetics ; and those which are
evolved from the idea of the Good and can be
tested by the rule of right belong to Ethics. Lists
of such principles as are considered to belong to
each of these sciences respectively might be given,
but they are not essential to the purpose of a work
like this.
4. DEDUCTIONS AND DEMONSTRATIONS. — The Deduc
tions and Demonstrations of Philosophy are those
of Mathematics, Logic, Physics, which are, in tho
sense now contemplated, branches of it.
The Deductions and Demonstrations which relate
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 405
to the laws of taste, or the cannons of criticism con
stitute an important part of ^Esthetics.
The Deductions and Demonstrations which relate
to the rules which govern human conduct belong to
Ethics.
All Deductions and Demonstrations are essentially
the same, and, having explained their nature on a
preceding page, it is unnecessary to repeat it here.
5. APPLICATIONS. — Philosophy has its applications
in the applications of all the sciences. The wise
recognize in every single truth the evidence of a
greater truth which involves it, and trace the most
general of all truths directly to their source in the
Reason. The Reason, if rightly used, carries the
thoughtful inquirer up to God, who placed it mid
way, as it were, between earth and Heaven, where,
not too distant to preside over the affairs of men, it
could still see the glories of the Promised Land
afar off.
^Esthetics has its applications in all that is beau
tiful in nature and art. No enumeration can be
made of the beauties of nature. They are found
everywhere, above, beneath, and around us. Then
we nave Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Poetry,
Music — what tongue can picture the beauties which
they express? But neither nature nor art can fur
nish a type of beauty so perfect as that which may
be seen in a beautiful life.
Ethics has its applications in what relates to
human rights and duties. These have reference to
all the relations of life, in the family, school, state,
and church. Ethics teaches men how to live,
406 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
Religion prepares them for a state of immortality
beyond the grave.
Thus would I construct into a system the object-
matter of the Rational Sciences. In so doing, I
desire to detract nothing from the importance or the
dignity of other sciences. I am profoundly con
vinced, however, that all the sciences point upward
toward a centre, and that that centre is the Reason ;
and I am as profoundly convinced that the Reason
points upward to a Source, and that that Source is
God.
It needs not now that much space be taken up in
discussing the methods of teaching the sciences
which have just been characterized. A teacher who
understands them, and enters upon the work of in
struction with a love for it, can hardly be mistaken
as to the methods to be adopted.
All the education a child can receive in the direc
tion of the Rational Sciences, is to increase his
experience. He should be allowed every oppor
tunity of seeing what is true, beautiful, arid good ;
and his own heart should be kept pure that his
sight may be free from distortion. A child can
perceive truth, beauty, and goodness, and enjoy
their contemplation long before he can analyze the
powers or the process by which he does it, just as
he can see long before he can understand the philo
sophy of vision. No department of education can
be nobler than that which opens up to the young
these sources of the purest enjoyment earth can
furnish, and from which their minds and hearts can
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 407
be filled with images of perfection that will ever
tend to elevate and ennoble them ; but this kind of
education is rather a training than a teaching pro
cess ; and, in its details, a discussion of it belongs
more appropriately to " Methods of Culture" than
to " Methods of Instruction."
Primary Ideas must be practically operative in the
mind before their existence or potency can be recog
nized. A child cannot begin to think without their
agency being involved in the process. A child
knows that his mother's face to-day is the same face
that bent over him yesterday; that another face
differing from his mother's is not hers ; that if the
stove is hot it cannot be cold ; and that if his hand
is burned against the stove, something burned it;
and, in these simple acts, may be recognized the
great Fundamental Laws of Thought as stated by
Logicians — laws according to which all thinking is
done. But these laws have their ground in the
Reason — in the idea of the True. So, too, a child
is pleased with what is beautiful, and can determine
what is good at a very early age ; thus showing that
the ideas of the Beautiful and the Good, as well as
of the True, have a potential existence in his mind.
But while these ideas are operative in the mind
of a child, and thus become an important element
to be considered by the educator, no formal instruc
tion can be given in respect to them before the
mind is well matured. When old enough to notice
what passes in his own mind, and to philosophize
concerning it, the student may be taught to distin
guish Primary Ideas, to investigate their nature and
relations, and to arrange them into clashes. These
408 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
ideas are things to be observed and discriminated
by the powers of internal perception. The mode
of investigating them does not differ, as I suppose,
from that followed in the investigation of the objects
of sense ; but the mind has great difficulty in study
ing its own products, and especially those which are
as deeply hidden and as much beyond the power of
analysis as those now under consideration. !N"o
forms of words, no analogical illustrations will con
vey to the pupil's mind clear instruction concerning
such principles. He must use his own insight to
detect them, his own powers of observation to in
dividualize and characterize them. All he can learn
of them must be realized in his own experience, or
his knowledge will consist only of skeleton forms
with nothing to fill them. It requires long, careful,
tiresome labor to reach down into the mind's deepest
self and study the secret foundations of knowledge;
but all who possess the ability and the patience to
accomplish the work will be well repaid.
The most a teacher can do for a pupil in these
abstruse regions of thought is to lead him from the
concrete to the abstract, from the limited to the
unlimited, from the conditioned to the uncondi
tioned. For example, take the idea of space. The
pupil knows what constitutes a particular space, he
can gradually add body to body until his idea of
space is vastly expanded, and then, perhaps, he may
rise to the comprehension of that space which con
tains the universal whole of things. The idea of
perfection may be communicated by leading the
pupil from one object to another, each more perfect
TNSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 409
than the preceding. These examples will serve ibr
all cases as all are alike.
It ought to be remarked that our Primary Idea*,
as a whole, have not been carefully studied by Phi
losophers. A master-mind is needed to present
them in an order suitable for study.
Little agreement exists among writers as to the
Criteria by which we determine what is true, beau
tiful, or good. Practically, however, there is less
diversity of opinion, and men will coincide in pro
nouncing a thing true, beautiful, or good, who will
differ as to the principles which guide their judg
ments. Here, as elsewhere, we can see more clearly
with our eyes of sense than with our eyes of Reason.
In teaching, therefore, it seems best, as has been
already intimated, to acquaint pupils with things
that are true, beautiful, and good — to widen their
experience, as much as possible, in respect to nature,
art, and life, before directing their attention to the
abstract, ideal standards of perfection which the
Reason furnishes. It is, indeed, only after such
experience that any one can duly appreciate the
noblest power God has given to men — the power
of discriminating truth from error, beauty from
deformity, right from wrong.
It has been stated that the common Criterion for
determining truth, beauty, and goodness is Con
formity of Object and Idea. This Idea is a direct
product of the Reason ; and in its abstract form is
perfect and alike in all individuals. The Reason
admits no culture ; it sees, like the eye, at once and
correctly; it is never inconsistent with itself. But
the faculties that take cognizance o? the Object arc
85
410 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
liab/e to err. It is scarcely possible for an Object to
be so presented or represented to the mind as to
stand out clear in its essential properties and rela
tions. Hence men differ in regard to what is true,
beautiful, and good, because their knowledge is im
perfect. Practically, there never can be a complete
conformity of object and idea; and, practically, each
man has his own standard of perfection. His is
the most perfect standard who possesses the highest
culture. A child or a savage must have a low
standard. It is the business of education, as applied
here, to make observation more exact, the memory
more tenacious, the imagination more faithful, the
judgment more true, to set things in their proper
light, to free thinking from all imperfections, to
prepare the way for the Reason ; and then will
appear truth, beauty, and goodness in all the per
fection which a human mind can appreciate.
Evolved out of Primitive Ideas and tested by the
Criteria of the Reason, are Axiomatic Truths. These
principles are operative in the mind from the first
dawning of intelligence. No experience is possible
without them, and yet it is only by means of expe
rience that we become conscious of their existence,
or can give them articulate expression. They have
been called "generalized intuitions," and, perhaps,
this name designates their genesis with sufficient
clearness, as it certainly points out the mode of
teaching them. With ordinary experience, Axiom
atic Truths are recognized at once as self-evideLt
and necessary; but they cannot be so recognized
without a certain degree of experience. It ought
to be added, however, that Axiomatic Truths are
INSTIL ol'ION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES. 411
generalizations of an entirely different kind from
those of the Empirical Sciences — the latter simply
embrace what has been experienced, while the
former transcend all possible experience.
Dr. M'Cosh, in discussing the nature of the truths
now under consideration, uses the following language
not less valuable to the Philosopher than suggestive
to the Teacher. uThe principle" (an Axiomatic
Truth) "thus discovered and enunciated is properly
a metaphysical one ; it is a truth above sense, a
truth of mind, a truth of reason. It is different in
its origin and authority from the general rules
reached by experience, such as the law of gravita
tion, or the law of chemical affinity, or the law of
the distribution of animals over the earth's surface.
These latter are the mere generalizations of experi
ence necessarily limited ; they hold good merely in
the measure of our experience, and as experience
can never reach all possible cases, so the rule can
never be absolute ; we can never say there may not
be exceptions. Laws of the former kind are of a
higher or deeper nature, they are the generalizations
of convictions carrying necessity with them, and a
consequent universality in their very nature. They
are entitled to be regarded as in an especial sense
philosophic principles, being the ground to which
we come when we follow any S3Tstem of truth suf
ficiently far down, and competent to act as a basis
on which to erect a superstructure of science. They
are truths of our original constitution, having the
sanction of Him who hath given us our constitution,
and graven them there with His own finger."
" It is ever to be borne in mind, however, that the
i!2 INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
detection and exact expression of these intuitive
principles is always a delicate and is often a most
difficult operation. Did they fall immediately under
the eye of consciousness, the work would be a com
paratively easy one ; we should only have to look
within in order to see them. But all that conscious
ness can notice are their individual exercises mixed
up with one another and with all other actings of
the mind. It requires a microscopic eye and much
analytic skill, to detect the various fibres in the com
plex structure, and to follow each through its various
windings and entanglements to its source."
o c?
Reaching the stage of Deductions and Demonstra
tions, the Rational Sciences become virtually as to
methods, Formal Sciences, the methods of teaching
which have already been treated of.
Neither need much be said in this connection
concerning the methods of teaching the Applications
of the Rational Sciences, because wherever principles
are applied to facts the process is the same.
The work of teaching must commence with Ap
plications. All a child does he is impelled to do by
some principle operative upon him. When he first
learns to recognize truth, beauty, or goodness, he
does it by applying principles active in his mind but
of which he is unconscious. In the field of Philoso
phy, let the teacher present to him truth as it exists
in the sciences, at first simple, afterwards, more
complex. In the field of ^Esthetics, let the teacher
show him objects beautiful, grand, sublime, and
teach him to love them. In the field of Ethics, let
the teacher make constant appeals to his conscience,
INSTRUCTION IN RATIONAL SCIENCES.
quickening it by exercise in determining right and
wrong.
Thus growing in his knowledge of what is true,
beautiful, and good, there will come a time when
turning his mind in upon itself, the student can be
hold those great, universal, and necessary principles
which condition all truth, all beauty, and all good
ness; and, armed with these, he can then go forth,
not as a child using intellectual instincts simply, but
as a man applying the Divine gift of Reason, to
interpret the world of matter, of mind, of life.
85*
CHAPTER VI.
INSTRUCTION IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
HISTORY describes the past condition and actions
of men, and investigates the causes which have
operated to produce them. History may be thus
either a Narrative of Facts or a System of Philo
sophy, and methods of teaching it must be chosen
adapted to the different kinds of object-matter to
which they are Ipplied. We will therefore speak,
first, of Methods of Teaching the Facts of History ;
and, afterwards, of Methods of Teaching the Philo
sophy of History.
I. Methods of Teaching the Facts of History.
The Facts of History comprise the sum of the
events that man has brought about in all the teem
ing centuries since first he inhabited the earth. The
number is beyond the power of the imagination to
conceive, and Historians do not attempt to enumer
ate them. They describe some of the grandest and
most interesting features of a nation's life, and
leave the rest to be inferred or forgotten.
The great Masters of History relate how and by
whom nations were settled ; how they were pro
tected in infancy, and what strength and prosperity
they attained in manhood ; and if fallen they have,
how they fell. They tell the story of their civil
THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 415
and political affairs, their commerce, manufactures,
agriculture, arts, sciences, and domestic life — their
provisions for education, systems of religion, codes
of laws, and forms of government. They describe
the results of their wars at home and abroad, the
revolutions through which they have passed, their
manly resistance to tyranny on the one hand or
their tame submission to slavery on the other, and
those great throes which every healthy nation makes
to cast off the evil influences that, cancer-like,
threaten to eat away its life or those spasmodic
death-struggles which mark a decaying nation's
downfall.
Such are the Facts of History, and we will con
sider: 1. The nature of these Facts. 2. The pecu
liar difficulties which are encountered in their study.
3. A proper course of study in respect to them.
4. General suggestions in regard to teaching them.
1 . THE NATURE OF THE FACTS OF HISTORY. — Suf
ficient has been said elsewhere in regard to the
method of imparting to a child a knowledge of
ordinary facts ; but Historical facts generally differ
from other facts in several important particulars.
Historical facts as taught in our schools must
nearly always be furnished by testimony. A large
number of the facts which constitute the natural
sciences can either be observed directly or verified
by experiment. The pupil is not compelled to rely
upon what others say ; he can examine for himself.
In history, however, the case is different ; his senses
are of little use ; he must rely upon authority.
Historical facts are connected by synchronal or
416 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
chronological relations, and not by relations of kino
or quality. The reverse of this is the case with the
natural sciences, and it must constitute a difference
between these sciences and History.
Historical facts are the acts of Free Agents. All
else is controlled by inexorable laws — moves only
as it is moved by forces acting from without ; but
man is a law unto himself, and acts of his own will.
These differences cannot be safely overlooked in
teaching History.
2. THE PECULIAR DIFFICULTIES WHICH ARE EN
COUNTERED IN THE STUDY OF THE FACTS OF HISTORY.
— Owing to the nature of the events recorded in
History and the circumstances controlling their nar
ration, peculiar difficulties are encountered by the
student in obtaining a correct knowledge of them.
These events occurred in the Past — many of them
in the distant Past, and this alone is calculated to
cast doubt upon their authenticity; but, in addition
to this, when we consider the proneness of mankind
to misrepresent their own actions, the prejudices
of Historians, and their too often scanty and unre
liable information, and the influences which may
have subsequently tended to pervert what was origi
nally fairly represented, we may well wronder whether
there is any truth at all in History.
Writers upon the Natural Sciences lessen the
labor of learners by making careful classifications —
classes, orders, genera, species. Without this, the
boldest student would hardly undertake the task
of mastering the vast multitude of facts which
these sciences now comprehend. The Facts of
THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 417
History do not admit similar scientific classificatio?i,
Cotemporaneous events can be grouped together,
or an order of succession can be followed in nar
rating Historical facts ; but that power of associa
tion, so valuable to men of science, which enables
us to recall one thing from its resemblance to some
thing else, cannot be used to much advantage in
the study of History.
Science in almost all her departments reveals a
series of effects and causes — conditions and condi
tioning. In nature, like causes produce like effects
regardless of time or place. Hence the truths dis
covered by the ancient philosophers are valid to
day. The events of History are not uncaused.
There may be chains of causation linking all of
them together. But he who regards the Facts of
History i:i the same light with which he regards
the facts of other sciences, will but poorly compre
hend them. Man has a spiritual, as well as a mate
rial, nature; and this enables him to move against,
as well as with, nature. The building of a house,
the making of a law, the fighting of a battle, are
facts, very different in meaning, from the consolida
tion of a rock, the uniting of an acid and an alkali,
or the rushing of a storm. The former class of
facts are the results of a free choice, while the
latter class are the effects of imperative laws.
These instances sufficiently exemplify the prin
cipal peculiar difficulties with which a student will
meet in the study of History. The want of their
appreciation has led both teachers and learners into
the most serious errors.
4-18 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
C. A COURSE OF STUDY IN THE FACTS OF HISTORY,
— If all other studies were neglected, a life-time is
much too short to acquaint oneself fully with all
the Facts of History which have been thought
worthy of being recorded. Our schools can permit
their pupils to devote but a small portion of their
time to the study of History. Hence, the impor
tance of the inquiry as to what parts of History
should be studied; and what order should be
observed in studying them.
The sources of Historical information open to
the student, may be classified as follows: first,
Detailed Histories. By these I mean Histories which
contain a full account of some particular nation,
state, or period of time. Some of these Histories
are very voluminous. Second, Universal Histories.
Universal Histories are such as profess to give an
account of all the most important Historical facts
in one connected narrative. They differ greatly in
extent, the number of volumes in some instances
being but a few, and in others extending to more
than a hundred. Third, Compends of History. These
contain brief outlines of some of the less interest
ing or less important parts of History, with fuller
details respecting other parts. The most extensive
Compends of History correspond in fullness and
nature of details with the briefest Universal Histo
ries. Fourth, Fragments of History. This class ia
intended to embrace the Biographies of individuals,
Descriptions of particular places or events, Accounts
of travels, voyages, &c. They constitute the mate
rials of which History is made up, and may therefore
be considered Fragments of History.
THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 419
I will now indicate a course of study in History
which will be found practical, and, I think, adapted
to the condition of our schools.
The first Historical matter I would place in the
hands of children to be read or studied would be
what I have denominated Fragments of History.
Children commence learning all things by frag
ments ; and, if written in a suitable style, they will
read the kind of writings now designated with re
markable avidity. Of this, the extensive sale of such
works as Goodrich's and Abbott's Histories, and the
Rollo Books, is a sufficient proof. This matter, in
the form of voyages, travels, biographical sketches,
historical narratives, may be arranged in lessons for
reading in schools, it may be studied and recited, or
it may be read at home. I cannot too earnestly in
sist that it is the duty of parents and teachers to en
courage children in a course of reading of the kind
now referred to. They can accumulate in this way
a vast store of facts, before they reach the age of
twelve, and before this age they are generally unable
to enter upon a more systematic course of study.
I would next require children to study in detail
the principal facts in the History of their native
land. ~No one can well do without this knowledge,
and to the citizen it seems indispensable. The law
ought to require the History of the United States to
be taught in all puplic schools. I am well aware
that the History of one country cannot be fully un
derstood without some knowledge of the Histories
of other countries with which it has been connected;
but teaching must begin somewhere, and less diffi
culty will be found in commencing with the History
420 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
of one's own country than with that of distant
conntries, or with general History. The reason is
that pupils are better acquainted with the events
that have transpired in their own country than with
those that have transpired in others, and are na
turally more anxious to increase their knowledge in
respect to the former than in respect to the latter.
A knowledge of the History of their own country
is about all that can be expected of pupils in our
common schools; but pupils in High Schools, Acade
mies, and Colleges should study a good Compend of
Universal History. This may be used as a text-book ;
but the teacher should enliven his instruction by
imparting many additional facts, and more Detailed
Histories should be at hand so that the pupils might
frequently refer to them. In this way, quite an ex
tensive knowledge of History can be acquired.
It does not frequently happen that the time allotted
to History will permit a more comprehensive course
than that now indicated ; but, if so, I would recom
mend the study of the Detailed Histories of those
Countries in which we feel the deepest interest,
which have exerted the greatest influence upon us,
or with which we are most closely connected.
Among these countries I need scarcely name Judea,
Greece, and Rome ; England, France, and Germany.
No one who aspires to be a scholar can neglect the
reading of the Histories of these Countries, if he be
under the necessity of pursuing the study by him
self. The Bible is the most important of all His
tories, since it is the History of God's dealings with
men. Its truth is for all nations, for all tongues,
and for all people.
THE FACTS OF HISTORY. 421
4. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO TEACHING
THE FACTS OF HISTORY. — There are two principal
methods of arrangement followed in writing works
on History, the Ethnographic and the Synchronistic.
The Ethnographic method narrates the History of a
particular race or nation, without reference to the
History of other races or other nations any further
than is necessary to illustrate or explain the main
design. Detailed Histories, in the sense I have
defined them, are Ethnographic in their method.
Following the Synchronistic method, an Historian
would group together and present in one view the
events of a particular era wherever they might have
occurred. Universal Histories and Compends of
Ilistory are usually arranged according to the Syn
chronistic method. The teacher will at once per
ceive that the best method to be followed in teaching
depends upon the object he desires to attain. When
written, Histories may be studied in a Progressive or
a Regressive order. It is evident that, if events are
arranged in a chronological order, we can either
ascend the scale thus formed or descend it — we can
either proceed from antecedents to consequents or
from consequents to antecedents. Teachers usually
follow the progressive order, and for beginners, at
least, it is the most natural and the most interest
ing. For advanced pupils and in reviews, I have
found the Regressive method productive of good
results.
A knowledge of Geography and Anthropology
are very essential to the intelligent study of Ilistory.
Geography treats of the physical features of the
earth, and the present condition of society ; and this
36
422 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
forms the basis upon which rest the Facts, and, in
part, the Philosophy of History. The known in
History is the Present, and the Past can hest be
understood by a comparison with it ; for the causes
that modif}r our social relations; give form to
Governments ; advance the interests of science, art,
education, and religion ; promote reformations, and
bring about revolutions — are the same now as in by
gone centuries. Anthropology treats of man — his
body, his mind, his relations to the world about
him ; and this science is even more intimately con
nected with the study of History than Geography.
Man lived History; it is a record of himself; and
can be understood only by understanding himself.
Says Emerson, " Of the universal mind each indi
vidual mind is one more incarnation. All its pro
perties consist in him. Each new fact in his private
experience flashes a light on what great bodies of
men have done, and the crises of his life refer to
national crises. Every revolution was first a thought
in one man's mind, and when the same thought
occurs to another man, it is the key to that era.
Every reform was once a private opinion, and when
it shall be a private opinion again, it will solve the
problem of the age. The fact narrated must cor
respond to something in me to be credible, or in
telligible."
The Historical facts communicated, and the man
ner of communicating them should be such as to
attract the attention and enlist the sympathy of the
class of pupils for whom the instruction is intended.
A Hume's or a Hallam's, a Gibbon's or a Guizot's
Histories are works unsuitable for children, both in
FACTS OF HISTORY. 423
matter and in style. It is a common error in our
schools to place Histories of the United States in
the hands of children who cannot appreciate the
facts contained in them, or understand the language
in which they are written. The best that can be
expected under such circumstances is the mere
memorized recitation of the words of the text-book.
Facts of History can be found adapted to pupils of
any age, and expressed in forms which render them
agreeable to every taste ; and the teacher who fails
to do his duty in selecting them can offer but a poor
excuse.
Our works on History should present a lively
picture of the Past. Even the best Histories con
tain much useless matter. It concerns us little to
know the lineage of kings and queens, the intrigues
of courts, or the plans of campaigns ; but it would
interest us much to be told how people in past times
built their houses, worked their fields, or educated
their children — what style of dress they wore, what
kind of food they eat, what books they read. We
want Encyclopedias and Gazetteers for reference,
and they may be full of dates, statistical tables, and
lists of names ; but school Histories should present
a true and life-like daguerreotype of things as they
w^ere — not a mere dead body with bones, muscles,
and nerves minutely described, but without any soul
in it There is no good reason why History should
not be as interesting to the young as Fiction. From
School Histories, let bald, dry facts be omitted ; let
the customs, manners, and doings of bygone people
^-life's quiet ongoings as well as its comedies and
tragedies, be described in vivid word-pictures, and
424 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
History will become a favorite study in all oui
schools.
History should be taught from a series of pro
gressive stand-points. In the History of every
nation, there are certain prominent events from
which, as centres, other minor events have seemed
to emanate, and to which they bear reference. These
Historical nuclei with their connected circumstances
should be minutely described, and, if well estab
lished in the learner's mind, he will recollect and
understand other less important events from their
relation to them. It is only of these great events
that we need to know the dates or the minute par
ticulars. It seems a useless waste of time and labor
to commit to memory a great number of dates to
be speedily forgotten. These centres of influence
in History do not exist simply in the History of
particular nations, but they mark certain periods in
the History of the world. The whole of human
life is exhibited in a great drama, containing a
series of connected and dependent Acts — each sepa
rated from the others by intervals of compara
tive rest.
The style of Historical narrative should be clear,
concise, and forcible. Long, elaborate, ornate sen
tences are out of place, at least, in Histories designed
for school text-books. It would be unnecessary to
make this suggestion, if the error it is intended to
point out were less general.
A knowledge of History can be turned to good
account in all the varied affairs of life; its study
furnishes valuable intellectual discipline, and for
the purposes of moral instruction its claimfl are of
THE FACTS OF HISTORY.
A higher order than those of any other branch of
learning. No better opportunity of awakening vir
tuous feelings can occur to the teacher than is pre
sented in the study of History, and it is nowise out
of place here to urge that judicious advantage be
taken of it. Moral examples have more influence
upon the young than moral precepts. History pre
sents many examples of good and great men and
women who honored by their noble deeds the age
and country in which they lived. The heart is
more easily moved to virtue by incidental than by
direct teaching; and the faithful teacher will not
fail to improve the occasions which so frequently
occur in reciting lessons in History by planting
moral seeds in the open hearts about him, well
knowing that they will germinate and eventually
produce rich fruit. No study is so useful in the
formation of character as History. In the study
of all other sciences pupils come into the possession
of interesting facts and valuable principles, but in
the study of History they see life. Great deeds are
done by beings like themselves, and they cannot
resist the desire to do like deeds. This cultivates
the will, forms character, makes men.
A teacher may be greatly aided in teaching
History by using suitable maps, charts, engravings,
and books for reference. The customs, manners,
works of art, &c., which characterize the nations
of the Past might be represented in a series of
views by means of a Magic Lantern or a Stereo
scope. An article of dress, an implement of war
fare, the fragment of a statue, a coin used cen
se*
426 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
turieu ago, if presented to illustrate a point in
History, would create much interest in the study.
II. Methods of Teaching the Philosophy of
History.
The preceding discussion has had reference to
the Facts of History and the methods of teaching
them. Until quite recently, the Facts of History
constituted the whole of History. In other depart
ments of study, investigations were pushed beyond
facts up to principles ; but the Historian seemed to
think his task well done when he had set in proper
array the actions of men and accompanied them
with such reflections as seemed to him calculated
either to interest or instruct his readers. It is not
hard to conceive why the science of History should
be later in its origin and slower in its growth than
other sciences. Its facts are less easily ascertained
and more difficult to verify; the causes of these
facts are many times so hidden as to be considered,
even by wise men, inscrutable; its generalizations
require broader views and a deeper insight; and its
ultimate formative principles are the most profound
which the human mind ever essayed to grapple.
Besides, in a hierarchy of the sciences, Historv
occupies the highest place. It extends its all-em
bracing principles around all science, all art, all
human conduct, and combines them into one organic
whole ; finds unity in the diversity of the creation :
and exhibits all things as the development of the
primal ideas after which God made them. A true
teacher will not stop when he has described the
facts of some historic era, and moralized upon
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 427
them. He will feel that something more is due
to students whom he desires to make thinkers than
to have them merely con life's fitful story, or gaze
at the strange drama man has acted upon the world's
broad stage.
The law of History has not "been fully ascertained,
data may now be wanting to ascertain it; but
although all Historical phenomena cannot be fol
lowed back to their primary causes or forward to
their ultimate effects, although no human intellect
can tell where the series of events began or when
it will end, to stop short of doing what may be
done, is to dwarf the intellect and take away much
that adds interest to the study of History.
If the condition of society is not the result of
chance, it must be due to the operation of laws.
"When these laws are ascertained and formed into
a system, they constitute the Philosophy of History.
Upon the nature of this Philosophy must depend
the methods of teaching it, and this consideration
will determine the order of the present discussion.
No argument will be entered upon here to dis
prove the doctrine of chance. The doctrine is
such that no one can entertain it whose mind is
able to comprehend even the most common con
nexions and uniformities which are presented in
the world about him. Nor is the doctrine more
applicable to the actions of men than to the works
of nature. In the latter case the regularities may
not be so apparent, but they are sufficiently so to
discard from the minds of all who rightly reflect
upon them, the idea of chance ; and, if otherwise,
428 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
each individual knows that he has, and generally
he can give, a reason, good or bad, for the acts he
has committed.
If human actions are not the result of blind
chance working from no motive and directed to
wards no end, they must be the effects of certain
causes — the consequents of certain antecedents,
and laws must rule the moral as well as t^e phy
sical world. Philosophy presents no more impor
tant and no more difficult problem than that which
relates to the origin of these laws. Solve this; and
there is solved the great problem of History — the
great problem of humanity.
The laws from whose operation human conduct
proceeds, may originate from three sources: 1st,
From conditions imposed by matter upon mind; 2d,
From conditions imposed by mind upon matter and upon
itself ; 3d, From conditions imposed by Crod upon both
matter and mind. Hence there can be three distinct
theories of History, or three methods of building
up a Philosophy of History ; and, as a matter of
fact, some authors have given great prominence
to the laws that originate from the first source
named, some to those which originate from the
second, and others to those which originate from
the third, and may thus be divided into three classes.
The theories resulting from this disposition of the
subject, may be termed, respectively, the Material
istic, the Spiritualistic, and the Theistic, Theories.
Some inquiries will be made concerning each in turn,
1. THE MATERIALISTIC THEORY. — The advocates
of the Materialistic Theory hold that all LumaD
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 429
conduct is to be accounted for by the influences
imposed upon the race by material agencies ; that
Free Will is a fiction ; that God's Providence is a
myth ; that the human mind may act according to
its own nature, but that its acts in all cases proceed
from causes like those which govern matter. His
tory judged by this theory is simply an Empirical
Science, built up in accordance with the Inductive
method. No self-originated principles are admitted.
All causes uncaused are denied. Events march on,
first as antecedents, then as consequents, uncon
trolled either by man or God. Facts are collected,
classifications formed, generalizations made, and
scientific anticipations indulged in, with as little
hesitation as in any other of nature's fields open for
exploration, and with as much confidence seemingly
in the applicability of the method made use of.
Mim is regarded as but a link in the endless chain
of being ; and, like any other link, fast in his place
— each thought, each feeling, each volition, each act,
necessitated by laws beyond his control. Human
actions are accounted for in the same way as the
fall hi;* of an apple, the growth of a plant, or the
build .ng of a beaver's dam. If God did create all
things in the beginning, His hand is nowhere now
apparent in the working world. If man was at first
BO made that he could choose between good and
evil, we have now no evidence that he exercises of
himself such a choice.
The best representative of the class of Historians
who have adopted this theory, is Heniy Thomas
Buckle ; and, that the reader may see for himself
what they are, I will present some of his leading
430 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
principles. 1st. The actions of men are caused by
their antecedents. 2d. These antecedents exist
either in the human mind or in nature. 3d. Those
which are found in the human mind do not result
from free-will, or from Providential interposition.
4th. The consciousness by which it is said we know
that the will is free, is extremely fallible. 5th. It is
gratuitous to assert that there is anything Provi
dential in History. 6th. That History is the modifi
cation of man by nature, and nature by man.
With respect to the last proposition, it is hard to
see how man can modify nature if he himself is
bound by laws over which he has no control, unless
it be in the same sense as a growth of trees, a school
of fish, or a herd of buffalo modifies nature, or one
part of nature modifies some other part. Allow
man will in liberty and admit a Superintending
Providence, and the problem of History might be
expressed thus : History is the modification of man
by nature, nature by man, and both by God. The
incomplete notion of the problem of History enter
tained by Buckle is pointed out in this amended
proposition ; what are considered his fundamental
errors will be pointed out as this discussion proceeds,
but the great fact, that nature modifies man, which
he so ably presents, and so richly exemplifies, must
now be recognized.
Bossuet says: "And, as in all concerns thf re is
that which prepares for them, that which determines
their occurrence, and that which causes them to
succeed, the true science of History is to observe
the latent tendencies which have prepared great
changes, and the important conjunctures which have
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 431
brought them into fact." When closely examined,
it will be found that nature has given rise to many
of these " latent tendencies which have prepared
great changes," and produced many of these " im
portant conjunctures which have brought them into
fact." The influences of nature upon man must
therefore engage the earnest attention of one who
desires to investigate the subtle laws that go to make
up the Philosophy of History. Among the agencies
most potent in their effects upon man, as mentioned
by Buckle, are climate, food, soil, and the general
aspects of nature. Others, as air, light, electricity,
might be added ; but, perhaps, the term climate,
used in a very general sense, may embrace them.
These agencies must have caused, to a great extent,
the differences that now characterize the inhabitants
of the earth: differences in size, form, features,
color ; differences in temperament and taste, in cus
toms and habits, in manners and morals, in science
and art, in religion. They must have done much
to prompt emigrations and direct them, to determine
the boundaries of nations, to control the employ
ments of the people, to point out the locations of
cities, to fix governmental institutions, to bring
about revolutions, to incite conquests, to foment
wars, to secure peace, and to give character to all
that belongs to human civilization. No one at all
acquainted with the present or past condition of the
race, can be at a loss to find abundant instances
illustrative of these effects.
Buckle infers from the regularity which is found
to prevail even with respect to the actions of men
whicc would seem least likely to be regular in their
432 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
occurrence, that these actions " are governed by the
etate of society in which they occur." Statistics
prove that nearly the same number of murders
take place every year, and that they are committed
in nearly the same way ; that there are about as many
suicides one year as another, and that about as many
use the same instrument for the purpose of self-
destruction ; that the number of marriages annually
contracted "is determined, not by the temper and
wishes of the individuals, but by large general facts,
over which individuals exercise no control ;" that
even the letters dropped into a Post-Office without
superscriptions one year, about equals those simi
larly neglected other years. Facts like these do
show in a surprising manner the influence upon
man of causes existing without him — causes that
can be ascertained only by investigating the facts.
Nature modifies man, and no correct solution of the
problem of History is possible wherein its influ
ences are not allowed for; but the gravest errors
have arisen frot*i ascribing to these influences effects
that other caure» have produced. For example, to
conclude that bemuse certain actions of men occur
with a £ood decree of uniformity in the same age
and nailon, that men never act from their own
accord ad free agents, is to draw a conclusion that
the facts will by no means warrant. If some of
our actions are regular, many more are irregular.
Each individual does things every day of his life
unlike others do them. New thoughts, new inven
tions, new discoveries in science and new works of
art appear, and moral and religious duties are dis
charged — all as the products of a self-originating
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 433
spirit. Men are all the time making choices, each
unlike the choices of other men ; but, in view of
this, because the sum of the particular choices
during one year may about equal the sum of the
particular choices for another year — though the
same persons may not do the choosing — are we to
conclude that no man makes his choice freely ? If
men are free to act, does it follow that many will
not act in the same way ? If all are necessitated
alike in their actions by causes existing without
them, why do not all perform like actions? It
decides nothing against the doctrine of free agency
to show that in the great aggregate of human ac
tions, men's choices — their likes and dislikes, their
similarities and diversities— are uniform while their
actions as individuals greatly differ ; for this is just
what would happen in the case of like beings who
act partly from causes within themselves and partly
from causes without themselves, but is wholly inex
plicable upon the ground that all human actions are
constrained by fixed laws. Social statistics may in
dicate the operation of general laws working inde
pendently of the human will ; but all this, when
well understood, is entirely compatible with indi
vidual freedom.
It is a legitimate mode of inquiry for the Historian
to study the existing state of society in any or in
all countries, to compare it with past states of
society, and then to generalize into laws the uni-
iormities, or correlations, which may be found to
prevail. By such investigations it has been ascer
tained that as society advances men are distinguished
more by mental and less by bodily qualities ; that
37
134: INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
military occupations precede industrial ; thaf men
first are disposed to explain phenomena by superna
tural agencies, next by metaphysical abstractions,
and finally by observing the laws that govern them;
that forms of government, modes of worship, the
state of education and the arts, correlate with the
condition of the cotemporaneous civilization. These
and other such laws have been stated and expounded
by the illustrious French Philosopher, M. Comte, and
his followers. It is evident, however, that all these
laws are simply the generalizations of eiFects, and
constitute at the best but a body of Empirical
truths. How can we account for the uniformities
and correlations that are thus generalized ? Thia
is the great problem of the Philosophy of History,
Materialists think they can do so by estimating the
influences of circumstances, matter and mind acting
as natural causes; but while they succeed in ex
pounding one of its elements they entirely fail as
we have seen in solving the main problem.
2. THE SPIRITUALISTIC THEORY. — It has been
amply shown that men may be moved to act by the
circumstances which surround them. No one seems
to doubt that conditioned motives to action such as
instincts and appetites, originate in his own naturo.
But the advocates of the Spiritualistic Theory of
the Philosophy of History maintain that man was
created with the power of choosing good or evil,
that there is a sense in which the will is free, and
though it may never act without a reason, it always
acts with an open alternative. If motives to action
can originate spontaneously in man's spiritual ua-
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 485
ture, a full recognition of the fact will introduce a
potent element into the Philosophy of History
which has no place in a Natural Philosophy.
It is not proper here to enter upon a lengthy
argument in favor of the doctrine that the Will
finds motives within the spiritual nature which
prompt it to act in contravention of all animal
influences from within or physical influences from
without, that it may reject all meaner influences
and act solely with reference to absolute ends such
as beauty, truth, and right, which are intuitions of
the Reason, and cannot be derived from experience.
Happily, however, little argument is needed, for
the universal human consciousness affirms that the
Will is free in the sense we have defined it to be so;
men are everywhere held to be responsible for their
conduct, and experience, legislation, language, all
bear witness to this freedom.
But our consciousness is extremely fallible, asserts
Buckle. Men believe one thing at one time, and
the opposite at another. We are conscious at times
of the existence of spectres and phantoms. This
objection to the validity of consciousness arises from
a mistaken view of its office. Consciousness merely
reveals what exists or takes place in the mind. If
I entertain one opinion to-day, and another to-mor
row, my consciousness remains the same, assuring
me that I entertained a certain opinion and changed
it. The change of opinion takes place in the intel
lect. The outer senses deceive us in regard to
spectres and phantoms, not the consciousness, which
only informs us as to what impressions are made
upon these senses. Indeed, we know that we see or
INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
hear things only by being conscious of the seeing
or hearing; for all we know of anything we are
dependent upon the consciousness, and, if the con
sciousness cannot be relied upon, the foundation of
all knowledge gives way, and we have nothing but
chaos. The consciousness, then, which reveals
what takes place in the mind, enables us to know
that there is a power within us which originates
ends that no experience can account for, nor any
logic discover, and that these ends may be freely
chosen as against all other ends, come from whence
they may. It is only by choosing the pure and
noble ends furnished by the Reason that man lifts
himself above the world of sense and expediency,
and realizes that higher life — that true liberty, for
which he was destined.
The abstract idea of History is that of a develop
ment. Plants and animals come into being and
mature by an unfolding process, and analogy would
lead us to presume the same of man. We know
enough of History to say that its facts are connected
together organically, that they are a growth not an
aggregation ; and this indicates, if it does not prove,
their systematic evolution. Nothing moves unless
set in motion, so development cannot begin without
the application of power. Whence this power?
Primarily, from the Creator ; but man was created
in toe image of his Maker, and hence he too is a
source of power, and the Historic development of
his actions is modified by, if not mainly based upon,
his own native forces. Unlike the plant or the
animal, man can find a reason for many of his
actions within himself: he may choose evil, and a
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 437
growth of evil actions will be the result; he may
choose good, and his life will yield abundant har
vests of rich fruit. As a matter of fact, he did
choose evil, fell, and the consequent disasters have
weighed heavily upon the world; but he ma}- accept
the sacrifice made for sinners, rise again, and in a
life of purity, fulfill the design of his creation. The
growth of our animal nature is a development, but
the conditions are all imposed from without; the
perfection of the spiritual nature is a development
but one of a wholly different kind, and arises from
the realization in life, of the ideal conceptions of
beauty, truth and holiness, which can only be in
spired from within. From the antagonism of these
two natures — antagonistic only on account of the
disturbing element of sin — comes the warfare be
tween the flesh and the spirit, which is to be over
come at last by the reconciliation of man to God.
There is nothing in this view \vhich does not harmo
nize with the idea of development. Our acts may be
evolved partly from the animal and partly from the
spiritual nature, may be partly good and partly evil,
without necessitating the disruption of their organic
unity. The same stream in one part of its course
may have its waters wild, turbid, and foul; while
further on, they may become calm, and the sediment
that rendered them impure sinking to the bottom,
may leave them clear and pure. To one, therefore,
who can take in the vast sweep of the Creator's
plan, there can be no conflicting potentialities, and
no valid argument can be brought against the theory
that allows Free Agency to man from this source.
It does not follow because man originates an end
37*
438 INSTBCJCTIOtf IN HISTOKICAL SCIENCES.
in his own Reason with reference to which he acts,
that a Science of History is impossible. Quite
otherwise, unless he acts in view of such an end,
there can be no true science of anything. Besides,
each individual life in the unity of its several stages,
exemplifies the life of the race, and self-reflection
will enable one to solve some of the most profound
problems in History ; and no man who reflects about
himself has ever failed to acknowledge his responsi
bility for his acts — a fact totally irreconcilable with
the doctrine of Necessity.
Unless a spontaneous cause be found in the human
mind, it seems impossible to account for the influ
ence upon society exerted by belief and thought.
Says Mill : " Every considerable advance in material
civilization has been preceded by an advance in
knowledge ; and when any great social change has
come to pass, a great change in the opinions and
modes of thinking of society had taken place. Poly
theism, Judaism, Christianity, Protestantism, the
negative philosophy of modern Europe, and its posi
tive science— each of these has been a primary agent
in making society what it was at each successive
period, while society was but secondarily instru
mental in making them, each of them (so far as
causes can be assigned for its existence) being mainly
an emanation, not from the practical life of the
period, but from the state of belief and thought
during sometime previous." Can it be supposed
that "belief and thought" from which come such
results are attributable to the ordinary operation of
physical causes upon mind? Can man move only
with the wheel of nature? Did God make thu
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 439
world and then withdraw forever His creating nand ?
All we know of social phenomena seem to me to
furnish a negative response.
The Philosophy of History has been more care
fully studied in Germany than in any other country,
and as the subject is one of the most vital impor
tance, I will present the opinions of a few of the
greatest German thinkers in illustration of the views
here taken.
Kant says : " Reason is the faculty which furnishes
the principles of cognition a priori." If principles
are furnished at all by the reason, it is evident that
these principles may become objects of desire —
ends of action, and thus move the will so to act that
the conduct may be in conformity thereto. And,
after all, the freedom of the will must be determined
by determining the sources of knowledge. It is well
ascertained that for every act of Knowing there may
be an act of Feeling, and consequently an act of
Willing. We know through the senses, and of
course our conduct is influenced by the world of
sense ; but if the mind has power to cognize princi
ples evolved from itself — and we have previously
shown that it has this power — then, may the con
duct be influenced by these principles, and man
either is or may become a Free Agent. Had Kant
written a Philosophy of History, he would not have
overlooked the effects attributable to the autonomic
potency of the human spirit.
Fichte's system consists of a Theoretical and a
Practical division. The fundamental axiom of his
Practical division is, " That the not-me is affirmed
us determined by the me." This proposition, whether
4-iO INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
true or false, indicates to those who understand it^
with sufficient clearness, the author's opinions in
regard to the Historic element now under discus
sion. But his views are further expressed by Morell
as follows : " The mind has a purely rational nature,
by virtue of which it sets before itself its own aim,
the object of its own free activity. To deny this
would be to deny the very existence of mind itself:
to ask why it is so, would be to ask why truth is
truth." Fichte's "Idea of Universal History" is
that of a free spirit struggling to surmount obsta
cles of its own creation, " seeking to bring into
actual existence all that lies potentially in its con
sciousness." This constitutes his "world-plan" and
designates his place among writers on the Philoso
phy of History.
Schelling maintains the existence of a faculty
which intuitively discovers the Absolute. A mind
possessing such a faculty must be in some sense free
in its actions. But we are not left to inference in
regard to Schelling's views of History. Morell
states them as follows : " History is the absolute
combination of the freedom of the individual with
the necessary development of the race. Every act
of which History is composed is a free act ; and yet
man, with all his freedom, cannot help contributing
to the accomplishment of the destiny of the whole
nation and whole race to which he belongs."
Hegel starts out with the astounding proposition
that Sein — Niclits, or that Being equals Nothing ; and
derives the idea of existence from the combination
or contradiction of Being and Nothing. From this
point he proceeds to expound in a series of logical
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 441
triads the origin and laws of matter, the life of man,
and the process by which God himself is realized —
this last process in his Philosophy including the
first two processes, or in other words all the on
goings of nature and all the thoughts and actions
of men are but the unfolding of God. Hegel ad
mitted no Creator. From nothing he developed
existence, and then started a movement which in
turn unfolded from it, logic, nature, mind, and God
as a Divine personality. After assuming a series
of conditions and annulling them, the Divine Spirit
seems to attain freedom, in the freedom attained by
men; but with Hegel there can be no such thing
as individual Free Agency. Buckle binds mankind
with the laws of matter, Hegel fetters him with the
laws of thought. Buckle might admit a great First
Cause, simply as an abstraction, while Hegel thinks
he finds God only as the final product of all causation.
The Philosophy of the former tends toward Atheism,
and that of the latter is unadulterated Pantheism.
Schlegel's " Philosophy of History" was written
at about the same time that Hegel delivered his
" Lectures on History," and yet there is a wide
difference in the doctrines of the two philosophers.
Schlegel looks upon the freedom of man and the
Providence of God as the two principal Historic
elements. He writes, " Without this freedom of
choice, innate in man or imparted to him — this
faculty of determining between the divine impulse
and the suggestions of the spirit of evil — there would
be no History, and without a faith in such a prin
ciple there could be no Philosophy of History."
And again, "Without the idea of a God-head regu-
4.42 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
lating the course of human destiny, of an all-ruling
Providence, and the saving and redeeming power of
God, the History of the world would be a labyrinth
without an outlet — a confused pile of ages buried
upon ages — a mighty tragedy without a right be
ginning, or a proper ending."
3. THE THEISTIC THEORY. — The Theistic Theo*y
recognizes God as the Creator of all things, and
holds that He imposed and continues to impose
certain conditions upon both nature and man, and
that these must be taken into the account in philo
sophizing about History.
It is impossible to think that the creation did not
begin to be — even Hegel's dialectic movement must
start — and if so, it must have had an Author. Mo
dern science has shown that new kinds of plants
and new races of animals have been at various
epochs introduced into the world, and if so, there
is no alternative but to regard such facts as the
result of the direct interposition of the same Power
that originally called the earth itself into existence.
God evinces his power in History. Nations rise
and fall. Whole races disappear and new men
spring as it were from the ground to take their
places. Great multitudes of people are moved by
a common impulse, for wrhich no one can account,
to emigrate, to reform, to become religious. Inven
tions and discoveries are made just when most
wanted. Genius gives birth to science and art.
Great men seem born for the times in which they
live. Crises occur in human affairs, and when
all men despair, help comes, whence no one can
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 443
U*i- These events and such as these, though to
some extent the result of the potency of nature or
the potency of will, indicate that the God who
made the world still rules it. Without the idea of
God regulating the affairs of men, History would
be a grand chaos of disconnected facts and discor
dant elements, us already quoted, a "Confused pile
of ages buried upon ages."
As individuals, nearly all persons acknowledge
the Providence of God. The common instincts of
mankind all point in this direction. The lowest
grade of savages entertain it in some form or other,
cultivated Heathen nations admit it, and Christians
everywhere hold that God ofttimes strengthens them
in the performance of good, and ofttimes speaks
comfort to the sorrowing spirit. If these instances
were few, distant, or isolated, no general conclusion
should be drawn from them ; but in all ages, in all
climes, and among all people, the common belief
has been that the hand of God is frequently appa
rent in the affairs of men, and it is a monstrous
libel upon human nature to deny it. To me the
same consciousness that reveals the idea of God,
reveals Him as the Maker, Preserver, and Ruler
of the universe ; and I hold both revelations alike
valid.
I have not yet referred to the Bible, nor need L
Those who believe it to be true, have already real
ized its effect upon mankind ; and those who dis
believe it, would not be persuaded by arguments
based upon it. Some good Christians, however,
think that, with Christ and his immediate Disciples,
God ceased to manifest himself by Special Provi
444 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
dences ; to them it might be said that the operations
of the Holy Spirit must continue to he a special in
terposition of God, and the conversion of every
sinner is a miracle. No man ever yet lifted himself
up from sin and death, to purity and life. God must
aid him in this work, and all such help is a Special
Providence.
Much in History is Providential. Evidence of it
comes from the creation, from the economy of na
ture, from the great events of the past, from indi
vidual experience, and from the Bible. All may
have entered into the grand plan when first the
creation was conceived, and may occur in accord
ance with that plan ; but the plan itself may have
embraced eras which God predetermined for his
own glory or our good to distinguish by extraordi
nary manifestations of His presence or His power,
or may have contemplated events which were to
be specially guided by His omnipotent hand.
God's dealings with men cover three distinctly
marked periods : first, that of Purity, before the
Fall ; second, that of Promise, from the Fall to
the coming of Christ; third, that of Fulfilment,
after the Resurrection. From both the nature and
facts of the case, all these dealings resolve them
selves into one grand plan for the protection of man
from evil before the Fall, and for his restoration to
holiness after it. This plan was undoubtedly made
in view of man's Free Agency, and of physical in
fluences, and, when well understood, harmonizes
with them. Physical influences, indeed, must
operate in entire subserviency to intellectual and
moral influences — to the laws imposed upon them
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 445
in the beginning; and if a man may be able to
attain virtue and yet be unwilling to make the effort,
and God in pity present a stronger motive and thud
aid him in making a right choice, and save him from
destruction, does that conflict with Free Agency ?
It does not, for it leaves an open alternative ; and
yet this is the simple mode in which God strives to
save a lost world.
It remains only to say that Bossuet was the first
to apply the idea of an overruling Providence in the
solution of the Problem of History. He did it
ably and eloquently. Schlegel's " Philosophy of
History" is the most profound work written from a
similar standpoint. Nearly all the German writers
on the subject recognize God in History; but most
of them seem to think that the Philosophy of
History has other objects than that which Schlegel
claims to be the chief one, " To point out histo
rically, in reference to the whole human race, and
in outward conduct and experience of life, the pro
gress of the restoration in man of the lost image
of God, in the various periods of the world."
Admit the theory now stated, and does it take
away all foundation for a science of History? Must
the world be a chaos because God rules it ? By no
means. God works in the light of absolute truth.
The whole plan of the creation and the moral
government of the world is consistent. The super
natural, no less than the natural, is subject to laws,
but we can only catch glimpses of them. It is the
fool that has said in his heart "there is no God."
Sufficient has now been said to render the truth
se
446 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
apparent that History results from the operation of
three great causes : nature, man's Free "Will, and
God's Providence. These are the Historic factors.
He who would construct a complete Philosophy of
History must answer the following questions : What
is the amount of influence nature exerts upon man ?
"What is the amount of influence his own spiritual
freedom exerts upon man ? "What is the amount
of influence God exerts upon man ? If he can fix
the relative proportions of these influences in the
events of History and harmonize them, his work
is done As History may be considered from these
several standpoints, it is not to be wondered at that
there have been propounded different Theories of
the Philosophy of History. Each writer has some
truth at the bottom of his system, but the whole of
truth ascertained can only be known by a combina
tion of the truths of all systems. The facts pro
bably are that in the infancy of the race, physical
causes had more influence upon man than when he
advanced to higher stages of civilization, and God
also presented himself in a more tangible form —
walking and talking with men. But when nations
emerged from ignorance, and reason mounted her
throne and assumed her destined sway, nature suc-
combed to a superior power, and God no longer
reveals himself to the coarser senses, but only to
the pure eye of faith.
It is not my purpose to apply the Theory of the
Philosophy of History now arrived at to the Facts
of History. If it were necessary to do so in order
to exhibit the nature of the Theory now developed,
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY 4-17
it would not be very difficult to show that the three
great Historic factors have each played an important
part in the production of events like the downfall of
the Roman Empire, the Crusades, the Reformation,
the French Revolution, or the American Rebellion.
I will only add that all the Facts of History to be
understood, must be interpreted by the light of its
Philosophy.
Having indicated the nature of the Philosophy of
History, a few sentences will suffice to indicate the
methods of teaching it. So far as the laws of His
tory can be inferred from observed facts, it is an
Empirical Science and must be taught according to
the principles of the Inductive Method. To the
extent that it is dependent upon truths derived
a priori, it is a Rational Science and can be taught
only according to the principles of the Deductive
Method. When the designs of God's Providential
interpositions cannot be determined, they must be
believed. Thus the study of History requires the
most extensive observation of facts, the broadest
generalizations, the deepest insight into truth, the
most careful demonstrations, and the most exalted
faith. Methods applicable to all other studies, are
employed in a higher sense in this ; and, in addition,
we are constantly reminded that human science has
its limits, and that for light concerning the realm of
pure truth beyond its ken, we must in this life trust
to revelations from above.
Let me conclude by indicating the great lessons
of History. Three kinds of influence make up our
4:48 INSTRUCTION" IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
life; that irom nature, that from our own free
spirits, and that from God. In their deep signifi
cance, they teach these lessons : CHARITY, INDEPEN
DENCE, and HUMILITY. We find the follies, the faults,
the wants and the woes of mankind much owing to
nature and the circumstances of society — this excites
our sympathy, and is designed to teach us Charity ;
we find motives within us which prompt us to act
for ourselves — this is designed to teach us Indepen
dence; God in many ways makes us sensible of His
overruling power and our weakness — and this is
designed to teach us Humility. As now used,
Charity is love to man ; Independence is a true
sense of our own manhood ; and Humility is faithful
obedience to God — equivalent to loving our neigh
bors as ourselves, respecting ourselves, and honor
ing God.
Our charities are bestowed in proportion to the
helplessness of the recipient. Our toleration for the
erroneous opinions of others is in proportion to their
responsibility for them. We do not hold the Heathen
strictly accountable for the violation of Christian
principles, nor do we much blame the people of
Constantinople for being Mahometans. If we could
be convinced that differences of opinion in regard
to politics, philosophy, morals, religion, were wholly
owing to differences of soil, food, climate, the general
aspects of nature, or the general condition of society,
strife and debate, party-hate, and party-warfare
would mostly cease, and the nations would learn
the lesson of CHARITY.
To teach this lesson in this way, however, would
necessitate the total annihilation of the distinction
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY.
of right and wrong, and blot out forever self-con
sciousness and self-respect. We are governed b}
circumstances just so far as to form a social brother
hood, and to teach wise men charity; and for the rest
we are made to find within ourselves the reasons for
our conduct, and to feel responsible for it. Man,
relying upon himself, gathers facts from earth, and
air, and heaven, and finds the laws that govern them ;
he seizes the principles, his own reason furnishes and
constructs systems of Philosophy; he produces —
almost creates forms of beauty in the arts ; he estab
lishes governments, and when they fail to subserve
his ends, he alters or abolishes them ; he casts off
the shackles of despotism and slavery, and be
comes a freeman ; he triumphs over his passions
and rules himself, and thus he learns the lesson of
INDEPENDENCE.
But with this Independence, come bigotry, pride,
obstinacy, pertinacity, dogmatism, tyranny. In
their foolish reliance upon self, men become self-
righteous like the Pharisees of old, and vainly expect
to purchase Heaven with merit of their own. They
eat of the tree of knowledge, and would be gods.
Then God stretches forth Ilis hand, and flaming
swords guard the entrance to Paradise which man
has forfeited by disobedience ; a flood cleanses the
earth from wickedness ; fire and brimstone rain
down upon the devoted cities of the plain ; Pharaoh's
heart is hardened ; thunders burst out from Sinai;
prophets whose lips had been touched with fire
from Heaven warn the nations ; pomp and power
are weighed in the balance and found wanting;
men are afflicted, and, like Job, " abhor themselves,
450 INSTRUCTION IN HISTORICAL SCIENCES.
and repent in dust and ashes ;" riches take to them
selves wings and flyaway; and the rebellious are
all brought down in heart, and cry upon the Lord
in their troubles. In the fullness of time, the meek
and lowly One appears and calls, " Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." Multitudes accept the call, and
enter like little children into the Heavenly King
dom ; and thus learn the lesson of HUMILITY.
All goes to show that Independence ennobles
Charity, and Humility softens Independence ; and
together they constitute the essentials of Manhood.
"We may now pluck the fruitage of all History:
PEACE ON EARTH, LIBERTY TO MAN, and GLOBY TO
GOD.
CHAPTER VII.
INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
schools should impart instruction in Waiting
g, and Vocal Music, and methods of teaching
these School- Arts will be presented here in some
detail ; after which a few general observations will
be made concerning Instruction in the Arts in General.
This order is the reverse of that followed in the pre
ceding Chapters, and places the particular before the
general; but by so doing, while care is taken that
nothing shall be lost in perspicuity, something will
be gained in symmetry to the book as a whole.
I. Writing.
"Writing is the art of making letters and combining
them in words. The instrument used for this pur
pose at the present time is called a pen or pencil ;
in ancient times it was called a reed or style. The
characters used in writing and printing are un
doubtedly modifications of the same forms.
It is hardly necessary to say that Writing is a
useful art. It seems indispensable in transacting
the complicated affairs of modern society.
In learning to write, two objects must be kept in
view : first, to make the writing legible ; second, to
make it oeautiful. Without the attainment of the
first object, Writing would be of no use, and with-
(451;
4:52 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
out the attainment of the second it could never
gratify the taste.
Writing is partly a mental, and partly a mechaii
ical operation. As a mental operation, it consists
in conceiving the forms of the letters, and, as a me
chanical operation, it consists in executing those
forms. It seems evident, therefore, that lessons in
Writing are divisible into two classes : those which
are designed to teach the conception of the forms of
the letters, and those which are designed to give
culture to the muscles used in Writing.
1. LESSONS DESIGNED TO TEACH THE CONCEPTION OF
THE FORMS OF THE LETTERS. — In art, the ideal pre
cedes the real ; the conception of form precedes its
execution. Painters place their mental pictures
upon canvas, sculptors realize them in marble, and
architects express them in wood and stone. With
an imperfect ideal, its realization must be corres
pondingly imperfect. All this applies to Writing as
to other arts, and a teacher of Writing should have
lessons calculated to impress upon his pupils' minds
the most correct and beautiful forms of the letters.
Some lessons on Form in general may be made
valuable auxiliaries to this end.
Young children may be amused and instructed
with blocks of different shapes and sizes, out of
which buildings and articles of furniture may be
made ; blocks cut into sections which can be formed
into various figures ; and diagrams and blocks
representing the figures and bodies used in Mathe
matics. No article of apparatus can be used more
advantageously in giving lessons in Form than the
WRITING. 453
/
Chinese Puzzle. It consists of eight pieces pecu
liarly shaped. The pieces may be so arranged as to
form a square, a triangle, a parallelogram, and hun
dreds of other figures. A book accompanies the
pieces containing diagrams of the figures to be
formed, but not indicating the positions of the
pieces ; and the problems consist in having certain
figures given, to find the position of the pieces in
forming them.
Lessons requiring the discrimination of the forms
of natural objects, such as leaves, crystals, fruits,
&c. ; make more vivid the impressions of form.
Some teachers have placed boxes of sand before
their pupils and required them to make various
figures in the sand, and others have exercised them
o '
in tracing figures in the air with rods.
The experience of many good teachers seems to
prove that pupils should receive instruction in the
elements of Drawing before they begin to write, and
that such lessons are better calculated than any
others to aid the pupil in attaining the power of
conceiving forms correctly.
To impress upon the minds of pupils the particular
forms used in Writing, the following exercises will
be found valuable :
The letters which have in script the simplest form,
such as a, ?i, u, should first be presented to the
pupils. These the teacher should make upon the
blackboard. He should make them as neatly as pos
sible, and impress their correct form upon the minds
of the class by exhibiting the common departures
from it. Each lesson should include but a few
letters, as this renders the discussion of their pecu
4:54: INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
liarities and the manner of making them more likely
to be remembered.
After such an exercise as the preceding, the work
of analyzing the letters may commence. Pupils
can be readily led to see that the right line or
" stroke" /, enters as an element into a number of
characters, and so of the oval 0, the hook ^, the
loop /*, &c. ; and they will therefore take more inter
est in imitating them. A detailed analysis of the
letters will not be attempted here ; but it may be
found upon reference to works on Penmanship that
all the letters, both the small letters andthe capitals,
can be reduced to a very few simple elements. All
that it is necessary to say now is that these elements
must be exhibited to learners, they must be required
to imitate them, and to embody them in letters and
words. The making of letters and words should
not be postponed until the whole analysis of the
letters has been completed and the elements care
fully practiced ; but as soon as the elements com
posing a letter, or the letters composing a word,
have been mastered, the pupil should be allowed
to write them. Let it be remembered that one
step must be taken at a time, that the pupils should
commence with the simplest forms and become
thoroughly acquainted with these before advancing
to those more difficult, and that a correct knowledge
of forms must precede a correct execution of them.
Kot only is it important to impress upon the
learner the correct forms of letters, but he must
also be taught to give them the proper inclination,
and arrange correctly the distances between them.
In addition to the directions of the teacher and tha
WRITING. 455
model for imitation which the learner must have
constantly before him, it might be well to use at
first a copy-book so ruled as to indicate the length
of the letters, their inclination, and spacing.
Some teachers have found much advantage in re
quiring pupils to " trace the letters." This tracing
of the letters consists in following a model with the
pen held above it or slightly upon it. Drawing
the letters on slates or blackboards is an excellent
exercise.
2. LESSONS DESIGNED TO GIVE CULTURE TO THE
MUSCLES USED IN WRITING. — Certain muscles have
to be trained in learning to sew, paint, play the
piano; and such is also the case in learning to
write. No one can make a more beautiful picture
of a letter than that which he has in his mind ; and
he requires well trained muscles who can expect
to make any close approximation to it. A good
writer always has complete command of the mus
cles he calls into requisition. A teacher of writing
must therefore so direct his instruction as to secure
this end.
Some discipline of the muscles used in writing ia
obtained by a child who merely marks with his
pencil upon a slate, or with a piece of chalk upon
a blackboard ; and, on the whole, I consider such
exercises an advantage to the pupil in learning to
write, although he may not hold the pencil or crayon
as a pen should be held. A few days of patient
training when he begins to write with a pen, will
accustom the pupil to hold it correctly.
No better discipline of the muscles used in writing
456 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
can be had than that which is furnished by per
forming elementary Drawing-exercises. Close obser
vers have remarked that pupils generally write best
who have been taught to draw. Horace Mann in
reporting upon his visit to the schools in different
parts of Europe mentions this fact.
Works on Penmanship often contain special ex
ercises designed for training the muscles of the arm
and fingers. Such exercises are very valuable.
No description of them is necessary here; but it
might be remarked that they should be well graded,
and that teaching should commence with the
simplest.
Tracing the letters as noticed upon a preceding
page is useful not only in aiding the pupil to con
ceive the correct forms of letters, but also in train
ing the muscles in executing these forms.
Some additional suggestions are deemed appro
priate :
Apart from the general exercises calculated to aid
the pupils in conceiving the forms of letters or in
getting command of the muscles used in making
them, a recitation in Writing will consist mainly
in calling the attention of the class to the forms
of letters composing the lesson, describing these
forms, analyzing them, showing how they ought to
be made, and then requiring the models given to be
carefully imitated.
Much the best copies for imitation are those which
are arranged on loose slips. Copy-books with
engraved head-lines may not suit the circumstances
of the class. They may advance from easy lessons
WRITING. 457
to those which are difficult, too fast or too slowly.
Besides, in using them, pupils are apt, after writing
two or three lines, to forget to look at the head
line ; whereas, nlips can be readily moved down
the copy as the pupil proceeds with his work. It
is an advantage many times, also, for the pupils to
rewrite their lessons. If a teacher has ample time,
writes a suitable hand, and has a prospect of remain
ing a long time in one school, it may be well for
him to " set the copies" or write the models himself;
but as these contingencies seldom exist, it is better
for teachers generally to adopt some good system
of Penmanship and follow it. Under the most
favorable circumstances, pupils might take more
interest in copying a teacher's hand-writing than
in imitating models ; but pupils lose so much much
by being required to imitate the ungraceful char
acters made by poor pensmen, and by being com
pelled to change their hand-writing with every
change of teachers, that it is time this practice of
" setting copies" should be abandoned. A system
of Penmanship adopted and a set of models chosen,
the teacher must conform his instruction to it. This
is very essential to success. The first lessons for
children should consist of elements, letters, or words
written in a clear, neat, and plain hand. The
general length of the letters should be for first les
sons about a quarter of an inch ; but after some
pra< tice, pupils may be allowed to write both large
and small hand.
In forming his style, the pupil ought to have the
model constantly before him ; but the manner of
making the letters must become BO familiar that
39
158 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
he can preserve the same style in writing dictated
copies without a model. Teachers will do well to
require the pupil to observe in all his writing the
directions given in the writing-class. Without such
attention, pupils can never become habituated to
the use of a uniform and correct style of writing.
There is the same reason for classification in writ
ing as in other studies; and in conducting a recita
tion, much loss of time is avoided by introducing
it, with such illustrations upon the blackboard as
the lesson may require, and, in the same manner,
during its continuance, exhibiting the errors made
by the pupils in their work. If the blackboards are
good, the pupils themselves may use them to great
advantage in learning to write. All the pupils in a
class should practice the same lessons at the same
time.
Nothing need be said here concerning the kind of
desks or tables best adapted for the purposes of
writing, or of the manner of sitting and holding
the pen, or of moving the fingers or arm, as all this
is sufficiently discussed in works on Penmanship.
It is very important that the errors pupils make
in their writing should be corrected. The best way
to do this, probably, is for the teacher to pass to
each pupil while engaged at his work, call his
attention to his errors, and make such suggestions
to him as seem necessary. The teacher may correct
general errors by showing in what they consist upon
the blackboard. Two or three critics may be ap
pointed every day from among the members of the
class to examine the copies and report the errors, or
the copies may be exchanged for this purpose.
DRAWING. 459
II. Drawing.
Drawing is the art of representing objects by
means of lines and shades. Like writing, Drawing
is partly a mental and partly a mechanical operation.
One who draws must first conceive objects, and
afterwards represent them. Drawing, however,
aims to represent all objects, while writing is con
fined to the representation of a particular class of
objects; and, in the case of Drawing, the objects
are mostly concrete, while in writing they are
always abstract.
As drawing is not generally taught in our Com
mon Schools, some of the advantages of skill in
this branch of study may be pointed out.
Skill in Drawing aids very much in learning and
reciting other studies. Maps should be drawn in
Geography ; diagrams, in Mathematics ; and plants
and animals should be represented in the Natural
Sciences. Elementary Drawing-exercises form a
very good introduction to writing. Indeed, there is
scarcely any study in which skill in Drawing may
not be turned to good account. Skill in Drawing is
indispensable in some kinds of business. It is so to
the engineer, architect, and machinist. It is almost
equally so to the farmer, the miner, the teacher, and
the physician. There is no position or kind of
business in which an individual might not find an
opportunity to make an advantageous use of skill in
Drawing. To draw well one must observe closely,
and this gives valuable discipline to the senses and
the perceptive faculties. Drawing is the language
of the eye, and it often enables us to communicate
what could not well be stated in words. A person
460 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
desiring to have a new building erected or pleasure-
grounds laid out, can communicate to his work
men more knowledge in a few minutes by draw
ing his plans, than he could by long hours of verbal
explanation. So a traveller in a strange country
can ofttimes convey more true knowledge by a
rough sketch of some remarkable object in nature
or art, than he could do by a labored description.
In its higher departments, Drawing is well calcu
lated to awaken the mind to the perception of new
beauties, as it requires a careful study of nature;
and when it rises from the sphere of an imitative
art to that of a creative art, no other study can
furnish higher or better culture for the judgment,
the imagination, and the taste.
While it is agreed on all hands that children may
begin to learn to draw when quite young — before
they commence learning to write, teachers of Draw
ing differ very much as to the best method of in
structing them. But although almost every system
of Drawing differs in some of its details from all
other systems, all of them may be arranged into two
classes ; and there are, therefore, two methods of
teaching Drawing. The first commences with a
straight line, as the simplest element used in Draw
ing, and may be called the Abstract Method; the
second commences with objects, or the pictures of
objects, and may be called the Concrete Method.
1. THE ABSTRACT METHOD. — All objects that
can be represented by drawing them are either
bounded by straight or curved lines. The simples!
of th<j two kinds of lines is the straight line; ami.
DRAWING-. 461
hence, many teachers of Drawing commence their
instruction with exercises on the straight line. Be
fore the pupils commence their lessons, however, it
might be well for the teacher to draw the outlines of
several objects bounded by straight lines, upon the
blackboard, and have them notice the kind of lines
of which they are composed, and the manner in
which one line is added to another to build them up.
In short, pupils may be led to see by such an
analysis, the purpose for which they are required to
make lines, and why they should make them cor
rectly. The best way of developing this method of
teaching Drawing is by presenting brief descriptions
of a series of exercises.
FIRST CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Straight Lines. —
These lines may be made of different lengths ; they
may be made perpendicular, horizontal, or inclined
at different angles; they may converge, diverge, or
run parallel; or they may be bisected, trisected, or
divided into any required number of parts.
SECOND CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Combinations of two
Straight Lines. — These combinations will be better
understood by examples than by descriptions :
LJI LLT+XHMIW
Such examples as these may be duplicated as
follows :
L JJ
462 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
THIRD CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Combinations of three
Straight Lines. — The following figures are examples
of this kind of combinations :
AV
FOURTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Combinations of
more than three Straight Lines. — Under this class
there may be included all triangles divided by a
single straight line, squares, rectangles, rhombs,
trapeziums, all kinds of polygons, and an immense
number of other figures that can be made to furnish
a great variety of lessons.
FIFTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — The Imitation of real
Objects bounded by Straight Lines. — This class of ex
ercises is intended to give pupils practice in imita
ting the pictures of real objects bounded by straight
lines. Among the thousands of objects suitable for
the purpose, the following may be named as ex
amples: boxes, books, blocks, posts, milestones,
stools, tables, stars, crosses, doors, windows, houses,
castles, &c.
SIXTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — The Invention of
Figures bounded by Straight Lines. — Drawing is not
only an imitative but a creative art, and pupils
should have practice in inventing figures. The
teacher may first exhibit a few original designs upon
the blackboard. From this the pupils wTill under
stand what is wanted; and if there is not soon an
interested class, and eventually some fine work done
by it, it will be contrary to my experience. Such
DRAWING. 463
problems may be assigned as follows : given three,
four, five, or any number of straight lines, to form
a design of them ; given a figure, a triangle, a square,
or a parallelogram, to combine with straight lines ;
given one figure to combine with another; as tri
angle with triangle, triangle with square ; squares,
stars, hexagons, with one another.
SEVENTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Curved Lines. —
A few simple curves may be presented as examples :
EIGHTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Combinations of
Curved and Straight Lines. — Examples of such com
binations may be found in sections of circles, sec
tions of ellipses, cones, cylinders, many of the
letters of the Alphabet, and thousands of objects.
NINTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — The Invention qf
Figures bounded ly Curved or Curved and Straight
Lines. — This class of exercises opens a wide field for
the display of ingenuity and taste.
After sufficient practice has been allowed in the
preceding exercises, pupils may receive lessons in
Shading and Perspective, but such remarks as I
have to make concerning the methods of imparting
such lessons will be postponed until something has
been said of the second general method of teaching
Drawing.
2 THE CONCRETE METHOD. — The concrete is the
46-i INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
most effective form in which knowledge can bo
communicated to children. We have found that
lessons on objects should precede all other kinds of
instruction ; and it is very natural that children
should take most interest in drawing the objects
about which they are otherwise learning something.
Any teacher can try the experiment for himself, and
he will find that while children will be delighted to
spend hours every day in trying to draw blocks,
posts, houses, cats, or cows, they will soon grow
tired of making lines, triangles, or circles. JSTature
thus indicates that the first lessons in Drawing
o
should be in a concrete form. What if it be said
that objects are not as simple as lines, or that it is
impossible for a child to draw them correctly, the
answer is ready, that in this way they learn every
thing else. Children do not first learn the elements
but the wholes of things. Let them commence
learning to draw as they commence learning other
things, and it will be found that what is natural is
the most effective. Children will even spend much
time in "playing Drawing," if provided writh proper
materials. It is, doubtless, proper that pupils some
what advanced should analyze figures, and com
mence with straight lines ; but I am here speaking
of instruction to beginners.
As with the Abstract method, the spirit of the
Concrete method can be best appreciated from a
series of exercises.
FIRST CLASS or EXERCISES. — The Pictures of Ob
jects. — It is more easy, and, I think, more interest
ing, for children to draw the pictures of objects than
DEAWING. 465
the objects themselves. The first lessons should
consist of the outlines of the simplest objects, such
as boxes, books, posts, gates, doors, houses, &c. ;
but, although more difficult, no harm can result
from suffering children to attempt to draw cats,
horses, fowls, dogs, human figures, &c.
SECOND CLASS or EXERCISES. — Drawing the Pictures
of Objects from Memory. — In the preceding class of
exercises, it is presumed that the pupils have books
or cards from which they copy the pictures. This
done, it will be found of great advantage to repro
duce them from memory. Drawing pictures from
memory is more difficult than copying pictures;
but its disciplinary advantages are proportionably
greater.
THIRD CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Drawing real Objects.
— Having copied the picture of an object, and re
produced it from memory, the pupil is well prepared
to draw the object itself. For this purpose schools
should be furnished with sets of model-objects, cor
responding to the pictures upon the drawing-cards,
or in the drawing-books. In the absence of these,
however, the teacher need be at little loss to find
things suitable for lessons with the world full of
objects about him.
FOURTH CLASS OF EXERCISES. — Inventive drawing.
— To succeed in the higher departments of Inventive
Drawing, requires a highly cultured imagination,
and a correct taste; but even children may be
taught tc draw objects and combinations of objects
466 INSTRUCTION IN THE 1RTS.
that are not copies of anything they have ever seen,
and even to design the simplest kinds of monuments,
gates, pleasure-grounds, landscapes, houses, &c. In
deed, this kind of work is done by children who
have been well taught, with intense interest; and
nothing can be better calculated to cultivate in
genuity, or give opportunity of growth to the bud
ding imagination.
These four classes of exercises indicate all that id
peculiar to this method. The method is particularly
adapted to children, and aims only to communicate
a popular knowledge of the art of Drawing. Pupils
receiving instruction in Drawing up to the point
indicated in the preceding exercises, according to
this method, can enter upon the analysis of forms
arid their composition, as contemplated in the Ab
stract Method, with great profit. Thus here, as
everywhere else, principles will be found to under
lie appearances. The Concrete Method merely con
templates the imitation of appearances, while the
Abstract Method contemplates, in addition, the
study of principles. With pupils who are prepared
for it, the two methods may be combined.
The time is now come when something must be
said of Shading, Shadow, and Perspective.
Pupils will readily appreciate the effect of Shad
ing if the teacher first draw the outline of a simple
object, and then shade it. They may then engage
in imitating the Shading of pictures, and, finally,
practice the Shading of real objects. Much may be
done in this way, according to the Concrete Method,
DRAWING. 467
to improve the pupil's taste and increase his skill,
before he could learn the laws of Optics upon which
the distribution of light depends. When the time
comes for learning these laws, they must be learned
and applied after the spirit of the Abstract Method,
by commencing with the simplest and proceeding
to the more difficult.
What has been said of Shading applies equally
well to Shadow.
Distant objects do not appear to the eye under
the same angle as near ones, and as Drawing must
be true to nature, objects should be represented as
they appear. Hence the necessity of Perspective
in Drawing. Some idea of the nature of Perspec
tive can he imparted to learners by calling their
attention to the appearance of a long street, bridge,
or hall, trees planted on each side of an avenue, or a
railroad track. Illustrations of Perspective Drawing
should be given by the teacher upon the blackboard.
The pupils must be required to imitate a progressive
series of models. It is all important to train the
eye to judge accurately of Perspective, as it is im
possible to take time to apply particularly all the
laws of Perspective in drawing an object. "Ruskin
and other celebrated artists confirm this view.
When the pupil is prepared for it, however, he
should be made acquainted with these laws, and
learn to demonstrate their truth.
It is only necessary to say further in regard to
methods of teaching Drawing that, as in writing,
they must have reference to the training of the
muscles employed as well as to the conception of
form. As in writing, too, the pupils should be
468 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
taught in classes; the blackboard should be in
constant use both by the teacher and pupils ; good
models should be at hand for imitation ; conve
nient tables and seats, and suitable apparatus, should
be provided ; and great care should be taken in the
correction of errors.
HI. Vocal Music.
Vocal Music, when rightly considered, is linguistic
in its nature, and closely related to Reading. The
principal points of resemblance between them are
that the words used in Vocal Music, as in Reading,
are required to be correctly pronounced, and pro
perly appreciated both in respect to thought and
feeling; that while Speech is more the language
of the intellect, and Song exclusively the language
of the feelings, both are used for the purposes of
communication by all races and conditions of men.
The affinity of Speech and Song is so close, that
they are sometimes combined in a kind of compo
sition called Recitative. The most marked differ
ences between Reading and Singing are that in
Reading the common sounds of the voice are used,
O
while in Singing these sounds are modified and
receive the name of tones ; that " no idea, thought,
term, proposition, or meaning, is directly conveyed
in Song;" and that Speech has no fixed clef for
comparing one note with another, and can, therefore,
neither give pleasure by presenting a melodious
succession of notes, nor by observing their harmo
nious relationships.
The Study of Vocal Music is too much neglected,
and it will not therefore be amiss to state some of
VOCAL MUSIC. 469
the advantages which may be expected to result
from its more general introduction into our schools.
Music gives pleasant employment during leisure
hours. There are times of leisure in every family
— evenings, Saturday afternoons, Sabbaths, and
these seasons can be made to yield more true enjoy
ment if enlivened with or improved by appropriate
Music. lie who is fond of Music need never suffer
from ennui, for he has a constant source of the
purest pleasure within himself. Besides, tempta
tions come to the young, especially to young men,
during hours in which they are not employed. It
is then that the dull family fireside is deserted for
the enjoyments of the tavern, the theatre, the club-
room, or the street-corner, vice presents her allure
ments, the unsuspecting are enticed into her toils,
and thousands fall. Home should be made more
attractive, and nothing is better calculated to give
it charms than Music.
Music increases social pleasures. It has just been
said that Music adds attraction to the circle of the
family ; it is now asserted that this is true with
respect to larger circles of friends wherever they
may meet. Rude choruses are heard in the rough
cabins of wild savages, and grand concerts make
echo the walls of great halls in civilized cities.
Peasants sing in their cottages on festive occasions,
and Music graces the banquets of kings in their
palaces. The social party is comparatively dull
unless enlivened by the influences of song. " The
most joyous of joys is Music."
Music cheers men on in the performance of duty.
The mother soothes her sick child with Music; with
40
470 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
Music the laborer lightens his toil; with Music our
thoughts are turned heavenward in the house of
God, and to the sounds of Music patriot soldiers
march to battle. True, Music lends its attractions to
the theatre ; Music is employed to charm the ear,
while the soul is led captive by the allurements of
wine, cards, or other forms of wickedness ; but this
is a monstrous perversion of one of the most beauti
ful and excellent gifts of God.
Music purifies the taste. The taste is purified by
contact with what is beautiful. It cannot be doubted
that there is beauty in Music, and hence if the
young be made to appreciate it, the rougher parts
o^ their nature would be refined, their wilder pas
sions would be calmed, and their tastes would revolt
at what is low and degrading, and long for a uni
versal harmony that would embrace both the world
of matter and the world of spirit.
Music promotes good morals. It does this by
furnishing employment for leisure hours, by in
creasing the pleasures of social life, by cheering
men on in the performance of duty, and by purify
ing the taste. In addition to all this, the natural
tendency of Music is to enrich and ennoble the whole
emotional life. From a love of the beautiful, it is
not difficult to attain to a love of the true and the
good. There is something very much like Music
in loving our neighbors as ourselves. The " Uni
versal Harmony" of Pythagoras was more than the
dream of an enthusiast ; it was the vision of a phi
losopher. This position is taken in full view of the
fact that vulgar and profane thoughts are sometimes
expressed in song, and that vice often makes use of
VOCAL MUSIC. 471
Music to gild her deformities. Bat such perversions
are not the misfortune of Music alone. The other
Fine Arts, speech, the sacred rites of religion itself,
have been forced into the service of sin.
Music induces a spirit of devotion. The Bible
contains ample evidence that blessed spirits and
angels chant their choruses around the throne of
God; St. Paul commands the Colossians to teacb
and admonish one another in psalms, and hymns,
and spiritual songs ; and during the whole past
history of the Church, since the children of Israel
sang unto the Lord on the banks of the Red Sea,
until the present, Music has been employed for the
highest and holiest purposes.
All these uses are general; Music is specially
valuable in school, both in relieving the tedium of
study and in promoting good order. Its influence
upon a school, when well directed, is valuable phy
sically, ^Esthetically, socially, morally, and reli
giously.
Poetry is the beautiful as expressed in rhythmical
words. Music is the beautiful as expressed in
measured tones. Such words uttered in such tones
constitute Vocal Music, or Song.
.Apart from the Pronunciation of words and the
appreciation of the thought and feeling of discourse,
both already treated of, methods of teaching Yocal
Music as designed to be discussed here, embrace :
first, the Training of the Vocal Organs ; second, the
Culture of the Musical Taste; and, third, Musical
Execution.
l THE TRAINING OF THE VOCAL ORGANS. — Music
472 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
like Reading is a vocal art, and the voice has the
same general capabilities in both. Music as a vocal
art concerns the Quality, Compass, Movement, and
Quantity of the voice. By the Qualities of the
voice are meant its tones ; but since tones form the
bases of Musical composition, their utterance bears
the same relation to Vocal Music that the Pronun
ciation of words does to Reading. Hence the Qua
lity of the voice comes first in order, and vocal
training with respect to music may be considered
under the following heads :
1st. The qualities of the voice, or Tones.
2d. The height or lowness of tones, or Melody.
3d. The length or shortness of tones, or Rhythm.
4th. The loudness or softness of tones, or Dynamics.
Harmony, including both the perception of simul
taneous, concordant tones, and a knowledge of the
laws which govern them, is purely a product of the
intellect, and not of the voice.
Having very little practical knowledge of Yoca]
Music, it is right to say that what follows is mainly
the result of theory, and of observations upon the
teaching of others.
Elementary Music books are very full of well-
arranged exercises intended to be used in training
the voice to sing, and it is not deemed necessary to
attempt to give here detailed descriptions of them.
My end will be gained if I succeed in announcing
some general principles that will be of advantage
in guiding the teacher in the use of such books
VOCAL MUSIC. 47.3
1. Teachers of Vocal Music should be careful to secure
those Qualities of Voice which enable the Pupil to utter
Tones correctly. — Some persons are naturally en
dowed with voices which render it easy for them to
learn to sing ; but there are others who have voices
so defective that they can scarcely utter, without
training, the simplest tones. If a teacher find among
his pupils those who have rough, shrill, harsh, nasal,
or weak voices, or voices otherwise incapable of
uttering pure tones, he must, by Physiological
means, do what he can to correct them, before much
progress is possible in learning to sing. Pupils
with defective voices must be brought to perceive
their defects, good models must be presented to
them for imitation, and they must be made to engage
in vocal exercises calculated to impart the needed
culture. In many cases it may be sufficient to con
nect practice in uttering simple tones writh practice
in Pitch, Time, and Force.
2. Teachers of Vocal Music should exhibit Musical
Sounds to their Pupils before requiring them to commit
their Names. — Tones should be uttered by the
teacher in all their varieties, high and low, long and
short, loud and soft, and the pupils be engaged in
distinguishing them as uttered, and in uttering
them themselves, before they receive names. Things
naturally precede words. A child learns to speak
by imitating the sounds he hears ; and so a child
must hear tones before he can imitate them, or form
any idea as to what their names signify. The same
gradual progress from the easy to the difficult must
be made here as in other studies. The teacher
40*
474 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
must first give the simplest tones, require his pupils
to imitate them, and learn their names ; and then
proceed in the same way to dispose of those more
difficult.
3. Teachers of Vocal Music should acquaint their
Pupils with Musical Sounds before they require them to
learn the Musical Notation. — Children are often taught
the symbols used in musical notation before they have
any true conception of the thing signified by them.
They are expected to sing by note before they can
sing by air. This is as great a mistake as to attempt
to teach a child to read before he can speak. The
difficulty learners have in reading Music, probably
arises to some extent from this fault. It cannot be
doubted, however, that musical notation properly
used is of great advantage to the learner as it repre
sents to the eye and fixes in the mind the more
easily-forgotten conceptions that are formed through
the ear.
4. Teachers of Vocal Music should begin their course
of Instruction to Children by teaching them Little Songs
and Hymns. — Yocal Music is no exception to the
principle that the concrete is the most effective form
in which elementary instruction can be given. No
great profit can arise from requiring children to
begin a course of systematic instruction in Vocal
Music before they are ten years of age. Indeed,
if great care is not taken to confine them, even at
that age, to such exercises as will not overstrain
their vocal organs, much injury may be done them.
But a child can begin to learn to sing as soon a& he
VOCAL MUSIC. 475
can talk. From this time on, both parent and
teacher must furnish him with opportunity to sing
and give all needful help. Up to the age of ten
years, therefore, the instruction of a child in Vocal
Music should consist in teaching him to sing by air
suitable songs and hymns. Our language contains
some such musical compositions. The common
rhymes of the nursery are better than nothing,
though they are susceptible of great improvement.
Sc well convinced am I of the intellectual and moral
benefits which might be derived from this form of
insl ruction, tha* I do not hesitate to say that this
age could produce no greater benefactor to the race
than he would be who could succeed in placing a
collection of songs and hymns, adapted to the capa
cities and tastes of children, within the reach of
every family and primary school in the land.
5. For Pupils from the age of ten to fourteen. Teachers
of Vocal Music should have two independent courses
of Instruction : one intended to give practice in Sing
ing, and the other to impart Systematic Vocal Culture.
— If a teacher could find suitable songs corres
ponding to abstract vocal exercises and in which
these exercises could be applied, it would be wrell
to combine the two courses from the beginning;
but it is presumed that this is impracticable : and,
since neither can be omitted without harm, instruc
tion in both may proceed independently. By two
independent courses of instruction, it is not meant
that the singing and the vocal training should have
no relation to each other ; but the design is to allow
the teacher to select a number of songs to be sung,
476 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
and a series of vocal exercises to be practiced, with
out necessarily adapting the former to the latter.
Both kinds of instruction may be combined in the
same recitation.
From the age of fourteen, pupils may be taught
to apply the disciplinary vocal exercises in songs,
At this age, both kinds of exercises can be made
mutually illustrative. A song can be sung, and the
pupils can be required to write the music ; or they
can be asked to find words suited to music already
written.
6. Teachers of Vocal Music should be careful to adapt
their Musical ^Exercises to the Vocal Powers of their
Pupils. — It is a well-known Physiological law that
the human muscles are weakened by either too
much or too little exercise. This law must be
observed in training the vocal organs. It is equally
well known that muscular strength can be imparted
only by the patient application of a well-graded,
progressive series of exercises. Children's voices,
too, are more limited in Pitch and Force than are
those of older persons, and any vocal training con
ducted without regard to this fact will be hurtful.
7. Teachers of Vocal Music should make their instruc
tion very exact and thorough. — Exactness and thorough
ness should be a characteristic of all teaching ; but
there is a special reason for it in a study like Music.
The misstatement of a fact or the misunderstanding
of a principle can be readily corrected ; but pupils
whose taste is vitiated by listening to unmusical
sounds or whose vocal organs are habituated to the
VOCAL MUSIC. 477
utterance of them, can scarcely be expected to over
come faults thus produced. The very essence of
Music is order among sounds; and lessons in Music
should be so well adapted to the capacity of pupils,
so carefully graded, and so thoroughly taught that
pupils may have constantly before them an ideal,
approximating as nearly as possible to perfection.
Vocal exercises are made more effective if an in
strument be played in connection with them as an
accompaniment. The instrument guides the voice.
Practice in composing musical exercises is very ad
vantageous. Pupils can commence the composition
of simple pieces very early in their course, and such
instruction should be continued as a necessary part
of musical instruction. Each pupil in a Vocal
Music class should be taught to sing by himself as
well as in concert with others. There is no better
reason why pupils should be relieved from personal
responsibility in reciting a lesson in Vocal Music
than in reciting a lesson in any other study.
2. THE CULTURE or MUSICAL TASTE. — By musical
taste is meant the power by which we perceive and
appreciate what is beautiful in tone. It is the men
tal part of Music, and includes both an intellectual
and an emotional element. A person may possess
a voice capable of uttering tones in all the varieties
of Pitch, Time, and Force, and yet be a very un
skilful musician. The voice is merely an instru
ment used to express in tones, the thought and sen
timent which have their birth in the soul. Skill in
Vocal Music requires not only the perception and
4:78 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
appreciation of the beautiful as expressed in tones,
but also as expressed in words.
The teacher of Vocal Music must give culture to
the musical taste. Every individual has likes and
dislikes, meets with some objects which are agree
able and with others which are disagreeable, notices
what he conceives to be beauties and deformities.
The power of discriminating between what pleases
and what displeases is taste — a power universally
possessed by men. Taste differs among individuals
and among nations. Rude, ignorant people have
very different tastes from those who are refined and
educated. The laws of taste are the generalizations
of what has been found agreeable to such persons as
by nature and by education are most competent to
form correct judgments. The idea of the beautiful
is a projection from within, and not an induction
from without. Upon occasions given, we express
our likes and dislikes ; and these, when expressed
by the best critics, constitute the laws of taste.
The teacher will find his pupils in possession of
some degree of taste ; our query is how to purity
and elevate it ?
Taste in all the Fine Arts is improved by furnish
ing fit occasions for its exercise. In abstract Vocal
Music, these occasions may be found at every step
of the pupil's progress. All true Music is beautiful,
from the simple chord to that complicated contrast
ing and blending of tones which characterizes the
compositions of the masters of the art. In concrete
Vocal Music, these occasions may be found in the
songs they sing. These should be rich in beautiful
and noble sentiments. Children should sing of
YOCAL MUSIC. 479
home, of country, of truth, of liberty, of lovti, of
Ileaven, of God. The songs of a people have much
to do with their character. I can think of no better
way of filling the heart of a child with high and
noble aspirations than by teaching him to sing beau
tiful songs and hymns.
It must be remembered, however, that all Music,
whether abstract or concrete, must be adapted to
the capacities of the pupils for whom it is intended,
or they can see no beauty in it. Music has its sim
ple, surface beauties, and those which are complex
and hidden — beauties which delight the unthinking
fancy, and beauties which only the highly-cultured
imagination, inspired by genius, can appreciate.
Between the tune whistled by the peasant boy to
cheer his toil while he works in the fields, or sung
by his sister as she watches for his return to the
cottage, and the divine inspirations of a Beethoven
or a Mozart, the difference is almost infinite. Let
the teacher first open the way for the little stream
of love for the beautiful to come up from the in
fantile heart, and then lead it gently on until it
become a rivulet, and, at last, swell into a river as
it gushes forth from the bosom of manhood.
3. MUSICAL EXECUTION. — Given, a well-cultured
voice and good musical taste, and pupils are pre
pared to compose, arrange, or perform musical
compositions.
Musical execution, witli respect to Vocal Music,
consists in Composing Music, in adapting tunes and
words to each other, mid in singing.
Composing Music is a work of high art. All the
480 1JNS1KUCT1OJN IIS THE ARTS.
varied feelings that agitate the human bosom admit
expression in tones. It is thus that Music is the
universal language of the heart. Here can be
applied all the laws that give beauty to Melody,
Rhythm, Dynamics, and Harmony — the laws that
govern the relation of sentiment, and its expression
in tones.
To adapt tunes to words requires a nice apprecia
tion both of Poetry and Music. In all serious
Music, there must be a correspondence between the
sentiment embodied in the words, and the sentiment
expressed in the Music. In comic songs alone can
unexpected contrasts be appropriately introduced:
and, then, they must be subjected to the rules that
elsewhere control the expression of the witty and
the humorous. To observe these correspondences
and create these contrasts, requires good taste arid
great skill.
Singing is the utterance of sentiment in tones.
Prepared, in respect to voice and taste, ready with
tunes composed, notated, and adapted to words,
students of Music can enjoy themselves in song,
for this is the fruition of their and their teacher's
labors.
IV. The Arts in General.
The Arts in the sense now contemplated embrace
the whole product of man's regulated activity. The
Sciences are what he knows, the Arts are what Le
does. Some authors have limited the meaning of
Art to that which is produced without physical or
social restraint — which springs from spontaneous
impulses; but here it is convenient to consider as
THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 481
works of Art all that men do, whether they do it
from necessity and duty, or with the design of realiz
ing in a concrete form the ideals of their Reason.
Art both precedes and follows Science in the
order of time. Says Whewell, " In all cases the
arts are prior to the related sciences. Art is the
parent and not the progeny of science." And
McCosh, "Art has in general preceded science.
There were bleaching, and dyeing, and tanning,
and artificers in copper and iron, before there was
chemistry to explain the process used. Men made
wino before there was any theory of fermentation ;
and glass and porcelain were manufactured before
the nature of alkalies and earths had been deter
mined." The same writer states numerous other
fac<s to the same effect.
On the other hand, Mill maintains that "Art ne-
ce? jarily presupposes knowledge ; art, in any but
its infant state presupposes scientific knowledge."
James Harris states more positively that " If there
were no theorems of science to guide the operations
of art, there would be no art ; but if there were no
operations of art, there might still be theorems of
science. Therefore science is prior to art."
Both of these views are correct. Art in its in
fancy precedes Science properly so called. Driven
by necessity primitive men made rude efforts to
provide themselves with food, clothing, shelter, and
other conveniences before they began to philoso
phize. True they acted in conformity with princi
ples capable of being expressed in a scientific form,
but of these they were wholly unconscious. As
society advanced towards civilization, and the
41
482 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
Sciences began to be formed, their principles were
used as a guide to Art, and finally many Arts grew
out of the related Sciences, and could not exist
without them. Art is therefore older than Science
as a matter of fact and younger as a matter of logic.
In all enlightened communities Art and Science
advance together, giving each other mutual aid
Mill in referring to their reciprocal influence re
marks, " The relation in which rules of art stand
to doctrines of science may be thus characterized :
The art proposes to itself an end to be attained,
defines the end, and hands it over to the science.
The science receives it, considers it as a phenomenon
or effect to be studied, and having investigated its
causes and conditions, sends it back to Art with a
theorem of the combinations of circumstances by
which it could be produced. Art then examines
these combinations and circumstances, and accord
ing as any of them are or are not in human power,
pronounces the end attainable or not."
From what has been stated it is obvious that all
the Sciences may have their related Arts. There
are Arts connected with each of the great classes
of knowledge as we have formed them — Arts con
nected with Language, the Formal Sciences, the
Empirical Sciences, the Rational Sciences, and the
Historical Sciences. Methods of teaching some of
these have been referred to under the head of Ap
plications of the different Sciences. Of others no
notice need be taken here ; and what remains to
be said of all in general must be presented i/i a
brief space.
THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 483
The Arts may be divided into two great classes,
which may be called respectively, the Empirical
Arts, and the Rational Arts. An Empirical Art is
the accomplishment of an end of utility. Such ai?
end is always found without oneself, and is a labor.
A Rational Art is the realization of an ideal of
perfection. Such an end is always found within
oneself, and is a delight. The first class of Arts is
dependent upon the faculties of the Sense and the
Understanding, while the second class is based upon
the intuitions of the Reason. The Empirical Arts
are sometimes called the Useful Arts, and the Ra
tional Arts, the Fine or Liberal Arts; but the
terms here applied to them are deemed preferable.
1. INSTRUCTION IN THE EMPIRICAL ARTS.
The Empirical Arts include all Arts that relate
to the practical affairs of life as Agriculture, Manu
factures, Commerce, Mining, &c. They are the
Arts by which we obtain food, clothing, houses to
live in, facilities for travelling, and all the ordinary
comforts of society. They constitute what is called
business.
In discussing the methods of teaching the Empir
ical Arts, it will be convenient as well as logical to
epeak : 1, of their End, or the purpose to be at
tained ; 2, of their Means, or the agencies to be
employed ; 3, of their Execution, or the manner of
doing the work.
1. THEIR END.— The end of all the Empirical Arts
is some physical or moral good — a utility. The
farmer proposes to produce food ; the mechanic, to
484 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
construct houses, bridges, mills, machinery; the
merchant to collect together and expose for sale
various commodities which conduce to the comfort
of life; the physician, to cure the sick; the judge,
to secure the ends of justice — all of which are
utilities, and come within the province of the Arts
now under consideration.
The Empirical Arts, grow out of our necessities.
Man must earn his bread by the sweat of his brow.
He must labor or suffer from hunger, the elements,
or the attacks of wild animals. He must conquer
nature or be crushed out of existence. Among un
civilized tribes, wants are comparatively few and
easily supplied, and consequently the Arts are sim
ple ; but in highly enlightened communities wants
become very numerous and complex, and the result
is a growth of multitudes of Arts. All of them,
however, whatever may be the stage of civilization
in which they are produced, are prompted by wrants
real or supposed. If the history of every Empirical
Art, of which we know anything, could be written,
it would be found to have arisen from a pressure of
circumstances. Facts appertaining to the Arts may
have been observed by accident, but these facts
were always pressed by necessity into the service of
the Arts.
Nor is it unworthy of a man to labor — to engage
in any business that will promote his own welfare
or that of his fellow men. Our farms, and shops,
and mills, and stores, and offices, have their place in
the social economy. They provide for the interests
of self, and the interests of society. The great
world-triffic must go on. Bnt it ought to be said
THE ARTS IN GENEKAL. 485
that in this country the so-called practical absorbs
over much attention. Money-making is the beset
ting sin of the age. Mammon is served rather than
God. The public cry is, "down with theories,"
"give us the practical, in business, in books, in
teaching, in preaching." We worship banks, rail
roads, coal-mines, steamships, printing presses, and
Parrott cannon. These may all tend to personal com
fort and national greatness ; but life has higher ends.
The Bible asks : " Is not the life more than meat,
and the body than raiment?" Education is com
pelled to lower its standard to meet the pressing
demand for the practical. The branches of study
most popular are those which seem best calculated
to make successful business men. Agricultural
Schools, Mechanics' Institutes and Polytechnic Col
leges are founded and flourish. Every city boasts
of its Mercantile College with hundreds of students
whose highest ambition it seems to be to fit them
selves for calculating cargoes of dry-goods or for bal-
anci^.g the two sides of a ledger. To the practical,
in i* i proper place, no objection can be made, but
that place is a subordinate one in a liberal scheme of
ediv ation. God never intended this beautiful world
to be converted into a great shop for hucksters, or
that His temple should be profaned as of old by such
as would make our " Father's house a house of mer
chandise." It is melancholy to reflect that there are
educational theorists who estimate as of greatest
worth that knowledge which is only capable of
administering to the material interests of life, and
undervalue that which is calculated to subserve the
higher interests of man — which ennobles him hero
o
41*
486 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
and fits him for the world to come. In the words
of Carlyle, " An irreverent knowledge is no know
ledge ; may be a development of the logical orothei
handicraft faculty inward or outward, but is no cul
ture of the soul of man."
The Empirical Arts have ends more or less noble,
and the first step a student must take in acquiring
such an Art is to obtain a definite idea of its end.
Confusion here will vitiate the whole process, be
cause appropriate means of accomplishing an end
can only be selected and fitly applied when the end
itself is clearly known. Most of the Empirical Arts
are practiced blindly, it is for the true teacher of
Buch Arts to substitute science for guess-work.
2. THEIR MEANS. — With its end plain before him
the student of an Empirical Art will next need to
seek the means of attaining it.
Man is a maker by instinct. As the bee and the
beaver build, so does he. In his primitive con
dition, he feels certain wants and tries to supply
them by an unconscious power of adapting means
to ends.
Somewhat further advanced in civilization, he is
ready to take advantage of what others have done
by using his powers of imitation. He may imitate
nature, or he may imitate the works of other men.
His first imitations are those of natural objects, and
these in turn are imitated. The largest number of
persons who now practice the Empirical Arts are
still imitators. Such persons are found among far
mers, mechanics, merchants, and professional men,
THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 487
They simply do what they see others do, but make
little attempt to comprehend the principles which
ought to guide all the operations of Art. They
may accomplish the end aimed at, but they do it
mechanically.
The Empirical Arts are all based on scientific
principles, and these principles furnish the means
by which their ends may be surely attained. The
farmer proposes to increase the fertility of his soil,
Chemistry points to the means ; the engineer pro
poses to locate a railroad or navigate a ship, Mathe
matics aids him in the work ; the physician proposes
to amputate a diseased limb, Anatomy must guide
the operation ; and so throughout the long category.
Farmers may fertilize their fields as they see others
do it, engineers may construct railroads and navi
gate ships by rules which they do not understand,
physicians may amputate diseased limbs by guess;
but this would be false Art, quackery, and, when the
interests of others are concerned, criminal quackery.
What Blackstone says of one preparing for the
practice of the legal profession, is true of one pre
paring for practice of any kind. "If practice be
the whole he is taught, practice must also be the
whole he will ever know ; if he be un instructed in
the elements and first principles upon which the
rule of practice is founded, the least variation from,
established precedents will totally distract and be
wilder him."
Each particular Art has for a basis a body of rules
or principles derived from science. They sometimes
come from one science and sometimes from several
488 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
sciences. Surveying is an Art with a simple basis
of Mathematics. Teaching is an Art with a com
plex basis, composed of principles derived from all
the sciences relating both to matter and mind.
"Without a knowledge of the principles underlying
an Art, the Art itself cannot be understood. Some
skill, it is granted, may be attained by an instinctive
adaptation of means to ends, and by imitation, but
such skill is mechanical, not artistic.
If what is above said is true, the teacher of Art
must borrow from science the means of instruction
in the Arts ; and as methods of teaching the several
sciences have been discussed, nothing further con
cerning them in this connection is needed.
3. THEIR MODE OP EXECUTION. — Facts show that
there is a natural difference among men in their
ability to do particular kinds of work. All men
would not make equally good mechanics, equally
enterprising merchants, equally skilful physicians.
For each man there is an appropriate sphere — some
thing he can do better than anything else, if not
better than anybody else. Of these differences
education must take account.
Ingenuity in making things can be cultivated in
childhood. Blocks can be used in building little
houses, towers, bridges, &c. Very beautiful models
of objects can be made of terra cotta. A great
variety of things can be cut from pasteboard and
paper. Suitable tools with suitable material to worK
upon may be given to children.
Imitation is a faculty largely used in executing
THE ARTS IN GENERAL.
all works of Art. Exclusive dependance ought not
to be placed upon it, but, working side by side with
the understanding, it is a valuable auxiliary in attain
ing success in Art. The child should have models
in learning to draw, write, or sing, and so in all
other Arts. The best model, however, is a skilful
workman. Pupils who see work well done will be
apt to do it well ; but if the teacher be a bungle^
his pupils will not be likely to excel him.
The maxim, "Practice makes perfect," was de
signed to apply to the execution of works of Art.
There may be & well-defined end before the mind's
eye, the scientific principles involved in the accom
plishment of it may be understood, his powers of
imitation may be active, and still, unless a pupil
enjoy ample opportunity of practice, he will most
likely be wanting in skill. Skill in Art is attained
by a training rather than a teaching process. Pupils
in our schools are probably not allowed to do enough.
Sufficient practice is denied them. The argument
seems strong in favor of combining work and study.
Knowledge applied will be remembered. It is by
doing that character is formed. Life makes the man,
not study.
2. INSTRUCTION IN THE RATIONAL ARTS.
The Rational Arts are the free productions of our
ideals of perfection. A generalization of these
ideals of perfection gives us the True, the Beautiful,
and the G-ood ; and the Rational Arts admit, doubt
less, a corresponding three-fold division. He who
490 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
constructs a system of Philosophy or of Ethics foi
the purpose of realizing his ideas of truth or good-
DOSS, is not less an Artist than one who bodies forth
his ideas of beauty on canvas, or in marble. Either
may work for an end of utility, but in that case the
production belongs to the Empirical, and not to the
Rational Arts.
In what is to be said, here, however, we shall
mainly keep before our mind's eye the Arts which
are expressions of the beautiful, usually called
Fine Arts — Gardening, Architecture, Sculpture,
Painting, Music, and Poetry; not forgetting that
everything may be made, in the language of another,
" The basis of an exquisite Art, for Art being uni
versal disdains no field of ministration however
humble, but avouches its redeeming virtue most
in descending to what is lowly, and exalting that
which is despised. It sheds a divine splendor over
the meanest things, and glorifies the infinite riches
of its resources in the exact ratio of the intrinsic
poverty of its materials."
What we have to say concerning methods ol
teaching the Rational Arts may be said under heads
similar to those adopted in treating of the Empir
ical Arts: 1, End; 2, Means ; 3, Execution.
1. THEIR END. — The end of the Rational Arts is
the expression of ideals of perfection in concrete
forms — is the production of things of beauty.
To those who use only the senses which acquaint
them with material objects, to those who so mix up
in the world's affairs that their hearts become dead
THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 491
to all that is beautiful, an end that cannot he meas
ured by some practical standard is counted as of
little worth. But as we rise above mere animal
wants and are freed from their pressure, our higher
nature begins to seek expression in forms that fitly
embody its ideals of perfection. It is thus Angels
act. It is thus God creates. The soul has interests
as well as the body, and the educator ought not to
overlook them.
No one can be an Artist who has not born within
him an ideal of beauty. It is this ideal which he
paints on canvas, chisels out of marble, expresses
in tones, or writes in measured words. It is his
model. It is his light. It is what he struggles to
body forth. Every work of Art is a new birth.
Nothing can emanate from emptiness. Up from
the depths of the soul comes this image, and we
fitly call its coming inspiration, and can say no more.
2. THEIR MEANS. — We seek now the means of
expressing the ideals of perfection born in the soul.
There must be a suitable body. It may be form,
color, tone, word, but there can be no Art without
a body. Without it, the image might exist in the
mind, but it could not be expressed. Nor is the
relation between the ideal and the body used to ex
press it a matter of indifference. An Artist may
exhibit exquisite taste in the selection of his forms,
his colors, his tones, his words.
There must be appropriate accessories. The
central thought of a master of Art cannot be pene
trated at a glance. It is a study, and can only be
4:92 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
approached by steps. There must be an adjustment
of surrounding details each co-operating to heighten
the general effect, or to make more impressive the
main design.
There must be a knowledge of scientific principles.
An Artist cannot dispense with certain principles
of the Rational Sciences, for from this source he
must draw all his knowledge concerning the pure
ideas under whose inspiration he works and the
criteria by which he judges in matters of taste.
All the rules of Art and canons of criticism are
the deductions of Rational Science. Artists are
aided, too, by a knowledge of the Empirical Sci
ences. The Architect needs to know the strength
of materials and the laws of mechanics ; the Sculp
tor should understand Anatomy ; the Painter, the
properties of pigments and the effects of light and
shade ; and the Musician the laws of Harmony.
There must be genius. Rules of Art do not
make Artists. By long practice, men can become
mechanics, imitators ; but Art requires originality,
invention, the poet's fire, genius.
3. THEIR MODE OF EXECUTION. — Young Artists
usually seek the studio or the shop of some famous
master of the Art they wish to acquire, that they
may study his style and imitate his models. For
the same purpose they visit collections of pictures,
galleries of statues, concerts and rehearsals, and
Btudy poems and compositions. This is all very
well, but it can never supply the want of genius or
of acquaintance with the works of nature. Per-
THE ARTS IN GENERAL 493
haps, something has been lost to Art by the practice
of imitating the style of the masters. All men can
work in themselves better than out of themselves.
No Artist can execute like another. All attempts
to do it will prove failures. Each must be himself
or nothing. A work of Art is a growth, the vital
force of which exists in the Artist's mind, and ex
traneous influences may nourish but must not con
strain it.
It is earnestly maintained by some that all Art is
an imitation of nature — that it is by the study of
nature alone that the true Artist can find instruction.
Ruskin gives the following advice to young Artists :
"They should go to nature in all singleness of
heart, and walk with her laboriously and trustingly,
having no other thought but how best to penetrate
her meaning; rejecting nothing, selecting nothing,
and scorning nothing." Doubtless all the elements
of beauty are found expressed in the works of
nature, and the first part of Ruskin's sentiment is
worthy of acceptation, that young Artists " should
go to nature in all singleness of heart, and walk
with her laboriously and trustingly." But Art is
not simply an imitation of nature. The grapes
painted by Zeuxis that the birds came and pecked at,
were a work of high Art, but there is a higher.
The Artist has an ideal of beauty in his own mind,
the presence of beautiful objects is necessary for its
manifestation, but when manifested it becomes a
criterion by which nature herself can be criticised.
The capacity of conceiving the beautiful exists in
every mind; it needs only that a spark from the
42
494: INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
outer world should light it up, and all things be
come illuminated in its blaze. Cousin quotes Plato
as follows : " The artist, who, with eye fixed upon
the immutable being, and using such a model, repro
duces its idea and its excellence, cannot fail to
produce a whole whose beauty is complete, whilst
he who fixes his eye upon what is transitory, with
this perishable model will make nothing beautiful."
And Cicero, to the same effect : " Phidias, that great
artist, when he made the form of Jupiter or Minerva,
did not contemplate a model a resemblance of
which he would express ; but in the depth of his
soul resided a perfect type of beauty, upon which
he fixed his look, which guided his hand and his
art." God gave man Reason ; and the word of the
Reason becomes the flesh of Art, the latter only
finds its nourishment on earth, the former looks to
Heaven for its inspiration.
Success in Art is not likely to be reached without
much practice in efforts to express the ideal. A
divine image may struggle for utterance in the soul,
nature raay be full of forms, colors, sounds, motions,
symbols suited as a body to its expression, but to
free the one by finding the other generally requires
practice and patience. The Sculptor may see his
ideal in the rough block of marble before him, but
how many the trials, how great the toil, before the
breath of beauty is breathed into the dead stone.
The Painter may see his ideal on the dull canvas,
but tired hand and aching head are his before that
canvas will speak like a voice from Heaven to listen
ing worshippers. Fairer ideals dance before the
THE ARTS IN GENERAL. 495
Poet's imagination than he has ever been aole to
clothe in the drapery of words, and richer sympho
nies swell in the ear of the Musician than were ever
sung save upon the harps of angels. From this
cause, a true Artist is seldom satisfied with his pro
ductions. He feels capable of more than he haa
accomplished. More perfect ideals dazzle him with
their beauty, and seem to challenge his powers of
expression. Fired with poetic frenzy, he works and
works on, with chisel, with pencil, with pen, but to
find repeated, at the end of every struggle, the same
longing to touch that higher beauty which still lies
beyond his reach.
It may be in place to say here, that all true Art is
pure and truthful. Out of the idea of the beautiful
nothing unchaste or lalse cor'r* come, for otherwise
the child would destroy the parent. All the Arts
have been turned to base uses, as sin dragged down
the angels from Heaven, but their mission is to
promote virtue among men. From a love of the
beautiful to a love of the good there is but a single
step.
In the highest sense, Art is universal in its end.
It aims to dignify all that is low, to beautify all that is
deformed, to make all labor a delight, to lift up the
world from sin and ignorance to holiness and light.
Says Ruskin : " Remember that it is not so much
in buying pictures, as in being pictures that you en
courage a noble school. The best patronage of art
is not that which seeks for the pleasures of senti
ment in a vague ideality, nor for beauty of form in
a marble imas^e ; but that which educates your ehil-
496 INSTRUCTION IN THE ARTS.
dren into living heroes, and binds down the flights
and fondness of the heart into practical duty and
faithful devotion."
The highest of all Arts is the Art of living well.
Beyond the beauty of Sculpture, or Painting, or
Music, or Poetry, is the beauty of a well-spent life.
Here all can be Artists. Every man can be a hero.
Obedience to the command, " Be ye perfect even as
your Father in Heaven is perfect," would ally man
to God, and make earth a Paradise.
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