Chapter IX: The Way of the Reason 139

Reason brings forward infallible proofs--May be furtherer of
counsels, good _or_ bad--Inventions--How did you think of
it?--Children should follow steps of reasoning--Psychology
of crime--Reasonable and right, not synonymous--Reason works
involuntarily--Reason never begins it--Reason will affirm any
theory--Logic, the formula of reason--But not necessarily
right--Beauty and wonder of act of reasoning--But there
are limitations--We must be able to expose fallacies--Karl
Marx--Socialistic thought of to-day--Reason requires material
to work upon--Reason subject to habit--Children must have
principles--Be able to detect fallacies--Must know what Religion
is--Miracles--Quasi-religious offers--Great things of life
cannot be proved--Reason is fallible--Children, intensely
reasonable--Reasoning power of a child does not wait upon
training--But children do not generalise--Must not be hurried to
formulate--Mathematics should not monopolise undue time--Cannot
alone produce a reasonable soul.

CHAPTER X

THE CURRICULUM 154

Standard in Secondary Schools set by public
examinations--Elementary Schools less limited with regard
to subjects--A complete curriculum in the nature of
things--Education still at sea--Children have inherent
claims--Law of supply and demand--Human nature a composite
whole--The educational rights of man--We may not pick and
choose--Shelley offers a key--Mistakes _v._ howlers--Knowledge
should be consecutive, intelligent, complete--Hours of work, not
number of subjects, bring fatigue--Short hours--No preparation.

SECTION I: THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD 158

Knowledge of God indispensable--Mothers communicate it
best--Relation to God a first-born affinity--“Kiddies” not
expected to understand--School education begins at six--_No
conscious mental effort_ should be required earlier--Dr.
Johnson on “telling again”--Two aspects of Religion--Attitude
of Will towards God--Gradual perception of God--Goethe
on repose of soul--Children must have passive as well as
active principle--New Testament teaching must be grounded
on Old--Sceptical children--Must not be evaded or answered
finally--A thoughtful commentator necessary--Method of lessons,
six to twelve, twelve to fifteen, fifteen to eighteen--Aids of
modern scholarship--Dogmatic teaching comes by inference--Very
little hortatory teaching desirable--Synthetic study of life and
teaching of Christ, a necessity--“Authentic comment” essayed in
verse--Catechism--Prayer Book--Church History.