Chapter II: Part 2

Some doubt may rise between the rich and poor, whether all rich and none poor, or some in both, may and should be sent to learning. If some rich are sent, provided for out of private resources, some poor will be commended by promising parts to public provision for the general advantage, and if neither private nor public provision is mismanaged, the matter will decide itself by the capacity of the learners and their disposition to prove virtuous. The safe condition is that the rich should not have too much, nor the poor too little. In the former case, the overplus breeds a loose and dissolute brain; in the latter, the insufficiency causes a base and servile temper. For he who is never in need, owing to the supplies of his friends, never exercises his wits to be a friend to himself, but commonly proves reckless till the black ox treads upon his toes, and necessity makes him try what mettle he is made of. And he who is always in need, for want of friends, is apt to find his heaven in whatever rids him of his difficulties, and to worship that saint who serves his turn best. Now if wealthy parents out of their private fortune, and public patrons out of their surplus wealth would try to avoid these two extremes, then neither would over-abundance make the one too wanton, nor want make the other too servile. Neither would be tempted to hasten on too fast, the one lest he should lose some time, and the other lest he should miss some chance of a livelihood. The middle sort of parents, who neither welter in too much wealth, nor wrestle with too much want, seem most promising of all, if their children’s capacity is in keeping with their parents’ circumstances and position, which must be the level for the fattest to fall down to, and the leanest to leap up to, to bring forth the student who will serve his country best.

The Number of Scholars limited by Circumstances.

All cannot pass on to learning that throng thitherward, because of the inconveniences that may ensue, by want of preferment for such a multitude, and by depriving other trades of their necessary workers. Everyone desires to have his child learned, yet for all that every parent must bear in mind that he is more bound to his country than to his child. If the parent will not yield to reason some kind of restraint must be used. Fortunately the question is often determined by necessity. You would have your child learned, but your purse will not stretch; you must be patient, and devise some other course within your means. You are not able to spare him from your elbow for your own needs, whereas learning must have leisure, and the scholar’s book be his only business free from outside interference. You have no school near you, and you cannot pay for teaching further off; then let your own trade content you, and keep your child at home. Or your child is of weak constitution; then let schooling alone, make play his physician, and health his object. Whichever way necessity drives you, perforce that way must ye trot. If the restrained child cannot get the skill to write and read, I lament that lack, for these two points concern every man nearly, and are useful in every kind of business. I dare not venture to allow so many the Latin tongue, nor any other language, unless it be in cases where those tongues are found necessary in their trades. For otherwise the fear is lest, having such benefits of school, they will not be content with their own station in life, but because they have some little smack of book learning they will think even the highest positions low enough for them, not considering that in well-governed States Latin is allowed both to country clowns and town artificers; yet these remain in their own calling, without pride or ambition, on account of that small knowledge by which they are better able to furnish out their own trades.

The Number of Scholars kept down by Law.

It is no objection to allege against such a lawful restraint, that if such a measure had been in force we might have lost men of high intelligence and great learning who have been of much service to the State. Some degree of foresight and orderly restraint are more likely to secure that necessary functions will be well served than if all is left to chance and individual will. Nor is it reasonable to object that it were a pity, by the severity of an unkind law, to hinder that excellence which God commonly gives to the poorer sort.

Talent not peculiar either to Rich or Poor.

As for pitying the poor, ye need not wish a beggar to become a prince, though ye allow him a penny and pity his necessities. If he is poor provide for him, that he may live by trade, but let him not idle. Has he talent? Well, are artificers fools? And do not all trades require ability? But is he very likely to distinguish himself in learning? I do not reject him; he has his chance of being provided a public help in common patronage. But he does not well to oppose his own particular will against the public good; let his country think enough of him, but let him beware of thinking too much of himself. Because God has often shown himself bountiful in conferring talent on the poorer sort, that does not prove that he has not bestowed as great gifts on some of the upper class, though they may have failed to use them. The commonwealth, it is urged, must be prepared to give scope for ability, in whatever class it may be found.

Choice of those fit for Learning.

The choice of learners is a matter requiring careful thought at all times and in all places, but especially in our own day and country. For it is more important to whom you commit learning when you have found what to learn than to find what to learn before you commit it, because the best instrument should always be handled by the fittest person, and not by every one that has a fancy to handle it. When the choice follows private liking rather than public advantage, more mischief is caused than is easily discovered, though the smart is generally felt. There is indeed little use in discussing the question of fitness, if no choice is to be made when the question is decided. And as the bestowal of learning must have its beginning in the young child, ought not good choice to go before if the due effect is to follow?

How the Choice of Scholars should be Determined.

I will now consider what kinds of talent and disposition are, even from infancy, to be thought most fitting to serve the State in the matter of learning. Often those who give least promise at first turn out most suitable in the end; wherefore the absolute rejection of any, before maturity is reached, not only does an injury to those who are rejected, but would be an evidence of rashness in those who reject. For the variety is very great, though where certainty is impossible preference must be given to the most likely. In the qualities that give promise of good service when learning has been gained, there are commonly reckoned an honourable disposition, zeal for moral virtue, and the desire to benefit society without thought of personal profit. There must also be taken into account the shrewdness of intelligence which will not be easily deceived nor diverted from a right opinion, either by the influence of feeling in themselves or the strength of persuasion in others. And generally whatever virtue gives proof of a good man and a good citizen must be held of value, so that the learner should show capability and discretion in matters of learning, and towardness and constancy in matters of living. All this refers to free men who can secure independently the opportunities of learning, yet provision is to be made for those of good natural intelligence who need some help. There are three kinds of government--Monarchy, Oligarchy, and Democracy, each of which demands a different type of citizen and scholar. That child is likely in later years to prove the fittest subject for learning in a _Monarchy_ who at a tender age shows himself obedient to the rules of the School, and, if he should offend, takes his punishment gently, without complaining or taking affront. In behaviour towards his companions he is gentle and courteous, without wrangling or complaining. He will lend a helping hand, and use every persuasion rather than have either his teacher disquieted or his school-fellows punished. And, therefore, either he receives similar courtesy from his school-fellows, or whoever shows him any discourtesy must be prepared for challenge and combat with all the rest. If he has any natural capacity in which he excels his companions, it will be so well regulated and show itself with such modesty that it shall appear in no way upsetting or over-ambitious. At home he will be so deferential to his parents, so courteous among servants, so dutiful toward all with whom he has to deal, that there will be contention who can praise him most behind his back, and who can cherish him most before his face. These qualities will not be easily discerned till the child is either in the Grammar School by regular but not premature advancement, or at least upon his passage from the completed course of the Elementary School, because his age by that time, and his progress under regulation, will make it possible in some degree to perceive his inclination. Before that time we pardon many things, and use encouragement and motives of ambition to inflame the little one onward, which are discontinued afterwards. When of their own accord, without any motive of fear or other incitement, they begin to make some show of their learning in some special direction, then conjecture is on foot as to what their career ought to be.

Grounds for Promotion.

When the possession of means bids the school door open, the admission and right of continuance is granted to all, till after some proof the master, who is the first chooser of the finest, begins to discern where there is ability to go forward, and where natural weakness suggests prompt removal. When the master has discovered strength or infirmity of nature, as may appear in the ease or difficulty of acquiring and retaining that are seen in boys of different aptitude, his desire will naturally be to have the promising scholars continued, to procure the removal of the duller ones by diverting their energy into some other course more in keeping with their natural bent than learning, in which they are likely to make little progress, however long they remain at school. Care must be taken, however, not to decide prematurely, for it may prove that those wits that at first were found to be very hard and blunt may soften and prove sharp in time, and show a finer edge, though this is not to be applied to dullards generally. For natural dulness will show itself in everything that concerns memory and understanding, while that kind of dulness that may some day change into sharpness will show itself only at intervals, like a cloudy day that will turn out fine in the end. Wherefore, injustice may be done by a hasty judgment, and, on the other hand, the boy who is not yet strong enough for manual work may remain a little longer at school, where, even if he do little good, he is sure to take little harm. Moreover, if the parents can afford it, and wish to keep their children on at school, even though their progress is small, the master must have patience, and measure his pains by the parent’s purse, where he knows there is plenty, and not by the child’s profit, which he sees will be small. Only he must keep the parent constantly informed how matters stand, both as a matter of duty and to prevent disappointment. But the case is different with a poor child, who should be sent to a trade at once, if he is not promising in learning.

Co-operation of Parents.

Seeing that the schoolmaster, to whose judgment I commend the choice, is no absolute potentate in our commonwealth, to dispose of people’s children as he pleases, but only a counsellor to act along with the parent, if the latter is willing to take advice, I should wish, that in order to have this duly accomplished, parents and teachers should be not only acquainted, but on friendly terms with each other. And though some parents need no counsel, and some teachers can give but little, yet the wise parent is always willing to listen before he decides, and the opinion of a skilful teacher deserves to be heard. If this co-operation cannot be established, the poor child will suffer in the present, and the parents will lose much satisfaction in the end. This kind of control will continue as long as the child is either under a master in school, or under a tutor in college, and in this period a great number may be very wisely arranged for, unlearned trades being sufficiently supplied, and a life of learning reserved for those only who by their intelligence and judgment are fitted for it. By such means the proportion will be properly adjusted in every branch of the public service, and the risk avoided of having too large a total number. This period under the master’s charge is the only period when the youth can be controlled by outside direction; for afterwards at a more dangerous age they come to choose for themselves, and their defects of nature and manners, if not corrected, may bring sorrow to them and to their friends. And though the schoolmaster may not always have his counsel followed in such a case, yet if he let the parent know his opinion his duty will be discharged. For if the parent shows himself unwilling to follow the teacher’s opinion, supported by good reasons, but under the influence of blind affection overestimates his child’s aptitude for learning, then though the master should for his own gain keep on an unpromising pupil, the fault lies with the parent who would not see even after fair warning. So that it always proves true that parents and teachers should be familiarly linked together in amity and continual conference for their common charge, and that each should trust in the judgment and personal goodwill of the other. This will come to pass only when the teacher is carefully chosen and kept on terms of friendly conference--not merely because “my neighbour’s children go to school with you, so you shall have mine too,”--a common reason in the case of children who are continually being sent posting about to try all sorts of schools, and never stay long in any, thus reaping as much learning as the rolling stone gathers moss.

Admission into Colleges.

The other means whereby some selection may be made is by admission into colleges, preferments to degrees, advancement to livings. In regard to these the commonwealth may receive all the greater harm that they come nearer the public service, so that plain dealing is the more praiseworthy, in order to prevent mischief. As concerns colleges I do not consider that the scholarships in them are intended only for poor students, for whose needs that small help could never suffice, (though some advantage may be given to them in consideration of special promise which has no other chance of being recognised) but rather that they are simply preferments for learning and advancements for virtue, alike to the wealthy as a reward of well-doing, and to the poorer students as a necessary support. Therefore, as in admission I would give freedom to choose from both sorts, so I would restrict the choice to those who give genuine promise of usefulness. For if elections are swayed by favour, shown on grounds not of merit but of private friendship, though perhaps with some colour of regard for learning, those who are responsible for the injustice will repent when it is too late, finding themselves served in their own coin; for those who get in by such means, owing their own advancement to private influence, will act in the same way towards others, without regard to the common welfare. When favour is shown on any other ground than that of merit, founders are discouraged, public provision is misused, and learning gives place to idling. But if elections were made on grounds of fitness alone, the unfit would be diverted in time into some other channel, the best would be chosen, the intentions of founders would be fulfilled, some perjury for the non-performance of statutes would be avoided, new patrons would be procured, religion advanced, and good students encouraged.

Preferment to Degrees.

Preferment to degrees may be, and indeed ought to be, a more powerful check on insufficiency, because by this means the whole country is made either a lamentable spoil to bold ignorance, or a favourable soil for sober knowledge. When a scholar is allowed by authority of the University to profess capacity in a certain specialty for which he bears the title, and is sent into the world by the help of people who have acted under unworthy influences in disregard of merit, what must our country think when she hears the boast of the University title sound in her ears, and fails to find the benefit of University learning to serve her in her need? She will not blame the ignorant graduate, who is only naturally trying to do the best for himself, but she will very greatly blame the Universities for having deceived her and betrayed her trust. For in granting a degree the University is virtually saying, “Before God and my country, I know this man, not by perfunctory knowledge, but by thorough examination, to be well able to perform in the Commonwealth the duties of the profession to which his degree belongs, and the country may rest upon my credit in security for his sufficiency.” What if the University knew beforehand that he neither was such an one, nor was ever likely to prove such? Let the earnest professors of true religion in the universities at this day consult their consciences and remedy the defect for their own credit and the good of their country. A teacher may be pardoned, for seeking thus earnestly to have true worth recognised, considering that thereby would come not only satisfaction to himself, but advantage to his pupils and to the country at large. Can he be anything but grieved to see the results for which he has laboured with infinite care and pains set at naught by bad management at a later stage? It seems to be reasonable for anyone who is given the charge of numbers to concern himself not only with what comes under his own immediate regulation, but with the means of securing public protection and encouragement for his pupils after they pass out of his care.

Natural Capacity in Children.

I will now consider what children ought to learn when they are first sent to school. There are in the human soul certain natural capacities which by the wisdom of parents and the discernment of teachers, who may perceive them in the child’s infancy and do their best to cultivate them, may eventually be made very profitable both to their possessor, and to the commonwealth. If these natural capacities are not perceived, those who are responsible must be charged either with ignorance or with negligence, and if they are perceived but are either not improved or wrongly directed, the teachers and trainers, whether they are parents or schoolmasters, must be much lacking in sound skill, or else they are guided by stupid fancies. Without making any complete analysis of the mental powers, I would point out some natural inclinations in the soul, which seem to crave the help of education and nurture, and by means of these may be cultivated to advantage. In the little young souls we find first a capacity to perceive what is taught to them, and to imitate those around them. That faculty of learning and following should be well employed by choosing the proper matter to be set before them, by carefully proceeding step by step in a reasonable order, by handling them warily so as to draw them on with encouragement. We find also in them a power of retention; therefore their memories should at once be furnished with the very best, seeing that it is a treasury, and never suffered to be idle, as it loses its power so soon. For in default of the better, the worse will take possession, and bid itself welcome. We find in them further an ability to discern what is good and what is evil, so that they should forthwith be acquainted with what is best, by learning to obey authority, and dissuaded from the worse by the fear of disapproval. These three things, perception, memory, and judgment, ye will find peering out of the little young souls at a time when ye can see what is in them, but they cannot yet see it themselves. Now these natural capacities being once discerned, must as they arise be followed with diligence, increased by good method, and encouraged by sympathy, till they come to their fruition.

Encouragement better than Severity.

The best way to secure good progress, so that the intelligence may conceive clearly, memory may hold fast, and judgment may choose and discern the best, is so to ply them that all may proceed voluntarily, and not with violence, so that the will may be ready to do well, and loth to do ill, and all fear of correction may be entirely absent. Surely to beat for not learning a child that is willing enough to learn, but whose intelligence is defective, is worse than madness.

Moral Training falls chiefly on Parents.

The duty of leading children to cleave to the good and forsake the bad, in matters of ordinary conduct, is shared by all who come in contact with them; it belongs to the parents by nature, to schoolmasters by the charge committed to them, to neighbours as a matter of courtesy, and to people in general on the ground of a common humanity. Teachers, it is true, have special opportunities of influencing the morals and manners of children, by means of the authority they naturally exercise, in teaching them what is best, and inducing them to practise it, even by force at first, till they come to appreciate it for themselves. But this control of good manners is not for teachers alone, for as I have said, they must co-operate with the parents, to whom that duty naturally appertains most nearly, as they have the fullest authority over the children. Wherefore, reserving for the teacher only so much as strictly belongs to him, in instructing the child what is best in good manners, and in framing good regulations and seeing that they are properly carried out, I refer the rest to those who are the appointed guardians of morals, to secure either by private discipline at home, or by public control outside, that young people are well brought up to distinguish the good from the bad, the seemly from the unseemly, that they may know God, serve their country, be a comfort to their friends, and help one another, as good fellow-citizens are bound to do. But the task of training their intelligence and memory belongs wholly to the teacher, and I will now proceed to deal with it.

Elementary Instruction--Reading.

I might very well be thought wanting in discretion if I were to press any far-fetched proposals into this discussion of general principles, and I shall therefore deal only with methods that are in harmony with the customs of this country, and with the circumstances of the time. Among the subjects of instruction that have universally been recognised and practised, _Reading_ certainly holds the first place, alike for the training of the mind in the process of acquiring it, and for its usefulness after it is acquired. For the printed page is the first and simplest material for impressions in the art of teaching, and nothing comes before it. When by gradual practice in combining letters and in spelling out words under direction, the child has acquired the faculty of reading easily, what a cluster of benefits thus come within reach! Whatever anyone has published to the world by pen or print, for any end of profit or pleasure, whether of free will or under constraint, by reading it is all made to serve us--in religion, to promote the love and fear of God, in law, to aid us in rendering obedience and service to our fellow-men, and in life generally to enable us to expel ignorance and acquire skill to do everything well. Wherefore I make Reading the first foundation on which everything else must rest, and being a thing of such moment, it should be thoroughly learned when it is once begun, as facility will save much trouble both to master and scholar at a later stage. The child should have his reading perfect both in the English and in the Latin tongue long before he dreams of studying grammar.

The Vernacular First.

As for the question whether English or Latin should be first learned, hitherto there may seem to have been some reasonable doubt, although the nature of the two tongues ought to decide the matter clearly enough; for while our religion was expressed only in Latin, the single rule of learning was to learn to read that language, as tending to the knowledge valued by the Church. But now that we have returned to our English tongue as being proper to the soil and to our faith, this restraint is removed, and liberty is restored, so that we can follow the direction of reason and nature, in learning to read first that which we speak first, to take most care over that which we use most, and in beginning our studies where we have the best chance of good progress, owing to our natural familiarity with our ordinary language, as spoken by those around us in the affairs of every-day life. This is the better order also in respect that English presents certain difficulties that are absent in Latin, and that children can master more easily when their memories are still unstored, and considerations of reason do not affect them. While Latin has been purified to a definite form in which it has been fixed and preserved, English, though it is progressing very fairly, is still wanting in refinement, the spelling being harder, and the pronunciation harsher, than in Latin.

Material of Reading.

In this a special and continual regard should be had to these four points in the child--his _memory_, his _delight_, his _capacity_, and his _advancement_.

As to his _memory_, I would provide that as he must practise it even from the first, so he may also practise it upon the best, both for pleasure in the course of learning, and for profit afterwards.

As to his _delight_, which is no mean allurement to his learning well, I would be equally careful that the matter which he shall read, may be so fit for his years, and so plain to his intelligence, that when he is at school, he may desire to go forward in so interesting a study, and when he comes home, he may take great pleasure in telling his parents what pretty little things he finds in his book, and that the parents also may have no less pleasure in hearing their little one speak, so that each of them shall rather seek to anticipate the other, the child to be telling something, and the parent to be asking.

As to his _capacity_, I would so provide, that the matter which he shall learn may be so easy to understand, and the terms which I will use, so simple to follow, that both one and the other shall bring nothing but encouragement.

As to his _advancement_, I would be very particular that there may be such consideration and choice in syllables, words, and sentences, and in all the incidental notes, that there shall be nothing wanting which may seem worth the wishing, to help fully either in spelling correctly, or reading easily; so that the child who can read these well, may read anything else well, if the reading master will keep that order in his teaching which I intend to give him in my precept, and not do the infant harm by hurrying him on too fast, and measuring his forwardness not by his own knowledge but by the notions of his friends.

Writing.

Next to reading followeth _Writing_, at some reasonable distance after, because it requireth some strength in the hand, which is not so steady and firm for writing as the tongue is stirring and ready for reading. But though in education writing should succeed reading, in its origin it must have been earlier. For the pen or some such instrument did carve, first roughly and then completely, the letter or letter-like device, and thereby did the eye behold in outward form what the voice delivered to the ear in sound, so that writing was used as the interpreter of the mind, and reading became the expounder of the pen. From its rude beginnings writing has advanced so much that it now proves the prop of remembrance, the executor of most affairs, the deliverer of secrets, the messenger of meanings, the inheritance of posterity, whereby they receive whatever is bequeathed to them, in law to live by, in letters to learn and enjoy. For the proper study of this valuable art the master must himself acquire, and must teach his scholar, a neat handwriting, fast and easy to read, and the matter of the headline, from which example is taken, should be pithy, and suitable for enriching the memory with a profitable provision. Practice should not be left off till it hath brought great skill and readiness, for writing once perfectly acquired is a wonderful help in the rest of our learning.

Elementary Period a Time of Probation.

During the time of learning to read and to write the child’s intelligence will manifest itself so as to decide whether it may venture further upon greater learning, or were best, owing to some natural defect, to take to something requiring less skill. But if the child is set to any higher work while he is still of tender years, his master pushing him on beyond what he is ready for, there may be loss of temper, which often breaks out into beating, to the dulling of the child, the discouraging of the master, and the reproach of school-life, which should not only yield satisfaction in the end, when learning has become a sure possession, but should pass on very pleasantly by the way. Whatever children learn, they should learn perfectly, for if opportunity to go on further should fail them, through loss of friends or other misfortune, it were good that they know thoroughly what they had practised, whereas if it is known only imperfectly it will stand them in very small stead, or none at all. To write and read well is a pretty good stock for a poor boy to begin the world with.

Drawing.

After careful consideration of the matter no one will hold it open to controversy that _Drawing_ with pen or pencil should be taught along with writing, to which it is very closely related. For a pen and penknife, ink and paper, a pair of compasses and a ruler, a desk, and a sandbox, will set them both up, and in these early years, while the fingers are flexible, and the hand easily brought under control, good progress can be made. And generally those that have a natural aptitude for writing will have a knack of drawing too, and show some evident talent in that direction. And the place that judgment holds in the mind as the measure of what is just and seemly, is filled in the world of sense by drawing, which judges of the proportion and aspect of all that appeals to the eyes.

Because Drawing uses both number and figure to work with, I would cull out as much numbering from Arithmetic, the mistress of numbers, and so much figuring out of Geometry, the lady of figures, as shall serve for a foundation to the child’s drawing, without either difficulty to frighten him, or tediousness to tire him. Whatever shall belong to colouring, shading, and such other technical points, since they are more the concern of the painter than of the beginner in drawing, I would reserve them for a later stage, and leave them to the student’s choice, when he is to specialise and betake himself to some particular trade in life. At which time, if he chance to choose the pen and pencil to live by, this introduction will then prove his great friend, as he himself shall find, when he puts it to the proof. Last of all, inasmuch as drawing is a thing that is thoroughly useful to many good workmen who live honestly by its means, and attain a good degree of estimation and wealth, such as architects, embroiderers, engravers, statuaries, modellers, designers, and many others like them, besides the learned use of it for Astronomy, Geometry, Geography, Topography, and such other studies, I would therefore pick out some special figures, appropriate to many of the foresaid purposes which it seems fittest to teach a child to draw, and I would also show how these are to be dealt with from their very beginning to their last perfection, seeing it is beyond all controversy that if drawing be thought needful it should be dealt with while the fingers are supple, and the writing is still in progress, so that both the pen and the pencil, both the rule and the compass, may go forward together.

Music.

Music completes the list of elementary subjects, and is divided into two parts--the cultivation of the voice, and the practice of an instrument, the former resembling reading, as it produces to the ear what is seen by the eye, the latter resembling writing, as it imitates the voice. Both should be begun early, while the voice and the muscles are still pliable to training. Singing has the advantage of being less costly than the study of an instrument in regard to the necessary provision. As to the value of Music, there can be no room for doubt; indeed, it seems to have been sent as a solace from heaven for the sorrows of earth. Some men think it is over sweet, and should be either dispensed with altogether, or at least not much practised. For my own part I cannot forbear to place it among the most valuable means in the upbringing of the young, and in this opinion I have the support of all the best authorities of antiquity. There are so many arguments in favour of the art; it is so ancient, so honourable, so universal, so highly valued in all times and places, alike in Church services and otherwise; it is such a calmer of passion, such a powerful influence on the mind, that I must stay my hand in writing about it, lest being fairly embarked I should be unable to stop. It will be enough for me to say of Music that it is in accordance with national custom, that it is very comforting to the wearied mind, that it is a means of persuasion which all must appreciate who delight in the proportions of number, that it is best and most easily learned in childhood, when it can do least harm, that its harmonies could not have such power to stir emotion if they had not some close natural affinity to the constitution of the body and soul of man, and that we see and read the wonderful effects it has had in the cure of desperate diseases. And yet with all its claims it arouses distrust in some quarters, even in honest and well-disposed natures that are too much inclined to sternness. They, however, will probably alter their opinion, if they will consider more deeply what Music is in its true nature, or if they come to discuss the matter with those who take a sounder view, or more certainly still if the art in its best form has a favourable chance of appealing to their listening ears. The science itself hath naturally great power to probe and sway the inclination of the mind to this or that emotion, through the properties of number in which it consists. It also gives great delight through its harmonies, to which the moods of the hearers respond. It is for this that some disapprove of it, holding that it provokes too much to vain pleasures, and lays the mind open to the entry of light thoughts. And to some also it seems harmful on religious grounds, because it carrieth away the ear with the sweetness of the melody, and bewitcheth the mind with a siren’s sound, seducing it from those pleasures wherein it ought to dwell, into fantasies of harmony, and withdrawing it from virtuous thoughts to strange and wandering devices. A sufficient answer to all this is that in respect of a thing that may be, and was meant to be, properly used, it is no just ground against it that it may also be abused. Music will not harm thee if thy behaviour be good, and thy intention honest; it will not betray thee if thy ears can take it in and interpret it aright. Receive it in a proper spirit, and it will serve thee to good purpose. If thy manners be bad, or thy judgment corrupt, it is not music alone which thou dost abuse, nor canst thou clear thyself of the blame that belongs to thy character by casting it on Music. It is thou that hast abused her, and not she thee. And why should those who can use it rightly forego their own good because of a few peevish people who can never be pleased?

The training in Music, as in all other faculties, has a special eye to these three points:--the child himself, who is to learn; the matter itself, which he is to learn; and the instrument itself, on which he is to learn. I will so deal with the first and the last heads, that is, in regard to the child and the instrument, that neither of them shall lack whatever is needful, either for framing the child’s voice, or exercising his fingers, or choosing his lessons, or tuning his instrument. For in the voice there is a proper pitch, where it is neither over nor under-strained, but delicately brought to its best condition, to last out well, and rise or fall within due compass, and so that it may become tunable and pleasant to hear. And in the training of the fingers also, there is regard to be had, both that the child strike the notes clearly, so as not to spoil the sound, and that his fingers run with certainty and lightness, so as to avoid indistinct execution. Of these the first commonly falls out through too much haste in the young learner, who is ever longing to press forward; the second fault comes of the master himself, who does not consider the natural dexterity and order of development in the joints, for if this is rightly attended to, the fingers easily become flexible and master difficulties of execution without pain. As for the matter of music, which the child is to learn, I would set down by what means and degrees, and by what lessons, a boy who is to be brought up to sing may and ought to proceed regularly from the first term of art, and the first note in sound, until he shall be able without any frequent or serious failure to sing his part in prick-song, either by himself at first while he is inexperienced, or with others for good practice afterwards. For I take so much to be enough for an Elementary institution, which can only introduce the subject, though it must follow the right principle, and I postpone the study of composition and harmony till further knowledge and maturity are attained, when the whole body of music will demand attention. And yet since the child must always be advancing in that direction, I would set him down to rules of composition and harmony, which will make him better able to judge of singing, just as in language he who is accustomed to write can best judge of a writer. Concerning the virginals and the lute, which two instruments I have chosen because of the full music uttered by them and the variety of execution they require, I would also set down as many chosen lessons for both as shall bring the young learner to play reasonably well on them, though not at first sight, whether by the ear or by the book, always provided that prick-song go before playing.

Four Elementary Subjects.

Children, therefore, are to be trained up in the Elementary School, for helping forward the abilities of the mind, in these four things, as recommended to us both by reason and custom: _Reading_, to enable us to receive what has been bequeathed to us by others, and to store our memories with what is best for us; _Writing_, to enable us to do for others what was done for us, by handing on the fruits of our own experience, and besides to serve our own purposes; _Drawing_, to be a guide to the senses, and to afford us pleasure in the objects of sight; and _Music_, both with the voice and with an instrument, for the reasons above stated.

By reading we receive what antiquity has left us; by writing we hand on what posterity craves of us; by both we get great advantage in all the circumstances of our daily life. By delineating with the pencil, what object is there open to the eye, either brought forth by nature, or set forth by art, the knowledge and use of which we cannot attain to? By the study of music, besides the acquirement of a noble science, so definitely formed by arithmetical precept, so necessary a step to further knowledge, such a glass in which to behold both the beauty of concord and the blots of dissension, even in a body politic, how much help and pleasure our natural weakness receives for consolation, for hope, for courage! I do not touch here on the skilful handling of the untrained voice, nor the fine exercising of the unskilled fingers, though these things are not to be neglected where they can be obtained, and are naturally required when imperfection is to be removed by them. Again, does not all our learning, apprehended by the eye and uttered by the tongue, confess the great benefit it receives by reading? Does not all our expression, brought forth by the mind and set down by the pen, acknowledge obligation to the study of writing? Do not all our descriptions, which picture to the sense what is fashioned in thought, both preach and praise the pencil which makes them visible? Does not all our delight in times of leisure,--and we labour only for the sake of gaining rest and freedom from care,--protest in plain terms that it is wonderfully indebted to the music of both voice and instrument? This is the natural sweetener of our bitter life, in the judgment of every man who is not too much soured. Now, what quality of learning is there, deserving of any praise, that does not fall within this elementary course, or is not furthered by it, whether it be connected with the higher professions, or occupations of lower rank, or the necessary trades of common life?

Study of Languages.

Inasmuch as Grammar is used partly as a help to foreign languages, it furthers us very much in that way, because all our learning being got from foreign countries, as registered in their tongues, if we lack the knowledge of the one, we lack the hope of the other.

When learning and knowledge came first to light, those men who were the authors of them uttered their minds in the same speech that they used when they bred the things. And as they needed no foreign tongue for matter that was bred at home, so they had no use of any Grammar but that by which they endeavoured to refine their natural speech at home. But when their devices, first set out in their own tongues, were afterwards sought for by foreign students to increase their learning and to enrich their country with foreign wares, the foreign students were then driven to seek the assistance of Grammar of the second kind, because they could not understand the things which were written in a foreign tongue, without the knowledge of the tongue itself.

In the primitive Grammar children being trained as I now require, went straightway from the elementary to the substance of learning, and to the mathematical sciences, which are so termed, because indeed the whole scholars’ learning consisted in them, as in the first degree of right study. For whatever goes before them in right order is nothing but mere elementary study, and whatever goes before them in wrong order, as it is distorted in nature, it works no great wonder. But in the second use of Grammar, we are forced of necessity, after the elementary subjects, however hurried and simple they may be, to deal with the tongues ere we pass to the substance of learning; and this help from the tongues, though it is most necessary, as our study is now arranged, yet hinders us in time, which is a thing of great price,--nay, it hinders us in knowledge, a thing of greater price. For in lingering over language we are removed and kept back one degree further from sound knowledge, and this hindrance comes in our best learning time, while we are under masters and readers, of whom we may learn far better than of ourselves, if as much regard be had to their choice, as I have elsewhere recommended.

Follow Nature.

The proof of a good Elementary Course is, that it should follow nature in the multitude of its gifts, and that it should proceed in teaching as she does in developing. For as she is unfriendly wherever she is forced, so she is the best guide that anyone can have, wherever she shows herself favourable. Wherefore, if nature makes a child most fit to excel in many aptitudes, provided these are furthered by early training, is not that education much to be blamed that fails to do its part, allowing the child to be deprived by negligence of the excellence that nature intended for it? Again, seeing that there are no natural gifts that cannot be helped forward by training, is not that manner of study to be most highly approved which takes most pains where nature is most lavish? The hand, the ear, the eye, are the chief means of receiving and handing on our learning. And does not this course of study instruct the hand how to write, to draw, to play; the eye to read by letters, to distinguish form by lines, to judge by means of both; the ear to call for the sound of voice and instrument for its own pleasure and cultivation? And, in general, whatever gift nature has bestowed upon the body, to be brought out or improved by training, for any profitable use in life, does not this elementary course find it out and make the most of it? As for the capacities of the mind, whether they concern virtuous living or skill in learning, whatever be the art, science, or profession to which they belong, do they not all evidently depend upon reading and writing as their natural foundations? The study of language must be the basis of grammar, rhetoric, logic, and their derivatives, among which may be counted all the parts of philosophy, both moral and natural, as well as the three professions of divinity, law, and medicine, using as they do in all their branches the instrument of speech. If mathematics be in question, or any kindred subjects that have a bearing on mechanical science, though their secondary use is to whet the mental powers, yet they must rest on a study of the properties of number, figure, motion, and sound. And as for our pleasure in the beauties of art, that is obtained by the provision of drawing for the eye and music for the ear. So that, in my opinion, the fathers and founders of this elementary course (which I am only attempting to reintroduce, though with as much goodwill as so good a thing deserves) have shown great foresight in laying such sure foundations as to secure that all natural capacities shall not only be carefully fostered at their first sprouting, but brought to the fullest perfection when they are ripe for the harvest. When I use the term _nature_ I mean that power which God has implanted in his creatures, both to preserve the race and to fulfil the end of their being. The continuance of their kind is the proof of their being, but the fulfilment of their end is the fruit of their being. This latter is the point to which education has a special eye (though it does not despise the other), so that the young fry may be brought up to prove good in the end, and serve their country well in whatever position they may be placed. For the performance of this end I take it that this elementary course is most sufficient, being the best means of perfecting all those powers with which nature endows our race, by using those studies which art and reflection appoint, and those methods which nature herself suggests. For the end of education and training is to help nature to her perfection in the complete development of all the various powers.

This is what I mean by following nature, not counterfeiting her in her own proper work by foolish imitation, or perverse attempt to produce her effects, like an Apelles in portraiture or an Archimedes in the laws of motion, but after considering and marking with good judgment what are the natural tendencies and inclinations, to frame a scheme of education in consonance with these, and bring to perfection by art all those powers which nature bestows in frank abundance.

For the physical life of man, in order to maintain and develop both the individual and the species, nature has provided organs that receive, prepare and distribute nourishment for the body, and has, besides, given us for self-preservation the power of perceiving all sensible things by means of feeling, hearing, seeing, smelling, and tasting. These qualities of the outward world, being apprehended by the understanding and examined by the judgment, are handed over to the memory, and afterwards prove our chief--nay, our only--means of obtaining further knowledge. Moreover, we have also a power of movement, either under the influence of emotion or by the enticement of desire, either for the direct purposes of life, as in the action of the pulse and in breathing, or for outward action, such as walking, running, or leaping. To serve the end both of sense-perception and of motion, nature has planted in the body a brain, the prince of all our organs, which by spreading its channels through every part of our frame produces all the effects through which sense passes into motion.

Further, our soul has in it a desire to obtain what it holds to be good, and to avoid what it thinks evil. This desire is stirred either by quiet allurement or by violent incitement, and when once it is inflamed it strives to compass its end. To satisfy this desire nature has given us a heart to kindle heat, and as the sense is moved by the qualities of the object, and motion is effected by means of sinews, so appetite, being stirred by the object of desire or repulsion, is supplied with the means of satisfying itself.