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A CONFLICT.
the end to be reached must not be overlooked. If a young man proposes for himself a life devoted to the service of the state, to literature, science or art; to medicine, theology or law; to poetry, printing or music; to agriculture, engineering or trade; it is very clear that the system of training necessary to make him a suitable person to shape the destiny of his country must, in its higher lines be different from that which would make him an engineer, scientist, artist, theologian or lawyer. It is true that in a republic, a solid foundation in the principles of social, political and historical science should be required of all, whatever the system that leads to such an acquisition may be. It is just as true that an engineer is the better for being a good mathematician; the geologist for being an expert in botany and natural history; the literary man for his thorough acquaintance not only with the best productions of his mother tongue, but also with the modern and ancient classics. To secure such results, however, there are many who would begin and end on a line that would have no connection with the universe of knowledge that touches it at every point. It seems to me, that this one-sidedness of some so-called scientists, if permitted to regulate the educational work of the present age, and to expunge wha they deem useless and dead, would soon blot out more than one half of the best influences that now go so far to render life worth living
There are, of course, serious objections to many of the systems of education now in vogue, attributable, some of them, to the innate stupidity of the men who control them; some, to the unbounded egotism of others whose ways are the only ways, and whose thoughts are the only ones of any worth; some, to the force of tradition, holding on to what has been handed down from generation to generation, and some to the
radicals even, who would destroy everything old, simply for the sake of change. But there is in all of them an amount of the true and the substantial large enough to furnish a basis upon which all may harmonize.
The excessive cultivation of one department of knowledge to the exclusion of others, even before any adequate development of thinking power has been wrought, is one of the great evils of modern systems. There is great danger of shutting out the young from any general course of training, and of permitting and fostering the selections of a special subject which fancy may prefer, or to which there may be the least dislike. Is not a contrary system to be preferred? Is not a broad scheme of study, drawn up only after mature deliberation, which all who propose special lines of work must first pass over creditably, before entering the field of selected labor, the better course in practice? That course of training popularized by the term "special," often seems to present a mean, mercenary appearance. Not only the means of study, but even honors, emoluments, and prizes must, be bestowed in order that the young may be enticed thereby. Not only must they be allowed to study what they please, but a delicate bribe must reward them, and those who are to guide them in instruction, must appreciate and value them and their specialty according to their standard. Can any one, whose judgment is worth anything, deny that the classics and the mathematics are of the greatest importance, because of the accuracy of thought, the cogency and logical force of the reasoning faculty, the definiteness that consequently attaches to all subsequent work, and the infinitely superior preparation for entering upon every kind of original investigation, all of which beyond successful contradiction, are direct results of a thorough course of training in those two standard departments of knowledge? Suppose