man of superior mind must often feel when he is obliged to teach subjects on a level with boyish capacities. The discontent with established methods of teaching arises in part from the disappointment which a man of active mind experiences in not being able to enjoy the exercise of his higher faculties in the ordinary work of his class. He rebels against its routine and drudgery, and transfers something of his own feeling to his pupils, forgetting perhaps that, at their ages, he himself was equally incapable of feeling the tedium of routine work, and of deriving enjoyment from the exercise of thought. We think also that Mr. Thompson entertains far too sanguine views in regard to the intellectual pleasure of which boys are capable. He seems almost to fancy that the acquisition of the ancient languages, which to the mass of boys is chiefly valuable as a rigid discipline, might be made as pleasant as listening to a fairy-tale. We notice particularly that he would make this acquisition as much a receptive process as possible, that he would be inclined to spare boys even the trouble of turning up dictionaries and vocabularies. We have known instances of boys and girls too who had been taught Latin for a year or twoon something like this principle, who were supposed to acquire an easy command of the language almost imperceptibly, and who at the end of that time knew so little, and that little so inaccurately, that it was found necessary to make them begin the study anew on the old conventional method. Perhaps, too, Mr. Thompson's plan of giving more rational explanations of the forms and uses of cases, etc., and his scheme of teaching English, French, German, Latin, and Greek as "dialects of one common language," would puzzle rather than enlighten the young understanding. We fear that it is a part of the constitution of things that boys as well as men must find a good deal of their work disagreeable. They must learn, both mentally and morally, on authority, and cannot be expected to understand the reason of everything. They are, in general, blessed with lively and retentive memories, and it is chiefly through that faculty that the foundations of their future culture must be laid. It is, comparatively speaking, of little moment that a boy should have for the time keen enjoyment in his lessons, provided that he acquires thorough habits of application without being overtasked, and acquires some command over instruments which may by and by afford exercise and enjoyment to the various faculties of his mind, as they begin to unfold themselves. Such instruments the classical languages and literatures are in their higher stages, and healthy boys have so many other sources and capacities of amusement, that we do not look upon their condition as very deplorable, even if they cannot be brought thoroughly to like their Latin grammar. Still, after saying so much on the other side of the question, we heartily agree with Mr. Thompson in thinking that there are some important and remediable mistakes in our system of classical instruction. Much must always depend on the individual master; and, if we were to judge from the powers of clear statement, and from the vivacity of mind displayed in the book now under review, we could think of no one more likely than its author to beguile the youthful mind into the pleasant paths of learning: "Ut puerorum ætas improvida ludificetur There is no reason why our elementary grammars and schoolbooks should not be simplified, and at the same time (without being burdened with recondite philology) be reformed in accordance with the results of recent grammatical and philological research. Mr. Thompson thinks that "the Syntax," necessary to be learned, may be included in "two pages;" and in another place (at page 119), he says: : "I assert that a good Latin grammar might be limited to twentyfour pages, and sold, with a large profit, for sixpence; and that this bookling, with an extra outlay of half-a-crown, might, with a competent master, carry scholars over two years of work." It He would confer a great service on parents, boys, and schoolmasters, if he would only write such a grammar, suited for general use. There are, again, parts of our classical teaching that may be looked upon as non-essentials, and, in the case of the majority of boys, may be dispensed with. This is the case especially with the writing of verses. This task is by no means altogether useless even for the majority of boys. calls for the exercise of ingenuity, under strict conditions; it is a boy's first trial of anything like art. It is a task in which he has to exert himself, not merely to be a passive recipient. Even to young boys it is often that part of their work in which they are for the first time conscious of pleasure. It is, besides, almost essential for the most finished scholarship, that this accomplishment of verse should have been acquired, not indeed that the full-grown scholar may amuse his leisure by turning nursery rhymes into iambics or elegiacs, but that he may have a finer and subtler perception of the genius of Greek and Roman poetry. Still, with all these admissions in favour of the timehonoured practice, there remains this drawback, that in the case of nine boys out of ten, it occupies much more time than it is worth. We should therefore limit its practice to the few who learn their ordinary lessons with more ease than their fellows, or who, from natural aptitude, find it an amusement rather than a task. More time would thus be set free for the acquisition of modern languages and "useful knowledge," which should be carried on in company with, but not in antagonism to, those studies, which, though more slowly acquired and of less immediate application, are more truly the necessary training of a highly organized intellect. But there is a greater evil in our elementary teaching in Scotland than antiquated grammars or verse-making. It is an evil so obvious to common sense, that it has often been pointed out, though we are not aware that any attempt has been made to remedy it. We of course refer to the custom of carrying on all boys, at the same rate of progress, through different stages of their course. Whether this custom is kept up in deference to the vanity of parents or the immediate interests of masters, there is no doubt that it is more fatal to sound elementary education than any other cause. Even the idleness and cricket of English schools, of which we have lately heard so much, are scarcely so mischievous in their results on education. A boy, carried on in his classics or mathematics to a stage beyond what he is fitted for, goes off the road at once, and at every step plunges deeper and deeper into the mire, until he is thankful to give up the journey altogether, and enter on some more familiar way. We do not believe that the masters themselves are in favour of such a system, but they cannot be expected to originate any changes which, according to present arrangements, would injure their interests in proportion to their efficiency. But we think the time has come when, for many reasons, there ought to be an inquiry into the working of our schools as there has been into that of our Universities, which we should hope would result not only in a reform of our schoolteaching all over the country, but also in an adequate recognition and remuneration of the services of our schoolmasters. Mr. Thompson is a radical reformer though not a revolutionist on the subject of our school education. He will carry most of his readers with him, when he points out the defects of our existing system; but we doubt if he will convince other teachers to follow his own method. We doubt altogether the possibility of teaching the languages of ancient Greece and Rome according to the method by which living modern languages are acquired. The acquisition of an ancient, to a much greater extent than a modern language, involves the gradual habituation to new modes of thought. The minds of the civilized nations of modern Europe are cast in the same mould; they differ from each other in opinions, sentiments, and manners, but not in mental structure. The study of Latin and Greek, in which languages the relations of ideas and objects are expressed in accordance with ancient modes Objections to Mr. Thompson's Method. 409 of thought, is thus a much slower and more difficult process than the study of French and German; but at the same time it is much more efficacious in enlarging the mental capacity, and in training the mind to unfamiliar processes of thought. For this reason it has been found, both in England and Germany, to be the most. fitting preparation of the faculties for critical and philosophical study. If those languages could be acquired in an easy, conversational way, they would lose their chief value as a mental discipline. We admit the necessity of having better and simpler grammars and text-books. We admit too that such a teacher, as Mr. Thompson appears to be, may illustrate even grammatical lessons so as to make them lively and interesting to his pupils. But still the lowest foundations of scholarship must be laid almost entirely in the memory. The inflexions of Latin and Greek words, the rules of syntax, and above all, the common meanings of a great number of words must be acquired, unreasoningly, in the two or three first years of school attendance. And this is the reason why we cannot agree with some educational reformers, that the commencement of the study of Latin and Greek may be advantageously deferred till the minds of boys are more mature. The memory for words is more retentive and more accurate before the higher faculties are awakened; and tasks which are felt to be a great drudgery after the development of the maturer powers of understanding, produce no such impression at an earlier stage of education. A judicious teacher will not expect too much from boys; he will be satisfied with accuracy in the first place, and will be content to look forward to the time when they will make a more intelligent use of the materials which they accumulate in the earlier years of their classical studies. As a boy advances from the mere taskwork of accurately rendering Latin and Greek sentences into English to the work of interpreting the great classical authors, he will find full scope for the exercise of his judgment and reasoning power, of his taste and imagination, of his power of expression, and of all his higher intellectual sympathies. But the condition on which these faculties can be adequately exercised on classical studies is, that they should act on the foundation of accurate and tolerably extensive knowledge; and the most essential part of that knowledge is best acquired in the years when the memory is most active, and the reasoning power is not indeed altogether inoperative-because even then it acts as a silent aid to the memory-but is still latent and unconscious. We fear that to Mr. Thompson, and to other enthusiasts in education, our views will appear to be mere unreasoning conservatism. We cordially sympathize with his aims; and our first impression on reading his clear and lively statement of his method was, that this was at last a hopeful attempt to solve the difficulties connected with the earlier stages of education. The most valid objections against classical education arise out of the difficulties which surround its commencement. It is scarcely necessary to argue that it is a good system for boys who work well at school, and whose position and future destination secure to them the advantages of a long preparation for the business of life. But the great difficulty is to make this study, so far as it goes, a useful training for those who are obliged to cut short their education, and enter on the work of life at an earlier period. And for both classes, there seems to be no doubt that this particular study must more and more admit the claims of rival studies of modern languages and literature, of history, and of science. The advocates of classical education have to meet the double difficulty-of teaching their classics more thoroughly, and of doing so on a less exclusive system. This is the problem which the Public School Commission proposes to the great schools of England; and if our school teaching in Scotland has been less limited in its scope, we are afraid that it has failed in want of thoroughness even more than that of England. We fear, on the whole, that Mr. Thompson's suggestions are hardly a satisfactory solution to difficulties, which will require the careful consideration of many persons interested and engaged in our school and university education. One strong objection to the adoption of his views is, that they are not capable of general application. Mr. Thompson himself might succeed with his system, while an equally good scholar, but a less fluent and ready linguist, would find the conversational method break down entirely in his hands. It is desirable that, within certain limits, every teacher should have a good deal of latitude in his method of teaching. It is only by the success of new experiments that much advance can be made in what is, after all, a purely experimental process. For any real improvement we must rely chiefly on the ability and enthusiasm of individual teachers, and on the common sense of the general body. Mr. Thompson has abundance both of ability and enthusiasm, and even if he fail to establish his main points, he has done no ordinary service to our schools and schoolmasters, by raising the question which he discusses in so interesting and attractive a style. There is, however, a great deal more in Mr. Thompson's books than mere suggestions for educational improvement. There are several chapters, such as those with the quaint titles, "Back to Babel," "Dissolving Views," "The King of the Alphabet," etc. devoted to philological speculation, which are very ingenious writing and very interesting reading on a dry and difficult topic. We don't, however, profess our competency to answer the |