and interest in 10, 20, and 45 pages; of decimals in 11, 25, and 21 pages; and of vulgar fractions in 1, 23, and 25 pages; and to show how the matter has grown to the page, I may mention the fact that though the "Rule of Three" has little more than held its own, having three more problems in the last than in the first edition cited, the number of pages has been actually reduced from 24 to 11.

Next let us look at the Grammar. The mighty growth of the treatise on this subject cannot be duly estimated at a glance; but we can give it no more. Grammar was treated of within the limits of forty-five pages of DILLWORTH's Spelling-Book at the beginning of the century. It grew next to sixty pages in the "Young Ladies' Accidence," but now it has swelled to three or four hundred pages, the standard size of the grammars of the present day.

You will observe that I have made no allusion to the two or three books now required in each of these branches, nor to the doubling of the work required of pupils by the use of the blackboard for giving original problems, sentences for parsing, and analysis, etc., etc.

But what is the kind of material which has thus been added to these text-books? In arithmetic, what was formerly only a series of “ sums to be performed under precise direction of rules, each aided by at least one model example, has grown to be a science, every rule of which fully developed, and every principle demonstrated. The problems have grown more intricate and new subjects have been introduced to meet the demands of the more complicated business transactions of the day. The old books are their own witnesses to the fact that they gave no explanations, and as we are told by SALEM TOWN, LYMAN BEecher, WarrEN BURTON, WILLIAM B. FOWLE, all indeed who have given us any information on the subject, the teachers never explained anything, the pupils in fact were not expected to understand anything, all they were required to know was how to do the sums.-In Grammar, instead of the simple catechism to be found in DILLWORTH'S Spelling-Book, we have multiplied definitions, logical analyses and subtle distinctions are not unfrequently attempted which would put to his mettle even a first-class metaphysician. Were it only for the eight- or tenfold growth of the work required of our children in these branches and the more rigorous exactions made upon them by our severer methods of instruction and examination, we might well pause to question whether we have not, in some degree at least, sacrificed the conditions of healthy exercise of mind and of sound mental development; whether, in the attempt to cultivate the higher powers of an immature organism we are not deceiving ourselves by a mere seeming exercise of reason where memory alone is active, and we are not thus losing time for right discipline and for the acquisition of really useful knowledge. I might say real knowledge.

But we are not yet done with additions to the course of study. While Arithmetic and Grammar have grown so enormously, two branches, almost entire, have been added to the programme. I refer to Geography, which as we have learned was only occasionally read by the highest class in the Boston schools; and History, which had not then been spoken of even as a possible study.

Still we are not done. I have mentioned only the studies which have now received the sanction of popular opinion. Each one, as it was introduced, had to fight its way. Even Arithmetic, in the beginning of the century, was thought unnecessary for girls, and was forbidden to be taught even to boys in the day schools of many towns of New England. You will please to remember that in the early days of the colonies, the statute required the establishment in every town of a school in which only writing and reading should be taught. Grammar had a still more unwelcome reception. Geography was thought an accomplishment, and History, it was said, could be read at home. These branches, however, have now obtained general recognition as the essentials of a commonschool course. But there are yet others which have a pretty firm foothold in the graded schools of the principal towns and cities, whose schools are ever spoken of as models.

Many years ago, it was found that a study of books alone left dormant the observing faculties and that, in consequence, the common intelligence of the child, by which I mean intelligence regarding things about him was left uncultivated. The best scholars were very frequently found to be most ignorant of what they most needed to know. The country lad who had but a few months' schooling in the winter, and the street gamin who had no schooling at all went abroad with senses keenly alive to nature and the affairs of the world about them. The book-worm who had been so highly esteemed for his virtues at school, went through the world, but was not of the world. Perceiving this, if a man did not intend to send his boy to college, or as it was said to "make a scholar of him," he had some reason to put him to his trade, even before the limited commonschool course of the day was completed. Some knowledge of physics, chemistry, physiology, botany, and other branches of natural history would have been invaluable to him, but they were to be studied only from books, with long, hard names in them, and by a method which was new and strange to him. They were, therefore, supposed to be inaccessible to the child till he had completed all the other branches of what was called a good English education. Hence he went to work totally ignorant of every science which lay at the basis of his chosen vocation. It was not then understood, or it was understood by very few, that, within certain limits, nature opens her secrets to the observant senses, more readily than through the medium of the best books. It was not generally known that very much of these sciences may be learned to-best advantage while the child is young and his perceptive faculties, if rightly directed, are keenly alive to every impression from the natural world, and that, if these faculties are permitted to go without proper exercise in early life, they are stunted in their growth so that in after years they are weak and inactive. It seems not to have been perceived that one cannot become even a good reader who has not considerable knowledge of the common things about him, a knowledge which is pre-supposed in the most common writings, especially those of the present day; and that, to one who has not taken instruction from the world of nature and art, many books are sealed, even though written for popular use. But one after another these facts began to disturb the minds of teachers. Accordingly step after step was taken

though in a desultory way, whereby the process of education was improved. But what had been begun without order shortly became a system on the theory that all that goes to make up the knowledge of the commonly intelligent child touches upon and sometimes extends pretty far into the domain of every science. It was perceived that his attainments show his kinship to the philosopher, linguist, statesman, poet, artist, naturalist; that as his body grows in strength and symmetry every faculty of his mind is developed by appropriate excitation and exercise, not in succession but simultaneously. His mind grows as his body in "concentric circles," not in a few radiant lines. In recognition of these truths the obvious facts of natural history, physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, have already been included in the curriculum of the best primary and Grammar Schools, the necessary limitation being that these facts shall lie within the observation and ready understanding of the child and that nogeneralizations be attempted until the number of facts accumulated demand it.

Thus far I have confined myself to the history of the growth of the common-school studies. I have not attempted to account for it. Whether the increased size of the text-books in Arithmetic, Grammar, and Geography is owing to the ambition of authors or the competition of booksellers; or in answer to the wants of modern times or to the demands of teachers, does not concern us to know, inasmuch as it is evident that it is the result of no forecast, no carefully-devised plan, no wise adaptation of means to the great end which must ever be the harmonious development of the faculties, the proper direction of human energy and the preparation of men and women for the duties and responsibilities of life. It would certainly matter little what variant caprices may have led the son, grandson, and great-grandson of a first settler to add promiscuously here and there a kitchen, a dining-hall, a parlor, a reception-room, a conservatory, a music room, a tower and what not to the original log cabin, building miscellaneously of brick, wood, stone, birch bark, or anything which chance means of transportation might bring within their reach. Whatever the thought of each one might have been, the result would be inconvenient, unsightly, and unstable. The comparison may be unjust in some respects, but it illustrates pretty well how one accession after another has been made to our course of study, each with little regard to what had been done before and still less concern for what might be needed in the future.

Please to observe that in this comparison I am speaking of the curriculum of the schools, not the resultant education of the individual or the nation. Other factors than the instructions of the teacher enter into the education of the child. The family, the world, the age, carry on their education, at equal step with that of the schools. Then, too, the mind is a living organism which appropriates what is suited to aid its growth and development and rejects much of that which is pernicious. Thus nature and circumstance go far to modify the practical results of our educational systems but the curriculum of the schools is exactly what we make it. Here the comparison holds good.

But this strange structure, built without plan or central purpose, spread

beyond the bounds to which the nature of the site should limit it, and in parts carried so high that the foundations are crushing under the weight, this structure must receive further additions, additions made indispensable by the scope of modern thought, by the multiplied, complicated, and ever-varying requirements of the market and the workshop, and by the inexorable demands of sovereign citizenship. Furthermore it is incomplete where it was supposed to have been perfect long ago. We have lately heard much said of the reading in our schools. Let me say here, parenthetically, that those who make the charge that it is inferior to what it was one, two, or three generations ago, only show their ignorance of what it has been. But I must say, nevertheless, that reading in the schools has never been what it should be. It is the reading of words, not thoughts. To rattle the shells, not to pick the kernels of thought, seems to be the ultimate purpose of students and teachers alike; hence readers do not bring themselves into contact with the mind of the author. School reading fails to attract the pupil to higher planes of thought and association. One who has learned to read, may through books extend his acquaintanceship indefinitely, he is not confined to his fellow-workmen, nor by geographical limits, but he will choose for his acquaintances only those who become congenial associates, whether the medium of intercourse between them and him be by tongue or type. A man will hardly read up to the level of what he would listen to with pleasure if the living author were present to talk with him, hence his books will be, intellectually and morally, little better than his living companions. What we need in our schools is such reading as will so discipline the mind that the reader will take pleasure in the effort to understand what he reads, put him en-rapport with good writers and cultivate a taste for,-nay more, form a habit of reading that which will inform the mind and purify the heart. Then there is the companion piece to reading and the supplement to that cultivation of the observing faculties and of the common intelligence of which I have already spoken at some length. I refer to the ready, easy, and accurate use of the English language. Who will not admit that there is very much to be done in this direction? That we have been struggling for years to give such instruction and training a suitable place in our programme indicates the judgment of educators as to its necessity, and that they have failed indicates that they have too much to do already. President ELIOT was not far from right when he said, a few days ago, "I recognize but one mental acquisition as an essential part of the education of a lady or gentleman, namely, an accurate and refined use of the mothertongue." It is this that gives to men mastery over books, insight into the affairs of human life and directive power among men. If anywhere, in the world, this command over language is necessary, it is here in America where principles too subtle for expression in the language of the marketplace wield the power of kings.

But stepping only a little beyond the bare necessities which thoughtful educators have insisted on, let us speak of two subjects which, with nearly equal unanimity, are urged upon our attention. I may first mention a knowledge of our form of government and of the principles on which it rests. Loyalty to a party is possible to those who are totally ignorant of

the first principles of good government. The cries Vive l'Empereur or la Commune are better definitions of principles than huzzahs for "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" or "Little Van," but as we have seen again and again the former are as easily exchangeable as the latter by the masses, whose political opinions are summed up in fidelity to one leader or another. Loyalty to a constitution is possible only to those who comprehend the spirit of that constitution. Hence we need to teach not only the form of government under which we live, but lead our pupils to see and admire, at least as from afar off, the wisdom of the fathers in casting it into that form which has preserved it to this day amidst fratricidal war and social revolution. Nor is this all that ought to be done in this direction. He knows little of the functions of government who knows only its forms, the powers of the several departments, and the checks which they exercise upon one another. There are other lessons more easily understood, more interesting, and more important to be learned-for instance that government cannot create wealth nor interfere with its accumulation or distribution without disaster to every interest, public and private. Even children may be taught that interference with the rights of property or labor, whether by government, trades-unions, or associations of capitalists must in the end result in the subversion of personal and political liberty and finally prepare the way for anarchy and absolutism.

You may call this political economy if you choose, it is political economy, but it is far easier to comprehend these lessons than it is to understand much of the Grammar and Arithmetic which is taught in the “Thirteenth grade" of this city or the "Second Grammar Class” in Boston. They would, I believe, serve much better as means of mental discipline; and few will question their being very much more valuable to the citizen and the State.

I have reviewed the history of the growth of the common-school studies which in many States have received the sanction of statute law as fundamental branches or essential elements of the education of all. In doing this I have given chief attention to arithmetic because that is commonly thought to be most important. Grammar came next because second only to arithmetic in the esteem of teachers if not in popular favor. Geography came in for slight notice because all that is to be said of it can be said in one sentence, to the effect that it has increased its demands from the occasional readings which were "permitted not required" to the rigorous exaction of an hour per day for three or four consecutive years. Having shown from what small beginnings these branches have attained their present extraordinary proportions and having called attention to other subjects of study and instruction which, though they have been given a place in the programmes of the schools of most of our larger towns and cities, have not yet had their exact status defined; having mentioned still others which have high claims to consideration and having briefly indicated my own judgment of the value of the old studies and the new, in which judgment I know that I only agree with the most of you, I am ready, now, to submit the question, have Boards of Education and teachers been wise in extending or permitting the extension of the older studies to their present limits? I ask this question with a full view to their educa