"A sound formal education is the indispensable pre-requisite of a thorough military professional education. The deepening of the formal training, of the general intelligence and judgment, must therefore never be lost sight of during, and side by side with, the professional studies. Accordingly the course will be based upon the knowledge gained in the cadet corps, the military schools, the school for artillery and engineers, and, as regards general knowledge, in the gymnasia. But a simple repetition of things already known, by way of refreshing the memory, cannot be sufficient. As the whole course aims at a higher culture, it must proceed independently, entirely free from the constraint of a school. "The practical abilities of the officers, acquired during five years' service, offer in many respects a foundation upon which the teachers can build. "METHOD OF INSTRUCTION. "The instruction at the Military Academy begins with the elements of the various subjects, the object being, in the first instance, to strengthen and enlarge the grasp of what has already been learned. It proceeds, as the subjects develop, to more difficult matters, aiming, as its ultimate goal, at the thorough preparation of the officer for the modern requirements of war. The instruction in the formal sciences must for this purpose proceed in a different manner from that adopted in the military subjects. The scientific teaching may take the form of lectures, which appeal merely to the comprehension and the memory of the hearer, while in the military subjects, everything depends upon the pupil learning to apply and to make the most of the knowledge which he acquires. It is, moreover, essential to bring about an active process of mental give and take between teacher and pupils, so as to stimulate the pupils to become fellow-workers. The awakening effects of co-operation like this will never be seen where the one only expounds, and the other only listens. But it will naturally be produced by the combination of clear exposition, with practice in the application to specific concrete cases of the knowledge gained. (The so-called 'applicatory method' of teaching. Cp. p. 187, note.) "Accordingly, in the purely military subjects the lectures are, as far as possible, to be interspersed with practical examples, in which the details are explained upon the map. Moreover, in this department, there will be opportunities of encouraging the pupils from time to time to deliver original addresses, the preparation of which should lead to the formation of independent opinions. The subjects of these addresses are to be military, and never merely scientific.