The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, October 1879Various
History
The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, October 1879
Various
Arts -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals
3. A thorough and unstinted employment of the means above indicated will
accomplish much towards the emancipation of our helots from that
thraldom of ignorance which gives to the more galling thraldom of caste
its sole _raison d'être_. But there is yet one thing needed, the
_utilization_ of knowledge acquired, and this can only be attained by
dint of laborious and unintermitting class-work. The sacred flame may be
kindled in the breast by desultory and omnivorous reading, but the light
emitted is as uncertain as that of a wandering marsh-fire--it wants
_focussing_ to be of any use to its possessor or his species. And it is
in the _class_, under the guidance of a gifted and genial teacher, that
this operation can best be performed. It is here that the finishing
touch must be applied; here the rounding-off take place; here the
heterogeneous be brought into homogeneity, and the discordant be reduced
to harmony and system.
If these things are so, the problems which present themselves to be
resolved are:--Given certain millions of untrained intellects in crying
need of class tuition scattered over certain thousands of square miles
in unequal proportions--how to provide sufficient building accommodation
to meet the exigencies of the case? and given an uncertain but
confessedly immense mass of torpidity and stagnation--how to infuse the
necessary leaven into it to quicken it and arouse its latent forces?
I answer as to the first proposition--Require the architects of the
multitudinous lecture halls aforesaid to submit plans to you, which
shall comprise sections not only of the main building but of three or
four adjuncts thereto suitable for class-rooms, after the style of the
chapels nestling under the wings of our old cathedrals, or the annexes
thrown out at convenient angles from our modern industrial exhibitions
for the display of specialities. These would add comparatively little to
the original cost of the structure, and save a great deal of time and
trouble in hunting up eligible sites, and, when found, negotiating terms
of purchase. As to the second proposition, make a _liberal_ distribution
of prizes part of your system, so liberal that not only proficiency
would be certain of obtaining a reward, but plodding and persevering
mediocrity also. Constant attendance, combined with such written answers
to questions as evinced that the pupil was making an effort, should,
however imperfectly the answers were framed, insure the possession of a
prize at the end of every session. With such materials to work upon, a
free use of stimulants to exertion must form no inconsiderable part of
the programme.
Again, no charge whatever must be made for admission to the classes.
Indeed, the entire domain of adult poor education must be as free as
United Italy--free from the Alps of the library to the Adriatic of the
class-room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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