Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 34.djvu/514

498 had taken no account. To these laws I now turned for guidance, and tried to forget that a school curriculum had ever been constructed, so that custom should in no wise interfere with the free play of philosophic principles.

The subjects were arranged in their order of dependence as determined by comparative science. The course of study thus worked out differed quite materially from the ordinary, in spirit and in principles. It emerged as an organic whole, rather than as a loose array of disconnected subjects.

The physical sciences had first place, their treatment beginning with an observation of material objects and passing to a consideration of forces and of the laws of physical relations.

Another line of study treated of man and his environment. It began with a consideration of man as an inhabitant of the globe, dealing with geography, and it led up through history, literature, civil government, to mental and moral philosophy, and later on to rhetoric, logic, and political economy.

Besides these two main lines of thought, there were two subordinate ones, dealing respectively with language as a science and with mathematics. In our treatment of language the widest departure from the customary was made. Latin and Greek were excluded, as the State University already offered a much more complete course in the classics than our school could hope to give. But a still weightier reason constrained me in this decision. The time at our disposal for linguistic study was needed chiefly for constructive work in the vernacular. I determined to make the study of English thorough; I realized the power gained by an accurate and easy mastery of our own tongue, and I fully appreciated the æsthetic value of English literature in the cultivation of a refined and discriminating taste.

The constructive work was so managed that familiarity with composition preceded analysis, and the principles and rules of language were developed out of the pupil's own work. Grammar came out of language, not language out of grammar. The critical work of grammar and rhetoric was placed in the advanced course along with logic.

In this spirit, and by the general method here indicated, the whole course of study was arranged. The place occupied by each subject was not a matter of accident, but of philosophic dependence. The success of my scheme demanded intelligent and harmonious co-operation on the part of the faculty. I needed a select corps of teachers, and the freedom of choice secured to me by Mr. Monteith now proved of great importance.

For my first assistant I chose Prof. L. H. Cheney, who some years later was accidentally killed while making an excavation in connection with the work of a geological expedition under