Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/546

532 studies is an all-important factor. I remember once reading in an old book a conversation that took place between Sir Walter Scott and the driver of a stagecoach. Scott was sitting on the seat along with the driver. The conversation turned upon a group of children coming out of an old-fashioned schoolhouse. The driver remarked that the teacher had great influence with his classes, and that his pupils made much progress in learning. Whereupon Scott inquired after the reason for such a happy state of affairs. He was informed by the stage man that the teacher worked on the lines of the old proverb that, "to be successful with children, you must allure the ear, inform the mind, and then impress the heart." This teacher was wise in his day. He sought to win the affections of the child. He established a confidence between himself and his pupil—in other words, he tried to make things agreeable. This accomplished, he commenced to fill the pupils' minds with new thoughts and new relations. The world of ideas was opened up to the child, which was made to see, feel, hear, and remember as it had never done before. On this an ethic or moral system was planted. The late George Paxton Young, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Toronto, often repeated in my hearing that, when he was a boy, he would have been punished for using a translation in the study of a Greek or Latin author. Now, however, if he had had his way, he would punish a student who would not make use of such an aid to promote his advancement and increase his pleasure in the study of the classics. "Pleasure and pain," said Locke, "are the hinges on which all our passions turn." The school life of the child ought to be so managed that its search after knowledge would be one continuous pursuit of pleasure.

Then, again, while it is necessary to present objects to the various senses in order that an acquaintanceship with them may be formed, it is equally necessary that these objects be properly selected and graded according to the age and understanding of the learner. When a pupil is not learning, it is not the fault of the child so much as it is of the teacher. Things have not been presented to the child in proper order or of suitable kind. It is quite true the child may be dull. Its mental development may be a long way behind that of another child of the same age; but this is not the fault of the child. It is the duty of the teacher to take things as he finds them, and to grade his teaching to meet the capacities of the pupil. The age of the pupil does not enable one to decide what may be the degree of perceptive power. This must be tested. It is an utter waste of time to present to a child too complex thoughts or ideas; it must be conducted from the simple to the complex. A child is often found fault with for not giving attention to study. The truth is that things have not