Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. Excerpt from book: Section 3It was a little hard on the bailiff, who was only doing his duty ; but, after all, he might have kept his temper, and the freshman's performance formed no part of the original plan of campaign. IV. textit{Education : I. The Fetich of it.—Not long ago one of the best of the representatives of " Labour " expressed himself with engaging naivete" as profoundly surprised and grieved that fifty years of extended education had not developed reasoning faculties in a greater degree. The evidences of educational fetich-worship are endless, and we may have to notice a few more of them ; but there can hardly be one more decisive than this. Education (no matter of what kind it be) in any of the usual senses can " develop " nothing that is not there already, and can rather doubtfully develop some things that are. Indeed, complete " letting alone "—if it were possible—would probably be the best " developer " of the peculiar kind desiderated by the Right (and, one believes, Really) Honourable gentleman referred to. Ifyou let the child alone and he burns himself, he will, unless he is an utter idiot, almost certainly dread the fire : that result is by no means so certain to follow if you indoctrinate him with theories of combustion and of lesion of the epidermis. As a matter of fact, the present writer, if he has not known so many cities as some may have done, has probably known as fair a proportion and selection of men's manners and minds as most people. He has, as observed elsewhere, had very extensive and peculiar knowledge of education. And among the least rationally developed of all his acquaintances he would count some whose education—literary or scientific or both—would stand the severest tests, outside of results in rationality. Some other results of experiences in this subject may be dealt with later on. V...