The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-23 00:00:00

MR. LOWE ON EDUCATIO4,

On Wednesday evening Mr. Lowe was present at tliv,
annual dinner of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society, Mr.
P. H. Rathbone in the chair. In response to the toast of
his health, _ _

Mr. LOWE dealt at some length with the question, how
the middle class, which would not think of sending its
chatiren to primary schools assisted by the State, and yet
.was not in a positiofs to send its sons to the universities or
the great public schools, was to be educated. The middle
class, which until last year was the depository of political
power in this country, had never done anything for itself in
education. Ithad allowed the endowments designed for its
own education to be filched from it by a class for which they
were not intended. How was this? How was it that they had;
without a remonstrance and a struggle, allowed political
power to pass out of their hand ? He believed the reason
was the want of a common culture ; the want of something
which would have raised rhen's minds above the business of
every-day life, made them take a more elevated view of
their own position. What was wanted in the education
of the middle class was not only something w 7 -ould be
merely useful to them in the business of their life, but
.found and good mental discipline—an education which
should teach caution, observation, and the faculty of weigh•
ing probabilities, and deciding soundly, judiciously, and pru•
ilently. Ile denied that the education received by the uppez
&asses either satisfied those classes themselves, or could be
copied with any advantage by the middle class ; it was a
simple accident of the times that made the Latin and Greek
classics the leading educational features of collegiate edu-
cation, but Latin and Greek were mere mechanical exer-
cises of the faculty of memory. It was just as much a mis-
take to dose a boy with the " Eton Graf:Omar " before
he knew five words of the language, as it was to lec-
ture a child on the vertebra and the anatomy of the
limbs when it was learning to walk. Of what
use' also as a mental discipline was moral phi-
losophy, when the conclusions of the science were
perfectly evident before the student began ? Having cri-
ticised also the merits of logic and history, remarking with
regard to the latter that no teacher could impart history to
a boy better than he could learn it himself by reading,
Mr. Lowe came to the sweets which he would recom-
rralnd for the education of the middle classes. First in
would recommend a thorough study of the English lan-
guage—the language of Bacon and Shakespeare, Pitt, Chat-
ham, and Fox—the language of Byron and Scott. When
he was at school ho was an idle boy; after he had got up
enough. Greek and Latin, he spent his time in reading the
works of the noble writers of the 16th and 17th centuries,
and almost felt while doing so that he was playing truant.
But all the success of his life he owed to the know-
redge of the English language which he acquired in thou
stollm hours. English composition, too, was another neces-
sity of middle-class education. French, written and spoken.
was a most desirable accomplishment, and if the boy had
tasty fur languages, let him learn German, in which th.
finest and closest translations of Lee ancient classics were
to he found. To discipline the mind he recommended, not
analytical mathematics beginning with algebra, but
syuthetical mathematics argued out by diagrams, vhich
afforded-as good instances of abstract reasoning as could
be obtained. In his opinion nothing was so requisite ii'
middle-class education as a study of the phenomena ci
physical science. Physical science could not be learnt by
rote. Its study was bracing to the mind, it taught us to
observe closely, to compare, to think, to distrust our crude
and first generalisations. It did not so much teach us
science as it produced a scientific habit of mind tt
correct by careful observation, such as produced that
habit of mind which, carried into business, keeps us from
bankruptcy. The study of nature preceded the study of
books, which were not created. In a brilliant peroration
Mr. Lowe p inted out that science was as yet nearly in
its infancy, and that discoveries as yet unknown to this
generation would be facts to the generation we have now
to educate. As to the practical question, he suggested
that while statesmen tried to recover for the middle classes
their birthrights—endowed schools and the universities—
they should combine and build schools for themselves,
which they could easily do, as Mr. Woodward had proved.
The right hon. gentleman, who spoke for upwards of
hour, was often most enthusiastically applauded..