The Wilmingtonian., 1886-10-02
The Boy or Girl of Fourteen.

The Boy or Girl of Fourteen.
At the recent unveiling of the statue of Sir
Josiah Mason, at Birmingham, England,
the speaker of the occasion, Sir John Lub-
book made remarkably practical address.
Every body knows, or should know who the
banker scientist-statesmen, Sir John Lub-
book, is.
The burthen of his talk was an appeal for
an increased share of attention in the second
ary and common schools to the study of
science. According to Sir Johns state
ments it is subject that is too much ne.
elected in England. Comparing the curri-
culum of American and Eugish schools it
appears that much larger average of time
is devoted to scientific teaching in the Uni
ted States than the mother country.
The orator made quotations from various
Royal Educai ion Commissions from whose re
ports interesting and often amusing informa-
tioD is gained on tie way things are done
and the conceptions existing in the minds of
representative people across the water as to
what should constitute the educational stat
us of boy or girl Of the last year of school
attendance.
For Instance the Hon. Grant Duff, NJ. p,
a gentleman. who, in England has held a
position nut very dissiuIiisf in educatiohsl
matters from that of Commissioner Eaton,
in our own country, has expressed the opin-
ION that boy or girl of fourteen might rea-
sonbly be expected to.
''Read aloud clearly and agreeably, to
write large distinct round hand, and to
know the rdinary rules of arithmetic, es-
pecally compound arithmellc-a by no
means usual accomplishment TO speak aud
write French with ease and correctness, anu
have some slight acquaintance with French
literature; to translate dd ape, turam h6ri
from an ordinary French or German book !:
to have thoroughly good elementary know
ledge of geography, under which are COM
pretended some knowledge of the very
broadcast facts of geology and history
enough to make him understand in a clear
but general way, how the larger features
of the world he lives in, physical and politi-
cal, come to be like what they are : to have
been trained from earliest infancy to use his
powers of observation on plants, or animals,
or rocks, or other natural objects and to
have general acquaintance with what is
most supremely good in that portion of the
more important English classics which is
suitable to his time of life : to have some ru-
dimentary acquaintance with drawing and
music"
Though this statement was made in 1877
the English school curriculum is not very
much changed as regards scientific study.
Sir John quotes the Nineteenth Century,
1884, from the report of F. W. Cornish, one
OF the ablest teachers at Eton, that
sat present the amount of science taught
at Eton is the legal minimum, not very
generously interpreted. All boys go through
some scientific training, but they began late
and, If they like leave off early. No in
struction is given In national history, cleo
tIicity, optics, astronomy, mechanics, etc !,
except to a select few in the upper part of
the school. The utmost that is exacted is
two hours week in school as a written ex.
ercise, and the marks given in trials are one.
tenth of the whole. This is not as it should
be y 1t is true that the scient fic teaching
which is given at Eton is all that can be
desired in quality bnt there is not enough
of it. Those boys who take up science as a
special subject are well trained, ,as university
results show. They are real students and
justice is done to them"
Iu regard to the above it must be remem-
bel ed that Eton boys of the upper school
who are on the eve of university entrance
are much older than that boy or girl OF
fourteen" they range in age from IS to 81
years.
In our schools, in the Uni.ed States, we
are doing we'll, according to English teSti-
mony,in introducing natural science into our
common schools at the early age of twelve
and thirteen. III doing this We are more
judicious than the English who consider a
French and German auency in speaking
and writing as on the same par as the un.
usual accomplishment of adding up com,
pound addition with facility,