WHAT SHOULD BE ADDED TO ELEMENTARY BRANCHES? 269 
aumber, geography, history of the country, writing, and drawing ; the 
age of pupils being from six to fourteen years. 
(3) Why these branches should be regarded essential is a question by 
itself, already discussed ; but the grounds for considering them essential 
must be briefly stated. Morals include the relations of the individual to 
society, and reverence for the supreme power. This branch of instruction 
need not be taught in formal lessons. It pervades all school exercises, and 
it belongs to the very atmosphere of the school. Devotion to duty, seli- 
control, regard for the rights of others, love of truth in all its phases, rever- 
ence for the Creator—all this permeates every school exercise. Without 
jue attention to the moral side, all education is a failure. The study of 
number cultivates the power of exact reasoning. Geography teaches all 
the facts relating to the earth which we inhabit; and as the dawning 
intelligence of the young child at the very first takes note of his surround- 
‘ngs, so the child in the elementary school should study the earth on which 
ae lives. 
Language is the pewer of expressing thought; and as the thought 
expands with the expression, and no faster than the power of expression— 
as accuracy of expression is indispensable to accuracy of thought—this 
study is essential. Writing and drawing are forms of expression, and as 
such they also are essential. They have a further use in cultivating the 
eye and in giving control of the hand. 
The history of the country is essential because this study connects the 
past with the present, and forecasts the future ; it invests the world with 
a human interest ; it insidiously makes the child feel that, as one of the 
human family, he has a vital and personal interest in the universal order— 
in all this vast concourse of things. These subjects are essential because 
they have been developed from long experience, because they have been 
instrumental in training gencrations of successful men, and because they 
are agreed to by thoughtful men generally—by all except those whose 
snpernal conceit leads them to think that whatever is, is wrong. 
The question here proposed is, What should be added to these essential 
oranches to suit (2) the local industrial needs and (4) race characteris- 
vies ? 
(4) Involved in this question is the antecedent inquiry, What is the pur- 
pose of public school education P—for this discussion relates chiefly to 
public schools. Should the education be specific, to fit the child in a 
narrow way for a particular calling, or should it be broad and general, 
;0 develop manliness, good citizenship, self-control, and application—to 
out the child in possession of himself, of all his powers ? Undoubtedly 
sducation should be thus broad and general. 
(5) Public school education in this country has been an independent and, 
in some respects, unique growth. A brief reference to the history of this 
growth will throw light upon our theme. and the changing conditions