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THE DOMINANT SEVENTH IN EDUCATION. 23 
activities predominate) is almost wholly ignored, and other activities are 
forced upon the child. 
We are told that gaining knowledge is seeing relations. If parents were 
cully aware of the meaning of that statement, how much they could do in 
incidental ways to open the minds of their children to see relations! 
Learning to see is not a matter of eyesight. Training the power of 
observation means to furnish the mind with concepts with which to see ; 
it 1s rendering the mind sensitive to relations; relations of force and life, 
as well as relations of number as expressed in dollars and cents. 
To observe carefully and state accurately is a rare accomplishment. 
(Those of you who have the pleasure of working with little children 
must have discovered how thoroughly every father and mother believes in 
she veracity of their child, and how very far from the mind of the average 
parent is the fact that at times any child is quite likely to be careless in 
observation and consequently inaccurate in statement.) If children are 
not trained to accuracy at home, where will they be so trained ? 
Thus briefly I have endeavored to bring to your notice a few of the 
““unreasoning customs” that obtain in the home period of education. 
That these customs work positive evil is clearly evident. 
The question now comes, How can this difficulty be overcome ? How 
may the masses be fitted to intelligently discharge the duties of parent- 
nood ? I think we shall all agree that in the prosecution of any new line 
of work it is always more economical to make use of already existing 
-nstitutions, than to establish new ones, and we have not far to search in 
order to find those institutions which should do this work. Those persons 
who are to be the future mothers and fathers, and who are now passing 
chrough the school period, must look to the colleges and high-schools to 
give this most necessary part of their training. No doubt every one 
present this morning is interested in the discussion now going on concern- 
ing the introduction of pedagogy into colleges and universities. If we 
may judge from the number of cities and states that are now making a 
knowledge of pedagogy one of the requirements for teaching, I think we 
may say that it is now generally admitted that teachers as well as lawyers 
and physicians should have professional training. But how about parents, 
should they be left to experiment in ignorance ? 
For example, it is entirely within the province of a liberal education 
to furnish a knowledge of the general laws of the development and the 
working of the human mind. But where, and how ? We cannot expect 
bo reach the masses through the colleges. To get a step nearer we must 
go the high-schools. I do not mean the metaphysical psychology that 
deals with abstract speculations, but I refer to the new experimental 
psychology, such as is being carried on by Dr. Sandford of Clark Univer- 
sity, Professor Scripture of Yale, and others throughout the country, 
though, of course, the work must be appropriately simplified. Such a