in which he finds himself?  How shall he win that mastery that will enable him to interpret every obstacle as a new challenge to his powers, and to translate temporary defeat into ultimate victory?  How may he enter into such complete sense of mastery that he will not quail in the presence of difficulties, that he will never display the white flag or the white feather, that he will ever show forth the spirit of Henley’s Invictus, and that nothing short of death may avail to absolve him from his obligations to his high standards?

These questions are referred, with all proper respect, to the superintendent, the principal, and the teachers, whose province it is to vouchsafe satisfactory answers.  If they tell us that arithmetic will be of assistance in the way of inculcating this habit of mastery, then we shall hail arithmetic with joyous acclaim and accord it a place of honor in the school regime,—­but only as an auxiliary, only as a means to the great end of mastery.  If they assure us that science will be equally serviceable in our enterprise of developing mastery, then we shall give to science an equally hearty welcome.  However, we shall emphasize the right to stipulate that, in the course of study, the capitals shall be reserved for the big objective thoroughness, of the habit of mastery, and that the means be given in small letters and as sub-heads.

We may indulge in the conceit that a flag floats at the summit of a lofty and more or less rugged elevation.  The youth who essays the task of reaching that flag will need to reinforce his strength at supply stations along the way.  If we style one of these stations arithmetic, it will be evident, at once, that this station is a subsidiary element in the enterprise and not the goal, for that is the flag at the top.  These supply stations are useful in helping the youth to reach his goal.  We may conceive of many of these stations, such as algebra, or history, or Greek, or Chinese.  Whatever their names, they are all but means to an end and when that end has been attained the youth can afford to forget them, in large part, save only in gratitude for their help in enabling him to win the goal of thoroughness.

The child eats beefsteak because it is palatable; the mother prescribes beefsteak and prepares it carefully with the child’s health as the goal of her interests.  Moreover, she has a more vital interest in beefsteak because she is thinking of health as the goal.  For another child, she may prescribe eggs and, for still another, milk or oatmeal, according to each one’s needs.  Health is the big goal and these foods are the supply stations along the way.  The physician must assist in determining what articles of food will best serve the purpose and to this end he must cooperate with the mother in knowing his patients.  He must have knowledge of foods and must know how to adapt means to ends, never losing sight of the real goal.  The inference is altogether obvious.  A superintendent must write the prescription in the form of a course of study and he may not with impunity mistake a supply station for the goal.  He must have knowledge of the pupils and know their individual needs and native interests.  Having gained this knowledge, he will supply abundant electives in order to assist each child in the best possible way toward the goal.