[3] Since this paragraph was written, Mr. Forster,
in speaking at the Birkbeck Institution, has removed
all doubt as to what his “final decision”
will be in the case of such disputes being referred
to him:—“I have the fullest confidence
that in the reading and explaining of the Bible, what
the children will be taught will be the great truths
of Christian life and conduct, which all of us desire
they should know, and that no effort will be made
to cram into their poor little minds, theological
dogmas which their tender age prevents them from understanding.”
TECHNICAL EDUCATION
[1877]
Any candid observer of the phenomena of modern society
will readily admit that bores must be classed among
the enemies of the human race; and a little consideration
will probably lead him to the further admission, that
no species of that extensive genus of noxious creatures
is more objectionable than the educational bore.
Convinced as I am of the truth of this great social
generalisation, it is not without a certain trepidation
that I venture to address you on an educational topic.
For, in the course of the last ten years, to go back
no farther, I am afraid to say how often I have ventured
to speak of education, from that given in the primary
schools to that which is to be had in the universities
and medical colleges; indeed, the only part of this
wide region into which, as yet, I have not adventured
is that into which I propose to intrude to-day.
Thus, I cannot but be aware that I am dangerously
near becoming the thing which all men fear and fly.
But I have deliberately elected to run the risk.
For when you did me the honour to ask me to address
you, an unexpected circumstance had led me to occupy
myself seriously with the question of technical education;
and I had acquired the conviction that there are few
subjects respecting which it is more important for
all classes of the community to have clear and just
ideas than this; while, certainly, there is none which
is more deserving of attention by the Working Men’s
Club and Institute Union.
It is not for me to express an opinion whether the
considerations, which I am about to submit to you,
will be proved by experience to be just or not, but
I will do my best to make them clear. Among the
many good things to be found in Lord Bacon’s
works, none is more full of wisdom than the saying
that “truth more easily comes out of error than
out of confusion.” Clear and consecutive
wrong-thinking is the next best thing to right-thinking;
so that, if I succeed in clearing your ideas on this
topic, I shall have wasted neither your time nor my
own.
