Drew's “Jummoo and Kashmir”

· 1875 · Public domain (mark) · archive.org ↗

155°

2NATURE

3of a crammer at eight years old, that at thirteen he may

4turn out Latin verses as a Buddhist prayer-mill turns out

5prayers, and may manifest, as a distinguished head¬

6master has lately said, to the eye of a teacher searching

7for intelligence, thoughtfulness, promise, intenseness, “ a

8stupidity which is absolutely appalling.' - ’ His scholarship

9won, he is pledged to pursue a course whose benefits are

10tangible and its evil consequences remote. The Univer¬

11sities have stamped upon all the schools one deep cer¬

12tainty, that for a boy to be “ all round,” as it is called, is

13the irremissible sin ; that a schoolmaster who teaches

14with reference to intellectual growth and width of culture

15sacrifices thereby all hope of the distinctions which make

16a school famous and increase its numbers. If a classical

17scholarship is desired, science and mathematics are

18abandoned : nay, the palm of literary excellence

19is conceded even to men ignorant of the noblest

20literature in the world, their own birthright and in¬

21heritance, and knowing less of the history and structure

22of the English language than a fourth form boy knows

23of Greek. If mathematical success is aimed at, literature

24and science are ignored ; if the few science scholarships

25existing tempt candidates from any of “the thirteen schools

26which possess a laboratory,” mathematics in part and

27literature altogether must be given up. It would be waste

28of words to point out the fatal tendency of this separative

29process ; to show how mere linguistic training needs the

30rationalising aid of scientific study, or how exclusive

31science hardens and materialises without the refining

32society of literature ; yet such divorce is inevitably due

33not to the convictions of schoolmasters, not to the in¬

34fluence of parents, not to the prepossessions of the public,

35but to the irresistible force of the University system, which

36makes narrowness of intelligence and imperfect knowledge

37the only avenues to distinction or to profit.

38It is true that an attempt to alter this involves little

39short of a revolution ; but by all accounts a revolution is

40at hand. It is not for nothing that a parliamentary in¬

41vestigation into the expenditure of college endowments

42should have been supported by members of the colleges

43themselves, or that a proposal to distribute college scholar¬

44ships and exhibitions by a central authority in accordance

45with the results of the leaving-examination should have

46emanated from eminent university teachers. For it

47cannot be too strongly urged that college scholarships

48stand on very different ground from university prizes or

49degrees. It is easy for Parliament to lay down rules

50which shall control the latter once for all; it is not easy

51to bind the actions of some forty different foundations,

52each electing its own scholars according to its own

53idiosyncrasies, or in obedience to the changing wills of

54bodies in a perpetual state of flux. It may' still be

55audacious, but it is no longer novel, to suggest that,

56supposing future legislation to retain the college scholar¬

57ships at all, they should be awarded by the authority of

58Government, in strict connection with leaving-exami¬

59nations which Government shall conduct, and in reward

60not of special but of general proficiency. For this the

61scheme of the Commissioners virtually contends ; into

62regions beyond this the Report before us necessarily does

63not enter.

64It will be seen that we accept, and recommend all

65teachers to accept, the scheme of the Commissioners

66[Oct. 28, 1875

67unreservedly as a working basis of educational improve¬

68ment. It may not be ideally perfect; it may invite oppo¬

69sition on points of detail ; but it is the resultant of all the

70intellectual forces which have hitherto been brought to

71bear upon the subject; and while agreeing with all its

72witnesses on the principle that wide general] training

73should precede specialisation of study, it attains extreme

74simplicity of arrangement iby allotting the first of these

75to the Schools and the lastfto the Universities. Do not let

76us forget that the cry which has arisen hitherto from all

77the head-masters on the point of scientific teaching has

78been a cry for [guidance ; for commanding and intelligent

79leadership ; for ^authoritative enlightenment as to the

80relative value and the judicious sequence of scientific sub¬

81jects; for information asjto text-books, apparatus, teachers.

82For the-first time this cry is met by an oracle whose

83authority no one will question, and whose completeness of

84delivery all who study its utterances will appreciate.

85Schoolmasters anxious to teach science, and doubtful how

86to set about it, will meet all the facts which can enlighten

87them in the Appendices to the Report. They will find

88lists of accredited text-hooks, specimens off examination

89papers, varieties of school time-tables, priced catalogues

90of apparatus, syllabi of lectures and experiments, bota¬

91nical schedules and tables, plans and descriptions of

92laboratories, workshops, museums, botanic gardens ; pro¬

93grammes and reports of school scientific and natural

94history societies. They' will learn how costly a temple

95could be built to Science at Rugby, and how modestly

96it could be housed at Taunton. They will see how

97Mr. Foster teaches physics, how Mr. Hale teaches

98geography, how Mr. Wilson teaches Erdkunde. And they

99■will accept all this as coming from men who have a right

100to speak, and who wield an experience such as has not

101been amassed before. On any legislative change which

102impends over the system and the endowments of the

103higher English education, the body of scientific opinion

104is strong enough, if united, to impress its own convic¬

105tions ; disunion alone can paralyse it. All who feel the

106discredit of past neglect, its injury to our national intel¬

107lect, and its danger to our national prosperity, will do well

108to support by unqualified adhesion the first attempt that

109has been made to probe its causes, and the first consistent

110and -well-considered scheme that has been put forth for its

111removal. W* TuckweLL

112DREW’S “JUMMOO AND KASHMIR ”

113The Jummoo and Kashmir Territories. A Geographical

114Account. By Frederick Drew, F.R.G.S., F.G.S., Asso¬

115ciate of the Royal School of Mines. (London: Stan¬

116ford, 1875 .)

117HE author of this work was for ten years, from i863>

118in the service of the Maharaja of Kashmir,

119his primary duty apparently being the investigation

120of the mineral resources of the territory. During this

121period his duties led him to visit many parts of the

122Maharaja’s dominions, and thus he had unusual oppor¬

123tunities of becoming well acquainted with the various

124districts and peoples under the sway of that ruler. Mr.

125Drew’s previous training had qualified him to take intelli¬

126gent advantage of his position and opportunities, anu

127the result is the present bulky work, occupying 55° P a S es-