t the answer to them has been long
delayed. Since the time of Comenius, to say the least, they have
seriously disturbed educators. But few have had the courage, industry,
and breadth of mind of a Comenius, to sound the educational waters and
to lay out a profitable chart. In spite of Comenius' labors, however,
and those of other educational reformers be they never so energetic,
practical progress toward a final answer, as registered in school
courses, has been extremely slow.

Herbert Spencer says: "If there needs any further evidence of the rude,
undeveloped character of our education, we have it in the fact that the
comparative worths of the different kinds of knowledge have been as yet
scarcely even discussed, much less discussed in a methodic way with
definite results. Not only is it that no standard of relative values
has yet been agreed upon, but the existence of any such standard has
not been conceived in any clear manner. And not only is it that the
existence of such a standard has not been clearly conceived, but the
need of it seems to have been scarcely even felt. Men read books on
this topic and attend lectures upon that, decide that their children
shall be instructed in these branches and not in those; and all under
the guidance of mere custom, or liking, or prejudice, without ever
considering the enormous importance of determining in some rational way
what things are really most worth learning. * * * * * Men dress their
children's minds as they do their bodies, in the prevailing fashion."
Spencer, _Education_, p. 26.

Spencer sees clearly the importance of this problem and gives it a
vigorous discussion in his first chapter, "What knowledge is of most
worth?" But the question is a broad and fundamental one and in his
preference for the natural sciences he seems to us not to have
maintained a just balance of educational forces in preparing a child
for "complete living." His theory needs also to be worked out into
greater detail and applied to school conditions before it can be of
much value to teachers. It can scarcely be said that any other
Englishman or American has seriously grappled with this problem. Great
changes and reforms indeed have been started, especially within the
last fifty years, but they have been undertaken under the pressure of
general popular demands and have resulted in compromises between
traditional forces and urgent popular needs. An adequate philosophical
inquiry into